Coffee Cup Dreams (A Redpoint One Romance) (5 page)

ARTHUR WASN'T AMUSED. Not a bit.

A pirate ship causing more damage to a space
station that had already sustained far too much in the past two
months angered him. Couldn't Director Stemski keep destructive
entities away from the station? What was the patrol garrison
stationed at Redpoint One for, anyway?

And the new recruit?

Arthur stopped in front of her, crossing his
arms over his chest as he perused the small creature in front of
him.

Big light-brown eyes stared up at him from a
round face with a pert little nose in a mingling of shock and
surprise. The stack of boxes and luggage on the hoversled behind
her was almost taller than she was. Her smaller stature would be
good for getting into some of the smaller nooks and
crannies.

Yet, she had an innocent air around her, and
so very young. If he hadn't read her age in the application he
would swear she should still be home with her parents.

Why did he say yes when his brother forwarded
her resume? Oh, he knew. Three recruits failing in the last eight
months was why. His people stretched too thin, all of them
exhausted. They were desperate for more hands and so he'd said
yes.

"You're Tish Douglas?" 

The woman nodded, her ponytail
bouncing.

Oh, good lord, she had holographic hairbands
in the ponytail, causing little circles of colored lights to go
around the point where it was tied. Like a schoolgirl. The
impression of young innocence became reinforced. She looked like
she should still be in school, and instead she was out in the wilds
of the spacelanes at Redpoint One? She should have never left
Earth.

"I'm Arthur Getty, your new boss. I don't have
time to coddle you today so I hope you dressed sensibly." He had
doubts about that, considering the hair ties. The pants and shoes
looked good enough, but not the fancy jacket.

He watched her swallow nervously. "I start
work today?"

"No better time than the present. Follow me."
He turned and headed back the way he'd come. He heard her quickly
saying goodbye to the freighter captain and then quick footsteps as
she ran to catch up with him.

"Are we fixing the damage caused by the pirate
ship?" She asked as they avoided a transport on a fast run from one
end of the docking bay to the other.

"I haven't even looked at the report about
that damage. We're working on the main power systems today. At
least, I will be. I'm pairing you off to help in another
area."

"Um, sir, I should tell you my experience in
actual system repair is limited."

He almost laughed at the remark. Arriving at a
main transit platform he moved off to one side away from the main
crowds. A smaller car slid up with the words "Redpoint One
Employees Only" emblazoned in several spots. Even with the markings
he had to forcefully decline several demands for a ride from some
of those waiting.

Tish Douglas pushed through the crowds in her
effort to follow him. When the pile on her hoversled almost
collapsed he went back for her, using his bulk to open up a path
for her to follow. He waited until she'd pulled her hoversled in
after her before closing the doors and giving the computer a
destination.

Seating himself on a cushioned bench towards
the front of the car he looked up at her. She held a bar along the
top of the bench area, bracing her legs against the movement of the
car as it moved forward.

"I can guarantee you are unfamiliar with
Redpoint One systems, even if you have a full engineering degree.
Which you do not." He slipped a bracelet out of a pouch and handed
it to her. "Your clearance and identification band. Wear it at all
times."

She put it on, twisting it slightly when it
contracted around her left wrist just under a personal wrist
computer. "Are there any manuals I should study?"

Such a soft voice. That would go away soon, if
she stayed. They did too much shouting back and forth down
corridors. "Nope, none."

He almost laughed again at the way her face
screwed up in confusion. "Then how do I learn how to repair the
station?"

"You don't. More like you help the station
repair itself."

The confusion increased, and he let his humor
come out in a small laugh. "Yes, I know. Confusing. But, not
really."

He gestured at the seat next to him and waited
until she sat down. "Here's the deal. This station has an
intelligence of its own. The problem is we can't understand it.
Well, some of us can, a little bit. Just enough to
help."

Her eyes darted around the car. "Intelligent?
Has it ever hurt anyone?"

"Why can I guess what movie you saw recently?"
He asked with a sigh.

She bit her lip, her eyes dancing. "It was the
biggest hit of the spring."

"This is not an insane computer. It has never
attacked anyone. Well, other than in defense." He could see the
assurance didn't help very much. His annoyance returned. "This is
not a movie."

She quickly shook her head. "No sir. Just an
alien spacecraft that no one knows how it operates."

Not exactly true, but he didn't have time to
argue or explain anything. Not with the car nearing their
destination. "Here is what you need to know. Redpoint One has
self-repair systems, but they don't always have the raw materials
or guidance on how to do it without causing problems for the
inhabitants. You not only do what you can to help, but you also
help the populace. Sometimes by diverting the automated repair
systems to more important functions, sometimes with explanations,
sometimes with warnings, sometimes with evacuations."

He could see the thoughts bubbling up. It
didn't take a genius to figure out what she was thinking with her
expressive face. "No, this isn't the movie! We have never required
a station-wide evacuation."

She jumped at his explosion. "Yes
sir!"

To which he immediately felt bad for. Heck, he
even liked the woman, would have been interested in her in a
personal way if he'd seen her in the general public.

He stopped the line of thought. Life for the
maintenance department was difficult enough as it was. He ran a
hand through his hair. "Neil owes me big for this."

"I'll do a good job, sir."

"You better. If I weren't so desperate for
more repair crews…" He let the words hang. He best not go there,
not with her face mimicking all the emotions the woman was feeling.
Emotions she didn't deserve to feel.

He didn't want her upset. If she worked out,
great. He wished he knew what kind of person the station wanted. It
would make it much easier to hire the proper personnel and have a
hope they would stick around for a while.

"All I ask is that you pay attention and do
your best," Arthur said. "The rest will follow."

She nodded, the dancing light in her eyes
gone, replaced by somber seriousness.

The car stopped at one of the maintenance
platforms. He rose and gestured for her to follow him. Vasiliy
Lukin and Rachel Henderkito waited at the entrance into the main
maintenance logistical center. Tish followed him quietly, her large
eyes darting from one area to the next. Good, at least she appeared
to be observant.

But the serious expressions on his team's
faces gave him pause. He stopped in front of them, asking, almost
resigned, "What's wrong?"

"Sector 1157," Vasiliy said. A robot came up
behind him, dragging a small hovering cart with tools behind it.
"Everything says we have a life-support breach, but Damien can't
find it."

In one of the most populated ring sectors. Not
good.

"I finished my repair. I thought I would go
down and help track it down. More eyes," Rachel said. She handed
him a flex-paper. "Or would you prefer me elsewhere?"

Arthur shook his head as he studied the
flex-paper. "Go ahead, get down there. I'll follow."

Rachel nodded, casting the newcomer a curious
look. He heard the two leave in a maintenance pod, aware Ms.
Douglas still stood silently next to him, her luggage behind
her.

He should be explaining what was happening.
Should continue at least a short tour of the area she would be
working from. See about pairing her off with one of his experienced
technicians for her first day. At the very least take her to her
new apartment long enough so she could drop off her luggage. But,
the more he read, the more concerned he became.

With a long stride, he headed into the
maintenance platform. The large circular room with doors and rooms
branching off it was empty, as he expected it to be in the middle
of the day. Ms. Douglas followed him, stopping at the edge of the
door.

"I need a bot!" He shouted.

***

The yell didn't phase her. She could tell from the way his
face changed as he read the flex-paper that something worried
him.

Tish knew her eyes were wide, but she couldn't
help it. There was so much to see. The station, the round room with
a raised platform in the middle with a variety of consoles and
chairs, and a circular tall table in the center. The doorways all
around leading in different directions.

And then Arthur Getty himself. He was a bit,
well, overwhelming. What little he'd passed on so far only brought
to mind more questions, and she wasn't sure he would be open to
questions at the moment.

"The main maintenance platform. Your new
home-base," Mr. Getty said with a wave of his hand without taking
his eyes off the flex-paper.

A domed robot scooted out of one of the doors,
hovering only a shadow above the floor. It beeped as it came up to
Mr. Getty. Two eyestalks from a bulbed head at the front of the
robot swiveled up to look at him.

"This is Tish Douglas. She will be working
here with me," Mr. Getty said, gesturing towards her. The eyestalks
swiveled to look her over before returning to him. He took the
handle of the small hovercart holding her luggage and angled it
down to the robot. "This is her luggage. Take it to her apartment,
Tech number 26."

The robot whistled a cheerful series of notes.
A small hatch opened from the top of the robot out of which a
multi-jointed arm and hand extended, taking the hovercart handle.
With another series of whistles it maneuvered around them and took
off out of one of the doors.

"It understood?" Tish asked, watching all the
possessions she owned in the universe disappear.

"It sounded like it," Mr. Getty said, striding
towards another door.

A comment that didn't inspire much confidence
in her. She followed him, asking, "Do they ever talk? So you know
for sure?"

"No, the noises you heard is how they
communicate. It's up to you to decipher them," he said as he
disappeared into one of the rooms.

"Rather odd robots," Tish said as she caught
up with him, comparing them to the one house robot Maria used to
help keep the house clean from the ravages of three little
boys.

"We don't call them 'robots,' and in fact they
won't respond to the word. Use 'bots' instead." He stopped in the
middle of a long room with lockers on one side and bins and
cabinets on the others extending from floor to ceiling. He pointed
to one locker. "That one is yours. I suggest you take off as much
as possible and put it inside for safe keeping. Things tend to go
astray while on duty."

Take off as much as possible? She blushed,
hoping he didn't mean clothes. She didn't really have anything to
put in it, but in the end put in her jacket and the keys to her
luggage. A thumbprint on the front locked it tight for
her.

She turned to find a tool belt extended
towards her, a smaller version of the one Mr. Getty wore. "Your
work belt. I loaded it for you. I'll show you how to do it yourself
later."

Tish took it and wrapped it around her waist,
having to hook it on the tightest setting for it to stay on her
hips. "I'm official, I have tools!"

A ghost of a smile flashed across his face.
"Yes, you're official. In a moment you'll be even more so. Are you
ready?"

All the doubts rose back up. "We're going out
now?"

"To a job, yes." He led her out of the room
and back the way they'd come to the transit platform.

Only a car no longer sat waiting for them. A
small bubble pod with seats in the enclosed front and an open flat
area in the back sat in its place. With a bot already in the back,
watching them approach with its two eyestalks.

"A maintenance travel pod. I see my companion
has anticipated me again," Mr. Getty said with a short laugh and a
smile that transformed the angled planes of his face into something
that took her breath away.

Tish forced herself to break her gaze away,
looking to the bot in the back of the pod only to find it staring
at her. Her mind flashed again on a scene of the movie, of the
robotics of an alien space station going berserk.

And it didn't feel right. The robot appeared
curious but nothing about it seemed threatening. It waited
patiently while Mr. Getty checked the tools in the back of the
pod.