The Lost Starship
Page 39
Keith underwent many tests, and he found them interesting. The truth was he liked the attention. Finally, he left the center and received official notification that Star Watch wished him to remain with the Fleet. Would he consider a bump in grade to Second Lieutenant and attending the advanced strikefighter school on Titan?
“Bloody yes, I will,” Keith told the commodore who asked him. “Do you want me to be an instructor there?”
“Ah…no,” the commodore said. “You’d be a student for an elite strikefighter arm we’re building.”
Keith frowned.
A big man with a thick chest, the commodore studied him keenly. “There something else I should tell you. The new strikefighters have to do with the alien starship.”
“I don’t understand what that means,” Keith said.
“It’s a new idea and it’s going to take extremely individualistic and egocentric men to pilot the experimental craft.”
Keith began to have an inkling what this was about. “You’re talking about a new secret weapon, aren’t you?”
With his thick fingers folded on his desk, the commodore said no more.
Keith had been with Maddox long enough to interpret certain signs. The commodore had just given him a hint. Star Watch wanted individualistic pilots for something fancier and more dangerous than mere strikefighters.
“I’m in, mate. I’ll go to Titan.”
“We thought you would,” the commodore said. He opened a drawer and pulled out a single paper. “If you’ll sign this, you’ll be on your way.”
Keith barely glanced at the official Star Watch paper. With a flourish, he put his signature on it. That evening, he left for the fighting school that would forever change his life.
***
Lieutenant Valerie Noonan went to a Star Watch debriefing center in Cleveland, Ohio. She spent four weeks there. Lord High Admiral Cook spoke to her at the end of her stay. They walked in the outer garden, tossing breadcrumbs to quack-begging ducks.
“I’m impressed with you, Captain,” the Lord High Admiral said.
Valerie might have pointed out she was a lieutenant, but this was the Lord High Admiral speaking. She tossed a breadcrumb to a mallard. No. It sat wrong with her that he didn’t even know her rank.
“Excuse me, sir,” she said. “I’m a lieutenant not a captain.”
The white-haired man smiled at her, causing deep wrinkles in his red face. “I see. You believe I’m so old that I don’t know the rank of the person I’m speaking to, eh. You dare to correct me. Good. That means I’m making the right choice.”
“Sir?” she asked.
“I’ve just given you a promotion, Captain. Congratulations,” he said.
“Thank you, sir,” Valerie said, shaking hands with the Lord High Admiral of Star Watch. “Uh, does this mean I get a ship of my own?”
“Not yet,” Cook said. “I’m putting together an advisory team on the New Men. I want you on the team, Captain.”
What Valerie wanted was her own command. She had no desire to become a staff officer.
Maybe the Lord High Admiral sensed this. “I’m going to insist on this for the moment,” he told her. “There are a handful of people who have seen, spoken or listened to a New Man. You’re the most responsible of those.”
“Do you mean the members of our group, sir, those who have seen a New Man?”
“I do indeed,” the Lord High Admiral said.
Valerie thought about that. Finally, she asked, “Will I ever get a line command again, sir?”
“That might happen sooner than you think,” he said.
“Then I would be happy to join your team, sir.”
“Splendid,” he said. “You’re leaving with me, then. I have a meeting in Geneva to attend. You’ll be at my side listening. We’re planning our next step against the New Men.”
Captain Noonan of the Star Watch nodded, following the Lord High Admiral to a waiting armored air-car.
***
Among the group, Sergeant Riker spent the least amount of time in debriefing. He knew what the experts would want and gave concise statements.
Afterward, he headed to Geneva and a waiting Captain Maddox. There was no rest for the damned of the Star Watch Intelligence Service.
***
Doctor Rich never went to an official debriefing. She remained in the Oort Cloud, taking up residence on the SWS Battleship Antietam. She received notification of a pardon regarding her crimes against the Social Syndicate of Rigel. As of that moment, she wouldn’t have to worry about returning to Loki Prime.
She accepted the honorary rank of colonel in the Star Watch Marines. Then she headed the A-team that worked aboard the alien starship. No one knew as much as she did about it, and Star Watch Command wanted these new technologies as soon as possible.
War was coming against the New Men. Humanity was going to need every advantage it could squeeze in.
***
Meta spent six long weeks in debriefing in the underground Leif Erickson Center in Iceland. She also received a pardon. A major offered her the chance to join Star Watch. She turned him down.
Finally, they released her. Meta flew to New York City. She planned to leave Earth for good. Before she boarded a shuttle to a waiting star liner, Captain Maddox intercepted her.
They spoke for a time. Finally, Maddox bent near as if to whisper in her ear. He kissed her lingeringly. Afterward, he asked her if she’d like to dine with him that evening.
Meta accepted his offer, and remained on Earth for a time, spending the majority of her stay with Captain Maddox. They were among the happiest weeks of her life.
The End
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—Vaughn Heppner