TARZAN? WHAT'S THAT?! Well, the computer knew, for Jason looked down, and discovered himself clothed in animal hide like a primitive caveman. "Computer, put some hair on my chest, would you please." Up it grew.
"Me Jane, you Tarzan!", she said with a husky voice. "Turn around, Jason. I want to see how your skin fits." He willingly complied and turned slowly, flexing various muscles.
She began giggling. "Jason! That is QUITE a creative tattoo."
HOW COULD SHE SEE THAT TATTOO?! He looked behind himself.
The computer had not drawn the back of his leopard skin!
Embarrassed, he quickly faced her again. He complained, "Hey, you aren't dressed right either! Computer, replace Ethera's clothing with... a G-string bikini!"
The computer responded, "Stand-by. Requesting medical scan files from PF24..."
"Computer! Cancel that last request!", countermanded Ethera. "No peeking, Jason!"
"Okay, okay. Hey, enough of this kid-stuff. I just happen to have a bottle of extremely old sparkling wine that's chilling down in my quarters." He turned his head and looked at her sideways. "Does your daddy let you drink, Ethera??"
She flipped her head. "I do whatever I want!", she said.
"Would you care to try a glass?"
She smiled, and looked at him. She knew what this would lead to. It was an experience that she had been longing to try for so long! She let her eyes half-close in a seductive sort of way. "I'll have just one glass..."
Jason removed the helmets, delicately took her hand, and led to the hatchway in the floor. They stepped down onto the elevator platform below. He held her close so that they would once again fit through the hatchway. "Take us down, elevator,"
he said. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, looked happily into her face, and squeezed her. She herself reached around and squeezed him provocatively.
At the floor of the central chamber, they dismounted, and he opened the door to his living quarter, and gestured for her to enter. She did so hesitantly. WHAT KIND OF A ROOM WAS THIS?
OH! LOOK AT ALL THE LITTLE FIGURINES. HOW CUTE! CANDLES. THAT
WOULD BE ROMANTIC. CANDIES! (BETTER SKIP THOSE.) A PICTURE OF
THE BEATLES. She loved the Beatles! HAD SHE TOLD HIM THAT
BEFORE? A BUST OF MOZART. OH, HE THINKS HE'S SO REFINED... A BEARSKIN RUG! OH, HE MUST BE A MIND READER! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED
TO...
Jason lifted two glasses from the wine cooler stand, set them on a nearby table, and pressed the open-button on the bottle. The cork popped out, and ricocheted around the room.
Ethera exclaimed, "Jason! That frightened me!"
"Oh, my goodness! Come, sit down here on the sofa and calm yourself." He poured two glasses of wine, then joined her on the sofa.
She talked about one of her favorite subjects: The ancient musical group, the Beatles. She talked of Beatle songs, and he rattled off the standard ancient Beatle trivia which Beatle fans like her always loved to hear (he had recently quickly learned all this from his ship's atomic memory): Paul was dead and had been replaced by a Canadian prime minister. John had married an Indian guru named Yo. Ringo was the only rockstar who ever lived long enough to have grandchildren. George had been cryogenically frozen to await rebirth at the end of time...
They talked about the people of the colony ship then switched to one of Ethera's other favorite subjects: The gifts of gold jewelry Jason had given her. She noticed a ring he was wearing -- it was gold! She asked if she could try it on. Jason pulled it off and gave it to her. It was his Militia Guard Academy graduation ring. Naturally, it was too big for her fingers, however she enjoyed fondling it, her eyes glittering as she beheld the luster of the thick band and jewels. The crest of the Militia Guard was in raised relief with Jason's name etched around the edge. She exclaimed, "This is gorgeous! It's better than anything you've given me so far!" She batted her long dark eyelashes at him and pouted sensuously. "Jason, can I -- can I please have it? I'd be ever so grateful!"
Jason sensed an important turning point and knew it was essential to answer in the affirmative -- it was just a graduation ring anyway; he could make another back on Infinity City. It held no special meaning for him... Well, not much, at least. So he lied: "Ethera! This is one of my most prized possessions! It's very special to me. I could never part with it!"
"Oh, PLEASE, Jason! It is simply gorgeous! Aren't I special to you, too??"
Jason looked deeply into her alluring eyes. "Yes, very special." AT LEAST FOR TONIGHT, HE THOUGHT TO HIMSELF. "IT'S
YOURS..." SHE GIGGLED WITH DELIGHT AND STASHED THE RING IN A SIDE POCKET.
The wine was excellent. "Oh, dear, Ethera!" Jason exclaimed in mock surprise. "Why, your glass is empty. What a pity you decided to have but one glassful. It is such an amusing vintage! I believe I shall have another."
As he poured another for himself, she watched with a calculating look, then announced, "Well, one more glass won't hurt anything..."
A short while later, the empty glasses fell harmlessly to the bearskin rug at there feet. They were locked in a passionate embrace. Ethera was being kissed by a man she had known for only a few weeks. What WOULD her father think. HE WOULD BE FURIOUS, IF HE KNEW! She laughed on the inside, and decided to abandon all restraint this night. How often did Adventurers from the famous Infinity City come along. There was actually some story about one, just before the colony ship took off. Ah, but her attention became captivated by her amazing host for the evening.
He was thrilling! What WAS he up to now? Oh! There was obviously no stopping him now! She lay back down on the couch.
Jason knew that he would be the first Adventurer to discover the secrets of this little whirlpool below him. He geared himself down and treated her gently, letting her set the pace.
She was completely without inhibition, though, and willing to experience all he was bursting to show her.
What an evening! She was amazed that such playfulness could go on hour after hour.
At one point, during a breather, when his mind was drifting, Jason worried that Dalton would arrive at any time. But, Dalton was quiet as a mouse, never once awakening Jason when he came home late from one of his OWN rendezvous' with Monique. Certain activities soon drove these thoughts clean away.
Finally, they both had exhausted each other. She thought he was fantastic! Beyond what she ever imagined a man would be.
She was finally in love!
But, she had noticed no sign of other crew members, not even the Militia Captain One, whom her father had spoken with. Jason, the wine having loosened his tongue told her the truth. He and Dalton were the only crew. But, they were not pirates. They were Rescuers. He made her swear never to reveal this. She was confused but agreed.
She thought: An Adventurer from Infinity City who flew about the Galaxy rescuing disabled space ships! The colony ship was so boring. How exciting and romantic it would be to accompany this amazing man! Touring the Galaxy at the speed of an Infinity City sailship! To see Infinity City itself! Inside a black hole! And every night, to have this incredible man all to herself. He had been so WONDERFUL to her. He was so experienced, knew so many things to do, and how to do them just right...
She decided that she wanted to go with him, and told him so.
But then, strangely, he stalled and stammered, telling her that he would decide later. He seemed suddenly now a little distant somehow. Had she done something wrong?
Finally, very late, he took her back across to the colony ship, and escorted her home. He was polite, but was still different somehow.
And then, in the next few days, he did not come by to see her at all. At first she was bewildered.
She asked the computer PF24 where Jason was one day, and went to see him. He was in the Control Room of the great ship.
She would have to go through the axis tunnelway to get there.
Her father would not like it. He did not even like it when she left Colonist Segment #1 to visit Colonist Segment #3 which, unl
ike the barbarism of #2, was peaceful and well ordered.
However, her father had informed her that the laborers comprising Colonist Segment #3 were "beneath her station." She passed by the hatch to Colonist Segment #3 wondering what they were like.
She found Jason in the Control Room, wearing a light brown coverall, sitting at a keyboard console, staring at a viewscreen with all sorts of incomprehensible moving numbers and symbols on it. He turned around, looked at her for a moment, then looked back to the screen. Then he turned back to her, smiled slightly, and greeted her, "Hello, Ethera. What, uh, brings you down here?"
She walked over and put her hand on the back of his neck.
"I came to visit you Jason, darling." She stroked the crazy waves of his light colored hair. It was free and wild just like him, she thought.
"Oh, well," and he chuckled lamely. "It's not very exciting down here. I'm the only one around. Just working on reconfiguring the astronavigation console's dynamic memory. It got erased during the Accident, and PF24 doesn't know how to initialize it..."
PF24 interrupted sarcastically from a nearby speaker, "The HUMANS that set me up back on Conover neglected to provide me with the correct version of the program."
"Uh, fine," Jason responded.
With her other hand Ethera stroked Jason's firm jaw. It was rough from not shaving that morning. She had been thinking of nothing but traveling away with him aboard his wonderful sailship. "Do you remember our night together, Jason?"
"Yes, it was... nice." He turned back to his computer console, and typed in some commands.
She dropped her hands to her sides. "Jason," she whispered.
"I'd like to come over to the sailship again."
He turned slightly, looked at her quickly out of the corners of his handsome blue eyes, then turned back to the screen.
Without looking at her again, he said, "Umm, your father's getting suspicious. I think we better cool things for a while.
I'll, uh, call you... sometime."
Suddenly, she could not think of anything to say. She slowly turned, and quietly went to the door of the Control Room.
She turned, with her hand on the doorway, to look back. She noticed on her wrist several of the gold bracelets he had made.
What skill he had! They were so beautiful. He sat as before with his broad back to her, ferociously typing away at the computer console. She blinked several times, lowered her head, then left. She drifted back up the axis tunnelway feeling an aching emptiness deep inside.
She saw him around the ship from time to time after that, but he no longer had any time for her. He always had some excuse why he could not get together with her. She soon felt completely heartbroken. Again and again she tried to get his attention.
But what had been between them was definitely over, though it had barely begun. Her dreams of him sweeping her away from her horridly boring life aboard the colony ship were broken. Then her feelings turned into something else...
21. THE COMPLETION
With their job almost completed, the colony ship would be ready to move on as soon as a crew could be found to man the control room. Excarver Durdaine's potential crew had completed their training in Colonist Segment #1. However, responding to Jason's constant apprehension regarding the whole project of a
'green' crew piloting the complex colony ship, Durdaine had begun to vacillate. Dalton had witnessed a heated exchange between the frustrated Durdaine and Jason in which Durdaine had weakly suggested that PF24 could help out his new crew. But Jason pointed out that the sophisticated computer was definitely beginning to suffer from cyberlogical paranoia. It was convinced it was superior to humans in EVERY respect and that there were gravitonic whirlpools lurking everywhere around the Galaxy.
Jason assured Durdaine that he and Dalton would immediately sail to Conover to see if there was another colony ship with crew members to spare, or if not, to obtain authorization and funding to outfit several personnel transports from Infinity City to transport the colonists back to Conover or on to the new world.
Durdaine was too impatient to proceed, and agreed to nothing.
Dalton sensed the relationship between the two was strained, and was confused as to the reason. They had repaired the disabled colony ship. Why wasn't Durdaine rejoicing?
There was no more work for Dalton to do. Dalton spent an entire day with Monique. That evening, in the magic garden, with no one else around, they made love again. But, this time, there was an underlying sadness because each worried this would be the last time.
That next day, Jason completed all remaining repairs, however minor. It was time for Jason and Dalton to return to their 'Militia' ship. They would then fly back to CONOVER and try to bring back a skeleton crew to pilot the colony ship.
A final banquet was held in the hall where they had been originally welcomed, the same hall Dalton had passed through to the garden countless times. Jason was presented a fantastic award. A giant replica of the colony ship. In solid gold weighing many kilograms. Jason wondered where all this gold had come from. He asked Excarver who told him coldly the gold was the accumulation of all the gifts to his daughter that she could not accept. An icy look from Ethera had confirmed the truth of this.
Jason was appalled and inwardly enraged, but kept his cool.
He was too worried that Ethera would tell her father that the sailship was not really a Militia Guard ship. Jason told Durdaine that he and Dalton needed their sleep because tomorrow they would be setting up the tricky program into PF24 to finally finish the trip to the new world as soon as at least a skeleton crew could be assembled. Durdaine took Jason aside and tersely announced that this saved him the trouble of asking Dalton not to see Monique anymore. He had been receiving reports about Dalton and Monique. Reports he did not like. Dalton was to stay away from her. The colonists had a strict policy against inter-breeding with outsiders. Durdaine looked significantly at Jason himself.
Dalton and Jason, morosely carrying the gold statue, left directly after the dinner for the sailship. Dalton sensed that the situation was going very bad. On their way up the axis tunnelway toward the nose cone, Jason repeated Durdaine's directive regarding Monique.
Dalton was crushed. He told Jason that he wanted to see Monique just once more. Jason told him to make it damn quick, just a simple good-bye.
Jason headed back to the sailship. Dalton went to Monique's living quarters.
Her austere middle-aged foster-father answered the door. He had black hair that was slicked back into a short pony tail.
With small, dark eyes he looked down his long nose at Dalton. He was clearly no longer happy to see the young man anymore. What had changed his attitude? Dalton gulped, but stood tall, and asked to see Monique. Monique's father looked back at his wife sitting on a sofa before an entertainment player. She wore a great pile of bushy hair tinted lemon yellow. Monique's mother, also middle-aged, rolled her pale blue eyes, and directed her husband to have the boy wait at the door since he would not be staying long. Monique's father coldly asked Dalton to wait.
Dalton now felt extremely uncomfortable. He cleared his throat, and tried to breathe deeply. Then, Monique's father turned and left the room to summon Monique. After a moment, Monique's mother followed her husband, and also left. Dalton stood awkwardly in the doorway alone.
Like a welcome sunrise, Monique came hurriedly, obviously concerned with her parents attitude, and invited him in. Her parents remained out of sight, elsewhere in the apartments. They had been growing suspicious. Dalton held her hands as he told her about Durdaine's command. The thought of suddenly, maybe indefinitely being away from him broke her heart. She begged him to take her along. Though he longed to, he told her he could not. They both understood that this may be good-bye, and embraced tenderly. They did not want to part and Dalton lingered, feeling like he was on the edge of a steep cliff.
Jason paced around the pilot room. He grew impatient and asked the PF24 where Dalton was. The PF24 reported scanning Dalton
in Monique's living quarters. Jason became exasperated, and went to fetch Dalton. On his way, from a very secret compartment in the living quarter, he took forth an old-fashioned hand-gun, just in case things got out of hand. He put on his spacesuit, jumped on the spacebike, and left for the colony ship.
Dalton had finally just turned to leave his precious Monique when there came a startlingly loud knock from the door. Before Monique could move, her father and mother both entered the room as if they had been waiting. Monique's father followed by her mother marched right past Dalton and Monique, who were standing together, as if they did not see them, and opened the door.
There stood Excarver Durdaine, cold gray eyes set in his craggy old face frowning down at Dalton, bushy eyebrows set in an angry line, his wild graying black hair above. He entered the front room, and stiffly greeted Monique's parents. Then, with his hands on his hips glared back down at Dalton, and said coldly.
"And just what are YOU doing here?"
Dalton looked up at the glaring Durdaine towering above him.
Monique's parents stood beside him, arms folded, also looking down at him coldly. The tension now in the room made Dalton long to be back safely aboard the sailship... WITH MONIQUE! Dalton brushed his dark hair away from his eyes, put on his best innocent-looking face, smiled, and replied. "Well, I've just come to see Monique, and..."
But Durdaine interrupted explosively, "You Infinity City boys just think you can have free run of this ship! But it's not going to continue!"
Dalton's eyes grew wide, he held his hands before him, and pleaded, "But, sir, I..."
Durdaine thrust an accusing finger in Dalton's face, and again interrupted, "I know exactly what you've been up to! I know you've been out with this poor innocent young child again and again." Monique's parents, still frowning down at Dalton with disapproval, nodded while murmuring agreement at this point.
Durdaine's eyes narrowed, "Don't give me that innocent look!"
Dalton looked down at the floor wilting before the wall of adult disapproval. He put his hands behind his back. "Sir, I am here just to say good-bye."
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