Chapter 3

I had rather lost track of what I was supposed to be doing. Well – wouldn't you? I had a ... companion ... who (or which) was gorgeous, fascinated by and responsive to sex, and apparently determined to please me in every way possible. Which included food. Some of the offerings were a little odd, but since anything I didn't like was replaced very rapidly I wasn't about to complain. I could have clothes, but I soon decided, why bother? They wouldn't stay on long, that was for sure. It was only when I rubbed my face and realised my beard had grown long enough to be soft rather than bristly that I started to think about getting home.

Romy didn't seem so keen to please me in that way, though. She did accompany me back to the ship, where Betty ... okay, I know she's only a computer, but I'd swear she was curt with me. It took several hours before she returned to normal, but then;

"I have co-ordinates which should return us to Vega a few days after we left, Captain."

"Very good, Betty. I suppose we had better inform Exploration and Colonisation of our find."

"Yes. We have twelve hours until we must leave. I have run all the tests and procedures necessary; the ship is ready."

"I will take my leave of Romy," I said.

"I can communicate directly."

"But I wish to do so face to face." I left the ship and found Romy standing by the car. It looked as though she hadn't moved since I walked away from her.

"You are going to leave," she said. Her voice quavered; surely an AI cannot experience and express emotion?

"I must," I replied, "I cannot deny my duty if there is a way to return."

"I wish you could stay."

I looked sharply at her; I could see the brightness of moisture at the corner of her eyes. "I would stay if I could."

"Will you return?"

"If I can," I answered. "You know the transit is uncertain, and I may not be permitted to return."

"Oh, I think you will." There was a certainty in her voice that surprised me. Then she stepped up to me and tilted her head to be kissed. "We have time..." her tone was seductive.

"We do," I agreed. "Why don't we return to the house?"

Which is where we proved that she hadn't drained me overnight and I wondered – for the first time – whether this planet and this ... creature ... might not be enough for me. Did I need to flit from system to system, rarely seeing more than the immediate locality of a space-port? We made love, we showered, we lay and cuddled, and towards the end, we talked.

"I don't want you to go," she said, quietly.

"I think I have to," I told her.

"Will you come back? I want you to come back."

"If the transit works, I'll report your planet. If the bureaucracy lets me, I will come back."

"But you do want to come back? You're not just making excuses?"

"I was just thinking how I could just stay. But that wouldn't work; not for long."

"Why not?"

"I ... need people round me. One day, I want children."

"I could give you children."

"Could you?"

"Of course. I am fully functional."

"If you did, Romy, children need other children round."

She was silent, then, and merely held me close. It was difficult ... impossible ... to keep hold of the idea that she was really not a living human woman.

When I got back to the ship, I stood in the entry-hatch and looked back. Romy stood by the car and even at a hundred metres I could see the tears on her cheeks. I made myself turn away, shut the hatch and move to the pilot's seat. I could see the car moving away as Betty spoke. "All ready, Captain."

I dared not delay in responding. "Take us away, Betty."

Vega were surprised to see us back. We'd lost three days objective time. I informed them we had experienced an unscheduled diversion and had a report for delivery to Earth Central; they found some more items for our next stop and we were on our way again.

I didn't use any of the entertainment packages that I knew of during the transit to Vega, or our next; I had too much to think about, so it was during the third transit that I was scanning half-heartedly through the menu, only to be surprised by Betty.

"I have something for you, Captain, if you'll put on the VR helmet."

I did, and I was in Romy's arms again.

The rest, but for complaints that I was behind schedule, went normally. Being naturally suspicious, even, maybe, paranoid, I had Betty download all my personal records to memory chips and selectively deleted some. The one of Romy took one hell of a lot of space; in fact, it completely filled one high-capacity chip. Even the return to earth was routine, where I was sent off on two weeks' leave (my 'Romy' chip tucked in the side of my boot, where it dug a hole in my ankle) as if nothing had happened at all.

Usually, Katy would be in my apartment when I was due back. I wasn't surprised at her absence, since I was three days late on my schedule, but the note on my kitchen table was a little abrupt. 'Call me when you get in. Katy.'

I thought about it, and decided that nothing would be improved by waiting, so I picked up the phone and dialled. I suppose it's significant I never set up a speed-dial or voice-dial for her, but then, when I was home she was usually with me anyway.

"Hey, Katy; it's Hex. Sorry I'm late, had a problem in one of the transits..." but then she interrupted.

"Hex, you ever gonna settle down?"

"Well, sure, I mean, one day, sure..."

"Sure. One day. I see. Look, Hex. It's been bad enough when you turn up on schedule, but I been thinkin' and..." She broke off and I heard a sort of choked-off sob. "It's just, I can't do this any more. Ev'ry time you go, I wonder ... will it be this time he doesn't come back?"

I didn't know what to think. Or what to say, and there was a long silence between us.

"Katy, love, I didn't know you felt that way." I fumbled for words. "Look, you know ... a pilot is what I am. I don't know what else I could do. If I switched to intra-system ferry runs, I'd actually have less time at home and statistically it's more dangerous than fold-space."

I heard a sniffle from the other end of the line. "Hex, I'm sorry to do this to you on the phone, but I couldn't bear to see you again just to say... 'it's over.' So I gotta do it this way. It's over, Hex. Maybe one day, if we're both still unattached..."

"Oh, Katy..." I tried to think of something more to say, but in the end, "Okay, Katy. You go have a good life ... be happy. I mean that; you're a great girl, and I hope you can be happy."

I heard a few more sniffles, then, "Good bye, Hex," followed by the click and buzz of disconnection.

So, what would I do for the next couple of weeks? Put just like that, it's a bit cold, isn't it? I admit Romy had had an effect on me and I wasn't sure if I wanted Katy anyway, so in that way things were simplified. That evening I downloaded a vid I hadn't seen, found some beer in the fridge and a bottle of whisky, and took myself to bed when I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

For the next few days I wandered through the town, visiting museums and art galleries, and ate expensive meals, hand prepared from organically produced ingredients. No-one commented on my beard, which was growing pretty well. I was propositioned several times; once by a red-head who resembled Romy to an astonishing degree but had a strong Glaswegian accent; it would have been too weird. I actually took one home with me, a cheerful, plump, dark-haired girl. She was fun, pretty, sexy and accomplished, but in the morning, when I sent her off with a bonus that made her eyes light up, I knew it hadn't worked. She left me a card, but I knew I wouldn't be calling. There was only one I wanted, and she was on a planet, who knows how far away ... and she wasn't even human.

I rang Central to see if I could ship out again.

There was a hiatus. A rather longer hiatus than I was expecting; the answer was obviously not just 'yes' or 'no'.

"Report to Stansted Control tomorrow morning, Commander."

"Stansted? But my ship is at Gatwick. And it's Lieutenant. Captain by courtesy."

"Your promotion has been confirmed. You are now to command a Beta 15 in place of your Alpha 10."

"But ... I like my Alpha 10. I've got it set up just the way I like..."

"Well, Commander, your Alpha 10 won't be going anywhere any time soon. If you make too much fuss they may change their minds about your promotion."