Chapter 9

Xi Pegasi
Aboard the Wells
March 30, 2057

Balefire danced across Keith Davies’ faceplate as he inspected the robotic welder’s work. The plasma arc unit had broken down two days ago, and Keith had put in twenty-hour workdays to repair it. The welds were within specifications, and Keith turned to look at the ship.

The asteroid extraction ship’s boxy hull had once been one of the Wells’ cargo containers. At least this conversion had been part of the original plan, Keith thought. The fourteen thousand cubic meter container had been subdivided into crew quarters, fuel cells and a cavernous cargo hold. One of the prepackaged engines was being prepared in the hangar bay, and would soon be mated to the asteroid ship’s thrust bearing assembly. The heavy alloy structure would both support the engine and spread the thrust loads evenly across the aft end of the hull.

Keith’s team had installed the prefabricated controls, life support equipment, and power plant. The team was now testing and certifying the systems. The ship was scheduled to depart in a week, so there was little time for delays. A second ship was being built in the adjoining slip under Arif Restin’s supervision. Unlike the first ship, the builders were fabricating the hull from scratch instead of using a container. Most of Wells container cubage had been dedicated to materials; aluminum, steel, chemicals and the like. Of eight containers, only one was available to be reworked into a ship.

“Keith?”

Uh, oh, he thought. It couldn’t be that late, could it?

“Keith, I know you can hear me.” Kimmi scolded over the comm. “You’re way over your EVA time, and Lenna will pull your clearance if she finds out.”

“On my way.” He turned toward the personnel airlock and pushed on the joystick controller.

“You want to do what?” Kimmi turned in midair to look incredulously at Keith.

Keith grinned, and then sobered as her expression registered. “What’s wrong with my idea? Someone has to do it.”

They were floating in the center of their cabin, surrounded by a constellation of pillows and sheets. Microgravity had its good points, and the two of them had spent many pleasurable evenings exploring them. Keith eyed his wife’s nude body appreciatively; one of the finer points of microgravity was the mitigation of one of humankind’s cruelest curses.

Since one’s anatomy was no longer trying to fall toward one’s feet at almost ten meters per second squared, said anatomy tended to stay where the Creator had placed it. Kimmi had cheerfully stored her brassieres for future use, and reveled in her newfound freedom. Nearly all of the women had followed her lead, and space suddenly became a much more entertaining place for all.

Lenna had reported a significant increase in minor injuries among the male crewmembers, mostly cranial lacerations from bumping into objects, and the occasional mangled finger from poorly guided power tools. The subsequent mandatory safety briefings she and her staff conducted seemed to have helped.

Her eyes narrowed as she divined the focus of his attention. “You’re a letch.” She pushed off the deckhead with her foot, arrowing for him across the tiny cabin. Keith pushed off against her shoulder, neatly avoiding her rush and getting in a personal touch as she passed. Kimmi squealed in mock outrage and rebounded from the deck. She twisted lithely to face him, and caught Keith off guard. She found a convenient handhold and rocked to a stop chest to chest with him.

“Hurt that and you’ll miss it,” he said carefully.

Her eyes gleamed with desire. “Surrender or die.” Her grip tightened, and he raised his hands in defeat.

Later, Keith opened his eyes and looked at the cabin’s display. It was late in the ship’s day, and he was hungry. Kimmi floated next to him, shrouded by the sheets she insisted on keeping out when they made love. Early in the trip, he had left the cabin while she slept after their lovemaking session. Keith had been called to Engineering, and Kimmi had somehow stranded herself in the middle of their cabin. She’d had to activate the comm by voice override and get help. Raimi had responded to her sister-in-law’s plight, but afterward Kimmi refused to be undressed without some covering within reach.

“What?” Kimmi mumbled sleepily.

“Huh?”

“You were laughing about something.” Her eyes opened fully, and she gazed at him in the dim light. “What was it?”

“I was thinking about why you have these out,” he caught the sheet in his fingers.

Kimmi blushed. “Oh, you would remind me about that!”

Keith chuckled. “About my idea, why can’t we do it?”

“Because ... I don’t know. We’d be way out there by ourselves. Asteroid miners?”

“We were doing the same thing when we left for Mars.”

Kimmi pulled a pillow to her chest and rested her chin on it as she talked. “I know. But, there were going to be more people coming, and we were going to eventually start a hotel once the tourism got started. Here, there isn’t anyone but us.”

He reached out and pulled her to him. “What’s wrong with that?” He kissed her lightly on the forehead.

“No, nothing.” She frowned. “Earth was different; there was always something, radio, TV. Here, it’s so quiet. We aren’t even a small town, and now we’re spreading out all over the place.”