by J. J. Snow
I win again, he thought smugly.
—————
Duv woke up slowly. It was still dark in the room, but sunlight had started to filter in through one of the windows. He groaned and pulled the covers up over his eyes as his throbbing head reminded him of the numerous drinks he had downed the night before. Bits and pieces began to come to him, but he pushed them to the back of his mind, enjoying the warmth of the bed, the softness of the body next to him, and the arm lying over him.
Suddenly he was wide awake. Whose arm was lying over him? He glanced around the room, looking for something that might tell him where he was. It looked like the guesthouse all right, but he didn’t see his pack or the other bed that Skeeter should have been in right now. What he did see was his clothes, skivvies included, tossed on the floor along with some feminine-type clothing and undergarments. It occurred to him at that exact moment that he was naked and so was the other body in the bed with him.
Moving very slowly so as not to wake up his companion, Duv turned over to take a better look. He squeezed his eyes shut briefly and said a quick prayer—“Please don’t let her be ugly!”—then he cautiously opened one eye. There next to him was a pretty little redhead, sound asleep with a slight smile on her face. He did a double take and then smiled with relief that turned into a bit of macho pride, followed again by uncertainty. Should he stay put and wait for her to wake up? Or should he get up and head out to find the others? Should he leave a note? He realized that he couldn’t remember if her name was Heather or Hannah. He rubbed his forehead again. He hadn’t been this drunk since before he met his wife while at pilot school. His wife…Skeeter!
At that moment, she opened her eyes sleepily and then smiled at him. Duv froze. Now what?
“Morning, Sunshine,” she mumbled, snuggling up to his chest. “Did you have a good night?”
“Uh, yeah, it was great, and, uh, how was yours?” he said, unsure of how to extract himself from her hold without being rude. He wanted to run screaming from the room. Now that the alcohol had worn off, the full magnitude of his evening was hitting him. Not that she wasn’t good looking, but what if she had expectations now? What if she thought this was something serious? That’s all he needed was some gal hanging around the ship mooning after him. The Captain would have his ass. And how would he explain something like that to Skeeter? And…
“It was wonderful. And you can stop worrying.”
“What?” Duv was caught off guard by her words.
“I said you can stop worrying. You’re making me tense just looking at you! I didn’t come in here with the idea that this was a long-term thing. I know you got work to do. And I know you got a tough boss who expects a lot outta you. I’m not some young, silly-minded girl.”
“Oh.” Duv couldn’t manage anything else. His brain hurt just trying to process it all, but before he could think too hard on it, she reached up and kissed him, pulling him back down to the pillows.
“What I’m trying to tell you is there are no strings. If this works for you, it works, and if it doesn’t, then we go our separate ways, no hard feelings. But for right now, let’s just enjoy the moment, okay?”
“No strings?” Duv thought about that as his head blared warnings about explanations to his son and his crew while his heart or maybe just his hormones fought back, arguing that he had been working hard and he deserved to relax a bit. Another kiss sealed the deal, however, as he decided maybe enjoying the moment wasn’t such a bad idea. The redhead giggled as he grinned and pulled the covers up over them to block out the sunlight streaming through the window. Work could wait another hour today.
—————
After dinner, Skeeter went back up to his room. He knew Duv and the rest of the crew would probably be out until late, but he didn’t mind. He had been dying to try out the programs on his latest purchase, and now he could without interruption. He cued up the new edu-system and scrolled through the menu. After looking at all the programs, he opted to take the level one tests for navigation, logic, and astrophysics. The time flew by, and before he knew it, five hours had passed. He had aced most of the level one tests when the system flashed once and a new screen appeared.
INITIAL TEST SCORES HAVE BEEN REGISTERED WITH CENTRAL PLANETS EDUCATION SYSTEM.
BASED ON YOUR SCORES, YOU HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED TO ADVANCE TO LEVEL THREE COURSE WORK.
NEW COURSES HAVE BEEN EARNED.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO PROCEED?
1 LEVEL THREE COURSE WORK
2 OPERATIONAL MISSION TRAIN-UP
Seth read the message again. He had never seen an edu-system register test scores that fast before.
“Guess things have really been moving along with the technology since my last edu-system,” he said to himself.
He’d have to tell Duv about testing out of the level two course work. He loved to hear about how Seth was doing with school and made a point to push him to keep up with his studies. Seth paused at the options. Level three course work or operational mission train-up? He wasn’t sure what that meant, but it sounded cool, so he entered the second option. The screen went dark, and then a new screen came up.
STAND BY FOR HOLOPROGRAM ALPHA
“Whoa!” He couldn’t believe his luck. This edu-system had a built-in mini holo-projector. How had he missed that in the store? This system had to be worth at least double, maybe triple what he got it for. The projector spun up, and a miniature figure of a man in uniform walked into the light.
“Hello, trainee, and welcome to the pre-mission train-up program. This program is designed to help condition your mind for the operational environment. Each holoprogram will build on the next, providing you with a solid foundation of battlefield knowledge from which to draw during your missions. During the training, remain focused on the images and information projected by the program for best results. Stand by for initiation of program Alpha.”
The tiny figure disappeared. Seth looked at the holographic screen and waited. Nothing happened. He pushed a couple of the buttons, trying to advance the program or go back to the menu, but the screen still remained dark. After another few minutes of button pushing, he tried to turn it off, but again nothing happened. Frustrated, he tossed the edu-system down on the nightstand by his bed.
“Figures it would be a dud. That’s probably why it was marked so low.” He puffed his cheeks up and blew a blast of air out, pushing his too-long hair out of his eyes and reminding himself that a haircut was just one of many things his credits could have been better spent on. Twelve hundred credits out the air lock for a broken edu-system. He could hear Duv now, lecturing him on checking out tech before he bought it so he didn’t get skunked.
A small ringing sound caught his attention. He turned and saw the holoscreen was still active, but now a tiny, bright spot of light came from the center of it. He lay still, watching it as it slowly expanded to fill the whole screen. Suddenly, he felt like he couldn’t take his eyes off of it. The light jumped from the screen. Seth felt like he was in the screen, or it was in his head, he wasn’t sure which. He tried to turn but found that he couldn’t. Images began to explode across the screen. FXU battle rifle, tantalum laser rounds, phase-shift capable—40mm HEAT grenade launcher, dispenses high explosive, chemical immobilizing and tactical nuclear rounds—FN2000 sidearm, standard issue blaster, titanium or laser rounds, phase-shift capable, five rounds a second…the images and information increased into a nauseating array of weapons and specifics on each. Each one expanded out into its assorted parts and pieces and then crashed back together into a whole weapon, firing several rounds and then jumping to the next weapon. Tactical weapons turned into crew-served weapons which turned into battle tanks, fighters, spaceships, and then entire fleets. Seth felt like his head would explode. He tried again to tear his eyes away, but he couldn’t. As the last image flashed up, the screen collapsed in on itself. Seth felt like he was being pulled into it as his eyes were forced to follow the information
flowing into the funnel-like hole that sucked down the screen. A series of numbers flashed along the walls of the funnel, and then it went dark.
Seth’s eyes rolled back into his head, as if he were having a seizure, then his body went rigid and collapsed. The screen reactivated and a green laser traced his entire body. The system processed the data and transmitted it, then turned itself off.
—————
On the other side of the planet, Commander Zain sat looking at the stats collected so far. The kid had absorbed more information than they had initially hoped for, and his test scores were off the charts. Zain looked at the man next to him.
“He’s out, sir. He won’t remember any of this in the morning except for completing the level one tests and falling asleep. We got good subliminal contact, though, and the feedback indicates we had a solid transfer. At least eighty percent retention. No one has ever retained that much before.”
“Any side effects, Doc?”
The doctor shook his head. “Unlikely. He might have a slight headache in the morning or some eye twitching, but nothing noticeable. He’s a very good candidate for a mission. Do you have one in mind?”
“I do. I’d like you to continue to perform the post-training health checks, but for security purposes, I’ll be running the mission-training sets in private.” The commander turned back to the screen, where a now-sleeping Seth lay flat on top of the covers.
“This is it, the one I’ve been looking for,” Zain muttered to himself. “Who would’ve thought it’d be a damn kid?”
“Will you need anything else, sir? If not, I’ll be on my way. I need to file my reports so we can track his progress.” The doctor’s voice brought him back to the present.
“No, you’re dismissed. Thanks for the help, Doc.”
“My pleasure, sir. Good night.” The doctor left the room, clipboard in hand and scribbling notes as he walked.
“Indeed it is, Doc. A very good night.” Zain turned back to the screen and began to type in the necessary codes for holoprograms Bravo and Charlie.
—————
Reilly woke up suddenly to the sounds of a busy street and people talking. It took her a moment or two to remember where she was as she sat up and examined her surroundings. Ty was gone, but the chair still sat in the doorway, silhouetted in the bright morning light. She checked the perimeter on her handheld and saw he had shut it down earlier, probably when everyone had started waking up and tripping it as they left the guesthouse that morning. The ledger still sat on the edge of the desk where she had left it. A virtual note on her handheld informed her that Ty had left to contact some of the local traders to see if they might be interested in any of the remaining items from the Vervian heist. She nodded to herself as she read it, stuffing the handheld into her pack along with the ledger and strapping on her blaster, which she had left lying on the desk. After a quick head call, she walked down to the kitchen for some coffee before heading over to the metalworks.
Her ship was still on the pad where they had left it, and now apparently it was the current talk of the town. As Reilly strode up, a group of local merchants, soldiers, and mechanics were slinging ever more outrageous tales of the square down she and Duv had done yesterday to land the shattered bird. They hushed as she walked up and broke off into small groups to continue their discussions elsewhere while one of the metalworks mechanics came up to greet her.
“Name’s Marek. Metalworker first class, and I’ve been assigned to oversee your ship, Captain.” Marek wore gray coveralls and had dark hair and olive skin smudged with grease. He waved her over to the starboard side and started to talk again.
“Not much we can do in a case like this. Incredible you even landed her. What probably saved her was these patches your man did here. Otherwise would’ve come apart on reentry, and you’d all be ash floating down on us right now. Can’t say I’ve seen a thing like it in a while. What’d ya hit?”
Reilly smiled “I didn’t hit anything. Those are laser scores.”
Marek looked again, more closely. “Huh. Never seen a laser cut that deep before. Must’ve been pretty close or pretty focused. Either way, she ain’t gonna fly again, at least not unless you plan on retiring and doing the milk runs?”
Reilly shook her head. “Not likely. I’d die of boredom during the first one.”
Marek nodded. “Thought you might say that. I got you a contact. He sells ships over the opposite side of the yard; got one I think might suit you. I work with them all, so I can tell you he’s the best dealer we got and he’s fair. He says it’s got it, then it does, and he won’t bullshit you. Doesn’t hurt that he’s family, either.” He grinned, showing very white teeth, as he handed her a business card for Cirrus Ship Sellers.
Reilly took the card, read the info on it, and then reached for her handheld to give Marek a tip, but he stepped back.
“No, ma’am. That’s on me. I owe your man Ty for a few favors he done me in the service and a few bullets he took in my stead. You tell him I said thanks and I’ll be around for a drink later if he’s down at the Iron BAR with you.”
Marek waved once and walked back to another ship, hollering out something to the work crew as he went. Reilly watched him go. It was apparent he was well liked and respected by the way the other metalworkers spoke to him and listened to what he had to say. She looked back over at the hunk of metal that was her ship. She had only managed to get four years out of it, which wasn’t a good sign. There was no way she could afford to keep replacing ships that often, unless she kept getting windfall jobs like Vervian to come up. Then it was still a gamble that would pit her life and her crew’s against retrieving something that might or might not bring them a small fortune. She headed towards the back of the ship and paused to check in on the space cows.
A small pen had been erected by the locals after the miracle landing, and the cows stood contentedly chewing hay and watching the people around the ship. She patted the brown one on the nose, then scratched it behind the ear before walking into the remains of the ship. As Reilly entered the cargo bay, she was surprised to see Skeeter there, hauling a couple boxes down the steps.
“Seth! What are you doing here?”
Skeeter grinned back at her brightly. “I figured I could get in early and start packing up our rooms and some of the small stuff, you know, for storage. Sergeant Ty’s up in his room now packing up his guns and tac-gear. We got a man coming to pick it up in a little bit and carry it over to one of the ISU lockers to hold it until you get us a new ship.”
Just then, Ty came down the catwalk pulling a large black cargo crate on wheels while wearing a full combat pack stuffed with gear. He let the box clank down the steps behind him until it came to rest at the bottom in front of Reilly while he paused to wipe the sweat out of his eyes. A large stack of crates and boxes waiting at the back of the bay indicated that he had been busy for the last hour packing and moving gear down for transport.
“I just ran into your mechanic friend Marek. He tells me he has someone who might be able to help us with a ship,” Reilly relayed to Ty.
“Marek’s good people. We served together on more than a few hairy ops. One of the best mechanics I know, and also a pretty damn good gunner. He might be interested in one of the crew slots.”
Reilly took this detail in. “He mentioned meeting up with you later at the Iron BAR. Commander Zain will be there at nine. Don’t be late, I want us both there to hear what he’s got to say. How are you doing with the merchandise?”
“Already caught up with the traders to have them come out and take a look at what we’ve got for sale.” He gestured toward a bunch of military crates off to the far side of the bay. “Should be able to get a good price and get most of it moved out today. I got a buyer for the cows, too, a couple with a small farm outside of town. He’ll pick them up this afternoon. Chang is downtown doing the supply run for me—we decided to split chores—thought it might be a safer bet to minimize our t
ime here, considering the warning. The specialized items I’ll move with Chang when he gets back from town. The Commander offered us a couple of secure lockers to store everything in for now. He came out this morning to see the ship you and Duv landed. He told me and the kid here he figured he had to since the whole town was telling him how you both did a perfect square down with the entire starboard side on fire and falling off!”
Reilly helped Ty and Seth as they loaded the crew’s personal gear on a loaner TORR that Ty had borrowed that morning. “So Duv is in town, then, looking for potential crew members?” she asked as she set some boxes on top of the cargo crate.
Ty guffawed. “Oh yeah! And he’s recruited exactly one so far! From what I could hear last night, she’s a real—Ow! What’d you do that for?”
Reilly had jabbed him sharply with her elbow in his still-sore ribs. Seth was looking at both of them expectantly. “So Duv found us a new crew member? What’s her specialty?”
Ty started to grin again just as Reilly brought her elbow back into his stomach, causing him to release a whoosh of air. He stood back up a moment later, holding his gut as she eyeballed him severely.
“What? I didn’t—”
“Ty. Don’t speak.”
“But—”
“Not a word. Seth, your dad is interviewing a lot of people right now with all different kinds of experience”—she cast another warning look at Ty, who was still grinning—“but it’s important for you to understand that—”
“A man has needs,” Ty interjected. “And sometimes when you’ve been out in space for a while—”
Thankfully, at that moment Chang drove up with Maude, drowning out Ty’s attempt at a fatherly explanation on sex to their youngest crew member. Reilly rolled her eyes as he cut the engine and stepped behind Seth towards Chang, making the “cut it out” sign across her throat. Ty’s eyes went wide with mock understanding, then he gave her the thumbs-up and nodded. Chang, never one to miss anything, noticed the signing and looked suspiciously at all of them.