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Chapter Eight Shrink

A woman was sitting in a chair. She was a canine, a wolf. Brown furred. She was long and elegant, dressed in a pantsuit. She was nearing middle aged. She was a psychiatrist. Her name was Elizabeth Carpenter. In the finely furnished room with her was a German Shepard. He was laying on a couch. Norman Fletcher sighed, "I don't know what came over me." He had just gotten out of the hospital, He had his bones readjusted and was walking again in a week. This was the last stop before being able to leave. He sat up and continued, "I just didn't want someone else taking command of Alice. I've been the captain of that ship for nearly twenty years!" Beth calmly said, "Relax, Norman. I know what that ship meant to you. But you know that you weren't in any position to sneak aboard." He replied, "If I had been there earlier, it would still be running." Beth nodded, "That may be. But you are under a lot of pressure, you need rest. You've been at this far too long. You need to let go of Alice. And I'm not talking about the ship. You're wife died a long time ago." Norman glared at her, looked at the ring on her finger, "You don't know what it's like to lose the one person you love!" Beth sighed, looking down at her hands, "I only keep this as a reminder. I do know how you feel. My husband was a captain, too." Norman felt a rush of guilt and he looked to the ground, "I.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to explode at you like that.." Beth shook her head, "No, It's okay, really. Look, you need to relax, you're too stressed out. Your wife is dead. You need to accept that. Now that your ship is gone, too. Maybe you can do that now. It was holding you back." "You're right." Replied Norman, he knew that the ship was the only thing keeping him from moving on from his dead wife. "I can help you. That's why you are here." Beth stated, looking at Norman, "But you need to want help." Norman nodded, "Alright. I'll tell you what you want to know." He felt defeated and weak, which he realized was exactly how he should have been feeling this whole time. Being too proud to admit how lost he was without Alice in his life. Beth sat upright and said, "So, tell me about your wife. What happened?" Norman felt that surge of pain he always did when Beth asked that. He tried to resist the urge to avoid it and sighed, "We were visiting Big Blue, for a vacation. I had just gotten some time off so I took her there. We didn't have any kids and were feeling like it was about time to try for one. So, we did. We tested every morning for a week until she found out she was pregnant." He smiled, "I don't think either of us were ever happier than that moment." tears began to form in his eyes, "We celebrated that night. We went to the finest restaurant in the city. It was owned by a clan of mobsters. They recognized my face. Knew I was one of the ten that took down their headquarters on Mars a few weeks prior. The waiter handed us our meal, and with it.." Tears began to roll down his face, "The waiter pulled out a gun, placed it against her head and pulled the trigger. Then told me that was a warning." Norman lowered his head, unable to say more. He felt Beth's hand on his shoulder, "Norm.. I'm so sorry. I couldn't even imagine the pain.." She gave his shoulder a squeeze, "I think that's enough for today, Mr. Fletcher. Go home, get some rest." Norman looked up at her, "Wait, tell me about your husband. I still got fifteen minutes on the clock" Beth sat back, a bit uncomfortable, "Well, if it will help.." Norm nodded, "It would." "Well, Richard was a captain of a fighter ship. His crew were his friends from childhood. The three of them were inseparable. They were the ones that convinced me to date him." She laughed, tears welling up in her own eyes, "They were a good team. Fastest ship in the fleet." Norman cut in, "The Silver Hare." Beth nodded, "Yes.. They went after some pirates one day, and came back sick. I knew something was wrong. The pirates and biochemical weapons. Richard was the first to die from whatever it was. I watched him die in the hospital. They tried everything to help him. But it was a new poison. No one knew what it was at the time." She wiped her eyes, "We had a son. He was only six years old. They took him away from me because I couldn't take care of him on my own. This was twenty years ago." Norman patted her gently, "I'm sorry to hear that. Really, I am." Beth shook her head, "Don't worry about it. It is in the past. I hope today helped you a bit. Our time is nearly over. I will see you next week, yes?" Norman nodded, "Yes, I will come back." "No more sneaking off and nearly getting yourself killed?" She added as he stood up. Norman shook his head, "No, I'll be good." "Okay, remember, get some rest. You need it." Norman looked back at her and smiled, "I will. Thank you. I'll see you next week. Good-bye." with that he headed out into the waiting area, it was empty except for the receptionist. He didn't pay attention to her and walked out of the office, into a hallway. It was a large structure. He was inside the Space Station orbiting Mars. He was confined here while he was getting forced into therapy. Today was the first breakthrough since he started, two months ago. He didn't really know how he felt now, as he walked through the halls filled with offices, mostly lawyers and therapists. He walked into an open room, a large empty open room like a mall. It was the business quarter of the Space Station. People in suits or military uniforms were walking around importantly. All the paperwork for the military was done here. Norman walked slowly back to his quarters. It was a small apartment he had lived in for the past couple months. He had a house on Atlas, an Earth-like planet in a nearby solar system. One of the first to be assimilated after Earth had become unlivable. He was waiting for a time he would return. They told him he could go back when Beth checks him clear of being a danger to himself. The apartment was kept clean. Norman was an organized person, never letting the place get to look too lived in. He sat in his bed, there was a beeping on his phone. It was the first night he was going to sleep here for a week. He checked the message on his phone. It was the mercenary that helped him, the message was, "Hey, Norman, right? This is Chris Stone. I've been trying to call you guys about my reward. Now, I know you're probably the last person to call for this, but I was promised there would be some kind of monetary arrangement. This Ferguson chick keeps avoiding me. Call me back, please." Norman sighed, deciding to ignore the message and go to sleep. He took a shower and realized something was wrong. It wasn't until he was drying himself off when it hit him that his wedding ring was missing. He felt like a fool for not noticing earlier. He always had it on him, even if he wasn't wearing it. He went through his things, tirelessly searching for it. It dawned on him that he had it in his breast pocket when he was on his ship. The jacket he discarded after the crash. He sat at his bed, wondering what to do. He had no way to get it back. Alice would kill him if she were around to see what he had done. It was around three in the morning when he had an idea. He picked up his phone and called the number that left him the message. Chris Stone, the Mercenary was his only hope of getting it back. The voice that answered the phone was a female. No one he knew. She said, "Hello?" Norman said, "Is uh.. Chris Stone there?" The young woman on the other line said, "Yeah, hold on." He heard a giggle and before long Chris was talking, "Hello? Who is this?" He didn't sound at all asleep. "Hello. This is Norman Fletcher, You rescued me from my ship." "Oh yeah, feeling better?" replied Chris, sounding a bit flustered. "Yeah, much. Thank you. I was thinking. Any chance you are heading back to Earth? Chris paused for a moment, "I'll be heading back tomorrow, why?" "I want to go with you, I left something very important in my ship." replied Norman. "Y'Know, I still haven't gotten my reward for saving your sorry ass." Norman sighed, "Don't worry, you'll get it." "I heard that one before." Chris stated, coldly. "I can help you find what you were looking for. I have access to military records." Replied Norman. Chris paused, "Get me any information you have on museums in the Washington DC area and bring it to Mars. My ship is docked there, getting ready for another trip." Norman wrote down the request on a piece of paper beside his phone, "What are you looking for exactly?" "I'm not sure.. From what I was told, it's some technology found on Earth before it was destroyed. A weapon. But I need something first." "What do you need?" Replied Norman "There is a devise, a tool, to help find anything. I'm only looking for the weapon as an excuse to find it. I know it's on Earth, somewhere, kept safe. A crystal ball." Norman raised an eyebrow, "What?" "Look.." Chris paused a moment, "I will tell you about it tomorrow, okay? I will meet you at The Oasis. Call me when you get there. Don't forget about the records." With that, he hung up, leaving Norman to think about how he was going to get those records. He looked through the directory on a computer in the small room. The library was open all day every day. He would look there first. He booted his computer off and he laid back in his bed, set his alarm for morning and went to sleep.