Death Haunts the Stars Read online

  Crewmembers called out their hellos as they saw their captain jog around the hangar. After a couple of laps, the rhythmic thumping of another pair of feet broke into his thoughts. Rivers was pleased to see his friend, Mac Bradley, jog up alongside.

  "Ahoy, there! How ya doin', Skipper? Mind if I join you?" the security chief asked.

  "Howdy, Mac! I'm doing well, thank you. And how are you today?" Rivers replied jovially.

  "Just fine, sir! Way too early in the flight for any real trouble to pop up," Bradley responded. After a moment, he asked, "So...trying to get your nerves under control, ol' buddy?"

  "And I was doing just fine until you asked...ol' buddy," said Rivers through gritted teeth. He wasn't really mad at Bradley. The man could get under folks' skin on occasion with his good-natured teasing, but Bradley meant well. Rivers suddenly realized that he was feeling winded already. Obviously I haven't kept up with my fitness regime as well as I'd hoped, he thought to himself. Fortunately, he had both the time and the fortitude to press on. "You gonna be there tonight?"

  Bradley smiled, "Skipper, you couldn't keep me away if you locked me up in the brig! I want to be the first to congratulate you and Charlotte."

  "I appreciate that, Mac! And I know Charlotte will appreciate it, too!" said Rivers. He stopped talking and focused on his jogging. After another 30 minutes, Rivers slowed to a walk. Bradley waved and continued jogging. After walking one last lap, Rivers left the hangar and walked slowly to a nearby elevator to ride back to Officers' Quarters. Wow! I've really need to go jogging more often, he thought as he entered his quarters. I'm definitely getting out of shape!

  After shaving to remove his 5 o'clock shadow, he hopped into the shower and enjoyed the spray of hot water across sore muscles. After completing his shower, Rivers dried himself and quickly donned his dress uniform for dinner. Before donning his dog tags, he opened the chain and removed the ring. After he reconnected the chain, he put it around his neck and tucked the dog tags under his dress shirt. Rivers pulled a small black display box from a drawer and placed the ring in the box and then put the box in his coat pocket. He also slipped the small blue box containing Barkley's new rank insignia into his pocket on the opposite side of his dress coat. I'd better be sure to pull the right box out of my pocket at the right time, he thought. Wouldn't want Gene to think I'm proposing to him!

  Several minutes later, Rivers entered the ship's main dining room. The large, open space held dozens of tables and chairs. Passengers and off-duty personnel were already filing in slowly, in ones, twos, and threes. While most meals aboard ship would be far less formal, the Connie's 'Earth Departure Dinner' was a formal affair. An officer headed each table and each officer had invited a number of the passengers and crew to dine with him or her. Dress uniforms were required for the crew while the passengers wore the most formal attire they had available.

  The Captain's Table was longer than the other tables, allowing a larger group of passengers and senior officers to attend as the captain's guests. The Executive Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Pilot, Chief Navigator, Engineering Chief, and Security Chief were invited this evening as were four couples from among the passengers. The odd man out was young Lieutenant JG Gene Barkley who would be seated opposite the captain at the long table.

  His senior officers arrived first. Rivers stepped over to pull the doctor's chair out for her while Bradley pulled out the XO's chair. Everyone remained standing, chatting amiably, until the other guests arrived.

  The first couple to arrive was Doctor Bill Kempner and his wife, Natalie. Doctor Kempner was a heart surgeon and his wife was an emergency room nurse. The Kempners would be excellent additions to the colonial hospital on Camadin.

  Next to arrive were Cameron and Jillian Sykes. The Sykes were power systems engineers who had been recruited to move to Camadin to help expand the colony's power plant and power supply grid, critical to the expansion of the colony.

  Jean-Pierre and Angelique Delacroix showed up next. Jean-Pierre was a chemical engineer and Angelique was a secondary school science teacher. The last couple to arrive was Clark and Margaret Meinders. Clark was a farming machinery engineer and Margaret was another school teacher.

  With his guests assembled, Captain Rivers invited them to take their seats. Mess personnel had been circulating around the large room filling wine classes with a vintage unique to the Conestoga, made from grapes grown in the ship's hydroponic gardens. When everyone's glass was full, Rivers rose and tapped his glass with the edge of a spoon. The room quieted. In her office, Lieutenant Commander Ainsley Truscott, the Connie's Senior Mess Officer, activated the special microphones located on the ceiling above the Captain's Table. The microphones would pick up and broadcast the captain's voice over speakers hidden around the room.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the TCV Conestoga, the finest ship in the colonial fleet," said Rivers proudly. "We are on course to Camadin and should arrive in approximately 100 days." A round of applause rose from the diners. "So let us raise our glass to toast...to the TCV Conestoga and our voyage!"

  The diners rose and raised their glasses. "To the TCV Conestoga and our voyage!"

  After the toast, Rivers asked his guests to take their seats while he continued his welcoming speech. "Please enjoy your dinners, everyone. Oh...before I forget, our next formal dinner will be held on 15th of October. Enjoy!" Soft music began to fill the dining hall. Rivers sat back down and addressed his table guests. "Please dig in, folks." The mess personnel had wheeled in carts and some had begun setting food laden plates before the diners. Others set out bowls of fresh breads and rolls and butter. Soon, small talk gave way to the sounds of people enjoying a fine repast.

  The small talk at the Captain's Table resumed with the arrival of dessert and more wines. At one point, Commanders O'Reilly and Bradley noticed the captain fidgeting in his seat. Rivers' XO leaned over towards him and whispered softly, "Relax, James." Bradley merely nodded and winked. The captain smiled at his friends then took a deep breath.

  He rose once more and tapped his glass again to gain everyone's attention. "Ladies and gentleman, I would like to thank you for joining us here tonight. After the Mess personnel clear away the dishes and remove some tables there will be music and dancing. Before we conclude our dinner, I would like you to share with you a couple of rare pleasures in a captain's life." Rivers walked to the opposite end of the table and stopped next to Lieutenant JG Barkley. The microphones hidden in the ceiling tracked the captain to his new location.

  "Folks, I have the distinct pleasure tonight of recognizing a member of my crew, Lieutenant Junior Grade Gene Barkley. Mister Barkley, it is my profound honor to give you these." Rivers pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it to make sure he had the correct box. He smiled then turned the opened box towards the young man to reveal the bars of a full lieutenant. "Congratulations on your promotion to Lieutenant, sir! Please allow me to replace your old bars with these shiny new ones!" The crowd clapped and cheered as Rivers removed Barkley's old rank insignia and swapped them with the new ones from the box. With that completed, Rivers shook the younger man's hand and congratulated him again.

  Rivers walked back towards his seat but stopped short before reaching it. He turned to face Doctor Charlotte Hanson, reached out with both hands and took her hands in his. Rivers scanned the audience momentarily before saying, "I've known Doctor Charlotte Hanson for several years now, first on other vessels and then here...on the Conestoga. She has been a trusted colleague, a dear friend, my steady girlfriend, and now, I would like to ask her to be so much more." Rivers knelt down on one knee and drew the small jewelry box from his pocket.

  Looking deeply into her eyes, he asked, "Charlotte Hanson, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?" A hush fell over the crowd as he opened the box to show her the ring within.

  With tears of joy in her eyes, Charlotte nodded and said, "Yes, James! Yes, I will!" He removed the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. T
hen he took her gently in his arms and kissed her. The crowd applauded and those at the Captain's Table offered their congratulations. In her office, the Mess Officer sat watching her captain and his fiancée on a monitor. She pressed a button on the console before her and the Bridal March began to play softly throughout the dining hall.

  Rivers and his bride-to-be broke their embrace and he signaled for quiet once more. "If you will join me please in a round of applause to our fine chefs and food services personnel for tonight's wonderful dinner." The audience responded with sincere applause. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here this evening!"

  Mess personnel moved in quickly to begin clearing dishes and removing tables and chairs from the center of the room. They left a number of tables around the edges of the room and moved many of the chairs to positions along the wall. The lights dimmed around the room except over the dance floor area.

  Meaghan O'Reilly moved to the center of the dance floor and Ainsley Truscott turned on the microphones above her. "Ladies and gentlemen, for those who have not met me, I'm Commander Meaghan O'Reilly, the Executive Officer of the Conestoga. Before I leave for the bridge, I'd like to ask you to allow Captain Rivers and his fiancée to have the first dance this evening." O'Reilly's request was met with another round of applause.

  The captain and the doctor stepped out onto the dance floor. They thanked O'Reilly and accepted her congratulations then moved to the center of the room and stepped into each other's arms. As the first notes of music began to play, they smiled at each other and began to dance. Someone, probably Mac Bradley, had learned the name of their favorite song and arranged with LTCDR Truscott to play it for this dance. When their song ended, James and Charlotte invited other couples to come out onto the dance floor with them. They danced to two more songs before leaving the dance floor and moving to a table on one side of the room. James and Charlotte were given new glasses filled with champagne and toasted one another. As they sat at their table, crewmembers and passengers would stop by to congratulate them on their engagement.

  James and Charlotte left the dance about an hour later. As they left the room, the Mess Officer presented them with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. The newly engaged couple walked hand-in-hand to the recreation deck, part of which was a large arboretum. This giant room held a small forest filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and grass. Along two opposing walls, large transparent aluminum windows separated this artificial forest from the vacuum of space. Crew and passengers alike enjoyed walking amongst the greenery with the stars shining in upon them.

  The lovers sat down on a bench near one of these giant windows; a row of shrubs behind the bench giving them some privacy from anyone else who might be in the arboretum at the same time. Rivers carefully opened the bottle and poured champagne into the glasses his fiancée held out. They toasted each other again and sat quietly looking out at the stars. Rivers cleared his throat and asked, "So, darling, when do you think we should have the wedding?"

  Charlotte leaned her head against his shoulder, her left hand out so she could admire her engagement ring. "How about next month? On the 15th? We could hold the wedding before the formal dinner and dance. Everyone will be dressed up already. Would that be alright, James? Is that too soon?" She looked up at James expectantly.

  "No," he replied, grinning at his future wife. "I think October 15th would be just fine! I'll talk with Pat Deckard and see about some modifications to my quarters to give us a little more room."

  Charlotte sat up; excitement evident upon her face. "We can do that?"

  James chuckled. "Yep! Each set of quarters on the Connie is built of modular components. It allows for a certain amount of customization. Plus, there are seldom used access passageways on either side of my quarters and a storage room beyond the back wall. That'll give Pat and his crew some room to work with. I'll have Pat check with you and show you what layouts are possible. While he and his people work on the modifications, I can rough it in my ready room off the bridge."

  Nudging him in the ribs, Charlotte said, "Oh, no you don't! You'll stay with me in my quarters! We can't have you driving the bridge crew crazy by being there day and night!"

  "Well, if I just have to, I guess I can stay with you," James said jokingly. "Doctor's orders and all!"

  Charlotte's eyes twinkled. "James, it'll be just like those tiny quarters we each had on the Lexington. A snug fit...but fun!" She planted a soft kiss on his lips. He returned the gesture and for several minutes they were lost in the joy of simply being together.

  Later, she asked, "Are you going to ask Mac to be best man?"

  James nodded his head. "Yes! He's my best friend. Funny and irreverent at times, but cool, calm, and deadly when need be. I was thinking of temporarily transferring command to Meaghan and have her officiate."

  "Uh uh! Oh, no you don't! I want Meaghan to be my maid of honor! Ship's chaplains can perform marriage ceremonies, too, Captain!" she reminded her husband-to-be.

  Rivers smiled. One of a ship's captain's duties was performing marriage ceremonies; several of which he'd officiated over the years in interstellar space. Sometimes he forgot that chaplains had been performing marriages long before there were sea captains! Ah, it's all that power going to my head, he thought.

  "If you'll arrange the modifications to our quarters with Pat Deckard and keep Mac and Pete Slade from pulling a charivari, I'll speak with Meaghan, the chaplain, and Ainsley Truscott," Charlotte offered.

  "Deal!" James replied quickly, although he was unsure just how he could keep Bradley and Slade from playing one of their practical jokes upon the newlyweds on their wedding night. Maybe I could get the deputy security chief to lock them both up in the brig! Nah! That'll just mean they'll do it the next night! Well, I have some time to think of something...

  Chapter 3

  Ship's Log

  Terran Colonial Vessel Conestoga

  Earthdate: 15 October 2219

  Captain James B. Rivers, Commanding

  Day: 023

  The Conestoga is performing virtually flawlessly! The only hiccup has been a couple of reports from Chief Engineer Deckard about some anomalous power readings from our Stasis Pod Compartments. Seems power usage would register above normal in one compartment, so stasis techs would check it out and find nothing out of the ordinary. Then days later, another compartment would have the same problem. Thus far, no one in stasis has been harmed and my Chief Engineer and his Stasis Maintenance Team promise to stay on top of it.

  Sadly, I wish I could say some of my new crewmembers and passengers were behaving as well as our vessel is performing. In the past two weeks, we've had several arguments that quickly escalated into fist fights. One such fight resulted in two people doing significant damage to one another and spending a week in the brig.

  Mac Bradley and his security personnel have already discovered and shutdown two stills and a fight club. Colonial Fleet Regulations allow passengers and crew to have a limited amount of alcohol while aboard vessels in space but our "moonshiners" were trying to expand the market. A couple of them started the fight club as a distribution hub. The crewmembers involved in these incidents have all been from the replacement personnel we've taken on in the last few months. I need to have a serious talk with Fleet Personnel upon our return to Earth.

  We've also had a number of domestic disputes among our colonists that have gotten out of hand. Jean-Pierre and Angelique Delacroix got into a row because he caught her staring at another man during lunch one day. They made a terrible scene in the dining hall before security arrived to ask them to calm down or leave.

  Speaking of leaving...Carlotta Finch asked to move into other quarters in order to leave her husband, Daniel, one of the Connie's computer programmers. Lieutenant Daniel Finch is already on probation for participating in an altercation aboard Space Dock just before departure. Rumor has it that Carlotta is leaving him because he's become abusive. Mac is investigating but Carlotta hasn't said anything directly to our security
personnel. I've spoken to Finch and ordered him to stay away from his wife for the remainder of the flight. I can't replace them until I return to Earth. Maybe one or the other will opt to colonize and remain on Camadin.

  And, finally, we're experiencing trouble with some of our younger passengers. It seems we have an inordinately large number of teenagers on the ship, the vast majority of them being male. As well as arguments and fights over the few females of their age group, they've begun sneaking into some of the ship's critical operations areas. This is unacceptable and yet their parents seem unwilling to curtail their activities aboard ship. I've instructed Commander Bradley to throw the next group of hooligans into the brig and leave them there until I let 'em out. If the parents won't take responsibility for their children, I'll throw the parents into the brig with them!

  With all that's going on, I'm walking the ship today as much to calm my nerves as to check up on my ship and crew. The exercise will do me good. I guess I've reached that stage in life where the battle to keep off extra pounds and inches becomes a mite harder than it used to be.

  As for this evening's ceremonies, my dress uniform has been cleaned and pressed, dress boots shined, and all my insignia and medals double checked. Mac Bradley has assured me twice today alone that he's ready and that he and Pete will behave themselves! Perhaps my threat to shove them out an airlock if they misbehave got through to them. As Best Man, Mac told me he stitched the ring into his coat pocket so that it will be easy to find. Pat Deckard reported to me this morning that they have finished the "bridal suite" as he referred to our remodeled quarters. Charlotte assures me that the new quarters look great! Pat and his team even draped a festive, congratulatory ribbon across the doorway and locked out our entry code until after the wedding.