by Z Gottlieb
Shinny shook her head slightly and refocused her attention on her gait as she followed Brad. Although it was highly unlikely she would find herself on the ground and in combat on this deployment, she still needed to take advantage of every training opportunity to ensure she was mission-ready. She also needed to respond to Ukpres’ nasty engagements. At her most recent training session with her squad earlier in the day Ukpres shot her with a dummy round from a praser and also went out of her way to trip her. Shinny was livid, ready to teach the idiot a lesson or two. It was one thing to be in an exercise or in actual combat but shooting each other was never an acceptable maneuver in a training environment without providing notification. Ukpres continually initiated physical maneuvers out of scope with training doctrine and reminded others daily that Shinny wasn’t in peak condition. Colonel T’Lentic laughed and once again informed everyone that in his battalion everyone needed to be prepared at all times. Each time he seemed to take glee in announcing that the distinguished major has lost her edge. It was humiliating. She was ready to challenge Ukpres and him but, as before, they left, avoiding physical confrontation. It didn’t help that her boss held some grudge against her, for some unknown reason. Although she was ready to return home, she was still committed to performing her best while she was on the Zuonopy, even if the colonel thought she was lacking.
Brad continued to count the platforms to his right while searching for the platform with the elephant-shaped vehicles. He wondered why the catwalk was not supporting more than a single file formation at this time, since not only had he been on several that were wider, but he had also seen people moving in both directions in the past. A beep went off in his head. Damn, what the hell? He didn’t ask his chip a question. He thought back to some of his experiences on the catwalks and wondered if they were different or did he miss something, wondering how people managed to pull it off when the grid was this narrow. He definitely would have preferred the catwalk to be wider, with Shinny at his side. He sighed. There was still so much for him to learn and trying to figure out why the catwalk was so narrow at this moment was a low priority.
He looked forward, shocked by the sudden appearance of a Neslin walking toward them. He looked around, trying to figure out where it came from, since they couldn’t hide easily. This Neslin, like many of the others he saw was in the neighborhood of seven-and-a-half-feet plus a few inches, had a deep orange fur. This one was dressed in brown technician overalls with pockets on its arms and legs stuffed with tools. It scared the crap out of him, just like every other Neslin he had seen. Brad had seen a number of them on the cruiser since many of them filled the ranks of the Transportation Room’s technicians. He was told they were generally easy to work with, but he had also been warned not to irritate them. Looking at the one racing toward him, he had no desire to test the warning. He hadn’t met one face to face yet, and he still kept a safe distance from them. He had avoided every opportunity to meet one, using myriad excuses. While he was open to meeting non-humanoid aliens, the Neslins were too close to home and triggered an internal warning to just run like hell from them.
The rapidly approaching Neslin had a stern expression and did not look like it was in a good mood. If Brad didn’t think of something quickly, it looked like it would be a disaster in the making with the Neslin ready to run them over. At least Sergeant Mountain had stopped for him after the collision, but he didn’t think the Neslin would. Brad stopped suddenly and quickly swung his body to the right, pressing firmly against the rail facing the bulkhead, holding his abdomen in, thinking that would create more space for the Neslin to pass without incident. Shinny pushed the rail slightly with her hand and the flooring where she stood expanded to provide the Neslin more space. Brad took note of the movement and would remember the next time someone appeared to need more space on the catwalk.
“Major, Pilot,” the Neslin said as it nodded a salute, squeezing past Brad. Its expression changed from a scowl to a relieved look with the space Shinny had provided for it to pass. At least that was Brad’s interpretation of the Neslin’s changed expression.
“Technician,” Brad and Shinny responded as they nodded in response.
As he leaned flat against the rail, Brad’s palpitating heart slowed down and he exhaled the breath he had held. He hoped Shinny hadn’t noticed the Neslin had triggered a desire for him to take flight. For all the good things he had heard about the Neslins and their work, he constantly fought his instinct to run as if his life depended upon it. “Sorry, I don’t know how I could have missed him, but I didn’t see him coming,” Brad explained, looking sheepishly at Shinny. “We’re about 100 feet from where we need to go. Still with me?” His heartbeat slowed down and settled into a steady rhythm as he walked forward again.
“I’m always with you,” Shinny smiled. “By the way, the Neslin who just passed us was a ‘she.’ Connor was instrumental in their incorporation to CIG long ago when he deflected the Aneplé from their planet. The Neslins’ royal family pledged they would always support CIG’s Fleet. While many planets are neutral or ambivalent toward the Fleet’s activities, the Neslins remain committed to fulfilling their pledge. When it comes to them, it’s a love fest between Connor and the Neslins. Connor respects their work ethic and contributions to the Fleet and the Neslins credit him for saving their civilization. The Neslins treat him like a rock star when he visits their planet. It’s embarrassing, at times.”
Brad finally understood her anger at seeing the gorillas and orangutans behind zoo enclosures. Although she had been incensed, she did reach an understanding that Earth’s great apes had not evolved along the same path as the Neslins. But he couldn’t bring himself to be as comfortable with the Neslins as she had been as it passed them. “Saying he saved their civilization seems a little extreme, but we are talking about Connor. Later, could you share with me an explanation of their mutual admiration?”
Since arriving on the battle cruiser, the few Neslins he had seen all look the same to him. He was about to ask Shinny for more specific information on the Neslin biology to understand how she knew the Neslin that passed them was a female, when he noticed the platform to his right. He slowed his pace when he saw the odd elephant-shaped vehicles on the platform he used as his marker to stop. He stood near an individual lift and turned looking out across the Transportation Room’s vastness. Brad was nervous. His hands were still sweating from running into the Neslin. The experience had not helped him maintain his composure. But he also needed to start talking to Shinny, especially since their conversation could be cut short at any moment. “This is an amazing room. I’m not even sure I understand why it’s called the Transportation Room. It’s more like a huge underground cavern. I don’t think there is anything like this room on Earth. Looks like it might be equivalent to fifteen football fields.” Brad wanted to hit his head on the rail for stating the obvious. So much for discussing the separation, he thought. He was being an idiot and it didn’t help that he was dancing around the separation issue.
Admittedly, he had allowed work to distract him from contacting her and repairing their marriage. He had every intention of apologizing sooner, and he had been an idiot for allowing the separation to continue for as long as it had. He felt like an even bigger fool once he learned how close her stateroom was to his platform. He knew she was just as ready as he was to continue their marriage. Why did he even bring up the room? Over the past few weeks, he had rehearsed in his mind a number of things he would say to her, but had let his fascination with the battleship and meeting Deznoic’s demands take up literally every waking moment. Brad probably would have continued delaying the apology to her had he not just received a message from Pilot Palscom warning him to be prepared for the exercise. Brad was certain everything would work out, remembering her welcoming smile at her quarters, but he questioned if there would be enough time to clear the air between them before the exercise commenced.
Appearing amused, she looked at Brad and slightly tipped her head. “Mm, more than
twenty when you consider there are seven levels. Do you have a better suggestion other than Transportation Room?”
Well, at least that was something. At least she didn’t walk away, thought Brad. “I don’t know. The word ‘room’ doesn’t begin to describe what we are looking at. Just look, there isn’t even a contiguous deck, just a network of detached platforms layered to allow vehicles to exit and enter the ship at different locations.” He looked up and around. “Not only that, there are over 2,000 individual vehicles with over 150 configurations and specializations, not all of them focused on simple transport. In addition, it’s astonishing that over 3,000 designs can be printed out from a room-sized 3D printer, in a few hours if needed. I think I would start by calling it, ‘The Cavern’.” He pointed to the vehicle in front of them. “What is the purpose of the elephant trunk?” Brad mentally grimaced, thinking how stupid it was for him to spout statistics well known around the battle cruiser, in addition to not recognizing the vehicle in front of them.
“It’s a Pod Retriever. If people are forced to abandon their vehicles in the pods, then this is one of the vehicles used to retrieve people in hibernation. The long shank on this retriever is designed to literally sweep up the pods and then stack them in the main compartment. I’m surprised this information wasn’t provided to you during training. Isn’t it part of your chip’s database?”
“There was some training and information on hibernating in a vehicle or abandoning the vehicles in a pod to be retrieved at a later time, but there was no information on the vehicles doing the actual retrieval. To be honest, I didn’t pay too much attention to hibernation during training. The chip may have buried it with my lack of interest. I’m uneasy about the notion of going into suspended animation for indeterminate time,” Brad acknowledged, as he continued to look across the room. The conversation was not going in the direction he had planned. He had no desire to discuss hibernation indoctrination or reliving the experience from training and that’s where the discussion seemed to be drifting. If he didn’t get to the point, all of his planning would have all been wasted. She would still get her orders, even if she walked off, but it might go easier if they were together when she received hers. Looking at Shinny, all he could think was how beautiful she was, even in a uniform, and he was still being an idiot. He needed to have the discussion now since he didn’t think it would be any easier later.
Turning toward Shinny, he stepped closer to her. “Shinny, I’m sorry. I’ll admit, I was hurt and felt betrayed when I heard the secret you had kept. I thought that after knowing you for thirteen years, nine as a neighbor and classmate, four as your husband, that I knew everything there was to know about you and that we had no secrets from each other. For me, learning you were from another planet and old enough to be my grandmother’s grandmother shook me to the core. It was something I believed you should have shared with me sooner, perhaps even before we married.” Taking a deep breath he continued, “I felt manipulated, insecure and I started to question who you were and what else you were hiding. I’m not sure I can describe the sense of failure I felt about our marriage, wondering if the foundation was a sham. Intellectually, I understood why Connor and you had kept the secret and I should have handled it in a more mature manner.” Brad paused looking at Shinny, waiting for a response. Not seeing a change in her posture, he felt compelled to explain further, “I keep beating myself up over my own stupid reaction. It wasn’t as if another man was involved, and yet I acted as if your secret was worse than you having an affair. It was childish. I think even Dane would have handled it better. I should have trusted you more. If I had, maybe I would have handled the news better.” Brad watched her, wondering if he should say more, if he could step closer. At that moment, he stood there scared to make the wrong move. If this was Arkansas, he would have stepped forward and snuggled next to her and kissed her. But it wasn’t Arkansas and now they were both wearing uniforms. While Shinny was the woman he married, looking at her, he realized she was far more than he had thought he understood from their thirteen years of knowing each other. It was funny how the thirteen years was almost half of his life, but a very small fraction of her life.
Shinny’s face relaxed as if she suddenly felt a sense of relief. She matched his movement, stepping closer to him. “Brad, I am the one who should apologize. I should have worked harder for approval to share the information with you sooner. It’s unlikely I would have gotten permission to say anything before we married, even with Connor’s help. I was wrong to think it wasn’t important until Dane was born. Even then, I didn’t make enough of an effort to push it through the system. I should have asked for my request to be expedited once Dane was born. But, again, I thought I had plenty of time. I was wrong. And, I’ve missed you.” Shinny paused for a moment, staring across the room. “We can discuss the reconciliation further at my quarters.” She smiled slowly, reinforcing her message.
Brad watched Shinny smile and knew exactly what she meant. It would have been his preference to go back to her room and share more of his experiences since joining the Fleet and his dreams for their future and Dane’s. Unfortunately, he knew her orders were coming. They were pressed for time, and it wouldn’t be long before they would need to have that conversation. He smiled back at her. “Not yet. I want to show you something first.” Brad pressed the rail next to him, pushing out a one-person lift in front of him and stepped onto it. Reaching out to Shinny, he pulled her closer to him. Smiling, she stepped onto the lift and snuggled flush against him to fit onto the lift’s plate as he wrapped his arms around her. God, she smelled great, he thought, as he nested his head onto her shoulder.
“Up one,” he commanded the lift. “Are there any rules against public display of affection in uniform?” he whispered in her ear.
Shinny laughed quietly. “Yes, but I can’t see this infraction costing us anything more than being kicked out of the Fleet and banished to a backwater planet with limited space travel.”
“Like Earth?” he asked, as the lift stopped at the fifth level.
“Like Earth,” she repeated as she stepped off the lift and to the side, allowing Brad to step off and take the lead. Looking at the Transportation Platform in front of them, she saw several columns of the small, sleek Swarm Defender vehicles. The vehicles could be configured to tightly seat three to four people if necessary. However, the vehicles in front of her on this platform were configured as two-seat fighter/defenders. Although Shinny was confident this was Brad’s squadron, she used her internal chip to check the database to confirm the information. It was cute that he wanted to show her his squadron and his vehicle and she wondered what Brad had in mind. She had heard stories in the past from her peers, but those usually involved larger vehicles. Perhaps after Brad showed off his vehicle they would return to her quarters. They needed to catch up on many things. She reminded herself to slow down and allow Brad space to lead the reconciliation.
Brad stepped off the lift behind Shinny and turned to face his squadron’s platform. While he was amazed with the technology to which he had been introduced over the past few weeks, he was equally surprised how quickly his squadron had welcomed him and brought him into their group. With the help of his squadron mates, he had grown exponentially, both as a pilot and as a technologist.
Stepping onto the platform and leading the way for Shinny, Brad could see a few of the pilots in his squadron performing updates and maintenance on their vehicles while boisterously chattering to each other. He watched Shinny observing the activity on the platform and noted her apparent interest. He hoped she would still be in a good mood after he surprised her with his maneuvers. Leading the way to the front, he watched her facial expressions subtlety but repeatedly change as she checked out each of the vehicles they passed. He waited to see if she was going to say something.
He watched as Shinny noticed that many of the vehicles had nose or tail artwork. The vehicles were covered with a thin liquid crystal layer, similar to that found on screens of computer mo
nitors on Earth, that the pilots could program from the dashboard. Generally, the pilots would program the skin of their vehicle to match the designated team color. During combat operations, the skins of those vehicles were programmed as camouflage to match the surrounding area. However, what was being displayed at this moment was different from the color schemes used to designate the different squadrons and teams. The illustrations ranged from people to animals to planetary systems, and included a few objects that may have been totally unfamiliar to her.
“Brad, what is going on with your squadron? These pictures are new. When did regulations change to allow personalization?”
“Uh, I convinced Commander Deznoic that it was a tradition on my home planet to paint a person, animal or object of attachment on the vehicle to encourage the pilot’s commitment to the mission and sometimes even distract an opponent. I also pointed out to him that since it wasn’t specifically against regulations, it should be acceptable to personalize your vehicle.”