Jack and Jill III
Chapter 14
It is 3 months later
Kate intercepted Rick just as he pulled his Jeep into the garage. "How did it go?" She had been banished from the job site because she was now 6 months pregnant and she couldn't hide it any longer.
"The engines themselves are in place which wasn't easy. The design had them fitting like a glove. Almost no extra space was left over. Next up is the wiring. The guy for that is supposed to show up tomorrow and get started. None of us can do that kind of work." Rick managed to get out of his Jeep.
"Once the wiring for engineering is complete we're going to start installing the batteries and wiring them up. And begin wiring for the hibernation pods while the rest of us build them. Then lower them into place. After that we'll decide what comes next.
"Jack thinks we might be just a touch behind schedule but still around 9 to 10 months from now provided all of the testing shows us as being ready." Rick kissed her and headed for the house.
"And the baby?" Kate was all about the baby of late. She couldn't take her mind off of it. She'd already started her list of names.
During her last trip to the doctor they had tried to determine the sex but the baby had other plans. "Your baby's hiding. Looks like we'll have to wait for your next appointment."
"If we're on schedule and can stay there, you and the baby are going to share a pod. If we can't stay on schedule and go over by too many months we'll have to redesign and deconstruct some of the ship to make room for a third pod. Which would be hell." They didn't have room for a third pod. Everything was fitting like a glove.
Kate had a sudden worry that maybe none of them were thinking about. "What if I'm early?" As it was the baby was going to be only a few months old. She would still be breastfeeding it. Together they had nixed the idea of using the local formula. They were eating local food and while it wasn't doing anything to them, Rick and Kate had a mature immune system. The baby wouldn't.
That had Jill popping into view. "Even if you deliver prematurely, the baby will be small and its growth will be slower. Since you are smaller than Rick it only makes sense for you and the baby to share a pod. The inserts for each pod will go in last. That way each person will be comfortable while they sleep." Jill had already thought about that.
"Are we going to be naked? Or do we wear something?" If they were only going to get out after they were rescued she wasn't sure she wanted to be naked. The baby could go naked; she didn't have a problem with that.
"We are going to have a suit designed for you. About 3 months before launch we're going to have it made and then shipped to Hawaii. That should leave enough time for it to arrive. We need for the gas to reach all of you, so it will need to breathe. It is also going to be skin-tight," Jill added.
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Jim got up to greet her. "Hi, Martha."
"Hello, Jim. Did you get us a table?" This was their third meeting and this time she was going to show him how and what the other side ate and where.
"I wasn't sure they would let me. I don't really fit in here." Nor was he dressed for here, though to be honest neither was Martha.
Martha flipped her hand. "Nonsense." She was sure they would and didn't want him thinking he wasn't worth it. "I have a reservation so let's get seated." Martha headed for the 2 girls manning the receptionist station.
"Rodgers, party of two." She watched them scan a screen that popped up in midair out of nowhere.
The receptionist picked up 2 tiny cards. "Right this way." She led them deeper into the restaurant that had Jim looking all over the place. It looked nothing like any restaurant he had ever been inside of. She stopped at a table made for just 2 people and yet in this restaurant there were only 3 other two-person tables in view. The entire place was a little dark save for the lights directly over their table and the other tables. If he didn't know better he would think this was a romantic date.
They were told their server would be right with them.
"So how have you been?" Martha had learned about Jim from her son and while her heart had taken an instant critical hit, her next thought was how Jim was taking the news. It had been only 3 weeks after being told that the search for the ship and any surviving escape shuttles had been ended.
That had been followed by declaring everyone on the cruise ship deceased. Martha found herself rich and while she wanted to go out and drink herself into a rich oblivion, it was Jim that kept her sane.
"Better, I think. Trying not to fall into the same trap as last time," Jim said. Living with Katie gone was tough on him.
"Richard is the first person that close to my heart that I've lost. I may be twice-divorced now, but that hurt nothing like this. I still can't believe the pain you must be in. …I keep telling myself that it was fast and they didn't feel any pain." Except Martha didn't believe a word of it.
"Pirates." Jim shook his head and went through everything they'd been told all over again in just a moment. Being told that the military had been in the area and hadn't saved them hadn't helped any.
"The stupid military!" Martha placed all of the blame on them. For not finding the pirates in the first place. For not stopping them from firing on an unarmed civilian ship filled with people. Then listening to them talk about that same civilian ship jumping into FTL suddenly and not being able to find the ship again. They had finally deemed them dead because by now the ship would be out of power if it was even in one piece since it had taken hits before vanishing.
"We came here to eat, so let's eat." Martha tapped her card, watched the 3D menu pop up in front of her, and started looking to make a selection.
Jim had never seen anything like it and mimicked what Martha had done. Most of what was listed he recognized even if the names were different. Then he saw the cost. "Martha… This is a week's pay." They shouldn't be eating here. This kind of money would keep him fed for far longer than just one meal.
"Not anymore." Martha had a surprise but was hanging onto it for now. "Just pick what you like and let's eat." They had skipped getting drinks. Jim didn't dare or he might never stop again and Martha had decided to never drink alcohol in front of him. She drank at home only or when she went out to eat without him.
Jim didn't like it but he picked something that was one of the least costly items on the menu. He didn't fail to notice that Martha didn't follow his lead.
"How is your play?" He knew she was an actress and that what she was in was a dedication to how plays used to be countless years ago.
"They're thinking about shutting it down." It wasn't that the play was that bad or that people didn't come to see it. But the companies that were funding them were beginning to question if they should continue to support it.
"I'm sorry." She had sounded so happy that the play was still going all this time.
Martha waved her hand at him which he was finding was typical for her. Anything that was bad news she just blew off and moved on. She had far more strength than he had.
"It ends or it doesn't. Either way I'll find something to do." Martha was determined to not let anything get to her. She had lost enough already.
They finally ordered their food and went through another round of fruity drinks.
"How are this Gina and… What was her name? Paula?" He had listened to what Martha had to go through to get Rick's money that had been listed in his will. Since Rick didn't have a book to publish because he was dead, Gina wanted his advance back.
Once again Martha waved her hand. "Henry took care of all that. All I know is that she didn't get her money." Martha was just glad she never saw Gina again.
"And Paula?" Jim knew she had really managed to press Martha's buttons.
"That woman!" Martha growled. As if losing her son wasn't bad enough, Paula showed up with her grand plan. "I've always know some women could be bitches and while I've hated the term…" She was a woman after all and it reflected badly on her sex. "That woman gives new meaning to the term BITCH." Martha wished she had some alcohol to kill the pain.
"She still at it?" Jim knew what Paula wanted since Martha had explained it to him. To him it sounded like exploitation of a dead person for their own personal gain. Granted as Martha had explained it she was trying to keep Rick's memory alive and keep his books in circulation. But it just sounded sick to him. Rick was dead.
"Would you believe she actually wants me to go to a book signing and sign either for him or sign my name. …ME!" Martha reached for her glass of water, wishing it held something else.
Jim chuckled softly. "Let me guess what you told her." He'd learned that Martha wasn't shy and that she didn't give up on anything. He was betting she was why Rick never gave up on his Katie.
"Oh, I told her what she could do with her book signing, all right. The nerve of that woman." Martha was starting to get mad all over again before she took a deep breath and let her anger wash away.
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They both stopped just outside the front door of the restaurant. They needed to decide what to do next. When they are arrived it hadn't been raining but it was now.
"Same time next week?" Martha didn't want to lose track of him. Her son was gone and so was his daughter. Jim was about all she had left. "OH! One more thing." She fished the card out of her pocket and handed it to him.
"What's this?" He had seen this type of card before so he knew what it was, just not what it said.
"Open it when you get home and don't be late. They're expecting you." Martha had put a lot of effort into getting him an interview. All he had to do was sell himself and he would be poor no longer. Maybe not as rich as she was now, but certainly richer.
"Take care of yourself, Jim." Martha held his arm for a moment and then ran for it. It was time to go home.
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Jim was dressed in the very best he had even if it didn't fit him perfectly anymore. He'd never even been in this building let alone worked inside it.
He still didn't see how Martha had done it or even why. Okay, that last part might be a lie. He knew why. He stopped just outside of the building and looked up. It was a shining example of what could be built on this planet. It had only taken months to build this massively tall building and that included taking down the building that used to be there.
This building screamed rich. A type of rich that he knew so very little about. It wasn't that the poor like himself were ignored. It was just that he held no power of any kind.
Jim went inside with his résumé that was printed on a single piece of paper. Jim had no choice but to go old school. It was what he had and feared greatly that as soon as they saw it they would show him the door.
He never noticed his entire body being scanned. He also didn't notice the armed police that were waiting for someone stupid enough to try and gain entrance.
The pod took him straight to their floor. "Please have a seat. Mr. Jackson will be with you in a moment," Jim was told and since he didn't dare sit for fear of not being able to get up he decided to stand.
"Mr. Beckett." A younger man dressed in the very latest and most modern of suits stepped out and shook his hand. "If you'll come with me." He led Jim deeper into the office and into a small conference room.
"Paper." He actually sounded happy to see it when Jim handed over his résumé.
Jim watched him read and then maybe even reread. "You're probably wondering why," Jackson said.
"Pretty much." He had no business even being in this building let alone in this office.
"It's actually pretty simple. The type of people we serve can afford us. However, we've come to understand after a lengthy amount of research and debate that we can increase our profit if we can find people like yourself. People that can't afford us but can afford you.
"We've already done our own research on you. We learned where you studied law, where you placed in your class. We even gained access to all of your test scores. Granted your school of choice didn't allow you placement with a good firm like ours. But we have a plan." His school of choice and his present position made him a perfect candidate.
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Jim, after four hours of being asked questions, was leaving that same building. His mind was still in the clouds and parts of him felt like he had just been taken apart and then put back together again.
He had gotten a, "Sorry for your loss," meaning they knew about Katie. Regardless, he was also walking out with not just a modern pad, but also a security card and a copy of the offer that he had signed.
He wasn't their kind of rich now, but in his mind he was rich. Stinking rich. Or would be after his first paycheck. He wasn't going to be serving their kind of rich but they were branching out to serve people more like himself or a little better off.
Most of the power came in the name he was now serving. They only hired the very best. Naturally he wouldn't be working in this building. They'd purchased a different building for their annex firm. Something that people he would be serving would be more comfortable in.
He was in his little apartment that he had shared with Katie. In fact all of her things were even still there. He hadn't had the heart to get rid of any of it. Much like a lot of the belongings that had been his wife's were also still there.
It was then that he started laughing. It was that or cry. Laughing seemed to fit his present condition a little better. He also realized that he needed to find a way to thank Martha for this. How she had gotten him an introduction escaped him. Rick was the one that was that kind of rich even if he wasn't all that rich. He knew Martha never had been. So HOW?
He started in 2 days at his new office, doing his new work. He just needed to pack up what he had at where he worked now and move in. His new employer was going to clear everything with his old employer.
Jim walked to his phone and called Martha. He needed to thank her now and come up with something to show how thankful he was. Except she didn't answer so he left a message. Their weekly meeting was a few days from now. He would thank her and ask her why and how when they met.
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Martha had insisted on paying for their weekly meetings at a restaurant even if they did take turns in picking the places for them to eat. It had allowed Jim to eat in places he would otherwise have never even set foot inside of. This time it was his choice.
"It's cute." Martha approved of his choice of the day after meeting him at the front door.
"Two for Beckett," Jim told them and followed them to their seats.
Jim wasted no time. "I need to thank you for what you did, even if I don't know how you did it."
As was typical for Martha she waved it off as being no big deal. "I take it it worked." They had hired him obviously.
"I'll say. One of the biggest law firms in the country hired me." He still couldn't believe it. He hadn't gone to the very best college since he couldn't afford it. True he had gotten really good grades but people like him didn't get jobs like this.
"They're planning an expansion and they want me in it. I haven't gotten my first paycheck yet but I'll be earning 6 months of what I would've earned at my old job in just 2 weeks at my new job." He was rich. Yes, there were people that were far richer, like every lawyer in that office for starters. But in his mind he was rich.
"Good, now we can go looking for a new apartment for you. I love spending other people's money." Martha wanted in on this apartment search.
"May I ask why?" Why had she done it? She didn't have to do anything and was just happy to eat out once a week.
"That's easy, you're family." That was the way Martha saw him. She saw him start to shake his head. She was a Rodgers or Castle while he was a Beckett. "Richard dearly loved Katherine. Love wins out over everything. If they were here today they would be married by now. Which makes you family and family helps each other," Martha explained matter-of-factly.
"I just wish I'd had a chance to spoil my grandchildren." She was going to outlive her own son and that had tears starting to form in her eyes yet again. She fought them off.
"Katie did only talk about Rick. She wouldn't admit it but I knew she loved him, too." His eyes began to tear up knowing that he wasn't going to get to give her away. He wasn't going to have grandchildren. He was going to live out his life alone.
"See, family. …So what's good here?" Martha turned her attention to the menu. She quickly found that the options here were better than the places he normally selected for them.