Jesse's Starship (13 page)

• • •

Six hours later, Jess stirred and sat up. His chair moved to its normal position and he saw Elle open her eyes and sit up as well. He looked at her and his face turned red, “Thank you for what you did.”

“You think I didn’t enjoy it as well.” Jess’ face turned even redder and Elle laughed, “You’re such a prude.”

Jess sighed, “Living alone in the desert for four years will do that to you.”

“You mean you’ve never had a girlfriend?”

“There weren’t any girls at the institution where I grew up. I went there when I was ten and I remember thinking at that time in my life that kissing a girl would be gross.”

“What about this time in your life?”

Jess looked at Elle and smiled softly, “It was the most wonderful experience I’ve ever had.”

“I’ve kissed boys before. Matter of fact, I’ve kissed a lot of them as I grew up. I went on dates in high school and college and I had many a goodnight kiss.” Jess stared at her and his brow furrowed. “But Jess, kissing you touched me in places that no one ever has before. Will you answer a question for me?’

“Uhh…sure.”

“If I were taken away now, would you stay in the desert four years waiting for an opportunity to come rescue me?”

Jess looked at Elle and lowered his head, “I’d stay there the rest of my life, Elle.”

“That’s why the kiss touched me; I felt you would die to protect me.” Jess stared at her and nodded. Elle stood up and went over to Jess and sat in his lap. She looked into his eyes and Jess lowered his head and kissed her. It wasn’t a hard kiss; it was soft and gentle. When he raised his head Elle said, “I love you, Jess.” Jess pulled her tight and kissed her again.

They still had their helmets on and Pete saw what was taking place in their minds. He thought about that for an even longer time.

• • •

Mike arrived in Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix and an Air Force Major met him in a military vehicle. Mike took the case out of the Raptor and ran to the waiting vehicle. “She’s at the base hospital receiving fluids. The doctors say she’s going to be fine.”

“Please take me directly to her.” The car roared away from the flight line and arrived at the hospital in ten minutes. Mike exited the car and was met at the hospital entrance by a doctor, “We want to keep an eye on her for a few days. She’s weak and needs to build her strength back up.” Mike nodded and followed the Doctor into the elevator. It stopped on the third floor and they walked down the main hall to a room located in the center. Mike rushed in and saw Tilly sitting up in bed watching the television. She saw him and said, “It took you long enough!”

Mike ran over and wrapped her up in an embrace. He kissed her and said, “I thought I had lost you, Tilly.”

“I told the Seals you’d find us.”

“It took too long.”

“I would have thought you’d have arrived much earlier.”

“One of the commanding officers at Intel had hidden the photos with your location on them.”

Tilly stared at Mike for a long moment, “Why would he do that?”

“It appears something is going on in our military that is deeply sinister. It’s what led to your kidnapping.”

“Tell me what’s been happening, Mike. I need to know.”

Mike sighed, “It started with that young man I met in the desert.” They talked for an hour with Tilly asking questions until she understood what was going on.

“That’s unbelievable. He took a spaceship off planet?” Mike nodded and Tilly started to say something but stopped and looked at the door.

“What?”

“Mike, I’ve heard the nurses at the station answering the phones almost once a minute since I came here. I’ve not heard them once in the last five minutes.”

Mike jerked his head toward the door and looked back at Tilly. She ripped the IV needle out of her arm and pressed her hand on it to stop the bleeding. She rolled off the bed to the floor next to the window as Mike quickly went to the room’s closet located to the left of the doorway. Tilly reached up and moved the pillows to make it look like she was still in bed and then moved to the head of the bed against the wall.

Mike closed the closet door until only a small opening appeared; he reached behind his jacket and pulled out a H&K P-40. He had taken Jess’ gun from the Secret Service Agent that was holding it. He wanted to be the one to give it back to him if he ever saw him again. He peered out of the small opening and heard a slight noise as the door handle turned and the door was moved an inch to disengage it. He squeezed the handle on the P-40, cocking the firing pin and brought the barrel up to the small opening in the closet. Suddenly, the door was thrown open and a man dressed in an orderly’s white uniform stepped into the doorway, lifted a machine pistol, and sprayed the bed with a full clip.

Mike lined up the sights on the P-40 and squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit the man in the side of the head and he dropped faster than a bad transmission. Mike saw the door was blocked open by the dead man’s body; he prayed Tilly would stay undercover. Whoever planned the attacks had not sent just one person. He kept the handle cocked and watched the hall beyond the open door. Almost faster than could be seen, another man dressed in white flung himself on top of the dead man’s body and sprayed the room with another machine pistol. A second man stood in the doorway spraying the walls, including the closet. Mike was sitting down and the bullets hit over his head as they penetrated the hollow closet door.

Mike shot the man in the doorway through his temple and pushed the closet door open with his legs. He brought the H&K around and squeezed a shot off just as the man on the floor started bringing the machine pistol around. The round went through the man’s shoulder and exited out of his neck. He was knocked back by the Buffalo Bore 180 grain hollow point bullet that was traveling at 1,100 feet per second.

Mike sighted again and shot him between the eyes. The wall behind the man was splattered and Mike rushed out of the closet and ran over to Tilly’s bed. He took the hand mirror off the bedside table. He rolled quickly to the door and slipped the mirror into the opening. He looked up the hall toward the nurse’s station and saw a man in a white uniform standing at the intersection to the halls quickly looking in opposite directions. He slid to the other side of the door and used the mirror to look at the other end of the hall and saw another man at the hall door with a machine pistol aimed at the doorway. Mike watched him and saw him look at the man at the other end of the hall and wave him toward the room. Mike heard a noise and saw Tilly had come out from behind the bed and was pulling the reloaded machine pistol out of the dead man’s hands. She came over and sat across from him in the doorway. Mike forcefully shook his head. Tilly stuck out her tongue and pulled the cocking handle back slightly to make sure a round was in the chamber.

Mike saw the man at the end of the hall start moving forward. That had to mean the man at the other end was also moving toward their room. Mike held up one finger and pointed over his shoulder. Tilly nodded. She stood up and pulled the machine pistol into her shoulder. She brought the barrel up to the doorways edge and looked down at Mike. Mike watched the man approach and when he was ten feet away he brought the H&K up and fired at the man coming from the opposite direction. Tilly moved the barrel outside the door frame and pulled the trigger, keeping the sites on the man Mike had been watching in the mirror. The man jerked and staggered back as Mike rolled and brought the H&K to bear. The hollow point hit the man in the neck and knocked him over backwards. Mike jumped up and rushed forward as the man tried to raise his weapon. Mike glared down at the man as he still tried to lift the Uzi. Mike shot him in the head. The forty caliber blew through his head and ricocheted off the floor back through his destroyed skull and went into the ceiling.

Mike looked at Tilly, “Pick up their Uzis and let’s move to another room.” Tilly grabbed another Uzi and went through the man’s pockets and took out two clips. She threw it to Mike and he put it in his jacket and he grabbed the Uzi from the man he had just killed. They ran up the hall and went into a room close to the nurse’s station. “Oh, Mike.”

Mike turned around and saw a young blonde nurse lying on the floor with a bullet hole in her forehead. He waited and after ten minutes, a platoon of Air Force MPs came moving down the hall. Mike stayed in the room and listened, “Fan out and find the scum that did this.”

Mike yelled, “We’re in here; hold your fire.” The platoon scattered and brought their weapons up. “This is Mike Sanders and my wife. We have just survived an assassination attempt.”

The Lieutenant said, “Come out with your hands up.”

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I’m not going anywhere until the Base Commander comes here and tells me it’s safe. You got that!”

The Lieutenant looked at the two dead men in the hall and said, “I’ll contact him, Sir.”

“Do that.”

Tilly sat down heavily on the floor as the adrenaline rush started fading. Mike started toward her and she shook her head, “You need to stay there and make sure we’re safe.” Mike moved back to the door and wondered if a grenade was going to be thrown in. He glanced at Tilly and hoped she would be ok.

• • •

“Elle.”

“Yes Jess.”

“I’ve never been in love before. How do you know you’re in love?”

“I guess the simplest way is knowing that the happiness and well-being of the one you love is the most important thing in your life. Some will say it’s a physical feeling or emotions that run rampant through your body. However, I don’t think that is the real measure of love.”

“This is a completely new experience for me, but I love you, too.” Elle started to speak and Jess put his index finger on her lips. “Elle, I’m really not worthy of you.” Elle started shaking her head and Jess said, “Hear me out.” He moved his finger and Elle stared at him for a moment and then nodded. “I’m a high school dropout who’s lived in isolation in the desert. I have little or no social skills and I’m nowhere near your mental level. I just feel so inadequate and undeserving of someone like you.”

“Are you done?”

“I guess.”

“Peter.”

“Yes, Elle?”

“Does the ability to absorb the transfer of modules have anything to do with the mind of the person receiving it?”

“It does.”

“In what way?”

“Intelligence is a product of a brain’s ability to organize data and put it together in a meaningful relationship. The higher the intelligence, the easier the transfer will be.”

“You’ve just sent a large transfer to both of us. What can you tell me about the difference between our minds?”

“Jess is better at receiving the transfers.”

“Does that mean he has a higher intelligence than me?”

“It does.”

Elle looked at Jess who was shocked at the conversation, “I’m simply more educated. You have probably read more than I have and you’ve not had a professor to assist you with understanding the material. I saw pretty quickly that you’re smarter than I am.” Jess started shaking his head, “That doesn’t mean I’m not smart; it just means you’re smarter. Also, when you came to question me about my family’s disappearance, you were polite and considerate with my feelings. You weren’t pushy and allowed me to speak without pressure. I know you were dressed shabbily, but I saw you were quite striking. I think you’re beautiful. Don’t you dare think I’m getting the short end of this; I’m the lucky one to have you. I don’t know anyone that could have pulled off stealing a starship and getting away with it. That time in the desert prepared you for what’s happening now.”

Jess stared at Elle and after a moment he smiled, “I’m smarter?”

“Don’t get a big head; it would take away from your perfection.”

“I’m not perfect!”

“That’s the thing about love, Jess; I see you that way.”

“Then there’s no doubt about loving you, Elle. I thought you were absolutely perfect the first time I met you.” Elle hugged Jess and kissed him again. After a moment she broke the kiss and said, “I’ve learned most of the other systems on board but I need to transfer the others.”

“I could share that load.”

“I don’t think that would be the most effective way to do this. You know the Navigation, Communication, and Defense Systems. I have all the other systems that involve routine operation of the ship. I think one of us should have all the information on that transferred so there won’t be a gap.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Elle looked up, “Pete, how many more modules are there?”

“Seventy but their collective total is smaller than the Communication Module.”

Elle went to her Chair and reclined, “Send it to me.” Elle closed her eyes and Jess stared at her. She was so beautiful. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Pete, where is the weapon’s locker?”

• • •

The back wall of the bridge moved slightly as a section moved out and then went up revealing more than thirty different objects. “Pete, it looks like none of these have ever been used.”

“Information on the locker is at the end of the Defense Module and no one has ever looked at it.”

“You mean to say that your builders put these weapons on board and no one ever knew they were here?”

“They didn’t have to know if they had simply asked if I had other small arms available for their use. I think most thought the wrist controller was the only small arm on board.”

Jess shook his head and marveled at the array of weapons on the wall. He knew what every one of them could do and their limitations. He went and removed a hand blaster and pulled a small drawer out from the bottom of the wall and took out the holster that held it. He belted the holster around his waist and put the blaster on safe.

He pulled the blaster out of the holster and felt the edge of the barrel hang on the holster. He took the holster off and pulled a knife out of his pocket and cut a section out of the bottom. He put it back on and drew the blaster again. He shook his head and took it off to cut another piece. After six cuts, the blaster came out of the holster smoothly. Jess began pulling it out and returning it to the holster. He smiled after thirty minutes. It felt like there was nothing holding the blaster but air.