Samson's holographic sensor logs. I sent everything ahead from hyperspace so they'd know what they would be dealing with when we arrived.”
“That explains why port control knew what to do with us as soon as we entered the area.”
“They may not like it, but after we've delivered thirty combat ready ships they shouldn't complain about it.”
“There's a message from Frost marked urgent,” Cynthia announced. “It came in with the communications packet but I didn't find it until now.”
“Put it on the main display,” Captain Valance said with a sigh.
“It says it's for your eyes only.”
“Sure it is. Put it up anyway.”
“Yes sir,” Cynthia said with a smirk.
A moment later Frost's head and shoulders appeared on the main holographic display on the bridge and Ashley recoiled exaggeratedly. “God, that's just gruesome.”
“Captain, it's a difficult thing ta admit, but I've seen the error of my ways.” He paused for a moment, red faced and not looking straight into his wrist recorder. “Silver and Burke drained my accounts and made off with me savin's. I'm marooned on Ao Katamari with nothin'. I've been marked as a ship thief so no Captain will have me. I pray on yer kindness sir, I'll serve on the Samson as an able crewman if that's yer pleasure, just make your way over and pick me up in Ian Vale Market. Please, there's no one else.”
The communication cut off and as everyone else on the bridge went into hysterics Captain Valance just lowered his head. When the mirth subsided Stephanie shook her head. “Ao Katamari, wow, that is a good place to find a ship, but a two meter by one meter night chamber costs over five thousand credits. That is unless you end up in the lower levels. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even Frost.”
“We'd better go pick him up. I know the Market he's talking about.”
“We're taking Frost on again?” Ashley said with a groan.
“I'll make leaving you alone a condition of his service, don't worry. That and he'll have to deal with our new First Officer,” he said, eyeing Stephanie. “That should bruise his ego a bit, but at least I won't have to look for a new tactical officer.”
“Good point,” Finn commented. “Just looking at the controls for the maxjack gives me a headache.”
“All right, we'll take four hours to make the ship ready with some help from the station, give anyone who wants to depart a chance to disembark and then we'll make best speed to Ao Katamari and hope Frost hasn't found even more trouble.” Captain Valance ordered.
The Price Of The Evening
He had kept everything she left there in a drawer under his bed. Alice was surprised and starting to realize that the ten weeks they spent together made a huge impact on him. The night before was just like old times. The fact that she had been gone didn't so much as come up.
Alice had forgotten how much he made her laugh. How safe and content she felt when she was with him. For a few hours and through the restful sleep that followed she felt like all the pressures she was under, the urgency in her life was far, far away.
They had both woken up when one of his five crew members woke him up. He had to help load their latest cargo. So he kissed her neck, wrapped the sheets around her and left.
The light mood and contentedness of the night before had begun to fade while she was in the shower. He had a custom water shower built into his quarters, something especially rare in space and she had tried it for the first time shortly after meeting him. It was a luxury, something no one did for fear of drowning if the gravity ever gave out while the water was on and because it put more pressure on a ship's recycling systems. Pulse showers were common in space, they shook particles of dead skin and dirt off of the body and gathered them in a reservoir. Some of them even converted the waste material into energy. No risk of drowning, but the feeling, of which there was little to none since the vibrations were so quick and finely tuned, was completely different. It just didn't seem as cleansing.
As she brushed her hair thoughts of just staying around for a while were difficult to dismiss. Alice just didn't want to leave. She was filled with a kind of regret, a sort of dread that she didn't understand before she had become human. As an artificial intelligence she could store the memories of the last night perfectly and revisit them in every detail whenever she liked, the only thing missing was the spontaneity and unpredictable nature of a new experience. As a human things were vastly different. The memories were already fading, the emotions were already tainted with the thought of leaving, the idea of having to tell him she was only passing through. At least she'd have the chance to tell him this time, to say goodbye just in case she could never return.
Her brooding was interrupted as the door slid open. Bruce smiled, stepping inside so the door closed behind him and he just looked at her.
She smiled back, very aware that she was wearing nothing but a towel.
“Want to come along for a run to the third planet? Our cargo won't keep for long.”
“I wish I could,” she replied sadly.
Bruce sat down beside her and took off his work gloves. “You took Wendy's run to Yuelle Varr.”
Alice leaned against him and He put his arm around her shoulders. “I had to. I found my father, he's looking for me. If I don't take this I won't have enough fuel to make the trip.”
“That overgrown fighter. You should sell it and buy something that refuels every twenty years like the Skipper.”
She ignored his comment, it was an old argument and she knew that wasn't what was frustrating him. “I'm sorry, I have to go find him.”
“Why can't he just come out here? Why doesn't he come after you? He's your father for God's sake.”
“I can't risk sending a relayed transmission.”
“Right, the guys who're after you. The ones that hauled me off.”
She looked up at his face. He didn't seem as angry as she expected to be when this came up. She knew they'd talk about it eventually. “I'm so sorry.”
“Don't worry, they just roughed me up for a couple hours, dug around in my brain with some kind of scanner and knocked me out for a couple weeks. I woke up in a crate they had dropped off for the crew. You should have seen their faces. It was almost worth it.”
“I wish I could have warned you. I never meant-”
Bruce cupped one of her cheeks in his hand. His eyes told her everything she needed to know about how he felt. “If I could follow you I would. If I could make the galaxy safe for you somehow-”
“I know,” was all she could manage through the oncoming tears.
There was so much pain, he was used to being in control of everything around him and knew there was nothing he could do to change her mind, to make her stay. “Just come back. Some day when it's safe, or when you're tired of running. Tell me how you are, where you are if you can. I'll be here, you know I'll be here.”
She nodded, wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. “I will. As soon as I can I will.”
They held each other for long minutes until the intercom beeped. “We're just about ready Captain.”
“I'll be up in a minute,” his voice didn't show the merest hint of what was going on in his quarters.
They let each other go and he tilted her chin up, wiping her tears away again with big, gentle fingers. “I love you. Don't forget us out here,” he whispered.
“I'll never forget,” she replied before kissing him briefly.
“Be safe out there,” he stood and made for the door.
“I love you Bruce,” she said before it could open.
“Just don't wait too long,” he said quietly as he left.
She washed her face, got dressed and quietly made her way off the ship.
On his way to the bridge Bruce stopped inside an empty bunk room and activated a computer terminal. Without looking at the keys he typed in the twenty seven digit code to open a secure channel and proceeded to punch in the ninety one point alphanumeric pass code. The signal travelled through the station's communications
