“Important safety tip. Thank you, Kari.”
Kari nodded once then rose from her chair and extended an arm to Alex. The two left the captain’s conference room, turned right, and arrived at the door to the dining hall.
<I’ll prompt you,> Kari told him. <We’ll walk in normally, I’ll lead you to the front just like we walked here, and then you’ll take Ms. Grey’s arm like you currently have mine. The Captain will officiate. The ceremony takes about twenty minutes.>
“Any time,” Alex said.
<Try thinking it. I’ll listen as long as I can.>
<What does that mean?>
<Long story. It’ll be okay. Ms. Grey will take over for me.>
<When do I learn her name?> Alex asked.
<When she tells you.>
<Okay. I’m as ready as I’ll be.>
The doors opened without a word, and Kari led Alex through a small group of crew and ship’s officers. Captain Dawson and Grey were standing together at the far end of the room, watching Kari and Alex enter the room. Alex’s heart skipped a beat when he looked at his beautiful, soon-to-be wife.
<Stifle that!> Kari told him. <I’m shielding you, but I’m not as good as the captain.>
<But…>
<Stifle it. Those are not proper thoughts if you’re going to keep this a marriage of convenience.>
Alex did his best to think very unromantic thoughts.
<There is a middle ground, Alex,> Kari told him. <Do you have to think about calculus? It makes my head hurt.>
Alex started thinking about the contents of his ship’s storage bins.
<That’s something I don’t mind listening to. And smile. This is your wedding. You should look happy.>
Kari led Alex to the front of the room and came to a stop. <Go to her,> she directed. Alex dropped Kari’s arm, stepped forward, and took the arm that Grey was offering. Two more steps, and they were standing in front of Captain Dawson.
The captain began the service. Alex tried to pay attention, but kept sneaking glances at Grey.
<Pay attention, Alex. Your part is coming up.>
“Alexander Steven Swanson,” said the captain, beginning Alex’s portion of the vows. They spoke of obedience and humility. Alex listened carefully and started to panic.
<Calm down, Alex,> Kari sent him. <It’s just a ceremony. They’re not legally binding. The contracts are binding, the ceremony is tradition.>
<But I’m about to make a promise. I take my promises seriously. I can’t promise that! I can’t!>
<It’s just a ceremony, Alex.> Kari tried to reassure him. <Now pay attention.>
Alex let the captain finish speaking. Grey was pointedly not looking at Alex, but he was sure everyone in the room could feel his rising panic.
<Everyone’s staring at me,> Alex told Kari.
<Of course. They’re wondering if you’ll do it.> Kari projected the image of the air lock again.
<We agreed that wasn’t fair,> Alex said. <I can’t promise those things to her.>
<Alex,> came Grey’s voice in his mind. <These are Dawson’s Star marriage vows. And when in DS territory, you’re going to have to follow them, at least outwardly. You understand that, don’t you?>
“Yes,” he told her quietly.
<Your promise is between you and Ms. Grey,> Kari told him. <Quietly promise what you just told her.>
“I do so vow, while in DS territory,” Alex finally said. <Should I add anything else?> he projected to Kari.
<Unusual wording was to be expected. That was fine,> Kari told him. <We didn’t give you much time to write a speech. Now listen to her vows.>
“Pamela Linda Grey,” began the Captain. Grey’s vows spoke of responsibility and stewardship.
“I do so vow,” began Gray, using Alex’s phrase. Then, more quietly so that only Alex and the Captain could hear, she added, “I also vow to never hold you in DS territory if ever you wish to leave.”
<That sounded usual, too> Alex told Kari.
<It was. We wrote it more eloquently, but she’s nervous.>
The Captain was gesturing, and one of the officers came forth with a small, wood chest. She stepped around the couple and handed the chest to the Captain, who set it on the table behind her.
“These bracelets are a symbol of your marriage,” the Captain said, withdrawing two heavy gold bracelets from the chest. Alex thought they looked too big for Grey’s wrists. The captain handed one of the bracelets to Grey.
<Hold out your right wrist,> Kari told her. <Palm up is more polite. She’s going to put the bracelet on.>
Puzzled, Alex did as he was told. He eyed the bracelet, but couldn’t see a clasp. “It won’t fit over my hand,” Alex said quietly. Grey did something, and the bracelet sprang open. She looked into Alex’s eyes for a moment, then looked down and wrapped the bracelet around his wrist, snapping it shut. Once she had done so, Alex still couldn’t see the joint.
The bracelet appeared to be made of both yellow and white gold, was rather heavy, and felt cold around his wrist. Alex looked at it briefly, but Captain Dawson was holding the other bracelet. Alex turned to her, expecting to receive the bracelet for Grey’s wrist. The Captain smiled briefly, then handed the bracelet to Grey.
<Your other wrist now, Alex,> Kari told him. Alex just held out his wrist, and Grey fastened the bracelet in place.
<I am so confused,> Alex told Kari.
<Almost over,> Kari said. <One more piece of jewelry. After that, Pamela will have to guide you. I won’t be able to.>
<Why not?>
<Not enough time to explain.>
Captain Dawson handed Grey a larger version of the bracelets Alex was already wearing. Grey looked at it for a moment, then looked up at Alex.
<You’re very tall. You can stand if you want to,> Kari told him. <But she’ll have to reach up. It would be very classy if you knelt in front of her.>
<I can do that,> he said, dropping slowly to his knees.
<Keep your back straight and stay there until she helps you stand again.>
Grey opened the necklace, stepped forward, and closed it around Alex’s neck.
Captain Dawson began speaking again. She spoke a few words about trust and honor then suddenly finished. Alex remained on his knees the entire time, looking at Grey.
<Now what?> Alex projected at Kari, but got no response. He turned to look at her.
<Kari can’t hear you anymore,> Grey told him. <Now it’s traditional for me to kiss you, then help you stand. We can skip the kiss, if it would bother you.>
<I could handle a kiss,> Alex told her. <But you don’t have to.>
Grey stepped forward, raised Alex’s chin, then lowered her head and gave him a thorough kiss. She then took his hands in hers and steadied him as he rose to his feet.
“Ladies of the ship Jane’s Gift,” said the captain loudly. “May I present Pamela and Alexander Grey!”
Alex looked at the captain sharply, but the officers and crew applauded.
The couple formed a reception line, and everyone came forward to congratulate Grey and eye her new husband. Alex smiled a lot, didn’t offer to shake hands, and kept his mouth shut. Kari and the Captain brought up the rear of the line.
“You did fine,” Kari told him. “Congratulations.”
“I think I’m shell shocked,” he replied. “And I haven’t figured out the trick with the bracelets yet.”
“Pamela will have to explain,” Kari said. “But did you notice the pattern?”
Alex looked closely as the gold around his wrists. He realized the bracelets were made of braided white and yellow gold strands.
“The necklace has the same pattern. Compare it to the pattern woven into Pamela’s right sleeve.”
Alex looked at Grey then realized the intricate pattern in the bracelets matched the pattern on Grey’s jacket.
“It’s a family design, but each person then makes small changes from t
he base design. No other woman has a design that quite matches Pamela’s.”
The Captain came last. “Alex, I know this is sudden and strange. But we’re looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship with you.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Alex said.
“We’re off duty, Alex. And, legally at least, we’re family now.”
“Thank you, Linda.”
“Better. Normally we would throw a party.”
Alex looked at her, understanding. “But everyone wants to go home, and no one else has her husband here?”
“We can still do the party.”
“I’m fine with whatever…” He turned to look at Grey. He had figured out her name – it had been coming up enough times – but felt awkward suddenly using it.
She looked at his expression.
<I should have said something sooner,> she told him. <But I was nervous. My name is Pamela, or Pam if you’re in a hurry, but I prefer Pamela. Alexander? Alex? Xander? Al?>
<Not Al. The rest are fine.> He smiled.
“I’m fine with whatever Pamela wants,” he told the Captain.
“Alex is in shock,” Pamela said. “I think getting him to familiar territory would be wise. And look, he’s been fingering the bracelets since I put them on.”
“I can’t find the joint,” he said.
“You won’t,” Pamela told him. “Leave them alone and I’ll explain later.”
“I’ll have a crew member transfer your things over to Swanson’s Pride,” Linda said. “We can undock in, say, two hours?”
“Would you two join us for a goodbye drink on the Pride before we undock?” Alex asked. This earned a sharp look from Pamela, but she said nothing. Alex was looking at Linda and didn’t notice Pamela’s reaction.
“What would be lovely,” Linda said. Kari nodded.
“Then I guess we’ll go settle in,” Pamela said. “Alex, bring the jewelry box.”
Without watching to check his reaction, Pamela turned for the door. Alex scrambled for the wood box, picking it up carefully, then hurried after his wife.
“That was a little abrupt,” he complained, catching up to her.
“Are you criticizing me?” Pamela asked him pointedly. Alex thought about his vows.
“No, Pamela. At least not for another hundred meters.”
Pamela laughed. “Don’t drop the chest. It’s ancient.”
Alex gave it a good look. “Earth, 20th century, cherry with… padauk inlay? Very nice.”
Pamela stopped and stared at him.
“Artworks includes antiques,” Alex told her. “When the ships left Earth, almost everyone brought some sort of family treasures to remember their old homes. From time to time, I find good deals.” Alex eyed the jewelry chest with an appraising eye.
“Don’t even think it. Not for sale,” Pamela told him with a small growl then laughed. “You’re teasing me?”
Alex reply was a large grin.
They arrived at the closed airlocks. They did the dance with the doors, then Alex led the way to the guest cabin. He stepped aside so Pamela could open the hatch, then he followed her in.
“Where would you like the chest?” Alex asked. “The ship has a lot of small storage areas for things like this if you don’t want to make room in here.”
Pamela looked around the rather Spartan room. The cabin was dominated by the furniture, of course. A bed, a table, and a couple of comfortable chairs. Set into one wall was a countertop with a mirror over it. Pamela looked in this direction, so Alex carried the chest over and set it down in front of the mirror.
He turned around and looked at Pamela. He hands unconsciously starting playing with the bracelets on his wrists again.
“There’s no joint, Alex,” Pamela told him gently. “It’s nanotech. You won’t get them to open.”
“But you did,” he replied.
<I know,> she said. <I can. But you can't.>
“Oh. And the necklace?”
“It’s nanotech, too. And it’s why Kari couldn’t hear you anymore. It has a dampening field. She could punch through if she needed to, but she’d earn a large headache for the effort. And you could call for help if you were under enough stress. But mostly it shields you.”
“You didn’t seem to have a problem.”
“That’s because it’s my necklace, tuned to me. It actually makes you more accessible to me, not less.”
“I see.” Actually, Alex didn’t see, but he was realizing he had a lot to learn about how things worked on Dawson’s Star. He didn’t think he was going to like it very much.
Pamela looked sadly at him. She stepped up, took his hand, and removed the bracelet. She quickly removed the remaining items and turned quietly away.
“Two members of the crew are at the airlock with my things. Don’t let them see you.”
Alex was startled. “Excuse me?”
Pamela paused, taking a breath. “Would you please not let them see you?”
“Why not?”
“Please, Alex.”
“I’ll be in the cockpit running diagnostics.”
Pamela paused again before speaking. “Thank you.”
Puzzled, Alex left the cabin and headed for the cockpit. He had barely checked the logs last night, so he wasn’t sure what to expect.
Ms. Danforth had been very thorough, he discovered. She had repaired several nagging little items, including a glitch in the environmental systems that occasionally caused it to rain in the galley. Alex would have blamed it on his cooking, but how can anyone mess up a cup of tea? Alex ran a complete set of diagnostics, then sat back and watched as the computer tested system after system. Everything showed in the green.
Alex continued to rerun system tests several more times, remaining scarce until Pamela gave the all clear. An hour passed, but she still hadn’t stopped by to tell him he could stop hiding. He punched in the comm to her cabin.
“Pamela, are you alone?” he asked.
“Alex? Yes, I’m alone.”
“I’ve been hiding in the cockpit. You asked me to hide. But we have guests coming shortly.”
“I canceled. We can break dock whenever you’re ready.”
“I have a gift for Linda, and I wanted to give something to Kari, too. And I need to thank Ms. Danforth for the excellent repairs she did.”
“We will break dock as quickly as you can manage it. And you will not go on visual with the Gift.”
“What’s going on?”
“Alex, we are currently docked to a DS ship. As far as I’m concerned, that places us in DS territory. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, we’re dealing under DS rules whenever we’re even talking to a DS ship. I expect you to remember your vows and act accordingly. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal.” Alex broke the connection and immediately called to Jane’s Gift.
“Ready to break dock, Pride?” came Captain Dawson’s voice. “And why are we missing visual again?”
“I have been ordered to leave visual turned off, Captain,” Alex said tightly. “And I have been ordered to break dock immediately.”
Alex felt his hand reach for the communications console and activate the view screen.
“I shouldn’t have been able to do that, Alex,” Linda told him. The cameras came on line. “You made her take off the necklace already? No wonder she didn’t want us to see you. I thought you were going to try to make this work.”
“I didn’t make her do anything,” Alex replied. “She just suddenly took them off.”
“They’re supposed to be permanent, Alex. No one is expecting that from you, but you didn’t have to rub her nose in it.”
Alex thought quickly, then shut off the video feed, leaving only audio. “Captain Dawson, I didn’t get copies of the contracts I signed. And I have discovered some items that belong to a couple of officers of the Jane’s Gift. Do you think you and Ms. Waters could come aboard one more time before we undock? Say, in about 15 minutes? I will, of course, need to appro
ve this with my wife and make sure we are both properly attired to receive guests.”
“You’re a good man, Alex.”
Alex terminated the transmission and hurried aft to Pamela’s cabin. He knocked on the door. “It’s Alex, Pamela. Captain Dawson and Ms. Waters are coming on board, and it occurred to me there’s a lot I don’t know, including what I’m supposed to be wearing while in DS space.”
The door slid open. Pamela's eyes were red.
Alex looked at her gently. “Please just tell me when something is important to you,” he said. “You can read my mind, but I can’t read yours. I understand I’m not properly attired to receive guests.”
“How did you find that out so quickly?”
Alex slipped past her and took a chair. “Find out for yourself.” Pamela looked startled but stared into his eyes for a moment. Alex felt a light caress but no more than that.
“You’re right, I should have said something. You don’t have to wear them.”
Alex didn’t say anything, but just held out both wrists, palms up. Pamela smiled and retrieved the bracelets, gently placing them around his wrists. She added the necklace. Alex stood up.
“I can’t wear these all the time,” he told her. “They're… distracting. But I’ll wear them when you ask me to. Is that fair?”
“That’s fair, Alex. Thank you.”
“I want to give both Linda and Kari a gift. If it’s inappropriate, then you can do it.”
“Show me,” Pamela said.
“Actually, you’ll have to help me pick them,” Alex replied. “I’m carrying a little art. Not much.” Standing up, Alex walked out of the cabin and headed towards one of the storage cabinets. He opened a drawer then poked through the carefully packed objects, selecting two of them. He handed one to Pamela. “Let’s go back to your cabin and look at them. Let me know what you think.”
A few moments later found Alex sitting in the chair while Pamela sat on the edge of the bed. Alex unwrapped the object he was holding, then held it where Pamela could see it.
“It’s kind of ugly,” she said after a moment.
“Look closely. Stare at it for a few seconds.”