Salvage-5: The Next Mission (First Contact) Read online

  Hargrove took the pilot seat and began barking orders, “All systems green...Ion turbines and thrusters online...Avionics online...the board is green.”

  “NAV Check,” Dillan continued as if on cue, “Navigational gyros engaged, prepare for orbital sequence...Course set and verified.”

  Hargrove took the control stick on his left, wrapping his hand around its grip, “We are green for takeoff, firing take-off thrusters...ascending to 1500 meters and holding.”

  Hargrove pulled the joystick control back, lifting the nose of the CSMO off the surface of asteroid 253 Mathilde. Firing all his thrusters he righted the ship and headed to the jump ring coordinates.

  “Full power to ion drives, 45,000 KPH. 5,000 kilometers to jump ring, ETA just under 7 minutes...I think we’ll make it.”

  “You think? You’re not sure?”

  “Best I can do!”

  Samuels slid into the station next to the Lieutenant and buckled down. “They’re moving him to the medical bay. Thought I’d stop by and see how things are going.”

  “Good to see ya, Sarge.”

  “So...how are things goin’?”

  “You tell me! Make yourself useful and log into that console. Tell me when that ship is going to hit.”

  “I’m on it...looks like it impacts in 3...2...1...”

  The UTS Liberator and its containers slammed into the asteroid at 5,000 kilometers per hour. The collision blew a deep crater, dust and debris flying out from the impact. The asteroid rocked and spun, changing its orbit.

  “Inbound shock wave!” Samuels shouted, “Brace for impact in one minute!”

  Hargrove turned the ship and pointed it directly at the incoming energy wave, “Commencing reverse burn...now!”

  The CSMO, traveling backwards toward the Mag-ring quickly stopped by the full reverse thruster burn. The CSMO hit nose on to the shock wave, bouncing and rocking side to side.

  “Stabilizing with inertial dampeners...” Hargrove shouted, sweat beads formed on his brow and then dripped down his face as the energy wave passed.

  “All systems returning to normal,” Dillan sighed.

  “Hold our position, we’ll dispatch our scoopers to clean up the debris field and then we’ll fly over to inspect the ring.”

  “What about the asteroid?” Dillan asked.

  “First things first, Jr. Foreman,” Samuels instructed, “We need to secure the station and the jump ring, and then we’ll get back to mining.”

  “Aye, aye, sirs,” Dillan obediently replied, “All decks reporting in. The CSMO is secure, no damage.”

  “Samuels, get your team together and inspect the jump ring. I’ll prepare a report and send it off to command when you get back with your repair list...We’re staying parked here for the time being.”

  “I’m on it, Lieutenant...”

  * * *

  Chapter 3

  Oak Harbor, WA

  Earth Date: 03/13/2065 09:47

  ~ Six Months Later ~

  “Come on, Tucker,” Cass begged, standing at the door. Tapping her foot was enough for Tucker to finally relent.

  “Okay, okay, I’m coming.”

  “Not very fast, I might add.”

  “Now, you know I hate the dentist...hate it, hate it, hate it,” Tucker said, lighting a cigar.

  “Oh, Tucker, don’t be such a baby.”

  “I’m not. It’s just I don’t like anyone putting their hands in my mouth,” he shuddered. “Eww, just the thought of it makes me wanna to gag.”

  “Don’t tell me you gag at the dentist,” Cass smirked, “Tucker Petersen, big macho man, gags at the dentist?”

  “I never said I gagged...did I say I gagged? No...Never said it, nope, not me, nah ah.”

  “Tucker...” Cass said with a lift.

  “Alright, I gag. Okay, you happy now? I said it. I gag at the dentist...I gag when I brush...I gag just about anytime something besides food is shoved in my mouth.”

  “Tucker...please.”

  “See that’s why I get the case of the nerves...always have...always will...Oh, I see...very funny, Cassie.”

  “And that’s why you have a toothache, now isn’t it?”

  “Come on...I do brush...”

  “Yeah, thirty-seven seconds, maybe.”

  “Like I said, I do brush,” Tucker smirked in return, puffing a smoke ring over Cass’s head.

  “Maybe if you brushed six or seven times a day...”

  “Oh, come on...be nice.”

  “I am being nice...and wipe that smirk off your face.”

  “You first.”

  “After you.”

  “No, I mean the smirk.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “I was born with this smirk on my face, I can’t help it.”

  Cass playfully sneered, “Come on, already,” she said, hopping in the jeep. “We’re gonna be late.”

  “Okay by me.”

  Cassie simply gave Tucker the look, started the jeep’s electric motor, and sped down the highway.

  “So, you don’t think Ben really is gone, do you?”

  “The news report said that Major Griffin assisted them stealing the alien box.”

  “They never said it was the box, Tuck.”

  “Well of course not...but they did say they stole something valuable.”

  “Yes, they did say that, valuable enough to want to kill them.”

  “No, I tell ya they’re not dead.”

  “They said they are all presumed dead...come on Tucker. You have to face that possibility.”

  “Nope, not gonna happen.”

  “Come on Tucker, let’s be real.”

  “No way, no how am I going to say my son is dead...I know my Bennie. He made it out. I just know he did.”

  “Then why hasn’t he reached out to see us?”

  “Really Cass? Don’t you think that’s a little obvious? Hello, he’s running for his life.”

  “Well, it’s not so obvious to me...he does know how to contact you, right?”

  “Well, now that might be a bit of a problem.”

  “Tell me you have a data pad, Tucker.”

  “Well...”

  “Tucker...in this day and age, everyone has a data pad. Get with the times, man.”

  “Not this guy,” Tucker said, pointing his thumb at himself. “I hate ‘em...no privacy when you have one of them things...too many ways to be found, you know.”

  “Uh huh, right.”

  “Well it’s true.”

  “I’m gonna get you into the twenty-second century yet.”

  “Yeah, well, it’ll be the twenty-second century before I get one...’sides, we’re still in the twenty-first.”

  “It’s quickly approaching, Tuck,” Cass smiled, pulling into the dentist office’s parking lot.

  “Well, okay. I’ll get a data pad in thirty-five years then...I might be ready for one then.”

  “You’ll be in a nursing home by then.”

  The two stepped out of the open air jeep and walked up to the office door, “Na, not this one,” he said, puffing his cigar as they entered the office.

  “Yes, you will.”

  “How can you be so certain?”

  “Because I’m going to put you there myself!”

  “Hey!” the office receptionist blared, “PUT that stinky cigar OUT!”

  “Excuse me?” Tucker said, stepping up to the counter. He drew in a large drag and blew it in the woman’s face, “No thank you.”

  The woman’s face turned a beet red. She stood, towering over Tucker, reached out and snatched it out of his mouth, and quickly snuffed it out in the palm of her hand, “I said to put it out!” then she handed its crumbled remains back to Tucker.

  “Gee, a, thanks Hon...you’re all heart,” taking the cigar back he turned to Cass, “That was one of my favorites too.”

  “Why, Tuck,” Cass said, resting her hand on his shoulder, “I do think you’ve met your match.”
/>   “Nonsense...I was gonna put it out...can’t have my toothache fixed with it there anyway.”

  “Yeah, right... admit defeat.”

  “Nevvvaaaaa...”

  The woman sat back down and smiled, “Name?”

  “Colonel Petersen.”

  “Date of birth?”

  “May 12th, the year of none of your bee’s wax.”

  “Fine, that works,” the woman said inputting his info into her terminal, “I see you’re here to see Dr. Nigel at ten-o’clock.”

  “That would be why I’m here standing before you, gracing you with my presence.”

  “Oh please...” the woman said under her breath.

  “Really?” Tucker said, turning to Cass, “Come on, let’s go...I don’t have to put up with this.”

  Lighting his crushed cigar, he nervously puffed as he turned to walk out.”

  “Not so fast, Colonel,” Cass said, grabbing him by the collar. “Doc says you can’t clear flight status until that tooth’s fixed.”

  “Ah maaaan!”

  The receptionist once again grabbed the cigar, snuffed it and then crumbled it in her waste basket.

  “Hey now, that’s a twenty dollar cigar.”

  The receptionist shook her head slightly, “I’ll take it off your bill, but you ain’t getting it back. You’re all checked in.

  “The doctor will see you now,” a dental assistant chimed form the doorway.

  The receptionist smiled, “Enjoy your stay.”

  Cass laughed as she pushed Tucker through the door, following the lead of the dental assistant. She was medium build, blond, blue eyed woman with razor short hair. She wore pink colored scrubs, and her face was littered with piercings.

  “Have a seat, Colonel,” the assistant said, offering her hand toward the chair.

  Tucker looked over at Cass, and then back at the assistant, “Really? You can’t be serious, sizing up the attendants facial wear, “thanks, but no thanks...I’m trying to cut back...

  “No Tuck. You have to have it done. Now sit down.”

  “Aye, aye, Major...might I remind you of my rank here,” he said, looking at Cass with his puppy dog eyes.

  “Sit!”

  “Okay, okay...geez.”

  “My name is Nannette,” the assistant smiled, “I’ll be assisting the doctor today,” she said, placing a bib napkin around his neck.

  “Swell, so when do I get the laughing gas?”

  “You really think you’ll need the gas, Colonel?” Nannette asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” Cass answered for Tucker, “You’ll want to get that started pronto.”

  “Colonel, there isn’t anything to be nervous about. It’s just one simple filling...Let’s start with some X-rays, shall we? Then I’ll give you a shot of Novocain and then the doctor will begin the drilling,” she said, with a cheerful smile.

  “No, wait...stop...no one said anything about X-rays...I’ve been radiated enough this year already...I’ll just skip that part, thank you very much.”

  “Come on now, be a big boy here. The doctor needs to see what he’s dealing with...you don’t want him to drill any deeper than he has to now, do ya?”

  “Ga-gas...pa-pa-please?”

  “Sure Colonel.”

  Nannette hooked the breathing tubes around Tucker’s head and turned on the nitrous oxide.

  “I don’t feel anything.”

  “Good, let’s get started then.”

  “No, wait...I mean I don’t feel the gas yet.”

  “Just keep breathing through your nose, Colonel. That’s right, deep breaths through your nose and exhale.”

  “Okay...I’m okay now...you can start.”

  “Ma’am, I’ll have to ask you to wait in the next room.”

  “Oh, right, sure thing,” Cass smiled, “Now don’t you worry about a thing,” she said, leaning down on Tucker’s cheek, “You’ll be fine, I promise.”

  “Thanks Cass, you mean a lot to me...have I ever told you...have I told you how much you really mean to me?”

  Cass gently kissed Tucker on the cheek, “Don’t push it.”

  Cassie smiled at Nannette with a wink and left. As she seated herself in the waiting room her eyes widened at god-awful noise coming from the dentist’s back room, Ehhhh! Ehhh Ahhhh! EEEEEH!

  She simply smiled and shook her head, “Poor Tuck...” then broke out with uncontrollable laughter as his antics continued throughout the entire procedure for everyone to hear.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Tucker walked out of the back room. His eyes were red, bloodshot, and watery. His face was flushed with splotches of popped red corpuscles that littered his cheeks.

  “What were you doing back there?” Cass asked, standing to her feet, attempting to keep her laughter at bay the best she could.

  “Whattya think I was doing back there, smarty pants,” Tucker said, holding his left jaw.

  “Well? When you gonna be clear for take-off?”

  “Doctor says two weeks or so,” Tucker answered, wiping his eyes dry.

  “You mean he hasn’t signed off yet?”

  “Nope, gonna have ta follow up in two weeks. Then he’ll give us a sign-off.”

  “Swell.”

  “What? We get to have some more quality time together, Miss Phillips.”

  “That’s Major to you...”

  Tucker raised his chest in the air to mock her, “That’s Colonel to you...” then plucked a new cigar from his case inside his coat, lit it and blew a huge plume over the receptionist. Then turned to Cass and offered his arm, “Shall we?”

  “By all means...Colonel.”

  The two strolled arm and arm out the door and then drove back to their house, “So tell me, Colonel?”

  “Yes, Major?”

  “How long have you had this problem?”

  “What problem? Gagging? Naaa, you didn’t hear me gagging...not me, no way no how.”

  * * *

  Whidbey Island Naval Base & Space Port

  Oak Harbor, WA

  Salvage-5 Mission Briefing

  Earth Date: 03/18/2065

  General McKenzie stood behind his podium, smirking as Tucker and Cassandra entered the briefing room.

  Captain Samantha Rothschild was already seated in the conference room, her bob-cut black hair bouncing against her cheeks as she craned her neck to see Tucker and Cass.

  “Nice to see you too, Captain Rothschild,” Tucker said, walking to the front of the room.

  Sam stood and greeted them both, “Cass, Tuck...it’s been way too long.”

  Cass and Sam embraced. Sam gave her a quick peck on the cheek and shook Tucker’s hand.

  “Awe, come on...don’t I get the same greeting over here?” Tucker said, arms spread out wide.

  “No...like you say, I’m trying to cut back,” Sam said, taking a step back, “’sides, you and Cass...an item?”

  “Shhh,” Tucker whispered, holding his finger up to her mouth, “Not in front of the General...”

  “...and I’m perfectly fine with how this all worked out too.”

  Cass winked at the Captain, “Yeah, so am I...I mean it’s just going to be the three of us for two whole weeks.”

  “Wow, I’m feeling the love in this room already,” Tucker said, crossing his arms and facing forward.

  The three sat in the front row. McKenzie could hardly contain himself, “So...Colonel? How’s the ol’ tooth?” he snickered.

  “You told him!”

  “No, I didn’t tell him anything.”

  “Didn’t have to,” the General continued to smile.

  “So then how did he find out?” Tucker asked, turning toward Cass.

  “She didn’t have to tell me a thing...everyone could hear ya clear down the street. Word gets out fairly quickly around these parts too.”

  “Awe, geez...”

  “I know, I know, where do ya find these people?” Cass said for him.

  “Well, where do they?” Tucker shrugged.

  “As
soon as I found out who they are, I’ll let ya know,” Cass snickered, no longer able to contain herself.

  “Uh boy...I’m thinkin’ it’s going to be a very looong trip,” Tucker said, shaking his head.

  “Speaking of missions,” McKenzie began, “I hate to break up this wonderful little reunion, but we do have a mission briefing to conduct here.”

  “Sorry, General,” Tucker said, unfolding his arms, “You just go right ahead and don’t let us stop you.”

  The General cleared his throat and rested his hands on the podium, “Uh, General?” Tucker said, raising his hand in the air.

  “What is it Tucker?”

  “There’s not going to be any alien complexes, no chipped cyborgs or anything like that, right? ‘Cause, if there is, I’m out...okay? Not going to do that again...”

  “There are no aliens on this mission, Tucker...you got em all... okay?

  “That’s good... ’cause if there were...”

  “Tucker!”

  “Right, right, sheesh, there I go again. Sorry... I’ll try harder, General.”

  Just before the General began speaking again, Tucker raised his hand again.

  “Really? Again? What is it this time?”

  “I just wanted to say thank you for putting your trust in the three of us to complete this mission, you know... things like that...”

  “You don’t even know what the mission really is yet.”

  “Well, I wanted to thank you anyway...”

  “Uh huh... right... now, pay attention damn it, anyway,” McKenzie said in frustration.

  “Please, General. Go right on now... you have the floor... honest... no, please continue,” Tucker motioned.

  General McKenzie nearly spewed steam from his ears. He cleared his throat once more, “As you know, we had an incident at asteroid 253 Mathilde. On September 19th, at approximately 19:10 hours, base command received a mayday from the CSMO. One of the transport ships, UTS Liberator, on their return trip had a system malfunction causing them to collide with the sector’s jump-ring, rendering it inoperable. Shortly after, the Liberator and its container crashed into asteroid 253 Mathilde. Fortunately, our very own Lieutenant Hargrove, took the CSMO in a brave and courageous act, and saved the mining dredge from certain destruction. Sergeant Samuels was also instrumental in saving the lives aboard the Liberator, minutes before they impacted the asteroid. Both shall receive accommodation... oh, and Lieutenant Hargrove will be advanced to Captain upon your arrival.”