Jill walked up and sat down beside Trish. “I did not mean to upset you Trish, I just thought it would be nice to have Father and Mother overseeing this new venture on The Empress.” Trish wiped her eyes again and said, “I think it is a wonderful idea, and you may not have to water the trees very often if I keep crying over them.” James pulled on his mother’s hand and said, “Water trees.” Trish stood up and followed James to the large tub that he was dipping water out of to fill his pail. When the pail was full, he quickly headed toward the trees. When he got close to the trees, he stopped, sat his pail down, turned to Jill and waited for her to tell him which tree needed water. Jill said, “The blue pot with no name is next. James looked around, finally made a decision and quickly walked to the correct tree and poured the water into the huge pot.” Trish looked at Jill and said, “How did he know which pot was blue?” Jill said, “We have been doing colors all afternoon and he knows all the colors of the pots here in the cargo bay. He also knows some of the letters in the names, especially the letters in his own name.” Trish walked up to Jill and planted a kiss on her lips. “Thanks for what you do with James, he loves you very much. That love is the reason he learns so easily from you.”
Now that the trees were in their proper place, had been watered and cared for, Jill asked the computer if it was time to put up the walls around the growing room and create a door. The computer asked Jill to remove Trish and James, and wait inside the hallway of the living area while it added the walls around the growing room. The computer explained to Jill that it feared a tear in the membrane wall that could cause a momentary depressurize of the cargo bay as it meshed the new membrane walls into the existing travel membrane structure. As the girls watched through the window of the cargo bay’s sliding door, the computer created the walls around the growing gardens. Then, Trish, Jill and James reentered the cargo bay to inspect the room and the two doorways into the growing room. Even with the new walls and the doors, the growing room still had lots of room for the potted trees and the growing garden. Jill had been afraid that the room would be too small, but there seemed to be lots of room for everything.
Trish began hauling timbers into the room and shortly had the perimeter of the garden lined with the fifteen-centimeter square timbers. Then Trish moved the rubber mat into the room, rolled it out inside the timbers, wrapped the matting up over the top of the timbers and cut it to fit properly. Now she was certain that the garden was watertight and the roots of the plants would not grow out and onto the floor of the cargo bay. She then hauled in more timbers and stacked them on top of the first row, so the timbers were now stacked thirty centimeters tall. She picked up the first skid of soil with a pallet jack and moved it into the room. She began cutting open the bags of soil and pouring them into the garden. As she poured in the tenth bag, she looked around and realized that this project would require a couple days work to get all the soil into the garden.
She looked around for Jill and James and realized they were not in the cargo bay. Trish spoke to the computer and inquired as to their location. The computer said, “They are both in the kitchen preparing supper.” Trish smiled and said, “What are we having for supper tonight?” The computer was silent. Trish inquired again and once again, the computer was silent. Trish decided to check for herself, cleaned herself up and walked into the kitchen. As she opened the door from the cargo bay to the living quarters, the smell was positively wonderful. Trish stepped into the kitchen and realized that James had a bowl with chocolate frosting in it, and was using his finger to clean a tiny bit of chocolate from the bowl. Trish looked on top of the stove and saw a cake with frosting on it and red lettering on the top. The lettering said, “Happy birthday Trish.” Trish started to cry for a second time today and Jill said, “That bad, huh.” Trish said, “I had forgotten about my birthday. How did you know it was today?” Jill said, “The computer and I never forget these special occasions, even if we girls tend to try and forget them.”
Trish looked up and said, “Thank you computer, you have made a very wonderful day even better for me.” Jill said, “If you would wash your son, dinner is ready to eat.” Trish picked up James and hugged him close, then pulled his stool up in front of the sink, ran the water and helped him rub the soap around until his hands were as clean as any boys hands could possibly be. When they sat down at the table, Jill served them a wonderful lamb roast with whole onions, carrots and small round red potatoes. As Trish ate, Jill fed James small bites in his bowl and he seemed to love everything she put in front of him. Trish looked at Jill and said, “You have found your way into this little man’s heart. He had not let one bite of this wonderful supper miss his mouth.” Jill smiled and said, “It is much easier to hit his mouth with meat than oatmeal.” Trish said, “Thank you for this fine supper Jill, you are a wonderful cook and you come up with the most brilliant ideas for meals.” Jill said, “Tonight I will take care of the dishes, and watch James if you want to work in the growing gardens. It seems that you were working on a project that excites you, so continue if you wish.” Trish kissed Jill on the cheek, leaned over to kiss James but changed her mind when she realized how nasty his little face was with all the food all over it. Trish said she would at least clean her child and Jill said, “I made the food that fouled this child, I will rid the child’s face of the evidence. It is your birthday, and we will have cake in a couple of hours if that is okay.” Trish kissed Jill on the cheek again and scurried back out to the cargo bay.
Jill smiled at how easy it was to get rid of Trish for an hour or so, then stepped to the ready room and asked the computer if Fred and Naomi were ready to teleport to The Empress to help celebrate Trish’s birthday. The computer said they were ready. Within a second, two humans were stabilizing in the ready room. Fred was holding Naomi’s hand, and when they could speak, Fred said, “Jill, I would like you to meet my daughter Naomi, Naomi this gorgeous lady is my friend Jill.” Naomi would have accepted a handshake, but Jill leaned down and hugged her gently, then said, “Naomi, welcome aboard The Empress. Computer, I would like to introduce you to my friends that you just teleported into my ready room. The young lady is Naomi, and the gentleman is Fred.” The computer spoke to both of the guests and went into his short speech about if there was anything they needed, simply to ask. The computer said, “I will now create you a room to share for tonight. I assume Father and Daughter can sleep in the same room?” Naomi said that would be good, she would sleep better with her father near for the first night away from home. The computer said, “Watch the monitor in front of you and I will quickly sketch the room and the accessories, then I will build your room while you watch.” The computer sketched the room, placed the two bathrooms, then a counter with two sinks and a huge mirror. Then he put two twin beds into the room, with a dresser and clock beside each bed. He set the clocks to Earth’s central time, and then said, “I will now create the room. As you watch, the door will appear in the hallway, and then when you open the door, the room will be as I drew it on the monitor.” Jill took Naomi’s hand and walked her to the hallway where the new doorway would appear. As they stood, the hallway stretched and the door appeared right before Naomi’s eyes. She stepped back, a little startled, then looked at her father for assurance, stepped up to the door and opened it. She gasped and said, “The room is beautiful.”
Jill said, “I have two more guests ready to teleport up, so if you two will stand in the kitchen there, you can watch and see how this teleportation works.” Fred and Naomi stepped into the kitchen and Jill told the computer to teleport Monica and Jim into the ready room if he would. As Fred and Naomi watched, both Monica and Jim stabilized in the center of the floor. When they were both able to speak, Jill introduced everyone and explained about Jim. He is a friend of Trish’s that danced with her while we were on vacation, and I thought the two could maybe dance for us again tonight if things are still alright between them.
Now that everyone was aboard, Jill said, “Let’s go out into the new growin
g garden and meet Trish.” Jill picked up James, introduced him to everyone and asked Jim if James was his. Jim laughed and said, “I wish that was true, I would love to be James Father and marry his Mother, but Trish and I did not create James.” Jill said, “I was just checking.” They all walked up to the door of the cargo bay and Jill looked to see where Trish was working. Jill spotted Trish with her back to them shoveling dirt around in the garden area. Jill pushed the door open button and they all stepped into the cargo bay. Trish looked up when she heard the door slide open, and got the biggest smile on her face. They all walked up to Trish and Jill began singing happy birthday to Trish. When the singing was over, Trish began hugging the guests, but saved Jim for last. When she walked up to Jim, she put her arms around his neck and said, “So did you marry anyone yet.” Jim assured Trish that he was not married, engaged or spoken for, and he was free to dance the night away if she was still able after all this hard work on her new garden. Jill said the cake was waiting and began escorting the guests towards the kitchen. Trish said, “Would you all allow me five minutes to wash the sweat off my body before we cut the cake.” Jim said, “Do you need your back washed?” Trish took Jim’s hand and said, “I think I should pass this one time, but thank you anyways. We do not want to anger the computer. He is very jealous of anyone washing my back.” Jill escorted the guests into the kitchen and by the time the computer had explained the food replicator to Fred and Naomi, Trish walked into the kitchen, dressed in a clean flight suit. As Jill helped Trish cut the cake and serve coffee, tea and juice, the conversation over the new fruit trees and gardens continued.
Naomi wanted to hear everything, she asked about which nutrients they were feeding the trees in the water, and wanted to hear about the grow lights that would be supplying electricity by means of the fuel cells. The girl was very smart and Jill was certain Naomi would someday be a brilliant engineer or research scientist.
It was now after midnight and everyone was beginning to wind down. Trish had put James to bed with Naomi’s help by ten o’clock and Trish hoped he would sleep through the night. Fred and Naomi went to bed around half past midnight, and Jill decided to tuck in around one o’clock in the morning. Trish and Jim were still talking none stop, so Jill decided to let Trish decide upon Jim’s sleeping arrangements. Either Trish would create a room for him with the computers help, put him into her bed, or teleport him home to his own bed, the decision was hers to make. Jill hoped the walls were thick enough to muffle the sounds if Trish put him to bed in her room. Jill discussed noise abatement to keep the other guests from hearing any sounds, and the computer said he would insure that innocent ears would not hear a thing.
As Jill slid under the covers she heard the sound of the inventory locker bay door sliding open, and then slide closed. In a couple minutes, it opened and closed again. Jill giggled to herself. Now Jill was certain that Trish had entered the storage compartment for condoms. Jill considered asking the computer about Trish’s inventory withdrawal, but decided to leave Trish and Jim’s love life alone. Besides, no one had given Trish her birthday spanking. Maybe Jim could also take care of that deed while he shared Trish’s bed. Jill wondered about Naomi and hoped she could spend more time with her tomorrow. Jill had found that even though The Empress overwhelmed Naomi’s senses with its complexity and vast size, she was still able to reason out each new device and the electronics supporting the operation of this vessel with ease. The child asked the computer questions constantly and asked the questions in an educated manner so the computer could easily follow her thought patterns. Jill was amazed at the brilliance of this child.
Jill realized that Naomi could have held her own with her father (Ronnie Sam Yutaka), designer of The Empress. Jill remembered the patience he would show when reasoning out a math or science problem with her, or Trish, and especially with Frederica, the real brainchild of the Yutaka family. As Jill lay in her bed trying to get some sleep, she heard a faint knock at the door. She listened and heard the sound again. Then the computer quietly spoke to Jill and said, “Naomi is out of bed and needs to speak to you.” Jill quickly went to the door and opened it, then asked Naomi to come into her room. Naomi said, “I am sorry to bother you at this late hour, but….” Naomi had looked down to the floor as if embarrassed to ask her question. Jill put her fingers under Naomi’s chin and raised her head until Naomi was looking her in the eyes. Naomi then completed her sentence and explained to Jill her problem. Jill spoke quietly to Naomi and said, “That is a problem we can quickly solve. Let me put on a robe and some shoes and we will make a trip to the inventory control locker.”
As they walked out into the cool air of the locker area, Naomi said, “Leave it to Mother Nature to mess with my body when I least expect it. My periods seem to never come when they are supposed to, but always come when I want them least.” Jill giggled and said, “That is Mother Nature’s way with us women.” When they returned to the door of Naomi and her father’s room, Naomi looked Jill in the eyes and said, “Thanks for these and thanks for being my friend today. I often need a girl to talk to, since my life is filled with males most of the time.” Jill said, “You can always talk to me, you can always call me here on The Empress, and you can come and visit us here if your father feels comfortable allowing you and I to spend time getting to know each other.” Naomi started to open her door, but turned back around and said, “You do realize that my father loves you very much, but stays away from you because he does not want to burden you with me.” Jill put her arms around Naomi and hugged her, then said, “Naomi, your father has kept you a secret from me until three days ago. I wondered why he would not allow me to get close to him and love him, now I realize he was protecting you. I think you and I need to sit your father down and talk to him. What do you think?” Naomi thought a moment and then said, “We could discuss it with him when the time is right tomorrow. However, it needs to be just the three of us so we do not manage to anger him. He gets very emotional when he speaks of you and me in the same sentence.”
Jill hugged Naomi, and just as she was stepping back, the door to Naomi and Fred’s room opened. Fred said, “I see you two are bonding out here in the hallway. You two could come inside and talk, I am not sleeping anyways.” Naomi quickly took Jill’s hand and said, “Please come in for a few minutes and let us talk right now.” Jill looked apprehensive and Fred said, “Jill, relax, I will not seduce you in front of my daughter.” Naomi swatted her father on the arm as he turned to walk back into the room. Jill smiled and followed Naomi into the room. Naomi said, “I need one minute and then I will return.” She picked up the tampons from the table by the door and carried them into the bathroom. Fred then realized why Naomi had left the room and said, “Thanks for assisting Naomi with her feminine needs. I seem to not consider her needs sometimes and never remind her to pack things like tampons.” Jill smiled and said, “She will get the hang of remembering them herself after a couple of times like tonight.”
When Naomi stepped out of the bathroom, she walked up to her father and said, “Father, could Jill and I talk to you without upsetting you?” Fred looked at Naomi, then at Jill, sat down on the edge of the bed and said, “I feel like a two year old who is about to be punished.” Naomi quickly walked over to her father and hugged him. She walked to the middle of the room and said, “That is what I would like to talk to you about. You seemed to be ashamed of me and keep me away from Jill, as if I might embarrass you in front of her.” Fred’s mouth dropped open and when Jill looked at Naomi, Naomi’s lower lip was trembling. Jill quickly stepped up and hugged Naomi. Naomi quickly recanted her words to her father and said, “Father, those words that just came out of my mouth should not have been spoken in that manner. I am so very sorry; the words I spoke did not say what I meant, and what I felt.”
Jill turned towards Fred and said, “Fred you have standing before you two women that both love you very much. We need to be able to bond and see if we can become very good friends, but that friendship and bonding
cannot happen if you keep us apart. Fred, I love you and have loved you since I met you, but now I need more than just your love, I also need the love of your child. Will you allow me to be part of your life and see if the love we all seem to share can prosper into a relationship?” Fred stood up, hugged Naomi and Jill together and said, “I only tried to keep you apart so that Naomi would not get her heart broken if you and I could not work out our own relationship. I do not want to see Naomi’s heart become broken and I have tried to protect her from that.” Naomi said, “Father, my heart can mend if you and Jill should grow apart, but I will be really heartbroken if you do not try to work out this relationship.”
Naomi said, “I am going to the kitchen to discuss hot chocolate with the computer. I will not return for an hour. Would you two please discuss your feelings while I am gone?” As Naomi stepped through the door and into the hallway, Jill and Fred heard Naomi ask the computer to please lock the door and let no one in for one hour. Fred smiled at his daughter’s words, but stepped up to Jill and made the best of the hour he and Jill had together.
When Jill and Fred walked out into the kitchen area, they discovered that the place was disserted. Jill said, “They must be in the cargo bay.” When the cargo bay door slid open, they saw that James was once again carrying water to the trees with his little bucket, and Trish and Naomi were both in the garden, shoveling dirt, raking and getting the soil ready to plant the vegetable seeds. As they watched, Naomi stood up and her father realized he had never seen his daughter so dirty. She even had black streaks of dirt on her face. Fred walked up to her, wiped the smudge of dirt from her cheek, then kissed the clean spot and said, “Having fun?” Naomi said, “I would hug the stuffing out of you, but I am all dirty and sweaty.” Fred looked at Naomi’s clothes and said, “You look good in dirt and sweat.” Naomi said, “I may have to throw these cloths in the disposer, if the computer can stand the smell.” The computer spoke into Naomi’s mind and said, “Your cloths could never smell as bad as James diapers.” Naomi giggled and her father looked at her for the reason for her giggles. She said, “The computer just talked to me.” Fred said, “I did not hear anything.”
Volume II Page 11
