Retro Tomorrow: Part 3

Into the Darkness

The third sub-basement of the Stellar Patrol Academy had been designed as some kind of a bomb-shelter back in the days of the Mercurian Wars. Technically it was off limits, but somehow Andrew had discovered it during their second year at the Academy. It had been crammed full of forgotten debris, but Andrew had cleared it out.

Jenny couldn't help but laugh at that. In Andrew's lexicon "clear out" was synonymous with "detonate with explosives, let the flames burn away most of the trash, and wash out the ashes with a pressure hose." The thick walls of the sub-basement contained most of the blast, but you could feel the building rattle seven stories up. He was brought before the Brigadier for that one -- they both had been, since Jenny had been the one to help him set the charges.

She could still remember the look of abject horror on the Brigadier's face. He had asked Andrew where he had gotten the explosives, and Andrew had quite blandly replied that he'd made them out of some supplies in the janitorial pantry. After hearing that, the Brigadier had wisely decided not to make too much of the whole incident. Andrew was allowed to use sub-basement as his personal lab, and if, every few months, the Stellar Patrol mysteriously came into possesion of a new kind of weapon or a device which suddenly advanced the field of electronics by five years, then that was a happy coincidence.

That was the kind of person Andrew was. Some people spoke Terran, some spoke Venusian, Andrew spoke engineering -- sometimes to the exclusion of anything else.

They were the oddest couple at the Academy: Jenny, the best pilot on campus, and Andrew the eggiest egg-head that the universe had ever seen. She had a hard time explaining the nature of their dynamic, but next to Betty, Andrew was her closest friend.

Love had never been an issue between them, even if Jenny hadn't known about Betty's feelings for him. He was like a brother to him, and she was like a sister to him -- she supposed -- at the very least she was a vague presense which hovered around him that didn't annoy him very much.

She stood there watching him now, with a mixed feeling of maternal affection and total exasperation. He was standing at his workbench, still wearing his dress uniform from the graduation ceremony yesterday, utterly engrossed in soldering together his latest arcane invention. Apparently finished, he put down his soldering iron, and looked at the mug which was sitting at his left hand. He sniffed it.

"Still warm?" he muttered in surprise.

"I just put it there," said Jenny with a sneer, and Andrew looked up myopically at her, seemingly for the first time.

"Oh, Jenny," he said sipping the cocoa, "Is it dinnertime already?"

"Closer to lunch," she said, "actually, I just came down to talk with you."

He looked relieved that he wouldn't have to leave his invention, and went back to work on it.

"Friends do that, occaisionally," Jenny said tentatively, "Talk to each other, I mean."

Andrew gave no indication that he'd heard her.

"When they want each other's opinions," she tried, "When its, you know, important."

Andrew kept working.

"I went to meet with the Brigadier this morning," she said, because hope springs eternal.

Andrew kept working. Great empires were founded, blossomed for a time, and died. Mountain ranges rose and fell. Andrew kept working.

"And you know," said Jenny, sensing that it really didn't matter what she said, "I was thinking the two of us could strip naked and make mad passionate love on the floor here."

Andrew kept working.

"Damnit Andrew, I'm trying to talk to you here!" she screamed. For a moment her voice reverberated against the stone walls of the lab.

Andrew looked up.

"I'm sorry, Jenny," he said "Did you want to tell me something?"

"He speaks!" she cried, "Its a miracle."

Andrew took off his jacket. "If the floor's too cold for making love on," he said, as he began fiddling with his belt, "We could always go up to my room."

For an instant, Jenny was gripped by a feeling of total horror, then she noticed he was smiling.

"Kidding," he said gently, "People never think I'm listening, but I am."

"Well, gosh, I wonder why they think that?" she said, as her heart started beating again. "Andrew, its normal for both parties to participate in a conversation."

He had the decency to look a bit chagrinned, "I know," he said, "Now that's we're done with the Academy, I've made an action list of goals I wish to accomplish. Becoming more skilled at human discourse is right there at the top."

She could have pointed out that one of the best ways of becoming more skilled at human discourse was to stop referring to it as "becoming more skilled at human discourse," but she didn't have the heart, at least the poor guy was making an effort.

"Let's sit and talk," she said, "You know, the way us humans usually do when we want to discourse."

***

When Andrew had taken over the third sub-basement, Jenny felt that it was only fair and just that she claim a corner of the large room for herself -- after all, she'd almost been expelled along with Andrew. She kept a decrepit bookcase down there, filled with all the books she no longer had space for up in her dorm room, there was a computer terminal, and a couple of chairs. Jenny and Andrew now sat facing each other in these chairs, both holding a mug of cocoa.

"So," said Jenny.

"So," said Andrew, "Is the Brigadier giving you command of the ship with the new Neutrino engine?"

Jenny was dumbfounded.

"Betty told you," was all she could manage to say.

Andrew looked confused, "Uh, no. I planted a bug in Doctor Bartholomew's lab. They've been talking about nothing but the Neutrino engine for the last week now. When he was called to a meeting with you and the Brigadier, I just assumed they'd be giving you the command. You're the best student in the academy."

Betty blushed. Andrew could be quite sweet at times. Though neither of them would admit to it, a friendly rivalry had existed between the two of them ever since they had come to the Academy. It took alot for him to admit she was the better student. She wondered, if the situation had been reversed, if she would have been so gracious in admitting defeat -- of course, it the situation wouldn't be reversed because she was the better student. Inwardly she gave a smug gloating laugh, outwardly she smiled graciously.

Then, suddenly, he realized what her friend had said.

"Wait a second, you planted a bug in old Barty's lab?"

Andrew grinned and went over to a monitor screen. He turned it on and there was the hunched figured of Dr Bartholomew muttering to himself and working on a piece of lab equipment.

Jenny gave a hoot of laughter. "Andrew, this is great! Why didn't you tell me about it sooner?"

Andrew shrugged, "I built the transmitter during finals week, I figured you were a little preoccupied to notice."

At the mention of their final exams, Jenny shuddered. He was right about that, if it didn't have to do with angular momentum or heat transfer rates, Jenny hadn't wanted to hear about it.

"I figured we could use it to see when the Doctor is out of his lab," said Andrew, "and give him an appropriate going away present."

Dr Bartholomew was the Stellar Patrol's most respected scientist, but the bane of all Academy students' existence. He taught at the Academy. He was never the most personable of individuals, but he had developed a particular dislike to Andrew whom he viewed as a threat to his position in the Patrol, and Jenny because -- well, because she was a woman and Dr Bartholomew had some rather antiquated ideas about the position of women in society.

Jenny grinned at the thought of giving the old bastard something to remember her by.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked him.

Once again, Andrew shrugged, "You're the one who's the bad influence, after all."

They both laughed. During their third year at the academy, after they had been written up for the umpteenth time for some rules infraction, one of their instructors had written that "Cadet Sparx is a brilliant young man, but too easily led astray by the bad influence of Cadet Drake." This caused them both much amusement when they read it, because at least half the time, the ideas for the various misadventures which landed them in trouble came from Andrew and Jenny merely went along for the ride. Andrew blamed this on his natural scientific curiosity. Jenny felt that it was actually the real person inside Andrew trying to get out from underneath all that science. Whatever it was, Jenny felt it was her duty as the official "bad influence" to encourage it whenever possible.

"We could take apart all his lab benches."

Andrew shook his head, "No, they did that to him two years ago. How about if we hide all of his text books?"

This time Jenny shook her head, "I think that crosses the line from mischievous to criminal. Knowing Barty, he'd try and have us charged with grand larceny."

Then, something happened to Jenny. It might have been the stress of the day. It might have been the sights and smells of their special hideout, and the thought that this was one of the last times they'd be sitting here like this. Whatever it was, it was like a hammer blow to Jenny's heart, and she felt close to tears.

"You know," she said to Andrew, "I'm going to miss all this."

"You mean when you take your commission?"

Jenny threw up her hands in frustration, "Why does everybody assume that I'm going to take the commission?"

"Aren't you?"

"Somebody's tried to steal that engine twice now. Taking that commission is like signing my own death warrant."

Andrew tried smiling his "helpful smile", it had never worked very well, and today it made her feel like hitting him.

"You never know," he said, "third time lucky."

"For who? Them or me?"

"I'm just trying to be helpful," said Andrew sheepishly.

Jenny looked at her friend. The words started pouring out of her before she even knew what she was saying.

"Look," she said, "I have no right to ask you this, but if I take the commission -- I say, IF I take it -- would you be my First Officer?"

It was worth it just to see the look of surprise on Andrew's face.

"You really want me to be your First Officer?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Of course I do, dummy," she said to him with a smile, "You're my best friend in the Academy, aren't you?"

Best implies that there's more than one, said a tiny, treacherous voice in Jenny's head.

I have lots of friends, replied the rest of Jenny's brain defiantly.

Name two, said the voice.

Well, there's that guy in....well definately that girl in...or was it....

Waiting, said the voice impatiently.

Jenny gave up, I've always thought the quality of your friends was more important than the quantity anyway.

Whatever, said the voice fading into the background.

Wow, thought Jenny, I've just graduated from school, I have almost no friends, I'm about to sign up for a suicide mission, and now I'm losing arguments with my own subconscious. Just think, a hundred years ago I'd have been just some little housewife in an arranged marriage -- what a triumph for women's liberation.

"I guess," said Andrew drawing her back out from inside her own head, "that if you're the 'bad influence' then I must be the 'good influence.'"

"I guess so," said Jenny, even managing to give him half a smile.

"So, as 'good influence,' I guess its my duty to go along with you -- to make sure you don't get into any trouble, you understand."

Andrew is going to keep me out of trouble, she thought, God help us all.

"Its a dangerous assignment," she said. She couldn't bear the thought of her friend signing on without knowing all the risks.

"Ha!" said Andrew snapping his fingers, "I live for danger!"

Seeing him this way, she just had to laugh.

"No Andrew, you live for test tubes."

"Well," he shrugged, "This would be a boring world if a fellow couldn't take on new interests."

"So, you'll be my first officer?" she asked.

"If you take the commission," he reminded her.

"If I take the commission," she added.

"If you take the commission, I'll be your First Officer."

"Are we good?" she asked him.

"We're good," he told her, "Now, that that's out of the way, let's get back to the topic of what we can do to old Barty's lab. I've been doing some experiments with low level microwaves which I think you'll find most interesting...."

Andy walked over to the workbench, and Jenny followed him. If she had to go, she'd go out with a bang.

To be continued....