Admiral Greene had no further comment, and after everyone had changed into their pressure suits they gathered again in the center compartment. The Admiral’s suits were an iron grey instead of white, and they wore long coats for a more dignified appearance.

  “If no one has further questions we will get us in the air. We will be past most of the atmosphere within ten minutes, and it will take us another twenty or so minutes to match vectors with the station.” Peggy supplied.

  “Lieutenants, there are refreshments in the cold storage on the wall on that side.” Casey pointed to the wall past the table, and then turned on her heel and headed into the pilot's compartment.

  “Are you angry?” asked Peggy as Casey buckled the straps on the seat.

  “I think I am, but not at you.” Casey replied thoughtfully.

  “Even though I am not telling you things?”

  “Peggy, I am an Ensign. We usually go for years not knowing the whole story, sometimes even for good reasons. Hell, I told my best friend at the Academy that I was working at the Pentagon rather than just tell her I was assigned to work with you. What irritates me is that Admiral Greene gives me the third degree as if I have received full disclosure and am hiding what I know from her.”

  “If it helps, none of us have lied to any of you about anything.”

  “Princess Arpeggio; compared to your people, we aren’t even on the level of macaroni art on the refrigerator. You are trying to stop us from sticking forks in the outlets or tripping and falling onto some sharp table edge after changing our diaper. How can I possibly be angry at you for not handing me a gun?”

  “I wouldn’t have phrased it like that.”

  “You don’t have to. I did it for you.” Casey wrenched the controls back and forth, which of course did nothing. “I’m strapped into my car seat with my fake steering wheel, so let's go!”

  “OK, that was fair and deserved. Sorry.” The ship lifted off without a hint of vibration. About fifteen minutes into the flight Peggy interrupted Casey’s thoughts.

  “I have been keeping a running monologue going in the center cabin, and I worked into the babbling that we can fix health issues leading to body failure as well as fix the Admiral’s need for a cane. She is looking a lot more thoughtful.”

  “Let’s hope that thoughtful and bitchy are mutually exclusive.” Before long they were hooking up to the new station again.

  “Are we taking the luggage down the personnel elevator in the air lock?” Casey asked.

  “No. Tempo has remotes coming aboard to fetch them. Just stand by and see them off.”

  Casey did so, and the hand-off to Tempo was quick. When the ship was empty she returned to her office and slumped over her desk.

  “Do you need to talk about it? If not with me, then with someone else?” prodded Peggy.

  “No, I just need a minute. What’s on the agenda for this evening?”. Casey turned her head to look at the nearest desk screen, which she realized was a mannerism she had adopted as a stand-in for looking at Peggy’s face.

  “Math.”

  “Ah, the good stuff.”

  “Remember that while you are doing it all in Base Sixteen.” Peggy taunted.

  Casey’s sleep that night was unremarkable and the next morning Peggy gave her the expected wake-up call.

  “Peggy, this morning I would like to start going over the pilot’s displays so I know what they mean.”

  “That sounds more engaging than what I had in mind, so sure.” On the nearest screen Peggy showed a squid putting its thumbs up.

  Casey got some food and some coffee, and afterwards plopped herself down in the pilot seat. Peggy went over navigating the menus and what the different readings meant, and far too soon it was time for lunch.

  “Are you going to call them?” Peggy prompted, causing Casey to choke on her empanada.

  “Yes! You are just too distracting sometimes.” Peggy connected to Casey’s phone and dialed the contact. The ringing sounded over the cabin speakers.

  “Chica! It’s been so long! Months even!”

  “Hey sexy! What are you two up to?”

  “Graduation, just like you. But you got a uniform out of it which I am just dying to see you in!”

  “And out of!” murmured a muffled voice in the background.

  “Where are you two? I need to come visit.”

  “We’re driving, chica. We had to be out of student housing.”

  “Going home? You two don’t have jobs lined up yet, right?”

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  “Can’t go home, sexy-pants. Viny’s dad kicked him out, and mi madre no me habla.”

  “There is always my place.” Casey recommended.

  “You still have it?” Caz was beside himself.

  “I couldn’t sell that house if I wanted to. My great-grandfather put his assets in a series of trusts. Besides, a Romanesque Revival standalone brownstone from the early 1900s? Who would sell that if they weren’t forced to? The square footage alone would be worth a ransom if it were in my name.”

  “You were a mess after your pa died chica. There’s no telling. And we’ve barely talked since starting college.”

  “Please. Before we all got wrapped up in graduation I called you at least once a month.”

  “But we weren’t all together chica, and you know Viny has his ways when it comes to getting you to be honest about things like how you feel.”

  “Well I’ve got the keys, and it is the least I can do after what you two did for me.”

  “And to you!” Viny’s voice came over the phone, followed by a kissing noise.

  “We have a lot to catch up on, none of which you are going to believe until you see it. Where are you right now?”

  “Pontiac, we just left a restaurant.”

  “Find a secluded stretch of road that is nice and wide and drop me a pin. Pretend you need to land a plane there.

  “Casey, I don’t understand.” Caz sounding skeptical was an understatement. “Are you landing a plane?”

  “Can you trust me on this?” Casey prodded.

  “Yes, but I’m not going to lie and say I am not concerned, and a little scared.”

  It was about a half an hour before Peggy spoke up. “He sent the pin. We will be there in five minutes.” Casey scrambled back to the cargo bay and stood on the lift.

  “Just waiting for a few cars to move some more before I go lower. I texted them to turn left ahead. There is an empty field off the main road.”

  After another minute the lift started lowering. Casey looked around and saw Viny’s old hatchback nearby. Running over, she leaned in the window and gave Viny a kiss on the cheek before climbing across his lap to do the same to Caz. She wriggled back out.

  “Drive up onto the lift, we’ll head to O’Hare.” Viny seemed shell shocked, but Peggy interrupted.

  “No, collect your immediate needs from the car and I’ll arrange to have it moved.” It took about twenty minutes to get the baggage sorted through and loaded into the lift. Peggy lifted off as she finished closing up.

  “When you guys are done short circuiting, we can talk about it.” Casey led the way back to the main compartment and the couch there.

  It was a good half hour before the two stopped asking the most predictable questions imaginable. The conversation moved to the pilot’s compartment while Casey worked on answering them. Peggy kept them in the upper atmosphere until everyone calmed down.

  “I’ve got a landing and parking space set up at O’Hare.” interjected Peggy. “And a rental car will be waiting for us.” This kicked off another round of questions which took another hour.

  It was well after dark by the time Casey was turning the key in the lock at her old family home. Caz crowded in behind her, while Viny followed at a more sedate pace.

  “You two are taking the big room. I’m keeping mine, and that’s final. It would feel weird, and be a waste of a room when I am not going to be here that much.”

  “It’s your house, princess.” answered Viny.

  “Casey didn’t give it to me.” Puzzled Peggy from her communicator in Casey’s back pocket.

  “Oh this is going to take some getting used to.” Huffed Caz.

  “You are going to love it though. Bedroom, sitting room, solar, and study take up most of the fourth floor. The butler pantry was converted to closet space and the Solar into a larger bathroom in the seventies. My room is smaller, but it’s really a suite that takes up half of the third floor.”

  “On that note though, I have taken the liberty of arranging for some equipment to be delivered.” Peggy continued.

  “Like what?” Casey asked.

  “Some drones for maintenance and security, and a micro fusion plant to charge them.”

  “I’ll call the property management company tomorrow and let them know that I am back in town.” Casey said. “I won’t be here very much, but you two are, and there is no need to complicate things.”

  Casey slept late the next morning. She was sore and stiff as she walked into the kitchen for coffee. Caz was already up, but Viny was still out.

  “You should never do the walk of shame in your own house chica.” He said. “Fix that posture.”

  She stood up straight with a wince as she grabbed a mug.

  “I haven’t had to stretch like that for a while and I’m feeling it today. Anyway, Viny is still sleeping. Is he OK?”

  “He is sleeping off a lot of stress. His dad hit him when we left for uni, and he was afraid he would have to go back.”

  “Well, you two will be fine here, especially if Peggy is bringing a security drone.”

  “Define security.”

  “Normally we would use a drone swarm that would only be active while responding to situations, but those are individually too small to be of much use. So today I am going to ship in three general purpose drones and some less lethal weapons. Nothing beyond earth tech but the battery systems. I want three since I am going to need to discontinue the services of the maintenance company for your protection.”

  “And what do they look like? You alien peeps?” Caz asked.

  “They could, but I was going to make them humanoid.”

  “I am totally going to put them in maid uniforms.”

  “Shall I make them petite with huge assets?”

  “No, make them tall and built, it will be funnier.”

  “While you two discuss that, I am going to go wake up Viny.” Casey declared as she headed for the back stairs. It was close to lunchtime before she decided that task completed and the two came downstairs for some food and coffee.

  “I see your trend of dragging out completion times in favor of a thorough understanding of the subject matter remains unbroken.” teased Peggy from the com on the table.

  “Any task worth doing is worth doing well!” stated Casey triumphantly.

  “And are you well done, love?” Caz bantered with Viny.

  “A gentleman never kisses and tells. If you wanted to know you should have been there.” deadpanned Viny.

  “Well, I am going to be spending the day reacquainting myself with the house.” said Casey. “You two also need to make some notes about what you would like to see changed. If it is something that was here when my great grandfather set up the trusts then we can’t get rid of it, it has to go to a storage managed by the trust. There is a budget for things, so for now just make notes and we can address it at the next quarterly meeting.”

  Casey headed towards the stairs again, to see her old bedroom for the first time since high school.