"Those two are up to something," I told Pip.
"Why do you say that?"
"I don"t know. Something"s up, and with that pair it could be anything," I said admiring the view until they pa.s.sed out of sight.
"You may be right," he said. "We"ll find out when they"re darn good and ready to tell us, though, so it"s no good speculating."
I chuckled in agreement. "So? What"ll we do for,"-I checked my chrono-"three stans?"
"I"m thinking sleep. I didn"t get much last night and judging from the sounds, you didn"t either."
"I like your idea better than any I could come up with."
When I woke up it was 18:15 and the women were sitting and talking in the common room. They had changed clothes and looked ready for a night out. "You didn"t come wake me?" I asked.
Bev said, "I was pretty rough on ya last night, and I suspect you needed the nap."
Brill added, "Yes, and she intends on keeping you awake tonight, too, so it"s probably a good thing."
That was both good and bad. Good for what it promised. Bad for what it meant for the next day.
Pip came out of his room, dressed and ready to go. "So what are we doing?"
"Dinner and dancing?" Bev suggested.
Brill added, "Dinner anyway. We need to feed."
"Last night in port," Pip noted. "Any preferences for dinner?"
I had some but they involved smearing various tasty morsels across an amazing array of anatomy. I did not mention that, instead I said, "I"m open to almost anything."
There was a knock on the door and Pip said, "Ah, my date!"
He went to open it and Rhon Scham launched herself at him, pinning him to the wall, and kissing him very thoroughly.
She came up for air and looked over at us, "Oh, hi! You kids about ready for dinner?" Then she went back for a second helping of Pip before any of us could summon sufficient wit to reply.
When she surfaced the second time, Pip looked like he might have died right there, but he shook himself and came back to us. "Hi, Rhon. Good to see you."
She grinned at him, "You too." She kissed him on the tip of his nose before releasing the lapels of his jacket. She came into the room and flopped down on the sofa. "So? What are we doing for dinner? I"m starved."
"We"re just trying to decide. You have any preferences?" I asked her.
"I"m pretty sure I know what I"m having for dessert," she said with a nakedly wanton glance in Pip"s direction. "But I think I"d like a nice steak as entree. You kids know of any good steak places?"
"Yeah," Bev said, "There"s one just down to starboard a couple hundred meters."
"Oh, good," Rhon said, "close."
This was a side of Rhon I had never seen before and I laughed along with everybody else. In less than ten ticks we had adjourned to the restaurant and the maitre d" was happy to find us a quiet corner.
When I sat down, I thought, so this is our last dinner together. I remembered all the dinners I had shared with Brill and Bev-starting with Maurice"s on Gugara, and including all the mess deck meals we had shared out in the Deep Dark, eating Cookie"s excellent meals. Luckily, Rhon"s antics soon distracted me from that morose contemplation and we started having fun. We were there until nearly 21:00, eating, drinking a little, telling stories, and laughing together. It was all so deliciously distracting and fun. For a little while I was able to forget that in just a few stans, I would be leaving Bev and Brill on the wrong side of the galaxy.
After we finished the third bottle of wine, though, we settled up and headed back to the suite. Rhon practically dragged Pip into his bedroom and with a cheerful little, "Night, now! You kids have fun!" closed the door. I heard her turn the bolt and I wondered if it was to keep us out or Pip in.
Bev and Brill looked at each other. "He"s in for a h.e.l.l of a night, isn"t he?" Bev asked Brill.
"Yes," Bev said. Then with a grin she added, "So is Pip."
Brill turned to me and said, "You take care of yourself. I"ll see ya around the docks." Before I knew what had happened, she had slipped out of the suite and the door latch clicked shut behind her.
Bev took my arm and led me to the bedroom, stopping at the door to look up at me as if to make sure I was actually there. She looked anxiously from one eye to the other until I managed a little smile. She took me the rest of the way into the room, closing the door behind us.
We didn"t rip our clothes off and attack, it was more deliberate, more loving. The sheets had been changed again, but we saw no reason not to make as much mess of this new set as we had the last ones. We were in no hurry and we took our time with each other. It was by turns: tender, hilarious, wanton, and gentle. Bodies intertwined-fingers, tongues, arms, legs, feet, ears. In many cases, napes of necks were favored. There was so much skin to kiss, hold, and cry on. We fell asleep, completely sated before midnight and woke again at 03:00 to have another round before finally sleeping for good.
Bev kissed me awake at 07:30. "You need to get cleaned up and get out of here. Grab the shower quick and get your clothes on. If you hurry you can grab breakfast on the way down to the docks." She kissed me again and kicked me unceremoniously out of bed and onto the floor.
I crawled reluctantly to my feet and into the shower. It only took a few moments to wash up and clean my teeth. I skipped the Depil. My beard didn"t grow that fast.
Bev was still in bed watching me move about and get dressed. She followed me with her eyes as I packed my things, getting ready to leave her. She did not look as sad as I felt. Perhaps her feelings were something I had built up in my own mind and I was making more of it than I should. I sat beside her on the bed and took her in my arms one last time, kissing her gently on her eyes and nose and mouth. "Thank you, Beverly Arith. You are a she-wolf, you know."
She grinned lazily up at me, stretching sensuously in my arms. "You"re not so bad yourself," she growled at me. She reached up and kissed me very tenderly, putting her hand around my head and stroking the back of my skull.
I heard Pip stirring about in the common room, so I knew it was time to go. I let Bev go with a final peck on the cheek, and crossed to the connecting door. Before I opened it, I turned back and said, "I love you, you know. Thank you for all you"ve done for me." I slipped out and closed the door behind me without waiting for a reply.
Pip waited with his duffel packed and fully dressed. "Ready?" he asked.
I shrugged, not trusting myself to speak and headed for the door. I did not have a lot to say on the way down to the docks and Pip didn"t press. Remembering how long it had taken me to recover from Alvarez, I wondered how long it would take to get over Bev. I chuckled to myself, at that. Did you ever get over being loved by a she-wolf?
I turned to Pip. "Do you wanna grab some breakfast?"
"Can you eat?" he asked.
"Probably not, but-" I shrugged. "Gotta try."
We slipped into a s.p.a.cer diner just off the docks and ordered the standard egg, bacon, and potato breakfast. Pip said it was good and I ate mine, but I didn"t taste it. By the time we finished and settled up, it was already pushing 08:45. We had to hustle to make it to the docks. Cousin Roger waited with the lock open and grinned when he saw us.
"Welcome aboard," he said. "You can drop your duffels in the living room, Mom and Dad are in the galley and the coffee"s hot."
It is going to be okay, I thought. This was so homey. I could recover here and be, if not whole, then at least mostly healed by the time we hit Port Newmar. Pip and I dropped our bags in the corner of the living room and went on to find Aunt P and Uncle Q sitting at one end of the big table.
Aunt P pointed to a coffee pot- a real coffee pot-not a utility sized urn. "Help yourself, boys. Mugs are in the cabinet above."
Uncle Q said, "Welcome aboard, guys. You timed it well."
Aunt P looked at the chrono, "Yeah, now if the others make it on time, we"ll be shaking the dust off right on schedule."
I took my coffee over and sat across from them at the table. I figured we"d be sharing a few meals. I wondered who would be cooking. "Others, Aunt P?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah, we got a couple more cadets needing a ride. Figured we could get you all in the same trip and save some time." She kept her eye on the chrono and waited.
We all heard the lock start to close as the chrono read 08:55. Aunt P punched a b.u.t.ton on her tablet. "There! Now the port authorities know we"re b.u.t.toned up on time. They"ll be happy."
"I didn"t know there would be other pa.s.sengers. How about you Pip?" I asked.
He was studying his coffee but I could see a grin. I heard voices in the living room, then steps in the pa.s.sage, and finally Brill and Bev walked into the kitchen.
"You girls cut that a bit close, didn"t you?" Aunt P asked.
"We got caught in traffic," Brill said.
Bev just grinned and I realized that everybody was looking at me.
"You all knew!" I said. "Cadets?"
Brill said, "Yeah, when I heard you"d applied, I went to Mr. Kelley and told him I wanted to go. He"d been after me for two stanyers to head there so he was delighted."
Bev added, "I"m number thirty-five on the captain"s. .h.i.t parade. That filled out application with the stack of recommendations on it is a very effective tactic." She turned to Aunt P. "Thank you for your recommendation as well, Captain."
"I"m Penny when I"m at home, dear. and I"m glad to help Alys out whenever I can. How did your father take the news, Brill?"
"He was overjoyed. I thought he was going to fly out himself."
"Any problems from the co-op, Bev?" Aunt P asked.
"Nope, they"re tickled that another one of us is going."
"Are you going to have to serve your time there?"
"No, Mom and Dad have been investing just for this. They"re going to do everything they can to help me out. I got a nice financial aid package. It"s gonna work out."
Bev and Brill settled at the table with us all and it felt so amazingly right. Aunt P and Uncle Q beamed at us and Aunt P said, "You four are the craziest, luckiest, and least likely team I think I"ve ever met. You watch out for each other down in Port Newmar and you"ll all do just fine. Now let"s go get you settled."
We all trouped back to the living room and picked up duffels. I still had no idea how they"d pulled it off, and I wasn"t going to ask. I was just counting my blessings. Aunt P led us down to the cabins and turned to Pip. "You want your old cabin?" she asked.
"Sure," he said, and peeled off into one of the singles.
Aunt P looked at us then. "You three can have any combination that you want," she said with a devilish little grin.
Brill chuckled, pointed at one of the singles, and said, "Dibs! I don"t remember the last time I had a room to myself!"
We took a couple of ticks, divvying up the rooms and figuring out where to stash duffel bags. We changed into shipsuits and it amused me when Brill showed up in a suit in midnight black, while Bev wore blood-red. I felt almost under dressed in my gray. All told it took us close to a stan to get out of our civvies, into the shipsuits, and finally make our way to the kitchen for coffee.
When we got close to departure, Pip led us up to the bridge. It was the first time I had seen it. Because it was so small I felt like I was standing in s.p.a.ce, surrounded by stars. There was even a skylight in the overhead and I could look up the see the orbital from where I stood at the back of the bridge. It would be a very romantic setting out in the Deep Dark with stars all around and the ship sailing through the ever-night. The bridge had three consoles along with two mismatched sofas and two over-stuffed chairs.
We heard Aunt P giggling as she came up the ladder to the bridge and Uncle Q was very close behind her and I wondered what he had been doing to make her laugh like that. The thought made me grin.
Aunt P took the center seat, Uncle Q sat to her right. She waved Bev over to take the seat on her left. "You stood helm watch, didn"t you, Bev?" she asked.
"Of course," Bev said.
If getting the Lois McKendrick underway was a ballet, leaving on the Bad Penny was a jam session. I stood at the back of the bridge so I could watch. Brill stood beside me, close enough I could feel the heat of her but not quite touching. Pip sprawled on one of the couches, possibly dozing.
Aunt P. keyed a mic and asked, "You ready, Roger?"
"We"re ready to rumble, Mom," his voice came back from a speaker on the console.
"Mother may I?" she said to Quent.
He was watching a systems board and said, "Clearance requested." A moment later he said, "Clearance granted."
Aunt P ran a few commands through her board and I felt the docking clamps release with a small thump. In a moment we were sliding backwards under our own power. "Just keep us pointing at the orbital, dear," she said to Bev. "We"ll slide out for a half a stan or so and then come about to our exit vector."
Bev"s console was live and she grinned as she watched her screens and the ports all at once. "After the Lois, this is like driving a flitter!"
"If you think this is good, wait until we get the sails up," Aunt P said. "You may need a towel."
"A towel?" she asked.
Aunt P nodded. "Yeah. To sit on," she said with a wink.
Uncle Q sat back in his chair and smiled at his wife. She did not seem to be looking in his direction, but she reached over and patted his thigh. Brill must have seen the gesture because she shifted her weight so she was leaning against me. Or maybe I shifted mine. It didn"t matter. As long as I could feel her, I felt at peace. I had the same sensation looking over at Bev on helm. Just looking at her made me feel whole.
I could see Aunt P getting ready on her board and glancing out the ports as if she could actually eyeball the positions. She keyed her mic once more and said, "Stand by, Roger. Another tick and we"ll be coming about."
"Okay, Mom," Rogers voice came back.
Aunt P turned to Bev and asked, "Could you bring her around about sixty-five degrees to port with a fifteen degree up angle at the bow, please, Bev?"
"Sixty-five degrees port and fifteen degrees up, aye, Captain," Bev said automatically, then she squealed in delight as the view outside the ports shifted.
Aunt P laughed. "I shoulda mentioned that. She"s a bit ticklish. Now watch her, I"m gonna bring up the engines."
Bev just grinned.
Aunt P ran up the engines and I could actually feel them come on-line through the frame of the ship. Our vector shifted and we pulled away.
"Did you log us out, honey?" P asked Q.
"Yes, dear. On the mark at 12:00 and leaving orbital s.p.a.ce at 12:35."
She patted his thigh again and left her hand resting there for a long moment.
In what seemed like no time at all, we were clear of the proximity markers and Aunt P keyed her mic, "Okay, Roger, we"re out. See you in the galley."
"What do you want for lunch?" he asked.
I hadn"t thought about food, but as soon as he said the word lunch, my stomach reminded me. Apparently Aunt P heard it too because she said, "I think we need something quick, hon. How about sandwiches, for now."