Embarkment 2577 Page 16

  Chapter Eleven

  We stayed at the station for a few days. Adam spent all too much time playing with the brand new black hole – well, he called it calibrating – and John took Anya and me for adventures. He seemed to know every nook and cranny, every merchant, and every guard.

  I couldn’t ask when Anya was around, but I took the opportunity as soon as she was distracted in a store. “Don’t you get tired of having me around? If you guys want to be alone, just tell me and I’ll be gone in a second.”

  He laughed. “I don’t know my son and he seems happy to keep it that way. At least let me know you.”

  Good point. Adam would probably be more interested if someone told him about their relation, but I had promised to keep the secret. In the strict sense of the word John and I might not be family, but at heart, we were.

  When I came home that evening, my husband stared out a window with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t turn around, so I wrapped my arms around him from behind. “Hey… I didn’t expect you home.”

  He sighed. “Did you have a good time?”

  “Yes. John took us for a picnic. This place is amazing.”

  He turned enough to meet my eyes. “You know he’s a pirate, right?”

  “Oh don’t be like that. He’s sweet and funny.”

  “A sweet and funny guy who steals and smuggles for a living. The crew of this ship usually hunts people like him down. It’s our job to put them away.”

  I rubbed my temples.

  “We’re leaving tomorrow, so try not to get too attached to him.”

  Adam headed for the door. Were we having a fight? “Wait… Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to work.”

  A part of me wanted him to hurry up so I could fling something at the door as soon as it closed behind him. Sure there would be shards to clean up afterwards, but he was… impossible. My less temperamental part won. I ran after him and pressed myself in between him and the door.

  “What?” He sounded tired. I didn’t have anything to say, so I threw my arms around him and pressed my lips against his. Long seconds ticked by when he just stood there, but then he held me and kissed me back.

  “I love you. I’m sorry I’m making life hard for you.”

  He gave his head a slight shake. “You go have fun.”

  “If you were anyone else, I’d say you were jealous.”

  “I’m late for duty is what I am.”

  Interesting. I expected him to deny it. “Haven’t you done an awful lot of that lately?”

  “A lot of what?”

  “Work, silly.”

  “Well, there’s a lot of work to be done. Silly.”

  I stole another kiss. “Just remember to hurry home to your wife. She misses you.”

  He finally smiled.

  The next morning, I opened my eyes late and alone. That couldn’t be good; unless we had a ship wide disaster, Adam always woke me up at 6:02 AM. I pulled the sheet around me and plodded barefoot through the rooms. Maybe he was in his study, caught up in something only an android would understand.

  When the door slid open a horrifying thought struck me; he might have company in there and I should probably have put some clothes on.

  Adam sat behind his work area. Alone. Phew! I walked in and took a seat on the desk. “What’s up, handsome?”

  “Nothing. I thought you needed to sleep.”

  I rested my foot on his chair, so he would have to see my leg. “I got cold and lonely.”

  He kissed my knee. “Do you want me to make you breakfast?”

  I sure wanted him to do something. Food might not be on the top of that list, but it was a start. “Did you ever meet your father?”

  He looked as surprised by the change of subject as I was to hear the words come out of my mouth.

  “No. He was already gone when I was activated.”

  Activated. What a cold word for coming to life. “How much alike do you think you are?”

  “I’m supposed to be pretty much like him. But more reliable.”

  More reliable probably implied more serious. No wonder I for brief glimpses of time thought John was Adam. I ran my fingers over his cheek. “Take your shirt off.”

  “Why?”

  Sheesh. “What do you think? I want to admire your body.”

  He laughed. “You’re such a little troll. You know they’re not real, right?”

  Real, not real, who cared? His muscles were there and that was definitely real enough for me. I moved over to his lap and unbuttoned it myself.

  *****

  We had to say goodbye to John just before lunch. Adam stood over to the side, waiting with his hands on his back. Anya looked about to cry. Could holograms cry?

  John hugged me with arms that felt just like my husband’s, and murmured, “It was good to meet you. Make sure Adam takes care of you.”

  “When will we see you again?”

  John smirked and fixed his eyes on Adam. “As soon as I can figure out somewhere to meet up with you gals where your husband and the crew won’t try to kill me.”

  Anya slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh no, they wouldn’t do that.” She looked at Adam. “You wouldn’t do that, right?”

  He rolled his eyes and John said in a sardonic voice, “Of course not.”

  I averted my eyes and tried not to cry myself when John and Anya kissed goodbye. She stood looking for him when the heavy door to the ship closed.

  That night, just before Adam was about to leave for the bridge, he asked, “You miss him already, don’t you?”

  “Of course.”

  He sounded distant when he said, “I’m sure you’ll see him again soon.”

  A couple of days passed, and Adam was still weird. He tried not to show it, but holed up in his office. I decided to surprise him. Trust me, not an easy thing to do. I figured a good way to say, “I love you” would be to be awake in the morning when he came home, and meet him by the door as the sexiest version of myself imaginable.

  The plan made perfect sense in theory. In reality, it was much harder than I expected. I started with asking the computer to wake me up at 5:30. Half an hour should be enough time to get ready.

  When morning came, I was so tired I didn’t want to open my eyes. Could I stay in bed and do this some other day instead? No. Adam would do anything for me, and being unwilling to sacrifice half an hour’s sleep for him was pathetic.

  Getting the clothes wasn’t easy. I couldn’t make the replicator produce anything, and asking Anya for help with turning into the sexy nurse Adam mentioned made me turn red as a tomato. It was probably a joke, of course, but he must have gotten the idea somewhere to even say it. When did nurses start using corsets? And how did the bloody thing go on?

  I was ready at six sharp, two minutes before I expected him to walk through the door. As much as I struggled to look sultry, the outfit made me feel like an idiot. “Who wears these things anyway?”

  I expected the computer to say, “No one I know of” but it stayed silent.

  Adam stopped and stared right inside the door. “What are you doing?”

  “You wanted a sexy nurse. I’m trying to be a sexy nurse.” I bent forward and made a kissy pouty mouth.

  He lifted his eyebrows.

  “I might not be good at it, but I’m trying.”

  I could almost see him switch his emotions on; life returned to his eyes and he smiled. “You are the sexiest nurse any man could dream of.”

  Walking in these absurd high heeled shoes wasn’t easy, but I only needed to take a couple of steps to reach him. “How did you get this idea anyway?”

  He laughed for the first time for days. “I don’t know. It was the first thing that came to mind. I didn’t expect you to do it.”

  I didn’t even have to stand on my toes to kiss him. “Well, this is when you take it all off…”

  “Hold that thought.” He reached for the console by the door and his fingers danced over it. “There… peace an
d quiet…”

  His arms around me were pure heaven.

  Eventually, Adam found it prudent to get dressed and return to work. I did not agree. I let him have the pants and tank top, but I grabbed the shirt and ran through the rooms, making him chase me. He played along for a bit and pretended catching me was quite an ordeal, but eventually he scooped me up and carried me to the sofa. “You’re a wanton little nymphet, but I need my clothes.”

  I cradled the shirt to my chest. “No.”

  He laughed softly and kissed me.

  “What’s that noise?”

  My husband frowned. “Someone’s banging on the door.”

  “If we don’t answer, maybe they’ll go away.”

  The person outside knocked again. Hard. This wasn’t a soft rapping of knuckles; someone beat on the door with a fist. A voice called out, muffled and barely audible, “Commander, I know you’re in there. Please open, it’s an emergency.”

  Adam sighed and I bounced to my feet, swept his shirt around me, and fled to the bedroom. He, at least, wore two thirds of the uniform.

  Standing with my back pressed against the bedroom wall, I heard the door open. “What?”

  He sounded impatient, and it was easy to imagine a stern look on his face, meant to put fear of superiors into the heart of any young ensign bold enough to disturb the peace.

  A young voice answered, “I’m sorry to disturb you, Sir, but it’s an emergency.”

  Adam sounded indifferent, “Everything is always an emergency. The ship is filled with competent people; surely someone else can handle it.”

  “No, Sir. The Captain wishes to see you in his ready room right now.”

  I jumped into a sweater and a pair of jeans, and went into the living room with Adam’s shirt. He took it and kissed me on the cheek, buttoning it as he walked through the door.

  The young man didn’t follow; he stared at me. Had I forgotten something important when dressing? Were my boobs hanging out?

  Adam turned back and frowned. “What?”

  “She, I mean you, ma’am, must come too. The Captain said to bring you both. It concerns both of you.”

  Oh, that couldn’t be good.

  “Really?” My husband didn’t sound impressed.

  We followed the young man through the corridors and Adam looked calm as ever. My insides were frozen over. It had been such a good day, how could it go so wrong so quickly? Not even Adam’s hand on my back in the elevator could soothe my fears. He bent forward and whispered in my ear, “I had a great morning.”

  That made me smile in spite of all and I snuggled an arm around his waist. Screw protocol.

  The Captain’s office was nearly empty. Jia’Lyn, Anya, and Ima sat around a table. When we entered, Blake leaned back in his chair and stared at Adam. “I think I’ll have to get a tamper-proof communications’ system.”

  “Maybe it’s broken.” Adam pulled a chair out for me. He seemed completely unfazed.

  “We’ve been monitoring a black hole through the night, testing the new time sphere.”

  Those words were clearly meant for me. Time sphere? Oh, the TDD. Full scale testing. I nodded to show I heard and understood, but it was a mystery how it could be an emergency.

  Blake met Adam’s eyes. “An hour ago, Ensign Bates miscalculated and manoeuvred too close to the singularity. We are unable to break free.”

  The words hovered over the table and I had plenty of time to think of what it might mean. “I’m sorry, did you say we’re teetering on the edge of a black hole?”

  Adam touched something on the table and a holographic terminal appeared. Data rolled by so quickly the numbers blurred, and he nodded to himself. “Bates rounded the third decimal.”

  Jia’Lyn nodded. “It’s such a minor mistake, but enough.”

  Poor Bates, whoever he or she was. If we lived through this, getting a new nickname would be the least of their problems.

  When Blake spoke again, he had my full attention. “We think we can launch one shuttle without pushing us too far in.”

  Why couldn’t we just radio for help? There must be a way to tow even something as big as the Bell. Anya fixed her eyes on me and said, “No Alex, we’re too far in. All signals are diverted into the singularity. A shuttle might be able to get out and send a distress call.”

  Normally, I’d tell her not to read my mind, but at the moment, privacy seemed a smaller problem.

  Adam’s fingers danced over the computer. “You know a shuttle can’t get out on its own. It would be possible to give a little shove with a tractor beam, but it needs to be just right.”

  Jia’Lyn leaned towards me. “The smallest push in the wrong direction will make us fall into the gravity well.”

  My husband leaned back in the chair. “I checked last known positions of Confederacy ships in this sector. None of them can reach us before we drift too far in to be salvageable.”

  Anya looked down at the table and twirled a lock of her dark hair between her fingers. “John is still in this sector. He has a tractor beam. He could help hold us until more help gets here.”

  My mind spun with questions. The engines of the Bell were incredibly powerful. Something able to hold her was beyond my comprehension.

  Adam murmured, “Any energy released by us will be swallowed by the gravity well and make it that much larger. Right now, we’re able to maintain equilibrium, but sooner or later, we will be pulled in. It might be possible for us to get free if we got just a little pull from the outside.”

  When he put it like that, it made sense. “Thank you.”

  Adam entered his calculations into the computer. Blake seemed to come to a conclusion. “Very well. John isn’t a close friend of the Confederacy. He might need some persuading to lend a hand. Anya must go.”

  Ima interrupted, “Anya staying on the ship might be a better incentive to help.”

  Jia’Lyn’s snakes snickered. “Yes, let’s irritate the nice criminal who might save us.”

  “Ladies.” Blake rarely sounded impatient, and the edge in his tone stressed our danger. “Anya will go on the shuttle. Adam is the only one able to make the necessary calculations quickly enough.”

  Now I understood why I had been called to the meeting. This might very well be the last time I saw my husband. Our Captain eyed me and said in a mild tone of voice, “You have to go with them, Alex.”

  There was equal danger in staying on the ship and going on the shuttle. Blake wouldn’t separate us, we would live or die together, and it was a great kindness. “Thank you.”

  Adam said, “It will be days before we come back. Shut down the TDD as soon as we’re off the ship. This close to the singularity, it will seem as if time stopped.”

  Blake nodded. “You leave now. Dismissed.”

  Chapter Twelve

  As soon as the door closed behind us, Anya said, “I’ll catch up with you in a few.” She disappeared in thin air.

  “Where did she go?”

  “That was her ship hologram. She’s probably uploading to a mobile emitter. She’ll meet us by the shuttle.” Adam seemed about as upset with the situation as the average brick wall might be. At times like this I envied him. I was so afraid my stomach wanted to trade places with my brain.

  The doors to the lift opened. My husband leaned his back against the wall, crossed his arms over his chest, and sighed ever so little. I leaned my forehead against his arm. “This is scary.”

  “It will be alright.”

  “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

  “No. See things from the bright side. You get to see John much sooner than you thought.”

  “Unless we’re sucked into the black hole where we’ll die a gruesome death.”

  He finally moved and wrapped his arms around me. “That’s not going to happen. We’re taking the shuttle you and I adjusted for the trees. I’ve double-checked my calculations, and I’m almost never wrong.”

  Almost never. At least he was honest.

  I
sat in the back of the shuttle, watching Adam’s and Anya’s backs. The seat under me moved when they fired the engines up. Adam glanced back at me. “Put your seatbelt on.”

  The shuttles had seatbelts? I found it with just a little fumbling.

  As soon as we left the protection of the Bell, a maelstrom of debris flooded past the windows. Our little ship flowed with it, and I saw a long row of windows flash by as we passed almost the entire length of the Bell in a split second. This was it. I would die crushed to death by the most powerful force mankind ever encountered. It might be a worthy end, but not one I looked forward to.

  Adam slammed a control and the engines screeched with strain. The ship shook, but didn’t fall further in. Now when we no longer moved with the rubble it battered us.

  A rock hurled towards my window. It grew larger and larger. I wanted to look away, but the sight was hypnotizing. The energy field averted it inches away from me, and I huffed out stale air from my lungs. Would squeezing my eyes shut be cowardice?

  A bright light surrounded us. Did I die? Was this heaven? No, Adam’s voice said, “Hold on.” If I was dead I’d probably hear something else, or nothing… Jia’Lyn caught us with the tractor beam and flung us through space.

  Even with this added momentum, the singularity wanted to pull us back. I was sure it was more than physics and gravity; this thing seemed to have a mind. It was hungry, and it wanted to eat us. There would be no regret, and no mercy.

  The ship stabilized and Adam glanced back. “You okay back there?”

  “Yes… I think so.” We were free.

  I opened the seatbelt and hurried to the rear windows. The black hole wasn’t really black; it was an absence of all light. The endless stream of dust and debris seemed to circle slowly, but now I knew from first-hand experience it only looked slow because of the mere quantity.

  The Bell balanced on the edge of all this destruction. How close could she drift before being crushed?