It had been a whole year since she had broken up with her previous lover. The end had been spiteful. He turned out be a right royal shit. It had started out well, strong and passionate like this. She wondered if this would end the same. But she knew that Dave was different. He showed real character and he wasn’t selfish like him. He really cared about people. How then did he end up commanding a spaceship? Weren’t they incompatible? What the heck she thought, I’m just going to enjoy this while it lasts.
She gave Dave’s bottom a gentle pat, rolled over and out of bed. She donned his robe and made her way to the bathroom.
A few minutes later Dave re-entered the land of the awake. No Rihan. So he rolled over but found no robe either. He realised she must be wearing it. He grabbed his toiletries bag and found the bathroom door open. She had just washed her face and was examining her eyes. The blue silk robe was way too big for her but she looked great it in regardless. Hell, thought Warner, she’d look great in just about anything – service uniforms being perhaps the only exception. Why didn’t they make them more flattering? But he knew dammed well why. He moved over to the sink and plonked his toiletries down.
She looked at him through the mirror. “Possession’s nine tenths of the law I think.”
“Yes but that’s superseded by ‘Rank has its privileges’.”
“You’ve already had yours.”
“Touché! Let me know when you’re done. I just want to shave.”
“I won’t be long” and she blew him a kiss.
“If you start that again we might be here a long time.”
“Nah you’re all talk. Besides I reckon you’re out of ammo.”
Warner tilted his head sideways. “Fair call” and he patted her on the backside. If he had looked back as he left the room he would have seen Rihan’s beaming smile.
Chapter 8. Shangri La 1200, 23 April.
They had spent the morning lounging about. Rihan was still reading a novel on her console. A spent cup of coffee was on the adjacent side table. Warner was trying to master a game on the entertainment console. He had turned the sound off so as not to disturb Rihan’s reading. He was fast coming to the conclusion that such a sacrifice on his part was proving fatal to his chances of success in the game.
“Fancy some lunch?” he asked.
Before she could answer Warner’s communicator buzzed from the bedroom. He moved quickly to answer. He was gone only a minute. On his return Rihan looked up from her novel and made eye contact.
“It was Rapperberg. Looks like he has pulled out all stops. He reckons he’s finished that device to screen for the communicator.”
“Dave, can it wait?” she pleaded.
“Don’t you think this is a priority?”
“But so is us having some time off. You need it. I need it. We, I mean us, we need it.”
She was right he realised. He had been driving himself hard ever since the war began, ever since he lost Amy and the kids. “I’ve been running away haven’t I?”
She hadn’t yet made the jump. “What do you mean?”
“You just made me realise how driven I have been lately, since I lost Amy and the kids. I have kept myself so busy. So deliberately busy that I have had no time to grieve.”
Rihan came over to him and held him. She didn’t need to say anything more but he needed someone to hold and he held on tight.
“I loved them so and I miss them dearly”. He started to cry quietly.
After a few moments he realised how difficult this must be for Rihan, him talking about Amy. “I’m sorry for talking about this.” He tried to stand erect and regain some control, but she held him firm pulling his head down onto her shoulder.
“Don’t be silly” she said patting his back. “You have to cry. You have to grieve. It’s what we all must do.”
In that moment, Rihan started crying too. Memories flooded back of her parents who had come with her to New Hammersley and were killed there too. Like Dave and many of the crew she too felt guilty. Her rational brain knew that it wasn’t her fault. They had chosen of their own free will to come out and she wasn’t responsible for the nuke that wiped New Hammersley out. She had cried all this out before and she knew that there would be more crying to come. But right now she had to be strong for Dave.
Chapter 9. Hermes 1700, 23 April.
Later in the afternoon Dave got another call from Mary Chernside. Sue Chalker had woken from her coma. She was very weak but alert. She had asked after him and the rest of the team. Could he come and see her. She thought it would do her good.
As Dave and Rihan entered the sickbay he could see Dai Shu was seated beside Sue’s bed. The lights were still dim. The machines surrounding the bed hummed and pinged. The smell of disinfectant and anaesthetic reminded him of every other visit he had made to a medbay.
Dr Chernside came over. “Thanks for coming Sir. Things are looking good. She’s sleeping now but I reckon she would want to be woken. That would be fine but don’t stay too long.”
Mary gently shook Sue till she stirred. She saw Warner and Rihan and started to raise herself on her elbow. Mary propped her up with a pillow.
“Thank you for coming Sir” she said in a weak voice. She placed out her arm and took hold of Warner’s hand. “I owe you my life.”
“It’s Cpl Shu here that you really should be thanking. She saved you.”
After a moment’s pause Warner continued “In any event Sgt it is us who should be thanking you. You were very brave. Without you we wouldn’t have been able to extract Manger”.
“Did he betray us again?”
“That’s yet to be determined.”
Chalker raised her voice as best she could. “He should be shot for the traitor he is. How many more are we going to lose?”
Mary was shaking her head at Warner.
“Don’t worry about this now. You need to get better. We’ll call around again. In the meantime rest.”
They withdrew from the sickbay. Mary came out and said “we can’t afford to make her anxious, Sir.”
“I’m very sorry. I’ll call in again tomorrow.”
“Why don’t you leave it till the next day, Sir? I’ll call if there is any significant development.”
“Fine” said Warner, feeling a little dejected. It hadn’t been his intention to cause her anxiety - far from it. But he didn’t know how he could have handled that better.
As he walked away with Rihan he said “I shouldn’t have mentioned Manger”.
“Yeh, she really thinks he betrayed us. Understandable if you’ve just been shot, I suppose. You know, you want something to blame.”
“I think we should call off our dinner tonight with Art. It’s probably best we are not seen fraternising with him.”
“He won’t be impressed.”
“No.”
And Art was not impressed nor with Dave’s suggestion that he keep a very low profile and that perhaps he should avoid being seen in the mess. “Why don’t you just lock me in the Brig” he protested.
Dave teased him a bit. “I did consider it but I wasn’t sure I could guarantee your safety there either.”
“I see I am speaking with someone who is really master of his ship” replied Art.
“Don’t worry Art. It won’t be for long. You can come over and stay at the Shangri La when we head out.”
“OK now you’re talking. But you’re not going to buy me off that easy next time.” And then Art twisted the knife a little himself. “You love birds will clean up before you go, won’t you?”
Dave knew he’d been busted, but he wasn’t going to let Art get the better of him in this joust. “I’m not sure if we will have any energy left for that Art. I’m pretty exhausted these days.”
“That’s cruel, very cruel.” They both laughed and Art hung up.
Chapter 10. Shangri La 2200, 23 April.
The old movie had just finished and Dave raised his head slightly from its position on Rihan’s leg. She had watched the pe
riod romance throughout. Dave, having lost the battle for choice of movie, had been content to just lie in her lap. He had actually dozed off for a good portion of it.
“And Mr Darcy has been ensnared yet again?” he taunted.
“Of course, as it should be. Brain always triumphs over brawn.”
“Harsh, very harsh. But alas I cannot disagree. He’s such a pompous arse.”
“Yes, but he mellows and besides he has a great arse.”
“I see. I saw you looking at mine in the pool. You fancy a nice bum then?”
“If I have a whip handy” she shot back.
“S&M too. You are the dark horse.” Now he was teasing her and she was rising to the challenge.
“Just because you rode me once today, doesn’t mean you’ll get another ride.”
“Is that so?” At which he jumped up. But before he could gain the dominant position, she had rolled away and was standing in alert posture for unarmed combat.
“Impressive” he said.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet”.
But before she could react, Dave had used his left palm to turn her outstretched arm away and in the process to spin her like a top. His right hand pinched hard on her buttock as she struggled to avoid being caught in his embrace. She called out “Ooh! That wasn’t very gentlemanly.”
“All’s fair in love and war.”
“And this is?”
“Love, definitely love” said Dave. Their eyes were locked. She lowered her arms and walked straight over to him. He offered no defences. She grasped his face between her hands and kissed him passionately.
Chapter 11. Shangri La 0800, 25 April.
Rihan was buttering her toast over the dining table, reflecting on the last two days of absolute bliss. “Dave, I want to thank you. This has been the best time of my life.”
“You’re easily pleased then.” He was teasing her.
“Come on Dave” she rebuked. “I’m trying to be serious.”
He could see he had made light of her sincere remarks. “I’m sorry.”
“I meant it. I can’t recall a time when I have been happier.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
“I really wish we had longer” she said.
“Me too. But alas it’s back to work. Chase and Pug will be here soon.”
“How do you want to play things about us?” she asked.
“Look by now everyone will know we’ve been shacked up here for the past two days” said Dave. “It would be ridiculous to pretend otherwise. In any event I don’t want to. I don’t see this as a one night fling, well three nights.” He smiled. “Three lovely nights and two amazing days. I’m going to find it hard to keep my hands off you but when we’re on duty we’ll have to be professional. Call me Sir and show me some respect. I realise that may come a bit hard now.” He winked.
In all earnestness, Rihan reached out and touched his hand. “Not at all. Not at all.”
He picked up her hand in his and tenderly kissed the top of it. He looked into her eyes and loved her.
“Of course we now have an even bigger problem” he said.
“What?”
“Your cabin or mine?” he said.
She loved his sense of humour, well most of the time. He could be flippant at times. But his eyes usually betrayed his good nature and lack of any bad intent. They were smiling now.
“They say variety is the spice of life” she responded “but there is more space in your cabin.”
“That’s true and I now appreciate just how much space you need in a bedroom.”
“Cheeky” and she gave him a light clip over the ear followed by a long lingering kiss.
At the end of it he said “now where am I again? We gotta do that again.”
“Ta Ta Ta…duty calls mon capitain.”
“Ah duty, ma cherie! Till tonight then!”
“Till tonight.”
Chapter 12. Shangri La 0900, 25 April.
“Wow” was all Chase Hanlon could get out as he surveyed the entrance. Rihan was enjoying his reaction. He finally looked at her and said “Is this for real?”
“Sure is and you’ve got to see the pool.”
“A swimming pool?”
“Yep” said Rihan as she gently guided him down to the conference wing.
Chief Pug Sterkze, being older, wasn’t that easy to impress but even he was staring in amazement. “These business types really know how to kit out a facility.”
Warner was waiting in the conference room, the one with the long wooden table. He bid them sit down and as they entered asked “Coffee gentlemen?” He waved his hand palm upwards towards a silver tray, replete with coffee pot, and a range of biscuits.
“Don’t mind if I do” said Pug. “Things are looking up.”
Chase was already munching a biscuit and pouring out a cup for himself. Then he realised that it would be best to offer it up. “I’ll do the honours.” Rihan nodded approval and Chase smiled back.
“Everything OK onboard?” Warner asked Chase.
“Yes Sir. Replenishment is complete. Two thirds of the crew are ashore on leave. Lt Bellard is on watch. Nothing else to report.”
“Any further news on Sgt Chalker?”
“Doc has her up and walking, well in that RoboWalker anyway.”
“Really?” asked Warner “So soon.”
“Yes Sir” said Pug. “There’ no holding her back. She’s one tough marine.”
“OK I must drop in to see her later today. Alright, down to business.” Warner went on to update them on developments, including how Rapperberg had decrypted the signal and how they were going to set a trap for Archangel. He explained that to force his hand they needed to choose a target that the traitor must respond to.
“Alpha Phi” said Pug “that’s going to be one tough nut, given our numbers.”
“I agree Sir” said Chase “Don’t you think we might be biting off more than we can chew?”
“Maybe but the only other critical target that is vital to the enemy is the base at Niku and that’s a lot tougher.” The others nodded in agreement. “If we pull this off, we get rid of a thorn in our side, destroying the corvette base, and more importantly we put our house in order. And we need to do that soon.”
“Wouldn’t it be best to wait for reinforcements, Sir. If Fleet agree, we can hit them with a whole task force” suggested Pug.
“No, this can’t wait that long. We need to rid ourselves of this viper asap.” Warner was about to tell them his real reason but a gut feeling warned him not to. He didn’t have time to interrogate that feeling but he had come to trust his instincts in these matters. So he refrained. For now only he, Rihan and Art would know that the attack on Hammersley was not down to the Alliance and that he had not informed Fleet HQ.
Pug couldn’t see the necessity to move now. He was studying his skipper’s face carefully but it was inscrutable. He stayed his hand.
Warner looked at the silent faces and then proffered “Besides we couldn’t maintain a fleet task force here at the moment anyway.”
“No, but they could do a hit and run raid” said Chase.
“And that would invite a reciprocal raid by the Wasp Group on our base here.”
Pug decided to chime in. “But what’s to stop them doing that in response to a small raid by us?”
“They have not committed the Wasp to this sector so far for a good reason. At the moment it can respond to a move from either our Enterprise Group or the Arc Royal Group. If they move here they leave their vital interests exposed. They will only commit if they know we have committed one of our groups.”
That seemed to satisfy them as no further challenges ensued. Finally Chase asked “When are you thinking of launching this attack, Sir”.
“Tomorrow evening.”
“That doesn’t leave much time.”
“No it doesn’t.”
“I want you and Pug to work up options. We’ll meet again after lunch say at 14
00.”
“XO better round up the troops on shore and get the Hermes ready for departure by 0600 tomorrow.”
Rihan had her poker face on. “Yes Sir” she said and gave him a quick wink. Warner pretended not to notice. But the others did.
“Does that mean I miss out on a night of luxury here” said Chase, looking a little despondent.
“Not at all Chase. There’s even beer in the fridge. But I want you ready on board at 0600” said Rihan.
Chase’s face lit up “Yes Maam!” and he gave her a quick wink.
Chapter 13. Hermes 1030, 25 April.
Warner approached the sickbay on Hermes with a little apprehension. He wanted to avoid a repeat of his last visit. Rihan was busy getting the ship ready. He missed her. ‘How could I become so dependent so quickly?’ he asked himself silently.
Before he could ponder that Mary Chernside approached him. She had a big smile on her face. It was genuine. Most things about the doc were genuine thought Warner. She was guiding him down the corridor towards the gym. She opened the door for him and beckoned him in. There standing on the floor was the RoboWalker, in which Sue Chalker was encased. Her legs were strapped firmly to the robotic limbs. She was holding onto a metal bar in front. Her legs, the robot’s legs, well their legs were marching around the room.
There was a look of absolute determination on Sue’s face. Her focus was fixed on the floor several steps ahead of her. Then she momentarily caught sight of Warner and Mary. She nodded and continued on with her rehab.
“Amazing” said Warner. “How long has she been doing this?”
“Since yesterday afternoon. Not all the time of course” she added.
“Is she over doing it?”
“I don’t think so. I never underestimate a person’s desire to get better.”
“She looks like she has the hang of it already”
“She does. She’s aiming for mastery now.”
The Awakening: Book 1 of Warner's World Page 11