Chapter 13

          Dona rolled onto her side, keeping her eyes closed, wanting just a little more sleep.  She put her arm up on the figure she was facing on the right side of the bed.  She leaned forward, kissing him on briefly on the lips, whispering “Morning.”

          Someone rolled into her back, putting a warm arm around her waist and nuzzling her ear.  “Good Morning, honey.”  It was clearly Jimmy’s raspy morning voice.  Her eyes suddenly snapped open.  The large viewing screen on the wall had been set up to look like a window, providing an exterior view of the bright morning outside.  The computer had even thoughtfully provided simulated curtains and a wooden frame for their ‘window.’  It lit the room enough to see clearly.

          Murky was lying in front of her on top of the covers, smiling broadly.  “And a cheerful good morning to you, my darling.”

          Dona suddenly shoved him hard, sending him flying off the top of the covers where he was resting.  Since they would never have expected Tinker to do something like this, they hadn’t locked the bedroom door.  The sudden sight of Murky was just too disconcerting.  Jimmy just sat up in the bed, blinking back sleep.

          Dona slid off the bed, carefully holding the large tee shirt down over her backside.  She had taken to wearing Jimmy’s shirt to bed since it was large and comfortable.  It didn’t matter to Jimmy, who slept in nothing at all.  He reached to the floor, grabbing a pair of shorts and putting them on under the covers.  Dona grabbed some of her clothes from the dresser and headed into the bathroom.

          “That’s a good way to get a punch in the groin, you know?”  Jimmy croaked, still rubbing his eyes.  Despite the late hour of the morning, he looked like he hadn’t slept.

          “Geez man, is she wearing you out that much or are you not a morning person?”

          “I am not now, nor will I ever be a morning person.”  That wasn’t exactly true but on this very morning he was not at his best.

          “You should learn to drink coffee.” Jimmy just responded to that by sticking a finger in his mouth making gagging sounds.  Murky lay back, propping his head with his hands on the thick pillows.  “What’s it like to go from famine to feast?”

          “Good God, Murky.  It’s not like we have sex every single night.”

          “Then what good is it being married.  You don’t look like this every morning.  Why the late night?”

          “Its our one month anniversary.  I bought some champagne and I think we got a little drunk.  Well, I did, she barely touched the stuff”

          Murky elbowed him lightly in the ribs.  “You get lucky?” he winked at him.  Jimmy simply yawned nodding.  “Hey, it’s not like you have to worry about getting her more pregnant.”  He rolled his eyes around without turning his head.  “She’s right behind me, isn’t she?”

          His response was a sharp pop on the back of the head.  Dona was clad in one of her own shirts and bikini panties, searching for a pair of jeans in their new clothing.  Thank God, she had said when they found the cotton denims in the clothing store.  Jimmy noticed Murky’s eyes on his wife’s lower quarters as she pulled on her pants and punched him gently in the shoulder.  Well, not that gently.  “Go get your own!”

          “Where do you think I’ve been for the past three weeks?”

          “Huh?  I thought they had you stashed away on the station all this time.”

          “Nah.  They just ordered me to keep my mouth shut and went to find me a job I could do without much training.  Next thing I knew, Susan was signing me out for her staff.”

          “Susan?”

          “Remember, Doctor Rokowski?  From the Delilah?”  He made an hourglass motion with his hands.  “She took pity on me and I’ve been crashing at her apartment ever since.”

          “And what happens when her husband shows up?”

          “He’s not likely to.  She was just talking to him three days ago and he was on Earth.  They’re sort of split up, you know, she’s military and he’s not.  They never see each other.  So in effect I get to see a lot of her myself.”

          “In other words, you’re a ‘kept man.’” Jimmy finally smiled at him.

          It seemed impossible, but Murky’s smile got even wider.  He glanced around, looking for Dona, but she had disappeared into the parlor and was rummaging around in the refrigerator, presumably preparing to cook breakfast.  “You need to let Susan teach Dona some things.  Wow, what muscle control!”  He pulled something from beneath the covers, twirling a discarded pair of panties until Jimmy grabbed them from him.  “Ah, she is wearing you out.  Enjoy it while you can, before long you’ll be lucky to sleep in the same bed when the hormones kick in.”

          He almost said he was afraid to ask but stopped himself, intrigued despite himself.  Muscle control?  He changed the subject,  “So, how did you track us down here?”

          “Pure luck.  I was taking a public shuttle, and I saw the Phantasm sitting down here in this shipyard.  This place reminds me of a trailer park.  It makes the old girl looks like a jewel among swine.”

          “That’s just what Dona said about this place.  It’s pretty reasonably priced though.  We got a landing pad just large enough for Tinker do work on his little project for just a few thousand credits.  It’ll do until I get a job.  We made a pretty good deal on some of our old stuff.  That’s how we have all this new stuff.”  He gestured at the piles of clothing strewn about the room.  These guys certainly aren’t neat freaks, Murky thought to himself.  “Dona managed to blow half of what we had left on one shopping trip, though I was getting tired of our old clothes myself.”

          “What the hell did you sell to get several thousand credits?”

          “Would you believe my old Timex?  Some guy in a collectables shop chased us down to buy it for twelve thousand credits.”

          Murky sat back in open shock.  “I can’t believe I traded my watch for a case of beer back on the Delilah!  Those guys must be laughing their heads off.  It was a Timex too.  You know they make Timex in Little Rock, don’t you.  I told you that’s where I’m from, didn’t I?”  He shook his head a moment, changing the subject again.  “I’ve got sort of an idea about you getting a job.  That Tova dude came to talk to me about you two.  He seems to have this idea about getting one or both of you into the Starforce Academy.  Did you know that if you get a commission, you get to use your own personal ship if you have one?  You’d make a living, and still get to stay in your little palace ship here.”

          “Until we get blasted to hell in this war.  No thanks.  Did Tova bring that up about the ship?  First thing they would do if I joined up would be to order me to turn her over to them.  No, at least Adams was honest in his desire to get his hands on her.  Tova’s just the type to trade a commission for this ship.  He’s not a soldier, he’s a backroom dealer.”

          “Yeah, but the guy gets things done.  What you don’t understand about military service is that for every soldier, there are ten or more people who never even hold a gun standing behind him.  Folks like Tova are a necessary evil.”

          “I still don’t like it.  Look, how long has this war gone on? Thirty years?  When you’re in a war that long, its all people can think of.  I’ll bet every industry in the U S is somehow geared to the war effort.  People like Tova don’t grease the wheels to win the war, they grease the wheels for the commerce generated by the war.  If it ended somehow tomorrow, he wouldn’t even have anything to do any more.  As much as I despise the man, Adams at least only wanted our ship to get ahead in the war.

          “From what I’ve learned, the whole thing has been a stalemate for the last twenty years since the attack on Earth.  A whole lot of touch me; touch you, with nothing being resolved.  Unless the war escalates or some kind of armistice occurs, the whole nation is going to get locked into this constant war mentality.  Also, everyone tells me we’re so far away from the front that nothing would ever get this far, so imagine what it must be like on worlds on the border, or on Earth for that matter.”

          Murky looked at him oddly for a moment.  “I sure didn’t have you pegged for a liberal, Jimmy.”

          “Good God!  I’m not.  I just know enough about how these things work to get cynical about them.  I’m not going to go around telling people to stop the war.  I’d rather go around saying ‘Win the War’ if it would help.”

          “Thank goodness.  At least you didn’t vote for the First Jackass.”

          “Earth to Murky, I’m Eighteen just four days ago.  I never got to vote back on Earth.”

          “Yeah, I forget I’m older than you and not the other way around.”

          Dona came back into the room carrying a coffee pot and two mugs.  She filled both, giving one to Murky.  “Here, real coffee.”

          He drank deeply of it regardless of the scalding temperature.  “Good, but a little weak.”  He would never fully compliment her coffee.

          She set her mug down, embracing him and kissing him on the cheek.  “Now that’s how you say hello, Murky, not crawl into bed with us.”

          “Oh, I couldn’t resist.  I didn’t know you were naked besides that tee shirt.”

          “Like you couldn’t guess.” Jimmy cut in.  Dona just shot him a sharp glance, taking her mug and heading back to her cooking.

          “Hey Jimmy, I noticed something.  Does she always do the cooking?”

          “Mostly.”

          “I kind of had her figured as one of those independent strong modern woman types, you know, share the household chores and everything.”
          “Nah, I tried that with her a long time ago.  We both have an old-fashioned streak in us, and we kind of fall into roles like that.”

          “So she doesn’t mind being ‘Barefoot and pregnant’?”

          “Would you believe she actually used that phrase in her valedictorian speech at graduation?”

          “She was the valedictorian?”

          “Now why would that be so hard to believe?  She barely beat me out, if I’d done better in Spanish, I would have made the speech.”

          “Hey, I didn’t mean anything, that’s real good.  I know yall’r real smart and stuff; I just didn’t realize you were that smart.  Hey, it just occurred to me.  I met you two in September, and on a Monday to boot.  Why weren’t you two in school or college or something?”

          “We both finished ahead, so we decided to take a year off anyway.  It was secretly so we could get married before we went off to school.  I was planning to go to M.I.T. and Dona was thinking about the University of South Carolina, so we wanted to do it before we went.”

          “Ye gods! The thought of you two that far apart is unthinkable.  Yall’r so co-dependent it’s not funny.”

          Jimmy had to admit, Murky was right.  They had never spent so much time together before.  In fact, they were together every waking moment of the day.  Was it because they were co-dependent, or because the only friends they had made were Murky and Tinker.  He didn’t know if he even wanted to bring the matter up with Dona.

          Dona was setting out plates for breakfast.  She thought about it a moment and set a fourth plate for Murky.  It was almost eleven, and he might have already eaten, but she would offer anyway.  She was surprised when she saw Tinker descending the stairs with Doctor Rokowski.  She almost didn’t recognize her out of uniform; she was wearing tight violet pants and a sort of tank top, leaving no doubt that the slightly older woman was much better endowed than she was.  She hadn’t heard Murky tell Jimmy about her, but she immediately assumed that he was the reason she was here.  She smiled hugely at Dona, briefly embracing her.  “You’re certainly looking good Mrs. Argus.”

          “Just Dona.  So’re you Doctor.”

          “Just call me Susan.” She spotted the empty champagne bottle on the counter. “You aren’t drinking that are you?”

          “I had a sip, then switched to ginger ale.  I was a bit surprised that Jimmy drank what he did.  He’s paying for it this morning.  Are you here with Murky?”

          “Yeah, the Colonel suggested I recruit him for my staff.  It was his idea so we could get him away from Adams before he could stick him in a sanitation crew or something.  He really can’t do much yet until I train him how to use modern equipment but he’s nice to have around for other reasons.”

          “Don’t take this the wrong way, but aren’t you a bit older than him?”

          “By thirteen years. So?”

          “And what about your husband?”

          “Pete and I have been separated for three years.  I haven’t been back to Warsaw to get the divorce yet, but I think I might now.  At least once this tour is up.”

          “Really, you’re that serious about Murky?”

          “Maybe.”

          “I just didn’t think he could be serious about anybody.  Hey, aren’t there regulations against that, since he’s enlisted?”

          “There are, except I’m civilian attached.  Most of Starforce doctors are.  Technically, I can be called a Major, but I do just what everyone else does and go by Doctor.”

          “And you’re not cramped in your quarters on that ship.  I tried to sleep with Jimmy on that ship and ended up with a crick in my neck.”  She noticed Susan’s smile, “I mean really sleeping.”

          “Oh, I knew what you meant.  I have an apartment in the tower district here.  This is where I live full time now when I’m not out on the Delilah.  Listen, honey, all kidding aside, one thing you might not realize is you and Jimmy’s relationship is not all that unusual.  The average marriage age is actually eighteen here in the colonies.  Large families are even expected.  By the time I was your age, I had already had my first son.  He’s almost exactly your age and he’s getting married this spring.  My other son is ten.”

          “Boy, things sure have changed.  We were going to put off having children until we finished college, especially since we’d be a thousand miles apart.  Not to mention, Jimmy’s father would freak if he even knew we were planning to get married at eighteen.”

          “Why were you waiting for eighteen, why didn’t you go ahead and marry him?”

          “We couldn’t legally do it until eighteen back then.  Most people didn’t get married until they were in their twenties, or even later for that matter.  My dad was fifty when he married my mom, and almost sixty when I was born.  So Murky’s living with you?”

          “Uh huh.”

          “And the age difference doesn’t bother you?”

          “Why should it?  He’s a full-grown man, I’m still pretty young, and he can…” she leaned forward, whispering in Dona’s ear, causing her to blush crimson red.

          Murky entered the room with Jimmy close on his heals.  Jimmy was still clad only in his khaki camping shorts.  He caught sight of Susan and ducked back into the room, emerging moments later pulling on a tee shirt.  “It’s not like she hasn’t seen you before, Jimmy.”  Murky told him as he took his place at the table.

          “Sorry, it’s the thought that counts.”  He held out his hand, shaking Susan’s as he sat down.  “Have you two had breakfast?”

          “Hours ago, but I’m starved again. What’re ‘yall having?” Murky asked.

          “Scrambled eggs, fresh ones that is, and home fries.”  Dona spooned a portion onto their plates, sliding hers to Susan before getting a fifth out for herself.  Tinker reappeared from below, having an almost uncanny knack for knowing when food was ready.  Instead of daily commuting to his quarters at the base, he had been living in the crew quarters of the Phantasm.

          Murky went over to the refrigerator, pulling out one of the few remaining beers, popping it open and putting in front of Jimmy, who was sitting with his chin on the table, picking at his breakfast.  “Here man, hair of the dog.”

          Jimmy took several sips of the beer without protest, making a face as he did so.  “Just what in the hell is more alcohol supposed to do for me?”

          “Not a damn thing.” Said Susan, frowning at Murky.  She took the beer from him, instead reaching into her purse for a small vial.  She produced two white pills, giving them to Jimmy.

          “What’s this, some miracle hangover cure?”

          “No, it’s just good old fashioned aspirin.  Hangovers are punishment for drinking too much, there’s not a damn thing you can do about them except lay off the alcohol.”

          “Point taken.”

          “And not another drop for Dona till the baby comes.”

          “You think they would have made something for this by now.” He muttered, still resting his chin and forearms on the table.  “You sound just like the doctors in my era.”

          “Good medicine is good medicine, no matter what century you’re in.  If she wants something like that, they make perfectly good tasting non-alcohol replicas that are completely safe for her; and for you I might add.  How much did you drink, the whole bottle?”

          “Just about.”

          “Here,” she pushed a coffee mug toward him.  “Your wife makes really good coffee, you might as well drink it.”

          He eyed the mug as if something blue and hairy was growing from it.  He closed his eyes and took a sip after blowing on the hot liquid.  By the face he made one would have thought he was drinking battery acid.  It did one thing, though; he was wide-awake now.  He got up and got a bottle of a local citrus fruit drink, downing half of it in one gulp.

          “I learned really quick not to let Mill anywhere near a coffee pot.”  Susan finally told Dona.

          “Mill?”

          “That’s what I call Murky.  I can’t stand that nickname.”

          “Just as long as she doesn’t start saying sweetie or honey or something.” Said Murky as he downed the last tidbits of his meal.  He motioned toward Jimmy, who pushed his plate toward him.  He resumed shoveling food down his mouth with gusto.

          “So Susan, if you and your husband split up, what’re you and Murky going to do?”

          “Keep living together I guess.  We can get away with that.  He’d either have to resign from the Starforce, or get promoted to officer if we ever decided to marry, which I don’t want right now.”

          “He Suze, these guys need to make some friends.  Why don’t we have a dinner party and invite them.”

          “It’ll have to wait until we get back.  The Delilah is going on system patrol, which means I won’t put back into port for about three weeks.  That’s one of the reasons we’re here.  I can’t leave Mill in my apartment while I’m gone…”

          “She doesn’t trust me with the silver.” He cut in.

          “No, I haven’t gotten him into the security system yet.  They won’t let him in until I get a hold of the building manager and he’s out-system until I get back from patrol.  So I need for him to stay with you guys until I get back.”

          “Well, you can room with Tinker this time, you’re not sleeping on the couch in here.” Jimmy told him.

          “And our room is off limits!” added Dona.

          “So Susan, what is the Delilah going to be doing?” Jimmy asked.

          “Wasting fuel, time and manpower, that’s what.”

          “In other words, local patrol duty.” Explained Murky.  “Hey Tinker, what’s all that crap spread out underneath the ship?”

          “I’m building something we found in that larger hold.  It’s some kind of ship.  Give me a couple more weeks and I may have the thing space-worthy.”

          “She sure doesn’t have the lines of the Phantasm.  Kind of boxy if you ask me.”

          “It’ll look better once I have it together.  I’m about to attach the outboard drive nacelles.  Once I’m done with that, I’ll be able to put the top section back on.  That’ll make her look a lot better.”

          “What are you going to do about her onboard systems?” Jimmy asked him.  “The last time you had them up, all I saw was that weird Azarian scribble.”

          “I’m going to try a template off the Phantasm’s computer.  I know the ship-mind isn’t mature, but since I’m just building a new ship, it shouldn’t matter overly much.”

          Finished with the breakfast, they moved to the couches lining two of the room’s walls.  Susan and Murky were actually holding hands as they talked.  Before long, Susan announced it was time for her to go to the base, asking if she could change in the bedroom. Moments later she emerged, wearing her duty uniform and a white lab coat.  They followed her to the landing hatch, watching as she kissed Murky passionately before departing.

          “My lord, I thought you would have her right here on the ramp.”  Dona finally said.  Jimmy couldn’t believe she had said that.

          Murky just waved as the transport sped away toward the Starforce base.

          “I’m surprised she didn’t take you with her on the tour.”

          “Well, it has something to do with me not being rated for starship duty.  Plus, I’m sure she doesn’t want me around her twenty-four hours a day.”  He glanced meaningfully at Jimmy.

          “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.  You’re in love with her, aren’t you?” Dona asked him as they climbed back into the ship.

          “I don’t know if you would call it love.  We’re both good in the sack and I bet she’ll get tire of me eventually.  I still can’t figure out that crap about not being able to stay at our apartment while she’s gone.”

          “Look at it this way.  Maybe she’s not as split up with her husband as she says.  Maybe the security in her building recognizes him, and she doesn’t want to tip him off about what’s going on.”

          Murky just shuddered.  “You kind of make it sound dirty.”

          “Well, it is if you think about it.  She is married, Murky.” Dona said.

          “Maybe it’s considered Okay to fool around with married women nowadays.  How about it Jimmy?  Do you share?”

          Jimmy drew back as if to hit Murky, who went into a defensive position.  Dona just stepped between them, kissing each of them tenderly on the lips in turn, Murky first.  “No, he doesn’t, so you and Susan have a good old time together.”  She took Jimmy by the hand, leading him upstairs.  Murky just shrugged, following them shortly.

          Dona woke during the night, her face buried in a soft pillow.  She patted the bed to her left, searching for Jimmy, who liked to sleep on that side of the bed.  Finding no one, she shifted to her right, until she reached the edge of the bed.

          The view monitor was off, leaving the room pitch black.  “Jimmy?”  There was no answer.  She touched a control on the nightstand, bringing the lights up partially.  Their cleaned up room was empty.  She had been embarrassed at the state of their room Murky had seen, and forced her husband to help clean up, making him do the laundry.  She crawled out of the large bed, pulling on a silky robe despite the fact she was wearing long pajamas.

          Despite their admonition, Murky was fast asleep on the couch.  He wasn’t covered, just slouched over the arm, his head propped on his elbow.  The view screen was on, the sound muted.  He had fallen asleep essentially watching television.  She pulled the afghan off the back of the couch, covering him so as not to wake him.  Jimmy was nowhere to be seen.  Nor was he on the bridge.

          She found him, wearing nothing but his black riding shorts, kneeling at the front of the observation dome.  His eyes were closed, his face completely expressionless.  His arms were at his sides, palms up and open.  The muted, distant lights of the city painted him in an ethereal glow.

          Dona was aware that he had been studying Karate since he was five, but she had never known him to meditate.  Not wanting to disturb him, she quietly sat down on the leather lounge, watching him.  His breathing was extremely slow and even.  He wasn’t moving a muscle.  She almost gasped when the bejeweled golden ring began to glow.

          Jimmy kneeled alone on a small plain.  The open field was bordered on each side by thick forest.  He could make out a wide but shallow river nearby.  He stood up, looking at himself as best he could.  He was clothed in a simple cloak of crudely stitched leather, his feet bare, cool and comfortable on the moist grass.  He wasn’t sure why, but a feeling of peace washed over him, leaving him totally relaxed.  A light breeze played over him, carrying the faint fragrance of the distant trees, the air pleasantly warm and dry.  The fragrance was like pine, yet somehow different.

          He turned a full circle, surveying his surroundings.  He could not remember how he had come to this place.  The last thing he could remember was crawling into his warm soft bed after a long shower, falling immediately into a deep sleep.  Was this a dream?  It must be, though Jimmy rarely could recall his dreams more than a few moments after awakening.

He became aware that some one was standing behind him.  He turned to face the stranger.  It took him a moment, but he recognized the man as the one who had given them their rings, saying it was a gift from his family.  He remembered his name, Arcus Oray.  They had asked several people about the visitor, but no one had the slightest idea what they were talking about.  It turned out they were being kept in the more secure section of the base hospital, their room and the corridor under constant surveillance, and it certainly seemed impossible that some one had slipped in simply to give them a pair of gold rings.  They finally did decide Morrow had sent them by way of one of his lieutenants, who, for some unknown reason had worn civilian clothing.  He had almost forgotten about the encounter.

          This time the man was dressed differently.  He was still clothed from head to toe in black, but the style was completely different.  His clothing seemed to be made of silk, his cloak of some heavier material.  He wore a crown of some shining black metal, decorated with blunted spikes reaching just past the top of his head.  Just as before, something about Oray made him seem to tower over Jimmy, who was actually several inches taller.

          Rather than speaking, Oray motioned for him to follow.  Jimmy started to ask him what was going on, but the man simply hushed him with a gesture.  Curious despite himself, he followed the older man.  They were walking along a path worn over years by many footfalls.  He led him to the edge of the forest, not slowing as he entered.  The path into the woods was cool and quiet.  He expected to hear the sounds of forest animals, but everything was eerily still.  Oray stopped in a clearing, stretching out his arms.

          Jimmy recognized where they were, though the location was in the wrong context.  The clearing was set in the side of a hill, the gap in the forest caused by a monstrous formation of bright white quartz.  The paths he had once ridden with his mountain bike were not there as he expected.  The cave entrance was, however.

          Oray lowered his arms, motioning for Jimmy to follow once more.  The climb seemed easier this time, the cave opening into a large chamber lit by torches.  Oray stopped in the center of the chamber, stretching out his arms, muttering in a low voice.

The torches grew brighter, bringing the detail of the white, rocky chamber into sharp relief.  He stepped forward, facing the man.  “Who are you?”

          “I have told you, my name is Arcus Oray.  I am the servant of Arkon the Great, Protector of the Secrets of T’Dragma Congolatae Markus.”

          “That doesn’t mean anything to me.  What are you then?”

          Oray chuckled quietly.  “The best thing I could tell you, hmm, I suppose you would call me a sorcerer, a wizard if you will, though that hardly begins to describe exactly what I am.”

          “And where am I?”

          “Actually, you are on board your ship.  This is all actually in your mind.  I chose this place since it was familiar to you.”

          “I don’t understand.”

          “No, you lack the context to truly understand what I have to tell you.”

          “You said our ‘gift’ was from my family, but I wouldn’t understand.”

          “Now is not the time for such explanations, except my use of ‘family’ entails a larger meaning.  You are the culmination of a long line stretching back over the centuries.  You are connected inextricably with the Fury.”

          “Fury?”

          “Yes, the Fury is the source of both our power.”
          “Both?”

          “Yes, one day you will understand what I have to tell you.  Look at your left hand.”

          Jimmy looked at his hand.  The ring was still there, but its aspect had changed.  Instead of a rather simple ring with a single stone, it had grown into a larger, more ornate design.  Flames crafted of gold swirled from the shank, embracing the stone, which was lit with an inner light.

          “The ring is a symbol of your link with the fury.”
          “What is this Fury, something like the Force?” He wondered if Oray would know about the Star Wars reference.

          Oray smiled at him.  “No, the Fury may seem to interact with the physical world in the same way, but its source is completely different.  I mentioned I was the protector of the Secrets of T’Dragma Congolatae Markus.  That is the true name of the Fury.  The names refer to the three aspects of a race of humans who lived almost twenty thousand years ago.

          “They were much different than the people you know.  They turned their hearts inward, rather than exploring the outside world as you have.  In doing so, they transcended their flesh, becoming something more.  In other words, they evolved into the next step, becoming something that you would not truly be able to comprehend.

          “Many, such as myself, learned to communicate with these beings.  Over time, I became suffused with power which some might refer to as magic.  Through that power, I was able to expand my consciousness in much the same way as that ancient race once had, but I kept my hold on the corporeal world.  Many of us soon learned the error of our ways.

          “Other beings, only once imagined in the crude religions held to by primitive cultures, used our link with the Fury to enter the world, also borrowing their power.  One, more powerful and malignant than the others, consolidated his power upon my world, choosing a human host.  The creature, which you would call a demon or a devil, was named Malendragma.  In my time, I was strong enough to lead a small band of warriors against it, sending the creature back into its realm, unfortunately taking its human host with it.  He was once a great man, a king in his own nation.  His name was Tanith Moondagan.

          “What did you mean by ‘in your time’?”

          “Relatively speaking, I have been dead for more than one thousand years.”

          Jimmy’s jaw just hung open.  “What are you, a ghost?”

          “No, there are means which you will one day understand to step aside from time.  It costs me much, but I have deemed it necessary.  In your time, Malendragma has returned, insinuating itself in a place of power that is hidden from even me.  Once, we hoped your descendents would be ready to stand against it.  Now that burden falls to you.  I never anticipated you would be able to come forward in time like this.  However, that does not matter.  You have the strength, intelligence and talents that will aid you in the coming struggle.  Your bloodline marks you as what you might even call a ‘Chosen One’”

          Jimmy’s mind was a swirl, trying to comprehend what Oray was telling him.  A ‘Chosen One’, that sounded ridiculous.  He was just a young man from a relatively obscure family.  What about his bloodline?  His father was from a large Greek family, but their roots were lost in the clouds of history.  His family was neither important nor influential, most of them integrating into American culture over the generations.  His father was a third generation American, and hardly even considered his heritage.

          Oray began to fade along with the rocky cave surrounding him.  “You will recall this meeting once you need to.  For now, love your family and friends, protecting them from harm.  Your love is part of your strength.”

          Jimmy looked again at his ring.  It was slowly changing back into its plain appearance.  “What about Dona’s ring.”

          Oray smiled warmly at him.  “It’s just a plain gold ring.  It is a gift from me, as your culture uses them as a symbol of marriage.  Remember what I said about your love.  Learn from your love for her, it will guide you on your quest.”

          He finally faded completely from view.  Jimmy opened his eyes, looking out at the sun rising over the city.  It took him a few moments to realize he was kneeling in the forward dome rather than in his bed.  Just how in the world had he gotten there.  He had never before been subject to sleepwalking.  He blinked his eyes in the dawning light.  The dawn of the Fury, he thought without really knowing why.

          He suddenly remembered fleeting images of the dream, just on the edge of consciousness.  One thing he remembered clearly was Oray’s last admonition; learn from your love for her.  The sorcerer must have planted that thought closer to his consciousness, as it was not rapidly fading away into the mist like a dream.

          It cleared his mind exceptionally.  Doubt about his relationship with Dona was starting to creep into his mind.  Did he truly love her or was it just an immature physical relationship between two hormonally challenged teenagers?  Now it was clear.  Yes, he absolutely, totally loved her with his whole heart.  Was that what he was supposed to learn?

          He turned to leave the lounge and was surprised to find Dona right behind him, peacefully sleeping curled up in one of the leather seats.  He quietly went up to her, gently brushing an errant strand of hair from her closed eyes.  He watched her as she slept.  Her face was already starting to fill in slightly, seemingly glowing.  Her black hair shimmered in the early morning sunlight.  He leaned forward, taking the back of her head in his hand and gently kissing her on the forehead.  She stirred slightly, touching his arm lightly, pulling him toward her.  He curled up with her on the spacious lounge, falling gently to sleep with her, holding her hand gently in his.  She woke briefly, kissing him lightly on the lips before pressing in closer with him and falling asleep again.

Chapter 14 

          Jimmy closed the canopy as soon as Tinker signaled he was ready.  He touched the ignition controls one by one, starting with the centerline engine.  He was rewarded with the sound of the small but powerful engines roaring throatily to life.  Tinker signaled once more and Jimmy pushed the throttle controls forward.

          The small starship shuddered as the engines increased their output.  Tinker motioned for him to lower the power, then ramp it upward again.  Both of them were clad in filthy white tee shirts and equally dirty denim jeans.  Tinker opened an access panel, working something out of sight.  The shuddering eased somewhat, though the sound of the engines locked into a stationary testing rig was somewhat deafening.  He lifted his hands in unison, signaling Jimmy to raise the canopy once more.

          Jimmy was proving to be a natural talent working on the small starship with Tinker.  What he lacked in technical expertise, he made up with a nearly endless willingness to learn and Tinker was a willing and eager teacher.  This was the older man’s element.  Tinker was not a soldier but an engineer.  Just how good an engineer was starting to become apparent. 

          He had an amazing talent for rigging things up in new and impressive ways.  He could do complex calculations about intermeshing the Azarian technology of the little ship with the human analogs they were using.

          Azarians, it seemed, never really advanced their starship drive technology, rather relying on a once impressive network of Stargates to navigate the galaxy.  Now there were only four of the ancient relics in use, but human technology had made up for their loss.  Every decade led to faster and faster ships, without having to rely on fixed position Stargates.  The Phantasm, sitting on its pad nearby, was a clear indication of the advances, which would be coming in the near future.

          Tinker was mildly shocked when Jimmy showed him the paper tag he had found deep in the engineering section of the ship.  The card indeed had his signature, but he had not even been in that section of the ship yet.  He actually thought it was funny that he would work on this ship again some time in the future.

          “You know what, Tinker?  You told me the computer was being deliberately evasive with Adams and his engineers, but it let you right in.  I wonder if it somehow recognizes you somehow.”

          “I don’t see how it could.  The memory core was totally wiped by the system failure.  A crash, like you and Dona like to refer to it.”
          “Yeah, but what about what it calls me.  It refers to you as Peterson, Murky as Bedarest and I finally got it to start calling Dona by her first name rather than Marks.  But me, it keeps calling me Commander Argus.  I assumed at first that was because I was the primary user of the ship, but more and more it seems like it knows me from its own past.”

          “The only thing I can figure is it retained some imprint of its original program.  The core is more advanced than anything I’ve previously worked on.  At least, it should have been totally wiped out.  Either that, or someday you’ll actually own this ship again, and you’ll be a commander.”

          “Well that’s not likely.  Despite what your oh so beloved Tova wants, I don’t want to get involved in this war.  I just want to find some place and settle in to raise my family.  Dona and I talked about it again last night.  Our baby is due in seven months, and we’ve decided to stay here on Swingaround until the baby is up and walking.  We may even decide to stay permanently.”

          “Until the war comes looking for you.” Tinker said, disappearing beneath the tiny little minifighter.  They had uncrated what turned out to be a Sparrow after all.  It was a small, lightly armed fighter used about twenty years ago.  It had been updated with a modern drive unit, though it was not capable of light speed travel on its own.  A crawlspace and a hatch had been added, allowing the pilot to crawl from the cockpit into the main cabin of the ship.  The fighter had been specially adapted to attach to the front section of the larger ship.  After days of checking control systems, Tinker finally decided the original builders had intended the entire ship to be controlled from the forward cockpit of the Sparrow fighter, with a second cockpit located on the top section.

          All together, the ship was beginning to take on a sleek, if angular appearance.  The main weight of the ship rested on two large skids set on the ‘wings’, which were actually synthetic gravity projectors.  There were clearly receptacles for mounting weapons on the large outboard pods on the wings.  All in all, the ship was starting to look like a remarkable fighting machine. 

          One odd feature stood out to them.  Each of the ion engines was designed to include an ion lock-in weapon.  The two outboard engines could fire their weapon at any time the drive was engaged, but the more powerful centerline weapon could only be fired if the Sparrow fighter was deployed separately.  Perhaps the weapon had been included before the Sparrow was attached to the nose of the ship.

          Jimmy suggested the final detail of the ship.  A completely non-functional tail plane and fin were added, completing the bold, no nonsense looks of the ship.  Once the dock inspector had proclaimed the little ship space worthy, they dubbed it the XFB 2452, in honor of the year.  The prefix was a little joke, since the ship was not actually a fighter or a bomber but rather a smaller personal ship for them to use.  Tinker had suggested it, since it was roughly the same size as a twin-hull, a bomber currently in use by the Starforce.  The X was required since the ship was one of a kind, and therefore, experimental.

          “Fire the engines up one more time.  I want that harmonic resonance under point o-o-one before we try to fly this thing.”  Tinker said, reaching into the cockpit to adjust some controls.  The console was like a miniature of the one on the Phantasm.  The main screen and other readouts were all integrated.  The stick control was set into the right arm of the control seat, with a throttle control at the left.  Firing studs on the joystick controlled four small pulse lasers set below the wedge shaped nose of the ship.  Other controls could bring heavier lasers built into the main ship on line.  Jimmy was a little nervous about the weaponry, but Tinker assured him it was normal for private craft to be so equipped, both to protect the crew from Deltan raiders as well as the occasional pirate.

          The main cabin of the ship was rather spacious despite the small size of the ship.  While it could not compete with the Phantasm, it boasted a space roughly the size of a large camper.  Rather than fold out beds, it had sleeping pods, which opened from the side, rather than the front like the ones found on the Delilah.  It had three, each one almost twice the size of the military version.  It had a simple kitchen combined with a table/counter with food storage above.  A small triangular window with a single raised seat looked out over the front.  To each side was set an acceleration lounge set in reach of a control console.  Each one had a specialized function, tracking and communications, but also included a set of basic piloting controls.  As a matter of fact, every workstation on the little ship had some sort of redundant controls.  Even from the forward cockpit, full tracking and communications functions could be accessed with the aid of the computer.  Tinker was successful pulling a template off the Phantasms system, giving the 2452 a fully operational automation system.

          The titanium hull of the little ship was now polished to a high sheen.  It looked like silver, just touched with a hint of gold, giving it a jewel-like property.  Tinker pointed out armor mounting studs on the skin, indicating the ship was meant to be layered with pentronium.  The drive was more than powerful enough to carry ten times the amount of armor it would take to plate the ship.

          A small transport, or ‘taxi’ stopped at the edge of the pad, disgorging Dona and Susan Rokowski.  The doctor had solved their employment problem, hiring both of them for her civilian staff at her private practice.  She actually put Dona to work right in the office, leaving Jimmy to work on the ship with Tinker.  The job was actually a bit of employment sleight of hand, naming him head of vehicle maintenance.  Since the only vehicle her office owned was a mini-shuttle, which was never even brought out of its bay that left nothing else for him to do.

          Murky took off with Susan as soon as she returned from patrol on the Delilah.  She was obviously here to pick him up for the evening.  “You know what, Tinker?  Once Murky had the nerve to tell me I spent too much time with Dona, and now look at him.  He’s spending every waking minute he can with his girlfriend.”

          “From what I understand, she’s worth it.  I actually went out with her one time.”
          “You’re kidding.  I didn’t think you had it in you.”

          “Hey, I’m not gay, I just don’t date much.”  Tinker was actually blushing.

          “That’s not what I meant.  You just act so shy around women, especially available ones.”  Jimmy had noticed how he opened up around Dona since she was spoken for.  “Does Susan always dress like that out of uniform?”

          Tinker looked at the two women walking toward the Phantasm.  Susan was wearing tight black pants and a bare midriff top, showing every curve of her body.  “Ever since I’ve known her.”

          “What was your date like?”

          “Tiring.”
          “Oh?”  Jimmy’s eyebrows went up.

          “No, despite the way she’s carrying on with Murky, she’s not loose or anything.  It was a couple years ago, and she was still getting along with her husband.  By the way, she’s actually getting a divorce now.  We went out dancing, staying out past four in the morning.  We did end up in her apartment, but we were so wasted, we just about passed out on the couch.  I sure caught hell on the ship for weeks, since everyone assumed I’d slept with her.  At least, I don’t think I did.  I do remember that she can kiss.”

          “I kind of got the impression she didn’t drink, the way she lit into me when I had that champagne.”
          “You forget she’s a doctor.  She’s a bit of a hypocrite about it.  Besides, I think she was upset with you for letting Dona have some.  Besides, I don’t mean wasted drunk, I mean dead tired.  That woman can wear you out dancing.”

          “That’s one thing I don’t do.”

          “Huh?”

          “Dance.  The most I’ve ever danced was at our senior prom and that was just the slow dancing.  I just don’t enjoy it.”

          “I don’t understand.  I’ve seen you working out with your judo routine…”

          “Actually, that’s Karate.”
          “Well, I can’t tell the difference.  The way you move, you could be a good dancer.”

          “Well, I don’t know what dancing is like now, but my workouts look nothing like the way young people danced in my time.”

          Dona was approaching them.  She was wearing a violet dress, cinched together at the waist with a matching belt.  She was beginning to put on a little weight, accentuating her curves.  Jimmy found her beautiful.  “You boys making any progress?”

          Tinker wiped his hands, sitting down on the wedge shaped wing of the sparrow. “Tomorrow I think we’ll fly her for the first time.  You want to come?”
          “Oh no.  I’ll just stay right here on the ground.”

          “Hey, this thing is in better shape than that cab you two just showed up in.”

          “All the same, you boys have your fun.”

          Jimmy climbed out of the cockpit, reaching to embrace his wife.  She shrank away from him as he approached.  “You’re not touching me until you’ve had a bath. Ew!”

          He kissed her suddenly on the cheek anyway, causing her to shove him in the direction of the ship.  “Join me?”  He motioned for her to follow him

          “No, get cleaned up.  Susan’s taking all of us out for dinner tonight.”  She shoved him again toward the ship.

          The upper canopy popped up.  Murky climbed down to where Tinker was sitting.  “Well, it’s official.  The honeymoon’s over and she’s cut him off.”

          “And what happens to you when Susan cuts you off.”

          “What do you know?” he asked suddenly.  “Anyway, I’m too good.  She can’t stand to go without me.”

          “What do you mean ‘what do I know?”

          “Never mind.”

          “Yes I’ll mind. Spill, Bedarest, that’s an order.”  Tinker did technically outrank Murky; despite the fact he had received no official orders since signing out for the doctor’s staff.

          “Listen, you can’t tell this to anyone, especially until her divorce goes through.” He dropped his voice to a whisper.  “I’ve gotten her pregnant.  She’s about two weeks on.”

          “Well I’ll be damned.  You had better be careful.  Your first little liaison with her on your ship was all over the Delilah before you even put your clothes back on.”

          “The grapevine that good.”

          “Well, that and you had a small crowd watching you.  You were in the clear front dome.”

          Murky just grinned, like he was proud of himself.  “Just don’t tell anyone, okay.  Not even Jimmy.”

          “I’ll bet Dona knows.  Those two carry on like long time girlfriends.”

          “Well, that’s Suze’s business.”

          “Are you two going to get married?”

          “Not if I can help it.  Besides, unless I resign from the Starforce, its against regulations.”

          ‘That’s actually kind of a gray area.  She’s actually a civilian technically.  Her rank is actually informal.  Let me tell you something, her taking you in wasn’t actually her idea.  Morrow found out about your ‘date’ just about as fast as the rest of the crew.  He suggested she take you in just long enough for Tova and Adams to forget about you.  It’s your good luck she’s in love with you now.”

          “You think she actually loves me?”

          “I’ve known her for five years.  She’s definitely in love, though I can’t figure out why.  You’re just a few years older than her first son.  You love her?”

          Murky thought about it a moment.  He was weighing his impression of himself as a ladies man against what he was really feeling.  “Yeah, I guess so.”

          “The freaking go tell her.  That’s another order.”

          “Main engines are on line.”  Jimmy reported to Tinker, who was manning the engineering seat in the main cabin.  “We’re as ready as we’re going to be.”

          “Computer,” Tinker said. “Contact New Memphis control.”

          “WORKING” popped up on his screen.

          “This is Control, XFB 2452.  What is your flight plan?”
          “Sub-orbital test flight.”

          “Do you need take-off control?”

          “Negative, we will be on manual control.”

          “Follow your exit vector until you are clear of New Memphis air space.  Good flying, Control out.”

          “XFB 2452 out.”

          Jimmy was relieved.  He was going to fly the ship totally on manual.  They had run simulations all morning, making sure he could handle the it, taking off perfectly every time.  Despite that, he needed almost a hundred hours before he could be legally rated for manual flight.

          He ramped up the gravitational repulsion, lifting the ship off the pad.  He gently throttled up the engines, falling into the exit vector Control had given them.  He pushed the throttle forward again, making the powerful craft blast forward suddenly.  It accelerated faster even than the Phantasm, a magnetic screen cutting down on atmospheric friction.

          In a matter of minutes, they cleared the city, flying out over the dark green forests that covered much of the continent.  He leveled the ship out at ten thousand feet, flying at just over Mach two.  He banked it left, then right, getting the feel of the controls.  The automation system responded perfectly, smoothing out small mistakes, making the flight feel like velvet over flat glass.  He bobbled the ship back and forth, finally doing a full barrel roll.

          Murky was in the upper cockpit.  He wasn’t expecting the aerobatics. “Hey, I’m about to lose my lunch up here Jimmy.  Where the hell did you learn to fly like that?”

          “I’ve been taking flying lessons for four years.  This ship makes it easy.  If I really screw up, the computer will take over and compensate.  It’s set up so, if I set a course that will take us straight into the ground, it won’t let me do it unless I shut the computer down.”

          Tinker broke in.  “I think I still need to adjust the gravitational compensators.  The ride is a little rough.”

          “I sort of like it this way,” Jimmy called back over the com. “I can feel exactly what the old girl is doing.  Leave the fancy compensators for the Phantasm.”

          “Oh lord, I need Dramamine.” Murky moaned.

          Spotting a shallow canyon, Jimmy dove.  The ship rocketed up the narrow space, finally climbing as it narrowed.

          “Okay, now we know she flies just fine in the atmosphere, take her up Jimmy.”

          He pulled back on the stick, pushing the throttle three-quarters of the way up.  The sky darkened as the ship climbed straight up, clearing the atmosphere quickly.  He pushed the throttle all the way up, the planet receding rapidly behind them.  The ship continued to accelerate into space.

          A hatch opened beneath the ship, revealing the chronal-damping projector.  It glowed momentarily, casting a ghostly image of the ship out in front of it just as the ship crossed the Hyperwarp threshold.

          The computer plotted a clear course, taking them away from the busy shipping lanes.  The ship continued gaining speed, until it leveled out at a preset power output.  The ship was going twice as fast as they had ever gone with their larger ship.

          “Dear God!” was all Tinker could say.  “If this is right, this ship is faster even than the Phantasm!”

          Jimmy sat up a little, pulling his helmet off, shaking out his mid-length hair.  “Want to see just how fast she can go?”

          “Not today.  Set a course back to Swingaround.  I need to download some data onto the Phantasm’s computer to see how the hull is handling the stress of these speeds.”

          “The ride sure is smooth.” Murky added.

          “Yeah, until we get a harmonic resonance and she shakes herself to pieces.  This is her first flight.”

          “Do you think the Starforce base was tracking us?”  Jimmy asked.

          “I’m sure they were.  We didn’t accelerate enough to create suspicion until we were long out of range of the station.  At the same rate, we need to slow way down before we come back into range.” 

          Jimmy throttled back, dropping them out of Hyperwarp.  They were deep into the void of Space.  Without the navigation computer, he would have once again been absolutely lost.  It seemed reasonable if he simply turned around, he would end up back at Swingaround, though he knew there were too many other variables.  He simply told the computer to plot a return course, letting it take them back home.

          Colonel Barron Tova played the recording over, trying to pick up new details.  He had the Phantasm under round the clock surveillance and it finally paid off.  He made sure the ship would be docked at that particular pad, also making sure the Argus’ would have plenty of money to stay there.  He considered the little watch in his safe, valuable, but certainly not worth what he had paid for it.  At least he had such funds at his disposal.

          The little fighter ship had been a surprise.  He had assumed with the cash they suddenly had at their disposal, the boy would get bored with the city quickly and try to fly their larger ship first.  He was quite eager to see just what it actually could do.

          His heart nearly skipped a beat once they rolled what looked like a wreck out into the open.   He knew what the young engineer was capable of, and he was rewarded as the ship took shape.  They now had a complete visual record of the construction of the XFB 2452.  Very nice they had applied a military designation to it.  Still, the same laws that prevented him from marching right down and taking possession of the Phantasm also applied to this new ship.  After all, it had been part of the cargo, and therefore part of the original salvage claim.

          The engine schematics from the Phantasm had already been forwarded to Research and Development.  He suspected they were somewhat incomplete, but they would advance his cause regardless.

          Tova had two allegiances.  The first was to him.  He was up for a promotion to commander, probably on a fast track to central command.  He was a backroom dealer, a facilitator as it were.  He was the oil, which made seemingly impossible things move along smoothly.  He was connected with just about every aspect of American commerce, not the least afraid of a little corrupt dealing, if it suited his ends.

          His other allegiance was to his country.  He was a patriot, though mainly because that served his first priority.  He found he had these abilities, reveling in their use.  Many of his superiors were aware of his more questionable dealings, but they all turned a blind eye to him because of his results.

          In all honesty, he genuinely liked the young Argus’ and their friend, Bedarest.  If Commander Adams hadn’t blundered so badly trying to grab their ship by force, he might have simply gone to Argus and asked if they could thoroughly examine the ship.  Now his hands were tied.  Jimmy made no bones about how he felt about the Starforce now, and if he refused, they would lose all chance to learn from his ship.

          He had all the paperwork lined up.  He even had the Senator from Swingaround on board to recommend at least the boy to the Miami Academy.  All that remained was to convince James Argus.  Despite all his efforts, it was looking more and more like that would not happen.

          He watched again as the ship took off.  He was surprised to learn the ship had taken off totally on manual, according to traffic control logs.  They took the ship out into the wilderness, experimenting with its control before climbing rapidly into space.  A ship shadowed it for a while as it passed out of range of Swingaround Station.  What they had reported back was beyond belief.  The chase ship was one of the fastest on the base, and their ship had outstripped it like it was not even there. 

          His attention returned to the live feed. They had returned.

          It took great care, but Jimmy was able to guide the little ship back onto the Phantasm’s cargo elevator.  He landed, letting Murky out to open the cargo elevator.  With extreme patience, he hovered, tipping the ship ever so slightly to the side causing it to slip slowly to the side, just a few feet off the tarmac.  It finally came to rest more or less in the center of the elevator. That sure saved the expense of renting a crane again.  The computer stored the maneuver, so they would be able to repeat it if necessary.

          Once they had the ship stored, they struggled out of the flight suits, full length, slightly baggy jumpsuits Jimmy had purchased just for the test.  They were plain, without the more expensive accoutrements as internal cooling systems.  They were beginning to regret that decision, figuring they were each destined for the shower again that evening.

          Dona and Susan were in the parlor, grinning ear to ear as they gossiped.  A soon as the men walked in, they started giggling just like little girls.

          “Okay, out with it.” Ordered Murky.  The two women just grinned at him, Susan whispering to Dona behind her hand, causing the younger woman to laugh out loud.

          “Dona was just trying to decide where she is going to put the Nursery.”  It clearly wasn’t what they had been talking about, but it made Jimmy think suddenly.

          He hadn’t even considered how they were going to raise their child.  It was nearly seven months off and he considered that an eternity away.  However, he was beginning to realize that two months had slipped away seemingly in an instant.  “Okay, just where have you decided we’ll build a nursery?”

          Dona tried to catch her breath between giggles.  “I have no idea.”

          “You two should just clean out the smaller hold now that we have access to the big one.”

          “No, I want her on the same floor with me.  We’ll keep her in the room with us at first.” She informed them with finality.

          “How do you know it’s going to be a girl?  Did Susan run a test?”

          “No, I just know.  We’re going to have a little girl.”

          “She’s carrying it low in the back.”  Tinker whispered in his ear.  Jimmy was a little surprised to hear the wives tale from him.

          “In all honesty, she’s right Jimmy.” Susan announced.  “I figured you two would want to wait till it was born, but since she’s made up her mind, you might as well know for sure.”

          Dona crossed her arms, looking extremely pleased with herself, holding her nose in the air.

          Murky ribbed Jimmy, whispering to him, “The hormones are kicking in, better get what you can while you can.”

          “Mill, one thing you’re going to have to learn is her hearing is extraordinarily acute.  Even I heard you just them.”  Both women jumped up, chasing the fleeing man down the corridor toward the observation lounge.

          “Turnabout’s fair play,” Tinker announced, “Susan’ll probably get hormonal after awhile herself.”

          “That will serve him right.”

          Jimmy was dreaming again.  He was once again in the open plain, dressed as before.  This time something was different.  The peaceful feeling was gone, a feeling of discord hung in the air.

          He turned, once again facing a stranger in black.  This time it wasn’t Oray, but a taller man wearing strange black armor.  His head was covered in a helmet, the top formed like upswept wings.  He was wearing a shimmering black cape that billowed in the growing wind, seemingly endless flowing out behind the ominous figure.

          The skies turned gray, storm clouds boiling above them.  Wordlessly they faced each other, as if taking the measure of the other.  The eyepieces of the helmet glittered, giving Jimmy the impression of the soul less orbs behind them.  The mouth guard of the helmet was made up like an angular, evil smile.  A sword with a solid black hilt was attached to the stranger’s waist.

          Three images appeared in his mind.  The first was of his ring, in its magical form, glowing brightly with the inner fire of the violet gem.  The second was a hand, clenched into a fist.  The hand was made of shimmering silver, shining even in the low light of the approaching storm.  The third image was that of a sword with a gleaming polished blade.  Runes were etched up the blood groove, the pommel wrapped in fine leather joined with silver rings in the manner of ancient Japanese swords.  The design seemed oddly out of place on a European seeming broad sword.

          He returned his attention to the tall dark stranger.  He was closer now, still standing slightly in front of him.  He hadn’t moved, yet he was closer.  Lightning played across the sky, highlighting the silver trim of the helmet.  Two tall, narrow triangular vanes stretched from the sides of the helmet.

          He had been learning about the surprisingly few known alien races.  One in particular reminded him of the towering figure in front of him: Torellians.  They were a humanoid race living clear on the other side of this section of the galaxy.  They were, on average, taller than humans and more massively built.  The were totally albino, causing them to cover every inch of their bodies at all times.  Most of them wore armor in the presence of other races.  The greater majority of them were part of a democratic nation referred to by its older name, the Torellian Empire.

          Somehow he knew this individual was not a Torellian.  The size was right, and the armor seemed similar to what he had seen, but he was definitely different.

          He suddenly stretched out his hand, pointing directly at Jimmy.  He panicked, dropping to one side, crouching into a roll.  Lightning jumped out of the stranger’s hand, scorching the ground where he just stood.  The three images returned.  It was a choice.

          For reasons that escaped him, he chose the ring, holding it out in front of him.  The stranger was gone as suddenly as he came, Jimmy once again standing alone on the plain.  The storm was gone, the peace returning.

          He opened his eyes.  He was standing, totally naked, in the center of their bedroom.  This time, he did not forget the dream as he had before.  He looked down at his hand.  The ring was glowing with the same inner fire it had in his dream, its true aspect fully revealed.  He looked up at Dona, who was sitting up in the bed, staring at him in confusion.  He started to speak, but, instead, concentrated on the ring.  The glow slowly faded, the ring returning to its plain state, its power once again dormant.

          A single word sprung to his lips, “Podondrin.” He said in a barely audible whisper.

          Once the ring had gone dormant, the room was pitch black.  Dona touched the control on her nightstand, bringing the lights on just barely.  She clutched the sheet to her bare bosom.  “Now I’m sure I wasn’t mistaken.  That night you sleepwalked into the dome, I was sure I saw that ring glowing.  I just passed it off as a trick of the city lights, but now I don’t know what to think.”
          “Dona, I’m starting to remember details of the dream I had then as well.  It’s hard to remember, but I was talking to that strange man who brought us our rings.  He said something about my being from a special family and somehow I was tied to whatever this ring really is.  He said something, I think, about my father, though just what wouldn’t come.”  He sat down on the edge of the bed, his wife putting a hand on his shoulder.

          “My God, you’re soaked.”  She said, wiping her hand on a discarded piece of clothing.  He realized she was right.  He was uncomfortably warm, dripping with sweat.  That was odd, since the climate controls kept their room perfectly comfortable.  “Come on.”  She slipped out of the bed, taking him by the hand and leading him into their bathroom.

          She pushed him into the shower.  Whatever had happened to him was starting to overwhelm him, making him numb and seemingly insensible.  She was out of her clothes as well, and got into the shower with him, cleaning him gently as he stared off into space.  She waved her fingers in front of his face, causing him to notice her once more.

          “I’m okay.  I’m just going over my dream in my head so I won’t forget it this time.”  She squeezed a rag over his shoulder, rinsing suds off him.  Mindful not to get her hair wet, she worked her way around him, gently cleansing him.

          “What happened?”

          “I think I made some kind of choice.  There was some Darth Vader type standing in front of me and something was giving me a choice between a silver hand, a sword and my ring.  The guy in the armor attacked me, and I chose the ring.”

          “Why didn’t you take the sword?  If he was attacking you, wouldn’t that have been more effective?”

          “I don’t know.  I can’t explain it, the ring seemed like the right choice.  Once I chose it, everything was suddenly right again.”  He was coming back into himself and he climbed out of the shower, drying himself with a large towel, Dona right behind him.  She went back into the bedroom, fetching him a pair of pull on shorts.  She slipped back into her long pajamas once she dried herself and they went into the parlor.

          Murky was once again asleep on the couch, curled up with the sleeping Susan, both of them fully clothed.  The viewer played quietly across the room, the sound almost inaudible.  He was teaching the doctor his own bad habits.  Just as before, Dona covered the older lovers with the new afghan.

          Tinker was awake on the bridge, reading something on a tiny palm sized screen.  He shut the little device down as they mounted the stairs, stretching his arms toward the ceiling.  “You two got insomnia again, or are the other two hogging the forward lounge?”

          They looked at each other, blushing slightly.  Murky had seen them returning from the nose section later that one morning.  Once they had fully awakened, he had locked the door and closed the cover over the dome before falling into his wife’s arms on the spacious leather lounge.  Apparently Murky had filled in the blanks, probably running his mouth to everyone around. It was a get-back for Dona and him walking in on him that one time.

          “No, they’re zonked on the couch down there.”  Jimmy yawned widely, the late hour starting to tell on him.  It was a little past four.

          Dona sat down on one of the rear seats, pulling her legs up under her.  In moments she was snoring lightly.  “Lord,” yawn, “If she’s going to do that we’ll all just curl up and go to sleep up here.” Tinker said, his eyes drooping.

          “What were you reading?” he asked, sitting down in the pilot’s seat.

          “Technical stuff.”

          “Let me see.” Tinker tried to keep the screen from him, but Jimmy grabbed it a little too fast.  He scanned over a few lines.  “Well bless my soul, you’re reading a romance novel!” he grinned as if he had caught him with his finger in a pie.

          “Actually, I wrote this.  I was just proofreading it.  It’s a hobby an old girlfriend got me started on.”

          “Hard to think of you with a girlfriend as shy as you are.”

          “College sweetheart.  We lived together in the dorm.  You know? I don’t even remember clearly how we met.”

          “I remember with exacting detail when I met Dona.”

          “Let me guess, Love-at-first-sight?”

          “Absolutely.  I didn’t get to speak to her for a week, but the first time I laid eyes on her she took possession of my soul.”

          “I hope that happens to me some day.  Misha and I were pretty much together for practical reasons.  We were both engineering majors and we studied well together.”

          “As long as you did other things well together.”

          “Oh yes, oh yes.”  He added, smiling wistfully.

          “What happened to you two?”

          “Last I heard, she was married to some preacher man on Retreat with two kids.  I lost touch with her once we graduated.  I don’t think I loved her and she made it clear to me she wasn’t in love with me.”

          “That sure sucks.”

          “Yeah, but she was good in the sack.”

          “Don’t tell Murky about that or he’ll pump you for details all night.”
          “Oh, he already tried.  At least Susan has him way calmed down.”

          “Thank God!”