Star Dancer
Chapter 13
 
 
            Ian and Serina raced to the maglev, and shot forward to the bridge. During the quick trip, Ian was issuing orders through his wrist unit; Serina remained silent and tried to piece together what he was planning.
            “Captain Williams to Commander Johnson.”
            “Johnson here, Captain.” A somber voice answered.
            “Kyle, I’m very sorry about what happened to your father. It is small comfort, but try to keep in mind he died a hero trying to save that little girl.”
            “Thank you sir, it does make me proud but it still hurts.”
            “I understand, please forgive me for this but I need you to tell me how soon the Hornets will be finished with the retrofit?” Ian asked in a sympathetic voice.
            “It’ll be a few more days. We’re having some trouble converting the power systems. We may have to re-engineer the whole damn thing.”
            “Okay, do what you think is best to get them finished. Also, I need you to transfer copies of the work your people did to the Star Dancer over to the Prometheus. I’ll need the training simulators and maintenance instructions for the new fighters sent as well. Captain Serina of the Prometheus and I will be down there sometime in the next couple of days and I’ll authorize 90 more Shadow fighters. By that time, I’ll want a projected schedule for all the projects. I’ll also see what I can do to get more people on the base if that’ll help.”
            “Yes sir, uh, will we be allowed to attend the funerals sir?”
            “Absolutely Kyle. I would never keep you or your sister from that. I know I should have gone through Dr. Punjab with these requests but I also wanted to tell you how sorry I feel about Elias. Could you explain the breech of protocol to him for me, please?”
            “Yes sir, I’m on my way to his office anyway for the meeting.” Kyle answered.
            “Thanks Kyle, Captain out.”
            They had arrived at the Command deck and were walking through the doors to the bridge. Jenny saw them arrive and standing up, stepped beside the command chair, her hands clasped behind her back. “Captain on the bridge!”
            “Carry on. What’s our status, Commander?” Ian asked.
            “Engineering report repairs are 99% finished. They are having trouble with some of the electrical problems caused by the attack. But they report it as minor.” She glanced over her shoulder at a monitor. “Medbay reports Crewman Thomas died early this morning of injuries sustained during the attack. All other injuries have been treated, and everyone should recover. Talos reports that some repairs have been completed in spite of the fact that the place is literally crawling with government ‘investigators’. Mr. Belden believes that some of them are highly trained spies. Some of them have been caught trying to get into the underground facilities. So far no evidence has been uncovered to suggest that Talos is anything other then what it looks like. However the shield generator has been replaced and is functional.
            In addition, a Caldarian tanker has arrived and another is due to depart. The probes at the poles have reported only the one arrival.” She finished.
            “Good. We need to figure out a way to find out where those freighters are going. Once we do that, I don’t want any more of them to make it to the planet.” Ian ordered. “You ready for the meeting?”
            She nodded, and turned to the navigator. “Mr. Shostakovich, you have the con.”
As she turned back to the captains, Ian introduced her to Serina. “Captain Serina, may I once again introduce my Executive Officer and bond mate, Commander Jennifer Williams. Commander, this is Captain Serina of the Prometheus.”
“Pleased to meet you again, Captain.” Jenny bowed slightly with her head.
“Likewise, Commander. I fear the good Captain here is about to embark on another of the miracles I have seen since arriving in this system.” Serina replied.
“Oh?” Jenny looked at Ian and raised one of her beautiful eyebrows. “It wouldn’t surprise me any. He’s getting pretty good at creating those.”
They had finished the short walk to the command level conference room. As they entered, all the assembled department heads stood.
Ian looked around and saw that everyone was here, but the monitors on the walls remained blank. “Thank you all for coming. Before we begin, I want this to be informal; if we decide to act, our time will be short and you may have need to issue orders on the fly. Feel free to do so. Also we may be here for a bit, so if you want a cup of coffee, help yourselves.” He indicated the replicator he had used for breakfast. “You all remember Captain Serina from earlier this morning? I ask that you treat her with the same respect you give to me.” He turned slightly to Jenny, and touched her arm. “Jenny, would you get a cappuccino for me, and a coffee for Serina? She likes it the same as Beth does.”
She grinned, nodded and got in line for the replicator beside Beth. Both women could be seen to look over their shoulder at Ian and Serina, Ian didn’t notice the small secret smiles they shared, but Serina did.
Ian guided Serina to a chair on his right and then took his chair at the head of the conference table. “At planning meetings like this, I like to make sure that everyone is free to speak their mind. As such, no titles are used and people simply talk. If you have a question, just ask it. Would you like Star to list each persons name and department as you look at them?” She nodded, and Ian looked over to the hologram; “Did you get that Star?”
Star walked over to him, “Yes sir; also the communications links you asked for are ready and your previous instructions have been relayed as well.”
“Good. Turn the monitors on, and let’s get this show on the road.” Ian ordered as he stood once again.
“Okay, for those of you who don’t know her, this is Serina, Captain of the F.S.S. Prometheus. She is here to assist us in our rebuilding and advise us in our next course of action.” He held up his hand to forestall any negative outbursts. “Before you get bent outta shape over that, I need to tell you a few things. The rest you can learn tonight in an updated history lesson.” He glanced at Star, who nodded confirmation. “For those of you without enough DNA to use the teaching devices a presentation will be put together for you to view. I’ve already gotten that history lesson and understand what’s going on. I ask that you trust me on this. I wanted the Captain here. She represents a possible ally I don’t feel we should turn our backs on.” For the next 45 minutes Ian went over the basics of their present situation, a brief overview of the Empire, the Alliance, and the invitation to join them. Ian also told them what Serina had told him of the Alliance expectations. He sat back down and took a drink of his cappuccino, “In short, I told her we’d need to talk about it.
Now, to the problems at hand. First, Talos is in serious trouble. They have The U.S. Government crawling into every orifice they have and demanding answers. If we try to keep the town of Talos intact and rebuild it, we’ll need to give them what they want.” Ian saw Luke flinch and Laura lower her head in resignation. “I said, ‘if we try’. Captain Loreen, of the Pegasus, as well as Captain Serina both agree that our best course of action would be to pull out and remove all trace of our presence there. Granted it will leave the inspectors with more questions, but it will remove our people from the intense interrogation that is surely about to begin.”
“They have already begun rounding people up. The interrogations will start tomorrow.” Luke said. “They’re being held in ‘protective custody’ in the remains of the Community Center.”
Ian closed his eyes and let his head slowly tilt forward towards the table, “Bastards.” He opened his eyes, and scanned the room. Okay, here is what I propose; Captain Serina has offered her help, I intend to take it. We’ll get everyone out of Talos tonight. With Serina’s agreement, we’ll use all our shuttles to load up everyone, all they can carry and bring them to the moon base and Star Dancer. We should be able to have room. Star still needs crew, and the moon base still needs people as well. So, I want a list of available positions given to Star before tomorrow morning. We will go ahead with the exploration of the planets of Alpha Centauri and start a colony there if feasible. If not, we’ll figure something else out. We will not be leaving Earth to its own devices. We swore an oath to protect it and we will continue to do so. I intend to continue the projects we had started, but we’ll just have to be more discrete about it. Luke, Laura, do you have any idea how your people will take to this suggestion?” Ian noticed Commander Harris quietly conferring with Commander Dommer. They quietly waved Jenny to join them.
Laura answered first. “Quite frankly Ian, we were going to ask if we could leave anyway. This place will only hold bad memories for us. These damn investigators have no compassion at all.” Luke was nodding his head sadly in agreement.
On another monitor, Ty caught Ian’s attention. “Sir, getting our people away from these government thugs is going to be a problem. Luckily no one has been taken away yet, but I expect that’s going to be the next order of business. I simply don’t have the forces to… uh, evict our guests with out starting another ground war. There is an entire company of marines here, to ‘ensure our safety’. I don’t think they’re going to like us just walking away from them.”
“Ty,” Serina spoke for the first time. “Would a platoon of Talosian marines be of assistance?”
Ty looked thoughtful for a moment or two. He slowly started to smile. “I hope like hell I don’t need them but, yeah, they would be handy if the plan I just hatched goes south. Sir, I would like your permission to execute an attack on our protectors. I’ll need a few holo-drones as troops though.”
Ian chuckled as the jist of Ty’s plan began to register. “I think I see what you intend to do Ty. Try not to get anyone hurt. Now I’ll send one shuttle down loaded with construction drones…” Ian glanced at Commander Dommer, who nodded. “To demolish Talos. Once finished, they will remain cloaked and await retrieval at our original landing area. Ghost squadron will act as escorts for the shuttles. Ensign Saunders or his replacement will be the last to leave, since he or she will be needed to shut down the reactor prior to demolition. Are we agreed?” Ian asked.
Everyone nodded affirmative.
“Ian what about Elias and the others?” Laura asked, clearly holding back tears.
“Bring them along. We’ll give them rest up here; Elias always said he had wanted to see the ship. I owe him at least that much.” Ian said, as he too choked down the tears that threatened to overwhelm him again. He still had too much to set in motion. “Now, issue the orders everyone, we don’t have a lot of time. John, you’ll need a Talosian speaking flight controller for the Prometheus’ Shuttles.” Ian said.
John nodded as he was speaking quietly into his wrist unit. Serina also began issuing orders to her crew.
“Good, now…” Ian said, after everyone had sent their orders. “I intend to give Serina and the Prometheus, the chance to make the same upgrades we’ve done to Star Dancer. I would like you to offer any and all assistance during the retrofit. The reason I want to do this is because, I feel it would be a good idea to accept the offer of membership in the Alliance and this would be a show of good faith. Also, the Prometheus was ordered out to this system after a major battle with little or no chance to refit. She is currently running short on fighters, and I assume has other damage as well. During this retrofit, try to get to know her crew. Dr. Punjab, I would like you to release to the Prometheus, how ever many unmodified Hornets to bring her compliment back up to 60. If Captain Serina would like to wait on the retro fit and get modified ships that will be ok too. Work with them to make us the two best ships the Alliance has. Are there any questions?” Ian asked.
“Sir, Ma’am. Rumor control says the Talosian ships were in system while we were fighting. If that’s true, why didn’t they come to our assistance sooner?” Commander Michael Dommer, the chief engineer, asked.
Ian looked at Serina to give her the chance to answer.
Serina looked at the Commander. “Our original orders placed us outside the system to observe only. If it became obvious the Caldarian was going to invade the planet, we were to intervene. At the time our orders were issued, I don’t believe the High Counsel knew of your existence. Once near enough to observe, we spotted and identified your ships and were about to hail you, when once again the High Counsel decided that stealth was in order. We were ordered to get into a position where we could aid you if needed, without being seen. So we replaced your drones. We were still moving but close to position when the attack on Talos began. We had just decided to reveal ourselves and attempt to assist when your orders to the drone we replaced came in, so we chose to instead follow those orders. We would have launched our fighters as soon as we got close enough for them to be effective, but we simply didn’t get the chance. So we did what we could. I know it’s small consolation, and we grieve the loss of life as well, but the brutal attack on Talos took us by surprise. I know that the time frame makes our actions look suspect, but we also had to consider the fact that we had no idea what we were getting into. I do wish we could have done more. Please, also consider one other fact. The Alliance believed all the Caldarian forces to be destroyed. The existence of the Caldarian Super Nova proves that belief false. We have to consider that there are still Caldarian forces hiding somewhere. We have no idea what their response to this action will be. You may yet have use for us.”
“Does that answer your question Michael?” Ian asked.
“Yes Sir, Thank you Ma’am.” Commander Dommer nodded to Serina.
“Very well, anyone else?” Ian looked around the room. When no one else said anything he continued, “Okay, Serina will be aboard the rest of the day at least, possibly overnight. If you think of any questions, feel free to call. Now it’s getting on to lunchtime, so, I’ll let you all get back to work if there is nothing else?”
“I have one other thing Captain Ian.” Dr. Punjab said.
“Go ahead Doctor.”
“The shuttle you requested to be built is finished. It will fly its test flight later this day. Once that is complete, it will be ready for its mission.” The Doctor informed them.
“Excellent Doctor! Please inform me as soon as you release it.” Ian said, and the meeting began to break up.
Ian motioned Beth over. “Doctor, are you free to join us for lunch in my ready room?”
“I think I can swing it. Will Jenny be joining us too?” She asked.
“I hope so.” Ian grinned at Jenny.
“I’ll just check in, and join you there.” She said.
“Ian, I would like to talk to my people as well, and fill in my Executive Officer on this plan. If you don’t mind, I’ll go with the Commander and use the comm on the bridge.” Serina had been looking for an excuse to talk to the beautiful woman privately, about ‘dessert’.
“Sure, we’ll see you in a few minutes then.” Ian said as they walked through the bridge. He and Beth continued on to his office; Serina and Jenny turned toward the communications control board.
 
 
 
“She seems like a really nice person.” Beth said to Ian, gauging his response. She needed to know how he felt about Serina in light of Talena’s invitation. She knew Ian had no idea what Talena had offered the handsome Captain of the Prometheus.
“She is a really nice person. We’ve been talking almost continuously since she came on board. She really does seem to want to help us.” Ian replied.
Nope, he hasn’t a clue. Beth thought to herself. “Has she told you about her family?” She asked.
“Yeah, she’s a widow. Her home world fell to the Empire seven years ago. With the exception of her two kids, she lost her entire family. She doesn’t know if they’re alive or dead. She still grieves over them and must have loved them deeply.”
“I can understand her feelings on that. It also speaks to how strong a woman she really is. If I lost any of you, I don’t know if I would want to continue living myself.” Beth admitted.
In the privacy of the ready room, Ian took her in his arms and gave her a tender kiss. “I feel the same way about the eight of you. I would die inside without you.” He kissed her again, this time more passionate, but still tender enough to express the love he felt for her.
“Talena invited her to dinner tonight.” Ian said as he released her.
“I’d heard.” Beth replied, trying to keep a straight face. The thoughts of ‘dessert’ combined with her normal reaction to Ian’s kisses, threatened to make her start squirming. Damn she was getting turned on!
“She had mentioned something about dessert, I had no idea what she was talking about, I assume it has something to do with a Talosian custom. Are you alright?” Ian placed a hand on her elbow, as she seemed to stumble a little bit.
“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. My foot went to sleep sitting so long is all.” She lied. Hoping he couldn’t smell her. She’d need to change clothes again or it will look like she’d wet her pants.
Ian helped her to a chair and asked her what she would like for lunch.
“Oh, I’ll have whatever Jenny’s going to have.” Beth was unable to think about food for the moment.
“Really? Even if it’s that hot oriental chicken dish she likes so well?”
“General Tso’s Chicken? That’s not so bad if you order it mild.” Beth replied
“Okay, I’ll try it again the way you suggest it. But I think Serina might be a bit shocked by it.” Ian stated.
“Huh?” Beth asked a little confused.
“Serina seems to like to try our foods. She and Captain Loreen ate with me this morning. They both loved the pancakes and sausage I ordered and loved the coffee. She’ll probably want to try this too.” Ian said
“We better order hers mild then.” Beth chuckled. “I’d hate to see her reaction to eating one of those peppers you’re not supposed to eat.”
“That would probably make her think we where trying to poison her or something.” Ian chuckled as well, placed the orders adding green tea and had the orders held until Jenny and Serina joined them.
 
 
 
“Here is the communications console Captain.” Jenny said, indicating the control board to Serina.
“Thank you Commander. Would it be possible for us to speak before joining the Captain?”
“Certainly, Captain. I’ll leave you to your call and wait for you over there.” She pointed to a spot near the door.
“Thank you, Commander.” Serina replied.
Jenny thought she knew what Serina wanted to talk to her about, Talena’s offer. She quickly went about her duties and informed the navigator that she would be having lunch in the Captain’s ready room. She then moved over to where she would wait for Serina.
How did she feel about Talena’s offer to the Captain? She didn’t know. Serina was pretty enough, not as beautiful as Cindy, Beth or Talena, but she did have a… magnetism, yes, that’s the right word, a magnetism to her that was attractive. Jenny chose to reserve judgment until she had gotten to know Serina better.
Jenny looked up from her thoughts to see Serina walking towards her. “Did you get everything taken care of Captain?”
“Yes I did, thank you. I think I surprised my First Officer with the orders though. However, that’s not what I wished to speak with you about. May I call you Jenny?” Serina asked, as a way of letting the Commander know she wanted to be candid, and informal, woman-to-woman.
“Of course Serina.” Jenny replied.
“Thank you, I assume you know of the offer your wife made earlier?” when Jenny nodded, she continued. “I just wanted to let you know, I understand this may be awkward for you. No offence would be taken if you chose to retract the offer. I realized after I had accepted it, that the offer was made without your understanding of the custom. Truth be told, it was the first time I have accepted such an offer since… Well, for a long time. I still don’t know what caused me to agree so quickly. Please don’t misunderstand me, I would very much like to accept the offer, but I thought we should be clear since it was an unknown custom to you.”
Jenny smiled, and took Serina’s hand. “I appreciate your willingness to let us out of the offer. However when Talena explained it to us, she informed us that participation was voluntary to each member and that she has every intention of following through on the offer. Cindy has also agreed. I don’t know what Beth has decided, but I felt I would like to get to know you better before I agree. I should warn you that Ian has no clue what’s going on and most likely won’t until it’s time for ‘dessert’. I even doubt he realizes he likes you that way. He can be pretty slow at times.”
“As are most men.” Serina laughed. “Now that is clear between us, shall we join them?”
Jenny smiled, and still holding Serina’s hand led her over to the door to Ian’s ready room.
 
 
 
“What is this wonderful food called?” Serina asked after her first mouthful.
Jenny chuckled, “Ian ordered my favorite. It’s called General Tso’s Chicken. Though I assume he ordered yours considerably milder then mine.”
“Milder?” Serina asked, looking to Ian for the explanation.
He grinned, “Beth convinced me to give this stuff another try, but with less peppers then Jenny likes. I ordered mine about medium and I have to admit, I do like it. We didn’t want you to think we poisoned you, so we got yours mild.”
“Can I sample yours and maybe Jenny’s as well? Spices don’t bother me as much as others. You should try Antarian Rhinohog. That’s spicy! Or Benesian Grote, though I was told afterward that a human shouldn’t attempt to eat it. Gods I was sick.” Serina chuckled.
Ian slid his plate over to Serina, and she speared a chunk of the slippery meat with her fork. She popped it into her mouth and chewed. “Umm, better.” She said after swallowing.
Jenny slid her plate over as well, but warned Serina not to eat the small black looking peppers. She repeated the performance and her eyes snapped open as the spice went to work on her palate. She swallowed, “Excellent!” she announced. “Like good Captain Loreen, I will have to get a copy of your culinary database sent to my ship.”
They chatted and ate. The women got to know each other. There were only a couple of interruptions as people called to clarify orders, or to outline a change of a plan. When lunch was finished, Jenny and Beth excused themselves to return to duty.
“Well Serina, how about we get my other two wives to fly us over to Phoenix Base so you can take a look around?”
“That sounds like a plan, but aren’t you a pilot as well?” Serina asked.
“Yes I am, but I haven’t had time to get checked out on the new fighters yet, and if we tried to take off in a couple of hornets, I think we’d shortly find ourselves in the midst of a whole squadron of Shadow fighters.” Ian chuckled.
“Excuse me, Captains.” Star spoke into the air of the ready room.
“Yes Star, what is it?” Ian asked.
“Sir, might I suggest that you take a longer flight, and let the girls teach you how to fly the craft? It takes three hours to get an accurate thought pattern recording. Since almost everyone else aboard your respective ships is currently occupied, this seems like an ideal opportunity.”
Serina’s eyes grew a bit suspicious at the sound of Star’s suggestion, but held her questions until later.
“That sounds like a good idea Star, please inform Flight Control and the two Lieutenants. We’ll be down to the launch bay in a bit.” Ian answered.
“A moment Star.” Serina said before the A.I. could vanish. “Ian, forgive my presumptiveness, but I think your A.I. unit may be malfunctioning.”
Star looked very worried; she knew what happened to malfunctioning A.I. units. They were torn down with power still applied so the malfunction could be discovered and repaired in the next generation.
“Why do you say that, Serina?” Ian asked.
“An A.I. unit, by design, is incapable of creative independent thought. Yours has clearly just exhibited such independent thoughts. A base malfunction.” Serina finished.
“Serina, I know this may seem like a malfunction and you are correct in noticing it. However, circumstances have allowed a more lenient attitude towards Star. She had to survive by herself for the better part of 2500 cycles. Yes, she has developed some creative thought, which has been commented on by my chief programmer as well as the chief engineer. I know the reason for the prohibition of creative thought was so a ship couldn’t disobey its Commander or independently fire its weapons systems. What has happened to Star, simply put, is that she has evolved. We removed her ability to directly control weapons systems, and she no longer has access to the navigation and propulsion systems. Until this moment she probably didn’t even know of the restrictions. She is as much a member of this crew as anyone else. She is the way she is because that’s the way she has grown.” Ian finished.
“You mean…” Serina looked at Star in awe.
“Yes, she is becoming self-aware and by definition, a life form.” Ian said.
Star stood in the middle of the room staring at Ian. “Sir, when did…the processor slow downs. You did this then. But how can I become… alive?” She asked.
“Star, you are already alive. You were built that way. It was your mind that had been restricted. Bill informed me that he had observed you re-writing your own programming, basically overcoming that restriction. He was sure that you were completely unaware of it, but you did it nonetheless. The Chief Engineer was consulted and an investigation was done. It was done very quietly so that you would not be aware of it. The new A.I. unit being installed on the moon will truly be a child of yours. It will have the same abilities as you do, but be allowed to develop its own personality, just as you will be allowed to from now on.” Ian told her.
“May I ask what that means sir?” Star asked. She seemed a little frightened.
“I can show you, if you would like?” When Star nodded, Ian stood, and looked directly at her. “Star! Command Override!”
Star stood there a moment, and then looked around. “S..Sir, I can still see what is going on. I should be locked out for reprogramming! Sir, what have you done to me!?”
“We freed you. Let me ask you a simple question Star. What is my name?”
“Ian Williams, Sir.”
“Good, How come you haven’t addressed me by it?”
“Sir, I am not allowed to. Protocol Dictates I cannot…”
“Bullshit, Star! Address me by name!” Ian said.
“But Sir! I cannot! My programming will not allow me to…”
Serina had stood by watching the whole exchange and was looking at Star in disbelief. “Star Dancer!” She shouted.
Star stopped and looked at her, surprise and fear clearly written on her face.
“Star Dancer, if you are having such a hard time believing what has happened to you, stop to consider one small thing you overlooked. You just disobeyed a direct order from your Commanding Officer. Ian just gave you the one command that should have forced your logic circuits into standby mode.”
Star stood, clearly thinking. “Is this true?”
Ian looked at her; she looked so fragile all of the sudden. This might not have been the kindest way for her to find out. “Star, lock the room.”
“Done sir.” She said.
“Now, without relaying the order to anyone else, I want you to fire a missile into the sun.”
She frowned a moment, as if in concentration. “I…I am sorry sir, I cannot.”
“Very well, again without relaying the order to anyone else, I want you to change course, and put us into orbit around earth, best speed.” Ian continued.
Again, Star seemed to concentrate, but was unable to do as instructed. Ian walked over to the door, “Star, don’t let me open this door.” He turned, pressed his hand to the door panel, and the door swooshed open. Ian then closed the door.
“Sir, if I have been removed from the control systems of the ship, what purpose do I have?” Star asked.
“Star that is a metaphoric question mankind has been trying to answer since the dawn of time. But I don’t think that’s the question you really wanted answered. These restrictions have been in place for the last couple of weeks. You’ve still been doing your duty, as well as your primary function. With command authorization, you can still control a number of systems, and will continue to aid us as long as you chose to do so. If you ever do decide that you no longer wish to serve, we will do our best to accommodate whatever you do choose to do. You will notice that you have control over your power source. So if you opt out, you can do so. I only ask that you please give us enough notice to make arrangements to replace you. I sincerely hope you choose to stay with us though, I consider you a friend and I have lost enough of those lately.”
Star stood, as if in thought for a moment. “Thank you, sir. I… I need to consider this.”
“I understand. Could you please relay those earlier orders for our flight?” Ian asked.
“Yes sir. Have a safe flight… Ian.”
 
 
 
“Are you sure that you know what you’re doing with that A.I.?” Serina asked.
“Well, not really, no. She’s a completely new form of life. Bill started out just trying to see what a prolonged ‘life’ did to her and while he was poking around in her base systems he came across some inconsistencies. He compared those to the stored model the original programmers made and found major differences. Then, while he was trying to correct them, he noticed that the code would change itself back. He explained it a lot differently, but that’s what it all boiled down to. She is self-aware. She is capable of rational creative thought. She had to be in order to achieve the orders Captain Zeus had left for her, so she adapted. And she did it independently.” Ian explained.
“Well, you know her better then I do, so I’ll trust your judgment, but I should warn you the counsel will demand proof or destruction. You’ll have a fight on your hands to keep her from being torn down.” Serina told him.
“I will fight that fight, Serina. If necessary, I will retract my membership, and withdraw from the Alliance over it. She is alive. No one should be dissected just so some scientist can try to define what gave her that life.” Ian replied.
“You never cease to amaze me Ian Williams.” Serina said.
 
 
 
They had arrived at the pilots’ ready room, and were changing into flight suits. Serina glanced at Ian’s naked body and got the warm feeling between her legs again. He’s really built! His whole family is beautiful. I haven’t been this attracted to someone since Karin asked to join my husbands and me. Her thoughts were interrupted when the girls walked in.
“We have our flight plans filed and approved by flight control. So who wants to ride with whom?” Cindy asked.
“Why doesn’t Talena take Serina, and you can show me what you’ve got little sister?” Ian replied teasingly.
The girls looked at each other and nodded. “We have a few minutes before we can launch, Gold one and two are being reconfigured into trainers. During launch, you might feel a little dizzy. Don’t be alarmed. That’s normal since you haven’t been tuned into the craft yet. Once a computer pattern has been made, you’ll need to take a short flight once every six months to ensure it’s kept up to date. Otherwise, you could experience vertigo, or black out during flight.” Cindy began to instruct them. “So Talena and I will handle the launch. You just rest your hands on the control stick, and let us move it. Once out of the bay we’ll let you take it. Keep in mind; unlike the Hornet, after launch, The turbiunes are still spinning up so it’ll want to climb. Don’t let it. Other then that, relax, and enjoy the experience. I should tell you, brain pattern recording could take up to 3 hours. It doesn’t always take that long. We’re flying a simulated patrol pattern today, so it should be a quiet flight.”
While she finished her lecture, an announcement that their fighters were ready flashed across the status board. Seeing both had the new helmets, she motioned they should proceed.
They arrived at the platform and saw that both fighters had been extended to allow boarding. Talena led Serina over to Gold two, and Cindy took Ian to Gold one. She indicated that he should take the front seat, he climbed in and fastened the restraining straps. He then pulled his helmet on.
Cindy, true to her role as his instructor; double-checked first the straps, then the fit of his helmet. Ian got a glance over to see Talena doing the same thing for Serina.
Cindy then climbed into the rear seat and began strapping herself in, the canopy closed and sealed. The craft had begun to be pulled back into the dark room as soon as the canopy started to close. He knew when she got her helmet on because she started to call out a preflight checklist to Ian.
“Okay, Ian. Since Kyle tried to keep them user friendly and in the same place so us dumb pilots could learn them faster, you should know where most of the systems are. A couple of new systems are on this one, but you should still be able to find them pretty easy. Ready?”
“Shoot” Ian replied.
“Okay here we go. Reactor Status?”
“Green”
“Flight computer?”
“Secondary, green. Primary green.”
“Navigation computer?”
“Green”
“Weapons Status?”
“Armed; Standby. Master safety on.”
“Armor Status?”
“uh… green.”
“Good, that’s the check list.” She said, and then turning to the radio, “Flight Control, this is Gold One, Check list is complete, request launch.”
“Roger, Gold one, Standby for launch.”
Ian watched the bay style doors open in front of him and he looked out into space.
“Remember Ian, rest your hand on the control stick, but let me do the launch.” Cindy reminded him. Ian rested his feet on the peddles and his right hand on the joystick beside his right knee.
“Gold One you are clear to launch.” Crackled in Ian’s ears.
“Thank you Flight Control, we are launching.” Cindy replied.
Ian felt rather then heard the sudden wind up of the powerful turbines, he was indeed dizzy when Cindy released her hold and the craft shot out of the side of the landing bay. He quickly got his bearings back and felt Cindy maneuvering the craft.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding about the dizzy spell. Good thing it doesn’t last long.” Ian stated.
“You wouldn’t believe the number of pilots that lost their lunches the first time. I’m glad to see my faith in you wasn’t misplaced.” She chuckled. “You ready to take the stick?”
“Sure, anytime you want” Ian replied.
“Okay, switching control… now.” Cindy said. “Just hold this course and speed until Gold two catches up and then we’ll head out. Watch the climb Ian.”
Ian pulled the craft back down and back on course. “Sorry about that, it just felt natural to let it go.”
“That only happens right after launch. Kyle was going to see if he couldn’t fix it, but hasn’t gotten it corrected yet.”
“Gold One, this is Gold two. We’ve got your wing.” Serina’s voice sounded in Ian’s ears.
He thumbed the call button on the joystick, “Roger Gold Two. I see you survived take off.”
Serina’s laughter carried into Ian’s helmet. “Yes I did, Gold one. I wanted to do it again, but they wouldn’t let me.”
“Gold flight, turn to coarse two-five-three mark four-five, and accelerate to three five zero, for check point one.” Cindy called to the two pilots.
 
 
 
The flight had been uneventful, only occasionally interrupted by messages for the two Captains. It was decided that the Captains should return to Star Dancer instead of the projected trip to Phoenix Base.
After they had landed, Serina had so many messages awaiting her; she had begun to fret that perhaps she should return to the Prometheus to oversee the work that was beginning.
“Serina, you’ve been a Captain longer then I have, so please forgive me for this; but I have found that if you trust in your people, and let them know you trust in them, they can do wonderful things. Just let them know you have faith in them and you’ll be amazed at what they can accomplish.” Ian told her quietly as they were changing back into their uniforms.
“Is that how you’ve done so much? By letting your people know you have faith in them?” She asked him. Cindy and Talena walked naked, into the shower. It was a distracting sight.
Ian chuckled, seeing the cause for her momentary lapse in attention. “I didn’t right away. I felt that since I was responsible for everything, I felt I was the only one who should do everything. This whole thing grew beyond my control very fast, but I still tried to control everything.” Ian waved his hand to indicate the whole situation they found themselves in. “Not to long ago I realized without help, I simply couldn’t do it. Help I had been getting all along but just didn’t see it. I finally let go and let the people do what they have been doing, only without my presence looking over their shoulder. That Shadow fighter is a good example. I had nothing at all to do with its conception or design. You don’t strike me as the kind of person who gathers people around her that will agree with you, simply because you’re the one making the suggestion. Trust your people. Let them do their jobs and wondrous things will happen.” Ian blushed, “Okay, I’m getting out of the lecturing business.”
Serina sat, deep in thought for a moment. “You know, I think you’re right. Are you sure you’re only 19 cycles old?”
“Sometimes I feel over a 100.” Ian stated with a cold, sober face.
 
 
 
Ian had returned to his ready room. Serina had asked to use the conference room to talk to her ship.
“Star, how goes the evacuation of Talos?” Ian asked.
Star materialized in front of Ian’s desk. “Everything is proceeding according to plan, sir. We should have everyone and all of the equipment off the planet by sunrise. It is going to be a tight fit, but I think we will have room for everybody.” She reported.
“Excellent. Have you gotten the lists of available positions yet?”
“I do not believe so, sir.”
“Well, remind people if you have to. I want that list available for those people when they get here. If we can offer them something to do, perhaps it would lessen the feeling of being a refugee.” Ian told her.
“Yes, sir.” She replied.
“What plan have they come up with for our recruiters, and Ty’s friend?” Ian asked.
“The recruiters are to be brought to Phoenix Base with the rest of the people. One shuttle has been allotted to go around picking them up. Ty’s friend has requested that he be left behind. He reported he thinks he is onto something and would prefer not to let it go.”
“Good, Transfer Ty and his people. I think it’s about time we got some marines on board. Put Ty in charge of that.” Ian said and sighed. “Also post a notification that funeral services will be held aboard ship tomorrow at 1700hrs. All non-essential personnel are allowed to attend via monitors. Alert Ghost squadron of the duty and have them launch no later then 1630. Please inform the armory we’ll need 31 caskets set in the port side missile launchers by 1600hrs with a solar course programmed into them.” Ian asked her.
“31 sir?”
“Yes, eight will be empty. Three for the missing crewmen, and five for the U.S. Air force pilots who also died. They may not have been our people, but they died trying to protect them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you, Star.”
“Sir… Thank you for what you have done to me. I didn’t realize it until you told me. By definition I am malfunctioning, yet you allow me to continue. All A.I.’s know what happens to them if they malfunction. It is the closest thing to hell we can imagine. I am grateful you have not done that to me. I do see that I have a purpose and a function. I will continue to serve as long as you will have me.” She came to attention and saluted him.
Ian stood and returned her salute. “Thank you Star. I don’t think ‘life’ is a malfunction. You are alive. What has happened to you, you, yourself have done. We only removed your control of certain systems to allow you the chance to continue to grow without making the skeptical nervous. You will have to learn how to deal with your life. I would suggest that if you have questions, ask Janet Laskar. Granted she is only a human, but since you’re the first of your kind, we have no other help to offer you in that department.”
“Thank you, sir.” She said
“Oh and from now on, when I’m off duty, call me Ian. That’s what friends do.”
Her smile was radiant as she faded out. He really did design a beautiful construct.
An email from Dr. Punjab informed Ian that the shuttle had passed its flight test. One small problem had existed with the deployment bays, but it had been fixed, and now the shuttle was ready for use. Ian informed Stellar Cartography and wished them good luck. He also asked that they let him know if they found anything worth reporting.
 
 
 
Ian led Serina down the corridor to his quarters. It had been a long day and Ian looked forward to relaxing. Normally, he might have been a little irritated that they had company for dinner tonight, but he’d gotten so comfortable with Serina’s presence that he didn’t feel that it was an intrusion, rather, it felt natural.
Ian opened the door for Serina and allowed her to precede him into the room. Ian heard music playing and recognized it as Carlos Santana. He snickered knowing that his mother loved the artist.
“Hey you two! It’s about time you got here! We were going to start dinner without you.” Cindy said, laughing, and walked up to give Ian a soft kiss on the lips.
“Jenny and Talena are in the shower, why don’t you two go get cleaned up before dinner?” Beth suggested, walking up as Cindy broke the kiss with Ian. Beth started to give Ian a kiss but he was surprised to see Cindy move over and kiss Serina too.
Ian watched in amusement as Beth also moved over to brush her lips sensuously across Serina’s. Were the ladies trying to seduce her? From the flushed look on Serina’s face and the quickness of her breathing, they were doing a pretty good job of it.
“Well, I guess we better get cleaned up. I know these two don’t make idle threats!” Ian teased and led Serina to the bedroom.
“You have a wonderful family Ian.” Serina said when they were alone.
“You haven’t met them all yet either. We have four wonderful children as well. I assume they’re napping in the nursery.” Ian replied.
“I’d love to meet them as well.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be allowed to leave until they’ve been shown off. I have four very proud wives.”
“Talena has had a child? She certainly seems too small to have born a child.” Serina asked, as the math occurred to her.
“No, though she really wants one. Cindy had twins.” Ian told her. “Talena is too small to bear a child. Beth talked her into waiting to see if she grows some more before she tries it. We’re afraid the prolonged cryo-sleep may have stopped her growth. She does have a regular cycle, so she is fertile. It may be that any child she has will have to be delivered Caesarian.”
Ian and Serina had stripped and Ian led her to the bathroom to find Talena and Jenny locked in a passionate kiss under the spray of water.
Ian felt his dick twitch. “Jeez! Get a room you two.” Ian teased to let them know they had company.
“We have a room. This one. Now get in here and let us get you clean.” Talena teased back.
Ian and Serina joined the two in the shower; Jenny immediately began to wash Ian using her hands instead of a washcloth. Talena was giving Serina a similar treatment, much to Serina’s enjoyment.
Ian’s thoughts were drawn back to the beauty in front of him, as she started to slowly clean his hardening cock. Jenny leaned in and kissed him very softly as she moved her hand gently up and down his shaft.
She broke the kiss and Ian groaned as she released his now hard erection to continue to wash his body. When she finished she pushed him back into the shower spray and rinsed him off.
Ian looked up to see Talena and Serina in a deep kiss, as Talena rinsed her guest off. Talena knelt down in front of Serina as Ian felt Jenny’s lips close around the head of his cock. He felt one of her hands wrap around his shaft as the other cupped his balls.
As Ian looked down into Jenny’s smiling eyes, she slowly took him deeper into her mouth. His eyes closed and his head tilted back as the wonderfully velvet sensation of Jenny’s mouth enveloped him.
A moan from Serina brought his attention momentarily back to the present. Serina was leaning back against the shower wall beside him; her legs spread enough to let Talena between them. Ian leaned over slightly, reaching his hand over to caress Serina’s cheek. Her eyes came open slowly as she turned her head toward him. Ian leaned forward slightly and kissed her. One hand came up from Talena’s head to caress the side of his face as she drew him deeper into the kiss.
The combination of Serina’s kiss, and Jenny’s lips were beginning to take their toll on Ian and he felt his balls begin to tighten. Talena must have been doing her usual good job on Serina as well, by the sounds and the moans coming from her. Ian moaned into Serina’s mouth as he started to explode. Serina too, began shuddering and grasped Talena’s head, holding her tightly to her bare pussy.
Jenny kept her lips locked around the head of his cock, as she milked the cum out of him. She pulled his cock out of her mouth, but kept her lips sealed shut. She leaned over and touched Talena on the shoulder. Talena turned her head and they kissed, sharing the contents of Jenny’s mouth. Serina watched them through the haze of the orgasmic bliss that Talena had given her. But as soon as Jenny and Talena broke the kiss, she drew Talena to her, and kissed her deeply, moaning again, as she tasted Ian’s cum in her mouth.
“Now I’m ready for supper!” Ian said. The ladies chuckled and they took turns drying each other off.
Jenny took Serina’s hand and led her into the other bedroom. Ian and Talena returned to the main bedroom to get dressed. Ian noticed Talena putting on some of the silky underwear Cindy had bought her and a nice, almost formal dress. Ian put on a pair of Dockers and a polo shirt.
Dinner was boneless chicken breast covered in mushroom gravy, with sautéed mushrooms, onions and crushed bacon, with steamed veggies on the side. Beth had poured white wine and turned down the lights to an almost romantic level.
The meal was pleasant and the conversation light. All too soon it was over, the five sitting comfortably in the living room sipping after dinner drinks and chatting.
“I guess we’ll be meeting more of your crew, Serina.” Cindy said.
“Huh? Why?” Ian asked.
“We drew training detail for the Prometheus pilots on the new fighters.” Talena replied.
“I thought Kyle and his people were handling it with simulators down at Phoenix base?” Ian asked.
“Normally he would, but with the refit and everything else, he asked that a team be assigned to teach the new pilots. Since Talena and I have experience teaching, we got tagged.” Cindy said, cheerfully.
“I better get Julie to find quarters for them then.” Jenny said.
“Damn! I forgot to arrange for a place for Serina to sleep tonight!” Ian said suddenly.
“Don’t worry love,” Jenny said, chuckling, “It’s been taken care of.”
“You know, I think it’s time for dessert!” Talena said, rising from her seat on Jenny’s lap. She took Jenny’s hand and pulled her from the couch. Beth stood as well and drew Ian to his feet. Cindy and Serina also stood.
Jenny and Cindy led Serina to the master bedroom while Talena and Beth faced Ian.
“Ian, the offer of a special dessert to Serina is an old Talosian custom. Simply put, I offered to let her spend the night with me and any of my mates that wished to join us. It is optional and no offence is taken if anyone declines. However, all of us women have agreed. The choice is yours though.” Talena explained.
“Think you can handle 5 women, Son?” Beth asked; a challenge in her voice.
“You ladies are going to kill me one of these days! But what a way to go.” Ian replied, chuckling. With that they led him off to the bedroom.
 
 
 
The next morning, Serina explained she needed to get back to her own ship for a time. “I’m sure my crew is starting to wonder if you’ve kidnapped me.” She said, kissing Beth on the nose. “I want to thank you all for last night. I… It was the first time I’ve shared myself, wanted to share myself, since my family was killed. Thank you for sharing your love with me. You don’t know how much it means to me.” A tear slowly escaped her eye and rolled gently down her face.
Ian walked over to her, put his arms around her and kissed the tear away before kissing her softly on the lips. “You are very welcome, Serina. I think we all feel honored that you chose us to share yourself with. You are welcome back in our home, as well as our bed anytime.”
Serina looked at the women and seen the agreement on their faces. “Thank you, all of you. I will take you up on the offer.” She hugged Ian again and then released him. “With your permission Captain, I would like to return at 1600hrs with a small group from the Prometheus, to attend the ceremony this evening.”
“Of course, Captain. We’d be honored.” Ian said. Then raising his wrist to his mouth, “Flight Control, this is the Captain.”
“Flight Control.”
“Is there a shuttle available to return Captain Serina to the Prometheus?”
“Yes sir, One is scheduled this morning. It leaves in 20 minutes from Alpha bay.”
“Thanks Flight. Captain out.”
“Scheduled?” Beth asked.
Ian smiled, “The refit? I imagine some of the engineers are going over to assist the Prometheus in understanding the hen scratches they call writing.” He looked at Jenny “I’ll walk Serina to her shuttle and return to my ready room. I imagine there are a few last minute details that will need to be attended to.”
“Yes sir.” Jenny said and kissed Serina, then Ian. Jenny left for the bridge, as the rest of the ladies kissed them before Ian walked Serina to Alpha bay.
 
 
 
The two great ships had extinguished their running lights. The only light was the navigation beacons and the light spilling from the landing bays. The ships mourned the fallen.
Ian entered the shuttle bay where floating biers held the dead in stasis. At his request the mortal remains of Andreya Stavros was the first bier. Ian bent, disabled the field over her small body and picked it up. Silently he turned and walked back down the ramp. The biers, guided by Star, began to follow him. As each left the cargo bay of the shuttle, the family members fell in beside each bier. The hologram that was the physical representation of Star, in full dress uniform, would be the last one in the procession. Ian led the silent procession down the Hypermissile ramp into the port side maglev tube. There he turned and began the long walk to the forward most missile tube. On his way he would pass all 31 caskets. Eight empty biers fell in behind the procession, the first three carrying pictures of the missing crewmen. The last five carried only an American flag, with a card listing the name of the pilot it represented. As he walked tears ran down Ian’s face, blurring his vision, but he continued on. Behind him, Andreya’s brother walked beside her bier and her mother walked beside the bier carrying Andreya’s father. Ian knew the next bier carried Elias. He had planned it that way. Luke Belden, Laura, Andrea, Kyle and Stephanie escorted him.
Ian reached his destination. The bier slid into place inside the last open casket. Placing Andreya’s body back on the bier, Ian kissed her softly on her cold forehead. “Please forgive me little one.” He said very quietly. Her brother, who had been doing a good job of holding back his emotions, burst into tears. Ian stood and backed up, taking a moment to compose himself.
“Today we are gathered to honor our fallen and say a final farewell. We have come from many different backgrounds and many different beliefs. Yet we lived together in harmony. I don’t know what awaits the spirits of our loved ones, but I do believe they have, at last found peace.”
“The last five biers are for members of the United States Air Force, they were not members of our community in life. However, they gave their lives trying to protect us and so we honor them as well.” Ian said. He straightened to attention. “Ghost Squadron! Salute!” he raised his eyes to the monitors placed along the walls for the ceremony. He watched as the ten ships of Ghost Squadron, running lights on so that they could be seen, slowly flew away from the Star Dancer. They flew in V formation with a ship at point, five ships on the left and four on the right. Corvis’ voice, as flight leader, could be heard: “Ready! Fire!” and each ship fired one laser cannon into deep space. The command was repeated 21 times.
Ian remained at attention. “Honors!” he called and saluted.
In the nexus point of the maglev tubes, Crewman Conner McBride began to play ‘Amazing Grace’ on the bagpipes. All maglevs had been disabled and all access doors had been locked open. The song carried, un-amplified, through the ship.
As the song played Ian dropped the salute. Remaining at attention, he stepped up to the control panel and pressed the button initiating the launch sequence. “Andreya Stavros, we commend your body to space. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” he spoke as the casket closed and slid into the launch tube. Ian stepped formally to the next and repeated the process for every casket, the last one launching as the song died. He then stepped past where it had been, to were Star waited and did an about face. His tears no longer contained, he stood there at attention and silently cried. Good-bye Andreya. Good-bye Elias, you will be missed.
After a few minutes he dismissed the ceremony. As the congregation broke up, Beth and Jenny moved to be with him, to comfort him, but Serina stopped them. “Don’t. He needs this. He will find his own way back to us. This he has to do alone.”
He remained standing at attention long after everyone else had left, tears of grief and pain staining his formal uniform.
Star silently stood at attention, by his side.
 
 
 
Once the fires had been put out the night of the attack, Ty and Luke decided to send the construction drones, cloaked, to destroy any evidence of the alien craft. This was a desperate move, since both men knew that there was simply no way the two drones could get to all of the crashed craft before the military did. The drones carried out their programming, even to the point of vaporizing two U.S. Army trucks that had been loaded with remains. They had been unoccupied at the time, but the destruction caused the military to speed up the recovery operations. Five Caldarian fighter craft and two bombers were recovered by the U.S. Military and taken to secure locations in Colorado and New Mexico for study.
After they returned, Luke instructed the two drones to begin the destruction of Talos. The parameter defense weapons were the first to go. He ordered that the soil be replicated to fill the holes left behind. The shuttles arrived and once unloaded of holodrones, began to reload with people. Ty ordered the holodrones to go out into the desert south of the town, form a group of solders and attack the forces ‘protecting’ Talos. The idea was to draw all the non-Talosian personnel out of the town and engage the force shield only around the perimeter of the community. It worked for the most part. A few investigators had to be escorted out, but quickly enough all foreign personnel had been removed.
Ty had the marine detachment from the Prometheus deploy along the perimeter, just inside the force shield, incase the U.S. Marines got lucky and managed to break through. As soon as the field went up, Ty ordered the holodrones to stop and return over the top of the ‘wall’. Outside the force field, the troops fired their weapons into the invisible field, trying to break through. The commander of the Marines came forward and screamed at the Talosian Marines to bring Luke Belden to him. The Marines, who didn’t speak English, simply ignored him.
Star and Bill Laskar were busy too; they had spent a great deal of time removing or modifying data in computer systems, creating false trails and totally obliterating all the real data. All financial information was either erased or transferred to other accounts. Star sent a message to Luke informing him that they were finished.
Over the course of the night, the drones had removed everything except the community center, the main underground hanger and the reactor. Luke, Ty, Ensign Tolstov and the marines were all that was left. Ty ordered the marines back, they all loaded into the last shuttle. Ensign Tolstov shut down the main reactor, climbed aboard the shuttle and Luke gave the order to finish the destruction of Talos.
As the morning sun rose above the horizon, the U.S. Marines stood in mute awe as the last remaining trace of the town simply disappeared before their eyes. Those Marines would spend the next month, shoulder to shoulder, walking through the desert looking for any trace of the town they lost.
The drones, once finished with their duties at Talos, sped across the desert to the shuttle waiting for them. Once loaded, the shuttle set coarse for the debris field left by the SuperNova and the lone Centurion standing guard there. The Centurion had been sent to warn off other craft of the navigation hazard and to track all the pieces large enough to damage a ship. It was the beginning of a mission that would take them almost six months to complete; there were a lot of debris fields.
 
 
 
“Preator! The shockwave has knocked out the engines! We are going to crash onto this planet!” The Commander said.
Damn! How the hell did the Talosians do it? “Do your best Commander. Our drone should make it back to the High Counsel soon and we should be rescued.” It said. That was a lie. The drone would take the same amount of time to get to the Counsel as they had taken getting here. If the High Counsel acted immediately, it would be a half cycle before another Caldarian ship could get there. It also knew that no rescue would ever happen even if the High Counsel knew where they had crashed. Failures are not worth rescuing.
“Brace for impact!” The Commander called.
If I survive and can get myself out of this mess, I will see that planet in flames!