THE RELIANT

HOLOGRAPHIC HELL

"Where the hell is Mr. Renjay?" demanded John the second he stepped onto the bridge and saw the pilot's chair was empty.

"Good morning to you too, Captain," Lisa replied with her usual snark.

John shot her one of his hard looks to let her know he wasn't in the mood for it. Not this morning.

"I'll ask again," John said in a lower tone, "where is Mr. Renjay?"

"I'm not sure, Captain," responded Tamala. "The last time I saw him was when his last shift ended."

John let out let out one of his long and heavy sighs indicating his frustration. He turned to ship's android Roger and said, "Roger, scan for Mr. Renjay's locator signal."

"Yes, sir." Roger did as he was ordered. "According to his locator signal, Zack is currently in the Holoroom."

"The Holoroom." He threw his hands up in the air. "Of course he's in the Holoroom."

"Do you want Bortis to go and get him?" asked Lisa.

John frustratingly ran his hand through his hair and let out an exasperated sigh.

"No, that's all right," John replied. "I'll go get him myself."

With that, he turned around and walked back off the bridge. Once he left, Lisa gazed over at Tamala and quipped, "You know, I think it would have been safer for Zack if Bortis had fetched him."

"Yep," replied Tamala simply, mimicking John.

Bortis merely growled in response the way he so often did . . .

***

As John stomped down the corridor towards the Holoroom, he thought of how Zack was a good pilot but he could be a major pain in the ass to deal with. He also began to wonder if he was worth the hassle. There were plenty of good pilots within the Alliance. Sheila Ramsey, who helped during their encounter with the Kelvarians who boarded The Reliant while he was at that captain's conference and abducted Tamala, was one. He wondered if he would not have already replaced Zack had he not been the son of his friend Admiral Jason Renjay. He was still pondering this as he stepped up to the door of the Holoroom. He pressed the button to open the door but found it was locked. His frustration with his oft obstinate pilot growing, he said, "Computer, override door lock to the Holoroom. Authorization Yager Alpha 001."

Within seconds, the door to the Holoroom swung open, allowing John to step inside. He was stopped dead in his tracks by what he saw once he stepped inside the room. In the middle of the room was a queen-sized bed. Lying in the middle of the bed was a sleeping-and snoring-Zack. Surrounding Zack was a bevy of beautiful scantily-clad alien women, including a Morlon and an Alterian woman. They all gazed over at John when they saw him enter the room. One of the women, the Alterian, smiled sultrily at John and placed her finger up to her lips.

"Shhhh," she whispered. "He's sleeping."

"Oh, I'm sorry," John said mockingly. "If he's sleeping, then we shouldn't wake him, should we?"

"No," the Alterian girl said, giggling.

John stepped up and stood beside the bed. He looked at the women who were all still looking at him. He gazed down at Zack and bent over him. He looked back at the Alterian woman and said to her, "So you say we shouldn't wake him?"

"No," she said, smiling and shaking her head. "We shouldn't."

"Uh-hmmm," John murmured as he looked back down at Zack. Then he yelled as loud as he could into Zack's sleeping face: "ZACK!!!!"