CHAPTER 84 – WATERWORKS

Twenty-four hours later, a tired Elizabeth and Jack thought that the medication had worn off and that Aaron could feel pain again. They weren't positive, and to be honest, there wasn't a nice way of testing their theory.

Their quarters were strangely quiet.

"Should we pinch him? Seems kind of harsh," Jack said hesitantly from his position standing over the small boy's berth.

Elizabeth, who was standing next to him, shook her head as she looked down at her sleeping son. "No, don't pinch him. Let's just – oh, I don't know. I think that he's asleep is a good sign."

"I suppose you're right. Let's let him sleep. You know the old adage," Jack told her.

"Don't wake a sleeping baby?"

"I was thinking of 'let sleeping dogs lie', but yours is good too."

Aaron slept like a baby who hadn't gotten a good sleep in three days, and that was because he hadn't.

Elizabeth mentally went over the week so far. Monday night, Aaron's incoming tooth had caused him to fuss and fret all night. Tuesday afternoon, he had been given the wrong medication, with the side-effects of energy, an increased appetite, and the inability to feel pain. Tuesday night, he had kept Elizabeth on her toes as she tried everything which she could think of to keep him safely occupied – and keep herself awake to watch him. On Wednesday, Jack had watched him for several hours, and then Abigail had graciously taken over "Operation Baby Thornton" for a few hours. Then it had been Elizabeth's turn to take over the duty again, and then Jack's turn again, and then Elizabeth's again.

It was now early Thursday morning.

Aaron had finally powered down.

"Crawl in next to me", Jack whispered as he lay down on the lower berth opposite the baby's bunk. He lifted one side of the thin standard-issued blanket and held it up as an invitation to Elizabeth.

"What about work?"

"Forget work. I've missed you."

Elizabeth smiled, kicked off her shoes, and then pulled her grey tee-shirt so it came out of her waistband. Grasping the bottom hem, she lifted it up, exposing her torso, and then pulled it off entirely and tossed it onto the floor, followed by her bra. They landed on top of Jack's clothes.

"Are you tired?"

"Exhausted," she replied softly. "But I miss you more."

Elizabeth stepped out of her jeans, and glanced at Aaron. He was lying on his back and sleeping so soundly that he didn't even have his thumb in his mouth.

Deciding that the boy was no longer in need of constant supervision, Elizabeth crawled onto Jack's mattress being careful not to hit her head on the bottom of the upper berth. "What if we wake him?" she asked with a lowered voice.

"We won't", Jack whispered.

"If he wakes up anytime soon, I'm done for."

"I'll make a deal with you," Jack quietly replied as he leaned over her body. "I will be very very quiet while I touch you, and kiss you, and make you extremely happy."

Elizabeth tried to stifle a giggle at Jack's confidence in his abilities. She looked up at his face which was just inches from hers. He hadn't shaved in two days and had a faint stubble which she found incredibly sexy.

"And what do I have to do as part of this deal?" she questioned as she adjusted herself under his strong bare chest.

Leaning closer, Jack gently put his lips to one of her ears and whispered something so . . so . . . .well, let's just say that what he said made Elizabeth's heart race, her cheeks blush, and her excitement grow.

"Lights out," she eagerly declared as she reached up her hand and slapped the light sensor on the wall above their heads.

"Not too fatigued?" Jack teased.

Instead of verbally responding, Elizabeth pressed her mouth to his.

"Metal fatigue", Jack repeated to the Captain as they walked down the corridor outside their quarters. "That's the latest update I got. Just the one pipe as far as they can tell."

After several days recuperating from their own fatigue and catching up on 'things', Elizabeth, Jack, and Aaron had been on their way to the fitness center when they encountered the ship's Captain who requested an update on the water pipe burst earlier in the week.

Ever since the incident, the ship had been on a mandatory reduced-pressure for all pipes. Which meant that using water was still possible, just unbearably slow as the water trickled from the faucet at half its normal force.

After an investigation, the on-board engineers had surmised that G-forces endured by the transporter's repeated lift-offs over the last four years had finally caused the metal on one of the pipes to weaken, causing small cracks and the eventual burst.

"Damn materials," the Captain swore. "Everything was inspected before lift-off. It should have been found before we started this voyage. Send me the report and after I sign off on it, we'll forward it to headquarters."

"Yes, Sir."

Jack liked the Captain and they had a comfortable relationship, but he knew that the man responsible for the transporter would not relax until the voyage was finished and another on-ground inspection could be performed. For the next three months, there would be the possibility, however slight, that another pump might burst. And while there was the ability to weld and patch the metal together, it was an inconvenience that the Captain didn't want to deal with again.

"I still don't see how we could have just one pipe affected. Lucky if it's true. What about the debris? Someone mentioned some was found," the Captain noted.

"It looks like someone in the kitchen may have thrown some food into the sink drains rather than compost. I'll speak to staff member Stanton about it, and make sure its re-emphasized that only water does into the drains," Jack explained.

"I don't have time for lazy staff. Make sure Stanton knows that. I'll ensure that an announcement is made to passengers and crew also."

"Yes, Sir. When are you going to resume normal pressures?"

"Might as well do it now. No reason to wait. I'll send the order. Are the masses getting restless?"

"Not yet. But it's only a matter of time," Jack admitted. "People like their showers. And a trickle of water's not going to keep them satisfied for ever."

Elizabeth had to agree with Jack's statement. It was one of the things she missed most about living on Earth. The simple pleasure of a long shower. Back home in Liskow, their master bathroom had a large window looking out onto their backyard. Elizabeth loved seeing the snow on the fir trees or the maple trees without their fallen leaves as she stood under a forceful stream of warm water pulsating on her body.

"Who knew a body could be so squirmy?" Jack chuckled as he carried Aaron on his shoulders.

The little boy grabbed Jack's hair and bounced on his shoulders like he was riding a horse. After the fitness center, the Thornton family had stopped by the Captain's office to pick-up the completed inspection report, and they were now on their way to the CC to send it to headquarters on Earth.

"Maybe I'll have a message from home," Elizabeth remarked as they neared their destination. They passed other passengers who all nodded hello and smiled at the littlest Thornton who was thoroughly enjoying his view from six feet off the ground.

"Stop worrying, Elizabeth. I'm sure the house is fine. My ma would have said something in her message to us last week if there was a problem."

"Not if Julie and my family didn't tell her"

"No news is good news," Jack optimistically told her.

"Whoever came up with that saying never had Julie as a sister."

Aaron grabbed at the lights and moved his head in awe at the flashing colors and pictures that lined the walls of the CC while Jack handed his message to the ensign on duty and then waited patiently to be sure that it was successfully delivered.

While they waited, Elizabeth used the opportunity to complain to the ensign about the two misdelivered hologram messages which she had received. The young man in the crew uniform was less than helpful as he explained that sometimes messages are misdelivered if the sender accidently transposed part of the recipient's Earth Citizen number, and that there was nothing he could do about that.

"But maybe he's getting messages meant for me," Elizabeth pestered. "He's learning about my family and what they've been up to and what they want to tell me. That's an invasion of privacy," she added haughtily. "And a federal offense."

"Tell him, Jack," she urged as she jabbed her husband with her elbow.

Jack screwed up his face and gave her a look that clearly indicated he thought she had some odd ideas and he was not going to take her suggestion. "No," he said simply and then rubbed his arm and pouted.

"It's a crime," Elizabeth nagged. 'Tell him it's a crime and he needs to do something."

"It's not an invasion of privacy or a crime if Julie typed the wrong Earth Citizen number and someone innocently got her holograms meant for you," a smiling Jack informed her.

"But he's watching messages meant for me!"

"Not likely. Not unless your sister transposed the exact same numbers that he did. The odds of that would be astronomical. No pun intended," the ensign said as he humored himself. "More likely your sister just hasn't bothered to send you a message."

Elizabeth glared at the crew member. "So, you're not going to do anything?"

"Not really, Ma'am. But I will screen any messages addressed to you if you'd like me to."

"And you?" Elizabeth questioned as she looked at Jack.

Jack tried to stifle a smile. "Elizabeth, if I were to press charges against anyone who happens to accidently see a hologram meant for you – which may or may not have actually been sent – so this is entirely hypothetical, I would have to arrest you for watching a hologram that was meant for someone else. Twice now. Or did you not think about that?"

Elizabeth sulked. She didn't want to admit it but she hadn't thought of that.

"Besides, I'm the one that should be upset. Some man keeps sending my wife messages. I have every right to be jealous. Is there something you're not telling me about you and this mysterious man?" Jack teased Elizabeth.

"They're not for me!" she grumbled.

"And besides," she added casually with a shrug, "he wouldn't like me."

"How in the world do you know that?" Jack asked in surprise. His eyes squinted in curiosity.

"Because I don't have silky hair. Not after the lack of conditioner on this transporter. And it's not blond."

"It's kind of blond. Ish."

"He likes women with long silky blond hair. He's very particular about that. He said all men want women with nice hair."

"He told you this?"

"He didn't tell me. He told whomever he was talking to. Whomever was supposed to get the message. He said there was no one decent in Coal Valley and hoped some women who are sweet would be on the next transporter. And then he started babbling about men and women and skin color and silky hair. Or something like that. The message kept breaking in and out. It was a lousy transmission. Although, honestly, he sounded like a jerk to me."

"Maybe he's just desperate in need of companionship. Life on Coal Valley can be lonely if you don't have someone," Jack remarked.

"Then maybe he shouldn't be so choosy. He also said she had to have perfect ears."

"Perfect ears?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "I told you that he was a jerk. Men."

"I love your ears," Jack said with a twinkle in his eyes. "They are just one of the many things I love about you. In fact, I love both of them. And I love your hair. And I love that it's . . . . whatever color it is."

"Ahem," the ensign interrupted. "Your message has been successfully sent, Sir. Headquarters on Earth should be downloading it in the next hour."

The cafeteria with it round tables and long counter for getting food was a buzz of conversations, which was a welcome relief after some of the earlier meals this week.

After the water burst incident, some of the men on the ship had found themselves facing the wrath of their girlfriends, wives, and almost any female who had ever shown an interest in them.

"Looks like the women have finally forgiven their men," Jack said under his breath as the Thornton trio made their way to their table carrying plastic trays of food and drink boxes. Jack juggled his tray with one hand as he held onto Aaron with the other.

"What did they expect?" Elizabeth whispered back. "Did so many men have to volunteer to help clean up when they saw Becca in her wet tee-shirt? And did they have to say that a little water never hurt anything?"

Jack chuckled and gave a shrug. "I'm guessing the husband who made the comment about things growing with water, is still in the doghouse."

"Noooo!" Elizabeth said with exaggerated shock when one of the passengers at their table offered to get Aaron a cup of coffee.

The dishes – now empty of their food – had been pushed aside as the seats' occupants sat with full bellies and continued their conversations. As on the previous transporter flights, meal time wasn't just about food. The cafeteria was the social hub of the ship.

"I'll cool it off before I give it to him," the man said a little too innocently as the rest of the table burst into laughter. They were all familiar with the boy's energetic week. "He might like a nice cup of coffee."

"If that boy never has caffeine again, it will be too soon," Jack replied.

He looked over at Aaron who was sitting on the floor about thirty feet away. His little legs splayed out in front of him as he played with small empty silverware cardboard boxes which Abigail had saved from the recycling bin. He wasn't doing anything intelligent with them, not even stacking them, but Elizabeth had assured Jack that at less than eight months old, it was still too early for anything that advanced. Instead, the baby seemed perfectly happy to simply be smashing his hand onto them, and every so often, tasting them.

Having the only baby on the ship had proved to have its advantages. While Elizabeth wasn't exactly sure that she liked the idea of her son being the transporter's 'mascot" as if he was a sports team's official cheerleader, she did like that the ship was a safe area, he could roam practically anywhere, and no one complained. She just had to remind passengers not to feed him scraps of food.

One of the men across from Jack made a joke about coffee, jellybeans, and astronauts, causing everyone at the table to burst into another peal of laughter. Elizabeth, who had just taken a sip of tea, slapped her hand over her face to keep the liquid from coming out her nose and tried to stifle her laughter.

Perhaps if the dinner meal wasn't finished, people would still be eating and their mouths would be so full of food that they wouldn't be talking. Then the room of people would be quiet except for the clinking of utensils against plates and bowls.

But they were talking. And laughing loudly. And moving about the room as they went to the counter to get dessert and coffee or tea. Or calling across the room to friends.

And because of the noise which they were making, they didn't notice the creaking sound.

The small sound that comes as metal bends every so slightly with water moving through it. And the gurgling of something other than liquid passing swiftly through the pipes.

The pipe ruptured so quickly that no one had time to react.

The force violently pushed the closest chairs backwards, sending the occupants flying onto the floor. The rest of the people sitting around the table hurriedly shoved back their own chairs and jumped up to escape the torrent of water.

Before anyone could do more by way of reaction, there was another bang as the pipe burst in a second spot and then a third.

Water gushed out like any geysers, throwing the diners into a chaotic frenzy.

"Turn OFF the water valves!" somebody yelled but the words were barely heard above the sound of the alarm going off with its sharp beeps interspersed with a computer-generated message.

"CODE ORANGE. LOCATION CAFETERIA. WATER PIPE THREE HAS EXPERIENCED A MALFUNCTION. CODE ORANGE. LOCATION CAFETERIA. WATER PIPE THREE HAS EXPERIENCED A MALFUNCTION.

Elizabeth pushed dripping hair off of her face, and frantically looked around for Aaron. She tried to make her way away from the table, but she slipped in the water and had to steady herself. More water shot into her face temporarily blinding her.

She used a hand to shield her face, and stumbled away. She tried to ignore the yells of passengers and the beeping of the alarm as a fourth break in the pipe released a spray of water across the room.

"CODE ORANGE. LOCATION CAFETERIA. WATER PIPE THREE HAS EXPERIENCED A MALFUNCTION. CODE ORANGE. LOCATION CAFETERIA. WATER PIPE THREE HAS EXPERIENCED A MALFUNCTION.

She was frightened when she didn't see immediately see Aaron, but then someone racing by moved out of the way, and she saw her little boy.

He was still thirty feet away and watching sprinkles of water splash onto the floor near him. Luckily, he wasn't close enough to the main break which had opened over their table or he would have been soaked and likely injured. He was wet, but he hadn't been knocked over by the force of the water erupting from the pipe.

Elizabeth should have felt relief at seeing her boy babbling in a puddle. And to some extent, she did. But for a reason she didn't yet understand, she felt that something was wrong.

She just didn't know how seriously wrong it was.

It's strange how water is necessary to live, but can also kill.