Chapter 14 Fred Returns to Earth
An excerpt from The Starlover Series Book 1: Project Earth
“Starfire, prepare for departure.”
“Preparing flight pattern,” answered Starfire. She sat down and strapped herself into the co-pilot’s seat.
Fred sat down and strapped himself into the pilot’s seat.
“Which drive?” asked Starlover.
“Adams Improbability.”
“Sorry, that drive is offline.”
“What?”
“Pick another drive.”
“Okay. The Heinlein Irrelevancy Drive.”
“Working. Prepare for takeoff.”
“Starlover, you are clear to leave the airfield.”
“Thank you,” said Fred.
“The Heinlein Irrelevancy Drive is now offline.”
“Oh, come on!”
“The drives need to be repaired.”
“We don’t have time.”
“We still have two left.”
“Okay, warp drive.”
Starlover lifted the ship off the airfield. It took some time, but soon they were free of Venus’ gravitational pull.
“Warp drive is now offline.”
“Then give me hyperdrive!”
“Initiating.”
Starfire frowned. She saw the readings. She facepalmed herself.
“Hyperdrive is now offline,” said Starlover as calm as ever.
“Damn! Then give us whatever we have. What’s wrong with the drives?”
“Checking.” Starlover displayed on screen what was wrong.
“Oh, shit. We need parts.”
“Are we going to make it in time?”
“How should I know? I just hope my brother and everyone else can fight. Someone please be alive when we get there. Don’t let Project Earth die like this!” He shook his fist towards the ceiling.
Starfire reviewed the data. “Fred, I think we can repair the Adams’ Improbability Drive. We have those parts on hand.”
“We do?”
“Yes.”
“Then we should just fix it. Otherwise it will take us three months to get to Earth.”
They unstrapped themselves and went to the repair station to get tools and the parts they needed. It was the first time they had to repair one of the drives. Fred had made easy access points in case anything were to ever go wrong. He knew when he was building his spaceship that things could and would go wrong no matter if the parts were scrap or brand new.
He and Starfire didn’t have much trouble reaching the drive and replacing the parts. When they were done, he was closing up the access point.
Starlover said, “The Adams Improbability Drive is now back online.”
“Engage! We’ve got to get to Earth now!”
“Turning on drive now.”
There was a little bit of jolt. Fred fell with his back against one of the walls. Starfire fell into him with her back to him. He put his arms around her waist.
“Fred, are you alright?” asked Starfire.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s not everyday a beautiful woman falls into me.”
The android raised an eyebrow and turned her head to try to see him better. “Are you flirting with me?”
“Oh, I hope that’s okay.”
She smiled. “I have notes that you really like women from Hal.”
He tried to look innocent. “I try to make sure I have permission. I don’t force any woman to do anything with me.”
“That’s good. I have notes of some bad ways that women can be treated.”
“Hal gave you that information?”
“He thinks I should know in case I meet anyone who mistakes me for an earth nymph woman.”
“Good. You do need to know those things.”
“Hal also noted that I should be able to tell you when you cross a line with me that I don’t want you to.”
“Yeah, do tell me.”
“I will.”
He let go of her. They went back to the bridge for the remainder of the journey. The spaceship was fine the rest of the trip.
But Fred was another story. He worried about his brother. His sister-in-law. His niece. Dr. Asimov. Hal. Fred closed his eyes. He hoped they could defend themselves from the mysterious attackers. But Raelina looked absolutely terrified when she was contacting him. Then there was the fact that someone, a shadowy figure, had cut the call.
“Fred?”
“Yes, Starfire?”
“What are you thinking?”
They went into their silent communication.
“I’m worried about my family. Who cut the connection on her end? It was probably one of the mysterious attackers.”
“You must be fond of her. Or else I wouldn’t look like her.”
“What? Oh…” He mentally sighed. “But she wanted someone monogamous. My brother is better for her.”
“You just accepted that?”
“Yeah. There’s no reason to argue with her on that. I couldn’t stand to break her heart.”
“So you must truly love her. Do you love all the women you play with?”
“Yeah, but it’s not the same.”
“Oh.”
“I don’t understand it myself. I don’t think I could explain it to you.”
“I’m not sure there are other humans who understand such things.”
“Have you been researching us?”
“Yes, Starlover and I are studying your social media and whatever else we can get our cyber hands on. You’re quite a varied lot.”
Fred laughed out loud.
