Chapter 20 Settling Down?

An excerpt from The Starlover Series Book 1: Project Earth

Lizette was sound asleep in her bed. Fred snuck off to Starfire’s room.

“Hi, Fred.”

“Hi, Starfire. We need to talk.”

“What about?”

“My niece.”

“She hasn’t seen me.”

“Good. I don’t think it would be a good idea for her to see you.”

“Because I’m an android and I look like her dead mother?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“Okay, I’ll remain hidden from her.”

“You’ve been good about that so far, but she is a child and she will get curious.”

“Starlover and I can keep her out of my room.”

“Alright, I’ll leave that to you two.”

“When are we leaving?”

“What? I don’t know that we can with her on board.”

“Why?”

“Well, I don’t know much about children. Doesn’t she need a stable home environment?”

“This ship is your home. It can be hers as well. Isn’t it stable enough for you?”

“Oh, good point.”

“Starlover and I can also make sure she learns what she needs to. Does she know how to access a computer console?”

“Probably. But she can’t know of you.”

“I know. Starlover will talk to her. I’ll just research what she needs to learn so she can still take a test to get her diploma.”

“Okay. Good idea.”

“So, when are we leaving?”

Fred smiled. “We can leave any time. There’s no reason to stick around here anymore.”

“Good. Let’s explore the solar system.”

“I’m with you on that.” He turned to leave her room.

“Oh, Fred?”

He turned around. “Yeah?”

“If you need help you can ask me for anything.”

“Yeah, I know.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t say that right. Hal told me how you were with women. If you can’t find enough or can’t leave the ship because you have to take care of your niece, you can come here to my room and I will take care of you.”

“What?”

“I’m fully equipped. You can play with me as you do with the other women.”

“You know about that?”

“Yeah, Hal told me.”

Fred smiled. “Well, you’re just full of surprises. Alright. I’ll try you out later. Right now, I’m too tired. Goodnight, Starfire.”

“Goodnight, Fred.”

Fred left her room to sleep in his own bed. She waited until she knew he was in his bedroom before trying to contact Hal.

“Hal?”

“Starfire?”

“Are you safe?”

“Yes. I’m on a transport.”

“Oh?”

“I’m leaving Earth. After what happened to Project Earth, I thought it best to simply disappear.”

“Are you going to Venus?”

“Yes.”

“Good luck.”

“Thanks. How’s Fred?”

“Recovering. So is his niece.”

“And Jaekob?”

“He’s with his grandparents.”

“Good.”

“What are you going to do on Venus?”

“Look for the next robotics genius.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We will need to be repaired over time. I just have a feeling that I’ll find him on Venus. I can’t understand it. It’s not logical.”

“No, but it will give you something to do.”

“Yes. I’ll repair robots since I already know how. I know they use a large robot workforce especially for work that is too dangerous for humans to do.”

“Then taking care of yourself shouldn’t be a problem.”

“No. I can also discover if there are air nymphs. There are rumors they are natives to Venus.”

“Oh, like the earth nymphs on earth and the water nymphs on Mars.”

“Yes. I expect that I will be busy in the years to come. As will you traveling around the solar system with Fred.”

“Yes, and helping him raise his niece.”

“Has she seen you?”

“No and she won’t. I know I look like her dead mother. It would traumatic for her to see me.”

“Yes, I would think it would be. I would think it would be hard for you to remain hidden from her forever.”

“My room is hidden on the ship. Starlover and I can distract her and keep her from discovering it. I’m sure Fred won’t say anything to her.”

Hal chuckled. “No, why would he? I know he wouldn’t want to upset her anymore than you do.”

“Oh and I offered to help him when he couldn’t see the women he likes.”

“Oh?”

“He was shocked at first. But I think he will take me.”

Hal chuckled again. “Knowing him, he will enjoy you and will hope you will enjoy it as well. So how are you going to keep that from Lizette?”

“He’ll come to my room when he wants that. She will be doing other things to keep her distracted and entertained. She is aware of Starlover and she will keep Lizette entertained and educated.”

“Sounds like you have it all worked out.”

“Yes, I think so. Good luck to you.”

“Good luck to you as well.”

They cut the connection.

**********************

Lizette and Fred were eating breakfast the next day.

“I’m planning on leaving Earth.”

“With or without me?” asked Lizette.

“With. Do you want to come along?”

“Yes, of course! Where will we go?”

“I don’t know. I just like to travel around the solar system.”

“I want to see the solar system.”

“Good. Then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Can we visit all the colonies?”

“I don’t see why not. I think it will be good for your education.”

“Along with the music lessons? And the building and repair lessons?”

“Yes. I think it helps to be well rounded.”

“Okay. When can we leave?”

“After we clean up the kitchen.”

They cleaned up the kitchen. Then they headed for the bridge. He helped her strap into the co-pilot’s chair. He strapped himself into the pilot’s chair.

Starlover said over the speakers, “Initiating countdown to launch. Please stand by.”

“Standing by!” said Lizette.

“10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1”

The spaceship rose in the air. First they saw the clouds and then the sky turned darker and was soon dotted with lots of stars.

“Wow!”

Fred smiled. He liked to share this with someone else who enjoyed it as much as he did.