The Pathfinder Project (29 page)

“As long as he doesn’t hurt
anyone, I’m satisfied. Although I’m not sure some of the civilians on board
will agree with your decision.”

Adam watched her smile
nervously and grinned back reassuringly. “Well, now that we’ve taken care of
George I think we should go and get ready for the Fourth of July celebration.”

“What a great idea,” decided
Nori. “I want to dance the night away, Mister.” She kissed him and he held onto
her warmly.

“By the way – how is our friend
Lieutenant Douglas dealing with the fact that he’s our new air group
commander?” asked Adam curiously.

“Walter is just fine,” she
replied. “He loves the
Pathfinder
project and is truly glad we got to
come out this far to snoop around.” She smiled. “The best part is that he’s
more of a brain like Thomas than a gifted pilot. He spends a lot of his spare
time reading and therefore is
not
the hotshot flyboy who’s likely to win
my job away from me.”

“Nobody is going to take
your
job,” Adam said confidently. “I’ve seen your flying and there isn’t anybody
that crazy left on the ship.”

“Flattery will get you
everywhere, sir,” she said, fluttering her eyelids at him. She took his hand
and they headed toward the doorway together.

“Don’t eat too much of that
food, there, George,” Adam suggested as they walked past the cat on the floor.
“You’ve grown too much already in just three short weeks.”

“Meow,” the cat replied between
cat food crunches, just before the door slid shut.

*    
* * *     *

Several large areas in the
Garden wing had been roped off and decorated in reds, whites and blues
specifically for the evening party. The main staging area was currently
occupied by a group of musicians playing swing music when Mary arrived… she
quickly surveyed the crowd looking for Glen. Frustrated, she headed over to one
of the tables by the side of the nearest walking path and poured herself a
glass of punch. Lots of people were already dancing and she watched them
curiously while she waited. She knew he had worked most of the afternoon but
was not in the mood to forgive him for tardiness – she had not come here just
to
watch
other people dance. She wanted to step right up and get things
started.

“How are you, Lieutenant?”
Kaufield said from behind her. “Or should I have said… how are you doing there,
oh beautiful lady in a bright red dress?” She turned and smiled, sipping punch
from her glass.

“Half of us are here, anyway,”
she commented as he stepped up beside her and turned to do his own survey of
the crowd.

“Don’t be too hard on Glen,”
smiled Dennis. “I’ve had him checking and double-checking the Canary probe data
very thoroughly prior to each and every PTP transit. The rest of his staff has
done a really great job taking over for Thomas but they still need some time to
beat the learning curve. That’s a pretty sophisticated singularity we’ve got
burning beneath the ship.”

“Blah blah blah blah blahh,”
Mary said, setting her empty cup on the table. “If you won’t ask, I will. Would
you like to dance, Captain?”

“I’d be delighted,” he said
cheerfully, taking her by the hand and guiding her arm to his.

They stepped out into the area
reserved for dancing and began a conservative two-step. As they danced, the
Captain glanced over to the kids’ corner, where a clown was clumsily handing
out animal balloons while trying to avoid tripping over his huge shoes. Joseph
was in there somewhere amidst all the kids, clamoring with the rest of them for
the entertainer’s attention.

“Who’s manning the Command
Dome?” Mary asked.

“Adam is up there with a
skeleton crew for now,” responded Kaufield. “And after a few quick dances and a
‘how’re ya’ doing’ or two I’m headed right back up there so he can pick up Nori
and head on over.” He chuckled. “You should see him – he’s sitting up there in
my chair wearing all his formal stuff. It looks like he’s waiting for a party
to find
him
!”

“You should have snapped his
picture and E-Noted it to all the officers,” Mary said. “I can see the caption
now… new fleet uniforms required while on duty!” She smiled in relief as she
saw Glen walking toward them, all dressed up himself.

“Why Captain, I do believe
you’re making moves on my woman,” he said cheerfully. “Must I challenge thee to
a duel?”

“I defer to you, sir,” the
Captain replied, holding up his hands and backing away. “I’m going to go check
on Joseph and see how many balloons he’s stuck to the roof. From what I hear,
he’s getting pretty good at decorating the ceilings in here.”

Mary couldn’t help but laugh
out loud. “Balloons are new,” she commented as Glen began dancing with her.
“Usually Joseph uses the fruit from the trees.”

“I know, I have been reading
the reports from Jeffrey’s maintenance staff,” Kaufield said with a smirk.
“Please enjoy yourselves, folks. You do good work and I’m proud to have you as
part of my crew.”

Mary leaned out slightly from
behind Glen’s large frame to watch the Captain as he walked over toward the
children’s area. “He’s sure in a good mood, isn’t he?” she said. “I wonder
what’s so special in his world these days.”

“Maybe he’s happy to see
everyone having a good time for a change,” suggested Glen, spinning her once
while holding onto just the fingertips of her left hand. She completed the
twirl and he pulled her close again. “Why don’t we sneak away real quick for a
romantic walk through those trees behind you?” he whispered into her ear.

“Now
that’s
a great
idea,” she decided.

If anyone noticed them leaving
they didn’t say anything. The couple quickly ducked behind a grove of nearby
trees and Glen led her steadily further back into the woodsy area of the Garden
wing. They continued on for quite a ways, and Mary found it hard to believe
just how much room there was for grass and growing things. It was a spectacular
sight, and they weren’t even in the area for growing crops yet!

“Are you into the spirit of the
party yet?” Glen asked, beginning to dance with her again. The music in the
background had faded, but they could still hear it and he pressed his cheek
close to hers. She closed her eyes and just danced with him for a few minutes
before noticing just how far into the Garden wing he had led her.

“Oh Glen…” she said, looking
out the open window they had neared. As far as she could see, clouds of
brilliant white stars and intertwining, colorful nebulae dotted the blackness
beyond. “This is beautiful… I knew we had moved the
Pathfinder
close to
a cluster of galaxies, but I never expected to be able to see so much of it
from in here!” She just stared in admiration, soaking in the spectacular view
of the heavens outside.

“I dare say there will be a lot
of people checking out the scenery from up here later this evening,” decided
Glen. “But I wanted to share it with you first.” He kissed her softly and,
almost immediately, she began to blush.

“How long have we been going
together, anyway?” he asked, looking into her beautiful brown eyes. “Has it
been over a year already?” She drew back her hand to smack him and he held up
his left forefinger. “Actually,” he said, his brow furrowing intensely as he
thought things carefully through, “My guess would be 627 days, 15 hours and 12
minutes.” He glanced at his watch as if to check his facts and she finally did
lightly slap him on the shoulder.

“You’re more accurate than you
know,” Mary said, mocking a bit of irritation. “It is actually closer to two
years now than it is to one.”

“I know that… facts and figures
are my specialty,” he said. “I checked very carefully this morning so that I
would be correct with my facts at this evening’s celebration. It’s been 627
days, 15 hours and 11 minutes now since we first met…” He trailed off talking
as she reared back to slap him harder this time. She stopped in mid-swing as he
humbly lowered his head and dropped to one knee. “…And during that 1.7 years I
knew from the start that it was only a matter of time before I worked up my
courage and asked you to marry me. So why don’t we make it official right now!”
He pulled a small black box out of his pocket, opened it, and held the diamond
ring out for her to look over.

“Glen, are you
serious
?”
she asked, attempting to hide her elation. The diamond in the ring sparkled
brightly in the soft starlight winding through the dimly lit woods surrounding
them. Her brown eyes were so wide with astonishment that he laughed heartily.

“Mary Hastings, will you marry
me?” he asked, kissing her softly.

She reared back again and
slapped him harder. “You had this planned all along, didn’t you?” she said,
laughing so hard that tears ran from her eyes. She nervously wiped them dry,
smiling happily the entire time.

“Of course I did Mary,” he
said, rising back to his feet. “And when a fellow asks a lady a question like
that, he’s usually feeling very vulnerable, scared, and extremely worked up
with anxiety until she answers…”

“
Yes
,” she said,
lowering her eyes. “Yes, I will marry you, Glen Fredericks.” She held out her
hand as he put the ring on her finger and then they tenderly kissed again.

He resumed their slow dance and
quickly earned a third slap from his bride-to-be. “Let’s get back to the party
pal,” Mary said, her normally soft voice deepening with determination. “I’ve
got some serious gossiping to do with my friends.” She laughed as she grabbed
his hand and began pulling him back toward the distant sound of the music.

They walked past the tree rows
and headed back toward the party area. The overhanging branches were quite
thick so Mary was surprised again as they emerged from the trees to see
everyone gathered around. The crowd began applauding as soon as the couple
emerged back into the light and Lieutenant Mary Hastings promptly turned and
whacked her boyfriend on his shoulder for the fourth time.

“Already the honeymoon is
over,” he said, shaking his head. “And the abuse begins.”

“Everybody on the ship knew
about this except for
me
?” Mary asked. Glen nodded and couldn’t help
reacting to the expression on her face. He pulled a chair out from one of the tables,
sat down in it and began laughing as loudly as he could. He could hear cameras
clicking in the background and pointed a finger at her.

“I forgot
my
camera,” he
said. “So I’m glad there are people out there who thought ahead and are
preserving our first of many precious moments!”

“Congratulations,” Captain
Kaufield said, walking over and heartily shaking Glen’s hand.

Joseph stood next to him with a
huge smile on his face and handed Mary a bunch of brightly colored balloons.
“Congratulations, Glen and Mary!” the twelve year old grinned.

“I’m glad you could be here,
Captain,” Mary said, taking the balloons and holding them close to her. She
smiled at the ecstatic grin on Joseph’s face and glanced around, picking out
all the friendly faces in the crowd. Thomas was there, standing next to the
really pretty brunette who lived directly across the corridor from her. She
also spotted Adam and Nori, along with many of her other good friends. Dr.
Simmons was also present along with Jeff Mathison, Corporal Henderson and his
daughter Lucy. She hadn’t expected Julie to make it, and the thought of her
friend and shipboard duties caused her to suddenly swirl around with a puzzled
look at Kaufield. “Adam is here now, Captain. So who’s minding the store up in
the Command Dome?” she asked, unable to restrain her curiosity.

“A couple of raw ensigns I
found down below,” Dennis replied with a smile. “Actually I will be, in a few
minutes anyway.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I wouldn’t have
missed this for the world, Lieutenant.” He glanced over at Adam. “I have to go
back on duty after one more dance with Glen’s blushing new bride. I hope I can
count on you to get Joseph home safely and keep the fruit off the ceilings.”

“Yes sir,” Adam promised,
trying not to smirk as Nori elbowed him expertly.

The Captain turned around and
proudly raised Glen and Mary’s clenched hands into the air. Everyone shouted
and hooted their approval and began to applaud again. The Captain expertly
waited for the crowd to quiet down and then shouted as loudly as he could, “
What’s
everybody waiting for? It’s the Fourth of July… let’s get this party going
again
!”

Later that evening found Dennis
sitting comfortably in his chair on the Command Dome carefully studying the
latest status reports. Several ensigns manned the stations normally helmed by
Adam and Mary, but other than that the room was very quiet except for the
background noise of the active equipment. He noticed on the overhead monitors
that there were a couple of star systems in the immediate vicinity, but the
Pathfinder
currently sat very quietly in space near one of the few vacant areas thus far
mapped in the Centaurus super-cluster. Dr. Markham needed darkness for her
telescopes in order to minimize the star shine and use them to gaze as far as
possible deeper yet into the space beyond.

The Captain was very grateful
that he had not heard that terrible “enemy contacts” phrase used for well over
a month now. People were actually beginning to feel safe and secure aboard
ship, and he still held their general welfare listed as his number one
priority. After the brutal attack they had all witnessed, just getting back
into some semblance of a normal life had proved to be a daily challenge for
everyone… not just the ship’s officers.

He remembered the horrible
events, how fast everything had happened, and all the progress they had made
since then. He also remembered very vividly the frightening encounter with the
sinister Brotherhood and their mysterious warship. Looking back with a touch of
hindsight, he felt that the right decisions had been made at the right time.
There would always be things that bothered him, things that he felt he could
have done better. But overall he was in good shape and was confident that he
and the crew had made the best choices possible given the circumstances.