The lift doors opened and we hurried to our console. I glanced at the doors. The Marines shouldn’t have any business in the comm center, but they could go where they pleased. Nowhere was safe. I squeezed Valka’s hand, as much to reassure myself as her.
Valka sat at a console and unlocked it with her thumbprint and passcode.
I sat at the console next to hers and linked it so I could skim the same mountain of information she was sifting through, but I didn’t feel any more inspiration than before. “So we’ve established that the Scouts have certain minimums for academic achievement, health, et cetera.”
“Which we meet.”
“Which we meet,” I agreed. “And they always pick up couples.”
“Which we are.”
“And that they will pass up hundreds of other likely candidates to pick up kids on some station out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Right. The only question is why.” She tapped out some more commands, reshuffling the data for the hundredth time. “The answer has to be in here somewhere.”
“Maybe finding it is part of the test.”
“I don’t know, maybe it is the test, and if we find the answer we’ll be in.” She looked hopeful.
“Well, this data did come from the Scouts, we know that much. What else was in the data squirt besides all the statistics?”
“News articles, thousands of them, indexed and cross-referenced. Each one of them mentions, somewhere, at least one of the people recruited by the Scouts within the last five years. I already worked that out.”
I brought up the main index, yet again. “What’s this folder at the bottom, labeled ‘Miscellaneous?’”
“Personal diaries and journals, mostly. Just like the news stories, all of them mention the people who got picked up by the Scouts.”
“Anything good in there?” I tapped the data and scrolled through the titles. They didn’t make much sense by themselves, just names and datestamps.
“I haven’t looked. It seemed like, I don’t know, an invasion.”
I opened one at random and skimmed the first few entries. “They gave us this stuff for a reason, Valka. What if the answer we’re looking for is in there?”
Valka slapped her forehead. “How could I have been so stupid? We have to read these now.”
“There are hundreds of them.”
“Wait.” She tapped a query into the console. “Forty-two of them were written by people who were chosen to join the Scouts themselves. Let’s start with the last few entries in each one. There might be clues in there.”
We got down to work, reading the thoughts and feelings of folks so much like ourselves. It wasn’t easy reading.
Personal Journal, date 2398.109:
I can’t stand another night apart from Shopara. Just being near her makes my pulse race. And after today . . .
We went to the zero gravity training hub today, to practice for our EVA finals. She suggested that we share the changing room to get into our suits. She said it would save time, but that was just an excuse. Her body is incredible. Her breasts are round and full, with little pink nipples that stood out like buttons. She turned away from me to slide her coverall down. She heard me groan at the sight of her ass and giggled. I told her how beautiful she was.
She slipped her feet out of her coverall and turned around, one hand covering her crotch. “Really?”
Her eyes shifted from my face down to my cock. It was getting really hard. She believed me then.
She reached out and touched it, then pulled back like she’d gotten a shock. I told her it was okay, she could touch it. She blushed and I could hear her breathing. I wanted to tell her to grab it, squeeze it, do whatever she liked, but I couldn’t. I moved closer and put my hand on her boob. It was as soft and warm as I imagined. She said we better stop, someone might find out.
I know the station is already overpop. I know what would happen if she gets pregnant, if she has a baby. We won’t go that far. But I have to see her again. Maybe I can get my brother to let me use his quarters? I’m sure I could get Shopara to come with me.
I looked up at Valka. Her face was flushed, and she stroked her thigh idly with one hand.
My mouth seemed thick. “This is pretty strong stuff.”
“Yeah.” She swallowed hard and gave me an embarrassed smile. “I guess they really were a lot like us.”
I opened another file.
Diary Entry, date 2397-045:
Dear Diary,
I dreamed of Cosar again last night. I was in my bed, just listening to the ventilators, and the door opened. He came in and sat on the bed next to me, and put his hand on my leg. He said something, I don’t remember what it was, then he leaned down and kissed me. It wasn’t tense and scared, like the kisses we stole in the docking bay. It was long and warm and passionate.
I undid my covers and pulled them back. I was naked underneath. I let him touch me everywhere. After he touched my boobs and my cootie, he wanted to climb on top of me, like I saw in that holo the other day, but I said he couldn’t, and that was fine. He stood up, and he was naked. I touched him, and felt it, but nothing more than that. That’s when I woke up.
I want to be with him so badly. We’re meant to be together, I know it. I hope the Scouts will take us, but even if they don’t, we’ll be together working in the sensor array.
I slid my chair closer to Valka’s and took her hand. “I can’t read any more, not feeling like this.”
“Challers, we can’t! What if someone comes in?”
I leaned close and breathed the scent coming up from the skin of her neck. “I don’t care,” I whispered. “I can’t stand it anymore.”
“We only have to wait.” Her fingers ran through my short hair. “Somewhere we can be alone together.”
I kissed her neck. “We’re alone now.” I put my hand on her stomach and let it move slowly towards her chest.
“Challers, no.” She put her hand over mine, holding it in place. “Listen. Those diary entries. Were any of them about a couple who had . . . done it?”
“No. Well, not the one I read, anyways.”
“Read some more. I think that may be the key.”
Reluctantly, I went back to my tablet and skimmed a dozen more diaries. She was right. While all of them were in deep romantic relationships, none of them had taken the step we were going to take that night. Not a one.
“Oh, vack! Val, do you realize what this means? We can’t do it. We can’t do it.”
She put her arms around me and kissed the top of my head. “Yes, but now we know why those other couples, the ones the Scouts passed up, weren’t picked.”
“It also means we have to cancel our night together.” I groaned and dropped my head in my hands, elbows propped on my knees. Our plans for our first time had been in the works for months. We had rented a room at the station hotel. We had even talked to our parents. If we were going to get dragged from the station by the Fleet or the Merchants, we would at least have that time together first.
“I’ll cancel the reservation.” Her voice held as much disappointment as mine. “Don’t worry. We’ll have our night together. It won’t be right away, that’s all.” She stood behind me and rubbed my shoulders.
“I don’t get it,” I groaned. “What’s so important about virginity?”
Val sat down next to me and put her arm around my shoulder. “If we’re right, and if we’re lucky, we’ll find out.”
I turned to kiss her. “I want you so badly I could scream.” My voice grated with desire and frustration. Our lips met, full of hunger.
“We’re just going to have to control ourselves, at least until the next Scout ship comes along. Then, one day, we’ll be one of those couples, and we can be together for the rest of our lives.”
“I hope so.”
We didn’t have to wait long. Val and I were kissing in the oxygen gardens when the call arrived. I pulled the buzzing comm-unit from my belt and answered it.
My brother-in-law’s voice was calm. “They’re here, Challers. Arriving in Docking Bay Two in four minutes. Better hurry if you want to meet them.”
I jumped from my chair, taking Val by the hand. “Thanks, Partik. We owe you.”
“Good luck.” The signal cut and my comm-unit went silent.
We ran full out through the hallways and down the tube to the docking bay and got there just as the vacuum alarm was starting to sound. We watched through the observation windows as the massive outer doors of the hangar yawned wide.
Val put her hand in mine and gave me a nervous smile.
I leaned in and kissed her. “It’ll be all right. They’ll take us.”
“Challers . . .”
I was putting on a brave face, but inside I was as nervous as she.
“Are you sure it’s Scouts coming in? If it’s a Fleet shuttle we need to hide.”
“I got the word from Partik up in Orbital Control. They’re Scouts.”
A subtle vibration in the deck plates stopped as the doors stopped moving. Twenty breaths passed before the nose appeared at the doors, hovering slowly forward. The holos we had found didn’t do it justice. Silver, sleek, and graceful, it extended slim landing gear and set down so lightly I couldn’t tell exactly which second it happened.
It sat for several minutes as the doors closed and the air flowed back into the hangar. Val and I stood watching until a voice startled us from behind.
“Quite an impressive ship, isn’t it?”
I looked up to see Captain Shaunson emerging from the passageway. “Uh, yes, sir.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. We weren’t in an actual restricted area, but we didn’t have a good reason to be there, either.
He stopped next to us and stood looking into the hangar. He wasn’t particularly large, but the air around him hummed with authority.
Inside the hangar, a hatch opened in the bottom of the ship and a woman dropped to her feet on the deck. She had the biggest boobs I’d ever seen on anyone but a Merchant, more curves than anyone on the station. She turned to help a broad-chested man down behind her. They were older folks, but not as old as Captain Shaunson. The male Scout seemed to be in his late twenties. She seemed a bit older, with just a hint of gray speckling her hair. They wore plain, white, skin-tight clothes that showed off their perfect physiques. Her sleeveless uniform was cut high on her shoulders, showing off perfectly sculpted arms.
Captain Shaunson clapped me on the shoulder with a familiarity he had never shown me before. “Would you two do me a favor and wait here for a few minutes? I’d like to speak with our guests in private.”
“Of course, sir.”
“Good. Be seeing you.”
He activated the airlock and stepped through into the hangar. When it closed, all sound was cut off from inside. Captain Shaunson walked over, shook their hands, and chatted.
“They’re beautiful,” breathed Val.
The Scouts looked at each other and smiled. I couldn’t hear the chuckle, but the mirth on their faces was infectious. I couldn’t help laughing a bit myself.
Captain Shaunson led the Scouts back to the airlock.
Val grabbed my sleeve. “They’re coming! Vack, Challers, what are we going to say?”
I didn’t know. The Scouts inspired no less awe at close range. To my boundless relief, Captain Shaunson spared me the turmoil of having to introduce myself.
“Challers Dizen, Valka Parl, meet Captain Shirley Smith and Pilot Masters Pale.”
She was the one in charge on that ship. It surprised me for a moment—women rarely took positions of leadership on the station—but the moment passed, and it made perfect sense. She would have to be in charge.
Val poked me in the ribs.
“P-pleased to meet you, captain.”
She smiled and took my hand. “The same, I’m sure.” Instead of shaking my hand, she kissed my palm. “I understand you want to be a Scout.”
“Yes, ma’am.”