Retro Tomorrow: Part 2

Friends and Lovers

Jenny walked out the door. As the Brigadier had predicted, Betty was waiting for her right outside the door.

Before she could say anything, Betty gave her an enormous hug, "Congratulations!" she yelled.

Well, thought Jenny as she tried to extricate herself from her friend's grasp, her heart is in the right place, at least.

"That's such great news!" gushed Betty, "I'm so happy for you!"

Jenny tried to smile but only made it halfway.

"Yes," she said, "Most people wait years for a chance to die for their Planet, I get a chance right out of the academy." She hadn't meant to sound so bitter, but the news had thrown her for a loop.

"Oh come on," said Betty, "He wouldn't have suggested you if he thought it was really dangerous."

Jenny laughed. She loved her godfather fiercely, but had no illusions about him.

"And how long have you worked for him?"

"Oh come on Jen, he loves you, you're like a daughter to him."

"Yes," said Jenny, "he's also got a soft-spot for animals, but I've never seen him turn down a steak."

Betty looked liked she'd just been slapped.

"That's really one hell of a thing to say, Jenny," she said. It was only the second time in her life she'd heard Betty say a four-letter word.

She and Betty had grown up together, they were practically sisters. When they were children, Betty had always seemed a little frightened whenever "Uncle George" came for a visit. When they had graduated from school, Jenny applied to the Academy and, miracle of miracles, was accepted. She was elated, but the two friends were heart-broken that they'd now be living on seperate planets. That was when Jenny's father pulled a few strings and bingo, Betty had a job as the Brigadier's secretary.

It wasn't what you might call a prestige position. Before Betty, the Brigadier usually went through about two secretaries per year. He was NOT an easy man to work for. Still, Betty persevered. She was constantly complaining about him: how sloppy he was, how vague, how disorganized, how demanding. There had been plenty of times she could have sworn Betty was close to quitting. She had never realized how fond she really was of the old man.

"Betty," said Jenny, "My Unlce George is the nicest man in the world, but he's my commanding officer. To him, I'm just like any other officer under his command. If he sees a job that needs doing, and thinks I'm the right fit, he's going to get me to do it, no matter what the risk."

"No," said Betty with that irritating finality of hers, "He wouldn't ever do anything to put you in danger, I know him."

Betty was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a Pollyanna. She actually one of the most cynical people Jenny had ever met. She was fiercely loyal, though, and if she ever decided you were worth befriending, she would be your friend no matter what, whether your particularly deserved it or not. She wasn't a reformer, she didn't try to change people to be the selfless noble souls she knew they could be. Instead, it seemed that she would stubbornly maintain her worldview until the rest of the world gave up in exasperation.

"So," said Betty, "Does this mean you're not going to take the commission?"

"I really don't know, Betty."

"You have to Jen. You know how sexist most of the people in the patrol are. It'll be years before you get your own ship otherwise. And when you do, it'll probably be some fluff assignment like piloting a Tour Ship around the Academy."

Suddenly, and against her will, her mind conjured an image of that ill-fated pilot, attacked by hostiles and faced with the choice of dying in the vacuum, or blowing himself up. She imagined him engaging the self-destruct mechanism present on all Patrol vessels. She wondered if she could ever have that kind of force of will.

"I could live with a fluff assignment," she said quietly.

Betty patted her friend kindly on the shoulder, "I know you'll make the right decision," she said.

"People keep telling me that," Jenny replied, "I wish I had your confidence."

"Listen," said Betty in an attempt to change the subject, "How's Andy doing? I haven't seen him since graduation."

Betty was the only person in the Academy who called Jenny "Jen", and she was the only person who would ever think of calling Andrew Sparx "Andy." She was a person who was deeply uncomfortable with full names.

"Andrew?" Jenny shrugged, "He's fine. I suppose. I doubt he even noticed graduation."

Betty grinned that sickening grin she always got when she talked about Andrew, " Does he, you know, talk about me?"

"Yes, constantly," said Jenny, "In fact, he told me that he's planning to take you on a surprise trip to the Moon, next week."

Betty turned bright red and gasped. For a moment, Jenny thought she was going to have some kind of seizure.

"Really?"

"No, not really. The only time I can get him out of his lab is for meals, and then he only talks about his damn research. Take it from me, new developments in fusion engines are not as interesting as they might seem."

Betty's almost constant interest in Andrew was one of the things Jenny could never understand about her friend. Betty was the kind of girl most men would kill for. She was tall, shapely, blonde and almost painfully good-looking. She could cause air-car accidents by simply wearing a short skirt. She could have any man in the Stellar Patrol. She was the type of woman that men would go to war over, if she'd let them.

That was why it was so mystifying to Jenny that she fell for Andrew from the first moment she saw him, despite his almost total indifference in her. For the last six years, she had been pursuing him like a lovesick puppy. It was actually quite nauseating. He was reasonably good looking, and was, deep down, a nice enough guy despite a lack of any kind of social skills, but falling in love with him was like falling in love with a physics text book.

"Come on, Jenny, you're his best friend."

Jenny considered this. "Best implies that there are more than one of us. I'm his friend, I'll grant you that much. I make sure he eat regularly and showers once a week whether he needs it or not. Really, I'm not much more than his chamber-maid when you think about it."

"How can I get him to notice me?"

"Have you tried dressing up like a test tube?"

"I'm serious, Jen!"

"Betty, this isn't healthy. Andrew's a really nice guy, but lets face it, if he can't examine it under a microscope, then he's not interested."

Betty gave a strange little smile, "I wouldn't mind if he...."

Jenny grabbed her ears convulsively, "I so do not want to hear this! Betty this is like that guy you fell for in High School, the quarter-back."

"Jordan was a very sensitive guy, no one ever gave him a chance."

"Betty, he robbed a bank."

Betty thrust out her jaw defiantly, "This would be a better place if people weren't so quick to condemn others just because of what they do for a livning."

Jenny began to feel that nagging headache she got whenever she became emmeshed in her friend's love life.

Betty's eyes suddenly lit up and Jenny had that familiar sinking feeling.

"You have to take Andy aboard your crew on the Glory. He could be your second in command!"

"Oh, you mean on that commission I haven't decided if I'm going to take."

"Please Jen! It will be so good for his career!"

"Career? Does Andrew have a career? I thought he was just going to work in that lab of his until the school declared the thing a bio-hazard and kicked him out."

"He just doesn't know what he can accomplish, with the right help from us, of course."

Jenny put her arms on her friends shoulders.

"Betty, you are my best friend in the world, and I love you like a sister, but you are going seriously 'round the bend on this one."

"Please, Jenny," Betty only used Jenny's full name when she was desperate to get in her good graces.

Jenny sighed. It was useless trying to argue with Betty when she had her heart set on something. It was like trying to argue with an earthquake.

"Fine," she said, "If -- and I mean if -- I accept the commission, and if they let me pick my own crew, and if I can get Andrew to concentrate on something other than his experiments for two seconds, then I will ask him to be my second-in-command."

To Jenny's great surprise, Betty hugged her.

"Oh, Jen thank you! You won't be disappointed, Andy will make a wonderful First Officer. I've got to go now, but maybe the three of us can have dinner tonight to celebrate."

The three of them, thought Jenny, being me, her and Andrew. Jenny watched her friend bustle off down the hall. She hoped it was pretty in whatever alternate universe that Betty lived in.

Jenny walked off sullenly down the hall. Well, now she had her First Officer, but she still didn't know if she was going to take the commission.

To be continued...