Stepping Up

by Robert Culp

  “Thank you, sir. This position is more than I could have hoped for on my first trip. Aria and I will begin work on the plans for the android later this morning.”

  “Is the prisoner working well?”

  “Viggo Sardone, the BaineRa’ahian—yes, sir. He’s having some minor growing pains, but so far it’s been nothing I don’t think I can handle.”

  “Would you consider killing someone for me?”

  Where the hells did that come from? It brings me up short. “Would I...kill for you? I...er...that is...I would certainly kill to protect you, sir—you or any other shipmate. But that’s not what you mean, is it, sir? I...I’ve never...if you insist on an answer, sir, I have to say no. I’m not a Trooper. I’ve had no official military training, and I do well to remember which end of the barrel the bullets emit from. I’m an engineer, sir, not a killer.”

  “A well thought out answer, Sonia, considering I sprung it on you. But I may have a special mission…” His head tilts oddly, like he’s searching for a word, and he makes an odd gurgling noise. I am about to ask if he’s okay when the Captain clears his throat and resumes: “Anyway, about the special mission I mentioned. My son and I have degenerative mental diseases. I fear my torture experience damaged the genetic material I eventually passed on to him. How that happened, I will probably never know or understand. When the time comes, I may ask you to ease his passing, and I may need you to do the same for me as well. This will earn you twenty percent of my sizeable fortune as a reward. Bear in mind, you will not be rewarded for killing your commander, but for doing your duty under very difficult circumstances. You will be treated or regarded no differently if you refuse. When can I expect your answer?”

  “Oh dear Gods of the Earth and Air! Kill Gorb? I don’t know if I can. But if the alternative is him suffering...honestly, I care too much for him to let that happen.” I can feel the tears on my cheeks now just thinking about killing him. “Yes, sir, when the time comes, I’ll...I’ll minimize his suffering…and yours. I do have some concerns. How am I to know when those times come? And how do I avoid retribution? Does Aria know you are asking this of me?”

  “Aria knows everything. But her programming prevents her from acting in a manner that will be harmful to me. And I have never relied completely on machines. You will know because Aria will tell you. When I am gone, you will also gain my assistant, Anya, as your personal assistant and bodyguard. Captain Dane, an old trusted friend, will replace me as Night Searcher Actual.”

  “As you wish, sir. I realize this has been a difficult interview for you, but I must ask: Have you made any progress with Gwen?”

  “I make daily progress with her. She must be cared for and properly raised. She is dangerous in inept hands. Soon you may see a demonstration of this, if the time is right. You may see her when you wish. Anya’s room is just adjacent to hers, room 25B.”

  “I would very much like to see her. If that is all, sir?”

  “That is all, Sonia. You are…you are...so” There’s an odd twist in his voice, his tone creeps up and sounds a bit strangled. I wait for him to finish the thought. But instead the zipper that keeps my suit together in front starts to come down by unseen means. I hear and feel the clasp for my bra shatter. My loins quiver in sexual ecstasy. My conscious mind wants to hold my clothes together, but my hands are busy holding my lapels in place. I can feel my animal nature rising though, demanding surrender. I feel desperate for a man, any man. Right now! Invisible hands roam all over my body. I can feel my arousal building, but I have no idea why. My knees are suddenly pulled forward and apart, each is pushed back over an arm of the chair. It’s as if there are cables attached overhead running to my knees. I let go of my jumpsuit and grab the arms of the chair to keep from falling into the floor. The top of my jumpsuit flies open. The hem of my tee shirt crawls towards my chin. I can feel my panties creeping down my hips, the material covering my bottom strains beyond its breaking point.

  “Captain!” I mean to shout, but it’s more of a moan.

  The sensations stop as abruptly as they started. I reseat myself and repair my clothes as best I can. The Captain sits up and breathes deeply for a few long minutes. He won’t meet my eyes. “Sonia, I am sorry. I cannot always control my…primitive side.” We each breathe heavily for a few moments. I don’t know what happened or what to say. After seconds that pass like hours, he presses a button on his holoCom and says, “Dismissed.”

  I leave; I’m too befuddled to make my manners. Friday stops me in the outer office and hands me a few adhesive pads to hold my flight suit together. I suppose this has happened before. I glance into a mirror on the wall and run my fingers through my hair, trying to restore some semblance of grooming. My cheeks are still flushed. After leaving the Captain’s office, I practically run to room 25B. Everything else can wait; I have permission to see Gwen! On the way I send a voice message to Aria: “I need to speak with you when it’s convenient.” I fairly pound on the door to 25B.

  Anya answers. “Hey, Chief MacTaggert. Are you here to see Gwen? She’s in the psi lab right now. You can watch, but don’t disturb.” She leads me to a room that is offset from theirs. I can see in, but the person in the room can’t see out, in theory. Gwen is in the middle of the room. Toys, games, puzzles, dominoes, and blocks—all manner of things are moving around the room at the same time. “She does this for about two hours a day. She must ‘vent’ her psionic power, or it will vent itself. And that could be disastrous.”

  Gwen’s head turns towards me, and I “hear” “Hi, Mommy. Why don’t you come see me? Please come dine with me someday. I miss you. Don’t worry, I won’t let that man hurt you.”

  Is this telepathy? I have no idea how such a thing works. I think back to Gwen: “I only today found out I could come see you. I have been off the ship for a while. I miss you. Which man is that, sweetie?” If she “hears” she doesn’t answer.

  “What does she do for the rest of the day?” I ask Anya. “Surely you don’t keep her in a cell or sedated or something like that?”

  Anya flushes. “What kind of monster do you think I am? If I didn’t know you better I’d smack you a good one! She has playtime, school time, meals, and interaction with other children. Granted, right now the last is done with SIMs, but we’re working on it.” Her nostrils are flared, she is very angry.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be insulting, but I know that the Captain can be a bit draconian sometimes. I was afraid that for the other twenty-two hours she might be tranquilized. And that only barely qualifies as existence and certainly isn’t life. She’s just deeply imprinted on my heart. Would it be possible for me to take a meal with her sometime? Does she ever ask about me?”

  Anya’s expression softens, “She asks about you all the time. What meal timeframe would you prefer?”

  “Oh, I don’t care. You tell me when and where to be and I’ll be there.”

  “Mornings would be best. She eats breakfast here at 0600.”

  “Outstanding, I’ll see you then.”

  Aria is waiting in the LEO for me. I’m not going to waste time with pleasantries. I shut the door behind me. “The captain has tasked me with killing him on your command. How can I do that? He’s a very powerful psionic and is sure to know what I’m up to.”

  “I was wondering when he would pick someone. Do not worry. It will be when he is on his deathbed. I will be there. Trust me.” She stands to leave. “Walk with me; briefing in the staff room. Thirty minutes.”

  “I swear, you people and your damn briefings!” I slap the desk with a stack of reports. “I do trust you, I’m just a little uneasy about the whole thing.” I start the data gathering script before we leave.

  At the meeting, Aria displays a large map of a continent with huge mountain ranges. There is a blue circle on the diagram. “We are coming into orbit of BaineRa’ah III. For some unknown reason, the child we acquired some months back, Gwendolyn, has knowledge of the people here. She says, and I quote, ‘People that ma
p the stars live here,’ end quote. I know it is a stretch, but we cannot plot an accurate course if we do not know where we are in the universe. Chief MacTaggert, you will take a team, as well as the child, and talk to the people. Determine our position by any means necessary. Are there any questions?”

  I raise my hand. “I have one: Is there any reason to believe this society has space travel? I may be speaking outside of my realm of expertise, but it seems to me we should approach them from friendship. I think I messed up on IV; I don’t intend to make the same mistakes here. I’ll take the same team unless someone really objects.”

  “I will build a team and send you the roster,” Aria says. “Our scanners detect no evidence of any such activity. It is unlikely they are space travel capable as BaineRa’ah IV showed no sign of past visitations.”

  “True, but Viggo is a trained starship engineer. And he has knowledge of the surrounding cosmos, which in my uneducated opinion should not have happened on a planet where stars are not visible. So where did he learn and who taught him? I’m not arguing. It’s just a puzzle to me. I think this time we’ll land in the town square and see what sort of reception we get. At least this crowd should know that there are other stars out there and probably planets as well.”

  “You are the mission commander. Those are your decisions. What is your time line?”

  “I’ll brief the mission in twenty-four hours. The patrol departs twenty-four hours after that. I figure no longer than ten days on the planet.”

  “Acceptable.” There are a few more loose ends that get tied up then we depart. Aria sends me the mission roster:

  Shawna Landers, Pilot

  Sherri Watson, Trooper

  Marlon Jones, Trooper

  Meeka Gibbons, Medic and language specialist

  Dan Forrester, Security/ Mechanic

  Jeena Travis, Security/ Spacer

  Sonia MacTaggert, Mission commander

  Gwendolyn (NLN), Subject Matter Expert.

  She copied all relevant parties. Hmm. No Avi. Pout.

  I seek out Viggo. “You’ve lived up to your end of the bargain. If you’d like to remain with the Night Searcher crew, I’m more than happy to have you. Of course, if you would like to stay on BaineRa’ah III when we leave, I can probably make that happen, but I have to get it in the works now.”

  “I would like to remain aboard if I may. I enjoy it, I’m learning a lot, and I really like Ginny.” He blushes slightly. “I mean working with Ginny.”

  “Excellent. I can certainly use your knowledge.” Whether that was a Freudian slip or not, I’m going to let it pass.

  I have a lot of planning to do and not a lot of time to do it in, so I grab a burger and Avi joins me. I have something that’s been bothering me, so I cowgirl up and say it: “I have another away mission coming up. You haven’t told me how you feel, but to me these one-nighters are getting old. Would you consider moving into my stateroom? It’s plenty big enough.”

  “Maybe…” He pauses. “We’ll see. To be honest with you, I’m reluctant to start a long-term relationship. I have plans of returning to Earth and resuming school someday.”

  Now I pause. “Honestly, that’s not the answer I was hoping for, or expecting. I’m not offering to put a ring on your finger or through any other part of your anatomy.” As I say it, I can’t help touching the stone ring he gave me at Goliath. Does he still feel that way? “But I’m not going to fight about it, if it’s meant to be it will be. If it isn’t, there’s nothing you or I can do to make it.”

  “Let’s let it ride for a while. I have to work some issues out with Mom. She puts a lot of pressure on me.”

  “I understand, and I don’t want to add to your load. I’ll see you when I get back. If you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of planning to do.” I pick up my tray and trash half my cheeseburger. I beg off any further activity; after all I really do have a mission to plan. And a cold shoulder to warm up.

  I go to my stateroom and settle in for the evening. First order of business is to call Ginny. She answers on the fourth ring. “I’m on another away mission. I’m leaving you in charge of engineering. There is, of course, a temporary salary increase that will go along with that. I plan to make you the Assistant Lead Engineer, which will have a permanent salary increase as well as a wider scope of responsibilities. It won’t be as much as the temp, but it will be more than what you get now. What do you say?”

  “I say ‘Thanks!’ I got your back, Boss. Don’t worry about a thing. Viggo is a pretty quick student.”

  “He speaks highly of you, too. Listen, I’m in a self-imposed lockdown. If a propulsion catastrophe raises its head, call me. Otherwise, handle it. I’m available if you need me, but I’d rather you not need me.”

  “Like I said before, Boss: I got this.”

  I spend the rest of the evening poring over charts and sketching out ideas. My last mission was more making it up as I went along. This one will be a little more deliberate. I have an appointment with Gwen at 0600, so I hit the sack about midnight. Undressing for a shower is the first opportunity I’ve had to really survey the damage the Captain did to my underwear. Is it possible I never needed a toilet today? Bizarre. They are irreparable. I drop both items in the trash hopper. It’s not my most sleepless night aboard Night Searcher, but it’s pretty close.

  Anya admits me without fanfare. Gwen is happy to see me and already knew that she would come with me to the planet. I will be challenged to keep her birthday presents a surprise. We spend some time talking about what she’s been doing, what I’ve been doing, and what will happen on the away mission. Before I leave, I tell her I’ll come get her when it’s time for the briefing. Anya volunteers to deliver her. It helps with her cabin fever. After breakfast, I return to my stateroom to continue planning.

  At the appointed time, I brief the away team. “We’re going map hunting again, but we’re going to try a different approach. I want to set the boat down somewhere within the confines of the city—probably in an athletic field or some other wide-open space. We’ll make a normal approach and land at high noon. When we’re down and the crowds have started to mill around—and I’m betting they will—Jonesy, Meeka and I, in our workday duds, will go introduce ourselves. Jonesy, because he’s a man and a Trooper; Meeka, because she’s a woman and a language specialist; and me, because I’m not going to ask someone to take a risk I’m not willing to take. Meeka, spend some time with Viggo, and find out what you can about the language we are most likely to encounter on BaineRa’ah III. I apologize for the short notice, but it couldn’t really be helped. For those who don’t know, Gwen here is a powerful but undisciplined psionic. So if she blurts out anything that sounds like prophecy, take it to heart. And if she says anything you don’t want known, it’s because discretion is a habit she hasn’t mastered yet. But do not call her a liar, because her integrity is solid. Are there any questions?”

  Sherri makes an astute observation: “I think we can probably make a lot of friends if we play in the waves with the locals. So should our first landing site be on the beach?”

  Why didn’t I think of that? “That’s a very good idea. Upon arrival, we will verify the water is comfortable by our standards. Pack your marble sacks and bikinis, boys and girls.” I dismiss the band with instruction to be on the small craft bay in 24 hours for pre-combat inspections and launch.

  I’ve had a little time to reflect on the crew assignments for this mission. I wonder if Aria had picked up on something I missed. Hmmm.

  At the appointed hour, the boat is ready. It has one 10-ton module attached. There is a full exploration package of weapons, gear, and supplies. Gwen and I walk in to the small craft bay together. Shawna has finished her pre-flights and walks over to greet us.

  “Hi, Shawna,” Gwen says to her and then looks up at me. “Why has Shawna been dreaming of sex with you? Are girls supposed to do that?” Shawna turns the deepest red and hurries away muttering about a detail she conveniently forgot to check.


  I try—and fail horribly—not to laugh at Shawna’s discomfort. “I see ‘discretion’ continues to elude you. Don’t worry, we’ll address it later.”

  “I asked you first!” she protests. “Did I do something wrong again?” Her chin quivers, and her eyes well up.

  I hug her and try to contain my laughter. “Yes, you did ask me first and no, you did nothing wrong; at least not on purpose. Don’t worry about it. What else can you tell me about BaineRa’ah III?”

  She’s still snuffling a bit. “People there call themselves ‘Uhreja.’ Their species stock is Homo sapiens. Their technology level is about what your civilization was like eight thousand years ago. Some call themselves ‘Oorahbi,’ which I think means ‘Star Riders’ in their language. If they have an observatory, this is where it is.” She points to an area on the map diagram.

  Sherri has joined us. “Topographic maps show that area to be jungle right to the beach. We’re estimating about four hundred people currently in that area. There is also a city with some higher technology, fifty miles inland from there. It’s somewhere about here.” Her finger points to the map. Our target area is loaded into the cutter’s navigational system. Sherri and I complete our inspections, and we all load up on the cutter.

  As they all strap themselves in, I stand in the entrance to the cockpit to give my final briefing. “Okay, to the beach it is. It clearly wasn’t my first choice, but it is what it is. I’m more interested in the observatory than I am the city. That’s where the star charts are most likely to be. Ideally, we’ll find the raw data for them as well. We’ll want a copy of those to compare what we see with what we expect. And they can, more than likely, guide us to someone who can fill in the rest of the blanks. Anybody have anything?” Nobody does.

  Shawna breaks her silence as I sink into the seat beside her. She switches the COM setting to Command Crew Only. “I’m sorry Sonia. I can’t help being a slut. But I want you to know I really do respect you.”