Dark as Daylight Ch. 20

"I correct myself, Gordon, you are the devil reincarnate."

"Why thank you Hannah. Would you like to go inside now? You have four minutes of air remaining. Otherwise, you may be meeting Jack way before your time."

"I have to see you make cotton candy, you no good rat. Get me inside, because I know you're lying."

"Teddy, are you listening?"

"I am here, uncle Gordon."

"Doctor Hannah is going to bet me 10 hours of praying with you that I cannot make cotton candy. Isn't that nice of her?"

"I think it's wonderful for Doctor Daniels to make that bet. Doesn't she know you make cotton candy all the time?"

"No, she believes I am lying to her. She wants to see me do it."

"I can't wait to pray with her. It will help ease the suffering in her heart."

Hannah said, "How did I get myself into this?"

"Danny close the dock, we are all inside."

"Closing up Gordon."

"Pressure coming up. The dock is pressurized."

The door to the white room opened, and the three of them stepped inside.

Newton said, "Don't move Hannah, you have Stardust on the back of your suit."

"Bullshit, Newton, there is no such thing as stardust."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Doctor, but until we find out what these sparkles on the back of your spacesuit are, we are not taking it off out here."

"Don't take your gloves off Hannah. Don't take anything off as a matter of fact."

"We are opening the white room door, and going back onto the dock. We need a hazmat team here on the dock immediately."

"Hazmat team is assembling. Gray will be in the lead, with Doctor's Cornelia, and Andrea as medical support, Laura Schiff four organic science, plus 'Enos' Malvinas, Theodore Court from technical services. If you need anyone else but us know."

Gordon replied, "That sounds like a great group. Get them in here."

"They're putting their suits on now."

After closing one end of the white room securely, they opened the other and walked out onto the dock. Gray started in immediately.

"Honestly Gordon, we only sent you outside to bury a dead man. Couldn't you even do that right?"

"It wasn't me, Gray, it was her."

"If you weren't my wife's brother, I would send you home."

"How?"

"I would put you, Laura, and my wife on the other side of the warm zone, leave you alone for six months, and then go back to find you. The three of you would be gone."

Laura shouted, "I want my husband with me."

"In that case, you would need eight months."

"Why?"

"It's simple, you would get pregnant during that time. Delicious would be beyond envious and take it out on Gordon. During the hours you were not working, the fighting that would go on would be unbearable, and cost you two months extra time to build my wife's new wonderful machine."

"It would not work Gray. You forgot to consider Zoey."

"That's true. I guess that means we would have to take all three families to the Western Terminator, and that would be unfair to us."

Hannah asked, "How is it possible that that idea could be unfair to your three families?"

"Hannah don't you realize we would have to take all our children with us, including the ones we don't want to take with us? We would have to take Lynn and Lane, Truman and Tatum, and our soon to be born son. I never mentioned Teddy, because I would take her anywhere, and so would anyone with a functioning brain."

Everyone said, "Amen!"

"Okay let's go to work. What do we have."

Newton said, "I didn't check Gordon's suit, but I was behind Hannah when I saw it reflecting in the lights, when it shouldn't have. The suits are designed to be dull and nonreflective. As soon as I saw what ever it is reflecting off her suit I made her stop and pulled her back out here onto the dock for safety."

"Laura start checking for organic materials. Enos check random areas of the dock for signs of spatial contamination."

"Teddy look for anything unusual, on or near, the fittings in the dock."

"It would be better to do that when the dock is depressurized, Gray. Even a micro- leak would show up then, it won't show up now."

"Good thinking, Teddy. As soon as we finish everything else out here, and if the cause is not found, do that please."

"No problem, Doc."

Over the next 80 minutes the suits were tested from soles to helmets. It would take hours for the bacterial results to come back, but so far there were no anomalies in the test results. Inside engineering, everyone was going over their equipment with a fine-tooth comb, and then going over it again. They had lost their leader. Now his replacement, and their friend was outside the main area of the spacecraft, and possibly in mortal danger. Time was the enemy, and they were running out of time to find the problem.

**********************

Adam and his six trainees exited the catacombs of the ship directly into engineering. Two of the trainees began to strip to the bone because they made the mistake of opening the wrong valve at the wrong time and received the unpleasant reward of several days excrement all over their bodies. It was getting to the point that the trainees were getting younger and younger, and they paid attention harder so this embarrassing situation did not happen. When it did, be it male or female, Adam made sure they were appropriately covered when they went into and came out of the decontamination shower.

As he was going over everything they had covered during the past six hours of study and work, and noticed that his trainees were not paying as close attn as they normally did.

Finally, he asked, "Is something going on that I should know about?"

Sierra replied, "I'm not sure, Sir, but there's an awful lot of activity over by the communications area."

"Okay, we will continue this tomorrow, one half hour early for work. Let's adjourn and see what's going on over at the communications area."

Adam clasped Danny on the shoulder. "What's up kid?"

"Where have you been all day? After Hannah sent Jack on his way, she was about to enter the ship when Newton found flecks that he called Stardust on her spacesuit. Gray, Laura, Enos, and a few others are out there investigating what are three space people ran into."

"Urine."

"Excuse me?"

"They ran into urine."

"Please explain this to me, before I explain it to them."

"I was down below with six trainees, teaching them how to run fluid in a vacuum. We were down there for six hours today and about two hours ago I asked all of them if they knew how to do it by themselves. The answer was a unanimous yes, when it should have been a unanimous maybe. What our spacewalkers ran into was a urine dump, because three of my students got it right, one got it almost right, and two got it dead wrong. As the water left the ship, it froze into crystals which attached itself to the spacesuits, and now looks like Stardust. It is not contagious. You can call off the Centers for Disease Control. You can tell my wife to go home I want to get laid. You can tell her that in so many words. I want to hear you say it."

"Yes sir."

"Mrs. Schiff, I have a message from your husband. He wants you to go home immediately, he wants to get laid. What happened outside today was an accidental urine dump caused by his students. It is no cause for alarm and is not contagious. Everyone is cleared back into the ship. That is all."

Laura yelled, "Adam, I love you, and I am horny."

Adam told Danny to tell his wife to move it, because he was horny too.

"Mrs. Schiff, I am horny too. I mean your husband is horny too."

"Thank you, Danny, tell my husband to put on coffee. I'll be there in eight minutes."

Adam said, "Eight minutes, oh shit, I need a shower."

*******************************

As they were changing in the white room, Gordon said, "Last chance Hannah, tell me the story, or you will live to regret it."

"I can't do it Gordon. If Zoey accidentally hears it, I will have to kill her, you, and your progeny to keep safe."

"You do know your husband had a big mouth, don't you?"

"Jack didn't tell anyone that story. He swore to me he didn't."

"All I'll say to you is this Hannah as you kneel in prayer with Teddy, 'One bristly mustache, for one hedgehog."

Hannah screamed. "Jack get back here. I want to kill you with my bare hands."

"Relax Hannah, it will stay with me, I swear by my children. Also, you don't need stainless steel to make cotton candy. Any highly lubricated metal will do. The trick is getting the sugar. As you know we didn't pack a lot of sugar. We have been using a local variant of it. I have no idea what to call it, but it is extremely sweet, and the kids love it. All we did was follow the local flying insects to the most succulent flowers and from there into the fields to see what crops were growing to support the local animals. You have seen the size of the cows, horses and carnivores, they don't look scrawny to me. The food source starts from the bottom and works its way up. Judging by the size of those six legged 'ligers', I would say this planet has a very healthy population of animals. Given 200 years, I'm sure mankind could destroy the entire ecosystem."

"Gordon Luck, from one moment to the next, I don't know whether to hate you, to admire you, or to kill you. You are definitely your father's son, because I felt the same way about him when I was trying to help him heal."

"No one makes me cry, and that was as close as anyone has ever gotten me to cry since my father died. Thank you, Hannah, if you do that again, I'll spank you like I spank my sister."

"Forewarned is forearmed, Mr. Luck."

"Would you like some cotton candy? It's not fresh, but it still cotton-candy."

"Lead the way, and you better not be yanking my chain."

"You heard Teddy say I've been making cotton candy for a long time. You know that child never lies."

"Who do you think is going to get her?"

"Whoever rides Blackie first."

"You mean he could be an idiot that knows how to ride, and he gets the 'God's Little Treasure?"

"That's my best guess. No boy approaches her, either because she so smart, or because she so religious. They are afraid to touch her hand, because they think they're being too forward. They see the way she interacts with adults. Many of us are in awe of her, and rightly so. What can any of us say about a child, who rightly or wrongly, believes she is having a first-person conversation with God? In the 1920'S, 1930'S, and 1940'S, children like her were sent to special schools, convents, where they were cloistered away by religious authorities and used for their own benefit. If we were on earth now, if news of her got out, they would try the same thing. Even's money would've put a halt to that in a hurry, but it would have been a fight to keep her away from them, and give her a normal life. She must be allowed to choose for herself, and Delicious has led the right type of childhood to allow her to do it. Her father was abusive to her mother and a philanderer. Her mother lived her life for her daughter, and smothered her with affection. Everything was for daughter.

Delicious having lived through that dichotomy will just sit back and wait for Teddy to come to her to ask advice and not smother her with it. She will be a perfect mother for Teddy, I just know it."

"You know it, Gordon? Or do you hope it for your niece?"

"Either way, Hannah, I will be there for her if she needs me."

"Now I'm sure I don't like you Gordon, because that was the perfect answer. That would have been your father's answer."

"Just for that, your cotton candy ration just got cut in half."

"I still haven't seen any."

"One moment."

Knock, knock, knock. "Baby, I'm back, and I have Doctor Hannah Daniels with me. Is that okay?"

"I was getting laid by a group of 16-year-olds, because I missed you so, but I guess it's okay, you both can come in, I'll throw them out the window."

"You two deserve each other."

Zoey came in the room smiling. "Thank you, Hannah, that was a nice thing to say about us."

"My God, Zoey, sit down before you deliver on the floor."

"He's not due until the end of next week, doc. He hasn't been active at all today."

"Gordon, get me my cotton candy. Infirmary, this is Doctor Daniels, get a gurney up to Zoey Luck's room, now. She's as big as a house, and the baby is low and inactive. He may have the cord wrapped around his neck. All hands-on deck for a sonogram, and emergency C-section if necessary."

"Here's your cotton candy, Hannah."

"Blue, cotton candy is pink."

"Cotton candy is white, until you add whatever color you want to it. Deliver my son healthy, and I'll make it whatever color you want."

"I want it orange, just like a Florida orange."

"Deal."

"This is good, Gordon. I never would have believed you could make cotton candy on Atwater Luck. I think I love you."

"Have you two forgotten about me. He's my husband, and you can't love him more than I do. I'm the one having his baby."

"Yes, you are dear. Would you like some cotton candy?"

"Okay."

"Don't you dare give her cotton candy. If I have to anesthetize her it could block her airway."

"It's okay dear, I'll eat yours for you."

"Thanks a bunch."

As soon the gurney arrived Gordon lifted Zoey up as if she were a feather, and lay her on it.

"When you come back dear, I'll have the apartment all cleaned."

"Aren't you coming with me?"

"Of course, I'm coming with you. However, by the time you come back, this apartment will be as bright and shiny as a new penny."

"Thank you dear, bye."

Hannah said, "You two could be considered nauseating, but your love is amazing."

"Who else could put a 44 Magnum to your head pull the trigger and miss from 3 feet away and still love me that much Doctor?"

"That day will remain in my head forever. I don't know how she missed you, I don't know how you forgave her, but your love for each other is beyond anything I have ever witnessed."

"I have prayed for many hours with Teddy to get this far, Doctor, and I have many hours to go. Zoey had a fractured childhood and I had one filled with love. We are catching up with one another now."

"If you don't mind, Gordon, I think I'll go downstairs, join your wife, and see what's going on."

"If you don't mind my good doctor, so will I, but I will get their first."

Before Hannah could say another word, Gordon was gone and she was left standing outside his apartment. She shook her head, walked towards the elevator, and while waiting for it she heard her name paged: Doctor Daniels to the infirmary stat. Doctor Daniels to the infirmary stat."

The elevator door opened and Gordon pulled her in.

"Will you hurry up my son wants to get born!"

She laughed. "Gordon, you are impossible."

"Yes, Hannah, that plus a whole lot more."

78. A Message from Space

The six astronauts onboard the International Space Station were performing their normal duties inside and outside the station, when a general alarm sounded. The commander of the station ordered everyone back inside immediately, until the source of the alarm could be located.

Amelia Frazier located the source of the alarm in seconds and told everyone to stand down. They were receiving a message from deep space and that could mean only from one place: Atwater Luck.

She asked Tim to change the position of all the antennas, except one downlink towards Houston, so they could receive the entire message. After the message was stored on the space station's computers, they would ask Houston where and how they wanted it transmitted.

There was only one problem with her thinking. The space station is only 230 miles above Earth, and their largest antenna is a little longer than 7 feet. The receiving station at Arecibo, Puerto Rico is 1000 feet across, and is the largest listening station we have on this planet. (A few statistics about Arecibo numbs the mind. It is perfectly round, and made up of 40,000 aluminum sheets, 3' x 6' at the rim. It took over 6000 laborers and nine years to complete, and miraculously when they threw the switch for the very first time, it worked.)

Less than 1 second after the men and women inside the International Space Station made the decision to withhold transmitting what they knew, the earth continued to rotate and the largest antenna arrays in Spain, the Canary Islands, Brazil, Puerto Rico, New Mexico, and Atacama, Chile began receiving the signal. Within ½ hour, news of the signal coming from Atwater Luck was being spread all over the world.

In Charleston, South Carolina news of the signal was especially important, because part of it was coded for them. Holden and Richard began deciphering their portion of the message to see what was happening on the other world. The first thing they read gave them confirmation that their father, Even Luck, was dead, but his essence was living inside Callie, the computer. They could talk to him anytime they wanted, and he could annoy them any time he wanted to.

Next, they were told they had two years, from Christmas day, to get to Atwater Luck if they wanted to join them. Otherwise, they would leave them a note telling them where their next destination was. Delicious Thyme had invented a new engine and they were in the beginning stages of designing its parameters. If it works as she expects it will, we will proceed from a point in our universe, called 'the Null', to the other end of our universe, which she calls 'The Thyme.' It is a very interesting theory, and I believe my mommy is right.

As we come up on our 13^th year away from planet Earth, and our sixth year here, on Atwater luck, I believe it is time to give you an update on the status of our crew. We started our adventure with 66 men, women, and children. By the time this message gets to you, we will have reached a total complement of 97.

Six female members of our crew, between the ages of 18 and 25, chose to intermarry, and join with six Nasralvhrnecian men, and travel with them back to their home planet. The Nasralvhrnecian marriage contract is hard to explain, so I won't try to do it here. It is, however, very liberal for both the man, and the woman.

One Nasralvhrnecian man has stayed with us, married, and impregnated, Captain Jennifer Luck. The baby is due January 1, by our calendar. All of us can't wait to see what the child looks like.

********************

Richard screamed, "Holy crap, mom's pregnant again. We must get this show of ours on the road. Two more weeks, I don't want any more delays. If the people aren't here, we leave them behind. Rod, put that notice out on all news, radio, and public access sources, if they are not here on time, they're going to be left behind."

"Richard, the contract gives them a '72 hour' window."

"Have them sue us. By the time it runs through the courts, we will be ½ billion miles out into space."

"They will sue the Corporation."

"Holden and my corporations cease to exist the moment the ship leaves the ground. Remember you didn't understand why I put that clause into the contract."

"What am I supposed to do with the money?"

"I never thought I would hear that question come out of your mouth. An attorney that does not know what to do with money. Who has taken care of me legally, since my dad and mom left this planet?"

"Rosalynn."

"Rosalynn has been wonderful to us, and so have you, Rod. I don't know if you want to start working again, or not, but that's your choice. Rosalynn is a multi-billionaire many times over. She doesn't have to wait seven and ½ years for the remainder of our money to be transferred over to her. Holden and I hired an attorney to perform that task."