Space Ghost
Chapter 37
It is now 6 months later
Ador had closed his gallery for a week. As owner he could decide when he took vacation time and he'd decided that this was a good time for his vacation. He was going to spend it with Kate and maybe talk her into going back to the amusement park and waterpark. Yes, he had seen her naked a lot. But seeing her in that tiny swimsuit was even better.
He had his bag and was walking next to Kate as they left the train station and had just reached this little rise when he came to a sudden stop. "WOW!"
He knew they were building a ship and had seen the renderings, but this thing was huge.
Kate smiled widely. "Impressive, isn't it." They still had about a year to go, but it was finally starting to look like a space ship.
"Impressive, yes. Amazing, yes. Huge, yes. I saw what you were doing but I guess I never really got an idea of the scale of anything." He stumbled just a little when Kate took his hand and tugged to get him moving.
The closer they got the bigger it got. "And this is bigger than the other ship?" He had never actually seen the other ship except in pictures.
"The other ship only had three floors. This one technically has eight depending on just where you are at the time as weird as that sounds. Don't worry it didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, either. Come on. Maybe Rick or Lais can give us a tour after you unpack." Kate took him inside and down to her room.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Kate and Ador found Lais to ask for a tour if it was ready for a tour.
"We go inside all the time. Just be ready to get out of the way. There are bots all over the place and stuff's hanging everywhere." Lais didn't mind.
"The big bots are gone." Ador didn't see either of them.
"The hull's pretty much complete. What's left inside and out can be handled by the smaller bots. Those two were expensive so we're glad they're gone. Follow me." Lais took them over to a tube. "This is the only way in and out. There will be a ramp eventually but this is it for now." They all got inside the tube then it retracted into the ship.
Instantly they saw stuff everywhere. The ceiling was incomplete. The walls still had holes in them. The only thing that looked complete was the floor and even it had stuff lying all over it.
"Watch your step everywhere," Lais warned them. "This is the cargo bay level. This way to the stairs. Eventually there will be transit pods to take us just about everywhere but they don't work yet."
Up on the next level they saw a massive open space and there was a huge hole in the ceiling. "The pond with the beach and wave machine goes here." They all saw another big empty space though it at least had a floor. "We made a small change in the design. All the way around this area is going to be the park. Grass, plants, young trees. Wild on that side and structured on that side." Lais took them closer to the pond/pool.
"The waterfall will spill from way up there. We needed a bulkhead in case of a hull breach so an iris will close this level off from the one above us and another one for that level. Even more bulkheads all around." Lais waved her arms and headed back toward the stairs.
The stairs they came up were in the middle and there was a set of stairs going up on either side. Each side combined in the middle and then went up to the next level.
Up there was yet another wide and open area. They walked across a different floor that wove around and disappeared into the distance. "Go-kart track. We still have to build the karts. …One of the rock walls will go here. There are three in total. One of them's going to be built in the middle. Alexis wanted a really tall one so if you fall and the safety system fails for some reason you'll fall into the pond on the deep end next to the waterfall. What worries me about this design change is the mist that will come from the waterfall. It'll make the foot and handholds wet and hard to use. But you shouldn't actually fall since you'll be wearing a harness." Lais didn't think she would be using that one for that reason.
"This level is going to be all desert. Lots of sand, lots of cacti, and the environmentals are supposed to keep this level hotter save for near the center." Lais walked them around the enormous hole in the floor that didn't even have a railing yet.
They went back to the stairs. "This level is going to be all living space. Living room that way, ice cream parlor that way, theater room off that way, exercise room off that way." There wasn't even much in the way of walls yet. Though seeing where the bulkhead doors would go was easy to spot.
Then up the stairs they went. "This level is going to be mostly bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. Basically an apartment save for a kitchen. Kitchen over there with walk-ins on either side including a huge dry storage section. Twice the size of the old one. Down that way is one of the two corridors that will lead to one of two engine rooms. We'll try one of them later." She took them back to the stairs.
"Is this the only set of stairs?" Kate queried.
"No, there are three in total. One port side, one starboard, and one where the protostar ring attaches to the rest of the ship. Now this level is everything else on the list. Medical, main computer, shuttle bay that actually opens in the roof. This way to the bridge." This space was impressive.
"Bridge." Lais waved her arms in front of her.
Mostly all they saw was an immense room that was all glass on one side. "Rick calls it transparent aluminum. It's a little thick but just as strong as the hull itself. These shutters will slam down from the ceiling in an emergency. Bulkhead doors at each opening. It will have a secondary power source. The ability to make oxygen and water and there's going to be some emergency food storage up here. Fold down beds and a bathroom." Lais walked them deeper into the bridge.
"You fly it here." The console was actually in place though it didn't look complete. Then she turned around. "Engineering controls, damage control, and weapons control. The table in the middle is the scanner. That table is communications and that table is medical." The screen on the wall where engineering, damage, and weapons control was was huge.
"The beds and storage are on the wall on either side of engineering, damage, and weapons. Environmental, oxygen, and water systems are in the floor. Emergency supplies like food, more medical, and tools are in the ceiling. There are also two bots for maintenance and repairs located in here. If something goes wrong this is where you want to be or get here as fast as you can, before the bulkhead doors close. Once they're closed, that's it," Lais warned each of them.
Lais took them down a floor and went down a really tight corridor to where one of the engines was located. However they got stopped when they found a pair of bots working. "Seeing this engine room is going to have to wait. How about if we walk the roof?" Lais lead them to that access.
They had to climb a ladder and up through double sealed access. It was basically a small airlock. "Careful up here. The hull's really smooth. We should be wearing special shoes for this so don't go near the edge unless you want to spend the next week in the hospital since our medical bay isn't operational."
There was only one thing up there that Kate really wanted to see so she walked toward the back end. She managed to take everyone else with her.
"That's where the protostar will be formed. The ring will help form it then draw power from it," Lais said and looked it over herself again. "Don't tell anyone but that ring is the most vulnerable part of this ship. We take a hit there and it will blow us all into tiny bits. The protostar will become unstable then consume the ship and everyone and everything inside it."
"I'm not telling anyone." Kate actually zipped her lips closed.
Ador added his voice. "Don't look at me. I don't even know anyone to tell."
"We won't actually form the protostar until we're out of the system. Something goes wrong and we'll create this big hole in the ground and likely damage the closest city. We'll be dead so spending the rest of our lives in a prison won't matter." Lais shrugged.
"And this is what's going to power everything?" Kate looked at it again.
"Yes." It was going to be very powerful. "We're going to need all that power to make the time machine work. That thing's a power hog."
"Time machine! What time machine? You're building a time machine?" Ador questioned since he had never heard anything about a time machine.
"Uh-oh." Kate knew she was in trouble.
"I'll be downstairs. Just remember: no medical bay." Lais knew Kate was going to have some explaining to do. She hadn't meant to get her into trouble but she also didn't know Kate hadn't told him about that part.
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"Time machine?" Ador glared at her.
"Yeah… The idea behind the ship is to save Earth from the Xindi. They lost last time. By now Earth and everyone on it will be dead. To save it we need to take this ship back in time to before the Xindi showed up and win this time. What we don't know is what happened after we left Earth when we did. Were there only the two ships or did another show up after we left?
"Time machine." Kate shrugged. She knew there was a time when she would have dismissed such a thing. But that was then. This was the new Kate. "Only bad part is that going back in time doesn't make us any younger. Time will have still passed for us if I understand it correctly."
"Time machine." Ador didn't think it sounded so spectacular after having it explained to him. "How many times can we use it? Can we go anywhere back in time?"
"I don't actually know the answer to that. I didn't ask. Where would we want to go even if we could?" Kate asked, glad that he wasn't angry at her.
"Just asking. What if we lose again? Go back in time and try again?" Ador queried.
Kate shook her head. "If I understand it correctly, we won't have the money to make another ship provided we survive this time like last time. Earth doesn't have the technology to make a ship anything like this one. Lais doesn't have the money and we only know of two places that have the technology we need to make a ship that we can win with. We lose again and we lose." That was all she knew.
"I have a question but we need Lais or Rick." Ador turned to head to the ladder back down to find either of them.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Ador found Lais easily enough. "I have a question. Say we're about to lose. A beam's headed our way or a missile. Can we not use the time machine to go back in time to a point where we can avoid getting into that situation? Make our own repairs and try again?"
Lais opened her mouth then closed and thought about that.
"The answer is yes and no." Alexis walked up since she had been under the ship at the time. "A beam, any beam, will travel at the speed of light. The second you see it being fired it will be too late. However a missile, while still fast, is a lot slower, so yes, it might work.
"That's not bad. …Artist, you say?" Alexis was impressed by his thinking out of the box.
"It might work but we would have to be desperate. Our shields would need to be down and not get them back, for example. Then if it did work could we fix what caused us to do this? Next question is how long does it take to warm up the time machine for it to work? If it takes too long." Lais used her hands to show them blowing up.
"Nice thinking, though." Alexis patted his arm and went inside. She was hungry.
"I have another question. You have this big park. Are you taking animals from here with you?" Ador asked Lais and Kate.
"No, definitely not. What if Earth doesn't have a species that would be a predator to what we take? If we take a species that doesn't have a predator, it could take over if it got loose. So absolutely not. We're even going to have to be careful about the insects we end up taking. The park and the plants in it will need the local insects. Earth doesn't need more insects or we'll have the same problem. Destroy the Earth we're trying to save." That idea was dead before he even thought of it.
Kate thought she understood. "So what's in the ship is going to forever stay in the ship after we get there."
"Pretty much," Lais nodded. "You two hungry or do you have plans?" She meant go somewhere else. Not retreat to Kate's room to have sex thought they could do that, too.
"Starving, actually." Kate went with Lais while Ador stayed outside and looked the ship over. He'd been inside it and knew what was going to go into it. They were going to live in it for a while after they left here. It was going to be home soon.
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It was time to get married. They had finally selected a venue and then had to wait for them to have an opening. It was perfect. They could handle small weddings of twenty people or less and there was an attached restaurant to handle the food after the wedding.
The wedding itself was outdoors provided the weather cooperated. If it didn't they would have to use the restaurant and then move the tables and chairs back into place. It also had a place for them all to separate into male and female and get dressed and ready for the wedding.
They weren't even in their dresses yet. They were each sitting in front of a mirror working on makeup. Then Lais heard sniffling. Alexis looked to be concentrating on what she was doing so that only left one person. She got out of her chair and up behind Kate who was just sitting there sniffling. "What's wrong?"
Kate looked at Lais in the mirror. For half a heartbeat she saw her mother instead of Lais. "My mother should be here." She should still be here to help her with this. To meet the man she fell in love with and was about to marry.
"Oh, sweetie, have I taught you nothing? Your mother is here. She'll be anywhere and everywhere you go for the rest of your life. She molded you, taught you, and protected you for as long as she lived. And when you have children you'll do the same. Part of her will go with them everywhere they go because you'll pass her along to them. It will never actually end. It's the only way any of us will live forever.
"When you say 'I do' and you hear someone crying or even sniffling, it'll be her as she watches her baby grow up and dedicate her life to someone else.
"Now finish your makeup before you get the rest of us crying with you." Lais returned to her seat and saw Alexis looking at her. "You good over there?" Her real mother wasn't here either. She was just as dead.
"I'm great. I never even met my mother, but I've got you. So I'm great." Alexis turned back to the mirror and got back to work. She had a mother and didn't really miss what she never had.
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Rick was adjusting his tie while the other guys were searching for their jackets. "You two look nervous." They weren't standing still and were pacing all over the place.
"A little," Ador admitted.
"Petrified," Alexandre replied. "It was one thing to say yes, another to actually do it. I'm going to be standing there telling everyone that I love her and want to spend my life with her." Alexandre clapped a hand over his mouth and bolted for the restroom.
"I know how he feels." Ador's stomach wasn't in much better shape. "Why are you so calm?" Rick looked just fine to him.
"I love her and I want everyone to know it. That and I don't want some other guy getting any ideas. I found her first," Rick smiled. Finders keepers.
"Look who's back." Alexandre came walking in carrying a wet cloth with him. Ador grinned at him.
Alexandre groaned. "We better hurry up before I need to do that again." His stomach still didn't feel any better.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
The three of them were standing there waiting with the man that was going to officiate their wedding and make it legal. They were lined up side by side.
Ador had invited everyone he knew and amazingly most of them had shown up. Thanks to the others all being human and from another planet, none of their friends were present. That wasn't to say that Ador's friends were all alone. People any of them knew had been invited and a few had actually shown up. They were still under twenty people, though.
Then all eyes turned and that got their attention. Side by side and dressed in the gowns they'd bought came three women. All three of them were smiling. Lais wasn't sure this day would ever come. Kate could barely believe she was doing this. Alexis was just ready.
"Gentlemen, we are three lucky men." Rick saw three stunningly beautiful women walking toward them. Each of them was wearing something on their heads that only Ador had ever seen. Each dress was identical in color but each was just a little different.
The three women finally got close enough to see a few tears in their men's eyes. Each of them also finally saw Rafael also dressed in his little suit who was in his jumper. It allowed him to stand without letting him move all over the place. "Hi, sweetie." Lais smiled at him before turning to face the most important man in her life.
Lais heard a sniffle to her right where Kate was standing and then another to her left where Alexis was standing. "Oh, the hell with it." Lais let her tears escape and roll down her cheeks. She was never going to be more in love than she was now.
Each of them watched as the officiant wrapped bindings around their joined hands, one couple at a time. Then he pressed something and each of the bindings began to glow.
"This binds your lives to each other in the love that each of you feels for the other. Should it ever be broken you will send your souls into oblivion where it will last forever. Do each of you agree to bind your life to the other for as long as each of you shall live?" He was used to asking only just the two of them. Now he had six so he had to adjust what he normally said just a little.
He heard the six of them say, "I do."
"When the lights of your bindings end you will be bound to each other until the day you die," he intoned which had everyone watching their glowing bindings.
However, each of their bindings just kept on glowing. He'd never had this happen in all his years as an officiant. He really wasn't sure just what to do next. So he decided not to wait for them to stop glowing.
"You may kiss the love of your life." They all watched as each leaned across above their bound hands to kiss. Then something impossible happened. Their bindings actually glowed brighter. There was the sound everyone whispering.
When the kissing stopped so did the glowing. This binding was going to go down in history as the most amazing one ever.
"By the powers given to me by the State, you are now each husband and wife. The bindings are yours to keep. May they always glow to show your love for each other when called for." He had never seen anything like it and was sure he never would again.
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Lais had Rafael in her arms and was kissing him while she found something for him to suck on from off the table.
Rick was next to her. "Happy?"
"Deliriously so, my husband." Lais leaned across to kiss him. Then the binding that Rick was holding glowed for a second.
"What's with this thing?" It was dark now but he held it up in front of him to look at it again.
"He said our love would make it glow." It was all Lais could come up with.
The six of them were now together and snacking on what was available. "You three look amazing." There, Ador had finally said it.
"I feel amazing," Kate said jubilantly as she quickly kissed him and the others saw their binding glow for just a second.
"Is it supposed to do that?" Lais asked since theirs had done the same thing.
"They are binders. It's supposed to. They're connected to the device that's on your heads. Did you not know that?" Ador inquired.
That had each of them taking it off and looking it over. If didn't look like anything special. Each of them just thought it was some local custom and didn't actually do anything.
Alexis handed hers to Rafael who was fascinated by it so took it willingly. "Kiss me, babe," Alexis asked her husband.
Alexandre kissed her but everyone else had eyes only for her head band that Rafael was trying to put in his mouth. It did nothing.
"Guess that answers that," Lais remarked. She took it from her son before he managed to damage it and handed it back to Alexis. That didn't go over well with Rafael who wanted it back. "Here, you can have mine." Lais gave him hers and watched it go straight into his mouth.
"We should celebrate," Alexandre suggested.
"Yes," Alexis agreed quickly.
"Waterpark?" Ador questioned.
Kate rolled her eyes. "He just wants to see me in my bikini again." That had Lais and Alexis grinning.
Ador offered an enticement. "You can stop and get more of that crap you call coffee."
"Waterpark, here we come," Kate answered quickly and had everyone but Ador laughing. He was grinning since he was getting his wish.