by Saxon Andrew
Sam nodded and stuck out his hand to Bob, “I am very pleased to meet the son of the bravest warrior to ever serve with my father.” Bob took his hand and shook it.
The two entered the restaurant and Shelly turned to her older brother. “Bob, I’ve asked you here for a reason.”
“What?”
“In a couple of weeks, I am going to leave on a voyage that could take a couple of years.”
“Sis, I’m going to miss you terribly.”
“That’s not the reason.”
“Oh! Then what is it?”
“I just can’t leave without allowing you to know what’s been going on between you and Annie.” Bob’s eyes narrowed and Shelly grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the entrance to the front glass. She pointed into the restaurant and Bob looked inside. His mouth fell open when he saw Annie sitting at a table with Rolf holding his hand and kissing him on the cheek. “Rolf told me he had to work late tonight and Annie told you she had an audition. Does this look like an audition to you?”
Bob’s eyes moistened and Shelly grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. “Fleet Commander Oliver has been dating Annie for more than a year and they broke up a few months ago. She called him two days ago and told him she was wrong and wants to get back together with him. He turned her down. Annie started seeing Rolf soon after we met the two of you that evening three weeks ago. I don’t know which one of them asked the other out but they have been seeing each other since that time.”
“This has to be some kind of mistake!”
“Bob! You know that the Guyton is telepathic, right?” Bob nodded. “He told me he knew that Annie preferred the Fleet Commander but also liked Rolf. She keeps you around for her entertainment. She’s been using you for the last three years. Surely you’ve seen evidence to what was going on.”
Bob lowered his head, “I have seen that she will change plans at the last minute and not answer my calls on numerous occasions. But…”
“Bob, you’re my father’s son! You are not a wimp and you have to see that she’s been using you. Look at them again!” Bob looked through the glass and saw Annie put her arm around Rolf’s neck and pull him over for a kiss.”
“She’s with your boyfriend, Shelly.”
“What does that tell you about how much she respects your feelings?”
Bob looked into Shelly’s eyes and shook his head, “I know you really care about Rolf.”
“Not any more, Brother. I’m going in and sit down at the table next to them and see just how much I can make life miserable for both of them. Are you with me?”
Bob looked back through the glass and his mouth tightened, “You’re right. Let’s do this!”
“That’s the spirit.” They walked over to the entrance and entered the restaurant
Chapter Six
Sam and Jek waited for the Maître D to find a waiter to take them to their table and they followed her across the restaurant. They sat down behind Annie’s chair and Rolf ignored them. He didn’t recognize them in civilian clothes and he fed Annie a piece of fish from his fork. She put her arm around his neck and kissed him hard. He opened his eyes slightly and saw Shelly and Bob approaching the table beside him. His eyes slammed open and his whole body went stiff. Annie had her back to the table but felt him tighten up. She broke the kiss and saw his expression, “What wrong?” Rolf continued looking over her shoulder with his mouth wide open and Annie turned around. Her shock was immediate when she saw Sam and Jek sitting behind her as Bob and his sister were taking their seats at the table. Sam was sitting with his arms crossed staring at her. That damn Guyton was turned around in his seat smiling at her and Bob’s expression was menacing. But the one she immediately focused on was Bob’s sister.
Shelly looked at Rolf and said, “I guess you could call this working late. It has to take a lot of work to kiss that tramp.”
Rolf was speechless but he managed to say, “Shelly…”
“Shut up. Nothing you say is of interest to me. The only thing I want to know is which of the two of you asked the other out first.”
Annie sneered, “He asked me.”
Jek tilted his head and said, “Tisk, tisk, she’s lying.”
Rolf’s expression turned stern and he said, “You came by my office and asked me to take you to lunch!”
Annie looked at Jek and said, “I’ve never liked you!”
Jek shrugged, “No reason to be nasty.”
“You should keep your thoughts to yourself, you telepathic buffoon!”
Jek’s head went back and he smiled, “Now I wasn’t going to tell them about the other four men you’ve been seeing for the last eight years but now you had to get all nasty without a good reason.”
Bob looked at Jek, “Four others?”
“Yep. They’re in other cities and she’s been stringing them along for quite a while. It appears that just one man can never satisfy her.”
Shelly looked at Rolf, “This tramp you’re with has been dating every man at these two tables. You knew she was seeing my brother and you still chose to go out with her. You probably didn’t know that she called the Fleet Commander and asked him to take her back two days ago. He refused and she decided to keep you on the hook.”
Rolf shook his head, “Shelly, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it, Rolf. I recommend that you take this tramp and leave now.”
Annie sneered, “I’m not going anywhere!”
Rolf stood up and threw his napkin in his plate, “Then you’ll be here by yourself.” Rolf looked at Shelly again, opened his mouth, then closed it. He walked around the table toward the Maître D to pay his bill.
Shelly looked at Bob, “You know she’s going to call you and lie to you about all of this being just a mistake.”
Jek looked at Bob, “She’s already getting her story in order.”
Annie looked at Jek with eyes little more than slits, “Will you just shut up!”
Shelly stood up and stared at Annie for a moment before saying, “I told my two partners that I was going to kick Rolf and your behinds into next month but after seeing you, I just can’t muster up the anger to do it. All I feel for you is pity. Living with yourself is enough punishment.”
Annie stared in Shelly’s eyes and stood up. She walked around the table and stopped in front of her and hesitated. Shelly smiled, “Please, I beg you to take a swing.” Annie saw something in Shelly’s eyes and she turned and walked out of the restaurant. Shelly sat down and looked at Bob, “Are you alright?”
“I guess.”
Sam exhaled and said, “Trust me, you’ll be ok.” Bob looked at him and Sam smiled, “She pretty much had me in her grip but now that I’ve seen who she really is, she doesn’t look so beautiful anymore.”
Bob stared at Sam and slowly nodded before saying, “She has absolutely no remorse.” Bob turned to Shelly, “I thought you were doing this because of your anger at Rolf but I can see that you were really looking out for my well-being. Thank you.”
Shelly hugged him and kissed him on top of his head. Bob looked at Jek and said, “Sis tells me you have some memories of my father.”
“I do.”
“Would you mind sharing them with me?”
Jek smiled, “Not at all. I can do that while they’re bringing our dinner.”
Sam watched the two siblings and knew that whatever he felt for Annie was gone. He wondered how she had fooled him so completely…that would not happen again. They ordered their meals and Sam watched as Shelly and Bob closed their eyes and saw their father fighting against the Huddes. He saw from their expressions that they were amazed and fascinated by what Jek was showing them. The evening’s events had tied up one loose end and now he could leave Annie behind and concentrate on his mission. He had told her no but his heart really wasn’t in it. He was sure Jek knew it but he said nothing.
Sam suddenly realized that Jek knew he would release the demon once he saw it for what it was. That was why he had fully
exposed Annie for the conniving, selfish tramp she was. Sam felt alone but thanked the Creator for his best friend. He realized he would never really be alone as long as Jek was there with him.
• • •
Two weeks later, Sam pressed his communicator and Nefen appeared on his monitor, “Is your squadron ready to launch?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“We’ll be leaving as soon as I contact the President. Remember that we will not go into combat unless it is absolutely unavoidable. Run first is the order of the day on this mission.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Your bretel has been loaded and stored on all ships?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Standby for launch.” Sam pressed another button and President Dyget appeared, “We are preparing to leave, Mr. President.”
“Bring us back something we can use, Commander.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Just do it! I look forward to seeing you when you return.”
“Yes, Sir.” Sam looked across the bridge and saw everyone staring at him. He saw Shelly at her console and she winked at him. He smiled and said as he pressed the Group Frequency, “We’ll be launching in one minute. Hold formation and go to full boost once we enter the filament.”
Jek turned around in his chair, “Where are we going?”
Sam looked at the wall monitor and smiled, “Out there.”
Rangel smiled and put his hand on the booster controls. The countdown ended and the small warship boosted out into the filament. A few moments later, it went to full boost and Heaven disappeared in the distance behind them.
Sam watched the planet grow smaller and Jek thought to him, “Do you have any idea about where you’re going to go?”
“Jek, before the Huddes invaded, we were approached by the Cartis and had discussions about their putting one of their traffic controllers in charge of our system. We agreed but they told our leaders that traffic to and from Heaven would have to increase before they would send one. However, they told us that most of the civilizations in the known universe spoke their language and they gave us the data on how to train our people to speak it.”
“Is that the language we were taught during our early education?”
“Yes, it is. And Fleet has demanded that all officers in Fleet must learn to speak it fluently. It really was a blessing because with thirty different species on Heaven, it gave us a common language where we could all communicate. Most of the species that came to Heaven in the early years already spoke it. They also gave the Leaders several copies of their filament maps.”
Jek smiled, “Let me guess, President Dyget gave you one of those maps.”
“He did and I’ve downloaded it into our database. The vast majority of intelligent civilizations are clustered in a quadrant of the universe about six days of high speed travel from our intersection. We’re headed in that direction and Rangel has the coordinates already entered into his console.”
“I didn’t know that the language we use was given to us by another civilization.”
“Before we really developed into a space faring civilization, the Huddes invaded and the Cartians do not have their traffic controllers in a war zone. However, we should be able to understand most of the civilizations we encounter and that should make things easier. They also traded some of their currency for bretel and the President gave all that he had to me before we left.”
“Why would we need currency?” Jek asked.
“Because at some point we’re going to have to land on a planet and allow our crews some shore time to decompress. We’ll need currency that will be accepted by the planets we visit. The Cartians assured our leaders that their currency will be accepted in the vast majority of civilizations in the known universe. They said that if the planet has a Cartian Traffic Controller, it will absolutely accept their currency.”
“How much do we have?”
Sam shrugged, “That’s the surprising thing. It does appear that bretel has an extremely high value. The Cartians traded about ten million of their credits for about twenty pounds of bretel.”
Jek turned around in his chair and stared at Sam, “You’ve got to be kidding me. That stuff is lying around all over Heaven. What makes it so valuable?”
“I really don’t know. There must be some use for it that we’ve not figured out. I know it will increase the power and life of a reactor’s fuel but it must have some other function than that.”
“Perhaps we need to find out what that is. It might be important.”
Sam tilted his head, “We’ll see if we can uncover that piece of information. I’m glad we have it in our reactors. We won’t need to return and refuel during this voyage.”
Jek turned around and Sam stared at the wall monitor. He hoped other civilizations valued the metal as much as the Cartians. Sam stared at his monitor and then thought to Jek, “I want to ask you a question and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“What do you want to know?”
“When Shelly said she wanted to go with us on this trip, she said that she was in no way romantically interested in me. Was that true?”
“She actually said that you should not think for a moment that she is romantically interested in you.”
“Is it true?”
“Sam, she’s hated you her entire life and though she knows that hate was founded on a lie, she just doesn’t have it in her to make that radical a change in her emotions. I do see that she likes and respects you but she was telling the truth. She holds no interest in being more than a friend and even that is pushing her.”
“Thanks, Jek.”
“Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. She’s really quite pretty and smart. She has impressed me since I’ve been working with her and I just wondered if there was anything there.”
“No, and if you really look in your heart you’ll see that you don’t feel anything like that for her either.”
Sam sighed, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Hey. You never know what the future holds. Things change over time.”
“I know, Jek. But I think you’re right about this. We’re just not suited for each other. Thanks for answering my question.”
“Don’t mention it.”
• • •
Shelly sat at her console and saw that Jek and Sam were communicating about something. She shook her head and wished she could hear what they were talking about.”
“It’s not something that would interest you.”
Shelly’s head went back as she heard Jek’s thoughts. “Is that so? What were you talking about?”
“You,” Jek answered.
“And you don’t think that would interest me?”
“Sam was wondering about your saying that he should not entertain an idea that you might be romantically attracted to him. He wondered if you still hated him.”
“I hope you told him I don’t.”
“I did. And I told him that there was no chance of your developing feelings for him because of the years you spent hating him. It would be too radical a change for that to ever happen.”
Shelly paused and lowered her eyes, “Jek, I know I’m not being fair about that.”
“Feelings are feelings and fair is fair. They don’t really relate to each other.”
“He deserves someone special. I hate to see him lonely.”
“That’s not a reason for you to force yourself into something you’d later regret. I know, in your own way, you care about his welfare just like you care about your older brother’s future. Sam won’t have time to be lonely once we arrive in those new galaxies. Fate has a way of taking care of all of our needs. At the moment, both of you are suffering from being hurt by someone you loved. Give yourself some time to heal, Shelly. Both of you will be fine.”
“Is this how you communicate with, Sam?”
Jek looked across the bridge at her and, after a moment, smiled, “It is.”
“Wou
ld you talk with me like this. I like feeling you in my thoughts.”
Jek looked forward and thought to her, “Like you said during the meeting, our team is now three. We should all talk openly with each other.”
“Thanks, Jek. I’ll talk to Sam about this at the appropriate time.”
“That would be good.”
Jek and Shelly turned to the wall monitor and saw the intersection growing as the ship moved closer. Jek was right, fate has a way of stepping in when you least expect it.
Chapter Seven
Leonidas looked at the monitor on his console and saw John Blakely appear, “Tell me again why we’re being given these ships by the Insectoids.”
“I think it would be inappropriate to call our benefactors paranoid but that is the best way to answer your question. They constantly worry about a more technologically advanced enemy attacking them and they’ve decided to send us out to see if we can find more highly advanced weapons to assist them in the event it does.”
“But why do they need us? They can go out and do it themselves.”
Leonidas shrugged, “I guess. However, they do have a reason for wanting us to go. Gem has been somewhat close mouthed about it but I think he’ll open up once we leave the planet. Quite frankly, I’ve been bored to tears and I’m looking forward to getting away and back out in the filaments.”
“You could do that with your own ship anytime you chose, Leo. Why are you really going?”
Leo smiled, “You know me too well. I understand that this new ship is so far ahead of my current ship and I want the opportunity to upgrade to a new model.”
“I can understand that but you wouldn’t just choose to go out looking for advanced weapons; you must have another reason.”
Leo leaned back in his chair and sighed before saying, “John, I guess if you look at my history you’ll see that I’ve spent my life fighting to defend others against implacable foes. I guess you can say I want to make a difference in this universe. I’m going out to see if that’s even possible.”
John smiled, “You also love a good fight.”