CHAPTER EIGHT
Vinn Stern was supervising the loading of delicate equipment aboard a chubby freighter when the Erin Kenner fluxed down with a flair of rather ostentatious ship handling. The sleek, new vessel came plummeting down, mushed to a stop a hundred feet above the raw earth of the field, and settled softly into the dust. Vinn allowed work to come to a halt while the stevedores admired the design of the new type of cruiser-explorer.
"Whoever's aboard her had one helluva ride," said a worker.
"The skipper was playing amusement park kiss-me-quick," Vinn said.
A lock opened and several people emerged from the Erin Kenner.
"Okay, fellows, let's get it done," Vinn said, turning away. The men went back to work.
In the artificial pleele forest the film company was shooting stock scenes of the background. The basic exposures would be combined with the work of special effects techs on Delos, home of United Holofilms, to show the ifflings, the first stage of the Artunee life-form, crawling among the pleele trees in search of succulent fruit.
Sheba was in her dressing room, makeup in place, ready to finish off one small scene when the call came. She was eager to leave the wildernessplanet. She glanced at the clock, sighed. She had always enjoyed her work, and that had been true of the Miaree project until recent weeks when a restlessness had begun to grow in her. It wasn't so much that she wanted to get back to her home on Delos, although she thought often of the great house with its extensive grounds winding among small, crystal clear lakes.
She simply wanted, needed, to be on the move. There was an urge in her to go. She dreamed of traveling lonely star lanes to places she'd never seen.
Quite often her parents were in her dreams, and Josh and David and Ruth.
One of the director's assistants put her head in the door and said,
"We'll be ready for you in five minutes, Miss Webster."
They were reshooting the scene where Miaree first stood face-to-face with the alien. He waited for her at the top of a flight of steps. After special effects finished, he would be standing among smooth-skinned, graceful changelings. In the initial shooting he was alone. Sheba walked up the steps, slim and regal. Her soft lips were fixed in a formal smile. The alien extended both hands in a gesture of friendship. He said, "You are indescribably beautiful."
"Cut," the director yelled. "And wrap."
A cheer went up. The location shooting was finished. Soon the ships would lift off for the civilized portions of the galaxy. The actor who was playing Rei, the Delanian alien, kissed Sheba on her furry cheek.
"It's been a fine vacation, Sheba," he said, "but I'm ready to have a decent meal and sleep in my own bed."
The director, differences forgotten for the moment, hugged Sheba and complimented her on her professionalism.
When Sheba walked off the sound stage, she saw Josh Webster standing with his hands behind his back, tall and striking in his Service blues, a very attractive female officer at his side.
"Hi, Queenie," Josh said.
"Josh! My God," Sheba cried, running to throw herself into his arms.
"Careful of the wings, darling," the director said. "We might have to usethem again."
"This rather odd creature," Josh said to Angela, "is my sister. Sheba, say hello to my wife, Angela."
Sheba took both of Angela's hands in hers. "Wonderful," she said. "I know you're a super person to be able to convince this old reprobate to give up his bachelorhood." She turned to Josh. "What a perfectly lovely surprise."
"I heard that they were trying to turn my baby sister into a butterfly,"
Josh said.
"This butterfly is going to flutter off and change," she said. "Angela, if you want to come with me, you can freshen up while I get out of this fur.
Old Josh, you may come, too, if you like."
"I'll wander around and take a look at the sets," Josh said.
"Give us half an hour," Sheba said.
In the dressing room, Angela helped Sheba skin out of the skintight Artunee fur. She was slightly uneasy as Sheba was revealed dressed only in briefs and a filmy bra, but Sheba seemed quite at ease. She pointed Angela toward the facilities and went to work removing the makeup from her eyes. Her face was clean and smooth when Angela came out.
"Josh was right," Angela said, "you're quite the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
"Hey," Sheba said, "it takes one to know one. It's easy to see why my formerly fickle brother chose you."
"Hush," Angela said, "or you'll have me wondering if I should ask you to get me a part in a holofilm."
"The cameras would like you," Sheba said, and when Angela laughed,
"really."
Sheba leapt to her feet, slipped into a shimmering shift, pushed her feet into designer heels. "Let's go find the handsome one and sort out some food."
"You could talk me into that," Angela said.
Vinn Stern was in the cafeteria. He waved at Sheba and she called him over to the table, introduced him to Josh and Angela, and asked him to join them. Angela nudged Josh, calling his attention to the way that Sheba looked at Vinn. Vinn expressed admiration for the Erin Kenner. Thus cued, Josh launched into a glowing paean of praise for the ship.
"Hey, we get the idea," Sheba said. "You love your ship. If I were Angela, I'd feel jealous."
"I'm afraid I'm guilty of the same fault," Angela said. "The ship's performance was flawless. We're both looking forward to taking her on big jumps into the far and away."
"Need a slightly used scientific adviser?" Vinn asked.
"We could use you, Vinn," Josh said, "but the ship's organizational chart doesn't call for one. One navigator doubles as science officer."
"How about civilian sisters?" Sheba asked.
"That would be frowned upon," Josh said.
"Discrimination," Sheba muttered. "You're going out to look for the Old Folks, and for David and Ruth, aren't you?"
"We're going to explore the sector of space that both ships entered when they left established blink routes," Josh said.
"I've been thinking about Mom and Dad a lot," Sheba said. "They're not dead, Josh."
Josh didn't speak immediately. "I hope not, Queenie." He forced a smile. "There are still plenty of provisions aboard their ship. They haven't even been forced to go into space rations yet."
"They're alive," Sheba insisted. "And David and Ruth, too."
The Erin Kenner stayed two days on the wilderness planet. Sheba and Vinn were given a grand tour of the ship. Angela and Sheba found time for some girl talk and established a warm friendship. Vinn was busy stowing the computers, cameras, and other sensitive equipment for the trip backto the studio. He had managed to get a berth on the most luxurious of the transport ships with Sheba. The company's equipment was stowed aboard the freighters. The temporary living cubicles, too, were packed away in the holds of the ships and the company had moved to their berths aboard the transports. The environmental police were at work, carefully erasing all signs of the company's presence on the park planet.
Vinn and Sheba told Josh and Angela good-bye. Vinn left the three of them together and went back to his final check of the stowed equipment.
A couple of hours later he stood outside the freighter and watched the Erin Kenner lift fluidly and disappear into the vault of blue. Within seconds a chunky freighter's flux drive hummed and she followed the more graceful ship into near space. By the time the freighter had attained orbit and the navigator was setting the generator for the first blink, the much quicker X&A ship was light-years away, making multiple jumps along well-charted blink routes before having to rest for recharging.