“Well don’t you look nifty.” John saw his friends Billy and David approach. They trio gave each other a quick hug.
“Who would have thought I’d see the day when John Roberts would be commanding a TERRA starship, let alone their flagship,” said Billy. “Command needs to rethink this.”
“You’re just jealous,” countered John. He looked at David. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you on PHOENIX.”
“It’s ok,” said David. “A life in space wasn’t for me.” David could never get accustomed to living with aliens. Try as he might, he couldn’t get past their cultural habits and beliefs. He was more comfortable remaining in the solar system and working with TERRA officers. He wasn’t John or Julie and had to accept his limitations.
“I managed to pull some strings and get David a position at the comm. center on Mars,” said Billy.
“I always hoped we would serve together on a ship,” said John with regret.
“Things work out for a reason,” said Billy. “But you better have some good stories to tell us when you get back.” The trio raised their glasses.
“Excuse me, captain,” said an older gentlemen wearing an admiral’s uniform.
“Yes sir?” asked John.
“May I have a word with you?”
“We’ll catch up later,” said Billy, who motioned for David to follow him.
When they were alone, the admiral spoke. “I’ve been trying to find some time to meet with you, but you’re a busy man.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” said John. “Is it something urgent?”
“I wanted to ask you some questions about my daughter. I’m Admiral Brandus.”
John went completely numb, and he had to force himself to remain composed. Alex’sis had talked about her father, but John never expected to ever meet him. “What…what do you want to know?”
“My daughter Alex’sis was your operations officer.”
“She was the best officer I had,” said John. “When I…when we lost her…you would have been proud of her. She exemplified what it meant to wear the uniform.”
The admiral looked away from John, and the captain could see the admiral was forcing himself to remain composed. “You have no idea what those words mean to me, captain. Thank you.”
John didn’t have a chance to say anything more as Admiral Brandus walked away. The captain wanted to chase him down and tell him so much more. How much Alex’sis meant to him, that they would have had a family. But John didn’t. He wanted Admiral Brandus to remember the daughter Alex’sis was, and not what the Screen had taken away from them.
Three days later, PHOENIX was in Mars’ orbit, ready to depart for deep space. The ship was moored near the construction site of a new space station being built.
On the ship, there was a ceremony taking place in the botanical gardens. There was one last task to be done before PHOENIX departed, and that was the marriage of Julie and Mitchell Connors.
John officiated the wedding, with Thresha by his side to give the Aldarian spiritual blessing. A transmission from the Senfo homeworld had been piped in the gardens, so that Chris Anne could provide the music.
“Ship captains have always had the privilege to witness the union of two people and see them begin a life together,” said John to the attendees. “I’ve had the honor of knowing Julie since our days at the Academy, and it’s my honor to officiate the union between her and Mitchell. If anyone has any doubt whether these two should be together, let the captain of this ship remove those doubts. These two were meant for a life together.
“With that said, I am pleased to proclaim on this day that Julie Olson and Mitchell Connors are one and the same. May they enjoy the benefits that life has to offer, and may they support each other through the tough times.”
John looked over to Thresha. “The spiritual bond between these two are strong. No matter how far they travel through the stars, the unity of the Aldarians will be there to watch over them.”
John extended his hands out. “Go forward my friends. You came here as individuals, now you walk away as one.”
Everyone broke out in applause as Julie and Mitchell kissed. Julie’s father couldn’t help but wipe away the tears from his eyes.
The wedding reception was held in Central, and it seemed the entire ship was either in the streets or on the catwalks watching the festivities. John was sitting at a patio table at the Stardust Café, with X by his side. The alien crew members were participating in the celebration, fascinated by all the hoopla the humans were creating about Julie and Mitchell’s marriage. Mu spent the last month studying the appropriate dishes to create for the event as he was asked to cater it.
“The reception appears to be a success,” X said to John.
“It appears so,” said the captain, who spotted Julie and Mitchell dancing among the crowd in the streets.
“Do you think you will marry someday?”
X’s question caused John to think for a moment. He thought about Alex’sis and how she would have enjoyed today’s celebration.
John looked at his bot and smiled. “I don’t think so, but that’s ok. I have everything I could want.”
X attempted to process John’s statement, but the bot came up with inconclusive results. There were still many facets of human behavior it didn’t understand.
“Captain,” said Thresha as she approached the table. “It is my understanding that humans engage in dance to express happiness for the couple. I would be honored to partake in such an activity with you.”
John took her hand and the pair headed into the crowd. X watched as John and Thresha danced along with everyone: humans, Aldarians, Onixins, Quix, and the other aliens on board. Although X still had much to understand about people, the bot recognized that John was happy at this moment.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
PHOENIX was in orbit of the Aldarian homeworld, along with a Quix military ship and three Senfo freighters. The hangar deck was bustling with activity as transports and shuttles were busy ferrying Aldarians and personnel assigned to the planet to help reinforce the structural integrity of the cave where the Aldarian city was located.
“I had a chance to say good-bye to Julie last night,” Thresha said to John as they entered the hangar. John ordered a one week honeymoon for the couple, which they were taking on the Onixin homeworld. Julie made a promise to herself to return there and enjoy herself on the planet that Alex’sis had fallen in love with. The Onixin council was gracious enough to send a cruiser to pick up the newly married couple so that PHOENIX didn’t have to make the trip.
“Julie wouldn’t have forgiven herself if she didn’t see you before she left,” said John as they walked together with their arms interlocked. “The engineering teams already have a pretty good idea how to reinforce the cave, so you can focus on your new duties.”
“You have always ensured all our interests are met,” said Thresha as they approached her shuttle, where her assistants were waiting for her.
“When we finish our mission, I’ll be making my first stop back here to see you,” promised John.
Thresha was pleased to hear that. Although she never told John, she had planned to remain on PHOENIX if she hadn’t been selected as the new Yearden. She had decided long ago that if her people did return home her place was on the ship. But her selection as Yearden changed those plans.
“I look forward to that day,” said Thresha.
John smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “The Aldarians are lucky to have you as their Yearden. I wish…” No, John resolved he was going to be strong. There was no need for a sad good-bye. “You’re going to be great.”
“I will miss you dearly, John Roberts,” said Thresha. “You will always be in my thoughts.”
John stepped back as she boarded the shuttle. Thresha took her seat and smiled, knowing her friend would be alright. She sensed no sadness within him, only warm feelings.
As the shuttle departed, John exited the hangar and took the long way
back to the command deck, heading down to Central. This was the heart of the PHOENIX and the best place to get a pulse of the ship. It was amazing that, even with new sections of Central opened up, how busy the streets were. A mixture of human and alien crew members went about their business, discussing matters affecting their daily lives.
“Mu, how’s the new business?” John asked the Rifva as he approached Central’s newest restaurant: Homeworld Decadence. It was the brainchild of Mario before he died. To honor him, Mu elected to open the new restaurant and continue operating The Stardust Café. The idea for the new restaurant was to serve dishes popular from all the alien homeworlds.
“I have managed to survive the first few days of operation,” replied Mu as he served dishes to a couple of Senfo at a patio table. “I already have received several recipes from the crew and will be modifying the menu again.”
“Sounds good,” said John. “Just try to keep the use of xixia to a minimum.”
“When Mario and I created the plans for this new restaurant, he explicitly mandated no dish would be served with xixia,” explained Mu. “He wanted the ship commander to have a place to dine without worry. I thought it appropriate to honor his wishes.”
John chuckled. “Then it looks like this will be my new place to eat.”
A couple hours later the captain was on the command deck. He approached the operations table where Tim Richardson, Korifluxinina, and his new operations officer were standing.
“Those command bars look good on you,” John said to Tim.
“Thank you, sir,” replied the newly promoted commander.
“Just try not to do too good of a job, otherwise Julie might get worried,” John winked at him. He looked over at his operations officer, who was clearly nervous as beads of sweat dotted her forehead. “You ok?”
“Yes sir,” she stammered. “I’m just a bit nervous.”
“You’ve done fine so far,” encouraged John. He knew she was nervous about serving on TERRA’s flagship. Thousands of TERRA officers applied to serve on the ship, and the consensus was only the most experienced officers should be given priority. But John didn’t agree, he wanted a mixture of experienced officers and newly graduated cadets on the ship. Word was the officers who weren’t selected complained to the command council when they found out John selected a graduate to be his senior operations officer. The council never questioned his decision, and John never offered an explanation to anyone except for Julie. “Just focus on your task and you’ll be fine. We’re all here to help you, even Vish.”
“Yes sir. Thank you. I just don’t want to make a mistake.”
“A little later I’ll tell you the story about this smart-ass cadet who helped steal an experimental starship and used it to explore space. He made some blunders, but things turned out ok in the end.”
The operations officer smiled, grateful for his reassurance. “I understand.”
“Then what’s our status, Shelly?”
“Um, we’ve finished unloading all personnel and equipment,” she reported. “The Senfo freighters are on the planet and the Quix starship has signaled us they are ready to take over patrol duties of the system.”
“Then we don’t have a reason to stay.” John turned to the navigation station. “Jufo, have you plotted a course for us?”
“Yes, captain,” replied the Senfo officer.
“Then take us out of the system, then initiate jump,” ordered John.
“Better limit it to factor two,” said Bret. “We want to be sure that Julie and Mitchell can catch up to us.”
“Good point,” said John. “Factor two, Jufo.”
“Understood. Taking the ship out,” announced Jufo.
“You have the deck, Tim,” said John as he climbed out of the pit. He left the command deck and took a tour of the ship, visiting some of his favorite decks: farming, botanical gardens, Skunkworks. He stopped and took the time to chat with crew members who wanted a word with him. He didn’t get back to his apartment in Central until late. X was waiting with a hot meal for him.
That night, John was laying in bed asleep. X was holding one of his hands and singing the same melody it used to sing for him as a child. The nightstands on both sides of the bed were littered with picture frames, housing pictures of many of the friends he made on the ship. X’s melody drifted into John’s dreams as he enjoyed the memories of those in his life and those who had departed.
END
EPILOGUE
Location: TERRA PATROL SHIP (TPS) SENTRY
Mission: Conduct routine patrol of human space between solar system and Alpha Centauri
Year: 2253
“Sensors are picking up the energy signature of a ship on course towards us,” reported the tactical officer.
Lieutenant Wu looked over at Commander Bowman, who was standing nearby.
“You’re in command, lieutenant,” said Bowman. “We’ll proceed at your discretion.”
The lieutenant nodded nervously, her hands gripping the arms of the command chair. “Tactical, identity of the ship.”
“Sensor readings indicate it’s a Cresorian escort ship.”
“Sir,” said the science station officer. “I’m picking up power fluctuations from them.”
“Cause?” asked Wu.
“Not sure, but the readings indicate they may be suffering trouble in their power grid.”
“The ship’s heading right towards us, but it’s slowing down considerably,” reported the navigation officer.
“Try raising them,” ordered Wu.
The communications officer nodded and attempted to raise the ship. “No response, sir.”
“They just ejected multiple life pods and I’m picking up increased power fluctuations from the ship,” reported the science officer. “They’re definitely having trouble, otherwise they wouldn’t be abandoning their ship.”
“Bring us in range of the ship and prepare to initiate rescue operations,” ordered Wu.
“We’ll be in range in thirty seconds,” reported the navigation officer.
“Send a message to the Cresorian ship we’ll be rendering aid,” Wu instructed to communications. She looked over at Commander Bowman, who showed no hint of concern or worry.
“We’re within range of the Cresorian vessel,” reported tactical. Suddenly, the battle klaxons blared. “Cresorian ship powering weapons.”
Wu realized it was too late. “Raise shields and power weapons.”
Several blasts could be heard and the holographic display in front of Wu disappeared.
“Simulation terminated,” announced the computer. Wu slumped back in the command chair, realizing she had failed.
“Victor, what was the end result of the SENTRY?” asked Bowman.
“The SENTRY suffered significant damage to the engine core,” replied the ship’s artificial intelligence. “Probability is the SENTRY would have been destroyed within two minutes of initial attack.”
“Thank you,” said Bowman, who walked to the center of the bridge. She looked around at the junior officers. “Never trust what the sensors say when you come across a Cresorian vessel. They’re masters of manipulation and can lure ships into a false sense of security before triggering their trap. And never assume they’re alone. Cresorians tend to travel in groups of at least three.”
“So is there ever an instance when a Cresorian is actually in distress?” asked Wu.
“Not in my lifetime,” replied Bowman. “If you do come across a ship that appears to be in distress, it’s best to send a message to the Cresorian homeworld. It’s not worth taking the chance trying to help them.”
“It’s not like they would try to help one of our ships,” said the tactical officer.
Bowman nodded. “That’s right. Remember that. The Cresorians are a violent race. They’re only interested in taking what they can get from weaker ships.”
“Captain Randon to Commander Bowman, please report to my quarters,” said the captain over the bridge speakers.
“Turn over your posts to your senior officers,” Bowman said to the junior officers. “Victor will review the tactical data of your performance and provide your scores.”
Bowman left the bridge as the officers traded places at their stations. The commander was hoping the junior officers would have actually passed this test the first go at it. She spent a lot of hours training them on ship tactics and had hoped it would have been reflected in their performance. But as Captain Randon told her time and again, experience always trumps academics.
“Victor, are there any personnel messages for me?” Bowman asked as she exited the lift and walked down the corridor.
A holographic image of the ship’s computer appeared in front of her. “You have a personal message from Earth that was downloaded in our last connection to TERRA’s satellite system. It’s from your parents.”
“I’ll watch that later,” said Bowman. “Anything else?”
“You also have a message from Commander Albert Hennison of the TCS MAVERICK. It is text only.”
“Read it.”
“Our mission with the Quix has been extended for another six weeks. A rendezvous at Alliance Station won’t happen, but am looking into taking a passenger ship back to the solar system. Not missing dinner with you at CROSSROADS.”
Bowman smiled. It had been seven months since she last saw Albert, and their frequent messages had eased the long distance between them.
“Send a reply back that I’m holding him to it,” said Bowman.
“Your blushed complexion indicates you are not upset about missing him at the station,” commented Victor.
“I thought you Delvin Corp AI’s were known to be discreet,” said Bowman.
“We are, but I have been in service for over forty-seven years,” explained Victor. “My interaction pathways have allowed me to anticipate when to appropriately inquire about one’s personal life.”
“Well you can stop inquiring about my personal life,” said Bowman as she reached the captain’s door. As she rang it, Victor’s display disappeared.
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