Space Ghost
Chapter 27
Rick introduced the two. "Arthur, meet Kate Beckett. Kate, this is Arthur."
"A pleasure. What can I get you? And why are you using crutches?" Lais had gotten there using crutches.
"A little accident," Rick said.
"Yes, I had my ship destroyed around me. That kind of little." Lais didn't see anything little about it.
"Oh, my." Even to him that sounded really bad. "I'm afraid I have bad news. I'm all out of chocolate and vanilla ice cream and the ability to make more."
"That's not good." Alexis loved the difference between the two. That alone might be why he was out. "We need something to help us decide what to do next in our lives. What have you got?" Alexis questioned him.
"A life changing moment in time. Let me think… I have just the thing." He slid to the very far end to work his magic.
That had Kate leaning across since she had heard something and he had moved really fast. "He doesn't have any legs! Robot?" The top of him didn't look like one.
"An android with a personality. He doesn't seem to mind," Alexis answered since to her and Rick he was a person. He simply couldn't go anywhere else.
Rick got them on topic. "We need to come up with a plan on what to do now."
Alexis suddenly had an idea. "What if we go back? We're invisible and can stay that way. Go somewhere that the nuclear winter hasn't reached yet and just take what we need. The Xindi will never see us so they can't kill us." Everyone was going to die eventually so stealing what they needed wasn't really gong to hurt anyone.
"Can you prevent the nuclear winter?" Kate inquired since they were clearly advanced. They were aliens after all. Okay not actual aliens, but close enough.
"I don't have that capability. I designed this ship to combat Xindi, not terraform a planet. Granted I – or we – lost but in our defense we didn't anticipate their ships being the size of a small city. And I still haven't figured out just what those two shot us with. Their shots are really powerful." He had been totally surprised by that.
Arthur was back and placed the first two on the counter and then went back for two more.
"Peppermint Mocha. It used the last vestiges I had of unsweetened cocoa, peppermint sticks, espresso, steamed milk, whipped cream, and crushed peppermint sticks," Arthur explained.
"Coffee!" Kate snatched up her glass and took a sip. "It's not vanilla but it's really good. I like it."
"Where are we now?" Rick asked, looking at Alexis.
"Probably just passing the outermost planet. Are you really thinking of going back?" It wasn't too late but they absolutely needed to stay very far away from those two Xindi ships.
"We need food and anything else we can find. The question is where are they when we get there and where can we go based off of that," Rick mused.
"Russia and Europe are out and anything in the United States," Lais pointed out since that was where all of the ICBMs had gone.
"So what's far enough away from the States and Russia that will have food or other things?" Rick queried even if he did have an idea.
"Wind direction?" Kate asked.
"If the Xindi stay with larger continents then Africa will be next if they aren't already on their way there," Alexis offered.
"I'm thinking Australia or the Caribbean islands," Rick suggested. "Turn us around and take us back. Best speed and check the power and see if we can keep the invisibility active." They couldn't do this without it. The Xindi would simply waltz over and crush them.
Alexis drank the last of her drink. "On it." Then she ran to the bridge.
"I'm going to do an inventory so we can decide what we need most," Rick said and hurriedly swallowed his drink.
"What do we do?" Lais pointed at Kate and herself.
"You two and Alexandre need clothes and anything else you can think of. You two get to create a list. What do you want and can't live without for a year or more? What do women need most?" Rick nodded at them and left to start his work.
Rick and Alexis were gone. "That's easy, something sexy," Lais grinned.
"Bras, panties, tampons, clothes, and lots and lots of shoes." Kate actually began to smile. She might be in a really strange place under really strange circumstances, but she was about to go shopping.
Lais became serious. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, I guess. It's weird, like really weird. …I get why Alexis hates me. I was a closed off bitch at first. Aliens didn't exist and everything else. It took me weeks to come to terms with it all. Lanie called it the five steps." Suddenly her heart ached a little. Lanie, Espo, Ryan, and her dad were dead and she wasn't.
"Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, then Acceptance." Lais was familiar with those five steps. "She's dead isn't she? This Lanie." Lais saw a look of pain.
"Yeah…, everyone I know is dead." Kate felt tears starting.
"And now you have to go through survivor's guilt. Maybe we can help each other. The Xindi just killed my friends I had left behind. Yet here I am trying to steal what's left so I can run away to some place else. A place we still need to discuss."
"An alien planet." Kate might be in acceptance mode but going to another planet was still a lot to take in.
"It's not as bad as it sounds. Mine was nice even if I did have to learn a new language. My son grew up learning that language and I think he actually taught me." Lais laughed a little. She gave her an example. "Ha was a verui interesting near na guin-. If mín glenn- ennas cin'll learn na mel ha." Then she translated it into English for her. "It was a very interesting place to live. If we go there you'll learn to love it."
"It sounds lovely," Kate admitted. "I learned to speak Russian easily, so maybe."
"Let's find a pad so we can start our list." Lais grabbed her crutches. "Thanks for the coffee, Arthur. It was delicious."
"I'm glad you liked it. …I accept tips," he added softly.
Lais smiled and gave him a tip. "Don't quit your day job."
"I don't think that will be a problem." He was pretty much stuck doing what he was doing and didn't really mind. He liked what he was doing.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
"Okay. The winds initially took it south into Mexico then it started to disperse everywhere. The Xindi are presently in the middle of Africa so currently we're over Anchorage, Alaska. Depending on where they go next will tell us where we go next," Rick told them all save for Alexandre who was still in medical and would be for weeks.
Rick turned to Kate. "You don't have a suit so your job is to make room for the next load after we drop stuff off. Alexis and I are going to focus on food. Lais, your job is to get what's on the list you two made." He reached out and put his hand on Kate's shoulder. "Kate, you know where the communications panel is and how to use it. The security bots are connected to the scanner. If the Xindi come this way you're going to get an alert and you need to use that panel to warn us. We need to be gone before they get here even if they can't see us."
"Got it," Kate nodded.
"Love, you're sure your legs are fine?" He had removed the bone knitter and wanted to make sure.
"I can do this," Lais assured him.
"Empty the cargo bay as fast as you can so we have space for more stuff. Let's go." Rick stepped into the airlock followed by Alexis then Lais and soon each of them were flying to their destination. Lais flew to Northway Mall while Rick and Alexis flew to Food Services of America.
Thanks to the ICBMs and Xindi the entire place was in chaos. However, most everyone was attacking places like one of the three Home Depots or stores like them. Or grocery stores. They were betting that they hadn't thought about hitting a distribution warehouse so it might be safer. Lais actually was in the most danger since people would be hitting malls to steal all they could get their hands on.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Rick and Alexis could easily see each other. "Walk-ins," Rick pointed and opened the first one. "Jackpot." He liked what he was seeing. "Grab a box and take off. Just pick one since we're going to empty this of everything." Alexis picked up a large open box that had produce in it and left.
Rick dragged an entire pallet out, worked at getting under it, and lifted it above his head. He went out the large roll-up door then flew off.
"Show off!" Alexis saw what he was carrying then left for the next load.
"Box by box into our walk-ins, please," Rick said to Kate who didn't see him or Alexis. She just saw a flying box and a flying crate of food.
Kate was still working on the first pallet when suddenly another one showed up. She was trying to figure out how they got in and out through that big hole in the wall. "Star Trek for real. Who would have guessed." Bemused, she shook her head, picked up a box, and went into the walk-in. Kate came back out and found clothes dumped on the floor. She picked those up and dropped them near the stairs then went back to the boxes of food.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Kate was falling behind. Far behind and she was getting tired and the storage bay was filling up far faster than she could empty it. Then suddenly that security bot beeped at her. "Shit." She ran over to the wall and pressed a series of panels. "Your security bot's beeping at me," Kate said and waited.
"Last trip, pumpkin," Rick said and called Lais. "Get back to the ship. The Xindi are getting closer."
"On my way," Lais quickly responded. Rick picked up the last pallet in the walk-in cooler and wished they had time to empty the walk-in freezer but they needed to move. The Xindi might not be able to see them but they would target the entire city and hit them at the same time.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
"Australia or the Caribbean? We might or might not have time for both," Rick asked as Alexis was running to the bridge to move them.
"Australia's bigger and so are their cities," Kate suggested even if all this stealing didn't sit well with her.
Lais pointed out a potential problem with that location. "Bigger cities mean more people running around in a panic."
Rick tapped the communicator at his neck. "The Caribbean, pumpkin. Just pick an island then do a search on where to stop." He looked at Lais. "How's your list coming? And how's your leg?"
"My leg's fine, thank you. Not done with the list yet." Yes, she had some of everything but wanted a lot of everything if it was going to last them a year or more.
"Food and Lais and Kate's list, Alexis. Find us a spot to stop above." Rick waited.
"How are you doing?" Rick glanced at Kate who was looking stressed.
"Fine, I think. But I'm not used to stealing. I'm a cop, not a thief." Kate actually told him the truth, something that surprised her a little.
Rick sighed and was saved by Lais. "Think of it as survival instead of stealing, Kate. What we don't take is just going to go to waste or end up destroyed or taken as a resource by the Xindi. We need it and they don't." What they did deserve was to be killed but they couldn't do that.
"I suppose." It made sense but it still didn't feel right to Kate.
"Twenty minutes," Alexis called out.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
"Here's the map." Alexis sent it down to them.
"Dillards, Nordstroms, Target, Dicks, Ross." Kate knew most of these names.
"It's already a madhouse down there," Alexis warned them. "I found St. Johns Food Service in St. Augustine. It's a lot quieter looking," she added.
Rick made a choice. "Take us there then. We can search for more on your list later if the Xindi allow it." They needed food more than clothes and other stuff.
"Autopilot, five minutes. I'm on my way." Alexis left the bridge and headed for them.
"I know, I know. Move what you bring out of the cargo bay to make room for more." Kate was pretty sure her arms were going to fall off.
"And you're good at it," Rick said to her then disappeared and flew out the cargo bay door.
"Don't patronize me. I'm not a child!" Kate yelled after him.
But this time the cargo bay was filling up far faster than she could keep up with. The stacks were getting higher and higher. She was noticing that it was a mix of cold items and a lot of dry goods. Soda, cereal, pasta, rice, sugar, flour, coffee, spices, seasonings, sauces, dressings and tea. Followed by beef, poultry, pork, eggs, cheese, butter, fish, seafood, crab meat, gator meat, canned soups, canned vegetables, and pastries.
"Looks like you could use a hand." Rick was noticing that he was stacking it higher and higher.
"You think!" Kate snapped and let her tired arms fall to her side. "I'm sorry. I truly am trying."
"Take a break then and I'll take over." Rick was on his third trip out of the cargo bay while Lais and Alexis were still gone.
Kate heard her security bot beeping at her. While her arms were still tired and hurting she went to the communications panel. "Your security bot's beeping at me." She knew what that meant.
Rick ran to the bridge so he could move them.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
"This is our last stop. We're running out of safe places to go. Welcome to Greenland," Rick announced. "We are now over Pisifikk."
"New bedding!" Alexis ran that way.
"Bras, panties," Lais hurried to the women's department.
"Bicycles, scooters!" Rick went that way. He was thinking recreation. They had to have some fun for a year or longer.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Rick had an armful of clothes. Lais had a box filled with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Alexis had a box of coffee after Kate had begged her for all she could find.
"Your security bot's beeping at me again," Kate called out which had all three of them flying to the ship. Alexis got there first and ran past Kate to get to the bridge.
"Coffee! Thank you!" Kate picked it up and went to the kitchen. She really needed a cup of coffee about now. She desperately needed something familiar.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
"One scoop of vanilla for you." Arthur handed Lais a cone. "One scoop of chocolate for you." Arthur handed Alexis her cone. "One scoop of strawberry for you." Arthur handed Kate a cone. "And one scoop of Rocky Road for you." Arthur handed Rick his cone.
Arthur was back in business and it felt good. He had options for everyone again.
"So where do we go once we have enough power for continuous use of FTL and maybe start repairs of other systems," Rick asked everyone.
"Home?" Alexis asked hopefully since to her home wasn't Earth.
"Home?" Lais suggested since neither place was her home.
"I don't believe I'm asking this," Kate rolled her eyes since this almost sounded stupid, "but can you travel back in time and fix what went wrong?"
"You mean have you go back to not believing in aliens? Go back to before either of us even started designing our ships?" Rick asked if this was what she was thinking. "Lose all over again?"
"If I can believe once I can believe again," Kate assured him.
"If we know what went wrong we can fix it. But I don't know of a way to do that." Her home planet didn't have that capability.
"Hold that thought." Alexis took her cone with her and jogged to the bridge.
"Does she know something?" Lais didn't understand.
"Got me," Rick shrugged. His home planet didn't have that capability, either.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Alexis handed each of them a pad to read. "Okay, this is yours, this one's yours, and this is for you. I saw this earlier but I didn't have time to read it, but it might tell us something."
"chay' poH HablI' qach." (How to build a time machine)
"Pumpkin, this is Preserver! You found this in the computer?" Rick couldn't believe it.
"There's a lot of this stuff in the computer. A whole lot," Alexis replied. "Keep reading, there's more than this."
Rick, having once been a writer, was also a fast reader. "This thing talks about a ship that has a protostar in the very center as the main power source. It routes this power through a generator to a large dish at the front. Good lord! The power this thing can generate is, is…" Even he didn't have a word for it.
"This says we need the power from that protostar to power the time machine." Lais had read some of the information about the time machine. "It says we can't go forward in time, only back. Everyone on the ship goes with us. I think that means we don't reset Kate back on Earth since she'll be with us on the ship."
Alexis had found something. "There are something called pulse weapons all around the ship that are less powerful. We might be able to use those against the Xindi fighters."
"Protostar! This talks about us having to make one using the ship out in space. It…" Kate was trying to read quickly. "It says we might blow up trying to make one." If making one might kill them what was the point in making one? "Is all this stuff real?" Kate was so very far out of her element.
"Where's the time machine?" Rick wanted to read it for himself.
"We build it on the ship," Lais stated but didn't tell him where she was reading that.
"The ship." Alexis had found a picture and turned her pad around for everyone to see.
"That's different looking. Really different." He had never seen anything like it.
It was oval shaped with a large dish up front. Two engines in the back and a glowing protostar in a large open center section.
"Can we build it and where do we build it? I used up most of my money making my ship," Lais said.
"I have some but not enough." He didn't have enough to make his ship again let alone this ship.
Alexis had a secret. "We might."
"What did you do, Alexis?" Rick wondered if he should be angry at her or kiss her.
"Well, you were worried about how much money and time we had to make our ship so I may have put some of the money into a few investments. If they did well we might have money. …Maybe." Alexis tried to show her please don't be mad at me face.
"How much are we talking about?" Rick asked.
"Whatever was left over when the ship was done and we were leaving." Alexis kept her face and began to get off her chair so she could run.
"All of it?" Rick questioned and saw her nod.
"We might be rich. Maybe. Possibly." Rick wasn't angry and was actually impressed. He had planned on leaving what was left over right where it was. If Alexis had invested it and it had done well, they might actually have what they started with in the first place. More or less.
"Alexis! I love you!" Lais was out of her chair and crushing her in a hug.
"So you're not angry?" Alexis still wasn't sure.
"Angry? Are you serious? How could I be angry at a young woman who's so smart?" Lais crushed her again.
"Does this mean you'll marry Dad?" Maybe she could learn to call her Mom.
Lais turned to look at Rick as did Alexis. Lais glared at him. "He hasn't asked me yet."
Kate burst into laughter. Rick was a dead man. And if she was hearing right her friends and her dad just might not stay dead.
Earth just might be saved.