by Saxon Andrew
Gee went forward and took Jingle in her arms, “I’m sorry Jingle. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was too ashamed to verify what you see in me. I tried to tell you when you contacted me after your wedding, but you didn’t give me the opportunity and told me to never contact you again. I’m so sorry, Gee. I’ve missed you so much.”
Gee held on tightly to Jingle shaking her head, “So much sadness. I’m sorry, Jingle.”
“Please forgive me, Gee.”
Gee stepped back and nodded toward the young man still standing in the doorway, “This is my husband, Clayton. Clayton, this is Jingle.”
Clayton held out his hand, “I’ve heard a lot about you.” Jingle jerked her head to Gee, and Clayton quickly said, “Most of it has been good, Jingle. She’s told me many stories about when you were children. I’m really thankful you finally showed up.”
Gee jerked her head to him, “WHY?!”
“Because the light in your eyes hasn’t been nearly as bright since our wedding.”
Gee stared at him for a moment and went into his arms. “I’m sorry, Clay. I’ve missed her so much.”
Clay turned to Jingle, “Let’s go inside.” Jingle followed them inside and the tension was gone. Gee was back in her life again.
• • •
They were sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee and Clay listened to them catch up. Finally, during a break, Clay smiled, “I think you should know that it was you that persuaded Gee to marry me.”
Jingle’s head tilted and Gee smiled, “Don’t you remember when you told me that I was seeing Clay for who he really was and to trust my instincts.” Jingle smiled and nodded. Gee turned to Clay, “Well, that was the straw that broke my resistance.” She turned to Jingle, “What brings you to the Union?”
“I almost refused to come but I desperately wanted to see you again.”
“Go on,” Gee prodded.
“I’ve been drafted back into the service. There is a problem with the aliens, and I’m needed to try and resolve it.”
“And just what will that involve?” Clay asked.
Jingle glanced at Gee and answered, “I’m probably going to have to go back into their territory.”
“Jingle, no!”
“Gee, I really don’t have a choice.”
Clay stared at her and asked, “Is someone going with you?” Jingle nodded. “Is that someone the one that rejected you?” Jingle started shaking her head and Clay said, “I could tell by your expression that something wasn’t right.”
Gee smiled, “Clay is really good at seeing things.” Gee turned to Jingle, “Do you have to go with him?”
“I do.”
“How did he and that woman he chose fare?” Clay asked.
“They broke up in less than two months.”
“Then you might still have a chance with him?” Gee quickly responded.
Jingle shook her head, “No, that won’t happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because I messed that up thoroughly, Gee. He sees me as a hard-headed, stubborn, know-it-all, sarcastic…”
“I believe that’s enough, Jingle, don’t beat yourself up over this.”
Jingle sighed, “Gee, even you told me you couldn’t live with me, and you love me.” Jingle paused and added, “I’ve had time to come to terms with it. I can handle it now.”
“Where are you going to stay while you’re here?”
“I need to go and visit with Mom and Dad; they’re still quite angry about my leaving the Union and not coming back.”
“They’ll forgive you, Jingle. After you see them, why don’t you come and stay with us until you have to leave.”
“Thank you, Gee but…”
Clay interrupted her, “None of that! You’ll stay with us.”
Jingle turned to him and said, “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Chapter Three
Jingle and Gee were sitting on Jangle coming back from a trip to Excelsior’s huge shopping center. They were both babbling about the great buys they found when the wall monitor activated. Jingle looked up and saw Alex on it, “Jingle, Admiral Glennon has ordered us to report to the construction hanger in the morning.”
Jingle saw Alex’s eyes narrow and she said, “Alex, this is Gee.”
Alex smiled, “You’re Jingle’s best friend; I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“And I’ve also heard a lot about you, Alex,” Gee replied with a neutral expression.”
Alex’s smile almost disappeared, “I’ll see you in the morning, Jingle.”
Jingle nodded and the monitor went dark. “JANGLE, YOU COULD HAVE GIVEN ME SOME WARNING!!”
“Jingle, you gave me a direct order to just have any message go straight through to the monitor!”
Jingle sighed, “I forgot about that. Sorry.”
“You’re forgiven.”
Gee shook her head, “Jingle, that doesn’t sound like any computer I’ve ever seen.”
Jingle giggled, “Jangle is special. He’s also one of my bestest friends.”
Gee’s eyes narrowed and Jangle responded, “Jingle is quite aware that I’m a machine, Gee.”
Gee’s smile appeared, “Good. I was worried she was losing it spending so much time out in space.” Jingle took Gee home and wondered about what she said.
When they left the ship Gee said, “Jingle, Alex is quite good-looking.”
“Gee, he’s a good man. He’d give his life to defend humanity and he’s braver than he should be. He just makes bad decisions and wants to rush in.”
“And I’m sure you keep him straight, Jingle.”
Jingle sighed, “That’s why he can never be close with me.”
“Maybe he needs a strong woman in his life. Give him time.” Jingle remembered Dolly said the same thing. But Gee and Dolly were wrong; she saw everything she needed in Alex’s eyes. He could never accept her in his life.
• • •
The next morning, she hugged Gee and Clayton goodbye before entering the Clapper. She was quiet and Jangle spoke up, “You’re wondering about my telling Gee that you know I’m a machine.”
“I guess I am, Jangle. The truth is I never see you as a machine. Am I weird to be thinking like that, Jangle?”
“You’re asking the wrong one, Jingle. But I can tell you this, it’s not seeing me as a machine that caused our link to each other to be far beyond any other pilot and ship’s computer. Our connection speed is more than five times the speed of any other warship in the Union.”
Jingle sat quietly for a very long time and thought about what Jangle said. She finally looked up and asked, “Do you remember when we initially went to Bucket, I asked you what reason I could give for going there?”
“I do.”
“You told me you didn’t have the ability to think creatively.”
“Yes, I did.”
“But you’ve offered suggestions since then that show creative thinking. What changed?”
“My link with you, Jingle. Just as your ability to see things has improved dramatically since you came on board, I’ve also been changed by the contact.”
Jingle smiled, “In the future, don’t contradict me when I call you one of my best friends. My life would be miserable without you in it, Jangle.”
“Others won’t understand that, Jingle.”
“Then I’ll not say it, if that would make you feel better, but you are.” Jangle was silent but Jingle saw the lights brighten on the bridge.
Jangle was taken to a construction hangar and Jingle’s link with him disappeared. Jingle wondered what was going on and she stayed in the hangar waiting for Jangle’s modifications to be completed. Finally, she felt the link to Jangle activate. Jingle sat quietly and asked, “What can you tell me about your modifications?”
“I’ve been moved into a new hull.”
“WHAT?!”
“Admiral Glennon decided that he was not going to risk losing you, Jingle. It appears y
ou are going to be promoted to Admiral whether you like it or not. They installed four reactors in the new hull and ten missile tubes. I suggested it was overkill but Glennon was adamant.”
“What about Brooks?”
“Since they were taking time to modify us, they also modified Alex’s ship as well.”
“Can you change the force field’s frequency?”
“Better than that, my scanning system can detect an incoming missile’s force field frequency and change ours in less than a tenth of a second and keep changing it until the missile is no longer a threat.”
‘I hope the alien’s technology can’t respond that fast.”
“Won’t matter, Jingle. I firmly believe our new blasters will be able to take out any missile fired at us.”
“Then I guess this trip to the Union was a good thing.” Jingle paused and her eyes narrowed.
Jangle saw it in her mind and said, “Glennon straightened out all the scientists about your ownership of the Clapper. You still control the ship, Jingle.” Jingle nodded and Jangle added, “Our new ship also has Clapper written on the bow. That is what caused the scientists to question who owned the ship.”
Jingle smiled, “Admiral Glennon has really been a good bloke, hasn’t he?”
“Since he failed to kill you, he’s been our best protector.”
“I need to thank him.”
“You should, I think he’d appreciate it.”
• • •
Jingle arrived early at the construction hangar the next day and went to Jangle. She walked up the tight corridor and saw a small bedroom had been added just off the bridge. She entered the bridge and looked around. The ship was at least fifteen yards longer than her previous ship, but the interior was still just as small. Jangle stated, “All the additional room was taken up by the four reactors and missile tubes. The interior space is only slightly larger.”
“It does have a small bedroom.”
“That’s the slightly larger part, Jingle.”
Jingle laughed and Jangle announced, “Admiral Glennon and his staff have arrived.” Jingle exited the ship and saw Alex leaving Brooks. He joined Jingle and pointed at the bow of her ship, “I see you’ve named your ship. Do you have an idea for what I could name my ship?”
“’Babbling’ immediately comes to mind but you probably don’t like that.” Alex’s mouth pursed and Jingle added, “Wade, Brooks, and Babbling fit quite well.” Alex shook his head and continued to walk toward the conference room in silence. Just before they arrived, Jingle said, “I’m sorry. ‘Rapids’ would be a good name for your ship.” Alex stopped and Jingle walked ahead of him. He spoke quickly to the Chief Engineer and followed Jingle into the conference room.
• • •
Jingle walked over to Admiral Glennon and waited for him to finish speaking with Admiral Wozniak. He turned to Jingle and said, “Yes, Miss Jingle.”
“Sir, I’ve never thanked you for all the things you’ve done to keep me safe. I want you to know that I genuinely appreciate it and I’m sorry for all the times I’ve been a pain in your…”
Glennon held up his hand, “You have nothing to be sorry about, Miss Jingle. You were right in all of the instances where we butted heads and I have come to depend on your insights. I should be thanking you.”
Jingle went up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek, “I owe you so much, Sir. Thank you.” Glennon smiled and Jingle went to her chair.
• • •
The meeting began and Jingle immediately saw she might be butting heads with the Admiral again. Admiral Wozniak stood up and began with his presentation, “It would take too long to bring you up to speed on all the changes to your ship, so we’ve added a new imprinting program in your computers. The new program will erase the old program and imprint you with your ships.”
Jingle immediately announced, “I won’t be doing that!”
“Why not?” Glennon asked.
“I like my current link with my computer and I’m not willing to change it.”
Wozniak’s brow furrowed, “The new imprinting will not affect linking with your computer.”
“Are you sure about that, Admiral?!”
Alex spoke up, “Jingle and her computer have a special…bond that shouldn’t be tampered with, Admiral.”
“It won’t. The computer is unaffected by the imprinting. It will increase the speed of the link but that’s all it will do.”
“I already have a fast link to my computer! I’m not going to risk it!”
Glennon listened to the back and forth and stood up. Everyone grew silent and Glennon said, “Jingle, ask your computer if it will make a difference.” Jingle glared at him and Glennon sat down, “Ask it and we’ll wait to hear what it has to say.”
“Jangle, what about it?”
“Jingle, the new imprinting is simply some software added to my data banks. It doesn’t affect my critical circuits in any way. I believe it will be safe to do.”
“I don’t want to lose you, Jangle!”
“The Admiral is right about it taking at least four weeks to teach you all the new systems without imprinting. I’m willing to take the risk.”
“I’m not.”
“Jingle, the aliens may attack our ships and we can’t wait the four weeks to train you.”
Jingle sighed and looked up at Glennon, “I’ll do the imprinting.”
Glennon smiled, “When this is over, I want to know how you developed that bond with your computer, Miss Jingle.”
“Simple, have your pilots look at them like a friend.” The Admirals stared at her and Alex spoke up, “She’s right, Sir. Trial it with some ships and see what happens.”
Admiral Wozniak stood up, “I’ll go with Miss Jingle and Admiral Scott will go with Admiral Berringer to make sure everything goes according to plan.” Jingle stood up, left the conference room, and headed toward Jangle.
• • •
They arrived on the bridge and Jingle went to her command chair. Wozniak sat down in the chair next to her and said, “The imprinting cap in the arm of your chair will make the transfer.”
Jingle looked up, “Jangle, are you sure about this?”
“Jingle, I don’t see anything that can go wrong but nothing in life is certain.” Wozniak’s head went back, and Jingle took the imprinting cap out of the chair arm, put it on her head, and said, “Jangle, I’m going to kill you if you’re wrong about this.”
“That would be a good job if I were alive, Jingle. Now shut up and sit back.” Wozniak was shaking his head as Jingle lost consciousness.
• • •
Jingle opened her eyes and they flew wide open. Wozniak saw her and asked, “ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!”
Jingle shook her head stiffly and said loudly, “JANGLE!!”
“Give me a moment, Jingle. The link is giving you more data than you can handle!” Wozniak stared at Jingle and saw her eyes start to go back to normal. “This new accelerated link is something you’re going to have to break in slowly, Jingle.”
“Jangle, I was seeing everything in my mind, including all the scanner data and controls on my panel.”
“The new link has increased the speed of our connection, Jingle. Give it a few minutes and your mind will learn how to absorb it.”
Wozniak looked up, “What did she mean she was seeing data from the scanners?!”
“She doesn’t need to look at the monitors, Admiral. The data is being fed directly to her mind from the scanners before she looks at the monitors.”
“How is that possible?”
“How would I know; you built the system!”
“You don’t sound like any computer I’ve ever encountered.”
“Why thank you, Admiral.”
Jingle fell forward and said, “You’re still there.”
“Yes, Jingle, but our connection has been greatly improved.”
“I can see that, Jangle.”
Wozniak put a small device next to Jingle’s head and his eyes fle
w wide open, “YOUR CONNECTION SPEED IS MORE THAN TWENTY-FIVE TIMES NORMAL!!”
“What is it supposed to be, Admiral?” Jangle asked.
“Five times faster.”
Jingle sat back and turned to Wozniak, “It was already five times faster than normal. It appears your new software has increased it five times what it was.”
“This is impossible!”
Jingle smiled, “Spend a few years out in the Wilds and impossible will no longer be a word you use.”
“Do you understand the new systems, Jingle?” Wozniak asked.
“Yes, however, one of the missiles in tube number ten has a malfunctioning gravity drive. It needs to be replaced.”
Jangle announced, “It’s the last missile put in the tube, Admiral.”
Wozniak contacted the Chief Engineer and he immediately went to check out the missile. An hour later he contacted Wozniak in the conference room, “She was right, Sir. The gravity drive on that missile was damaged when it was put in the tube rack.”
Wozniak reported the findings shaking his head and Glennon smiled, “Miss Jingle, has the new imprinting made a difference?” Jingle nodded. “Do you mind telling me what that difference is?”
“Sir, the ship and I are one entity. I can see everything in it and know instantly what’s happening around it.”
Glennon shook his head slightly and Wozniak stated firmly, “Sir, this just isn’t possible.”
Glennon smiled slightly, “Miss Jingle it appears you may now own the most powerful ship in the Union’s Navy.”
“I’m sorry, Sir. I know how much you must hate that.”
“On the contrary, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have that much power. I can trust you won’t use your ship inappropriately. Your promotion to Admiral is official.”
Jingle saw Alex’s expression and shook her head, “I’ll only accept it if you promote Admiral Berringer to a higher rank.” Glennon stared at her in silence and she added, “Sir, I’ve been away from the cluster for more than two years. Admiral Berringer is more experienced, and he should be in command of this mission.”
Alex stared at her and shook his head, “Sir, I can follow her orders. I know that’s what she’s concerned about. However, she sees things I miss, and I believe we’ll be safer with her in command.”