Hammer's War 1: Forging the Hammer (27 page)

Eve stood up to speak to the captain, “Well
Hello there,” she said as she batted her eyes.  “I’m the Captain here.  My name is Eve, and my crew and I have been a long time in space when we were attacked by this ship. We were able to overpower and kill the crew, but our ship was heavily damaged and we had to escape in theirs.  We were on route to Nova Texas when we were attacked.  If we turn back now, where are we to go?”

The captain raised an eyebrow, “Well Captain, I must admit that is quite the story, and I hope you will pardon my disbelief
that the two of you overpowered a crew of what, six or seven Ralnai.”

Eve smiled a wicked little smile that she knew
would melt a man’s heart, “Oh you are a smart one!  Captain….” she paused, waiting for his name.

“Captain Daniel Wesson,” he replied.

“Thank you Captain Wesson, you are right. It was not just the two of us. We had a crew of twenty. It was our numbers that won the day for us.  Unfortunately only I, my first officer, and two young greenhorn crewmen were all that survived,” Eve said.

She could tell by the way his face relaxed, just a little
, he believed her.  He spoke again, “that is unfortunate in deed, but I still have my orders.  I cannot let your ship into Federation space,” he paused for effect.  “However, given your current situation I could break some regulations for you.”

Eve smiled, “Thank you
, Captain, I knew you were a good man, I could tell by just the cut of your jib.”

He laughed, “You sure do know your old nautical terms don’t you?”

“Why Captain, how can one captain a ship and not know all the right terminology?” she played coy with him.

“So true Madame, but I’m not sure you should thank me yet until you have heard my terms of help,” he said.

“Pray do tell Captain,” she leaned towards the screen, a little cleavage couldn’t hurt.

“Well
, as I said I cannot allow your ship to cross the border, but the crew is another matter.  So the best I can do is take you and your crew aboard the Damocles, and transport you to the nearest planet where you can book passage to your destination,” he said.

“I think that would be acceptable Captain,” Eve replied.

“Wait there is one more caveat,” he said.

“Oh,” she said.

“Yes, I insist that you join me in my mess for dinner tonight,” he said.

“I would love to, and thank you again,” Eve said as she cut the video feed.  She turned to Thad, “You okay with that?”

He stood there with his arms crossed, “Captain uh?”  She shrugged her shoulders.  “Well at least you made me first officer.”

She started to pout, “I’m sorry Thad
, I was, as you would say, flying by the seat of my pants.”

Thad laughed, “I’m just messing with you Eve, you did fine, better than fine
. We are still alive and in one piece. I would call that a win.”

The Damocles came along side and docked with the Ralnai ship.
  Eve and crew grabbed their gear, left the ship, and boarded the Damocles.  Captain Wesson met them in person.  After introductions he instructed a crewman to show them to their quarters, except Eve whom he escorted to the bridge.  The twins were not happy about given separate quarters, but they understood.  They did not want it known they were married to Thad, afraid it would be too much of a clue as to who they really were.

On the bridge, Eve and Captain Wesson watched as the Damocles pulled away from the Ralnai scout ship
, and when they reached a safe distance Wesson said, “Okay commander, fire.” 

The tactical officer said, “Aye, aye
Sir.”  They watched as the Damocles fired two of its large MAG (Magnetic Assisted Gun) guns.  Two solid slugs, the size of a small car, smashed into the little ship, destroying it in a flash of brilliant light.

Eve turn to Wesson, “You know it took me two weeks to make that thing livable
.

“I
’m sorry about your ship, but I have standing orders,” was his reply.

“I’m not,” Wesson looked shocked, “Two weeks of hard cleaning and it still smelled like Ralnai piss in there,” she said.  The bridge crew laughed.

That night Eve spent the evening with the Captain, while Thad spent his time with the twins in the mess hall and taking a tour of the ship with the first officer.  He was a tall blond man from “Earth, Santa Cruz California,” he said, and more than once as if he was trying to make sure they knew where he came from.  It was late ship time and Eve still had not been seen so Thad returned to his quarters and turned in for the night.  The twins did as well although they were quite disappointed to be sleeping alone.

It was not until after breakfast that anyone saw Eve again.  Freya found her first, “So missy
where have you been all night?”

Eve smiled, “Oh
, can’t a girl have her secrets?”

Freya laughed, “Not from me sister, now spill it.”

“The Captain is an extremely charming man you know.  He reminds me a lot of Doctor Hammer.  He was a perfect gentleman, and his company was a refreshing change from the Untors.  Don’t get me wrong, they were great, but not well read or refined,” Eve said.

Freya could tell she was trying to avoid spilling the gritty details of her evening so she pushed her, “So you were gone all night and most of the morning, did you
do it?”  Not sure, what she meant by, ‘do it’, Eve gave her a puzzled look.  Freya rolled her eyes, “You know, the horizontal mambo, bow-chika-bow-wow, ride um cowgirl, bumping uglies, knocking boots, the wild monkey dance, you know making whoopee, trying out the new hardware?”  Eve stood there with a puzzled look.  “Gee’s sometimes you are so thick!  Sex girl, did you sex up the handsome Captain?

Eve giggled, “Oh that, yes I did.”

“So how was it?”  Freya asked.

“Well as I
’m an AI in a robot body, I would have to say it was amazing. There are sensors in this body so the robot can respond to her lover, and their input is truly amazing.  I felt every little touch and the emotions that came with them was, well mind blowing to say the least.  I have been spending half my processing time trying to understand them all,” Eve smiled.

They giggled like schoolgirls until Fiona found them in the hallway, “Hey what’s so funny?”  Fiona asked.

Freya put her arm around Eve, “Our girl here got busy with the Captain.”

Fiona hugged her, “Good for you, it was about time, but don’t you think it was a little fast.  I mean you just met the man.”

Eve said, “I guess I never thought of that.  For me there is no moral argument or impediment as I’m a computer program, and therefore have no soul that can be thrust into Hell.  I feel no shame or guilt.  I saw something I liked and I went after it.  I don’t see a problem with that.”

Fiona laughed, “I don’t either girl.  Just do me a favor and don’t ever tell me you have no soul.  Who knows what really makes up one
. What I have seen of you convinces me you have more soul than a lot of flesh and blood people. 

Laugher had turned to tears
. It was Eve that was crying.  She hugged both of them tightly, “Oh I love you two like you were my own.”

Freya said, “That is great Eve, but I think Fiona is turning blue and is going to pass out.”

“Oh sorry,” she said, as she released them, “I got so caught up in the moment I forgot to process how much force I was using. I wonder if I’m malfunctioning.”

Freya patted her on the back, “No dear
, I think your emotional software is running just fine.  You are just acting human.”

The moment was broken when Thad yelled down the hallway, “There you guys are.  I have been looking all over for you three.  We are at our drop off point
. Captain Wesson is going to shuttle us down to Sky’s End City personally.  We are expected in the shuttle bay in ten minutes so get your gear and get moving.”

“Oh you are so sexy when you bark out orders,” Fiona said teasing him.

Thad walked up to Eve, “You sure made an impression on the Captain, not only is he going to shuttle us down, but he’s using the captain’s yacht.”

Freya draped herself over her husband, “Oh
, she did indeed.”

“
And what does that mean?”  Thad asked as he placed his hands on her hips.

Eve looked shocked at him, “Gee’s Thad sometimes you are so thick.”  He shrugged.  “You know the horizontal mambo,
bow-chika-bow-wow, ride um cowgirl, bumping uglies, knocking boots, the wild monkey dance, you know making whoopee, trying out the new hardware,” she repeated what Freya had said earlier as if they were her own words.  Thad looked at her, “penny in the air,” she said.  Then Thad’s face conveyed his understanding, “and the penny drops.”

“You didn’t?”  He paused
, waiting for her to say something, but she didn’t, “You did!”

Fiona grabbed Thad by the hand pulling
him free from Freya, “Yes she did.”

“Well no wonder we are getting the presidential treatment, but really we need to go
.”

Twenty minutes later, they were on the ground at the space dock
in Sky’s End City. Thad and the Twins were off loading their gear while Eve and Wesson talked.  “I know it doesn’t look like much, but there is enough space traffic here for you to find a ride out of here.  I just wish I could do more for you, but with the Ralnai reaching out deeper and deeper into our space, I would lose my command if I left my patrol area for too long.  I was able to get this little trip approved because my boss at Fleet command owed me a favor and she thought it was great you killed the crew and took their ship,” Wesson said to Eve his hands in hers.

“Daniel, it’
s okay. I appreciate everything that you have done for us,” Eve said, giving his hands a little squeeze. 

“Will I ever see you again?”  He asked. 

“I know what ship you command, and I will keep tabs on you. When my personal business is completed, I will find you.  Just make sure you get some leave time,” she said. 

He pulled her close and kissed her, “I will
, I promise. Until then, safe travels to you and your friends.”

Confused she asked, “Don’t you mean crew?”

“My dear, I have been sailing the black a long time and I can tell who is a crew and who is a family. You are no more a ship’s captain than I’m a housewife.  The real one in charge is Thaddeus Hammer,” he said.

For the first time she felt the
sense of panic, he knew Thad’s name, “But how do you…”

“Know his name?”  He said finishing her question.  She nodded, “I’m a Captain of a Federation ship,
it’s part of my job to keep up with the wanted list.  It is updated daily and your boy there has been on the top of the list for a long time.  As soon as I saw him, I knew who he was.”

“I don’t understand why didn’t you arrest us as soon as we came aboard?”  She asked.

“I thought about it, but if I had, would we have had the evening we did?”  He waited for it to sink in. 

“Me?”  She looked shocked.  She had never thought a human would fall for her, but Captain Daniel Wesson may have been the first person in the universe to fall in love with an AI in a love bot body.

“Yes, you my dear. You had me spell bound from the moment I laid eyes on you,” he said looking deep into her green eyes.

She thought
this is great!  Too bad, he doesn’t know that I am not a real woman.
  She couldn’t do it to him, she thought he had to know.  “Daniel there is something you should know about me...”

He stopped her with a kiss then said, “What
, that you’re an AI in a love bot body?”

That floored her, “But, but how
could you possibly know that?” she stuttered.

He smiled, as she looked deep in
to his soft grey eyes, “It was your smell.”

“My smell?” she was
perplexed.

“Yes
, your smell.  You smell like flowers, and during our lovemaking you never smelled of sweat, just sweeter and sweeter flowers and I knew it was a love bot body. The rest was easy to deduce.  You are too human to be a love bot.  Love bots have limited knowledge beyond sex and sports.  They are usually programmed to react to the needs of the owner.  You had to be an AI because you knew far too much and acted too human to be a robot.”  He smiled at her.

Floored by the information
, she asked, “And you are okay with it, I mean you still like me even though I kept information from you?”

He laughed, “Now what fun would a woman
be without any secrets to discover?  Of course I’m okay with it. I think I’m in love with you.”  He kissed her again.  “Besides you are the perfect woman, smart, beautiful, a great conversationalist, mind blowing in bed, and you can never get a headache.”

Eve laug
hed, “Well that’s true.”  She was floored by this man, and she had to admit she had fallen for him as well, but she still wanted to know why he had let them go.  “Daniel, I really would like to know why you didn’t arrest us, and why you are letting us go.”