OVER THE SILVER SKY TO THE WORLD OF NEVER : Part 225 - I Know I'm Being Childish.

Once again it's time to wield my hammer of logic to smash a supposedly wisdom filled aphorism into tiny bits. For this week only I'm doing 2 for the price of 1. I expect you've guessed the first one. Time heals all wounds. Of course it doesn't. try telling that to someone who's just had both their legs blown off. Some would say that isn't really what it means. It's referring to emotional wounds. Which is complete bullshit. That neatly ties into the second aphorism that I'm destroying. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Again a load of bollocks. Let me explain the logic for you. Knowledge gained over decades. What time does is allow people to forget. The pain lessens as time passes. This is not a good thing. It feeds into absence makes the heart grow fonder. Making a potent mix of shit. When I first left home to attend university I experienced true freedom for the first time. Over the years I came to miss my parents and they began to miss me. So when I graduated moving back home seemed a really good idea. Absence had made our hearts grow fonder. Time had healed wounds. Things were forgotten. For example my parents forgot I was a grown up. They began to treat me like a child again. Something they hadn't done before I left for college. I'd forgotten how awful it was living with my parents. They'd forgotten how annoying I was. I'd also picked up some more annoying habits, living away from home. The psychological wounds we'd inflicted on one another had "healed" over time merely by being forgotten. With me out of the way and not being a pain in the ass, my parents had remembered the few good things about me. In my absence they'd grown fonder of me and I of them. Never believe an aphorism is my advice.

(The copyright to this image is te property of Bergen Counseling Center.)

"What are these ground rules then?" Pip asked as she swung round taking everything in.
The docking bay was big. Largely empty, so he wondered what fascinated her. Unless it was simply the fact she was on a space ship for the first time. Everything was new to her. It was new to him to. Jake was a lot more jaded though.
"Don't mess with anything unless you check with Chiro or me. Scratch that, check with me before anything else. That and whatever happens in here stays in here. Got it?"
She saluted smartly, standing at attention.
"Yes sir." She hesitated. "Can I ask a personal question? Purely for clarification."
He shrugged.
"Go ahead. I might not answer."
"I know it's hard for you to remember all those lives you've lived. Impossible really. Only you said you'd not had children since before you met Daisy. Then you said you'd been married several times after that. So am I right in thinking you haven't had kids since that time?"
"I'm pretty sure that's what I said."
"Not exactly." Pip countered. "It was ambiguous and I thought you might be lying about the children you've had."
There was more to this than met the eye.
"Why is this so important all of a sudden?"
She avoided eye contact. Those baby blues assuming a completely innocent expression.
"I think you'd have made a good dad. That's all."
No it wasn't. There was more. Jake was sure of that. He'd leave it for now. Especially as she'd been complimenting him truthfully rather than bullshitting.
"I'm not sure I'd agree with you, but thanks anyway. I did what I thought was right. So any tips on what makes me a good father?"
"You really care. There's other stuff. You do things. You keep your promises. Unlike a lot of people."
That was an opening. He decided it was worth exploring.
"When you say a lot of people, there aren't many to choose from. Any chance you could be more precise?"
Still avoiding meeting his gaze she did give an answer.
"Pengelly was supposed to be organizing my birthday party. That's not happening is it. Other things keep getting in the way. Then there's the captain. She was in on the party.. I know I'm being childish. I feel like being childish."
He sighed.
"It's not childish. I've been where you are many times. Life gets in the way of things. When was your birthday?"
He remembered she'd turned 16 before the party was even an idea. Jake felt proud of that. He listened. Occasionally.
"Months ago. It's not a big deal. At least it wouldn't be if they hadn't been planning a surprise. Turns out the surprise is forgetting all about me."
"They haven't forgotten you. They have other things on their minds."
"Sure they do. Fucking. Please don't list all the other things. All that will do is show how low I come in their priorities." She looked him in the eyes. The heart to heart was over. "So, you going to show me around?"
He'd leave it for now. There'd be time, if what was going on back at the house was any indication. The visuals and the audio were playing out in his head. It wasn't as distracting as before. Either Chiro was getting somewhere or he was becoming better at blocking things. Ignoring was a better word. Like really loud music. It's there, you can hear it, but it's not the main focus of attention.
"I'll take you to the bridge. You can meet Chiro. In a way you've already met it. Chiro is the ship."
"Let's go then." Her enthusiasm wasn't faked. "Are we going to find little bits of the crew splattered all over the walls?"
"No. The ship was unmanned. Sent here to collect data. The Ustraski are peaceful so they aren't planning an invasion or anything nasty."
He started walking towards the elevator, Pip beside him.
"How are they getting it back to their universe?"
He would have to watch his mouth. This young woman was not stupid.
"Chiro didn't say. I expect it's top secret. The ship has been programmed to collect data. That's it. Remain here undetected. They must have some reason for it. Best not to pry. Chiro is being very cooperative right now. I don't want to do anything to change that. Not if I can help it."
Jake had gone on a bit too long there. He should have kept that shorter instead of vainly trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible. He didn't want Pip pulling at them though. His lies would swiftly unravel if they were examined too closely. They entered the lift.
"So how did you get aboard anyway? Or is it a Wanderer thing, buried deep in your multiple pasts."
That was the question he'd been dreading from the beginning, yet had chosen to ignore. Pip had provided the ideal rationale.
"It's beyond explanation I'm afraid. Like I said Chiro is here to observe only. For all I know it could have been waiting here for me." As it had been.
His heart almost stopped. Pip looked perplexed. Oh shit. She'd spotted a flaw he hadn't thought of.
"So you were here most of yesterday then? And nobody noticed you were gone. Not even me. I suppose I shouldn't be whining. I'm as bad as everybody else."
"Other things on your mind. Same number of people in the trike. You were up front with Fetu."
Damn. How would he know that? Before he could stammer an empty excuse he was saved. The elevator doors opened into the bridge. Pip gasped.
"Whoa. That is one panoramic view. You watched us leave? Must have I suppose. The resolution is fantastic. Can you zoom in?"
The swirling lights materialized. Another heart stopping moment. Chiro might give a full explanation of his capabilities. Boast about his microscopic vision. Though, because she wasn't linked to the ship like him, she wouldn't have the full effect, it was possible the craft could render those intervening obstacles transparent for her.
"Do you wish me to answer?" Chiro asked.
"Um... sure. No need to go into boring details. A simple yes or no will do without a full breakdown."
Would a machine understand that he only wanted it to answer yes or no to Pip's question?
"The main screen can be zoomed by up to 3 times. There are terminals where this can be increased up to 100 times. I can unlock one for you. It will only be visual light though. All other frequencies and audio are restricted. Do you wish me to unlock a terminal for your guest?"
That was a massive relief. He looked at Pip for the answer.
"Late maybe. I'd love to get another look at that penis. Although I expect a blind man could see it with his naked eye. Explains a lot of what the captain was screaming yesterday. And why she was screaming. I'll leave it for now. Can I review past recordings? He might not be coming out again."
Jake was laughing despite his concerns at the subject.
"If he couldn't see it he'd be able to feel its presence no doubt."
"Well she certainly did, judging by the noisy commentary she gave." She chuckled.
"Do you wish me to respond Wanderer?"
Of course that was it. The AI was stupid. Brilliant, but dumb as a stump. It had been told to accede to his wishes. That was all it could do. It couldn't extrapolate.
"That should be okay. Just run everything by me first. I wouldn't want Pip hurting herself or setting off some critical system."
"That would be virtually impossible. Historical visual data can be reviewed at will. The controls are self explanatory, but I will render them into your language if The Wanderer permits."
Jake assented. It would be something to keep her occupied. Despite the vast size of this craft he didn't know if there was enough inside to sustain her interest.
"There's a holographic suite on board. It's only got Ustraski material on it as far as I could tell. It's pretty comprehensive. Hundreds of different planets. You could browse those when you feel like it."
"That'd be cool. I've got some things on my firewave. Could they be uploaded and played?"
Again Chiro needed Jake's permission to reply, before it confirmed this was possible.
"Do you need me on the bridge?" Jake inquired of the AI.
"Your presence aboard is sufficient for my purposes."
Oops again. She might ask what those purposes were.
"Come on then." Pip took his hand. "Let's take a quick look round. You can show me where the hologram deck is."
Phew. Safe. For now at least. He'd have to come up with something in case she did get curious.
"Okay." He acceded. "It's not going to be quick though. This thing has a floor area of well over two square kilometers and a volume of 18 million cubic meters. It's pretty big. It would take a month to have a complete look round I imagine."
he could see her working that out as they entered the lift for the second time.
"So the captain didn't know what she was talking about. Got everything wrong."
The way she seemed to relish that disturbed him.
"To be fair she did say she wasn't an expert and she'd never seen an Ustraski ship of this design before. Making it clear her conclusions were an educated guess."
Pip huffed.
"She was wrong and she couldn't get on board. You did. She told them to dig down in entirely the wrong place as well. There's no way Taini and Ydrie will find their way in, inside the next hundred years. What do you say to leaving them a note, for if they ever do?"
"That's not happening. We'll remove any trace we were here before we leave. That's another ground rule. Oh and in case you decide to prank them I will be able to tell where you are and what you're doing every second you're aboard. I'll tell Chiro to keep an eye on you to make sure."
He'd almost overplayed his hand again. lying didn't come naturally to him. Not in cases like this. The social lies were no problem. The important ones were.