Deep (4 page)

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43

Filed Under "Incident"

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There was only one place in the entire universe where she could go and be absolutely alone. Where no one could hear her, see her, or interrupt her while she worked or contemplated.

Which was why Lawn loved being inside her spacesuit.

With one flick of a switch she could enjoy safety and solitude inside her little self-contained world. She could rant to her heart's content. Or, best of all, she could speak aloud her thoughts and problems, as if she were discussing them to another person, and not worry about someone overhearing her and passing judgment.

One of her psych evals once noted that she had the propensity to talk to herself. Not just question things allowed, but also answer herself. And sometimes she would hold animated conversations or arguments. Fortunately, this little quirk of hers wasn't considered endangering enough to prevent her from being accepted into the Vogt program, thank goodness.

Of course, there was the drawback that the ship could still talk to her while she was in the suit. That was okay. At least he couldn't hear what she was saying back to him. There were times it was best he didn't.

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Lawn grimaced. Okay. It was time to admit it. She was referring to Deep as a "he" now, not as an "it", a ship. At the beginning it was easy to keep the distinction, but not any longer. Not when he could appear like a real person and react with her.

"Airlock is cleared." Deep broke into her thoughts. "Outer hatch is opening."

Lawn tongued open the communications toggle near her chin. "Copy."

The Vogt would remain attached to the buoy for the entire time she was assigned here. After Siler's warning, her first item on her mental checklist was to verify the coupling by sight. Lawn gave it a good inspection, even tugged on the metal parts to give herself extra piece of mind.

"Coupling is secure," she relayed.

"Copy that."

Next on her list was to inventory what was inside the buoy.

relayed the entry code to her before she could ask him.

Punching in the numbers, Lawn waited for the door to sink in and pull away before she stepped into the tiny station. It took her a good half-hour to run through the check sheet, including the inventory. At each step she read off her progress, which Deep noted. When she was finished, she started to leave when Deep asked her, "Are you hungry yet?"

Lawn paused. By golly, she
was
hungry. She had been too busy to realize it.

"Your body should be cleansed of the last traces of the somnolence-producing drugs," the ship continued. "You need to eat."

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"What's for dinner?"

"What are you hungry for?" Deep was quick to answer.

Again, Lawn would swear she heard a trace of humor in his voice. Her first answer she kept to herself. It wouldn't do to tell Deep that she was hungry for a good hard screwing. Ever since yesterday, the thought of a healthy fuck hadn't been far from her mind. Hell, she couldn't even remember the last time when she'd had a partner. A vague memory hovered somewhere in the back of her mind, but she knew it had been at least five years.

"Lawn?"

"Oh. Uhh, how about a hamburger?"

"One hamburger coming up!" He didn't ask her how she liked her burgers. That detail was one of thousands already registered in his memory banks.

Stepping out of the buoy, Lawn paused to look out over the galaxy spread out below her feet. From this vantage point, the universe was more beautiful than all the photos and paintings she'd seen depicting it. It was hard to believe that after traveling for six months and millions of miles, she was still inside the Milky Way galaxy. Well, not exactly inside. On the outer rim was more accurate.

Somewhere out there, out beyond the ovoid whirl of stars and planets, were other worlds, other suns, and possibly other life forms. That was why her job was so important. To be the first line of contact should one of those other life forms send an envoy or a message toward Earth. Or, in the event those life forms sent a weapon, be Earth's first line of defense. In the past, Earth had sent unmanned probes, then 46

robotic ships to keep watch. But if a mechanical problem popped up, which was inevitable, Earth would have to send a replacement, leaving them vulnerable until it reached the outpost.

Step two was when robots were created to go with the ships. However, they also were plagued with mechanical problems. Worse, their mental capabilities were limited, and their reaction time was too slow to respond appropriately in emergency situations.

That left the scientists with one last possibility—to send a real live person. One who could do the manual labor that was needed, yet who would have no mental, emotional, or physical restrictions to prevent that person from doing the work.

It took the Galactic Enforcement Bureau nearly twenty-five years to find out that, no matter how clean a person's psych record was, it couldn't guarantee that the person wouldn't go apeshit crazy when they were alone out in space for the length of time required for each mission. It had taken scientists years to figure out that more than a year of active duty was too hazardous for one's mental health, and less than a year would not be cost effective.

So, for a while there, two-person teams were sent out, and teams of one person paired with a robot. Both versions had their failures and their successes, the worst being the unavoidable six month travel to and from each outpost buoy.

The Vogt ships were the next step in the evolution of deep space protection. According to research, the artificially intelligent ship would replace the robots while still providing 47

companionship for the lone human crew member. Better still, the payload would be lighter, and the amount of room for the living astronaut to move about in would increase. All that remained was for the scientists to pair up each ship with a compatible human occupant.

Slightly more than fourteen hundred possibles were pared down from the nearly eight thousand highly trained and extremely efficient applicants. From the fourteen hundred, the final list of twenty were paired with each of the four Vogt ships. The scientists made the final selection as to which one of those possibles each ship would take onboard.

"Lawn?"

"It's so beautiful out here, Deep."

"Your hamburger is getting cold."

"Stick it back in the oven. I'm sightseeing."

She heard a chuckle.

"Very well. Just make sure you have your tether attached."

Tether. "Oh, yeah. Okay."

He was right. Here she was, standing in the doorway of a buoy, orbiting on the brink of infinity, and the only thing keeping her from floating away was her grip on the four-inch steel hull. Lawn glanced down to find the U connector she could clip herself to as she fumbled around her waist for the carabiner clip.

Without warning, the buoy's jets burst into action, correcting itself as it was programmed to do whenever its onboard computers detected it was straying out of orbit. Lawn felt the door jerk away from under her feet, and she 48

scrambled to grab onto anything she could reach as the buoy moved away.

Her fingers managed to brush the hull. Her middle finger caught the U connector, and Lawn held on as she reached out with her other hand to find another purchase.

"Lawn?" Deep had noticed the jump in her heart rate and breathing.

Fuck calm.
"Deep! The buoy self-corrected! It threw me free!"

"Oh, God! Lawn!"

"I got..." She couldn't think. Training and the instinct for survival were driving her as she frantically tried to claw her way over the buoy's hull for something to grasp. There was no room for her to put another finger inside the connector.

Lawn grew terrified that the buoy would rip her finger off her hand. If that happened, it would also tear the glove, and the breach in her suit would mean instant death.

"Deep!"

"Lawn, I'm detaching from the buoy and coming around to get you!"

Her free hand found the outer edge of the still open door.

She managed to grab it with her fingertips. The buoy continued to pull away, dragging her along with it. Gritting her teeth, Lawn fought her panic and prayed.

"Lawn, I can see you." Deep's gentle voice was like an ocean of warm water.

She pinned her hopes on the sound of it filtering into her ears.

"Deep! I'm—"

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"Scared? It's a natural reaction. Try to stay calm. I can see you. What are you holding on to? A U ring?"

"Y-yes."

"Look up, Lawn. Can you see me?"

She tried to crane her neck to spot him, but it was an impossible angle.

"No."

"I've opened the outer hull door. Kick away from the buoy and you'll float right on in."

Somehow she managed to shake her head. "I c-cant. I can't let go, Deep." Fear had frozen her muscles. It was a miracle she could still think.

The buoy was still pulling away. Any second now its jets should shut down, although she wasn't certain how long this correction would lasted. All she could do was hope she could ride it out.

Something grabbed her airpack.

"I have you, Lawn. Let go of the buoy."

She tried again to see the ship. All she could glimpse was a long metal extension. It gave her another tug on her breathing apparatus.

"Let go of the buoy, Lawn. I have you. I'll bring you back into the ship."

Squeezing her eyes shut, Lawn tried to stifle the scream prying at her brain and let go.

For a second she was free floating. Terror nearly made her black out, and bile rose up into her throat. Then there was a jerk, and the feeling of being pulled backwards. Lawn opened her eyes as the ship reeled her in.

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"You're at the hatch, Lawn. Turn around and grab one of the outside handholds."

Lawn twisted her body in short jerky movements.

Whatever was clutching her airpack was flexible, allowing her to turn sideways. From the corner of her eye she saw one of the handholds Deep mentioned. She snagged it before she could think about it.

Automatically, the ship let go of her, and she was able to throw her other arm around and clutch the edge of the open airlock. Seconds later, she was inside the Vogt. Deep sealed the hull door, and she collapsed to the floor as the gravity stabilized and the ship flooded the compartment with oxygen.

Before she could get to her feet and make her way back into the main area of the ship, Lawn began to cry.

Communique 4J

To: G.E. Coordinator Millner

Near catastrophe. Buoy began orbital self-correction procedure without forewarning during inspection. Strongly demand buoys be reprogrammed as soon as possible to launch a signal prior to firing rockets to prevent another incident from occurring.

Addendum: This could have turned out disastrously.

Fortunately, it didn't. This time. We were damn lucky.

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51

Filed Under "Observation"

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Her finger hurt like hell. It was red, definitely swollen, and it was damn near impossible to bend it. But at least she could bend it, which meant it wasn't broken or strained.

"You need to put a cold pack on it," Deep told her.

Lawn looked up to see him standing inside the hatchway, so close she could reach up and touch him if he was real.

She blinked. She could see all of him. Or at least a full-bodied representation of him. For nearly a minute she forgot about her throbbing finger and stared at the holo form staring back at her with a worried expression on his handsome face.

As Deep had done to her earlier, she slowly let her gaze roam down his body. He was wearing some sort of jumpsuit, although it wasn't a jumpsuit as much as it was a body suit made of clingy gauze. Very translucent gauze.

Lawn squinted, unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Although she could see the bulkhead through his form, the body suit appeared to be wet. She could see a darkness across his upper chest and pecs, and the thought crossed her mind that he had chest hair.

Chest hair?

Her scrutiny dropped to his lower abdomen, and her astonishment increased. Was the holo...getting a hard-on?

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What the hell!

On top of that, she could see the same shadowy darkness between his thighs. How the hell was that possible? How far did those scientists believe they had to go for accuracy? For that matter, why would such accuracy be needed?

She started to comment about his appearance when Deep crouched in front of her. Beside him one of the tiny beehive-like tiles opened, and a thin metal extension curled out of the hole and swung toward her.

Her first reaction was stunned surprise. Her second was to try and move away from the flexible extension.

"No, no, Lawn. I won't hurt you. I promise," Deep told her.

"Let me see your hand."

Incredulously, she remained mute and watched as Deep's holo image reached for her injured hand. As his ghostlike fingers touched hers, three smaller extensions slid out of the metal rod. The faux fingers appeared to slip into alignment with Deep's as though they were slipping into a glove. So when he cupped her hand in his, Lawn felt the metal rods gently touch her.

He bent over to inspect the damage. The metal fingers were warm and solid. If she closed her eyes, she could almost envision Deep actually touching her.

Another finger touched the inside of her palm. Lawn opened her eyes to see a second metal rod with three extension fingers had emerged from a hole behind a tile on the opposite side of the chamber. Like his other hand, his illusional fingers enclosed the metal ones. This time Lawn got 53

the impression of being able to see through his skin to find a skeleton of aluminum and wire.

continued to check the swollen digit. He grimaced.

"You're lucky you didn't lose it." He glanced up at her. "I sense you're in pain."

"I'll be okay."

"Can you bend it?"

"Yeah." She tried to show him and managed to barely wiggle it as she gritted her teeth.

"That's good. That means you have no torn musculature.

My x-ray doesn't show any hairline fractures." He grinned lopsidedly, and Lawn was struck by the sweetness of it. "It's a good thing you're right-handed."

He rose to his feet, and she surreptitiously checked his groin to see if he was still sporting a woody. Unfortunately, he didn't appear to be. Stranger still, she felt a breath of disappointment. It would have been nice to believe that the sight of her would cause a man to get an erection. Even a fake man.

"Let's go get a cold pack for that."

He reached out to give her a hand up. The metal extension reached out and took her arm, carefully helping her get to her feet. Once she left the airlock, the extension released her and snaked back into its hole.

"Can you manage on your own?" Deep asked from overhead.

Rather than answer him, Lawn struggled out of her spacesuit and left it lying on the floor. Taking the ladder up to the central passageway didn't pose a problem with one hand, 54

but it was slow going. She paused near the top and clutched the rungs as a wave of dizziness washed over her. Almost at the same time something pushed at her back, keeping her pressed against the ladder in case she let go.

"I feellike I'm going to throw up," she whispered. Heat and cold chills were alternating through her body. Her stomach was roiling, clenching. She had never felt like this before in her life. "What's wrong with me, Deep?"

"Delayed reaction to what just happened to you, Lawn."

His voice was soothing. It made her wish she could curl up in his arms until the tremors went away.

"You're almost to the corridor," the ship said. "Just a little bit further. Try to make it to your bed."

Steeling herself, Lawn took a deep breath and struggled up the last few rungs until she could step into the living area.

The moment she let go, another metal arm was at her elbow, guiding her and offering its strength in case she needed it.

She waved it away and shuffled over to the bed where she crawled under the covers. Vaguely, she was aware that someone had straightened the sheets and blanket, since she knew she had left the bed rumpled.

Add maid service to his list of duties. No, wait. Since
Deep's a male, that would make him a butler, right?

Lawn, you're starting to go over the edge, and you haven't
even spent one full day here yet.

"Do you still feel like throwing up?"

"What are my readouts, Deep?"

"Temperature is ninety-nine point six degrees Fahrenheit.

Your blood pressure is slightly elevated, but not alarmingly 55

so. Hold out your hand so I can wrap it." He spoke firmly, but that edge of concern was undeniable.

Lawn slid her hand over to the side of the bed. Presently two more metal arms appeared. She didn't have the strength to see where their little holes were. One extension held a cold pack. The other took her hand.

"Deep?"

"Yeah, Lawn?"

"I wanna see you do it."

Almost instantly he was there, his transparent hands and the ship's robo-servers moving as one. Silently, she watched him wrap her hand with the cold pack before slipping it under the cover. She barely had time to thank him when a third rod hovered in front of her face, holding a hypospray.

"This will calm your nerves," Deep murmured. "And get some restful sleep. I guarantee you'll feel like your old self in the morning."

"Deep, we're in the middle of frigging space. There's no sunup or sundown. No morning or night." The shot was already working. Soothing lassitude was soaking through her muscles. Deep chuckled. Although she couldn't see him, Lawn could imagine that silly grin on his face.

"Very well. Then I guarantee you'll feel like yourself tomorrow."

"Wake me at oh eight hundred?"

If Deep answered her, she never heard it.

Communique 4L

To: G.E. Coordinator Millner

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Tragedy avoided, but with slight injury to hand. Very aware that most catastrophes in space are due to accidents caused by inattention and/or improper planning. Lesson learned.

Addendum: Pairing of male ship to female pilot may create unexpected problems as well as benefits. Will keep you posted.