Author's note: First episode of Don't Say You Love Me... a series
Tear in Your Hand
"Ms. Davenport is going over general interspecies communications, isn't
she?" Goddard asked, walking into the
Lounge. A few students looked up from the circular couch.
"Yeah, so?" Bova
responded. Goddard cocked his head, but
did not chastise him.
"So, Suzee told me earlier this week that she needed some new power
couplings. You kids would benefit from
some real experience in an interstellar marketplace." Goddard leaned against the wall and crossed his powerful arms.
"Come on, Commander." Harlan
scoffed. "Everyone's been to those ones
off the coast of Saturn."
"Those aren't anything like the ones you'll be dealing with as a
STARDOG, Mr. Band. The rarest species you'll find on The Saturn Diskus is an
Andromedan."
"That's because marketplaces in the Sol System are relatively
safe." Radu interjected softly but
meaningfully. "The ones along the Outer
Rim aren't."
"Just relatively?" Rosie asked
skeptically. She couldn't fathom there
being problems at the Saturn Diskus. The UPP regulations didn't even allow
weapons on their stations.
"Yes."
Radu and Goddard confirmed in unison.
Goddard shook his head.
"People can be disappointing, Rosie."
He explained. "And you being
unaware of the dangers in our home system is what I'm talking about. I just think you'd learn better through
practical application. Don't
worry. It'll be fun getting off the
ship for a little while."
"Fun.
Right." Harlan muttered.
"Radu, pick us a good planetside marketplace. Rosie, you can surf the Spacenet for ads."
"Yes, Commander." She said
moving towards the middle of the room.
"Does anybody have a preference?"
"Anywhere but Neon." Bova said. Harlan
laughed.
"Yeah, and nothing in Spungland."
Rosie looked alarmed. "How will
I know? They don't put that kind of
thing on the pages."
"Don't worry, Rosie." Radu
said. "I'll check whatever you pick in
the NavChat. They'll know."
Goddard turned to Radu. "You go there."
"Um, yeah."
His ears flushed a bit. "They
think I'm... well... much older."
"From what I heard it was built by a group of
Spacenet hackers?"
"Yeah, that's true. They don't
allow an exchange of personal information, so you can understand their
mistake. They usually kick people out
if they try to speculate."
"Good." Goddard chuckled
suddenly. "And they think you're some
20 something navigator, huh?"
"Um, I- I guess." Radu smiled
shyly. "They'll help though. Because I gave them the coordinates of MA's
domain."
"That's kewl."
Harlan remarked. "Starve her."
Bova grinned.
"I bet she loves that. Go for
it, Rosie."
"Okay." Rosie sat down at the
little Spacenet station. "I'm glad you
and Suzee set up this access panel."
"Where is Suzee?" Goddard asked suddenly.
"She's looking at the engines." Harlan answered.
"Yeah," Bova added. "She's
trying to figure out what went wrong the last time she reconfigured the
engines."
"Right." Goddard rubbed his temple. "What went wrong the last time?"
"She almost killed me and Radu."
Goddard frowned.
"Actually, I almost killed Bova and Radu. Suzee made the engines so fast that they
couldn't handle the fuel requirements or friction." Harlan clarified.
"Interesting." Goddard
remarked. Harlan shrugged when the
Commander offered no further comment and sipped a blue soda.
"Found them, Radu." Rosie called cheerfully.
"You're getting pretty fast at that." Harlan said.
"Well, she's been working with Ms. Davenport. What would you expect?"
Radu said smiling. The Mercurian
beamed. He slowly stood and went over
to the console where Rosie was working and leaned over her. "I'll send a Spacemail on the
listserv." Radu said. Goddard regarded him.
"You're on the listserv already? When did you start going?"
"Shortly after we met Stuart and Aie."
Radu's brow creased in concentration, and Harlan snorted at Radu's
deliberate mispronunciation of the shrill name.
The screen swirled on to reveal the
computer-generated image of a Rigelian.
"Long time no see, Quatre. I
suppose your duties are keeping you busy.
As they should! That in mind
I'll get right to it. If it's still
there, Korinth on P4 of the Condrona system is the safest market. The others are pretty Spung infested, if
that worries you, which generally makes them unsafe. Toriyama Outpost in the Troy system is Spung free, but it's rough
going there, and you remember the nasty stories we've all heard about the
outposts down there. Plus you have to
navigate through the Quarton system, which is just the pits. Most Sincerely, Mr. Spock."
"Quatre? Spock?"
Harlan said in disbelief. Radu
shrugged.
"Quatre Winner. It's the name
of some Earther cartoon character. I
don't know where Spock comes from."
"Quatre's also French for four."
Goddard muttered. "Go ahead and
plot a course to Korinth. That sounds
best."
Goddard turned and left the Teamroom.
"Hmm." Radu studied the screen,
which now displayed a complicated navigational map. Rosie blinked in confusion
as Radu traced his index finger over imaginary lines, endeavoring to plot the
best course. "I wonder why it might not
be there."
"Blackhole sun."
Bova suggested flatly.
"No, I think I found it." Radu said firmly. "Let's go to the ComPost."
"Got it, Navman." Harlan said
hopping into a jumptube. "You know, I
can't believe the Commander thinks this will be fun. I mean, Ms. Davenport is just going to make us work the whole
time."
"Probably."
Bova said.
"Well, at least we get to go planetside. We can practice landing without crashing." Radu said jokingly. Harlan mock punched his arm.
Soon the kids had slid into the Command Post, and Radu and Harlan went
directly to their stations.
"Setting a course." Radu said, sitting down stiffly.
Harlan nodded.
"How's it going?" Rosie asked.
"We're on our way. The planet
is in sight." Harlan replied. Radu suddenly drew in a breath.
"No, it's not.
It just disappeared."
"What? Are
you sure you're reading it right?"
"Yes, Harlan."
Radu answered almost indignantly.
"Thelma?"
Thelma popped up beside him. "Yes, Radu?"
"What happened to the object that was just at
these coordinates?"
"It's gone."
Thelma said smiling. Radu narrowed his eyes.
"I know that, Thelma. But what
do the sensors say happened to it?
Where do the readings leave off?"
"The readings do confirm the presence of a planet-like object, but they
do not move or fade away. They simply
disappear."
