STOWAWAY TO THE STARS

Larry brought his attention back to the present with a start. The memories of those dreadful events were traumatic, but thinking over them again had a cathartic effect. He wiped his eyes.

Karen leaned over and squeezed his hand. “That must have been a truly awful experience.”

He covered her hand with his for a moment. “Do you know, this is the first time I’ve ever properly explained to anyone what happened? I feel a lot better, having had the chance to tell someone about it. You’re a good listener, Karen.”

“I cannot understand why they did not believe you. No one would make up a story like that. It was quite obvious that something underhand was going on.”

“A lot of politics were involved to persuade the Council to have me extradited. The Ziloni were clearly desperate to cover things up. Even more desperate than I realized at the time.”

“Well, maybe now we will be able to get revenge for you.” Karen’s eyes were on fire again, like the time he had fought with her. The use of the word “we” was encouraging. She clearly intended to be more than a passive observer. But then, she had already shown that in the way she helped with the missiles earlier.

“Possibly, but that would just be a bonus. The main purpose of this mission is to get evidence to clear my name. I also hope to put an end to whatever the Ziloni are up to, which must be something big because they’ve made a huge effort to stop me. Imagine the resources they’ve used to put watchers on all the planets I’ve visited in recent years.” He sighed. “The odds are, all I shall do is get us both killed.”

“That is all in the future. In the meantime, why don’t you show me how all these controls and instruments work. Then if you think I could manage it, I could give you a break. It must be tiring, straining to see any obstacles all the time.”

“That would be nice, but this ship is rather more complex to handle than a car.”

“Larry, I’m not trying to do aerobatics, just keep it going in a straight line.”

She was right, and in fact Terran cars were themselves quite complicated compared with cars back home. “I guess the basics aren’t that difficult.” He neutralized the thrust and eased out of the pilot’s seat. “Sit here and I’ll show you how it works.”

Once she had settled in, he leaned across to show her the controls. For a moment he was acutely aware of her musky scent and her warm breath on his neck. Not now. This is not the time or place, concentrate on the job in hand.

“The most important control is this thrust stick. It’s gentle at first, but gets progressively more powerful as you push further forward. Pull back to slow down, though in this water just releasing the forward pressure is enough. That’s the trim. It’s a bit like a cruise control, so you don’t have to keep pushing all the time.

“Your right hand goes on this joystick. It’s a three-axis control, but all you need to do is push slightly to go down if we seem to be getting shallower. Pull back if it gets too dark, which means we are too deep.”

“What about if I need to turn to steer round something. Do I move it left or right?”

“No, that will make us roll. Twist it, but very gently while we’re under water or you’ll rip off the rudder.”

She set off, gingerly at first. He’d feel much more comfortable if only he had dual controls. But she seemed to get the feel of them. Before long she had the speed back up to a hundred and thirty kilometers an hour.

When Larry took another turn at the controls, Karen stood up, stretched, and moved toward the back of the ship. “Is it okay if I have a look around?”

“Of course.” He took a quick look over his shoulder. “Those lockers on your left have IEP equipment. The table and bench are fixed in position. That big chest is the stasis unit, it’s got much the same provisions as I had on Hideaway. And of course, behind the partition is the toilet and shower cubicle.”

“It reminds me of a yacht I spent a weekend on, though it is more spacious. These two bunks look more comfortable than I had there. We had to re-arrange the table and seats to sleep on, and there was no shower.”

Karen was speaking Universal well now, and he loved the precise way she spoke the words.

She looked into the stasis unit. “Are you hungry? I could make us something to eat.”

“Mmm, that would be nice.”

Karen prepared sandwiches for them both, and they took it in turns to steer and eat.

After they had eaten, Karen took another turn at the controls while Larry brewed yaquord. As Karen steered, she looked over her shoulder to where he was working.

“Larry, it has just occurred to me. You said that on Trajia you had your ship in a parking orbit out in space, but on Earth your ship was hidden in a barn. Why was that?”

“Actually, I did put it back in a parking orbit when I first landed. But I frequently flew off on reconnaissance trips. It was a nuisance having to wait each time for it to pass overhead before I could bring it down. That’s why I bought that old barn out in the hills and hid it there, protected by a strong aversion field.”

“Hmm, and let me guess, somewhere nearby there is another remote control hidden away.” Larry had told her of his secret fear of having his remote control lost or stolen and being stranded on a primitive planet, and his consequent habit of always hiding a spare remote control near his landing site.

He grinned and nodded. She’s smart as well as beautiful and sassy. If I had to get stuck with a passenger, I could have done much worse.

****

When the light started to fade, Larry found a shallow area of ocean and settled the ship onto the ocean floor, where they stopped for the night. After they had eaten a good evening meal they retired to the bunks at the rear. Larry stripped to his underpants and climbed into the upper bunk, leaving Karen what little privacy there was in the bunk below.

He lay there wide-awake for a while, thinking about the mission to come, encumbered with his stowaway. He was beginning to get a good feeling about the capabilities of the attractive Earthgirl. She had bounced back from the traumatic shock of discovering she had stowed away with an alien on a spaceship. On the stressful roller-coaster ride down to Zilon, she had kept her nerve when the missiles were coming and launched their interceptors confidently.

Why had he been so set against her coming? It meant he was responsible for another person’s life as well as his own. But it wasn’t like his responsibility for Annek – Karen had insisted on coming against his advice, knowing the dangers. It was not her lack of fighting experience – if he got into a major fight he wouldn’t stand a chance, either with her or alone. At the beginning, he had been worried that she might go to pieces, but the signs now were that she wouldn’t. At least her presence might not be the disaster he had feared. She was good company, and he was enjoying being with her more than he would have expected.

****

When Larry climbed into his bunk, Karen stood for a few moments, unsure how to handle the situation. She shrugged, took off the clothes Larry had lent her and tucked herself into the lower bunk. As she lay in the dark she was struck by the incongruity of her position, sleeping under the ocean in a spaceship on an alien planet, in the next bunk to a man she had only met two – or was it three? – days ago.

And not only a man, but an alien space explorer, on the run and on a probably fatal mission. On the plus side, he was gorgeous and had an attractive, cavalier manner. But with his mind on other things, and the fact that she was from a non-Union world, there was no hope of him taking a more personal interest in her. She wouldn’t mind if he did, though. The thought made her smile. In any case, she could do nothing about it, so she put it out of her thoughts, curled up and went to sleep.

****

The next morning, Karen prepared breakfast while Larry got the ship under way again and took the first turn at steering. After they had both eaten, Karen tidied up, then came back to sit in the passenger seat. She stared out at the murky water, a strange environment for an interstellar spaceship. What must it be like to use the ship for its proper purpose?

She turned to Larry. “So what is it like to be an IEP explorer?” she asked.

“Well, for me it’s the ideal job. I get to see lots of new planets and mix with primitive people. I have to be ready for trouble, think quickly when it occurs. Yet it’s not all that dangerous. I know that if all else fails, I have some advanced technology that will help get me out of trouble.”

“It sounds like an exciting job. Tell me more about it.”

He recounted a series of stories of incidents that had occurred, including the odd fight, and she listened in fascination. She could sit here forever listening to these tales, dreaming what it must be like to be an IEP explorer.

“Do you get involved in many fights?” she asked.

“Only when it’s unavoidable, that’s why they tend to stick in the memory. I have also twice been involved in duels. The first one was no problem, I had the choice of weapons, since as you might guess I hadn’t initiated the duel, so I said I’d fight with bare hands. The guy said that was ridiculous, he wanted a fight to the death. I said that was okay, I could kill him with my bare hands. After that he went off the idea. The other one was trickier, because somehow I got maneuvered into a duel with single-shot pistols.”

“So what did you do?”

Larry laughed. “I cheated and used a stun gun on him. They fire tiny needles of soluble tranquillizer that will penetrate several layers of clothing. No matter where they hit, they knock you out for an hour or more. We have arm-mounted stun guns that are easily concealed. You fire them by twisting and flexing the wrist. I had one on my right arm, and pretended to be left handed. It was the usual sort of duel, ten paces, turn and fire when ready. So I spun round fast and fired my pistol way over his head, putting my right hand under the pistol as if to brace it. But I was really aiming the stun gun and I shot him with that. He was taking his time to shoot, thinking he had me cold.

“Well of course, he went down with not a mark on him and still alive and breathing. So to his seconds, I accused the man of fainting out of cowardice, and walked away in contempt.”

“Suppose you had been caught out cheating?”

“Actually, even if they had found the gun they’d have had no idea what it was. I’d have passed it off as an arm brace. I did get caught out a few times though. I remember one was a woman who fancied me for some unaccountable reason.”

Karen knew exactly why the woman fancied him. She arched her eyebrows at Larry and he laughed.

“Oh, all right, but I swear I did nothing to encourage her. Anyway, she lay in wait for me, hidden in my bed, which she somehow managed to get into without setting off any aversion fields. When I returned I didn’t get straight into bed, but started working on my data processing unit, which she saw when she looked to see what I was doing. I got away with it by pretending I was a government special agent with secret technology no one must know about. I told her that if she ever breathed a word to anyone, I’d have to track her down and shoot her.

“So you see, Karen, you’re not the first primitive who has caught me out.”

“I see.” She frowned. He was always using that word primitive, but she hadn’t associated it with herself up to now. “I’m not sure I like being referred to as a primitive, though.”

Larry pulled at his ear and looked embarrassed. “My apologies. It’s the nearest translation the language translator can find for the Universal word. It’s just the standard terminology for any civilization that hasn’t been invited to join the Union. It isn’t intended to be derogatory, just a convenient distinction.”

She flicked her hair back. “It’s fine, it just sounded odd. I suppose I tend to think we are pretty advanced, but it’s all relative, isn’t it. Hmm, come to think of it, this rule of yours that you cannot reveal your existence to primitive cultures sounds a lot like the Prime Directive in Star Trek.”

“Sorry, I’ve never heard of that. I assume that Star Trek is some sort of story?”

“It was a long-running TV show. I have never watched it, but someone I work with likes to bore everyone with all the details.”

“So what is the Prime Directive?”

“I do not remember the details, but it was their most fundamental rule when mixing with other civilizations, that no matter what happened they must not reveal themselves or interfere.”

“In that case, it’s more strict than our rule. Ours is purely pragmatic. We have found from bitter experience that revealing ourselves or getting involved is likely to do more harm than good. But it’s by no means absolute. If there is ever a situation where we are certain interference will be beneficial, we can do it. And of course, if we see someone being murdered, or something of that sort, we step in if we can do it without jeopardizing our mission.”

He broke off as another obstacle loomed up in front of them. It turned out to be nothing worse than a huge school of fish, and he coasted along until they were through.

Once they had picked up speed again, he said, “I seem to be doing all the talking. I’m sure this can’t be interesting to you.”

“Oh, but it is. It all sounds fascinating. I can see why you enjoy your work so much.”

“Yes, I love it. There are boring times, of course. It can often be uncomfortable living in primitive conditions, and I do mean really primitive. Not like Earth, which is much more civilized than most places I visit. But it’s so interesting to see all the cultures and it’s like going back in time. You see people in the different stages of development; from living in caves, to castles in medieval cultures, right up to planets like Trajia and Earth that have quite advanced technology.”

“It sounds great to me,” said Karen. “I would love to do something like that instead of my boring job.”

“You should definitely try and find a more exciting job. From what you say, you have no ties at present, so now is the time to do it. There must be something on Earth that would fit the bill.”

“Hmm, maybe I will. There is one small snag right now. We have to get through this trip first, and it looks as if it will give me more excitement, if that is the right word, than I might ever want.”

After this they were both silent for a while. Karen mulled over what lay ahead, and she suspected Larry was too, from his somber demeanor.

What was going through his mind? Did he regret the way she’d persuaded him to bring her along? Not that she cared too much. She had come to terms with the likelihood that they wouldn’t make it out of the mission alive. She’d always tended to live for the moment and that served her well now, helping her to cope with her predicament.

But she knew the real action would start the next day. The reality was beginning to sink in that the next morning they were going into the abyss and they would probably not come out alive.

Late that afternoon they reached the far coast. A large spur of land gave a good fix on their location. They turned north, tracking up the coast, slowly now because they dare not leave their tell-tale trail of turbulence close to shore. Another half-hour brought them to the estuary Larry was looking for. Here he stopped on the ocean floor again, to wait out the coming night.

They had a somber evening meal. It didn’t help that the light outside, that had always been dimmed by their depth, was fading fast. The result was that the cabin was bathed in a gloomy green half-light, but Larry said he didn’t want to use the cabin lights so close to the coast.

Karen made one or two half-hearted attempts to make conversation, but Larry barely responded. He seemed to be lost in thought. After they had cleared up the remains from the meal, the light was almost gone. Larry switched on the cabin lights just enough to allow them to retire to the rather intimately positioned bunks for the night.

Karen lay awake, her mind churning around what might happen tomorrow. She could hear Larry in the upper bunk. His breathing became slow and regular as he drifted off to sleep. She felt very alone despite him being there, and sleep would not come. Eventually she could stand it no longer. She swallowed her pride, slipped out from under the covers and stood up. In the dimmed cabin light she could just make out Larry’s form. She took a deep breath and nudged his shoulder.

He stirred, and sat up. She whispered to him, “Larry, I know we will probably die tomorrow and it’s hitting me now. I really do not want to sleep alone tonight. Could I possibly sleep with you in your bunk?”

“Of course you can. I understand, and I am so sorry that I’ve dragged you into this. Here, climb up, I could use some company as well.”

He eased over in the bunk and she slid in beside him.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

She snuggled up to him and he held her tightly for a few moments. Then he bent forward to kiss her on the cheek, but as he did so she turned her head and instead his lips met hers. Suddenly they were kissing urgently, tongues entwined and bodies locked together.

She moved one of her arms round behind her and the next moment her bra was loose. Larry slid his hand underneath it and caressed her firm, smooth breasts and her nipples. She felt them crinkle and harden under his fingers. He moved down and kissed her body, starting low on her flat stomach and working slowly upward across her ribs, until he was kissing her between her breasts and over their soft, rounded swell.

His hand ran up her legs between her thighs, sliding down her panties and exploring between her legs in a way that sent shivers down her back. She responded boldly by slipping off his underpants, and ran her hands over his penis, feeling a tremble of anticipation at how hard it was. His tongue licked and kissed her nipples, that were harder than she had ever known before. She moaned and arched her back with pleasure.

Soon he said, “Are you still okay with this?”

“Oh yes, yes please.”

He rolled on top of her, and she gave a little gasp as he penetrated her. He was no longer gentle now, but thrusting strongly deep inside her.

His chest pressed against her breasts, rubbing up and down against them with his movements. Lower down she felt a warm glow between her legs. At first it was a smoldering tingle, that gradually burned more brightly. Her legs were wrapped around his thighs, squeezing him tightly. The fire grew stronger still until it was a blaze that she thought would engulf her. Just when she thought that she might faint from the intensity of it, it ended with an explosive release that left them both gasping and panting.

Afterward he lay beside her and held her naked body against him. They fell asleep together in the cramped confines of the narrow bunk, their bodies still entwined.