Embarkment 2577 (19 page)

To my surprise, he sounded sympathetic.
“I can see that. As I was saying, no one believed it, but your Captain was
courteous enough to show me the temporary repairs. I guess you weren’t just
stalling for time.”

Blake leaned forward over his desk. “Why
would we be stalling for time?”

Kevin leaned back in his chair and
crossed his legs. “It has been suggested to me this sudden pairing ceremony is
a sham. For whatever reason, someone on this ship doesn’t want her to leave,
and that someone is grasping at straws to keep her here. Fame? Glory? What
better way to keep her here than arrange a marriage to a machine?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’ve
heard enough. Can I go now?”

The scientist turned to me. “Alex, I’ve
been stationed in the Biisind system for three years. I have no personal
interest in what you do or don’t do, but I urge you to come with me to Earth.”

Pfft. Talk’s cheap. I glanced over
towards Blake, but he seemed to be biding his time.

“Joshen Martinez is an old friend of
mine, a mentor, he wouldn’t hurt you. He just wants to connect you to a machine
that will tap out your memories. Your knowledge is valuable, and everyone would
be able to see what you know. Sort of… like watching a movie.”

Having people
watch
all my
memories? Intrusion of privacy, much?

I got to my feet. “I’ve heard enough of
this. I have other things to do.”

Kevin stood up too. “Yes you do. Go pack
your bags. This joke is over and you’re coming with me to the Kentucky.”

I took a step towards the door. “In your
dreams.”

Blake said, “Sit down. Both of you.”

He didn’t raise his voice, but it was
impossible not to obey. Kevin opened his mouth and my Captain made a dismissive
gesture. “You’ve already said too much. Sit down and be quiet.”

Watching the scientist sink down,
carefully keeping his mouth shut, filled me with glee. Blake pressed a button
on his desk. “Commander Adam, could you come to my office for a minute,
please.”

My husband’s voice filled the room.
“Right away, Sir.”

I didn’t realize how tense I was until
he stood in the doorway and I dared relax. He glanced between me and Kevin and
crossed his arms over his chest. Adam was tall, strong, intimidating, and mine.

“What’s going on?”

Once again, Kevin opened his mouth.
Blake snapped, “Silence.”

Kevin leaned back in his chair and rolled
his eyes.

“Adam, this is Kevin. He has come to
retrieve your wife.”

“Not happening, Sir.”

I wanted to squirm. “Can I move now?”

Blake smirked. “Yes Alex, you may move.”

I bounced to my feet and threw my arms
around Adam. He hugged me back and murmured, “Don’t worry.”

After kissing me tenderly, he put his
hands on my shoulders and turned me around so I faced Kevin. Then, he wrapped
his arms around me from behind. “This is my wife. She means more to me than my
life. She definitely means more to me than
your
life. If I were you, I’d
choose my next words wisely.”

I glanced up at him. “I love you too.”

He smiled and brushed his lips over my
temple.

Blake leaned his elbows on the desk and
tapped his fingers together. “Mr Nolan, have we satisfied your curiosity, or do
you wish to continue the discussion with the commander? I’m sure he’d be more
than happy to demonstrate his… abilities. Would you like to see him fold a
spare piece of hull plating a couple of times?”

“We’re good.”

“Excellent. For future reference, if you
want to cooperate with someone on my ship, asking politely will give better
results. I would suggest your Joshen Martinez contact Alex from Earth. Make
friends. Play nice and maybe she’ll write you a book.”

Excellent idea. I could do that.

Adam’s communicator beeped. “Commander,
we’re ready to initiate the ion flush of starboard subspace engine.”

“I’ll be right there.” He stared at
Kevin. “I must go to the bridge. Do I need to have the computer trace Alex, or
will you behave?”

The scientist shook his head. “Oh no, I
wouldn’t…”

“Good. There are rumours about people
being drugged, and waking up in a completely different part of the galaxy.
Nothing like that will happen on the Bell.” He nodded to Blake, “Sir,” and
pushed me towards the door. “I’ll walk you to the lift.”

When we left the room, I heard Kevin’s
voice behind me. “Can he really fold hull plating?”

I didn’t think Kevin Nolan would
really
try to kidnap me, but I was still happy to see the Kentucky disappear. What
kind of fate might Enoch face when he returned to Earth? Hopefully, he would be
locked up for a very long time.

We crawled towards a space station that
could make the necessary repairs on our pet black hole. Adam said getting there
would take at least eight weeks, maybe longer, and I settled down to wait. The
calm was a welcome change.

I wasn’t even surprised when Adam came
home in the middle of the day, swept me off my feet, and carried me to his
study. “What are you doing?”

He shrugged and put me down on the big
desk. I kept my arms wrapped around his neck. Whatever he might want would have
to wait until after he kissed me properly.

One thing led to another, and I tugged
at his shirt. It flew through the room. He kissed my neck, only pausing to pull
my blouse over my head.

When I wanted my clothes later, I was surprised to
find my panties hanging over a lamp…

Adam glanced into my eyes and smiled when he buttoned
the shirt. “As remarkable as that was, it’s not why I came home.”

I lifted my eyebrows and feigned surprise. “No?
Really?”

He tucked the shirt in, returning to his well-ordered
self. “Really. Look here…”

An image of a blue and green planet appeared in the
middle of the room. It looked a little like prehistoric Earth, with one
humongous continent surrounded by water. “The people here invented a new
technique making it possible to get close to black holes without experiencing
problems with time dilution.”

The what and the what?,Blah blah blah, event horizon,
blah blah, gravity well, blah blah…

“It could help the people replacing our Tokamak
field.”

“Cut to the chase. How long will you be gone?”

He sat on the edge of the desk and reached for my
hand. “I have the right to bring you, if you want to come. And to answer your
question, at least six weeks. Probably longer.”

“Six weeks?”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, but I
must.”

He put his hands on my hips and inched me closer.
“When are we leaving?”

Smiling a little and stealing kisses, he murmured, “I
hoped you’d say that… In the morning… I should be going back…”

His hands didn’t seem to share the sentiment; they
held on to me. Had I finally managed to corrupt his sense of duty? Maybe my
decision to get dressed had been a bit hasty…

*****

“Shuttle Alpha One, you’re clear for
takeoff.”

The little ship moved forward, hovering
just inches above the floor, and left through a force field almost impossible
to see. We were in space, and Adam steered right into the darkness. I gazed
back through the window, keeping the Bell in sight for as long as I could. She
was big, beautiful, and lit up.

“We’re clear. See you in a few weeks.”

“Affirmative. Good luck, Alpha One.”

I barely listened to the greetings.
Living inside the large ship was easy; I usually pretended we were in a big and
exotic building somewhere. This little space boat seemed small and vulnerable,
and I struggled with vertigo. Outside was too dark and too close, and there was
too much of it.

Adam’s hands danced over the consoles as
he plotted a few corrections to the course. “That’s that.”

“So… How long will this take?”

He gave a slight shrug. “Depends on how
fast we go.”

No shit, Sherlock. “Well, how long do
you plan for it to take?”

“It’s not that far. Twelve days at max
speed, so probably a little longer.”

That was a long time to be by yourself
in the darkness. If I hadn’t come along, would someone else had gone, or would
he have been all alone? Say two weeks, twenty-four hours in a day and sixty
minutes in an hour… My mind folded on the math. I couldn’t figure out how
many minutes that would have been to fill. “Do people go space crazy?”

“Most bring something to do.”

Good point.

“Wouldn’t this be a good time to start
your book?”

“What book?”

The corner of his mouth twitched. I
might not be a mathematical genius, but at least I was amusing…

“The one you promised Joshen Martinez to
write.”

Oh yeah, I forgot all about that. “I
don’t know how to start. No one reads anymore anyway.”

Bad excuse. They’d probably encode it
complete with computer narration and colourful holograms. Adam smirked. “Start
with anything. Describe a grocery store, or your car. What did it look like?
How did it make you feel?”

He kept his hypnotic eyes fixed on mine.
I was as caught in his field of gravity as the moon to the Earth, or the
planets around the sun. I’d set out on this journey with the wrong attitude. It
wasn’t two weeks alone in the dark; it was two weeks
alone
without
interfering ensigns or work shifts. “I think I’ll enjoy this trip.”

It took well over two weeks for us to
reach the planet. This was my first landing, and I almost panicked when we
entered the atmosphere. The air around us was on fire, and flames licked the
windshield. I waited until there was a pause in radio communications. “Is this
normal?”

Adam didn’t take his eyes off the
controls, but nodded. “Yes. When we travel through space it’s basically a
vacuum, and going through it takes no effort. Now we have air in front of us,
and it compresses. The space shuttles of your time were insulated or had heat
shields that burned off. We have the energy shield.”

“Okay.” I tried to appear as calm as he
was, but I still clutched the armrests so hard my knuckles turned white. The
sight through the windows was spectacular, and terrifying.

“Don’t worry. I’m the best pilot in the
fleet.”

He wasn’t bragging; it was a statement
of a fact, and I believed him.

Further down, he slowed and flew the
shuttle like a plane. “I just remembered; I don’t really like flying.”

Adam laughed, “And I’m not much of a
flight attendant. No peanuts, no drinks… Sorry.”

He pulled up a map. “We’re almost there.
This little dot is us, these are towns, and we’re going to that brown square.
Look out and enjoy the scenery.”

“But… the sky is pink.”

“They have a lot of dust high up in the
atmosphere.”

To me, the answer didn’t explain
anything, but I still nodded. “I see.”

“Different gasses and different
particles scatter different wavelengths of light.”

“You’re so smart, you should have
married a science nut and not me.”

“No.”

I wanted to slap my forehead. How could
I forget about his mother, the great and crazy scientist who built him to
replace her husband? “I’m sorry.”

He glanced over and flashed a smile.
“It’s okay.”

Adam put the shuttle down, and we stood
side by side inside the door. I wanted to tuck my hand into his, but this wasn’t
the time.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded, and he reached out for the
door control. Fresh, flowery air flowed in. All the time in dry and sterile
starship atmosphere had made me forget how wonderful air could be.

At first, I only saw bright sunlight,
and I shaded my eyes with a hand, but remembered to smile. There were probably
people watching, even if I couldn’t see them. I should set a good example and
look happy.

Adam walked forward, and I followed.
Outside was bright, sandy, and very alien. I had no idea where it might be, but
my feet were planted on an alien world. “I’m on another planet.”

I thought I whispered so quietly no one
else would hear, but Adam murmured, “You certainly are.”

The shuttle stood on a platform, and a
group of people approached us. Their leader was a tall woman with stunning
auburn hair, so beautiful I had trouble keeping my eyes away, in spite of all
the marvels of the world around us.

She flashed a bright smile. “Welcome.
I’m Mika”

There was a lot of smiling and
handshaking. People on the Bell were used to Adam, as was I, and I didn’t
anticipate how fascinated everyone would be with him. He smiled slightly and
dodged all questions.

*****