At least I was able to get some music. About that time, I started regretting the two beers I'd had with supper. A little while later, I asked Alexia f...r a time check. Sarah had only been gone for ninety minutes. I was thirsty but remembering my situation, I limited myself to a tiny sip. That offered a little thirst relief, but not for long. About every half-hour, I needed another sip. All too soon, the water bottle was half-empty.Around midnight, Sarah still was not home, and my bladder was. “When do you ship out?” Kathy asked.“I report aboard next week, but they’re not going to launch her until the end of the month,” Demora answered. “I hear that Starfleet is going to make a big show of it all.”“Well Harriman has some pretty big shoes to fill,” Kathy commented. “April, Pike, Kirk, Spock. I wouldn’t want to be in his place.”“I’d like to remind you that’s my Captain you’re talking about,” Demora said, already defending her new superior officer.“I just meant that it’s hard enough to. I would have a condo and enough expense money to pay for a car rental, meals, and the various entertainment offered on the island, including but not limited to dinner cruises, parasailing, plantation tours, train rides and a tour of the island.And the week had been truly magnificent, with perfect weather, whales in the cove off Lahaina, fresh-cut pineapple everywhere you looked, and a great surf for swimming. The seafood was fantastic; the service was great everywhere, and the luau I attended. Alyssa’s breath caught when she saw their new vessel and she glanced at John and saw he was similarly spellbound.The Cruiser was docked in the centre of the gigantic bay. Massive maintenance gantries were slowly backing away from the flanks of the vessel, as though wary of the lethal looking warship. The sleek lines and bristling gun ports clearly identified the ship as a ferocious predator, one that was not to be trifled with. The craft was painted a dark military grey, with soft blue lighting.