My New Pet Robot 05

She left me in reception while she popped upstairs to turn over the memory card from the video camera. Vinnie attracted some attraction here, a few puzzled looks, one or two double takes. I sat there reading one of the old magazines, idly flicking through for pictures.

I was wondering if she loved me a bit more after our sexcapade. I'd do anything to keep her, to make love to her properly. Thoughts of the countdown clock also intruded. We had dinner then the afternoon session to come. Maybe four hours from now she'd be naked in my arms again, this time with her panties off.

She came back down, the concern on her face turning to a smile as she saw me. I was up and walking to meet her.

"Shall we go for lunch?" she asked as we met.

She linked my arm as I nodded my yes, steering me down a corridor. I felt pleased to be connected to her, walking with her by my side, feeling the warmth of her arm around mine. It was as if the only thing of any importance was centred on her.

When we got to the canteen Vincent attracted more interest. I had Rose make for an empty table by the wall but there was no hiding Vinnie floating along behind us. For those who worked or visited the micro G zone, seeing things apparently floating wasn't unusual, but even those were looking on mystified.

We ate a quick meal with several people making detours past our table for a closer look.

"What do you think they'll say?" I asked. "When they realise they were getting the first look at the future."

"Well, the secret's out now," she replied, pushing her empty plate forward.

I nodded as I took my last mouthful.

"Do you want to see my house?" she asked. "It's only a short walk."

"What, meet your folks already?" I joked.

"I doubt there'll be anyone home. I was going to get changed and there's that apple juice to finish off," she said, taking me more seriously than I'd intended.

I put my empty plate back on the tray. "Do I get to see your bedroom as well?"

She laughed. "You can help me change."

We dropped the tray at the hatch and with Vincent drawing open stares we left. I was surprised no-one came up and questioned us, but again, maybe I'd have been hesitant about confronting a floating barrel with binocular eyes. I was the first time.

We walked the short distance to her house. Instead of the open spaces of my home this had close neighbours in the tree lined avenue. She led me through to the kitchen first, collecting the apple juice before taking me through to her bedroom.

My pad chimed a message. I sat on the bed and took it out.

I looked at Rose, who was pouring the juice. "It's my father."

I tapped the screen and his face came up.

"I need you to come to my office," he said with a weary look on his face.

His look and the tone of his voice told me it was something unpleasant.

"What's happened?" I asked, fearful of them wanting more access to Vincent or something.

"I'd prefer to tell you in person. I need to explain things as well," he replied grimly.

"Dad, come on, I'm not a little boy who stamps his foot."

"Meet me at your mother's office, then. This is something that she needs to know as well."

"Alright. .. But I'm with Rose, I'd like her to come along as well."

"Rose? The girl who's doing the recordings?"

"Yes, I can present her to you both. She's going to be my wife when she makes up her mind," I said.

I looked at Rose who was looking at me open-mouthed with a smile in her eyes.

"This is sudden," he said, a look of confusion flickering

"I know, but I love her. Anything concerning me I want her to know."

"Well, it's going to be no secret, your little walk around already has tongues waggling here. If you really must know we're sending you and the robot to Earth; we've made a deal with them. I'll explain everything at Ann's office." My screen went blank as he cut the connection

Earth, the word hit me. Going to Earth. Then the word 'Deal' and my half born smile faded. I looked at Rose still looking at me, her face narrowed with her lips tight.

"Would you like to come?"

Her face lit up. "Yes, you're damn right I'd like to come."

My heart soared. I tossed the pad aside and stood, holding out my arms to her as she came to me. We kissed, falling back onto the bed, arms and legs entwined. I ended our kiss, pushing us apart a little.

"There's a catch. I think I might have to explain things out for them as proper Q&A's but with luck they'll accede to a few demands I'll make," I said, looking into her eyes.

She gave a laugh. "I'm sure you'll manage."

"Come on, then, let's go and see what it's all about," I said, releasing her.

"Can he wait five minutes while I change? You can drink your juice."

I lied back on the bed as she scrambled off, sitting up when she passed me the glass and looking admiringly on as she started stripping, thoughts of her all to myself twenty four/seven sparking my imagination, helping to stiffen my cock as much as her slipping off her panties and showing me her bare ass.

She put on a more formal grey skirt and a long sleeved blouse and in under the five minutes stood ready. We headed for the lift shaft hand in hand, hurrying slightly as my eagerness drove us on. The ride down and the short walk to the admin block where my mother's office was only served to whet my anticipation.

I clutched Rose's hand tight as we walked the corridor to mum's office. I don't know if my excitement over the trip to Earth or the fact that I was introducing Rose to them was the greater. My feelings were so mixed together it was all I could do to restrain myself from running the last 100 metres.

I knocked the door and had it open before my mother could call 'Come.' I towed Rose in to face both my parents. Both looked Rose over, my mother coming around her desk to greet her.

"So, you're Jeff's fiancée?" she asked, her voice neutral.

Rose looked flustered for a second. "Only his girlfriend, maybe his fiancée if things work out."

My father stood. "Never mind that now. Son, I was outvoted on this. Professor Jones and his clique negotiated on this, the offer was too good to refuse. They're offering billions and guarantees if we send you to Earth."

"That's okay, I kind of expected that. The important thing is that Rose is going with me. It won't matter to anyone. I'm sure Earth won't mind," I said, looking from my father to her and seeing her smile back.

"No, that won't be a feather-weight in the grand scheme of things," he replied. "We are going to conduct research into Replication, Earth is taking on the rest. Besides, a cash down payment of one hundred billion, we are getting a twenty five percent interest in profits. It's not what I wanted but at least we kept control of the key technology and they are letting their physicists come and join us."

I nodded, happy to hear my own views echoed and wondering how many spies would come.

"You haven't told him that he's off as soon as the Antares is ready," my mother said. She turned to me. "You're making a full power run, cutting in near Mercury's orbit for the slingshot. In three weeks you'll be in Earth's orbit. Better than your three month run for the moon. No?"

I smiled at her. No doubt she'd seen to it personally. That was one thing I hadn't planned for. Our current aphelion had me planning those three months to convince Rose, three months close contact to show her we could live together. We could have been married before we got to Earth.

"So, we'd better go home and pack, then?" I said, trying to make a joke of it.

My mother's face clouded for a second them brightened into a smile. "She won't be ready for six hours. Rose better tell her folks and pack soon if she's going with you."

I looked across at Rose. She gave a slight nod.

"You're McTavish's daughter, aren't you?" my father asked.

Rose nodded again.

"Tell him I'll talk to him privately later," he said.

"Yes, sir," Rose answered.

The matter felt settled, but parents being parents, they had a few more pieces of advice to offer before we were free to start sorting out our own priorities. Rather than use her pad to tell them Rose messaged both to meet her in her father's office.

We rushed back up and I let Rose take the lead in explaining our plans. Her father was stoic but her mother was visibly a little unhappy about the suddenness of it all, including meeting Vincent. I left her to go home and start packing while I went back to my house to sort my stuff out.

I was ready inside an hour. I just packed whatever still fitted me into a crate and used Vincent's old trolley to transport it up to the transfer ring. I left it there to get loaded and was back down with the trolley to Rose's house after messaging her to check.

She was as excited as me. Her mother was with her and they had a pile of clothes on a chair in the living room.

"I've got nothing to pack them in," she said, sounding exasperated.

"I packed mine in a crate," I said. "Have you got any around?"

"No," answered her mother. "But I've just remembered some old food boxes."

As she bustled off I took Rose in my arms.

"Happy?"

"I can't believe it's all happening," she replied.

"Believe it, this is the beginning of your new life," I said, hugging her.

"Three weeks is a long time. I never really thought about interplanetary travel. Still, as your mother said, it's better than the three months," she said, laying her head against mine.

I brought my hand up to caress her neck. "Three weeks together then the big bang as Vincent's knowledge is drained through me."

"It won't be that bad, will it?"

"I don't think I'll have much time for sightseeing."

"You will after."

"Yes, we can honeymoon on Earth," I said, easing her head back to kiss her.

"Harump," her mother cleared her throat. "I've got these."

She held up a cardboard box and a large rice sack. "Your smalls can go in the box and the rest in this."

I watched as they packed as much as they could. "Don't worry too much. I'm sure we'll be able to buy more clothes there. If they've made billions then they can spare a little to pay me a good allowance out of it," I said.

I stacked the box on top of the sack and with Rose and her mother walking alongside me we set out for the lift. Rose had wisely changed into slacks for the zero G environment. Her mother had a dress on but was nimble enough to avoid embarrassing herself, claiming she was a bit rusty.

I helped Rose who was a novice. She'd be as expert as me in three weeks, I thought as I hugged her tight and bounced us down the short corridor. My mother was strapped to a seat in the lounge. Both our fathers were huddled towards the corner.

"Well, this is the second goodbye in as many weeks," my mother said as I brought us to a halt in front of her.

"The same one as I would have got going on the moonshot," I said, trying to lighten any sentiment. "Where's Maggie?"

"She's a bit tied up with one of her experiments," my mother said. "She sends her best wishes and a safe journey."

"You all ready, son?" my father asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Is my crate aboard, do you know?" I replied, diverting him

"I don't know. You'll have to check."

"There's something else. I'm going to need to have more than pocket money down there. Do you think you can arrange to get an allowance for us?"

My father turned to her father. "Hamish?"

"Aye, Phillip, I think that might be arranged. How much, do you think?"

"A thousand a week?"

"Each," I interjected.

Hamish gave a brittle laugh. "Aye, I'll go along with that."

"Thanks," I said. "You gave in too easy, lucky we won't need more."

They departed on the hour countdown, leaving us to find our bunks and float as free as Vincent, kissing and relaxing in each other's arms waiting for the point two G thrust to give us a floor again. At the five minute call I strapped her into her bunk and me into mine.

The acceleration was nearly instant after 'zero'. I hustled her to the observation dome to watch us drive effortlessly away, our home growing smaller till it was a point of light in five minutes and we seemed to just hang in space, the arc of the milky way illuminating our way.

I kissed her cheek. "I suppose we ought to introduce ourselves to the crew. They'll think their running a ghost ship if they don't see us soon."

I helped her down and we went back to the lounge, finding an older woman there drinking coffee.

"Hi," she greeted us. "I'm Phyllis, navigator and dogsbody. You want coffee?"

Her eyes were as much on Vincent floating stock still beside me as they were on us.

"Yes, please," said Rose. I nodded.

She got up gracefully, her ship suit looser than normal as if she'd lost weight or expected to put it on. Rose took a seat and I showed off by folding my arms and letting myself fall into mine. As I let myself go I had a split second flash of Vinnie 'saving' me again.

"Ronnie and Janie, our engineers, will be up soon. Bill, my husband, is still on the flight deck," Phyllis said, coming back with the coffee.

"We're Jeff and Rose but I expect you know that. This is Vincent, he just floats."

"Yes, I know, he's loaded with alien technology. We've got the capsule and the dinosaur on board as well."

"Ever made the fast run before?" I asked.

"Nope, we'll be using reserves by the time we hit Earth orbit. They want you in a hurry."

I hoped she was good at her job. I looked at her again. She looked late thirties. Her brunette hair was cut short, her face with traces of the prettiness she must have had as a girl. The body under her ship suit looked toned and fit, mind you, all spacers were fit, they had a calisthenics gym to counter atrophy of weightlessness. We'd have to do it, too.

I sat back and wondered about the others, if they were free thinkers like the profile of almost all deep space jockeys. That type seemed to be best suited for confined conditions. She was probably assessing us to see if our temporary presence would disrupt things.

Bill came down the passage, poking his head around the door. "Any coffee?"

"Yes, we're on instant till we get to the orbital. They didn't stock this crate well."

"It's only used close in for training. I'm still pissed that we had to leave the Vega there, a day and a half to unload what they'd loaded and they couldn't wait. I wish I could keep this one though, everything still works," he said, still standing at the door.

"I'm just going to get a shower then I'll welcome you officially as captain," he continued then looked over at Phyllis. "Have you explained the house rules?"

I looked back at Phyllis.

"He means he sometimes walks around nude. As long as everything runs smoothly then there's not much to do, everything is on automatics and the AI is monitoring the radar and manometer and will give us a screech if anything needs attention. So we do our own thing, Bill and I. Janie doesn't mind if she sees him naked, eating breakfast straight from the shower. Me, too, on rare occasions."

"I'm okay with casual nudity," I said, looking at Rose beside me.

"I've seen enough naked bodies that one or two more won't hurt," she said with an unreadable expression.

"Well, just so long you know," she said. "We kind of relax out here in space. Observe the rules that are good for us if you know what I mean."

I couldn't resist a smile. "Yes, my father has a saying: 'Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools.'"

Ronnie and Janie came in, both of them fastening on Vinnie. Ronnie took the lead in walking up to Vinnie. Both of them looked earth born. He looked about one metre ninety and she about one metre seventy five, both wearing a ship suits.

Ronnie walked around it while Janie stood and looked at his lenses.

"He might as well be inert," I said. "There's really nothing to see."

"He?" exclaimed Janie.

"Yes, his name is Vincent."

"Vincent?" he queried, with even more disbelief in her voice this time.

"Yes," I said dryly. "A robot from an old film."

She looked back at Vinnie. Ronnie walked around her.

"Hi, I'm Ron. Does it only talk to you?"

"Yes, it's telepathically tuned to me."

"So, it can't read my thoughts?"

"Not really. He can tell me if you're angry or happy and things but he can only read my mind."

"So, it knows we are talking about it because you're thinking about it."

"No, I have to think at him, like I am having a mental conversation."

I assumed that was how it worked. He'd never responded to a casual thought.

"Has it ever done anything?" he asked.

"Besides answer questions, not really. It's a guardian, his job is to protect and advise."

"Come on, give it a rest. Ron, go and put the water on for coffee. Janie, sit down somewhere," Phyllis chided.

I gave Phyllis silent thanks as they complied.

"We'll be switching to Capital One time now that we're on our way," she cerried on as she turned to us. "The AI should sync your pads. We generally only have dinner together. We've got a gym. You can slack for the first week if you like but I would strongly recommend running it at a full G if you're intending to visit earth. I'll give you our usual schedule and we can hash it out at dinner. Have you got any questions so far?"

I shook my head and looked at Rose. She shook her head as well.

"I'm sure you will have, don't be afraid to ask them. We four have been together for two years now, we kind of mesh, we all want to get along for these three weeks. Yes?"

"Yes," I agreed.

"Sure," Rose answered beside me.

"Right," Ron called, interrupting. "How many coffees am I making?"

"Me," said Janie.

"No," Phyllis said.

"Me neither," I added.

"Nor me," Rose chimed in.

"One for Bill, he shouldn't be long," Phyllis said, turning to look over.

"Okay, three it is. There's water here if you change your mind."

Janie was sitting opposite us, lying back in the two-seater, and looking over at Ron as he finished making the drinks. This was the ship I'd made my training voyages on; it was the rescue ship as well under normal circumstances. One thing puzzling me was why we had civilian crew. Were they the only ones qualified?

Ron was sitting next to Janie when Bill made his appearance. He was dressed in shorts and came smiling over to take the chair at the head of the table.

"Welcome to the captain's table," he said, looking at us as he sat. "Any questions so far? Phyllie give you the rundown?"

"Yes, I think we'll get along. I'm sorry this has been imposed on you," I replied.

Phyllis laughed. "This is for our retirement fund. They're paying us ten times what we get from a single trip."

"Ah," I said.

We chatted on for a while until Ron and Janie finished their coffee and went to get changed. I nodded to Rose and we took the opportunity to escape back to our cabin and our low grav bunks. I took out my pad to check the new time, see how much time had shifted and when dinner was.

"Does this ship have a library and things?" she asked.

"Yes, you can call it up on your pad. There's a big screen in the lounge," I answered. "I wonder what their relationship is. They spend months on their own. I think Phyllis is top dog here."

"There I agree with you, but let's not get too involved with them. We've got three weeks of doing nothing. I'd like us to talk more. I want to know more about the inner you," she said, holding out her hand.

"The inner me dreams of a better life. Vincent's going to achieve that. When we get back I'd like to help the team researching replication. Ah, if only I had Maggie's brains. I was going to be an engineer, maintaining ships like this one. Now I'm going to have to learn more about science, physics or whatever realm it is."

With Vincent's help I was hoping that I could be involved in designing the prototypes to help understand the engineering aspects. There was no need to test theories; we had only to understand how the processes worked in terms of component assemblies. It was an engineer's job to turn the scientist's facts into functions.