Chapter 11

The group walked through Freya to Bella.

Zeke noticed that Paul was carrying an extra port and his swag. Joey had his swag, and Sabrina had a small overnight bag. Zeke watched Erica as she tried to make out that she wasn’t scoping the ship.

“Bella?” Zeke sub-vocalised.

“Yes, Captain?” she said into his ear comm.

“Can you override the computer on this ship?”

“Yes, Captain.” After a pause, she added, “I’ve taken control.”

“Good, I want you to record everywhere the blonde girl goes, and don’t let anyone but me into the hidden rooms while she is on board. She can’t enter either ship unless a family member is on board.”

“Can I assume that you don’t trust her?”

“Yes, I don’t believe she has good intentions. Also, call me if she comes to either ship with people we don’t know, even if Paul is with her. The same goes for if she tries to let others onto our ships. I’ll try and get Freya’s new interface loaded first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, Captain,” Bella replied.

Zeke finally got the others rounded up.

While walking to the restaurant, Paul asked, “Um, Zeke, can I have the code to enter the ship if Erica and I leave early?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Paul whined.

“The stupid onboard computer will only let me open the doors. Once I’ve installed my program tomorrow, it won’t be a problem as the ship will recognise you.”

“Oh! Sorry. I forgot that Freya’s programming isn’t like Bella’s.”

Dallas chuckled, “It took me ages to get used to the ships we drove. I kept expecting them to behave like Bella. Man, their computer interfaces sucked.”

Paul groaned, “Don’t remind me. We will be spoilt having Bella again.”

Zeke replied nonchalantly, “I can always set her back to factory reset.”

“NO!” Paul and Dallas exclaimed in unison.

While the others laughed, Erica just looked confused. Sabrina was also a pilot and had been on the same course as the boys. She had been fascinated by how Bella responded to them.

When they entered the restaurant, the Maître D looked at Zeke’s party with suspicion until Zeke, who had come in last, stepped forward. Several guests were surprised by the Maître D’s louder-than-normal response and exuberance.

“Captain Walker, it is so good to see you.” Henry hurried over, took Zeke’s right hand and cupped it with his left hand. “It has been too long between visits, my friend.”

Zeke smiled, “Hey, Henry, how’s the restaurant business these days?”

Henry replied, “Meha, you know how it is. We have good days, average days, and occasionally we have great days like today.”

He glanced at the young people, then said to Zeke, “The rest of your party is in the Moon Room. Please follow me.”

He waved at someone to take over the greeters’ podium before leading Zeke down a hallway. They happily chatted until Henry opened the door to the private dining room.

“I’ve put out the starters, and the bar is open. I’ll catch up with you later, mate,” He patted Zeke’s shoulder and left.

“What was that about?” Dallas asked Zeke.

Zeke chuckled, “A long story for another time.”

Zeke took note of the six people in the room.

Three men were at the small bar to his left. In the middle of the room was a large oblong table set for twelve people. Sitting on one side were two women. A young woman was over at the buffet table to his right with her back to him.

Zeke headed for the main table and smiled at the two women. “Hilda, you look as young and gorgeous as ever. When are you going to leave that thieving ol’ man of yours for me?”

Hilda barked out a laugh, “When you own his company.”

“Well, I’ve made a start. I’ve got ten percent of it now.”

A man cleared his throat behind Zeke and said, “Nine.”

Zeke turned and smiled at Travis, “Did he sign?”

Burnie grumbled good-naturedly as he joined them, “I was robbed.”

“Well, one good turn deserves another, Burnie,” Zeke replied. “Did Art talk to you about his change of plans?”

“Yes, that rust bucket of his needs a lot more work than a shield. We have agreed that I’ll fix it instead.”

“For half what I was going to pay for a new ship. He is going to upgrade the engines too. Terra is a bit more of a trip than staying in this system,” Art replied.

“Then we are going to Harmony,” the other woman said.

“My apologies, madam; I was rudely interrupted and so stunned by your beauty that I didn’t get a chance to learn your name.”