Personal Log 47: 7th - 13th September, 3301
24 Sep 2016Jemine Caesar
7th -13th September, 3301If this week taught me anything at all, it's that Duamta gets through a lot of hydrogen fuel. I'm quite happy to ship it, as long as the customers are happy to pay me. As it turned out, Duamta's love of hydrogen fuel is probably the least important thing I discovered during the seven days.
Confirmation came through from Dr Standish-Lang that my refertilisation treatment had been a complete success. When I read that it was again possible for me to have children, I was so happy I burst into floods of tears. Of course, on the downside it meant that I could now look forward to my first period in 12 years. With impeccable timing it began later that same day, prompting me to take the first of the birth control pills I had obtained at Beta Hydri.
My heart skipped a beat when Sam told me he'd been contacted by none other than Marcus Trelawney. I was very much in love with Sam, but I was well aware that Marcus had been attracted to me during my short stay at Aiabiko. Communication between the two men was the last thing I expected to happen. Had some fearful testosterone-fuelled confrontation taken place? Nervously, I asked Sam what Marcus had wanted.
"Advice," came the reply. "He's thinking of buying an Asp, and was after my opinion. Unfortunately I couldn't help. I've never owned an Asp, but with any luck I'll have enough funds in the next day or so to get one."
I breathed a silent sigh of relief, and told Sam my own news. "I've been promoted to Warrant Officer," I said, adding, "so salute when you address me, sailor!"
Sam was called away on Navy Reserve training maneouvres the next day, and returned to Sol in a brand new Asp. I had taken yet more hydrogen fuel to Duamta, in the process winning a battle with a pirate in an Imperial Dropship. The interdiction had taken place very close to the star, and The Last Thing suffered minor heat damage as a result.
Back at Gorbachev starport, Sam and I celebrated my promotion and his new Asp over drinks at Vostok's bar, and overheard Olga, Vlad's wife, inform her husband that they were "ouda Sirian visky".
Later, in our room, Sam gave me two presents. The first was a big box of chocolates and the second was a beautiful metallic-silver dress, mid-thigh length with a plunging neckline.
"Oh, Sam!" I cried. "It's absolutely gorgeous! Thank you so much!"
Removing the locket mama had left to me, I remarked that I should really get around to having its holomessage repaired. Sam suggested a place in the Wolf 906 system.
"It is in Empire space, though," he added. I think he could see by the look on my face what I thought of the idea of entrusting my prize possession to an Imperial citizen.
My Adder had served me well so far, except for one thing; I felt that its underslung hardpoints had proved a little restrictive for effective use of gimballed weapons. I had heard good reviews of the Cobra III, so I decided to acquire one in part-exchange for my Adder. Later that day I was the proud owner of an upgraded Cobra III, registered and renamed "The Last Thing I Do".
A flash of inspiration led me to call Bronwen Jones at Bhritzameno, to ask if there was any facility there which could repair my locket's holomessage. She confirmed that there was, and sent me the address.
"Listen, Jemine," Bronwen continued, "I'm ever so sorry I was so rude to you when you last called. Myfanwy and I heard through the grapevine what happened at Ba Po. That must have been awful for you. So, if you're coming to Bhritzameno, me and Myffy would love to meet up with you."
I promised Bronwen that I would be very happy to meet up, and said I intended to make the trip the following day.
The next day, September 10th, Sam decided to stay at Gorbachev. He had been meaning to start his own personal log, and had determined that this would be the day to do it. So I made the trip to Bhritzameno alone, and handed my locket in at the facility Bronwen had recommended. Then I contacted Bron to let her know I had arrived at Feynman Terminal.
"Great!" she said. "I've sent our address to your dataslate. Come around at 1900hrs. It's party night at Galore's tonight. Me and Myffy will sort you out with something to wear!"
*****
"Something to wear" turned out to be a skintight black aqui-rubber catsuit, wide open across the groin and buttocks to display a detachable black g-string pantie, and a circular cutout section up top to reveal the cleavage. My own vertiginous Lalande high heels completed the ensemble. I can honestly say I'd never worn an outfit like it in my life!
With Bron and Myffy similarly dressed, we tottered off to Galore's. Since my last visit the club had relocated to one of the station's upper decks, where centrifugal gravity was at its strongest. The girls certainly know how to party; we danced, we drank, we sang, and, yes, we touched each other, squealing with sensual delight. It was just another party night at Galore's, and I loved it.
Sam had made his way to Feynman Terminal during the evening, and had already been asleep for hours when I let myself in to our room at 6am. My legs, feet and back were aching. Ten hours in 15cm heels is not for the faint-hearted! Unsurprisingly, I spent most of the following day recovering in bed from a hangover.
Finally surfacing at about 6pm, I found a message from Sam: "My dearest Jem, I've gone to Baker in the Opala system to visit Natalia. She's been having nightmares, and wants to see me."
Natalia was the little girl Sam had helped during a ground battle when he was in the Federal Navy. He'd arranged for her to be adopted by a couple in their thirties who were distantly related to Vlad. It was charmingly typical of Sam that he would travel light years across space to console a frightened child.
A few more delivery jobs took me through 70 Ophiuchi, LHS 3356 and Wolf 718, as well as taking yet more hydrogen fuel to Duamta. I still hadn't done the Sol Grand Tour, however, so I rectified that on September 12th. Following one of Valentina! magazine's Grand Tour options, I flew into a brief parking orbit of every planet in order of its distance from Sol, as well as all the moons listed in the navcom, and docking at every single starport. With no interdictions to impede my progress, I clocked a rather leisurely tour time of two hours and ten minutes.
On September 13th I returned to Bhritzameno to collect my locket. I was overjoyed when the technician, whose name was Raewynne, said the repair had been successful.
"It's an Empire design," she said. "Quite unusual. About thirty or forty years old, I'd guess. There was some heat damage to the image stabiliser, so I just swapped it out."
She assured me it hadn't been necessary to view the message. I thanked her and paid the repair fee.
"And, er... here's my card," she said, sending her contact details to my dataslate. "I noticed you in Galore's the other day. Hard not to notice you in that outfit you were nearly wearing. Feel free to give me a call sometime. Anytime."
The trip back to Sol would have been entirely uneventful had I not received a k-cast call from Rudolphus. The conversation was unusual, to say the least, and back in our room on Gorbachev I recounted the details to Sam...