His thoughts went downhill far too quickly. He'd been right when he'd seen the small woman standing on the dock, looking so small against everyone around her. She was trouble. In a personal way he didn't need.
He tried to focus, but searching for the catch only meant he was working his way lower. When he reached the swell of her firm hind-end, she caught her breath just as he did.
"Sorry about that," Arthur said, not sure what he was apologizing for, but it seemed like the right thing to do.
"It's okay," she said in a breathless voice that did it to him all over again.
And then he found the catch. Caught on the edge of a back pant pocket. A part of him was disappointed the search was over, but then thrilled again when he had to have her shift so he could release the catch.
Shift against his arms and chest.
And suddenly she was free. She moved away from the problem- area of the wall, her chest against the right arm he'd had to wrap around her.
"Thanks," she said in his ear.
The purple, red, and blue holographic bands in her ponytail swirled in front of his nose. He breathed in her clean scent, having to force himself away from her. "You're welcome."
Climbing out of the access corridor added to the physical pain he was feeling, with several bumps of his head against the ceiling, and elbows and knees against the narrow walls. He told himself he deserved it. Tish was a new member of his crew. He was her boss. He needed good people to keep the station going, and he wasn't about to let his hormones get in the way of that goal.
Only his hormones didn't listen, not even when they were in the larger access corridor with plenty of room.
Tish handed the flashlight back to him, her face flushed.
He forced his mind back to business. "Good job in finding a problem, but I doubt it's the problem we're looking for. The leak we're looking for is coolant, colored red, and we would see a lot of it to account for the failure we're experiencing in this area."
He could only hope he'd made sense. His mind was about as far from business as it could get.
***
She could only hope he couldn't see her shaking.
Being close to Arthur was unlike anything she'd experienced before. He put Walt to shame in so many ways. From the muscles, to the big firm hands…
She shivered a little bit at the memory of it. Of the wonderful memory of it.
But, he was already talking about other places to search for the problem. Apparently the close contact hadn't affected him at all if he was already talking shop again.
Which she should be paying attention to, especially if she wanted to keep her job.
Forcing herself to pay attention took more effort than she expected. The way he moved fascinated her, especially now that she knew up close and personal how wonderful those muscles felt close to her body. The moment he turned away to lead further down the corridor she gave herself a firm shake. She wasn't a teenager any longer, to be pulled by the hormones. Time to be practical.
Like once again tracing the piping through the corridors while dodging the various-sized bots running up and down them. They split up at another juncture, only to come together again a short time later. Thankfully the corridors were wide enough that she didn't need to touch any wall. She didn't think she could stand another encounter like before. She might spontaneously combust.
"I found the problem," a woman's voice sounded from Arthur and her wrist at the same time.
Tish lifted it to find the top surface of the new identification band displaying various information including the identity of the caller. Rachel Henderkito. She recognized the voice as the woman she'd briefly seen after arriving at the maintenance platform.
"How big of a problem?" Arthur asked.
"Bad enough. Floor flooded with coolant. The pipe isn't cut all the way through, but it's close. It looks like it's been eaten through," Rachel answered.
He raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged, asking, "Could it be the same thing?"
"Seems too much of a coincidence. We should check."
Which resulted in another bad pipe found, with multiple leaks once the team traced it all down. And this time it belonged to the station, and not the human additions.
"Bots should have caught it a long time ago," Damien said, glaring up at one of the leaks. "We'll need to check surrounding sectors, see how far the problem extends."
"First we repair this sector. I want Simon down here as soon as he's free to check cause," Arthur said. The way his eyebrows came together told Tish of his concern. As did the tense stances of the others. All except one. "How much more help do you need?"
"Send Simon when you can. Otherwise Ricardo and I should be able to handle it, now that I know where the failure is. It will be good practice for him," Damien said.
Her attention settled on the one called Ricardo. With black hair and brown eyes, the man was attractive, but he didn't appear to be paying attention to what was going on around him. Not the leaks, not the bots, and not the people in front of them with all the experience.
"Practice would be good," Arthur said with a hint of steel in his voice.
Ricardo didn't seem to hear it or maybe he wasn't paying attention, but Tish did. Enough to turn and see the steel reflected in his face before a mask of no emotion descended.
CHAPTER SIX
A TRIP TO another problem area, another introduction and name Tish knew she wouldn't remember later, a meal in a cafeteria, and then back to the maintenance platform. It went by in a tired blur. And it brought a new fear.
The station was so huge she didn't see how she would manage to keep from getting lost. Corridors, maintenance travel pods, mass-transit cars, elevators, all leading in different directions. She desperately wished for a map to help her out.
Arthur answered any question she had, but there was a reserve not there before. He was upset about something, she could tell. Somehow she had a feeling he wouldn't be so open to answering that question if she came up with the courage to ask about it.
"An adventurous first day," Arthur said, pouring himself a cup of vile-looking coffee after they returned to the maintenance platform for the last time.
How could he drink the stuff so late in the day? "Yes, but informative."
"Does that mean you will remain with us another day?"
Tish frowned at the question, not having expected it. "Of course. Any reason I shouldn't?"
He shrugged, taking a sip of the coffee and cringing. "As Ricardo mentioned in his blatant way, some people don't survive past the first day. Find the station and work conditions unacceptable."
Other than getting her clothes caught on piping, the day had consisted of a lot of walking and looking. Certainly nothing to be alarmed by. Or maybe some had seen the same movie as her and thought the bots creepy or dangerous? That wouldn't explain the ones that didn't stay earlier than the spring when the movie premiered.
One of the bots ran by her with a small box held above its body in two hands, heading towards one of the storage rooms off one of the corridors. It beeped and hummed as it moved, as if satisfied and content with its work.
Nah, how could anyone think the bots were dangerous?
Tish took a rag and wiped down the coffee spots on the counter. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow. After a good night's sleep, of course."
He started, almost spilling his coffee. He didn't look at her as he said, "Need anything from your locker?"
She wanted to ask what was wrong, but instead she grabbed her coat and luggage keys from her locker.
When she rejoined him he continued to avoid looking at her. Only stared at his coffee as he said sharply, "I need a bot."
One of the normal-sized bots raced past her feet to position itself next to Arthur, gazing up at him with both eyestalks.
"Guide Tish Douglas to her room."
The bot whistled an acceptance, turning back towards her. And still he didn't look up at her as he said, "I hope you are satisfied with your apartme
nt. Your next shift will start at eight hundred hours. Meet me here at the main maintenance platform. Have a good night."
And without a glance at her he walked towards one of the other rooms.
She frowned after him. What had she done wrong now that he wouldn't even look at her? Or did he regret their close quarters in the access corridor when she got stuck? She didn't like that thought. She knew she wasn't a raving beauty, but surely she wasn't that repulsive.
"Or maybe it's because I work for him," she mused to herself, staring at the door he'd disappeared through.
Which made sense. If he was anything like his brother, Arthur would have a strong sense of right and wrong. She was the first to admit working romances didn't work. Look at what happened with her and Walt, even with her having worked at his company for only a short time as a temp.
Either way, it was depressing.
The bot gave one long whistle, ending on a high note, moving towards her. She stepped aside when it appeared to be on a collision course with her legs. It headed towards one of the main corridors, whistling back at her in an obvious tone that said "follow me." A hatch open on its back and up rose a pulsing red light.
The bot stopped, turning tightly in a circle, chirping at her.
"Okay, okay. I get it," she said.
So, the thing wanted her to follow it. So long as it headed for her luggage and a place with a shower and a bed, she was happy. At least for tonight.
"Just for the record, I don't think you are dangerous," Tish said down to the bot firmly, saying it out loud more for herself than for the bot. "In fact, I think you're cute."
The bot whistled back at her in a nonsensical response as it continued down the corridor. Past the transit platform and into the wide corridors beyond.
She tried to memorize where they were going. Really she did. But, after the fourth or fifth turn and an elevator ride, she gave up. They didn't walk very far, not really, yet she knew she wouldn't be able to find her way back for work the next morning. And she wanted to be on time. She needed the job.
They went through a wide door and into a light-cream colored corridor. Tish looked back and tried to memorize what the door looked like, determined to at least try to remember.
And almost stepped on the bot.
It bleeped sharply at her, making her jerk and snap her attention back to where she was walking. "Sorry about that."
But the bot didn't continue forward. It made a circle in front of the door and whistled again.
Number BDI-34. "This is it? You do realize you are taking me back to work in the morning, right?"
The bot whistled cheerfully, the pulsing light blinking out and retracting back into the body. Tish touched the pad to the right of the door, wondering where the lock controls were. The door smoothly slid open, to reveal a comfortable already furnished living area.
With half an ear, she heard the bot behind her chirp happily and the door close. But she didn't turn back to say goodbye. Her eyes were glued to the view at the other side of the room past the recliner and sofa of the main sitting area.
She walked forward until her nose was up against the window. Beyond lay a curved lush green world several stories below her. Her hands fumbled for the control for the sliding door. A wave of the smell of plants and moist soil rushed into the apartment. Tish moved to the far rail to get a better view.
And what a view it was. Forests, grasslands, and even a few fields and gardens. She thought one spot to her left might be a park. To the far left and right the band of land curved upwards until occluded by the curve of the ring and the protective semi-transparent covering of the ring itself.
An apartment in the side of one of the habitable rings. How lucky could she get? She'd never been able to afford her own apartment and now she had one with a view, and not a dark dingy internal hole-in-the-wall.
With a terrace!
***
Arthur heard her leave with the bot. Heard her even talking to the bot, although not the words themselves.
The 'boss' part of him was glad she'd become accustomed to their work-partners so quickly. It meant she might fit in. He might finally have one of the critical job positions filled, once he figured out in what systems she might have special talents in.
A prospect that should thrill him, but a part of him dreaded. To have her around every day. In close quarters while working in the sometimes-confining maintenance corridors and crawl spaces. To see her fresh smiling face each morning as assignments were given out complete with those ridiculous holographic hair ties.
Yet, a part of him thrilled at that, as well.
He didn't like any of it, he told himself firmly. He was the boss. The station needed repairs and it was his job to make them happen.
"Make sure it's cleaned before you put it away," Rachel said down to her bot as she came into the break-room. Her bot spun around, heading for the supply rooms with a small hovering cart in tow behind it.
"Calling it a day?" Arthur asked, noting the multiple dark streaks of dirt running through her short blond hair.
Rachel nodded. She sniffed at the pot of coffee, cringed, and poured it out. "Up early taking care of the problem up in Sector 5220. Haven't stopped for more than a breather since then."
"Thanks for helping Damien."
"You're welcome. I stopped by on the way back. He has the big leaks sealed. Even Ricardo is listening to the bots for a change. I think Damien had a talk with him."
Arthur suppressed a grin. "Which is why I gave him to Damien. He'll whip him in shape."
"Great. How about finding me an apprentice or two. I need to train up a few in my section," Rachel said, scrubbing out the black scum on the bottom of the coffee pot.
He tried not to sigh. "I'm trying."
While Rachel busied herself finding something cold to drink after giving up on the coffee pot, he mentally cataloged who would still be out on duty. They had a minimal night crew, but he needed to make sure someone went through the area to check on it through the night. Just to make sure the area was still safe.
"So, who is the newbie?"
Arthur jerked, almost spilling his coffee. The one subject he didn't want to bring to mind again. "Tish Douglas. From Earth."
"Any maintenance experience?"
"None. We seem to have better luck with those lately."
Rachel laughed, dropping a few ice cubes into her flavored water. "Indeed. I'm glad the standards changed, or I wouldn't be here. Working out?"
Working out in too many ways, but to Rachel he simply nodded and said, "So far."
"Okay, I need help," Damien said through the identification band.
Arthur set down the coffee, the flavor suddenly tasting as vile as it looked and smelled. "What is it?"
"Found another leak near a Sector bulkhead. I need to shut down life-support in two sectors long enough to repair it. That means your approval."
"On my way."
Rachel made a face at him. "No rest for the wicked."
She didn't know the half of it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
TISH WOKE UP the next morning ready to attack life. A bot arriving with a tray with all the fixings for coffee and breakfast topped it off. And where else would she drink it other than on the terrace?
The bot settled next to her, holding the tray above its body with two arms, refusing to let her take it and set it on the small round table next to her chair.
"Fine, you can hold it," she said to it, pouring out a cup of coffee.
She watched as the creamer poured into the cups, milky clouds erupting from the bottom. Smooth billowing clouds, rising and spreading, the shapes appearing, disappearing, combining.
With them her thoughts floated. From the last days on Earth when the Gettys gave her a goodbye dinner. The trip to Redpoint One. Her first view of the station. Of her first meeting with her new boss.
She sighed as they dissipated into the black coffee, turning the over-all color to a soft dark brown.
"Thi
s could get complicated," she said to the bot.
It angled its eyestalks up towards her, giving a curious chirp.
"Arthur," she clarified. "Workplace romances don't work out. I should know. Too bad we don't work in different departments."
Come to think of it, she hadn't met anyone in a different department that she knew of. Maybe that would come today. Maintenance worked all over the station, so surely they would interact with other departments.
Maybe once she'd met more people she would be able to put this attraction to the side. Find other activities, friends, hobbies. Once settled, even perhaps find a romance to distract her.
Gray-blue eyes from the midst of her coffee mocked her.
She glanced down at her wrist computer. Almost time for work. A cup of coffee, just her and the bot gazing off at the scenery, a simple breakfast from the sample of items on a plate next to the coffee makings, and she was ready to tackle the day.
She stretched, pulled her ponytail a little tighter to make sure the hair bands has settled, and then said to the bot, "Off to work. Can you lead the way?"
She found the answer outside her door. Another bot with a pulsing red light on the top of its outer shell waited for her. Upon her exit, it took off down the hall in the direction she'd remembered coming from the night before. The bot with the tray headed off in the other direction.
This time she paid closer attention to directions. A few more times and she was sure she would be able to find her way by herself.
Damien and his apprentice Ricardo were seated at a console in the center of the room. Rachel leaned against the door-jam leading into the break-room. Two people she didn't recognize worked to stack several crates on a heavy-duty hovercart.
Rachel cheered her arrival by raising a steaming cup of coffee in her direction. "And there she is, our little newbie. Recovered from your plunge into the action?"
Coffee that smelled surprisingly good, especially compared with the coffee yesterday afternoon. "Someone made new coffee?"
Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance) Page 5