by Darrell Bain
Masters started to ask what Jamie or Jeannie would think, but Kristi had already disappeared into the shower. He shrugged and undressed, then followed the sounds of running water.
Kristi's back was a pleasure to wash. Her front was even more so. The water flowed over her full breasts and dripped languidly downward under the low gravity. He didn't know at first if her intentions were really sexual or simply friendly; they had been so closely associated for years without any sexual innuendo between them that it was hard to figure. Not only that, for most of the time he had known her, she had been associated sexually almost exclusively with women. Kristi quickly disillusioned him. She enticed him to dry her, then pulled him down on his own bed and stretched languidly against him, curling her arms around his neck. It was impossible not to respond. He traced the lines of her body and found that he really wanted her, age notwithstanding. Kristi's hands roved, and found surprises. Masters’ body was firm and toned like a much younger man. His skin was free of wrinkles other than his face and hands where years of exposure to wind and sun had formed seams and wrinkles. She felt the hardness of him against her belly and the ridged muscles of his back as she pulled him over her and guided him into her, then there was only the feel of his body on hers and in her and the lock of her legs around him as he thrust into her.
Later, rubbing her lips over the hard muscles of his chest, she began adding up what should have been obvious long ago: the youthful body concealed beneath Enclave coveralls, the endurance on long patrols in the wilds, the mind that showed no signs of age. “Damn you, Troy Masters. You've been fooling every goddamned body in the Enclave Do you dye your fucking hair, or what?"
Troy Masters chuckled, running his hands along Kristi's flanks. “I guess my white hair is what fools most people. I am old, you know, but remember how long ago it was that the longevity genes were discovered. My folks were one of the first to volunteer for that selection. That's about all I've got, though. My white hair is hereditary. Everyone in my family turns white before they're forty. I've just never seen any reason to tell anyone that it has nothing to do with my age."
“You could have told me,” Kristi said petulantly.
“Why? So far as I could see over the years, you were much more interested in women than men."
Kristi nuzzled at his chest. “That's just because until Jamie—and you, I never met any men that really interested me. And now two of you, all in one year."
“Speaking of which.” Masters said. “How are you going to explain this to Jamie and Jeannie?"
Kristi raised up and looked down at the ranger captain. Her breasts brushed his chest, raising goose pimples.
“Simple enough, you old-fashioned curmudgeon. I'll just tell them that we're short a man. Join the family. That is, if Fuzzy Britches approves."
Masters laughed. It was humorous to him. In his younger days, it would never have occurred to him that he would need the approval of a cat to join a family, not to mention his own pets.
“Don't laugh. Fuzzy Britches has a better sense of propriety than most humans. But don't worry either. Unless I'm totally wrong, he'll welcome you with open arms, or paws, in this case."
“I'm shy. You'll have to tell Jamie and Jeannie."
“Old fashioned, but I love you anyway,” Kristi said. “Besides, I told Jeannie to have Big Boy record everything from the time we left the autodocs and play it into their compartment. They already know."
Masters was old enough to blush, but he need not have. Later that night, Jamie's three-person bed made room enough for four. And Fuzzy Britches did approve.
* * * *
The Altairian system was a twelve-day trip using the time stress generators. In the nature of the propulsion system, the further the destination, the quicker the relative time to arrive there. As an example, from earth to Saturn had taken less than hours, but the incredibly further trip to the Altairian system would take considerably less time, relatively. Should they go on to further points of the galaxy, the dilation would become even more evident.
During the first few days of the trip, Troy Masters, Jamie, Jeannie And Kristi explored their expanded relationship, then planning for the landing on the planet began to take up the time of Kristi and Troy. That left Jamie and Jeannie with time on their hands. The pets amused themselves. The relationship of the raccoon and rats with their dogs and cats expanded until Sean's pets were spending much of the time in their compartment. Fuzzy Britches decided that tame rats could be fun, especially since he was so much more intelligent than they were. He could talk to them after a fashion, and regaled them with stories of earth, always emphasizing the fact that in other circumstances he might well have them for dinner but after a while the rats realized he was teasing them and ignored the more gory part of his stories.
Jeannie spent a lot of her time interfaced with Big Boy, exploring the limits of its intelligence and guiding it in paths she wanted it to go. This left Jamie at somewhat of loose ends and he began spending time exploring the labyrinthine corridors of the ship. This gave Della Worley an opportunity to begin to carry out her assignment.
Jamie was never loath to spend time in the presence of an attractive woman, especially one from such a different culture. He though nothing of the fact that their paths crossed frequently, never considering that it might be deliberate on her part. He found himself attracted to the slender, blond woman. Della, for her part, discovered that she liked Jamie. He was completely unpretentious, willing to talk about any subject she brought up, including his prominent role in securing the Altairian technology for earth, although he consistently gave most credit to the rangers and pets for the success. Three days out from Altair, she caught him alone in the mess hall, eating by himself.
“Hi Jamie. Can I join you?"
“Sure. Sit down.” Jamie was at loose ends and welcomed the company. He was finding that space travel could be boring as well as exciting.
“Are you getting excited yet?” Della asked brightly.
“About what?"
’”Why, the landing on Altair, of course."
“You mean the planet? I haven't heard that we're actually landing. And really, going into that derelict ship of theirs was all the excitement I want for a long time."
“I guess so. Was it really that terrible?"
“Bad enough,” Jamie said. “I guess what bothers me is that if conditions are so horrible on the ship with all the Altairians dead, what will it be like on their planet?"
“You mean you think we may not land at all?"
“Really, I have no idea,” Jamie said honestly. He finished the last of what purported to be “natural protein patties” and leaned back.
Della left it at that, for the time being. Passing had instructed her to gain possession of Jamie's thought disk, thinking that she might thereby gain control of the ship. She was torn by the instructions. She found herself genuinely liking Jamie and his family as well, but the alternative seemed worse to her. She was comforted by the thought that there might be no landing on the Altairian planet, and thus no opportunity to do anything while the majority of the rangers were out of the ship. She felt especially guilty when Jamie brought her around to his compartment and made her feel comfortable there, even in the presence of the two earth females. They were friendly as well, which made her feel even worse. Only the thought of banishment to the mines kept her from abandoning the whole idea of treachery.
Two days later the whole matter came to a head. Della had invited Jamie into her small compartment. Jamie was, as usual, completely uninhibited and unembarrassed to be found there by Masters. The apparition created by Jeannie popped into being. “Jamie, Captain Masters wants to talk to you,” it said, taking a deep breath.
“Put him on,” Jamie said, amused at Della’ s reaction to the over-endowed image. Masters’ image swam into being. “Hi Jamie,” He said. “Sorry to bother you, but Kristi insisted. Captain Hawkins just gave us the word. We've got some good telescopic observations of the Altairian pl
anet and Captain Hawkins has approved a landing party.” “Oh. I guess I better start getting ready, then."
“No,” Masters disclaimed. “That’ s why Kristi wanted me to call. Hawkins has decided that he's not going to risk you again. You won't be going this time."
This news struck Jamie wrong. While he wasn't fond of risking his life, he didn't like being excluded just because of his special status, either, especially when Kristi would be subject to danger.
“Thanks,” He said, then to Della. “Sorry, but I'd better go. I want to have some time with Kristi before she leaves."
“Certainly,” Della said. She wished she had someone so devoted. She also wished there had been no decision to land. Now all she needed was to isolate Jamie from Jeannie while the rangers were busy off ship, and she might be able to pull off a coup. The thought was not enhancing, but there was one positive note about it: she might be able to complete the whole undesired assignment and be done with it. It was a fatalistic approach, but she was tired of pretending, and she really didn't care much whether she succeeded or failed.
* * *
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kristi was ready to leave. The ship was already in a circular orbit around the Altairian planet the astrogator had deemed the only one possible the aliens could have lived on, and the lander was ready for departure. She was carrying her various weapons and gear, some of it to be attached to the outside of environmental suits, the rest to be worn once the atmosphere proved to be as compatible as the analysis from space promised.
“Take care,” she said, hugging Jamie's neck.
“You're the one who needs to be careful,” Jamie said; still annoyed that he was being left behind.
“Don't worry. We have an insight now, after exploring that ship. We'll be careful."
“I'll stay close to Jeannie. We'll be waiting."
“Do that. Spend a little time with Della, too. I think she's lonely and she seems like a nice person to be with.” Kristi kissed him and left.
Jamie was nonplused. Was Kristi becoming enamored again with another woman other than Jeannie? She had shown no inclination so far as he could see, but Kristi seldom wore her emotions openly—only her actions were plain to all. Certainly she had noticed his attraction toward the Moon city woman, but that didn't mean anything. He was reminded of how Kristi had seduced Jeannie while he was in the wilds, and wondered if she were planning a similar conquest upon her return. Not that he would mind; he entertained similar thoughts about Della himself in his spare time, in a sort of desultory fashion.
* * * *
The lander took off. Jamie watched the departure by relay to the room computer in their compartment while Jeannie held him tightly. She had a much more emotional personality than he or Kristi. Jamie simply took things as they came—or tried to.
Big Boy monitored the proceedings, and eventually Jeannie became so tied up with her protégé that Jamie wandered off. Remembering Kristi's admonition, he headed toward Della's compartment. She was in, and welcomed him, although he thought there was a hesitance to her invitation. She had to assure him twice before he was certain that she really wanted him there.
A long time later, in a fashion he wasn't really certain of, he found that they were both undressed, stretched out together on her narrow bed. He found himself fascinated by her slim body and small breasts, so unlike the voluptuous bodies of Kristi and Jeannie. She seemed distracted; however, as if another, malign presence was in the room with them. That induced him to go slow and careful. He stroked her body until he was sure she was ready, then made slow, careful love to her, absorbed in making sure she was satisfied.
Della responded despite herself. It was impossible for her not to, given the careful consideration that Jamie paid to her. It made what she planned even harder, but the thought of what Passing had in mind for her if she failed burgeoned out and almost overwhelmed her. And now was the most opportune time she was likely to get, with the rangers out of the ship.
In the after throes, she began talking to him. “Jamie, you're so important that I feel like a little girl making love to her Father. Why doesn't anyone else treat you like that?"
“I've been a victim of circumstances.” Jamie said honestly. “I just happened to be the first person contacted with that damned thought disk, then the dog that brought it got attached to me—and you know the rest. It could have happened to anyone."
“I've heard a lot about those thought disks. They were what made this ship possible, weren't they?"
“Sure,” Jamie said, completely unsuspecting of what Della was getting at. He stroked her slim body, making her shiver.
“I've never seen a thought disk,” she said quickly, before Jamie's hands moving on her body distracted her from what she intended.
Jamie raised up. “Would you like to see one?” He asked, wanting to please her. It meant little to him, and seemed important to her.
“Let's get dressed, first,” Della said. She slipped into her ship's coveralls, carefully concealing the firearm that Passing had given her during his inspection tour.
Jamie pulled on his coveralls, thinking that he would go see Jeannie and tell her that Della was a lovely woman and that he might bring her to their bed sometime soon. The Altairian thought disk was in the side pocket of his coveralls, as usual. He pulled it out and turned to Della, intending to show it to her, although there was little of apparent interest to see. It was simply a thin saucer-sized disk of blue-green color, metallic appearing, but lightweight. He found himself facing Della with a small handgun pointing in his direction.
“Give it to me,” Della ordered. Her gun hand shook almost as badly as her voice.
Jamie was too startled to speak, let alone act. He simply stood silent, unbelieving that he could have misjudged her so badly.
“Give it here, Jamie. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you make me."
“It won't do you any good. No one but me can use it.” Didn't she know that?
“I'll be the judge of that. Hand it over."
Jamie shrugged, then tossed the disk toward her with a quick motion. “Catch,” He said, hoping to distract her enough so that he could take her weapon.
The ploy might have worked, except that he had forgotten the low gravity. The disk sailed up in a slow arc and floated down gently into Della's waiting hand. She tucked it into a pocket of her coveralls.
“Now what?” Jamie asked the lithe blond. He couldn't imagine what she was thinking. There was no possible way she could use the disk. She could not even hold it for ransom. While there might still be useful information in it, Jamie had already wrested the most important data from it in the building of the ship they were on.
“Now we go to the bridge. When we get there, you and the captain are going to call the Moon City contingent to the bridge. Then we're going home."
“But —” Jamie tried to tell her that her scheme wouldn't work. Or at least he didn't think it would.
“No buts. Go. I'll follow you."
Jamie entered the corridor with Della trailing behind. Her hand was still shaking almost uncontrollably. Why does he have to be so nice? They all are, not like that bastard Passing told me. She shifted her thoughts back to immediate concerns. Would the few Moon City crewmembers of the ship support her? Surely they would, or at least the majority would. Passing was bound to have other agents aboard. And the rangers were gone, that was the most important thing.
The door to the bridge dilated as Jamie approached, obedient to the silent command of his body computer, then quickly closed behind him, cutting off Della. She stared stupidly at the closed door.
Inside, Terrili Perkins, the vice -captain began to smile at Jamie, then broke it off as she saw his expression. “Secure the bridge, now!” Jamie shouted at her. At the same time he used a command to his body computer to bring his version of Big Boy into interface.
The small dark vice-captain was quick on her feet. Without even turning around she gave an order to secure the airtight seal
s of the bridge which automatically locked them in. They snapped shut with a thud, just as he heard the shattering rebound of a shot from the other side.
* * * *
The lander burned to a stop just outside the confines of a ruined city. It bore a surprising resemblance to the familiar enclaves of Earth, or at least it must have at one time. Now all the short squat buildings were buried under a riot of vegetation. Here and there bits of metallic-looking walls and roofs poked throug, as if struggling to shake off the confining vegetative growth.
If that's what it is, Masters thought. Aloud, he commented, “Nasty weather patterns, huh?"
Truman Thieu, their pilot, ran his hands through his shock of thick black hair. “Yeah. It reminds me of the way Earth is getting nowadays."
“Do you think the situations are related?"
“Could be. The environment on earth has certainly gotten messed up since the pets got loose. This could be a result of the same thing."
Masters eyed the ruins in the distance. The lack of a dust cloud in the Altairian system as had been claimed on that first thought disk Jamie had come in contact with had been a surprise to everyone. He had subconsciously been expecting somehow to find a viable civilization here, but that had not happened. Only ruins could be seen from space, and little of them. Along with Captain Hawkins, he had selected this former city as one of the least damaged, but on close-up view he held little hope.
“What does the brain say?” Masters asked, nodding at the instrument panel.
Thieu knew what he meant. “The atmosphere here is about the same as on their ship: breathable, but enough volatiles in the air to make it borderlinish in the long term."
“OK. Let's get unloaded, then and take a look. Kristi, I'll check the floater while you look around outside. Truman, I'm going to leave you and two of my men here with the lander while we're gone. Don't leave it for any reason."
