Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Six months later…

C aptain Fleming sat in his chair in the center of the Nebula Zephyr's bridge, sipping real Terran coffee from his battered old Galatea mug, and watching the action as the crew prepared to leave orbit around their most recent port of call and head into interstellar space to the next one. The gleam of his gold wedding ring caught his eye as he set the mug on the arm of his chair and he grinned. Maeve really had been able to pull gold from the air to make their rings, as promised. She'd also manifested a dress for the wedding, not too fancy since the circumstances were so unusual, but lacy and flowing, which he liked. The ceremony had been held in the cargo hold of the Valkyrie Revenge , as there was nowhere else on board with enough room for the Nebula Zephyr team, not with the ex-hostages crammed into all the available space. He'd stood with Daveed as his best man, and Theo officiating and Maeve came up the ramp of the shuttle escorted by Jake to join them, while the others clustered together to watch. There was no music, no flowers, no one gave Maeve away, no rice throwing but it was official and he'd carried Maeve over the threshold of their cabin on the mercenary ship before shutting the door and settling in for a ‘honeymoon' which lasted until the ship reached Zebulon Six.

It all worked for him and Maeve seemed content. He'd offered to have a reaffirmation of vows ceremony on the Nebula Zephyr with all the trimmings, or a big reception, but she refused both to his secret relief.

When he'd returned to the cruise liner as a married man after his leave of absence, the ship's grapevine had exploded with rumor and gossip. The few who knew the truth didn't say a thing and Mrs. Fleming proved to be a reclusive, private individual who was rarely seen at the captain's side and didn't socialize much. He was entitled by rank to have his spouse with him and Maeve had enlarged and improved his cabin suite to her tastes enthusiastically. The rumors held she was a fashion designer and Maeve had dabbled in the pursuit a bit over the years. In fact one of the luxury shops on Level A now carried a small line of her signature flowy dresses.

For the most part she spent her days in the AI environment, happily running the ship, having taken the reins back from the strictly AI portion of her cortex as soon as she'd arrived on board. The newlyweds spent their nights in the reconfigured cabin, recreating each other's fantasies from the days when they could only dream. Occasionally he enticed her into an afterhours excursion to Level Five and the beach deck. Maeve loved the faux ocean and took pride in making the holos as realistic as possible, changing things up every so often to delight repeat passengers.

Gil couldn't remember a time he'd ever been happier.

Daveed had spent a long time on Zebulon Six, in medical rehab and giving debriefings to countless representatives of various agencies and the military. Subsequently he'd actually gone for a short voyage on the Nebula Zephyr once he'd been released from his duties in regard to the terrorists and had resigned his commission. His brother had done a few sessions with Emily and Tyrelle to address his PTSD issues while aboard, which Daveed claimed had been extremely helpful. But as he'd told Gil after being rescued, he wasn't cut out for the cruise liner world. He had a huge amount of credits piled up in his New Switzerland bank account, with back pay, hazardous duty pay and other bonuses and awards fattening the balance, so he had the luxury of time to do whatever he wanted. Maeve had given him the title to the Valkyrie Revenge, with Gil's full concurrence, and left him behind on the planet whose orbit they were now departing. Daveed planned to take the ship and go visit Sofillia, who'd resumed her work for her Non Government Organization on a distant world. Depending on how his visit there went, he had a vague idea of exploring the Sectors and doing good wherever he could. Daveed had an unusual skillset after all his years undercover and there was no doubt in Gil's mind that his brother could help people effectively wherever he found himself.

Gil knew his brother's primary hope was to further what he and Sofillia had shared during their captivity and immediately afterward and he wished them well. He thought it was a bad sign she'd left him alone on Zebulon Six, but Daveed hadn't been very accessible during his medical treatment and completely off the board while he was doing debriefings. Even Gil hadn't been able to contact him, although Maeve kept watch through her various contacts and AI networks. The fewer details Gil had to learn about her methods the better as far as he was concerned. Legality was a fluid concept to Maeve.

"Permission to leave orbit, sir?" the officer at the helm asked.

"Permission granted. Let's see what new adventure we can find out there." Gil drank the last of his coffee and watched the vidscreens as the planet receded in the distance and the ship made the jump to hyperspace. He looked forward to the next voyage and whatever might come their way, out there in stars. This life suited him after all, and especially now he had Maeve in his arms every night in reality.

A man couldn't ask for more.

She seemed quite content as well, and they already had plans to take a short leave together on their next destination, to explore a couple of museums which interested her. Gil would happily tag along on any such excursion and was keeping an active lookout for other diversions Maeve might enjoy. He'd asked his Cruise Director Julie to make him a list of all the major points of interest at their future ports of call.

He and his wife continued to play cutthroat sessions of their favorite board game on many nights and the tally of wins was about equal, tilting toward Maeve's side unsurprisingly.

He hadn't told her officially yet but one of her favorite soap opera trideo shows was coming on board to film special episodes for the new season in a few months. She probably already knew since it was impossible to hide anything from the AI who ran the ship, but she'd be gracious enough to let him ‘surprise her'. He hoped she wouldn't be disappointed when the cast and crew arrived. There had been a number of trideos and shows filmed on the Nebula Zephyr so she was well aware of the sometimes surprisingly gritty reality of entertainment productions but this program meant a lot to her. It had been her first foray into studying humans as depicted in the long running soaps. Gil was keenly anticipating her opinions on the actors once she met them in real life. He was quite confident she would grace his captain's table for a few dinners while he was hosting the trideo folks.

"Steady as she goes," he told the helmsman and repeated the phrase to himself in his head. That was as good a motto as any for the next phase of his life with Maeve. He was sure the two of them would find other pursuits at some point, as they'd moved from active military duty to this life in the civilian world together. Maybe they'd decide to go exploring on their own, or perhaps they'd take the Mellureans up on their invitation to visit Mellure…the possibilities were endless and he and Maeve were grateful and excited. She'd broached the subject of possibly becoming parents eventually and Gil had struggled a bit with the idea. He'd never forget his late daughter, who he'd tragically lost at an early age, but he decided he'd take the plunge into parenthood again if and when Maeve felt ready. He was confident his heart held ample room for more children, along with his love for Lilane.

There was no rush to settle into parenthood. Maeve was immortal and he had a long life ahead, which could nearly match hers if the Mellureans did invite them to live on their planet, as Lady V'terre had hinted they would.

All in good time…

But for now he had 8000 people to watch over, counting the crew and the passengers and the coming days would be full of challenges while the nights would be devoted to the love between Maeve and himself.

Gil Fleming couldn't wait.

Thank you for reading STAR CRUISE CAPTAIN'S STORY! I hope you enjoyed the adventure (and, of course, I'd love a review if you have time and the inclination to write one. Even a few sentences would be much appreciated. Or a rating! Authors relish reader feedback).

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