by S. W. Gunn
He glanced down at her and saw that she was dozing softly on his shoulder. He ran his fingers through her soft brown hair, which was still quite the adjustment to deal with. He had gotten used to seeing her as a blonde and now she was a brunette. The color also sharply contrasted her pale skin. Without even thinking about it, his fingers found their way to her ear.
He thought she was sleeping so he was shocked when she said, "You sure love my ears."
Jarron chuckled and said, "Guilty as charged, although I love everything about you."
She looked up at him before giggling and then she said, "Sorry I can't say the same."
He frowned and said disappointedly, "What about me don't you like?"
She ran her hand across his chest before saying, "Honestly you're a little skinny for my liking, but it’s okay because once we settle down I'm gonna fatten you up properly."
He could not help but laugh. Even he had to admit that he was more than a little bit on the skinny side, it was a hazard of his profession. He moved a lot and ate whenever he could. The ship did not really provide the best meals and many times the dispenser was not working right.
Sarcastically he said, "And yet you still married me."
She laughed and said, "Well you're pretty good looking, great with your hands and there is still that whole focal point bond thing."
Jarron nodded. Even he had to admit that their relationship was more intense than anything he had ever experienced because of the bond between them. Elyse sighed heavily.
"What's wrong?" He asked her.
She replied, "I was thinking about our future."
"And?" He asked curiously.
She paused for a moment before finally saying, "I think we need to change a few parts of our plans."
He was confused as to what she was thinking so he asked, "Such as?"
She again sighed and shifted herself to sit up and then straddle him before saying, "I don't think you should get a job transporting things. I couldn't bear being away from you that long."
Jarron nodded thoughtfully. He had thought the same thing himself awhile back. She reached out and softly ran her hand across his cheek.
"What do you think?" She asked.
He sighed heavily, "I've got to agree with you but I wonder what it'll leave me doing. I don't really have any marketable skills outside of piloting."
She nodded solemnly before saying, "I know but maybe your family could help us somehow?"
Jarron just nodded again. He wondered if they could find something for him to do. He even changed his mind about asking his father for help. He just hoped his father would not be too arrogant about it though.
She continued speaking, "Also I was thinking that once we settled we'd not wait on children because I've changed my mind and want my own children right away. All of this stuff with that man has gotten me to thinking that life is too short to wait."
"If that's what you want Elyse then that's what we'll do."
She grinned widely and said, "It seems that we've already been working hard on it anyways."
"Actually I got the shot." He replied.
He could tell by the confused look on her face that she had no idea what he was talking about so he continued speaking, "I can't make a woman pregnant unless I get a neutralizer shot."
She said with an expression that seemed a cross between relief and disappointment, "Really? All this time I was worried that I'd only been lucky that I wasn't pregnant already."
Jarron could not help but laugh, which she responded to by giving him a poke before saying, "How would I know? We don't have that kind of stuff on Cantua."
He reached out with both his hands and tickled her bare sides. She bucked madly trying to escape his grasp, laughing in her attempt to get away. He used his size advantage to keep her from escaping while continuing to tickle.
Between screaming laughs she pleaded, "Please stop, I'm gonna pee myself right on you!"
Jarron was half tempted to test it out but wisdom won out. Making his wife pee on him would be a little too much so he stopped tickling her.
Pouting at him she said, "Big mean guy, tickling his poor innocent wife."
She extracted herself from their bed and immediately moved to get dressed. Jarron frowned because he was unsure if she was really mad at him.
"Elyse," He said as he sat up and reached out to grab her arm, "You're not mad are you?"
She grinned evilly before saying, "Maybe, I think perhaps you should be extra nice to me in order to win me back."
"Anything." He told her as sincerely as he could.
"When we get to Dalain's house I want you to get that neutralizer shot. That sort of thing is against the Maker's will. If I get pregnant then it was meant to be, otherwise it'll happen when he wants it to."
Jarron was shocked. She was apparently much more determined to have a child than he had thought. He knew that he had no choice since it was she wanted.
"Alright if that is what you want then I'll do it." He replied.
She smiled happily at him and then gave him a firm hug. Jarron still had no idea about the whole thing with her religion but he saw no harm in making her happy. After she released him he stood up and dressed. Soon they would be arriving at their destination and it would probably be wise for him to be piloting. She offered her hand, which he took and then they walked back through the ship and into the cockpit. Feligrin was sitting in the chair by the weapons station.
"Hey guys." Feligrin said with a grin.
Elyse bent over and gave Feligrin a soft hug, which he returned. She then took her normal seat behind the pilot's chair. Jarron took his seat and strapped himself in. He could hear the belt on her seat click solidly.
"When are you going to teach me how to land?" Elyse asked.
Jarron chuckled and then he was hit with an idea. Maybe he could teach people how to fly a ship since it was something he was good at. He would have to talk to his family about it when the chance came.
He replied to her, "Once we get this whole situation settled with Tiberius and before we move to Terra I'll teach you."
Feligrin asked sadly, "So you'll no longer be our pilot."
Jarron nodded solemnly and said, "I'm afraid so Feligrin. I'm married now and this lifestyle isn't very good for raising a family. At first I thought it wouldn't be an issue but things have changed, especially with Tiberius so hot to hunt us down. I've realized there are more important things in life."
Jarron startled slightly when he heard Hain's grunt come from the entrance of the cockpit. He turned back and saw him enter. Jarron knew immediately that he was not pleased with Jarron's announcement. Jarron felt bad about it but he knew the decision was best for him and Elyse. Hain calmly took the empty seat.
After a long silence he finally spoke, "Lad I can't lie that I felt that this would be your eventual direction. As soon as that lass locked eyes with ya on that forsaken planet I’d known that I lost my pilot. It’s both happy an sad cause I’m happy for ya but sad that I’ll have to retire myself.”
Jarron replied, “I’m sorry Hain.”
Before Jarron could continue speaking Hain interrupted him, “Lad ya don’t need to apologize. At my age I shoulda been settled down myself some time ago, just couldn’t bring myself to it. Guess now’s a good a time as any, well once we get the mad man to stop harassin’ us.”
The nav computer beeped a warning. Jarron shifted back in his seat to ready himself. He was relieved that Hain took the news better than Jarron had hoped he would, although he knew deep down that Hain was much more disappointed than he let on. The ship shuttered as it came out of the fold. Kala-al-Draken came into view. Jarron was very relieved to see it. The sensors beeped out a warning, which Jarron glanced down to see a very large ship marked on the sensor that began to alter its course and head towards them. Jarron kicked on the engines and began to guide them towards the planet.
The comm crackled as a voice came through, “Unidentified vessel halt your approach towar
ds the planet and identify yourself.”
Before Jarron could react Hain stood and pushed the comm button before speaking, “This is Hain Stoutfist of the Keg and we’re here to see my cousin Dalain Stoutfist.”
Another voice crackled through, this one Jarron was certain came from the ship approaching them, “This is Captain Jarius LittleJohn of the Galactic Defense Force cruiser Praesidium. I am under orders from the Command Staff of the Galactic Defense Force to contact and interview some of the passengers aboard the ship that just stated itself as the Keg. Please board our docking bay.”
Jarron sighed. In the current condition of the Keg he doubted that they could get away from anyone, least yet such a massive ship. He glanced over to Hain, who just nodded solemnly. He must have thought the same thing as well.
Pushing the comm button Jarron said, “Understood.”
He slowly guided the Keg towards their ship. Jarron was impressed by the size of it. Jarron guessed that it was easily more than about fifty times the size of the Keg. It very much reminded Jarron of a bird of prey with its forward bridge and wide spread engine banks that reminded him of wings. It was a very graceful and dangerous looking ship. Like every other GDF ship it was a basic silver color and had all of the markings of the GDF. Jarron followed the beacon lights underneath the ship and then guided the Keg into the large hangar bay. Once the Keg landed firmly Jarron could hear the pressurization systems of the hangar bay pop loudly, which let him know they could exit the ship. They all unbuckled and stood up. As they moved to exit the cockpit Elyse grabbed Jarron’s hand.
As soon as they stepped out of the ship they were met by a large troop of GDF security forces. In the lead was a tall dark skinned man with shortly cropped black hair. He had dark brown eyes and a solid jaw. Jarron guessed he was in his late forties. He wore the standard GDF uniform. Jarron noted he had the same rank as the female Captain back on the Lunar Colony.
He stepped forward and spoke, “Greetings, I am looking for a couple by the last name Moynihan.”
He looked directly at Jaron and Elyse and said, “Are you them?”
Jarron nodded at him.
The man said, “My name is Captain Jarius LittleJohn. The rest of you remain here, you two please follow me.”
He turned immediately and began walking towards the exit of the hangar. Jarron shrugged and led Elyse to follow him. They walked through a maze of boring gray hallways until they finally entered what Jarron had to assume was some type of conference room. The walls of the room were the same dull gray color as the rest of the ship, except it had the logo of the Galactic Union on one wall and the GDF logo on the other wall. The Galactic Union logo was just a simple flag with three thick horizontal bars of different colors that held a circle in the middle that depicted the galaxy in the middle. The three bars were red for the Kalan, yellow for the Brumkin and light blue for the humans. The GDF logo was that same circle with the galaxy in the middle that had some type of bird of prey resting atop of it. One of the other walls was a full sized viewport into space. Jarron noticed that the view outside was of the nearby planet. Centered in the room was a long rectangular table that was surrounded by chairs. Resting and centered on the table was a holo-projector. The man gestured for them to take a seat, which they did. The man reached out and activated the holo-projector before sitting in one of the seats across from them.
Jarron was highly impressed by the device. As soon as the man activated it, a large beam of lights kicked out of it and began circling for a moment before finally forming into a one meter tall holograph of four people. They all appeared to Jarron to be some sort of leadership group. Each wore overly elaborate versions of the uniform that the man in front of them wore. The detail was good enough that Jarron could see in place of the bird of the man’s uniform all of these people had varying number of stars. The group consisted of one very old looking Kalan man, a Brumkin woman, and two human men. The Kalan man had the most stars on his uniform so Jarron assumed that he was in charge. Jarron took a solid look at him. He looked about the same size as Hain, his hair and beard were a light silver color. He had light blue eyes and his beard was braided into one long braid and his beard clip was the GDF logo.
The Kalan spoke, “Captain are these the people that Johnston was talkin’ about?”
The man across from them spoke, “Yes sir this is Jarron and Elyse Moynihan.”
Grumpily the Kalan said, “Perhaps one of ya could explain to me what exactly has my Captain over here in such a fluss. She was yellin’ and screamin’ that we had to protect ya both from my biggest defense contractor.”
Jarron chuckled at his words. Jarron was quite happy to see that their little display had been effective. He doubted they could properly display to this Kalan Elyse’s powers via a holo-projector.
Rubbing his chin he said, “Well I think that you should see in person. Sorry I didn’t catch your name.”
The Kalan replied coarsely, “My name is Admiral Kraggi Rotgut an I’m the supreme commander of the GDF. What do ya mean by ‘see in person’?”
Jarron grinned and then looked over to Elyse. She was sitting patiently and watching him. She smiled widely when he looked at her. He winked at her, which elicited a laugh.
Turning back to the holo-projector Jarron said, “Well what would you say if I told you that Elyse has the ability to lift almost any object with her mind and deflect laser fire from a space ship?”
“I’d say you were daft.”
Jarron chuckled before saying, “Not long ago I’d have agreed with you, but things change. Elyse here can lift objects with her mind and deflect laser fire. Tiberius Miramar wishes to experiment on the both of us to figure out how.”
“Why would he do that?”
Jarron replied evenly, “If we knew we’d tell you.”
The Kalan nodded before saying, “Very well I'll have Captain Littlejohn and the Praesidium bring ya back to the Lunar Colony so we can resolve this issue.”
Jarron knew immediately that he did not wish to go back there. He wanted to stay with his friends on Kala-al-Draken. He shook his head.
“No, we wish to continue on our way to Kala-al-Draken. We’ll be staying with Dalain Stonefist. If you wish to see us, then come there.”
The Kalan grunted and said, “Very well. Captain once you’ve released them, come to the Lunar Colony an escort me there.”
“Yes sir.”
The holo-projector cut off. The man across from them stood up and gestured again for them to follow him. Jarron and Elyse both stood up and then followed him back through the ship to the hangar where the Keg was. Hain nodded firmly at Jarron as they reentered the Keg. They all returned to their seats and Jarron had them out of the hangar and heading back to the planet as soon as he could. Jarron was quite relieved on many fronts. First he was concerned they might try to hold him, which they did not, and second if he could get the leadership of the GDF on their side then maybe they could have someone else deal with Tiberius instead of him and Elyse. That was an ideal situation for everyone involved, well except Tiberius Miramar but Jarron could care less about the man. As the ship warmed up he told Hain and Feligrin what had happened.
Jarron slowly piloted the Keg down to the planet and to the same landing pad they were at the last time they visited. He was greatly relieved to be there and could easily tell that everyone aboard felt the same way.
Chapter 8
As soon as they exited the Keg they were greeted by a group of Kalan guards. Dalain was not with them, which Jarron had expected since he was important.
One of the guards stepped forward and said, "Dalain sends word that he will return tomorrow. He asked that you be fed and given a room and as soon as he returns we'll summon you to his hall."
Hain nodded at the guard who responded by turning around and walking towards the entrance of Dalain's mansion. The other guards turned immediately and began to follow him. Jarron chuckled because it was the Kalan way to be brief. They followed the guards as they
walked down the halls and into the dining hall. Almost as soon as they all sat down Burdal entered and took one of the empty seats.
He spoke, “It’s good to see ya all made it safely to us. We’ve heard ya had a few issues on your way back here.”
Hain grumbled before saying, “Few issues would be an understatement lad. Heck I don’t even know what happened to half my crew. I dropped ‘em off at a space station for their honeymoon and then pick ‘em up lookin’ different and under attack from a whole fleet.”
Jarron could not help but laugh. He knew that Hain would be surprised by their appearance when they met him. He also felt bad about everything that happened afterwards. Jarron seriously considered parting ways from both Hain and Feligrin in an attempt to protect them from Tiberius however he had no idea where he could take Elyse that would keep them safe. The only thing he could think was back to Sethinalor but the idea of living there for the rest of their lives was unappealing to him.
Elyse reached over and softly rubbed the loose hair on Jarron’s head before saying, “I like Jarron’s haircut.”
Jarron grinned at her words. He personally hated it intensely and missed his long hair. It was all ironic because it seemed as though their change of appearance did little to help in the end. He did like her new look, even with the adjustment in hair color.
As food was brought out to eat Burdal asked, “So what the heck happened?”
Everyone at the table looked at Jarron. Jarron described everything from when they had last left Kala-al-Draken until they returned. Burdal looked thoughtful as he listened. He had no comments at the end of Jarron’s tale. After they finished eating the meal in silence they all exited and went to the rooms assigned them. This time they wisely assigned Jarron and Elyse a single room. As soon as they entered the room, which Jarron saw was the same room he had been given the last time they were there, Elyse headed to the restroom. She closed the door behind herself. Jarron dropped the bags they brought from the ship. Slowly the bathroom door seemed to crack open, almost on its own. Jarron could hear the shower running and immediately recognized a hint when he saw one. He smiled broadly.