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  Callie nodded, doing her best to just pay attention. She could feel she was beyond overwhelmed at this point.

  “Ask for the location for engineering,” Fisher said.

  She turned to the board and asked and the map showed her the area.

  “Now watch,” he said, smiling. “I honestly don’t think I can ever get tired of this.”

  “Two to transport to engineering.”

  Callie felt nothing, but an instant later they were standing in what looked like a waiting area against one wall of a huge engineering lab area.

  Parts of it seemed to go off into the distance with people in white coats, mostly bent over consoles. The ceiling was high and even with dozens of people talking, the sound seemed to be dampened by something.

  It looked so normal, so human to Callie, she was having a very difficult time realizing she was on a big ship from another planet.

  “Doc’s the tall skinny one in the middle of that group,” Fisher said.

  Callie took Fisher’s arm. “He looks busy and I’m a little overwhelmed to be honest. How about you show me your ship after you show me the room where I was that night.”

  He turned to face her, suddenly worried. “I’m sorry, I know how I felt the first time I came into this ship and Doc and I had already been in space for years.”

  Without letting her say a word he tapped the board. “Two to transport to L-266.”

  Callie found herself standing next to Fisher in a large hall that looked like it could hold hundreds. Chairs and tables and cots were stacked against one inner wall.

  The other wall was a floor-to-ceiling window looking out over Earth.

  The scene of the planet below was stunningly beautiful with all the blues and whites and browns. Her area of the West Coast was in solid sunlight and she could almost pick out Portland and other West Coast cities.

  Fisher had gone to the wall and gotten them both chairs, then he motioned that she should follow him over toward the window. At one spot he put the two chairs down facing one another.

  “There were between over two hundred or so survivors in this room,” he said as she sat down. “They had food against the wall on tables and medical staff back in those rooms. People were sitting and laying down everywhere. And it smelled like death.”

  She nodded, looking around at the room. She knew that smell too well already.

  “You transported in right here in the sweats and sweatshirt,” Fisher said. “When you spun around to look at the window, you fainted. The medical person said it was from not eating and shock.”

  “Not eating,” she said, not wanting to believe that she could faint from shock. But she was feeling pretty light-headed right now, she had to admit. And she had just had a great breakfast.

  Down there.

  On the planet’s surface.

  “I happened to be nearby,” Fisher said, “and I caught you and got you checked and some food.”

  “And we talked?” she asked, trying to remember. Everything around her had that familiar feeling, but she just couldn’t put a memory to the feeling.

  “We did, for about two hours,” Fisher said. “Then you said you wished you could just stay here and when I went to check, the ship came back into orbit and you were transported, erasing your memory of the hours on board.”

  “I’m glad you came to get me,” she said, reaching over and squeezing his hand. It felt wonderful and she could see in his face that he liked her touch as well.

  She had no doubt that this was a very gentle man with very little experience with women. And that made him even more attractive than he already was, if that was possible.

  “I’m glad you agreed to come see this place,” he said.

  “And now that I’m here, you still want to work in the lodge?” she asked.

  “Very much,” he said. “I’ll explain why when we are back in the lodge.”

  “Fair enough,” she said.

  She stood and walked over closer to the big window, staring down at her planet below. The ship’s orbit was taking it over parts of Europe now and she could see large areas of blackness where lights used to shine.

  Earth was slowly shutting down. And there was no telling how many centuries it would take to come back to what it was, if it ever would.

  She had been fantastically lucky to meet Fisher.

  She turned and looked at the most handsome man she had ever seen, staring into those deep green eyes. She really, really wanted to get to know this man.

  And she really, really wanted this all to be real, and that she wouldn’t have to spend the winter alone in that lodge, worrying about survival every day.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  He only nodded, clearly not sure what to say.

  “Now, let’s go see that ship of yours.”

  He smiled, a twinkle in his eyes. “With pleasure. After seeing this ship, it will be like seeing a townhouse inside a large city.”

  “But it’s your townhouse, right?” she asked, laughing.

  “Exactly,” he said, grinning at her as they put the chairs back against the wall and headed for the transport panel.

  She felt a lot better. Still overwhelmed, of that she had no doubt.

  But after seeing the big room and imagining that night, she now was starting to believe Fisher.

  And she was falling for him more and more every minute they were together.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  FISHER COULDN’T BELIEVE he was showing Callie his ship. He felt like a proud parent. He tried to make the tour short, but at the same time he hoped it would last for a very long time.

  Finally, after about a half hour of the control room, engine room, storage areas, and his suite, they made it back to the kitchen and dining area.

  “Oh, my God,” Callie said, standing in the kitchen and looking around. “This is amazing. You designed this?”

  “Every detail,” he said, about as proud of that statement as he had ever felt about anything he had done. “As I said, I love to cook.”

  “I guess so,” she said, studying the details of the kitchen.

  Suddenly he realized something that hadn’t occurred to him before. “You are the very first person I’ve ever had the chance to show this ship to.”

  She stopped and turned to look at him, her deep brown eyes holding his gaze.

  “I’m not kidding,” Fisher said. “Back home we built this ship in secret in a warehouse, me and Doc doing all the work. And on all the planets we’ve visited, we never had guests until now. You are not the first to be in this kitchen because I cooked dinner last night for Doc and Kalinda. But you are the first to get the full tour.”

  “I am honored,” she said, smiling at him and bowing slightly.

  “Actually, the pleasure is all mine.”

  They stood there staring at each other for an awkward moment in the silence before Fisher finally found the nerve to speak.

  “Let me fix us some lunch.”

  “I’d love that,” Callie said. “Rest room?”

  Fisher pointed down the wide corridor leading off the kitchen and along the spine of the ship. “Bathroom is the second door on the right. Look around the other rooms in there as well and tell me what you think when you get back.”

  She nodded and he turned to get some bread from the pantry and turkey and fixings from one of the fridges for a simple lunch. If she felt like he had felt his first time on The R-12, she wouldn’t be able to eat much. But she needed something.

  And so did he.

  He sat the table and poured them both water and iced tea and had them on the table when she returned.

  “That’s an amazing suite,” Callie said, coming into the kitchen. “Really comfortable.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” Fisher asked, pointing to the table to indicate she should sit down.

  She did as he said, “It’s your suite if you want it if you need to stay up here.”

  “Mine?” she asked, frowning.

  “I know it
can’t compete with that incredible old lodge, but when we are working, if you want to stay up here, that suite is yours. Doc and I have never had guests on board, even though we added seven suites similar to that one. We would love to have different company at times.”

  “Seven of those suites, plus your own suites? Wow, you did build this ship big.”

  “We thought so until we saw The R-12. As Benson said, space and energy are in abundant supply in space.”

  “And you know how to get the energy,” she said, staring at him as he worked on the sandwiches.

  “On my planet I invented a source of unlimited energy, yes. But no one paid any attention. They will eventually.”

  “What’s the name of your home planet?” she asked.

  Fisher took a deep breath and laughed as he finished the sandwiches and cut them into halves. “Now we’re getting into the part you won’t believe. And where I’m going to need some help.”

  “At some point you got to start telling me,” she said, laughing as he set the sandwich in front of her. “I am here seeing all this. Not really believing it all, but seeing it.”

  He sat down, worried about what he was about to say, then just decided to go ahead and start. “It’s called Earth.”

  She looked at him, the sandwich halfway to her mouth.

  “Every planet we visited, every society, called their planet Earth, or something in their own language that meant Earth. Benson and everyone on this ship from another sector of the galaxy is also from a planet called Earth.”

  Her green eyes bore into him and then she just shook her head. “You aren’t kidding, are you?”

  “I’m not kidding, but I didn’t say I was believing any of it either,” he said. “But I’ve seen it. And if you are up for it after lunch, I can show you images of some of the many planets Doc and I visited before we came here.”

  “I think I might need to see some of that,” she said, nodding.

  And then she took a bite of her sandwich with delight, something Fisher knew he would never get tired of watching.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CALLIE LET FISHER SHOW her about an hour of recorded visits to other human planets. With each recording he showed her on a star map where the world was.

  He said that she was sitting in Doc’s chair and he was in his in the control room. He used the big screen between the chairs on the main panel to show her.

  “We investigated mostly yellow dwarf suns like ours and yours staying in our neighborhood of the galaxy,” he said. “In fact, compared to how large the galaxy is, we haven’t left the home street yet in the neighborhood.”

  She thought she had some idea of the size of the galaxy before, but now she was starting to understand just how big it was.

  After showing her about ten worlds, all about the same level of human advancement as her world and his, she had him stop. Her brain wasn’t allowing anymore in.

  “Background first,” she said, sitting back in the comfortable command chair and closing her eyes. “How many human cultures did you visit on how many planets?”

  “Just over two hundred,” Fisher said.

  “All were at the same level of advancement?”

  “Generally, yes,” Fisher said.

  “How is that possible?” she asked, opening her eyes and looking at him.

  “That’s exactly the big question I was hoping you would help me with,” Fisher said. “Something doesn’t feel right about all this, but the people of the world that built The R-12 and ran this rescue have been studying this for centuries.”

  “And you don’t like what they have come up with as an answer?” she asked.

  “Oh, the basics, I agree with,” he said. “And when you are ready to hear it, there’s someone on board who can help with those. She helped me. But it’s as overwhelming as this.”

  She nodded. She was feeling completely overwhelmed.

  And she wanted to know for certain that she could go back to the planet’s surface when she wanted. She was trusting Fisher more and more, but now she needed that final feeling that she wasn’t trapped before she could relax a little.

  “How about we go meet your friend Doc, then go get our transport devices and head back to the lodge. You can give me the basics there.”

  “Sounds perfect,” Fisher said, smiling.

  On the way out, he showed her how to get into The Lady if she needed to, which she thought was an amazing amount of trust.

  A few moments later they were standing in the engineering section of the big ship again.

  This time Doc and a woman were alone, so Fisher led her toward him. As they got close, this very skinny man glanced up and broke into a huge smile that seemed to completely fill his face and almost made his nose vanish.

  The woman beside him, also tall and very skinny did the same. And they both came to greet her like she was a lost friend.

  “Welcome back, Doctor Sheridan,” Doc said, smiling and shaking her hand. “Very glad you decided to join this craziness.”

  “Callie,” she said to Doc and Kalinda. “Just call me Callie.”

  “We heard you were on board,” Doc said. “Getting the tour?”

  “The Lady is really something,” Callie said, feeling completely at ease with both of these new people. Fisher clearly had great friends and she liked them both at once.

  Doc smiled like he was a kid and she had just given him a big piece of candy.

  “It’s going to be a lot faster pretty soon,” Doc said.

  “How much faster?” Fisher asked.

  “Well, it would take us now about thirty hours to go the sixty light years to get home.”

  Fisher nodded and Callie could see that Doc and Kalinda were both bursting with pride at what Doc was about to say next.

  “We can cut that to thirty minutes,” Doc said, smiling.

  Fisher actually seemed rocked back at that news.

  “And with what we are working on,” Kalinda said, “we might cut that to only seconds.”

  “Wow,” Fisher said. “That is really something.”

  “We got half the room working on it now,” Doc said. “I haven’t had this much fun since back when we built and first tested The Lady.”

  Callie didn’t know what to think. She was having a hard time just imagining so many things, let along going sixty light years in a matter of seconds.

  “Well, keep going,” Fisher said. “You two are really amazing.”

  “Thanks,” Doc said. “And great meeting you, Callie. I hope we get a chance to talk at some point.”

  “Me too,” Kalinda said.

  Feeling totally stunned, Callie agreed and turned with Fisher back toward the panel on the wall. Fisher walked with her in silence, obviously stunned at what his partner was doing.

  A moment later they were back in the transportation department with Raina who planted a button under Callie’s skin without so much as even touching her. Callie was really impressed with that.

  Then Raina did something to Fisher’s control as well.

  “I set both buttons for the kitchen on your ship and the front room of the lodge where you left from yesterday, Fisher.”

  Callie and Fisher both nodded.

  Callie was having trouble even understanding that was only yesterday. She had to slow down some and catch her breath and think. Things were moving far, far too fast.

  Raina went on. “Two distinct pushes take you to the lodge. One distinct push takes you to your ship’s kitchen area. That way you don’t have to go through here all the time.”

  “But we like seeing you,” Fisher said, smiling.

  Raina laughed. “Thanks. If you want equipment in either location for whatever you are going to work on, you will need to come to me.”

  “I can’t thank you enough,” Fisher said.

  “Yes, thank you,” Callie said. “It’s been wonderful meeting you.”

  Raina gave her a hug and then whispered in her ear. “Take care of him. He’s a real catch.”<
br />
  Callie smiled at the woman. “I hope to.”

  “Good,” Raina said. “Now off you go. Test those buttons.”

  “Lodge?” Fisher asked, looking at Callie.

  “Lodge,” Callie said.

  Then she felt for the button as Fisher vanished.

  With one last smile at Raina, she pushed it twice.

  And ended up standing beside Fisher in the main room of the lodge, right in front of the big front desk. The fire from last night was just embers in the fireplace and the sun was still lighting up the room.

  It felt like she had been gone forever, yet it had only been a few hours.

  “Well, that worked,” Fisher said.

  Callie moved over and dropped on the couch.

  “How about I head back to the ship and give you a couple hours alone and then bring us some dinner. You up for dinner? Or do you need more time.”

  She looked up at the worried expression on his handsome face and smiled. “Dinner sounds wonderful.”

  He nodded and smiled as well. “Back in three hours.”

  He touched his arm and vanished.

  She pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and covered herself and just lay there staring at the logs of the ceiling over her.

  Numb.

  None of this could be happening.

  She was attracted to an alien from another planet who lived in a spaceship inside an even bigger spaceship full of really nice aliens from more planets.

  And most of the people on her world were dead.

  All of her old life was dead.

  Yet Fisher was offering her a new life, far more exciting than her old one.

  And he was so damn handsome.

  She closed her eyes.

  She just needed to rest and think.

  Just for a short time.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CALLIE AWOKE AS FISHER was quietly trying to put firewood in the fireplace and get the fire started. She lay there, smiling at him as he worked to stack the wood and start it, clearly not having a clue what he was doing.

  It was dark outside the windows and he was trying to start the fire while holding a flashlight in one hand.