Talosian Chronicles 1: Olympus (31 page)

“Wow, your ability is getting stronger, love,” Ian said to Jenny while giving Beth a kiss.

“Working with Gram has helped a lot. Now quit stalling, and go. People are waiting to see you,” Jenny said as she took Beth’s hand and led her to their bedroom.

––––––––

I
t was the first time Ian had worn the formal uniform. It made him feel a little uncomfortable, and he wondered if he could find someone willing to design a new one. He felt like he was an extra from a pirate movie.

The shirt was a blue, puffy-sleeved thing that had a stiff collar and cuffs.  His rank was displayed on the stiff collar. There was no neck-tie; instead he wore a wide sash that denoted a heavy cruiser command officer. Over all that, he wore a dark blue vest with shoulder boards marking him as a Ship’s Commander. With the matching dark blue slacks, and highly polished short boots, he felt the only thing he was missing was a rapier on his hip and a funny looking hat. Steeling himself for an evening of odd looks, and mild teasing, he stepped off the maglev at the main entrance to the hanger deck in Alpha Bay.

The first thing Ian noticed was the noise. It sounded like the bay was full of people. As he got to the open double doors to the bay, what he saw made him wonder if the entire population of Talos had come up.

He also noticed that there was an honor guard posted around the room. The odd thing about them was that no two of them were in the same uniform. Ian noticed the formal dress uniforms of the United States military’s and so assumed that the rest of the guards wore uniforms from other countries. It was a statement that no nationality would be favored over the others.

He suspected Janet was behind the dress of the honor guard, so he started looking around for her. As he entered the room, he heard someone yell out, “Officer on deck!” and all the ‘guards’ snapped to attention.

Ian found the culprit standing at attention in front of the small stage where the Ceremony would take place. Barb Reynolds was bedecked in the formal attire of a Canadian Senior Non-Commissioned Officer. She had a straight face, but Ian could see her eyes sparkle from across the room.

“As you were!” Ian replied, and the guards resumed the pose of ‘parade rest’. The whole episode served to alert the crowd that Ian was now in the room. He also spotted Janet Laskar near Barb, so he started to work his way in that direction. It seemed everyone in the crowd wanted to meet the man of the evening and congratulate him.

When he finally got to Janet, she was closer to Barb. “Congratulations sir.”

“Thanks Barb, where’s Debbie?” Ian asked.

“She and Stevie are mingling.” Her eyes sparkled. “Stevie has developed an insatiable curiosity.”

“Ian, I think I have a problem,” Janet said interrupting Barb. “Excuse me, Barb.

Barb just nodded as Ian answered. “What’s up, Janet?”

“Could we borrow your office Barb?” Janet asked, worriedly.

“Of course.” Barb replied with a concerned look on her face. “Anything I can do to help?”

“I don’t think so, dear, but thanks for asking,” Janet replied.

“Barb, don’t say anything when I come back in. I think the less people that know I’m missing this time, the better,” Ian said.

“Yes sir,” Barb replied as Ian led Janet to Barb’s office.

––––––––

“W
hat’s got you so worried, Janet?” Ian asked once the door was closed.

“One of my people is being stalked, but she doesn’t know by whom. She’s a short-term precog, and all she’s getting is visions of him catching, and killing her,” Janet explained. “Poor girl’s all alone with him out in the middle of the Nevada desert.”

––––––––

“T
hat’s not good, let’s get Ty in on this, and you can tell us both how this happened,” Ian said as he got a video link to Ty Anders going.

“My people have found a couple of people that are ‘blank’ for lack of a better description. When my people tried to scan them, they read as black, like they didn’t exist, or simply weren’t there. Before this evening, we had only encountered two of these anomalies,” Janet sighed. “Since most of this is new to us, we didn’t know if it was something that should be reported. I decided that if we found any more of these blank people I’d report it to you, Ian.”

“Hi Ian! Aren’t you supposed to be getting crowned or something?” Ty said cordially.

Ian smirked at him. “We have a problem Ty. I’ll need you and your team to gear up for a rescue. Tell him what you’ve told me, Janet.”

When Janet had finished, Ian took over again. “Ty, the priority goes to rescuing the young lady. However, I would really like to ask her pursuer some questions. Obviously he’s not a Caldarian, so I’d like to know who he’s working for.”

“What do I do if we can’t take him?” Ty asked.

“Try to get as much information as you can about him. But...” Ian closed his eyes and shook his head. “Allison reported that she saw this asshole kill her in a vision. Even if he isn’t working for our enemies, he shouldn’t be left to kill someone else.”

“I understand, sir. I hope we don’t have to do it very often, but I do understand the need,” Ty replied.

“I agree. I do have to get back before to many people notice I’m not there anymore. Please keep Janet and I in the loop,” Ian replied.

“Will-do, Anders Out.”

“Ty and his folks will take care of this problem. Come on. Let’s get back to the party,” Ian said, taking Janet’s arm.

––––––––

T
y put his team on alert, and had the emergency shuttle put on stand-by before he called the young lady they were going to save.

“Allison? This is Ty Anders from Talos.”

“Thank the goddess! I was starting to panic; he’s moved up, and is right on my rear bumper.” The scared woman replied. “I’ve been afraid I’d get another vision of what he’s going to do to me.”

“We’re getting our armor on, and will be airborne in a few minutes. I’ll make sure our comms stay connected. You’re not alone, Ally,” Ty said hoping to calm her down.

“Only my father called me that. He passed away a few years ago. It’s good to hear that name again,” Allison replied, sounding calmer.

Ty was already at his locker and pulling his body armor on. Three others were putting their armor on, and Tabitha had taken Ty’s place in the security office on the surface.

He’d directed his team with hand signals while he talked to Allison, although he was the only one talking to her, the whole team was listening in.

“He must have been a good man. Why don’t you tell me about him?” Ty asked.

As Allison began speaking, Ty and the team headed for their armory. He grabbed a pulse rifle, and pointed to two specially modified Rhino ATVs. He activated one of the security drones, and had it secure itself to one of the Rhino’s. Within ten minutes of receiving the call from Ian, the team was armed, loaded, and in the air.

When Allison paused to take a breath, Ty interrupted her. “Ally, we’re in the air. We’ll be there in about fifteen minutes. Is he still right on your ass?”

“No, he’s backed off a little bit. He’s still damn close, but he isn’t tailgating me anymore,” Allison replied.

“Okay, as long as he isn’t doing anything but following, you should be okay until we get there,” Ty told her. “The Commander would like to have a chat with this guy so we’re going to try to take him alive. Ally, the rest of my team is also listening, so I’ll be giving orders to them over this channel as well. Once we get set up, I’ll want the drone to do a full spectrum scan on him and his vehicle.

“I want us to set the trap on a side road that Ally can turn onto and lure this creep right to us. Joel, Sam, I want you to take the Rhino’s and shadow them as soon as she turns off the main road. We’ll park the shuttle so all Ally has to do is drive up the ramp into the hold. Lee and I will set up a containment field to trap the prick before he can turn around and get out of there. Any questions?”

“Sir, what do we do if he won’t let us capture him?” Sam asked.

“We know this man is a killer that has been stalking Ally. Our orders in the event we can’t capture him, are to terminate with extreme prejudice. No trace of him should be left behind,” Ty said grimly.

––––––––

I
an was already giving the tour when he received the report from Ty; they were about to intercept Allison and her pursuer. Although he very much wanted to monitor the team’s progress, Ian simply didn’t have the time. He had a few minutes to finish the tour, then the ceremony would be starting.

He excused himself just long enough to acknowledge the message, and got back to the tour.

Ian was thankful that the ship actually got the attention of the community leaders, so they gave the relationship questions a rest. How many times was he going to have to answer the question; ‘Was he really in love, and married to, with three women?’

When he’d finally finished the tour, he gladly handed off the small group to Beth, Cindy and Talena. Although Luke and Lara tried to deflect as many of the relationship questions as they could, there had still been enough that it had been driving Ian nuts.

Ian watched in amusement as Talena smoothly fielded the relationship questions. She answered them like she was giving a lecture on the societal structure of the Talosian people. The group of ‘busy-bodies’, as Ian had privately called them, didn’t know how to take such knowledge from such a young looking woman. The questions slowed down, but became more thoughtful, and were real requests for knowledge instead of shocked reactions to the multiple, and same-sex bondings.

Soon, however, it was time for the ceremony to begin, and Jenny and he headed for the stage, and podium where the rest of the senior officers had gathered. As they approached, Jenny made a swirling motion in the air with a finger, and John Harris stepped up to the podium.

“Excuse me Ladies and Gentleman, if you’d please take your seats we’d like to get the ceremony underway,” John said to the crowd.

The loud murmuring of the crowd stopped as people ended conversations, excused themselves and found seats. It only took a couple of minutes for the assembled Guests to get ready. Once again, Major Harris spoke to the crowd.

“Thank you. Normally, this ceremony would take place in the observation lounge of a large dry dock facility and an Admiral would be the one to perform it. However, we don’t have a dry dock yet, and there hasn’t been an Admiral in over four thousand years. Yet, this Change of Command is significant for more than what it lacks. It’s significant because of what it stands for.

“Four thousand of our years ago, the Talosian people were destroyed but for a few. Those few escaped to our planet to mix their blood with ours in order to save something of their race. This Ceremony signifies that their desperate gamble paid off. Not all of us have one of those people as an ancestor, but we’re all working for the same goal; the preservation and defense of our planet from the same evil that destroyed those people four millennia ago.

“Although Commander Williams is the guest of honor tonight, this Ceremony is about all of us, not just him. It’s about the restoration of this great ship, and what her rebirth means for us. It’s about what a community, most of which didn’t even know of the ship, can do if we are united as one people.

“It is my great honor to introduce to you, Commander Williams’ very beautiful wife, as well as the Executive Officer of the ship; Colonel Jennifer Williams,” John stepped away from the podium, clapping with the guests as Jenny waddled up to it.

“Suck-up!” Jenny said grinning at John. She turned back to the cameras and politely chuckling guests. “Major Harris is correct that this ceremony will not be like a typical Talosian ceremony, however, we will try to stick as close to the ceremony as we can. With that in mind, I translated most of this from Talosian, so it may sound odd in spots.”

She took a deep breath, came to attention, and began reading the orders in front of her. “To all those here gathered; as witness to these words pay heed. Let it be known that acting Commander Ian Williams has successfully passed such requirements that, from this day forward, he be known as Commander Ian Williams and that he be given the responsibility of Command of CAV dash zero-zero-one-seven. To those here gathered say ‘Aye’ as witness to these words.”

After a moment, the crowd stumbled through saying ‘aye’.

Jenny grinned at the people in front of her. “As so witnessed it is done. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the ship's new commanding officer, Commander Ian Williams.”

Ian stepped up to the podium as Jenny stepped back to the applause of the gathering. “It was a tradition in the Talosian Defense Force that a new commander of a vessel recommission it, and give it a new name; a symbolic gesture to denote the new command,” Ian said once the applause died down. “During these recommissions it is also tradition to change the outward appearance of the ship’s AI.

“I know a good portion of you had never met Olympus before I took him off line. He was a good friend to all of us that did know him, and it is my hope that friendship will continue in the new form as well. However, before that new form can appear, I need to give this great ship a new name.”

Ian paused for a second. “I think the suspense has been getting to a few of my command staff. So without further aggravation on the part of my staff, I give you all, the Federated Starship, Star Dancer!”

––––––––

T
he applause was loud and long. From the looks on the faces of some of his crew, he’d taken them all by surprise. He’d known they’d a type of lottery going on what the new name would be. From the looks on their faces, it appeared like no one had anticipated his choice.

While the crowd was still loudly applauding, Ian, via his communicator, reactivated the AI. He asked to delay holographic display until Ian could make the introduction. When Ian held up his hand to get the crowd to quiet, they did so quickly. “Since we had to almost completely rebuild the ship, I thought it only fitting we have a completely new looking AI as well. It’s my pleasure to introduce to you, the new ship’s AI, Star!”