A New Beginning Ch. 03

But between me and Sam it was just pure sex. That man has more physical stamina than anyone I know. He would hump me nonstop until I was totally exhausted, both of us having numerous orgasms. Then he would go put in his eight hour shift at the bar.

Oh, he is also a great listener.

After leaving the cafeteria I went straight to Butler's cabin. I collected his stuff and brought it to my berth. I felt that it would be almost sacrilegious for someone else to do it. I also wanted to make sure he didn't have anything written down about me among his belongings, particularly his personal journal. He didn't.

After I emptied Butler's cabin of his personal things, I then called Joshua on his cell TV-phone and told him that he could berth there. I also gave him Butler's override code.

I later heard a rumor that George wanted Butler's cabin but he never said anything to me about it. I would not have given it to him anyway. I was too close to Butler to allow someone like George to live there. Besides, Joshua was second in command and I thought his position as such deserved a private cabin.

However, George did end up with a private berth of sorts. His one roommate was killed in the explosion and neither Konrad nor Louis assigned anyone else to live there.

Once I was alone in my berth with Butler's things I broke down. Just sitting on my bed -- the bed where just a few hours earlier we had made love together -- and holding a box of his stuff was too much for me.

I knew that my shift was due to start in about two hours. I used my personal cell TV-phone and called up to the bridge and asked Juan if he wouldn't mind if I was a little late taking over from him. I lied and told him that I had some reports to fill out on the damage to the ship and the dead crew members. But the real reason was that I just wanted to be alone for a little while. I just wanted to rest for a while before taking over command of the James Cook.

Juan was real gracious and understanding. He told me to take as long as I liked. I thanked him. Then I stripped down and stepped into my shower -- one of the privileges of having a private berth -- and cried again.

I reported to the bridge about ninety minutes late. I immediately asked Juan what our heading was. He told me that we were still heading toward Mars. I then asked Akira if she or any other communication officer had been able to raise any of the space stations on Mars. She answered me no, that every fifteen minutes she tried to reach them but got no response, only static.

I silently debated with myself whether or not to have her continue. I decided to let her continue. It wasn't going to hurt anything and it would give her something to do. But I did tell her that she could cut down on her attempts, that she should try every half hour or so.

Next I asked Aleks to go below and plot us a course back to Earth. She asked who I wanted to get to check her figures but I told her to dispense with it for now. She was charting us a trajectory home, not trying to put us into orbit around a planet.

As soon as Aleks gave me the figures I ordered Beth to give the engines a boost and then I steered us toward Earth and home.

Everything was quiet. Nothing was amiss. No one was talking conspiracy or mutiny or anything sinister. There was no indication that anything was out of place. But the damage was done. I'm sure there were others in the cafeteria besides Ronald who was thinking conspiracy but he's the one who opened his mouth. He's the one who opened Pandora's Box and let the cat out of the bag.

Except for Father Ray, within a couple of days everyone onboard divided into two opposing groups. Most of the construction workers and over half of the crew members believed that it was all a huge conspiracy, although George and a couple of junior officers joined their ranks. Most of them believed that I was the ringleader of some vicious plot to take over command of the James Cook.

On the other side were those who did not believe in any kind of conspiracy. They included most of the officers and the rest of the crew members. Although there were a few construction workers who accepted the fact that it was an explosion that put an end to our mission. Nor was the split evenly divided. I never got an exact count but we were outnumbered by over two to one.

The Catholic priest was about the only person onboard who remained somewhat neutral. I talked to him. He didn't believe in any conspiracy but he told me he could understand how ignorance and a lack of faith could give birth to illogical, unfounded beliefs.

I was glad that Father Ray was there. He had compassion for everyone. It was partially through his efforts that civil war didn't break out onboard.

To be continued . . .