The Chronicles of Addalyne Yutaka

by Ronnie Coleinger

  The crew helped each other out of their space suits. Their flight suits and hair were wet from sweat. When Addalyne returned from the bathroom, Joshua stepped up to her and kissed her hard on the lips. When he stepped back, he said, “You are the youngest and least experienced crewmember on this vessel. That kiss is to remind you to listen and pay close attention to your fellow crewmembers while working today. All of your friends here have worked extensively in space suits and they know how to remain safe. Please be careful and follow instructions precisely. I would like to kiss you again when you return.” William stepped up beside Addalyne and said, “Doc, we will do our best to return her safely. Addalyne will be within arm’s reach of a fellow crewmember every second and her tether line will remain connected to the deck as will mine. She has a good head on her shoulders and she will remember to work safely.” William looked into Addalyne’s eyes and waited for her acknowledgement. When Addalyne nodded and smiled, William returned his attention to his cup of coffee.

  As the crew put their space suits back on, they once again took turns checking each suit to insure everything was properly attached and safe. William replaced the air packs on each suit and attached reserve tanks onto each suits regulator system. When they were ready, they worked their way through the air lock doors and entered the cargo bay. Addalyne listened in on the conversations between Shelley, Joshua and Aldo: she passed along the information she heard to Tabatha and the crew. Aldo took a moment from his busy schedule and created a low bench for the crew to set on. The space suits were heavy and quickly made ones legs and feet very tired. As they waited, Tabatha talked. It seemed that talking aloud calmed her nerves and her friends could only imagine the stress level she was feeling right now. Not only did she worry about her crew venturing into a disabled vessel, but she also worried about Shelley, Joshua, and the wellbeing of the visitors that would soon occupy her ready room. Addalyne joined into a discussion with Tabatha, hoping to relieve some of the tension emanating from the woman.

  As Shelley moved the Yutaka III up alongside the disabled vessel, she could see the crew tethered together inside their open cargo bay door. Shelley talked continuously, knowing that Addalyne was certainly listening to the conversation through the Time Travel Computer and passing the information along to Tabatha. Shelley moved the Yutaka III up close and then slid her vessel up against the disabled vessel so the two cargo bay doors aligned. Then Aldo informed the Yutaka III’s crew that the cargo bay would depressurize in thirty seconds. Everyone stood up, attached their tether lines and waited. As the room began to chill from the cold vacuum of space, the crew began to float in the weightless environment. When the air pressure of the two cargo bays was equal, the cargo bay door slid open. At that point, the two crews were looking at each other. The Yutaka III crew joined the crew waiting for them. Once they had removed their tether lines, Addalyne told Aldo he could begin teleporting the crew into the ready room. One by one, the crew vanished as Aldo moved them to the safety of the Yutaka III.

  Once the crew was safely inside the ready room, William moved back into the cargo bay of the Yutaka III and released the tie down straps that secured the power system to the floor of the cargo bay. When the last strap released, the power unit hovered in place in the absence of gravity. Addalyne giggled to herself, remembering she had commented about teleporting the heavy unit into the disabled vessel’s cargo bay. She now remembered that in the vacuum of space, objects had no mass and weighed nothing. William simply guided the power unit across the floor and towards the mechanical room of the disabled vessel.

  While the crew of the disabled vessel waited for the final testing of the repairs, the skipper of the disabled vessel, who went by the name of Tony, contacted the dispatcher at the Open Market. Tony checked on the availability of a power unit to replace the one the Yutaka III crew had installed in his vessel. When the dispatcher found the correct unit and gave Tony a price, he paid for the replacement unit from his IFTT bank account and then put the unit on hold so the crew of the Yutaka III could pick it up on their next visit.

  It took almost two hours to complete the repairs and get the power turned back on inside the vessel. Once the crew had the power system working and tested, Addalyne contacted the IFTT over the Super 12 transceiver. Once the IFTT took control of the stranded vessel, the Yutaka III crew moved back into the cargo bay and had Aldo close the doors. The crew felt the motion as the two vessels separated. Once Aldo pressured the cargo bay, he spoke into Addalyne’s implant and told her that she and the others could remove their space suits. When the flight suits were off and lying in piles on the cargo room floor, Addalyne lay down on top of her suit and stretched out. Her body was exhausted and drenched in sweat. The other crewmembers soon followed her lead and took a few minutes to allow their bodies to readjust to the weight of the vessels effective gravity. The Mass Weight Instiller unit on the Yutaka III provided the same value of gravity aboard the vessel as a human might feel at sea level on planet Earth.

  Just as the crews’ bodies began to feel normal again, they heard the door of the cargo bay slide open. When Addalyne looked in the direction of the sound, she saw Joshua walking quickly towards them. As he walked around the crew and looked into their eyes, he began checking their heart rates. Doctor Joshua soon realized the crew were all quite healthy, just very tired. He sat down on the floor beside Addalyne and smiled at her. When she smiled back, he leaned over and kissed her on the lips. Addalyne giggled and said, “I will walk in space more often if I get kisses from a handsome doctor after each trip.” When he moved away from her after the kiss, he pinched his nose and said, “I think milady needs a shower; possibly a thorough scrubbing.” Addalyne giggled and said, “I will race you to my quarters if you are offering to scrub my back.”

  Tabatha had heard enough and stood up. Joshua saw her immediately settle back down to the floor and sit down hard on her butt. He moved over to her and helped her lie back down. After a moment, when her head quit spinning around, she smiled and said, “I think I will just lie here a few more minutes.” Joshua said, “You are all dehydrated. I will go get some water and return in a couple minutes. All of you need to remain lying down for a few more minutes and then you can try sitting up for a while.”

  When Joshua returned, he brought not only bottles of water, but also some of the left over cinnamon rolls. As he rolled the small serving cart up to where everyone rested, he handed each crewmember some water, and then served each of them a sweet roll on a napkin. As they drank and ate, they soon were sitting up and starting to feel better. This time when Tabatha tried standing, she was stable and able to walk. Within another five minutes, everyone was up and headed towards their quarters. Addalyne spoke to Joshua and said, “I would allow you to wash my back, but I think you should continue to assist Shelley until Tabatha is able to return to the ready room.” Joshua smiled and said, “Shelley and I have already worked that out. We are both going to spend the night in the ready room so all of you, including Tabatha can get some well-needed rest. Shelley is teleporting the crew back to their vessel as we speak. Once she has finished with that task, she and I are going to prepare some food in the kitchen. If any of the crew gets hungry, there will be hot food and coffee waiting for them.”

  Tabatha took a two-hour nap after her shower and then relieved Shelley and Joshua. When Tabatha contacted the IFTT to insure that the crew of the once disabled crew had arrived safely at the IFTT maintenance hangar, General Williams thanked her for helping the stranded vessel. As they talked for a few minutes, the general asked Tabatha when she had planned to pick up supplies at the Open Market. Tabatha explained that she hoped to make the trip with the next ten days, and that she might make the trip earlier since she was concerned about not having a spare Power Acquisition System aboard. The general said, “That is the reason I asked about your upcoming trip to the Open Market, you see, there appears to be a problem with the new generation Power Acquisition Systems. The one that failed within the vessel you rescued was
one of the latest versions. The unit on hold for you at the Open Market is also one prone to failure. My engineers here at IFTT Headquarters have found the engineering deficiencies with the new units and need to upgrade our entire inventory. I would like to request that you pay us here at the Regnieloc Asteroid a visit tomorrow. We will supply you with an upgraded power unit for your inventory at no cost. I would also like to request that you carry twelve more upgraded units to the Open Market and return the defective units they have in stock. Would you be willing to help an old friend out of a precarious situation?” Tabatha giggled and said, “General, I would be pleased to help you. I will arrive at headquarters in about twelve hours. My crew and I need a few hours down time before I can join you. I will be in contact with you in six hours’ time.”

  When Tabatha broke the connection with the general, she stepped out into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. When she entered, she realized that she had not helped Joshua prepare a meal for her crew. It did not take her long to realize that her absence was not an issue with her crew; they all sat around the table enjoying bacon, eggs, toast and coffee. She stepped up to Joshua and quietly spoke to him, thanking him for preparing breakfast without her. Joshua smiled and said, “When I queried the computer to see if you were still sleeping, he said you were snoring and making out with your dream lover, so I did not disturb you.”

  The skipper put her hands on her hips and said, “I was not snoring.” The crew all began to giggle over her words. She stepped up to the duty roster and signed her name at the bottom. Addalyne spoke up and said, “Skipper, you do understand that the crew was just teasing you about revealing the fact you had sex last night by signing the duty roster, don’t you?”

  Chapter 4 – IFTT Headquarters and the Open Market

  Once the skipper and her crew finished with their meal and had cleaned and properly stored their space suits in the ready room, she put her crew to bed. Then she stepped into the control room and spoke to the computer. She said, “Computer, I need about four more hours sleep before we prepare to visit the IFTT Headquarters. Would you download a new flight plan while I sleep, and then wake me in four hours from now? Thank you, my friend.”

  When Addalyne finished helping clean the kitchen, she decided to spend some time in her quarters. Once there, she removed her blue flight suit and put on a fleece shirt and pants, she sat down at her desk and opened her laptop. She had decided earlier, while she waited to board the stricken vessel they had repaired, to begin writing down the daily events that kept her so very busy each day. She had fallen in love with living aboard time travel vessels the first time she boarded the Coalsack, and now her life aboard the Yutaka III was even more exciting. She thought about how quickly her feelings for Joshua had grown. She was still uncertain if anything would become of the relationship, but she did enjoy being with him; and the sex was very nice. She had only had one other sexual relationship and that only lasted for a week or so. That love affair ended quickly when the man punched her repeatedly after she refused to give him money to fuel his gambling addiction. Addalyne had never physically injured another person before that day, but on that occasion, she had no choice. The man forced her to fight or possibly die. She had only struck him once, but the blow did its job and the man died on the ground in front of dozens of witnesses. On that day, the responding emergency personnel took her to a local hospital where she had four surgeries over the next three days to repair her broken face.

  Addalyne created a file folder on her laptop where she began writing down the events of each day during her tour aboard the Yutaka III. She decided to name the file, The Chronicles of Addalyne Yutaka. She began typing, detailing the events as they had taken place while still aboard the Coalsack up to the present. She also documented a conversation she had with the head of the electrical engineering department at IFTT Headquarters. Addalyne had worked for the man for two years before the IFTT assigned her to do a tour on the Yutaka III. Before she teleported to the Coalsack to begin her assignment there, he had offered her a teaching position at headquarters when her eighteen-month tour was complete on the Yutaka III. As things stood now, she had no idea how things would work out with her tour aboard the Yutaka III, nor how things would work out between her and Joshua.

  Addalyne had typed for over two hours when a knock at the door of her quarters brought her back to the present. Aldo spoke to her implant and told her that the visitor at her door was Joshua and he had chocolate and red wine. She giggled to herself as she stepped up to the door and opened it. Joshua smiled and said, “I have brought a treat to help you relax after your stressful day.” Addalyne reached out, took hold of the front of Joshua’s flight suit and guided him inside. Before he could set down the things he was carrying, Addalyne planted a long hard kiss on his lips. Joshua kissed back and did not want the kiss to end. When Addalyne stepped back from him, he said, “I have dark chocolate and a sweet red wine. I hope it would set the mood for some making out, but I don’t think I needed to bring the treats, you seem quite lovable as you are.” Addalyne ran her fingers down the front of Joshua’s flight suit and gently squeezed the growing bulge in the front. Then she said, “The chocolate and wine are not the only treats you brought with you. I suggest we sample the chocolate and wine before I sample the treat hiding in that flight suit.”

  When the skipper (Tabatha) turned out the lights in her quarters, she spoke aloud to the computer. She said, “I cannot fall asleep until I know that all of my crew is well and asleep.” The computer did not answer its skipper for a moment, but then said, “All of your crew are asleep and doing well with the exception of Doctor Joshua and Addalyne. They are in Addalyne’s quarters. Joshua brought a bottle of wine and some chocolate, however, I don’t think they will be drinking or eating much. Joshua is currently undressing Addalyne and intends to play doctor with her. Apparently, Addalyne is to play the part of a little sick girl who needs her temperature taken. I am uncertain how Doctor Joshua intends to perform the task of taking her temperature when his medical bag is in his quarters.”

  Tabatha shouted, “COMPUTER, please don’t snoop into their love affair. All I needed to know was where each of my crew was located and if they were comfortable. I am certain the doctor will manage to complete the examination of his female patient without your sensors documenting their every move.”

  When Tabatha woke, the computer spoke to her. It gave her a rundown of the events that took place during the night and a status of the Yutaka III and her crew. The computer seemed to be fascinated with the love affair between Addalyne and Joshua. It said, “The lovers slept in Addalyne’s room last night. I woke them an hour ago. Addalyne had kitchen duty this morning and Joshua needed to help Shelley with the scheduled maintenance of a spare fuel cell. Daryl, George and William are tending to the rabbits, chickens and fish.”

  Tabatha quickly jumped out of bed and asked, “Why did you let me sleep this long? You know how I feel about being late for my scheduled duties. I am supposed to be helping Addalyne in the kitchen. I am also supposed to set an example for my crew.”

  It only took the skipper seven minutes to pee, brush her teeth and dress. When she stepped into the kitchen, she looked at the clock on the wall and said, “Addalyne, I am very sorry for being late for my kitchen duty. The computer knows how I feel about being late for scheduled duties.” Addalyne turned and faced the skipper. She said, “I will remember that in the future. However, I have managed to this point, but I still struggle trying to get all the food ready when the crew comes staggering into the kitchen all at once.” The skipper quickly began helping Addalyne. While the skipper began cooking the oats, Addalyne poured a cup of coffee and sat it down beside where Tabatha was working. The skipper smiled and said, “Thank you for the coffee. I promise that I will not be late in the future. Addalyne, you have a direct link to the computer with your implant. Please speak to the computer to wake me in time for my shift in the future. I am very disappointed with that obnoxious bag of silicone that y
ou call Aldo. If it continues to mock and defy me, I intend to stick a screwdriver into its audio amplifiers in protest.” The entire crew heard the sound of a snicker emanate from the overhead speakers. Tabatha screamed at the computer, “KEEP TESTING ME YOU USELESS ATROCITY.” She took a calming deep breath and then turned to Addalyne and said, “Sorry about that. I try to keep my anger under control, but the computer seems to bring out the worst in me.”

  As the two women worked together to prepare breakfast, Addalyne yawned. The skipper giggled and said, “Did you have trouble sleeping last night?” Addalyne turned to her and said, “Yes, I had a late night visitor. The doctor thought I might have been running a temperature. However, when he checked me over and took my temperature, he said I would be all right in the morning. Doc thinks my female body was just overly excited.”