Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance)

by Marlow, J. A.

  Just like in the movie, and she wasn't willing to think about it. Nearly asphyxiating on smoke aside, the station just couldn't be that way. The thought didn't feel right.

  A sense of revulsion welled up in her. The man was the last one she wanted to talk to. "Good night."

  She stepped briskly after the patiently waiting bot, walking fast.

  "Watch your back," Ricardo shouted after her.

  She ignored him, continuing her pace away from him. The bot mirrored her pace, darting down a side corridor, and then another. Only when they got into an elevator did she look back. No Ricardo following her. Just as well. Another comment from him and she would be taking it up with Arthur and Damien. Maybe even Rachel.

  Just what was he trying to prove with all that talk, anyway? Missing crew, as if the station swallowed them alive? If he was going to lose his job the rest of them should go screaming from the station, too?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ARTHUR STRETCHED, TRYING to work a kink out of his left shoulder. Holding two modules in place at the same time while the bots worked at all the attachments had taken its toll. A scratch along the same arm would need to be tended to when he had a free moment.

  Then came the problem of Ricardo. He'd guessed when the man arrived that he wouldn't work out, but went ahead with an apprenticeship. After all, now many times had he been wrong when it came to whom the Station would accept?

  But, not only was his guess correct, but so had been his thought that the man would not go quietly. Another correct instinct. Ricardo swore he would take up the dismissal with Director Stemski himself.

  Let him. Director Stemski would back Arthur, not someone who couldn't be trusted to listen to the bots when they started sounding alarms.

  Now for the last part of the job before getting a bit of sleep himself. Damien assured him Tish went to the medical bay as requested, and came out with a clean bill of health to return to work after a night of rest, but Arthur wanted to see her for himself to be sure.

  To be sure of her recovery, he told himself. To be sure she still wanted to stay. But another side mocked him, telling him that the real reason was that he only wanted to see if she still had her hair down.

  His black and white bot twittered as it ran down the hall in front of him to the regular technician apartments. Past the walls needing a good cleaning and overhead lighting covers needing replacements. A bit of repainting might not be a bad idea, either. Another thing to do. Upgrade the accommodations.

  Once they caught up on the regular maintenance they would have a bit of time to work on the infrastructure around the maintenance platform. Having larger living quarters might be an additional draw to hire new technicians.

  If they ever got caught up with the regular maintenance. Keeping up on a station as large as Redpoint One would always be a challenge, but lately it seemed repair emergencies were occurring at an ever-increasing rate.

  There had to be a reason for it.

  He stopped in front of apartment number 26. His bot, realizing Arthur was no longer behind him, spun a few times in a circle before coming back to him. He pressed the door chime.

  No one answered, so he pressed again. By the third time he began to worry.

  "Maybe the doctor was wrong?" He asked the bot. The bot whistled back to him, confused.

  A fourth chime and he was past worried. He used his master key to open his way into the apartment.

  Arthur stared inside the apartment in shock. The inside was dark with not a single light on. No sign of any luggage or an attempt to start unpacking. A quick scout through the department confirmed his worst fears.

  The apartment was empty and pristine. No one had moved in.

  The one bright spot in the evening evaporated. All the aches and pains gained through the day compounded, weighing on him heavily. With heavy footsteps he rejoined his bot in the hallway.

  He ran a hand through his hair. The bot looked up at him, whistling a question. "She's gone. I don't believe this."

  The one engineer apprentice in months he thought had a chance of staying. It must have been the enormity of her first two days. Nearly running into an acid drip and then nearly asphyxiating would be enough to unnerve anyone. No wonder she ran for it. But, she'd seemed okay when he'd dropped her off. Happy, in fact, that she still had a job despite losing her identification band and getting trapped in an airlock.

  Why couldn't today have been boring? A few plumbing problems, needing to replace a pipe joint, or a water leak? Or even changing out a juncture box?

  No more seeing her happy face? The ridiculous holographic bands in her hair? Her…

  He'd wanted her to stay.

  He straightened. Not much time had passed. She should still be on the station somewhere. Maybe he could catch her and convince her to stay long enough to give the station a chance. To give him a chance.

  And there was only one way he could find her quickly.

  He took a deep breath and turned his full attention to his bot. "Take me to Tish Douglas. Is she still on the station? I need to find her fast."

  The bot's eyestalks dipped down and then up. It took off down the hallway, forcing Arthur to almost run to keep up. When they left the maintenance platform his worries grew, but instead of heading towards any of the spacedocks the bot headed for the nearest ring.

  The last thing he expected was for the bot to stop in front of an apartment door. Apartment BDI-34.

  He looked down at his bot, "Are you sure this is where Ms. Douglas is? Why would she be up here?"

  The bot stared back up at him, not saying anything, not even whistling.

  Why would she be here? Had she already started meeting the other inhabitants of Redpoint One?

  Then he recalled what a grump he'd been in the past few days. He'd given her nothing to pay attention to, much less like. Of course she would be seeking out new friendlier companionship. The idea of the new friend being male had him jabbing at the door chime with far more force than necessary.

  Tish answered the door, her wet hair sticking out in all directions from a clasp holding it in place in the back of her head. Not as nice as her hair down, but cute nonetheless. A big yellow fluffy bathrobe engulfed her, nearly overwhelming her trim frame. Little pink feet with red toenail polish peeked out from underneath.

  "I went as asked, and I'm fine," she said quickly, her smile disappearing. A smile he wanted her to keep.

  And then he heard a male voice in the background. His heart dropped. He'd interrupted something intimate.

  "So Damien informed me," he said quickly. "I wanted to check up on you myself, but I hear you are with someone."

  No blush, as he expected. Only a mask of confusion. "There's no one here. Come on in. I'll change quick."

  Before he could say anything she disappeared into the apartment, leaving the door wide open for him. His bot slipped inside before he overcame the shock.

  No one there? Then where were the voices coming from?

  As his bot moved in and out of each room as if giving the apartment an inspection, he moved towards the source of the voices. The vid-screen in the living room and the movie playing made his stomach coil. So much that it distracted him from the rest of the nicely furnished living room and the balcony outside the big windows at one end.

  He settled on the couch, glaring at the movie, wishing he could wipe it from existence. His bot whistled at him as it circled back into the room, settling at his feet and holding out a cold drink. Obviously the little guy was satisfied with his inspection.

  He took the drink, asking again, "Why is she here?"

  Beeps, chirps and whistles came from the bot, as if it were trying to explain. Of course, he didn't understand any of it. He really hadn't expected much of an answer, but he'd hoped for more.

  That was when he really noticed the apartment. A formal entrance leading into a nice dining room with a vid-screen on one side framed up like a window and giving a view of the outside of the station. A small automated kit
chen sat opposite the wall from the dining room vid-screen.

  Between the living room and dining room a short hall branched off, down which he could hear Tish moving between quiet parts in the movie. He guessed the suite had at least two bedrooms.

  Two plush chairs and a couch filled the long and wide living room. Already pictures of what he assumed were family decorated the walls, some of them showing Tish as a young girl. A few pictures included his brother Neil and his wife and kids.

  Then he spotted the balcony. Even from where he sat he could see part of the view. One of the middle apartments with a nice view close enough to see details, but far enough up to see well into the curve of the rings. The location was equal to his own apartment.

  She wasn't visiting. He was suddenly sure of it. She'd been brought here.

  "I said to take her to her apartment. Why was she brought here?" he asked the bot. The noises stopped as his bot gazed up at him. It gave an odd chirp.

  The answer was obvious. It didn't understand the question. Which to him meant it thought this was where she was supposed to be.

  "Back," Tish said, coming out from the other side of the apartment in a blue silky blouse with short ruffled sleeves and form-fitting black pants. Completely appropriate attire, and yet he couldn't take his eyes off her.

  An explosion in the background brought him back to the present. He gestured towards the living room vid-screen. "Why are you watching this movie? I told you none of it was true."

  "I know. Rachel said the same thing." She settled in one of the chairs, brushing slightly damp hair off her neck. "I wanted to see one part."

  She reached out for the remote, backing up the scene. Arthur settled on the edge of the couch, his attention going back and forth from the vid-screen to her.

  He knew the scene. The part where a maintenance crew found the corridors changing behind them. Then turning and finding the corridors in front of them changing, as well. The crew started to panic, searching for any way out, one by one becoming separated from each other no matter how they tried to stay together.

  All of it Tish watched intensely, a small frown marring her mouth, pushing frown lines onto her forehead.

  The scene closed with the last corridor changing, locking the maintenance crew into the dark depths of the station forever. Disembodied screams echoed through the dark station. His bot whistled angrily, its eyestalks bobbing.

  It didn't like the scene. Arthur didn't blame it. He didn't like the entire movie.

  Tish reached down to pat the upper body shell of the bot. "Sorry, dear. No reflection on you."

  His bot gave her a chirp before it settle back to the floor. Such a small gesture, but it told him volumes. She'd accepted the bots, even knew some of their emotions. On her second day.

  "You're worried about the station?" He asked, turning completely way from the vid-screen to give her his undivided attention.

  "Even without the movie there are rumors," Tish said. She turned her attention from the paused scene to him. "Today I lost my bots and had a close call myself. Don't look down on me for asking, but has anyone ever disappeared here?"

  He narrowed his eyes at her. "Someone been talking?"

  "Ricardo, but I've read it before. When the movie came out there were news articles about the actual events that could have inspired certain scenes." She pointed at the screen. "Like that one."

  He nodded, taking a quick drink. He had a feeling he would be talking a lot. "The first crew to ever find Redpoint One and explore it is said to have had problems. Possibly two of their crew missing while exploring."

  "You say that as if you don't know for sure," Tish said.

  "No one does. The crew was suffering from hyperspace radiation poisoning. Most of them died from it. Their bodies were discovered by later exploration crews. The ones that survived? Well, who knows if what they related actually happened or if they were hallucinating."

  Tish thoughtfully turned back towards the screen. "And the rest?"

  At first Arthur didn't like the way the conversation was going. Tish started at the beginning of the movie, asking questions all the way through about the station and what was true and what wasn't. Only for Tish did he stay seated and endure the movie. Thankfully she turned the sound off so that they only saw the visuals.

  At times he couldn't tell if she believed him or not, but when she took a break to make something for them to eat, he began to relax. By the end of the movie they were both laughing at the actors and situations. At last Tish turned it off, to the approving squeals of his bot.

  "I wouldn't believe you could do things like that," she crooned towards it in a way that made him shift in his seat. Then she frowned. "They can do almost everything here. That's the one thing I don't quite understand. Why are we here? I know you explained it before, but isn't there something more?"

  "Are you sure you don't know?" He prompted.

  He loved watching the thoughts and expressions flitting across her face. She nibbled on her lower lip, making him uncomfortable again.

  Her eyes settled on one of the bots. "They usually don't carry anything with them to the repair sites, do they?"

  "No, not usually."

  She rubbed her wrist where the identification band once encircled. "They are good at locating the problems, but they don't always know what they need to repair it until they need it. Short-term thought?"

  "No, they don't," Arthur said. He had to keep from grinning. Already she'd figured it out. "That's where we come in. To think ahead, to be inventive, to source the raw materials, to give priorities. As well as be an extra pair of arms."

  Her eyes dropped to his bot. "What you said about needing to guide them to the systems most important to humans makes sense. I had to do that with the acid leak. They were concentrating on something else."

  Arthur nodded. "Their intelligence is limited. They know what they need to know, and know it well, but not much else. Having us with them is a reminder to them, as well as a guide."

  "Strange job."

  "And one needing a certain temperament. So, Ricardo had words with you?"

  Her eyes darted to him, the blush appearing. His heart sunk.

  "Yes, a few."

  Might as well get it over with. He took a deep breath and said, "I would hope that before you make any decision concerning your job that you come to speak with me. I try to help my engineers in any way I can."

  "Oh, I will. Not that there is anything wrong at the moment, other than I lost my personal computer." She stopped her eyebrows going together. "And my bots and identification band. With that much smoke, was there a fire? Are they okay?"

  "I haven't heard of any station catastrophes and no fires. Does this mean at the moment you wish to stay?"

  The frown disappeared, replaced by complete surprise. The speed the expression changed told him he'd surprised her. Even before she answered he felt a surge of relief.

  "Of course I wish to stay. I do have a job, right? You said I still had a job."

  "Absolutely. But, this was a, shall we say, unusual day. Not an easy one to be dropped into." He paused at her vigorous nodding. "Lungs okay?"

  The dimple appeared again. "Yep, clean bill of health. I'll be back to work tomorrow. Can you let me know if my bots show up?"

  "Of course." Bots, as in plural. He would personally bring them up to the maintenance platform if he knew which ones to look for. Maybe Rachel would know.

  He stood up suddenly, knowing it would be dangerous for him to remain in the apartment any longer. As much as he welcomed the attraction he felt towards her, the first he'd felt in years, the logical part of his mind reminded him that the station needed her as a maintenance engineer even more.

  He extended a hand. "Then I'll see you tomorrow morning."

  Tish stood up, grinning so that the dimple reappeared. She shook his hand vigorously. "Thank you, Boss. It's great to be here."

  After leaving he stood outside her door for a moment, his bot looking up at him. Her ligh
t flowery fragrance still lingered around him, even with her front door shut behind him. His hand tingled from the simple handshake. Compared to the light and airy apartment the hallway felt drab.

  He looked down at his bot. "I think we might have a new permanent engineer. And I'm in trouble."

  The bot chirped off a question, clearly not understanding. Arthur chose not to try to explain.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  BREAKFAST AND MORNING coffee on the balcony didn't feel right. The apartment was too quiet and too empty. Tish was alone, having to fix both breakfast and her morning coffee herself. There should be three bots next to her as she sat on the terrace enjoying the morning view, relaxing with coffee and breakfast before heading out to work.

  She finished off her coffee and left the apartment, not wanting to be alone any longer. She managed to get half-way back to the maintenance platform before needing to ask for help the rest of the way.

  She arrived as several of the crew did. Damien came out of the break-room with a cup of coffee, settling in a chair in front of a console.

  He raised it towards her in a toast. "And she's back. Coffee is ready."

  "No thank you. Already had mine." Tish leaned her arms on the railing going around the raised center platform. "I'm already wide awake."

  Bots ran along the floor, circling the center platform and zipping in and out of corridors and rooms. She felt a sadness at seeing them. None of them looked familiar.

  Rachel sighed as she collapsed into another chair. She eyed Damien as she cradled a big mug of coffee in both hands. "I hear you are without an apprentice today?"

  "Thankfully." He crossed his right boot over his left, raising an eyebrow at Tish. "Not that I'm against apprentices. I would be glad to take you with me on my rounds today. I have quite the mess to clean up."

  "As do I," Rachel said. "I could use her for a second day."

  "Mine is a little more high priority than yours," Damien said.

  Rachel finished her sip of coffee with an outright glare. "Your job is not more important than mine. I need her."