by T. Y. Carew
***
“Any ship like that is clearly a threat to human life,” Tyra said.
“Yeah, if the shuttle has been tampered with or the pre-programming is iffy,” agreed Drew. “So we’ll add that to the mass of research we’re already doing…”
“And in the meantime we go ahead with one of our fund-raising ideas,” Mattie said, spreading out their plans to cover the whole of the round cafeteria table they were sat around. Drew snatched his drink off the table just in time, and held it closer to his chest.
“So,” Mattie said, looking at them in turn. “The combat lessons—”
Trey lifted his hand. “Are we talking close-quarters or weapons training? Because if it’s weapons, we need to find a place that allows—”
“Yes, I know,” said Mattie tersely. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. First we need to gauge public interest.”
“I’ll apply for the business license,” Xander said. “Well, if you intend to charge fees, you need to declare them.” He met Mattie’s confused gaze with a certain one. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”
She nodded. “And then we have—”
“Why don’t we just crowd-fund?” Drew asked and drained his glass. The crew stared at him as if he’d grown a pair of tentacles out of his head. “What?” he challenged. “It’s a good cause. One that people care about. And it’s the easiest one in terms of location and start-up costs. I say we try it. Can’t hurt.”
Mattie continued to stare at him, as if lost in a daydream.
“What?” Drew said again. “What have we got to lose?”
Mattie smiled wide, her eyes shiny with excitement. “That’s a brilliant idea!” She launched herself at him and gave him a hug. Tyra saved Drew’s glass from becoming glass shards. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
They all laughed. “You were too close to the problem,” Drew said, smiling.
Mattie couldn’t contain her glee. Since the conversation in the cafeteria a few days ago, they’d made huge progress. The whole team had gotten involved.
Drew had set up the crowdfunding page, Trey and Tyra were the designated ambassadors and spent their time delivering messages from their hub to the public and back again. Xander had cleared their little venture with General Kelton and had taken care of the business side of things, and Mattie was simply the heart and soul. It was her presence they all vied for, her face they wanted to be photographed with and her hand they wanted to shake.
In fact, she’d visited so many schools, given so many speeches, and had her photo taken with so many people, she finally understood the meaning of publicity. What she’d moaned about before, she was doing willingly now, and happily, because every penny they collected would be going straight to the research team for their invaluable work.
Moreover, Mattie was discovering that many institutions of higher education and even private clubs of likeminded individuals were doing their own research and developing their own products with Adamanta components, despite the scarcity of the resource and the prohibitive cost of obtaining it. Guided tours around one of the less restricted military research labs were now a regular occurrence—again, cleared by Xander with higher command. There was enough interest to sell those out months in advance.
It made Mattie’s heart sing with happiness when she saw the enormous wave of support coming from the public at large. She was sure that the small trickle of funds into research would draw with it the attention of more serious investors, and she had General Kelton’s assurance that he would personally sift through them and conduct any negotiations necessary to help the research back on track.
But most of all, Mattie was happy about the closeness she now felt with her team mates. They’d bonded even more. Barely a few hours passed without one or other of them getting in contact with some news or organizing a get-together so they could share a moment of peace over a cool drink and a natter.
Back in her condo, Mattie laid out her outfits for the following day’s networking and public appearances, smiling as she thought of her crew, her informal family. Tyra and Trey, her mischievous siblings, Drew—the nerdy little cousin… and Xander, the… Then she sighed. She really wished she had a better idea of where to place Xander. Goodness knew, the man was great enough to fill several sets of shoes. Was he a father figure? A brother? More than that? A partner?
Maybe the time had come for her to work out what exactly Xander meant to her. Where they stood. What the nature of their relationship was. On that thought, Mattie reached for the comm and called him. Why delay it?
Xander picked up on the first ring.
“Hey. You all right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Mattie hastened to say. “I just wanted to figure out what size picnic to put together for tomorrow night.”
Silence for a moment. “Tomorrow night? What happens tomorrow night?”
“The open-air theater? Have you forgotten? We’re going to see The Tempest at the New Minack.” Xander was quiet. “I mean, Trey and Tyra are definitely going, and so am I,” Mattie said, her hopes dwindling.
“No, no, that’s fine. You’re right, I had forgotten. Yes, count me in. See you tomorrow,” Xander said.
Mattie said her goodbyes quickly, before she cheered out loud and made a fool of herself.
She hadn’t lied, not really. Trey and Tyra were going, or at least had been thinking of going last time they spoke about it, but Mattie had no intention of making this a team event. This evening, she was planning to spend with just one person: Xander.
Humming to herself, she went on to plan her picnic for two.
***
One hand worried the thin goatee he had been trying to grow, the other checked his comm. Nothing yet, though he knew the reprimand would come sooner or later. His attempt had failed disastrously, and she hadn’t confronted him yet, but he felt the need to confess. After all, his only intent had been to help her by eliminating her competition. He had no regrets, because she was an awesome woman and she deserved to have everything she wished for.
As he rounded the corner and walked towards his lab, he heard her sweet voice. She was obviously on the comm, because he could only hear one half of the conversation. He paused by the door to listen.
“Yes, the tests have come back clean. The only explanation is that the programming has gone wrong at some point. I’ll look into that later. For now, keep plugging away at the new prototype. I can’t afford to have a band of amateurs invalidate all the progress I’ve made in the last two years. I’ve worked too hard to infiltrate the highest ranks to lose it all now. Yes, please. I’ll see you there.”
Her head snapped to the door when he cleared his throat.
“I know what you’ve done,” she said before he managed to get even one word out. “And I know why you’ve done it. But no more. Promise me. When it returns from the shop, I want Porteus’ programming to be exactly what I ask for, and I know you can do it. You’ll do that for me, won’t you?”
All he could do was nod. Of course he would. He’d do anything for her.
She stroked one hand around his cheek and swept from the room in a flash of red satin, leaving him standing there, weak-kneed, hot and aroused. Yes, he’d do what she’d asked of him. The shuttle’s programming would be faultless. But he would still look after her in other ways. There were always ways.
His own hand touched the trail she’d left on his cheek as he sat down at his monitor. Ah, she’d used his computer to communicate with someone off-planet before his arrival. Touched those keys, perhaps spied her own reflection in the same screen he was staring at now. Slowly, he tilted his head to the side, imagining her face next to his, cheek by cheek, framed by the white plastic. He let the daydream linger for a minute more, then switched on his usual programming software.
Chapter 11
Mattie checked the time. Just past two in the afternoon. She walked up the long lane to the front of the tourist dock, her eyes scrutinizing the cruisers lined up one after the other
until she found the Andromeda. She wasn’t very big, nor did she look particularly modern, but she was clean, her hull gleaming a bright orange with random blue patterns stamped here and there in trails of stars.
The children were boarding in long lines overseen by what must have been their teachers, or else family who had volunteered as helpers for the journey.
Mattie smiled, reminiscing about her own childhood and the excitement every school trip brought with it. She hadn’t been on many cruises, her parents’ limited time off work always an unwelcome constraint, but they did find ways to make sure she could enjoy day trips and excursions regardless.
The Andromeda was as bright and lively inside as she was on the outside. School children always seemed to lift a place up, and this ship was humming with energy.
Mattie made her way to the cockpit, where she was expected to say a few words in support of the official launch of these children’s research project. The brief she’d been given said they were the brightest stars from every school in Netera’s northern hemisphere, who’d come together under the supervision of two science teachers to create simple, daily use products containing Adamanta components. She didn’t know what these were, but she admired these young minds. What they were doing was bringing more awareness to the metal and its potential uses. As far as she was concerned, every bit of research these children were doing could prove to be valuable in the future, because they didn’t think in terms of maximizing financial gain but usefulness instead—and every new product they developed dulled Simon and Doctor Cardew’s venture that much more. Projects like this had Mattie’s complete and unconditional backing.
The hatch was open, so Mattie walked right in, tripping over an oversized gym bag lying open on the floor. Gadgets that were clearly home-made spilled out of it, and a guy was kneeling the other side, taking close-ups of some of these.
“Oops, sorry,” said Mattie, stepping out of his shot. She’d forgotten the whole thing would be televised. She snuck up to a quieter corner to wait, and pulled out a snack bar to munch on in the meantime. The morning had passed in a whirlwind of events she’d had to attend and places she’d had to visit, which meant she hadn’t had time to stop for lunch. Her mind on the picnic she’d be sharing with Xander later that evening, she chomped on the less than interesting cereal bar and washed it down with a pouch of fruit juice.
***
He pushed the wheeled cart full of the children’s dinners into the mess hall storage and walked back out of the cramped space, nearly tripping over one of those rowdy little brats in the doorway. The kid looked up at him for a split second then streaked away after his friends giggling, unperturbed.
“Laugh while you still can,” he muttered to himself. “We’ll see how much you’re laughing when the heat is on.” He pulled the cap lower over his brow, tucked his head and strode purposefully in the general direction of the cockpit, where the media crew was wrapping up the live transmission.
As the crew began to trickle out, he approached Adamanta and asked in a meek voice, “Miss, where would you like the items for the children’s surprise evening stored?”
“Oh,” she said, speechless at having to answer a question she really wasn’t qualified to answer. He knew it, and he was counting on the element of surprise. Storage of all items, gifted or not, was an issue for the cruiser’s support crew, not an outsider. But he needed to unsettle her enough to follow him without question, and she didn’t disappoint.
He walked swiftly away. She caught up with him just as he pressed the lever to open the non-perishables store.
“I never thought about the storage problem my gift would create, sorry. Is there anywhere you could stash the streamers, balloons and non-food— Ah!”
He’d swung the streamlined gas canister at her head so fast she dropped to the floor without further sound, and he dragged her out of sight and stashed her on the bottom shelf of a paper towel and cleaning accessories section, then covered her with a canvas. Then he finished stashing the party supplies where she’d indicated, as instructed. He wouldn’t want to put a toe out of line, now, would he?
Amused by his thoughts, he whistled merrily as he walked out and sealed the store room shut behind him. “All done and ready for you,” he said in passing to one of the crew as he made his way to the exit hatch and out of the ship. Just one more thing to do now, and Miss Adamanta would no longer pose a threat to his beloved doctor.
Back in his lab, he signed in as a guest and sent a broken message to the ether, making sure its coding pushed it well beyond the human-controlled area. Just a few fractured phrases that would make no sense to the accidental listener, but that would contain enough information for the accidental roaming attacker to want to investigate.
Snickering at his own cleverness, he went back to his job.
***
The air was cooling, and the play was about to start. Xander scanned the area once more but could find no sign of Mattie. Where was she? It wasn’t like her to stand him up. The open-air theater was modelled after one of the ancient ones on earth, which made it a wonderful experience for those interested in such things as the amphitheater layout or the old stone-like seating. Truthfully, all he was interested in was Mattie.
Out, towards the front, he spotted the Lentarin twins. They sat close together, chatting in low voices. Most people here were. And with good reason—right at that moment the compère came on stage and began his spiel.
Xander felt his stomach tighten in a knot. Something was wrong, he just knew it.
The comm screen was blank when he checked for messages. Damn it. Short of options, he snuck his way closer to Trey and Tyra and shimmied his butt on the stone beside them.
“You guys don’t know what’s keeping Mattie, do you?”
“Oh-oh! Ditched you, did she?” Trey laughed.
Xander gave him a side-long glance and said in a whisper, “I was hoping for a more mature answer, but I’ll take what you can give me.”
“I know she had a few engagements today,” Tyra said. “But she was supposed to be done by about three. Not heard from her since. Have you tried Drew?”
Xander pulled out his comm and shot Drew a message. His response was immediate. Not seen or heard from her. Check the Contessa?
Xander swore under his breath. This was not what he wanted to hear. Sighing, he punched in the code to remote-access the Contessa’s info-comm recording system.
***
Mattie was first aware of a pounding headache. The shards of pain sliced through her head and jabbed at her neck and shoulders. Her whole body ached. She tried to stretch her legs but hit soft resistance. When her arms met with the same sort of resistance she figured she must be asleep and wrapped up tight in her blankets.
How long had she been out? Had she missed any appointments? Shit. She struggled with the covering and rolled out of bed… and onto the cold floor of a room shrouded in darkness. Lights popped on at her movement. Motion detectors.
Mattie stood up and turned on the spot slowly, using one hand to steady herself on the shelves surrounding three of the four walls of the room. A stab of realization made her gasp out loud. She recognized the room. It was the Andromeda’s store. Slowly, her mind filled in the gaps. She’d followed the guy dressed in the delivery overalls to help him find a place for the party supplies she’d sent as a gift for the children, a small “thank you” from Adamanta to make their journey so much more special. Kids these days barely knew how to have fun anymore, and she’d felt a little silly string and a bunch of balloons would give them just what they were missing.
Now her kindness had caused her this headache.
She pressed her hands to her temples and staggered on unsteady feet to the door… only to discover she had been locked in. Great! Just great!
Mattie slid down the door to sit on the floor, leaning against it. As soon as any motion ceased, the lights went out.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, trying to gather her thoughts and figur
e out how to attract attention without causing too much damage to the ship, but suddenly distress signals began blaring and red lights began flashing. Mattie shot to her feet and pounded on the door uselessly; no one would hear her over the alarms blaring all over the ship.
Shoving down the chink of panic that was skittering up her spine, Mattie rushed to the shelves and began rifling for something that could help her attract someone’s attention. She returned with paper and lighters. She made one small fire right by the door, and took another piece of paper over to the smoke detector she’d spied nearer the back of the room.
Then she prayed for that one person on this whole ship who would not be too busy with whatever had caused the alarm to notice the storeroom signal on the fire monitors.
Chapter 12
Xander was beside himself with worry. Mattie was nowhere to be found. No messages on the Contessa’s system, no messages to any of the crew, and that was definitely out of character for Mattie.
Tyra switched from traffic to a general news channel as she took him and Trey to Mattie’s condo via the shortest route. With a bit of luck, Drew would meet them there.
“And in the latest news, Netera Central has received a May Day communication from the Andromeda, a civilian cruise ship surfing the popular Cygnus Ridge. It is as yet unclear what the cause of the emergency is. More to follow.”
“Another bunch of numb nuts who had to get too close to the nucleus of the radiation,” Trey muttered.
“Hmm,” was all Xander felt safe to say. Inside, he was simmering with anxiety. If anything had happened to Mattie, after everything she went through…
“Here we are,” Tyra said, alighting in a designated parking spot. The darkness was now complete. “I’ll shut down and follow you in. The entry passcode is her birthday cubed minus her current age followed by the Contessa’s pin backwards.”
Xander’s eyes bulged. How the… “What?”
Tyra took one look at him and said, “I’ll go first then, shall I?”