A TALE OF BROTHERS

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 12
 

  “We’re docked, Captain,” Elias said as he began to set the controls on his console to stand-by mode. “Awaiting your order to open the hatches.”

  Captain Palmers looked at her own status board incorporated into her seat and felt her eyebrows rise. She hadn’t even felt the normal shudder that most pilots were unable to avoid berthing a ship as large as the Vanguard. “Well done, Mister Tivnan. Give my permission for opening the hatches. Mister Gordon, signal all-clear for the rest of the crew to disembark. Command Staff debrief in one hour my ready room. I would also ask that the two of you join us.”

“Aye, Ma’am,” the human answered before doing as instructed. “Tha’ was a perfect dockin’, Elias. An’ ye were goin’ tae bleedin’ resign,” Alistair said with a chortle and shake of his head. “Bein’ a natural pilot an’ all.”

  “Hey, I changed my mind, didn’t I?” the fox asked with a lopsided grin. As the two bantered back and forth Elias and Alistair gathered their flight kits that contained datapak slateboards for navigational computations and served as logbooks along with old-style notebooks, a variety of stylus and small personal mementos that they had acquired and carried as good luck charms, one of the fox’s being a leg garter that Vanna had given him after a most enjoyable time on shore leave.

  “An’ it’s a good thin’ ye did,” the human mumbled.

  Joking back and forth, Elias and Alistair made their way to their cabins to stow their kit bags and gather belongings until the required meeting in the Captain’s ready room. The corridors that had been jammed with various crew members rushing to and fro to secure the ship for servicing were gone by the time each reemerged, fresh duty uniforms on and boots properly polished.

  “Ye’d think we didnae just get back tae Joplin,” Alistair observed as they walked the corridors that were devoid of anything save armed and armored SPOs that guarded sensitive sections of the frigate. “It’s bein’ a might depressin’.”

“Yeah. It is,” the fox agreed, a little chagrined that he hadn’t seen Vanna at all since the previous ship’s cycle. “I hope debrief isn’t too long.”

“Feh. Ye jus’ wanna be hookin’ up with the lovely Vanna as quick as ye can,” Alistair commented with a laugh. “Tha’ or ha’ ye got another lass what’s got yer attention? Tha’ coyote…Deanna was it?...I know she’s been makin’ the eyes at ye and getting’ all moon-eyed whene’er she’s been a’seein’ ye.”

  “Er…” Elias grumbled. “Don’t remind me. I’ve got no problem spending a little playtime with others, but I draw the line at mated females.”

  “She’s mated?” the man asked with a surprised expression. “Truly?”

  The fox nodded. “You’ve seen her with her collar on, right?” Elias asked as he glanced at his friend. “The pendant on it matches the one her mate wears. It’s the custom from the part of Hestra that she comes from,though they have something similar on a lot of the other worlds, too.”

  “I’m glad ye tol’ me tha’. I thought it was jus’ bein’ somethin’ like jewelry.”

  Elias shrugged. “Sometimes the collars are just that. But when there’s a pendant like the one Deanna has it’s a marriage symbol.” The fox quirked a grin at his companion. “Maybe you should brush up on some of the customs of other worlds a little better. I’d hate to hear that you got shot in the back jumping out of some female’s window because you were fleeing from her jealous mate.”

  “Mebbe,” Alistair said with a smarmy grin. “But wha’ a way tae go!”

The banter stopped when the two entered the Captain’s ready room, Valencia Palmers foremost in the group with the rest of her command staff spread out to the left and right of the tigress. The stern looks were rather daunting, and the fox snapped to attention, Alistair following suit half a second behind his friend.

“Ma’am! Warrant Officers Tivnan and Gordon reporting as ordered!” Elias barked out crisply.

  “Step forward, gentles,” Valencia ordered the two.

  Taking three steps each, Alistair’s last a little longer than the white fox’s to bring them shoulder to shoulder, the pair waited, eyes forward in perfect parade ground attention and snapped salutes in unison. The salute was returned by Captain Palmers who then moved so that she was standing before the fox.

“For the past year you have been tested and evaluated for your fitness as pilots in the Spatial Police Force. At this time it is my pleasure and honor to inform you that you have not only met the requirements that the SPF expects, but you have also exceeded them.” Valencia accepted a wooden box from her First Officer, the cairn terrier nodding in approval at the two young officers. “As such, it is my privilege to bestow upon you the insignia that you have earned to let all that see you know that you are fully qualified pilots within the ranks of our agency.”

  The tigress pulled out a small badge that was comprised of the SPF insignia backed by a pair of stylized outstretched wings. She placed the pin on the left breast of Elias’ uniform.

  “These have been earned by determination, perseverance, dedication and blood. Wear them proudly, Chief Warrant Officer Fourth Class Tivnan.” As she said the last, the tigress pounded the wings so that the two pins were driven into the fox’s uniform, past the fur and into the flesh beneath, the impact eliciting a grunt from Elias.

  As the Captain repeated the same with Alistair, Lans Ranson stepped up to Elias and also pounded the wings, driving the pins in a little further. The rest of the command staff, all six of them, followed suit, and apart from the holes poked into him, Elias knew there was going to be a rather spectacular bruise under his fur before the day was over.

  “Now that you’ve earned your blood wings, we have another tradition with every ship I’ve ever served on,” Valencia said, her tone a little more warm and friendly. “Stand easy,” she instructed the now fully commissioned pair. The tigress turned halfway and accepted another wooden container from Ranson and opened the lid, the contents this time being a bottle that was dark and dust caked, the label faded and peeling and looking positively ancient. “When I earned my wings, and after my own first Captain pounded them so far into my chest I thought I’d need a pry bar to get them off, he shared a drink with me. I’d like to do the same now with the two of you.”

  Elias and Alistair accepted cut crystal tumblers from Doctor Lasko, the hedgehog smiling widely at the entire episode as he gave the other officers their glasses, then waited as Valencia poured just a swallow into each before corking the bottle and returning it to its box.

  “This particular bottle has seen the toasting of twelve other officers after they earned their wings. Some are still serving,” the tigress said as her eyes developed a far-away look, “others are now names on the Wall of the Fallen. All of them, however, have distinguished themselves, and it was my honor to be officer that validated their flight status.

  “If what I have seen on this cruise is any indication, then the two of you are destined for greatness. It has been my honor and pleasure serving with both of you, and more so to acknowledge you as brothers-in-uniform.” Valencia looked at the other officers gathered about and lifted her glass. “To Alistair Gordon and Elias Tivnan. I wish them long lives and clear skies!”

  The others seconded the sentiment and drank, Elias nearly choking on the fiery liquid while Alistair smacked his lips appreciatively.  

*** 

  Other drinks had followed after the initial toast, but those had been less refined beverages. Elias and Alistair discovered that the bottle used for their induction toast was three hundred year old Silloni brandy and the human was of the mind he’d have to recommend it to his father. Both were more than thankful that their transit quarters were next to each other as they made their way through the tunnels and chambers carved out of the very rock of Joplin. Both leaned heavily on each other, Alistair perhaps the more stable one from long practice of pub crawling.

At one point they got turned around and were helped by a slightly older sergeant, the raccoon taking pity on the thoroughly hazed young officers. It wasn’t until they got to their rooms that Alistair realized the non-com helping them was their first instructor when they’d arrived as fresh faced cadets, Sergeant Halley.

  “Don’t worry, Sirs,” the raccoon said with a warm laugh. “You aren’t the first officers I’ve had to help from their wing-blooding!” Halley looked at Elias then Alistair. “And I must say that you do this old sergeant proud. I knew we could make some good SPOs out of you!”

  Alistair looked blearily at the raccoon, wavering a little as he cocked his head to the side. “Sergeant, did ye know ye were th’ reason o’ a great many nigh’mares I been a havin’?”

  “Sir, if I weren’t, then I wasn’t doing my job properly,” Halley replied with a wide, toothy grin. She got both settled into the joined quarters, making sure that the fox and human had glasses of water to drink so as to lessen the effects the following morning.

  “But…ye mean ye didnae be hatin’ me?” Alistair inquired with surprise.

  Halley shook her head and made the human tip the glass up and drink before speaking. “Sir, I’ve never hated anyone that’s come here.” She looked around in an exaggerated conspiratorial manner. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. If anything, I love the young males and females that come here, Sir. It means they see the value of something more than just themselves and are willing to defend that. It means they’ve decided the light of civilization we have fought so hard to build is worth protecting. Eventually they become individuals that I’d be willing to face anything with and know that there is a trust between us that civilians will never understand because we wear the same uniform.”

  “I thought ye hated me…”

  Halley chuckled. “No, Sir. I was hard on you because I needed you to be sure this was what you wanted, and to get you to realize your own value. I had to get rid of all the muck you brought with you so you could grow into a fine adult and officer.” She took the empty glass from the human and set it on the small kitchenette counter the room came with and guided the man back on his bunk and covered him with a blanket.

  “Well now, don’ tha’ just beat all…” Alistair said before drifting off with a smile.

  “Now, let’s get you into your bunk, Sir,” Halley said as the raccoon stepped over to Elias.

  “Ya know, he really did have nightmares ‘bout you,” the fox slurred with a grin.

  “Most cadets do,” the Sergeant replied as she all but carried the fox to his bunk and got him situated. “If you ever meet him, there’s one wolf that will swear I’m the Dark One and evil incarnate. Poor Mercks, chunky little scrapper that he is. I bet he’s still having bad dreams about me, but that’s a story for another time, Sir. You get some sleep.”

  Elias nodded and relaxed, vaguely aware of the Sergeant pausing at the door to his room and turning off the lights.

  “And welcome home, Sir.” 

*** 

Two day cycles later, Alistair received orders to report to the light cruiser SPF Solar Zephyr as the primary relief pilot while Elias was informed he would be returning to the Academy flight school. Alistair scratched his head at the directive as he looked over the hardcopy. “Back tae flight school? But…well, ye’re a qualified pilot, now. I cannae reason it ou’!”

The fox shrugged, just as perplexed by the orders as the human was. “I thought it was a little weird as well and when I asked the placement officer, I was told I needed a short course on some new kind of ship that we’re supposed to be getting. She said it was classified as a sloop, whatever that is.”

  Alistair looked up and regarded his friend. “I wonder…” he mused. “Back on Earth, durin’ th’ days o’ sailin’ vessels an’ th’ like, a sloop was bein’ a smallish combat vessel. Fast, not too heavy on the guns, bu’ righ’ handy. There were a couple o’ stories o’ squadrons o’ them kinds o’ ships takin’ on larger warships an’ trouncin’ ‘em but good.” The man began to grin. “I wonder if’n this ain’ gonna be like one o’ them?”

  “I guess I’ll find out,” Elias commented. “What about you, though? A light cruiser? That’s going to be something! More crew means more potential ladies for you to sweep off their feet!”

  “Aye,” the man agreed. “I do be likin’ me ladies tae be plentiful! Plus our cruise is s’posed ta be somewhere near high pirate activity. I woldnae min’ seein’ some action ‘gainst them.”

  Before Elias could respond, the chime to his door sounded a moment before it opened, a pleased and far more confident looking Vanna standing before the two Warrant Officers. Elias had just opened his mouth to say her name when the mouse launched herself at the fox, her arms slipping about his neck as her short muzzle pressed against his in a deep kiss.

  “Look!” Vanna said when she and the fox parted, two fingers indicating the dual stripes on her sleeve beneath the SPF patch. “I got booted up to corporal because of the Al-Myr rescue!”

  “That’s great!” Elias enthused, Alistair joining the couple and getting a hug from the rodent. “Have you gotten your orders yet?”

“Yeah! I’m getting sent to staff the SPF Barracks on Tanthe! I’ve always wanted to go there! It’s going to be great!” Vanna gushed. “I…I don’t think I could have gotten this far without you,” she told the fox with a warm expression. “Both of you,” the mouse added as she took one paw to pull Alistair closer and hugged both males. “I wasn’t too sure I’d made the right choice when they assigned me to the Vanguard for my apprentice cruise. I was even thinking about quitting, but I learned that I can do this! I feel so much more…well, I guess you could say I’ve found my confidence. But then I had some really good teachers to show me how.” The affectionate look she gave was divided between the fox and human. “I don’t know if I can ever really thank you for that.”

  “Don’t thank us,” Elias said with a smile. “You had it in you the whole time, you just needed to learn that it was there.”

  Vanna nodded then swung her full attention back to the fox. “You know, I have a few hours before I have to report to the Odin’s Spear,” she said demurely. “Wanna give me a proper good-bye?”

  “An’ this is where I be takin’ me leave o’ ye two,” Alistair said as he planted a kiss on the mouse’s cheek. “Ye take care o’ yerself, Vanna.”

  “I will, Alistair. See you out there!”

  The man turned and left after throwing a wink at the fox, a wide grin on his face as he exited.

  “You know, I wish we were going to be on the same ship again,” the mouse told Elias as she pressed closer to the fox. “You…you really are something else, Elias.”

  “So are you, lover,” he replied as Vanna steered the two of them towards his bunk. “So are you.”

— NEXT CHAPTER —

Unless otherwise noted, all material © Ted R. Blasingame. All rights reserved.