by S. E. Smith
Juli had known part of Tyrelle’s story before and she could understand why the empath wouldn’t leave the confines of the Nebula Zephyr. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. We’ll be doing what the rock wants, after all.”
Chapter Nine
The cruise was peaceful for the next standard day and night. There were no incidents other than normal passenger problems and Juli decided not to worry about the rock impulsively leaving the Ship’s safe. There was nothing she could do about it if the beings did teleport to a different location. Instead she concentrated on making the end of this leg of the cruise the best it could be for her passengers and she and Steve spent every free moment together, often with Dian and Charrli.
The nights were strictly for the two of them, however.
The Nebula Zephyr had barely settled into orbit when Juli headed for the bridge level, stopping to pick up Dian and the dog along the way. Tyrelle joined them when they reached the final gravlift. The captain, Jake and Steve met them at the wardroom and Fleming escorted Juli to retrieve the rock from the safe. She’d brought a large, empty purse.
Captain Fleming opened the safe for her, which was actually more of a large stasis security chamber, and handed her the rather incongruous bundle. Steve stood at her shoulder and she drew strength from his presence. She wasn’t in this alone.
As if he sensed the direction her thoughts were running, he squeezed her shoulder, even though they were both on duty and in uniform.
The captain ignored the byplay. “Good luck with this. I’ll expect a report as soon as the drop off is completed.”
“Yes, sir.” Steve’s voice was crisp.
Juli carefully set the wicker basket holding the rock into the purse.
Fleming said. “I appreciate your efforts on this. You’ve certainly earned the bequest credits.”
“I’m splitting them with Steve, Dian and Jake,” Juli said. “Tyrelle too if she’ll accept a share. It’s become a team effort and I’m grateful for all the help. This episode would have driven me crazy without the support. And your understanding as well, sir.”
“It’s definitely one of the stranger voyages I’ve had,” Fleming said, rubbing his chin.
The group made their way to the shuttle bay, with two of Jake’s men as an additional escort. Tyrelle walked with them and gave the rock a final brief farewell. “On behalf of the ship,” she said with a smile.
There was plenty of room in the captain’s personal flyer. Jake sat in the co-pilot’s chair next to Steve and Juli realized she was holding her breath as the craft cleared the ship and raced toward the planet. Dian reached over and patted her hand.
“We’ll be fine. This is almost over. I only wish I could talk about this adventure on my blog trideo channel.” The elderly lady grinned. “Not that anyone would believe it. Still, you have kept things interesting for me, Juli.”
“Happy to oblige,” Juli answered with more good cheer than she actually possessed given the circumstances. The scarf-tied basket sat in the seat next to her and she fidgeted, not sure if she wanted to stare at it the whole trip or studiously avoid staring at it. Which method would ensure the rock stayed where it was? Well, neither, silly. She decided to take comfort from Charrli. As long as the dog sat peacefully with Dian, no barking, the rock was probably going to behave. He’d be her early warning system.
Steve landed efficiently at the CLC Line terminal in the congested Tahumaroa Two spaceport and there was a brief flurry of interaction with the local staff before the four of them, the dog and the rock departed from the spaceport in a large CLC groundcar. Steve drove as expertly as he flew. The ocean front park system was several hours drive from the spaceport and Juli tried to relax and drink in the beauty of the lush countryside she was passing through.
She’d expected to be able to simply walk onto the beach with her grim faced escorts, set the rock in a nice soft spot, document the action as the lawyer had demanded and leave. Of course the task wasn’t going to be so simple.
There was only one entrance to the park, several miles from the beaches, and they had to report to the ranger office to get a pass to drive further. Access to the priceless Tahumaroan beaches was tightly controlled to prevent overcrowding and visitors placing a burden on the ecosystem.
Juli tried not to be cynical thinking about the exorbitant rates the planetary government and their commercial partner charged, depending on the length of the stay, which beach or beaches were to be visited and what amenities the guest might use during their visit. Even a simple pass to spend the day lying on the beach and maybe doing a bit of snorkeling was breathtakingly expensive.
The officer at the desk in the ranger station took one look at her carrying the slapdash wicker basket with its scarf tie and shook her head. “Let me guess, you took a rock from one of our beaches and now you want to apologize and return it.” The woman leaned over the counter. “There’s no curse, people. It’s an urban legend, started by tour guides in the early days of the park system.”
Juli had a wild impulse to laugh, considering what she knew about the rock. Fortunately Steve, as the officer in charge, spoke up smoothly. “As you can see from our uniforms we’re not tourists. We’re crew on the CLC Line Nebula Zephyr and one of our passengers made a request for us to return this rock he took years ago. He’s now deceased and we’re trying to honor his wishes. So if we can have a pass to drive to Two Goddesses beach, we’ll be on our way. How many credits?”
“Sorry, no can do. I can sell you a pass for a vehicle, four people and a dog to spend the afternoon on the beach—it’s one of our most beautiful sights by the way—but I have to confiscate the rock.”
“Why?” Unprepared for this, Juli was stunned and retreated a step, holding the purse so tightly her knuckles went white. “Does the rock have to be put back in place by a ranger? Can someone go with us to handle it?” Belatedly she wished she’d asked the loathsome but high ranking Mr. Perkimier to exert influence with the park authorities when she’d had the chance.
Laughing openly now, the ranger said, “Let me explain the facts of life on Tahumaroa Two to you nice people. Do you know how many rocks and pieces of fossilized driftwood we receive every day here at the ranger station? People with guilty consciences, which I’m not saying you have obviously, but gullible people all across the Sectors, thinking their personal bad luck relates to a mineral specimen from our beaches. We get the most pitiful coms full of tragic stories, which is neither here nor there. By law, we’re not allowed to disturb the beach by placing anything there. Especially not chunks of rock of totally unknown provenance. We get stuff that isn’t even from this planet, let alone from the beach here. Our park is an interstellar treasure, a preserve and we can’t risk adulterating the environment or the archaeological provenance by allowing people to pile rocks up willy-nilly.”
With the rational part of her brain, Juli could see the logic about not contaminating a site by adding random new objects. With the more instinctive portions of her mind, she was horrified and an icy chill ran through her nerves at the idea of failing to do what the rock expected of her. “What do you do with the stones you receive? What will you do with our rock?”
The woman studied her and then came out from behind the counter, beckoning to Juli to follow her. Puzzled, she allowed the ranger to lead her out a side door and down a short trail to a huge dump site. There were piles and piles of rocks of all sizes, shapes and colors, as well as other items she could only think of as junk. As Steve stood beside her, Juli surveyed the dump and saw deteriorating wooden figurines, souvenir dishes, and other objects inextricably mixed with the stones.
She blinked as she struggled to take the massive pile in. “You just throw everything out here?”
“Yup. Once a decade or so we vaporize the entire mess and begin again. We keep the coms though, for historical records, I guess.” She scratched her head and then guffawed. “Or a good laugh on days when the tourist trade slows down. You wouldn’t believe the stories people share
with us.” Gesturing toward the heap, the ranger said, “I gotta get back to the desk now, so hurry up, toss your so-called Tahumaroa good luck charm into the pile with its fellow rocks and then we can get on with selling you the beach pass.”
Juli exchanged glances with Steve.
“I can’t let you take the rock out of the park,” the ranger said. “Once it’s here, real or not, it stays.”
This was now the height of absurdity but if the truth be told, Juli had no desire to take the rock back to the ship.
“Fleming wouldn’t let us onboard,” Steve said as if he could read her mind. “This will have to do.”
“For now,” Dian said mildly, giving Steve a mild jab in the ribs. “Why don’t you set it over there, Juli? On the edge near those nice purple rocks. And don’t we need a vid of you setting the rock on its native soil? Plus two witnesses?”
With a start, Juli remembered the lawyer had explained those conditions for claiming the reward. “Right.”
“No problem,” the ranger said. “As long as the rock ends up where I need it to be, which is with all the other trash.”
“ Can we get this over with?” Dian asked. “I’d like to at least see the beach while we’re here.”
Reluctantly, Juli advanced to the edge of the rock pile and unfastened the purse to take the rock out. “We’ll think of something,” she whispered, wishing Tyrelle was here. Going back on a promise to the beings inside the stone was a bad idea and her gut tightened as the mere idea of walking away but right now she was stymied by bureaucracy. Would ancient alien spirits understand and forgive?
“Leave the basket and the scarf too,” the ranger said, raising her voice. “It all goes together under the regulations.”
Steve helped her rise and escorted her to the ranger station after the formalities to satisfy the law firm were taken care of.
“You’re in charge,” Jake said as they exited the ranger station a few minutes later, “But why are we going ahead to the beach on the company’s credits when the task is accomplished?”
“It’s such a pretty day,” Dian said. “And we’re here, so why not?”
From Jake’s stern expression and frown, he had easily a hundred reasons why not but Steve spoke first.
“Think of it as a recon mission,” he said. “The park closes at sunset.”
As if her head was on a swivel, Juli did a double take and stared at him after the total non sequitur but she waited until they were in the groundcar and driving away into the park before she asked timidly, “Care to explain?”
Steve reached over to squeeze her hand reassuringly. “As the officer in charge of this special operation, I’m thinking we’ve only suffered a temporary defeat. We’re going to assess the situation, then go have dinner and come back after dark to complete delivery of the rock to the Two Goddesses beach as promised. All of us in this car have extensive military experience on clandestine operations, except for you, but I’m confident you can keep up. We’ll wait for cover of darkness, retrieve the damn rock from the junk pile, get it to the beach and no one will be the wiser. Certainly not the local rangers.”
“They must patrol at night,” she said, relieved she was going to try to honor the promise but dubious about the plan’s success. “Think of the bad publicity for the Line if we get caught.”
Jake laughed. “No one’s going to catch us, don’t worry.”
She remained unconvinced, nibbling on a fingernail as all the many possible problems ran through her head. Would the captain even bail them out if they all got arrested? But she did know deep in her bones the rock needed to be placed on the beach, not left where it was at the moment.
The beach was genuinely breathtaking, miles of sand so white the glare made her eyes ache, while the ocean was aqua and turquoise stretching to the horizon with floating beds of lavender kelp here and there. Glassy waves rolled onto the sand in sets of three. Juli shielded her eyes with her hand and gazed out to sea, wishing she could catch a glimpse of anything resembling the ancient ruins. “I need to tell Maeve to intensify the colors on the beach deck,” she said to Dian as Steve’s aunt joined her at the water’s edge. “Especially the water and the sky. And add more foliage. I’m not sure what we can do about the seaweed gardens though, beautiful as the color is.”
“It is an amazing sight.” Dian selected a small length of driftwood and threw it for Charrli, who dove fearlessly into the water, swam under the next wave and caught up with the stick. Paddling furiously, body surfing too, he returned to the beach with his prize and dropped it to the sand in front of Dian before shaking the excess water off his coat. The droplets flew everywhere, iridescent crystals in the sunlight.
Juli retreated a step although it was already too late. At least the impromptu shower was cooling against her skin. “Who knew such a small dog could hold so much moisture in his coat?”
“Sorry, I should have warned you.” Dian threw the stick out again and Charrli took off gleefully.
Juli checked the parking area where Steve and Jake were in deep conversation. “What are the guys doing?”
“Planning the most intricate military operation this planet has ever seen, I’m sure.” Dian laughed. “They’re on the com with Maeve and she’s doing all kinds of data gathering for them—ranger patrol patterns and the like. Strictly illegal for her to access I’m sure. I love the way she takes care of her crew though. This trip has all been so much fun.”
“Not for me, not for the man the rock killed.” Worry made Juli’s head ache.
“Remember the deceased was a hardened criminal with several murders on his record, or so Jake told us.” Dian took her by the elbow and they strolled down the beach. Charrli had given up on fetching sticks from the ocean and was chasing the small birds and tiny crustaceans. Pointing at her dog, Dian laughed at his antics. “He’s enjoying himself.”
“Do you think the rock will even need us to rescue it? Why can’t it teleport itself here to the beach now?” Juli asked. “I’ll feel like an idiot if we come sneaking back here tonight and the rock is gone.”
“I’ve been considering the possibility. The rock didn’t start teleporting until you took it out of the basket, right?” Dian bent over to accept an offering of a seashell from Charrli, rotating it in her hand to admire the colors.
Juli reviewed her memories of the events. “Right. I think it was having an effect on me before though. I think it made my car break down.”
“And brought Steve and me to the spot at exactly the right time to pick you up? Bad luck and good luck entwined, which fits what Tyrelle told us about the two entities.” Tilting her head and giving Juli a mischievous glance, Dian added, “He was happy to be able to help you out, you know.”
Juli blushed. “Let’s don’t give the rock too much credit.”
Dian sat on a large boulder. “I think we should take them as being deadly serious, which is why I endorse what Steve wants to do tonight.” She studied Juli’s face. “He wants to get you free and clear of this problem, you know. He cares for you very much. And he worries. It’s his protective nature.”
“Oh. I hadn’t thought about any lingering problems in the future, if the idol bears a grudge.” Pleased, Juli leaned on the boulder and gazed to where the Nebula Zephyr men were busily plotting. “He’s been sweet to me.”
“He’ll open up to you eventually, as far as what he endured in the service,” Dian said, staring straight out to sea. “Don’t rush him, is my advice.”
“Of course not. We—we have a lot of other things to talk about.”
“And sometimes you don’t talk at all, I’m sure.” Dian’s laugh was deep and sensual. “I’m glad. If I’m too old for him—which as I told you, I most definitely am—I want him to have the girl of his dreams. Which is you. Here he comes now. Meet you at the groundcar.” Whistling for Charrli, she headed east along the beach, pausing to exchange a few words with Steve, who then came on alone to where Juli waited.
“You okay?” he asked wh
en he arrived at the cluster of boulders.
“Better than okay.” She reached for him and they shared a kiss that became involved and hot before Juli drew back with a laugh. “I don’t want to give Jake too much to talk about. We are on duty after all.”
“Jake gets it. He and his wife act like newlyweds when they think no one is watching.” Steve kept his arms around her and Juli watched the ocean contentedly for a few minutes. “I’d like to return when this is all over, spend a few lazy days together, no chaperones and no security detail, but I’m thinking maybe we should pick another beach.”
“One where the rocks aren’t likely to be ancient alien sentients?” she asked with a laugh. Then, reconsidering her words, she shivered and drew him away from the boulders. “Lords of Space, what if these are—I mean, imagine how much trouble rocks this size could cause when my little stone wreaked such havoc.”
“Not a comforting mental picture.” Steve took her hand and they jogged along the edge of the waves. “We’ll definitely do our days off on a different beach.”
“So what’s the plan for tonight?”
“Retrieve the rock, bring it here, and deposit it in an unobtrusive spot. We picked one out, in the other direction, where there’s a scattering of similar stones. Then get out of here and back to the ship as fast as we can and deny everything. Fleming put me in charge and I can’t tell him the job is done until we’ve left the rock here where it wants to be.”
“All right. In the meantime, can we go get dinner? I’ve been told there are amazing seafood restaurants on Tahumaroa Two and I’m hungry.” Rubbing her stomach with her free hand, Juli grinned. “I think I should be well fed for all this skulking around you’re planning tonight.”
