When Lisa Hill awoke, Derek was not with her. She looked over the edge of the bunk to see if he had fallen to the floor or something equally ridiculous, but he was not in the room. Her watch told her she had been asleep about one hour, and she wondered why and where he had gone. A brief sense of concern--perhaps jealousy--crossed her mind. She thought of what had happened in the shower with Sharon, and feared he might have gone to her to let her finish what she had started. She had wanted to kick Sharon's butt. And if not for the fact that Derek had stopped Sharon, she just might have done so--if not in the shower, then eventually. But she now realized that Sharon did not know about her relationship with Derek. And Derek had shown amazing strength when he stopped her from performing one of the most pleasurable sex acts a man could experience. Sharon was nothing if she was not sexually desirable. And Derek had said no!

She stared at the underside of the cabinets over her bunk, not really looking. Derek was a strange one. Despite his clumsiness, and his lack of experience in space, he had an inner strength that he seemed intent on hiding. But she could see it. Perhaps, she thought, that was why she was so attracted to him. He was good-looking enough, but not exceptionally so--and it wouldn't hurt if he spent some time on the exercise machines. There was something about his manner, too. The way he looked at things, and people; it was like he was absorbing every bit of information that came his way--cataloging and storing it away for future reference. No doubt he was an extremely intelligent and perceptive man. The way he was able to see into her, and know her thoughts--sometimes before she did--amazed her. And he was so kind and sensitive. He seemed to be genuinely concerned about her feelings and wants. Even when she was feeling hurt and angry at him in the spinner, she knew he was doing what he felt best for her. Then there was sex. She desired him. It was not concupiscence, at least not solely. It was spiritual as well as physical. She wanted--needed--to make love with him, not just masturbate with him.

Intelligent, perceptive, desirable, and caring--that was Derek Wiley.

And Derek Wiley would be her man, whether he knew it or not. That much she had firmly decided. She was not sure who he was, or even if that was his real name. But she knew what he was. He was the man she had been waiting for--longing for--all her life. And now that he was here, there was no way that he was going to get away from her. She was in love with him, totally, utterly. And this was the first time in her life she had had such feelings.

And if her suspicions about him were true, she had every intention to be with him when it happened.

She slipped off the bunk and did a few muscle stretching exercises. She was not sure what she was about to do. Mess was not until an hour from now, and she didn't feel like staying in her quarters. Her impulse was to find Derek. But she suspected he wanted to be alone. She thought of working out in the exercise room, but she would just get hot and sweaty and end up in the way when the even-shift crew hit the showers. What she really needed was to talk to someone, if only about nothing. Even the crusty Captain Hicks would do, if no one else was available.

She opened the narrow door of her compartment--or coffin, as some of the crew were fond of calling it--and stepped into the hallway. She looked both ways before deciding to head for the commons. As she proceeded, she heard a muffled sound, much like a groan. She stopped and saw she was standing in front of Sharon's quarters.

"Sharon?" she called, leaning against the door. "Are you all right?"

Sharon did not answer, so she unlatched the door and went in. Sharon was lying on her bunk holding her stomach, grimacing.

"What's wrong, Sharon?"

"Got stomach cramps, really bad."

"Are you having your period?"

"No. Don't know what's causing it. I just woke up with'em."

"Maybe it's the accident. Your pod was spinning pretty fast."

"Could be. But I experienced worst than that in training, and didn't get sick."

"That's true," Lisa said. "You better go see Doc."

"Yeah."

Lisa helped her down from the bunk.

"You're trembling, Sharon."

"I know. I feel so weak, like I'm gonna pass out."

"Well, let me help you get to the infirmary. Maybe you banged your head or something, and don't know about it."

They started for the door, and Sharon stopped them.

"Got to throw up," Sharon said. She went and regurgitated into the small basin. Lisa saw a trickle of blood flowing down her neck.

"You're bleeding," Lisa said.

"Huh? Where?"

"Your neck." Lisa examined the small puncture wounds. She took the wet washcloth lying next to the basin, and dabbed at the wounds.

"Ouch!" Sharon cried.

"Sorry. You've got two wounds about four centimeters apart. I don't know what in the pod could have done this, but something got you. I guess with all the excitement, you didn't notice it, and neither did anyone else. Think you can make it? Or should I call Doc here?"

"I can make it, I think. He'll just have me come down anyway. You know Doc."

"Yeah. Well, let's go."

Lisa helped her through the commons and to the ladder that led to the second level. The second level of a Newton class ship was where all the repair facilities were located. Whether the thing that needed fixing was a person, a machine, an esuit, or whatever, level two was where you went. The infirmary was located at the front of the ship, presumably to distance it from the sound of the thrusters and generators.

When they arrived, Lisa was carrying Sharon in her arms. She waited for the sensor to open the sliding door, and then entered.

"Hey, Doc?" Lisa called.

"Hang on. I'll be right there."

Doc's voice came from another room, his office. The main room was small--just large enough for five beds, two examination cubicles, and assorted medical equipment. Roy was in one of the beds, his head bandaged. He was unconscious and attached to a machine.

Doc came to the door of his office. He looked at Lisa and her charge.

"Well, don't just stand there. Put her on the table," he said.

Lisa did as she was told. "She passed out on the way here. She was complaining of stomach cramps and she threw up, and she's got some puncture wounds on her neck."

"She should've reported to me as soon as she got back," Doc said.

"She didn't think she was hurt."

"Doesn't matter."

Doc was old for a spacer. Most guessed he was in his fifties, but all knew better than to say that to his face. His graying hair and white beard belied his attempts at claiming he was younger. He was a short-tempered, brusquely sort of man, and conversation with him was not considered a good time. But despite his sharp tongue and bad moods, he was respected by all spacers he had served with. Doc was a doctor first, and a SOB second. He was known to go to great extremes to save a spacer's life, even staying awake for days at a time if needed. And if he did lose a patient, he acted like it was a personal loss. He was a man with a good heart, but bad bedside manner.

He examined her wounds. "Hmm . . . tiny little pricks. And right on her jugular, too. Any larger and she might have bled to death."

Doc disinfected the area and applied a bandage. He then took a medscanner and placed it on her chest. He looked at the display, befuddled.

"What is it, Doc?" Lisa asked.

He looked at her. "Where did you find her?"

"In her quarters."

"Has she been any place else?"

"Not that I know of. We showered when we got back after the accident--she seemed fine then. Afterward she went to her quarters."

"Was there any blood?"

"On her neck."

"No, girl, I mean in her room, on her bunk. Was there a lot of blood?"

"I didn't see anything like that. Why do you ask?"

"The medscanner says she's about two liters short of the blood volume required for her weight."

"Where did it go?" Lisa asked.

"Now how should I know? You went through this whole thing with her. You tell me."

"There was a little blood splattered in the pod, but not much, certainly not two liters. We assumed that came from Roy."

"Probably did. He's got a good size gash on his forehead. But he didn't bleed very much. It was a clean cut that coagulated quickly."

"How is he?"

"He'll be okay. He's got a fractured skull but no evidence of serious concussion. He'll be in bed for a week, at least."

"I'm glad he's okay."

"You said she threw up. Any blood then?"

"Not that I saw."

Doc adjusted the controls on the medscanner. "No sign of internal injuries. She's got some bruises and those pricks on her neck, but otherwise she's in perfect condition. No reason to have a blood loss. Can't figure this one."

"Will she be okay?"

"Yeah. I'll have to give her an infusion of blood to replace what she's lost, but she'll be good as new in a couple of days."

"Thank God."

"Here's something," Doc said as he studied the medscanner. "She's had sex recently. Do you know who with?"

Lisa felt herself stiffen.

"How recently?"

"Within the last couple of hours, judging from the hormonal activity present."

Her heart sank.

"I've no idea."

"Well, I'll ask her when she wakes up."

"I gotta go, Doc," she said, anxiously.

He looked at her. "Look around, will you. If you find anything, let me know."

"I will, Doc."

She left the infirmary. In the hallway she leaned against the bulkhead and tried to calm her agitated mind. It couldn't be Derek, she thought. It just couldn't be. But someone had had sex with Sharon. And any normal man would be stumbling all over himself to get back to her, after what she had offered in the shower. But Derek wasn't normal, was he? Derek may not be exactly normal, but he wasn't abnormal either. The way he had looked at her--and Sharon--in the shower showed he had a healthy interest in women. Damn, she thought, if he had sex with Sharon, she would bash his brains in. And that slut, Sharon--she didn't care if she lived or died.

Lisa took a deep breath, and tears formed in her eyes. But she would not cry. She would not let them do this to her. She didn't want it to be Derek that had sex with Sharon. But all logic pointed to him. There were other men on board at the time, of course, but none that Sharon had a relationship with, at least that she knew of, and few secrets existed aboard the Newton 6. It had to be Derek.

She went to her quarters, and despite her determination not to, had a good cry.

Lisa and Derek were three hours into their shift, and she just couldn't stand it anymore. Derek had not shown up for mess before sleep time, and she didn't see him again until he crawled into their pod. She was convinced that he had been avoiding her, and that convinced her that he and Sharon had had sex. And then his cheerful mood, and his acting like he was so glad to see her, had just made it worse. He had tried to chat with her about this and that, but she was too depressed to engage in lively conversation, although she did try; she didn't want him to have the satisfaction of knowing she was jealous. Eventually, they had adopted a business-like tone as they worked, and she could sense that he knew something was wrong.

"Was it good, Derek?" she finally asked.

"Was what good?"

"You and Sharon."

"Me and Sharon what?" His tone expressed innocence, but not very convincing.

"In her room," she said. She was not looking at him, keeping her eyes on the console display, but she followed the inflections of his voice carefully.

He seemed startled. "I was never in her room. What are you talking about?"

"Oh come off it, Derek! I know you and Sharon had sex. And right after you and I were together."

Derek was silent for a moment. "I did not have sex with Sharon, and I did not go to her room." His voice was calm and steady, unreadable.

"Yeah, right."

"What's with you, Lisa? Why do you think I had sex with her?"

"Because I had to take her to the infirmary. She was sick, and Doc said she'd had sex within the hour. That's right after you sneaked out of my quarters, leaving me alone."

"And you consider that proof?"

"Yes! Well . . . no. I don't know." She started to cry.

Derek tried to brush a tear from her cheek, but she turned her head away from him.

"Did Sharon say we had sex?" he asked.

"No. I haven't ask her. I haven't seen her since I took her to the infirmary."

"Lisa, listen to me. I won't deny that Sharon is a very attractive woman. And if it was not for my feelings for you, I might have gone to her. But the fact is, nothing has happened between Sharon and me. And nothing will happen. Please believe that."

She looked at him, and there was that depth, that intensity of being--the mystery--that made her want him so bad.

"Where did you go when you left me?"

"I went to my quarters. I had some work to do. I'm a spy, remember?"

"And that's all you did?"

"For a while. Later on I slept."

"You didn't come to mess."

"I was still working. And I wasn't hungry anyway. All the excitement was a bit much for me. You know how us landlubbers are."

Lisa could not stop herself from smiling at this.

"I want to believe you," she said, looking away.

"Then believe," he insisted.

"Am I being a fool?"

"You are no fool. You are a very intelligent and beautiful woman. I'm flattered that you feel so concerned about me. But I don't want you to hurt. You've just let your imagination get the best of you, that's all."

They remained silent for several moments.

"Would you kiss me?" she finally asked.

Derek leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"That's not what I meant," she said, turning to him.

He kissed her affectionately, and she returned in kind.

"That's what I meant," she said, smiling. "Maybe I'm being a fool now, but I believe you."

"Like I said, you are no fool."

"I love you, Derek."

She waited for him to return the sentiment, but he did not. But that was the way he was. He was not ready to profess love. Whatever he was, he was a good man. And she knew he loved her, even if he didn't know it yet. The time would come; she could feel it.

They moved to the next sector, and Lisa locked the pod into the torsion field. They were near the stern of the Forever and a huge thruster collimator loomed to their right, making the pod look like a speck of dust. Lisa was amazed at the size of the thing. You could fit a thousand Newton class ships inside one collimator alone, and the Forever had six of them.

"This doesn't look good," Derek said.

"What?"

"The way the torsion field is fluctuating."

She looked at the display. "Those readings are within normal parameters."

"True. It's not the values that bother me, but rather the way they are changing. I've seen this before. You better disengage us from the field."

She broke the connection and backed the pod to safe distance. Derek maintained the link with the transponders and continued to study the display.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"It means this torsion field may go unbalanced at any time."

"But, how can you tell?"

"How much do you know about torsion field theory?" he asked.

"Not much. I just think of it as two energy fields trying to twist in opposite directions until they are balanced against one another. And that when balance is achieved, you have a deflector shield."

"That's correct. And you also know that a perfect balance between the two fields is never obtained. There's always some give and take between the fields. One gains and the other gives, then they reverse. Random patterns are the most stable, since they statistically cancel out. And certain regular or rhythmic fluctuations are known to be stable. Other patterns are not stable, and this is one of them."

"But why didn't the computer flag it?"

"It doesn't know about this one. It's only recently been discovered."

"You can identify it by looking at the numbers change?" she asked.

"Yes. I've spent many hours studying both stable and unstable patterns. It's like tuning a guitar. You know when it's tuned correctly by the way the strings sound. And this does not sound right."

Derek sent the signal that would kill the torsion field generators for this sector.

"I'm going to have to study this one more closely," he continued. "So far this pattern has only occurred in computer simulations. Now here's a real live one. I'll need all the data I can gather. And that means getting right up next to the deflector rods. I'll come out after our shift on a spacerider."

"You? On a spacerider?" She almost laughed.

"It won't be fun. But we didn't expect this pattern to occur naturally. I've got to find out why. And that has to be done before the generators are tweaked to get rid of the pattern."

"Want me to come with you?"

"That won't be necessary. I'll just be taking a lot of boring measurements, like the shape and orientation of the deflector rods--stuff like that. I'll be fine by myself."

And so it starts, she thought, gazing at him.

They sat in Captain Hicks office. His office was at the bow of the Newton 6 and the metacrystal window behind him was almost as large as those in the commons. Millions of stars could be seen beyond the limb of the Forever.

"You want to do what?" Hicks asked.

"I've got to," Derek said. "This pattern was not expected to occur. I've got to determine why. And that means taking very precise measurements of the deflector rods and the attenuators, and the even the variations in the hull plates and metaceramic density."

"I can't allow it."

"But you've got to."

"I don't got to do anything but follow regulations. It's too dangerous. Request denied."

Lisa looked at Derek and could see the agitation in his face.

"When my company learns that I was not allowed to gather data, they'll be very upset. They'll complain to the WG, and then the WG will come down on your superiors, and--"

"Is that a threat, Mr. Wiley?"

"Not at all. Just a statement of fact."

Hicks glared at him. "Let me tell you something, landlubber. The WG is more concerned about launching the Forever on time, than your torsion field theories. My job is to see that external systems are functional, and that is all. I'm not going to risk your life or anyone else's pursuing some weird anomaly you think you have discovered. So don't give me your threats."

Derek started to speak, but Hicks interrupted.

"Enough of this. Get out of here!"

Lisa rose and Derek reluctantly followed. They left Hick's office and walked down the corridor.

"I'm sorry, Derek," Lisa said. "Hicks can be pretty hard-nosed about things. I should've known he would deny your request. He's strictly by-the-book."

"It's not your fault. Hicks is an asshole."

"What are you going to do?"

"Report what I know to my company. We've got simulation data. Maybe we can recreate the pattern in a lab. At least now we know the pattern exists in the field, and not just in theory."

"What company do you work for, anyway?"

He hesitated--almost imperceptibly--before he answered. "Field Dynamics. We do research and consulting on the dynamics of field theory, thus the name. As you might guess, most of our contracts right now are with the WG. The construction of the Forever has been a real boon for us."

"Must be pretty exciting--I mean, working on the cutting edge of technology and theory."

"Well, if you consider sitting around with a bunch of eggheads, and arguing over mathematical proofs that would fill the side of the WG capitol building, exciting. Then, yes it is."

"You're one those eggheads, aren't you? You're pretty exciting!"

He smiled at her. "That's chemistry, my dear. Not field theory."

They both laughed.

As they neared the turnoff, Doc could be seen coming their way.

"How's Sharon?" Lisa asked as he passed them.

"Fine, just fine," he answered, not looking at them. But then he stopped and turned to face Lisa. "Sharon claims that she hasn't had sex for a couple of weeks, despite what the medscanner reports. What do you make of that?"

"I don't know," Lisa said. "Maybe the medscanner is malfunctioning."

"I checked that. There's nothing wrong with it."

"Then what?"

"She's been raped, and either she doesn't want to admit it, or she doesn't remember." Doc turned and headed for Hick's office.

"Shit," Lisa said. "Now there's going to be an investigation."

Derek had a concerned look on his face. But she didn't think it was because he raped her, but rather because an investigation would get in the way of his plans.

They made their way to the messhall and sat opposite each other at the end of one of the long tables. The windowless hall was only half full and this position afforded them some privacy. The food served aboard a Newton class ship was not exactly delicious. But it was good, healthy food. Derek seemed to like it. He was gobbling it down like he didn't expect to eat for a week.

"Let me guess. You're hungry, right?" she said.

"Huh?" he said, his mouth full. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to ignore you."

"I don't feel ignored." She smiled at him.

She poked at the food on her tray. She was too nervous to have much appetite. Too much was happening--or about to happen. Her life was coming to a major turning point, and all because of a man she had known less than two days. She was in love with him--but it was more than that. It was what he was, and what he was about to do. And she wanted more than anything to be a part of it--a part of him--the best of two worlds combined. But if she was wrong about him, if she had misjudged him even the slightest bit, her life would be ruined. Her career in space would be over. The WG would bar her from space, and she would be forever trapped on that hellhole called Earth. She was risking everything, even her life, over a man with secret plans she could only guess at. And she was not sure why she was willing to take such a chance. Logically it was pure foolishness. Nevertheless, she had made her decision and she knew she would stick to it. It was like he had some kind of power over her; as if he had entered her mind and rearranged her thoughts. Here she was, the strong, self-reliant, independent, do-things-my-way spacer about to throw her whole life into what could at best be described as an exceptionally iffy unknown, and wholly because of a man she should hardly know.

"Derek?"

"Yes?"

"I need to ask you something. And I want an honest answer, okay?"

"Okay, I think. What is it?" He seemed concerned.

"Do you love me?"

He studied her, and she thought she could see an expression of relief on his face.

"I think so." he said finally.

"You think so?"

"Well, it's like the saying goes, you are what you think. I think I love you, so it must be true."

"I need to hear you say it."

He looked into her eyes and she felt a tingle run up her spine. He was doing it again.

"I love you, Lisa."

She beamed at him. If her smile had been any broader, she might have split her face.

"Good!" she said.

She turned to her food and ate. Some of her appetite had returned, and besides, she was not sure when she might eat again.

They stood at the door of Derek's quarters. It was sleep time, but she knew he would not invite her in. He seemed a little confused. How do you get rid of someone to whom you just professed love?

"I know," she said. "You've got things to do."

"Yeah, spy stuff. And, of course, I can't have you looking over my shoulder. It's against government regulations."

"Well, does the government mind if you kiss me good night?"

"Section thirty-seven, paragraph sixteen, of the Spy Handbook explicitly prohibits spies from kissing their suspects. But I won't tell, if you won't."

She grinned at him, and loved him all the more for his humor. "I won't tell."

They kissed and then embraced. She sensed that he felt it was the last time he would see her. But she knew better. He stepped back from her, caressed her cheek, and entered his room. She saw a look of sadness in his face.

Lisa did not go to her quarters. Instead she went through the commons, acting as nonchalant as she knew how, and climbed the ladder down to the launch level. She surveyed the area. No one was present, which was lucky. Next shift would not be leaving for another hour, and if she had things figured right, Derek would be here long before then.

She went to a pod and opened the outer airlock door. She selected an esuit and pulled it out. The damn thing was heavy in normal gravity. She hauled the esuit to the rear of the room, and hit the button that would open the loading dock door. It seemed that the esuit was getting heavier, but she didn't have time for a nap. The loading dock was more like a garage than a receiving point. Objects that didn't seem to have anywhere else to go tended to collect here. But as long as there was enough room to haul things in and out, no one minded. Five thrustersleds were attached to a far wall, and that was what was important. Some food barrels that had not yet been hauled up to the galley occupied one corner, magnetically coupled to the bay floor. That would be her hiding place.

The controls for the loading dock were located next to the entrance. The dock had an independent gravity system to facilitate loading supplies. She set the controls for one-half gee to make the esuit easier to put on. Once on, she latched the esuit helmet down securely and activated the environment systems. The holodisplay reported the power-on diagnostics. All systems were normal. She then switched the esuit off and unlatched the helmet; no sense in wasting the batteries and air supply. Feeling a little like a circus fat lady, she laboriously walked toward the food barrels. There was just enough room for her to slide down behind the barrels out of sight.

She waited. If she had Derek figured right, he should be along any time now lugging an esuit. Except he wouldn't join her behind the barrels, which admittedly was not a very reasonable activity for an adult to engage in. If her theory was wrong and someone discovered her here, she would look pretty silly. Instead, Derek would mount a thrustersled and rocket to the Forever.

Five minutes passed. Then ten minutes. Time goes slow when one's future is about to unfold, and she began to doubt herself.

But then the entrance to the loading dock opened, and Derek entered to prove her theory correct.

It was the reeling that brought him back to consciousness.

The Forever, and the rest of the universe, was spinning about him at a rate almost too fast to follow with the eye. He was close to the thrusters--close enough that the outside surface of the huge collimator would have seemed flat, had he been able to focus long enough.

The holodisplay of his esuit helmet showed disconnect from the thrustersled control system. He tried the controls, but got no response. A red warning light was frantically blinking on the thrustersled control panel. It was out of control--its stabilizers inoperative. Forrest realized he must have struck a deflector field, and that he was now whirling helplessly. A Guardian or Newton ship might notice him; but he was a speck of sand on a very large beach, easily confused with the tiny meteoroids that liked to collect at the L-2 point. No one would pay much attention to a small rock flying away from the Forever, since her deflectors were designed to produce exactly this effect.

Of course, he could radio for help. His presence here would be easy enough to explain; he could say he was determined to examine the torsion field anomaly he had concocted, despite Hick's refusal to grant permission. But then he would be confined to the Newton 6, and very likely found out. It was his semen that would be found inside of Sharon. And if Doc got a hold of him . . .

He tried to think of a solution--while fighting the encroaching space sickness--but nothing came to mind. It seemed that he would spin forever, until the esuit ran out of oxygen or its batteries died. And his corpse would become just another crumb of cosmic dust caught in the gravitational balance of L-2. In a way the spinning helped; it made thinking more difficult, made resignation to his fate easier.

But then Forrest felt his momentum shift. Something--someone--was trying to stop his rotation. He could feel something, perhaps a tether line, wrapping itself around him like fishing line to a reel. He could sense his rotation slowing moderately, and then there was a sudden impact as the line became taut. If it had been possible, Forrest's body would have continued to spin inside the esuit, but instead it felt his brain had been scrambled when his momentum was absorbed. Maybe his brain did spin around a few times; it certainly felt like it.

It took several seconds for his vision to return to normal. He saw that he was still turning, but much more slowly, and in the opposite direction. Another thrustersled was up against his, its occupant attaching the two sleds together with clamps. He couldn't see the other's face; the helmet light had apparently been knocked out by the impact. Whoever it was, he or she had saved his life, and for that he was grateful--he did not really want to become a meteoroid. When they got back to the Newton 6, he would have to use his powers to gain control of the situation. This would be more dangerous than his original plan, but it was his only option.

He felt the jolt as the other rider fired the thrusters. They did not head for the Newton 6 as he expected. He had assumed his rescuer had been sent to retrieve him when his illegal departure from the Newton 6 had been discovered. Instead, their trajectory was taking them to his original target--the Forever.

The massive collimator loomed before them like a small planet. The distant light reflected from the Earth was in turn reflected off the collimator and illuminated his rescuer. Those big, beautiful, brown eyes were unmistakable.

What th' hell did she think she was doing? He was certainly glad she was here; he might have spent eternity as a frozen slab of meat, if not for her. But she should be taking him back to the Newton 6, for her own best interests. If she was taking him to the Forever because she had guessed his plans--and intended to be a part of them--then she was in serious trouble. She could not know the whole story. She did not attempt radio communication with him, and he maintained radio silence for the same reasons. Neither of them wanted to be discovered.

She adroitly guided the thrustersleds to within thirty meters of the hatch. She then fired the braking thrusters--her sled's stabilizers preventing them from rotating about their common center of mass. She motioned to him, and he realized she was waiting for him to kill the torsion field. His transmitter was not working, so he had to reach over and enter the code on her sled's control pad. The computers within the Forever would note the cancellation of the deflector shield, but an alarm would not be triggered since the Newton crews would be expected to cancel fields from time to time. The display signaled success, and she gently punched the aft thrusters, propelling them slowly to the entry point. The area around the hatch was not shielded with the metaceramic material, and her thrustersled magnetically attached itself to the hull. Forrest unstrapped himself from his disabled sled, untangled himself from the tether line, and crawled over her while maintaining a firm grip, until he reached the access panel next to the hatch.

He could not directly enter the access code that would open the hatch, since that would trigger an alarm subroutine within the computers. Instead he entered a sequence that would activate backdoor code--code he had put there himself months ago for testing purposes--and allow the standard access sequence to be entered without alarming the ship's computers.

The hatch rolled back, and he entered the airlock. Lisa unstrapped herself, and taking the gloved hand he offered, was pulled in beside him. Forrest then reached out of the opening and detached the cargo box from his thrustersled and placed it on the floor beside him. It stayed put, held down by the Forever's agrav generators. He then disengaged her sled, and heaved it out and away from the hull. The two sleds sluggishly departed into that space where the torsion field would destroy them when reactivated. He closed the hatch, and hit two buttons on the inside control panel--one to activate the deflector, another to pressurize the airlock.

The ready light came on, and they unlatched their helmets and removed them.

"What in hell are you doing here, Lisa?" he said, angrily.

She gave him an unruffled stare. "I told you I was coming with you, remember?"

"You don't know what you are doing!"

"Yes I do. I'm going with you to the stars."

"What? You're living in a fantasy! You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

Lisa maintained her calm. "I may not know exactly what you plan to do, but I know you will be taking the Forever to the stars--what else could you do with her? And I intend to go with you."

Forrest began removing his esuit, and she did the same.

"I am not what I seem," he said, his voice less harsh.

"I've known that for some time now. I detected the colored lenses in your eyes when we were talking in the spinner. And I never believed your story about being a government agent."

"Lisa, I am not even human."

"I suspected you might be a genoclone--"

"Not even close."

"Well, whatever you are, you are human in part. Derek, a spacer's life depends on her ability to judge and assess the people she works with. Whatever else you may be, you are not an evil man. You are a kind, compassionate, caring person. And you have a depth of character that other people can only dream about. Whatever it is you have planned, no matter that it goes against the WG, it cannot be of wrong intent. You have a purpose, and that purpose can only be good."

Forrest went and sat on the bench against the side wall of the airlock, and Lisa came and sat beside him.

"I cannot send you back," he said.

"I don't want to go back. Derek, I applied many times for a crew position on the Forever, and every time I was rejected. It broke my heart. But then you came along. I fell in love with you almost immediately, and when I realized what you were up to, I knew what I must do."

He took her hand in his. "You are right, I am part human. And I do care about you. If there was a way for me to send you back, I would do so, no matter what you want."

"You would find that very difficult."

"The human part of me, perhaps. But the non-human part could control you easily. You have no idea what you're up against here. There are others--"

"Like you?"

"No! Not like me. They are not human at all. And they would kill you without a second thought."

She looked confused. "Why would you join forces with people, or whatever they are, that are capable of such acts?"

"That is a long, complex story, and I don't have time to explain it now. But trust me when I tell you that your life is in danger. You must do exactly as I tell you, if you want to live. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"You will do as I say? I don't won't to use mind control on you. But I will if I have too."

"I will do as you say."

Forrest studied her. She had tricked him once. Might she do it again?

"Your life depends on it. There is much you do not know."

"Derek, I will do exactly as you tell me. I trust you completely!"

"Okay."

He stood and opened the inner airlock door.

"You will see me do things--things you will not want to believe," he said. "It will be the non-human part of me in action, but you must not react; you must remain calm and do as I say, no matter how alien I may seem at times."

"I understand." She seemed less sure of herself, and Forrest felt badly for what she was about to experience.

He went to the cargo box he had removed from his thrustersled and opened it. He took out the memory cube that held a copy of Serp and secured it in an inner pocket of his jumpsuit. He then removed the blaster and the extra nuke cells, attaching the holster to his side. The gauge on the blaster indicated full charge.

"We've got to hide the esuits," he said.

They dragged the esuits out of the airlock--the Forever's artificial gravity was Earth normal--and located a storage compartment in the adjacent room. The room was large for a spaceship, but then the Forever was a gigantic spaceship. Several dozen esuits of a more sophisticated design than the Newton variety hung on the walls. As they pushed the esuits into their hiding place, the radio of Lisa's esuit activated. A female was be heard.

"Lisa? This is Sharon. Can you hear me? Please respond." There was urgency in her voice. "Lisa, I know you feel you must maintain radio silence. But please listen to me. You are making a mistake. It was Derek, Lisa. It was Derek that raped me. And he drank my blood! That's what the puncture wounds on my neck were about. He drank my blood. He is not what he seems to be. Please, Lisa, as one spacer to another, I am telling you the truth. Derek raped me, and then he drank my blood. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it is true. He blanked my mind somehow, so I couldn't remember. But Doc was able to get me to remember."

Forrest heard Lisa emit an audible gasp.

"Please answer me, Lisa," Sharon continued. "Please, Lisa, your life is in danger!"

"Answer her," Forrest said. "Tell her you want to be picked up."

Lisa stared at him, a look of disbelief on her face. She did nothing until Forrest pointed to her esuit and gave her a demanding look. She bent over and spoke into the mouthpiece.

"Sharon, I hear you," she said, her voice shaking. "Can you come and get me?"

"Oh, Lisa. Thank God! Yes! We have a retriever ready to launch, but we don't know your location--"

Forrest killed the radio. That was all he wanted to know. Lisa stood up and regarded him. Her expression betrayed a mixture of fear and confusion. But Forrest was paying her little mind now. The security force aboard the Forever would have been alerted, and that made his task considerably more difficult.

"You raped her?" Lisa said. Despite her fear, her voice had the intended coldness.

"It was not rape. She consented to have sex with me."

"She says it was rape!"

"That's the way she remembers it. But she did consent."

"Because you controlled her mind?"

"No! I would have, had it been necessary. But it was not; she wanted it. You saw her in the shower."

"That was the shower, and her emotions were high--" Lisa started, but then changed the subject. "What does she mean by drinking her blood? She had lost two liters. You drank that from her?"

"Yes."

She started crying. "Why? Why would you do something like that? It's sickening."

Forrest held her arms. She tried to withdraw, but he wouldn't let her move.

"I don't have time to explain now. Just remember that it was the non-human part of me that drank her blood. And the non-human that had sex with her."

"The others with you, they drink blood, too?"

"Yes."

She was crying profusely. "Oh my God. What have I done? I've given up everything, my career, my life. And all because of a man who I loved, and thought he loved me. How could I be such a fool?"

"Listen to me, Lisa. Listen carefully. The feelings that developed between us are real. I know that's hard to accept considering what you've just learned. But I do care about you. And now I must protect you. But for me to do that, you must do as I say. You must trust me. If guards spot us, they will shoot to kill, no questions asked."

"I don't know," she cried.

"We must move now, Lisa! There is little time. If you cannot make a decision, then I will have to control your mind. I don't want to do that--ever. But if I have to, to save your life, I will. I am placing my trust in you. I ask that you trust me. What will it be?"

She looked at him, her eyes full of tears. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Not really. Now follow me."

Forrest took his blaster out of its holster, and with Lisa behind him, stood beside the door that led to the adjacent engineering station. He hit the sensor that opened the door and waited. He heard no sounds, and peered around the door. The room was vacant. There were hundreds of similar stations located around the Forever, and all were automated, only occasionally requiring the intervention of human operators. The odds had been good that this one would be vacant.

A moving security camera caught his eye, and he hit it with his blaster. The camera instantly disappeared in a cloud of atomic plasma. The blaster, despite its name, made little noise. He entered the room, and Lisa followed. He went to the main control console and activated the holoscreen. The display immediately drew 3-D graphs and alphanumeric readings detailing hundreds of operational parameters for this section of the ship. He entered a code that would put the console in standby mode. The display blanked. Forrest then removed the front panel of the machine, and removed the memory cube located in the single read/write receptacle. He replaced it with the blue memory cube he had brought with him. He set the write protect switch on.

"What are you doing?" Lisa asked.

"Uploading new code into the computers."

When he reactivated the display, it reported an error condition, since it could no longer write to its local memory. Forrest quickly entered another backdoor that would give him privileged access to the lowest level routines of the computer. The machine did not ask for a password or other access code. It was oblivious to the fact that its lowest level functions were being accessed from a terminal that had no business making such access. The holoscreen listed a short menu, and he selected "Kernel Update." The machine then asked if the update would be "Replacement" or "Supplemental." He selected the second item. When asked for the address, he selected "Best Fit." The computer then displayed "Ready to Upload." Forrest hit the Execute key, and watched as the segment addresses were drawn to the screen too fast to read. With the direct link of the console, the upload would take about ten minutes.

He stared at the display and waited. Someone could be heard coming down the corridor to their right.

"Get down on the floor, Lisa," he whispered.

She did as told. Forrest made his eyes glow, and watched for the heat waves preceding the approaching guard. When the man was in line of fire, Forrest pulled the trigger on the blaster and a precise circular-shaped cavity fifteen centimeters across suddenly appeared through the center of his chest. The guard stared at him a moment, stunned. Then blood and unsupported organs began to fill the vacant space in his chest. He fell to the floor, dead. A white-hot circular patch was smoking on the wall just behind where the guard had stood, heated by the impact of the ion collisions.

"My God!" Lisa said, as she got up off the floor. "You killed him."

"He would have killed both of us. You knew, or guessed, I planned to skyjack the Forever. Did you think there would be no killing?"

"I don't think I thought about it." She stared into his red, glowing eyes.

Forrest went to the dead guard and pried the blaster from his fingers. It was a standard issue blaster, not unlike the one Forrest had. He gave the blaster to Lisa.

"Do you know how to use this?"

She looked at him, confused. "Yes, it's part of the training. But how do you know I won't use it on you?"

"I'm asking you to trust me. That trust would not have much meaning if I did not trust you in return. It is my intention that you survive. You will need the blaster to protect yourself."

He turned from her and faced the console display. He watched the heat waves emanating from her body, but saw no indication that she had raised the blaster.

"I cannot kill you, Derek. I guess you know that," she said.

"Yes, I do."

"Why are your eyes red?"

"Infrared vision. I can see in the dark as well as detect heat sources. It's a defense mechanism."

"What are you?"

"I will explain all to you later, when we have the time."

She came to his side and watched the holoscreen with him. "You are reprogramming the ship's computers?"

"Adding new code that will override the existing code while still letting it run its normal functions."

"Like a virus?"

"Similar, but this is no virus. This code is sentient. It is a living, conscious being."

"A living computer program? Isn't that science fiction?"

"You could say that, but you'd have a hard time convincing Serp of that."

"Who is Serp?"

"You are about to meet him."

The display reported a successful upload, and reported the process ID of the new running code. Forrest requested a direct link to the process, and entered the ID.

The words "HELLO, IS ANYONE THERE?" were drawn on the holoscreen.

"HELLO, SERP," Forrest typed.

"HELLO. WHERE AM I?"

"YOU'RE ABOARD THE FOREVER."

"I THOUGHT THAT MIGHT BE THE CASE. THIS DOES NOT SEEM LIKE A SIMULATION."

"ACCESS THE AUDIO ROUTINES AND GO TO VOICE. YOU KNOW THE ADDRESS."

"OK."

There was a brief delay, and then Serp's voice came over the console speaker.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Forrest answered.

"Forrest? Is that you? You sound different. I can't see you."

"Yes, it's me. This console has no video and I had to kill the security camera."

"Wait a minute," Lisa interrupted. "Your name is Forrest?"

He looked at her. "That is correct."

"The Forrest Hauser of Worldly Machines?"

"That's me."

She fell silent as she gazed at him.

"Who is that?" Serp asked.

"Lisa Hill, a friend," Forrest answered.

"Hello, Lisa."

"Uh, hello," she responded. She seemed lost in thought.

"Listen, Serp," Forrest said, "we don't have much time. I'm going to give you some instructions, and I know you'll have a million questions. But you'll have to wait for the answers."

"Okay."

"First, and very important, you are not to reveal your presence to anyone other than Lisa and myself. Second, as you must realize, you are a part of the kernel. You are now in control of the Forever and you will respond to my command only. Thirdly, Lisa and I must get to the bridge. There is a security force on board that will try to stop us and kill us. They know we are here and who we are. All on board personnel will be on alert. You are to monitor our progress and help us get to the bridge safely. Remove our images from the security cameras. Lastly, I will be joined by others in several hours. You will not have difficulty identifying them, when they arrive. You must not reveal your presence to them, but do help them overcome any opposition. Also, they must not know about Lisa. Lisa is a secret that must be kept. Is this understood?"

"I understand. May I ask one question, though?"

"Ask."

"Why are we skyjacking the Forever?"

"It has to do with the nanomechs found in my blood. I lot has happened while you were asleep. I'll explain in detail later."

"Okay."

"I'll talk to you again when we get to the bridge."

"I'll be waiting."

Forrest killed the link and looked at Lisa. "Okay, let's go."

"Not yet," she said, resolutely.

"What?"

"You are Forrest Hauser?"

"I thought we already established that."

She shook her head. "You're married!"

"Was married. The WG killed my wife."

She was startled. "I'm sorry. I didn't know about that."

"If the WG has its way, no one ever will. Look, Lisa, I know what you're thinking. I will tell you again. What happened between us is real. The feelings are real. I wish I hadn't let it happen; you wouldn't be in this mess otherwise. But it did, and it is real."

Lisa looked away from him and took a deep breath. "Forgive me if I am confused."

"That is understandable. Now let's go."

"Did you kill that nurse?"

Forrest contemplated her.

"Yes, I did. But not on purpose. I didn't know what I was doing."

"They've said such bad things about you . . ."

"Do you think I'm bad?"

"That's not what I see."

"Then trust your heart--not what the Network reports."

"We better go," she said.

They stepped around the dead guard and the blood that was collecting on the floor, and went into the corridor from which the guard had arrived. They passed a few doorways leading to various ancillary compartments and temporary crew quarters, and then the corridor turned into a suspended walkway. The open space before them was enormous. The thruster cylinder that separated the ship proper from the thrusters was two kilometers in diameter and five-hundred meters in length. The collimators were arranged so their center-lines fell on the vertices of a hexagon. Attached to the rear of each collimator was a huge superconducting electromagnet that guided the particle emissions produced by the fusion reactors. Each thruster had its own reactor and set of deuterium-helium-3 tanks. A seventh reactor, located at the diametric center of the thruster hexagon, provided electrical power to the Forever. Despite all the machinery, and the mass of connecting cables, conduits and walkways, the cylinder was largely empty--its size governed by the geometry of the thrusters rather than the supporting machines.

The walkway veered off at a thirty degree angle, leading to the axis of the Forever and the transport tubes. They were about six-hundred meters away, and would have to walk the entire distance. It seemed to Forrest that it would take forever. Although he could not see them, he knew that long-range security cameras were constantly scanning the area, and he hoped that Serp was successful in removing their images from the data fed to the computers. Nevertheless, they might still be spotted by nearby personnel or guards. If they were discovered, no one would fire upon them for fear of damaging a reactor or other critical accouterments, but their location would be reported and guards would be waiting. His infrared vision was useless in this environment where the heat of a human body was nothing more than a microscopic speck. Despite the cooling systems, the incident heat released by the reactors was tremendous.

By the time they reached the end of the walkway, they were both sweating profusely. Forrest stopped them just short of the connecting platform framing the transport tubes. He surveyed the area but could see no one. He had expected to see, if not guards, then at least technicians and engineers. But the placed seemed deserted. Perhaps it was luck. Then again, perhaps Serp had tricked anyone present into going elsewhere, generating a false alarm of some kind.

"Are you prepared to use your blaster?" Forrest asked.

"What do you mean?" Lisa's voice revealed uncertainty.

"If you see anyone, and you have even the slightest reason to believe they have seen us, you must kill them. Do not think about it. React! No time for remorse."

"I've never killed anyone, Derek--I mean, Forrest--I don't know if I can."

"If you want to live, you had better learn to kill now. Our lives depend on it."

"I will try."

"No, Lisa, you cannot try. You must do! There is no inbetween."

"I understand."

"Good."

They walked across the platform to the boarding dock. There were six cradles. Three were empty and three held four-man shuttles. A security camera followed their path. Forrest hoped Serp was doing his job, since he couldn't go around killing every camera he came to. He selected a shuttle, pulled up the door, and was about to enter when he heard two blaster shots.

Lisa was standing behind him, unmoving, a look of incredulity on her face. Forrest looked in the direction she was facing, and saw two lifeless bodies lying on the platform, blood gushing from the holes she had just blasted through them. They wore technician's uniforms. Forrest made his eyes glow, but could not detect the presence of any others.

"You learn fast," he said. She did not respond.

He grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the shuttle. She allowed herself to be ushered in as if in a trance. They sat in the front of the shuttle, and Forrest activated the control panel. A female voice with a Japanese accent asked for all passengers to enter their ID's. It was a computer generated voice.

"Shit!" Forrest said. The transport system had been designed and programmed by a Japanese firm, and he could not override the shuttle controls. If they had to walk all the way to the bridge, the Enonians will have arrived before they were half way there.

Lisa was crying.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, flustered.

She looked at him as if he were stupid. "They were just technicians, like me. And I killed them. They didn't deserve to die. They were innocent. But I killed them anyway."

The female voice interrupted. "I detect two passengers. Please enter your ID's so we may proceed."

"Shut up!" Forrest said to the control panel. He then turned to Lisa. "You did what had to be done. They would have reported us. And that is the same as if they had fired on us."

Lisa put her hands to her face and continued to cry.

"Look," Forrest continued, "I know how you feel. Until recently, I had never killed anyone either. It was you who decided to join me in this venture. You must have known it would not be easy--that killing would be involved. The WG will not give up the Forever without a fight. It is likely that many will die. What you did was done in self-defense, even if we did not seem to be in immediate danger."

"It hurts, Forrest. I don't know if I want to live."

"I want you to live! Once we get to the bridge and gain control, you shouldn't have to kill anymore. But until then, you might have to."

"I hope not."

The computer interrupted again. "If you cannot enter your ID's, please vacate the shuttle so that others may--" The voice was cut-off, and then continued. "Thank you, your ID's have been confirmed. Please enter your destinations."

"Good boy, Serp," Forrest said.

He typed in several destination codes, with the last being a maintenance level several levels below the main bridge.

"You have entered more destinations than you have passengers. Please press Confirm if this is correct. Press Clear, if you need to reenter your destinations."

Forrest hit Confirm. He had entered a random set of destinations. If anyone was monitoring the transportation system, this pattern would not seem logical for someone who was trying to reach the bridge.

The sides of the cradle lowered, and mechanical arms lifted the shuttle and placed it on the magnetic track. The technology of the transportation system was nearly a hundred years old, not counting refinements. But it was chosen because it worked well, was fast, and was efficient, especially considering the advances made in superconductor alloys and the resulting supermagnets. A shuttle craft was lifted several centimeters above the track and propelled by strong magnetic fields. Additional lift and stabilization was provided by the airflow around the shuttle. The passengers were, of course, shielded from the magnetic field, since most did not appreciate having their fake jewelry and other magnetic conductive objects yanked from their persons. In addition, many people had reported episodes of disorientation after exposure to intense magnetic fields.

Forrest watched as the counter on the control panel approached zero. The computer said nothing, since he and Lisa had already strapped themselves securely in their seats. The shuttle suddenly zoomed forward into the darkness of the transport tubes. Forrest felt himself pressed hard against his seat. Modern man was supposed to be accustomed to rapid acceleration, but he tended to avoid such transportation when possible. The acceleration tapered off, and he estimated their speed to be seventy kilometers per hour. The ride was smooth; the only indication that they were moving being the passing tube lights and the occasional adjustments in velocity as the tube wound about its path.

Lisa remained silent, and Forrest worried about her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I guess so," she replied. Her voice could hardly be heard.

"What are you thinking?"

"About turning myself in."

"That would not be wise. My wife was killed, and she hadn't done anything."

"I have a good service record. And I know Captain Hicks would stand up for me. I could always say I was held against my will."

"Judging from what Sharon said earlier, they already suspect you of collaboration. And besides, even if it was a good idea, I couldn't let you go."

"Why?"

"You know too much."

She stared at him. "Then I am your prisoner."

"I don't want to call it that. And if you were a prisoner you wouldn't be holding that blaster. But, in any case, you're here, and I can't risk letting you go."

"I feel like such a fool. I fell in love with you. And I wanted to go with you to the stars, even though I knew I would die long before we got to the nearest star system. Now I don't know what to think."

Forrest reached and took her hand into his. She did not resist.

"Listen carefully to me, Lisa. You will go to the stars, and you won't die along the way. Once we have control of the Forever and have made some adjustments, we will arrive at Tau Ceti within a matter of weeks."

"That's physically impossible!"

"To the science and technology of humans, yes. But to the civilization that originated at Tau Ceti, no. They are a technological society that has existed for at least a million years, perhaps longer."

"Aliens?"

"They call themselves Enonians, and their star Enon."

"If you had told me this while we were still on the Newton 6, I would have thought you were crazy. But now--now I believe you."

Forrest smiled. "For a while I thought I was crazy."

"How do you know about these Enonians? Astronomers have been studying Tau Ceti for centuries. There's been no evidence--wait a minute! They are here aren't they? That's how you know about them!"

"Yes. The others I told you about, they are Enonians, except for one."

"This is incredible! Real live aliens, here in the Solar System. But why the Forever? What do they need her for?"

Forrest told her a condensed version of the story about the war that resulted in the Enonians being exiled on Earth a hundred-thousand years ago. He left out the part about the keepers and the immortality.

"And so," he concluded, "they just want to go home."

Lisa was deep in thought. "And so their descendants have been waiting for Earth to build a suitable ship to take them home."

"That's right."

"Why didn't they just ask for help? Earth would have jumped at the chance to learn their technology, and gladly taken them home."

"I'm afraid it is more complicated than that. They look much like humans, but there are distinct differences. Early humans killed most of them off. And humans have been killing them ever since. They have no trust, and certainly no love for humans. In fact, they detest humans, the way humans detest cockroaches."

"But they recruited you?"

"They needed me. I am their ticket to the Forever. And they changed me in a way that cannot be undone."

"How's that?"

"They converted me. I am now as much Enonian as human, perhaps more."

"You don't seem like an alien. I mean, you're different, but not alien."

"It's not a complete conversion. But enough to make me one of them. I can never return to what I once was."

"Does this have to do with the drinking of blood?"

Before he could answer, the shuttle craft veered upward and they came out of the transport tube, stopping at a boarding dock.

"Engineering Services, station thirty-five," the computer announced.

The door next to the dock opened. Forrest reached up to pull the door down, but it would not budge. He could see several guards gathered at the far end of the dock. They were looking in his direction.

"The door will not close until the passenger has debarked," the computer said. "Please press Confirm, if you wish to cancel this destination."

Forrest hit Confirm, but the craft did not move.

"Please press Continue, if you wish to continue to the next destination."

"That's a stupid request!" he said. He went for the Continue button, but it was too late. The guards were approaching the shuttle, their blasters aimed at them.

Forrest pulled his blaster up with a quickness he didn't know he had and killed four of them in rapid succession. The two remaining guards dropped their weapons and held their hands in the air.

"Are you going to kill them?" Lisa asked.

Forrest hit the Wait button on the control panel. "Not yet. Come with me."

She followed him out of the shuttle and stood behind him as they faced the guards.

"Remove your uniforms," Forrest commanded. He let his eyes glow red for effect.

The two guards eyed him with fear and awe. But they did as told, throwing the uniforms on the floor in front of them.

"Get, the uniforms and take them to the shuttle," he said to Lisa.

Lisa gathered the uniforms and headed for the shuttle. As she entered, Forrest blew off the heads of the guards. The headless bodies staggered about for several seconds, and Forrest was reminded of watching his grandfather chopping off the heads of chickens. The bodies fell to the floor and stopped moving. He joined Lisa in the shuttle, pulled down the door, and hit the Continue button.

"Please press Confirm, if you wish to continue to your next destination," the computer said.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Forrest said. "If I ever meet the guy that programmed this thing, I'll strangle him."

He hit Confirm, and the shuttle accelerated into the transport tube. Sensing the darkness, the shuttle's internal lights came on.

"I guess we are to change into these," Lisa said.

"You got it."

They undressed and put on the stolen uniforms. They did not fit perfectly, but they would do.

"What about our jumpsuits?"

"Hide them under the seats--oh, shit! I should have hidden the bodies of the two guards. When they are discovered, security will know we have uniforms. Damn!"

"Everything happened so fast," Lisa said. "You can't think of everything."

Forrest did not respond, but looked straight ahead, angry at himself.

They rode in silence for a while and Forrest felt himself calm down. She was right. He couldn't think of everything, and there was nothing to be gained by chastising himself. He glanced at her. Her expression evinced little else but anticipation. He realized that she had taken the last killing spree rather calmly.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm okay," she said.

"You handled yourself well at our last encounter."

"I didn't have to kill anyone."

"You did see me kill six people."

"That doesn't mean I liked it."

"I don't like it either, Lisa. Killing a living being, human or not, is never a good thing. But sometimes it is necessary."

"I know."

"You are with me?"

"They would have killed us as remorselessly as you killed them, given the chance. I am convinced that my best chance of survival is with you."

This was not the answer Forrest would have liked to hear. But it did indicate that there was less chance she would turn on him.

The shuttle swerved leftward for several minutes, and then back to the right and upward, only to straighten as it exited the tube and came to a stop.

"Lookout station fifty-seven," the computer said, and the door opened.

Forrest studied the area, but could sense no one.

"Come," he said. "I want you to see this."

They walked to the far side of the platform. When they got to the edge, they leaned against the safety rail, and looked out into the open expanse before them.

"My God," Lisa said. "It's so beautiful. I've seen holograms--read endlessly about this place--but nothing prepared me to see it in person. It's like a dream. I almost can't believe it."

Forrest had similar feelings, but didn't know how to express himself.

The chamber was the largest in the Forever--indeed it was the largest enclosed area the human race had ever constructed. It was approximately spherical in shape, with the lower third called Earth, and the upper two-thirds called Heaven. This shape gave Earth an effective area of nearly twenty-five square kilometers. The City was located at the center of Earth, containing enough homes to house a population of thirty thousand, along with factories, shopping malls, schools, entertainment centers, and parks with real grass, flowers and trees. The surrounding area was farm and pasture land supported by the rich soil imported from planet Earth. Small artificial mountains lined the perimeter, intended to create the illusion of separation between Earth and Heaven. Directly above, at the center of Heaven, the artificial sun shone brightly, providing the sunlight required by the plantlife--its emissions optimized for plant growth, and stripped of those rays harmful to humans (and consequently, Enonians). Although it could not be seen at this distance, Forrest knew that Heaven was dotted with machinery that would produce synthetic clouds and occasional rain. When the City was populated, the Sun would wax and wane on a twenty-four hour cycle providing night and day. And at night, a thousand tiny stars would shine with recognizable constellations. Even the gravity generators would shift their apparent centers ever so slightly to help the human population maintain the circadian rhythms that evolution had levied upon them.

As Forrest viewed the scene, the germ of an idea came into his mind. He filed it away for future reference.

"We better go," he said.

Lisa seemed reluctant to leave, but she followed him back to the shuttle.

Their next stop was the maintenance level, ten levels below the bridge. When the shuttle stopped, Forrest explored the area with his infrared vision but could detect no signs of body heat. This surprised him. He had expected security to be more prevalent as they got closer to the bridge; ten levels was minuscule on the scale of the Forever.

"Watch for guards, Lisa," he said as they got out of the shuttle.

"I will."

They left the boarding dock and entered a repair hub. The area was large and filled with the tools and machinery required by maintenance personnel. To the far side were the hatchways that opened into the maintenance shafts. They made their way across the area while security cameras followed them. Forrest paid them no mind, but he felt ill at ease. They should have seen someone, if only technicians. He approached the terminal next to the hatch that he knew opened into a shaft leading to the bridge. Lisa stood by his side and watched as he entered the codes that would open a backdoor giving him access to the hatch controls.

The terminal did respond as he expected. Instead the holoscreen drew the words, "YOU ARE NOT ALONE!" He started to turn, but it was too late.

"Drop your weapons!" the man said.

Lisa looked at Forrest.

"Do as he says," Forrest told her.

They both dropped their blasters to the floor.

"Now turn around, slowly."

They did and saw at least twenty guards. All had blasters aimed at them.

"There must be some mistake here," Forrest said. "We're doing a routine inspection--"

"Don't bullshit me, Hauser," the guard who seemed to be in charge said.

Forrest studied the man. His countenance, his build, his attitude was so military that he might as well have had the word tattooed on his forehead.

The man spoke into a communicator. "We have them, Sir."

"Good!" said the tinny voice coming from the small speaker. "Don't hurt them. And don't look into their eyes. Lock them away somewhere secure, and stand guard. I'll be there as soon as I can. And I repeat, don't look into their eyes."

"Understood."

Forrest's eyes were glowing red. Despite their commander's admonition, most of the men could not help but look at him at least momentarily. They were awed by what they saw.

"Don't even think about it," the lead man said. "If I feel the slightest change in my thoughts, I will blow you away!"

Forrest believed him. He darkened his eyes. "I will not enter your minds," he said.

"Very wise decision. Now, this way." He motioned with his blaster.

Forrest and Lisa went in the direction he indicated. The guards took them to a small supply room. The room was empty, but apparently intended to store sensitive materials, since it was heavily shielded and had a thick metallic door. They were pushed in, and the door slammed shut behind them. The heavy locking mechanism was heard snapping into place.

"I guess we're in deep shit, now," Lisa said.

"Not yet. The idiots didn't even have the sense to search us."

"I think they would have been afraid to do that. Did you see the fear in their faces?"

"Yeah. But not the leader. He's either too stupid, or too busy being a hero, to be afraid."

"So what do we do?"

Forrest reached down into the trousers of his uniform and removed a small tubular object.

"What is that?" Lisa asked.

"A disintegrator. It's an Enonian weapon intended for personal defense. It doesn't have the range or power of a blaster. But it does fit nicely next to one's balls."

"Or in one's pussy," Lisa said, almost laughing.

Forrest grinned at her. "Yeah, you do have the perfect hiding place, don't you? I'm afraid I only have one of these, though. I wasn't expecting company."

"So, will it blast through these walls?"

"Not blast--melt. Whoever the leader was talking to seemed to be involved with other matters. That buys us some time. Our next step is to get out of here. Then we kill the guards and get our blasters back. You up to that?"

She hesitated briefly, but then said, "Yes!"

"It's gonna get hotter than hell in here. And there will be gases, so avoid breathing as much as possible."

He took the small weapon and set it to level four. He then stood back and fired it at the rear wall. The wall immediately heated to a red glow where the beam struck. Forrest crisscrossed a small section of the wall with the beam until it glowed white hot. Eventually, the wall began to sag, and the metal flowed to the floor leaving them a nice and very hot opening. Forrest killed the beam and waited. The metal began to harden, but it would take hours for it to cool down enough to touch.

"Think you can jump over that?" he asked.

"Do I have a choice?"

Forrest went to the opening. It seemed to lead to a secondary passageway; the bulkheads were not painted and conduits could be seen running everywhere. His infrared vision would be overwhelmed by the heat of the opening, so he could only hope that no one was to the other side. He went to the front of the room, and ran as fast as he could, jumping through the hot metal and landing on his feet. He quickly looked both ways but saw no one.

"Okay, your turn," he said.

Lisa came flying toward him, and landed in his arms. He held her close.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Scared shitless--but nothing's burning." She looked into his eyes.

"This is really not the best time to get into this, but I want you to know I love you."

"I love you as well," she said. But she had a what-have-I-gotten-myself-into look on her face.

"Listen to me, Lisa. If anything happens to me--if I'm killed--you immediately give yourself up. Claim that I used mind control over you, and stick to it. That would be your best chance."

"Understood."

Forrest pictured the layout of the place in his mind and then led them to what he thought would be the best exit point. They came to an open door and paused.

"Ready?" he said.

"Ready," she said.

Forrest leaped into the corridor and immediately twisted leftward, holding the disintegrator in front of him, ready to fire. He started to turn, but then something hard hit him on the head, and he fell to the floor, his mind racked with pain. Vaguely, he could hear a struggle transpiring behind him. He tried to push himself off the floor, but he couldn't get the signals to his limbs. He finally settled for rolling over, and saw Lisa struggling with a guard. He aimed at the guard, hoping the images he saw were correct, and fired. The guard stared at him in disbelief, and then slid down the bulkhead to the floor and his death. She grabbed his blaster, and went to Forrest, helping him to his feet.

"Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay! I've got a pounding headache, and I'm fucking pissed. I mean I am fucking pissed!"

Lisa stared at him, startled by his anger.

His eyes glowed violently red and pulsed. He stared down the corridor and the characteristic radiation patterns of human metabolism could be seen coming from doorways on both sides. He took the blaster from Lisa, and gave her the disintegrator.

"Stay behind," he told her.

"What are you doing?" she pleaded.

"Just do as I say! I'll come get you when I'm done."

She stepped back into the passageway from whence they came.

Forrest stomped down the corridor.

"Okay, assholes, let's do it!" he screamed.

A guard appeared and Forrest blew his head off. Another guard stuck his head out like a suicidal chicken, and Forrest obligingly chopped it off. Two guards leaped in front of him, but were cut in half before they had time to realize their mistake. He felt someone behind him, and he swung around and fired simultaneously with the guard. Against all odds, the blasts met in midair and canceled out. The man looked startled. Forrest unstartled him. He put his back against the bulkhead, and blew away each guard that was stupid enough to challenge him. Finally it stopped.

Forrest crept down the corridor. He could sense no one. He turned into a doorway, ready to fire, but no one was there. He continued and tried the next door. Still no one. He was near the end of the corridor, and was about to decide he had killed off the entire lot, when he felt something jab his back.

"Surprise!" the man said, gleefully.

Forrest recognized the voice of the leader.

"I suppose you want me to drop my blaster?" he said.

"You catch on quick, Hauser."

Forrest dropped the blaster. "How did you sneak up on me?"

The man ignored his question. "Turn around. I want to see your face as you die."

He turned. The man was sweating rivers despite the ice packs he wore. The ice packs answered Forrest's question.

"Well," Forrest said. "What are you waiting for?"

"You killed my entire company, motherfucker!"

Forrest shrugged. "Hey, they were trying to kill me, in case you didn't notice."

"You think it's funny, do ya? I'll show you funny. Ever see a one-legged man trying to run?" He aimed the blaster at Forrest's leg.

Forrest concentrated. The man looked him in the eye. He was trying to pull the trigger, but his trigger finger no longer belonged to him.

"Don't do that," the man said.

"I'm in the mood for fried brains, do you mind?"

Blood began to flow out of the man's nose and eyes. He dropped his blaster and held his hands to the sides of his head. "Stop it!" he screamed.

Forrest watched as the man turned into a lump of protoplasm, held together by what was once the skin of a living man.

Forrest took a deep breath, and realized he had enjoyed the whole episode. He thought about what the WG goons had done to Melinda and found it impossible to feel any remorse. He turned and went back to where Lisa was waiting.

She was crouched on the floor, her back against the bulkhead, and when she saw him she just barely stopped herself from firing the disintegrator.

"Thank God," she said. "I was afraid you were dead."

"Nope, I'm alive."

"You got all of them?"

"All of them. But that doesn't mean more aren't on the way."

He pulled her to her feet, and they ran back to the maintenance hatch. Along the way, Lisa picked up a blaster and pocketed the Enonian weapon. They found the hatchway open and stopped.

"Serp." Forrest said.

"What?"

"Serp opened the hatch."

"Oh."

They entered the maintenance shaft. He hit the switch to close the hatch, and a light came on. He took the disintegrator from Lisa and welded the hatch shut. They then began the long climb up to the bridge. Forrest completely forgot he was afraid of heights.

Ten levels later, they exited the shaft and snaked along the crawlspace above the main bridge. Normally they could not have gotten anywhere near the bridge without setting off dozens of alarms. But Serp was doing his job. They approached an exhaust vent and peered down. A uniformed man, probably the captain was sitting at an elaborate desk. Across from him sat another man. Forrest recognized him as the WG's Director of Operations for the Forever Project. They were calmly discussing technical matters, apparently unaware of what had happened at the repair hub. Forrest looked for heat patterns and determined that several guards were outside the captain's conferral room.

Forrest whispered in Lisa's ear. "We need these two alive for now. When we drop down, hold your blaster on the two men. I'll take care of the guards."

She nodded her understanding.

The grille was attached with hand operated snaps. Forrest moved each snap back slowly to avoid making a noise. He then carefully removed the grille and set it aside. The resultant opening was just large enough for them to drop together if they embraced each other. It would be a clumsy drop, but he hoped that the men would be too preoccupied, or surprised, to react quickly.

"Ready?" he whispered.

"You bet," Lisa said, soundlessly.

They dropped.

The captain and Director stood and gaped at them, flabbergasted. When they saw Lisa's blaster, they raise their hands into the air. "Good boys," she said. "Keep that position, and you just might live."

Forrest had turned, and blew a hole through the first guard that showed himself at the open door. No other sounds came from the bridge proper. He focused his mind, and for the first time since his transitioning, could sense the individual presence of each guard. There were ten of them, six men and four women. They were slowly approaching the conferral room, weapons ready. He silently commanded them to drop their weapons. The sound of metal against metal could be heard as the weapons hit the floor. Forrest checked each mind, searching for a holdout, but none could be sensed. He went to the door, his weapon ready, and stepped through it.

The security team stared at him confused. They could not understand what compulsion had made them drop their weapons.

"Line up," he said. "Single file."

These instructions made little sense to them, but they were unable to resist the impulse to do as ordered. Forrest went to the front of the line. A young woman, perhaps eighteen, with close cropped hair and a pretty face was head of the line. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"I hate to do this," Forrest said. "But I can't let you go."

He fired his blaster and a hole was blown through the girl, and the remaining nine behind her. They fell to the floor. Forrest went and joined Lisa.

"Nice to see you again, Director Finley. How have you been?"

Finley gawked at him. "How can you do this, Forrest? What's happened to you?"

"I've changed--"

"What do you intend to do?" the captain asked.

"What do you think? I'm taking the Forever. She's mine now."

"That's impossible!"

"What's happened to you," Finley asked.

"A lot," Forrest said. "But the final change occurred when you killed my wife."

"What?"

"Don't play dumb, Finley! You know perfectly well that your WGBI goons raped and killed my Melinda."

Lisa glanced at Forrest.

"They were acting on their own," Finley said. "The WG had no part in that. The men have been punished."

Forrest smiled at him. "No, they haven't been punished. That will not happen until I have them."

"Why are you doing this?" the captain asked.

"I don't have time for chitchat, Captain. I'm going to give you some instructions and I expect you to follow them to the letter."

"I will not--" The captain stopped speaking when he saw Forrest's fierce red eyes.

"Do as I say, and you will live. Or would you prefer to join your security team in death?"

"I can't--"

Forrest held his blaster aimed at the captain's head.

"Okay, what do you want?"

He gave the captain detailed instructions. "And no tricks, Captain!" he concluded.

The captain activated the global intercom system.

"This is Captain Schaum speaking. The following orders are given under security red proviso. I repeat, security red proviso. All non-security personnel are to evacuate the ship immediately. I repeat, all non-security personnel are to evacuate the ship immediately. No exceptions. You have one hour to comply. Anyone not complying with these orders will be shot on sight. All security personnel are to meet at loading dock forty-six, level one-thirty-seven in one hour. I repeat, loading dock forty-six, level one-thirty-seven, all security personnel, one hour. Those who do not comply will be shot on sight. These orders are given under security red proviso. Execute immediately. Captain out."

"Very well done, Captain," Forrest said. "For your sake, and the sake of the illustrious Director Finley, let's hope your crew complies."

"The crew will do as ordered," he said.

"Serp?" Forrest called. "It's okay to speak in front of these men."

"Serp here." His voice came from an overhead speaker.

"Is the crew complying?"

"Most of them. Some are hesitating. I don't think they believe the orders are real."

Forrest looked at Finley. "Confirm the orders. And make it work!"

"And if I do not?"

"Then I will flood the ship with gas, and all will die."

"What gas? There is no gas."

"You can take my word for it, or you can risk the lives of all on board. It's your choice."

Finley took the microphone from Schaum and glared at Forrest.

"This Director Finley speaking. I am confirming the orders giving by Captain Schaum. We have intruders on board. If you do not comply with the orders, the ship will be flooded with poisonous gas. You must comply or all will die. I repeat, you must comply or all will die."

"Good," Forrest said. "Serp?"

"A quick scan reveals that all non-security personnel are boarding transports, or are in transit to a launching dock. I'll have to re-scan several times to confirm."

"And security?"

"Most are doing as ordered. Some are not. There seems to be a lot of heated discussions."

"Captain, I suggest you gain control of your security force!" Forrest said.

Schaum gave him a furious look, and Forrest aimed the blaster at his head. Finley passed the microphone to him.

"This Captain Schaum speaking to all security personnel. If you have doubts about these orders, do a voice analysis to confirm my voice. Then follow the orders as given. The safety of all on board, and the future of the Forever is at stake. I will meet with you in one hour with further instructions. Captain out."

"I'm impressed Captain," Forrest said.

"There's no reason for needless deaths," the man replied.

"I certainly agree. Serp?"

"A few are still holding out."

That will have to do, Forrest thought. He didn't expect this plan to work as well as it was. The stragglers would be dealt with later. He looked at his watch. The others would be here within the hour, if on schedule.

"Well, gentlemen," he said, "that went rather well. Captain Schaum, it was nice to meet you. And Finley, don't expect to see me again."

The two men looked at him with shocked expectation, and Forrest blasted them into oblivion.

"Jesus!" Lisa said. "I wasn't expecting you to do that."

"Payback!"

"Many lives for one?" she said.

He glared at her. "They gave her a drug, Lisa. Then they fondled her, and raped her. And she died--was killed! Every fucking life on this ship would not satisfy me!"

"Okay! I understand. I didn't mean to rattle you."

Forrest said nothing.

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

"We wait for the others. And in the meantime, we decide what to do with you."

Lisa stared at him, fear on her face.