Alan Scarlett Best Two Out of Three

© 2024 - 2025 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of Tim Kuzon, my old pal, fellow railfan, and science fiction fan. Monthly we traveled the mean streets of rural Western New York to find the latest copy of

Fantasy and Science Fiction

magazine. You're missed every day, Tim.

A beacon bright in life's brief span,

A dreamer bold, a cosmic fan.

Though now he's crossed the final gate,

Tim's essence shines, his tales await.

In every story, every gleam,

His memory lives, a starlit dream.

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Preface

I have always been a fan of "hard science, science-fiction." Not the modern Science-Fantasy where you say, "make it so" and it magically happens whether it's crossing the universe in a few hours or travel easily through time or find a race of space dragons that speak English. That stuff isn't science fiction to me. It's fun to read, but to me it's fantasy.

I love the old school science-fiction where the science is first and foremost. My characters will probably never get beyond Saturn. They'll never break the speed of light, they'll run out of fuel, and they'll squabble amongst themselves over the best food substitute at the chow hall. My ships don't have artificial gravity, they don't fly faster than light, my ships travel in straight lines and turning is a pain in the ass. There's no swooping and curving trajectories because that's impossible. The only exception is the asteroid belt, that's my playground. Anything can happen there.

Join me in the heady days of great science fiction, the days of Asimov, Bradbury, Clark, Dick, Heinlein. I want to revive X-1, a radio "space opera" that used stories from the greatest writers. I try to avoid words they wouldn't have used in 1950. I'll use words like atomic instead of nuclear, terminal instead of computer, spaceman instead of astronaut and cosmonaut, and Pencil and Paper instead of laptop. I name many of my characters after real astronauts that have flown in the past 50 years. Many ships and space stations are named after astronauts of note: Armstrong, Glenn, Shepherd. My bad guys are named after actual bad guys, and the Cold War is still on.

Their history (your future) got pretty ugly in 2080. World War Four started with a terrorist organization called Widdershins Separatists set off an atomic bomb in Lake Erie, which destroyed all cities on the shoreline: Fort Erie, Buffalo, Erie, Ashtabula, Cleveland, Sandusky, Monroe, Toledo, and the city of Detroit. The tsunami killed millions of people and destroyed shipping for decades. In the following war, Earth took thousands of men from the Martian and Luna colonies, destroying their society, leaving Mars and Luna (the moon) a home for widows, old men and little boys.

Join me in a universe of brave men and women who man the ships of the Western Alliance Navy, and keep back the ships of the Eastern Bloc. A universe of space colonies on Mars, Luna, and Venus, vast stations hanging in space where their rotation provides gravity, where pirates prowl the solar system looking for a fat cruiser to pillage, and the spacemen who fly the small fighters and the bombers to keep the pirates at bay. Alan Scarlett has just saved all of humanity and was given some time off with his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) on Fiji 2.

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Alan Scarlett Best Two Out of Three

EPISODE 2 in the Alan Scarlett series

Will Alan Scarlett prevail over the three perilous tasks that fate has in store for him?

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In twilight's tender hues, where memories fade,

A silent ache whispers, shadows invade.

Echoes of laughter, now faint and forlorn,

Dreams of love wither, by dawn they are worn.

"Goodbye" echoes in the gloom, the demise of joy.

- Alan B. Scarlett, August 2142

Fiji 2, March 25, 2142

Last day of Vacation

Hilde Marks moaned under Alan Scarlett's caresses and sighed in delight as each kiss brought the lovers closer and closer together. "Now, my love," she whispered, and she tugged at Alan, pulling him atop her lithe, sensuous body. Her long shapely legs wrapped around his as their tongues danced together, their lips aching from the kisses.

She reached down and wrapped her delicate hand around his throbbing manhood, lining him up with her weeping vagina. "Are you sure?" Alan asked.

"It's time," she whispered, but then, she looked at Alan with fear in her eyes and said, "Trust no one," and like the morning mist, she faded away, leaving Alan alone in his Uncle Ray's guest cabana at Ray's beachfront condominium on Fiji 2. He woke up and looked around, his fiancée and lover was gone. It was like this every night and getting worse with each dream about his love. Each time Alan came closer to losing his virginity, but each time reality intruded, leaving him alone on Earth, while Hilde recuperated at her apartment on Luna at the Luna Prime colony.

"I am not going to cry," he vowed as he sat in the darkness, but like every night, the bitter tears of losing Hilde to a horrible accident came. A snapped cable took her legs off while they worked in space and simultaneously the cable killed his RIO and friend, Tasha Kikina. Alan saved Hilde by applying tourniquets to her legs, but she was so emotionally shattered she asked Alan to let her heal with her lover Yin Chao, who had almost become Alan's "Lunar wife."

There was so much loss, so much death in his life. His parents died with 120 other Martians in an insidious plot to kill them, Alan, and his sister, Christa. How many people did he kill when he went on a vengeful tear and destroyed twelve Eastern Bloc fighters? How many people were vaporized when he released an atomic bomb on his home planet of Mars? He dropped it on a large group of Eastern Bloc saboteurs looking to collect samples of the deadliest virus ever known to man, and they would have died from exposure to the Burgman Virus, and blasting them and the virus to atoms saving billions of lives, but he still killed them.

And he killed Dr. Burgman, the man who forced his parents to develop that virus. He did Dr. Bergman up close and personal and he watched the life drain from his eyes as the airlock they were in opened to the near vacuum of Mars. Murdering Dr. Burgman bothers him as well. He feels he should have taken longer.

Alan could not get back to sleep so he got up and took a towel and stepped out of Uncle Ray's guest cabana onto the beach of Fiji 2 and walked down to the water line. He laid out the towel and sat on it, and watched the sliver of the moon rise over the ocean. "Hilde, please take me back," he whispered to the moon, and he wondered if she looked down on him and said, "soon Alan, we'll be together soon. Let me rest for a while." At the same time, he knew she wouldn't.

It was his last day in paradise. Tomorrow, his shore leave would be over. Then Alan and his Radar Intercept Officer Anna Vasquez would take a boat to the main Fiji island of Viti Levu and catch a flight to Guam. There they would transfer to the NSS Shepherd, the first launch ship in the Western Alliance Navy. It could launch U-700 shuttles from any point in the ocean to any orbit you could imagine. The shuttles were designed to carry passengers and priority freight outward to the three main Navy space stations, Camp Schmitt in Geosynchronous orbit over Camp Lejeune, Armstrong Station at Earth/Luna Lagrange point one, and Aldrin Shipyards at Earth/Luna Lagrange point two.

In 2083, a tsunami completely destroyed the Totoya atoll and nearby Matuku Island. Both were part of the Fiji island chain. A land speculation company paid the families of the lost islanders millions and purchased the islands outright and began hauling rock and sand and soon the two islands were renamed Fiji 2, primarily a retirement community which was loved by Lunars and Martians who wanted to get away from the colony and enjoy fresh air. Totoya was a tropical paradise with white sand beaches and swaying palms. There were condos, apartments, sailing in the lagoon and plenty of young staff members to help them adjust to laid back earth life.

Matuku was mountainous, with many streams and waterfalls. There was cliff diving for the adventurous, and mountain villas with breathtaking views. Matuku was for younger residents who wanted adventure and Totoya Atoll was for older residents who had their adventures and wanted to relax on the beach with topless Polynesian girls waiting on them and fetching them drinks.

As the sun rose, Anna came out of the main house and sat down on the beach next to her pilot and commander. "Couldn't sleep again?" Alan didn't speak, he just shook his head no. "Any improvement?"

"She said something that I remember this time. She said, 'trust no one.'"

"Well shit," said Anna. "After you atomized not one but two Eastern Bloc units and erased the weapon they wanted, then your squadron shot down fifty-three of their fighter and damaged their mystery ship? They're probably out to get us. I think that was good advice."

"Then there's the worst one," groaned Alan, as he poked a tiny seashell with a stick. "They're expecting more from me."

"Who is?"

"Everyone. Captain Schirra and Admiral Darwin both want a home run every time I catch a punt."

"You really need to watch sports that you understand," said Anna. "Like chess." She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're not having fun training?"

"I'm still new to the Navy. I don't understand half the crap Captain Schirra spouts."

"That's because he's a captain and you're a brevet commander."

"I know, I know," groaned Alan. He had to look that up to see what it means. In essence, he's a Lieutenant Commander as long as he works for Captain Schirra, but he still gets Lieutenant JG's pay. If he goes to another assignment, his rank is set back to Lieutenant JG.

"How does it feel to be owned?" grinned Anna.

"It used to feel better," muttered Alan.

"Come on, let's go eat some breakfast then do something that will make me wet," said Anna.

"That's anything that involves Keala."

"Shut up... sir. I was talking about paddle boarding or windsurfing. Keala's a friend. I'm still mourning Tasha, you're still mourning Tasha, Hilde, Yin and Noelani. We're both pitiful. Are you ok?"

"I'm mourning Noelani?" asked Alan.

"You didn't look happy that your childhood girlfriend went and got married and had two kids without your permission."

"Fuck..." Alan groaned at remembering the unexpected heartbreak. He had been gone almost an entire decade. How could he expect her to wait for him? "This is why Captain Schirra sent us here, so we didn't bum out the new flight crews," muttered Alan.

They watched the tide creep up the beach toward them. "Snorkeling," said Alan. "Let's go snorkeling and catch a few lobsters or harpoon a grouper." Alan was better at harpooning than rod and reel fishing. As long as he could shoot something, he could put dinner on the table.

"Out by the reef? That's dangerous!" said Anna.

"Yeah, it's a good thing we don't have fish in space," said Alan with the start of a grin. "That would make space dangerous."

They ended up going wind surfing. There was a regatta scheduled in the Totoya Lagoon and Alan and Anna entered the event. Nobody knew how good they were, so they were entered into the beginner's brackets and they slaughtered the competition. Anna grew up on the shores of Lake Tota in Columbia and wind surfed her entire life.

Slim, short, tanned to a medium brown, Anna didn't look like a Martian but her folks were both Martians, second generation from Tharsis City, but had to relocate to earth. Anna taught Alan how to windsurf on the windward side of the island, which was choppy seas compared to the lagoon, so in the much calmer lagoon, Alan was incredible. Since he first raised the sail on his sail board, he fell in love with the sport so much that he spent every lonely evening reading about it. "Surfboard Yachting" is what the cute Polynesian waitresses called it.

"You've got really powerful arms," said an incredibly cute woman who was about Alan's age. "You can really handle that sail."

"It's because I'm from Mars," he replied, flexing his muscle. Yes, he was from Mars, but he spent the past eight years working out nonstop in every gym and weight room he could find. Most Martian men were barely able to lift their own chess pieces. Alan wanted to break that stereotype. Being raised in 30% of Earth's gravity, you don't need big muscles, but Alan wanted to go to the stars so he started working out at the age of thirteen.

"Are all Martians like you?" asked the waitress as she squeezed his biceps.

"Wait until you see his dick," said Anna without looking up from her magazine. "A Martian will split you in half."

The waitress laughed and walked away, and Alan said, "What the hell did you say that for? Now you scared her away."

"Believe me boss, she's an earth girl. They'll be lining up at your cabana door after the luau tonight."

"Ladies and gentlemen, this heat is the finale. Three laps of the course for the championship. Will the following yachtsmen report to the starting line? Yamato, Williams, Scarlett, Rothschild, Vasquez, and Astor."

"You ready RIO?" asked Alan.

"Ready boss," said Anna and they headed to the shore to gather their boards. Both had Martian red sails, and both wore Berserker purple life jackets.

"Are you two aliens on the same team?" asked Bernard Rothschild in a snotty tone of voice as they lined up for the start. He was on the board between Alan and Anna, with Alan to his left.

Alan looked at young Mister Rothschild like he didn't speak English. Instead, Anna replied for them. "What team are you talking about, Biff? The Navy? Yes, we are both fighter pilots and we have sixteen kills."

"Twelve," corrected Alan.

"Didn't you get the memo from Admiral Pierce? They gave us credit for the four Eastern Bloc Featherbacks that got caught in the blast."

Alan shook his head and frowned. "That wasn't an air-to-air fight, that was a bomb blast." The windsurfers lined up on the starting line with their sails and masts laying in the water to their right.

"They went down by our actions, we got credit. We're triple aces!" said Anna like she was handed a puppy. "And they gave us credit for that cargo hog we split in half. They counted fifty bodies in that thing, mostly command staff and biochemists."

"He was blocking our entry into the Schiaparelli Canal," said Alan with a shrug. "I didn't want to count myself as a kill."

"You were in a war?" asked a stunned rich boy.

Alan stood on his board and looked down at the rich kid who lined up between him and Anna. "Yes, Mister Rothschild. You may have all the money in the world, but my friend Anna and I faced down the Eastern Bloc and won while you sat on your ass. This little girl has more balls than you do."

Rothschild whirled toward Alan to swear at him, but the starter's gun went off and Rothschild was standing on his board with his back to his sail. Alan and Anna yanked their masts up out of the water and were off leaving 'Biff' behind. This first leg was into the wind and they had to tack left and right to move forward. While everyone looked deadly serious around the triangular course, Anna and Alan were laughing, having a grand time. They looked like they were trying to bump each other off the course and they swooped and splashed each other.

They exchanged the lead over and over on the first and second lap, but the third lap was when the truly good windsurfers came into their own. Alan and Anna were in second and third place, rounding the last turn and sprinting for the finish line. Oki Yamato was right ahead of them, but Alan and Anna got upwind of him and their sails blocked the wind from his sail and he stalled, falling behind them. He was able to recover as they passed, but he never caught up with them and they flashed across the finish line with Anna beating Alan by half a length.

They were still arguing when the judge caught up with them. "Tell him I can't take this," demanded Anna. "He let me win."

"I did not. It was your skill and experience. Tell her that she won, Chief."

"Miss Vasquez, you were first across the line," said the Judge, as he handed her the trophy.

"I can't take this thing back to the McDivitt," she complained. It was a large trophy with a windsurfer on top.

"Leave it in Ray's house. He'll love it," said Alan.

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Fiji 2, March 25, 2142

Last Night of Vacation

That night at the victory luau, the members of the community cheered the crazy Martian who learned to windsurf in three weeks and their victor, the little Navy girl from the southern continent. Paul's friend from his first visit to Earth, Noelani, and her friend Keala came to serve Alan and Anna. The first course featured Lomilomi Salmon, pineapple, and Poi. The main course was ground barbequed pork, ginger mahimahi, rice, sweet potato, and roasted summer squash. It was a feast for a king and Alan was finally laughing and enjoying the party.

After dinner, they walked back to Uncle Ray's house, following paths lit by tiki torches through the narrow strip of jungle. "You live on the windward side," said Noelani. "Very convenient. Nobody will hear me scream," she said as she leaned over and licked his ear. Then she danced ahead of Paul a few steps, turned around and removed her bikini top. Her brown nipples and areola that were capping her sweet little mounds were erect and aching for attention. She grinned and wagged her eyebrows at him, then clung to his arm. "I want to say goodbye the Fiji way tonight." Her hand cupped his crotch through his swim trunks and squeezed his cock and balls.

"I thought you were married, with two kids."

"I am married," she whispered in his ear. "But this is traditional Fiji goodbye, so he understands." Her teeth closed on Alan's ear lobe. She playfully nipped his ear and said, "We can have our fun, and if it gets serious..." she kissed his cheek, "I'll name it after you."

She had Alan right where she wanted him. She knew he was aching to get into her pussy, or anyone's pussy, for that matter. His former lover Hilde kept him aching for her pussy, teasing him and denying him constantly. She gave him free access to her mouth and ass, but Hilde saved her pussy for her wife, Yin Chao.

They got to Ray's house and while Keala and Anna entered Ray's small house, Alan led Noelani to the Cabana at the back. She tried to get him to enter the house, tugging and urging him inside, but he said, "no, it's beautiful out here. We can look at the stars and sleep in the guest cabana."

"Don't you sleep inside?"

"No," said Alan. "I've lived inside my entire life. I love the fresh air blowing off the ocean, the sound of the waves, the sun waking me up in the morning."