Star Tracking. Part 8, and the end.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The two hours passed all too slowly for Dashing once he'd finished packing his case. That hadn't taken him long; he'd just rolled all of his clothes up into a ball and shoved them in. He managed to lock the suitcase, although it did appear to be bulging at the seams.

He paced back and forth, worrying that some unlucky mishap might allow Steadfast to figure out what Dashing was up to. And it would have to be a very big unlucky mishap, considering how stupid Steadfast was. Briefly Dashing wondered how the Endeavour came to be in orbit, but dismissed it as just a coincidence.

A sudden thought struck him, what if the Urgonians had freed Judith and Steadfast was trying to let him know? Steadfast (in spite of his stupidity) was very loyal to Stellarfleet and therefore to his Captain. Dashing mulled it over. Could he take the chance?

He shuddered and shook his head. Bak'ton could be very determined. No, best not. When the Urgonians finally did decide to release Judith it would be on at least one of the news channels.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, followed by Milat's entrance into the room.

"You're ready?" Milat demanded.

"Yes, yes, yes. Let's go." Dashing grabbed his luggage, shoved it into Milat's arms and rushed out into the corridor.

The Princess Ilara was waiting there. "Quickly," she hissed. "We don't have much time."

The three of them hurried down the corridor, keeping an eye out for any guards or courtiers who might be lurking around.

They reached the spaceport without any kind of mishap occurring, and Dashing's passage was arranged. He had to book passage on a ship, as he had absolutely no idea on how to fly one. Before he embarked, he turned and grasped Ilara's hands and smiled down at her. Practised phrases tumbled from him as he thanked her for her help and wished her all the best with that lucky, lucky man, Milat. Ilara was hard pressed not to cringe away from him. Milat was hard pressed not to start laughing. He'd never heard such codswallop in his life.

Finally Dashing finished, and he automatically leaned forward to kiss her.

Ilara hurriedly ducked away. "Don't," she ordered him. "That's how this whole mess started!"

Dashing paused, his lips pursed in preparation, then he smiled. "You're quite right, my dear. Well, Milat, you're a lucky man, she's very clever."

With that, he released her hands, grabbed his suitcase and was gone.

Ilara sighed with relief. "Oh, Milat."

"Pity he's gone," Milat said.

"What?"

"I was going to ask him to be best man!" he grinned.

She elbowed him sharply in the ribs. "Let's go. And I hope we never see him again."

Her sentiments were more than shared by Dashing.

~o0o~

While his passage on this ship had been booked under his real name (due to the Garlans' sense of honour), he was determined to board the spaceship as someone else. He sat in the messhall racking his brains for names. He was determined not to use the name of anyone on board the Endeavour, but that was proving difficult. It wasn't until the freighter ship had almost reached the southernmost continent that he hit upon the perfect name. Smith. He'd heard that there were lots of people named Smith, so no-one should be able to track him with that name.

Unfortunately for Dashing, while there had been several families bearing the name of Smith (it had been one of the most common surnames in existence) the majority of those families had either changed their name, or adapted it slightly. Generations of Smiths had faced sniggers of disbelief each time they booked into a hotel with their spouse, and hatred of the name had grown from there. There were thousands of Piggott-Smiths, Henley-Smiths, Munroe-Smiths and the like, but very few Smiths. In fact, there was only one real Smith left, and he was a bad-tempered, stubborn old man who had never left Earth.

~o0o~

Dashing hurried towards the booking desk. The sooner he was off this planet the better. "I'd like to book passage on the next ship leaving," he told the official behind the desk.

The Garlan checked the computer. "That would be the Einstein. It's an Earth passenger ship, travelling to Larius, Himtak, Tynar and Earth. Which destination, sir?"

"Erm...Larius." The sooner he got off the ship the better.

"And the name, sir?"

"Smith."

The Garlan frowned. "Smith?"

"Yes, Smith," Dashing insisted. What was wrong with Smith?

"Very well, sir."

Dashing paid for his ticket, grabbed his bags and rushed over in the direction of the shuttle. He only had ten minutes before it was leaving. He rushed up the steps and presented his ticket.

"What name is it?" the young officer asked, in a bored voice. He hated being on booking-in duty. All you had to do was ask the passengers their names and tick the name off your list. The computer could do that.

"Smith," Dashing replied airily.

Barton looked up from his clipboard. "Smith?"

"Yes, Smith."

"Pull the other one."

"What?" What was it with everyone today?

"Smith!" Barton almost snorted. He stuck his head into the shuttlecraft and shouted to the pilot. "Hey, Grayson. He says his name's Smith!"

The pilot sniggered.

"It is!" Dashing insisted.

Barton shrugged. "Alright, it's your name. I suppose you know what your name is."

"Thank you," Dashing replied sarcastically. He took a seat and waited.

Barton checked his list one more time, then clouted the pilot on the shoulder. "Okay, all aboard." He sat down next to the pilot as the shuttle took off.

Dashing could hear them talking, and sniggering, about 'Smith', but he ignored them. He knew that it was a common name. Steadfast would never be able to track him.

~o0o~

CHAPTER THIRTY

Once on board the Einstein, Dashing made his way to his quarters. He'd almost reached them when a voice made him turn.

"Mr. Dashing?"

Dashing's heart almost stopped. Not now, not here. Not now when he was booked on the ship under a really good name. He glanced around. Oh my God! It was one of the scientists from the Korgal ship. He shook his head. "You must be mistaken. My name's Smith."

Killian was confused. He recognised Dashing (how could he ever forget him?) and now he was claiming to be called Smith? "Oh, okay," he said. "Sorry. My mistake." He watched Dashing scurry furtively down the corridor and into a cabin, then made his way to the messhall for breakfast. His colleagues were waiting for him there.

"You'll never guess who I've just seen!" he declared as he sat down next to Harrison.

Leigh looked at him. He looked much happier now that he was away from the Korgals. "Erm...King Inian...Queen Hunaria?" he suggested facetiously. "They got bored with royal life and decided to sign on as cabin boys?"

Killian shook his head. "I'll deal with you later," he said. "Nope. Dashing."

"Dashing?" Harrison repeated. "What, old 'isn't this conversation deep' himself?"

"That's the one. But the weird thing is, he says his name's Smith!"

Their reactions were just what he'd hoped for.

"Smith?" they said in unison. "No-one's called Smith!" Then they looked at each other.

"You two have been spending far too much time together," Killian said with a grin. "And yeah, that's what I thought. But he says that's his name."

"Bit weird if you ask me," Harrison replied. Then he shrugged. "But what do you expect?"

~o0o~

Dashing slid into the messhall and grabbed a tray. He'd left his lunch until as late as possible in the hope of the messhall being practically empty. No such luck.

The three scientists saw him come in.

"It's him," Leigh declared.

"I said it was him," Killian returned, watching Dashing's furtive movements out of the corner of his eye. "What is up with that guy?"

"Maybe he's flipped." Harrison sat back in his chair. He couldn't see how Dashing was acting but the other two were mesmerised. The officer had obviously recognised them and was refusing to look their way again.

As soon as Dashing had sat down, as far away as possible from them, Leigh was out of his chair and heading towards him.

"Leigh! What are you...." Harrison stopped. The younger man was totally ignoring him.

"Mr. Dashing!" Leigh acted surprised. "What a surprise! We didn't expect to see you on this ship. Well, well, well. What a pleasure. Come on, you must join us."

Dashing practically choked on his cauliflower cheese. He made gurgling noises as he stared at the young scientist in front of him.

Killian was shaking with laughter. Leigh was not bothering to keep his voice down.

"We were wondering what happened to you after you were kicked off that Korgal ship. Terrible brutes they are, aren't they? We were quite concerned. Especially since," Leigh lowered his voice confidentially, "we enjoyed several deep conversations after you left. And it just wasn't the same without you."

Dashing tried to look modest and failed. He knew that he was a good conversationalist, and those three scientists would have been bereft without his input.

Harrison was snorting in an effort to keep his mirth under control. Was Dashing really buying this stuff?

Suddenly Dashing remembered that he was supposed to be incognito. "Er...I'm afraid that you've made a mistake," he insisted. "Erm...my name's Smith." He stood up suddenly and shook Leigh's hand. "Erm...John Smith."

Leigh's eyes widened as he pretended to swallow Dashing's lie. "The John Smith? I've heard so much about you. It really is a pleasure, sir." He shook Dashing's hand enthusiastically. "I'm so sorry I disturbed you. By the way, did you know that you bear an uncanny resemblance to a man called Dashing?"

"Really? Really. Hmm. Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Mr...?"

"Leigh."

"Leigh. Mr. Leigh. It was a pleasure." Dashing sat down and hoped Leigh would take the hint.

He did. Leigh smiled one more time at Dashing and returned to his table.

"What did you think you were doing?" Harrison demanded as soon as he'd taken his seat.

"I just wanted to see what he'd say," Leigh smirked.

"And he said he was the John Smith." Killian grinned suddenly. "I bet we won't see him in the messhall again."

~o0o~

That evening the ship docked at the main spaceport on Larius and Dashing left the ship. He was glad to be off that ship. He glanced back as he made his way through the spaceport, then jumped. Killian, Leigh and Harrison could be seen wildly waving goodbye to him from one of the ship's windows.

Dashing looked around to see if anyone had noticed and scurried off.

~o0o~

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

His supply of money was almost exhausted now, and so was Dashing. He sat nursing a cup of coffee in his hands as his mind dwelt on his situation. He wasn't cut out for fleeing across the galaxy - why on Earth could Bak'ton just take no for an answer? He smiled modestly, well, what did he expect? Obviously she knew that no man would ever be able to match up to him. Poor girl. If he'd known that she'd feel that way, he might have resisted the chance to add another notch to his bedpost. He was quite fond of her, in his own way, but marriage...when he was expected to remain faithful...was not for him.

He allowed his eyes to travel around the room. Vaguely he eyed up a young Larian female. She smirked at him in return. He smiled his winsomely charming smile, which widened as she stood up and made her way over to his table.

"Well, hello there," she said as she stroked one finger down the side of his face.

Within ten minutes, Dashing was boarding Captain Ryler's ship; a smirk plastered all over his face. It faltered a little when it turned out that she expected him to do the cleaning while she was flying the ship, but he needed the ride and there were other perks.

~o0o~

"Commander Steadfast." King Inian bowed his head.

"Your Majesty," Steadfast replied calmly. "I am hoping that we can come to some arrangement over Captain Dashing. As you can understand...."

Inian raised one hand. "I regret to inform you...."

Steadfast's heart sank. They hadn't executed him, had they?

"...that Captain Dashing is no longer on the Homeworld. He left during the night it seems."

Steadfast breathed a sigh of relief. If they'd executed him, they would have said so. At least Steadfast could still try to track him down.

King Inian continued. "We offer our deepest regrets to Stellarfleet about this incident. We hope that you can understand our position."

Steadfast smiled slightly. After reading their Scrolls of Honour, he understood all too well. He assured the Garlan leader that Stellarfleet understood perfectly. He hoped (but not out loud) that the Garlans would understand when Hashimoto logged onto their computer system and tried to discover where Dashing had gone.

Oddly enough, the Garlans didn't seem to notice.

~o0o~

Hashimoto handed the information over to Steadfast...again. "Commander?"

Steadfast looked up.

"I believe that he must have gone to Yulia first, sir."

"The southern continent?"

"Yes, sir. All the spaceships that left, left from there. And...."

Steadfast raised his eyebrows. "And?"

The young officer pointed out what had caught his attention on one of the passenger lists. "I've never met anyone with that name, sir, although I believe it used to be very common."

Steadfast stared at the name. Smith. Only an idiot would try to be incognito with a name like Smith. And Dashing... "What's the Einstein's first port of call?" he demanded.

"Larius, sir."

Steadfast headed for the bridge. Larius it was then.

~o0o~

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

They reached the Larian spaceport and found that their luck had definitely changed. Not only had Captain Dashing been spotted by several of the spaceport crew, they even found a friend of Captain Ryler and he knew where she was headed. He was also extremely annoyed since he was supposed to have been on that ship and had been summarily ejected once Dashing had shown up. He expressed the hope that the good ship Virtuous would hit an asteroid storm and be destroyed, but failing that small possibility, he was willing to renege on his former lover and send anybody who looked like trouble after her. And if Dashing got in the way, so much the better.

The crew caught up with the Virtuous within a couple of days.

~o0o~

Things had not been going well for Dashing. He discovered that the beautiful Captain whose cleaning he was currently trying to do, was on a cargo run to Urgonia. Naturally, he tried to persuade her that she didn't have to deliver her cargo while he was on board.

"Ryler," he murmured, as she lifted her feet to allow him to scrub the floor in front of her Captain's chair. "You don't have to worry your pretty little head about business while I'm on board."

She flicked him a glance, then continued checking the list of cargo she was supposed to collect on Urgonia. She fancied the pants off him, but she wished he'd stop talking.

"Why don't we just...get away from it all. Just you and me. Flying through the sky like two comets...."

She looked at him again. Where had he learnt to talk like that?

"...two shooting stars. Lighting up the sky and making mere mortals wish they were us." He smirked. He'd known he couldn't fail - what woman could resist those chat up lines?

She put the list down and looked at him steadily.

He smiled charmingly.

"If I don't deliver my cargo, I'll get a reputation for being unreliable. If I get a reputation for being unreliable, I won't get as much business. If I don't get as much business, I'll go broke. If I go broke, I'll wring your neck. Understand?" she said flatly.

Dashing looked at her, astonished, his brush dripping suds onto the floor. "I beg your pardon?"

"Listen, sweetie. You're good looking, but you talk absolute garbage. Now keep your mouth shut and just scrub the floor."

He spluttered. "Garbage?" No-one had ever accused his chat up lines of being anything but the best. He realised that he had little chance of charming her into abandoning her cargo run Urgonia. He thought quickly - well, as quickly as he could - and then attempted to commandeer her ship under Stellarfleet rule 632, paragraph 7, sub-section 3.

Big mistake.

He soon realized that she'd never read the rule book and didn't give a monkey's which rule he was quoting, he wasn't getting her ship.

It was at that point that her infatuation died a sudden death and she dumped him on a nearby planet. All his attempts to charm her into seeing thing his way had failed. As did his attempt to take her ship by force. Larian females are one of the toughest species in the galaxy, even Larian males know better than to try violence, and Larian males are one of the stupidest species in the galaxy.

Having dumped her now ex-lover on Tynar, Ryler continued on her merry way. She was kind enough to tell the Endeavour where Dashing was and they reached Tynar just in time.

~o0o~

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Having completely forgotten that Tynar was the oil rich planet they'd visited not so long ago, and that he'd been warned what would happen if he tried anything; Dashing had arrived, taken a good look at the luscious women and tried something. If the Endeavour hadn't arrived he would never have been able to try that again.

Steadfast wasn't sure if Bak'ton needed Dashing to be complete, but he wasn't taking any chances. So he rescued Dashing using diplomatic means.

Dashing was very disappointed - he was furious with the Tynarians and did in fact attempt to declare war on them, but Dr. Lipton used his trusty hypospray before he could finish his declaration and the Endeavour headed back to Urgonia.

When Dashing came round, he was lying in medlab. He smiled sickly at the doctor. "Guess you lot arrived in the nick of time."

Dr. Lipton smiled warmly back. Knowing that this jackass was going to be off the ship within two days, and married within three, made the doctor feel quite happy. "It was a good thing we found you," he lied, "the Urgonians were threatening to execute Judith."

Judith was, at this point, partying it up with Steadfast and the crew, but Dashing didn't know that and Lipton wasn't about to tell him.

Dashing felt even sicker. "Is she alright?"

"She will be, once we deliver up the fatted calf." Lipton gave Dashing a very direct look.

"Er...w-we can't give in t-to hostage situations," Dashing stammered. He was in trouble and he knew it. "W-we have to rescue her and...and b-blow up Urgonia. That'll make them think twice."

"Well, we could, but Stellarfleet has decided that since you have had relations with Madame Bak'ton before...and she isn't going to harm you; they're going to let this wedding go ahead."

Dashing attempted to leap from his sickbed in horror, only to find that the restraints were on. "You can't mean it! I was going to raise a crew myself and get Judith back...you can't give me to that woman!"

"You were going to raise a crew yourself?" Lipton was surprised. "That nice Captain Ryler didn't say anything about that. She just said that you seemed to be running for your life."

"A Stellarfleet officer never neglects his duty," Dashing declared in his best heroic fashion. "I could never allow this crew," Dashing flashed a charming smile at his old friend, "to risk their lives trying to save me from a fate worse than death."

"So you ran away." Lipton rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting strategy."

"I need to get to the bridge to contact Stellarfleet. I'm sure that if I speak to Bak'ton I can...."

Lipton interruped. "Sorry. The Captain's given orders that you're to stay here...and rest."

"Captain? What Captain?" Dashing spluttered. "I'm the Captain!"

"Didn't I tell you?" The doctor smiled. "In view of your forthcoming change of career, Stellarfleet's promoted Steadfast. The crew are celebrating his promotion and your marriage now. They all hope you'll be very happy." As an afterthought he added, "I believe they're clubbing together to get you and Bak'ton a wedding present."

Dashing's eyes bulged as his colour rose rapidly.

Lipton gazed at his recalcitrant patient thoughtfully. He shrugged, made a medical decision and sedated his extremely charming ex-Captain.

He patted Dashing on the face gently. "Sleep well. You've got a big day coming up." And then he left to join the party.

~o0o~

CAPTAIN'S DIARY
Having captured...uh...recovered Captain Dashing, we are now heading for Urgonia. Once we've seen our fine Captain safely married, we're heading straight back to Earth. Judith wants to be married there, but Madame Bak'ton has invited us to spend our honeymoon on Urgonia. I'm still thinking about that one.

The End