Retired Pt.06

I have realized that I have been delinquent in my duty to add to this story line, so here for those of you that were reading this here is the next addition for your perusal. As always this is a work of fiction, and I am its sole originator of this story line, any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintended, this story may not be reproduced, copied or retransmitted in any way known or unknown without the authors permission. If you enjoyed what your about to read be sure to like, vote, follow and comment below, and thank you for your continuing support.

Now on with the story.

Date: 28 November 2419

Time: 1836.22

Location: Flag bridge, Stone Crusher

I remember not always feeling as tired as I now felt, and the suits seemed to fit better 30 years back, it wasn't as tight across the midsection. 'Admiral, when was the last time you ate anything, besides a ration pack protein bar or drank something besides an energy drink or coffee, hhmm?' The SMO asked as he took my BP yet again and checked me over for what seemed like the 5th time. 'I don't even want to guess at the amount of coffee you've consumed, at least you don't smoke.' I just looked over at him and glared as he turned to B'nan. 'Try to get him to eat at least 1 meal a day and to cut back on the ration bars and energy drinks Commander.' He said and packed his bag then left us alone.

'Sanctimonious son of a bitch.' I grumbled and picked up my luke warm coffee and took several gulps from my mug. 'He's got damn little room to talk about the amount of coffee I drink.' B'nan just nodded then signaled the steward to bring the food tray over and took it from the kid's hands and placed it across my lap. 'Don't make me call D'nal Sir, you know what she'll do.' He told me then smirked as I cut him a wry smile. 'That's a low blow; you know that right.' I told him and started eating my first real meal in about 6 days.

I finally managed to get a shower and then changed into a fresh battle suit after 5 days of near constant alerts and finally had a chance to lay down for more than 20 minutes also. Alerts kept waking me up every 60 to 90 minutes, I'd listen then roll back over and try to sleep some more. The only good thing about being back in combat was that it appeased the demons that lived in my mind and haunted my sleep. Strange how that worked out, I'm sure there had to be a rational explanation out there somewhere by a head shrinker or 2.

I was napping in my command chair a few days later down in combat, something about the controlled chaos there helped me to sleep better, it was 0236 hours, and the midwatch was humming along nicely. It's always a good thing when the midwatch was quiet, then some Quin dumbass decided to come visit us. 'Boggy bearing 357 mark 014 by 205, range 800K klicks out. No IFF, no response to transponder ping, possible hostile based on flight profile.' Came the quick report from my right. 'Bridge, Combat, possible hostile 800K out, recommend we come to General Quarters.' The duty OPs Officer said.

The "gongs" that no one wanted to hear at this time of night/morning sent the ship into overdrive as personal came in, were quickly brought up to speed, then relieved the person that had briefed them so they could race to their station. I left my helmet off for the moment as the level of chatter quickly went up then back down to the nearly hushed, clipped level that made combat so efficient.

'Steady people, let's not tip our hand just yet, let'em come to us, just act like we don't see them just yet.' CDR. Xun said quietly as he and Capt. F'let went from station to station looking over the shoulders of the operators tracking the boggy while looking for any others that might try to sneak up on us. So far there was nothing else showing on the screens, but that didn't mean that nothing else wasn't out there lurking just out of range.

The next 20 minutes were just a bit nerve wracking as we watched and waited, during that time, I finally doned my helmet and put my game face on, so to speak. Several fighters were launched to give chase to the scout ship, their fire managed to take several pieces from it, they had to dodge several return fire volleys, that were trying to return the favor. It was finally chased off and after another hour of awaiting any possible attack the crew went back to their racks to try and resume sleeping. Personally, I just pulled my helmet off, sat it on the rack behind my seat and went back to sleep, I had to much practice and time in combat to get worked up about things that might still happen to not take advantage of the lulls between them.

The rest of the "night" was quiet, and I hope that some of these kids managed to get a little more sleep just like I did, of course I'd been doing this a lot longer than most of them had been breathing, plus I was exhausted. I really don't remember when I'd reached exhausted or if there was even a final point, mostly I think it just became a general feeling that no longer went away no matter how much sleep I got or alcohol I managed to guzzle down.

B'nan woke me at 0630 and placed a tray of food in front of me then stood there until I ate everything then gave me a quick intel brief. I knew that all there were listening to everything, they even heard that they were due to be relieved within the next 72 to 96 hours. I knew that info would be all through the ship faster than if the Captain announced it herself. I finished my tray of food and handed it back to the young steward that had hauled it in here, I watched her look around at all the screens and the individuals hunched over them just doing their jobs. 'First time in CIC young lady?' I asked her. She just bobbed it back and forth like some kind of toy. 'Yes sir, Admiral.' She managed to get out still looking around.

I pointed out the various sections and gave her the thumbnail explanation of who and what they did, she was a smart kid and asked intelligent questions. I called CDR. Xun over and had him take her over to a screen and instruct her, for the next hour this kid was a sponge and just seemed to suck in the information. B'nan and I traded looks and I knew that this young lady would soon be trading the galley for combat to learn a new skill. It took a few days but soon enough, the inquisitive young lady that had brought up my mess tray was sitting beside a trained operator and learning one of the best way I knew of, on the job.

I stood at the armored windows to our room and looked out at the picket ships that seemed to now be everywhere at Station Trafalgar, we'd pulled back after a 36-hour delay by our relief squadron. The hand off was fairly quick and then, just as quick as you please, we were back in the rear with the gear, and able to rest and relax. I heard Goldie stir from under the sheets and could tell she was watching me, as I stared out the window into the darkness. 'Jack, come back to bed and warm me up, we have a few more hours before we need to get up, you know this right?' She quietly said. I just smiled to myself and turned back around and looked at the most beautiful woman I'd ever known.

'Come back to bed Jack, I'm cold.' She said and lifted the covers giving me a clear look at her small tits and smooth body. I walked the few steps needed and climbed back into bed with her as she covered me up and snuggled up against my chest. 'Go to sleep Jack, the war won't go anywhere without us. Once again, we'll be snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, just like we always did.' I thought back to all the times we'd managed to snatch out victories even as those idiots at the capital were doing their absolute best to make us loose. Especially early on in the war.

I looked out at the star field and just let me mind wander away; it was about the closest to being at peace with myself I could remember being in a very long time. I pulled K'fal tightly to my body and heard her purr in comfort, she was mine and I was hers and come hell or high water no one was going to take her away from me. I just closed my eyes and went back to sleep clutching the beautiful woman I knew.

Back on station I noticed a sharp uptick in skirmishes and outright fights in our sector as we beat and bashed our way through 7 major and 4 minor battles in just 22 days of our return. the SAR teams were getting a workout as were the lighter ships that made up our outer ring of defense. So far, we'd been lucky and had only lost 3 ships destroyed and 2 damaged, plus around 45 fighters damaged or destroyed. Most of the crews had been rescued but there was that itch that told me they were gearing up for a big push; you just can't keep taking hits and expect to stay in the front office for very long.

'Contacts bearing 223 Mark 332 by 174, 695K klicks, trying to shadow us, looks like 3 maybe 4 ships.' A voice said from my right as I naped yet again down in combat. 'Fighters moving to intercept, 5 minutes to intercept.' I barely cracked an eye open for reports like this anymore as I stifled a yawn and kept listening to the chatter between stations. 'Getting unusual wave readings at 224 Mark 340 by 178, range 305K klicks out, type unknown, running an analysis on it.'

This last report tickled my attention, and I looked over at the new girl who's name I'd found out was Becky Jones from HUB station 2. It sat at the outskirts of a large asteroid field that covered almost 45 million klicks in several directions, it provided over 20K tones of strategic ores every month. She was the daughter of an office worker mom and a miner dad that put his ass on the line every time he went to work. I slowly got up and strolled over to peak over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.

'Show me young lady.' I quietly said as I squinted at her screen and noticed the intermittent blurb that had grabbed her attention. CDR. Xun was looking in from the other side; there had been reports of stealth ships, but they were being dismissed as not feasible. Several other high-ranking POs and lower ranked officers also started showing up to look at the readings. A Chief took the side chair next to SN Jones and talked her through the analysis, making sure she captured the smallest nuance only to pull it apart, fold, spindle and squeeze every last drop of information from it.

'Admiral, Commander, I'm not 100% sure what this is, but it walks like, looks like, and squawks like a duck, so I'm going to call this a stealth ship of some kind.' The Chief said and pointed several things out as Becky hit several buttons as the data was uploaded to several servers deep in the bowls of the ship, they would be downloaded once we managed to get back to base. I scratched the stubble on my chin then rubbed my eyes; I didn't like what I was looking at and knew that if we were seeing this one, then there were more than likely others that we couldn't see, and they were more than likely close by.

I watched her twitch several of the power, gain and angle nobs around and suddenly 20 blurbs appeared near us. 'Run a spherical 360 around us, I don't like what I'm seeing.' Xun said and as I stood there quietly still scratching my chin, thinking of the number of ways this could go sideways on us. 'I don't like this, Commander.' I said as he nodded. I looked over at a Lieutenant standing near the bitch box. 'Call the Bridge, and Comms, have the bridge sound GQ, tell comms to send to all ships "sound General Quarters, contact, type unknown." ' I said and could hear the buttons being pushed and my words being passed around.

The all too familiar sound of the GQ alarm and the banging of hatches reached my ears as people ran for and to their stations. I slipped my helmet and gloves on as Becky changed the band width to one of the lower ones that we normally don't use and several blips became clear as day. One was headed right for the HP-10 and I grabbed the ship-to-ship phone that would connect me directly to their CIC. 'HP-10, HP-10, hard starboard and dive you got one of those objects headed right for you, get out of there.' I yelled into the phone and watched as the ship's icon started to turn just as the holo screen fuzzed and a few seconds later the shockwave hit us also.

'Bridge, from Combat, this is the Admiral, give me a visual report on the carrier, over.' I yelled into the bitch box. I did not like what I heard next. 'Combat, Bridge, carrier showing heavy damage on her Port side Sir.' They called down. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.' I muttered under my breath and tried to stay focused. I looked at the Chief sitting next to Becky. 'Transmit all data on how to find those things Chief and then blast'em, we are weapons free against those missiles or whatever the hell they are.' I said and heard my team start spitting the out the info, I felt the ship shudder several times and knew we were firing ourselves. I switched phones and tried to reach K'fal. 'Goldie this is Riddler over... Goldie this is Riddler come in over... Goldie this is Riddler if you can hear me key your mic, over.'

'Chief you and Jones find those things, shoot them out of space and make sure that no more are lurking around us.' I told him pointing as he nodded curtly and gave me a brisk 'Aye, aye Sir' then bent to the task I'd charged them with. 'Standby to receive rescue ships, standby to receive rescue ships, med teams prepare to receive injured personnel.' I heard several minutes later over the ships 1MC, and knew our luck had finally run out, from this point on it was going to be a slug fest, I had no intentions of losing. I tried to stay focused on protecting the BG and sent out a message that until the carrier was heard from, I was taking over overall TF command.

'Riddler this is Zeus, come to the shuttle bay now.' I heard B'nan call me over my private comms as the ship shook yet again and I watched several blobs disappear; we seemed to be getting the handle on these 'stealth ships' now that we had found a way to see them. 'B'nan, I'm a little busy right now trying to keep us alive, can this wait?' I quickly answered back. His reply shocked me to my core, and I knew what I had to do. 'It's Goldie boss, she's been hit.'

I looked over at Xun who had heard what had been told to me, he simply nodded his head towards the armored hatch. 'Go, I got this Sir.' He said. 'I'm on my way.' Was all I replied and headed aft.

The screams and moans of pain are something that you never get used to and never forget, and they grew louder the closer I got to the shuttle bay; I could see nearly every free hand that could be spared was hauling stretchers, holding hands, or holding someone down as the medics and their assistance were trying to save as many as they could. I saw B'nan bent over a stretcher applying dermal patches to temporarily close a wound and had already started an IV, or someone had.

I reached his side and looked down at the body on the stretcher; my beautiful Goldie was seriously banged up. She looked up at me and tried to smile as I checked her over and tried to tighten the band on her left thigh and upper arm then looked at the damage. 'Hi Jack... I think I'm... a little fucked up.' She quietly got out. I just bent over and kissed her face. 'It's okay baby, they're going to fix you up and ship your cute ass right back out here to me, I kinda need ya doing your job on the bird farm.' I told her and smiled back as I checked her for any additional injuries. I knew that she'd more than likely lose her leg, they might be able to save the arm, it depended on what they found once they got her suit off.

A medic came over and ran a scanner over Goldie's injuries; the information being projected to an eye piece he wore. 'Stretcher team.' he called out and raised his hand then pulled her helmet off and placed an oxygen mask on her face. I gripped her good hand as they lifted her and helped to carry her too Medical, I gave her a final squeeze as they took her into an exam room that was already overcrowded. I checked over those that lined the passageways, taking a hand and giving a good wood where I could. By the Gods! I hate my fucking job some days.

2 days later we were relieved and could warp back with our wounded to Trafalgar station, I was laying on the same bed that less than a month ago I'd shared with the only woman I truly believed I really loved. We'd been informed that we'd be in for approximately 30 days as the Stone Crusher underwent several upgrades and minor repairs. It was okay, I needed a break and took another drink from the bottle I clutched in my left hand, I knew this was a stupid idea, but every now and then stupid ideas seemed like the best way to go to keep you from going off the deep end.

I heard the door open and B'nan came in pushing a cart loaded with food and took the bottle from my hand, he was probably one of the few that could do that and not start a fist fight with me. He looked me over and frowned then placed a tray on my lap. 'Eat Sir, you ain't going to do her no-good sitting here trying to pickle your liver yet again. Eat, take a shower and shave, put on a uniform and we'll go see her, she's awake and has asked for you J'ran.' He said using my adopted Marlin name.

I quickly cleaned my plate then hopped in the shower and got rid of the 4 days of fuck it on my chin, B'nan had laid out my uniform like any good aide would and checked the polish on my flight boots that I was still authorized to wear, just like he was. We headed for the Med Bay and stopped to check on the others that we'd pulled back with. The HP-10 had managed to make it back under its own power and was in a dock 5 levels below undergoing major repairs after the removal of her fallen. She'd be down for at least 90 days, maybe longer.

I lightly tapped on the door as I pushed it open and quietly walked in, Goldie looked over at me and smiled a crooked smile, her left arm was in a regen sleeve, but she'd lost her left leg above the knee. I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and kissed her tired face as she caressed my cheek. 'You've been drinking Jack, it wasn't your fault, it just was what the universe had planned.' She quietly told me. I just nodded and tried to smile; we were both too old for this shit show but like all of us who had served we really didn't know when to quit.

She pulled me to her, and we both let go of our emotions, strangely it felt good and I kissed her tear-streaked face. 'Don't fucking do that again woman of mine, or I'll kick your butt.' I told her. She just laughed and we both looked over at the door as a nurse came in pushing a wheelchair. 'Under Admiral F'lar, time for rehab ma'am.' She said and I helped lift her out of bed and into the chair then cover her legs. 'I'll see you in a few hours Goldie, go kick ass.' I told her as I held the door open, then looked over at B'nan. 'Let's go cause some fucking mayhem, I feel the need for speed.' I said. He just looked over at me and smirked. 'Absofuckinglutly Boss.' He replied as we headed for the hanger bay.

And here I leave you hanging once again good readers, I hope you've enjoyed the ride and yes more will be coming, be sure to like, vote, follow and comment below and to vote come November, because you can't bitch if you didn't vote, and yes, I've already cast my ballot. Be careful out there and play safe.