The Fleet (3 page)

They'd become
his family though, and you never forget the times spent with
family.

Adam
remembered the very first time he laid eyes on Sarah Blaine. The
circumstances were terrible – her delivery to a group of organized
crime members simply a job which landed the entire crew much needed
money.

At least it
should have.

He knew right
away that he'd scoop Sarah up and run. Adam had always been a
sucker for the ladies, but, as if it were only yesterday, he
thought about how intoxicating their first moments together
were.

Adam did just
that. Bolted from the deal and went on the run, Sarah Blaine at his
side and a wily crew at their backs. Eventually the two fell in
love on the eve of civil war, and Adam found himself engaged to the
daughter of a high-ranking Colonial officer. A man of true
integrity.

Soon after,
their love began to sour. As thriving as their love had been, the
fallout was just as strong. When it came down to it, he'd chosen
his friends over the most explosive romance he'd ever known.

Events began
to unfold and Sarah found herself in the clutches of evil. Turned
to the legion of undead and rising to become the queen of vampires,
a champion by her side.

She'd blamed
Adam for every bit of it, and at times he'd blamed himself. Though
he would never admit to it.

The thing
about soul mates is their paths continue to cross, no matter the
circumstances. And cross they did. On opposite sides of a war
between human and vampire as the fleet scrambled to assemble.
Preparing to leave for orbit.

The horde of
undead had overrun humanity and became too powerful for even the
vampires to survive, forcing the Hunters to retreat as well.

In doing so,
Sarah took the one thing Adam had continued to live for. His
son.

Adam hated
himself for the fact that he continued to care for Sarah Blaine
deeply, even under the circumstances. He wanted his son back, and
that was a top priority. Deep down, however, he had remained madly
in love with the woman who had captivated his heart long ago.

The soldiers
traveling with him were among the fleet's finest. Yet, deep down,
Adam knew they wouldn't stand a chance against the Hunters. A race
of vampires known for their brutality and lack of conscience.

He'd have to
appeal to Sarah directly. Plead with her heart and pray that a love
which had changed both of them forever would be enough. His words
would be a far greater weapon than the revolver he'd become so
famous for.

“You alright?”
one of the soldiers asked as the shuttle streaked by a bright
cluster of small rocks. Drifting in space and giving the look of a
cloud.

“Yea,” Adam
replied. “Just something about traveling through space that makes
me think about everything. It's always been that way for me.”

“Same here
buddy,” the young soldier replied. “Believe it or not, I had plans
to retire from combat and go out on my own. Maybe put together a
crew of buddies and start hauling freight commercially. Sounds
crazy.”

“Nope,” Adam
replied, beginning to see himself in the young soldier a bit.
Remembering the time when he had the same ambitions. A moment that
would lead up to the best years of his life. “Sounds perfect.”

“Well, it's a
pipe dream now that we're overrun and without a home.” the soldier
replied. He continued to talk, though Adam seemed to fade away from
the conversation.

His mind had
traveled back to better times. Remembering the poker games and
nights of drinking with Dalton. Adam thought of Kelly, his pilot,
and other friends he'd lost along the way. Wondering how it had
come to this. Surrounded by strangers and missing a son. His wife
slain by the undead and a woman he once loved, now holding the keys
to the next chapter in his life.

Nothing in his
life seemed to be the same, and Adam truly longed for those days to
return. Although he knew there was no going back.“Relax dear,
you're overreacting.” Cambria said, pressing against her lover's
shoulders in an attempt to ease them.

“I'm telling
you,” Dalton replied as Cambria worked to calm him. “I'm not cut
out for this commander shit.”

“I disagree.”
she said convincingly.

“Of all the
soldiers here, I get handpicked to lead the fleet. Why? Why me?
What did I do?”

“You make it
sound as though it's a burden.” Cambria said, walking away a bit to
collect two much needed glasses and a bottle of strong bourbon.

“It is,”
Dalton lashed out. “It's a damn burden from the time I wake up
until the time I pass out at night. This song and dance of an
officer, it ain't me. Takes everything I have to be all proper and
fitting.”

“Then don't be
all proper and fitting,” Cambria said, handing the commander a
stiff glass of hootch. “When I first met you, I had no idea what
you were capable of. You looked homeless.”

“This is
supposed to make me feel better?” Dalton asked.

“Yes,” she
replied with a grin. “Because as I quickly got to know you, I
realized you just didn't care about the opinions of others. I also
felt safe around you because I understood you had the experience of
ten men and knew how to use it. You took no lip and spoke your
peace, no matter the company. And you cared about those around
you.”

Dalton seemed
to slowly grasp her words. Though bourbon was also on his mind.

“The point I'm
trying to make is this. Don't let a uniform or the rules that go
along with it change you. The best way to convince these people to
follow you is to be yourself. People will respect you for it, and
my guess is that's what got you picked in the first place.”

“I guess so.”
Dalton admitted.

“Stop being
what they want to you be and start being yourself. Hell, wear
regular clothes and a homemade name tag if that's what it
takes.”

“You know,
you're kind of sexy when you're lecturing me.” Dalton said with a
grin.

“Kind of?”
Cambria asked.

“Well yea, the
kind of woman I'd like to get in the sack.” he quickly replied.

“It depends.”
Cambria said.

“It
depends?”

“Yes,” Cambria
replied. “It depends on the man I'm sleeping with. Is he going to
be the trim and proper leader of humanity that decks out in
Colonial blue...or will it be the old hound dog that's seen it all,
done it all and sure does know his way around a bedroom?”

His glance
back to Cambria let her know the old hound dog was back. For better
or worse, he'd lead these people with a clinched fist, brown coat
and whiskey on his breath. After he took care of business behind
closed doors.

“We need
thicker doors.” one of the posted soldiers remarked as Dalton and
Cambria became loud and freakish. The door and walls separating him
from the two makers of love seemingly very paper thin.

“Just ignore
it.” the other guard replied, though he understood it was going to
be hard to do. The two had sex multiple times each day and weren't
exactly quiet about it. Something that would no doubt lead to a
lifetime of therapy for the posted guards.Craig found it hard to do
his job as Anna slept. Watching over her with a peaceful smile.

His love for
her had grown since leaving nearly a day before. Now sharing the
experience of a lifetime with the woman he'd fallen for in flight
school.

Still, Craig
had a job to do. Pressing several buttons as the phantom floated
lifelessly, he began mapping all of the stars around them. For
concentration of rock, possibility of water and presence of
oxygen.

The mission
was a simple one. Burst into full-burn for nearly an hour, which
surrounded their ship with new stars. Then shut the ship down to
conserve fuel while mapping everything digitally. What the phantom
brought in terms of stealth, it lacked in size. That meant a
shorter fuel tank, though it had been modified for this mission.
Still, fuel was an issue early on and in order for the two person
crew to make it as far as possible before turning back, they had to
maximize fuel economy.

And map he
did, though Craig's attention remained on Anna too. Pressing the
required buttons and letting the on board computers do the rest as
he leaned back in the cushioned chair and watched her. Resting easy
on the phantom's rack-style bed which mounted to the rear of the
shuttle.

He wanted to
wake her up and confess his love. Though Craig could only begin to
imagine how long the trip home would be if Anna didn't feel the
same for him. There was no way he wanted to be floating through
uncharted space with a woman who felt awkward around him.

If he would
ever tell her of his feelings, Craig would need to do it on the
flight back. Once the work had been completed and he'd nothing to
lose. A little humiliation, perhaps, but that was only in rejection
and would certainly heal with time.

For the
moment, Craig would remain focused on the job at hand. Thousands of
people back in the fleet depended upon him doing his job – on the
two of them to find water. His personal feelings for a sleeping
angel would have to wait.

Though waiting
was killing him.“Lieutenant Michaels,” one of the soldiers said,
nudging Adam a bit. “Were making our approach now.”

Adam sat up,
squeezing his eyes a bit with rested hands and looking out from the
small window placed in the crew area of the Colonial chopper.

“Go in loud.
It should draw Sarah and her group to our position.” Adam
instructed.

Radilia. A
small moon planet known for its simple way of life and farming
communities that lived here. Used to live here, at least, before
the infectious zombie nation overtook everything.

Now Adam truly
wondered what dangers awaited his crew, though his true concern was
finding his son. Tracking the Hunters had proved more difficult
than he'd ever have imagined. Adam only hoped that pleading his
heart to Sarah, queen of vampires, would prove a bit easier. Though
he knew it wouldn't.

He prayed that
one way or another, it ended today. On this small moon planet of
blue and brown swirls – seen by the entire crew as their approach
brought them closer. Magnifying the planet's textures and soon
after, becoming larger than their field of vision. Wondering where
he'd go from here if his son was not to be found. Another lead
turning cold, as did many before.

“What are you
orders sir?” the pilot asked.

“Once we hit
soil, we'll break into two teams. Three of you will come with me
while the rest stay close to the shuttle. We can't afford to lose
our one and only ride off of this rock.”

“Understood.”

Regardless of
what they said to his face, none of the crew wanted to come along
with him and lose sight of their shuttle. They knew if any were to
become stranded, there was a possibility of no rescue. Ever. The
fleet had its own problems and Adam's mission was pretty much off
of the books. They hadn't come along voluntarily, but been ordered
to.

“Rio, Hawk and
Jackson, you three will be with me.” Adam said.

Fuck.
Rio thought, cursing the mission and everything about it. Just as
he'd done since departing the fleet days ago.

He was a great
shot, no doubt, but should they become surrounded by vampires or
infected, his battle rifle would be of little use. And he knew
it.

As the shuttle
touched down, shaking the crew a bit more than the pilot had hoped
for; Adam prepared for anything. Armed with a six-shooter revolver,
which he'd become famous for among those around him.

Many of the
soldiers within the crew wondered about a man who brushed aside
automatic weaponry as Adam did. Gravity fed magazine firing, which
could have easily produced several hundred rounds a minute.

Not Adam, it
wasn't his way. He didn't spray and pray. Adam was a soldier who
had been trained to question everything, seek answers and, if need
be, skin the iron horse revolver from its holster and bring
closure.

It's what he
did best. Perhaps the fastest hand in all of the Skyla System.

Perhaps.“Commander on deck!” a soldier yelled out, bringing the
entire bridge of the ship to attention.

They remained
at attention, though minds began to drift. Watching Commander
Dalton James enter a bit different than they'd seen him before.

His days of
dress blues were gone. The smuggler turned commander had taken the
advice of his lover, for better or for worse.

Their first
glance of him provided a loud clicking noise. Brought easily by his
cowboys boots striking the metal flooring. Anything but new,
Dalton's boots showed a map of use, though they were damn capable.
Comfortable too.

Looking up a
bit, Dalton's blue jeans fed directly into the coattail of a brown
duster Cambria had bought him long ago. In fact, it still reeked of
cigar smoke and adventurous days gone by. A beat-up Glimmerian
thumper strapped beneath the coat, while a standard combat pistol
was holstered to his side.

The thumper
barely peeking through brown leather and speaking of a time when
free men fought the system. Partial shotgun with very explosive
rounds. A relic, though Dalton could appreciate any weapon.
Especially a weapon which had aged so gracefully.

“At ease.”
Dalton said, barking the order and heading straight to the large
table nearest to the shatterproof glass window overlooking the
stars.

The table was
illuminated with light blue and normally broadcast their fleet's
battle assignments. Today, however, it served as a coffee table as
Dalton sat a glass of piping hot caffeine down and skimmed the
room.

He noticed
everyone staring into his direction and had expected nothing less.
Just as Cambria had said, these men were used to being commanded by
politicians. It was time they served under a leader who gave a
damn.