Wanderer's Escape (20 page)

Finally she pulled away slightly, once again looking down at him.  Her face was flushed and her breathing fast.  Jess realised with a start that Matt had been right.  Ali was as uncertain as he was.  The thought of Matt sent a cold spike through his chest.  Ali frowned.

“
What's wrong?” she asked.  “I thought you wanted to... well...”

“
No.  I mean yes.  I did.  I do.”  Jess stammered out.  “I really do.  Something Matt said just popped into my head.  Thinking about him hurts, reminds me of how he betrayed me.  How he betrayed us.”

She leant down and gave him a quick peck.

“I know.  I didn't really get to know him but I saw how close the three of you were.  Or seemed to be anyway.”  Then she smiled mischievously.

“
So what did he say that came into your mind right then?”

Jess opened and closed his mouth several times trying to find the right thing to say, then decided to go with honesty.

“He said you were probably just as scared of the situation as I was.  That even though you looked so confident you weren't.”

He found it hard to meet her eyes as she studied him intently.  His insides churned, he was sure he'd said the wrong thing.  That she'd take offence, probably slap him again.  Strangely the thought of her being angry with him hurt more than the slap would.

“Do you think he was right?  That I'm confused and uncertain?” she finally asked in a cool voice.

“
If you are you're doing a great job of hiding it.” Jess blurted before he could stop himself.

“
Really?  That's good to know.”

To Jess's huge relief there was a twinkle in her eye.  Before he could say anything more she was kissing him again.  All thoughts of Matt's advice, and his betrayal, slipped from Jess's mind.

Ali finally pulled back again.

“
Sal is going to be back soon.  We'd better sort ourselves out,” she said with a sigh.

Jess had other ideas.  He shoved with his right arm and leg rolling the pair of them over so he lay on top of her.  He smothered her protests with a kiss which she soon responded to.  Once again time seemed to slip away.

Some time later the sound of Sal's voice startled them from their own private world.  Both looked up guiltily towards the stairs but there was no sign of Sal.  Jess had missed the start of what Sal said but managed to fill in the gaps.

“
...in a few minutes.  Can you get a hot chocolate ready for me?”

Then she was gone again.  Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Jess pushed himself up and helped Ali to stand.  Hair tousled and clothes in need of straightening he thought she looked amazing.  He stole a quick kiss, which lengthened until he managed to pull away.

“We need to get straightened up, otherwise Sal will know what we were doing.  Not that there's anything wrong with it... but... er...” he stumbled to a halt.

Ali grinned at him. 
“She knows silly.  Why do you think she called down?  Still, we could sort ourselves out a bit.”

“
Are we... that is... I'd like to do that again,” he finished lamely, cursing himself inside.  He couldn't seem to find the right words.  She laughed gently.

“
So would I.  Lots.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds.  Jess felt an almost magnetic pull.  They'd been stood close together anyway, a short step from each of them and they were kissing again.

“Looks like I'll have to get my own drink then.”

At the sound of Sal's voice from almost beside them they both jumped.  Jess felt himself turning bright red.  He wished the floor would open and swallow him up.  The ship queried the command, pointing out that there was only machinery and then the outer hull below him.  He quickly cancelled it, once again made aware of how closely the ship monitored his thoughts and how literally it could take them.

Sal had a knowing look and a big smile on her face, which only made Jess blush even more.  Turning to Ali, who had moved a step away from him, he was surprised to see that she too looked embarrassed.  Sal stepped forward and grabbed them both in a hug.

“
Your faces.  It's fine you know.  I'm glad for you.  Just, well, just be careful.  Be nice to each other.”

With that she turned away from them, chuckling as she went.  Tentatively Jess reached out for Ali's hand.  She took it, smiling shyly, then they followed Sal, who'd finally got her drink and had sat on one of the sofas.  Ali and he sat on the other, close to each other but not quite touching.

“I was thinking about Washington,” Sal said.  “Thinking about what we should do when we get there.  We need to be really careful where we go.  Ideally we need people to come to us.  It will cost more but we have to be safe.  Even you Jess – that shielding doesn't mean you can't get hurt.  And Ali and I don't have the benefit of even that.”

“
You could,” Jess said softly.

“
What?  How?”

Both women were staring at him now.

“I would have told you earlier, if you hadn't both assaulted me.”

“
I thought you quite enjoyed being assaulted,” Sal said with a grin.

Jess felt himself blushing again and didn't dare look at Ali.

“You could though,” he pressed on.  “I kept having nightmares last night about you two being grabbed again.  In the end I couldn't sleep so I started trawling through the ships data.  That's where I came across the shielding idea for me, but more than that.  I asked the ship and it confirmed it would be possible to give you both a limited shield and a locator so the ship can always pinpoint your location.”

“
Does that mean we'd get something implanted in us, in our brains?  Like you have?”  Sal looked worried by the thought.

“
Not really.  It's much simpler than what happened to me, and it will be automatic.  It would be installed between the skull and skin at the back of your head.  No direct connections to your brain.  The shield won't be as strong as mine, and it won't protect you against drugged food or drinks, but it will stop a few shots.  The ship will be able to spot the locator beacon through anything too.  It's passive so scans won't detect it.”

“
If we say yes then you'll be able to track us wherever we are?” asked Ali.  “Know what we're doing and when?”

“
Not without you knowing.  Each time it gets scanned you'll get a slight tingling, almost an itch, at the back of your head.  It will repeat every couple of minutes till you acknowledge it by scratching that area.  You'll always know.”

Sal and Ali sat quietly for a couple of minutes, thinking.  Finally Sal spoke softly.

“I have nightmares almost every night you know.  Dreams where I'm back as a prisoner, where I've been caught again or this has all just been a vivid dream.  Or where I get grabbed on a station and held.  Every dream feels the same.  The panic at being trapped.  The despair at realising that I'll never be free again.  The feeling that the walls are closing in.

I'd never had freedom before.  I couldn't understand why those not born to captivity were so desperate to escape.  Now I understand.  I've been free and I never want to go back.  Doing this will help ensure I stay free.
”

She took a deep breath, then pushed on.

“We've asked you to trust us Jess.  Asked you to believe we mean you no harm despite what happened with Matt.  Well that cuts both ways.  If you're certain this is safe then we need to trust you. I'll do it.”

Ali sat deep in thought for a few moments, before looking up to meet Jess's gaze.

“Will it hurt?” she asked.

“
No.”  Jess smiled.  “Not at all.  A slight tingling at most.  No more.”

“
OK.”  She nodded.  “Can we do it now?  Get it over with?”

“
Sure.  Let's go to the medical bay.”  He turned to Sal.  “If you're ready?”

Sal nodded, stood up.  The three of them headed to the medical bay.  Jess could have plucked the devices out of the ship anywhere but he sensed it was better not to.  The women were nervous enough as it was.  Somehow the medical bay seemed the best place to go.

He had each of them sit in a chair, facing each other, then went to the wall and retrieved two small, blue lumps that looked like thick jelly, each sitting within the palm of his hand.

“
Ready?” he asked.

Both nodded, though they said nothing.  Jess stepped to Sal and placed one lump against the back of her head, where it stuck in place.  Then he did the same with Ali and finally sent the command telling the ship to start the process.  The blue lumps quickly disappeared as they embedded themselves.

It completed quickly.  Within a minute both systems were up and running.  Sal and Ali looked surprised when he told them it was complete.  He had the ship ping both their locators.  In unison they raised their hands to scratch the itch at the back of their head, laughing as they realised what had happened.

“
That was fine,” said Ali.  “I didn't feel a thing until that tingle.  Is that what happened to you?”

“
Not really.  It had to make a much deeper connection, to create an entire web within my brain.  I was stuck to the pilot's chair by my head for quite a while.”

“
Oh.  There's no chance of this doing more than it should?  Of it doing the same to me?”

“
No.  You're safe.  It's like creating robots – the ship has hard limits in place.  Only ever one captain at a time.”

“
This really is an amazing ship.  There hasn't been much time to think about it, but the things it can do... I've never heard of any ship like it.  Do you know where it came from?”

“
Not really.  I've tried asking it but it doesn't answer as such.  I just get an impression of age, of it having been around for a long time.  Nothing concrete.  Maybe it's not human built.”

“
Alien?” Ali asked with a grin.  “That's pretty unlikely. The Empire is spread across a huge area of space now and no intelligent aliens have ever been found.  That's part of their propaganda – humans are the only intelligent creatures in the universe, and the Empire is run by the most intelligent humans.  For the good of all of us of course.”  The last point was said with heavy irony.

Jess shrugged feeling embarrassed.

“Maybe.  There were always rumours though, rumours and stories, that the prisoners passed on.  I think prisoners often get to see more of the universe than anyone else.  If it's dirty, dangerous or just downright unpleasant we get sent in.  If there are aliens we'd probably get to know.”

“
I'm not so sure,” said Sal.  “If there were aliens and the Empire wanted to keep it quiet they'd just kill every prisoner that knew the truth.  No one would be around to tell stories.”

Jess had to agree with that.  Prisoners were exceptionally expendable.  When he'd first been sent to break into the Wanderer he'd already seen or heard of hundreds being killed trying to access other ships.  There were always plenty more prisoners to replace them.

“More importantly, we need to decide what to do at Washington,” said Sal.  “When we get there we need to find someone offering robots for sale that's willing to trade direct to our ship.  No going off into a station or a ship.  Ideally we want the robots to be nearly useless.  Pitch it as us needing spare parts for other robots.”

“
I want to be there at the exchange,” said Jess.  “To make sure I can deal with any unexpected surprises quickly.  I think you should be there too Sal.  Your being older should stop them getting the idea that I'm innocent enough to be ripped off easily.”

“
Fine.  I'll play the part of the old hag.”

“
What about me?” Ali asked.  “Do I get to sit around doing nothing?”

Jess winced inside at her tone. 
“No, not at all.  You'll be in the ship monitoring the situation for anything strange.  Anything that Sal and I miss.  Even with doing the handover on our doorstep this is going to be a risky plan.”

Ali wasn't particularly happy but accepted his argument.  They talked the plan over for a while without finding the need for any significant changes.

Jess and Ali spent most of the day together.  Sometimes just holding each other close, other times talking about their lives.  Ali's childhood was a revelation for Jess, a glimpse of a world he'd never known.  It was far harder for Ali.  Many of Jess's tales brought tears to her eyes.

As dinner approached Jess decided he wanted to impress Ali.  She had presented them with a number of meals they would never have thought to order.  He wanted to return the favour.  Digging into the ship's memories of past captains he found a number of suggestions.  In the end he settled on sea bass with steamed vegetables and mashed potato.  It was a huge success with all three of them.  Ali added sticky toffee pudding for desert, leaving them all feeling pleasantly stuffed.

The next day passed slowly.  The plan couldn't be refined further until they arrived at Washington.  As the ship's repairs were proceeding well Jess increased their speed slightly, ensuring their arrival time wouldn't tie in with a normal flight from Stone Snake.  Matt hadn't known the ship could travel faster than any other in jump space so the pirates wouldn't either.  Arriving early was an extra step in maintaining the fiction that the ship had been destroyed.