Three
The loading was taking too damned long. Pace kept a dissatisfied scowl on his face. Fucking government grunts. It they would have just let him load Calamity himself, he’d have been off hours ago. But no. They had to supervise and triple bubble wrap every freaking gift they were sending to Gemma-Hydrox. What did they think? That he’d hot-dog it in space, cargo be damned? They didn’t know him very well. He was a professional and would treat this like any other run, even though it wasn’t his normal load.
“Are we almost through?” he gruffly asked the man with the clipboard, who was obviously in charge.
“Nearly there,” the man briskly declared. “We have to make sure every piece is accounted for.” It looked like he wanted to shake his finger in Pace’s face as he continued. “This is very valuable stuff. We’ve included not only priceless diamonds, jewels and gold, but some of our very finest artwork, ancient porcelains and historic texts that will give the Hydroxenes everything they need to know about us.” He lowered his clipboard. “I can’t stress enough that this is not just a date for you, Mr. Ruffalo. This is an opportunity to bring a new planet into our consortium. A definite feather in our caps as far as the PAC is concerned.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’ve heard all about it. Everyone from Boston’s mayor to the President of the United States has called me. Although I’m not quite sure how this turned into such a public circus.”
The man clearly didn’t care as he looked at his watch. “We should be wrapping this up in the next half an hour if you want to perform your pre-flights.”
“I’ll do that.” Huffing loudly to let his displeasure be known, Pace stomped up the gangway into Calamity.
He didn’t like any of this. His trip had taken on a life of its own. He’d attempted to reach Gerri Wilder to call off the whole thing, but she hadn’t answered her damned phone. Like that was an innocent oversight. Had the woman known this would happen? Even though Gemma-Hydrox was a brand new destination, he was certain this wasn’t her first rodeo.
“Calamity.” He spoke out loud. “Start pre-flight.”
“Yours to command, sweet cheeks,” the ship replied in a sultry tone. “Where are we headed?”
He pulled his phone out of his pocket, punched up the information he’d been given and gave Calamity the space coordinates.
There was a distinct pause. “Not someplace we’ve been before,” the programmed “she” stated. “And as I check data banks, not someplace anyone else from earth has, either.”
“That’s almost correct,” Pace clipped out. “Gerri Wilder has been.” He didn’t need his ship to question the trip. He had enough doubts of his own already. “Just plot the course and tell me how long it will take to get there.”
“You can drop the attitude, my blustery beefcake. I’m on this.”
Pace rolled his eyes. Most of the time, his ship’s humor was welcome. It wasn’t her fault the mission had become way too complicated. He attempted to mollify, using her pet name. “Sorry, Clam. I’m a little on edge. There’s a lot riding on this trip.” He approached the command center in the upper deck.
“Apology accepted. Now, have a seat and I’ll bring up today’s wormhole reports.”
He sat at the helm and the screen to his right lit up.
“…little space debris reported today, and solar winds are mild. Wormhole report on the nines coming up after this message.”
He tuned out the advertisement and began green-lighting all his systems. Calamity could do it, but it was nice to have two opinions on the state of the ship’s well-being. Plus, it made him feel more in touch. All his ships could run themselves, but every now and then, the human factor was needed in order to avoid unforeseen disasters. That was why he employed damned capable pilots, mostly individuals who’d served in the military, just like him.
“And now we have wormholes on the nines. There are seventeen stable holes today…” The coordinates were listed, along with how many light years they’d allow you to travel.
Pace knew Calamity was listening and would decide if any of them met their needs.
“Less than stable, with a twenty-three percent chance of distortion, are twenty-two more…”
He’d avoid those if possible, but who knew what risks they’d have to take to get where they were going?
“And, in imminent danger of collapse at any moment, we have the following…”
Pace hoped he wouldn’t―
“Bad news, oh mighty one. The only hole with enough distance to send us into LightTravel toward our coordinates may only be viable for the next hour.”
Shit. Figures.
Pace began flipping switches to start the drive streams, hitting the exterior intercom at the same time.
“Hey, guy with clipboard. I’ve got an unstable wormhole to catch. You want these priceless treasures to end up as space dust? Or you want to tell your guys to finish up in the next six minutes so I can be off? Your choice.”
He looked at the screen for camera six where the little guy stood. Did he just stomp his foot? Pace chuckled. Oh, how bureaucrats hated it when things didn’t go according to their little agendas.
“Fine,” the man responded and started gesturing madly to his men still on the loading dock.
“I’m not kidding,” Pace warned him. “You now have five point six two minutes.” He shut down further communication and set his drives to humming. If his verbal warning wasn’t enough, the subtle drone of the ship would do the job.
“T-minus five minutes and counting, hot stuff.” Calamity’s voice sounded calm. “I’ve plotted our course to the wormhole, which is one point three light years away. At setting LT1, we should reach the opening in one point one two seconds.”
“Copy that, Clam. Five minutes until wheels up, another seven to clear earth’s atmosphere, then a jump to LT1. Once the wormhole sucks us in, I’ll bring our speed up to LT100K.”
“Ooh, baby. Sounds like a plan. If we survive the wormhole, I estimate we’ll arrive at the planet Gemma-Hydrox sixty-three hours and eighteen minutes from now.”
LT100K, short for LightTravel one hundred thousand, was the ship’s top speed, allowing it to traverse the entire Milky Way in twenty-four hours.
Jeez. Gemma-Hydrox is a fucking long way away. Pace hoped he wasn’t making a huge mistake.
“…nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. We have lift.”
He’d heard Calamity count down thousands of times, but he never lost the thrill that shot through his gut.
He took the helm and quickly maneuvered them off their dock and into position before giving his ship permission to leave earth’s pull. “Go for it, Clam.”
In a heartbeat, they shot skyward, beginning the real adventure.
“Yee-haw!”
He’d taught Calamity to say that each time they were airborne. A verbal testament to his own excitement. He hadn’t become tired of plying his trade in known ports on friendly planets. He’d always enjoyed the tame wanderlust. But this journey harkened back to his Ranger days when the thrill of uncharted territory could just as easily kick your ass as roll over and play nice. What would he find in Gemma-Hydrox’s galaxy? He’d soon find out…if the wormhole didn’t swallow them first.
Once they left earth’s atmosphere behind, Pace’s hands went to the controls again. “Get us into the neck of that wormhole, Calamity, and I’ll ease us up to LT100K as soon as it looks good.”
“Make it look good fast, cowboy, because the stability of that hoo-ha has dropped another forty-two percent.”
“Roger.” He glued his eyes to the 3D grid to his left, watching as the ship lined up with their Yellow Brick Road. The mouth of the thing flexed like the jaws of an asp, but Pace held steady. Punch the LT drive too soon and they’d hurtle through the side of the thing, exploding into particles too small to even scour for DNA. Too late on the button and they could end up millions of light years away in completely unmapped space from which they’d never return.
Fun times.
Calamity slid into the channel like slick sex. When Pace reached the sweet G-spot…
Hit it!
They shot out the far end at top speed.
Pace chuckled and let go of the controls. “Well, Clam, we made it again, didn’t we?”
“Hush, big man. You talk too much. I’m basking in the afterglow.”
Pace let out a full belly laugh. “You’re just a whore for LightTravel, aren’t you?”
“Humph. And you’re not?” she shot back.
“You got me there.” He checked to make sure she had everything under control. “I’m going below to make sure those dickheads secured all those treasures properly, then I might take a nap.”
“Ahh, the leisure of a carbon-based lifeform. Such a shame. You can’t begin to imagine the things you miss during your hours of sleep.”
“I’ll take that under advisement, Calamity. But right now, it won’t stop me from getting some shut-eye. Let me know if anything unusual occurs.” He’d programmed the ship with over four thousand scenarios for which he’d need to be summoned. He was comfortable with that.
“Will do. And sweet dreams, you fleshy hard drive.”
****
Pace had just slipped into his bunk―a comfy pod that folded down from the wall in his private quarters―after an hour of rearranging some meathead’s idea of secure cargo, when his q-phone rang. Sometimes he wished the quantum device had never been invented. How nice to be beyond everyone’s reach.
He almost didn’t answer, figuring it was just his mother on another harangue. She’d had so many since he’d announced his intention to visit Gemma-Hydrox to find a wife. The only thing she’d enjoyed about it was the publicity. Which suited him just fine. She’d really upped her game in front of the cameras. To hear her speak to the public, she couldn’t be prouder of his groundbreaking foray. In private, of course, she told him if he mated with an off-planet being, he’d be cut out of her will with a sharp knife.
He’d let her rant. In the end, she’d come around. She always did when it came to his decisions. She loved him. He was her only child. Not a lot of options there.
Pulling the q-phone from under his left hip, he glanced at the screen.
Well, well, well. Gerri Wilder. Now that the shit is through hitting the fan, she finally calls.
“Gerri. Nice to hear from you.”
“This isn’t a social call, Pace. We have trouble.”
He sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bunk. “What kind of trouble?”
“Your trip is no longer secret.”
“No fucking kidding.” He gave an exasperated laugh. “Where have you been the last couple days while the media was on a frenzy? I’ve been followed, photographed, hounded for interviews… Not to mention the government has taken over nine-tenths of the belly of my ship with gifts for the Gemma-Hydrox officials.”
“I’m not worried about that, Pace.” She sounded like a schoolmarm taking him to task. “I let earth’s media know about you. It’s good business. What I didn’t do was tell anyone except the Lords on G-Hydrox that you were coming. Damn them. One of their higher-ups let it out, and now they’ve arranged an enormous welcome for you, complete with parade, banquet and several women they think will suit you better than Lola.” She blew out a breath. “I’m quite furious over this.”
Pace settled back onto his pile of comforters and pillows. “Yeah, well, join the club. I wasn’t thrilled that people on earth had the info. You could have let me know.”
“I have no time for your sass. I’m busy trying to arrange for an alternate meeting place.”
Pace narrowed his eyes. “Why bother? I’m not on any timetable. Let the government have their fun, then I’ll work my way toward getting to know Lola better.”
“That’s not the way it needs to work.”
Pace grew suspicious. What difference would a few days make? What wasn’t Gerri telling him? “I don’t mean to seem suspicious, but if this matchmaking attempt is legit, why not let it unfold after the welcoming committee is through with me?”
There was an angry huff on the other end of the line. “Fine. You’re right. I haven’t told you everything, but if you find out those few, omitted things before you meet Lola, it might color your judgment. That’s not how I make good matches. You need to be with her and decide for yourself if she’s right before her home planet wraps its greedy little fingers around you.”
It was an interesting speech, one fraught with cryptic statements, but if he took Gerri’s meaning broadly, he understood. Sort of.
“So the planet’s deal is something like… All the ladies look alike. Or men are kept in cages and you don’t want me to witness how I’ll spend the rest of my life.”
Gerri actually growled. “Please take this seriously. Your future happiness depends upon it.”
Pace gave in. What else could he do? He was on his way to Lola’s galaxy with an agreement to meet her. “Fine. What would you like from me?”
“Thank goodness you have a head on your shoulders.” Gerri stopped bristling and got down to business. “I’m arranging for Lola to travel, undetected, to a neighboring planet where she’ll arrive just ahead of you. I’ll send those coordinates to your ship. In fifty-nine hours, you’ll simply vector off from G-Hydrox before they have a fix on you and head to your new rendezvous point. I’ve told officials you’ll be delayed by two days, so there will be no problem.”
Things had rapidly started being taken out of his hands, a situation he normally didn’t like. But the promise of a woman who would make his future bright was a convincing pull.
“Fine. I’m all yours,” Pace sighed, hoping he wouldn’t regret it.