Where No One Has Gone Before Pt. 02

"Oh my God, I can't eat all this," Kyra said as she looked at the breakfast, which consisted of a large omelet, bacon, toast, cream of wheat, juice, milk and coffee. "I'll get big as a house."

"I guess we'll just have to work it off of you," I said with a smile. She looked at me and smiled.

"Is that a promise?" she asked.

"You got it," I said.

"I'm going to hold you to that, you know," she said. The young corpsman smiled as she listened to our banter.

"The doctor said to make sure you eat everything, Dr. Williams," she said. "He even told me to feed you myself if necessary." Kyra looked up at her.

"That won't be necessary, corpsman, I assure you. I can feed myself," she said. The corpsman smiled back at her.

"I hope so, Dr. Williams," she said. "Dr. Pine won't be very happy if you don't follow your diet. And you don't want to see him unhappy, believe me."

"I believe you," Kyra said. "Don't worry, I'll be a good girl and eat all my food. Even if it makes me fat as an elephant."

"That won't happen, Dr. Williams," the corpsman said. "Your diet was designed specifically for your needs. Well, if we're under control here, I have other things to do." I nodded my head and the corpsman left. Kyra took a few bites and started to push the tray away.

"Not so fast, dear," I said. "You need to eat everything." She looked up at me and pouted. "Sorry, that's not gonna work."

"Alright, alright," she said. "I'll eat everything. But I never want to hear you complain when I can't get through the door."

"Never," I said, giving her a kiss. "I'd better go grab my breakfast and get to work. Think they'll let you out of here tonight?"

"God, I hope so," she said.

"Me too," I said. "I'll swing by after my shift. Love you."

"Even if I get fat and ugly?" she asked.

"I'll always love you," I told her. "And you'll never be fat and ugly."

"Good answer, spaceman. I love you too," she said, giving me a kiss in return. I left sick bay and ate some breakfast, then went to the bridge.

"How's Kyra this morning?" Axel asked when I reported to my station.

"Better, thanks for asking," I said.

"Good," he responded. "You sleep okay last night? You look a bit tired."

"Had a bad dream, nothing I can't deal with."

"Let me know if you need to take a break," he said. "I need everyone at 100 percent. Graveyard shift already reported encountering some small objects. We may be entering the Oort Cloud sooner than we thought."

"Terrific," I said. After our morning briefing, I resumed my post and continued working. Over the next eight hours, we encountered a few small objects, but the ship's crew and systems performed perfectly. After my shift, I went to see Kyra and found that Dr. Pine was releasing her from sick bay.

"Her vitals are perfect and she seems stable," he said. "But you need to make sure she follows her diet and exercise plan. That's right, doctor, I said exercise," he added, looking at her. Kyra nodded her head in resignation.

"So not only are you gonna make me fat, but now you want to torture me," she said. "Terrific."

"It's not that bad, Dr. Williams," he said with a smile. "I understand the Commander here has a belt in Grav Tac. Perhaps he can help with your exercise regimen."

"I think we can manage that, Doc," I said with a smile.

"Wonderful," Kyra said. "You're gonna pay for this, you know that?"

"I'll take my chances," I said.

"I want to see you in seven days for a follow-up," Dr. Pine told her. "And don't think you can skate on your diet and exercise plan. I have eyes all over this ship, you know."

After dinner, we walked back to my cabin, where Kyra changed into something more "comfortable." She came back out with a couple cups of her hot chocolate and we sat on the couch.

"I missed you last night," I told her.

"I missed you too," she said. "Tell me about the dream you had last night." She listened quietly as I recalled it. She didn't say anything for a few minutes when I finished.

"Well, doc," I said. "What's your prognosis?"

"You say this is the first time you've been naked in that dream?" she asked. I nodded my head.

"Interesting. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung believed our dreams represent unfulfilled wishes, and I can understand that hypothesis. I tend to believe, however, that some of our dreams are the mind's way of processing our thoughts and feelings. Generally speaking, being naked in a dream could indicate some level of vulnerability, or it could mean that you feel some aspect of you could be exposed to ridicule or disgrace. Tell me, do you feel any guilt at all about what you did on the Armstrong?"

"At this point, no, none," I said, shaking my head.

"So, you feel no guilt whatsoever about ejecting your former first officer out of an airlock at all?" she asked. I shook my head.

"None whatsoever. I even wished my ex was with him when it happened," I said. "At the time, I knew it was either him or me. For some time, I wondered if there was some other way it could've been resolved. I began to wonder if maybe I should've called security. But I knew they would arrive too late. You didn't see the look of hatred on his face, Kyra. He was determined to murder me. What made it worse was him telling me it was Tabitha's idea."

"And her reaction to what happened?" Kyra asked.

"She turned on me like a feral cat," I said. "Said she hated me. When I talked to her in the brig later, she claimed to love me but loved fucking him at the same time. She claimed she knew he was going to murder me, but didn't know how. Worse yet, she never told anyone. How can you love someone you want murdered?"

"Do you believe it was her idea to have you killed?" Kyra asked.

"Deep down in my gut, yes, I do. I could see it in her face. But it could never be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in her court-martial."

"How did you feel about that?" she asked.

"Like I had been betrayed twice. Actually, three times. First by her, then by my own superior, then by the system."

"But she's in prison, Bull is dead, and you're here, third in command of humanity's first real starship, going where no one has ever been before. Surely you can get a measure of vindication from that," she said.

"I suppose you're right," I said.

"But there's more, isn't there?"

"Yeah. After the incident I swore never to get that deeply involved with another woman ever again. I never took a vow of celibacy, I just decided I would never let myself fall in love with someone like I did with her. I couldn't go through that level of betrayal and pain again," I said.

"And then you met me," she said.

"And then, I met you," I repeated quietly.

"I can see several potential possibilities here, Bill," she said. "I think we need to explore this a bit deeper. I want to help you, Bill. I CAN help you. Do you trust me?" I looked at her.

"Yes, I do," I said.

"Good," she said. "Do you remember me telling you about the work done by Larry Wilder?"

"Yes," I told her.

"Well, the tests I helped create were largely based on his research. I think I told you that. But what I didn't tell you was that Tabitha's name was no where on your compatibility list," she said.

"So we were never genetically compatible?" I asked.

"That's right. In fact, I would say that your relationship with her was doomed from the very beginning."

"I guess we never really had a chance, did we?" I asked.

"No, I don't think so," she said.

"Maybe this test of yours should be a requirement for anyone who wants to get married," I told her. She chuckled.

"That may not be such a bad idea given the extremely high divorce rate both in and out of the service," she said. "I will tell you this, Bill."

"What?"

"I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you. Your pain is my pain. Understand?"

"Yeah, I think so," I said.

"Good. I'm glad we talked about this. I would like for you to keep a log of your dreams. Good, bad, indifferent, it doesn't matter. Make your log entries the second you get up so you can remember as much as possible. We can take some time out and discuss them later, alright?"

"Okay," I said.

"And if you have that nightmare again, you let me know right away. Promise?"

"I promise." She leaned in and gave me a kiss.

"I'll hold you to that," she said. "Now, why don't you take me to bed so we can make up for last night?"

"Your wish is my command," I said as I scooped her up in my arms.

The next twenty five days were hectic. We officially entered the Oort Cloud and everyone on board was on pins and needles the whole time. Fortunately, the ship and crew performed perfectly, thanks to the many drills Leesa had put us through while we were at Galileo.

Yes, we encountered quite a few objects -- mostly small rocks and chunks of ice. The largest object we logged was about the size of the Empire State Building, and the system easily dodged it by more than 10,000 kilometers.

In the meantime, Kyra was cleared by Dr. Pine, but he still kept her on her diet and exercise regimen.

We finally cleared the cloud and found ourselves in the expanse of interstellar space. Our next objective was known as Checkpoint One, an unmanned vessel that included a subspace relay and several storage containers launched about a year or so ahead of us.

The communications officer sent the signal that would activate the ship's automated beacon. If all went well, we would start receiving pings within the next month or so.

Now that things had settled down to a steady roar, I decided to start the Grav Tac classes Leesa suggested at our introductory dinner. Kyra joined, as did a few members of the crew. It was a good way to unwind from the day and get in some much-needed exercise. As time went on, the class grew from five to seven, and then to ten. I decided to cap it off at that due to the limited space in the gym.

I also spent time exercising with Kyra on the treadmills and the stationary bikes. At first, she found the exercise a bit difficult, but as time went on, she built up a great deal of strength and endurance. Of course, that helped her in the Grav Tac classes. I also noticed a difference when we made love.

She had also begun working with Dr. Pine, counseling crew members as necessary. When she wasn't working out or counseling, she worked on her second doctorate.

As Kyra suggested, I began keeping a log of my dreams on the computer in my cabin. I never had the nightmare again, but I did have a couple dreams about Tabby that were rather odd. In both of them, she was in the cockpit of a small spacecraft and her appearance had changed. Her hair, which used to be long and thick, had been cut severely short. Now, she sported a crew-cut, much like what Bull used to wear.

Her face had also changed, and was hard, with sharply defined features. Her eyes were dark, almost black, and she had pins sticking through her cheeks. There was nothing attractive about her at all. She didn't say anything, and I don't remember what she was doing, but I remember experiencing a bit of dread seeing her. It was almost as if she was intent on finishing the job her and Bull started.

Kyra and I talked about it at the time, and she suggested that maybe my subconscious mind had created an image of her that matched my feelings toward her. Nothing else really made any sense, so I agreed.

Finally, after little more than a year, we reached Checkpoint One and dropped out of light speed. The unmanned vehicle had drifted off course by about 150,000 kilometers so we had to change course to meet it. The engineers started the vehicle's systems remotely and it was fully powered by the time we reached it.

Enterprise extended its grappling arms and captured the drone, then put all thrusters at what we called "station-keeping," to keep both vessels stable and in the same basic location. We would be here for about three or four weeks while the engineers inspected both craft for damage.

Meanwhile, other crew members set about transferring supplies from the drone to the Enterprise, where it would be inspected and placed in the appropriate holds. The communications crew also set about downloading all the information that had been forwarded by Houston -- letters to the crew along with the news of the past year or so.

A couple days after arriving, Kyra and I sat in the galley eating lunch. I was reading a letter from my father when Kyra suddenly started laughing. I looked up at her, wondering what was so funny.

"You gotta see this," she said with a laugh as she handed me her tablet. I looked at what she was showing me and saw a headline from XNN Interplanetary that read, "Singer Loses Penis After Concert."

According to the article, Dick Bigman, the lead singer of the Kentucky-Fried Mutha Fuggas (whose real name, the article said, was Sylvester Little), lost part of his penis after a concert in the town of Hard Rock, Texas.

The article said he and other members of the band had sex with several women on stage during the concert. After the performance, the husband of one of those women attacked Bigman with a replica Bowie knife, slicing off about six inches of the singer's penis.

Bigman was immediately taken to the Hard Rock General Hospital, where doctors worked to reattach his penis. A hospital spokesperson said it was unclear if Bigman would ever regain full function of the body part.

The unnamed husband was taken into custody, but later released on his own recognizance. The man says he intends to divorce his cheating slut wife, the article said, while suing Bigman for damages. Bigman's attorney told the paper, "Fuck him. The cuck deserved to get publicly humiliated by the singer," and the woman said it was "only sex."

"I still love my husband, but let's face it, how many 12-inch dicks are out there? I just had to have it," she said. "Sure, it was on stage in front of the whole town, but so what? That's no reason for divorce," she added. The article included a picture of Bigman, a scraggly-looking white man with wild bloodshot eyes and long multi-colored hair tied in various knots. A tattoo of a spread-open vagina adorned one of his arms.

"The band says it intends to complete its tour promoting its latest music disc titled, 'Creampie Gangbang.' The group's sexually-explicit music is considered to be the driving force behind the latest music genre, known as 'Electro-Splooge.' Supporters gathered at the hospital with signs demanding doctors save Bigman's penis," the article said. One picture showed a woman carrying a sign that read, "Save Dick's Dick." I noticed the article had a video attached and showed it to Kyra.

"Have you looked at the video?" I asked.

"No, I didn't," she said. I set the tablet up and started the video so we could both watch it.

"Dick Bigman, the lead singer of the Kentucky Fried Mutha Fuggas, is undergoing surgery in this hospital after an enraged husband cut off part of his penis with a knife very much like this one," the reporter said, holding up a large Bowie knife. "The suspect in the incident was taken to the local jail but later released on his own recognizance after a trial date was set."

The scene changed, and we saw a man wearing a straw hat being led out of the jail. He was still very upset.

"That goddamn Yankee oughta consider himself lucky I didn't cram his dick down his throat and gut him like a fish," he bellowed.

"The woman and Bigman were also cited with indecent exposure and lewd and lascivious behavior. XNN Interplanetary spoke to Sheriff John Carmichael." The scene shifted again, this time to an office where a large, barrel chested man in a gray Stetson sat in front of a portrait of a similarly-dressed man with a beard and an eye patch. The plate on the portrait read, "Sheriff Ryan Caldwell."

"Tell me sheriff, do you think it's appropriate to charge Bigman given his injury?" the reporter asked.

"This here's West Texas, young man. It ain't New York City where people can get nekkid and have sex in the streets. Mr. Bigman will get his day in court, just like everyone else," the sheriff said. The scene shifted back to the hospital.

"Residents in this community are split," he said. "Some say this incident tarnishes the reputation of a town built on the idea of old-time western values and justice. Others, like these in front of the hospital, say it's time Hard Rock, Texas joins the 22nd century. This is Duncan Wyoming, reporting for XNN Interplanetary."

I chuckled and handed the tablet back to Kyra after the video ended.

"Takes all kinds, I guess," I told her.

"So, how are your parents?" she asked.

"They're doing well, thanks for asking. Dad said he and some buddies of his went fishing out on Lake Pend O'Reille. Caught a whole bunch of fish and brought 'em home for Mom to cook," I said. Kyra laughed.

"So, your Dad goes fishing and your Mom cleans and cooks. Is that the way it is in your family?" she asked with a smile.

"Well, not all the time," I said.

"I hope not. They like it up there in north Idaho?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. "They love it. And so do I, frankly. Fresh air, mountains, trees, lakes. Great place to retire."

"Your dad was in the service, wasn't he?" she asked.

"Yes, he was a Chief Engineer. Retired shortly before I started high school and moved up to Idaho." They had bought the old place from the family who held it in trust for the man who lived there with his wife until they died. From what I heard, he had been some kind of high-ranking government official who served with a special task force for more than 30 years.

According to Dad, the man had been through hell and back more than once and was cited multiple times by the president for bravery. He even wrote a set of memoirs that was, well, interesting to say the least. Warren was the man's name -- Oscar Warren.

Finally, our work at Checkpoint One was done. The transfer had been made and both vessels were thoroughly inspected. Some minor damage and scoring was found on the drone and repaired. The Enterprise was in top form and ready to resume its mission, the engineers reported.

We disconnected from the drone and retracted the arms, then moved away from the drone. The navigator recalculated our course, laid it in and we were off. This time, Kyra reported to sick bay in case she had another bout of afib when the ship transitioned to light speed. I was relieved to hear from Dr. Pine that she did not have a recurrence and was declared fit for duty.

As the Enterprise zipped towards its destination, George Herman, Leesa's companion, spent much of his time in the astrophysics department, observing and learning all he could about the Centauri system before we arrived.

While our primary destination was Alpha Centauri, there are actually three stars in the system -- Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B, and Proxima Centauri. Of the three, Proxima Centauri is slightly closer to the Sun than Alpha Centauri, but is considerably smaller.

According to scientists, it's a red dwarf slightly larger than Jupiter, but has an Earth-sized planet that lies in the star's habitable zone. Part of our mission was to investigate and catalog the planet. There is also a "super-Earth" around Proxima Centauri, but it lies outside the habitable zone.

Our mission also called for us to investigate the presence of a planet inside Alpha Centauri A's habitable zone. Currently, we're set to spend about six months within the three-star system before heading back to our own solar system.

George also observed that we might very well encounter something similar to an Oort Cloud around the Centauri system, but he speculated there could actually be three such clouds, each interacting with the others. The bottom line for us was to be extra careful when approaching the system.

For the next year or so, life on the ship was fairly routine. I got up, worked my shift, came back, ate dinner with Kyra, then worked out a bit before going to bed. Axel was concerned that things might become too routine for the crew, so he organized events in the ship's clubs and competitions like three on three basketball tournaments to help keep everyone's morale up. There's nothing worse than getting bored on a long trip like this.