Stepping Up (21 page)

“Ok! ‘Gorb always helps!’ Everybody says so; it must be
true.”

“All in good time,” I tell him. “First, I want Ginny to
inspect the transducer in power conduit A9, vicinity junction 327.”

“Why? The board shows all green.”

“I didn’t ask you to inspect the board.  Humor me, please.”
I say leveling my gaze at her.

“On it, Boss.”  Ginny packs a tool kit. 

Aria walks in as Ginny walks out. 
Why is she here? It’s
not time yet!
  “You said I had six hours.”

“I will do another one at that time.”  She’s just as
reliable as a portable scanner and easier to work with.  I may have to invite
her to follow behind us more often.  I follow her through the drive room.  She
points out some discrepancies.  I show her the corresponding work orders. “All
is well here, Sonia. You are doing a great job. The Captain is very pleased
with you.”

“That is good news, on all accounts.  Can you tell me—” my
perCom bleeps with an emergency tone.  It’s Ginny, so I thumb the speaker on. 
“Yes, Ginny?”  Gorb looks in our direction.

“Good hit, Boss.  In another minute this thing will blow
wide open and a plasma fire will engulf half of cargo bay three.  I need an
emergency re-route of power through junctions 326 and 328, isolate 327.  The
seepage burned the sensor, hence the green light.”

“Got it, Shownya!” Gorb hurries to the flow board to make
the necessary adjustments.  “Lights out, Ginny.”

“Outstanding, Gorbster.  Boss, this will keep me busy for an
hour or so.”

“Understood.  Keep me posted.  Out here.”  I put my perCom
back in its holster.

Aria looks at me with one eyebrow cocked and asks, “An
aggressive inspection program?”

“I can’t take credit for what I didn’t do.  It was a tip
from Gwen.”

“A most timely tip.  You were saying?”

“What was I saying? Oh, yeah, can you tell me what happened
between the Captain and Gwen this morning?” 

She opens her mouth to reply when my perCom starts
screaming. It’s the Captain’s personal assistant, Jeanette Friday. The Captain
is calling for me to come to his office. Alone.
Now
.  

“It can wait!” I call to Aria over my shoulder as I run out
of Engineering. “Please let him know I’m on my way!”  I get to his office as
fast as my feet will get me there.

Friday is nowhere to be seen. I’m preparing to knock, when
from within, I hear, “Come in, Sonia.”  So I do.  “Back here.” He calls to me
from the room adjacent to his office. He is wearing a thick black robe with a
huge hood covering his face. Just listening, I perceive he has neither his
respirator collar nor any of the ornamental garb he normally wears. Either the
Boss is sick, or he took the afternoon off.  “Please, sit. Would you like a
drink? Anya!” A stunning brunette comes through a doorway. She is strikingly
similar to Aria, but shorter, slimmer, and petite. 
Another android?

“Oh, uh, apple juice, please?” I stammer.  Anya disappears
back through the same door she used earlier.

The Captain doesn’t wait for her to return, he ticks off
talking points on his fingers.  “First, let’s discuss my son, Gorb. I am told
that you are kind to him. I am appreciative and grateful for that. Please
continue to nurture him. I regrettably do not have the time.

“Second, Gwendolyn. As hard as it is to believe, she appears
to be one of the Ashkari. That’s theoretically impossible, but having seen her,
I’ve no choice but to accept it. The Ashkari were a very rare race of
extraordinary psionics. They were, prior to discovering Gwendolyn, thought to
be extinct.  At her current age, she can be persuaded to do
anything
with the right guidance. If I chose to embrace the Negative side of the Source,
I could use her to rule a galaxy. I—at this time—choose not to do so. Rather, I
wish to nurture her in a positive direction, and see her raised as a good,
moral person. Hence, I am placing her in your charge for the moment.
Truthfully, you are more capable of that than I.  But I reserve the right to
change that at my convenience. Now, I am sure you have questions of me. I will
allow two. Please ask, but choose carefully.”  Anya returns with a glass of
juice for me and a steaming mug of coffee for the Captain.  She places each on
the desk between us and leaves.

“Sir, it’s no great task being nice to Gorb, he’s a
beautiful person.  But you’re welcome just the same.  I knew Gwen was special,
of course but I had no idea she was that special.  And I’m more than happy to
care for her, it’s just...I know I’ve only known her for a few days, but I’m
getting very attached to her and I’m not sure why. I don’t have any questions
about her, just one request:  When you decide to separate us, her and me, I
don’t want to know when.  I’d rather just return to an empty stateroom and a
message of notification.” I chew my lip nervously, “You are correct, I do have
two questions.  One, what happened to you? And two, why don’t you make time for
your son?”

“The answer to your unasked question, I offer at no
penalty:  You are growing attached to her because she knows on a subconscious
level that she needs care and direction.  You are capable of providing both. 
She is telepathically imprinting herself on you.  Fear not, it isn’t
malicious.” He takes a sip of his coffee. “You ask very personal questions,
Sonia. I
do
make time for Gorb. Sadly, it is not often enough. The
demands of a starship captain are many.  Perhaps you will learn that firsthand
some day. What happened to me? The list is quite lengthy and just as
impressive.  In a nutshell, I was captured and tortured to the brink of death
in the Great War. A healthy, whole human man has two lungs that between them
have five sacks that enable him to breathe.  I have one lung, and it has one
functional sack. The tendons of my wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles were all
severed, with an inch resected from each.  My pelvis was pulverized.  I
sustained numerous other fractures, each rib among them.  Each limb has three
major bones.  All twelve of mine were broken at least once. Those are the
‘biggies,’ as they say.  Suffice it to say: my enemies decided I was not meant to
live.  I was rescued while I was waiting—praying—to die.  Mind you, I
experienced all of my torture while conscious. Anytime I passed out—which was
often—I was awakened and the torture resumed.  Upon release from hospital, I
was, of course, medically retired.  Following some research, I overcame my
fear, incapacitation, and pain by mastering the ways of the Shre pa La. I would
be surprised if you are familiar with them.  They are an obscure race of people
on a very distant planet. The journey cost me my entire pension.  They taught
me to use my mind as the great tool I learned it could be. As to the second, a
significant portion of my day is devoted to survival, more to the running of
this vessel.  If—or rather
when
—you have your own command, you will
agree with me.  Now, we are both busy. Good day.”

“Thank you for your candor, sir.  Good day.” That’s a lot to
take in.  I make my way to the LEO, calling Ginny to meet me there. 

“What’s up, Boss?”  She is standing outside the door when I
get there.

“It’s time to expand your responsibilities a bit.  I’d like
you to take the lead on the daily maintenance requests.  When we get somewhere
with a starport, I’ll try to get some more mechanics and technicians hired. 
Between us, I think we have the propulsion engineering parts covered.  It’s
just getting the actual physical labor done that is getting to be a bear.  This
will put the maintenance droids under your umbrella, of course.  I don’t have
much of a say in your compensation package, but I’ll talk to Aria about an
increase.  What do you say?”

“All sounds good to me, ma’am. I will strive to be your best
student.”

“I’m sure you will.  Get out of here and start fresh in the
morning.” When she’s gone I sign into the library computer to see what I can
learn on the Source, the Ashkari, the Shre pa La, and telepathy in
preadolescents.  The computer displays the “working” imagery, then returns an
article on the first three topics.

R1) The Source: A belief that
the energy of the multiverse is centered in a controlling microverse, in an
unknown location, which distributes energy to those who know how to draw upon
it. See also ‘Sorcerer,’ ‘Psionic Power,’ or ‘Ashkari.’

R2) The Ashkari: A rare race of
humanoids native to the Brandell System (Mythological). They are a race
commonly referred to colloquially as ‘Psuper Psionics.’ At last library data
update, archaeologists have agreed to proclaim the race extinct.

R3) The Shre pa La:  A group of
Mystical Martial Artists (see also ‘Warrior Monk,’ ‘Sorcerer,’ and ‘Martial
Artist’) who believed they could directly channel energy from the Source (see
The Source). This is religious belief (theory) and has been challenged by
scientists and theologians alike. The last physical evidence of living Shre pa
La was documented in 9815.

On the second page I see: Telepathy in preadolescents: There
are 543,757,343 entries. Please narrow search parameters.

I’m not
that
interested right now.  But I
am
hungry.  I call Gwen.  “Are you hungry? Shall I come get you, or do you want to
meet me in the chow hall? Think you can get there by yourself?”

“I will meet you there in twenty minutes, hotpants.” She clicks
off.  I sit there stunned. 
I could not have heard what I just think I
heard.

I stride to the chow hall, my boots ringing down the
metallic corridor.  As I enter the cafeteria, I see one of the spacers sitting
with Gwen. When I left her, she was still wearing the dress she had worn for
the Captain.  She has changed into white short-shorts and a red tank top with
nothing under it.  Granted, she’s only six, but there are standards to
maintain.  I fix him with my “this-mama-bear-is-ready-to-kill-you” gaze. I have
seen the spacer in the cargo areas before, but don’t know him. “I don’t know
you. Disappear. Now!”  Gwen has a plate of spaghetti in front of her.

“Oh, c’mon, Sonia. I’m just looking for a little company.”
He smirks and looks at me in taunting contempt. He’s made no move to leave the
table.  He has one hand on Gwen’s knee.  Gwen giggles. Although I want to
believe her innocent, she has a look of mischief on her face that I neither
recognize nor understand.

“That’s ‘
Chief
MacTaggert’ and I said disappear.”  He
grins at me with a smug look. 
That did it!
  I angrily punch down on his
nose. The snap is audible.

He reels backward with pain and embarrassment.  Blood runs
from his nose. “Ow!” He cups his nose with one hand. With the other, he grabs a
fork from the table. “You bitch! You will die!” He lunges, and then stops
suddenly, as if stricken by a stroke. He falls to the floor, flailing in a
convulsive seizure. The fork falls.  I kick it, and it skitters away
harmlessly.

Gwen looks at me with the most innocent look a child can
give. “And you!” I shout, “I will deal with you later.  Sit right there, eat
yer supper, and don’ give me reason to say another ward to ye!”

I grab my perCom and call Medical.  “Medical emergency in
the chow hall.  Apparent seizure, visible convulsions.”   I follow that with a
call to Aria.  I give her my report, omitting no details and taking full
responsibility for initiating the physical conflict. She acknowledges me and
says a security Trooper is on her way.  A crewmember is standing ready to give
first aid to the convulsing spacer.  Two medics rush in.  They load the fallen
crewman onto an anti-grav gurney and hurry out with him.

I sit down and try to collect myself.  I count my breaths: 
ten in and ten out.  Then I address Gwen.  It is a struggle for me to not yell.
“I will admit it: I am now very upset with you.  I have cooled down a bit on
the walk here.  That individual” (I point in the direction the twitching spacer
went) “hasn’t helped. I don’t know where you picked up the term ‘hotpants,’ nor
do I really care.” I hear myself slipping into the brogue again. “But I’ll nae
be hearin’ it come out o’ yuir mouth again.  Ever. Do we understand each
other?”

She looks down.  “Yes, ma’am.”

Sherri walks in and sits down with us. “Hey, Sonia. Hey,
Gwen. Which of you is going to tell me what happened?” I tell her exactly what
happened: Everything from calling Gwen in the LEO to calling Medical.

Sherri makes some notes then asks Gwen, “Have you seen him
before, Gwen?”

“I saw him in the hallway earlier, when we were leaving the
Captain’s office this morning.  He’s why I’m wearing this.” Sherri looks at
her.  “I just picked up on what he was thinking. I didn’t want to, but it was
so strong, I couldn’t stop it. He was thinking about me in some of the clothes
Sonia has. I found them in the drawers at home. I tried them on, but they’re
too big for me.” She looks at me. “And I didn’t want you to be mad at me for
wearing your underwear.  I heard ‘hotpants’ and ‘poonana’ in his mind.  I’m
sorry, did I do wrong? I didn’t mean to.  But I knew it would make him happy.
You weren’t there for me to ask, and I just didn’t think to use the holoCom
like you showed me.” She picks up a crust of garlic bread, with an expression
of regret and confusion on her face.  She dips a crust of bread in her
spaghetti sauce and chews it slowly.

Sherri’s gaze goes from me to Gwen and back to me.  “Girls,
there is going to be an investigation.  Since psionics are involved, I’m
guessing it will be lead by the Captain.  He is, of course, the subject matter
expert there.  I’ll put what you’ve told me in a report and hand it up the
chain.  Prepare for interviews with Aria and the Captain, at a minimum.”  She
smiles weakly and adds, “Don’t leave town.”  She gives me a pat on the shoulder
and Gwen a kiss on the top of her head, as she leaves.

Gwen and I quietly finish supper.  When we’ve eaten all that
we intend to, I send her back to the stateroom, explaining I have to stop in at
Medical.