Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance) (14 page)

"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 kitchen 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.