Star Crossed

A story that somehow got lost on my hard drive. Found it, tweaked it, and here it is.

Dave looked up from his desk in the small office when he heard the door open. It was the Captain of 'The Grand Old Lady', his ship. He started to rise but the Captain waved him back into his seat, sitting down opposite him, a familiar thoughtful look on her face.

"What strange and wonderful odd job have you got for me this time ma'am?" He asked with a smile; the Boss often came to him with a job out of the normal range of his duties. He didn't mind, he knew she trusted him to get them done and enjoyed doing things out of the ordinary.

The Captain smiled back. A lot of her officers didn't know why she put up with Dave; even Dave himself wasn't really sure; But the Captain knew that with all his vast experience in space, now over twenty years, and covering almost every area of the ships operation, Dave would rarely fail to find a way to complete any job she asked of him. On the ships roster he was nominally what they called a lower deck purser, he was the link between the passengers and the officers, but he also did hundreds of other small jobs, liasing between all the different departments and just generally keeping the Captains job so much easier. And of course, these little extra duties that she asked of him occasionally. Dave had been put up for promotion to junior lieutenant more than once, had actually filled in for some officers from time to time, but had turned the opportunity down; he liked being where he was. The Captain knew all this and accepted it now, making use of his adaptability when she needed to. This time was something different though, more personal.

"Dave, an old friend of mine is joining the ship for the run back to earth. Her ship was declared unspaceworthy after some idiot ran their light zipper into the engine. Most of the rest of the crew have been re-assigned, but this time she just wants to go home: I think she's had enough. I'd like you to keep an eye on her for me. I don't mean follow her around or wait on her hand and foot, just make sure she has nothing to worry about and she's comfortable."

"Treat her like the rest of the passengers, you mean?" Dave smirked.

The captain laughed.

"Yes, I suppose I do, but." She paused. "Alice has been through a lot and she is my oldest friend, and she has just been involved in what could have been a very nasty accident and I worry about her."

"Boss, I know what you mean. I'll keep an eye on her and she won't think it's any more than my usual job, I promise."

"I'd like you to come down to the spaceport with me to personally fetch her as well, if you've got the time."

"Sure Boss, I haven't much to do for a day or so, until the new crew members report on board tomorrow."

"Thank you Dave. Come up to the bridge at 18:00 hours and we'll go down and help her get aboard."

"As you wish ma'am."

The Captain left with another 'thank you' and Dave sat back and wondered what it was he'd let himself in for this time.

---

After presenting himself at the specified hour up on the bridge, Dave left with the Captain to collect Alice from the planet below. The Captain piloted the small shuttle herself for the departure, but turned the controls over to Dave for the short trip down to the spaceport. It was slightly against the rules, but she was the Captain after all, and knew he was more than capable of controlling the communications vehicle. For a long time now she had been trying to get Dave to take the training as a small craft pilot, but he kept putting her off, saying he knew all he needed to know and that was how to pilot an escape pod.

Within an hour they were down on the planet, and Dave was looking at a stack of luggage and considering the best way of getting it all aboard the shuttle. The Captain and Alice embraced as old friends do. Alice had seemed a little down at first, but had cheered up when he'd cracked a lame joke about picking up strange women on distant planets. He was struck at how attractive she was; he hadn't known what to expect, but wasn't really expecting someone quite so pretty.

Despite Dave's head scratching the three of them hadn't taken that long to stow all the gear with some help from the port workers, so they took off again fairly quickly. Dave taking the shuttle controls after take-off again so the two old friends could reacquaint themselves. He listened to them talking, having long ago learned how to listen whilst seeming not to listen, and now picked up a little inside information on Alice to aid him in his task. He learnt she was marginally older than he was, but was younger than the Boss, shared several interests with the Captain much the same as he did, seemed tired of space travel, but still liked a party. And once she'd settled down Alice revealed she had a wicked sense of humour that appealed to his own sense of the ridiculous. It sounded like she was a fun lady to be with.

The Captain took over the communication vehicle for the docking once more, so Dave moved back and sat next to Alice and struck up a conversation with her; nothing daring, just his normal boarding chit-chat. How was she, was she going to need anything specific, was there anything he needed to know that could make her more comfortable? The Captain chuckled to herself as she heard him. They were questions he had asked a million times, of thousands and thousands of passengers, much as she had, but Dave somehow seemed to make it sound as if Alice was the first person he had asked them. It sounded to the Captain as if he was really interested in her. A sudden idea struck her and she glanced around to look at the pair talking behind her. She smiled at what she saw; they were both trying to pretend that nothing was happening; But she recognised the soft look in her old friends face, and knew Dave well enough now to spot the excessively caring look he was giving Alice. This might do both of them good, she thought as she brought the shuttle in to dock with 'The Grand Old Lady'.

---

After the shuttle docked the Captain had taken Alice to her cabin and then on a tour of the ship, while Dave oversaw the unloading of her luggage and its transport to the cabin or the hold. He didn't see Alice again for a couple of days after leaving the bags in her room as his time was taken up with readying the ship for its voyage. Getting the passengers aboard and happy was his major priority, but he also had to know where everyone's baggage was put, he had to settle in new members of his team of stewards and handlers and make sure they knew their jobs. Although it was not his responsibility he also checked that the entertainment staff were all okay as well. This meant he had little time to check up on Alice personally, but he made sure that the staff responsible for her cabin knew she was to be looked out for and they should call him at once if anything untoward happened.

As it was, it was a message from the Captain herself that had him rushing down to Alice's cabin on the day of departure. The call had found him down in his office, checking through the last of his lists. Alice was having a panic attack, and the Captain couldn't leave the bridge as they were about to enter hyperspace. Dave got the nearest stewards to get to Alice's cabin and then set off at a run himself. It took him nearly ten minutes to get there, and by then his well-trained staff had partially calmed Alice. As he arrived breathlessly in her compartment she threw her arms around him, holding him close to her. He nodded to the two crewmen that they could leave; they did, smiling.

"Are you all right now?" He asked worriedly. She nodded she was. "First time back in space since...?" She nodded again. "If you get anxious and the Boss isn't available, come and see me. I'll probably be here." He handed her the card with the position of his office on it.

"Thank you." She said, now much calmer.

"You can come and see me anytime you like really." Dave suddenly blurted out.

Alice smiled at his earnestness.

"We'll have to wait and see." She said, kissing him on the cheek.

Dave turned away in shock, his hand to his cheek, mildly appalled at what he'd just said; it was so unprofessional and against everything he told his staff. And to the Captains best friend as well! He turned back to Alice anxiously.

"Can we keep what I just said between ourselves? I don't think the Boss ought to find out I've let her down so early in the voyage. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

Now it was Alice's turn to comfort him.

"If you think the Captain will think less of you for being human then I won't tell her."

"Thank you Alice."

"On one condition." Alice gave him a mischievous grin.

"And that is?" Dave asked, a little worried.

"You dance with me at least once tonight at the departure ball."

"I can't dance Alice." He almost wailed. She just looked at him. He gave in and smiled. "Okay one dance it is."

"Good." She kissed him on the cheek again, and ushered him out of the door. "I'll see you tonight then."

---

Dave was late for the ball. One of the passengers had wanted something from one of the pieces of baggage they had stored in the hold, and he had had to locate the correct piece of luggage in the correct hold, bring it to the passenger, wait while they got what they needed and then get it put it back. Subsequently he was not in the best of humour by the time he got to the dance. It just seemed to him that he always got the people who didn't read the luggage regulations and just packed willy-nilly. He finally managed to slip into the dance about an hour and a half late. He spotted Alice and the Captain over on the far side of the ballroom, but decided to keep out of their way for a while; he'd wanted to get his dance with Alice out of the way while there weren't too many people watching. Instead he dropped into his helpful purser role, moving among the passengers, laughing and joking. More than once one or other of his stewards came up and asked his advice about something and in one case asked for his assistance in removing a tipsy passenger who seemed intent on causing trouble. The inebriated fellow wasn't threatened, but it was quietly pointed out that it was a long trip and it probably wasn't a good idea to antagonise the other passengers this early in the voyage. He saw sense and ambled off to sober up. Dave finally got himself a soft drink and found somewhere quiet to sit down. He scanned the room but couldn't see the Captain or Alice anywhere. As he sipped his drink a hand dropped onto his shoulder and a slinky voice behind him said:

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming." He turned around and smiled at Alice. He hadn't seen her there when he sat down. "Beth has had to go up to the bridge." She said.

"Beth?" He was mystified.

"The Captain, the Boss."

"Oh! Sorry, I can't get used to thinking of her as anything but the Boss. Have you said anything to her?"

"And miss out on my one guaranteed dance? No, I haven't said a word. Not that it would make any difference to Beth." Alice smiled.

"She trusts me, so I hate to let her down."

"Let her down?" Alice seemed puzzled.

"Trying to chat you up. I don't want to disappoint her. Or you for that matter."

"My lad, when it comes to me and Beth you have a lot to learn. And your first lesson is going to be how to dance." She pulled him to his feet and onto the dance floor.

"Alice you're very pretty and could dance with anyone in the room, why pick someone with two left feet?" Dave asked, puzzled himself now.

"Because." Alice said firmly.

"Because what?"

"Because you look like you need cheering up." She smiled.

He gave up and let her manoeuvre him into position. The band struck up an old, old slow tune that he happened to know the words too. As they started to dance, Alice pulled his hand behind her back, so that they were looking at each other face to face, and began to murmur the words to the song. Softly, Dave began to sing them with her. She looked up into his eyes and smiled, and laid her head against his shoulder. It was a long song and he'd forgotten how romantic it was, but with Alice held close to him he didn't care. Eventually the song ended and they pulled away to applaud with everyone else.

"Thank you Alice." Dave said. "It's been a long time since I danced with a woman."

"No, thank you. It's been quite a while since I was serenaded." Alice gave him a grin.

"Sorry about that, I got carried away. You won't tell will you?" Dave reddened.

"Dave, you don't need to apologise to a girl for singing to them, and in any case I think it may be a bit late for me to keep quiet." Alice nodded to one side. The Captain winked at them from the ballroom door. Dave could feel his face redden further, and then he remembered that he was due to see her in the morning and he groaned inwardly. She surely knew what was happening now.

---

Dave knocked on the door of the Captains office and went in when called. He saluted, and then handed her the envelope he had been carrying.

"What's this Dave?" She asked, turning it over in her hands without opening it.

"My resignation ma'am, after my behaviour over the past day or so I thought it might be best."

"Dave, you amaze me." She said, handing it straight back to him. "Why did you think I would accept this?"

"Well..." Dave faltered. "I just thought that maybe it would be best. I must have broken half the company rules for my post."

"Who asked you to keep an eye on Alice?" She asked. "And who asked who for the dance?" She added with a smile.

Dave squirmed.

"What about the singing?" He mumbled, his head hung down.

"I'm not getting rid of someone for singing a song, however bad they sound." She smiled again, this time her mischievous grin.

"You did hear me then?" He replied looking up with relief.

"Just go away and do what you do best, Dave. Leave the worrying to me." He saluted and made towards the door. "Just be careful around Alice. She's my oldest friend, but she can get carried away without realising she might be hurting other people's feelings. And I don't want to see either of you hurt."

"No ma'am." He turned to leave.

"And Dave." He turned back in the doorway. "No more singing please." She grinned.

"No ma'am." He smiled back.

---

For the next two or three weeks Dave and Alice hardly saw each other. Alice was settling into the rhythm of the ship and making friends with a lot of the other passengers and crew. They sometimes met when he was about on ship business, but she never called on him, never came to his office or anything like that. He was relieved and disappointed at the same time. Alice had somehow breathed something into him he didn't think he still had, enjoyment of something other than his job.

Then came the big party.

It was 'The Grand Old Lady's' 5000th planetfall, something not many interplanetary liners achieved, and a huge celebration was to be held on the planet. Every crewman who could be spared was going to be there. Dave had offered to stay aboard as part of the skeleton crew but the Captain insisted he attend. Apparently he had been aboard for more planetfalls than any other member of the crew and so was obligated to attend. The party was one of those momentous ones where no one is sure what happened, even Dave, who was notorious for not getting drunk. He remembered dancing with Alice again, but he also danced with the Captain and three or four of the other female crew. What he did remember was sitting and watching Alice for most of the night, increasingly frustrated that he didn't have the nerve to go over and ask her for another dance. What he really wanted to do was ask her out for a meal, but he didn't have the courage.

---

The evening after he was in his office listlessly shuffling paper around, bemoaning the fact he'd broken his own number one rule and got somehow got himself romantically involved with a passenger, when the Captain came in and sat down opposite him.

"Okay Dave, tell me." She said, crossing her arms and staring.

"Tell you what ma'am?" Dave was a little surprised.

"Don't give me that 'ma'am' stuff. I'm asking as a friend, what is the matter?"

Dave sighed.

"I'm sorry Boss, I've tried nearly everything I can think of, but the fact is I can't get Alice out of my mind. I feel I've let you and the company down. I might actually be halfway in love with her." He bowed his head.

"I did warn you. She can get under your skin"

"I know. The one thing I have left to try is to add her to my story file." He sighed.

"What are you talking about?"

"I have a small file of writings about women I've fallen for, usually without them knowing. It provides a sort of alternative universe, where "happy ever after" lives."

"What sort of writing?" The Captain asked darkly.

"Oh! Nothing like that, just romantic stories, or in some cases a sort of open letter, just so that I can get my feelings out in the open, or on paper at least."

"Does it work?" The Captain asked.

"Sort of. It usually helps." Dave gave another sigh.

"I'll leave you to try that then." She got up to leave. "Don't forget the reports for tomorrow though."

"Okay Boss. See you later."

Dave sighed for a third time and then began his reports for the day, two for the Captain, one for the engineer and one for the company representative down on the planet. That done, he opened a bottle of spirits and then he began to write to Alice, confidant that whatever he wrote about his feelings she would never get to read it.

---

Dave was woken the next morning by a hammering on the door of his berth, situated next to his office. It was one of his leading stewards, a pretty girl called Zoë.

"Dave, come quick. The Captain has just had a blazing row with her friend in the breakfast lounge. Maybe you can do something as you know them both."

He was instantly awake and rushed into his office pulling on his uniform. A horrible thought struck him and he quickly looked all over his desk for the letter he'd written for Alice, it was gone.

"Zoë, has anyone taken anything from my desk?" He asked, looking up at her.

"Yes, I took it all to the delivery office earlier."

"How many items?" He demanded, now really worried.

"Five, four reports and a letter."

"Oh bloody hell." He ran out of the office after picking up his resignation letter out of the desk drawer again and hurried up to the Captains office.

---

Outside the ready room door Dave stopped and composed himself. He knocked and then entered when told to do so. The Captain had her back to him, lost in thought.

"I think you'll have to accept it this time Boss." He said, laying the envelope on the desk this time.

"Accept what, Dave?" She said without turning around.

"My resignation, I'll stay here until I can find another ship."

"Exactly what are you talking about, you idiot?" She span around.

"Well..." Dave was nonplussed. "Your argument with Alice. The letter I wrote to her last night seems to have been delivered to her by mistake, and that must have caused the ..." He trailed off. He looked at the Captains desk; the post hadn't been delivered yet.

"Contrary to popular belief, not everything on this ship revolves around you Dave. Alice and I had an argument about her sudden desire to join the crew of this ship. And now I can see why she wants to."

"But..." Dave stopped. "Permission to go and try to find this letter before she reads it ma'am."

"Well you can try I suppose, but I think it might be too late."

"Post hasn't been delivered yet ma'am." He said, indicating her empty in tray.

"Go on then."

He saluted, picked up his resignation for a second time and ran for the door.

---

The Captain smiled to herself, her devious little plan seemed to be working. What Dave obviously hadn't seen at the planetfall ball had been Alice watching him like he had been watching her. She had decided on some positive action to resolve the impasse the pair had got themselves in. After her meeting with Dave the previous evening the Captain had found Zoë and made sure she would collect all the papers on Dave's desk and personally deliver anything that wasn't a report. She'd also got her to make it sound like it was an accident. Zoë was a good girl, officer material, and understood what was expected of her. That had worked well; the morning's argument had been a happy accident and had been a suitable catalyst. She sat back and wondered how they were going to mess it up this time.