TAKEN: Journey to a New Home (15 page)

  “No, we just wanted to help. This is the way we know how,” she said with a smile of her own.

  “Good. One last thing,” he pulled her into the lift before she could protest and claimed her lips with a demanding kiss. She forgot everything else and buried her fingers in his hair. He slowly broke the kiss, nibbling along her lower lip. Looking down at her he smiled and gently moved her back out of the lift. The door closed between them. She realized as she turned to go back to the lounge the damn man was smiling again!

Sienna shook her head and walked back into the lounge. “Okay we’re on. We just have to decide how many days a week we want to cook. We need to get with Moz about the edible plants, make sure we have enough and how much we can use during a week. We’ll need to inventory the freeze unit to see how much meat is there, then let Vax know how long that will last given the number of days we’ll be cooking. Dezek said he would give us re-supply information also.” Sienna paused from her list as she realized all the women were staring at her. “What?”

  All the women burst into laughter. “Somebody just had the heck kissed out of her!” Samantha told her. Sienna blushed. She didn’t do it as often as Rose did but she knew right now her face was beet red.

  “I told you that man has it bad for you,” Rose told her with a smile.

  “Fine, I’ll admit it if it means we can move on. The damn man can kiss.” Laughter broke out again.

  “Okay, some serious business now,” Wendy said. “Who wants to visit Blanca with me to deliver her breakfast and see if she needs anything?”

  “I’ll go,” Sienna told her with a sigh. “She’s my responsibility.”

  “The rest of us will clean up here and then head for the kitchen or Hydro,” Samantha told her. 

  “Natalie and I will open the crates to start inventory,” Tabitha confirmed for Wendy.

  The two women went down the passage to Blanca’s quarters. The floor was still a mess and the teen was asleep on the bed. She had changed clothes into one of the fresh outfits. They gathered her dinner dishes and her dirty clothes from the floor setting them in hall. Wendy refused to let Sienna pick up the debris from the broken items. Wendy sat on the bed and reached over to shake Blanca gently.

  “Blanca, wake up.”

  The younger girl blinked her eyes open and sat up.

  “We brought some breakfast if you want to eat while it’s hot,” Wendy told her. Blanca didn’t say anything but at least she wasn’t yelling. “I also brought you a snack for later in the morning if you get hungry between now and lunch. We took your dishes from last night and your laundry. I’ll have someone bring the clothes clean back with your lunch.”

  Blanca still said nothing.

  “Do you need anything else,” Sienna asked from where she stood. Blanca shook her head but still said nothing. Wendy got up from the bed and they went to the door.

  “Have your breakfast while it’s hot,” Wendy told her and they exited the room. To their surprise the small stack of dishes and the small pile of laundry were gone. They went down the hall and found Natalie and Tabitha busy taking things out of the crates. The two women looked up as they entered.

  “We did her dishes and Sam took them to the kitchen with her and the others. I put her clothes through the cleaning unit my room and stacked them there,” Tabitha pointed to the shelf above the drawers where the spare clothing had been stored. “I figure someone can take it back to her with lunch. If everyone will stack her stuff there once it’s clean then we’ll all know to check, so it can go back in with her next meal.” 

  “Thank you, Tabitha,” Sienna smile at her. “I would’ve done both.”

  “Why should you be solely responsible for her stuff? We can all help.”

  “I appreciate that. I know she’s a pain. I’m worried about the baby. I don’t know that she’s going to handle that well.” Sienna told them with a sigh.

  “Maybe she’ll surprise us all,” Wendy said.

  “We can always hope,” Natalie agreed.

  Sienna said she’d see them at lunch on the Hydro deck. Wendy decided to go see Axon while Natalie and Tabitha worked on the two crates in the lounge. She and Sienna entered the lift. Wendy exited on Nine and Sienna continued down to Seven.

  Deck Nine looked like a giant warehouse Wendy decided as she exited the lift. “Axon? Are you here?”

  Axon came around a stack of boxes, “Can I help you Wendy?”

  “Actually, I came to see what you need inventoried. Tabitha and Natalie started on the two crates in the lounge. I thought I’d see what all you needed and make a plan with you as to how fast you’d like it completed.”

  “Sure, I put them over here in stall two,” he told her. Fazon had helped him with moving all of the crates to the forward stall after the fire. He figured he could at least get them inventoried and restacked if they were not needed. “The Cargo decks are Nine through Fourteen and are divided into twenty four stalls except Thirteen and Fourteen which contain stasis storage units and Freeze storage units in varying sizes for Perishables. I start by filling the back stalls and work forward.” They reached stall two which was a large space of about sixty feet by sixty feet square and went up what she guessed was forty feet. Wendy counted twenty five crates stacked on right side and seven stacked on the other side. “The crates on left are sewing supplies of varying sorts including more fabric and the ones on the right are clothing. We bought all of this for a little bit of nothing from a guy who made his mate mad with bi-ped clothing. But the only manifest that I received with it says “women’s clothing and sewing supplies,” Axon shook his head and smiled. “That could mean anything.”

Wendy viewed the crates for a moment. Each crate was about four feet cubed.

  “How fast do you want it done?” she asked.

  “Since they’re in stall two, they won’t be in the way for a while or need to be stacked for efficiency of storage space until we start to get near the end of this supply run. So it’s not an urgent matter just yet,” Axon supplied.

  “We’ll finish the two upstairs then we’ll work in here this afternoon and see how far we get. Natalie, Tabitha and I won’t be cooking. We’ll help with clean up but none us can cook. After today, we’ll work in Hydro in the mornings; then in here in the afternoon till we finish the stacks. Will that work?” She asked him.

  “Definitely, works for me. I’ll meet you here after lunch and show you how to use the cargo program on one of the tablets.  I’ve got one that will convert to your language,” Axon explained.

  “That’s something else. We’re going to need lessons to learn your written language. The translators are great but don’t help with the written stuff.” Wendy frowned slightly.

  “Check with Dezek or Vax on that one,” Axon told her.

  “We’ll see you this afternoon then,” she told him and headed back to the lift and Deck Eighteen. She entered the lounge. Natalie and Tabitha were repacking the clothing crate. “Finished one already?”

  “Yeah,” Tabitha answered. “We thought we’d do the clothing one first and wait for you to do the sewing supplies. Some of the fabrics in that one are gorgeous though.”

  “There are some nice selections in the fabric: nice summer cottons, a cotton -knit, a T-shirt material, a heavy canvas, several silks, some flannels, and a fleece like fabric. There are several colors of each. Do we know anything about the climate where we will be living when we get to Lar-kevel?” Natalie asked.

  “No, I don’t know that any of us have asked,” Wendy told her. “Saying no to the trip wasn’t an option so I don’t guess anyone thought it mattered.”

  “We also found scissors, sewing needles, knitting needles, crochet hooks, bobbins, threads, yarns, elastic, buttons, what looks like Velcro closures, several other types of closures and finally patterns!.” Tabitha read from the tablet they had been using that Moz had provided yesterday while Natalie did the product show like game show hostess. Wendy had to smile when she fanned the patterns like cards and was able to recognize most of name brands. “But the big score are those,” Tabitha said grinning and pointing into the crate. Wendy looked over the side of the crate and was shocked to see four sewing machines, two of which were emblazoned with the word “Singer” and the other two said “Brother”, all of which were still in the boxes unopened.

  “You have got to be kidding me!” Wendy gasped.

  “Considering our planet is a forbidden place, those are a really interesting find!” Tabitha laughed shaking her head. “I guess Moz wasn’t kidding when he said some of the more unscrupulous characters were visiting our planet.”

  “Unbelievable.” Wendy said shaking her head. “Let’s pull them out and see if the bobbins in the crates are for these types and what’s in the boxes with the machines. They look like starter sets for a beginners so they might have more goodies in them.”

  The three women set about pulling the machines from the bottom of the crate. They were cheered to discover that a good portion of the bobbins did in fact fit the four machines of which there were three models with the two Brother machines being the same model. Wendy and Natalie discovered most of the threads, yarns and other items were actually brands they both recognized from sewing stores at home.

  “I think everything is this crate except for a few pieces of the fabric that were at the very top of the crate came from home. What somebody abducted a sewing store?” Natalie said.

  “I agree,” Wendy smiled shaking her head, “but I’m not going to complain about it. I’m just going to thank the heavens for unscrupulous characters.” The three of them laughed at the oddity of such a thing.

  “Do you think Dezek would let us set up these in the one of the unused quarters on this deck?” Natalie asked.

  “I think so and maybe Axon or Moz could find us a couple of tables to use.” Wendy agreed. “It’s almost lunch, let’s go down and talk to Sienna about what we need and what we’d like.”  The women stacked the supplies except the machines back in the crate and went down to the Hydro deck in search of the rest of the group.

  They found the others at the table where they had sorted seeds setting up for lunch.

  “Well, we hit it big,” Wendy said sliding into the seat next to Sienna. “The crate of sewing supplies contains not only fabric but notions of all sorts and shapes along with thread and yarn as well as patterns. And the best thing in the box: four sewing machines from home,” she told them excitedly. “One of them is even the model I have at home.”

  “You’re kidding!” Holly said.

  “Nope, no lies here,” Tabitha told her with a smile.

  Samantha started passing dishes so everyone could serve themselves. Moz and Vax appeared and joined them for lunch.

  “Vax, do you think we could use one of the empty quarters on our deck for a sewing space?” Wendy asked after the two men were seated.

  “Sure, why don’t you use 18-1 right next door? It’s empty. What all will you need? I can move the bedroom furniture and sitting room set to 18-2 which is also empty for you so you have enough space,” he volunteered.

  “Well, if we had a couple of tables like these in there to put the machines on and to cut fabric on that would be great. We’ll keep the bedside table and part of the sitting room suite but the having the bed removed would definitely help,” Wendy explained to him.

  “We should be able to fit two of these tables in there and still have plenty of room. Do you want the bedside table from 18-2?” Vax asked.

  “Yeah, the small drawers in will be good for organizing the smallest notions. Also, we had questions about the climate on Lar-kevel. We’re headed there and don’t even know what the mean temperature is,” Wendy told them.

  “Mean temperature where we live is about 82 degrees on your Fahrenheit scale. Overall humidity is about thirty percent so it’s comfortable. Our cold season low is about 45 degrees on your scale. It never freezes where we live and highs in the hot season will be in the less than 90. On a rare occasion we’ll see a temp equal to what you would call 95 but that is very rare. We have satellite weather technology that prevents the type of catastrophic storms and destructive weather patterns you have on Earth but still allows rain patterns beneficial to plant life. There are a few places toward the poles where it does snow and temperatures get really cold,” Moz explained.

  While they were all together they also decided on the schedule for cooking a nightly meal. Together as a group with planning information from Moz and Vax they decided they would cook four days in a row, then take three down using a seven day week that was familiar to them. Sienna and Vax went over the amount of protein stored in the freeze unit and decided this schedule would allow them to reach Saneera to re-stock without running out of anything. Moz indicated he didn’t see any problems providing fresh vegetables on that schedule. They also talked about more of the plants that they might want to consider cooking. By the end of lunch, they had a plan for cooking and a plan for the sewing detail headed up by Wendy. They also made a schedule for helping Moz in the Hydro and going through the crates Axon had for them.

  Sienna noticed Ashaa smiling and shaking her head. “Something funny, Ashaa?”

  “You have to be the most organized person I’ve ever met. And I grew up on a military installation!” she said laughing. “If they had half of your efficiency, ability to plan and make decisions, government waste would be unheard of. You put the General to shame.”

  “Thank you. I think.” Sienna smiled. “Let’s move people, we have dinner to put on.”

  “I’ll volunteer to take Blanca lunch. Moz can you stop in with me before you and Vax start moving furniture?” Taylor asked.

  “Of course, I’ll even put up with Blanca to spend my time with you,” Moz returned playfully. He and Vax rose from the table and headed to the lift with half the group. Axon was standing in the passage next to 18-1leaning the second folding table against the wall. “Good timing,” Moz told him. 

  “Rose sent me a message as to what the ladies needed. I have a third table like this if you need it. Rose said bring the first two and then wait for Wendy to decide on the third until after we get these two set up,” he explained. “I’ll help Vax start while you two feed Blanca.”

Taylor and Moz went to Blanca’s quarters and entered. They found the teen sitting in the bed.

  “I’m bored,” Blanca said. “I want out.”

  “That’s up to Dezek and your behavior,” Moz told her. “But I can tell you now that he may not believe you’re ready to be out of here after only one day. He won’t care that you’re bored. You did a lot of damage and endangered everyone on the ship. Not to mention if you had gotten trapped in that room once the suppression system went active you and your baby would have no doubt died.”

  “Water never hurt anybody,” Blanca pouted.

  “Blanca, the system doesn’t use water. It uses a gas that replaces all available oxygen in the room. The fire can’t breathe and it smothers out,” Moz explained patiently to her. “That means you would have been without oxygen, too. The system can’t be reset until the temperature falls below the set level that determines the fire is out. Meaning we couldn’t open the door for you until it was out, no matter how much we wanted to. Fires on a space vessel are extreme threats to life and are treated as such. If an individual is sacrificed for the good of the many on the vessel, then so be it. It’s done. I know that sounds callous but a spreading fire could kill everyone.”

  Tears slid down the teen’s face. Taylor wasn’t sure if they were crocodile tears or not. Blanca could be very convincing she knew.

  “I’ll talk to Sienna and Dezek about it,” Taylor told her. “But until then we brought some lunch and an afternoon snack. Someone will bring you some dinner this evening. Do you need anything else?”

  “There’s nothing to do. Nothing to read or even a TV to watch,” Blanca whined as she wiped her tears.

  Taylor regarded the teen for a few moments. “Do you know how to crochet?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll bring you some crochet hooks, yarns and threads that we found in a box of supplies that Axon let us dig through. You can work on that until Sienna and Dezek find time to come and speak with you,” Taylor told her. “Moz can you pull the bottom drawer out and bring it with us? We’ll use it as a sewing basket. Maybe you could make a baby blanket or some booties if you know how.”

  Moz pulled the bottom drawer from the wall unit and they left the room. Entering 18-1 they discovered Vax and Axon had the bed and other unnecessary furniture already gone from the room. They were in the process of securing the tables to the floor.

  “Wendy, Blanca is bored. I asked if she could crochet and she said yes. I’d like to fill the drawer with yarn, thread and hooks for her to use if that’s alright.”

  “Sure,” Wendy told Taylor. “I wouldn’t give her scissors though. Here let me show you what we have.” She led the way to the supply crate and began pulling items from it. “These little thread snippers will cut yarn and thread but not become a weapon.”

  “That’s why I didn’t even ask if she knew how to sew or knit: needles,” Taylor told her. They filled the basket with a variety of yarns and threads in many colors along with the other notions Wendy and Natalie thought she might use. Taylor was even more pleased to discover one set of the crochet hooks was a plastic beginners set. So that she put that set in the makeshift basket along with the other items and Taylor and Moz returned to Blanca’s quarters.  Moz set the drawer on the floor next to bed.

  “Thank you.” Blanca told them.

  “You’re welcome and I’ll speak to Sienna when I go upstairs to help with dinner shortly. Do you need anything else?” Taylor asked the teen.

  “No. Thank you again,” Blanca shook her head. Moz and Taylor left the teen eating and exploring the ‘basket’ of crochet supplies.

  “Thank you for helping with the basket and explaining things to her so patiently,” Taylor kissed him gently on the lips in appreciation. “We all know she’s a pain but maybe this will help.”

  “I wanted her to understand why Dezek was so upset with her. She could’ve died in there. He and Sienna both would have blamed themselves.” Moz held her against his body as he told her this and then kissed her deeply. “If you had been in any danger I might not be so forgiving about it, myself.”

  “You two knock off all that kissing stuff and get to work,” Axon told them as he went by with a wink. “I’m going to get the third table. Wendy said she like to have it since there’s enough room for it.”

  “You’re just jealous,” Moz joked with him before the door to the lift closed.

  “He is right. I do need to get upstairs to help with dinner,” Taylor told him with a playful pout. “But I will think about you while I’m gone.”

  He dropped another quick kiss on her lips and pushed her gently into the lift, “You do that.” The door closed on her laughter and Moz went to see what else he could do until Axon returned with table. Moz helped shift the crate with the sewing supplies to the new room. He and Tabitha organized the supplies into the drawers of the wall unit while Axon and Vax secured the third table and showed Natalie and Wendy how to use the temporary securing mechanisms that would allow the sewing machines to be secure but still be removable from the tables. Moz and Tabitha stored the fabrics and the two spare machines in cabinets. The three men then went back down and retrieved five chairs to accompany the tables.

  “Have we missed anything?” Axon asked Wendy after the chairs were in place.

  “No. I think we have everything we need,” Wendy responded and the other two women agreed. “Now we’re ready to go down and start on your crates.” 

  The women accompanied Axon back to Cargo while Moz and Vax went back to their regular duties.

***

  Taylor entered the kitchen and found prep work underway. She placed the dishes from Blanca’s breakfast into the recycler. She found Sienna teaching Ashaa how to peel and slice a root vegetable grown in Hydro that was similar in taste and texture to a potato but with much less starch. It struck Taylor as odd that a grown person wouldn’t know how to do these things but then she realized Ashaa had grown up in cage like lab mice. Taylor winced at the thought and decided she would see what other things Ashaa would like to learn while they were out here.

  “Blanca’s got her lunch and the afternoon snack you packed for her. She also said she wants out. Moz explained to her that only you and Dezek can make that decision and he wasn’t sure Dezek would be willing to let her out after only one day,” Taylor explained to Sienna. Everyone had stopped to listen.

  “Do you want me to ask?” Rose wanted to know.

  “No, I think that’s a conversation to have face to face,” Sienna told her. “I also don’t know if I’m ready to release her yet either. What she did was so dangerous to everyone onboard, I think a little more punishment is deserved and that she needs to prove her behavior has improved.”

  “Moz said the same thing. We gave her some crochet supplies since she was bored. We didn’t give her scissors though, just some hinge type snippers that will cut yarn and thread but can’t really injure anyone,” Taylor went on. “Now where would you like me to help?”

  Sienna put Taylor to work with Jasmine and Holly shelling a pea like vegetable while she and Rose finished prepping the meats and placed them in the ovens to roast. The kitchen was soon filled with smells and sounds of a meal being prepared. Sienna asked Rose if she could let Dezek know that when he got minute Sienna would like to speak with him. Rose complied and let her know he was on his way down.

  Sienna took two cups of a hot drink and a small plate of treats to a table to wait for him. He came in and smiled broadly when he saw her waiting. He leaned over and kissed her cheek and sat down.

  “What can I do for you, darling?” he asked accepting the drink and the treats. “Damn these are fantastic! Is this Xynystle fruit in them?”

    “Yes, at home we call them turnovers. The pastry dough is a little different since we didn’t use wheat flour but Samantha decided the ponnett flour worked just as good for them. The fruit filling is just smashed up Xynystle fruits with a little spice,” Sienna explained. “You’re getting to taste what Samantha, Jasmine and Holly made this morning for dessert tonight.”

  “I will definitely having a serving or several then too.” He told her laughing as he took another bite. “But I don’t think you called me down here to talk about dessert.”

  “No. Blanca wants out of her room,” she put up a hand to forestall whatever he was going to say as his face turned to stone. “I already know and accept that she hasn’t had enough punishment. She endangered everyone on board and I think she needs to understand that and accept responsibility and punishment for it. I would like to plan how long she’s going to be punished for and what it will take for her to get out of confinement. I don’t have any experience here so I’m going to look to you for guidance.”

  “Did she ask today?”

  “Yes, when Taylor and Moz took her lunch. She told them she wanted out. She was bored with nothing to do. So Taylor and Moz had Wendy fill a drawer from her quarters with crochet supplies that was found in one of Axon’s crates for today and left it with her. I hope that was okay. ”

  “What is crochet?”

  “It’s a stitching technique that turns yarns into blankets, sweaters, baby clothes and some toys,” Sienna explained.