Journey to Year 1,000,000,000 Ch. 02

That remark stuck in Elizabeth's mind and shaped her career. She ignored the siren call of the boys, and later the men, and focused like a laser beam on her career, getting first a master's and then a Ph.D. in exobiology. And then she joined the Survey Service. She was surrounded by men, but she ignored their advances. Perhaps she would have been more open to them if it hadn't been for Henry.

Henry was a fellow student in her Ph.D. program. He had kind eyes. He took her out to dinner, and romanced her. Unlike other men, who were looking for quick sex on the first date, Henry moved slowly. It was three dates before he kissed her. Five dates before he touched her titties. When the time came for dinner at his apartment, on the seventh date, Elizabeth felt she was ready.

Elizabeth eagerly spread her legs for him. She didn't find the first time enjoyable; in fact, she was embarrassed when Henry pierced her hymen, getting blood on his member, driving home the fact that he was having sex with a 28 year old virgin. But he completed the act, saying nothing, and kissing her tenderly.

And that was the last time Henry ever spoke to her again. He avoided her entirely for the rest of the semester, and even transferred to another program. Elizabeth had no idea what had gone wrong, except that there must have been something deficient about her.

And that was the only man she ever been with. In her 30's, she kept her brown hair up in a bun, and never smiled at men. They all thought she was a lesbian, and never asked her out. None of them... except Vincent. But after Vincent asked her out, and she agreed, hesitantly, to go on a date with him, he canceled. With no explanation.

And so Elizabeth buckled down and focused on the science. But great discoveries seem to elude her. They always seemed to be made by other scientists. Usually, men.

She had applied to be on the science ship Aurora, which was lost in the Black Box, and turned down. The Judicator hadn't carried a science team, but the Exeter did, and she had also applied for that, and was turned down; and then, finally, when the Devonshire's turn came, she was accepted, but only after no one else really wanted the position.

Elizabeth had reached a point where she had nothing else to live for, except science, and so she treaded where others feared to follow, and she took the post as lead scientist for the team. But she had to work under the command of that notorious playboy, Michael Taylor, whose blotted record somehow earned him this assignment. Elizabeth didn't think he was the right man for the job, and yet, when she looked at him... there was something about his wavy brown hair, about his green eyes, and his rough smile... it could almost be endearing. Almost.

********

Vincent Roman, the staff exoanthropologist, also had his own reasons for being on the Devonshire; he just wasn't sure what they were. All scientists from the Scientific Branch were volunteers, unlike the regular crew. When Vincent heard the opportunity came up to be on the mission, the first thing he saw was Elizabeth's name, on the top of the roster.

If Elizabeth Shaw was almost a virgin, then Vincent Roman was an actual one, at the age of 32. Vincent was socially awkward around women. He found himself staring at their breasts. Staring at their breasts made him feel socially awkward. It was a circular problem.

He had worked with Doctor Elizabeth Shaw for six months in the Geneva research labs of the Survey Service before he worked up the courage to ask her out on a date. She hadn't smiled at him, not exactly, but he got the sense that she enjoyed his company, and they sometimes had lunch together. When he asked her out, Elizabeth looked shocked, but then said, after a pause, "All right. Sure. Why not?"

That drove Vincent into a panic. He had never considered it going this far. Usually women turned him down with an excuse that they were busy, or needed to wash their hair for days on end.

Vincent spent a day and a night worrying about it. He knew he wasn't up to it. The thought of being alone with Elizabeth made him so nervous that it gave him panic attacks. So a day later, he cancelled, saying he was busy and would have to reschedule. He didn't think Elizabeth would believe it if he said he had to wash his hair, since his hair was short and obviously quickly washable.

Elizabeth nodded and accepted it, and things returned to the way they were, except they no longer had lunch together, which Vincent missed. He still found himself staring at her breasts at awkward times and looking away when he got noticed.

When he saw that Elizabeth was leading the science team for this mission, Vincent signed up without thinking. He wasn't sure if it was because of the mission, or Elizabeth, or... yes, it was probably because of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth didn't seem happy to have him on her team, but didn't seem unhappy either; she treated him neutrally, coolly, like a writing stylus or an implement. And that was where things stood between them when Vincent boarded the Devonshire.

********

When Taylor awoke the next morning, he checked in with the bridge. There was no change. They were still in the time tunnel, if indeed it was a time tunnel. Admiral Von Windhoek's theory that they were traveling in time was just that, a theory. In reality they could be traveling through space, rather than time, or perhaps...

Or perhaps they not traveling at all. The black tunnel they were in gave the illusion of motion, but what if they weren't traveling at all? What if they were simply caught in a spatial phenomenon that went nowhere?

But then Taylor remembered the Exeter. It had come back from somewhere, and there were only the bodies of eight crewmembers on it. The rest of the crew had disembarked, or been taken off the ship. They must have gotten off somewhere.

He went to the cafeteria and got some breakfast. As he looked for a place to sit, he saw Victor smiling and waving him over. "Over here, Michael," said Victor.

Michael. No one on this ship was permitted to call him that; except perhaps Jennifer, when they were in private together. And yet here was Victor Bergman, yelling "Michael" at the top of his lungs.

But he was such a friendly man. If any other man had said his first name, it would have come out mockingly, as an attempt to embarrass him; but Taylor instinctively felt that Victor was just being outgoing, and somehow it didn't bother him in the least.

He came over to Victor's table and almost stopped in his tracks.

Victor was sitting next to Elizabeth Shaw and some of the other scientists.

"Come, sit down, join us," said Victor, making space for him.

Taylor, feeling self conscious, sat down. "Thank you. Good morning, Doctor Shaw."

"Lieutenant Commander," she said stiffly. Once again, she refused to call him Captain. She emphasized his rank, which was technically junior to hers.

Taylor felt his phony smile wilt.

"We were just talking about the situation, Michael," said Victor. "Has there been any change?"

"I just checked with the bridge when I got up. We're still in this time tunnel, if it really is a time tunnel."

"I was just debating that with Elizabeth," said Victor. "Do you know, I think the Survey Service may have gotten it wrong about this being a time corridor."

"The Survey Service doesn't make mistakes," said Taylor.

"The Survey Service makes mistakes all the time," said Elizabeth, staring at him pointedly.

Taylor frowned.

Victor pretended not to notice. "I had a look at that image of the sun, pulled from the scrambled logs of the Exeter. The one purporting to show a sun 200,000 years in our future."

"What about it?" said Taylor, starting to eat his eggs.

"It was heavily enhanced. I saw the original image. It was badly scrambled. There's no way to be sure that that image reliably showed a sun from the future. It was too badly garbled."

"But it was an image of our sun," said Taylor, chewing on a piece of toast.

"Apparently," said Victor. "The amazing thing about space is how little we truly know about it. We've explored less than two percent of our galaxy, and our galaxy is one of... what, millions? Billions?"

"The universe is infinite, some people think," said Elizabeth.

"Exactly," said Victor. "We can't be sure where or when we're going."

"And what about the melted bodies from the Exeter?" said Taylor. "Do you think it could be a delayed reaction to travel inside this phenomenon?"

"Well, we haven't started melting yet, have we?" Victor grinned. "No, I think the crew went somewhere, and encountered something that changed them. A spatial phenomenon distinct and separate from the Black Box, perhaps."

"Or perhaps aliens, who experimented on them," said Bill Carey. He and Jennifer Hale sat down in empty spaces vacated by departing scientists who had finished eating.

"That's why we've got plasma cannons and megajoulers," said Taylor.

"The other ships had them as well, and it didn't seem to do them a whole lot of good," said Carey. "Captain, I would recommend battle drills for each of the three watches."

Captain.

"Agreed. See to it." It seemed sensible enough.

"Let's hope if we do meet aliens, that they are in the mood to talk first," said Victor.

"And let's hope we're in the right frame of mind to talk to them," said Carey.

"What does that mean?" Taylor asked sharply.

"Well, Captain...." His voice trailed off.

"Out with it, Mister," said Taylor.

Carey lowered his fork. "Sir, I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it. Your experience on PR-52981 has some of the crew... concerned."

"Some of the crew?" said Jennifer Hale sharply. "Or you?"

"Sir, you landed in an alien culture, and by the time you had left, the entire planet was at war with itself, and you murdered thousands of-"

Jennifer dropped her fork with a clatter. "That's out of line, Mister! Captain Taylor saved thousands of lives, and if you don't realize that-"

"Jennifer!" said Taylor sharply. "Thank you, but I can defend myself." He turned to Carey. "Mr. Carey, you carry the permanent rank of Lieutenant Commander."

"Yes sir," said Carey.

"And your former Captain, Emil Gorsky, carried the rank of full Commander, did he not?"

"Yes sir," said Carey.

"And yet, neither you nor he is in command here. I am," said Taylor. "Why do you think that is?"

Carey gulped. "The... The Survey Service thought-"

"Yes, the Survey Service thought. And they probably think a lot better than you do. We sent three ships into the Black Box, three ships led by Captains with stellar records. Conventional thinkers all. None of them returned. The Survey Service decided something different was required. Whatever you may think of my service record, I'm a survivor. Whether you like me or deride me, the time may come when you're grateful for it."

Carey bit his lip. He lowered his tone. "Sir, I never meant to demean you-"

"I know what you meant," Taylor said sharply. "But I think there are a few things we can agree on. One of them is that we are going to have to work together, cohesively, as a team, if we are going to have any chance of carrying out our mission. Are we agreed, Lieutenant?"

"Yes sir," said Carey.

"Doctor Shaw?"

"Of course, Captain," she said. And she meant it.

Something remarkable had just happened in Elizabeth's eyes. Bill Carey had shrunk and Taylor had grown taller. Not just taller, but braver, bolder. Even more manly. It excited her, in a way she wanted to deny. She turned her head away, worried that she might betray an expression.

Jennifer Hale raised an approving thumb. "Best breakfast ever!" she said, half-mockingly.