Chapter 11 - Finally!

"Oh you bet!" I replied, and we made our way to the rear of the ship. Next to the loading bay doors, we found the panel Major Mongomery had referred to. Terra placed her PDD against it, and the panel glowed with green light.

"Commander Black, please place your palm flat against the green panel." said a decidedly female voice from the panels speaker.

"Who is that?" I asked in surprise.

"I am the artificial intelligence algorithm that was programmed for this ship." replied the voice.

"Oh..." I said, looking at Terra.

Terra merely raised her brow as I placed my hand against the panel.

"Thank you Commander Black. Your DNA has been recorded. Do you wish to authorize anyone else at this time?" asked the voice.

"Authorize anyone else?" I asked, puzzled.

"Affirmative Commander Black. Do you wish to give anyone else access to this ship at this time?" the voice explained patiently.

"Umm.. yes, I want Terra to have access." I said.

"Terra, please place your hand against the panel, and state your full name and position aboard this ship." said the voice.

"Terra Slavovich, and umm... I am merely a guest." Terra stated.

"No Terra, you can be the umm.. co-commander or..." I started to argue.

"No Morgan. Not right now. We will talk about it later. For now, lets just go look at your ship."

"Terra Slavovich, your DNA has been recorded." stated the voice. "Commander Black, do you wish to authorize anyone else at this time?" asked the voice again.

"Umm no, not right now..." I said.

"Very well Commander Black." The speaker went silent.

"Now what do we do now?" I asked Terra.

Terra shrugged, then pressed her hand against the pad. "Umm... Ship? May we come aboard?"

"Guest Terra Slavovich, Authorization confirmed. Opening lower cargo bay door now. Please stand clear." An alarm siren sounded as the massive lower half of the cargo bay door began to lower.

Within seconds, there was a deep clang as it touched the floor, and the siren went silent.

Terra and I walked up the sloped inner surface of the door into the cargo bay. We found ourselves in a huge metal cave. Suddenly, lights began coming on to fill the whole bay. Pipes and conduits of all sizes ran along the walls and roof of the ship in a dizzying maze. The central space however, was completely open.

"I wonder how much stuff it can haul?" I said, my voice echoing in the open space.

"I am designed to carry 25 cargo tons Commander Black." said the voice from some hidden speaker. "In addition, I have been equipped with four passenger berths, as well as the captain's cabin and accommodations for four crew members.

"Oh umm.. thanks... ship." I said.

Looking up, I saw that there was another huge loading door in the top of the bay.

We made our way forward toward a set of metal stairs that led up to a platform and a door. There was a large dark tunnel at the front of the bay, which continued forward.

"I wonder where that goes" I said, trying to see into the dark passage.

"That leads to the forward scoop, Commander Black." explained the voice.

"Ah, that would explain how I scoop things up in space, but then what happens?" I asked.

There was another low warning siren, then a large crane-like arm detached from the ceiling. The end of the arm had three "fingers", two on one side, and one on the other. They flexed open and closed, showing their ability to grasp things.

"The cargo bay is fully automated, Commander Black." stated the voice.

Cool!

We went up the stairs. The door at the top opened into a much more human sized hallway. There was another door at the opposite end, as well as two doors to each side. Each door was numbered one through four.

"These must be the passenger cabins." said Terra.

We opened the first door on the right that we came to.

Terra gave a low appreciative whistle. "Now that's what I call classy!"

The "cabin" looked more like a suite in a ritzy hotel! Dark red wood panelling, gold accents, and a deep plush carpet. The furniture was expensive looking, and featured a lot of red velvet with black and gold satin trim.

The other cabins were much the same.

"But what if my passenger isn't human?" I had met a few other races before, and knew that not all of them would be comfortable with these obviously human oriented accommodations.

"Each cabin can be automatically reconfigured to accommodate a variety of other life forms." the ship assured me. "Would you like a demonstration?"

Umm... no ship, not right now thanks." I replied.

The door at the far end opened into a large common area. There was a large table that seated eight, as well as assorted couches, chairs, game tables, vidscreens and a few small bookshelves. Another door was located in the centre of the far wall.

Through this door was another short hallway. Near the far end, was a door to each side, as well as a door at the end of the hallway.

Terra opened the door on the right.

"Crews quarters." She said.

Four comfortable bunks, combined with a smaller version of the common area we saw before.

I opened the door to the left.

The captains quarters were every bit as plush as the passenger cabins, it also held a chart and navigation area.

"Very nice!" exclaimed Terra approvingly.

"Ya..."  Was my in-depth, analytic reply.

After a thorough exploration of the Captains quarters, I opened the last door.

We both simply stared.

No Cobra cockpit was this... A huge room, with large windows wrapping all the way around. Consoles for various functions lined the walls beneath the windows. In the centre of the room, facing forward, was a large crescent shaped, couch. It was divided into five sections, each with its' own armrests full of controls, buttons, and knobs.

Terra clapped her hands, giggling and jumping up and down. She managed to pull my eyes away from the bridge, as the jumping part was doing marvellous things to the front of that low-cut jumpsuit!

Terra looked at me, her grin turning into a satisfied smirk. "Glad to see I haven't lost you completely!"

"Not when you start jiggling those... Like that..." I said, advancing on her with both hands twitching.

After a quick grope, and a not so quick kiss, Terra said breathlessly. "Later Morgan, later!" She re-adjusted her top to cover as much as it could, then continued. "First things first! It's time to get this ship out where she belongs!"

"But where do I sit to fly this thing?" I said.

"The Commander will usually occupy the central seat of the command couch." said the voice.

I jumped a bit as I had forgotten all about the voice. What with all the groping, jiggling, and kissing going on.

I gingerly lowered myself into the centre section of the couch. Terra plopped into the next seat, kicked off her heels, and tucked both her legs under her.

As I settled into the comfy cushions, a standard looking keyboard slid from the armrest to my right. At least that was somewhat familiar. A green pad on the armrest itself lit up.

"Ah... I need to put my hand on the pad, right?"

"Affirmative Commander Black." replied the ship.

I placed my hand on the pad. Immediately, a low muted rumble began deep in the ship. A sound almost felt rather than heard.

"Shall I request clearance to launch from the station Commander Black?" asked the voice.

"Oh, sure ship, thank you." I said. This was going to take some getting used to!

A button on my left armrest depressed itself. "Lave Station, this is DTTSCPP98. Commander Morgan Black is requesting permission to launch."

"Roger that, one minute please, Commander Black." said a new voice over the speaker.

After a few minutes, the speaker announced. "DTTSCPP98, Commander Black, you have a 5 minute window, and are cleared to launch."

I looked at Terra.

"Activate your grav-plates." she said, pointing at a sliding button on the pad labelled 'Grav Plates.'

I slowly began to slid the button forward, and heard the now familiar hum of the grav-plates kick in. My skin tingled.

"Fasten your belt Morgan" said Terra as she fastened hers.

Once belted in, I pushed the button forward a little further. The ship rose from the floor of the station like a feather on a gentle breeze.

I grinned.

"And now I give it some gas." I thought to myself... out loud.

A tap here and there got me pointed toward the docking bay exit, and a few more got us under-way.

As the exit loomed ever larger outside the windows, I began to feel a little apprehension. After all, the last time I tried this, I pretty much died...

Closer and closer grew the gaping rectangle until...

We were through.

I immediately turned the ship to port a bit, to get it out of the docking lane. Something that Terra made me practice over and over in between... well, never mind that right now... Then I reversed the grav-plates, and felt the familiar pull of gravity again. I increased speed to maximum for a minute until I had some distance between my ship and the station. Once we were well clear, I turned the ship so I could look upon Lave in front of us.

I had done it.

"My pa is down there... someplace." I said.

Terra unbuckled her belt, and slid the keyboard back into its' slot from in front of me. Then, sliding her arms around my neck, she snuggled into my lap. Putting her head on my shoulder, she said quietly. "Yes Morgan, yes he is."

We sat that way for a bit, then I said. "I sure wish I could tell him about all this."

"I'll tell him for you, Morgan. I will tell him about everything." she said.

"But you're gonna come with me... aren't you? You going to..." Terra put a finger to my lips to quiet me.

"No Morgan, I'm not. I have a life and a career down there Morgan, and I have to go back."

"But..." I tried. She kissed me long and hard.

When we finally broke free, and she had gotten her breath back, she said "Tomorrow, you are going to take me back to the station. Then, I will take a shuttle back to Lave, find your father, and tell him how proud he should be of his son. And you, are going to head out there." She motioned her head toward the space we could see beyond the windows.

"And, you are going to BE CAREFUL!" She said, and emphasized by pounding on my chest... hard. "And make your father and I both proud!

I was feelin' a little choked up at this point. But Terra soon took my mind off of it. I guess you could say, we christened the ship that night. We started by christening the command couch, then the bed in the Captain's quarters. Then the hallway, and then the cargo bay. After a while, we even switched off the grav-plates and ... well, you get the idea...

If I had known then, what I know now... If I could have foreseen the things I was about to see and experience, I might have gone right back down to that planet with Terra and lived a different life...

Then again... maybe I wouldn't.

You see, what happened next was...