A Spaceman

Chapter 17

My earpiece buzzes. Not a government number, I don't answer those. This is private. I tap the button to answer, ceasing loading the weapon I was working on. I am hanging on my favorite orange ladder, cleaning and loading guns. The Isylgyns can use them but I'm faster at the rest with my opposable thumbs.

"Hey."

"Tess?" I ask. I know that voice. I'd know that voice anywhere. "Damn it, woman, I didn't think you'd be dead."

"No, I wouldn't be. Distinctly out of character for us, huh? You and I, we wouldn't get dead," she says, dryly. I can hear background noise. Like a ship.

"Where are you?" I ask, my mind racing eagerly. Three planes devoted to this, make that four. She's playing at something. trying to trap me no doubt. God how I've missed this girl.

"Better question, where are you?" she asks.

"You've got a ship?" I ask, frowning. How can she? She's planned this well. good job.

"Yeah, and a pilot, I can come to you, you want me to?" she asks.

"Yes, I always did. I just thought you were dead. Which is your fault!," I say.

"I know, I went to a distinct amount of trouble to make sure of that, now I'm blowing it for a few coordinates," she says, lazily.

"Are you going to tell Space Forces?" I ask.

"No, but my pilot is," she says, "Are you not going to give them to me, then? What fun is that? You only want to play when you make up the rules?"

"No," I say, a grin spreading over my face. I push off from my orange ladder to the red one, and begin to climb up it. I need to send out messages to my other ships, now. My move will come quickly after theirs. "You want to play, let's play."

"Okay, send it to me. I've got my old wrist pad," she says.

"Here," I say, tapping my coordinates into a message to her. She's still in the memory, I have the same wrist pad account too. Odd they haven't deactivated that. Hmm.

"Thank you," she says, "See you in a few minutes."

"You're not going to tell me why you wanted me to think you were dead?" I ask.

"I'll tell you when I get there," she says.

"Who's your pilot?" I ask.

"You'll know that when we get there too," she says, "I'm going to hang up now."

"Remember woman, you may be playing but it's still my game," I say, "My game, my rules."

"Rules were made to be broken," she says, then she does hang up. I stifle laughter. This is a decuple of the fun I was planning on having today. I resist the urge to devote two planes to discovering why she wanted me to think she was dead. That is of no matter, I will soon know. instead I focus them on planning every possible outcome of our meeting. Most end in her actual death, as opposed to her fictional one though a few end in that as well. I hope it is the latter, I believe.

**

"Are you afraid?" I ask Tess, over the radio.

"I don't get afraid," she says, "Are you?"

"Hell yes," I say, cutting off the intercom with her, then I switch to Clarisse, "I'm going to let Ground Control know what we're doing, so they can send aid. But we're going to be there first. Do you want to wait in the ship and then join their assault?"

"No, I'll come with you," she says, firmly, "If we're going to die we might as well do it quickly. I don't want to die hiding."

"Okay, then, can you do me a favor?" I ask, "It's a lot and you don't have to do it."