CHAPTER 96- BILLIONS OF PEOPLE BUT ONLY ONE MATTERS

The transporter sped past another galaxy.

The blackness of space was interspersed with twinkling celestial bodies. Sometimes these shiny white and yellow sparkles were clustered together. Other times they were solitary. Like they had been ostracized from their cosmic families. Or maybe decided that they liked beaming light by themselves. Bringing light to an otherwise dark part of the world. Elizabeth wondered how many stars were out there. Billions. Like the billions of people on Earth.

She had taken the long route back to her quarters after her class so that she could look out one of the large observation windows which were on the outermost corridors. She loved looking at the world outside the transporter.

And Jack had told her to take her time getting back to the room.

She hated to admit it but Jack was tired of her amorous advances.

"It's not my fault!" she had declared when he had run away from her and locked himself in the bathroom to dress earlier that morning.

"I know. But I don't care," his muffled voice had come through the door as he had pulled a shirt on over his head.

"You can get dressed out here!"

"You are not seeing me naked. It will give you too many ideas."

"I thought you love me," she had shouted back.

"You're confusing love with lust. I love you. You lust me. So rein it in."

"Most men would love to have a wife who is so attentive," she had indignantly countered as she stood in her tee-shirt and shorts with her hands on her hips.

"Most men would have locked you up by now."

"That's not fair! This is all your fault."

"My fault?"

"You shouldn't look so sexy."

"Which just proves that I am right to change out of your sight."

"You should come out here and apologize to me for teasing me by looking so good. I will maybe consider forgiving you if you ask nicely."

"I'm waiting," Elizabeth had declared when Jack didn't take her up on her suggestion that he come out and apologize.

"Jack, are you going to answer me?"

"Jack?"

"Get out here and face me like a man!"

Elizabeth had pounded on the door and leaned one side of her head against it. All she heard was the sound of water running in the sink.

"Coward!"

"Jack? Are you in there?"

The bathroom door had finally slid open and revealed an unshaven man holding a toothbrush who had sleepily stared at her as if she was a nagging slightly irrational woman.

"Oh!" a startled Elizabeth had declared when she saw her suite mate, Keith. "Jack was just in there."

"Yeah, he left through our room."

Earth was long gone from view. It hadn't been visible for weeks, and she wouldn't see it again for almost two years. Elizabeth missed Earth. With its trees and rivers. Its mountains and valleys. She missed rainbows and snowstorms. She even missed the crowds of people in the cities.

Aaron, resting against her hip with a lock of her hair in his tight grip, didn't seem interested in her talk of the wonders of space as she pointed out various lights, so after a few minutes, Elizabeth turned away from the window and continued down the corridor.

In the two days since her assault and release from the clinic, she and Jack hadn't gotten any closer to finding out who had stolen her laptop.

Jack had eventually found her destroyed device shoved behind some pallets of laboratory equipment in the cargo hold.

He reasoned that whomever had stolen it had been unable to get past Elizabeth's password. Angry and intent on erasing the holograms, the thief had smashed the pink device until the screen was in three pieces and several letters from the keyboard would never pop up again.

The Quartermasters had issued Elizabeth another computer, standard in size and boring it its black color. The cost would be deducted from her paycheck.

In between helping care for Aaron, meal times, and scurrying away from Elizabeth as much as possible - except for three occasions where he couldn't resist making love, Jack had interviewed everyone on the transporter and had performed another "Health and Welfare Inspection" which had raised the suspicions of the transporter's occupants who were wondering the reasons for the searches, why Elizabeth had been hospitalized, and what had caused Elizabeth and Jack to get so excited over corn and water pipes.

"How was class?" Jack asked her as Elizabeth and Aaron walked into their room.

"Good. The kids want me to ask the Captain to turn off artificial gravity for a few minutes so they can do experiments."

"I have a feeling he'll say no," Jack said with a chuckle.

"You're right," she agreed with a smile. "But I told the students that I would ask anyway. And I gave your son a mini-lecture on space and galaxies and even black holes, but he was more interested in tugging on my hair."

"You got nice hair," Jack noted with a smile.

When Elizabeth smiled back, Jack gave her a stern look in return. "That was a simple compliment. Not an invitation to attack me."

"I wasn't going to attack you. Not right now," she retorted.

"Good."

"Unless you want me to," she ventured hopefully.

"No. I do not want you to. I've got work to do."

"Then why'd you come back here? To parade in front of me?"

"I am not parading in front of you. I am sitting in a chair looking at my computer. I've got the XO using my office to look over the security cameras again. The figure was too dark to see anything coming in and out of our room, but I'm having him check other areas to see if there's a better view I missed."

"I can have the twins babysit Acorn for a bit," Elizabeth offered suggestively.

"I can go sit in the hallway for a bit," Jack responded.

"You're no fun."

"I've been plenty fun. I was fun last night. Twice. And the day before that. I'm done with fun for a while."

Elizabeth scowled but relented. It was clear to her that Jack was going to be a stubborn prude.

"Prude," she shot back.

"Vamp," he retorted.

She sat on the floor between their berths and set Aaron down to play between her legs which she spread open in a large V pattern. The room was so small that with her back against one berth, her feet practically touched the one across from her.

"Any luck?" she asked.

"Not yet. I've been communicating with NADF but it's not exactly high on their priority list. Apparently, there are some major forest fires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, a cyberthief on the loose somewhere in North America, and a drug cartel about to get taken down. Smuggled and fraudulent corn for a distant frontier lacks a little something."

"I'm sorry. But look at the bright side."

"The bright side?"

"You have all those other fun cases to work on," she reminded him without even trying to keep a straight face.

"Ah, yes. The case of the fist-fight over Perky B. Becca. And the case of the four stolen bottles of beer. Which I suspect have something to do with each other."

"How about the case of the sexy wife who is desperately missing her husband right now?"

"How about I go back to my office and you jog around the ship a few dozen times and then take a cold shower?"

Declining Jack's suggestion that she jog away her lustful thoughts of him, Elizabeth watched Aaron happily smack his hand against paper balloons she had made, and remembered their last flight when he had been in her womb. A year ago on her last flight, she had been so desperate to have him born on Earth in a hospital surrounded by the best OBGYNs and pediatricians. All that worry, and everything had turned out perfectly. His birth on Earth had been without complication, and he had been given an Earth Citizen number like every other human. She smiled when she remembered how silly she had been to worry about that.

"Idiots. We've been idiots," Elizabeth announced suddenly.

Jack, sitting at the room's small desk in an effort to keep at least an arm's length from his wife whenever possible, looked up from his computer. "What do you mean?"

"My Earth Citizen number. That's the clue. Remember what the communications guy said. That I was probably getting the wrong hologram messages because the sender reversed some numbers or was off by one or two."

"So?"

"So, all we have to do is look at everyone's Earth Citizen numbers on the transporter and find the one that is similar to mine! One that's just a few numbers off or has something reversed!" she excitedly told him.

"How about this one? EK-09511489."

Elizabeth and Jack were each hunched over their laptops as they looked at the rosters of passengers and crews.

"Who is it?" Jack replied. "What's the name?"

"Oh, never mind. It's the Captain. My guess is that if he was the one smuggling, he would put it somewhere in his own private quarters."

Jack tacitly agreed and went back to looking at his own screen. After another thirty seconds of silence, he spoke out. "Here's one. KE 09611987. It's just two numbers off."

"And the letters are reversed. The sender would have to have reversed the letters and gotten two numbers wrong."

"He could have been doing it from memory or in a hurry. Once the sender accidentally sent it wrong the first time, he just kept sending it wrong because the number was then programmed into his mail account. He probably didn't type it out each time. Just let it auto-fill in. Incorrectly.

"And he never wondered why he wasn't getting a response?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Who knows? Maybe the sender thought that the recipient couldn't' reply. Or just blamed it on the long delay between transmission and receipt."

"Who is it?" Elizabeth questioned. "The number?"

"It's Skip Laurel from the Horticulture Greenhouse. He'd have access to the transporter before lift-off. And he'd know agriculture. But when I questioned him, he seemed pretty oblivious."

"Could be an act," Elizabeth offered.

"He'd have to be one damn good actor."

"That bad?"

"I know he's a scientist and they're all smart, but this guy is one sandwich short of a picnic. I can question him again anyway."

"Put a mark by it, but let's keeping looking."

Aaron chewed on a sock while his parents diligently scanned the manifest.

"What about this one? Three of the numbers are reversed and four are different and the letters aren't the same," Elizabeth offered.

"I take it you're getting desperate because that's really stretching it. Who is it?"

"Ensign Zyrus."

"Jolene?" Jack questioned.

"Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Joleeeeene," Elizabeth sang out melodiously. "Her beauty is beyond compare. With flaming locks of auburn hair. With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green. Joleeeeeeeene.'

Jack raised his eyebrows at Elizabeth as she finished singing. "I have no idea what you're singing about. Jolene has a short brown hair. Brown skin. And brown eyes."

"It's a song!"

Jack shook his head at his wife. "You really are strange sometime."

Undeterred, Elizabeth moved her body in rhythm to her singing as she quietly continued the lyrics. " . . . . he talks about you in his sleep. And there's nothing I can do to keep from crying when he calls your name. Jolene. Please don't take my man away. Joleeeeene."

"Can we forget the karaoke for a moment? Jolene works the night shift in the electrical unit. I'll ask Alex about her."

Elizabeth abruptly stopped singing. "Maybe Alex is the culprit."

"Alex? She's a straight-shooter. She helped me on the investigation on our first flight."

"But how well do we really know her?" Elizabeth questioned as she thought about the beautiful woman with the legs which reminded her of a gazelle.

"Pretty well," Jack replied and gave Elizabeth an odd look. "We spent four months with her before. She's smart. Trustworthy. Loyal. Why would you think she'd be involved in anything sinister?"

"Because . . .", Elizabeth paused. Without seeming like I'm an irrational jealous wife, how do I say because she's beautiful and I'm jealous of her when she walks around all perfect-like, and that she was helping you on the case when I had the hots for you on our first flight, and she probably has nothing to do with the assault but I still don't like her.

Elizabeth shrugged. "Because she seems little too perfect sometimes. Like maybe she's hiding something."

Jack chuckled. "She's not hiding anything. And you're not hiding your jealousy very well. But I think it's adorable."

"How adorable?" Elizabeth lips turned up into a mischievous grin and she got a twinkle in her eye.

"Not that adorable. Now concentrate on the roster, not on my body."

"I could make your body feel good."

"My body feels just fine."

"You're no fun," she grumbled but turned her attention back to her new laptop.

The next day, Elizabeth still had a hard time believing that anyone on the transporter could have harmed her. And yet, she hadn't imagined getting hit in the head. Twice. Someone obviously had swung the laptop into her skull and jaw. She and Jack just weren't any closer to discovering who. Despite the number of suspects at less than 200, everyone seemed to have an alibi or a very convincing statement that they had been asleep or at their duty station when Elizabeth had been assaulted.

As she moved to the side to allow someone to pass her in the corridor, Elizabeth tried to put the whole thing behind her. It was over. Done with. Her computer with the evidence was destroyed, the cameras didn't have a clear picture of her assailant, no one had confessed.

There was little more to be done. Perhaps they would never solve it.

Jack was back in his office.

Aaron was adorably in her arms.

Elizabeth was still energetic, lustful, and now hungry for dinner.

"You dropped something," a woman's voice called out.

Elizabeth paused and turned around. A slender woman with short brown hair was bending down to pick up Aaron's toy.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said as she retreated a few steps and reached out her hand.

The other woman was holding a cord with several attached objects, but instead of handing it to Elizabeth, she paused to consider it. Looking at the various every-day items tied tightly to the thick cord.

"It's just stuff we had handy," Elizabeth explained. She took hold of the cord.

When Jolene didn't release it, Elizabeth gave a little pull, taking the make-shift baby toy into her own hand and then shoved it into her back pocket so Aaron wouldn't drop it again. "From around the transporter. Our crate of baby stuff was accidentally sent to Mock Earth so I had to get inventive. Like an inventor. Hah hah. Like a scientist inventor."

When Jolene eyed her as if Elizabeth was a homeless woman making baby objects salvaged out of trash dumpster, a self-conscious Elizabeth gave her a friendly smile and decided to quickly change subjects. "I love your name, by the way. Jolene. With you locks of auburn hair. Please don't take my man away."

"Excuse me?" Jolene replied in confusion.

"I said please don't take my man away." Elizabeth gave a small laugh. "You know, the song. Jolene."

"Right," Jolene said hesitantly and then walked away.

Elizabeth sighed. Geez, everyone thinks I'm weird. I cannot wait for this trip to be over. So far, I'm the woman who doesn't shave, the woman who can't do simple math and makes love too loudly, the woman who lost her son on a transporter when there was no gravity, and the woman who is either anorexic or alternatively obsessed with corn, which may be a grain or a vegetable or somehow a fruit. I am not even going to get into that discussion again with Skip Laurel from agriculture. And now I'm the woman who knows songs that apparently no one else has heard of.

Elizabeth continued down the hallway and stopped in front of the door with the large official identifying sign on the wall next to it.

SECURITY OFFICE. OFFICER THORNTON.

When the door slid open, Aaron smiled and reached out his arms towards Jack who was standing a few feet away.

"You ready to eat," Elizabeth asked as she transferred her son into Jack's waiting arms.

"Hi, Bob," she told the red-haired and freckled executive officer.

"HI, Elizabeth. How's your head?"

"Good. Can I steal my husband away for dinner?"

"Sure. We're not having much luck here."

The cafeteria wasn't too crowded yet, which could be because it was cauliflower casserole night. Not a top contender for best meal of the week.

Spotting the twin girls giggling at a nearby round table, Jack and Elizabeth approached them, and Jack grabbed a small high chair and carried it over with them.

"Hi girls, would you mind babysitting Aaron Daniel while Officer Thornton and I go and get our food?"

"We love baby Thornton!" Susie eagerly replied.

"Guess what, Mrs. Thornton?" Joyce asked. "We're flying by a planet tonight. Dad says it's like Venus because it has a long rotation and no little things floating around."

"No satellites. Your dad is right. Venus happens to be my favorite planet," Elizabeth announced as she settled Aaron into his seat and buckled him in.

"Reeeally? Why?"

"I like the name," Elizabeth replied with a shrug. "It's named after a Roman goddess," she explained with a friendly smile. She gave Aaron a quick kiss on the head

"We'll be back in a jiff."

"Don't think I'm not onto you," Jack hissed under his breath as they walked to the cafeteria line.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Elizabeth said in a sweet innocent voice.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Suddenly it's your favorite planet. Venus. The Roman name for Aphrodite. Goddess of love, fertility, and sex. You are not Venus and I am not some little malleable human you can turn to mush."

"Hummph," she exhaled and elbowed past him.

He followed after her and mentally asked for strength. Dear lord, help me. I am a malleable human she can turn to mush.

"Where's Aaron Daniel?" Elizabeth asked when she and Jack returned to the table where they had left their son just minutes earlier. She set her tray, containing her utensils, a plate of cauliflower casserole, an apple, and a box of water, onto the table.

"Some lady took him."

"Some lady?"

"She said you wanted him."

Elizabeth's forehead wrinkled in puzzlement. She didn't sit down but looked around the cafeteria for some glimpse of her baby.

"Jack, do you see him?"

An unconcerned Jack, who was already in his chair, looked over his shoulder. "Nah. But he can't have gone anywhere. Probably someone wanted to get some extra cuddles. You know how some women are."

Elizabeth's mouth crinkled back and forth as she considered who had absconded with her son.

"I hope they don't take him again for a science experiment. Just because our son is the only infant on board, doesn't mean he's fair game for their experiments. Last week, I caught Bertie trying to do bird calls with him again. And yesterday, Sven wanted to put him in a maze like a lab rat and see how quickly he could find his way out."

Jack swallowed a bite of his casserole and then took a gulp of water, before turning to the twins, who were finishing their meal and pushing back their chairs. "This lady? Did you recognize her?"

"No, sir."

"And she said she was bringing Aaron to us?"

"Yes," Joyce quickly answered before she and Susie ran off to get dessert.

Elizabeth sat down and scooted her chair closer to the table. She picked up a forkful of white substance meant to be a healthy meal, but paused before putting it in her mouth.

"Maybe the girls misunderstood?" she questioned.

"They probably did. They're more concerned with soft-serve ice-cream than grown-ups. Don't worry. We're on a ship. It's not like someone can kidnap him."

Five minutes later, Elizabeth couldn't concentrate on eating. She felt restless. On-edge.

Something was off.

Every thirty seconds, she had looked around the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of her son. When passengers joined them at their table, she had asked if they had seen Aaron, but none had.

"Who would take him?" she asked Jack and then rapidly fired off more questions. "Why would she take him? Why would someone say they were taking Aaron to us because we wanted him? And where would she take him? And what is she doing with him?"

"Calm down, Elizabeth. You're just gone through the who, where, what, and why questions in less than two seconds. All you need to ask now is how."

"I'm going to go find him," she announced as she stood up. "This isn't right."

Jack had to admit that maybe Elizabeth had reason to be concerned. He looked around the room but nothing seemed out of order. Passengers and crew were carrying trays of food or sitting at their tables reluctantly eating cauliflower casserole. His son was nowhere in sight. "It does seem a little odd."

He pushed back his chair and stood up. "I'm coming with you."