Where No One Has Gone Before, Pt. 03

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The end of “Where No One Has Gone Before, Pt. 02”

After the ceremony, we celebrated with a short reception that included all the usual things — dancing, drinking toasts and a wedding cake Jonathan had made in the galley. I wondered how he got it down to Huygens without damaging it.

Finally, the festivities ended and the two of us changed into our flight clothing for the trip to Earth. We said our goodbyes and made it to the taxi that would ferry us to the spaceport. We managed to get aboard about a half-hour before the flight was scheduled to leave.

We sat in the seats in our small cabin and looked out the window as the shuttlecraft lifted off the red planet and began its flight to Earth. I turned to my bride.

“Well, Mrs. Jones, are you ready for the adventure of your life?” I asked.

“I most certainly am, my husband,” she said, giving me a sloppy kiss.

“By the way, when did you get the ring?” I asked.

“Leesa took us down to Huygens while you and Axel were gone,” she said. “Do you like it?”

“I love it,” I said. “Do you like your rings?” She gazed at the diamond ring and smiled at me.

“I love them,” she said. “But I love you more.”

“I love you more,” I said as I kissed her.

And the adventure continued…

…

And now, “Where No One Has Gone Before, Pt. 03”

…

The flight back to Earth took 14 days — four less than my first trip aboard the Armstrong over five years ago. My new bride and I spent most of that time between the sheets in our small stateroom, getting up only for meals, trips to the head and our daily shower.

By the time we reached the third rock from the Sun, we were both itching to plant our feet on Terra Firma. We sprang into action when we heard the message from the captain to prepare for re-entry. We folded the bed and took our seats, fastening our harnesses. The video monitor flickered and we saw the flight attendant give instructions for re-entry.

I listened to the instructions and looked over at Kyra. She seemed a bit nervous.

“You ever experience re-entry?” I asked. She shook her head.

“No, never,” she told me. I took her hand in mine.

“Piece of cake,” I said. “Don’t worry. I’ve done this a hundred times. Just follow the instructions and you’ll be okay.”

“Okay,” she said, apparently still not convinced. The craft slowed down and I saw we were slowly entering the atmosphere. Then I saw the heat build up on the wings and felt the g-forces increase. The ride got a bit bumpy, but not any more than I would have expected.

Finally, the craft was in the atmosphere and we could see the blue sky as we continued our descent. The ship was set to touch down at the Daniel K. Inouye International Spaceport in just a couple hours. From what I read, it bragged the largest runway to be built entirely offshore.

“Feels strange to look out the window and see a blue sky, doesn’t it?” I asked. After seeing nothing but the blackness of space for five years, it was a welcome sight.

“Yeah, it does,” she said with a smile. Finally, the craft landed and came to a stop. We waited for the indicator light telling us we could deplane. Grabbing our carry-on luggage, we made our way into the terminal. For a moment, I considered kissing the ground. It felt good to be back on Earth. Strange, but good.

We went through security, then made our way to the luggage area where we grabbed our bags and then headed for the taxi stand outside the terminal. After we left the building, we each stood and took in large deep breaths. Fresh, uncirculated, unsterilized air. It definitely smelled different, and it felt good to breathe real, natural air for a change.

“Is it always like this for you when you get back from a mission?” Kyra asked.

“Most of the time,” I said. “Everything just seems so… different to me this time around. Of course, I’ve never been on a mission this long before.” We got into our cab and made our way to the beachfront hotel we would call home for the next couple weeks. When we got to our room, Kyra seemed a bit tired.

“Are you okay?” I asked when I opened the door.

“I’m just a bit winded,” she said.

“I’m not surprised. You haven’t been at one-g for nearly five years,” I said. “You want to stay in tonight and just get some rest?”

“Yeah, if that’s alright with you,” she said.

“Sure,” I said. “Just one thing we have to do.”

“What’s that?” she asked. I smiled, then picked her up in my arms and carried her through the door. She smiled back and put her arms around my neck. “Oh my, you’re so strong, my husband.” I set her down next to the bed and gave her a kiss. She was definitely heavier than I recalled, but I didn’t say anything.

We didn’t do anything that first night back except eat in and cuddle together in bed. Both of us needed to acclimate to being in one-g after spending so much time in space. Even though Leesa kept Enterprise at .9 G or thereabouts most of the time, we certainly felt the impact of the extra gravity on our systems.

We slept good that first night and woke up early, ready to see the sights. After breakfast, we went to Pearl Harbor and visited the USS Arizona memorial. It was eerie to see parts of the ship below the surface of the water, and even more eerie to think that more than 900 men were entombed there. We were both stunned to hear that even after 160 years, oil still leaked from the sunken ship.

We ended the trip with a visit to the Shrine Room, where we paid our respects to the men who had given their lives on the ship that fateful day in December 1941. From there, we visited the USS Missouri memorial and took a tour of the old World War II battleship. Then it was off to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. It was amazing to see how far we had progressed technologically since the days these old aircraft ruled the skies.

Kyra was a bit winded after all that walking, so we went back to the hotel, where we ate a nice dinner and sat out on the beach, holding hands and listening to the waves. I rather enjoyed the peace and quiet myself and I loved sharing this time with my new bride. We stayed there until after dark, and ended up making out on the beach.

I looked at Kyra and noticed her eyes were drawn to the sky. I looked up with her to see what was holding her attention, but only saw a few stars. Then it hit me.

“Gotten under your skin, hasn’t it?” I asked. She looked at me, curious.

“What do you mean?”

“Space,” I said. “We were out there for five years. Now we’re back on Earth, laying out on a romantic beach in Hawaii, and you’re staring up at the stars. At least, the ones you can see through all this light pollution.”

“Is it that obvious?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding my head. “Happens to all of us, I think. Once you’ve been out there, you can’t ever let go. I think there’s a small part of you that stays out there.”

“I used to wonder what it was that drove guys like you to keep going out there, even knowing all the dangers involved,” she said. “Now I think I understand, at least a little bit.” I held her there on the beach for a little while longer.

“Well, Mrs. Jones,” I whispered. “If you’ve got your Earth legs back, what do you say we retire to our room for a bit of R&R.”

“I’ve got an even better idea than that, spaceman,” she said with a wicked smile.

“What’s that?” I asked. She pushed me on my back and straddled me. As I watched, she untied her tiny top and tossed it on the sand next to us. I could feel myself begin to respond.

“Make love to me right here, on the beach under the stars,” she said as she untied her bottoms. She pulled her tiny bikini bottoms off and was totally nude. She worked my shorts off and began sliding my hard cock through her shaved slit. At this rate, I wouldn’t last very long.

“You are a naughty vixen, aren’t you?” I asked as I fondled her breasts.

“The naughtiest,” she whispered. “And I need my husband’s cock deep inside me. Right now.” The next thing I knew, she had impaled herself on me and I was balls-deep inside her warm wet pussy. We coupled like two teenagers right there on the beach, not caring if anyone saw us. She collapsed into my arms after her orgasm hit and we laid there for a few minutes, basking in each other’s warmth.

“I love you, Bill,” she said. “More than you’ll ever know.”

“And I love you as well, Kyra,” I told her. “Now and forever.”

…

All good things have to eventually end, and so it was that three weeks later, we said goodbye to Hawaii and flew up to Spokane, where my father met us at the airport. He came up to us as we made our way to pick up our luggage.

“You must be Kyra,” Dad said as he gave her a hug.

“And you must be Mr. Jones,” Kyra told him. He laughed at that.

“Mr. Jones was my Dad,” he said. “You can call me George, or better yet, just call me ‘Pop.’”

“Alright, Pop,” Kyra said.

“Here, let me help you with that,” he said, grabbing some of our luggage. “I’m parked right outside. So, how was Hawaii?”

“It was great, Dad,” I said. “By the way, where’s Mom?”

“She’s back at the house, getting your room ready for you,” he said. “You know how she likes everything to be shipshape.”

“Oh, yes,” I said. We got our luggage to his truck and loaded everything up. “I see you still have the old Ford.”

“Yeah, you know I like to keep things running as long as I can,” Dad said. “This thing’s been real good to me, so I see no need to trade it in.” I opened the front door for Kyra, but she insisted I sit in front with Dad. So I opened the back door for her and she climbed in. When we were all situated, he started the truck and we headed out.

“You’re looking good, Dad,” I said. Even now, at just over 60, Dad was in great shape, although he had put on a few pounds. “I see you’re letting your beard grow out. Looks really good on you.” Dad never had a beard until after he retired. He let it grow a bit, but finally gave in and let it develop into a full beard since I joined the Academy. He smiled and his eyes twinkled when he did.

“Yeah, well, your Mom says it makes me look a bit like Santa Claus. All I need is a big ol’ beer gut, but that ain’t happening,” he said with a laugh.

“So you were in the Corps as well, Pop?” Kyra asked from the back seat.

“As a matter of fact, I was. Retired about 20 years ago as a Master Chief Engineer. Gave the Corps 32 of the best years of my life. Poor Linda put up with it like a real trooper, so I promised her the next 32 years were hers, exclusively,” he said.

“So what do you do now?” she asked.

“Whatever the hell I want,” he told her, smiling. “For the most part, anyway.”

“Dad built himself a 30-inch telescope and a backyard observatory by the house,” I told Kyra. “You still mess around with that thing?” I asked him.

“Sure do,” he said. “Got some pretty interesting shots, too, I might add.”

“Oh? Like what?” Kyra asked.

“Got some interesting pictures of Mars here just recently,” he said. “I’ll show ’em to ya when we get to the house. I think you might like ‘em.” We talked the rest of the trip home and Kyra was wide-eyed when she saw the view from the house.

“My God, this is beautiful,” she said as she looked down at the lake below. “You grew up in this?”

“All through my high school years, anyway,” I said. “Dad was moved around so much we never spent more than a couple years in any one place. After he retired, we came up here and this is where I call home.”

“I really envy you,” she said. “I’d love to live somewhere like this.”

“Maybe one day we will,” I said. “C’mon, let’s go inside. Mom’s dying to meet you.” We went inside and Mom rushed over to us.

“You must be Kyra,” she said as she hugged my wife. “I’ve heard so much about you. Please, come on inside and take a seat.” Mom looked at me with a big smile. “She’s just a pretty girl, Bill.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I said. “I think so.”

“Well, you’d better,” she said, slapping me on the arm. “I just made a batch of lemonade. Would you care for a glass?”

“I’d love some, please,” Kyra said as she sat down. Mom went into the kitchen and came back with a tray containing four glasses and a big pitcher. We each took a sip from our glasses and set them down. “That’s delicious,” Kyra told my mother. “Did you squeeze this yourself?”

“Yes, I did,” Mom told her.

“So, Kyra,” Dad began. “Bill here tells me you’re a doctor.”

“Yes, I am,” Kyra said.

“What kind of a doctor are you? The kind that delivers babies?” Kyra laughed at that.

“No, Dad,” I said. “Kyra is a psychologist. In fact, she just got her second doctorate.”

“Second?” Dad asked, incredulous. “That is impressive. Maybe one day you can tell us all why we are the way we are,” he joked. “Where did you two meet?”

“On the Enterprise,” I told him.

“So you’re in the Corps as well?” he asked.

“Sort of,” Kyra said. Dad looked confused at that. “I actually hold the rank of Lt. Commander, and I’m now the ship’s counselor.”

“Ship’s counselor?” Dad asked. “I’m sorry, I’m not following this.”

“Well, Dad,” I began, “when they started the interstellar project, they made some changes to the rules regarding fraternization.”

“That would make sense,” he said. “Being in space on a voyage that long could cause some problems. So, how did they overcome that?”

“Basically, they relaxed the rules for the crew and junior officers, but kept them in place for command and senior officers,” I told him. “When I went to Advanced Operations School, they did a psychological profile and it turns out Kyra and I are compatible. She volunteered to join me on the mission, and the rest is history.”

“Well I’ll be damned,” he said. “So, you basically gave up your career to join my son?”

“Essentially,” Kyra said. “And I would do it all over again.”

“Do you realize how dangerous space travel is?” he asked her.

“Yes, I did, and I understand it even more so now,” she said. “But I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m glad I went on that trip. Meeting Bill is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“And this ‘ship’s counselor’ thing…”

“During the trip to Alpha Centauri, I counseled a number of crew members, and Command saw the benefit of having someone with my skill set on a mission like that,” Kyra began. “So, they decided to put a counselor on all interstellar missions. I was offered the job and took it, and they gave me a field commission. From now on, where Bill goes, I go.” Dad smiled as he nodded his head.

“I guess things really are changing. Wasn’t like that when I was in, let me tell you,” Dad said. “Oh, before I forget, let me show you something.” He went into his home office and came back with a large binder. He pulled out a photo of Mars and showed it to us.

“You took this with your telescope?” I asked.

“Sure did,” he said. “Got a new high-def camera that beats anything I’ve ever seen before, so I tried it on the scope. Pretty impressive. Picked up a lot of detail I’ve never been able to get before.”

“Wow,” Kyra said. “That’s amazing.”

“That ain’t all,” he said. “Take a look at that point of light just up and to the right of the planet.” I looked and saw a tiny blur but couldn’t make anything out. “Now take a look at this,” he said, handing me another photo. I gasped when I saw the outline of the Enterprise.

“You were able to get that much detail out of that camera?” I asked.

“Yep,” Dad said. “I zoomed in on that part of the digital file and blew it up as far as I could. That’s not all.” He pulled out one of his old binders and opened it up. When he found what he was looking for, he showed it to us. “Look familiar?”

“That’s… the Enterprise,” I said. I looked at the lower right corner of the diagram and saw it was signed, “Jones, George, MCE,” and dated just over 20 years ago. Shocked, I looked at Dad.

“You drew this? Over 20 years ago?” I asked. He nodded his head.

“Sure did,” he said. “They’d been actively working to break the light barrier for the last 50 years or so. They finally came on an idea they thought might work, so my team was tasked with the initial design for a ship. I’m sure there were a number of changes made to our initial design, but I’m glad to see they kept it basically the same. When I first saw that picture, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather.”

“Damn,” I said. “I had no idea.”

“To be honest, I never expected to live long enough to see our ship actually fly,” he said. “You see, there’s a whole lot of problems with faster-than-light travel,” he added, speaking to Kyra. “For one thing, the human nervous system doesn’t even work that fast. But I guess they figured a way around that.”

“And there’s more,” Kyra said. “Your son is now the First Officer of that ship.”

“Really? First Officer of the Enterprise? Damn,” Dad said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. “And all this time I was concerned your joining the service was a mistake.”

“A mistake?” Kyra asked. “I don’t understand.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m proud of my son. At the time he applied to the Academy, I was concerned he was doing it just so he could be with that girl, Tabitha,” Dad said.

“You mean, the girl he married?” Kyra asked. Dad nodded his head.

“Yeah, her.”

“So, how do you feel about your son being in the service?” Kyra asked.

“Listen, Kyra, I love my son,” Dad said. “I’d be proud of him no matter what he decided to do. I spent 32 years in the Corps and I know what it’s like. You’re gone half the time, out in the harshest environment known to man. One little mistake and it’s ‘cancel Christmas.’ I’m sure you understand that. It’s also hard on families. I got lucky with Linda. She stuck with me through all that crap. Hell, if I had my druthers, I’d rather he did anything other than become a spaceman. But he made his choice and stuck with it. He’s become a fine officer and I’m damn proud of him.” Just then, Mom came into the room.

“Dinner’s ready, everyone,” she said.

“Good,” Dad said. “Trust me, Kyra, you haven’t lived until you’ve had some of my wife’s award-winning venison lasagna.”

“Venison lasagna?” Kyra asked.

“Yeah,” Dad said. “Can’t hardly get real meat in the stores anymore, so I either catch or shoot most of what we eat. Butcher down in town takes care of it and we’ve got a whole freezer full of venison and elk.”

We sat down to the dinner table and Mom scooped a large portion for all of us. Kyra’s eyes widened when she took her first taste.

“That’s delicious,” she said. “I’ve never eaten venison before. And this is the best lasagna I’ve ever tasted.”

“I’m glad you like it, dear,” Mom said with a smile. After dinner, Dad got up and motioned for me to join him out back. On the way, he grabbed a couple beers out of the refrigerator and handed me one. By then, the sun had set and the temperature had cooled off a bit. We sat down on the deck and Dad pulled out a couple cigars, handing one to me. He lit his, then mine and we sat back on the deck looking out over the lake below.

“So, you dealing with that shit on the Armstrong okay?” Dad asked. I nodded my head.

“Yeah, I am, thanks. Kyra helped me out a lot,” I told him.

“That’s one helluva woman you have there, son,” he said. “A real keeper.”

“I think so,” I replied.

“I never got a chance to tell ya to your face, but I’m damn proud of the way you handled Travers,” he said quietly.

“I killed a man, Dad,” I said. “I’m not very proud of that.”

“I understand, son. You acted in self defense. You saved your life and who knows how many others,” Dad said. “Yeah, you killed him, but believe me, Bull Travers was no ‘man.’ He was a scum-sucking, maggot-infested putrid piece of dog shit. A predator from the word, go.”

“So, you knew him?” I asked.

“Yeah, I knew him. He was an asshole back then, too,” Dad said. “I never told you this, but he once tried to put the moves on your mother.”

“No way,” I said.

“Oh yeah. Caught him trying to feel her up at a barbecue my unit was holding. Kicked him in the balls so hard he started puking. He threatened to write me up for striking an officer. I told him, ‘go ahead, and then I’ll write you up for attempting to rape a subordinate’s wife.’ He backed off and never messed with me after that. But he did say that one day he would get back at me for that.”

“So, you think that’s why he went after me the way he did?” I asked.

“Possibly,” Dad said. “There’s no telling what goes through the mind of an asshole like that. I heard he was close to the end of his career, though. He was going to be retired after his tour on the Armstrong.”

“I didn’t know that,” I said.

“I still have friends in high places,” he said. “They keep me informed on the latest scuttlebutt. I may not be the most educated man around, but I do know one thing, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Any man with the balls to jettison Bull Travers out of an airlock… well, that’s an officer I could follow anywhere.” He looked at me hard. “Anywhere,” he repeated. I looked at my father, shocked. Then I nodded my head.

“Thanks,” I said. I realized this was high praise coming from him.

“You’re welcome,” he said. “By the way, have you heard from Tabitha?”

“No, I haven’t seen nor heard from her since her court-martial,” I said. “Why?”

“We got a note from her about a year ago. Said she was being given an early release and was wondering where you were. We told her you were on a long-term assignment and weren’t available,” Dad said. “I spoke to her parents and they said there was some kind of judicial review thing going on and they were releasing a bunch of prisoners. Including her. They wondered if she was coming back, but she told them she already had something lined up.”

“But no specifics?” I asked. He shook his head.

“No, none,” he said. “Her parents said some people came by from Homeland Security asking about her, but no one knew where she was.”

“She’s not part of my life anymore, so I really don’t care,” I said. He nodded his head in agreement and we continued talking as we nursed our beer and our cigars. Eventually, Mom and Kyra came out on the back deck.

“Are you two going to stay the whole night out here?” Mom asked.

“Just enjoying a beer and a cigar,” Dad said. “We’re bonding. It’s a father-son thing.”

“I didn’t know you smoked,” Kyra said.

“I normally don’t,” I said. “In fact, this is the third cigar I’ve had in my entire life.” She grabbed the cigar from my hand and for a moment, I thought she was going to snuff it out. Instead, she took a drag from it, nodded her head and handed it back to me.

“Smooth,” she said. Dad started laughing, and Mom joined him.

“She’s definitely a keeper, son,” he said. “You’d better hang on to that one.”

…

That night, Kyra and I lay in the queen-size bed I slept in as a youngster and cuddled after a nice quiet romp. Neither one of us wanted to make too much noise and I was a bit nervous about having sex in the same house as my parents. I think Kyra felt the same way.

“So this is where you slept as a kid,” she said.

“Yeah,” I said.

“I really like your parents,” she said. “They’re so nice, down-to-earth.”

“They’re the best,” I said. “I just wish Dad could’ve been around more when he was in the service, but he always made it up to us when he came home.”

“Do you think there’ll ever be a time when people have kids on a starship?” she asked.

“Who knows,” I said. “Anything’s possible.”

“I really envy you, Bill,” she said. “Perfect parents, a beautiful home in the country. I can tell they really love you.”

“I love them, too,” I said. “What about you? Didn’t you have a happy childhood?”

“Well, we always had lots of stuff. My dad is a big executive for XNN. He runs the Interplanetary Division. Mom’s a psychologist and she’s written several best-selling books. Always on the talk shows, that sort of thing. They weren’t able to spend very much time with me as I grew up, so they had a nanny look after me. It was… different.”

“I see,” I said.

“To be honest, though, I would have given up all the stuff if it meant we could have been as close as you and your parents,” she said sadly. I held her close to me and kissed her.

…

The next three weeks in Idaho went fast for us. Dad took us out on Lake Pend O’Reille a couple times and we had a blast. Kyra tried water skiing for the first time and spent more time in the water than on it. But she eventually got the hang of it.

The next time we went out, Dad showed her how to bait a hook and to my surprise, Kyra took right to it, catching a couple of very nice fish that Dad cooked up on the grill later that day. Never once did I hear her complain about touching worms or cleaning the fish.

I took her out for a drive and showed her around the area. We drove south to Coeur d’Alene and spent the day on the boardwalk that went out into the lake. She had such a good time on the lake that she fell asleep on the drive back.

One night, after dinner, Dad pulled out his banjo and began plucking on it.

“You know, we still have a couple of your old guitars sitting around,” he said. “You up to a little picking with the old man?”

“Sure,” I said. “Where are they?”

“Well, here’s one of them,” Mom said as she handed me an old Gibson I hadn’t played since high school.

“I put new strings on it when I heard you were coming,” Dad said with a wink. “The old ones sounded pretty flat.” I tuned it up and to my surprise it still sounded as good as it did all those years ago.

“Well, what do you want to play?” I asked.

“How about that old tune we used to play together when you were younger?” he asked.

“Dueling Banjos?” I asked. He smiled wide and his eyes twinkled as he strummed a couple chords on his banjo.

“That’s the one,” he said. “You still remember that one?”

“I sure do. Let’s do it,” I said. “You’ll love this,” I told Kyra. I started with the first three chords of the song, which Dad played on the banjo. We started slow and picked up the tempo as we went, until we were finally going full-bore. Kyra and Mom were clapping along with us and having a great time. Finally, the song ended with a high-five between Dad and I.

“That was great,” Kyra exclaimed.

“Thank you,” Dad said.

“Do you play anything?” Mom asked Kyra.

“Well, I took piano, flute and violin when I was younger,” Kyra said. “I later learned the mountain dulcimer, but it’s been years since I’ve done anything.”

“You know, George, I still have Dad’s old fiddle,” Mom said. “Why don’t I bring it out?”

“Sure,” Dad said. Mom left and came back a little later with a case she handed to Kyra. She opened the case and looked at the old fiddle.

“How old is this?” she asked.

“Dad said it’s from the Civil War,” Mom said. “He used to play it all the time. Go ahead, pull it out and tune it up.”

“Are you sure?” Kyra asked.

“Absolutely,” Mom said. Kyra pulled out the old instrument and tuned it up, then applied some rosin to the bow after tightening it up.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve played anything,” Kyra said. “I’ll probably make some mistakes.”

“That’s okay, dear,” Dad said. “We’re all family here. No one’s gonna care. Just have fun with it.”

“Well, okay. There’s this old song I learned called ‘Ashokan Farewell.’ It was written by Jay Ungar in 1982, I think,” she said.

“I think I’ve heard that before,” Dad said. “Let’s hear it.”

“Here goes,” Kyra said. She put the fiddle under her chin and began playing. I could tell she was nervous at first, but she stuck with it. The song was slow and haunting and sounded like it could have been written back in the Civil War.

As she played, I began accompanying her on the guitar. After a while, Dad began doing the same on the banjo. We followed Kyra’s lead, not wanting to put any pressure on her. I could see a tear start to form in her eye as she played. When she finished, we all applauded. Kyra set the instrument down and began sobbing for some reason. Granted, the song was something of a tear-jerker, but I suspected there was something else going on.

“What’s the matter?” I asked as I put an arm around her. Mom and Dad came over to her as well. Kyra buried her face in my shirt and sobbed for a few minutes. When she settled down a bit, she looked up at us and wiped tears from her face.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “It’s just… I’ve never played with family before and it made me feel so happy. It’s stupid, I know. I’m so embarrassed.”

“It’s not stupid and there’s no need to be embarrassed, dear,” Mom said. “That was lovely.”

“Thank you,” Kyra said. “When I was younger, my parents had me play in recitals all the time, but they never once played anything with me. It was always meant to impress their rich celebrity friends. This was the first time I’ve ever played anything just for the fun of it.”

“You’d better get used to that in this family, sweetheart,” Dad said. “Music is supposed to be fun and something shared with those we love, and we play a lot of it in this house. Don’t we?” he asked, looking at Mom and I. We both nodded our heads and said, “yes” in response.

“So, what do you play?” Kyra asked Linda.

“I play an autoharp,” Mom said. “Dad and I play together several times a week in fact.”

“Can we hear you play?” Kyra asked her.

“Of course,” she said, getting up out of her chair. She came back a few minutes later and sat down with her autoharp.

“Rosin the Bow?” Dad asked her.

“You know it, George,” she said.

“Alright, here goes. You kids jump in when you feel like it,” Dad said. They started playing together and I started playing along on the guitar. After a few moments, Kyra picked up the old fiddle and played as well. Before long, she was smiling from ear to ear as she watched Mom and Dad play together. We all applauded when the song was over. I looked at Kyra.

“Are you feeling better now?” I asked.

“You know it,” she said. We played a couple more songs before calling it a night. I held my wife close to me after we made love.

“You never told me any of that about your parents,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s a part of my life I hate to think about.”

“I can understand that,” I said.

“Just wait till you meet them. Then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Did you have fun tonight?” I asked her.

“I did,” she said. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever had fun playing music.”

“Well, you’d better practice, because I think they’re gonna want to hear you play again.”

“I will, promise,” she said.

It was a tearful farewell as Dad prepared to take us to the airport. Mom hugged us both and made us promise to stop by as soon as we could. I hated telling her it could be a few years before we could get back.

When we got to the airport, Dad wrapped his arms around Kyra and gave her a fatherly kiss on the cheek.

“Welcome to the family, Kyra,” he said. “Keep in touch and I hope to see you soon. Take care of my boy, alright?”

“I will, Pop, I promise,” she said. As he turned to me, I pulled something out of my carry-on bag and handed it to him. It was a mission patch from the Enterprise.

“I want you to have this, Dad,” I said as I handed it to him. A tear formed in his eye as he looked at the patch.

“I can’t take this,” he said.

“Of course you can, Dad. You helped design that ship, remember?” He nodded his head, then gave me a manly bear hug.

“I’m so damn proud of you son,” he said. “I love you. Never forget that.” With that, he kissed me on the cheek.

“I love you too, Dad,” I said. “Stay in touch, alright? I don’t know when we’ll be able to get back.”

“Just get back as soon as you can. And you take care of this woman, you hear me?”

“I will, Dad.” After saying our goodbyes, we got on the plane and jetted south to the Los Angeles-San Diego Metroplex.

“I’m going to miss your folks so much,” Kyra said sadly.

“Me too,” I said. “We’ll see them again though.”

“I certainly hope so,” she said.

“Just so you know, Bill, my parents are quite different from yours,” Kyra said. “They’re very stiff, formal, controlling and not as friendly as yours. I just wanted to warn you.”

“Thanks for that,” I said.

We landed a couple hours later, got off the plane and collected our luggage. We were on our way to rent a car when Kyra saw a man in a chauffeur’s uniform holding a sign that read, “Jones.”

“I think that’s for us,” she said.

“A chauffeur? Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, well, I told you my parents are rich,” she said. “Can’t have their daughter riding around in a rented sedan, you know.”

“Well, let’s go check it out,” I told her. We went to the man and identified ourselves.

“Ah yes, Mr. and Dr. Williams sent me to collect you,” he said in perfect English. I began to wonder if maybe he was sent to school for that. “I’ll get your luggage.” He took the two rolling luggage carriers and placed them inside the trunk of a long black limousine. I opened the back door and he rushed up to close it behind us after we entered the car.

I took in the interior of the vehicle. It had a well-stocked bar and the seats were the most luxurious I had ever experienced inside a car. There was also a large monitor — tuned to XNN Interplantary, of course — and a nice stereo sound system.

“Very nice,” I said.

“Yes, it is,” Kyra responded. After a while, we were in Beverly Hills and the driver pulled up to a large iron gate that opened when he pressed a button on the dashboard. An armed security guard waved us through. I wondered why they would need such tight security.

“What’s with the armed guard?” I asked the driver.

“Mr. Williams is often a target of extremists, sir,” the driver said.

“I see,” I responded.

“Not everyone is a fan of XNN,” Kyra told me.

“Apparently not,” I said. We pulled in front of a very large house and I wondered why two people would want something this large and gaudy. When the car stopped, I opened the door and escorted Kyra out. The chauffeur pulled our luggage from the trunk. I offered to take something but he refused, carrying the heavy bags up the steps to the front door where an older woman waited.

When we got there, Kyra and the woman, who I now assumed was her mother, exchanged a chaste kiss on the cheek.

“It’s good to see you mother,” Kyra said.

“Likewise, dear,” the older woman said.

“Mother, this is my husband,” Kyra began.

“Yes, I know. Commander Jones, is that correct?” She extended a hand and I accepted.

“Yes, ma’am, but please call me Bill,” I told her.

“Very well, Bill. You can call me Dr. Williams, or ma’am, if you wish,” she said coldly. “Please, come inside.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, shooting a look at Kyra, who shrugged her shoulders. We followed her up the stairs to a room that I assumed had once been Kyra’s. I was shocked, however, to see there were bunk beds in the room. Kyra turned on her mother.

“Bunk beds mother? Really?” she asked. “What’s wrong with my old room?”

“Well, nothing,” the older woman said. “I assumed you would be sleeping there. Your husband can stay here.”

“No, mother,” Kyra said. “Unlike you, I LIKE to sleep with my husband. He can stay in my room, with me.” Her mother sighed heavily, then nodded her head.

“Very well,” she said. “Take their luggage to Kyra’s old room,” she told the chauffeur.

“Yes, ma’am,” the young man said, carting our bags to another room. Kyra’s mother turned to us before speaking.

“Lunch will be served in 15 minutes. I expect to see you both there, on time,” she said curtly before turning away. This was going to be fun, I thought. Or not. I followed Kyra to her old room and thanked the chauffeur after he put our luggage on the king-sized bed.

“I don’t believe her,” Kyra spit.

“What’s her problem?” I asked.

“Mom’s just being a controlling bitch,” Kyra said. “She’s always been like that.”

“Don’t your parents sleep together?”

“No, they haven’t for years,” Kyra said. “Mom’s a big believer in this whole female-led marriage thing. They have a… unique… relationship.”

“And your father puts up with it?”

“He’s madly in love with her, but don’t ask me why. Besides divorce in California is a real bitch. Neither one of them would come out ahead in the long run, so he just puts on a happy face and deals with it the best he can,” she said. No wonder Kyra was so submissive when I first met her, I thought.

“I guess we’d better get down to lunch before your mother sends out the National Guard,” I said. She chuckled at that.

“I guess you’re right,” she said.

“Listen, if you’d rather, we can always get a hotel room,” I said.

“Not right now,” Kyra said. “But we can keep that option open if it gets too bad.” I gave her a kiss and we headed downstairs to the dining room. When we got there, I saw a very long dining table. Kyra’s mother was at one end and a man I assumed was her father was at the other. A man in a butler’s uniform had just put plates down on the table and I noticed they had placed Kyra and I across from each other. The man saw us enter and stood.

“Kyra, my God, girl, it’s been so long. Come here and give your father a hug. I say, you look absolutely stunning. I see those five years on Enterprise have done you well,” he said with a wide smile.

“Daddy, it’s good to see you as well,” Kyra said, giving her father a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. He turned to her mother.

“Gloria, don’t you think Kyra looks better than ever?” he asked.

“Hmmph,” her mother grunted as she rolled her eyes. He turned to me and extended a hand.

“Commander Jones, is it? It’s a pleasure to meet you, young man,” he said, still smiling.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Williams,” I told him, shaking his hand. “And please, call me Bill.”

“Well Bill, please call me Tom. I take it you’ve already met Gloria.”

“Yes, I’ve met Dr. Williams,” I said.

“Dr. Williams?” he asked. “She expects you to call her Dr. Williams?”

“Well, she did say I could call her ‘ma’am’ if I wanted,” I told him.

“Nonsense,” Tom said. “You honestly expect our new son-in-law to call you Dr. Williams? Really, Gloria?”

“Well, it only shows respect, Tom. Surely you can understand my feelings about that,” Gloria said.

“I understand, but he’s family, not one of your students or one of your subordinates, Gloria. Besides, respect is earned, not dictated. Wouldn’t you agree, Bill?”

“Actually, I do agree, Tom,” I said.

“There, it’s settled,” Tom said. “Please have a seat. I think you’ll enjoy your shrimp salad. I know I always do.”

“Thank you, Tom,” I said. I pulled out Kyra’s chair and seated her, then went around the table to my place and sat down.

“I understand your parents live in Idaho, Bill,” Gloria said as we began to eat.

“Yes, they do,” I said.

“They have such a wonderful place up there in the mountains, Mom,” Kyra said. “It’s so beautiful up there. We had a great time.”

“So, what do your parents do up there, Bill? Grow potatoes?” Gloria asked. I hated it when people automatically assumed everyone in Idaho grows potatoes.

“Actually, they’re both retired,” I said. “My father served 32 years in the Corps and retired as a Master Chief Engineer. My mother was a science teacher and retired about the time Dad did. We moved to Idaho just before I started high school. Right now, they pretty much do whatever they want.”

“Thirty-two years. That’s a long time,” Tom said. “How long have you been in?”

“A bit over ten years,” I said.

“Plan to make a career out of it?” he asked.

“I do,” I said.

“And what are you going to do while your husband is off gallivanting in space?” Gloria asked Kyra sarcastically.

“I plan to gallivant with him,” Kyra said with a smile. I smiled at her.

“What do you mean?” Gloria asked. “What do you have to offer that would let them send you out there with him?” Kyra started to say something, but I beat her to the punch.

“Actually, Dr. Williams, your daughter’s work played a significant role in the success of our mission. Significant.” I saw Gloria’s eyes widen a bit and I pressed the point. “Because of her work, 250 men and women traveled farther and faster than anyone in human history and returned — safe, sound and sane.” I looked at Tom and saw surprise on his face. I continued.

“Kyra has literally gone where no one has ever gone before. She has seen things and been places no one else has ever been. Because of her work, people like her will be on every interstellar flight from now on, serving as ship’s counselors,” I said. “Kyra has even been given a field commission to Lt. Commander and will serve as ship’s counselor on the Enterprise.”

“What?” Gloria asked, stunned. “No. I will not permit it.”

“It’s not your decision, Mother,” Kyra said, further astonishing her mother. “I’m a free woman and I’m over 21. It’s my decision, and it’s already been made. Where my husband goes, I go.”

“I know people. I’ll make calls. This cannot be allowed to happen,” Gloria said. Kyra slammed her fork on the table, stunning all of us.

“Dammit mother, don’t even think about it,” she said. “So help me God, if you even try, you’ll never see me again.” Her parents were stunned at what she had to say. Gloria turned her hateful gaze on me.

“This is all your fault,” she hissed. “You turned her against her own mother.” I shook my head.

“You know, when I first met Kyra, she was a borderline submissive, afraid of her own shadow. Meeting you, I can see why. But when I look at her now, you know what I see? I see a strong, confident, smart and yes, sexy, woman. With her own dreams and her own accomplishments.

“I know you have a Ph.D., and I know you’ve written books and gone on television. But she has two doctorates. And she uses her knowledge to actually help people. While you go on television to get your accolades, she’s been out there, where the rubber meets the road. She’s helped a lot of people, myself included.

“You know what else I see when I look at her? I see a woman I’m proud to call my wife. That’s right, I said, PROUD. Have either of you ever told your daughter you were proud of her? Just once?” I noticed that Tom was looking down, embarrassed. Gloria was also looking away.

“That’s what I thought,” I said. I put my fork down and looked at my food. “This shrimp salad is delicious. Unfortunately, I’ve lost my appetite. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go take a walk.” I got up and started for the door, and then heard Kyra.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to join you,” she said. I nodded my head and held out a hand. She got up, took my hand in hers and together, we walked out of the room and out of the house. We went to the gate and nodded as the guard opened it for us. From there, we began walking down the street.

“Did you really mean it when you said you were proud to call me your wife?” Kyra asked.

“I did,” I answered.

“You know, I think that’s the first time anyone has ever stood up for me,” she said quietly. “And I’m pretty sure it’s the first time anyone has ever stood up to my mother. Did you really think I was a borderline submissive?”

“When I first met you, yes,” I said. “But you’ve grown since then. A lot.”

“I have you to thank for that,” she said. “You know what else?”

“What?”

“I got so hot when you were talking me up. I wanted to rip my clothes off and do you right there at the table,” she said.

“Your mother would probably have had a heart attack if you did,” I said, causing her to laugh.

“Or a stroke,” she said. We both laughed at that. It was almost dark when we finally made our way back through the gate. We entered the house and was met by Tom, who gave Kyra a hug. I could tell he had been drinking.

“Kyra,” he said. “I know I haven’t been the world’s best father, but Bill’s right. I love you and I am proud of you. Really, I am. I’m sorry I haven’t told you sooner.” She smiled and hugged him back.

“Thank you, daddy,” she said. “That means a lot to me. I love you too, and yes, I’m proud of you. Where’s Mother, by the way?”

“She took off in a huff, said she was going to the country club. Didn’t say when she’d be back. Listen, Bill, would you mind stepping into my office for a bit?”

“Sure,” I said. Kyra gave me a kiss.

“I’m going to go take a shower,” she said. “All that walking has made me break out in a sweat.”

“Of course,” I said. “I’ll see you after a while.” I watched her go up the stairs, then followed Tom to his office. When we got there, he closed the door and offered me a seat.

“Care for some brandy?” he asked.

“Yes, please,” I said. He poured some in a glass and handed it to me.

“Cigar?” he asked.

“Please,” I said. He pulled two cigars out of a wooden box and handed one to me. I looked and saw it was the same brand Dad like to smoke.

“My Dad smokes these from time to time,” I said.

“Well, your father is a man of impeccable tastes,” Tom said as he lit his cigar. He lit mine and we sat back in our chairs for a moment. “You know, I think that’s the first time anyone ever stood up to Gloria like that,” he said after a few minutes. I chuckled at that. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so flummoxed.”

“Sometimes, it just has to be done,” I said.

“Listen, I want to apologize for the way she treated you at lunch,” he said. “It was rude and uncalled for.”

“Apology accepted,” I told him.

“Thank you. I thought I recognized your name. Then it hit me. You’re that officer who tossed his superior out of an open airlock about six or seven years ago, aren’t you?” he asked. I nodded my head.

“Yes, I am. But you should know that it was in self defense, and I’m not really proud of that episode in my life,” I told him.

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” he said. “My reporters covered that incident and the inquest, by the way.”

“Yes, I know. I caught some of the reports,” I said.

“It would’ve been nice if you could’ve said something to our reporters,” he told me.

“We were all under orders not to speak to the press. Nothing personal. It’s just the Corps likes to keep a handle on what goes out to the civilian news agencies,” I said.

“That’s understandable,” he said. “Have you heard that your ex-wife was released from prison?”

“I heard something about that when I was in Idaho.”

“I’ve heard rumors she joined up with a group of pirates,” he said. “Don’t know if any of that is true, though.”

“I haven’t heard anything,” I said.

“Imagine that. Space pirates,” he said with a laugh. “My God, man. What’s next?”

“Who knows,” I answered.

“Listen, I’d like to talk to you about something for a bit,” he said after a couple minutes. “I hope you understand where I’m coming from.”

“I’ll listen,” I told him.

“It’s just that Kyra will be coming into a fairly large trust fund,” he said. “Naturally, as her father, I’m concerned for her best interests.”

“And you’re concerned that I might be going after her money,” I said, finishing his thought.

“Yes, that did occur to me,” he said.

“You have nothing to worry about, Tom,” I said. “I love your daughter and I intend to stay married to her for the rest of my life. I don’t care about any money that she might get. That’s hers to do with as she pleases.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that, Bill,” he said.

“I am curious about one thing, though,” I said.

“What’s that?”

“About a year ago, I saw a report by Duncan Wyoming about an incident at a concert in Texas,” I said.

“Oh yes, the Kentucky Fried Mutha Fuggas,” he said. “What about that?”

“Whatever happened in all that?”

“Well, the cowboy who sliced Dick Bigman’s penis got a fine and a suspended sentence. Bigman got hit with a 30-day sentence for public nudity along with the cowboy’s wife. The group put their tour on hold, but they’re back at it. I hear they’re gonna be in Los Angeles in a week or two. If you’re interested, I can get you some tickets,” he said.

“No thanks, I’m not into that garbage,” I said.

“I don’t care much for it, either,” he said. We continued talking and as we did, I found myself warming up to the man. I couldn’t help but wonder, though, why he remained married to a shrew like Gloria.

“Listen, Bill,” he finally said. “I really like you, and I think you’ll be a great husband to my little girl. I’d just appreciate it if you could find some way to make peace with Gloria.”

“For Kyra’s sake, I’ll try,” I told him. “But I won’t tolerate any more disrespect from her.”

“Fair enough,” Tom said. We raised our glasses and drank to it, then finished our cigars. We had a late dinner that night as Gloria didn’t get back until 10:00 pm. Tom carried her into her room and helped clean her up.

Kyra was a wild woman that night in bed. She was practically screaming for me to fuck her brains out. This was a bit unusual for her, but I went along with it, and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The next morning, Gloria gave us both the evil eye at breakfast.

“What was all that racket last night?” she asked Kyra.

“It’s called ‘sex,’ mother. It’s what married couples are supposed to do. You should try it with Dad every once in a while. He might just like it,” Kyra said smugly. For a moment, I thought Gloria was going to have a stroke. I glanced at Tom, and saw he was fighting hard to keep from laughing out loud.

“You do this a lot?” Gloria asked.

“What, have wild monkey sex with my husband? Hell yes. Every chance I get,” Kyra said. “Isn’t that right, dear?” she asked, looking at me.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a smile. Gloria glared at me and I thought I saw daggers forming in her eyes.

“You’ve ruined her,” she hissed.

“No ma’am, but I think she did a pretty good job on me last night,” I said. Tom couldn’t hold it in any longer and suddenly burst out laughing.

“What’s so damn funny?” Gloria screamed.

“You,” Tom said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“My God, Mother, how in the hell did you ever get pregnant with me?” Kyra asked. Gloria said nothing, but her faced stayed red through most of breakfast.

“So what do you kids have planned for the day,” Tom asked.

“I don’t know,” Kyra said. “I thought we might go out and take in some of the sights.”

“James will be more than happy to take you wherever you want to go,” Gloria said.

“Nonsense,” Tom said. “Ever drive a Bentley, Bill?”

“No, can’t say that I have,” I told him. He reached into his pocket and handed me a key.

“Well, today’s your lucky day,” he said. “In fact, you can use it while you’re here. Just do me a favor and keep it charged up, okay?”

“Sure, thanks,” I said.

“You’re going to let them drive your Bentley?” Gloria asked, shocked. “You won’t even let me drive it.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s insured. Besides, if Bill can handle a trillion-dollar spacecraft, I’m sure he can handle a Bentley.” After breakfast, we headed out, with Kyra showing me where she grew up and went to school. We even drove up to see the Hollywood sign and looked over the sprawling city.

Over the next two and a half weeks, we went out nearly every day. We visited Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and a number of other places in the area. One day we came back and heard strange sounds coming from upstairs. Kyra looked at me funny and we slowly made our way upstairs.

As we drew closer to the bedrooms, we heard the sounds even louder and noticed they were coming from Gloria’s bedroom.

“Oh God, yes, fuck me baby. Fuck me harder. Don’t ever stop,” we heard her moan.

“Here it comes, baby,” we heard Tom say. Kyra looked at me, shocked.

“Yes, do it,” Gloria said. Then we heard them both cry out when they climaxed. We slowly inched our way back downstairs, not wanting to interrupt.

“Why did we ever stop doing that,” we heard Tom ask.

“I don’t know,” Gloria said. “But I wish we hadn’t. Let’s do this more often, okay?”

“Okay, dear,” Tom said. After a while, we heard him coming down the stairs. Kyra looked at him with a knowing smile.

“What?” he asked when he saw us.

“Oh nothing,” Kyra said smugly. He smiled at us and went into his office.

Eventually, it was time for us to leave. By then, Tom and I had become friends and we spent a lot of time talking about things over cigars and glasses of brandy. Gloria even started warming up to me a bit and I was shocked when she gave me a motherly peck on the cheek as we waited for James to load our baggage in the car.

“I want to apologize for the way I treated you, Bill,” she said. “It was crude and unbecoming. I misjudged you and I’m sorry for that.”

“Apology accepted,” I told her.

“Promise me you’ll take care of my little girl,” she said.

“I promise,” I said. She smiled and turned to Kyra. With a tear in her eye, she hugged her daughter and kissed her on the cheek.

“I know I haven’t told you this, but I really am very proud of you, Kyra,” she said. “You’ve grown so much and you really do have a good man there. You’d better take good care of him.”

“I will, Mother,” she said. “I love you.”

“And I love you too, sweetheart,” she said. Tom shook my hand and hugged his daughter.

“How long will you be out this time?” he asked.

“Don’t know,” I said. “Could be another five years.”

“Good luck to you. And don’t be strangers, you hear me?”

“We won’t, I promise,” I told him.

“It was a real pleasure meeting you, Bill. I look forward to seeing you two again,” he said.

“As do I,” I said. We got into the limousine and James drove us to the airport, where we boarded our flight to Houston. The plan was to visit my old sensei at the Academy, where Kyra and I would test for our new belts and show him the video of the two-person kata I had developed with her.

Don Jacobs, my old sensei, looked as though he hadn’t aged at all in the ten years or so since I had last seen him. We shook hands and I introduced him to Kyra. We caught up a bit and then got down to the purpose of our visit.

He put us both through our paces and seemed impressed with what he saw. I was happy to see that Kyra had scored well enough to earn a second-degree black belt. I tested well enough to earn my ninth-degree black belt. Then I showed him video of our kata. He watched it twice, saying nothing. He didn’t say anything until he finished scrutinizing the entire thing.

“That was… beautiful,” he finally said. “Two souls, bound together, making an unbreakable, invincible bond. I can see the synergy between the two of you. It was almost… erotic. May I have a copy of this?”

“Of course,” I told him, copying the file to a storage disk.

“I’d like your permission to show this at the upcoming Grav Tac exhibition,” he said.

“You have our permission,” I said.

“Thank you,” he said. “You might even win an award for this.”

“You really think it’s that good?” I asked.

“Most definitely,” he said.

We visited for a while, and finally said our goodbyes. It was now time for us to head back to Mars. We boarded our flight and watched the planet fall away from us. Actually, we were getting farther from it, but from our perspective, it was the other way around. Both of us had fond memories of the last four months and had unshed tears in our eyes as we watched the blue-green ball known as Earth get smaller and smaller.

We were eight days into the 14-day trip when I felt the craft start to decelerate. I looked out the porthole in our cabin and saw two small craft. They looked like old-style combat shuttles, the type used by the Corps some ten years ago. Most had been replaced by newer, faster craft, and the old ones had been banished to a “graveyard” on one of the moons orbiting Mars.

Then I had a sinking feeling in my gut. Pirates! I woke Kyra up.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Get up,” I said. “We’re slowing down. There’s ships out there. We need to get dressed.”

“Ships? What kind of ships?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “They look like old three-man combat shuttles. Hurry, get dressed.” She quickly got out of the bed and we dressed as fast as we could. By then, the passenger craft had come to a stop and I heard the sound of a docking port making connection. Then I heard a second dock connection. We were being boarded.

“What will we do?” Kyra asked, scared.

“Just stay calm,” I said. “No matter what happens, stay calm. I’m right here with you.” She nodded her head and we listened for any activity. I heard footsteps and some shouting. I heard other passengers screaming. Then I heard our hatch rattle as someone tried to open it. Whoever it was then started banging on it.

“Open up, NOW,” I heard a female voice command. I looked at Kyra.

“Remember, stay calm,” I told her. I reached up and opened the hatch to find myself staring down the business end of a hand-held laser pistol.

“Commander and Mrs. Jones,” the woman said. “Come with me. Both of you.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I said so. Now MOVE!”

“Alright,” I said. “We’ll come with you. Just let the ship go.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll let them go once you’re out of here,” the woman said. We got up and followed her to one of the docking ports. Another woman was behind Kyra, prodding her with a laser pistol. I felt the gravity decrease as went through the tube, then remembered those old shuttles didn’t have gravity units.

I thought seriously about using Grav Tac to take the woman out in front of me, and I probably could’ve done it, but there was the woman behind Kyra, and I wasn’t about to take any chances that would get her killed. So I worked my way down the rest of the tube.

We finally entered the cramped shuttle. These old vehicles only had room for two or three people, tops. Kyra was forced to sit on a bench along one bulkhead. A long cylindrical object sat on the deck behind the main seats. Looking at it, I realized it was an old nuclear device.

“Put him in the co-pilot’s chair,” a somewhat familiar female voice commanded. I recognized the voice. It was a bit deeper than I remembered, but it was definitely the voice of my ex-wife, Tabitha. I was roughly forced into the chair and my arms and legs were secured with velcro strips.

I looked up and hardly recognized the woman I had once been married to. Her once graceful, delightfully feminine figure was gone. So was her long hair. It was now cut extremely short, with a flat-top and colored purple and green. The sides of her head were shaved bald and she sported tattoos of an extended middle finger on both sides of her head, right above her ears.

Her arms appeared more muscular, and sported tattoos as well. One arm had a tattoo of a snorting bull’s head with long curved horns. No doubt, a tribute to her lover, Bull Travers. The other arm had a 12-inch long erect penis with a set of hairy testicles at the base. The letters, “KFMF” were written under the testicles.

She had other tattoos as well, probably from her time in prison. One tattoo simply read, “Fuck.” Another read, “Eat Me.” I was also somewhat surprised at her manner of dress.

She wore a short sleeveless top that showed her bare midriff. Her navel was pierced and it was obvious she wore no bra. The top looked to be crocheted in such a way that her nipples were visible. Like her navel, they, too, were pierced. She also wore a pair of cutoff shorts that left almost nothing to the imagination.

When the woman finished securing me to the chair, she stood up. Tabitha gave her a deep tongue kiss, making sure Kyra and I could see their tongues wresting. There was nothing erotic about it and I had to look away.

“Alright, lover,” Tabitha said. “Go on back to your shuttle. Watch for my tracker and meet me at the rendezvous point in eight days.”

“What about the passenger ship?” the other woman asked. Tabitha looked out the front window for a moment, then back at the other woman.

“Shadow them for a couple days, make them think you’re just escorting them. Lull them into a false sense of security, then blow them out of space,” Tabitha said with a wicked grin. The other woman grinned back.

“You’re so wicked, my Mistress,” she said.

“You know it,” Tabitha said. “Speaking of wicked, would you like to taste my nipples before you leave?” she asked, raising the front of her shirt over her bare breasts.

“Yes, Mistress,” the other woman said as she kissed and sucked on Tabitha’s pierced nipples.

“When we get back to base camp, you can suck my pussy to orgasm if you want,” Tabitha said.

“I would love that, Mistress,” the other pirate said.

“Then get your suit on and go to your shuttle. Remember what I said.”

“Yes, Mistress,” the other woman said. She made her way to the airlock in the back of the cabin, opened the door and entered. Once inside, she put on a space suit, depressurized the airlock and floated out into space. Tabitha turned to her console and spoke into her microphone.

“Passenger vessel, please continue to your destination,” she said. “Remember, do not report this encounter to anyone. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Roger that, shuttle. Thank you.” As we watched, the large passenger ship fired up its engines and moved away. Tabitha changed the frequency on her communicator and spoke again.

“Move out,” she said. “Follow the plan. MT out.” Closing her comm device, she turned back to us. “Well, what do you think of the new me?”

“You’re going to kill all those innocent people after telling them you’d let them go?” I asked. Tabitha looked at me before speaking.

“Mistress Tabitha’s first rule of space piracy. Never question Mistress Tabitha. The next rule. No witnesses. No loose ends. It’s a necessary evil,” she said.

“You’re sick,” I said. She smirked and nodded her head.

“Probably,” she said. “You never answered my question, spaceman. What do you think of the new me? You like my body work?”

“It’s interesting. I get the bull tattoo. What’s with the big dick?” I asked. She looked at the tattoo before answering.

“That? I went out to see the Kentucky Fried Mutha Fuggas after I got out of prison. Fucked the lead singer right there on stage. I can’t tell you how good it felt to be fucked by that 12-inch dick. I even let him cum inside my pussy so everyone could see. Talk about wicked. It dripped out of me for three days. Haven’t touched a dick since then.”

“Was that before or after his dick got cut off?” I asked.

“A couple days before,” she said. She turned her attention to Kyra. “I see you’ve got yourself a new bitch. Kinda cute. And you’re married. Isn’t that sweet.”

“What’s this all about, Tabitha?” I asked. She turned back to me.

“What do you think, asshole?” she snarled. “First, you murder the best man who ever served in the Corps. Then you completely fuck up my whole Goddamn life. If it hadn’t been for you, Bull would’ve been the First Officer or maybe even the Captain of the Enterprise and I would’ve been serving at his side.”

“You’re wrong about that, Tabitha,” I said. “Bull was at his terminal rank. He was going to be forced into retirement when the Armstrong got back from Jupiter. You see, he had a habit of targeting women. One of them was my mother. You remember her, don’t you?”

“Bullshit,” Tabitha said. “You lie like a fucking rug.”

“Tell me, Tabitha. The truth for once. Whose idea was it to throw me out of that airlock? Was it you, or Bull?”

“It was me, you fucking drek,” she said, using modern slang that referred to stupid wimpy cuckolds.

“Why? Why would you do that to me? I don’t get it. You never gave any indication there was a problem. I thought we had a good thing going,” I said.

“The truth? The truth is, you were becoming a bore. Bull showed me what it was like to be fucked by a man. A real man. He was also a risk-taker. You were just a Boy Scout, doing your duty by the book,” she said. “I wanted something more than you could offer and I didn’t want to be tied down to a ‘by-the-book’ kind of officer for the rest of my life.”

“Are you kidding me?” I asked. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that? Is that why you joined up with these pirates?”

“I didn’t join them. They joined me,” she said. “And there’s gonna be some changes. Starting with you.”

“What does that mean?” I asked her.

“Well, first, I’m going to deprive you of the love of your life, the way you did me,” she said. “Then, I’m going to destroy your precious Enterprise. And you’re going to help me. I’m sure you recognized the nuclear device. It has a yield of 100 megatons. Don’t worry, you won’t feel a thing when it goes off.”

“You know they’ll hunt you down like a dog and rip you to pieces,” I said.

“I’ll take that chance,” she said. “Enough talk. Get up,” she told Kyra, holding her laser pistol.

“Wait,” I said, a plan forming in my mind. “At least let me say goodbye to my wife properly. Just one hug and a kiss. That’s all I ask.” Tabitha looked between the two of us. Kyra was shaking by this time, scared of what the immediate future held for her.

“Alright, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. Never let it be said that I’m a cold, heartless bitch who denied you one last parting kiss,” she said.

“I’ll need these restraints taken off my wrists,” I said. “Don’t worry, you still have your pistol.”

“No funny stuff with that Grav Tac crap,” she said. “I’ll blow both of you away right here.”

“No funny stuff,” I said in a monotone. She reached down and loosened the velcro straps. Then she turned to Kyra.

“Go on, give your husband one last hug and kiss,” she said. Kyra worked her way to me, scared and nervous. She put her arms around me and I followed suit. Before I kissed her, however, I whispered quietly in her ear.

“Two as one. Invincible. Use my body like a fulcrum. Make her lose the pistol. Then follow my lead,” I told her. She nodded her head slightly and gave me a deep kiss. Then, using my body, she pushed back and kicked out at Tabitha, making her lose her grip on her pistol. As she did that, I reached down and removed the velcro around my ankles.

Surprised, Tabitha tried to regain her footing and reached out for her pistol. I used Kyra’s body and turned myself so I could get Tabitha’s neck under my knee. It was an improvised version of the kata we had done together. Kyra realized what I was doing and responded just as we practiced. I looked down and saw I had Tabitha right where I wanted her.

She looked at me with fear in her eyes as she realized what was about to happen. She tried to fight back, but the momentum caused by our combined movement made it difficult if not impossible.

“Please… No,” she cried as I applied pressure to her neck. I looked down and for a moment, I almost felt bad for her. Then I thought about what she had done to me and what she was about to do to Kyra. I shook my head.

“Goodbye, Tabitha,” I said as I turned and twisted my body. I heard and felt the snap as Tabitha’s neck broke. I saw shock, then nothing as her eyes dilated. I knew she was dead but I held the position for a few seconds to make sure. I relaxed my hold and her body floated lifelessly in the cabin. I looked at Kyra and saw tears in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I am now,” she cried as I held her. “You know, space can really suck sometimes.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Then I heard beeping from the nuclear device.

“Well, I’m afraid it’s about to suck even more,” I said. Looking around, I saw a small, cylindrical object floating near Tabitha’s body. I reached out and took it in my hands.

“What’s that?” Kyra asked.

“A dead man switch,” I said.

“A what?”

“She had this in her hand. As long as she held it, the weapon remained inert. When she released it, it activated the device.”

“WHAT?” I looked at the bomb and saw a ten-minute timer had started and was counting down.

“We’ve got ten minutes before this thing goes off,” I said.

“Can’t you stop it?” Kyra asked. I shook my head.

“No time,” I said. “We’ve got to get this thing out of here and get as far away as we can. Come on, give me a hand.” The weapon wasn’t heavy — after all, we were in zero-g. But it was a bit unwieldy, so Kyra helped me move it into the airlock.

“We need to get her out of here as well. Get those straps, we’ll secure her to the bomb. Hurry.” Kyra made her way to the front of the ship and grabbed the velcro straps as I pulled Tabitha’s body into the airlock. We strapped her to the bomb, then got out of the chamber.

“Why are we doing that to her?” Kyra asked as I began to depressurize the chamber.

“There’s no cold storage on these old ships,” I said. “No place to keep her body. It’ll be eight days before we make Mars. She’ll be pretty ripe by then and the cabin won’t be safe for either of us. We’ve got no choice.” When the chamber depressurized, I hit the button and the outer door opened. Another button and the bomb, with Tabitha attached, was launched into space. I closed the door and repressurized the chamber.

“Hurry, take the co-pilot’s chair and strap in. We’ve got to move,” I said as I sat in the pilot’s chair.

“You know how to fly one of these?” she asked.

“I flew something like it at the Academy. Just like riding a bicycle. Once you learn, you never really forget,” I said. I looked at the console and realized it had been put together with pieces of equipment salvaged from other vessels. Some of the controls had Cyrillic lettering while others were written in French or Farsi. Still, I was able to figure out what button activated the energizers.

“Get ready, we’re peeling out of here.” I pressed the button and heard the engines wind up. I watched the indicators and pushed the engine control levers all the way forward. We were both pushed back into our seats when the engines fired.

“How long before the bomb goes off?” she asked. I looked at my chronometer.

“Roughly three minutes, maybe a bit less,” I said. “Hang on.”

“What about the blast wave? Won’t we be hit with that?” she asked.

“No air in space, so there won’t be a shock wave. The biggest danger is radiation that could affect our instruments and communications. Hopefully, this old crate has some shielding. Our best defense is distance. We need to get as far away from that thing as we can before it goes off,” I said.

About three minutes after we left, we saw a blinding flash of light and I knew the weapon had detonated. Activating the rear view cameras, we could see a bright giant ball in space where we had been. I pushed the small craft ahead and watched the instruments for any indication of trouble. So far, there were none.

Maybe we had put enough distance between us and the bomb, I thought. I put the comm headphones on and fired up the radio, selecting the emergency frequency I knew was constantly being monitored. I put the radio in “record” mode and spoke into the microphone, hoping someone would hear my message.

“Mayday, mayday. This is Commander William Jones of the Enterprise. I am aboard an armed pirate shuttle with Lt. Commander Kyra Jones. A 100 megaton nuclear device was just detonated at our last position. We are currently on course for Galileo Station. Pirate vessels are shadowing Orion Flight 2375 on course for Huygens Base with hostile intentions. Request assistance,” I said.

I set the device to repeat the message every 30 seconds. If someone responded, I would still be able to hear it over the headphones. About 20 minutes later, I thought I heard someone respond, but I couldn’t clearly understand what was being said. I fiddled with the controls, hoping to clear up the signal. Then I heard it.

“I repeat, this is Captain Alice Brewster of the USS Armstrong. Message received, Commander. We have you on our scope and are on our way. ETA two-five mikes. Respond, please.” I keyed the microphone and smiled as I looked at Kyra.

“Message received, Captain,” I said. “It’s good to hear your voice.”

“Yours as well, Commander. Maintain course and speed. We’ll see you soon.” I breathed a sigh of relief and then heard another message.

“Shuttle, this is Captain Avery Scott of the USS John Glenn,” a man with a faint Scottish brogue said. “Message received. Changing course to intercept. ETA two-seven mikes.”

“Roger that, Captain Scott,” I said. “Good to hear your voice, sir.”

“And yours,” Avery said. The USS John Glenn was a heavy combat cruiser commissioned about two years after the Armstrong, and was a formidable weapons platform. I felt much better knowing we would have even more firepower on our side. I looked at Kyra.

“The cavalry’s on the way,” I told her. Then I heard a third message.

“Shuttle, this is Commodore Simmons. Change to secure frequency alpha. I repeat, switch to secure frequency alpha. Over.”

“Roger that,” I said in response. I changed to the secure frequency and hoped the pirates weren’t able to listen in. I heard Alan talking with Alice and Avery when I connected.

“Commander Jones here, Commodore,” I said.

“What’s your sitrep?” he asked.

“Lt. Commander Jones and I were on the Orion flight when we were stopped by pirates and taken aboard this shuttle, sir. Their leader planned to murder the Lt. Commander and destroy the Enterprise with a nuclear device, using me as their kamikaze pilot. We were able to overcome the leader and ejected the weapon.”

“Do you know who was responsible for this?” Alan asked.

“A former pilot of yours, Commodore,” I said. “She was released from prison.”

“Your ex?” Alan asked.

“One and the same, sir,” I said.

“What is her status?”

“Vaporized, sir,” I said calmly.

“Understood,” Alan said after a few moments. “Listen carefully, all of you. The USS Sally Ride is on an intercept course with the Orion passenger ship. Captain Brewster, I want you to take charge of this operation. You, Commander Jones and Captain Scott will deal with the pirates. Understand?”

“Understood, sir,” Alice said.

“Understood, Commodore,” Avery answered.

“Copy that, Commodore,” I said.

“Sensors indicate a force of about 12 pirate craft in the vicinity of the Orion ship, Commodore,” Alice said.

“Very well, Captain,” Alan said. “You know what to do.”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

“I’ll be monitoring the situation from here, Captain. Report when you can.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” she said. The discussion ended and I looked at Kyra.

“You ready for a crash course in small ship weaponry?” I asked her.

“I… I guess,” she said nervously.

“Good. If you look under your console, you’ll see what looks like a folded joystick. Grab the top half and bring it up toward you until it locks.” I watched as she unfolded the joystick. “Alright, the red button on the left side is your tracker. Press that.” She pressed it and I saw the display on her screen change.

“That green box tells you where the lasers are currently pointed. This ship has four lasers and the system can track as many as five targets at once. When your target is locked, that box will turn red. There are two buttons on the joystick. The top button fires the lasers. The button on the front fires missiles. Don’t worry about using missiles. Just use the lasers. When the box turns red, you press that button and don’t let up until the target is destroyed. Any questions?”

“Bill, I… I don’t know if I can do this,” she said nervously. “I took an oath to do no harm. I’m a doctor, not a… a…”

“A soldier? A gunner?” I asked. “I know. This is way outside your comfort zone and I understand that. I’d do it myself, but I have my hands full trying to keep this crate together. I know you took the Hippocratic oath, but you also took another oath when you accepted that commission — to protect and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. How many people do you think are on that passenger ship?”

“I don’t know. Maybe 60,” she said.

“That’s right. Sixty people on an unarmed, defenseless passenger ship. If we don’t do our job, those 60 people could die. They’re counting on us to defend them. So they need you to do your part. Can you do that?”

“I.. I guess,” she said.

“No, don’t guess,” I said. “This is do or die time. They were going to murder you back there. Toss you out of an airlock the way I jettisoned Bull. Then they were going to use a nuclear weapon against the Enterprise. Those people in that ship need you. I need you. Remember, two as one. We’re a team and together, we’re invincible. Are you with me?” She looked at me and I saw a change in her face.

“You’re right,” she said. “I’m with you, my husband. You can count on me.” I smiled at her before responding.

“That’s my girl,” I said. A few minutes later, I looked out the side portholes and saw the Armstrong and the John Glenn. I knew we would be okay. I had never seen the John Glenn before and I was impressed with the size of it and the firepower it had on display. I keyed my microphone.

“That’s one helluva ship you have there, Captain Scott,” I said.

“Aye, laddie, it tis,” he answered. Then I heard Alice.

“Enemy formation is within range,” she said. I looked at the console between the seats and saw the twelve ships headed for us. “Gentlemen, plow the road,” she added.

“Plow the road, aye, aye Captain,” I said.

“Aye Captain,” Avery said. “Plowing the road.” Kyra looked at me, confused.

“What does that mean, plow the road?” she asked.

“Press the button and fire like hell,” I told her. She complied, and all four lasers on the shuttle fired into space. The other two ships opened fire and we were treated to a stunning display as numerous red streaks of hot laser fire erupted from them. I knew there was no way the pirate vessels could withstand such an onslaught.

I saw flashes in the distance and looked at the console. The enemy formation had broken up as most of the vessels were destroyed. I saw one ship try to break away. I suspected it would try to work its way behind us. I keyed the microphone and called Alice.

“Captain, there’s a vessel breaking from the formation. I think it’s trying to get behind us. Request permission to intercept.”

“Permission granted, Commander,” she said. I dipped the ship down and prepared to intercept the other vessel.

“Hold your fire until I give the word,” I told Kyra.

“Got it,” she said. I saw the enemy ship get larger as we charged toward each other. Then I heard the radio.

“Shuttle 101, stand down and surrender. I promise we’ll make your death quick and painless,” we heard a female voice say. I recognized the voice — it was the pirate who took us from the passenger ship. I thought about my response, but Kyra grabbed her microphone and beat me to the punch. By then, the tracker had locked onto the oncoming shuttle.

“Eat this, BITCH,” Kyra shouted. I looked at her and nodded my head. She pressed the button and all four lasers opened up on the ship. The other ship opened in a ball of flame as the lasers found their target. Kyra kept firing, breaking the vessel into tiny fragments.

I saw the head and torso of one pirate tumbling in space. A blast from the laser reduced the torso to ash. It took all my skill to dodge the debris from the other ship. When I had cleared the debris, I motioned for Kyra to stop firing.

“You can stop firing now. I think you got it,” I told her. Breathing hard, she nodded her head and let go of the joystick.

“Did I do okay?” she asked.

“You were marvelous,” I told her. I keyed the microphone and called Alice.

“Enemy shuttle destroyed,” I reported.

“Good job, Commander,” Alice said. “Rejoin the formation.” I made my way back between the Armstrong and the John Glenn. Alice came back on the radio. “All enemy vessels destroyed. Orion Flight 2375 secure. Commander, prepare to dock with the Orion flight. Captain Scott will secure the shuttle and transport it to Huygens. Well done, everyone.”

“Thank you, Captain, Preparing to dock with the Orion ship,” I said. A half-hour or so later, we caught up with the Orion passenger ship. The Sally Ride was close by. The Armstrong and the John Glenn also came to a stop. After Alice briefed Alan on the short battle, he spoke to all of us.

“Excellent job, everyone,” he said. “Thank you. I expect to see all of you at Huygens when you get here.”

We all acknowledged his order and I prepared to dock with the passenger ship. It had been a while since I had done this, so I took my time to make sure I got it right. When I confirmed a good lock, I shut the vessel down and escorted a shaken Kyra onto the commercial ship.

When we stepped onto the Orion flight, we were met with cheers and applause. The captain of the ship came over to us and shook our hands.

“Thank you so much,” he said. “I thought we were goners.”

“You’re welcome, Captain. Just doing our jobs,” I said. The flight attendant led us back to our cabin. Along the way, passengers shook our hands and thanked us profusely. We collapsed on the bed as soon as we got in the room.

“I’m sorry,” a shaking Kyra said as she lay in my arms.

“For what?” I asked.

“For questioning you like I did earlier. I was so scared. I’ve never actually killed anyone before. I know it sometimes happens, but I never thought it would happen to me. I hope you’re not mad at me.”

“Mad? Hell, I’m not mad at you. I’m damn proud of you,” I said. I took her hand in mine. “There’s nothing more stressful than combat. None of us knows for sure how we’ll react. I was scared as hell myself. The thought of losing you was just too much for me to bear. But you pulled through. We may be two separate individuals, but together, we’re unstoppable. Don’t ever forget that. I love you so damn much.”

“I love you, too,” she said as she snuggled close to me.

The rest of the trip to Mars was uneventful — fortunately. We finally calmed down after the experience and even made love a couple times before landed at Huygens. Unknown to us, news of the battle went viral. It turned out that Duncan Wyoming, correspondent with XNN Interplanetary, was on that flight with members of his crew.

When we landed at Huygens, we were met by a representative of Orion Spaceway, who informed us that we would be reimbursed for our flight expenses.

“I can’t accept that,” I said.

“We insist, Commander,” the blonde woman said. “You save the lives of our crew and passengers and corporate feels they owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“Well, thank you,” I said. Alan met us with Leesa, who came down from Galileo Station.

“I see you had a bit of excitement on your way back,” she said.

“Just a little, Captain,” I said. “It’s good to be back, though.”

“It’s good to see you back,” she said. “We’ve still got a bit of work to do on the Enterprise, but it’s coming along quite nicely.”

“In the meantime, we’re having a bit of a celebration over at the main venue,” Alan said. “All of the crews are getting together for a bit. Why don’t the two of you join us?”

“Sure,” I said. “I’ll just need to get our bags.”

“That won’t be necessary, sir,” a steward with Orion said from behind us. “I’ll personally take care of your things and see they get delivered to your quarters on the Enterprise.”

“Well, thank you,” I told him. Alan led us to his vehicle and we got inside. When we got to the venue, it was already crowded as members of the three crews gathered together. Alan got up and addressed everyone, thanking them for what they had done. Then the music started and the celebration began.

About an hour or so into the celebration, Alice and Avery stood up on a table and held up a glass and got everyone’s attention.

“Where’s the pipes and drums?” Avery boomed. We heard some pounding and the sounds of bagpipes from somewhere near the stage. “Ah, there ye are. Everyone on the John Glenn already knows this little ditty, so the rest of ye pay attention and join in when you can.” He poured some liquor into his glass and held it high.

“Let’s drink whiskey all night long,” he bellowed.

“Aye, Aye, Capt’n,” his crew shouted in response. Then the music began. It was a tune I had never heard before, but it had a nice beat and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Before long, everyone in the room, including Alan and Alice were singing along.

Just say aye, aye, Capt’n.

Just say aye, aye, Capt’n

When yer captain calls

Just say aye, aye, Capt’n

At one point, I was so moved by the tune that I grabbed Kyra and we began clapping and dancing. Everyone around us began clapping as well. I had never heard bagpipes played with guitars like this, and I had to admit, it sounded really good and I enjoyed it.

Let’s sing this song, all night long

Aye, aye, Capt’n!

We sang and danced until we couldn’t sing or dance any more. At one point, Avery sidled up to me and handed me a glass of… something.

“What is this?” I asked. He looked at it carefully, then looked back at me.

“It’s uh… green,” he said. “Drink up, laddie!”

By the time the celebration was over, both Kyra and I felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from us. We made our way back to Enterprise, where I almost entered my old cabin.

“Uh, Commander, you don’t live there anymore, remember?” Leesa said. She gave us our new key cards and pointed to the First Officer’s cabin door. “You two live here, now.”

“Thanks for the reminder, Captain,” I said.

“Don’t worry, all your stuff has already been moved, and your guitars are in good shape,” she said. “Get some sleep. You’re going back to work tomorrow.”

We entered the cabin and I was stunned at how much bigger it was than my old cabin. The cabin once occupied by Myra, Commander Hurbi’s companion, was set up as our bedroom and the main cabin was set up as a living and dining area. We undressed and fell into bed.

The next morning, I met our new Operations Officer, Lt. Commander Decker. He seemed to be an affable character and we hit it off right away. From what I learned, he graduated first in his Advanced Operations class. I set about making the shift schedules and getting caught up.

The next two months went fast for us. Preparations were well underway for our next voyage. We were set to visit Tau Ceti, a yellow star that sat 11.89 light years from Earth. According to scientists, five planets orbited the star, and two of them were reportedly inside the habitable zone of the star.

Leesa briefed me on the upgrades made to the ship, which included new engines that could cruise at just over six times the speed of light, with bursts up to seven times the speed of light. That meant we could theoretically get there in less than two years. There had also been significant improvements made in the warp bubble and in our communications array.

Meanwhile, both Kyra and I had been extensively debriefed about our encounter with Tabitha and her pirates. From what I could gather, the authorities had no idea how they managed to scrape up the vessels they used nor did they know how the pirates managed to get a nuclear device. I had a sick feeling that we hadn’t heard the last from them.

Alan informed me through Leesa that he had put both of us up for a medal. I had mixed feelings about it, but I felt Kyra deserved something for what she did. We had managed to speak to both our parents since returning, and they were relieved to hear we were okay. Kyra’s father bubbled with pride as he spoke to her, and even Gloria seemed to have softened her stance toward her daughter’s chosen career path.

Finally, the day came when Enterprise set out for her next mission. We held a bon voyage party the same way we did when we went to Alpha Centauri, and of course, Leesa tapped me for the entertainment, which I happily provided, much to the crew’s delight.

We pulled out of Galileo Station and made our way to the Q-point, where we would make the jump to light speed. This time, I sat in the First Officer’s chair, next to Leesa. As we approached the point where we would make the jump, Leesa turned to me.

“Would you like to give the word, Commander?” she asked. For a moment, I was speechless, but I accepted.

“Yes, Captain. I’d be honored,” I told her.

“Very well. Make it so, Number One,” she said.

“Helm, at my command,” I said.

“Aye, aye, sir,” the female pilot, Lt. Jacobs, said.

“Approaching Q-point, ETA 15 seconds,” the navigator said.

“Warp bubble formed. Light speed at your command, Captain,” the engineer said.

“Stand by, helm,” I said.

5…4…3…2…1…

“Engage.”

…

Fade to black…

…

Note: The song, “Aye, Aye, Capt’n” was recorded by Celtica — Pipes Rock!

There may be more to this story, so stay tuned…