“Thank you for the introduction, my friend. She seems to know her stuff, and might, just maybe, make a decent crew member.”

  His smile grew larger at the clicking of humor from his friend.

  ISS Assurance

  17-7-4620

  “I don’t know about this. Do you think SSlinks has been drinking too many of those milk martinis?” Reese looked doubtful as she scrolled through the list the Velox had sent J earlier in the evening. “There aren’t a lot to choose from, really. Although this Elowan looks promising.”

  She tossed the tablet in his general direction and poured herself another cup of tea.

  J snatched the tab out of the air and scrolled through the resume. After a moment he nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a communication tech for three missions and a medical tech for two. That’s a good deal of experience.”

  He tapped the little star at the top of the resume, marking it for an interview. The next one that caught his eye was marked Human and had ‘C/D Winfrey’ in the name section. This was a SSlinks recommendation. Apparently, this woman had a good deal of experience also, with three missions each as science officer and engineering officer. He marked the file for an interview and placed the tablet on the table.

  “What is your opinion of androids?” he asked Reese as she sipped from the hot, dark liquid.

  “I’ve worked with a couple and interacted on Arth with several. They’re decent if the programming’s there. I think this one has a good version of the newest updates and the DX99 November series is solid. His speech programming though…Have you worked with them?”

  He sipped from his own drink and shrugged. “We had some for security once. They were tough and did exactly as they were told. But it is a bit menacing, having something that big and mechanical with a weapon. There is no reading their intentions until they act, and then it’s usually too late. I don’t know, just not sure how much I trust them.”

  She snorted the odd laugh he was getting used to. “We created them, right? What could possibly go wrong?”

  “Oh, you didn’t just say that.” He rolled his eyes and hung his head in an overly dramatic bow.

  “Oh, yes I did!” She laughed and stood to place her empty cup in the wash bin. “I’m turning in. Are you going to interview them tomorrow?”

  As he lifted his head and sat back, he glanced around the galley of the Assurance. “Yes, I think the pub has a room in the back where it is quiet enough. And a little more room than here.”

  She threw him a salute as she left the room. “Alright Chief, I’ll see you in the morning.”

  He chuckled and flipped her off. “G’Night.”

  It had been nearly a week since they had met, and he was happy and confident in the choice to hire her. She was at home on the ship and had been very helpful in getting the I’s dotted and T’s crossed for the final mission preparations.

  That had been a huge help in itself. With Interstel breathing down his neck to free up dock space, he had stressed the lack of a crew and the final preps for a while. Now with her help, he had been able to focus on the crew and let her handle the details.

  Starport Lounge

  18-7-4620

  J sat at the head of the small table and scrolled through the pages of the first candidate’s info. The Elowan was the first on his list, and the most likely for him to hire. Everything looked great on its resume and he knew some other captain would scoop it up quickly if he didn’t.

  The door to the main seating area of the pub opened allowing the sound of an Elowan voice singing an old ballad of love and loss, to enter the office he had rented for the afternoon. The android he had hired escorted a small, willowy Elowan into the space. It looked ridiculously large and cumbersome as it walked next to the graceful Elowan.

  They stopped a respectful distance away and the android introduced the frail looking creature to the captain. “This is Elowan Anthemial, sir. You will be most happy to make its acquaintance, I’m certain of it.”

  J shook his head at the entirely too bubbly voice of the large robot. Whomever had programmed the speech patterns had a peculiar sense of humor.

  “Thank you, Android. Please locate the next interviewee and escort them here when I signal.” He was overly cautious when giving orders to the machine, he knew. But he could also see the android taking orders too literally, and actually carrying the interviewee into the room over its shoulder. He shook his head and focused on the bright blue Elowan.

  “Anthemial, correct?” He asked as the willowy creature made itself comfortable on the multi-racial chair across the small table from him.

  “Thank you, captain. That is perfect pronunciation. I am indeed, Anthemial. I understand you are in search of a few crewmembers for an upcoming mission? I am experienced as both a communication officer and medical officer, as I am sure you are aware from my resume.” The voice emitted from the translator was mellow and rich, what might be described as a female baritone in Human terms. The standard language seemed to be used with a dictation and finesse that most Humans didn’t match.

  “I am. Your resume is impressive. Tell me something of your experience, in your own words, please. Some of the circumstances in which you have been an important part of the solution or were an integral team player.”

  They spoke for nearly a half-hour about some of its experiences as well as some of his. By the end of their conversation, J had offered the position of communication officer with a part time/as needed, position of medical officer as well.

  “Are you available immediately? I am unfortunately being pressed by Interstel to vacate the ship berth I have been occupying for, admittedly, far too long.”

  “Tomorrow is the earliest I could actually report, Captain. I must see to a few familial matters in the interim.”

  “Tomorrow is perfect.”

  Anthemial seemed pleased with the arrangement and agreed to be at the Assurance by midday the following day.

  He smiled as the graceful Elowan glided from the room. He pressed the PTT button on his communicator to signal the android. Within a matter of a few seconds the android strode into the room with two identical Human women, one on each side, with their arms hooked through its own mechanical ones.

  J stared for a moment but had gained control by the time they stopped in front of the table. The android released the arms of the two women, stepped back and bowed to each in turn. “Ladies, may I introduce you to the most honorable and astute, J Titus Peacestone. He has the indubitable pleasure of captaining the most renown ISS Assurance.”

  J chuckled and stood to offer his hand to each of the women. The android continued as he faced Peacestone. “And Captain Peacestone, please allow me the indescribable pleasure of introducing Ms. C and Ms. D Winfrey. These two magnificent Humans are here to interview for the crew of the aforementioned glorious ship.”

  “Thank you, Android. Please fetch an additional chair for the ladies. One that is unused, preferably.”

  The android nodded its steel head once and strode off on task.

  J moved his own chair around and gestured for the two women to sit. As he stepped back around the desk, he nodded his head after the android. “Please excuse its flowery speech. It is very good at everything we have given it to do so far, but someone had a serious quirk in their thinking when they programmed the speech patterns.”

  Both women smiled and he shook his head again as he felt his heart flutter. Two women that were this beautiful might be an issue for him. It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable around attractive women, but these two were as far above attractive as a Class Five engine was to a Class One.

  “So, as it said, I am J Peacestone, captain of the Assurance. Why don’t you tell me something about yourselves, beginning with the positions you are applying for?”

  The door opened again and the android came back to the desk and deposited a chair for J to use. As it stomped away, the woman on his right spoke up.

  “We are Sea and Dee Winfrey. I am Sea, spelled S E A like an ocean, and this is my sister Dee spelled D E E.”

  Dee spoke up as her sister paused. “We work as a team, so…”

  “It has been difficult gaining positions with the same crew.”

  “It seems that either the science officer position…”

  “…or the engineering officer position is taken on every crew we have applied for.”

  J looked back and forth between them as they spoke, finishing each other’s sentences.

  “I can see how that might be difficult. I do have openings for both of those positions, but I need to hear something about your work experiences. Have you two always worked on the same crew?”

  Dee answered, “Yes. Directly out of the academy, we worked on a ship with our sister Bea as the captain.”

  J commanded his jaw to stay closed. Sea continued where her sister had left off. “Interstel directed that we couldn’t work on a crew under a relative, so we had to go out on our own.”

  “It was the first time we triplets had been split up, other than for the different classes we had taken for our chosen professions.”

  He felt what his grandmother had always called his feathers ruffling, or his hackles rising. He really didn’t like being dictated to about how he could run his ship and crew. It bothered him when someone else was subjected to it. On the other hand, the ship was supplied by Interstel, so there wasn’t much a captain could do about it until he had made the MU’s to pay that ship off.

  Sea and Dee continued talking while he listened and began to form opinions of the two twins. Well, he guessed they were technically triplets, but only two of them were here. How would a person refer to them? he wondered.

  Both spoke well and seemed to have good knowledge of their positions. Each had their own experiences and accounts to show that they did, indeed, know their relative positions and could handle themselves accordingly.

  They talked for a while and he felt himself growing to like and respect each in a manner that left him more comfortable in their company. As the interview wrapped up, he found himself with two more crewmembers and felt a lot better about getting back into space.

  The sisters left as they had arrived, with arms looped in the android’s mechanical ones. J smiled at the scene and reclined in his chair with his hands resting behind his head. He was just allowing himself to feel the relief when his tablet chimed with a message.

  As he glanced down and saw ‘Interstel’, he felt the tension returning. The feeling of being pressured also returned and his hackles rose again.

  What the hells was their problem? He decided to stop by and see Tomlis in person instead of replying to the message. He would tell that son-of-a-tress to his face that he now had a crew and wipe off that smug smile. One more member would be ideal, but he knew he could get by with what he had.

  With any luck, they could get out of the berth by Friday. They could load and fuel in orbit and be gone in a week. That was rushing things he knew, but he was sure they could make it happen. Maybe Interstel would be satisfied with that. Well, they would damn well have to be.

  As luck would have it, he made it to the Interstel office just at the end of the business day. Caspin Tomlis was shutting down operations for the day when J hurried through the door. Tomlis looked up and a scowl formed on his face as he recognized the ship captain.

  “Whatever you want will have to wait for tomorrow, Peacestone. We’re closed.”

  “I don’t need anything from you, I’m just giving you formal notice that the Assurance will be out of your dock space in two days. I have nearly filled out the crew and will be moving to orbit for fueling and taking on supplies. I’d like to go on and schedule that for the following day, since I’m here.”

  The Interstel man stomped out from behind the counter space and put his finger against J’s chest and pressed hard. “I said, we’re closed. You can come back tomorrow. Or, better yet, comm. That way I don’t have to see your ugly mug.” An evil looking smile spread across Tomlis’ face. “And, by the way, you now have until midnight tomorrow to vacate the dock slip, or your ship will be impounded.”

  J’s face turned red as he stared at the bigger man, mouth opened. “What? I still have five days!”

  Tomlis smirked at him. “As of right now, you have until midnight tomorrow. Now leave, before I call security.”

  “You can’t do this! I’ve done all I could to get a crew on short notice and now you’re making it even shorter? What the hells is your problem?”

  “You’re not it anymore. Get out. And I can do whatever I decide to. You obviously don’t know who I represent. Out!”

  “What’s Interstel got to gain by being such hard asses with my schedule?” J asked, refusing to budge.

  “Hmph! Interstel? Who said anything about Interstel?” The taller man said menacingly as he reached for the comm on his desk. “This is Tomlis at the Interstel scheduling office, I may have a problem with a customer refusing to leave the premises.” He raised an eyebrow at J, the smirk never leaving his face.

  J raised his hands in surrender and turned his back on the man. As he left the office on his way back to the docking slips, he commed ahead.

  Reese answered almost immediately. “Yes?”

  “It’s gonna be a long night, Reese. We have to be out of that slip before midnight tomorrow. Please have the android contact the remaining crew and let them know about the changes. I want us out by end of business day tomorrow. I’ll be damned if they see us struggling to meet their asinine demands. Damn, I hope that doesn’t mess with any of the crew’s schedules too much. We don’t need a set back at this point.”

  “We’ll get it done J, no worries.” Was the response as he cut the comm.

  What the hell was that asshat talking about? Who was he working for if not Interstel?

  He shrugged and sped up his step. Probably delusions of grandeur, that fit the arrogance of the man. He ground his teeth as he walked. Gods, he hated bullies!

  ISS Assurance

  19-7-4620

  “Well, crew, this is it. Let’s get this beast out of the dock and into orbit.” J couldn’t hide the giddiness as he sat in the command chair and nodded to Reese. “Do it, Nav.”

  There was no feeling of movement as the equipment around them hummed quietly. Watching the large screen at the front of the bridge, however, gave them three hundred sixty degrees of views around the exterior of the ship as Reese skillfully maneuvered out of the docking slip. She slid them out of the station and continued backwards for several minutes as they cleared all of the near port traffic.

  Just as she slowed the rearward motion to come about and engage forward thrust, a small tug with several containers veered off of its trajectory and accelerated toward the Assurance.

  He was inhaling to warn Reece when he saw the look on her face. She was hurriedly tapping commands with her right and took the joystick control in her left as she activated manual control. The views on the screens skewed to one side and up, the tug missed the ship by only meters.

  J sat at the edge of the command chair watching the tug continue its crazy course. Reese was cussing a blue streak and calling the driver everything but a decent Human being.

  “Incoming comm, sir. From the tug driver.” Anthemial’s voice was the same relaxing tone as always.

  “Put it on speaker, please. It better have an excuse for that little trick.” He snarled with the last sentence.

  Of all the times for a tug operator to fall asleep at the wheel, he didn’t need a single hour of delay. The tight schedule Interstel had him fighting against was barely attainable as it was. Hours of reports and meetings with traffic control and the ISF, would certainly delay him beyond his limit.

  “Assurance, this is tug seven-seven-nine. I don’t know what happened just then, my controls quit responding! Whoever is driving that ship, give them my sincere thanks. I’m buying when you get back, look me up. Wendall Knox. Seriously, my tug may have damaged your ship a little, but I would have been squished. I seem to have control back now, however. Safe travels!”

  “Thank you, Captain Knox. Assurance out.” J sat back in his chair and looked around the bridge. What the hells had that all been about?

  Reece spoke up from the nav bench. “J, I don’t know what caused him to lose control, but he’s right. We may have been delayed a few days or a week, but he would have certainly been killed. That was incredibly close; he missed us by less than five meters.”

  “Well, we’re good now. Your reflexes were right on, Reese. Great hustle! Alright, folks, let’s get back to what we were doing. Sea and Dee, you two work together and get the rest of the fuel and supplies out to us ASAP. Anthemial, get the clearances for us to leave the system as soon as that is done. Reese, op’s checks on all systems and ensure we have the weapons and ammunition we spoke about earlier. I’m making a few calls to Interstel for some clarification and doing a final plan for our trip.”

  Everyone nodded in turn as J assigned the tasks for the next couple of days.

  “Android, I want you to monitor the space in close proximity to the Assurance. If anyone moves this way that isn’t previously cleared, let me know immediately. And make sure all tugs delivering to us follow strict safety protocols. I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “I would be most happy to do just that, sir. You know I am always at your service.” The android said as it stomped to the navigation station, connecting to the ship’s sensors.

  J smiled at Reese as she shook her head and vacated her station. She left the bridge toward engineering, mumbling something under her breath about robots and bubbly personalities.

  The captain’s ready room was nothing more than a small office where he could work in semi privacy. He brought up the known facts of the two planets he planned on visiting. There was very little specified about either of them, but he had spoken with another captain who had been to both and swore they had abundant life. His main goal was a couple of unknown life forms this trip. It would be very lucrative if it worked out.