Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (44 page)

Jack
dropped to one knee and opened his arms to greet his friend,
tears
welling in his eyes against his will. The Shepherd ambled past the
people and across the room to the man who willed him to live. Still
not completely coordinated, the dog's gait was slow and somewhat
mechanical in execution, but his determination paid off when he
reached the loving, protective arms that encircled him. Jack buried
his face in the long, soft fur of Fritz's neck and cried. "Oh,
Christ," he sobbed, "I missed you kiddo... I never thought
I'd see you again." Jack raised his head to the sound of steady
applause. And as he wiped away the tears of joy and relief, he
realized thirty people shed the same tears with him. The Shepherd
stared up at his master with one sparkling eye, as dark as black
opal. It twinkled with a spark of familiar mischief. The other eye
glowed blue-green and focused mechanically, producing a faint whirr.
Fritz saw Jack for the first time in living color. They stared at
each other nose to nose, as if seeing each other for the very first
time, until the dog impulsively licked the man across the face. Jack
fell backward and laid on the floor laughing. Fritz stood on his
chest and wagged his tail. Thirty people laughed with them.

It
was a time for celebration. The group
of
thirty plus crew and friends filed down the corridors to the galley
where more crew waited. Marna, in her effervescent culinary fashion,
had created a cake and pastries worthy of presidential consumption.
Wine and liquor of all tastes and colors flowed like water. So they
had a long day tomorrow, so what? Who cared? So their long day would
start a little later than planned, was that any cause for concern?
Not in the least! There were toasts to be given! They toasted
Fritz's recovery, the Professor's new arm, to Jack as a new Captain,
the pilots, the crew, the cook. They moved to toasting their home
planets, to victory, even the Queen of England was mentioned. And
when they ran out of things, they started all over again because
they were masters of their own destiny. And a simple hour or two one
way or another, wouldn't make a bit of difference. All was right
with their universe. Well, at least until they all got drunk and
fell down.

Sometime
in the wee hours of the morning, the celebrating died down and
the
members of the crew, new and old, dispersed. Trying to find their
new quarters in an unfamiliar ship, under the influence of
intoxicants and fatigue, proved to be an insurmountable task for
some. There were several instances of confused personnel sleeping in
the corridors. There were also several more instances, of groups of
personnel, in assorted states of dress and undress, sleeping in the
same room, even in the same bed. But, the release was good. They had
worked hard and it was well deserved.

Jack
almost fell over Maria's prone form, sprawled on the corridor
floor,
as he made his way to his quarters. "What a lush," he
grumbled. "Hey! Are you awake?"

"Mmmphh..."
she mumbled, face down on the carpet.

Jack
dropped down to one knee and attempted to gather her into his
arms.
It was about as difficult as holding a bowl full of noodles without
the benefit of a bowl. Deciding there was no gentle, delicate way of
accomplishing this, especially in his reduced capacity, he heaved
her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Diligently carrying
his load, the inebriated pilot, weaved his way down the corridor. He
looked down at the German Shepherd at his side, wobbling his way
down the hall. "Geez, I'm bombed," joked the pilot,
"what's your excuse?" He didn't expect an answer of
course, he just wanted to talk to the friend he'd so dearly missed.

The
dog stared up at Jack as they walked and wagged his tail. There
were
many things hazy or missing from Fritz's memory, but this man was
not one of them. He knew this man was his entire world.

With
Maria still slung over his right shoulder, Jack paused at the
door
to her quarters and punched the buttons on the keypad with his left
hand. The door swished aside and disappeared into the wall, swishing
closed again after he and Fritz had entered with their cargo. Jack
stood motionless in the darkened room, unsure of the furniture
arrangement. He addressed the ship itself, "Computer, ambient
lighting please." Slowly, the lights came on, producing a soft,
comfortable, indirect glow. Not as large as the suites on the
Princess Hedonist, the accommodations on the Freedom were quite
adequate and more than comfortable. There was no wall, just an
archway separating a small salon from the sleeping area. Jack moved
over to the bed and dumped Maria bodily onto the mattress, producing
an unintelligible mumble.

Fritz
sat at the foot of the bed, his chin resting on it's corner,
and
watched Jack struggle with Maria's clothes. The task of removing her
uniform, proved to be almost as difficult as picking her up, but
with a little perseverance, he succeeded in stripping her naked. He
stared at her curvy, cinnamon skinned form, legs and arms akimbo,
and wondered how such a desirable woman could be so unappealing. It
had been some time since they'd slept together, so many things to
keep them busy and apart, so many distractions... Jack had begun
feeling the effects. He had hoped tonight they would've had time to
spend together, in pursuit of amorous adventures with absolutely
nothing between them except their sweat. Damn, thought Jack. He was
downright horny. "Well, maybe tomorrow night," he
breathed. With a sigh, he mentally shrugged off the thoughts and
rolled the dark-haired beauty on her side, then pulled the covers up
over her shoulders. Instinctively, the woman curled into a ball and
proceeded to suck her thumb like a small child.

Jack
smirked, he couldn't help it. "Goodnight," he said
quietly, as
he
and Fritz headed for the door.

"Grbnitz..."
answered Maria.

"Yeah,"
muttered Jack as he and the dog passed into the corridor,
"that's
what I said... grbnitz."

The
two companions ambled down the silent, half-lit corridor toward
the
Captain's quarters occupied by Jack. The Shepherd leaned his body
into the man as they went, happy to be in his presence. Jack reached
down to stroke the dog's ears as they walked and felt the smooth
stainless steel plate and the artificial ear. He pulled his hand
away as if burned. "Sorry, kiddo," he apologized. "That's
going to take a bit of getting used to." He replaced his hand
and stroked the dog's muzzle and face.

The
problem was, the surgeons could easily produce artificial skin
to
duplicate any hue, but on ship, fur was a much different matter. It
was extremely difficult to produce, much less duplicate in any
accuracy with the equipment on board, so they left the technics
exposed, hoping that at this point, function was more important than
aesthetics.

For
Fritz, being alive was everything. The thing that bothered him
the
most, were the constant holes that appeared in his recollections. To
him it seemed like he had lost some kind of instinctive edge, but
since he could not clearly remember what that was like, he had no
solid grounds for proper comparison. What he did not realize, was
that the CABL technology was steadily filling in those blanks and
eventually he would regain most of what he had lost. Not only that,
but it would make him more intelligent on a level somewhat more
Human than dog.

The
compartmented doors in the corridors had finally been fixed, the
problem
mostly being damaged computer components. They opened with a hiss as
the two approached, splitting down the center, the halves moving
outward to disappear into the walls on either side. After passing,
the halves would re-emerge and come together, their edges
interlocking.

The
Captain's quarters were nearest the bridge and largest of the
ship's
accommodations, followed by the suite provided for the ship's first
officer. Jack had yet to select a first officer and thought about
this as he walked past the entrance to the room he knew to be empty.
He walked past the door to his own quarters and continued the short
distance to the bridge. He stood in the doorway for a moment,
surveying the empty work stations, which, in just two days, would be
attended twenty-four hours a day. After strolling the
upper
deck
,
he stepped down the short, wide stairs that ringed the
pit
,
the control section of the bridge. Standing in front of the command
chair, he surveyed the layout from that vantage point, something he
had done dozens of times before. "Whaddya' think, Fritzer?"
He looked down at the Shepherd who stared back at him, his tail
swaying slowly. "She's all ours y'know... take us anywhere we
want to go..." The bridge empty, the ship silent, it was then
he began to wonder if he was truly ready for all this. It felt
lonely.

He
thought about home for a minute. The void of space felt
uncrossable,
the distance incomprehensible. He thought about all the people
willing to put their faith in him, their lives in his hands. So many
questions unanswered, so many variables... the condition of the
ship... The accumulative weight of the responsibilities suddenly
became painfully obvious. He had tried to avoid thinking about it,
but there it was... like a big, fat, towering mountain of dirt –
and all you had was a teaspoon to dig your way through it.

"If
you sit around all day thinking about something," his father
would
say, "you'll think of a dozen excuses not to do it. So quit
thinking about why it can't be done and just get up off your duff
and go do it...
nothing
's
impossible."

Jack
battled the doubts and pushed them from his mind. "Thanks,
Dad."
He
turned to leave, "Cmon dog, let's go to bed. I'm bushed."

Unlike
the other suites on the Freedom, the Captain's and the first
officer's
were expansive. They held a salon with a bar in the middle, a
bedroom on one side and a small conference room with a computer work
station on the other. Jack stood at the bar in muted light and
poured himself a glass of something that resembled ginger ale,
"Voorlak," he said softly, "where are you when I need
you...?"

"Will
I do?" asked the soft female voice.

"Huh?"
Jack jumped. "Shit," he cursed softly. He had spilled some
of
the
drink on the bar. He peered at the figure in the bedroom doorway,
but the lighting was so low he could barely see the form. He shot a
glance at Fritz who laid calmly on the couch, unaffected. "You're
a big help," he whispered to the Shepherd. He left the glass on
the bar untouched and moved closer to the bedroom doorway. "Who
are you?" He felt stupid having to ask.

"Come
over here and find out," cooed the smooth voice. She leaned
casually
against the doorway, silhouetted against the darkness of the room
behind her. She was tall and slender.

Jack
toyed with the idea of just turning up the lights but declined
the
impulse. This was much more interesting. His pulse quickened as he
neared the doorway.

"That's
it..." she coaxed.

When
he got close enough to touch her, she slipped backwards, into
the
darkness of the room behind her, drawing him into the inky
blackness. His senses were alive with electricity, straining to
glean a shred of a clue to the mysterious woman's identity. There
was a gentle wafting of perfume.
Aahhh,
he thought, it was wonderfully smooth but warm and spicy at the same
time. Unfortunately, it was unfamiliar to him.

"Follow
my voice," she whispered, "I'm over here..." His
heart
pounded
so hard he thought it would explode, but he moved toward where she
directed him. He stiffened when he felt the hands against his chest.
"Stop there," she breathed. "Mmmm, a little tense,
aren't we?" She began to unbutton his tunic and he reached
forward in the darkness to touch her arm. "No," she
whispered, putting his hand at his side. "Soon enough..."

"Who
are you?" he whispered. It came out more like a croak.

"You'll
find out soon enough," she breathed huskily, pulling off his
tunic.
"I promise you, you won't be disappointed."

"But..."

"Hush!"
she scolded, pressing her finger on his lips. She stripped
him
naked, ran her hands across his body and lay him on the bed where
she instructed him to get comfortable. Which he did. Jack piled up
the pillows against the headboard and leaned back, pulling the
covers to his waist to fight the sudden chill he was experiencing.
As he listened in the total darkness, he could hear the
lop,
lop, lop,
of something being poured into a glass. "Wine?"