Space Ghost
Chapter 38
It is now one year later
Rick and Lais were making sure the very last delivery made it from the train to the ship. This one, like a whole lot of others over the last few days, contained nothing but food. They had a bigger ship and more people to feed for a trip that was going to last just as long as last time. This shipment was going to fill all of the refrigerators and freezers they had all over the ship to almost overflowing.
The walk-ins in the kitchen weren't the only ones on this ship. Yes, they were the largest but they weren't the only ones. They had a pair on the bridge and more at the ice cream parlor. Today's delivery was going to the kitchen walk-ins.
Alexis, Alexandre, and Ador were waiting for them. It took an hour to get everything up the ramp and up to the kitchen. The transit pods were meant for people and really weren't big enough for a pallet of boxes filled with food so it was all done using the stairs.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
"Okay everyone, let's check the house one last time. Take anything you can find. The furniture stays but everything else goes," Rick called out and with just a little help even Rafael walked in with everyone else. He was more interested in trying to find his toys but that in and of itself was a job.
Everyone, save for Ador, was at the ramp looking out on what used to be home for close to three years. Ador only called it home for the last three months. The house and the land had been sold. Between the money for that and the money Ador provided they spent it all on last minute additions. Mostly more food, but also more plants and some extra bedding along with some spare parts and paint. "Say good bye, we're never coming back unless something really bad happens," Rick said.
"And if we do have to come back I put all the excess money into more investments. It's not the amount like last time, but it might get us something to stay in," Alexis informed them.
That earned her a hug from Lais. "No offense but I don't want to come back here again. It's not home." It was a vacation place, not really home.
"Let's go then." Rick scooped up Rafael and waited for everyone to get inside. Then he closed the ramp and the bulkhead door behind him.
Everyone took a transit pod that used clear tubes so they could see everything as they went.
Rick and Lais had been on the bridge before, but this was the first time for everyone else.
"HOLY…" Ador had never seen anything like it. One wall was nothing but glass and he could see the desert out in front of them. Then there was the huge screen where engineering was located. The ceilings were 18 feet tall and the screen was 15 feet tall and easily 30 feet or more wide. Everything it displayed was done in gold.
There were two seats and a console that also was done in gold dead center just in front of the glass. Between the two was a large table that displayed everything the scanner could see. It could be divided it up into smaller screens if necessary.
Rick assigned everyone their stations. "Pick a seat. Alexis, you get the scanner. Lais and I will sit at the flight controls. Kate, you and Ador get engineering. Alexandre, you get to stand behind them and make sure they do everything right. Rafael, here's your toy, have fun."
He called for clearance to orbit. Once they received clearance then Lais activated the secondary power. They were finally able to lift off, leaving home behind.
"I was wondering how we were going to take off without power." They hadn't created the protostar yet so primary power wasn't available.
Thanks to the window wall everyone could see when they reached orbit and saw all of the other ships either in orbit or coming or going from orbit.
Rick asked for normal space to the edge of the system and was finally granted clearance to leave orbit. "Increasing to quarter speed." It was almost the best the ship would do without primary power. "Auto pilot set. It will take us 6 hours at this speed to exit the system. I vote we celebrate with some ice cream."
"I second the motion," Alexis quickly added and walked toward the door.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
"Arthur!" Alexis was glad to see him again.
"Miss Alexis, Miss Kate, Miss Lais, Mr. Alexandre. Who are our guests?" There were a couple of new people.
Alexis made introductions even though Arthur had already met on the way here. "This is my husband, Alexandre. Alexandre, this is Arthur. He's a genius at ice cream."
"Husband. My mistake, Mrs. Alexis. I'm happy for you," Arthur nodded.
"This is my husband, Ador," Kate said proudly.
"Another husband. Mrs. Kate, I'm happy for you as well." There was just one left. "And who is this cute little guy?"
"Our son, Rafael, Rick's and mine." Lais lifted him up and sat him on one of the stools.
"I've apparently missed a lot. I believe this calls for a celebration," Arthur beamed.
"We're also on our way back to Earth so we can celebrate that as well," Alexis said with a smile.
"I see I have more than ice cream this time. I've been upgraded. Thank you. So we're celebrating. Let me think. …I think I know just the thing." Arthur walked away to find what he needed.
"ARTHUR! You have legs!" Kate leaned over the bar to look at his legs. She'd been expecting to hear this noise and see him glide away.
He stopped and looked down. "I do believe you're right. How exciting. Something else to celebrate." Arthur smiled and went back to what he was doing.
Arthur was back. "This calls for a banana split for each couple and two spoons." He placed one on the counter for each couple and then scooped out a single serving of chocolate. "And one scoop for our newest member of the family." He set it in front of Rafael and placed a spoon next to it. "Enjoy." He left them to clean up his own mess.
"Banana split!" Sighing happily Rick picked up his spoon and dug in.
"You better hurry, Lais, or Dad won't leave you anything," Alexis warned her.
"I'm not worried. I've got an entire year or longer. It isn't over yet," Lais replied. Though she did pick up her spoon to take a bite after helping Rafael take a bite of his.
Ador's eyes opened wide. "This is really good." He ate faster; he'd never had a banana split before.
"Arthur!" Alexis called.
"Mrs. Alexis. What can I do for you?" Surely she liked what he had made for them all.
"How much chocolate and vanilla do we have this time?" She didn't want to run out.
"A lot. Twice as much as last time. More than any other flavor," Arthur answered.
"Thank you, someone." Alexis was happy.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
They were long since done with their ice cream and even Rafael was being quiet so they were all content to just sit there and talk.
Ador heard something. "What's that beeping?"
"An alert!" Alexis knew what that beeping was. All of them ran to the bridge with Lais picking up Rafael.
Rick was first and sat down in his seat. "What have we got?" He didn't see anything out the wall of windows.
Alexis was at the scanner table. "We've reached our destination." She relaxed since it was basically nothing. "Maybe we should adjust what alarm sounds based on what it is. Not sure we really needed to know this."
"We can worry about that later. For now run a diagnostic on engineering. I want to make sure we're ready to make ourselves a protostar, can contain it, then use it for our primary power." Rick didn't want to blow up and put an end to them.
"That will take one hour," Alexandre reported as he looked over the section where Kate and Ador were sitting.
"How did you know…? Never mind." Kate found it. At least now she knew how to do it again.
"Then we wait an hour." Rick didn't have a problem with that.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
"Are we ready?" Rick was ready to get into FTL after firing up their engines.
That had Alexis going over next to Ador and bringing up a visual of where the protostar was going to form on the main screen. It was too dangerous to actually watch it form so this was the next best thing.
"Ready, Dad. Here we go." Alexis reached past Ador and pressed a series of panels. "Press this one," Alexis instructed and watched Ador press it, his hand trembling slightly.
On the screen they saw the inside of the circle that was going to contain the protostar begin to spin faster and faster. Then it shoting what looked like lightning bolts.
"I think power's dropping fast if I'm reading this right," Kate called out.
Alexandre got up and stood behind her. "She's right. Power is dropping fast," he confirmed.
"We're on secondary power so it's expected. Just keep watching it," Rick responded, looking at his controls.
"Are we in trouble?" Creating this thing was going to be the second hardest thing they ever did. Using the time machine was going to be the next one.
"Not yet." Rick turned to look at the screen and watch the protostar being formed.
"We're below 50% and still falling," Kate called out as she watched that readout closely. "40%. 30%."
"It's working!" Alexis gestured to the screen that revealed what was happening. The lighting wasn't just shooting across to the far side any longer. It was joining and forming a ball in the center that was growing with each second.
"20%" Kate was worried whether they had enough power and time to finish.
"Let it finish," Rick ordered and watched with the others.
"10%." They weren't going to make it. Then there was a flash and the lighting stopped. Suddenly there was a brilliant bluish white ball in the middle of the circle and it just sat there. The ring had also stopped spinning.
"Still at 10%" Kate had her eyes focused on that readout.
"Yes, but read the one below it," Alexandre suggested.
"70% and growing." Kate was impressed. "80…, 85…, 90…, 95…, 99% and holding. Does that mean it worked?" She turned to look at everyone.
"That it does, that it does, indeed." Alexandre moved over to Alexis and kissed her.
"We're in business." Rick was happy.
"Now run a diagnostic of the power conduits again since we have power and let's see if the FTL is ready so we can get moving," Rick asked.
Alexis leaned past Ador and pressed a series of panels. "Fifteen minutes." They only had one power conduit to each engine. They had three separate ones routed to the dish that was their primary weapon.
"Plot us a course while we wait," Rick ordered and then Rafael started crying.
"Right after I change a diaper." Lais scooped the little guy and went to the bridge restroom. It had a little of everything and that included what she needed to change a diaper.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Lais was back and heard Ador say, "I see all greens."
"He's correct, all greens," Alexis confirmed.
Lais put Rafael down and gave him his toy again. Then she sat in her seat and plotted a course to Earth from here. "Course complete, ready when you are."
"Then let's get started. Everyone cross their fingers." Rick looked over his controls.
"Why am I crossing my fingers?" Ador questioned and heard Alexis giggle.
"Entering FTL…now." Rick pressed the last panel and just like in their old ships they vanished into a swirling mass.
"No alarms, looks like we're good." Alexis liked all she saw.
Ador looked everything over. "I don't see anything that's red."
"Same here," Kate added from her seat.
"One year to Earth." Rick checked his controls as did Lais and neither of them saw anything to worry about.
"We're good." Lais was just as happy.
"We need volunteers to man the bridge until we're sure nothing's going to happen and we have adjusted the alarms," Rick asked as everyone looked at each other.
"We'll do it," Alexis told him. She meant herself and Alexandre. Aside from her dad and Lais they had the most experience.
"That means the rest of us can complete our unpacking." Rick got up, scooped up Rafael, and turned to leave. "Have fun." He kissed Alexis's head. "Love you."
"Love you too, Dad," Alexis replied and watched everyone leave.
"You take Dad's chair while I watch the scanner." She immediately saw ships in FTL but none of them were headed for them. Most were headed for the planet they had just left or leaving that planet and headed somewhere else. No one else was trying to leave the galaxy like they were.
Alexandre looked over all of the controls so he could get used to them. They were a redesign and not the same as those in their old ship. "This bridge is so different." It didn't look anything like his old ship.
"You're telling me. Our bridge was a fraction of this size. This entire ship is so much bigger. What are you looking forward to doing first?" Alexis inquired.
That had him thinking. He opened his mouth to tell her then closed it. There was just so much to do and all of it was new. "Go-karts. I'll race ya." Alexandre grinned at her.
"You must like losing," Alexis teased.
"Put your money where your mouth is," Alexandre challenged.
"Okay, if I win I get to tie you to the bed and have my way with you." Alexis looked at him, her eyes sparkling.
"Ooo!" Now he wasn't sure if he wanted to win or lose. He didn't miss that Alexis was smiling at him since she knew what he was thinking. "I think I'll let you win."
"YES!" Alexis pumped her fist in victory. "That's why I love you."
"Not because you love my mind?" he pouted.
Alexis laughed at him. "Nope!"
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Kate dressed in the tightest outfit she owned and grabbed a helmet. Rick and Alexis were right behind her. Everyone else, including Rafael, were following them even if they weren't dressed for it. They were just going to watch. Lais knew about them even if she had never driven them. Ador and Alexandre hadn't even heard of this let alone done it.
"Prepare to be embarrassed." Kate was sure that with the training she'd had to drive a police car she was going to kick their asses.
"My words exactly." Rick put his helmet on and strapped it into place.
Alexis grinned as she put her helmet on and fastened it. "You must really like losing."
They had four cars though the fourth was meant to be a spare. So really only three were supposed to be on the track at one time. These were not the ordinary go-karts that Kate was expecting. It was still open with no real enclosure. But the tires were much larger than she remembered them being. The rims were gray with wires and the tires weren't black. They were narrow and yellow in color.
She sat in a chair and had a steering wheel; the power plant, not gas engine, was right behind her. As Kate pressed start she realized that she wasn't really hearing anything and if it wasn't for the fact that the few gauges she had lit up she wouldn't even know it was running.
Rick had totally lost the rock, paper, scissors that all three had used to determine who left the pit area first. Rick was last, Alexis was second, and Kate was going first.
They got one lap to get used to it before stopping and waiting for the green light. That was another thing they would eventually learn. There were lights scattered around the course. A blinking yellow warned that someone had spun out in front of you and to be careful or you were going to crash into them. Red meant stop and the course was closed.
The track itself was full of S curves with no real hairpins; there were only two real straights where they could put their foot down. Since none of them had actually driven these cars before Kate thought she had the advantage.
One lap around and Kate was ready to find out just what this car could do. She stopped at the red light and could see the other two lined up behind her. The second she saw green she shoved her foot to the floor and was surprised that these yellow tires didn't spin. It was also then that she finally heard a whine from the power plant behind her.
The car had enough power for ten laps, however they'd agreed on a five lap race.
After one lap nothing had changed but Kate had decided that these yellow tires must have glue on them. She didn't slip or slide at any turn. Then on one of the straights she spotted a panel that said sport, so she pressed it.
At the very first turn she rapidly learned that that meant the car tires no longer had glue on them. She actually slid a little. While it was a surprise she quickly learned that she liked this much better. It was acting like she had expected it to.
On her fourth lap she was still in first place and then saw a blinking yellow light so she took her foot off the power pedal, rounded the corner, and saw Rick encased in black that was just letting go of him.
Alexis had seen the sport panel but hadn't pressed it. She saw a blinking yellow light so took her foot off the power pedal. She was smiling thinking it was Kate and now she was in first. But it was her dad who pulled back onto the track just behind her.
"Lapped you, Dad!" Alexis screamed though she was certain no one heard her.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
"VICTORY!" Kate was out of her car and had her arms up in the air as Alexis pulled in right behind her. Alexis was just getting out after sitting there and taking it all in when Rick pulled in and hit her in the ass.
"Seriously, Dad?" Alexis got up and turned to glare at him even if she did still have her helmet on.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Kate had her arms around her husband and was kissing him to celebrate her first victory.
"What was that stuff you were in?" Rick caught up to her, her husband, and Alexis and her husband.
"Safety. It's built into each turn in case you go off. You hit the ship and it'll damage the kart. Go off out into the middle it'll stop you from going too far. It blows up instantly but takes a little time to deflate." It had stopped Rick from hitting the ship and being the first to take out a go-kart.
Kate hummed since she liked the sound of it. "I'll remember that for next time." She was willing to take more risks next time. "I loved the sport button. It let me slide a little."
"That's what got me into trouble," Rick admitted.
"So that's what that panel does." Alexis hadn't touched it the entire race.
"How soon can we do it again?" Kate was willing to kick their asses again.
"Two hours to recharge the batteries," Rick answered.
That told Kate they were done racing for today. "I'll be happy to wipe the floor with you tomorrow." She hadn't believed they had actually taken one of her ideas but was now really glad they had.
"You're on." Alexis was happy to challenge her.
Lais rolled her eyes. "And I thought my husband was a child."
"Like father, like daughter." Alexis high-fived her dad who loved it.
"You three have had your fun. I'm going to go change and hit the pool. Rafael needs to learn how to swim." Lais smiled at him, "Don't you, my little man!"
"Ooo, suntan on the beach." Alexis liked the sound of that.
"I'll be right next to you." Kate was in. "Come on, babe, you'll look good in a tan." Kate took her husband's hand, stopped at the tiny building that held the go-kart helmets, then went to their room to change.
"I still only have the same two bikinis," Kate reminded him since she was dragging him behind her, thinking he wasn't all that interested. Suddenly she was being dragged behind him.
| 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Kate and Ador arrived at the beach just in time to see Lais slathering Rafael with sunscreen before he was allowed to run off and have some fun.
"This is so much better than that pool on the other ship," Kate sighed happily and put her towel down.
"I'm told this is your idea so we should be thanking you," Lais said.
"Alexis asked me what I liked so I made a list. I never dreamed you'd actually do any of them." She was still surprised that they had.
"Lesson learned, never pass up a good thing. You're married because you learned that lesson," Lais reminded her.
"Yeah." She had given up on her walls, taken a risk, and it had worked out perfectly. Kate leaned across to kiss Ador then handed him the sunscreen and turned her back to him.
After Alexis and Alexandre joined them they were all on the beach soaking up some fake sun thanks to the sun lamps. Then when they were on their backs they could look out at the three story waterfall and watch the cloud vapor go up to the ceiling where it got sucked in and cleaned before being sent back out into the ship.
They had a year of this out in front of them.