tiresome.”
“As you command,” he said, waiting until she rolled left onto her side. He reached out with his right hand, found her right shoulder and began the deep kneading massage he’d learned as a kid from his Mom and Dad. They had become addicted to Oriental-style massages while on carrier duty in Yokohama, years ago.
“That feels good,” she murmured, sounding sleepy.
Her tone reminded him of how much he had come to love her. At first they’d spent time together cause they were the only humans on the Blue Sky , leastwise until they liberated Bright Sparkle and Learned Escape. Later, they’d found they both loved playing Scrabble and doing crossword puzzles, of which the ship’s Library archive had a deep inventory. That had led to more sharing of their families, their time growing up and their mutual decisions to enlist. He’d been amazed at the hi-tech stuff filling the rooms at Peterson. She’d been fascinated by the details of his hostage rescues. Together, they had become a couple in love and happy to share all they were with each other. And he found he no longer woke up with his hands clenching the neck of his lover. His IED nightmares had mostly faded, and nothing made him treat her roughly. For which he thanked whatever gods ruled the universe.
When he heard her breathing deepen, he stopped the massaging. Being together like this, a married couple who had traveled the stars and met amazing Alien people, was enough. He lay back and worked at slowing the beat of his heart and worked at clearing his mind of all thought. Deep meditation was something he’d learned from his parents and now it helped him fall back to the sleep he needed.
CHAPTER SIX
Bill sat at his Ship Weapons station, with Admiral Richardson to his left at Liaison, Bright Sparkles to his right at Fusion Power, the rest of the crew further along, and Jane seated behind them at her post atop the command pedestal. The seats to her right and left were empty. Learned Escape and Builder of Joy were long gone on their transports, which now rode ahead of the Blue Sky along with the two subs. His 18 boarders sat at the far rear, in seats along the back wall. Ship mind had given each boarder a true space holo so they could follow whatever happened. He scanned the holos facing him. Time to see what was what.
The system graphic on his left showed the six purple dots of the Collector ships had advanced to the orbit of Mars. Within four hours the enemy would hit the Earth-Moon zone. At his upper left his weapons holo showed the ship cross-section and all weapons. They showed Green Operational. The antimatter reservoir had enough AM for four quick shots. The true space holo to his upper right showed the blue and white curve of Earth, with the sunlit shapes of the transports and subs lying ahead of them in their orbital vector. To his right the comlink holo showed Jane, dressed in her blue camo Air Force ABU, sitting atop her pedestal. She looked refreshed. They’d awoken together this morning and had shared a meal together in the Food Chamber. The admiral and his Alien crewmates had also taken a food and sleep break during the 42 hours since his boarders had arrived on the Blue Sky . Now, everyone was ready to head for the Moon. He spoke to his lifemate.
“Captain, all ships are Magfield alive,” he said, striving for a relaxed tone. “ Talking Skin , Tall Trees , the Louisiana and the Minnesota report ready to deorbit.”
She smiled. Jane had seen the same sensor readings he had seen, but one job of an XO was to remind his captain of the timing involved in combat. “Thank you, Executive Officer.” She looked up at the white glowing ceiling. “Star Traveler, establish a neutrino comlink with each of our ships.”
“Link established,” the AI said with a low hum.
“Captains Baraka, Leonard, Learned and Builder, move your ships to positions above, below and to either side of the Blue
“As you command,” he said, waiting until she rolled left onto her side. He reached out with his right hand, found her right shoulder and began the deep kneading massage he’d learned as a kid from his Mom and Dad. They had become addicted to Oriental-style massages while on carrier duty in Yokohama, years ago.
“That feels good,” she murmured, sounding sleepy.
Her tone reminded him of how much he had come to love her. At first they’d spent time together cause they were the only humans on the Blue Sky , leastwise until they liberated Bright Sparkle and Learned Escape. Later, they’d found they both loved playing Scrabble and doing crossword puzzles, of which the ship’s Library archive had a deep inventory. That had led to more sharing of their families, their time growing up and their mutual decisions to enlist. He’d been amazed at the hi-tech stuff filling the rooms at Peterson. She’d been fascinated by the details of his hostage rescues. Together, they had become a couple in love and happy to share all they were with each other. And he found he no longer woke up with his hands clenching the neck of his lover. His IED nightmares had mostly faded, and nothing made him treat her roughly. For which he thanked whatever gods ruled the universe.
When he heard her breathing deepen, he stopped the massaging. Being together like this, a married couple who had traveled the stars and met amazing Alien people, was enough. He lay back and worked at slowing the beat of his heart and worked at clearing his mind of all thought. Deep meditation was something he’d learned from his parents and now it helped him fall back to the sleep he needed.
CHAPTER SIX
Bill sat at his Ship Weapons station, with Admiral Richardson to his left at Liaison, Bright Sparkles to his right at Fusion Power, the rest of the crew further along, and Jane seated behind them at her post atop the command pedestal. The seats to her right and left were empty. Learned Escape and Builder of Joy were long gone on their transports, which now rode ahead of the Blue Sky along with the two subs. His 18 boarders sat at the far rear, in seats along the back wall. Ship mind had given each boarder a true space holo so they could follow whatever happened. He scanned the holos facing him. Time to see what was what.
The system graphic on his left showed the six purple dots of the Collector ships had advanced to the orbit of Mars. Within four hours the enemy would hit the Earth-Moon zone. At his upper left his weapons holo showed the ship cross-section and all weapons. They showed Green Operational. The antimatter reservoir had enough AM for four quick shots. The true space holo to his upper right showed the blue and white curve of Earth, with the sunlit shapes of the transports and subs lying ahead of them in their orbital vector. To his right the comlink holo showed Jane, dressed in her blue camo Air Force ABU, sitting atop her pedestal. She looked refreshed. They’d awoken together this morning and had shared a meal together in the Food Chamber. The admiral and his Alien crewmates had also taken a food and sleep break during the 42 hours since his boarders had arrived on the Blue Sky . Now, everyone was ready to head for the Moon. He spoke to his lifemate.
“Captain, all ships are Magfield alive,” he said, striving for a relaxed tone. “ Talking Skin , Tall Trees , the Louisiana and the Minnesota report ready to deorbit.”
She smiled. Jane had seen the same sensor readings he had seen, but one job of an XO was to remind his captain of the timing involved in combat. “Thank you, Executive Officer.” She looked up at the white glowing ceiling. “Star Traveler, establish a neutrino comlink with each of our ships.”
“Link established,” the AI said with a low hum.
“Captains Baraka, Leonard, Learned and Builder, move your ships to positions above, below and to either side of the Blue
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