The MeteDrives Mystery Part IV
10 Nov 2016Jellicoe
"It's Raan Corsen sir." Lieutenant Commander Skirving's voice came through from the bridge. "They're reporting she's dead.""Chapter and verse please Mr Skirving." Jellicoe replied feeling a jolt of shock at the news.
"Earth Defence Fleet Official sir, they're reporting she jumped into Alioth and was killed in a crash."
"Thank you Mr Skirving, plot a course for Alioth and await further orders." Jellicoe turned to the console on his desk and began to gather and sift details of the still emerging story, from what he could make out the pursuit had tracked Raan through a number of systems until she had jumped into Alioth where, unwilling to risk the political fallout of jumping a Federation military unit into the capital system of the Alliance and aware many of their pilots lacked the required permit the EDF had sent a single ship to follow and maintain contact and they had watched helpless as Raan's apparently heavily damaged ship had crashed into Alioth 4A. No escape pod had been observed ejecting from the doomed ship so she was thus presumed killed in the impact.
"Computer get me a link to Kira Gomez of the Alioth Independents, soon as you can." Jellicoe went back to re-reading the reports as he waited, Kira was a busy woman, one of the vice presidents of the ruling faction of Alioth and such people were not at the beck and call of a mere independent pilot, still, Jellicoe had put a lot of work into cultivating his relationship with the Independents and Kira was, well, he'd find out where he stood with Kira nowadays; they had not parted on bad terms but it was a long time ago, she did owe him a few favours though. Presently, and sooner than he had expected the hologram of an extremely glamorous, immaculately dressed woman in her late middle years blinked into being on the other side of his desk.
"Welcome back Commander Jellicoe, it's a great pleasure to see you have returned." The woman said in the slightly odd accent of the upper strata Alioth society."
"The pleasure is all mine vice president." Jellicoe replied politely slightly inclining his head towards her.
"So what can I do for you Stannis? I presume you want something quite badly to come all the way back to Alioth."
"At the moment the only thing I really want is dinner with a beautiful woman."
"Smooth Stannis, if a little cheesy. What makes you think I'm not seeing someone? Believe it or not I don't sit here pining for the day Stannis Jellicoe returns, you're not that cute."
"Kira I'm crushed. All that time out in the void with only the memory of you to keep me sane." Jellicoe replied with the merest hint of a smile.
"Cheesy darling, much too cheesy." She laughed slightly. "Be at the Quest Club for eight thirty, and make sure you're properly dressed."
The Quest Club was the most exclusive establishment in Alioth, Edmund Mahon was a member as were several of the Council of Admirals and the most senior executives of the Alliance's leading corporations, here even a man of Jellicoe's multi billion credit fortune was of little consequence among the elite of a galactic superpower. The surroundings were tastefully opulent, the food beyond excellent and, from Jellicoe's point of view, the company sublime. Jellicoe and Kira had first met when he had been an ambitious young freighter pilot and she a rising corporate star, at first she had been a useful contact as well as a young mans fantasy of a beautiful older woman, while he had been her excitement and energetic bit of rough but it had progressed beyond a simple fun fling and while their radically different lifestyles and, if they were honest, the age gap had made sure it went nowhere the two had remained very fond of each other. After dinner over a glass of the very finest Lavian brandy Jellicoe began trying to gently steer the conversation to the subject of information, but Kira placed a long, perfectly manicured finger to his lips.
"please don't Stannis, leave business till tomorrow, let me have tonight pretending you came back just to see me." Jellicoe nodded and smiled sadly as he felt a surge of guilt and regret, that should have been reason enough, why had it not been? Their brandy finished they moved through to the sumptuous ballroom where they danced long into the night to the music of Alioths finest chamber orchestra before being chauffeured to Kira's immaculate penthouse apartment in the most expensive part of the capital.
The following morning as Jellicoe began to come round he rolled over and reached across to put his arm round Kira fondly remembering her energy and enthusiasm in the morning but felt only empty sheets where she had been. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"Lights." He said sleepily and as they came on a hologram of Kira shimmered into being at the foot of the bed.
"Sorry you missed me sleepyhead." The pre-recorded message said with a smile. "I had some early meetings and didn't want to wake you, plus you know how much I hate goodbyes. I've left a data slate with the co-ordinates of Raan Corsen's crash site on my dressing table." She smiled, clearly anticipating the look of surprise Jellicoe now wore. "You're not the only one who does their homework hotshot, anyway it's all there plus a map to guide you in." She smiled again, but a hint of sadness touched her eyes. "Maybe I'll see you again some day, fly safe Stannis."
Jellicoe showered, dressed and let himself out, he knew he should head straight back to his ship but his mind was a broiling mix of shame, regret and self disgust and he had no intention f letting his crew see him until he recovered his carefully crafted mask of cocksure coolness so, ignoring the amused or disapproving looks a man in full evening dress attracted at this time in the morning he made his way to a small café to get some breakfast and think. Kira had been the fun fling that had gone too far, feelings were not part of the arrangement but they had still intruded, for both of them it was now clear, and for the first time he had had to see what he had left behind when he jumped out. Should he have stayed? No, he could never be happy tied to one system he was a creature of space with a soul that was touched by the void, and anyway a woman or family was something men like him had no business with. He was a combat pilot, death was his business and however skilled he was, however powerful his ship might be death was always at his shoulder, a knowledge kept at arms length with forced humour and a devil may care attitude, there were old pilots and bold pilots as the ancient saying went, but no old and bold pilots and he knew he could only stay one step ahead of death for so long. No he had made his choice, hearth and home, wife and child were not for him, it was better for everyone that way; a pilot who went into battle seeing the face of a sweetheart or child in his minds eye was a pilot who fought with fear, and fear got you killed and he had seen far too many widows and orphans to put someone he cared for through that. To be a pilot was a privilege, it allowed you to see things most of humanity could not even imagine, to do things few others could conceive, it was freedom and it was joy, a pilot could live more in a single moment than most people could in a hundred years but it came at a price, and that price was to be alone. He finished his breakfast and took a shuttle back to the space port. He had a job to do.