Chapter 9
It was seventy years after the Quatyl found James and the world was a very different place. Almost every highly driven person of good moral character owned a Quatyl. The most adventurous of them went to space. Everyone who went into space took their Quatyl with them. Among those highly driven people was the grandson of James Leonard Foster. His mother, Bee Kamp, had named her son James Foster Kamp in honor of her famous father.
James Foster Kamp entered the space station, St. Louis, with his gear slung over one shoulder and his Quatyl tucked into the bag strung across his chest. The Quatyl had its head sticking out to watch the activity. His wife, Ann, stepped into the station behind him with her gear and Quatyl. When James stopped, Ann asked, "Do you see him?"
"I don't see him, but Uncle Arthur said he'd meet us here," James answered looking at the small audience who had gathered to watch the shuttle disembark. He was searching for the uncle he had never met.
"We better clear the hatch before the Steward yells at us," Ann said gesturing to a rather pompous looking man in a uniform.
"Oh sorry," James said while stepping out of the way of the people behind them. Four other members of their crew flowed out of the hatch relieved at getting out of the small shuttlecraft that had brought them from the Jupiter station.
"Is that him?" Ann asked pointing to a man who was waving.
"Yes. Are you ready to meet my uncle?" James asked with a great big grin. He had been waiting for this moment ever since he had learned that he was going to the space station.
"I guess. Your mother warned me that he doesn't have much of a sense of humor," Ann said worried about how he would react to James. Bee Kamp had described Arthur as a particularly dour man who didn't know how to smile. She found it rather hard to believe that the son of James Foster didn't have a good sense of humor.
"Did you bring the cape?" James asked with an even bigger grin than before.
"Yes, your mom wouldn't let me leave without it," Ann said rolling her eyes. The cape apparently had some family significance of which she wasn't fully aware.
James reached into his pocket and pulled out a large scarf. He tied it around his neck so that it hung down his back and while rubbing his hands together excitedly said, "Let's go meet my uncle!"
"Okay," Ann said wondering if it was really such a great idea for him to wear the cape. She could just picture him getting sent back to Earth for being mentally unstable. The last thing you wanted on a space station or a space ship was a crazy man.
"Hey, put on your cape," James said noticing that she hadn't put on her cape.
"Next time," Ann said. She wasn't quite confident enough in herself to pull off her introduction to everyone on the space station wearing a toy cape.
"Okay," James said feeling a little disappointed, but not disappointed enough to prevent him from taking off to meet his uncle.
Ann followed behind James shaking her head. There were times when his humor was just as likely to get him into trouble as out of it. More than one person stopped to watch him when he passed. A rather large crowd followed him down the hallway to where his uncle was waiting. She had to admit that there was something special about a person who could walk through a crowd of strangers wearing a cape without acting embarrassed.
James stopped in front of his uncle and adopted the Superman pose. In a deep loud voice, he said, "Greetings Uncle Arthur. Have no fear, I am here. Yes, I, Super-spaceman, and my wife, Super- spacewoman, have come to protect you from the evil intergalactic hordes on their way to ravage our solar system!"
"Oh God! You're just like your mother," Arthur exclaimed holding his hands over his ears.
A dozen of the people in the area broke out into laughter. Most of them worked with Arthur and had been expecting such a scene. The space faring population was small and stories had a tendency to live for a long time. One of the most widely repeated stories told of how Arthur's sister had shown up at the spaceport when he left Earth wearing a cape and promising that Supersister would come save him if he ever got into trouble. Money changed hands as bets were settled.
"Thank you. She's my role model, you know," James said provoking a groan from his uncle.
"Take it off," Arthur said pointing to the scarf. He didn't even want to look at it despite knowing that this was another story that was going to live longer than he would.
Grinning, James removed the scarf. After folding it, he put it back in his pocket. Winking at Ann, he said, "Mom says hello."
"I leave the solar system and that damned cape follows me out here," Arthur said shaking his head. He turned to look at Ann and said, "You have my condolences for having to put up with him. How you manage it, I'll never know. I had to live with his mother for eighteen years and, as soon as I could, I left. I've been running away from her ever since then."
Ann laughed at the theatric manner in which Arthur had protested and said, "He kind of grows on you."
"I guess I can understand that. It's kind of like a wart. They grow on you too," Arthur replied while shaking his head sadly.
Not expecting the reply, Ann burst out into laughter. She turned to James and said, "Hey wart, he's got you figured out."
"I'm crushed," James said laughing.
Arthur smiled and said, "I can't call you Super-spacewoman for the rest of your stay on the St. Louis."
"I'm Ann."
"Nice to meet you Ann. Let's leave this guy behind and get a drink," Arthur said.
One change that had occurred over time was that many businesses had created little rooms where Quatyl could play while their owners were busy. These were called Quatyl Playrooms and the Quatyl could be quite insistent on being allowed to visit them. These rooms always had that funny little game that Quatyl enjoyed playing. Most also had the highly desired guinea pigs.
The Quatyl Playroom on the space station St. Louis was located down the hall from the bar. It was well provisioned with a dozen guinea pigs. Arthur led James and Ann to it so they could drop off their Quatyl into the Quatyl playroom. James pulled his Quatyl out of the pouch and petted it for a couple of seconds. Squatting down, he said, "You have a good time, Starman."
Ann knelt beside him and set her Quatyl on the floor after petting it. She said, "You have a good time, Stardust."
The pair of Quatyl turned to make sure that their pets were okay before running to the center of the Playroom. James watched his Quatyl start the dance at the game board shaking his head. It always started out the same, but diverged according to some rules that he could never understand.
Arthur watched the Quatyl play and said, "That's a nice looking pair of Quatyl you have there."
"Thanks, Uncle Arthur. Scout and Cubby are Starman's parents. Fuzzy and Wuzzy are the parents of Stardust," James said.
"What happened to Scout and Cubby after Dad died?" Arthur asked. He had heard that his sister had taken them in, but didn't know what had happened after that.
"Mom adopted them," James answered.
The other Quatyl in the room listened to the discussion among the three beasts with interest. It was generally acknowledged that pets were often good at providing introductions for their owners. Not only did they provide the names, but often the birth records for them.
Once James and Ann left, Stardust went over to the board and introduced herself as Starman's mate. It was a formality that was always executed regardless of any introduction that was made by the pets. Introductions were always made using the letter board on the floor even when guinea pigs were available.
One of the Quatyl controlled a guinea pig to ask, 'What brings you here?'
Using a guinea pig, Stardust answered, 'We are here to fly on the new spaceship.'
Her answer caused a commotion among the other Quatyl as they fought over control of the guinea pigs. This was the first chance that they had to learn more about the mission of since the Quatyl who were to serve on the ship had been taken directly to the ship. When the riot finally quieted down, Starman said, 'My pet is installing the sensors and will operate them during the voyage.'
'My pet is calibrating the communications gear and will serve as communications officer on board the ship, ' Stardust said.
'Do you think you'll meet up with other Quatyl?"
'Space is big, ' Starman said giving the stock answer to that question.
'It would be nice if you do. Although I've never seen one, it would be great to get a Slathern, ' said one of the Quatyl. It was the great hope of the Quatyl that they would finally be able to talk to their pets.
'You can say that again.'
Arthur stood when his wife, Emily, approached the table at the bar. Seeing his uncle stand, James stood as well. Emily arrived at the table and took one look at the expression on Arthur's face. Knowing that Arthur would tell her all of the details about the meeting at the gate, she put a finger over his mouth to keep him from talking and said, "I heard all about it."
"It doesn't take long for a story like that to make it around the station," Arthur said feeling crushed that he wouldn't get a chance to tell the story.
"Evil intergalactic hordes -- I like that. Arthur definitely needs protection from them," Emily said with a grin. Arthur rolled his eyes. He'd been asked how many evil intergalactic hordes were after him by almost everyone who worked under him.
James pointed to the television and said, "Hey, look at that handsome devil!"
Arthur turned in time to see James' approach and introduction play out on the station television channel. He groaned and covered his head with his hands. Grinning at the television, Emily said, "There's something wrong with the color. Poor Arthur looks positively green."
"You did it this time, James. That's going to be broadcast on every station, asteroid hut, and moon habitat in space," Ann said. Out of everyone she knew, only James would be able to pull it off without being embarrassed.
"Yes, isn't that great," James said polishing his nails on his shirt in obvious pride.
"You're just like your mother," Emily said reaching over to hug James.
"Ah, that reminds me," James said. He reached over to his duffle bag and pulled out an old fashioned book and a movie chip. He handed them over to his uncle and said, "Mom finally got granddad's last book published. They've already made a movie out of it. She wanted you to have copies of them."
Tears welling up in his eyes, Arthur looked down at the cover of the book. The famous character, Rachel Yoon, was shown on the cover. After years of hearing about the raccoon, the story had come to represent his father. The tattooed mask around Rachel's eyes proclaimed her identity as the secretive artist known as Raccoon. He said, "I knew they finally published the Son of Dr. Dud story, but I haven't read it yet. I heard so many variations of the story growing up that I've been afraid to read the final version."
Emily laughed and said, "I'll never forget the first time I met your father. The very first question he asked me was what sound a raccoon makes when it has an orgasm."
"What did you answer?"
"I asked him whether he meant a male, female, or hermaphroditic raccoon," Emily answered provoking a laugh from James and Ann. She had been a great fan of James Foster and had expected an off the wall question from him. Of course, Arthur had mentioned the great raccoon concept to her.
"Even dad was surprised by the answer. That's when I knew I was going to marry her. Anyone who could leave Dad speechless is a national treasure," Arthur said patting his wife on her arm.
Pointing at her husband, Ann asked, "Emily, how did you get along with his mom?"
"I love her. She's got a great sense of humor. Almost as good as Arthur's," Emily answered.
Arthur asked, "So what brings you out here?"
Shrugging his shoulders, James answered, "I developed the sensors for use in the starship. The couple they had lined up to install and operate them on this mission backed out at the last minute. The owner of the starship offered Ann and me the chance to take their place. We jumped at the chance."
"That was five days ago," Ann said.
The Quatyl turned to watch the television in the Playroom. When the episode with James greeting his Uncle was aired, one of the Quatyl said, 'He reminds me of the first pet.'
James Foster had never known it, but all Quatyl descended from the original eight had memories of him that had been passed down through the implanting process. He and Nancy were the only two humans of which that could be said. It wasn't until the Quatyl had spread across the planet that they realized how lucky all of them were that James was the first contact.
'Yes, ' Starman said taking pride in the comment.
'You two must be tired after your long trip out here, ' one of the Quatyl said.
'We are, ' Stardust answered.
'Get some rest and we'll talk later. The den in front of you is free.'
Starman said, 'Thanks.'
Quarters aboard the space station were not luxurious by any means. The clothes locker, which ran the length of the room, doubled as a fairly uncomfortable couch. Since ninety percent of all spare personnel were married, every room pretended to have a double bed. To save space, the back of the couch unfolded to form the double bed leaving just enough room to make it to bathroom. The bathroom was shared with three other rooms. One wall at the end of the couch had a panel that folded down to make a table. The room was designed with the understanding that people would not spend much time in them.
One end of the storage locker served as a den for the Quatyl. Unlike the rest of the furnishings in the room which were made of a very strong plastic, the den was lead lined. This was to avoid a population explosion of Quatyl. Considering the closeness of quarters and the frequent couplings of their pets, the Quatyl spent most of their time in it. Of course, accidents happened and there were always young Quatyl searching for pets to adopt.
James entered the room and looked around. It was the same as every place they had lived since leaving Earth. Looking over at Ann, he said, "Spacious, isn't it?"
"Reminds me of our first apartment," Ann replied with a smile.
James knelt down and put Starman on the floor. It took Starman two seconds to locate the den. He waited for Ann to put down Stardust. The pair of Quatyl scampered off to the den to finish their sleep. Later they would go into the bathroom to meet their neighbors.
James said, "I'm looking forward to getting on board the ship. The plans show the living quarters to be twice the size of these."
"What will we do with all of that room?" Ann asked rolling her eyes. She'd believe it when she saw it.
"I'm pretty sure that it will be small after we've been out there for ten years," James answered shaking his head. A ten year trip out was necessary just to explore a minor fraction of the nearby region of space. He wasn't sure how they were going to last ten years in the close quarters of a ship. It was a long time to be cut off from the rest of humanity. At least there would be the shakedown flight of one year to see how well people could manage that long away from civilization.
"Ten years," Ann said shaking her head. She loved her husband, but ten years cooped up in a small ship was a long time.
"Are you worried?" he asked.
"A little," Ann admitted. The psychologists back on Earth had given the problem of a small crew living together for an extended period of time in a confined space a lot of thought. The psychologists had tried to identify what would allow them to function at the highest levels of competence possible without killing each other. None of the crew members were really aware of what solution had been designed for them.
"I wouldn't worry about it," James said.
There was a knock on the door to their room. Surprised at having a visitor, James said, "I'll get it."
A man wearing a rather impressive uniform was standing at the door when James opened it. Looking at James, the man said, "You and your wife were supposed to be taken directly to the ship. Pack up and be there in two hours."
"Who are you?" James asked thinking his uncle was playing a trick on him. The man at the door was dressed up like a glorified bell captain in a fancy hotel.
"I'm Captain Klein of the Starship Explorer."
"Really?" James asked looking skeptically at the Captain.
Captain Klein frowned at the question. He answered, "Yes, I am."
"Are you sure you're not the bell captain of this here space station?" James asked looking at the man. Being a civilian didn't mean that he wasn't familiar with military uniforms, but he didn't recognize this particular uniform. There wasn't a space navy and the ship had been built by an international consortium of companies. As far as he knew, this was a civilian mission.
Captain Klein's expression turned from a frown to a glare in a microsecond. The change in expression was sufficiently fast and angry that James began to doubt his original hypothesis concerning the identity of the man at his door. Captain Klein said, "If I didn't need your expertise I'd leave you here. Get your bags and get on the ship."
"Sorry, Captain. I thought my uncle was playing a joke on me," James said trying to undo the damage he had done.
"I don't have a sense of humor," Captain Klein said still glaring at James.
"Really? Then what's with the uniform?" James asked trying to make a joke. This was supposed to be a civilian operation and he wasn't aware that there had been any uniforms designed for the members of the bridge.
"This is my uniform from the Royal Navy of the Netherlands," Captain Klein answered. The vein in his forehead throbbed.
"I had no idea that hotel bell captains adopted the Dutch Royal Navy uniform as their costume," James said shaking his head in wonder. He turned to his wife and asked, "Did you know that?"
"Sir, you are insulting me," Captain Klein said.
Trying to prevent certain disaster, Ann said, "James, I don't think the Captain of a Starship appreciates being compared to a bell captain of a hotel."
"I'm not comparing him to a bell captain. I'm only talking about his costume," James said trying to adopt an innocent expression. When Ann rolled her eyes, he was pretty sure that his expression hadn't looked all that innocent.
"I am a Captain in the Royal Navy of the Netherlands. I have been given command of the Starship Explorer for the maiden voyage and, as Captain, I will wear my uniform," the Captain explained.
Rubbing his chin, James said, "I thought that this was a civilian mission."
"It is," Captain Klein said trying hard to keep control of his temper. He wondered how long he would tolerate this man on his ship before ejecting him out the airlock.
"Then why are you wearing a military uniform?" James asked. Ann was trying to get him to stop, but he thought it was a reasonable question considering the circumstances.
Barely restraining his anger, Captain Klein answered, "We are going into uncharted space. The United Nations felt that we should go prepared to defend ourselves in the event that we encounter hostile aliens. Furthermore, they felt that control of the weapons and fighters should be under the command of a member of the military."
"That makes sense. Now that I think about it, I believe that having you dressed up like that is going to bring an air of dignity to the bridge of our little space barge," James said with a smile. He hadn't realized that their ship would be armed.
"I run a tight ship and I will not tolerate any insubordination on the bridge. Do you understand me," Captain Klein said irritated that his ship was being called a barge. He hated working with civilians.
"I understand you and agree whole heartedly. I don't think you should tolerate any insubordination on the bridge either," James said nodding his head.
Ann nodded her head and said, "Captain Klein, when James is working he's all business. You don't have to worry about any problems from him on that matter."
Relaxing a little, the man said, "Good."
"I would like to help contribute to the dignity of the bridge myself, but I don't have a uniform. Do you think I should wear my Super- spaceman cape?"
Captain Klein stared at James recalling the video that had been playing on the station's television. He had watched the video concentrating more on the victim of the joke than on the perpetrator of the joke. Groaning, he said, "You're the joker who came on board the station wearing the cape!"
"That's right. I'm James Foster Kamp and this lovely lady here is my
wife, Ann. She has a cape too," James said gesturing to his wife.