by AZ Kelvin
GABI saw the rest of her shopping group across a small island of plants surrounding a central fountain. She settled the hover drone in behind a column and waited for her friends to walk by before she flew the parrot in circles around their heads and then dove high speed straight at Pene.
“Ahhhheeeek,” shrieked Pene, as she ducked down and brought her hands, shopping bags and all, up over her head.
The parrot flew straight at Gina next, who swung at it with her own shopping bag, which passed right through the bird.
“Hey!”
The bird backed off and shimmered into a smartly dressed businesswoman with a devious grin.
“GABI! The parrot—I should have remembered.” Gina laughed.
They all relaxed and laughed at the prank as GABI brought the hover drone over and tilted it so that it could disappear inside the profile of her holographic body.
“That looked so real—even sounded real,” Katy said.
“I thought you couldn’t project the parrot after you were cut off from Boss,” Gina said.
“In fact, it was after I was cut off from the database of the Altered Moon, specifically. But, Boss was my link to it, until CJ Evermore deactivated the firewall that isolated me. I purchased emitter upgrades and image libraries from the technologies shop. Father programmed my original image library and I found it somewhat—lacking.”
“Boss is going to be tickled when he sees the bird again,” Gina told them.
“Can you turn into anything else?” asked Pene.
“Yes, I downloaded twenty million projectable images. Including a wardrobe library, so enough of this—” GABI shimmered; the glasses were gone, her shoulder-length brown hair was down, she had on pleated casual dress pants with a satiny blouse. “Ah, that’s better. I always liked Cal’s eye, though.” She blinked and her eyes changed to shiny silver orbs.
“Wow, I wish I could do that!” Pene said, wide-eyed.
“We all do, honey,” Cat said.
“I did pick out my party attire.” GABI shimmered into an ankle-to-neck shiny black bodysuit and matching ten-centimeter stiletto heel shoes. Her head was shaved bald and had flame tattoos that came from her eyebrows and wrapped around the sides of her head.
“That’ll go over well,” Cat said with a laugh.
“It will with the guys,” Katy said.
“You got that right,” Gina agreed.
Pene was absolutely speechless.
GABI changed back to the casual look and the group idly made their way back to the common room. She waved to her friends to scoot over out of sight when they came into projection range of the men. The female form shimmered into that of the parrot which flew away from GABI’s hover drone and into the common room. The bird swooped and dove around the three men as it performed aerial maneuvers through the room.
“What the hell?” Cal said, as he bobbed and weaved out of the bird’s way.
The bird flew a final round before it lit upon Boss’ shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. “Rig ’em up a Hempen Halter and let ’em swing, awk!” the bird said to him.
“Wha—Wha—I…” Boss huffed and puffed in great surprise.
“Hoist the Jolly Roger, we’ve the Letters of Marque, awk, scallywag!” The parrot moved its head around before it looked back at Boss for the last word.
“What? Ha-ha-ha,” Boss bellowed with laughter. “Where are you? I know it’s you, GABI, so come out, you artificial deviant!”
GABI’s hover drone drifted into sight down the corridor; the rest of the girls stood up and they all went to the common room.
“Awk, yo ho ho, run a shot across her bow!” The parrot shifted from foot to foot on Boss’ shoulder.
“Oh, this is a great surprise!” Boss beamed with pleasure.
“So, you got the emitter upgrades?” Cal seemed unsure whether to direct his question to the hover drone or the holographic parrot.
“Aye, matey”—the parrot started to say, as it shimmered away and GABI in her casual outfit finished, as she appeared around the drone—“that I did.”
“Wow, look at that, new garms for GABI! You look great!” Boss said, CJ and Cal agreed.
“Thank you, all.” GABI smiled sincerely, “It’s something I should have done the last time we were here.”
“Certainly will brighten up the bridge,” CJ joked with her.
“Actually, I was thinking more along this line for duty.” GABI shimmered into a pair of black flight pants and boots with a black T-neck top. Her hair was pulled back and French braided, but what caught CJ’s eye was the jacket she was wearing.
The medium-weight navy-blue jacket was waist length with a napped texture giving the material a deep finish. The six-centimeter collar could be flipped up or laid flat out from the neck. The words ‘Altered Moon Command Crew’ were embroidered in gold across the upper left chest, just above the words ‘Operations Officer.’ A patch, with the silhouette of the ship and the words ‘Altered Moon’ below it, was on the right upper chest.
“Hey, I like the jacket.” CJ gave her an appreciative nod.
“Actually, so do I,” Gina said. “GABI, is there a flight jacket model?”
“Any model we can dream up, Gina.” GABI shimmered into a multi-pocketed pilot’s jacket with the same material and embroidery.
“Ooh,” Gina said. GABI shimmered ‘Operations Officer’ to ‘Star Pilot’ and Gina looked even more appreciative.
“What about my action jacket?” CJ asked.
GABI changed to an unlined bomber-style jacket, with ‘Captain’ instead of ‘Star Pilot’ embroidered on it. “Oh yeah, that’s got to be done.” CJ nodded enthusiastically.
Katy just rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“And you girls, what kind of damage did you do to the garm shops today?” Boss asked.
The reaction to Boss’ question was like a dam that burst under too much pressure. There was a torrent of pants and tops, skirts and blouses, dresses and wraps, and shoes and accessories in dozens of colors, materials, and styles. The pile of stuff looked like enough for a month of parties. The men couldn’t even keep up with the discussion flow of what could go with what and which accessory matched which piece of jewelry. Pene showed off a pair of iridescent green sneaker shoes that were so bright, it looked like she was walking on clouds of green light.
GABI shared the joke from earlier on her choice for party clothes. The sexy sleek outfit and tattooed bald head got a reaction from the guys. Cal just stared at GABI for a moment, then he blinked and it sounded like someone took a picture. Cat looked at him suspiciously; he quickly looked away and played with his earring.
Tad and Snow came out of the transtube and down the corridor. CJ closed the star charts that were displayed on the tabletop.
“Greetings, all.” Tad and the fluffy white dog approached the group and took in the chaos of clothing at a glance. “Well, I see that you found Cassie’s all right.”
“Yes, Tad, thank you. Everyone was absolutely terrific!” Katy said. “Things have changed a lot around here. There’s a ton of shops now. We found exactly what we needed.”
Pene pulled the soft white hoodie she was wearing earlier from her bag. She put it on with the hood up and snug around her face and knelt down on the floor to look at Snow. The dog cocked his head twice before he went over and sniffed at her face. Snow gave a little snort then lay down next to her on the floor. Pene shifted her legs out in front of her and Snow seemed to think her lap was the perfect spot to put his head. Pene obviously agreed with him. The sight of the two of them together made everyone smile.
“Captain, I have spoken with Nelson and he—” Tad started to say.
“Wait, you’ve spoken to him? He’s here?” CJ interrupted Tad to be sure of what he heard.
“Ah, no, over the cryscomm,” Tad said with a slight frown. “I apologize, have you not spoken with Nelson at all, recently?”
“Well, no, not directly or at great length, I’m embarrassed to say, in some
time,” Boss said.
“Well, Miss Latimer was correct in things being different here now,” Tad explained. “We’ve gone from outlaw base to tourist attraction!” He let out a snort of laughter to show what he thought of that. “But with commerce comes wealth, and wealth funds research. Nelson focused his attentions on how the Keect’nian technology worked and how he could adapt our equipment to their power sources. In one of his many experiments, Nelson was trying to identify and isolate the quantum energy signatures in the Keect’nian power crystals. He was energizing quantum pathways when the crystal he was working on showed a perfect image of the ceiling of the lab even though it should have been showing nothing but a reflection of what was in front of it, of course. He reached to adjust an energy meter and saw an image of his own hand inside the crystal. He picked up a crystal that was sitting next to the one he was working on and panned it around the room. What the second crystal was pointed at showed up in the surface of the first crystal.” He paused to let the information sink in for a moment.
“So Father found out how to link two Keect’nian power crystals at the quantum level,” GABI stated more than asked.
“Yes, they’ll pick up any other power crystals within a certain vicinity, or a crystal can be embedded with an ID chip and you can link specifically to that one. Nelson dubbed it ‘the cryscomm.’”
“Linking at the quantum level would mean faster than light communication,” GABI said.
“Yes again, instant communication, in fact, and capable of reaching over great, great distances. Before I forget, Nelson will be here tonight in time for the performance after dinner. If you’d permit me, I’d like to arrange a tech briefing for tomorrow afternoon. There are some other things that you will find interesting as well.”
“Sounds like we may need it,” Katy said.
“I think you’ll like what we have to show you. Miss Latimer. The—“
“Katy, please Tad.”
“Thank you, Katy. You’ll find the advances in hull design incredible, I’m sure.”
“Oh, like what?” Katy asked.
“SlyCore hull plating combined with a crystalline energy dispersion layer which uses the dispersed energy to power its own power cells.”
CJ was just as interested as Katy. “Seriously? This I have to see.”
“We’ll go over that and more tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Tad, you’ve been a great help to us.”
“You are all most welcome, captain. Your escort will arrive at eighteen forty-five.” Tad nodded in respect before he and Snow went on their way.
“Wow, the cryscomm?” Cal pondered the idea.
“And other things as well, apparently,” CJ added. “We should have kept in touch.”
“Well, this girl needs to get in touch with her new garms,” Gina said, as she picked up her goods. “Pene, after you get cleaned up, bring your stuff down and we can do our makeup together.”
“Roger dodger!” she said over her shoulder, as she was already halfway to her quarters.
The group broke up and went to their individual quarters to prepare themselves for the night’s festivities.
*~*~*
Chapter Sixteen
Boss was the first to emerge a couple of hours later, dressed in a long-sleeve button-up shirt with miniature chevrons of three shades of the deeper blues interwoven horizontally, which was split by a black silk tie with an embroidered silver starburst in the center. He wore black dress pants and a pair of polished, black single-buckle slip-on shoes. A folded silver-and-blue handkerchief was tucked in his breast pocket with coordinating blue-and-silver cuff links and collar tacks completing his ensemble in handsome contrast.
Boss poked the steward icon on the service panel and got an immediate response. “Hello, how may I help you?”
“Yes, hello, may we have a bottle of both white and red wines, please and a bottle of your best Scotch delivered to, ahh…” Boss looked around for a section number or something.
“I know where you are, sir. I’ll have it up there straight away,” the voice assured him.
“Thank you.”
CJ joined Boss shortly in the common room, just in time for the drinks to arrive.
“Hey, Boss, you look great!” CJ gave a nod of approval to the blue-and-silver outfit.
“Thanks, who knew this old ship could still shine in the starlight, eh?” He handed CJ a liquid appetizer. “You’re looking pretty spiffy yourself, Captain.”
CJ had on a puffed-sleeve V-neck tunic with a tall straight collar. The color of the shirt shifted in the light between a deep gold and warm bronze; a burnt gold satin ascot was tucked at the neck. Over the shirt, he wore a steampunk-style double-breasted vest of distressed brown leather lined up the front with eight antique brass buttons, four on each side, with wide lapels laying out to sharp points and a tall straight collar. He wore black straight-leg pants tucked neatly into the top of tall black boots.
“Yeah? Thanks. Let a woman pick out your garms and you’ll end up looking like a pirate.”
“That’s more steampunk than pirate, really. But, the look fits you very well, either way. The black bandana covering the black bandages around your head—now, that really pulls it together.”
“Ya like that?” CJ smiled. “I didn’t want to go to dinner looking like the walking wounded.” He arched his back and stretched out his arms. “Ugh, feels like I haven’t slept since before we went Skriti Station.”
“I know. I’ve noticed. Things haven’t slowed down much since we started looking for that planetoid three weeks ago, really. And they’re not likely to slow up any if we go poking around near Kang territory.”
“Well, we can take a break here for a while before we even need to worry about it.”
Cat and Cal came out of their quarters just then. Even from across the common room, the two of them brightened the area with a rosy glow. Cal was quite the sight in his bright red shirt with the extra-tall sleeve cuffs held in place by four boulder opal cuff links. He had a gold tie pulled up, popped out near the top, and held in place by a boulder opal tie tack. He wore a solid black cherry low-cut vest with a turned out velvet lapel. Maroon-and-black shiny wingtip shoes showed nicely from under the black cherry pinstripe pleated pants. A gold watch chain hung between a vest button and one of two small vest pockets, where an old-fashioned watch rested inside. A black handkerchief was tucked into the other pocket. He finished things off in typical Warren Caltrop fashion with a shiny silver eye, a gold earring, and an ear-to-ear grin.
Cat walked arm in arm with him dressed in an outfit that was a beautiful complement to Cal’s colors. She wore a dark rose-colored sparkle-dust jacket with three-quarter lace sleeves over a mock two-piece gown of the same color, with spaghetti straps and a beaded-lace bodice. The flowing floor-length skirt had a matching lace overlay that fluttered around her ruby red and black two-piece peep-toe heels as she walked along. Her black hair was reverse braided and spiraled up on the top of her head. A small purse embroidered with roses hung from her left wrist by a thin red strap, and she wore a black choker necklace with a thirty-millimeter red Asteria gemstone set in front of it, a gift that Cal had made for her just that day.
“Cat, Cal—wow, you two look absolutely fantastic,” CJ said, as they came up to join them, to which Boss agreed.
“Thank you, Captain, Boss.” Cat performed a graceful curtsy. “You both look very handsome.” Cal shook hands with CJ and Boss, who handed Cat and Cal each a drink.
“You’re crankin’ the steampunk, Cap!” Cal said as he checked out CJ’s outfit.
“Thanks, Katy picked it out today at the shops on the promenade.” CJ tugged the bottom of the vest to straighten imaginary winkles.
“She did a fantastic job,” Cat assured him. “You look quite dashing.”
“Thanks, Cat, but I think DJ Dark Cherry here, is going to be the one to steal the show tonight.” CJ poked fun at his tactical officer’s very fashionable outfit. They all laughed at the nickna
me.
“Yeah! This is going to be great!” Cal raised a glass of Scotch. “Hoist yer colors, mateys!”
The others returned Cal’s toast, and the talk grew louder as they waited for the rest of their crewmates to arrive.
At precisely eighteen forty-five hours, GABI came out of her quarters already materialized with a black sparkle-dust ankle-length evening gown ruched at the right waist with a single ruffled shoulder strap on the left. She wore a short necklace of polished obsidian spheroids with matching bracelets and black high heels. Her hair was rolled along the sides of her head then braided in back with strings of clear crystals woven throughout. The classic black ensemble was a timeless fashion, which GABI filled out in holographic spades.
“Gabs, you look great, wow”! Cal told her as she came up. “Not a twinkle of resolution loss. Those projection emitters are top notch. Somebody’s gonna get a surprise if they try to give you a goose and their hand passes right through your a—”
“Warren Caltrop!” Cat scolded him. “Don’t mind him, GABI, you do look great, corporeal or not.”
CJ and Boss agreed.
“Thank you, so do you all. That is a marvelous color Asteria, Cat.”
“Isn’t it though?” Cat said. “This silver-eyed rascal found a way to have it set this afternoon.”
Cal beamed and nodded his head quickly to agree.
A young man dressed in a light grey suit, white shirt, and a black tie came out of the transtube and approached the group. “Good evening to one and all. My name is Grant and I shall be your attendant this evening. Should you require anything, I am at your service.”