Rift 12

Kate was actually liking this movie. It was rather entertaining to think that her brain was controlled by these little guys inside her head. Somewhat annoying, Alexis was rather talkative during the movie at first. It pissed Kate off a little. Couldn't she just watch the movie?

Now she noticed that Alexis was quiet, maybe just a little too quiet. She turned to find Alexis all curled up and fast asleep. She smiled, stroking some of her long hair out of her face. "So cute," she murmured softly. She was willing to admit that she was really starting to like the little girl. She was a little all over the place sometimes it would seem, but then she was only four.

Kate ran her hand through her red hair and kept smiling. If the little girl was going to sleep she should be sleeping where it was more comfortable. Maybe sleeping like this wouldn't do anything to her neck, but Kate knew if she had fallen asleep like that she would pay for it later.

That was it. Time for Alexis to be in her own bed. "Come on, little one." She gave up on their movie and worked at lifting the little girl in her arms. She stopped only long enough to press the button that turned off the movie and killed the lights. Even though she still didn't know her way around she did know how to find people and places.

Kate reached out a finger to touch the screen. "Where does Alexis sleep?"

"Alexis Castle sleeps on the captain's quarters deck." It made sense to her, however… "Show me how to get there." A series of lights blinked on showing her the way there.

Thankfully Alexis weighed almost nothing and Kate soon found herself in a bedroom that looked like it might be hers. It had a little pink princess makeup table and a pink floral comforter in it. She laid Alexis on the bed then decided to take off most of her clothes. She soon had Alexis down to just her undershirt and panties before pulling a sheet up over her.

She didn't really have a reason but Kate took off her shoes that the robot had given her and lay down next to the little girl. It just felt right to be the big spoon to her little spoon. She draped her arm over Alexis and held her close. Kate pressed her face into her hair and closed her eyes.

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Rick left Jim to think about all that he had been told. He and Kate had been through a lot lately. Rick pressed a panel just outside of the bridge. "Where is Alexis Castle?"

"Alexis Castle is in her room."

He assumed that his little girl who could be a tornado when she chose to, had gotten tired and gone to her room. She would have been safe anywhere on the ship but her room must have felt safer than anywhere else. He was almost at the elevator when a thought hit him. "I still need to paint her wall." He didn't even know if they had enough pink paint left over with which to do that. It was going to have to wait until she was awake and out of her room anyway.

Rick stepped into their generous living space. It was meant for a family of four, not two. If anything it was far too big for them. In addition it had a room that was an equal to the bridge so that he didn't have to run to the bridge if anything happened while he was up here.

He stopped in the doorway of Alexis's room and was stunned at what he saw. It was Kate; she had his little girl all curled up and tucked in tight to her body. Both of them were obviously asleep and his little girl had never looked so peaceful.

Rick smiled tenderly. Kate had her face almost buried into her hair and every time she breathed out, a lock of Alexis's hair fluttered a little. He couldn't resist. He may not be the greatest father, and being gone from home on deployment might have something to do with that, but he did love his little girl so very much. He bent down without touching the bed to kiss Alexis, not far from where Kate's head was. It was an impulse but he couldn't stop himself. He kissed Kate as well.

He burned the image into his memory and retreated to his bedroom which was bigger than the two bedroom cabin he and Alexis had started out with.

He touched the comm panel. "Lex, are you available?"

"Yes, Commander… I mean, Rick. What can I help you with?" She didn't need the interruption but he was the captain and he was family.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm preparing the DNA sample I retrieved from Alexis earlier for implantation into the growth gel that's almost ready."

"Do you require help? If not I'm going to hop into the pool to cool off and relax while I still can. You never know when another Rift event will happen." Rick was finding it wasn't easy being captain of an almost empty ship of this size.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. Enjoy your swim. Rick, where's Alexis?" Thankfully Alexis hadn't complained of any pain. She would rather kill herself than hurt that little girl.

Lex heard him start to chuckle. "She's in bed wrapped up in Kate's arms."

She stopped in mid movement. "Interesting, very interesting." Had Kate succumbed to the appeal of the little girl already? Or did she possibly have other plans. Was it even possible that this Kate and this Rick…

"Enjoy your swim." Lex ended the call and resumed her work. Waiting for the body to grow without it dying on her was going to be the hard part and take the longest period of time. Fortunately none of the equipment required that much power. This ship was more than capable of providing the necessary power.

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Kate slowly awakened and noticed something that wasn't right. Her bed hadn't felt like this before, and where did all the hair come from that was in her face? Yes, her hair was long and she liked it that way, but it had never given her this much trouble before. Opening her eyes, she realized that the bed was strange as was the room. As was the little girl that she was wrapped around. "Alexis."

It took her a moment to remember the movie, Alexis falling asleep, and her climbing into bed with her. It might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but right now it felt weird and weird was bad.

Kate slowly extracted herself from around Alexis. Standing up and looking at her, she began to wonder what if. What was her future now? How did she get home? Then an idea came to her. If the Rift got her here, could it get her back? Her and her dad. To before her mother had been killed?

She left Alexis and went into the main room. It gave her a chance to really see the place, unlike when she came in with Alexis. It was maybe a little too modern for her taste but it was nice.

What had her attention next, after walking up the stairs was the wall that looked like an aquarium. She walked up to it and looked at all the sea life inside of it. She liked the look of it but didn't want to know what it weighed nor how it was moved all the way up here.

She thought she saw something on the other side and found doors on either side of the aquarium and chose one. Once outside she saw an outdoor dining table and lots of bench seating on either side of the ship. Just beyond the table was a pool that didn't look like it had an edge. That alone had her walking toward it. It wasn't until she was almost at the pool that she saw him. It was Rick and he was damn near naked except for whatever little that was he was wearing while he floated on his back in the middle of the pool.

"WOW!" The word was but a whisper as it escaped her lips. Kate had seen him but she had never seen him like this.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to jump in with me?" His voice caught her by surprise. She ducked her head to hide the blush that worked its way up her cheeks.

"I don't have a suit." Kate was trying to keep from being tempted to join him in the pool.

"I'm not sure but there might be one in the main bedroom. The captain's wife likely has a suit. No guarantee it will fit you, though."

Rick, she noticed, never even moved, but she did see that he had one eye open and it was looking at her. "Would you like an engraved invitation?" he teased.

She wasn't going to put up with that and she sure as hell wasn't going to let him win this teasing match. "Just don't up and disappear on me while I'm changing." She wheeled around to go back inside.

"I'll be here." That only got Kate moving faster.

She hurried through the first door that she assumed to be the master bedroom and found that she was right. It was also quite spacious and had a king-size bed. While the room upstairs had an aquarium on one wall, the bedroom also had two walls filled with glass. The walls were easily two stories tall based on the ceiling height.

There was a single, large, curved sofa that was cream in color and filled with pillows. In front of it was a coffee table made of dark wood polished to a bright shine. In addition there were two cream colored chairs that were accented by a dark brown stitching.

While the living room was bright and airy, the master bedroom was far darker and filled with dark woods. Dark wood floors, an accent wall that was made of dark wood. Even the bed was dark wood that looked to be elevated above the floor somehow since the edge of the bed at the floor had soft glowing lights.

Finding the closet wasn't a problem; it was a huge walk-through. It also looked like Rick had moved in but hadn't really moved the captain or his wife out. The space was mostly filled with her clothes.

Kate couldn't resist running her hands over a lot of what was hanging. She definitely liked what she saw. But she was here for a swimsuit. She opened several drawers and found bras, panties, socks, garter belts, stockings, and night shirts. "Where are the shoes?" She was so raiding this closet even if the shoes didn't fit her.

Then she saw pair after pair of shoes on display and the display was round. She quickly found that just removing a shoe was enough to get it to move for her. IT SPUN! With a shoe in hand, she made it spin slowly as more and more shoes came on display. "WOW!" Kate spun it till the matching shoe showed itself. She pulled it out and sat down to take her shoes off and try these on.

She began walking up and down the closet wearing her new shoes. She was positively beaming. As far as she was concerned, this closet with all these clothes and shoes was now hers. She was the only woman on the ship and she decided this room was hers now. She just needed to convince Rick.

She walked back to the drawers. "Please have a bikini." She opened a drawer that held swimsuits. "One piece… one piece… one piece." Kate cast each one off to the side. "Please just one."

Kate was disappointed but undaunted. Surely there were other females on this ship. She just had to search their rooms. For now she was looking at each suit again and trying to decide which one to wear. Then she finally found the most risqué one in the drawer. The back was cut very low, the top was lower than any bikini she'd ever worn. And there was a cutout on the front.

Stripping off her clothes, she didn't stop to think that she was in Rick's bedroom, naked. She put the suit on and adjusted the little white string so that it didn't show. Her period had started yesterday and so far it had been a light one. Thankfully she'd had no cramps and not much bloating. Next she put her hand inside the top and adjusted her breasts so that the suit fit better. Satisfied, she started to walk out but stopped and spun the shoe rack again till she found what she thought she remembered seeing.

They were nude high heels with barely even a strap to hold her feet in place. They looked uncomfortable, however she was only going to wear them to the pool where she would take them off. Kate grinned an evil grin. "Or get Rick to take them off for me." The heels would only add to her height and make her long legs look even longer. There was one good thing to say about wearing that one piece. It showed off her long legs to perfection.

She looked at herself in the mirror and gave a little nod, pleased with what she saw. Kate began adding a little more sway to her hips once she reached to door that led outside. She strode with purpose out to the pool where she found Rick standing in the water up against the edge with his arms spread wide while his hands rested on the edge. She also noticed that he only had eyes for her.

Kate couldn't resist a soft smile. Rick was eyeing her. She knew she was pretty and at the moment at least, she felt sexy. She had his attention. Now to get him to see things her way.

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Jim had some answers now, not as many as he wanted, but some, and a lot of what he'd learned shocked him. He didn't remember Rick leaving him on the bridge, alone. Although it must have happened since he was the only one there.

Still he needed to verify what he'd learned from Rick. The problem was there weren't that many people on this ship to question. Alexis might not be able to lie, but she was less likely to understand what was going on.

There was still that robot, Lex, that he could ask. He had encountered other robots just like it on this ship and he had stopped to question several of them. But none of them actually answered his questions, certainly not like this Lex was capable of doing. He found himself at a comm panel and touched it. "Where is the robot called Lex?"

"The B-5 unit named Lex is in Medical." Okay, so he had been corrected. It wasn't a robot like his daughter kept referring to it as, it was a B-5. He could adapt. "How do I get to Medical from here?" Instantly there was a trail of lights that would take him there. "I could learn to start to like the year 2327." Jim grinned and started walking.

Lex was sitting in front of a computer screen watching the readouts after having added Alexis's DNA sample to the gel. According to the information her stepsister, Alexis, had given her, this early stage needed to be watched closely. The gel itself was subject to damage if not regulated properly and since this gel was what the DNA would use to grow and feed the body she was after, she needed to watch it closely.

In her peripheral vision, she saw the end of the trail of lights were lit at the door leading to Medical. That told her that either Alexis, Jim, or Kate were headed her way. Rick and herself knew their way around without the aid of the computer.

It was only moments later that she heard Jim's voice. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, I can monitor what I'm doing and talk at the same time. What can I help you with?" Lex was betting that Jim was here to ask questions. Either he didn't get what he wanted from Rick, or he had still more questions.

He found a stool and moved it over closer to her. "What are you monitoring, if I may ask?" It wasn't what he came here for, but he needed to start somewhere.

"My family left behind a way for me to grow a body that I can transfer myself into. To be able to live as a person again." Lex actually had high hopes that it would allow her to be Alexis once more. Go to school, have friends, meet a boy, have kids, start a family of her own. Everything that she'd lost when she had been murdered.

Jim looked around and could see the tank that looked to be filled with a thick liquid substance. "And you found all this under our vacation house?" He didn't understand how it could've gotten there, nor why their house.

"Yes, I'm sure my family thought it was an excellent hiding place to keep the Alliance from finding it and taking it." Lex had to be careful with what she said. Not to accidentally say someone's name. Especially Kate or Alexis's.

"Our house? Why our house? What was so special about our house to your family? Did they buy it years later?" Jim knew there was no way neither he or his daughter was going to live to the year 2327.

"No, the Beckett family still owns the land and the house it sits on. What did Rick tell you? I'm betting that you just left him. Perhaps you should wait on your questions till you understand what you have been told. Share what you have learned with Kate," she advised.

Jim thought about it. Rick had said that the whole story was extremely complex and he had to admit that these two were going out of their way not to overload them with information. It was just that getting it all piecemeal made it feel like they were being lead around by the nose.

"Perhaps, but answer my one question and I'll go. Why exactly did you need the DNA from Alexis? Why couldn't you have gotten your DNA from Kate? Alexis is a child where Kate is not." What was so special about Alexis?

Granted he would leave the choice to Kate about her DNA. It was her DNA after all, he could only offer his opinion.

"Alexis is family. I traced Rick all the way back to my family that was in 1876."

Okay, that made sense, though tracing one's family back that far wasn't easy. Maybe in 2327 it was easier, but he doubted it. So she needed a blood relative even if it was a distant one. Still that didn't explain why their vacation house. Then a thought hit him. These two looked to be going out of their way not to…

"Why are you and Rick being evasive? Neither of you ever mention names of people. Even just now it's 'My family.' Just who is your family?" Jim didn't know it but had just asked one of the biggest questions there was when it came to their family.

Lex simply smiled. "That's two questions."