Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) (29 page)

Jack
had convinced himself, more or less, that nothing had really
transpired
on Promenade 5. As far as he could figure, he went to dinner with
everyone else, got spilled on and returned to his suite to change
his shirt... and met Voorlak. This is where he had a glitch... not
only couldn't he remember sitting down to dinner, but his clothes
weren't soiled! Other than that, it made pretty fair sense.
Ok,
admittedly, it was far from perfect, but no matter how you laid
it
out, Voorlak went through a lot of trouble to arrange a meeting.
Doing so, he demonstrated some pretty amazing abilities. Let's face
it, thought Jack, there were easier ways to introduce yourself. He
decided the whole thing was done to convince him not only the
importance of the message, but of the messenger. And, possibly the
origin of the message.

Jack
Steele was not an overtly religious man, but he did believed in
God.
And, while he didn't get the impression Voorlak was God, Jack did
not entirely rule out the possibility that the old man could have
some fairly direct connections. Jack smiled to himself at a personal
joke. Ok, so Moses had his Burning Bush, maybe Jack Steele had his
Voorlak.

"Commander
Steele?" Jack turned to see the Maitre d' standing behind
him,
holding a young girl of about nineteen by the elbow. She was tiny,
barely above five feet tall. But it was obvious even in her loose
red jumper-dress, that she had a nice figure. Lean and hard, like a
skater or gymnast. She had long, wavy, platinum hair that hung
almost down to her waist. Some of it fell across her shoulders like
rivulets of silvery silk. Fine chiseled features, full round lips
and slightly pointed ears gave her a certain Elfen look. But by far
her most spectacular feature was her sparkling lavender eyes...
smiling eyes.

All
in all, thought Jack, quite attractive. He smiled politely,"Yes?"

"This,
a-hem... young lady, asked to see the pilot officer with the
four-legged
furry being. I assumed she was speaking of you and your companion."
The girl saw Fritz lying under the pilot's chair and nodded.

"Thank
you." Jack waved the Maitre d' away and without getting up,
pulled
an empty chair over from the table behind him. "Sit down."
The Shepherd slithered out from his spot and sat up to get a better
look at the young girl. She pulled back. "Don't worry, he won't
hurt you. What can I do for you?" Jack took a long draw on his
wine.

"I
am Seeta, the daughter of the woman who sells the living crystals
on
Promenade Five..."

Jack
nodded. So, he thought, some of what he remembered on the
promenade
was
real... curiouser and curiouser. "Go on..." he urged.

"Well,
there was a woman with you... in uniform?"

"That
was me," said Maria over Jack's shoulder.

The
girl suddenly realized she had quite a large audience and was
self-conscious
about her rather ordinary dress.

"And..."
prompted Jack.

"And,
well... she looked at a Teardrop Crystal of Rhomm." Jack
nodded
again and the girl pulled a small box from her vest pocket. "My
mother would like you to have it." She handed the box to Jack
who opened the top revealing the sparkling wonder. When he ran his
finger along the cool two inch shaft, he did not see the girl
blanch.

"To
what do we owe this sudden generosity?" queried Jack, handing
the
box to Maria.

The
girl explained that her mother had not intended to offend but
felt
she had. And although rare, the crystal had bonded with Maria upon
her first handling of the jewel and no one else could now touch it
without fear of ice burn. In fact, she admitted surprise that it had
not frozen Jack's fingertip just then, except that the crystal must
have felt Maria's close proximity. At any rate, rather than destroy
the crystal, because she could no longer sell it, her mother decided
to give it as a gift, in an attempt to make amends.

"Why
didn't your mother come herself?"

The
girl smiled weakly, "She thought I would have a better chance
of
getting
an audience with you."

Maria
snickered wickedly, "She was probably right!"

The
girl smiled more easily this time and stared into the Shepherd's
shining
brown eyes. She wanted desperately to make friends with these
exciting people and this enchanted animal. She had almost fainted
with excitement when her mother had told her they were on the
Promenade earlier. Seeta had begged her mother not to discard the
crystal. Failing that, Seeta secretly stole the gem out of the
refuse decimator before it was destroyed and its particles ejected
into space. "I can see why mother wanted him... he is most
beautiful!"

"Thank
you," said Jack, stroking Fritz's tall ears. "I don't
think
your
mother understood that he's not just a
thing
,
or a
belonging
to be sold or traded. He is my
friend
...
and that is more valuable than I could ever hope to put into words."

Seeta
nodded, "Mmmm, yes, I understand. Unfortunately, my mother is
a
simple dealer of collectibles. In her eyes,
everything
has a price... it's kind of sad really." Jack found himself
agreeing.

Gantarro
handed the girl a glass of wine, "You are obviously an
intelligent
and sensitive lady. We would be honored if you would sit and help us
finish all this wonderful food."

"Really?"
She had never eaten in this kind of extravagant atmosphere
before.

Everyone
agreed she should stay. Brian leaned over Maria's shoulder
and
aided by a little too much liquor, smiled his easy smile and slipped
past his shyness. "Listen, Seeta..." She leaned forward
and Maria leaned back, feeling like a fence in the way, "Umm..."
Brian stumbled but recovered well. "Um, well, you see, we're
all going dancing at the Starlight after dinner, would you be
my
guest?"

Seeta's
head reeled, the personal guest of a
pilot
!
And a pilot
with
gold
wings
on top of it! She almost choked on the words, but Brian would never
have noticed, "I'd be delighted!"

Maria
traded seats with Seeta and Brian's brain turned to mush.
Brian
and the young girl chatted comfortably all through dessert,
fascinated by each others' eyes. She had never seen hazel eyes
before.

As
they finished their dessert and waited for their after dinner
drink,
a crewman arrived from the bridge with a message for Captain
Gantarro. Leaning close, he conveyed the information privately in
Gant's ear. Jack watched with interest, but no one else seemed to
notice the transaction. Gant's eyes widened at what Jack imagined to
be astounding information, then narrowed, as he nodded his approval
of action taken.

The
Captain of the Princess Hedonist stood, taking the crewman
aside.
And, with his arm around the young man's shoulder in a fatherly
fashion, spoke quietly to him. The crewman saluted and hustled off.
Gant stood motionless and watched him weave his way through the
restaurant.

Jack
stood, more to stretch his legs than anything else, but he
was
curious. "A problem?"

Gant
turned and smiled, he eyes still far away... "No my boy,
everything's
just fine." The words sounded hollow, false. Jack did not move
away, he felt the man wanted to say more. "We've gotten an
automated distress call from a private yacht called the
Eliza
Meru
...
we've altered our course to intercept her drift."

Drift?
thought Jack. His pulse quickened, "Pirates?"

Gant
shook his head in distaste, "God, I hope not, they've never
been
seen
in this sector before. If they are here, they're a long way from any
of their normal patterns." He pulled at his chin, "No, I'd
have to say this is probably a routine mechanical failure of some
kind. In any event, we're required by legal sanctions to assist any
call of this nature." He put his hand on Jack's shoulder, "Do
me a favor though, stay sober tonight, ok? We might need a shuttle
to go out for recovery. Oh, and not a word of this to anyone."

"No
problem."

"Good,
let's go have some fun!" Gant moved to the head of the table
and
clapped his hands for attention, "Let's go dancing, people!"
Chairs scattered as the group of over twenty rose to their feet
amidst hoots and a chorus of applause. Gantarro's mind continued to
work on the situation, though he played well at levity. If the
pirates were indeed out in this sector, it did not bode well for the
UFW. True, he argued, the pirates were becoming more aggressive than
ever, but this would be a stretch even for them. He prayed it was
just an innocent call for assistance. He tried to put it out of his
mind for now, he'd know more in a couple of hours.

The
band in the Starlight Lounge played the most intriguing music,
compelling
one to dance. In a wide variety of music, they mixed fast and slow
dances so couples had a chance to raise their sexual blood pressure
with a pounding beat before dancing to a slow, sensual grind. It
must work, because the steady flow of groups of singles entering the
club was only matched by the volume of outgoing couples. In fact,
this was the only thing that kept the club from bursting at the
seams. One of the couples ready to join that outward flow was Brian
and Seeta. They had not left each others' side since their
introduction in the restaurant, and it was not physically possible
for them to get any closer without privacy or the removal of
clothes.

Jack
and Maria were sitting out a dance with scattered remnants of
their
original dinner group when Brian and Seeta wandered off the dance
floor in search of cool refreshment. Their eyes were wide and
glassy, their faces shiny with sweat. Seeta clung to Brian's waist
and rubbed her face on his arm. "I want to be alone," she
reminded him.

Brian
shushed her, "I know, I just want to say goodnight to
everyone."
Retrieving their drinks, they bid everyone well and made their way
through the crowded nightclub and out the door.

"I
say," said Professor Edgars, "quite a short farewell, eh?"

"I
daresay," returned Derrik, "I would have done much the
same with
a
lusty lovely like that on my arm."

"A
horny little tramp," muttered Maria.

"Oh,
and I suppose you're not?" Jack pulled her hair and she almost
fell
off his lap. "Stop being a snotty little bitch," he
scolded.

"If
I'm a bitch, you're a dick," she retorted.

Jack
rose from his chair, almost dumping Maria on the floor. He
caught
her by the waist, "Gentlemen," he said, pulling Maria
close, "I think it's time I take my drunken Senorita home and
remind her of her manners." It seemed beyond a certain volume
of alcohol consumption, her behavior changed from amorous to catty.
To his dismay he had not yet identified that point of diminished
return.

Someone
asked Jack how he would punish her. "Spanking, I suppose."

Maria
pushed him away, "You and what army?"

"Me,
myself and I should be enough," said Steele, hoisting her over
his
shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"What
if she likes it?" someone asked.

"Spank
her harder," added Derrik.

"Works
for me," said Jack with a grin.

"Captain
Gantarro to the bridge, please. Captain Gantarro to the
bridge..."
the message came over the address system, momentarily interrupting
the music.