The Intergalactic Peddler-Volume 1 Read online

  Ronnie and Connie sat down at the control console and prepared themselves to make the call to the Federation. Connie was to say nothing, keep perfectly still, not giggle or make any sound. Ronnie told Connie they would work up papers for her identification later, but for now she did not exist, she was dead. Connie took hold of Ronnie’s hand, moved it to her breast and asked if that felt dead to him. Ronnie blushed, and Connie began to giggle about his red cheeks. Ronnie put his finger on her lips and said “Connie, shut up” as he input the radio frequencies of the Federation into the Super 11 transceiver.

  It was only a few moments and someone at the Federation headquarters was answering Ronnie’s call. He quickly explained that he needed to talk to someone in charge of the investigation over the two Federation officers that died trying to board The Empress a few days ago. The female operator quickly transferred his call to the proper officer, General Williams.

  When Ronnie began speaking to the man, he explained that a customer had told him that the IFTT wanted to talk to him about a teleportation accident. Ronnie flatly denied knowing that the two officers had attempted to teleport to his vessel. He explained (lied) that he had talked to the officers on the radio and they requested permission to board, but simply took off and never told him they were leaving. Ronnie said he was a little pissed over them not telling him they had changed their minds, but simply figured they had an emergency somewhere.

  General Williams then talked to Ronnie about the charges made against him over raping the woman, named Connie. Ronnie explained that the only rape done was Connie raping him, and he certainly did not rape her, that he had in fact fallen in love with her. The general said the charges would not hold up in court anyway, because Connie had been with the officers when they attempted to teleport onto The Empress, and all had died. Ronnie quickly acted stunned, shocked, and heartbroken over her death. Ronnie asked if Connie had any relatives that he should contact and express his condolences. The general said that Connie’s boyfriend, if that was what he really was, had said Connie had no living family left that he knew of. The general said he needed to get this case file closed, and said that he now understood what had happened and would make the court records show that he had dismissed all charges and arrest warrants issued against The Empress. Ronnie asked if the Federation would issue a death certificate for Connie. The officer said he would see to it, and would forward a copy to The Empress if Ronnie wanted one. Ronnie gave the officer the radio frequency for The Empress and thanked him for talking with him.

  When Ronnie had cleared the radio channel, he hung up the microphone and said aloud that he loved lying. Connie did not like lying to anyone, but understood that Ronnie disliked the Federation. The Federation no longer stood for the good of the people, it now stood for the good of the wealthy and the politicians, but Ronnie also realized he needed to say what the Federation wanted to hear. Ronnie asked about Connie’s parents. He asked why her old boyfriend had told the Federation that she had no living family. Connie looked Ronnie in the eyes and said, “I assume that to be just another way he tried to control my life and destiny. He is nothing but a useless, self centered, lying bastard. He gets off trying to control the lives of those who mistakenly let themselves think he is their friend.”

  Ronnie began talking with Connie about his sister Janet and her daughters. He needed to decide if he should allow them to return to their home or not. Connie looked Ronnie right in the eyes and said, “My friend, you have no right to decide anything about where Janet lives. Janet alone has the right to decide where her children live. You have to talk with Janet and let her make her own decisions about where to raise her girls.” Ronnie was instantly angry, stood up and slammed the chart he had in his hand to the floor.

  Just as quickly as Ronnie had lost his temper, he sat back into his chair and calmed himself. Connie was right and he knew it, but he was afraid to have his family living on the planet with all the violence and home invasions. Ronnie stood up and told Connie that she was right and then held out his hand for Connie to join him. When Connie stood up she had tears in her eyes, and Ronnie took her in his arms and said he was sorry for getting angry about her comments. She snuggled up close to Ronnie and said she was just overly moody today, because her period had started. Ronnie hugged her and said, “Then we will play nice until you feel better.” Connie kissed his lips and said that when she felt better, she would let him play really nice if he wanted. Ronnie smiled and said they should wait until the wedding because his nieces needed a good role model. Connie giggled and explained that they should begin planning the wedding in the very near future, before her finger began to blister. Ronnie had walked almost to the kitchen before he realized what she had said, turned towards her, smiled and shook his head. Connie just laughed at him as she followed along to the living area where Janet and the girls were hanging out.

  Ronnie sat down with Connie, Janet, and the girls, and began explaining what the Federation had said and that they were no longer looking for them. The situation was resolved and probably Janet and the girls would have been safe in their own home. Ronnie then got to the point of this meeting. Ronnie looked at Janet and said, “Janet you know how much I hate having you live on Quantum. I asked Connie if I had the right to move you and the girls to a safer place to live, and she let me know, in no uncertain terms, that I had no right to decide where you live and raise the girls.”

  Janet looked to Connie, winked, then began explaining to her brother that she and the girls had many friends on the planet Quantum and they did not want to move away to an unfamiliar planet and have to restart their lives all over again. Janet told her brother that she had met someone and would like to get married if the man would have her, and the girls. Frederica said, “Bill is very nice and always spends time with us and takes us places.” Ronnie smiled and said he was happy for them and would shut up about them moving. Janet explained that they were very safe in their home. She said, “I knew someone was on our porch before you every touched the doorknob.” Ronnie asked how she knew, and Janet explained they had a neighborhood watch system that worked, and her phone had range twice then hung up, then rang twice again, warning her she had a visitor. She explained that she was very capable of shooting the eyes out of anyone who actually entered the house. Ronnie only had a few words to say, “Let’s fix supper, and I will take you all home so you can sleep in your own beds tonight.” Janet walked to Ronnie, hugged him and said, “If you take us home now, you and Connie can eat supper with us and spend the night.” Frederica said, “But you two will sleep in different rooms, until you are married.” Ronnie looked at Frederica and said, “Agreed.”

  As Connie walked towards the kitchen, Ronnie stopped her and put his arms around her waist. He asked her if she would listen to an idea he had and then give him her opinion. She looked nervous, but Ronnie quickly began explaining. He wanted to have a wedding on the planet of Quantum, with his sister Janet and the girls present. Ronnie told Connie he wished they could have the wedding on Earth but that probably could not happen. Connie instantly responded to Ronnie’s comment about an Earth wedding, by saying her past life was no longer part of her present life, and a wedding on Quantum would be perfect. Ronnie said he would arrange the date and time, and then would consult her to help him work out all the details.

  Ronnie saw Janet stop Connie in the entry to the kitchen and the two giggled together for a moment, then went their separate ways. Ronnie went to the control console and returned to the inventory control program, insuring that his shopping list was accurate before placing his order with the planet Keemus. Ronnie giggled at the inventory withdrawal sheet on the clipboard he was using to insure the inventory quantities physically matched the computers quantities. Connie had crossed out the withdrawn quantities number of the tampon listing twice, telling Ronnie that Connie had went to the medical supply cabinet more than once. Ronnie tripled the minimum quantity before reorder number to insure The Empress had adequate inventory for its newest crewmember,
and his customers.

  Chapter 7 – Connie’s Achluophobia

  When Connie stepped out of the ready room after talking to Ronnie about the location of the wedding, she pressed the button beside the inventory locker bay and the door slid open. She picked up the clipboard and pencil on the counter and headed down the aisles until she arrived at the medical supply section of the bay. She located the tampons drawer; placed six of them into the inside pocket of her blue flight suit, and began writing down the bay, bin, and container number for the tampons. Just as she was entering the quantity that she had removed from inventory on the sheet, the thing that most frightened her, happened. The lights went out in the inventory locker bay.

  Connie stood very still for a moment, thinking the lights would come back on quickly. She spoke to the computer, but it did not respond. She now yelled very loud, loud enough they should have heard her on planet Earth. She yelled for Ronnie to turn the lights back on. She began screaming at the top of her lungs, stomping her feet, her hands and arms flailing around her; she screamed again, saying, “I am afraid of the dark, afraid of what happens in the dark. Turn the fucking lights back on.” Connie now screamed to anyone or anything that would listen. She suddenly stopped yelling, tried to find the shelving along the bay, and finally felt her fingers touch the cold metal shelves.

  Then she heard the computer speaking into her mind, speaking her name, trying to get her attention. She forced her now hysterical mind to concentrate on the computers voice, Listen to the computers words, she told herself. The computer is telling me that a circuit breaker has tripped and requires a manually reset to correct the problem. Connie screamed at the computer saying, “I don’t care why the lights are out, turn the lights back on right now.” Connie found she was talking aloud to herself again; someone must turn the lights on very soon, very soon, very, very soon.

  Connie screamed again with sobbing panic-stricken screams, telling the computer she was terrified of the dark, “Turn the lights on, please,” she pleaded. The computer begins speaking to her again and tried to calm her, tried to tell her to stand very still. Her legs would no longer support her and she sat down on the cold metal floor. She felt the cold from the metal decking rising up into her body and she shivered. She told the computer once again that she was frightened of the dark; “I will die here in the darkness if someone does not turn on the lights right now,” she screamed at the top of her voice.

  The computer began speaking to her again, and she focused her mind to the words, trying to calm her emotions. The computer told her that he could see her infrared image, and he would talk her to the door to the living area if she would listen carefully to the instructions. She tried, and finally managed to stand on her trembling legs. She panicked and began to run, ran headlong into a shelving unit, fell backwards on her butt, and then realized she had cuts her chin. She could feel a tiny trickle of blood run down her neck. The computer told her again to stop, standstill, and he would guide her to the door. She tried to listen, and the computer told her, “Slowly turn to your left, until I say stop.” The computer told her to stop, and then told her to walk slowly forward, one-step at a time. She followed his instructions and began moving along with her eyes closed, following the computers instructions, making turns, touching shelving when told to do so.

  She stopped walking, and spoke to the computer. Her mind felt foggy; she was trembling all over and could not walk one more step without talking. Talking was her vent, her way of preventing her mind from exploding, going off like a firecracker. She was almost whispering now, pleading with the computer not to tell, “Please computer, don’t tell Ronnie until I have a chance to explain it to him. He will laugh at me, he will hate my silly fear, he will never understand. Computer, please don’t tell him I was raped in a dark room when I was a tiny child, and that I have been afraid of the dark every since, please computer fix the lights quickly,” Connie screamed again, “Computer, turn on the lights, please.”

  Then Connie stood very still and said, “Computer, are you here with me?” “Connie, I am here, and I will guide you towards the door when you are ready to walk again.” “Computer, please don’t tell Ronnie that I sleep with the lights on. You know I always leave them on, you know everything. Please don’t tell Ronnie that I must have the lights on when making love to ward off the fear of rape, that I must have the lights on to have an orgasm. Don’t tell Ronnie that if a man touches me in the dark, I scream because I feel as if the hands are hurting me—raping me—destroying my will to live. Please don’t tell Ronnie that the fear of the dark has made me soil my pants here in this dark place; please don’t tell him. I must be the one that explains this sickness, this phobia to him. Please, computer let me be the one to tell him.” The computer spoke again to Connie, “Connie your fears are my secret, and I would never speak of your secrets to anyone without your approval, understand my child that your secrets are always safe with me.”

  The computer began again with instructions, moving Connie one-step at a time. The computer asked if her eyes were open, she said, “NO, I am afraid to look at the dark.” The computer finally convinced her to open her eyes; convinced her she was safe under his watchful eye. “Trust me,” the computer told her, “I will not allow you to fail, you will arrive safely at the door, arrive to see the light if you trust me Connie.” Connie began to speak, but the computer silenced her words, “Connie, shut up,” and began again to guide her. She forced her eyes open, this time she is able to look, to leave them open. The computer told her the door to the living quarters is straight ahead of her. She tries to hurry, stumbles, falls on her hands and bangs her knees on the steel floor decking. She is crying once again, this time she comforts her own emotions, then speaks aloud to herself, “Hush little darling, don’t you cry.”

  She stood back up, asked the computer if she was facing the correct direction to walk to the door. The computer said she was and that she could now feel the walls of the hallway if she put her hands out to her sides. Instead, she stepped ahead, putting her hands out in front of her, and moved forward another meter or so. Suddenly, her fingers touched the door. She checked to make certain it was in fact the door and not just a place on the wall. Then she heard a sound leave her mouth. The sound came as she exhaled the breath she had been holding in her lungs. She moved her hands to the right hand side of the door, located the button and pushed it.

  The light, the wonderful light blinded her, preventing her from seeing inside the hallway. She quickly steps inside as the door slides shut behind her. She realizes that Ronnie is standing one meter in front of her. She tries to remain calm, but cannot. The tears run down her cheeks, but she manages to smile at Ronnie.

  She desperately wants to run to the safety of Ronnie’s arms, but instead speaks to the computer as if it was an old friend. “Computer, thank you for helping me return from the darkness, and thanks for keeping our little secret.” The computer said nothing; Ronnie said nothing.

  When the computer finally did speak, it explained that Connie was left in the dark inventory bay due to a failed circuit breaker; “But my friend is much better now,” the computer explained. Connie smiled at the words the computer spoke, her friend it had said. Ronnie asked the computer if the breaker needed manual resetting. The computer said the problem had resolved itself, and would not happen again. Ronnie produced a small flashlight, stepped up close to Connie and slid the light into the pocket at the top of the sleeve on her flight suit. The pocket seemed tailor made to fit the light. When Ronnie started to step away from her, she touched his cheek with her hand. It was then that she turned and walked into the bathroom to wash the smell of fear from her body, and to change into a clean flight suit.

  When she returned to the ready room (still drying her wet hair from her shower), Connie felt certain that Ronnie might have heard the events in the inventory bay; how else would he have known she needed a flashlight to carry with her in case the lights went out again. She stepped up close to Ronnie, looked him in t
he eyes and said, “Ronnie, I will talk to you about the darkness within me when we are alone sometime, but not right now.” Ronnie planted a kiss on the end of her nose, and allowed her to walk away to spend some quality time in her room with her own thoughts.

  As Ronnie sat down in the captain’s chair, Janet walked in and asked if Connie was okay now, or if she needed a friend. Ronnie smiled at her, said, “Thanks for caring,” and then explained that Connie may have made friends with the computer and worked through her phobia. Janet thought about what he said for a moment, and then said that Connie may have just made a new friend, one that Ronnie had not considered. Ronnie looked confused, so Janet explained. While Connie was talking to the computer, did you understand, did you grasp, that the computer let her, no forced her, to make friends with the darkness. Ronnie had not considered that possibility. He reached over and held his sisters hand, then said, “Sis, I hope you are right about that, I have never heard the sound of fear like I just witnessed a few minutes ago.”