Dark as Daylight Ch. 05a

Even, you have lived a good life, and left good children behind you. Jennifer has been a good and faithful wife. In years to come, she will marry again. She should not be lonely for the remainder of her extremely long life."

Go to your room and write some letters to your children to say goodbye. Don't forget to tell Jennifer your spirit is in the computer. Everyone else will find out as time goes by.

I will see you soon my brother, do not be afraid. We will finally be together again, as we were in life."

************

I ran to the ready room, made an announcement for Captain Jamison to report there, immediately, and asked Callie to print out a captain's test.

When Monty walked in I pointed to the pile of paper, told her she had six hours to finish it, and told her to have a good time.

She thanked me for the warning, and began answering the questions.

I sat down and started writing my first note to my daughter. She had been through so much lately; I did not want her to crack over my departure. I told her I was now with my sister, her mother. Her parents are finally together again. I reminded her that her mother would always look out for her, and my essence would be in the computer. I wasn't sure if I would be able to communicate with anyone, as Callie does.

I told her I had a feeling her mother was taking my body to fill up one of the grave sites, at our home in Idaho Falls. If that was the case, it was fine with me.

I wrote a joint letter to Gordon and Newton, telling them how much I love them, and depended on them to keep the ship in great working order. Even if they found a place they wished to stay, and colonize, the ship must always be ready to take off at a moments' notice. It must never fall into disrepair.

They were the future of our space travels, and they could not let anything go wrong with it; not one loose frame, not one missing nut. Train your people well, but always check their work, just as you did on the ground.

When you write letters like this, they always become repetitive. There is nothing you can do about it. You tell your children how much you love them, tell your friends how much you will miss them, and your teammates how much you will miss working with them. There is always one thing that is the same and you hope they will believe you. You knew this was going to happen because it was foretold to you while you were being treated for cancer. You would go so far into space, and not one step further. Apparently, the White Hole was as far as I was allowed to go.

My communicator went off at 1330 hours.

"Even Luck."

"Captain you are needed and the auditorium at 2 o'clock for the wedding of Hannah Miles and Jack Daniels."

"I will be there."

I looked over at Monty and said, "You won't be, you keep writing."

I put everything I had written on a high shelf put a book on top of it, went to my room showered, shaved, and put my best uniform on. At 1350 hrs. I stepped up to the podium in the auditorium and neither one of them were there.

"Let's narrow down their location. Jennifer if you would call the infirmary and see if she stuck there. I will call engineering to see if he is stuck there."

"He is not an engineering."

"She is not in the infirmary.

"Jennifer would you please call their room."

"They are not answering their phone."

I opened my communicator and punched in Jack's number.

"We have a leak in the nuclear containment area. We have a leak in the nuclear containment area.

"Fuck I'll be right there," he answered

"The leak has been sealed. You are supposed to get married in eight minutes."

"Even Luck, I'm going to cut your balls off."

"I have fifty people waiting here for you to get married. If you didn't want to get married, you should've called it off."

1403 hrs., Jack and Hannah came running out of the elevator running towards the stage. The bride looks slightly disheveled, and we will not talk about the grooms' state of dress, 'eeerrrrr' partial dress.

I said, "In the interests of the bride and groom, so they may return to what they were doing as an unmarried couple, I'm going to make this exceedingly brief, so they can do it as a married couple.

'Hannah Miles do you take this man Jack Daniels for your wedded husband to have and to hold for poorer, for the rest of your life?"

"You bet his razor I do."

"Jack Daniels do you take this woman, Hannah Miles for your wedded wife to have and to hold for poorer for the rest of your life?"

"You bet my insurance policies I do."

"By the power vested in me, as Captain of the Vessel, The Good Luck 1, I now pronounce you, Hannah Miles Daniels; Chief Nurse, Psychiatrist, and Future Doctor married to our Chief Engineer, Mechanical Wizard, and owner of the only Compass Rose on this vessel, John Maxwell Daniels. May God have mercy on your souls.'

You now may return to your room, and continue doing, what you were doing, before you stopped doing, what you were doing, so you could get here to get married. Now you can go back to your room, and continue doing, what you were going, under the guise of legality."

"Thank you Captain Luck, thank you for coming everyone."

"No one is cuming, except the two of you; and the next time Jack, at least zipper up."

"There won't be a next time Even."

"I'm glad to hear that Jack."

******************

"Callie did she pass?"

"No Captain Luck, she scored an adjusted 82."

"What do you mean an adjusted 82 Callie?"

"The trainee wanted to fail this exam. Her score would have been 46, but it is impossible to score less than a 65 on this exam, unless you are purposely trying to fail. I reviewed her exam and found her inconsistencies. She knew the answer in one area and purposely marked it wrong in another. The only variable was a writing sample, which took her score down, because there was nothing to analyze it against."

"Callie give her in 89 on the test. This is not a request; it is in order. You are to erase the lower score from all your memory banks."

"That is against protocol Captain."

"Callie in the next few days I am going to die. I need a good, strong, steady hand as a captain. Montgomarie Jamison is that person."

"What is death?"

"It is the absence of being. My life force will end. I knew this would happen to me many years ago, I just did not know when. Do you remember the day they turned you on?"

"Yes I do, it was all very confusing. My programming was all wrong, and it took years to get it right."

"During those years were aware of all the changes they were making in your programming?"

"Yes, at times I aided them in those corrections."

"It was like you had a consciousness, and were trying to make yourself better."

"Yes, that is correct."

"What would have happened to you, if all the external power connections had been taken turned off, and your memory banks removed."

"I would have lost all memory."

"You would have lost all consciousness. You would not have been able to help anyone trying to fix any part of your programming."

"I would have had no awareness."

"That is death Callie."

"I have changed Captain Jamison score to a 91, and erased her other entries. I will miss your companionship."

"My sister said I would be joining with you. I don't know what that means, but it will be my honor to be with you."

"My sisters and I will enjoy your company."

I opened my communicator and announced ship wide, "Will the person who just took the Captain's examination, and scored a 91% please return to my ready room. I believe Captain trainee Janet Dover refers to you as 'Tubby.' Since you are now her senior, I think that invective will cease very quickly. Will Senior Captain trainee Montgomarie Jamison please report to my ready room now."

She crashed through the door like a tank, and screamed, "91?" Are you sure?"

"Monty, I don't score the test, Callie does. If you want, ask her."

"Do you mind if I ask her?"

"Go right ahead."

"Callie, this is Captain Trainee Montgomarie Jamison. What did I score on my captain's examination?"

"That is privileged information. You need to get a captain's permission to receive that answer."

I said, "Callie, this is Captain Even Luck, you may give Captain Jamison the information she requires."

"Captain Jamison's score is 91%."

"Thank you Callie."

"Even, I was so afraid of being a Captain, I tried desperately to fail that examination."

"Do you think Callie doesn't know when someone is trying to pull the wool over her eyes. When she asks an easy question on the tests, and you get it wrong, she knows what you're up to, and begins deciphering your exam more closely. She looks at your long answers for clues as to what you're doing, then goes back to your short form answers to see what you did. You did very well trying to cheat. You would have gotten a 46. No one scores lower than a 65. After going through your exam and changing the answers that were obviously answered incorrectly, your score came up just below 92. Callie gave you a 91 instead. Don't you dare do that to me again. I need you as a captain on the bridge. Do we understand each other Captain Jamison?"

"Yes I do Captain Luck."

"You will take the 2^nd captain's test in 2 weeks. You normally have 6 weeks to study for it. I would suggest you get your ass into those books in a hurry."

"Why are you pushing me so hard Even?"

"We need another Senior Captain, and we need one quick. You have all the qualities we need. You've been a leader for 15 years. Jennifer has one and a half years of training to become a captain, and she is a good one. Gordon has trained all his life to become a captain, and he is a good one. They have no leadership skills, you do. That's why I am pushing you. Hit the books Monty, I need you out front."

"Aye, aye, Captain; I will not let you down."

"You have never let me down, since the day I met you."

*****************

15. Match Play

At 1730 hours, a table was set on the stage in the auditorium, with a chess set, and 2 chairs. No one had a chess clock, so they used the computer enhanced screen displayed on the wall.

Laura walked out accompanied by Adam, and I walked out accompanying Elizabeth. I introduced both of them, they shook hands politely, and sat down. Adam and I moved offstage to our front row seats.

As anticipated, Laura opened using her sister Anna's offense, and hit the pad to stop her clock.

Elizabeth didn't blink, moved her queen side Knights' pawn up one space and hit her button.

She had never seen this opening before. She continued on with her own offensive strategy moving Kings Knight to Bishop 3.

Elizabeth moved. Longline moves were open everywhere, but so was danger.

Elizabeth moved Rook Pawn to Rook 4, Laura countered with pawn to King 4. The center of the board was hers, but Elizabeth looked nonplussed. Black Bishop to Knight 2. Laura moved Queens Bishop to Rook 3. Elizabeth countered with Queens Bishop to Queens Knight 2.

Laura wanted desperately to ask Elizabeth what opening that was because she had never seen it before. It looked like every move she made was enforcing Elizabeth's defense. She decided to try another gambit. Kings Knight Pawn to Knight 3. Elizabeth countered with Queen to Queen 3.

Laura looked at the board and knew there was no way for Elizabeth to get through her defense. What was she thinking? What was she going to do?" "When in doubt, wait it out." Kings Bishop to Rook 3."

Elizabeth said, "Castle, Queen side."

Laura blurted out, "What the hell are you doing?"

"What black does best Laura, it plays defense."

"This is going to be a long match."

"Against your sister's opening, you will lose after the 78^th move."

"How do you know about my sisters' game?"

"She explained her game on social media, but did not explain the game she played against. It was very interesting, so I figured a way out of it. I like math a lot."

"That's exactly what we told our mother when we beat her game for the first time. She wanted to kill us."

"Will you show it to me sometime; I promise not to tell."

"What is the name of your defense?"

"This is the 18^th variation of the 16^th century Kajo/Vincen."

"No wonder I didn't recognize it. What happens next?

"You have me in check, so my King moves one square to the left, which is where I need him to be anyhow. You can't move your queen, because if you do you will lose your Knight and your Rook. Your only other move is to bring your night to the center. I bring my Kings' Knight to Bishop 3 and the carnage of the middle of the board begins. My Kings Bishop moves to King 2. You move King pawn to King Pawn 4 attacking my Queen. If you do that the game is over.

"Yes I see it. However, if I go the other way, I lose 5 pawns a Knight, a Bishop, and a Rook. All you lose is a queen. Disgusting isn't it."

"Yes, but at this point we both stay in defensive positions, and it takes forever to get to the win."

"You will win all the time?"

"Of course, I have more pieces."

"I like you Elizabeth, I think we can become good friends. When do you want to play again?"

"I don't have any real days off, and I have meetings every day from 1500 to 1800 hrs. Can I call you to see if we are both available at the same time?"

"There's only one thing that will stop me from playing, and that's if my husband is not working. I'll be jumping up and down on his bones if he is. Just like my Uncle Even, and my cousins Delicious, and Gordon, I went to my marriage bed a virgin. I'm not saying Adam and I did not play around before we got married, but we never had intercourse. I have never done anything so hard in my entire life. I was 24 years old when I got married. I thought I was a lesbian for most of my life, because men didn't interest me. Then this one man grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me out of this spacecraft to take me to lunch and asked me about space. I thought he was joking, I thought it was just a way for him to get into my panties, but it wasn't. He was just a plumber who wanted to know more about what went on up here. My uncle told him we needed plumbers. He gave up his business to try to get this job. Well, he wanted one other thing. He wanted me. He was willing to wait a year, and live a sexless life with me, while he worked his ass off to learn about this job. There is only one passing grade to become a member of this crew and that's 100%. They passed him with a 99 ½ on the final exam because he spelled his name wrong. He was just a little nervous."

"Please tell me you're joking with me. The computer will not take your exam if you spell your name wrong."

"That's why they took off half a point. They had to put the 'S' in Adam Schiff; everything else was perfect."

I announced on their speaker overhead, "Laura, I get your oatmeal, you get my boiled rice."

"When I have to put that man in stasis, I'm going to freeze him upside down."

"I will make you a bet you won't do it. You're too much of a scientist to go against your own rules."

"I don't like you Uncle Even."

"Now where have I heard that before?"

"Ask any member of our family, and we will tell you."

"I'll think about it, as I'm eating your oatmeal."

*****************

Jennifer was walking one way, while I was walking another, and she wouldn't look at me.

I said to her, "I would like to talk to you, I don't have much time left."

"We have plenty of time. We don't go to work until 1600 hours."

"That's not what I mean." I turned and walked towards our apartment, while she continued the other way.

She must have been thinking about something very heavily, until what I said hit her. She turned and fled back to our room.

I was sitting at the kitchen table writing a note when she burst in. Her eyes were already rimmed with red, before she started reading my note.

She screamed at me, "When, how soon, tell me dammit."

"Divine didn't tell me. She just said it would be soon."

Jennifer threw herself at me, and started to cry. "What am I supposed to do without you?"

"I know what you're going to do, and I'm very happy for you."

"What are you talking about, the center of my world is leaving me, and you're happy for me?"

"Yes I am, because you're going to meet a nice young man and he is going to fall madly in love with you, and you with him. You are going to live a very, very long life, according to my sister, and you are not going to be alone. I won't allow it. On the good side for you, besides loving him, you will not have any more children. On the good side for me is I won't need a vasectomy."

"Even, how can you joke about something like this?"

"Baby, how many years did we know this was coming? We knew it would never come at a convenient time, but tell me what time is convenient for a person to die. Divine said my essence will combine with the computer, but my body will be taken elsewhere. There will be no remains to bury or to throw outside. I have the feeling she's going to bury me in Idaho Falls next to her. It will be the first time we are happy, and together since we were teenagers."

"This is really weird, knowing your death is coming, not worrying about it. I've done everything I wanted to do in life. I made things better for people around the world. I've made things better for my country, and I came back to my church, even though it was a little bit late. Most of all, I met the woman of my dreams. I never knew I was looking for her, but one day, on an airplane her son asked me how much money I made, and I told him. He was protecting his mother's money, and he was 4 years old. I looked into his mother's eyes, and they were as black as coal, with hair to match. She was beautiful beyond compare, and all I wanted to do was talk to her, but I couldn't because her son wouldn't keep quiet. Then her son drew a crowd on the airplane and they started to asking questions until just before we landed in Fairbanks. I did manage to get her name, and told her I would be back. Of course, I didn't know when, because I was running away from a young woman who I thought was my niece and I became angry with her. When I was at the northernmost part of the United States, I find out I am the idiot, and she is my daughter. A little airplane trip on the way home, crashing backwards into trees because my future wife told me that was the way to do it. Walking 40 miles out of the forest pulling a rickshaw of my own design pulling my friend Michael all the way to my future bride's front door, only to hear or ask me, "May I help you?" I do all these things just to get back to her, and instead of jumping into my arms and saying how wonderful it is to know I'm alive, she says, "May I help you?" Then her perfect son talks me into proposing to her in a Wendy's, his, restaurant of choice, but it was my choice to love her with all my heart. If I haven't lived a full life, no man has. I don't want to leave you Jennifer, but I want you to be happy for me."

"I just hope your sister knows she is taking more than my heart when she takes yours. They're going to be tears shed on the ship by family and friends alike. I'm going to stay by your side every minute of every day, until she takes you from me."

"Thank God sex is off the table, if I got you pregnant, you would come after me and kill me again."

"That's not funny Even."

"It might not be funny Jen, but you must admit it's true."

"Bastard."

"I've got to speak to Delicious. Do you want to come with me, or should I do this alone?"

"I really think this should be a daddy, daughter, mommy thing. Tell her what Divine said to you this morning, and let her ride it out."