Jill felt tears running down her cheeks, but Fred said to her, “Please, don’t cry over Rihanna, myself, or Naomi. Rihanna had an aortic aneurism in her belly that went undiscovered. During delivery, the blood vessel burst and the doctors could only save Naomi. Naomi understands what happened to Rihanna. I firmly believe Naomi has come to terms with her mother’s death and has settled the issue with her God. Jill, the tears have been cried; now we celebrate Rihanna’s life every day of our lives. Please feel free to discuss Naomi’s Mother with her and let Naomi cry if she needs to. Once she settles her tears, she will tell you much about her mother and read you many wonderful words from Rihanna’s manuscript.”
The computer spoke to Jill and asked if she and Fred had a few moments for Naomi. She was in her room and had begun to cry. Fred asked if he knew why Naomi was crying and the computer said, “I think she is lonely if that is possible here on The Empress.” Jill explained to the computer that sometimes humans become lonely for human companionship, and there is often no reasoning behind the need. Jill asked Fred if she could be the one to knock on Naomi’s door, and try to comfort her. Fred said that would be very nice, Naomi would appreciate a woman’s arms to comfort her. Jill put on her robe and walked to Naomi’s room. When she knocked on the door, the door immediately opened. Naomi had very red eyes, and a very red nose, but said, “Come in Jill.”
Jill asked how she knew she had company at the door and Naomi said, “The computer spoke to me and said it had told you of my tears.” Jill shut the door and sat down on the edge of the bed beside Naomi. Jill said, “If you ever need to be without the computer spying, just tell it that you need to be left alone for a few minutes. Then you can do what you need to without fear of the computer seeing your emotions, or hearing your orgasms.” Jill’s words made Naomi giggle, but she understood the meaning of Jill’s words; privacy from the spying eyes of the computer was possible. Jill said, “I hope you do not mind Naomi, but I questioned your father about your mother. He told me a little about her and I am in awe of the woman. She must have been a very incredible person, and a good wife and companion for your father.” Naomi asked if her father had told her how Rihanna had died. Jill said he had told her, but had a little trouble telling very much without tears. Naomi smiled and said, “He cries for mother when he thinks I cannot hear, and I cry for him in silence.” Naomi had her hands folded in her lap and Jill put her hand on top of Naomi’s hand. Naomi quickly turned and wrapped her arms around Jill and began to cry. Jill comforted her and then they both sat down on the floor and talked.
Jill finally asked about the tears before she entered Naomi’s room and she said, “Actually those tears were tears of joy for my father, and not sad tears. I know Father is with you tonight and I hope he falls madly in love with you. I can think of nothing more wonderful than to have you and my father married, but I also realize that that may not happen.” Jill asked why she felt that she and her father would never marry and Naomi said, “My father still loves Rihanna, and I am not certain he can let another woman’s love into his heart.” Jill said, “I hope that the love your father feels for your mother never leaves his heart. If I married him, I would want to hear all the stories of Rihanna’s life, hear about the times they dated, the times they giggled together, the times they made love, the one or two moments your mother held you in her arms. I would never allow him to stop remembering and loving her, and I believe you are very wrong Naomi. I think your father could let me into his heart, not to replace Rihanna, but to dwell in his heart beside her.” Naomi said, “I so hope you are right, I do not want to every leave The Empress, and I hope that my father will one day be very much a part of your life, our lives.” Jill stood up and said, “Girl, I can make the best hot chocolate this side of Lyraja. Would you join me for a cup?” Naomi stood up, put on her robe and followed Jill to the kitchen.
When the chocolate was ready, they put colored marshmallows on top then walked out into the cargo bay and sat on the pile of lumber beside the fruit trees. They talked for over two hours and then Naomi said, “I have kept you from my father’s arms long enough. Please return to him and make him understand how much you, we, love him.”
As they walked down the hallway, they heard the voice of a tiny child in the kitchen. Jill entered her room; Naomi poked her heard into the kitchen and found Trish and James sharing colored marshmallows and milk. Trish said, “I see you discovered the miracle of hot chocolate and colored marshmallows tonight, the bag is almost empty.” Naomi said, “I will order more in the morning, then giggled with James.” Trish opened a pantry door beside where they sat on the floor and Trish said, “Oh, I seemed to have found more marshmallows.” When Naomi looked, she saw an entire shelf full of the colorful bags of treats. Trish said, “We girls cannot live without our chocolate and marshmallows.” Naomi smiled and said, “I will have to run extra laps around the cargo bay each day or I will look like a whale when my father comes aboard next month.” Trish said, “Oh, I don’t think you will be waiting more than a week to see your father again, I have the feeling we will be orbiting the planet Earth quite often, in search of man named Fred to eat Sunday morning breakfast with us.” Naomi smiled and said, “I so hope you are right, I would like to see him visiting Jill very regularly, and eating breakfast with us often. I would really love a Brother to hug!” Trish said, “Now wait a minute girl, you have them making babies before Fred has even had a chance to ask Jill to marry him.” Naomi just smiled and said, “Jill will take care of those little details.” Naomi kissed James on the top of the head and walked to her room. Once she was lying down, she quickly fell asleep and dreamed of white wedding dresses and flower girls.
Chapter 9 – The Empress is Boarded by Pirates
The explosion rocked The Empress and shook everything inside. The computer quickly warned Naomi to take James into her room and lock the door. The computer then said, “Naomi, do not let anyone inside your room unless I personally tell you it is okay, do you understand Naomi?” She quickly said she understood and carried the crying child into her room. After she locked the door, she began moving the mattress and dresser against the back wall and placed James under her to protect him from the gunshots that she could hear coming from the cargo bay area. Naomi heard footsteps in the hallway running towards the ready room and was certain they belonged to Trish. Then she heard a second set of footsteps and she heard Jill speaking rapidly to Trish.
When Jill reached the ready room, Trish had already loaded one of the Glock pistols. She handed it to Jill and then handed her a second loaded clip and a handful of shells to put into her pockets. Trish loaded the second Glock and filled her pockets with ammunition. Naomi heard Trish ask if she could see the cuts on Jill’s back. Then Trish said, “Skipper, the cuts are just little, caused by shrapnel. Nothing seems to have penetrated deeply into your body.”
The girls ran back down the hallway towards the cargo bay. Naomi finally quieted James, and then whispered quietly to him to keep him still so she could hear what was going on inside The Empress.
When Jill and Trish got back to the security room, there were more than six armed men trying to force the door open between the secure room and the security area where Jill had been working. Jill had allowed the first customer to teleport into the secure room and as she was taking his order, he pushed a small stun charged hand grenade under the bulletproof money slot. When the stun grenade went off, it knocked Jill unconscious. A second man stabilized inside the security room with Jill and pinned her to the floor. He intended to rape her, but she quickly pulled a knife from her boot and stuck in into the intruder’s throat. Jill attempted to press the eject button on the console, but it had been damaged by the grenade and would not work. Somehow, another group of intruders got through the security system of the teleporter and entered the secure room. Jill was unable to eject the intruders so she stumbled out of the security room to get a weapon to fight them off before any more of them could gain access to the vessel. Trish had also run to ret
rieve a weapon when the computer told her that intruders were attempting to enter the security room. The computer had told Trish that James was safe with Naomi and locked in Naomi’s room.
When Trish and Jill reentered the security room, the men were still trying to penetrate the door between the secure room and the security room. Jill tried the ejection button again but it still would not work. Jill screamed at the computer to eject the intruders from the secure room, but it also was unable to get the door open that led to the vacuum of outer space. Suddenly, the men breached the door and the first intruder jumped into the security room. Trish put a bullet between his eyes before he had stepped one meter into the room. Then more men began entering and the girls were carefully putting bullets into their heads as they entered. As Trish reloaded, Jill stopped another brave soul that attempted to enter. Jill pulled the trigger and her Glock was empty, the man made a dash for her but Trish put a bullet through his heart and he fell at Jill’s feet. Five more men remained inside the secure room. All had weapons and the girls knew they would eventually attempt to make a run for the door towards them.
As they waited for the men to attempt entry again, the girls took turns checking their weapons to insure they were fully loaded. The computer spoke to Jill’s mind and told her that the IFTT had seized the intruder’s vessel and had killed two more pirates. Jill spoke to the five men left in the secure room and told them that the IFTT had captured their vessel, and the computer of The Empress had just notified her that the eject system for the secure room they were standing in was now functional. Jill moved her hand towards the ejection button, and one of the men spoke and said, “Don’t push the button, we give up.” The man beside him quickly shot him in the head and Jill said, “So be it.” She put her hand on the button, but when she pressed it, nothing happened. The computer quickly told Jill that she and Trish needed to evacuate the security room before it could allow the secure room to open to the vacuum of space.
The girls quickly ran out of the room, and when the door slid fully shut; they heard the sound of rushing air leaving both the secure room and security area. Jill knew that The Empress was now devoid of intruders and secure once again. Jill held out her hand and said, “Give me your weapon and go check on your child and Naomi.” Trish handed Jill the Glock, and quickly ran towards Naomi’s room. When she was in the hallway where the door to Naomi’s room should have been located, she found nothing but the fabric of the travel membrane in front of her. The door to Naomi’s room had vanished. Trish screamed at the computer but got no response. Trish banged on the wall trying to find the missing door, but found nothing. Then the computer spoke to Trish and asked her to be patient and it would provide a new door into Naomi’s room. The computer began explaining that when the armed men attempted to enter the security area, it had removed the door from the hallway so the intruders could not locate Naomi and James location. As Trish listened to the words of the computer and tried to calm herself, the new door appeared in front of her. Trish knocked on the door and attempted to open it, but the door seemed locked and no one answered or acknowledged her presence. Trish screamed at Naomi to let her in, but no one came to the door. Then the computer spoke to Trish and said, “Naomi was instructed to not open the door until I told her to, so give me one moment and I will speak to her. The IFTT is working to insure my security system has a new code installed to prevent any more pirates from attempting to take control of The Empress, so I am operating a little slower than normal. I am downloading the codes as we speak, I require ninety more seconds before I can speak to Naomi.”
Jill had heard the computer and quickly entered Naomi’s mind and asked of her and James welfare. Jill quickly walked to Trish and said, “Naomi says she and James are just fine and she will open the door when the computer gives her permission.” Trish sat down on the floor and began to cry. Jill walked into the ready room, and placed the two Glock pistols into the weapons drawer and started to lock it. Jill discovered that she did not have the ammunition from Trish’s pockets, so she returned to Trish and retrieved the bullets. Then Jill heard the computer speak to Naomi’s mind and tell her she could now open the door and let Jill and Trish enter. When Trish heard the click of the lock, she looked up and waited for Naomi to put James into her arms. As Trish began to cry again, James joined her and now they both seemed locked into infinite tears. Jill put her hand on Naomi’s arm and asked, “How are you doing my friend?” Naomi smiled and said, “I was pretty scared, but the computer kept me calm so I could keep James from crying. The gunshots were extremely loud and I put my fingers into James ears, but he did not like that at all.” Then Naomi saw the blood on Jill and realized she was bleeding from more than a dozen places. Naomi, said, “Step into my room where there is better light and take your flight suit off. I need to see your wounds.” Trish then remembered that the flying debris from the explosion had struck Jill all over her body. When Jill had the flight suit off, Naomi said, “You have a lot of little cuts, but nothing serious. I will get you a clean flight suit if you will wash in my shower.” As Jill washed, the bleeding stopped except for one spot on her hand. Naomi used her fingers to separate the cut skin and look inside the wound to see if there were any foreign objects stuck under Jill’s skin. Then Trish put a bandage on it and helped Jill put on the clean flight suit.
As the four walked to the kitchen to make some coffee and heat water for Naomi’s tea, they discussed the damage to the security room. Jill said, “The only sure way to handle the security room restoration is to have the IFTT repair the damage. They installed the original secure and security rooms and should be able to put things right. I will also have an improved door installed between the secure room and the security room, and the money transfer slot needs improvement so no one can force another grenade past it.”
When Jill had finished her cup of coffee, she asked Trish to join her to make sure there were no bodies or gore left in the security room. When they stepped up to the door of the security room, Jill talked with the computer and asked if there were lights inside the rooms. The computer said, “Jill, there is nothing left in the secure room or the security room. The only thing you will see is the empty membrane looking back at you. When I opened the door to the vacuum of space, everything inside the two rooms went out the open floor section. There is nothing to see.” Jill asked again to be certain there were no bodies left inside the rooms. The computer said, “I will let you inspect if you insist, but you will require portable lighting.” Jill stepped into the ready room and came back with two large lights. The computer said, “Wait while I check the pressurization and integrity of the membrane before you enter. One more moment please; you may now enter.” Jill pushed the button at the side of the door and the door slid open. Jill turned on her light and shined it in the security room and there was nothing but darkness. Jill walked into the area where the secure room once resided and realized there was no longer a secure room, just a continuation of the empty security room. The clear bulletproof walls, the counter, the desks, everything was gone. Even the ceramic tile that covered the floor of the security room had disappeared. As the computer had warned them, nothing existed in this area except for the eleventh-dimension membrane walls.
Jill and Trish left the security room and watched the door slide shut. Jill stood very still for a few moments, thinking about how she, Naomi, James, and Trish’s life could have tragically ended today. The intruders or their grenade could have breached the walls of the membrane, or damaged the floor panel of the secure room. Trish put her arm around Jill’s waist and said, “Let’s get out of here and go look at the growing area where there is life and plenty of light.”
Instead, Jill went to the control room and called the IFTT. Jill thanked them for their support and help today, and then inquired to see if the IFTT was equipped to repair The Empress, and to upgrade the security and secure rooms to prevent any further pirate intrusions. The IFTT operator said that her boss was already checking to see if they still had drawings and
specifications for The Empress from when Ronnie had originally designed the vessel. She insured Jill that her boss would return her call tomorrow when he had answers for her. Jill turned her attention to the other occupants of The Empress. Trish had been overwhelmed with the killing of their attackers. Trish certainly understood that they had to be stopped from overtaking the vessel, and that they certainly would have killed everyone aboard The Empress if allowed entry.
Jill found Trish, James and Naomi in the growing area, preparing the garden beds for planting. Trish had prepared a sketch of where she wanted to place each of the varieties of plants, but soon realized Naomi had some good ideas on pollination, and they redrew the sketch a couple of times. The girls wanted the vegetables separated in a way that would keep the normal airflow in the cargo bay from cross-pollinating the various species of plants. Some cross-pollination was acceptable, but the less that occurred the better.
Trish and Jill had purchased three robotic-flying bugs with cotton ball like attachments on their butts that would spread the pollen to every plant in the gardens. The robotic bugs were the size of a sewing thimble and programmed to search for the scent of certain flowers; they only pollinated the species of fruit, vegetable, or ornamental flower their programming allowed for that particular day. Before reprogramming the bugs to pollinate a different species of plant, the computer would replace the cotton butt balls with fresh ones, via a magnet on the bugs butt and a small piece of steel inserted into each cotton ball. The process was quiet simple and very effective.
Volume II Page 13
