Kidnapped (7 page)

*****

Travis realized the enemy he'd been hunting for so long was now following them instead of the other way around, but he neither mentioned it nor gave it much thought. He was responding to a burning inner need, giving Patricia an overview of how the computer worked, and of how to fly. She didn't seem interested, was hardly even listening, but he was relentless.

It seemed logical to him. If something happened to him, she'd stand a better chance if she at least had an idea of how to operate a ship, and even though it was a lot to take in for someone from her planet, they had time. For now. He couldn't understand how she could seem so bored with it.

Normally, a voice inside him would have been sounding alarms, saying that teaching a prisoner about Alliance technology was the worst idea of his life and would surely end with disaster, but the voice wasn't there anymore, and he didn't miss it one bit. His commander's voice had disappeared too, and those were memories he could happily do without. Instead, he felt urgency. Every hour brought them closer to being called back to Central, and he would have to think of somewhere to hide her before that happened. Thinking back, he had probably been brooding over that problem for a long time. He just hadn't been able to confess it to himself.

*****

It had been a long day that moved quickly into night, and Patricia was exhausted. She still didn't want to return to her depressing little room. After their frugal evening meal, she curled up in his lap on the bridge, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head against him, wondering how she could have been so afraid of him when they first met.

She was trying not to see the world through rose colored glasses, but being held and cared for felt so good. He was sure making an effort, and someone who had been through so much deserved to be loved, didn't he?

Travis moved a little, and she realized he was trying to reach a control without disturbing her. "I'm in your way."

He smiled and rested his head lightly against hers. "Yes, but I wouldn't worry about it."

Meanwhile, the computer had decided their twenty-five-hour day had come to its end. It was dimming the lights, and she asked shyly, "Can I stay with you tonight?"

He answered quietly, "Yes," and remembered a moment too late to add, "Dear." It sounded a little funny, and she smiled.

The day was taking its toll and she was drifting off to sleep. When Travis spoke, his voice seemed to come from the other side of the world, and his words didn't make any sense to her. "This is so strange."

Lifting her head, she watched him through her lashes, and when he didn't offer an explanation, she had to ask, "What?"

"Being close to another person, voluntarily. Without violence."

Her eyes popped completely open and she thought this was definitely more interesting than sleeping. "Don't tell me you've never..."

The computer rarely made itself heard, but now the metallic voice echoed between them. "Physical punishment is highly held as a form of control and a display of strength. I would have recommended..."

Travis and Patricia spoke simultaneously. She yelped, "Seriously?" and he said sternly, "Shut up and steer the ship."

She couldn't help herself; she hit his shoulder. "Never do that! Bad!"

He lifted an eyebrow, evidently surprised with her outburst, and she shuddered. All her earlier doubts were returning. This was crazy and could never work. Still, besides abducting her, he hadn't really done anything to her against her will, and she was much too tired to think much about it. Maybe, if she could just close her eyes now, she could think more clearly later, like tomorrow...

She woke a bit later from Travis carrying her down a corridor, into an extremely neat room a little larger than hers. He put her down on the bed and turned to leave, and she reached out for him, mumbling, "Wait, please don't go."

It surprised her that he returned, obediently, and stretched out next to her. Curling up with her head on his shoulder, she whispered, "I'm sorry I hit you. I shouldn't have done that."

So softly it may have been a dream, she heard him answer in an amused voice, "Don't worry about it, you don't hit very hard.

Chapter Eight

The next morning Patricia woke up before Travis, in the exact same position she fell asleep in, and she was surprised over how content she felt. She had been constantly worried since leaving her home planet behind, and now life seemed good, just like that. Travis woke too, as soon as she started moving, grunted something unintelligible and pulled her close, and she was all too happy to let him.

Later, when they finally got around to leaving the room, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led the way in a completely different direction from what she expected; into a lift. They seemed to go down forever and she wondered where they were going. Most of the ship had been off limits for her until now, and she couldn't even guess what the other levels might be like.

The sounds from the ship were louder there and he smiled wryly, explaining, "I've been keeping the most fascinating things secret from you. Down here you'll find all sorts of exciting equipment, like the engine room."

She blinked a couple of times, wondering what they were doing there. It might be prudent to be interested in things like engines and spaceship propulsion, but she doubted she'd be able to make heads or tails of it. She grumbled, "I didn't even know how my car worked."

Travis led the way down the corridor and stopped outside a big shiny door with an equally shiny pad next to it. He pressed the palm of his hand against the pad, and Patricia winced when she saw it prick his fingers, leaving little red drops of blood on the surface. They hung there like dark and eerie pearls for a moment, before the ship's cleaning system sucked them in. She didn't have time to say anything; the heavy door slid open and the computer's voice greeted them. "Welcome, Commander. I am pleased to inform you that you are still you, and you are alive."

When she didn't move, Travis put his gloved hand on her back and pushed her gently forward. "This is the mainframe. It's well able to do other things than just fly the ship, but the Alliance doesn't encourage it. This is the only access point not locked down."

Staring around the room, Patricia thought she had once again fallen down a hole or maybe walked through a mirror, and entered a new peculiar universe: the room was cosy. The computer was located in a huge enclosure in the middle of the room, reaching from floor to ceiling. It emitted a soft blue light, and not until now did she realize how dark all the other rooms on the ship were.

From the ceiling hung four terminals, equipped with large screens and comfortable chairs, and around the walls were pictures looking like nice modern art. She assumed they must be diagrams of the computer and ship, but she preferred to think about them as art. Smiling widely, she exclaimed, "I like it!"

Her lover laughed softly as he approached one of the terminals, and she wondered if he found her silly or just cute. She hoped for the latter.

The terminal came alive when he touched it and she gaped. There were images and letters on the screen, but somehow three dimensionally hovering in the air, too. Travis nodded to her to take a seat, and she hurried to obey, thinking this was getting interesting.

 "Okay, what do we need here..."

He was talking to himself, and she giggled when the computer answered cheekily, "That depends on what you want, Commander."

It might be a good thing the computer's personality was restricted to this room. It was easy to imagine an alone person in space getting entangled in long discussions with it that would slowly drive a human insane. Travis appeared to share her sentiment. He smirked and said, "And you wonder why I never come down here."

She could have sworn the computer was mocking him when it answered, "I do not wonder Commander, I know. You've told me many times that you do not appreciate company."

Travis shook his head and mumbled something to himself, and Patricia bit her lip trying not to laugh.

He ordered the machine to show pictures and descriptions of the one hundred most common dinners at space station 274. Up until now the computer had ignored her, and Patricia had assumed it didn't know she was there, but it asked, "Will you be buying the lady dinner, Commander?"

He plopped down in the chair next to hers. "If I say yes, will you keep it a secret?"

The computer answered good-naturedly, "Haven't I always?"

Patricia had forgotten both her comment about food and his peculiar answer, and she stared blankly at all the photos whooshing by her. Her lover said patiently, "I can't get you real food unless I know what it is. Touch the ones that look acceptable."

The idea of
looking
at food seemed bizarre, but the entire situation was crazy, and after a while she realized doing this was prudent. None of the names made sense to her at all, but paired with pictures and descriptions of foods it actually came together. Travis leaned back and stared into nothingness, and Patricia was so engulfed with her learning she hardly heard him ask the computer for their ETA.

*****

Later that afternoon, they reached the station and Patricia stared at the enormous building seemingly floating in space. "It's beautiful."

She was no less impressed with the docking with it. The way Travis managed to steer the ship that to her appeared to drift randomly was very... attractive. Trying to shake that mood off, she said helpfully, "I played space simulator once. That didn't go well."

Her lover sent her a puzzled glance, but didn't ask. He just got to his feet and waved to her to follow.

On the way down to the airlock, he explained, "If this is going to work, you'll have to boss me around. You're an... let's see... some form of expert I'm transporting, and you see me as a servant."

She groaned; she didn't see how that could possibly happen. He was authoritative and secure, and she was, well, lost. She didn't know the first thing about anything, and was generally dependent on him.

When he realized she'd stopped walking, he paused and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.  "Just act decisive, okay. Don't ask for things, command. It'll be fine." He laughed joylessly, "As you'll see, I'm not very popular. Most people will stay out of our way."

The more he talked, the more frightened she felt, and she knew if she'd lift one of her hands it would be shaking. "Travis, no... This isn't gonna work."

It seemed unfair that he could be so relaxed. She didn't want to cry, but she felt so helpless and afraid, and tears were welling up in her eyes. He put his ungloved hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze, and when he spoke again his voice was firm. "You will be fine. I won't let anything happen to you. People are too afraid of me to even look. Trust me, Patricia."

To her own surprise, she swallowed and nodded.

As soon as they entered the station she forgot to be sad and scared; there was too much to look at. She could never have imagined a place like it, and she wanted to spin around in wide-eyed amazement. Corridors were lined with shops with exotic signs, selling exotic things, and even though most people they met looked human there were aliens too, the first she had ever seen. She tried to follow Travis's advice, tried to appear unimpressed, but it was almost impossible.

It didn't take long for her to realize she would have been lost on her own. There wasn't anything to give her a sense of direction, and everything looked the same. There were so many things she wanted to know, like what everything was for, and what the aliens called themselves and where they came from, but she couldn't ask. She also noted that people tended to become very busy when they came close. Her lover had been right. Everyone stayed away.

Travis swerved off towards a little store. She had no idea of where they were going, but she followed and did her best to look confident. At the entrance to the little store he put his hand at the small of her back, as though he were trying to be polite, and it sent an expectant tingle all through her body. That little touch made her forget about being nervous. For the moment.

The inside of the store looked both foreign and well-known. It had a glass counter and shelves just like many stores on Earth, and it smelled like chocolate and pastries, but it still had an alien quality to it. She tried not to look too curious, but it was getting more difficult by the minute.

Once the couple had entered, all other customers began to sneak out. No one wanted to risk being close to the infamous Commander and whoever his company might be. The storeowner groaned loudly when he saw who had come through the door, and Patricia thought the sound made Travis look pleased with himself.

She looked at the counter in front of her. It was stacked with little piles of candies and pastries, and even though she didn't recognize a single one, she was sure she wanted to try some. Travis smiled at the owner, looking quite friendly actually, but the man winced and moaned, "Oh no, not you again. What is it this time? Are you going to confiscate my entire stock for the Supreme Commander?"