Читать книгу Adventures of Space Cadets 101: Weddings - Darryl Dean Wright - Страница 4

In the conference room, past the big table there was a desk that so far was only for two commanders aboard the Turtle: Commander Dale Hawkins and Commander Deana Kester. On this late shift, the beautiful Ms. Kester was sitting at the desk. It was a mahogany desk and it was good enough for a president. It wasn't that big a room, but it was big enough for what it was used for.

She was ordered to interview all of the new cadets that had joined the Turtle from the second wave of recruits. She was half way through her list and her next appointment was late, ten Earth minutes late to be exact. It was her job to find out who vouched for each cadet, and to find a suitable job onboard the Turtle depending on each cadet's qualifications.

Nick Turozski entered the conference room wearing his civilian clothes. He was tall and built sturdily with brown eyes that reminded Deana of both Turtle captains, and he was the same age they were. Also, she already knew of this cadet from her earlier days back on Earth in Florida, from hanging out with the Houston boys during their musical days. She did not like Nick for personal reasons, and the feeling was mutual.

When he entered she said, "You're late, Mr. Turozski."

He came up to her desk and swung his long right leg over the empty chair. As he sat down he said, "So what? I'm here aren't I?"

She smiled at him while containing her fury and reminded him that punctuality was a must in space and on the ship. Nick said, "I'm only here because my friends, the captains on this ship, said I had to be here. So what's next?"

She smiled again remembering that this jerk was the captains' best friend, and she didn't want to be uncomfortable around the captains, especially Derek, for whom she had more than a thing. She was going through his folder and said to him without looking his way, "I think the best job for you would be the cook on this ship."

His reply was, "Well I really don't care what you think, Commander. I am probably the best engineer on this ship and you want to put me in the galley?"

She said, "No offense, Cadet. I just know for a fact that you're a pretty great cook, and also, you have a limp from that automobile accident, so I thought I was doing us both a favor, that's all."

He laughed and said, "Whatever. Now let me tell you what my job is. The captains said that eating the food on this boat will cure me of my limp thanks to the nanites which make up the food. And as for what I am to do, it is to pilot my own ship. So what you will do is give me a list of the available ships in the Q-hangar bay so I can pick one out. And I will let the captains know just how much of a help you've been. Got it?"

She was really getting upset, but she was between a rock and a hard place, so she tried a different tactic on this intolerable man, "Look, Mister, I know for a fact that you smuggled drugs onboard the Turtle, and for that I could hand you over to Earth Defense!"

He interlocked his hands behind his head and put his feet up on her desk. He said, "You go right ahead and do that, Missy, but I'm pretty sure you'd have to run it by the captains first, and all that will do is get you into hot water with them. Besides, the drugs you mentioned were grown in earth, and do you really think that the captains, your bosses, aren't aware of what I brought onboard my new home?"

She was boiling mad now at this smug cadet, so she stood up quickly and demanded that he remove his smelly feet from her desk right that instant! He did remove them and then he stood up himself. He put his fists on her desk and leaned in closer to her face and said, "My feet do not smell, Your Worthlessness, and now about that list of ships, Sir." He held out his hand and waited.

Checkmate. She couldn't do much of anything, so she sat down and typed something on her laptop. Seconds later, a list was being printed out to a tiny disk. She removed the disk and handed it to him. He took it from her and thanked her, and then he told her to have a good night as he left the room. She thought to herself that she would adequately analyze the situation later on.

She pulled out the next folder from a pile on her desk and read the name, Kynthia Rodgers. She asked the Turtle to send Cadet Jackson to her office immediately. Kynthia was the only single pregnant cadet onboard the Turtle, and the Commander was going to need Jackson's help in dealing with her. The pregnant cadet was twenty-five years old and was going to have the first baby born on the Turtle. Deana was a little jealous whether she knew it or not.

Cadet Jackson came in and asked her what was up. Deana said, "I'm going to try and talk Kynthia into returning to Earth. I just want you here for support - not hers, mine." She was going to tell the cadet that the captains didn't want that kind of responsibility, so they had asked Deana to talk her into go back home. At least that was going to be Deana's story.

Knock, knock, came at her door; she said, "Enter."

Later, Captain Derek was summoned to the conference room, and as he approached the door a pregnant cadet came out of the room crying as she ran by him. He called out her name but she kept on running away from him hysterically.

When he entered he saw Lynn Jackson sitting at the desk with Deana behind it. He grabbed a chair from the table away from the desk and slid it to the opposite side from Lynn. He asked, "Did the two of you tag-team against Kynthia Rodgers, because she just ran by me crying her eyes out?" He gingerly lowered himself into the chair looking at Deana.

Deana looked guilty but she said to him, "I just told her that she ought to consider going back to Earth because she was pregnant, that's all." Now the guilt was gnawing away at her insides.

Derek thought for a moment and then asked, "She didn't know she was pregnant?" Lynn laughed, and he said, "Since N-JR hit me in the back of the head with a baseball bat a couple of weeks ago at the Thanksgiving dinner that you showed up late for, my memory came back to me of the gaps about our visit to Jupiter Station. I only mention this because I'm pretty sure that you would be pregnant with my child right now if I had never lost my memory back then." Then he asked her, "What if Austen asked you to go back to Earth on the same reasoning you just gave poor Kynthia?"

Deana looked to Lynn for a moment and then back at her fiancé. She answered, "I never thought about it that way…. I'll have another talk with Kynthia and let her know she can stay then."

Derek asked her why she had called him down to the bowels of the ship, and she said with a smile, "Well two reasons really. First, I have assigned Cadet Jackson to be your personal assistant, and secondly, I would like for you to join us for dinner in my quarters at the end of our shift, please."

He was again aware of her extrasensory perception and telekinesis. He looked at the two ladies who were smiling at him and looking all innocent, and he said, "OK, I would love to. It sounds great."

Then as if it were a second thought, he pulled out a pair of Captains bars and slid them across the desk into Deana's lap. He said that since so many cadets were picking out ships in the Q-bay, there were a lot more captains on the ship - including her. He congratulated her, and then he stood up and walked around her desk as she stood up. He took the bars from her hand and replaced the commander insignia on her collar with them. Derek kissed her on her cheek, and she heard in her mind, "You earned them, Honey."

Lynn said, "It looks like we both were promoted, Captain."

Derek looked her way, tapped his own collar, and said, "Actually, all three of us. Austen and I were promoted to the rank of admiral by the Turtle after it convinced us that as leaders of her fleet, we could not remain as captains ordering other captains around." The Houston admirals were veterans of space with years of experience between them, so the rise in rank was only natural.

Deana said, "Looks like we all have something to celebrate, so don't be late, and bring a bottle of Champagne." She put her arms around him and gave him a big kiss. Lynn cleared her throat to remind them that she was still in the room. When the two separated from that kiss, Deana asked Derek if he was going to make Nick Turozski a captain. When he told her yes as soon as he picked out a ship and passed all his courses and tests, she said, "Great, that man is insufferable!"

Derek said, "We are not ED [Earth Defense], and truthfully, we need more men like Nick. Besides, Austen and I owe him a lot. He did time for us, remember? And you don't forget stuff like that." She heard in her mind, "And he's a good friend, Sweetheart."

Then he asked her why he needed a personal assistant and nodded in Lynn's direction. Deana said, "Actually, she has been your assistant for the last month; you just haven't noticed it. I have a lot of duties on this ship and my own ship, The Amor, and I am not always there for you. Well, you know what I mean. Besides, I trust her and I won't take 'no' for an answer."

"Very well," he said and walked over to Lynn and put the commander rank on her collar and congratulated her. She put her arms around his shoulders to pull him into a kiss. He was in shock briefly and struggled for only a second. Then he just gave into the kiss, and he enjoyed it very much, but he was still stunned.

A minute later, she let go of him and came down from her tippy-toes. She wiped her lipstick off his lips with her right hand, and in her sexiest voice she said, "I definitely like the way you promote, Admiral. I can't wait until I make captain," and she winked at him while licking her lips. She saluted him and he started to salute back but decided against it.

He looked Deana's way slowly to see if she was mad at him, but she just blew him another kiss and told him not to be late for dinner. He walked backwards toward the door a little confused and suspicious as they both waved him goodbye. When the door closed he heard giggling. He shook his head and headed to the bridge. This was after-all, just another day on the Turtle.