Dark as Daylight Ch. 03

"Don't you think that's shallow thinking, from such well educated women?"

"No, not at all."

"I think I'll ask her to have you wear pink bouffant dresses. You two will stick out like sore thumbs."

"It's your wedding, you can do what you damn well feel like."

"You are absolutely correct Doctor. Why don't you go scrub in, before my mother goes into labor?"

"Thank you for reminding me of the purpose of my visit here to the hospital this evening; instead of watching the Bolshoi perform the Nutcracker at the Lincoln Center."

"Doctor, if you had any, I would gladly crack your nuts."

William Junior and Dr. Stephanopoulos glared at one another, as they parted company.

Young William opened his cell phone.

"Jeff is there any way for you to find out which car, on hospital grounds, belongs to a Dr. Yvonne Stephanopoulos?

"Yes William, we can tap into the hospital's computer and find out where it's. parked"

"Could you flatten two tires, on the opposite sides of her car, as a gift from me?"

"I take it she was a bad girl."

"She started in on my father; then went after me, which I didn't mind. However, when she called Gwen 'A Country Doctor', I had enough and I barely held my temper. She's a snooty bitch, and I just want to take her down a peg or two."

"Consider it done William."

"Thanks Jeff."

**********************

After removing the baby girl from Jemma's abdomen, Dr. Heitman spent three minutes touring the inside through the incision made for the 'Cesarean Section.' She removed one section of skin and had it sent to the lab for immediate evaluation.

She said to Jemma, "I'll bet you $1 million it's scar tissue left over from when my father took off the first cancerous area, but we have to make sure. Other than that, I have never seen a woman you are age with a uterus so healthy and vibrant. I have no idea when you are going to start into your menopause phase, because you are as healthy inside as any 30-year-old woman I have ever seen. You could have children for another 30 years, and break every known scientific record in history."

William started laughing and applauding, while Jemma yelled, "You stay away from me."

He kissed her very hard, which surprised her. He said, "We have nothing to worry about for 14 years. In 14 years, I'll put you into a nunnery, and make sure they don't leave me alone with you."

Dr. Stephanopoulos asked, "What happens during the next 14 years?"

Jemma replied, "Nothing. We only have children 15 years apart. We had Junior, and 15 years later we had Patrick. 15 years after Patrick we've had our little girl, which we will discuss her name when we get back to the room."

"You don't have sex for 14 years, and then you get pregnant?"

"You couldn't be more wrong Doctor. We have sex like crazy every day. My husband may be ancient, but he is a machine in bed. I don't know what your sexual preference is, or if you are attached or not, but I won't lend you William. However, I would bet you that million dollars, that William lasts longer, comes more often, and is better at it, then any person you have ever had sex with. If you say one word William, I will take a knife off this tray and stab you in the heart."

"I love you Jemma, you may stab me now."

"No, I think I'll fuck you to death instead. It would be my pleasure to do it that way."

"Doctor, would you close her up so she can start killing me?"

"Two weeks Mister Zabo. After her stitches disappear, have at it."

"My wife heals very quickly."

"If you want to hurt her, and cause her inside to have trouble and cause an infection, start early. If you want her healthy wait two weeks."

"We could take the baby and go visit Patty. She would love it."

"Would our child be okay in a low-flying helicopter?"

"If you put soft earplugs, or dense cotton around the outside of her ears, so she can't hear the roar of the engine, she will be fine."

"William, what do you think if we call her Laura, in honor of Patty's daughter?"

"I think that's an excellent idea, but I would run it by Patty first."

Doctor Stephanopoulos said, "If her daughter died a horrible death, I don't believe it would be a good idea to name the baby after her."

"No Doctor, Laura left this planet last December 25 on the spaceship, Good Luck 1. They are probably 30 or 40 light years away from this planet now. We just want to ask my daughter, if our daughter could be named after hers as a testament to Laura's courage."

"Do you really believe that spaceship is still flying?"

"I put $17.5 billion into the building of that spaceship. I would bet my life that my friends, who are aboard that ship, are having the times of their lives."

"That's a ton and a half of money Mister, Zabo."

"Do you watch television all Doctor?"

"No, I don't have one in my apartment."

"Well, if you did, you would have found out that not only myself, but the 19 other members of the Deep Space Science Project, put down $350 billion on this project, which came in $47 billion under budget. Our scientists came up with more than 900 patents, not only which have already covered our investments, but we are well into $1 billion in profits, EACH. We skimped on nothing for that spacecraft. If gold was required, we used gold. We didn't use any ferrous metals, because they would have interfered with one of the main propulsion systems. Nearly every person who worked on that project at our Texas facility is a millionaire at this moment. The investors refused to allow those people to walk away with just their salaries over the course of seven years and then with nothing else. They made great strides in technical innovations, while working on the spacecraft, and in return, on 2 January each of them received a bonus of at least $1 million. The employees, who moved to South Carolina, to work on the Good Luck 2, have had all their moving expenses paid, and their houses purchased by the Science Project. We take care of our people Doctor. We are not an ordinary company. The success of our spacecraft, depends on their expertise. One wrong connection, and the spacecraft is doomed to failure. The Good Luck 2 will be carrying 1000 paying customers, at a price in the millions of dollars. Space travel at this point is not cheap, and they will be going into deep space, not just to Pluto and back. They may be gone for a year or longer, it has not yet been decided. One thing is for certain, because we received our first message from Doctor Even Luck. They have passed the Speed of Light, but we cannot announce it, because we cannot prove it. When the Good Luck 2 enters space, all that will change. We will have scientific proof of the speed of the spacecraft, and it will be returning to earth to show it to the scientific community."

"If what you say is true Mister Zabo, congratulations to your crew and your company."

**********

"Doctor Heitman, Mrs. Zabo's slide came back negative."

"I told you so Jemma."

"I'm going to close you now with micro sutures, which will dissolve in the next few weeks. A word of advice, woman to woman, I would not trust this man with a 10 foot pole. In six weeks go on the birth control pills that my father recommends for you. I don't believe in the 15-year thing, and I don't want to see you back here in 10 months.

My father will see you, in our office, in six weeks. If you are leaving the city, make arrangements with your pediatrician to see the baby before you go, and after you return. Do you know who you're using?"

"Yes, Doctor Beauchamp."

"Wonderful, she's an excellent physician."

William said, "Did all the doctors we used have daughters?"

"Are you sexist Mister Zabo?"

"Absolutely not, as a matter of fact, I wish the world was made up of 90% women."

"So help me God William, if you continue with that sentence, you won't have balls to bounce tomorrow."

"Can I finish it for him mom?"

"Yes you can, as long as Gwen is on the other end of the phone, while you do it."

"Son, I keep telling you not to mess with your mother when she has her claws out. She may have drugs in her, but definitely not the kind that makes her mellow."

***************

"Captain my ass, I can still take your part on the mats."

"If you can, why am I still standing?"

"Because that frozen son of the bitch taught you how to run, and to get me tired in the process."

"Isn't that a shame Monty, he found your weak spot, and taught it to me."

"When they thaw him out, they are not going to need a drill to open his head. I'll crack it open for them."

"If you can't catch me, what makes you think you're going to catch him?"

"It's easy, he likes to attack, you want to stay away from me as much as possible."

"If you took a shower every now and again, maybe I would come closer."

"I think I will trap you in a corner, and squeeze you hard enough to put you into a can of tomato soup."

"Big talk from a person who can't catch me. It's been 20 minutes, and I've broken every hold you've had on me."

"That's another thing I'm going to kill him for, you have grease on your body."

"I do not, I am just sweating, because I keep running away from you."

"I don't care; I'm going to kill both of you."

"Time!"

"Aw poor Monty, 30 minutes on the mat with little Janet, and she couldn't pin her. I can't wait until we unfreeze Gordon, and I can tell him, I beat you again."

"You did not beat me; it is a draw."

"Anything less than a win for you, is a win for me Monty."

"The next time we have a match; I'm going to break you in half."

"I will remember that statement the next time you are at the helm."

"Captains are paper pushers, remember? The rest of us do all the work."

"I hate you."

"No you don't, you just envy me. Go take a shower, you smell like a turkey."

"At least I'm not as big as they are."

"Defend yourself, I'm not waiting until next time."

Janet ran for her life. She took the stairs three at a time down to her third-floor apartment, opened her door, which she never locked, closed it, and locked it this time.

Monty, who was a second behind her, pounded on her door. "You better never come out of there, or I will squish you like a bug."

Jennifer saw and heard Monty's actions and threats, laughed, and decided to intervene.

She opened her communicator. "Captain in training, Janet Dover, report to the ready room, in 10 minutes, for testing. Captain in training, Janet Dover, report to the ready room, in 10 minutes for testing."

Monty screamed, 'I hate you', pounded her head on Janet's door, and retreated to her room on the fifth floor.

Jennifer hid behind a post, watched Monty storm up the stairs, and went to the ready room.

Janet walked into the room on time, fresh, and in her flight suit, ready for testing.

"Well, are you going to thank me or not?"

"Thank you for what Captain?"

"Janet Dover to the ready room, for testing, in 10 minutes. When is your next test due?"

"I thought it was in 2 ½ weeks. I'm definitely not ready for it now."

"Why would I have called you here today?"

After thinking about it for a moment Janet said, "You pulled Monty off my ass, didn't you?"

"Doors are very hard to replace, and I didn't want Monty to walk through yours. She could have wound up in the brig, bent the bars, and walked out of there also. I didn't want her to get in trouble, and that's why you're here."

"She hates me, because I am the captain in training."

"No she doesn't, she's just pissed she didn't crush you today in the gym."

"That's right, it's posted all over the ship. She knows it, and I totally forgot about it. Please tell me it wasn't posted as a win for me."

"No, it was posted as a draw."

"Thank goodness, otherwise she would've put me in that can of tomato soup."

*************

There was a knock on the ready room door, and Colonel Daniels was told to come in.

"Good afternoon Captain, Janet, I hope everything is well with both of you."

"Yes Jack everything is fine. Only a fire could get you off the first floor; when are we going to blow up?"

"Well Captain, there is a fire, but it isn't on the first floor. I have a request of the most urgent kind."

"Would you like Janet to leave the room?"

"No that won't be necessary."

"What's the matter Jack you look nervous."

"I've only asked this question once before, and that was many years ago. I am requesting permission to marry Hannah Miles this coming Sunday. We have a lot of work to do between now and then, like sending out the invitations, reserving the church, and the banquet hall. We have to decide on the menu, and the seating arrangements for both sides of the family, but we think we can do it in time.

Hannah requests that one of the Captains perform the ceremony, because that makes it a legal and binding contract. We will give up one of our apartments, and request a larger one for the two of us, because we have agreed on the requisite 2.5 children. Since both of our work assignments are on the first floor, we request that that apartment be as close to the first floor as possible."

Both Jennifer and Janet were stunned to tears. They rushed to Jack, hugged him, and congratulated the future groom.

"Jack you do know our law about marriage on this craft don't you?"

"No, I didn't think I would ever get married, so I didn't read that part of our Constitution."

"Well, I'm sorry to say you have to wait one light-year, after the request for marriage has been placed to get married."

Jack's shoulders drooped, as he heard about the restriction.

Jennifer waited for Jack's brain to kick in, because he, of all people, knew how fast their 'Beach Ball' was traveling. He said, 'OK', and began to leave the room.

He touched the door, and his brain clicked.

"Wait a minute, that's 90 minutes from now."

"Congratulations Jack, permission granted to get married next Sunday. Give my congratulations to the bride."

"I'll run back to my room and tell her. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome Jack."

Jack purposely did not tell Jennifer which Captain Hannah wanted to preside over the wedding. He decided to get even with her for causing him such angst about the time period he would have to wait until he and Hannah could marry. He waited outside the door, for almost a minute, and then knocked on the door again.

"Come in."

"I'm sorry to bother you again, but Hannah told me one thing I forgot to impart to you. The Captain she wants to preside over the wedding is you. Good day Jennifer."

He closed the door, and walked away with a huge smile on his face.

Jennifer was left with her mouth wide open, and no response on her lips. She could not refuse Hannah's request, because she was a captain, and it was her duty to comply with any request from a member of the community that was with in her power. She wanted to kill Jack for the way he snuck that in on her, but it was reasonable because of what she did to him.

"Janet, tell Callie to post a notice in large letters of the coming nuptials for Hannah Miles, and Jack Daniels this coming Sunday at 2 PM. Everyone is invited, and minimal crews will maintain stations on the bridge, and in engineering."

"Aye, aye Captain."

"5.6 days to the entrance of the 'White Hole' Captain."

"Thank you Navigator. Put it on the screen so everybody knows to start locking down everything 1 day in advance."

"It's protocol Captain; Callie will do that automatically."

"I know that Mister Hart, I also want it done manually, if that's all right with you?"

"Yes Captain, I was just making sure that it was not a duplicate order."

"Very good Mister Hart, if you ever have a question about a given order, it is better to question it, then blindly follow it, and wind up in trouble."

"I have had that banged into my head by my supervisor daily Captain. I have been berated by her for not doing it more often during my testing than I can count. I just fear I'm doing it too much, at inappropriate times."

"Elizabeth is standing behind you Mister Hart, and she is smiling. I would suspect you did something right, and not something wrong."

"Thank you Captain, she will get even with me when we are back in the testing area for using inappropriate phraseology."

"Elizabeth, I didn't know you knew what phraseology was. Do you have a book open when you test them?"

"Yes Captain, I do. I'm learning along with them."

"Miss Franklin, you can expect a 100% decrease in your salary, in your next paycheck."

"Thank you Captain, I would do this job for free."

"Miss Franklin, because of your dedication to this mission, and your willingness to take no salary, you may take the rest of the day off. I will personally watch over your trainee."

"Thank you very much Captain; shift changes in six minutes."

"I am generous to a fault."

"Yes sir, you are absolutely faulty."

"That may be true, but it wasn't very nice."

"I may not be very nice, but I am very truthful."

"Get out of here Elizabeth, you only have four minutes left."

"I have to brief my relief sir, and that takes 10 minutes. I will not be able to leave the bridge early, because my trainee is not advanced far enough to do an adequate job."

"You got me Elizabeth. Continue on and advise me, before you leave the bridge, I will be in my ready room."

"Will do Captain."

"Stephen, you had the bridge."

"Callie, captaining training's Stephen Tanner has the bridge."

"Captain Luck, do you agree?"

"Yes Callie, I agree."

******************

"Callie, this is Captain Luck. Does Elizabeth Franklin qualifying for a captain in training?"

"Yes Captain."

Considering the four trainees we have for Captain, where would Miss Franklin's qualifications place her?"

"Number 1."

"Why wasn't she considered for Captain when the initial requests were put in."

"The way the question was worded, the section chiefs, and their top ranked personnel were removed from the queue so they could train the new staff members."

"Without Miss Franklin, is the navigation team fully staffed?"

"Yes Captain, plus they have two extra qualified people and four trainees, who are 40% through their training."

"Callie print out a complete Captains exam."

"Completed Captain."

"I will never get used to how fast you and the printers work on this ship, Callie. Do you need any periodic maintenance at this time?"

"No Captain, Doctor Finch is beginning to reroute some of our tertiary memory, in preparation for Gordon Luck's operation. He is doing much of it incorrectly, so I have intervened and advised him how to do it properly. He may be an excellent physician, but he is definitely not a computer technician."

"I will have Newton go to the infirmary and work on the computer with you. Will that be satisfactory?"

"Yes Captain, with the absence of Gordon Luck, Newton Thyme is the next best choice."

"I know you do not have human feelings, but do you miss Gordon as much as I do?"

"As you said Doctor, human feelings are beyond my capabilities. However young Mister Luck would test my programing capabilities to their very limits.

If emotionally, humans consider that fun, my sisters and I enjoy that interaction."

***********

"Come in."

"I'm leaving the bridge sir."

"Take a comfortable seat miss Franklin, because you're not going anywhere for the next six hours."

"Is this because of the confrontation we had on the bridge sir?"

"It most certainly is Miss Franklin. I think you don't belong in navigation. I don't think you belong at the helm or engines either. I don't think you belong any place else but in the captain's chair. In 6 hours, I expect to know exactly what your capabilities are. I know what I believe. I know what your evaluation says about you. Callie says you are unable to make a decision on your own. You have to be ordered around to make your life easier, so you take no responsibility, whether you are right or wrong. It's always someone else's fault, because all you did was give them information. This exam will tell me how your brain functions. Are you a leader or are you a follower? Are you going to hide all your talents for the rest of your life, or are you going to blossom into something everyone can be proud of? You will get a 10 minute break every two hours. During your first break we will bring you dinner. We will reduce the temperature in the room by 10° to keep you comfortable. Every camera in the room will be focused on you, to make sure you don't cheat. Enjoy your evening miss Franklin. Tomorrow you will be either a trainee, or the laughing stock of the bridge. Get started, it's 4:20 PM, I'll see you at 6:20 PM to make sure you have dinner, and I'll make sure somebody brings you some water."