Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (21 page)

"Like
a starving football team..."

Warren
grinned. "I'm a growing boy!"

Pappy
turned to Brian and changed the swing of the conversation, "I
talked
to the programming tech in the flight bay this morning, he's got the
shuttle training simulator all ready for us." Brian, his mouth
full of food, just nodded.

"When
are we due down there?" Asked Mike.

"No
hurry, whenever we're finished with breakfast I guess."

Derrik
frowned into his tea. "Well it's not a Harrier is it. But
it'll
have to do."

Harrier?
thought Paul,
what
a tub!
At least when you compare it
to
the Hornet... But he said nothing, a conversation like that had no
profitable outcome. He shot a glance at Mike, to be sure he would
say nothing as well. Mike smirked, but caught the meaning and
continued eating without saying a word. Fritz raced around the
corner and slid to a stop at the table of pilots. Helping himself to
a chair he looked around the table smelling the smells.

Derrik
took exception to the dog's bold behavior. "Hold on there,
what
do you think you're doing? Get down, you hairy beast!"

Fritz,
sitting in the seat next to Derrik, turned and looked the
Englishman
in the eye. It was a deep unblinking stare. Without making a sound,
he curled his lips, baring his teeth in a sardonic grin. Derrik's
eyes widened at the sight, a chill raced up his back.

Brian
cleared his throat, "Fritz, cut it out! I wouldn't bother him
if
I were you, Derrik, he's a grouch till he gets his morning pastry.
Right, Fritz?" The dog, his attention now on Brian, snorted in
reply. Brian handed him a sweet roll across the table. "Now get
off and eat that on the floor." Fritz happily obeyed.

Jack
and Maria, all smiles, rounded the corner earlier turned by
Fritz.
"Morning all!" Called Maria musically. She was wearing the
same boots, pants and double-breasted shirt as the rest of the
pilots.

"Your
great hairy monster was going to eat my face!" said Derrik,
pointing
at the dog with his spoon.

"You
must have pissed him off," said Jack, casually walking to the
buffet
table.

"I
did no such thing," insisted the Englishman.

"Did
so," said Mike, "said he couldn't sit at the table with
the
rest
of us..."

"And
you called him a hairy beast," said Brian.

"You
shouldn't have done that," said Jack from the buffet table,
"he's
very sensitive."

"But
he's a
dog
!"
Derrik was thoroughly confused.

"He
doesn't know that..." said Jack, returning with his plate, "he
thinks
he's human."

"Maybe
someone should set him straight!" Derrik was incensed.

Jack
looked at the amused faces around the table. "Hmmm, well... you
could
try
,
but I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why
not?"

Jack
stopped eating for a moment, his fork in mid air, "You really
need
to
ask
?"

Derrik
frowned into his tea and shrugged, "I guess not."

Jack
nudged him on the shoulder and laughed, "Lighten up man,
give
him a sweet roll or a slice of bacon and you'll be friends for
life." Hmm,
at
least it looks like bacon
,
he thought. He decided not to dwell on it - some things were better
off left unknown.

Derrik
stole some bacon off of Mike's plate and slipped it to the
Shepherd
under the table. Fritz took it with grateful acceptance.

"Hey!"
shouted Mike, "that was mine!"

The
Englishman grinned, "Key word
was,
old bean" He slapped
Mike
on the shoulder and everyone laughed.

Pappy,
noticing Maria was wearing the clothes adopted by the pilots,
pointed
at her with his fork, "You going to be flying with us too?"

She
sipped her juice and nodded, "Mmm, well not officially but
there's
not much else to do so I might as well."

Brian
nodded, "Makes sense, more the merrier. Right?" Derrik
made
a sour face. "What?" said Brian.

Derrik
put his hands behind his neck and stretched. "Cockpits really
no
place for a lady."

Maria
fixed him with a deep, steely-eyed stare. "Watch who you're
calling
a lady!" She snapped. "I can fly as well as anybody!"

"I
believe her," whispered Pappy, to no one in particular.

Jack
rose from the table, wanting to cut this off before it
escalated
to a more serious level. "Ok, is everybody ready? It's time to
get to work and earn our keep." There was a momentary pause,
then the sound of chairs sliding on the smooth floor as the group
collectively rose from the table.

"Jack!"
It sounded almost musical.

Jack
Steele turned to greet the voice. It was Raulya, she had
entered
the restaurant from the other end. Maria moved to intercept, but
Pappy grabbed her by the arm. "Relax," he told her, "he's
a big boy, let him handle this his way." Maria stood between
Paul and Brian, her arms folded tightly across her chest, her jaw
clenched.

Raulya
strode boldly up to Jack and put her arms around his neck,
"Mmmm,
you smell so good this morning..." Jack unclasped her hands and
took a step back. He tried not to breathe in the drug laced perfume.
She took a step forward and reached out to him. He held her away.
She pouted, "What's wrong baby?"

Jack
shook his head, "You and me... it's no good..." He pinched
the
bridge
of his nose, he felt a headache coming on. "Look, we're just
too different, humans like to fall in love under natural
circumstances, we need our freedoms... we don't use drugs." He
thought about that last part for a moment, "Well, some might...
but I don't, never have, never will. I want to make my own choices."

Raulya
nodded sedately, "You love the
little
one
then?" She
motioned
toward Maria.

Jack
nodded in return. "You could say that..."

"What
does that mean?"

Jack
rubbed his chin. "Well it's open for interpretation."

"Well,
could we still be friends?"

"Sure,"
said Jack, "as long as you quit wearing that perfume."

She
smiled and held out her hand, "Deal." They shook hands.
“One last kiss...?

"Uh...”
Jack's eyes shifted uneasily, “probably not a good idea. Quick
question... why doesn't it affect you?"

"Generations
of exposure and use..." she tossed her long mane. "We're
immune."

Jack
nodded, "Makes sense I guess... well, listen, we gotta' get
going. W
e
have flight training. I'll see you later Ok?" Raulya nodded and
they parted company.

Jack
returned to the waiting pilots and the group left the
restaurant,
Fritz leading the way to the air tubes. Maria walked stiffly beside
Jack. "
Sooo
?"

Jack
looked at her, intentionally playing dumb. "What?"

Maria
looked at him sternly, still walking. "
Welll
?"

He
looked back at her innocently, "Well what?"

Maria
stopped in mid stride, Jack stopped too. She threw up her
arms
in disdain, "What do you mean,
what
?"

Jack
knew this was driving her crazy but he couldn't help himself,
she
just made it too darn easy. They stood there on the air tube
platform, the others trying to act nonchalant. Jack shrugged, trying
not to smile, "I dunno', whaddya' mean, what do I mean?"

She
stomped her foot. Offworlders passing by, stared. "What do you
mean,
what do I mean?
YOU
KNOW
what I mean!" It was beginning to sound like an Abbott and
Costello routine. He offhandedly wondered if she knew who they were.

Jack
stared blankly at her. "I'm not sure I know what you mean..."
he said deadpan.

Then
she lost it. She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him close,
growling.
"Sometimes I think I could just
KILL
you... you can be such a
shithead
..."
The others had wandered a bit away, unable to control their grins.
Maria never noticed.

"Control
yourself, woman!" He was smirking and he knew it.

"
Fuck
control!" she began swearing in Spanglish, which seemed to
be
easier than remembering it all in English. She tried to shake him by
her grip on his shirt with the same effect of someone trying to move
a sizable tree. She only succeeded in moving herself.

Jack
looked down at her grip on his shirt. "I wouldn't do that
if
I were you..." His hands were at his sides.

She
looked at him defiantly, "O
h
yeah
?"
He turned his head to the
side
and she followed his gaze. Fritz was only a few feet away and was
taking more than a passing interest in their conversation. His tail
swayed ever so slightly, and he stared at her suspiciously with dark
unblinking eyes, ready to intervene. She swallowed hard, almost
feeling his eyes drilling into her, trying to read her intentions.
"Make him go away," she said softly.

"Nope."

She
released her grip slightly, "You're not going to
tell
me
,
are
you?"

"Tell
you what?" he said, smiling.

"What
happened..."

"When?"

Maria
stomped her feet like a child. "You know
what
and you know
when
,
you bastard! So quit playing the village idiot, you asshole and tell
me what that fucking fuzzy bitch said!"

Jack
decided it best to stop playing at this point, "
Geez
,
you're
so
insecure..."

"And
you're not helping any!" she snapped.

"Let's
just say we agreed handshakes are the limit, ok?"

Maria's
demeanor changed, "Ok." She decided she should quit while
she was ahead.

■ ■ ■

Mounted
on the wall, a lit color schematic illustrated the ship's f
loor-plan
via a touch keypad and scrolling directory. The directory displayed
the flight director's office, as being at the base of the flight
control tower in the flight bay. Brian pointed to an arriving air
car, "To the bat car, men!"

The
air car covered the mile of corridor to the stern of the ship in
about
three minutes. The car hissed to a stop and the pilots climbed out
in sight of the shuttle boarding gate.