Stowaway to Heaven by J.S. Morin

Author:J.S. Morin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-942642-03-9
Publisher: Magical Scrivener Press

Archie was Step 2. He was also Step 7, but that didn’t matter unless Yomin was captured or killed. Right now, his job was twofold. First, he was to monitor certain comm IDs for any word from Yomin. Second, he was to take over her role on the Mobius and work the advanced scientific magics her various devices were capable of.

But for now, all seemed well. Archie sat at one end of the couch, hands folded in his lap, watching And Then There Were None with Mort and Roddy. It was a farcical mess with a plot conceived in the mind of a cannabis aficionado. Its amusement value was in its utter failure as a vehicle of storytelling.

“That fellow would have lost his job on a daily basis,” Archie noted. “Can’t be giving out free chrysanthemums to every lazypants customer with a sob story.”

“That’s not the point,” Mort countered. “You’re supposed to notice that it’s an attempt to get in good with the girls he’s giving replacements to. Pay attention; not a single male specimen among his beneficiaries of largess.”

“Bah, a whole species where you can’t tell the difference.”

The holovid paused. Roddy lowered the remote and fixed Archie with a glare. “Excuse me, Robo-Grandpa. You’d think with scanners for eyes, you could tell the difference between a male and female laaku.”

“Not worth the effort. Your species is well enough populated that obviously you people can tell the difference. For all that it matters, I see a shopkeeper’s assistant who doesn’t deserve his job.”

“Fine, smart guy. Hundro of Telmarain does lose his job over this business. He gets the girl of his dreams. They move to the Kestria colony, and he manages her acting career.”

“You bloody rodent,” Mort snapped. “I haven’t seen this one yet.”

“Blame the xenoist.”

Archie stood up. “I’m no xenoist. I’m merely a devotee of proper cinema. A proper holovid takes place in five dimensions, the fifth being a depth in character. A mere three special dimensions and the passage of time are not enough to render entertainment from dreary imaginings of a dullard.”

“You know what?” Roddy said. “I think I’m going to go reacquaint myself with my species’ gender differentiation.” He stormed off in the direction of his quarters, tossing the remote over his shoulder as he went.

Archie harrumphed. “Sensitive chap.”

“Don’t you have work to do?” Mort asked, narrowing one eye.

“Of course.” Little did Mort comprehend the intricacies of robotic life. While his eyes had been taking in sub-par xeno holovid claptrap, his short-range transmitter was interfaced with Yomin’s computer core, back in their quarters. Not a minute had gone by in the days since her departure that Archie hadn’t checked each of the twelve comm IDs where she might leave messages for him. “In fact, I was going to wait until the end of our exercise in mental pacification to mention it, but since it appears we have reached an untimely conclusion…”

“Oh, for the love of hamburgers, just spit it out.”

“It’s time we got Esper looking for a job.

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