"Mother, he's young enough to be your son!" Jennifer complained, but she did step up and give me a peck on the lips and then a longer, smoochy kiss. "Keep your hands of my mother, you home wrecker!" she said with a grin. "Maybe you'd like to keep them on me, instead?" She arched her body into me while her mother laughed.

"Jennifer, stop teasing him," she scolded, playfully.

"Who's teasing?" she asked, looking straight in my eyes. "You're the one who said he was a good kisser. Can I help it if you're right?" She winked at me on the side away from her mother and kissed me again.

Salina just huffed. "Well, I never!" she said with a grin.

Jennifer pulled back from me then with a smile and said, "You have had too. At least twice, unless you're claiming immaculate conception."

"You'll pay for that, young lady!"

Jennifer pouted a little. "I suppose I better behave. Being grounded has a special meaning in our family." We all laughed and she said, "Good luck, Ish. Take care." Then they wandered off and I was left alone again.

The band started up for real then and the whole group moved out to the dance floor. I drained my drink and left the empty on a table before joining the group myself. I was a member in good standing in this tribe and I took my place among them one last time.

For the next couple of stans we danced together, all of us, the past and present crew of the Lois McKendrick. We danced together and we danced with the crews of the other vessels in port. I had been on that dance floor before but not really part of the dance the way I was that night-it felt good.

At some point in the evening, Pip disappeared. I was pretty sure I knew where to find him, but also knew why he had taken the other bedroom in the suite. As time went on more and more people faded from the floor and paired off according to the rules they had set for themselves. Eventually the band shut down and with it a lot of the patrons shut down as well. They left in small groups, occasional pairs and, even rarer, alone. The night was winding down and it was time to head back to the room. I looked around to see if I could spot either Bev or Brill, and no sooner had the thought of them hit me, that they were there.

"Shall we sit awhile?" I asked.

"We can if you want," Bev said. "Personally, I'm ready for bed."

Brill looked at her then and asked, "Did you have any particular bed in mind?"

"Why yes, I know of a lovely full sized bed up on level seven. I was thinking of that one."

"Well, might wanna see if there's anybody using it at the moment," Brill observed.

Bev turned her predatory eyes on me, and if she hadn't been smiling warmly, I might have felt a bit more afraid. "I don't think he's there, yet," she said to Brill while looking straight into my eyes.

Brill grinned and leaned over to kiss me. "You guys take care. See you soon."

My heart lay heavy in my chest. I tried to remember to breathe as I watched that magnificent woman turn and sail out of my life forever.

Bev nudged me and took my arm. "Come on, sailor. I've got some plans for you that don't include mooning over your ex-boss." She said it with a softness in her voice that told me she understood, but it was an offer I could not easily ignore.

It was one of those nights that lives in your heart and warms you in the cold times. We sailed into my room and managed to get the door closed and locked behind us before clothes started flying. Then we were on the bed, giggling and rolling around in a pile like puppies-stroking, and licking-kissing and even nipping. Skin, everywhere skin, soft and smooth, some with downy pelt, some delightfully naked. Some of it tattooed and some of it pierced with steel, gold, or silver. Eventually, all of it wet and slippery. The giggles and squeals eventually gave way to gasps and moans and, much later, cries and sighs. Eventually the night won over and we fell asleep in a satisfied and quivering heap.

Chapter Thirty-Four.

Dunsany Roads...o...b..tal

2353-July-20

Pip woke me by pounding on the door. "Hey! Anybody still alive in there?"

Bev answered, "No," before I was really awake.

Pip pounded on the door again. "If you people don't get out here and help me eat this food, I'm going to send it back to the kitchen."

"Food?" she asked.

"Breakfast. Should be enough if there's only one army in there."

Bev was out of bed first and for an instant I thought she was going to go as she was, that is naked, barring the odd patch of sweat and her tattoos. But she went to the closet and pulled out a fluffy robe, threw it over herself, and then another one was coming my way. I had a mental overlay of the suit drill months before, when she had opened the locker and handed out environmental suits clad in her ship-tee and boxers.

Even before Pip had stepped all the way back from the door, Bev flung it open and said, "Good morning, Pip." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and headed for breakfast, still tying her robe. She left me standing there, still half tangled in mine.

Pip stuck his head in the door and grinned at me. "You need me to show you how to put that on?" he asked and managed to duck before the pillow I threw at him arrived.

I got the robe on and wandered out to find Pip and Bev loading plates from a mobile buffet cart that had been wheeled into the suite. I also found Rebecca Saltzman looking very seriously pleased with herself and dressed in the same clothes I'd seen her in the night before. "Morning, Bev. Hi, Ish," she said in her growly purr. It sounded even a little more like a purr than normal to me and judging from the look on Pip's face, he had had quite a night himself.

"Good morning, Rebecca," Bev said, but wasted no more time on chit-chat before loading a plate with meat, eggs, potatoes and what looked like a spicy red salsa.

"Hi, Rebecca," I said. The day was off to a great start. Who was I to complain?

We made short work of the food. From the way Bev was looking around for more, I thought maybe we should call for another cart. "You want some more breakfast, Bev?" I asked with a smile.

"Oh no, I'm fine. Just didn't want any to go to waste."

"I think we ate everything but the plates," Pip said. "And I'm not sure we didn't eat one of those." He made a show of counting them. "Anybody notice something real crunchy?"

We all chuckled and Rebecca stood up. "Well, I have to get back to work."

I glanced at the chrono by the bar, 07:30. "You're kinda late for watch, aren't you?"

"Co-op duty. I'm breaking in a new manager this morning, Sarah Krugg. I said I'd help out, but that woman needs no help when it comes to selling. She could sell water to a drowning man."

We all laughed again. Rebecca went around the room and kissed everybody. On her way out the door she said, "Safe voyage. See ya round the docks." Then she left.

My portable gave the little bee-boop sound it made when a new message arrived and I went to see who it was. I should have known it was Aunt P.

"They're at the inner marker, Pip. Aunt P says they'll be docked by 10:00 and clear of customs by noon." The last line caught me off guard. "She also says she wants to leave by tomorrow afternoon."

Pip grinned. "I told ya she'd have a hot cargo lined up. We'll go down and meet 'em when they clear customs." He turned to Bev. "You wanna come say hi?"

She shrugged. "I'm off today. Why not?"

My dream of taking her back to bed evaporated, but I was in no position to complain. "Maybe we should get cleaned up and dressed first?" I suggested.

"Dibs on the shower," Bev called and bolted for the other room. She had the robe half off before clearing the door. Pip blinked, it was quite an eyeful.

"No false modesty in her family, huh?" I said.

Pip grinned, "Actually, I think her family are nudists. She's the least self-conscious when she's naked."

"Now you tell me," I groaned. "I've been bunking with a gorgeous and repressed nudist for two stanyers and you wait until now to tell me?"

"Sorry, but it's probably just as well you didn't know."

I looked at Pip and said, "Good point."

We were silent for a moment before he asked, "You okay, Ish?"

"Yeah," I said but paused for a few heartbeats."No, not really. I thought we'd have a little more time."

He shrugged at that. "When the boat leaves, you gotta be on it. What can I say?"

"Yeah, I know, but it's just-" I started but then I couldn't finish.

"I know. I know." He slapped his thighs with both hands and said, "Still we have the suite for the night and we'd have to check out tomorrow anyway. Some breaks probably are best made quickly."

I rubbed my face with my hands. "Yeah, but being right doesn't make it hurt any less."

"You got that right, brother," he said then sighed. "I better get my own act together here." He headed for his room and presumably a shower.

I looked at the chronometer, 08:00, and thought, What am I going to do with that animal in my shower? The realization of what had just run through my head hit me and I hurried to the bathroom myself. At the very least I was going to watch.

The morning went too quickly, but we made it to the dock by noon, dressed and presentable to the public. Just strolling the corridors with Bev felt decadent. Watching other people's reactions was priceless. Just before we got to the lock, we met Brill and invited her along.

"Sure, I'd love to see the ship!" she said, and fell into step with Bev and me.

Something had happened when I was not looking. For the first time I noticed that Brill did not walk with her stoop. What's more, people no longer regarded her with the same kind of derision I had grown used to ignoring. Seeing her stride along with Bev, I could see why. She was awe inspiring. Bev held station on her port side and I took up my position on the starboard. We strode the corridors together, invincible, if only for a few more stans. Pip walked slightly ahead of us and I could see his smile in the reflections in the shop windows as we pa.s.sed.

The Bad Penny's telltale showed clear when we got there and Pip rang. Cousin Roger opened up. His eyes bugged out slightly when Brill and Beverly stepped in with us but I could not blame him. They had that effect on a lot of people-me among them.

Roger led us through the living room and into a cozy galley. There was no mess deck, per se, but a table large enough to seat twelve comfortably was there. It felt warm and welcoming, like I had just come home.

Aunt P beamed when she saw us and came over to hug. "How good to see you all!"

Bev and Brill stepped up and returned her embrace and I thought Brill said something to her, but Pip asked, "What's the big rush? I thought we were gonna hang around for a few days."

Roger said, "Cargo deadline. Extra fifty kilocreds if we deliver on time."

Pip gave me a I-told-ya-so look.

Aunt P patted Brill on the cheek before turning to me. "I'm so glad you're going with Pip. His father wasn't nearly as upset as I thought he'd be."

"He knew all along, Aunt P," Pip said. "We ran into him on Umber."

"Well, I should hope so. That's where we sent him. And here you are. Are you excited?" she asked Pip.

"Excited isn't the word, really, Aunt P, it's more of a, *yes, it's time I went, so let's get on with it' kind of feeling.

"What about you, Ishmael? Are you excited?"

"Yes and no," I told her. "The Lois was like my family after my mother died and now I'm leaving her. It's the right thing to do, but I hate going."

"Well, it's not permanent and we're a small community. You're bound to meet up again."

"Ain't that the truth," Bev said with a shuttle full of irony that flew right past me.

Aunt P gave us the short tour of the ship. It was really impressive. I could see every part of the ship was built for efficiency, compared to the Lois everything was very compacted. The cabins were nice. Besides the captain's cabin, there were two more singles, four doubles and a big one with four bunks. There was even a small work out area with exercise equipment and, in lieu of a sauna, a hot tub that looked like about ten people could fit in.

As we went back to the living room, I said, "This is so nice! I wish we had more than just a few weeks!"

"Just wait until those few weeks are over, then see if you'll be saying that," Roger put in with a low chuckle. "It can get pretty cramped."

I allowed how that was possibly true, but it still looked good to me.

"Well, who's up for some lunch?" Aunt P asked. "Quent's gone to deal with the cargo but Roger and I were just heading up to a little place we like on level five. You kids wanna join us?"

We had a ball at lunch but it was so unfair. Bev, Brill, and Aunt P got on like gang busters. We had such a good time and I tried to stay in the moment and ignore the pending break in my heart. I succeeded but only because everybody was having such fun. It was easier to ignore while I was distracted.

As lunch wrapped up, Aunt P said, "Well, I expect you young people will have things to do this evening, but everybody needs to be aboard by 09:00 for a 12:00 pull out. Normally, it's less but the Confederation is being persnickety about it."

"Okay, Aunt P," Pip said. "We'll be there. And thanks for giving us a ride."

"Oh, you know me. I'm always willing to fly half way across the galaxy to turn a profit." She grinned, then took Roger's arm and sauntered back toward the lift.

Bev said, "We've got some stuff to do too."

Brill agreed. "You know how it is. Always something needing doing."

I looked at Bev. "You don't have watch tonight?"

She shook her head. "Normally I would but they're breaking Tabitha in on it."

Brill broke in with, "We'll meet you back at the suite at about 18:00?" She looked at Bev who nodded in confirmation.

I wanted to spend every last remaining moment with them, but all I could do was say, "See you soon."

They linked arms and followed in the wake of Aunt P and Roger.