Chapter 14

It was early evening before Doctor Huer found Buck and Sharese sitting in a quiet corner of the banquet hall. He sat down at the table.

"Relaxing?"

Buck sighed. "We finally got a couple minutes to ourselves."

Sharese tapped Buck on the arm. "Yeah; all those girls kept coming up to you crying that they were going to miss you."

Buck shrugged. "What can I say? I like to mingle."

"Well that's going to stop!"

Buck turned to Huer. "Sounds like a real wife, doesn't she?"

"I am your real wife!"

Huer chuckled heartily. "Well I've got some good news for you, Buck. I just received word that the authorities on Edenbridge approved your video. You are free to leave as soon as you wish."

"Great! Thanks, Doc. You did a great job up there. I was impressed."

Huer smiled. "I enjoyed it. I haven't done a wedding for so long; I think I was as nervous as you. I looked at you at one point and I could have sworn that you were in a daze or a trance."

Sharese and Buck looked at each other and giggled. "We were," he finally answered. "Varek slipped us a mild sedative before the ceremony."

"How much of it do you remember?"

"I kind of blacked out during the music."

Sharese nodded. "Yeah, me too."

Buck slapped Huer on the shoulder. "I hope you saved a copy of the video. I'd like to see what I missed!"

"I'll drop it in your mailbox at the Directorate. I assume you'll be leaving soon for Edenbridge?"

"Yep. We packed up the ship this morning before coming over here."

They all stood up. Buck and Huer shook hands. "Good luck," Huer said.

"Thanks. I'll keep you posted as much as I can."

"Don't take any unnecessary risks. We don't know how much control Caputi has there. I still don't like the situation, but I understand your reasoning."

"It's okay, Doc. We'll be okay."

"What will you do if you are unable to break the handcuff?"

Buck and Sharese shrugged. "We kind of already talked about that. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Well, are you ready?"

Sharese nodded. "It'll be nice to get into a nice quiet cockpit."

Buck chuckled. "It sure will."

On the way out they found Varek and made their way to the spaceport. Upon Varek's suggestion, Buck and Sharese rested in the cabin at the back of the ship while Varek took the ship's controls since the trip to Edenbridge would take several hours. Sharese had started to argue, but agreed with Buck that they could use the rest. Varek assured them that he would let them know when they neared Edenbridge. Within minutes of lying down in almost complete solitude, both Buck and Sharese were out cold.

Buck woke with a start when the ship landed heavily onto the hangar floor. Varek came into the cabin.

"We are on Edenbridge," he announced.

"Hey, why didn't you wake us up sooner?" Buck asked.

"You looked too comfortable."

Buck and Sharese grabbed their bags and headed for the exit, but Varek met them at the door. "Your Doctor Huer gave me something to give you."

He pulled out two small boxes. When he opened one box, he pulled out a small holster and pistol. Buck cocked his head to one side.

"I thought he said weapons were illegal on this world."

"They are. But he said these shouldn't set off the alarms. They are of a new construction material."

Sharese shook her head. "I don't know about this. The last thing I need is to be arrested here for smuggling weapons."

Buck nodded. "Yeah, I agree."

Varek grinned. "You don't have to worry about that. I will be able to handle that."

"How?" Buck asked.

Varek took the weapons and stuck them inside his long trench coat. He then manipulated his molecules to turn invisible. Buck gave a low whistle.

"Wow! You can make them invisible too?"

"I can create a small field of invisibility extending approximately six inches from my body. I will be able to carry the weapons through customs."
"What if the alarm goes off?"
Varek smiled. "Who's going to see me?"

"He's got a point," Sharese commented.

"Okay. You wait until we get through the gates. I want to be well out of commotion range if something goes wrong."

"Understood. I will meet you at the hotel."

Buck and Sharese left the ship and headed across the hangar. They went to the customs counter and picked up the visas Doctor Huer had provided. At the security gate they set their bags on a conveyor belt that sent the bags through an automatic sensor. Once the bags were cleared, they were sent through the sensor gate. On the other side of the gate, they were met by a beautiful girl who draped a wreath of flowers around their necks.

"Welcome to Honeymoon Planet," they said cheerfully.

They picked up their bags and started down the long, wide hall towards the exit. They had almost reached the exit when an alarm suddenly sounded. Sharese started to run but Buck held her back.

"Act casual," he whispered. "We don't need any attention."

She nodded, and they continued down the hall and slowly left the spaceport. They found a taxi and headed for the hotel. Sharese looked out the window of the cab at the darkness surrounding the city.

"I wonder what time it is."

"It is just after midnight, local time," replied the cabbie.

After checking into the hotel, they went to their 'honeymoon suite' (every room at the hotel was a honeymoon suite!) and unpacked.

"So what kind of plan do you have?" she asked.

He tapped her in the head. "I thought we could walk around town tomorrow and use your talents. Maybe someone here will know something about Caputi."

"I thought you didn't want me to use my psychic abilities."

"Not on me! Would you rather to stop and talk to a thousand people tomorrow trying to get information the old fashioned way?"

She shook her head. "No. I wonder if Varek was able to get away."

Just then a knock sounded on the door. Buck opened the door and let Varek to enter the room.

"What happened?" Sharese asked.

"Apparently the sensors here are much more sensitive than Doctor Huer thought," Varek replied. "But I had no problems maintaining my invisibility and getting away." He pulled out the two small boxes from his coat. "Dr. Huer told me to say that this is his wedding present to you."

Buck grinned as he took one box and handed it to Sharese. He took the other one and immediately strapped it to his ankle.

"Perfect fit!"

Sharese looked up at Buck and smiled. "You better be careful. I have one too!"

"So what are you saying?"

"When we go out tomorrow, you better not be looking at all those other women!"

Buck smirked slightly. "Yeah, but you know who I'm coming home with."

She shook the handcuffs. "You got that right!"

He yawned which then caused her to yawn. "Well, let's get to bed. I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be another long day."

Buck and Sharese went into the bridal bedroom as Varek sat down on the couch in the living room area.

"That's alright," he said to no one but himself. "I'll sleep out here."