by Henry Vogel
“Sounds like a plan, Matt. Mentioning plans, sensors aren’t reporting any other ships close by. We should take a reading on your parents while we can.”
I admit it, this was my favorite part of our visits to each system. Michelle came over and straddled me in the pilot’s seat. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her deeply. We both knew this ritual was no longer necessary for me to point to my parents, but it did clear my mind of unnecessary clutter and gave my emotions free rein. Besides, we liked kissing each other.
After a few minutes, Michelle whispered for me to point toward my parents. As always, my arm shot out in their direction. Staying in my lap, Michelle took a directional reading then she entered the coordinates into the nav system. The nav computer added the coordinates to all the others and plotted the course.
I contented myself holding Michelle close while she entered the latest data. Her gasp pulled me from my reverie.
“What is it, Michelle?”
“The course along the latest coordinates goes right through Pegasus Station.” Michelle grinned at me. “Matt, I think we’ve found your parents!”
CHAPTER TEN
The Next Step
My heart skipped a beat. Could I really be in the same system as my parents? I pushed down my rising excitement.
“It could just be a coincidence, Michelle.” I tried for a light tone, but even to me my voice sounded tight.
“Yeah, that’s a possibility and we definitely want to get another reading before we leave the system. But just take a look at this plot and tell me you don’t think we’ve found them.”
I leaned forward, bringing my head up next to hers. Cheek to cheek, we peered at the plotted search coordinates. The latest course blazed green against the red of older plots. The Pegasus system was within our projected margin of error for every single plot on the display. Eight other systems were also included—down from over twenty before this latest reading—but Pegasus now appeared at the center of all of the earlier readings.
I tightened my arms around Michelle. “It does look good. Let’s give it an hour then take another reading.”
“And what do we do if it shows your parents are on Pegasus Station? I don’t think we can dock there after our run-in with the research ship.”
“Even if we could dock, it might not help. The station is over twenty kilometers long and has something like half a million people living in it. Worse, the station has expanded so many times that it’s like a maze inside.” I sat back and considered the situation for a moment. “Pegasus Station is a good place to hold captives, though. There must be hundreds of isolated corridors and unused areas. It wouldn’t be hard to block something off, making an effective little prison.”
A couple of minutes later, a woman’s voice issued from the comm. “GCS-1017, this is GCF-8 leading Pegasus Flight Two. Word is you’ve got an unidentified ship in the area.”
“That’s right Flight Two.” It was Fred, the ship’s captain. “It’s currently burning hard on course oh eight six, inclination negative oh oh three.”
“We’ll check it out, 1017.” The tone of the flight leader’s voice changed from strictly formal to something more familiar. It was still business-like, but obviously directed to people she knew well. “All right, boys and girls, let’s find out what’s got the ship full of geeks all riled up.”
Michelle asked, “I’m just guessing here, but does the ‘F’ in ‘GCF’ stand for fighter?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re telling me the Federation lets GenCo have its own private navy?”
“Lets? They encourage it. The Fed Navy can’t be everywhere, after all. And private navies also provide a nice career path for retired military types.”
“At least tell me your corporate navy is flying old, surplus fighters.”
“I wish I could, but GenCo builds the current generation fighters for the navy. Odds are those are state-of-the-art warships coming after us. So whatever happens, do not even consider turning our guns on them.”
Michelle flipped a couple of switches on her board. “I’ve retracted the guns and locked them down. There’s no chance of a mistake.” Michelle cocked her head. “Do you think they’ll try to hail us?”
“It’s standard protocol. I’m surprised we haven’t heard from them yet.”
“Um, Matt, the comm is still tuned to your super-secret corporate band. Turn off the encryption thing and I’ll tune back to the normal comm bands.”
Within seconds, the flight leader was back on our comm. “…must identify yourself. I repeat, unidentified Starburst, you have no transponder signal. Identify yourself.”
“Matt, have you got another transponder ID programmed? We’ve got to give these people something.”
“Yeah, I’ve got four other IDs setup.” I brought up the list of alternate IDs. “Pick one.”
Michelle glanced at the list and snorted. “Seriously, Matt? Thruster?”
I felt heat rise in my cheeks. “It seemed like the kind of thing a rich wannabe playboy might choose. I thought it might be good cover.”
“It might at that.” Michelle picked up the mic for the comm. “Um, hello?”
The flight leader’s no-nonsense voice responded immediately. “Please identify yourself.”
“I-I’m Mandy.”
A man barked a laugh.
“Can it, Saber,” the leader barked. Her voice took a conversational tone. “Hi Mandy, I’m Flight Commander Nancy Martin. When I asked you to identify yourself, I meant identify your ship.”
“Oh! I’m sorry Nancy. Ulp, I mean Flight Commander Martin.” I marveled at Michelle’s act. She sounded exactly like a confused, nervous school girl.
“That’s all right, Mandy. You can call me Nancy. Are you all right? Did you know your ship isn’t broadcasting an ID signal?”
“Is that bad, Nancy?”
“It’s illegal.” In a kind, concerned voice, the flight commander asked, “Honey, you aren’t alone on that ship, are you?”
“Oh no ma’am. This is my boyfriend’s ship. We came over here from the Eridani system for a joy ride. He wanted to show me his rocket.”
“Did he now?” Suspicion tinged the woman’s voice, but it was obvious Michelle wasn’t the object of it. “How old are you, Mandy?”
“Nineteen.”
“Nice try, honey. How old are you really?”
Michelle heaved a dramatic sigh. “Sixteen.”
“I thought so. What about your boyfriend?”
“He’s twenty-four.” Pride tinged Michelle’s voice now. “He says I’m not like other girls my age, that I’m a lot more mature.”
“Like I’ve never heard that one before. And do your parents know where you are?”
“Um… No. They think I’m at a sleepover.” Michelle’s voice went panicky. “You can’t tell them, Nancy! Daddy doesn’t want me seeing George as it is.”
“Your father sounds like a smart man. Honey, do you understand that the spaceship is not the ‘rocket’ George wanted to show you?”
Michelle was silent for just the right length of time. “No! Did you hear what she said, George? You didn’t mean that did you?”
“Mandy, why don’t you go freshen up and let me talk to George for a minute? In private.”
Michelle handed me the mic. “Uh, this is George.”
“Is Mandy out of the room, flyboy?”
“Y-yes, ma’am.”
“Listen to me very carefully, George, because I’m only going to say this once.” The flight commander was all business again, though with very heavy overtones of menace. “First, turn on your transponder now.”
With a grin, Michelle selected the code for Thruster. Derisive laughter came from the rest of the pilots.
“Geez, you are one sick little bastard, aren’t you?” Contempt mingled with the menace in Nancy’s voice. “Second, you will now send your Federation ID to me, along with the one for that sweet little girl you’ve got on board.”
I t
urned panicked eyes to Michelle but she was already busy with her control board. She covered the mic and whispered, “I picked IDs Daddy setup for us. They’ll pass.”
Seconds ticked by, then the flight commander spoke again. “Yes, I can see why you think Mandy is more mature than other girls her age. George, this is your lucky day. I’m going to make you an offer you cannot refuse.”
I didn’t have to pretend to take a dry-mouthed swallow. This flight commander could be downright scary. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“You’re going to keep your hands to yourself and you’re going to take Mandy back home. I’m going to personally escort you to the wormhole to Eridani, just in case you’re thinking of making a detour.” Nancy’s menacing smile carried through the comm. “And I’m going to send a message through the wormhole to Mandy’s father. I expect he’ll be waiting for you when you dock, so don’t be late.”
“I- That is, yes ma’am.”
“Oh, George, I just queried the age of consent on Eridani. It’s eighteen. If you violate that, I will happily—joyfully, even—use some of my paid leave to come to Eridani and testify against you. Is that clear?”
“Very clear, ma’am. I will keep my hands to myself.”
“Good. Now call Mandy back to the comm. I’m going to educate her a bit about men like you. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll respond truthfully to every question I ask of you.”
For the next hour, Michelle pretended to disbelieve the flight commander. Then she pretended shock, cried, wallowed in self-pity, and allowed herself to be cheered up by her new best friend, Nancy.
Michelle had the time of her life. Me, not so much. I even had to take my second parental position reading without the benefit of Michelle’s kisses. It was harder to do, but worth the trouble. It confirmed my parents were somewhere on Pegasus Station!
Flight Commander Martin—Nancy to that ‘sweet little girl’ Mandy—signed off with a warning. “Remember what I said, George, or I will hunt you down and I will hurt you.”
“You’ve made that point extremely clear, ma’am.”
“Make sure you don’t forget it.” Her tone turned much lighter. “Bye Mandy. You remember what I told you, too.”
“I will, Nancy.” Michelle played the ingénue to the end. “I’ll stick to boys my own age and pay more attention to what my Daddy says.”
“Good girl.”
And then Pegasus system vanished, replaced by the foggy gray of the wormhole. I flopped back in my chair, my breath coming out in a whoosh.
“Thank God that’s over. I kept waiting for something to go wrong, for that scary woman to figure out she was being conned.” I grinned at Michelle. “I shouldn’t have worried. ‘Mandy’ handled her brilliantly.”
“Thank you, Matt, but I think you’re doing Nancy a disservice. She’s just very protective of innocents and exactly the kind of person I think you’d want in her position.” Michelle picked at her sweat-stained clothes. “Is this wormhole jump long enough for me to take a shower? I must stink something awful.”
“You’ve got plenty of time. This is a two and a half hour jump.” Michelle stood and headed toward the shower. Without conscious thought, I added, “Let me know if you want me to wash your back.”
I didn’t expect any reply, so nearly jumped out of my skin when Michelle breathed in my ear, “I want you to wash my back.”
She took my hand and led me to the shower, where I washed her back. I washed her front. Then we did something that would have made Flight Commander Nancy extremely angry.
Later, as we lay entwined in each other’s arms, Michelle said, “I’d always heard the first time was awkward and even uncomfortable. This was wonderful.”
“That might be due to my empathic abilities. I don’t think you can get any more intimate than we were. Your emotions were like sign posts, telling me where to touch and what to do.” Michelle was silent and I felt a pang of apprehension. “Are you upset I used my empathic powers during our lovemaking?”
Michelle laughed and held me tighter. “Are you kidding? What part of ‘wonderful’ did you not understand?”
I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “When you didn’t say anything after I admitted it… I just worried that you might think it was a violation or something.”
“Don’t be silly, Matt. I assumed you were reading me loud and clear. Like you said, that was really intimate touching.” Michelle bit her lip, her ‘I’m trying to figure something out’ look. “But I didn’t expect to be able to read you when we were, ah, at our most intimate.”
Now it was my turn to fall silent and for Michelle to ask, “Are you upset about that? Because I’m not. It’s one thing for you to tell me you love me. It’s amazing to feel your love with my body and soul!”
“Of course I’m not upset. It’s just I’ve never heard of anything like this happening before.”
Michelle’s voice took on a wry tone. “And you’re basing that assessment on your vast experience and training in psychic powers?”
“Good point, babe. I’ve read as much research as I could find on the subject, but there isn’t a lot available to the public.”
Michelle pulled my head down for a long, languid kiss. “Then I guess we owe it to science to research this phenomena thoroughly.”
Much later, I held Michelle as our breathing returned to normal. “I didn’t know science could be so much fun.”
“Classroom stuff always is boring.” Michelle rolled off of me. “Everyone always says fieldwork is where the real excitement is.”
“Well, this has certainly been exciting.”
“It has, but now it’s time to think about what we’re going to do when we get to Eridani Station, Matt.”
“You mean besides try to find a way to keep Mandy’s father from beating me to a pulp?”
Michelle chuckled. “Yes, besides that.”
“Say, where will that message the ferocious flight commander sent to Mandy’s father end up? If it bounces back to her, it will give everything away.”
“Daddy covered that when he setup the IDs. The message goes to a real inbox and then gets forwarded to one of Daddy’s addresses. It won’t bounce. Knowing Daddy, he’ll even write a personal message of thanks to Nancy.”
“Won’t Nancy’s message confuse Jonas just a bit?” I asked.
“You’ve known him for years, Matt. When have you ever known Daddy to be confused? No, he’ll be pleased to get the message. We haven’t been able to check in for a while, so it will tell him we’re still alive and where we’re going.” Michelle sat up and started pulling on her clothes. “Have you got any idea what you want to do next?”
I started dressing, also. “Yeah, I’ve been giving it some careful thought and think I’ve got something.”
“I hope you weren’t doing that careful thinking while we were…busy.”
“No, I did the thinking while you and Nancy were having your girl chat on the way to the wormhole. What we need is a reason to go to Pegasus Station and stay there long enough to find Mom and Dad.”
As Michelle and I headed back to the ship’s controls, she asked, “I gather it’s not what you’d call a vacation paradise?”
“No one goes to Pegasus Station if they don’t have to. The system has no habitable planets and the station is for shipping and receiving, not catering to the whims and desires of pleasure-seeking tourists.” I plopped into the pilot chair, noting the countdown to wormhole exit was at fifty-three minutes. “But that is our ace in the hole.”
“The fact that Pegasus Station is a hellhole no one wants to go to is an advantage?” Michelle sounded dubious.
“Absolutely. When I say no one wants to go there, I mean no one, not even GenCo employees. GenCo always has thousands of job openings at Pegasus Station.” I spun my chair to face Michelle. “Haven’t you always wanted to work for GenCo, Michelle?”
Michelle patted my cheek. “I already do, darling. Or have you forgotten I’m one of your
bodyguards?”
“And I love the way you’ve guarded my body today,” I leered. “But you know what I meant and I think you’d make a great member of the security team.”
“Okay. What are you going to do? No offense, Matt, but I don’t think they’re going to have an opening for company owner, empath, or all-around great guy.”
“True, but I know a thing or two about computer security, having hacked your father’s security systems a few dozen times. Plus, I know three different backdoors into GenCo networks.” I leaned back and put my hands behind my head. “They’ll hire me.”
And I was right. Twenty-four hours later, traveling under yet another set of false identities setup by Jonas, Michelle and I boarded a GenCo transport to Pegasus Station.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
An Unexpected Proposal
Compared to the population of Pegasus Station, the new employee transport didn’t hold many people. Even then, only half of its hundred seats were occupied. Out of those four dozen or so employees, Michelle was one of eight women and easily the prettiest of the group. I admit I can’t look at Michelle dispassionately, but it appeared most of the other guys couldn’t either. Unlike the open stares she drew at Rockville Station, the men on the transport cast furtive, disturbing leers her way. Meanwhile, the women cast openly hostile looks at Michelle.
Leaning close to Michelle, I said, “I don’t like the way the men are looking at you, but I can understand it. I can’t figure out what the deal is with the women, though.”
“You really are clueless about women, aren’t you?” Michelle smiled sweetly, removing any possible sting her words might have had. “Did you bother to check the ratio of men to women on the station?”
“No. Should I have?”
“There are four men for every woman.”
“Then I really don’t understand. If those women are looking for men, doesn’t that make Pegasus Station a target rich environment? Even if you were looking to play the field, there would still be plenty of men left over for them.”
“It’s the quality of the men they’re afraid I’ll attract, not the quantity. A woman wants a man to choose her, not simply settle for her.”
