Excerpt: Tabitha Prime
Chapter Six
I stopped Dad’s pontoon boat about halfway into Lake Pend Oreille, ensuring no other boats were near us. Then, I opened the ice chest and grabbed a couple of soda cans. It was a beautiful North Idaho summer day, with temperatures in the low 90s and no clouds in the sky.
I handed a soda to Kyra, taking in her skimpy bikini, before opening my drink.
“Sure is nice out here,” she said, taking the soda. “So beautiful. And peaceful.”
“Sure is,” I said, looking at the wooded hills surrounding the lake. “I’ve spent a lot of summers fishing this lake as a kid. You know the Navy used to have a submarine base on this lake.”
“Really?” Kyra asked, surprised.
“Yup. I remember dreaming about catching one of those subs with my fishing pole,” I said, causing Kyra to chuckle.
“Do you think this is safe enough?” my pretty wife asked slyly.
“I think so,” I replied after a long and exaggerated look around in every direction, even straight up, while hiding a smile.
“So what’s the big secret?” Kyra sighed.
“I’m glad you asked,” I told her as I booted the tablet Alan gave me. “You have to promise me – not a word of this to anyone.”
“Of course,” Kyra said, her brows furrowed out of curiosity. I gave her the Reader’s Digest version of Alan’s briefing, showing her the picture of the Mr’rk director called Tabitha.
“Oh my God,” Kyra gasped. “She looks exactly like your ex-wife.”
“Yes, she does. And according to my briefing notes, she’s an enhanced clone of Tabitha.”
“And she’s in charge of the Mr’rk?” Kyra asked incredulously.
“Not all of it, but a part of it. And somehow, Tabitha has managed to create a weapon that can destroy a star, which, if used on our Sun, could theoretically destroy most, if not all, of the inner planets and sterilize the rest according to the scientific analysis I’ve seen so far.”
“Is anything being done to counter that?”
“According to this, Star Fleet Engineering has devised an electronic grid based on Gingravik technology, and they plan to deploy it just inside the orbit of Venus. If all goes well, it should prevent any unnatural object from approaching the Sun,” I said. “It will take months to complete, probably a year or more. The construction has to be low-key to avoid panicking people.
I took a sip of my soda before continuing. “The Gingravik are putting together one around their own sun on the same timeline. And since we don’t have any particulars on the weapon, we have no idea how effective it would be.
“The orbit of Venus might be close enough to trigger the nova, or it might be a beam weapon from outside the system that wouldn’t be affected by the barrier.” I gave her a pained grin. “As you can imagine, there is a lot of frenzied research going on behind the scenes to try and figure this out.”
“That’s a lot of space to cover,” Kyra said, doubt clear in her voice.
“Tell me about it.”
“So, you’re in charge of the fleet going against the Mr’rk?” Kyra asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s why the temporary promotion and the expedited timetable. We’re to meet with the rest of the task force at Starbase Two as soon as possible.”
“There’s something else bothering you about this, isn’t there?” Kyra asked. After all our years together, she could read me like a book. Given her position as my counselor and wife, that was a good thing.
“Uh-huh,” I said, nodding. “The man in charge of the operation is Admiral Richard Dixon.”
Kyra looked puzzled momentarily, and then her eyes flew open wide. “Wait… Isn’t he the one who tried to have you thrown in the brig for refusing to obey Bull Travers’ order to step into the airlock on the Armstrong?” she asked.
“One and the same,” I told her drily.
“I’ve heard things about him. He’s the one they call ‘Big Dick,’ isn’t he?” Kyra asked.
“He is. But I wouldn’t call him that to his face. He is a two-star admiral, you know,” I quipped.
“Why do they call him that?” Kyra asked.
“I don’t know, exactly. Maybe it’s because he has a reputation for operating strictly by the book. I suppose there could be other reasons, but I’ve never seen him in the shower room. Nor do I have any wish to,” I said.
Kyra responded with a chuckle. “No, I don’t suppose you would,” she said.
“I do know that he and Bull Travers went to the same Academy class. They were friends, from what I learned during the tribunal.”
“Which would explain his desire to see you tossed in the brig,” Kyra observed.
“Probably,” I agreed.
“So there is some bad blood between you two,” Kyra mused.
“You could say that,” I told her.
“Do you think he might do something to sabotage your efforts?” Kyra asked.
“Admiral Simmons seems to think he’s too professional for that. Says I should let bygones be bygones. My gut, however, tells me I should watch my back,” I said.
“I think you should go with your gut,” Kyra said quietly. “In the meantime, I’ll see what I can dig up on this ‘Big Dick.’ I promise to be discreet.”
“Think you can find anything?” I asked.
“Everyone who goes on an interstellar mission is required to undergo psychological profiling. I’m sure I can find something,” Kyra replied. “But right now, I’m more concerned with THIS big dick,” she added, snaking her hand into my cutoff shorts. “I can tell you are under a lot of… stress… and as ship’s counselor it is my responsibility to ensure the captain is relaxed and focused at all times.”
“Now you’re talking,” I responded, turning the tablet off. I took my wife in my arms and kissed her deeply as I ran my hands over her soft, smooth flesh.
“Remember when we made love on the beach in Hawaii?” Kyra asked, her eyes glazed with lust.
“How can I ever forget?” I replied with a lusty chuckle. We had spent part of our honeymoon in Hawaii, and I almost felt like we were living in a scene from a movie.
“Do me. Right here, husband,” she whispered, stroking my hardening cock.
“Your wish is my command,” I told her, untying her top. We ended up on the pontoon boat’s deck in front of the bench seat we had been sitting on. Fortunately, the seats and the canvas tarp attached to the side rails kept us out of view from other boats that might come alongside. Or so I thought.
We had just shared a fantastic orgasm when we heard the sharp sound of a siren next to the boat. Surprised, I looked up to see a white patrol boat coming alongside. I quickly pulled up and zipped my cutoffs while Kyra frantically put her bikini back on.
“Everything all right here, folks?” the officer asked as he looked me over. From the patch on his sleeve, I could tell he was with the Bonner County Sheriff’s Department.
“Just fine, officer,” I said. “Wife and I were just enjoying the sun.”
“Uh-huh,” the officer said wryly. “You folks got some ID with ya?”
“Sure,” I said. I grabbed my Star Fleet identification card from my wallet while Kyra got hers out of her purse. I handed them to the officer, who examined them through his dark sunglasses.
“Star Fleet, huh?” he asked, looking at both sides of our cards.
“That’s right,” I said.
“Is it true you folks go, you know… out there?” he asked, pointing to the sky.
“Where no one has ever gone before,” I told him straight-faced.
“I see. Well, I don’t know about out there, but here on this piece of planet Earth, we have laws against public nudity,” he stated with a knowing smile. “This ain’t California, you know.” He looked at our ID cards before speaking again. “Jones? I thought I recognized the boat. You folks don’t have any liquor on board, do ya?”
“No, officer, we don’t,” I said truthfully.
“That’s good to hear, ’cause I’d sure hate to have to issue you a citation,” the officer said, adjusting his dark ball cap. “You being Star Fleet officers and all. How long do you plan to be in the area?”
“Not long,” I said. “Maybe another few days.”
“Is it true you and yer old man are playing at the VFW tonight?” the officer asked.
“Yeah, it’s true,” I said. Dad was already set to play his banjo at the VFW with a bluegrass group he had gotten involved with, and he invited me to play with them. Kyra was also invited to play with us if she wanted to.
“I look forward to seeing you there. I enjoy hearing your Dad play. Just promise me you’ll keep your clothes on, okay?” he asked before flashing a broad smile and then chuckled for some reason.
I smiled back before responding, feeling just a little embarrassed. “Yes, sir, officer. We will.”
“Good,” he said, handing our cards back. “You folks have a good day, ya hear? And welcome to Idaho. I’ll see ya tonight.”
“Thanks,” I said, almost reminding him that I was a native to these parts and grew up on this lake, but I decided to keep my big mouth shut. “See you tonight.”
He smiled, turned his lights off, waved, and returned the way he came.
“Well, that was just a little bit awkward,” I said as I put my ID card back in my wallet.
“You think he saw us?” Kyra asked as she replaced her ID card.
“Even if he didn’t, it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what we were doing,” I said, raising my eyebrows.
“No, I suppose not. But it was still a lot of fun,” Kyra replied, nudging me with her elbow, which caused me to grunt in discomfort.
“Yes, it was,” I agreed, kissing my lovely wife… and she winced. I flipped up my sunglasses. That’s when we realized how badly burned we were from the sun. “Guess we should’ve used some sunscreen,” I said ruefully, inspecting my body. We were both a pretty uniform, angry red.
“I guess you’re right. I didn’t even think of it. Guess we’ve been in space too long,” Kyra responded, trying to adjust her admittedly minimal bikini into a more comfortable position and failing.
After looking around, I found a bottle of lotion Dad kept in a cabinet by the driver’s console. I put a bunch on Kyra, then she did the same for me. It would have been fun if our nerves hadn’t been screaming in delayed outrage. Fortunately, the anesthetic kicked in quickly. I knew we would both be miserable for a day or so, and we’d never hear the end of it from my folks.
We grabbed a fresh, cold soda from the ice chest and then returned to the marina. After topping off the gas tank, we docked and secured the boat, grabbed our things, returned to the truck, and drove home.
“About time you two quit goofing off,” Dad joked when we walked into the house. “What, didn’t you kids take any sunscreen?” he asked when he saw how burnt we were. He glanced at Kyra as she slowly and stiffly bent over to unlace her sandals. It was pretty plain that she was red… all over.
“We both forgot,” I sheepishly admitted.
“Probably too busy getting a little nookie on the water, weren’t you?” he asked me quietly. “You can admit it. I was young once upon a time, you know. Your Mom and I used to play on the water every chance we could get.” Then he grinned broadly and winked. “Still do from time to time.”
“That’s just a little more information than I needed to hear, Dad,” I said, causing him to chuckle.
“You gonna be up to playing at the VFW tonight?” he asked.
“Yeah, if this burn goes away by then,” I told him.
“Take a nice hot bath – as hot as you can stand it. Put some of this in the water. It’ll take the heat right out of that burn,” he said, handing me a tube of ointment.
“We’ll do that, thanks,” I said, taking the tube. I went to our room and handed it to Kyra, who snatched it up.
“Gimmee,” she declared as she headed for the bathroom.
I let her take the first bath, then followed closely behind her. To my surprise, the ointment worked, which was a welcome relief. I dried myself off, dressed, and pulled out my acoustic guitar to prepare for the night.
Dad had fortunately provided a list of songs that he and his group would be playing. They were all bluegrass tunes, but I had heard Dad play them often enough over the years that I was already familiar with them. Nevertheless, I wanted to be ready to play my best for him.
The night was a rousing success for all of us. Dad got to show off his banjo-picking skills, and I had a blast playing with him and his band. Kyra played a couple of tunes on her violin, which the guys all appreciated. The set ended with Dad and I playing our old favorite, “Dueling Banjos,” much to the delight of everyone present.
After we finished, a couple walked up and introduced themselves. I didn’t recognize the man at first. The last time I saw him, he wore dark sunglasses and a baseball cap.
“Arlo Simpson,” the man said. “This is my wife, Kathy. You and I met on the lake earlier today. You’re pretty good on that six-string.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“And you’re pretty good on that violin,” he told Kyra. “We enjoyed it a bunch, didn’t we, dear?”
“We sure did,” Kathy said. “Are you two gonna be around these parts for a while?”
“We’re on a short leave, then we’re going to Los Angeles to see my parents before we have to go back up,” Kyra said.
“Up?” Kathy asked.
“Yeah. Up there,” Arlo said, pointing toward the sky. “They’re in Star Fleet.”
“Star Fleet? Oh my,” Kathy gasped. “That must be exciting.”
“It has its moments,” I said, glancing at Dad and Kyra. Both nodded solemnly.
“I’ll bet it does,” Kathy remarked. “Well, it’s been a pleasure meeting you kids. I hope we see you both back real soon.”
“Fully clothed, preferably,” Arlo whispered as an aside.
I chuckled as I shook his hand. “Absolutely,” I said.
“What was that all about?” Dad asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” I promised.
…
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