Chapter 10

Author's note:

It has been a long time, I know. Those who have read my blog, have an inkling as to why. Events in my life have not been kind to me since my last posting. I won't go into detail, because I realize that many of you have faced similar issues. For some, these take a while to overcome. I'm only human, and that is the case with me. I lost the will to write, or do most anything else I enjoyed. It was only recently that I opened my editor once again.

Even then, it was to write something different. At last count, I have five other stories begun. Most of those have two thousand lines or more. Evidently, I have concentration issues. So, there is my explanation, for what it's worth. These things, along with the fact that I write less in the summer anyway, are why this story has remained unfinished for so long. Summer at my place takes a bit of work. It takes all day just to mow the yard, not to mention the fact that that's only a small portion of my week. I'm taking care of two houses now, two hundred miles apart (part of my sad tale, sorry). My weekends are pretty well shot, and for the first time in memory, I'm looking forward to winter. Since I hate cold worse than I do extreme liberals, that's saying a mouthful.

-Rote

It was five years later that Matt leaned back in the chair at his desk, and let out a huge sigh of relief. Tedious would be a huge understatement of the effort in the transition of responsibilities he had previously seen to himself.

Twelve people now handled what he had been doing for a very long time. 'How in the name of Hel did I do all of that?', he thought. 'No wonder I fucked up so often! Things should definitely work out much better now'.

He had been slightly irritated with the fact that he hadn't even been allowed to see his new home, also. Only the fact that Rhonda was handling the preparations soothed his nerves. Like anything else the woman had undertaken, he knew she would do a better job than he would anyway.

Looking back on all that had occurred in the last half-decade pleased him. At least he was retiring on a positive note. The Federation was at peace, finally, though the mop-up of the Halim had been pronounced complete only in the last month.

Better than that, Earth had joined the Federation last year. That had been an accomplishment he thought he would never live to see. The seeds the Bards had sown took a while to take root, but take root they had. Some of the growth pains involved in the seedling stage hadn't been pretty.

The message had been one of peaceful coexistence, but the evolution it required to reach that point had been sometimes more than a little violent. It had been particularly bad in the Middle East. There were still religious fanatics everywhere, but the Islamists were, by far, the worst of the lot. What they failed to consider, is what peace and prosperity does to the human psyche.

Within a year of the Bard's appearance, stirring up old hatred ceased to be tolerated. Over a hundred self-proclaimed "Messengers of Allah" had been stoned to death in village squares, before the rest seemed to realize the people had a "message" of their own to impart to them.

There were no more hungry masses. No more people living under tyranny. As such, there was no way to blame others for troubles that no longer existed. The oil-based economies were industrial and agricultural, now.

A shift had occurred in economic prosperity, too. South America was now as rich an area as anywhere on the planet, along with anywhere else suitable for growing coffee. There were other planets where the beans could be grown, but for some reason, the coffee exported from Earth was the most popular.

Marijuana was another huge cash crop that had a vast market, and contributed greatly to the economy. Hawaii was doing quite well in both of these areas, for one. Not many other crops were exported, but some were. There were planets in the Federation where some things just wouldn't grow.

Looking back, Matt realized that if he had allowed replicators to be used dirt-side, none of this would have occurred. Not that it hadn't been attempted, he thought ruefully. Those that had used replication technology unlawfully, quickly discovered that this offense was not looked upon with favor. It carried a sentence of twenty years at hard labor. There were no excuses, and there was no parole.

His mates had been a slight problem, with regard to retirement. Most of them were not even close to being as overwhelmed and burnt-out as he was, and balked at the life of leisure he was looking forward to. Those that had been with him the longest, laughed at the very idea of him taking it easy.

Connie had about gone into convulsions, laughing "That'll be the fucking day! I give it a week, before your climbing the walls because you're bore out of your feeble little mind!"

He remembered her comment now, and smiled. She was probably correct in her assumption. After all these years, she knew him better than he knew himself. Still, doing nothing but relaxing seemed just the ticket to him. As he closed the last file on his terminal, it was as if the weight of the universe had been lifted from his shoulders.

Almost as if she had been looking over his shoulder, he heard Rhonda's sweet voice in his mind. "Time to go home, love", she said gently. "Your chariot awaits. It's at the private pad, and shouldn't be hard to find".

I thought it was strange that there was no one around. The offices were usually frantic with activity, but the place now looked deserted. I found out why, just as soon as I opened the door. From that point, all the way to the strange ship I could see in the distance, the way was lined with a cheering throng.

I stopped in my tracks, and seriously considered turning around. It was too much. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I found both arms clutched by a pair of beautiful bookends.

"Don't even think about it", growled Dina.

"They just want to say goodbye", added Dora, "and wish you well. You WILL behave. Got it?"

I laughed as I retrieved my arms, and wrapped them around my little blonde Spitfires. "Yes dears", I said, "anything you say, dears."

Any further comment was cut short by my "OW!", as both rear cheeks got pinched. The little tarts captured my hands so I couldn't even retaliate, too!

They released me as we began the walk, but quickly retreated a step. I was forced to the front, and began the long hike to the ship. It looked like two miles, but felt like fifty. It seemed like every race in the Federation had a large group in attendance, and I wouldn't even attempt to guess how many had turned out for this melee. Eventually, we got to our destination.

My whistle as I looked up at the sleek vessel was lost in the noise of the crowd, but the girls could tell I loved it. The ship wasn't huge, but it was much larger than the shuttle I had expected to take us up to the Sussmann. It didn't look anything like a shuttle, really. It looked more like an old jet fighter plane from the history books. On steroids. Lots and lots of steroids.

It had to be at least two hundred meters long, and though I couldn't determine the width from outside, it appeared to be proportional. I cracked up when I saw all of my mates line up on the boarding platform in two ranks. Each was wearing a uniform seemingly inspired by a cross between the old stewardess and cheerleader outfits. By the time they got lined up, and saluted, I was gasping for breath.

I returned the salute, and walked up the ramp. Thankfully, a speech wasn't required. My farewell address had already been broadcast, so I just waved as I entered the cabin. My mouth was still hanging open when the door fully closed and sealed.

"Welcome to the Loki", Tina said with a huge grin. "It's the first of many surprises we have for you."

My flawless eloquence immediately rose to the surface, and I stuttered "What? ... How? ... Who?..."

A chorus of giggles, was followed by Sharon explaining "It's a new ship type. We hope you like it, because we all designed it for you."

"From what I've seen so far", I said with a gulp, "I love it. What's its specification? I mean, what is it designed to do?"

"That would take hours to explain", Rhonda said. "Why don't we show you instead?"

That sounded like a fine idea, so they led me to the bridge. Dina and Dora were the pilots, of course. I wanted to fly it, but they wouldn't let me.