“When will the Customs officer begin?” Eric asked. His nap had lasted three hours and he was now wide awake. He’d been working on an ulcer all week and now, at the moment of truth, he felt inexplicably confident. But he would be glad when it was all over.
“Soon,” Sammy said, “very soon.”
“This suspense is great,” Cleo said, sitting beside Sammy. Eric couldn’t help noticing that her high-heeled feet tapped restlessly on the floor.
“How can you say that?” Jeanie asked. Her opants were a dirty purple, streaked with every imaginable colour. In other words, she was ready for a nervous breakdown. Strem hugged her, and she rested her head on his shoulder, sighing. “Why couldn’t we go to the moon like normal kids?”
“Leave it to me to show a girl an exciting time,” Strem said gamely.
“Don’t worry, Jeanie,” Cleo said. “My aunt is a fantastic lawyer. She can make it look in court as though it were all Strem’s fault.”
“Leave it to me to pick a loyal crew,” Strem said.
“Here it comes,” Sammy said.
Central Control’s symbol, two overlapping triangles with a dot in the center, appeared on the screen. Sammy typed in Excalibur’s code number, her destination, and expected return date. Eric knew this information was being cross-referenced with the information Uncle Dan had given aboard Space Station One. In a moment the preliminaries were over. The symbol faded, and a wrinkly old customs agent, wearing a featureless white turtleneck uniform, came on the screen. Though his tiny head and obviously thin frame gave him a birdlike fragility, his voice was firm and authoritative. It was fortunate that they could see him and he couldn’t see them.
“Mr. Daniel Hark, a pleasure to see you again so soon. Business must be prosperous.”
“Damn,” Strem breathed. “He knows him.”
“Perhaps,” Sammy said, glancing at the holograph model, which leaned forward as though trying to see the customs office better.
Was this a test here at the very beginning? Eric wondered.
“Forgive me, sir,” Uncle Dan’s recording said. “You have the advantage. Business has been so busy I’ve forgotten your name.”
“My name is Jeret Queenshear. And I’m the one who must apologize, I mistook you for someone else. We’ve never met.” It had definitely been a test. Jeret continued, “Have you been to the Tau Ceti System before?”
“A number of times.” The responses were intentionally brief so as not to invite further questions.
“Ah, yes.” Jeret nodded, glancing downward. “I see you were there only last December.”
“Last January.” Daniel Hark corrected automatically. Eric was impressed with the thoroughness of Sammy’s preparation. As the responses had obviously not been recorded in succession, to move smoothly from one to the next quite a feat.
“Are you aware of the ban Tau Ceti has placed on the importation of drugs otherwise allowed in The Union?”
“On Bromitzen and Quibzen, yes. I have neither aboard.”
“What is the anticipated credit transference relating to your cargo?”
“Fifty-five thousand, approximately.”
“When was Excalibur’s last inspection?”
“Last week. It’s there in your records.”
“So it is. How many passengers have you aboard?”
Sammy lost his slouch, suddenly sitting up. “We’ve got a problem,” he said quickly.
“Five,” the holograph answered.
“Their names, please?” Jeret asked.
“What is it?” Strem demanded.
“I am not obligated to supply you with their names.”
“Agreed, but we would prefer it if you would. For our records, you understand.”
“He’ll want to see us,” Sammy said. “We’ll have to go on manual and improvise.”
“Oh, no. Don’t,” Strem groaned. Cleo jumped to her feet and her carefully crafted tough image stayed seated. Jeanie’s opants appeared to overload and went blank. Eric felt his heart rate double and his self-confidence slashed in half. If they had to pause to think what to advise the holograph to say, even for a couple of seconds, Central Control would get suspicious. Eric moved closer to Sammy and his console.
“I don’t understand,” Uncle Dan retorted. “Their identity is confidential under Section A of Senate Amendment Twenty-seven. We are in free space.”
Jeret nodded with a trace of impatience. “We are aware of the law. Still, the request is not unreasonable. We simply want to make sure your passengers are comfortable. May we at least see them?”
“We cannot give another stall,” Sammy said with grave certainty. Laws and amendments aside, Jeret could haul them in if he felt like it. Eric acted without thinking, which often worked better for him.
“Go to manual!” he ordered Sammy. “Say, he’d have to wake us.”
Sammy did not hesitate. He activated his mike and said, “I’d have to wake them.”
“I’d have to wake them,” Uncle Dan said.
“All of them?” Jeret asked.
Eric crowded Sammy aside. “Let me see,” he said directly into the mike.
“Let me see,” Uncle Dan said.
“Very well,” Jeret nodded.
Eric disengaged the mike. “Have him walk away!”
“No problem,” Sammy said, typing vigorously on the computer keyboard. The holograph strolled out of its cubical area and vanished. As far as Jeret was concerned, Daniel Hark had just left the bridge.
“Now what?” Strem said. “Why did you tell Jeret that?”
“I was buying us time,” Eric said.
“For what?” Strem demanded.
“What would you have done?” Eric yelled back.
“Don’t fight!” Jeanie pleaded.
“Can we tell them it was all just a joke?” Cleo asked in a small voice.
“Let’s have less talk and more thought,” Sammy said, and even though he sounded slightly exasperated. “We have at most a minute to figure out what to do next.”
“You’re the genius!” Strem told Sammy. “You do the thinking!”
“We could have Daniel Hark tell him that none of us will get up,” Sammy muttered.
“That would make Jeret suspicious,” Eric said, frowning in concentration, feeling the seconds slip away. Time – it was always there except when you needed it.
“We could be on weak ground,” Sammy agreed.
“Could your aunt also represent me?” Strem asked Cleo.
Eric looked at Sammy, into his brilliant bloodshot eyes, and saw no magic solution forthcoming. On the screen Jeret had turned to the side and was talking to someone they couldn’t see. For a moment Eric was tempted to recommend they attempt an illegal hyper jump. But that would be sheer madness. They would only stall immediately outside the solar system’s web. It was only when he began to despair that a new possibility came to him. “Can we overlap a view of the bridge as it is now with the phony one we are transmitting?”
Sammy nodded reluctantly. “Yes, but there will be discrepancies. We have lights and systems on that we didn’t have on when we filmed Strem’s uncle. We won’t have time to match everything. Also, we would have to interact with Daniel Hark, and that could get sticky. We can change his words but the program necessarily takes care of most of his movements. You’ve seen how he goes all over the place. If he were to step through one of us––”
“Do it!” Strem barked. “There’s no other choice. We’ll stay near the edges of the room.”
Sammy turned back to his computer. “I’ll erase the image in our holograph at least. It wouldn’t do to have Jeret see that.”
And that would make it much harder to stay out of Daniel Hark’s way, Eric thought. He tried to focus on simplifying things. “Two of us will be enough to convince Jeret the passengers are safe,” he said, after a moment’s consideration.
“You’re right,” Strem said. “Which two?”
“I’ll be talking for your uncle,” Sammy said,
working frantically to complete the setup. “Count me out.”
“I’m not good at talking to people that aren’t there,” Jeanie said, trembling where she stood.
“Cleo and I will greet Jeret,” Eric said with absolutely no enthusiasm. “We are both dressed as if we could have been in bed.” It was true the two of them had changed into sweats, but that was only part of the reason for wanting Cleo over Strem. She was a performing singer, used to acting in front of others. She should be able to play a simple straight role.
“You mean, in bed together?” Strem winced.
Eric ignored him and studied Cleo. Her eyes wavered and she paled but then she shrugged and forced a smile. “It’s just another stage to me,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. “Where do I stand?”
“We will come in from off deck,” Eric said, “following Uncle Dan. Can that be arranged?”
“Yes,” Sammy said, momentarily withdrawing his hands from the keyboard, flexing his fingers like an athlete before the final quarter. “It’s ready.” He nodded to Jeanie and Strem. “You two get off deck and don’t make a sound.”
“Won’t Jeret be able to hear you telling Uncle Dan what to say?” Strem asked Sammy, leading Jeanie to the hall adjacent to the sleeping quarters. Eric guided Cleo to the corner of the bridge.
“No,” Sammy said. “I’ll fluctuate the audio reception. And yes, I know Jeret might notice the fluctuations. One thing, Eric and Cleo – if I should wave you in a certain direction, just move. I still have a visual of Daniel Hark on my screen.” Sammy checked his indicators one last time. “Get set. Come only a third of the way into the room. Ready?”
“Yes,” Eric answered for both of them. He wished he were home and bored.
Sammy waved them forward. Eric told his legs to move and was glad they were still able to hear him. Cleo followed a pace behind. He could hear her rapid breathing and worried that she was hyperventilating. Sammy slowly turned a dial next to his microphone.
“I managed to fetch two of them,” Sammy said. “The others are out cold.”
The identical statements were repeated by a disembodied Daniel Hark. Jeret nodded as though that were satisfactory and looked at them. He smiled, an expression he probably kept reserved for people eighteen and under. “Your names, please?” he asked.
“I’m Eric Tirel.” There was a forever pause. Cleo was having trouble remembering her name. Eric took the initiative, “And this is Cleo Rettson. You wished to speak to us, Sir?”
“I wanted to be sure that your passage is a comfortable one. Central is sensitive to the travel of youngsters in interstellar space.”
“We’re having a wonderful time!” Cleo said, too loud and too enthusiastically.
Jeret smiled again and he was lucky his stiff face didn’t crack. “How about you, Mr. Tirel?”
“The trip has been very exciting so far,” Eric said honestly. Keep it short and simple, he thought. But an expression on Jeret’s face prodded him to speak again and speak quickly. Something on the bridge was disturbing the customs man, probably a slight change in the coloration of a couple of lights caused by the overlay. “Do you know, sir, how long it will be before we can make our hyper jump to Tau Ceti?”
The question got Jeret’s attention back. He blinked twice and rubbed his eyes. “Once you receive clearance,” he said, “it should take only a few minutes to reach the jump point. That is, if Mr. Hark taxis out immediately.” Jeret paused to give Daniel Hark a chance to respond but Sammy chose to play it silent. A glance at Sammy told Eric why. Sammy was frantically gesturing Cleo and him to move to the left. Eric did so automatically, as casually as he could, and promptly banged into Cleo, practically knocking her over. He caught her just as Jeret asked, “Are you having trouble with your stabilizers?”
“No,” Sammy and Daniel Hark said. “This ship is fine. You made me wake them so quickly, it’s no wonder they’re bumping into each other.”
“If possible, sir,” Eric said, “we’d like to get another hour’s rest before the jump.”
“We’re anxious to return to bed,” Cleo said in a high, excited voice, clasping his hand for what reason Eric did not know. Jeret interpreted her to mean the young nasty brats were anxious to return to bed for activities other than rest. It was funny in a way, for now he was the one who wanted the conversation to come to an end.
“I see,” he said dryly. “I thank you for your time.” Eric nodded and swished Cleo offstage to where Strem was grinning idiotically and Jeanie was biting her nails. Now it was in Sammy’s hands.
Jeret continued, “I think it would be safe to say those two are not aboard against their will.” He cleared his throat. “How you run your ship, Mr. Hark, is your business.” Jeret nodded to a person or persons off-screen. “You have been cleared for a jump to the Tau Ceti System. Please proceed out an additional ten million miles for initiating the jump. For all of Central, I wish you a safe and profitable trip.”
“Thank you,” Sammy and Mr. Hark responded. Jeret disappeared and was replaced for an instant by Central Control’s triangular symbol. Then that too vanished and Strem started howling like a wolf at the moon. Eric couldn’t see the smile on his own face but could feel its tips brushing his earlobes. Especially when Cleo gave him a tight hug and Jeanie planted a warm kiss on his lips.
“We did it!” Strem raised his clenched fists.
“Sammy and Eric did it,” Jeanie said, laughing, softening her remark by embracing her boyfriend. “Face it, you and I just got in the way.”
“My pet brain,” Cleo crooned, sitting in Sammy’s lap, actually petting his long brown hair. Sammy did not mind. He was smiling and Sammy had not really smiled since he had learned to read.
“Eric is the one who took control,” he said. “I was drawing blanks left and right when Jeret started in on us.”
“Let’s hear it for Eric!” Jeanie applauded, the others giving him a standing ovation. The hero worship was overdone and silly and that made Eric enjoy it all the more.
“Eric did such a fine job,” Cleo said mischievously as the commotion died down, “I think he should be our leader instead of Strem.”
“Wait a second,” Strem said. “Didn’t I just demonstrate what a great leader I am?” No one answered him with a quick affirmative. “But what is a leader if he doesn’t know when to delegate responsibility?”
“I don’t want to be captain,” Eric said easily. The atmosphere was so light and festive he was surprised when Strem glanced at Sammy – the two catching each other’s eyes – and said seriously:
“You better believe you don’t, buddy.”
The short line dropped like a weight on the deck, pulling them all down with it. Jeanie turned to Cleo, who frowned, bewildered. “What?” Eric said softly.
Strem shook his head, all business, and strode to the dark windows, turning his back on them. “Take us to the jump point, Sammy,” he ordered.
Sammy let go of Cleo and moved to activate the holographic cube. The three-dimensional projection now encompassed a much larger field, filled with stars rather than planets. The diffused gravitational pulls of the widely separated suns were represented by hazy red bands that rippled around the bright pinpoints like cool fog around unflickering candles. A white line pierced the mist, connecting two stars. It was to be their path through hyper space.
“Cleo was only joking,” Eric said, coming up beside Strem, afraid he had offended his friend. He was confused. Strem got upset about as often as a bench complained about being sat on.
“No, I wasn’t,” Cleo said.
“Here comes the exciting part,” Strem said, a disturbing glint in his eye. He had not even heard them. Eric was reminded of his sudden seriousness at the observation tower in Baja. His manner then was identical to now. What had triggered it then? There was a word on the tip of Eric’s tongue, but he couldn’t remember.
“We’ve had enough excitement for one day,” Eric said. Excalibur began to hum and the lights flickered as Sammy acti
vated the graviton drive. They would be in position to jump in a minute. And suddenly Eric’s suspicion that Strem was hiding a crucial fact became a certainty, even before Strem spoke.
“Eric,” he said, with something akin to regret in his face, “don’t think I didn’t trust you. I did. But…I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Did I miss something somewhere?” Cleo muttered.
“Strem?” Jeanie said, worried.
“A nova,” Eric whispered, the word coming back to him.
“Approaching the required coordinates,” Sammy said.
“How long?” Strem asked, leaning his head on the window, momentarily closing his eyes. He looked scared and jubilant, and Eric didn’t know which was worse.
“Fifteen seconds,” Sammy said. “Fourteen…Twelve…Ten…”
Eric shook Strem. Standing so close to the tall window, it was as though the two of them could take a step forward and fall forever. Eric did not want to take that step.
“We’re not going to Tau Ceti, are we?” he asked. Strem did not answer. Eric grabbed him by the collar and yanked him around. “Are we?”
“Eight…Seven…Six…We don’t have to do it,” Sammy said, and the remark was more frightening than any of Jeret’s questions.
Strem smiled faintly. “You’re right, Eric. You’re a smart guy. I knew you’d figure it out. You’ve read about how much energy novas put out – they short-circuit anything nearby.” He turned toward Sammy and nodded. “Do it!”
“Where are we going?” Eric shouted.
Too late – it was done. Excalibur’s hyper drive turned on. As time did not exist in hyper space as it did in the relative universe, the marvelous mechanism was on and off in the same instant. Nevertheless, the human mind has thoughts and feelings that come and go without the tiniest tick of the clock. Eric had the sensation of stepping outside himself and turning around and finding that he was still in the same place. There was no light in the inter-dimensional abyss but neither was there darkness, and he suffered from neither heat nor cold. Still, emotions often care about nothing for the surroundings. His disorientation chased the skipped light years like a meteor through the nighttime sky. When the blink of time and space was complete, and the rays of an exploding sun flooded the bridge with an unbearable glare, Eric repeated his question, minus one word.