Space Ghost

Chapter 28

It is now six months later

Kate had been almost everywhere in this ship with maybe only one or two exceptions. Not that she was concerned about those. She'd sat next to Rick as he monitored the ship as they traveled at FTL headed for what had become his new home planet.

She had gotten to see how the ship was controlled and all of the screens that they used plus the ability to look out into space. So far everything was a learning experience. She wasn't lost in the fact that at one point in her life all this was impossible.

Right now she was wearing one of the two swimsuits that Lais had gotten her on one of her trips and was floating down a lazy river. A lazy river in a space ship surrounded by plants. Then suddenly she was shot up hill so she could go back down and then go lazily around all over again. Out in space.

"You comfortable or would you like to help me with something?" Alexis showed up in the middle section that had a place to sit and just enjoy.

"Very comfortable," Kate answered however she stood up with her tube in hand. "What can I help you with?" The fact that Alexis who had at one point removed her ass was actually being nice to her.

"The Preservers left us a ship design but they left large sections vacant. Entire floors to be precise. Some of them are going to be rooms for us. Others are going to be cargo bays. That still leaves three entire floors for us to fill in. I wanted to know if there was something you wanted in particular. Dad let me design part of this ship and he's letting me design the new one. I just thought…" Alexis was doing her best not to hate this Kate.

"Sure. Thanks." Kate let her tube go, made her way out, and picked up her towel to dry off a little. Kate hadn't missed that Alexis wasn't nearly as brusque with her as she used to be.

"So what can we do and what can't we do?" What were the parameters?

"Pretty much anything. We just need to be able to add bulkhead doors that will seal off a section from everything else in case the hull's breached. Basically sacrifice that section to save the rest of the ship," Alexis explained.

"I understand the concept. So another river like this one or something else?" Kate still wasn't sure what was possible and what wasn't.

"We can if we want." Alexis suggested some options. "We could do what Lais and Alex did on their ship. Basically one big park to walk through and relax in. We could have a two or three story atrium in the middle with maybe a park on the ground floor. Pretty much anything we can think of."

"I'm a cop not a ship designer but I guess I could think of things I like and suggest them to see if they would work." Kate didn't know what, but maybe she could think of something.

"This is for you, then." Alexis handed her a pad. "Write a description or try and draw something. Maybe add notes about just how big you want it to be. We have a lot of space."

Kate took it. "Thanks." She watched Alexis nod and turn to leave. "Alexis, thank you. I was a different person when we first met."

"You were closed-minded and not willing to accept that anything else, no matter how real it was, was possible. I have a problem with that kind of thinking. I grew up on a different planet and learned what it was like to live there. They shaped who I am today. I can speak two languages with ease," Alexis informed her.

"So can I. English and Russian. I learned to love the Ukraine. It was a beautiful place. But thanks for this." Kate lifted her pad.

"Get ready to be amazed. Where we're going isn't Earth or really anything like it. And they don't speak English. …Or Russian. They do have problems so that isn't different. They also have a police force and different laws. I wouldn't advise you, Lais, or Alex to leave our compound without Dad or me. You might unintentionally end up getting arrested," Alexis warned her and then left her.

Kate sat there with her pad. "What do I like to do most? What do I want to see?" She pulled out the light pen that came with the pad and began to write.

Ice rink

Waterfalls

Lakes

Grass

Exercise room with weights and machines

Yoga mat

A beach

A mountain to climb

Lazy river

Pool with wave machine and beach

Shooting range

Solitude

Fast cars (Ferrari)

Shopping

Shoes

Kate had no idea if any of these were even possible, however, Alexis had asked her.

| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |

"Hi!" Alexis found Alex in their room after talking with Kate. She walked over to him and gave him quick kiss. "How do you feel?" He had been out of the medical bed for a few short months. No sooner than he had come out when Rick had gotten Lais into it where she had stayed for a week.

"Good as new, actually." Alex stopped her, embraced her, and saw her smile at him. "Feeling frisky?"

Alexis's smile got a little wider. "Maybe, what have you got in mind?"

Alexis let him work on her shirt. She was actually starting to feel better about herself. She actually filled a B cup now and felt like she was still growing. She had breasts and was feeling more and more like a woman.

"I've got four months left on my new stem." Lais had given her a new one recently.

"Same here," Alexandre said. Neither of them were anywhere near ready for her to be pregnant.

"Good, that means you can make love to me." Alexis kissed him and walked him backwards until his back hit a wall. Then she took hold of his hands, raised them up, and pinned them against the wall above his head. Then kissed him hard.

| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |

"Found you." Lais sat down in the seat Alexis normally sat in. "How are we doing?"

"We've replaced the couplings in one of the power conduits so we have weapons on one side if need be. We have all the missiles we're going to have since we're out of resources to build more. Power's up to 98.7% with the invisibility active even while in FTL as a precaution.

"If you're asking how we're doing on time we still have about seven to almost eight months to go. We're also going to be cutting it close with our food supply. As much as we got on Earth, it's going to be really close," Rick said.

"Good to know, but I meant us." Lais knew they lived together; they still made love daily and she loved him more than she had words for.

"We're still getting married once we arrive and I can make arrangements. You three are going to need IDs so it's going to take a little time. Then when or if we save Earth we can get married again. With your family and friends and my mother in attendance." They had talked about this and nothing had changed.

"I love you." Lais reached across to pull his head closer so she could kiss him. "Can we make a baby?" That was one more thing they needed to talk about.

"If memory serves we both still have three or four months left on our stems," Rick pointed out.

"I meant after that," Lais said.

"Need a hospital just after we do. I don't know what the locals will say about that. It will take us close to three years to build this new ship. I take it you're ready for another child?" Rick saw her smiling widely and nodding.

"Boy or girl?" They had the capability to select the sex.

"Either. But I would prefer it to be a surprise up to the point the baby is born." She just wanted it to be healthy and not do anything special.

"Sounds like we're having a baby." Rick brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers then reached out to pull her head closer so he could kiss her.

Lais said it again. "I love you, babe."

"I love you, too," Rick said, his eyes locked on hers.

"Maybe we can raise our baby at the same time as Alexis and Alex," Lais teased.

"Bite your tongue!" He had only just gotten comfortable with his baby girl being in love and that they were both sexually active. Lais laughed at him. She doubted they were ready, but accidents did still happen.

| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |

They had another two or three months to go based on their speed and where they wanted to exit FTL. At the moment they were sitting in what passed for a living room next to the ice cream shop.

"So four bedrooms each with its own bathroom." Rick was looking at his pad as was everyone else; theirs said the same thing.

"We're agreed on a three floor waterfall with a pond at the bottom that we can swim in with a lighted grotto behind it. This pond that the waterfall will spill into will also have a wave machine when active and a sand beach on one end with lights to get a suntan. Around it is going to be a lazy river similar to this one with bridges over it to reach the pond. There will be a park filled with grass and bushes, some of which will produce food we can pick on one end on one level and a small ice rink on the other.

"Then around one of the levels up against the outside wall will be a go-kart track using electric powered karts that will double as a jogging track with four karts and one spare along with a shop to do repairs. Then inside one of the curves will be a climbing wall. The level above will have an exercise room with space for a combat mat. In addition there will be the ice cream station and another living room like this one. There will be a chapel as well as a movie theater.

"We still have a little space for one more thing if anyone has something." Everyone else had been reading right along with Rick as he went through the list.

Kate couldn't believe they were actually going to do some of the things she had written down. She already had more than she had ever dreamed so she remained silent.

"A boyfriend for Kate?" Lais remarked since everyone else had someone. She was all alone and that didn't sit well with her.

"Lais! You're as bad as Lanie." She was turning into a good friend but she also reminded her of her best friend. Her very dead best friend.

"One year to get here. Three years to build a ship. One year to get back to Earth. That's a long time to be alone. Trust me, I know." She'd already done that once and then ended up having her ship destroyed right out from under her. "Going back in time isn't going to make you any younger."

"I'll be fine, thanks," Kate assured her.

"Fine." Lais fought back then. "Just get ready to go on dates over the next three years and I don't want to hear anything about it."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Great, just what I needed. A matchmaker."

"I'm so glad we agree. The three of us will check him out for you first," Lais informed her and smiled at her knowing Kate hadn't actually agreed.

"Make sure he isn't an axe murderer," Rick teased her since he wanted in on this action.

"Or a woman," Alexis offered. "What!? Don't look at me like that. Love is love. You take it where you can find it."

"With friends like you three who needs enemies?" Kate responded. Even if she was starting to miss having sex. Even if it was just a one night stand. All she saw, though, were three people smiling at her and it had her shaking her head.

Rick got back on task. "One more space. Any suggestions?"

"Game room?" Alexis couldn't believe her dad hadn't thought of that.

"GAME ROOM!" Rick wrote it down and Alexis survived the glare Lais was sending her way. Alexis knew that if she didn't give her dad a place to blow off steam and be a kid Lais was going to regret it in the long run.

"Two beds in medical this time?" Lais inquired.

"Already taken into account." Rick ran through the list. "Larger kitchen, more cargo bays, larger engine space, power conduits to the primary weapon. Plural. Secondary weapons and shields and even primary and secondary shields. We even have a small shuttle we can use as well as invisibility."

"Thank God!" Alexis didn't want to go through moving box after box from one place to another by flying it. That had been tedious and tiring. "Missiles?" She didn't see any.

"Just beams this time," Rick answered and didn't have a problem with that.

"Bathtub bridge? That was what saved us," Lais reminded him.

"We can try but the Preserver design has the bridge being much larger and right up front using transparent aluminum windows across one wall. I suppose we could add shutters or blast walls that will slam closed if needed." She was right, that was what had saved both of them when her ship had been rammed.

"Thank you." Lais felt better about that.

"If they were willing to ram our ship last time what stops them from ramming us this time?" Alexandre asked. The same two ships were going to show up and one of them was going to split into three again.

Rick had a plan for that as well. He'd learned that lesson and didn't need for it to be repeated. "There's a computer program. Under set conditions it will automatically jump us to FTL to avoid being rammed before any of us can react to them trying that again. It'll be a short jump so we won't go far."

"Can we stay invisible the entire time?" That sounded safer to Kate. She was actually amazed that she was fitting in so well. She had reached acceptance so now she trusted them and everything.

Rick shook his head. "The primary weapon's a power hog. It will take almost fifteen seconds before we can fire it again. Longer if the power reserve drops too far. We will need that power to fire it." That was a potential problem.

"We're going to need bombs possibly and a way to deliver them. We used an ICBM last time," Alexis pointed out.

"Only because we didn't have anything else. It should be different this time. I'll see what I can do." Rick didn't think they needed one but he'd been wrong last time so he would figure out something. "Maybe a small missile bay somewhere." He didn't know just where but if all it held was two or three and made one every few hours, maybe he could find the space.

"How's the baby?" Kate asked; she was done talking about killing Xindi and the ship design looked like it was solidified.

Lais placed her hand on her belly. "He or she is fine." She couldn't be happier. She was going to have a baby with the man she loved most. "We need to go to medical after this. It's time for another look." There would be one more before they arrived then she would go to a local hospital and see a live doctor instead of an auto doc.

| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |

"You two are late," Alexis frowned as she, Alexandre, and even Kate were already sitting in the living room with their pads.

"Sorry." Rick selected a chair to sit in.

"My fault." Lais took the blame since it actually was her fault. She was horny and needed Rick to make love to her.

"Okay, you three are now starting what amounts to the sixth grade in learning to speak Enthosian. Rosie." Alexis left it to Rosie to begin the class.

Kate still couldn't believe what she was looking at. She looked and even sounded like a robot straight out of that Jetsons cartoon. Yet Rosie had come from an alien planet. For a teacher she was pretty good and she never got upset or angry. She had even touched her just to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Beep, beep. Yes, Miss Alexis." Teaching was what she was here for so she was fulfilling her programming.

| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |

Rick had everyone back in the living room and handed out pads. "With your help these are the finished interiors that we'll be using. If anyone wants something else–" Rick was interrupted when Lais suddenly grabbed his hand and placed it over her now much larger baby bump. The baby was really moving and Rick beamed. His son or daughter was in there.

"May I?" Alexis asked for permission as Lais grabbed her hand and put it on her belly.

"It doesn't hurt?" Lais wasn't complaining so it must not.

"Depends on just where he or she is kicking," Lais answered then suddenly got up. "I'll be right back. The baby's playing the drums on my bladder." She needed to pee and the only bathrooms were in the bedrooms.

"Note to self. Add some half baths around the ship," Rick told himself and the others.

| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |

Lais was back and had her pad in hand.

"Okay, we've come up with a plan to have the walls of each level different colors so we can break up the monotony of having everything look the same. I was thinking of using a gray for all the walls mostly, just varying shades depending on the level. Then using different light colors on each floor.

"Blue for the pond level, green for the park level, and gold for the bedroom level. Normal white for critical areas like engineering, medical, and the bridge. And cargo bays, shuttle deck, and the like. Thoughts?"

Each of them looked at their pads to see what he had come up with.

"Can we have white down lights for the go-kart track," Kate asked since she wasn't sure she wanted to drive anything that fast in colored lights and still not take anything away from what was around the track.

"I think we can do that." Rick added a note and posted it to the go-kart track. "What else?"

"Lights in the pond so we can swim at night. Maybe even some tiny lights to simulate stars in the ceiling," Alexis suggested. This pond was going to be the only pool they had.

"Good idea." Rick liked it.

"What happens to this ship?" Alexandre queried. If they built one wouldn't they end up with two ships instead of one?

"At the moment I'm thinking we dismantle this ship and use parts of it in the new ship. If Alexis's investments don't work out like she had hoped we might not have the money to build a new ship from scratch.

"For example, take the cargo bays apart and use them in the new ship. The same for the lazy river and all of the plants. And for the bedrooms, medical, and even the power conduits. Some things will need to be built from scratch, naturally. However, it also might speed up the build process and not take us three years like I'm thinking," Rick explained.

"Makes sense." Alexandre gave him that.

Alexis added her thoughts. "This ship lost so why re-use it?"

"Are we still building a home in the mountains?" Lais asked since she loved the location. To see that view every day and be that close to home couldn't be beat.

"That's the plan, yes." Rick wasn't dropping that.

"Then we'll need a car or some kind of vehicle to get around in. Buy food and other things," Lais reminded him.

"A FLYING CAR! Instead of a shuttle." Rick made a note in his pad and attached it to the shuttle bay.

"With wheels, Dad, with wheels. Earth doesn't have flying cars yet," Alexis pointed out. Rick groaned but amended his note.

"Does where we're going have flying cars?" Kate asked since they were on the subject.

"A lot of them, yeah. They have Earth-like freeways on the ground and the same in the air. Only the police are officially allowed to go wherever they want. Your flying car will even shut down and leave you hovering in air if you try and leave too early," Alexis added. "Mostly we used the trains when we were there."

"On the ground and in the air," Rick smiled. "So cool." Earth had nothing like them. "And no rails like on Earth. Very different and very fast."

"You'll see. There are lots of places to visit. We can even go camping if we want. Their system has a habitable moon that's mostly used to grow food but it's also a good place to go camping. Dad was always busy and I was just a kid." Alexis had wanted to go but they never did.

"I'm sorry, pumpkin. I was so involved in making suits and building this ship. We can go camping and sightseeing this time around. And take Kate with us. And the baby." Rick felt bad about that now.

"Just so long as there are toilets." There was no way Lais was going camping without toilets.

"Amen, girl," Kate said quickly.

"We can take Kate's boyfriend with us," Lais added equally quickly and watched Kate stick out her tongue at her.

"Or girlfriend," Alexis mentioned. "Just saying." Alexis held up her hands in surrender.

Kate was about ready to shoot the two of them.