Before she left for Akumal, Commander Weisman had officially made them a team, and Desire was assigned as their full-time liaison to deflect negative publicity after Dom scratched the Receiver and Jock contributed to the Froree’s declaration of war. She didn’t know how she felt about that quite yet. She would have to play it out. She thought Commander Weisman demoting Jock and Dom to cargo missions was a petty cover after they had done something so extraordinary as saving the Earth from an invasion. But, Commander Weisman protecting them was a smart move. She knew the situation would be temporary and they’d soon be back to business.
The Federated Union was cagey about their upcoming assignments, though she knew they would be busy. She wasn’t going to get back to Akumal anytime soon so she had made sure to revel in her last swim.
She strapped herself in and closed her eyes to prepare for space travel. She calmed herself by thinking about her trip. The sun shined brightly over the resort as she floated blissfully on her back in the warm Gulf waters. It was heaven for her. She’d never experienced anything like that as a child on Alpha Centauri. When Commander Weisman suggested she go to the beach, she looked at him as if she had two heads.
But when she arrived, she was pampered beyond belief. Free drinks and food at whatever whim she wanted. Lounge chairs and umbrellas and cabanas for a breather from the non-stop sunshine. Cute cabana boys making sure she had everything she needed and freshly chilled Evian to drink. Now she was hooked on the beach and never wanted to leave. Dom would be so proud.
That the Aliens had been in Akumal once upon a time in years long past was happy coincidence for her. She knew there was a reason she felt at home there. She also understood why the Aliens chose that place in the distant past. There was magnetic energy that called out on a person’s base level. She felt it, and everyone there did, too. The place had a magical energy. So did the turtles. Desire felt herself falling into a micronap, but was awoken when the ship took off twenty minutes later
It was loud. The flight blasted from the Cancun airport like any other passenger jet. Desire marveled at how far space travel had come. It had advanced enough that they didn’t even need special launch areas. The ships took off like any normal plane and only boosted into the stratosphere when safely up and away from land and civilization.
They worked to get to the Constellation extra quickly. With a backlog of flights to the Constellation, they wanted to get back on schedule in short order. The remnants of the storm caused more turbulence than normal, but the flight was relatively painless.
Halfway through the flight she overhead a few people discussing the Froree incursion. They seemed excited about meeting a new species. “Too bad the Frorees had declared war on the Humans,” Desire thought. “They’d be living in peace and snow on Antarctica by now.” Instead they were stranded at the edge of the Solar System while the Federated Union sorted things out. She wondered what the Federated Union would finally decide to do.
She also thought back to her Froree friend, XO Espansa, and hoped she was ok. The Federated Union had kept her in quarantine for further questioning. Soon they’d let her go but not before they made sure she wasn’t a threat or a spy. Desire had seen into her mind and knew that wasn’t a problem.
“Ding....ding...ding…” Desire heard the alert as the hop steadied itself as it approached for landing on the Constellation. The landing was a little bumpier than usual. The magnetic traces from the solar storm the day before were still causing blips in the flight controllers. “So much for getting another micronap,” she thought. The flight was loud. She hated flying so early in the morning, though the concept of day and night disappeared once she got into space. “Welcome back to the drag of eternal night,” she thought.
USSS Constellation
Commander Weisman sat in his office studying some information JACOB passed on earlier from a far-off contact in another system. Ever since the Frorees made contact, other systems popped up online to announce their presence. He never thought Humans were alone in the universe, but he never dreamed just how much life was out there.
JACOB’s connections were the central hub of intelligence gathering. Data was knowledge. With so much out there, connecting the dots was difficult without him. JACOB was able to get anything Weisman needed in the blink of an eye. Though he could do without some of the dirty jokes JACOB learned along the way.
A new system came online announcing the need for a transport crew. “Not another of those,” he thought. The last few were just run-of-the-mill transport security details. He passed those off to Agents Waxman and Miller. They weren’t the best, but for missions that simple, he could afford to send a more junior crew. They needed the flight time anyway, so he might as well send them on this one, too.
“JACOB, any ETA on Saunders and Wagner?” he asked.
“They’re scheduled to arrive at 0h-nine-hundred, Commander,” JACOB said. “It’s a long flight from the Dais system.”
“Keep me posted as to when they arrive. I need to debrief with them right away. Oh, and what about Wilhelm? Wasn’t she due back yesterday?”
“Yes, sir, but there was an electrical storm on Earth yesterday morning. All flights were canceled. My records show she caught a hop first thing at oh-six-hundred. She should arrive any minute now.”
“Thank you, JACOB,” Commander Weisman said. “Send her a comm that I’d like to see her once she’s settled in.”
The new fusion warp drive double engines on the TX were first class. “Whoever put this ship together made some serious upgrades,” Jock thought. He wondered if the agency ponied up for all this or whether some mysterious benefactor blessed him with the extravagance.
Whatever the situation, he didn’t care. This ship had more bells and whistles than ever. He was still discovering new things, even after the last mission and with JAXX pointing them out as they went along.
Dom kept track of the flight logs and updated them as they approached the Constellation. A weird shimmy shook the ship on final approach. Jock and Dom looked at each other.
“This area went through an electrical storm yesterday,” JAXX said. “They are still feeling some residual effects. It might be a bumpy landing, but I’ll try to smooth over the worst of it.”
“Thanks, JAXX,” Dom said. He hated turbulence even though he knew the ship would never crash from it. The engineers designed it with strict tolerances, not that he trusted all the engineers. They were sometimes too smart for their own good.
Jock let JAXX take over and busied himself with the routine maintenance of the ship. The puke stains from their last mission still integrated in every nook and cranny they could find. The place stunk like a week’s old Limburger. He hated Limburger. He wanted roses and chrysanthemums.
JAXX wasn’t much help, not that an AI would be much help in the physical realm anyway. He tried to set things right with a blast of air freshener from the reject tanks in the back corridor, but those only masked the stink. The whole ship needed a power washing something fierce.
Jock finally nailed down the last crevice of puke. How it evaded him up to that point, he had no idea. “What the hell?” he thought. “I might as well pull up the floor panels all around where I took ill last time.” The marks were still there, staining the image in his memory. He’d rather forget. As he cleaned out the puke, he hoped they wouldn’t get into further hot water for blasting some wayward pirates.
Once Jock and Dom arrived back at the Constellation, Commander Weisman immediately called them into his office, to debrief them for their next mission.
“How are my two favorite cargo boys?” Commander Weisman said cheerfully.
Dom flinched.
Jock looked over, “We’d be better if our ship still didn’t stink of puke. We’re not taking off again without a power wash, Sir.”
“Fair. Fair enough.” Weisman told JACOB to order the maintenance.
“Men, you’ve been specially selected for a very important mission delivering some precious cargo to Pol
arus. First you are to rendezvous with a courier named Raan on Mars, then you’ll deliver the cargo to Polarus. You’ll need to be careful. The cargo is very fragile and valuable. A rare reserve of wine specially imported from the Vega system. You’ll need to get out before the next solar storm hits. NASA predicted it would be in about twelve hours,” Commander Weisman said.
Dom whistled. “No rest for the wicked then. Will Special Liaison Wilhelm be joining us?” Dom couldn't help but be a little excited to see her again.
“That would be an affirmative,” Desire said as she sauntered in the room. Dom tried to keep his tongue from wagging.
“Perfect timing, Special Liaison Wilhelm,” Weisman said. “I was just briefing Jock and Dom on the next mission. How was your trip?”
“Blissful,” she replied. “I loved the turtles. And Dom you’ll be happy to know that I now like the beach and would like to visit Grace Bay one day.”
Dom smiled like a schoolboy. Jock rolled his eyes.
Weisman recapped for Desire what the next mission would be and then dismissed them. There weren’t too many further details. They’d meet with the courier on Mars, drop the cargo on Polarus, and be back in 36 hours.
Jock thought it seemed like an odd mission, including the fact that he and Dom just got back from the delivery to the Dais system. Jock’s twitchy finger was still giving him grief, and Dom barely finished his new comm chip by the time they got back.
After a shower and shave along with a clean set of clothes, Jock and Dom were on their way to the bar for a few drinks, real drinks. Not milk and cookies, unless they were bourbon laced all around.
Jock and Dom settled at the bar and waited for Desire to join. Kevin, the bartender was happy to see them back safe and sound.
“Got something special for you, Dom. And it’s on me,” Kevin said. He poured something blue into a tumbler and then spritzed it with what looked an essential oil mist that caused it to look dry ice, vapor rising from the glass.
Dom took a long sip of the very cold drink. “What is it?” he asked.
“It’s called the Froree Special,” Kevin laughed.
“Nice one, you dick.” Dom finished the entire drink in another gulp.
Just then Desire joined them and Kevin gave Dom a knowing look. “I wish,” Dom muttered under his breath to Kevin.
“You wish what, Agent Wagner?” Desire smiled. “Pour me one of those, would you Kevin?”
“Not for me,” Jock said. “I need bourbon straight. Four fingers.”
Kevin went to work making the drinks. Desire sat between Jock and Dom.
“So I thought I was going to be sitting this mission out, but Commander Weisman wanted me along, sort of as a team-building exercise.” She wasn’t exactly familiar with the term, but Jock and Dom rolled their eyes. Another bit of corporate mumbo-jumbo seeped into the layers of government efficiency.
Still, Dom looked forward to another chance to hang out with Desire. His initial school-boyishness around her had faded. But neither he or Jock could get past the fact that she could read their minds. “All eyes have to be above the neck,” he thought. He knew any stolen glances at her ample cleavage would be dealt with harshly, at least verbally.
“Agent Dom, I very much appreciate that,” Desire teased him.
“Get out of my head, Desire,” Dom said.
“Never,” Desire said downing her drink. Jock rolled his eyes yet again at their flirtation. “What about you, Major Jock? Are you happy that we’re working together again being that I’m a non-Human?”
That made Jock uncomfortable. He felt guilty for having feelings like that, but he couldn’t help it. It was ingrained in him a long time ago. She just didn’t know the reason yet.
“Special Liaison Wilhelm, I would be honored to have you on my ship again,” Jock said formally.
“Well ok boys, let’s have another drink to toast our mission and then get some rest. We have to leave again at oh-seven-hundred hours tomorrow and I barely got a micronap on the way here. You guys must be exhausted.”
Dom hooted. “That’s the understatement of the year.”
Dom sat on the TX waiting impatiently for Desire to arrive. Jock was making final preparations for takeoff when she rushed.
“About time, your highness,” Jock said, “so glad you could join us.”
Desire laughed and sat down in her seat behind Jock and Dom. “Sorry boys, my micronap ran over. I guess I was overtired from my trip with the turtles.”
Jock and Dom merely grunted. “Ready, pardner?” Dom asked.
“Desire get strapped in. We are ok to go,” Jock said, firing up the TX.
3
Mars, Cargo Bay
A couple hours later, Jock was cleared for landing in the Martian hangar. Commander Weisman had arranged for their speedy rendezvous in the cargo area, but it was packed with commuters getting cleared for their work assignments on Mars.
The lines to the shuttles moved slowly through the loading phase, too slowly for most people getting on board. Being a Tuesday morning, they wanted to get to work so they could get back home, not waste time with inspections and the run-of-the-mill time wasting in the security clearance lines they always encountered. The clerks checked paperwork of the rows upon rows of people.
The trio watched the painful process, waiting to see a sign of their pickup. Being taller than most of the crowd, at least on this planet, Jock had the best sight lines. Jock always unbuckled his blaster in crowds like this, though it wasn’t always the best idea. Sooner or later someone was going to slip the blaster out of his hands, and he’d never see it again.
The pearlescent figurine of a naked woman on the hilt was the closest Jock ever got to novelty kitsch. It wasn’t by the book, but a gift from Commander Weisman after a particularly harrowing raid. He slipped his hand over the hilt to feel the figurine, and it was a calming influence while he waited in this ugly crowd for their payload.
“JAXX, are you sure he’s going to show?” Jock asked into his comm link. “There aren’t many people left on the and we haven’t seen him.”
“Actually Major Saunders, Rann just messaged that he’d be off the shuttle momentarily. You should see him coming toward you.”
Through the thinning crowd, Desire saw a giant creature with giant floppy ears in an electric purple suit bounding through the crowd.
“What the hell are we picking up?” she asked, wondering aloud what everyone else was thinking. “I can’t imagine it’s really wine from the look of that thing.”
Raan clumsily made his way to them. “Greetings Humans,” he said. “Please follow me to the secure cargo hangar to obtain your shipping crate.” Raan spoke strangely in a very high-pitched voice, almost like in song. The next ten minutes of Dom’s life were the worst ever, filled with story upon story from this crazy creature as they made their way to the cargo hangar.
Dom couldn’t believe his career had come to this. After the exciting SPOOK ops, he was reduced to carting “cargo” from one end of the galaxy to another. Commander Weisman assured them it was necessary, to regain their standing with the Federated Union.
“And then that one time, my ear got caught in the transport door, and I nearly lost it,” Raan Raan went on and on and on. “Then after I got inside, someone stepped on my foot getting over into the seat next to me,”
Jock thought this Raan guy was shady at best. He had stopped listening the second they started walking to the secure area.
When they arrived, Raan beamed proudly. “Agent Dom, Major Saunders, Special Liaison Wilhelm, it has been an honor to meet you,” he said. “Please take care of my babies on their way to Polarus.” Then he laughed loudly in his annoying high-pitched tone.
Jock picked up the giant crate Raan had next to him, anything to speed up the process of getting back to the ship and out of this teeming mass of interstellar creatures. “Raan is big but what the hell does he have in this box?” Jock wondered. He was strong, but even he strained to get it off the flo
or.
“Here, let me help you,” Raan offered. “It’s very fragile cargo, so please be careful.” Raan reached over and grabbed it out of Jock’s hand, lifting it as if it were weighted down by feathers.
Jock stopped and stared, amazed by the freakish strength of this creature. He looked at Dom and Desire, furrowing their brows. It didn't matter, they were getting paid, and that’s all that counted. They all walked back to the ship, Raan carrying the crate for them.
Dom jogged ahead as the cargo plank perimeter beacon flashed. Someone was taking a read of their ship. He stopped and looked around the docking area. Aside from the shuttle and a few dozen other private sloops, nothing was around on the ground. He glanced up at the walkway overlooking the bay.
A lone figure in a well-tailored suit walked the path to an office in the distance. Dom recognized quality tailoring when he saw it, figuring Canali Retro for the make. “Expensive stuff to get imported all the way out here,” Dom thought sizing up the situation. “Or else he’s just out for a stroll in the hinterlands of the system.”
“Jock, two o’clock. See that guy up there?” Dom asked, going into high alert. “He just stepped into that office. Expensive clothes for this kind of area, don’t you think?”
“Okay, Dom,” Jock said, “not sure where you’re going with this but the sooner we get the crate on board, the sooner we can get out of here.”
Raan continued to jabber on about customs officials and their snooty attitude about all the gear he had with him as he carefully placed the crate on the TX.
When he came back out, a laser blast pieced through the cargo bay, and Raan finally stopped talking. Dom ran over to him and sussed that he wouldn’t be talking anymore, ever. Martian authorities quickly surrounded the scene, stopping the trio from going any further.
Escape of the Glitter Princess Page 2