CHAPTER 37 – DOCKING

It was the day of the docking and the crew was more occupied than usual. The fact that both transporters were made by the same company, Thatcher Enterprises, made things easier. The outside systems on the two ships were identical, allowing for docking without the need for adapters. But matching up two ships, each the size of a four-story building, while traveling in space, wasn't exactly like putting together two Legos.

Becca's major concern seemed to be whether the chief navigator on the other ship, which was named Pegasus, was as good at his job as she was at hers.

"I'm sure it will go fine," Elizabeth said in an effort to be reassuring to her roommate when she noticed that the woman, sitting upright in her berth, seemed a little anxious as she quickly brushed her hair and then twisted it up into a bun at the back of her head.

"It will go fine on my part. I just have to move us to the exact coordinates which I've predetermined, line us up precisely to the exact centimeter with the other ship, and hope that we're not in the middle of an asteroid storm."

"Um, yep. That's what I meant," Elizabeth responded warily.

Becca gave her a look of distain and Elizabeth was pretty sure that the other woman was thinking that Elizabeth's job of teaching a few young students was child's play compared to hers.

'Luckily, the systems are androgynous so there's no gender mating," Becca added as she tied her shoelaces.

"Gender-mating?" Elizabeth questioned. Did she say gender mating? Does everything with her have to sound like it's about sex?!

Becca shook her head at Elizabeth's lack of knowledge and jumped off her berth. "Later, guys", she offered as she walked out the door.

"Don't worry about her," Candy said. "If ships have non-androgynous docking systems, they have to be joined with a unique design. Matching up male and female parts, just like with nuts and bolts and electrical systems back home. Becca's just a bit nervous. She's good at her job, but it's a tricky situation. If the ships accidently bump into each other, it can cause a catastrophic problem."

"Catastrophic?"

"You know. Set off a chain reaction. Electrical glitches. Holes in the shield. Fire. Explosion. BOOM!" Candy said as she threw up her hands to illustrate her point. "BOOM!"

A wide-eyed Elizabeth stood there with her mouth agape but Candy didn't seem to notice.

"If we don't blow up, I'm going to go on over," Candy said pleasantly. "Some of my friends are working on that ship. It will be great to see them."

"I'll be busy with taking the guy into custody and talking to their crew members, so you need to go on your own," Jack noted as the couple sat at the breakfast table.

"No problem," Elizabeth replied. She was perfectly capable of visiting the Pegasus without Jack going with her. She sometimes wondered if he even remembered that she had gotten on the transporter to Coal Valley all by herself. And that was for a two-year assignment, not just a brief visit.

"Just make sure you get there around fourteen hundred hours. That's two o'clock."

"I know what time it is, smarty pants." Elizabeth smiled at Jack.

"That gives you plenty of time," he noted as he continued to eat. "We'll probably dock for about two hours. Long enough to transfer the guy, and give them some cargo they need. Turns out the guy damaged some stuff when he was hiding in the hold."

Elizabeth wiped her napkin across her lips after taking a sip of her juice. She had decided to skip breakfast and lunch in case the midwife wanted to do lab work.

"The midwife sent a message that she's looking forward to seeing me. It will be nice to have a female looking at me. Especially, someone with good bedside manner."

"How do you know she has a good bedside manner?"

"I could tell by her message," Elizabeth replied.

By a stroke of luck, while discussing the docking of the ships, Jack had learned that one of the scientists onboard the other transporter was traveling with his wife, a trained mid-wife who was taking a sabbatical to join her husband in Coal Valley. The woman had been anticipating not having a patient for the next two years and was thrilled to discover that just a few months into her voyage, she'd be examining a pregnant woman. And not just any pregnant woman, but the only woman known to have become pregnant in deep space after living on a colony for more than a year.

"You think she'll know better than Doc?"

"Definitely. She dealt with pregnant women all the time!" Elizabeth said happily. "She said she'd give me an examination, and answer any concerns I may have."

Jack raised his eyebrows and looked over the coffee cup from which he was about to take a sip. "Do you have concerns?"

"Not really."

"Because I thought things were going well."

"They are going really well. But it doesn't hurt to get some reassurance from someone who has dealt with hundreds of pregnant women."

"Just make sure you're back on our transporter by the time the ship's separate," he advised her, and then gave her a smile that still managed to make her heart flip after more than a year of marriage.

Hours later, the two transporters seamlessly docked with each other. If she had listened carefully, Elizabeth would have heard the engine's short bursts as they helped maneuver the transporter into its precise location. She would have heard the announcement over the ship's intercom.

But Elizabeth didn't hear any of it as she took an afternoon nap. She slept through the two o'clock docking. She slept through Jack going aboard the other ship and taking the man into custody. She slept through the crew members who moved back in forth between the ships as they greeted old friends.

She finally stirred when she heard loud voices coming from the corridor outside her room. Lifting her head from her pillow, she sleepily glanced at her watch.

"Three o'clock?! No, no! I'm late!" she exclaimed as she jerked up into a sitting position. Her planned fifteen-minute nap had somehow extended to more than two hours.

"Calm down. Just calm down. I still have plenty of time," Elizabeth said aloud as she stopped struggling into her shoes and took a deep breath.

Shoes. Lead Apron. List of Questions. An eager Elizabeth was ready for her appointment with the midwife. Now she just had to get there.

The "air box" - the nickname for the small room which normally served as a transition between the transporter and space – was now serving as a transition between the two transporters. It was a hub of activity as crew members passed back and forth through the small connecting doors.

"What is taking so long?" Elizabeth asked the person in front of her. She had hurried to the transfer point but now found herself still standing idly inside the same transporter she had been on for months.

"There's a line to scan through, and they're moving a pallet of supplies," the man replied. "And I think there's a line to scan on the other side too."

Elizabeth shifted her feet back and forth and anxiously looked around at the crowd.

"I don't have time for this", she mumbled. She was wasting valuable minutes she could be spending with the midwife. Especially as the man with the scanning device and laptop was busy hugging a long-lost friend instead of actually using the device.

Glancing around at the crowded room, Elizabeth made her decision. She moved by the others, including the scanning-device man who had now found yet another friend to hug, and passed through into Pegasus's airbox.

Sure enough, there was another group of people at the scanning desk. Ignoring the line, Elizabeth continued walking and soon found herself in a main corridor.

It only took a minute for her to realize that this ship's interior wasn't designed exactly the same as her transporter, but luckily, she found a friendly passenger who was happy to escort her to the infirmary in exchange for answering questions about life on Planet Assaymark.

Elizabeth liked the midwife right away. The middle-aged woman greeted Elizabeth as if greeting an old friend and immediately put her at ease.

Ushering the doctor out of the infirmary, the midwife proceeded to tell Elizabeth everything an expecting mother wanted to hear. Elizabeth's skin looked fantastic. Her hair looked fantastic. Her vital statistics were perfect. They had talked space travel and baby showers and that it was okay that Elizabeth had never experienced morning sickness. The midwife said that Elizabeth's diet seemed incredibly healthy but it wouldn't hurt the baby to have a piece of junk food now and then – if she could find one aboard the transporter.

The midwife, who insisted that Elizabeth call her by her first name, Molly, listened to the baby's heartbeat, measured Elizabeth's still small stomach and said that it was perfect, and gave Elizabeth the reassurance that she had desperately wanted since finding out that she was expecting. Before Elizabeth knew it, thirty minutes had gone by.

"Thank you so much, Molly," Elizabeth said gratefully as she hugged the woman goodbye.

THE SHIP WILL BE SEPARATING IN TWENTY MINUTES, the announcement came over the intercom as the women disconnected from each other.

ALL CREW MEMBERS PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR DUTY STATIONS. ALL PASSENGERS NOT ASSIGNED TO THE PEGASUS, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE AIR BOX came the pleasant yet professional voice.

"Just in time," Molly said with a friendly smile. "You don't want to miss the separation and be stuck going back to Coal Valley. It was wonderful to meet you. Send me a message when you get back to Earth. Here, take this", the woman said as she reached into a drawer and took out a candy bar which she handed to Elizabeth. "Just don't let the doc see", she said conspiratorially.

Darn, wrong hallway. Elizabeth stopped walking and looked around to get her bearings. Where the heck am I?

She scowled as she realized she should have paid more attention when she had entered the ship.

It can't be that different from home. Home. Great, I'm now calling our transporter home, she thought with a wry smile.

Left. I'll go left. That makes sense. She looked at her watch and realized she still had almost fifteen minutes until the ships separated. Nevertheless, she picked up her pace.

Four minutes later, Elizabeth was beginning to get worried. I must just be on the wrong level. Hmm. Up or down?

Seeing some young children, she stopped the group of three as they walked in her direction. After thirty seconds of deliberation, they informed her that they thought the airbox was down a level . .. or two.

THE SHIP WILL BE SEPARATING IN TEN MINUTES. ALL CREW MEMBERS SHOULD BE IN THEIR DUTY STATIONS. PREPARE FOR SEPARATION.

NO! Elizabeth's mind screamed as the announcement penetrated the corridor. I'm still on this ship!

Don't panic. I can make it.

Running along a corridor to the nearest stairwell door, she pulled it open and hurried down the steps. It can't be much farther.

Slightly out of breath, she stopped on the next level and yanked on the door handle. But the door remained shut.

Elizabeth realized in dismay that the level on which she had stopped must be a secure level. Without a Pegasus bracelet, she wouldn't be able to open the door. Knowing it likely wouldn't work, she tried anyway. Holding her bracelet over the two-inch square block on the wall in front of her. Please, she pleaded as she then pulled on the door handle again.

Nothing. The door remained firmly closed.

Damn it!

The smart thing to do would be to message Jack and have him hold the separation until she got to the transfer point. It was so easy that Elizabeth couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of it sooner. She knew Jack would be busy with taking statements, filing a report, and putting the stowaway into the small storage unit that was going to be used as holding cell, but he wouldn't hesitate to tell the control center to stop the separation.

Elizabeth threw back her head in despair and released a sound that was a mixture of a growl and a scream when she realized that she had once again forgotten to charge the messenger part of her bracelet.

Turning away from the door, she quickly moved to the next level. Her palm barely touching the handrail as she practically leapt down the stairs to the next door. Her heart was racing too fast and she knew it was due more to nerves than exertion.

This time the door opened immediately when she pulled on the handle. She burst into the corridor and frantically looked left and right.

"Which way is the airbox?!" she hurriedly asked a young woman in jeans and a blouse who was walking five feet away.

"Down that way, and make a right. Then another right. But we're separating soon. You better hurry!", she called out but Elizabeth had already taken off running.

Damn shoes. Elizabeth felt her shoes weighing her down and keeping her from sprinting as fast as she would like.

With one hand she reached behind her back and pulled on the tie securing the heavy lead apron to her waist. She threw it the ground and continued running. At least that was something.

She ran blindly around the first corner. Knocking into someone, she didn't stop to apologize as red lights placed along the upper walls began flashing. The intercom emitted four loud beeps and then another ominous announcement.

SEPARATION IN FIVE MINUTES. PREPARE FINAL CHECK. ENSURE STATIONS ARE READY FOR INITIAL UNLOCKING AND BLAST.

Noooo! Damn it! Noooo. I can make it! I can make it! I am not getting stuck on this transporter and going back to Coal Valley! I'm going to Earth!

"Hold the door! Hold the door!" she yelled as she ran down the corridor, pushing past people.

"I need to get on that flight," she gasped when she reached the security desk. "That's my transporter."

Her chest was moving in and out as she tried to fill her lungs after her run.

"I ran", she explained to the man standing behind the desk and then she took another breath. "I made it," she continued between more gulps of air.

"Let me through", she ordered feebly as she grabbed her side and bend over slightly to ease the cramp which had formed.

The man in uniform looked a bit put off by her last-minute arrival and glanced at the count-down clock on the wall. Elizabeth's eyes followed his gaze.

"I made it!"

"Just barely," he replied in a bored voice. He pushed a button and spoke into an intercom. "Hold for one more transfer visitor."

"Didn't you hear the announcement?" he asked with condescension.

"Sorry. I got lost," she replied meekly.

"Personal or duty?" he inquired as to the reason for Elizabeth's visit as he began the out-process to transfer her.

"Personal."

"Crew or passenger?"

"Passenger", Elizabeth replied as she began to relax and fully appreciate that all that exercise she had been doing had come in handy. Okay, so maybe she was breathing a bit heavy but it's hard running when you're full of anxiety and wearing fashion dictated by a doctor with no bedside manner, she reasoned.

The man behind the desk frowned in contempt as a slightly disheveled Elizabeth breathed heavily in front of him. He wondered about the effects of Planet Assaymark and how she had managed to become so deconditioned.

"Did you give anything to anyone while aboard the Pegasus?" he asked routinely. He had asked the same questions of every person who had gone through his checkpoint in the last two hours.

"No."

"Did anyone give you anything to bring back to Earth?"

"No. Wait. Yes. A candy-bar," she replied as she reached into her back pocket and handed the man the limp chocolate bar which had been warmed by her body temperature. "But it was more to eat when I got back to my ship rather than save for Earth. You can have it," she offered in friendly manner trying to appease the man whom she had insulted by arriving so close to departure time.

"You could have kept it. I meant chemicals, computer programs, science equipment," he explained but he pocketed it anyway.

"I guess I'm the last passenger to go through," she noted as she tried to be friendly.

"Yep. Weight?"

"Weight?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Your weight?"

"About one hundred and thirty-eight. Give or take a few pounds."

"Which one? Give or take?"

"Umm. Add a few maybe," Elizabeth offered with a thoughtful expression.

"I don't remember seeing you come by me earlier," the man noted but Elizabeth didn't respond as she wiped beads of sweat off her forehead.

"Scan your bracelet, please."

Elizabeth followed his instruction, scanned her bracelet, and moved past the man without waiting for a beep. She wrung her hands together as she waited for the door to open. Hurry. Hurry, she thought impatiently as she listened the mechanisms clicking open.

"Hold up, ma'am. Scan it again please. It didn't take."

Elizbeth impatiently took two steps back and ran her wrist over the metal square with the dark plastic center.

Nothing happened. No green light. No beep.

"Try one more time," he encouraged but he had stopped looking at his clipboard and eyed her a little more intently.

An anxious Elizabeth swiped her wrist again. Going slower than before as if the machine was too inept to read her device if she went quickly.

Still nothing happened. No green light. No beep.

"Again," the man ordered. This time, he took her wrist with his hands and ran it over the scanner himself as if she was a two-year-old incapable of handling a basic scanning device.

"Why are you trying to get off the Pegasus?" the man asked suspiciously when nothing happened.

He let go of her wrist and returned to behind his desk where he pushed a round green button. This time, Elizabeth got the ominous feeling that this was not a good sign. Especially when the door made a clicking sound as if the locking mechanisms were going back into place.

"It's not my ship. I'm with the other ship, Heart of Hope," she answered.

"If you had come from the Heart, you would have passed through here and we would have a record of it."

"I was in a hurry. I was visiting the midwife," she quickly explained, hoping the man wouldn't be mad at her for skipping in-processing.

"Midwife?"

"Molly the midwife."

The man, now showing irritation, narrowed his eyes on her. Elizabeth got the distinct impression that not only did he take it as a personal insult that she would have neglected him on arrival, but that he did not believe her.

"Trying to get back to Earth? Before your assignment has even barely begun. Space Travel isn't a joke. And I don't have time for this. Now get back to your quarters," he said dismissively.

A wide-eyed Elizabeth stood there in shock as the man spoke into the microphone on his desk. "False stop. Proceed with separation. No more transfers. You can proceed with separation."

"No! No! You don't understand. I've already been to Coal Valley. I'm going back to Earth!" Elizabeth protested when she heard him give the go-ahead for the ships to undock from each other.

The man gave her a steely glare. "Every visitor is scanned in before they entered the ship. We have a record of every arrival. And you Miss, did not scan in today. Which means you did not transfer from the Heart of Hope."

"I did! I just skipped the scanning in –"

"Skipped the scanning in?" he interrupted.

"I was in a hurry," she guiltily explained.

"No one skips the scanning in," he curtly informed her.

"I did! Honestly, I did. I'm so sorry," she replied earnestly. "It will never happen again. I promise."

The man paused. Clearly, he found it difficult to believe Elizabeth. He sighed, gave her a look of disgust, but nevertheless, spoke into his microphone.

"Jeff? Yeah, this is Kyle from Pegasus. Did you have all your transfers accounted for? You should have picked up one extra from us. . . . . Twenty-three scanned out and twenty-four scanned in. Okay, thanks. No, we're good on our side too. Twenty four out and twenty three in. . . Yeah. Just the one stowaway you guys took for us. Yeah, I just got a trouble-maker over here. No problem. Have a good voyage."

The man looked arrogantly at Elizabeth. "Get away from my desk."

"You don't understand", Elizabeth protested as tears of anxiety and frustration formed in her eyes. She didn't care that two other crew members had now stopped their duties to watch the scene unfold. "I skipped the scanning out from there too! I skipped the scanning out and the scanning in!"

"You skipped both scannings?" he asked with eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"To see the midwife."

"We don't have a midwife," Kyle said deliberately. "Midwives are for pregnant women. There aren't pregnant women in space. AND NO ONE SKIPS SCANNING IN. Now get away from my desk, or I'll call security."

Elizabeth's eyes darted to the intercom box on the wall as it seemed to come alive with another announcement.

THE SHIP WILL BE SEPARATING IN TWO MINUTES. PREPARE FINAL CHECK.

"That's my ship!" Elizabeth screamed on the verge of hysteria. "I have to get on that ship! My husband's on that ship! I'm going to Earth!"

The man clearly had enough of the hysterical woman in front of him. "You are going to Coal Valley. You'll be there in two months and then, if you want to request a transfer back to Earth, you are welcome to try. This is your final warning. Get back to your quarters."

"NOOOOO!" Elizabeth reached past Kyle and tried to push the button she had earlier seen him push. Her hand smacked on the red one, which she assumed meant stop the separation. His right hand clenched around her wrist, squeezing it tightly and then he brutally pushed her away while smacking another button with left hand.

Her months of learning Krav Maga with Jack came back to her and she attacked.

Swiftly flipping the surprised crew member onto the hard floor.

Climbing over his prone body and ignoring his groan, Elizabeth scrambled around the side of the desk and reached for the red button, this time slamming it down. She then moved her finger to the microphone lever.

"Stop the –" Elizabeth cried out but the microphone was wrestled away from her before she could say more.

A minute later, Elizabeth, strands of hair falling in her face, stood with her back up against the wall. Holding her hands out in front of her to ward off the three crew members.

She suddenly felt dizzy.

It was as if someone was dimming the lights. But not for everyone. Just for her. Like she was falling asleep and entering a dream in the middle of standing there. She tried to shake the feeling but she couldn't. She knew she was falling.

She heard voices. Curse words. Snippets of sentences as someone put hands on her and helped her slumping body into a chair.

". . . . she's going to pass out. . .

. . .get the smelling salts . . .

. . . . . why was she trying to get off ship? "

Even though she was about to faint, Elizabeth knew why she was trying to get off the ship.

She was on the wrong ship going in the wrong direction.

She was going back to Coal Valley.

She was again like a dandelion wisp. Only this time she wasn't merely floating in space.

She was going to be hurtling thousands of miles away from Jack. That was enough to make any girl faint.

P.S. Dear Readers, the website is still having some flaws so if you have messaged me and I haven't responded, please don't think I am ignoring you. Some messages and reviews appear to be going through but not all.