Dark as Daylight Ch. 13

"What about my baby?"

"It's not just your baby. You are its mother, and Gordon is its father. The 2 of you will fight over that child when the time comes. However, we would not put you into stasis before you gave birth."

"When do I have to start seeing Doctor Daniels?"

"Your 1^st appointment is this afternoon at 1500 hrs. You will continue to see her 5 days a week, until she makes a recommendation to Doctor Finch. Together they will devise a course of action, which will probably include medication, as well as continued psychiatric treatment. It will be devised to keep you healthy, and your new baby safe."

"Was what I did so terrible?"

"Let's look at the result of what you did, while leaving Gordon's, and my feelings out of it. One man lost his rank, and is in the next cell for 13 more days. Janet is on restriction for one month. Everyone who was on duty in the security screening area will be spending one day each, in the brig, because of what you did. That means a loss of 18 working days, which other people will have to pick up.

I cannot say if you've lost any friends among the crew or not. I will say a lot of people will be looking at you differently from now on. They are going to wonder whose privacy you are going to invade next. Is there anything, is there any length you won't go to, just to get your story?"

"Has Gordon finished moving out of our apartment?"

"Yes. All of his, and Payne's items are in their new apartment. He will be working a split shift, doing work in different areas of his expertise while she sleeps. As soon as she awakens, he will be called so he can spend as much time with her as he can. He will put in his full 8-hour day, and spend the rest of his time raising his daughter. He realizes it will be challenging at first, and even more so, when his second child is born. However, he is determined to be the best single father he can be."

"You're just trying to make me feel bad."

"I'm doing no such thing, Zoey. I'm telling you what he said to me, in the same language he said it to me.

Until I saw the way you acted yesterday, we were all friends. Yesterday, you turned into a different person. I did not like the person I saw. I want the old Zoey back. I will do everything in my power to get her back. However, I will not stand in your way if you want a divorce. If that's the road you want to go down, it is your choice. It's your life, only you can live it."

"You will have my paperwork tomorrow."

"Remember you have Hannah at 1500 hrs."

"I will be there."

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

On his first night as a single father, Gordon ran into a problem. Payne decided she wanted to stay up and play, instead of going to sleep as she normally would have done, after nursing at her mother's breast. She drank the complete eight-ounce bottle of horrible smelling stuff they gave him at the nursery, and apparently there was so much sugar in it, his little one was wired. The apartment was too small to take her for a walk, so he decided to take her outside for a breath of fresh air in the hopes that that might knock her out.

He signed out on the log book at 0217, and walked outside into a beautiful sunshiny day. There were several agents, wearing their sidearms, patrolling close to the ship, and they looked at him as if he was crazy.

He approached them and said, "Believe me guys, this is not my idea, it's hers."

On cue, the little bundle he was holding grinned.

"Is there anything new and exciting going on out here?"

"If I had a good pair of binoculars, I would be able to say yes, and mean it. I swear I've seen movement to the west of us. Not one or two animals, but from the way I caught glimpses of the movement, I would say in the hundreds. I believe it's a herd of animals of some sort. They may be moving towards water, and this stream behind us is the only water we know of in the area."

"Gordon, how far is it to the horizon, because that's how far I believe those movements were?"

"In these conditions, where the land is basically flat, and I am 5' 10", the horizon should be about three miles away.

Look at the tree line guys; I think we are going to have a convention here today. Teddy is going to be ecstatic. Her pony has brought her family over for a visit. Let's not do anything to scare them away."

"Do you think something has happened, or is going to happen that all these animals are moving our way at one time?"

"Benny, you got here at the same day I did, so your guess is as good as mine."

"Those ponies show no fear at all. They are all coming directly over to the ship. Should we raise the walkway?"

"Yes, I think that would be a very prudent idea. I don't want Teddy's pony walking into the ship and sniffing around to find her."

"Station one, this is perimeter one, raise the walkway."

"Perimeter one, this is station one, raising the walkway. Is there a problem?"

"Station one, take a look at your Southern monitor and tell me what you see?"

"Holy shit perimeter one, I see ponies, about 18 of them."

"Excellent observation station one. Now look to the west, increase your magnification; and tell me what you see."

"I don't know what God calls them, but they are the ugliest looking cows I've ever seen."

Gordon laughed. "Teddy says they smell awful too."

"How did she know there were cows here?"

"I'm not going to bother answering that question, because if you don't know by now, you are as dense as concrete."

"Come on, that's not funny."

"It wasn't meant to be funny."

Teddy's little pony walked up to Gordon, and sniffed the little bundle he was holding. He uncovered Payne so the little horse could see her as God created her.

The pony sniffed her from top to bottom, and nodded its head in affirmation. It blew air through its nose onto the little child, and pranced around. The other ponies moved closer to see what excited the young, white pony. They formed a semi circle around Gordon, and took turns looking over the tiny infant. When they were finished, with their inspection of her, they moved off, and began grazing on the bountiful green grass.

What amazed Gordon was his daughter was awake, and playful, while all these animals fawned over her. He expected her to be afraid of them, but she wasn't. This was his first indication that his daughter was going to be different than other children, in many ways.

"I have a feeling we should move the Good Luck away from this stream. I think we are in for a flood. The temperature just dropped about 10 degrees, while we were standing here. Those cows are not coming for a trickle of water; they are coming for a river of it. Get inside, we have to move the ship now."

"Bridge, this is Captain Gordon Luck; who is in command?"

"I am Gordon, what's the matter?"

"Mom, as soon as security and I are in the ship, get us out of here. I have a strange feeling that this area is going to be flooded soon. The temperature just dropped 10 degrees, and the sky looks funny. Move us to the west by about a mile for now, we can fine tune the mileage later. I am not fooling around mom, get us out of here, now."

"All hands to their stations. Engineering, nuclear engine to three percent."

"Engineering responding, nuclear engine to three percent."

"All stations report."

"Engineering is in the green."

"Navigation is in the green."

"Propulsion is in the green."

"Nuclear engine to five percent."

"Engineering responding, nuclear engine five percent."

"Antigravity engine to 20 percent. Get us off the ground slowly, so we don't scare everyone that's sleeping to death as we lift off."

"Propulsion is increasing lift off speed at 5 feet per second."

Jennifer wondered what was taking Gordon so long to make it to the bridge. She thought he would fly here.

"Security, where is Gordon Luck?"

"He went straight to his apartment, with Payne, after he entered the ship, captain."

"Thank you very much."

She smiled, because her son was keeping his word.

"Captain, we are at 300 feet, and one mile west of our former position. Shall we land now or move further west?"

"Land the Good Luck, Mister Perry."

"Roger Captain, descending at 10 feet per second."

"Mister Perry, when you get to 45 feet, slow your descent to a crawl. When our landing gear touches the ground, I don't want the grass to know it."

"Very well Captain."

"Captain look at the rear view screen. All the ponies are running after us. They must know something is up, or we wouldn't have moved."

"When Gordon was outside, where they there also?"

"Yes Captain, they all went over to sniff the baby. They were quite enchanted by her."

"I can tell this is going to be a weird new home for us."

"If you think that's funny Captain, increase your magnification on the forward screen. We have cattle going eastbound towards the river. I have been told by a certain four-year-old redheaded female these cows smell awful."

"Let's hope they going for their yearly bath."

"We could never be that lucky."

"Captain Luck, this is John Nash in the science section."

"Go ahead Mister Nash."

"I don't know where it's coming from, but it's raining like hell in the mountains north of the 100-mile area we set out to map. The radar shows the precipitation, but there is no cloud activity in the area. There is no thunderstorm activity, no electrical activity, just rain, and plenty of it. This planet is weird."

"Is that your scientific assessment Mister Nash?"

"I will print it out on the computer, and sign it for you Captain. I am as confused as are my fellow scientists."

"For your information Mister Nash, a few minutes ago, I made the same assessment of this planet."

"Thank you for saying that Captain; I am in great company now."

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

"Engineering, this is the captain, keep the nuclear engine at 3%."

"Roger Captain, nuclear engine at 3%. May we ask why?"

"No."

"Thank you Captain."

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

"Why do I have a feeling we should call Jack, and find out what's going on?"

"Maybe you did not hear the captain correctly. You asked her a question, and she gave you a very distinct answer. Why do you think Jack would get a different answer?"

"He would go to the bridge, and ask the captain directly."

"The only difference between being told 'No' over our communications net, and being told 'No' to your face, because a junior officer asked you to go up to the bridge to find out what the hell is going on, is that the junior officer is going to get his ass reamed."

"I think I'll keep my mouth shut. I'm safer that way."

"Excellent thinking Joey. You may live to see tomorrow."

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

Jack walked into engineering screaming.

"Why did you increase the power to the nuclear engine, without advising me first?"

Ed whispered, "Go ahead Joey; you got this one."

"Because the captain told me to."

"Way to go Joey."

"Why did the captain tell us to move?"

"I asked, 'May we know the reason for keeping the nuclear engines at 3% after our move of 1 mile from our previous position.' Her answer was an emphatic 'NO.'

"Who is captaining the bridge?"

"Capt. Jennifer Luck, sir."

"Oh!"

"We said the same thing sir."

"I'm going to the bridge."

"Sir, I wouldn't advise that. Something is going on, and I don't know what it is."

"It's all the more reason for engineering to be prepared to make a very quick move. We can't sit here on our asses, and be caught off guard. I want the antigravity engines on standby. If we have to get out of here, I want then at 75% power, at all times. Is that clear?"

"Very clear sir. If the captain had told us what was going on, we would have awakened you, and asked for instructions. She left us in the dark, and we were unsure as to what action we should take."

"You must remember when you're sitting in that chair, no action means death. Any action is better than no action. You'd rather be over cautious, then be caught with your pants around your ankles. If she wants the nuclear engines at 3%, something is wrong. You are responsible for the safety of this ship. You must take action, or we are as good as dead."

"Thank you sir, that's a lesson I will always remember."

"Good, now let me go ream are Captains ass for not giving you the information you needed to keep this ship safe."

"We thought she would ream your ass for being on the bridge."

"I'm older than she is, and I know more than she does. I'm going to teach her the same lesson I just gave you."

"Can I come with you?"

"Only if you want to get stepped on."

"I think I'll stay here."

"Very good choice."

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

There was a crew change on the bridge, and Monty took command. When Jack arrived he looked, and saw her sitting on the captain's chair. Had his young officers made a mistake in voice recognition, or did Monty not give them the information they needed to perform their duties properly. He decided to find out.

"Monty did you just come on duty?"

"Yes I did. I just relieved Jennifer."

"Would you ask her to come to the meeting room, I have a few choice words for her."

"What did she do wrong Jack?"

"She didn't give my men enough information to keep this ship safe. When the asked, 'May we ask why,' she said, 'NO.' She put this ship in danger, because she left engineering in the dark. Sure we had enough electrical energy to do most anything. However, it would have taken time to bring the anti-gravity engines up to speed. We would have lost valuable time, because of her insolence, and ignorance of the way things work in engineering. I want her reprimanded."

"Don't you think that's going a little bit far Jack? She made an error in judgment. Should I mention how many you made? Should I tell you how many times you told me those rockets were ready to fly, before you found circuit boards that were cracked; explosives attached to the rockets propulsion system, and your inability to find the last block of C4 that would have blown up a quarter of this ship? Did I give you a reprimand Jack, or did I tell everyone they did a magnificent job searching this ship from top to bottom."

"Monty have I told you today that you are a pain in the ass?"

"Jack, you have been a pain in the ass since you boarded this ship. I don't ever want you to change. You are an invaluable member of our staff. You have to continue training everyone in engineering. They have to know everything that you know, before Hannah kills you in bed. Keep going Jack, train and those people, and continue being a pain in the ass."

"When are you getting married?

"When Jackson gets up the nerve to ask me. Then I'll tell him I'll think about it."

"What the hell is there to think about?"

"He has talked to every one of his friends about getting married to me. Every table around his table has heard him talking about marrying me. Those tables told the tables around them that Jackson wants to marry me. By the time breakfast lunch and dinner are finished, I am the only topic of conversation. The only time something else is talked about, is when I walk into the room. Now I'm going to make him suffer. I'm not going to talk to anyone about it. I'm going to let him sweat. He has bandied my name around the entire ship, and I am not going to say one word. I expect he will come to me quite frequently, after he asks me that question, and ask for my answer. I will tell him, 'I am thinking about it.' I hope it drives him as crazy as this waiting for him to decide what to do is making me. I have been told the women on this ship are making me a wedding dress. I think it's the most wonderful thing anyone could do for me. I would like to wear it one day, and if it's not with Jackson, maybe it will be with one of our friends living on the dark side of this planet. Jennifer is supposed to marry one, why not me? If you say one word of this conversation to anyone, including Hannah, you will never enjoy sex again. I know you understand what I'm saying Jack, please don't disappoint me."

"On my honor, as a Graduate of U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and a Lieutenant Colonel, in the United States Army, I will not say one word of what we had discussed here today to anyone, especially not Hannah."

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

"Bridge, science section, here comes the water down through those mountain passes. Gordon was right, there is going to be flood of monumental proportions down here. We could have 10 or 11 feet of water, possibly a half-mile wide, draining towards the dark side of the planet."

"Jack get down to engineering, and make sure we are ready to pop off the ground if needed."

"Gee whiz, why didn't I think of that?"

"I understand there's an opening in the brig for smart asses, Jack."

"I'm moving your highness."

"Not fast enough for my taste."

"My ass didn't even feel that bite."

"It will if I stand up."

"You take care of the bridge. I'll be in engineering in 90 seconds."

"Are you going to screw Hannah your way there?"

"I didn't think you would notice."

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

52. Love is Pain

Laura had gloves on that protected her hands but exposed her fingers. She warmed up looking at the mirrors, stretching her legs into splits, and extending her back, with her feet on the floor, until her head touched the ground behind her. Then she flipped herself over into another split.

Tom and Joe were standing at the door watching her. Tom handed Joe the key, patted him on the back, and wished him good luck.

"My friend, she's like a snake, she's going to wrap herself around you, and strangle you to death."

"I'm going to pound her back until it breaks. She won't be able to wrap herself around anything when I'm finished with her."

"Excellent thinking Joe, you going to marry a quadriplegic."

"Go fuck yourself."

"All things considered, if you don't want her, I'd rather fuck Laura."

"Get out of here Tom, before I kill you first."

"From a quadriplegic, to murder; that's an awful big step."

"Get out."

"Your wish is my command."

Tom made a big show of making sure the gym was empty. With Laura by his side, it made his job that much easier. She was sure he was telling the truth.

Joe walked the entire circumference of the fourth floor, making sure every room was empty. Only those people, from Tom's unit were left on the floor, guarding every stairwell, and elevator. The floor was clear.

Joe took the key, locked the door from the inside, and left the key in the lock. It wasn't that the door could not be opened, but it would be much harder for someone to do it.

Both of them were so sure they were alone, they felt comfortable enough to fight this fight until someone gave in.

As with all perfect plans, they forgot one minor thing, the boys. Once Richard and Holden heard about this, they sprung into action. They moved into the electrical grid, attached cameras that showed every area of the gym. They displayed the area, in every bedroom on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors. It was shown in every public area of the fifth floor, and the entire sixth floor. This was the fight of the year, and bets were being made across the board.

The Attorney General was on the fifth floor watching the action.

When the odds got to 8 to 1 in favor of Joe, he jumped in with both feet.

"I'll bet $10,000, or any part on Laura Burkart at 8 to 1 odds."

The guys went wild, and the $10,000 was gone in a minute.

"I have $20,000, or any part on Laura Burkart at 8 to 1 odds."

These were well-paid men, and the $20,000 was again gone in minute. The men were laughing at him so hard they raised the odds to 11 to 1.