The Bonding (19 page)

“OH – MY – GOD!” Janet
exclaimed. “Please, show me again how you did that.”

Tarku showed her how to see television
broadcasts from all over the Earth. “And finally,” he spouted another command
and an Earth movie appeared, “the movie that I promised you tonight. We shall
watch a movie from your home.”

“Oh, Tarku! You are so wonderful.” She
hugged him and squeezed as hard as she could.

“I’ve been thinking that each week, we
should pick a day to be Earth day. We shall speak English all day and watch
Earth television broadcasts,” he said.

“It’s too bad that I can’t get my hands
on some fresh Earth food, because I’d love to cook you a wonderful dinner from
my home,” Janet replied.

“I’m afraid that even I can’t fulfill
that request,” he said.

“What you’ve done already is more that I
could ever ask for.”

Tarku loved to surprise her. The next
day, they were returning from shopping and he took a different route home.
Janet immediately noticed the change and looked over at him. He had his
mischievous grin again.

“Okay, what are you up to this time?” she
asked.

“Oh… just a little surprise.”

“Again? What kind of surprise?”

“It wouldn’t be one if I told you, now,
would it?”

She anxiously watched out the window.
Tarku stopped at an IAV dealer. “I think it’s time that we get you your own
IAV.”

She looked at him astonished. “Are you
serious?”

“Quite serious!”

Janet was like a child about to receive a
new toy. She was brimming with excitement. A salesman came out to greet them.

“Hello. I’m Zandovol Morchin. How may I
help you folks today?”

Tarku touched hands. “I’m Tarku Zivok,
and this is Janet Shelby.”

Zandovol touched Janet’s hand. “It is a
pleasure to meet such a beautiful lady. And I bet that you’re from the planet
Earth.

“How did you…” she looked at Tarku. He
was beaming from ear to ear.

“I just assumed that you were Mr. Zivok,
after seeing this beautiful lady. Being that I’ve never seen anyone like her I
also assumed that she was the one that you said came from the planet Earth.”

Janet looked back at Tarku. He was still
grinning. “So, you had this all planned, huh?”

“Is the unit ready that we discussed?”
Tarku asked.

“Yes sir. It’s right over here.”

Janet couldn’t believe the surprise that
Tarku had waiting. Tarku had picked out a sporty, bright, red IAV, filled with
every option available. She loved it. She led the way home, constantly talking
with him on the radio. They parked next to each other in the garage, and she
hugged him again the second she got out.

“Thank you so much, Tarku. I don’t know
how I can ever repay you for something like this.”

“There is no repayment involved here. It
is a gift.”

She rose to her toes and gave him a quick
kiss on the lips. A huge grin covered his flushed face.

The weeks continued to pass. Tarku went
on his business trips and Janet spent time with her friends. But one morning,
as Tarku was preparing to leave on another interstellar trip, Janet surprised
him with a special request.

“Tarku, can I come with you?”

He was surprised at her request. “You
really want to go with me?”

“Oh yes! I want to see what it’s like to
visit other planets. I want to travel the galaxies and see other intelligent
races. Remember when I told you about the dreams I had as a child? I’m still an
astronaut at heart and I want to see the universe.”

Tarku looked at her silently for a
moment. “I don’t see any reason why you can’t.”

“I want you to teach me your business. I
want to be able to make my own living. I am grateful for all that you’ve done
for me, but I need to have a job.”

“I understand. Pack enough clothing for
two weeks and we will begin your training.”

Janet had not been back on board his
spaceship since the day that he brought her to Zintandu. They stepped off the
elevator onto the bridge and Janet took the seat behind and to the right of the
captain’s seat.

“What are you doing sitting there?” Tarku
asked.

Janet looked at him, confused. “What do
you mean?”

“You can’t learn to fly this if you’re
not in the captain’s seat.”

“You want me to fly it?”

“Absolutely! Why, do you think that you
can’t?”

A determined look came over her. “You bet
your ass I can.”

“Good! Now, the first thing you must do…”

She watched him intently, absorbing
everything he did and following exactly what he said. Within minutes they were
rising into the sky. Janet watched Zintandu fall away from them. When they were
clear of the atmosphere Tarku looked at her and smiled.

“You’re doing great! Are you ready for
light speed?”

“Oh yes! Let’s kick the tires and light
the fires.”

“Kick the tires and light the fires?” he
asked.

“Sorry, it’s an old Earth saying. It
means that I’m ready for light speed.”

“Then select your course and speed here,
and touch that area of the console.” He showed her how to pull up the star
chart and select a course.

She touched the screen where it said
engage and the monitors became a blur for about five seconds. “Yippee!” she
yelled.

Tarku enjoyed her enthusiasm. “You learn
very quickly, Janet.”

“That’s because I have a great teacher.” She looked at the console.
“We are going thirty thousand times the speed of light, right?”

“Yes.”

“This is
so
amazing! How can we
possibly get to that speed in a matter of five seconds?”

“If you would really like to know the
answer to that, everything about this ship is explained in great detail on the
learning programs.”

“You mean the glasses?”

“Yes. All of the questions you’ve asked,
such as how the elevators work and artificial gravity, it’s all on the disks.”

“Then I’m going to be very busy with
those glasses.”

“I’m glad you said that,” Tarku replied.
“Because there are three conditions you must meet for me to teach you my
business: You must learn the languages of each planet and the customers that we
deal with. You can’t do business if you can’t talk to the customers. You must
learn
everything
about this ship and our other products. We sell these,
and you must be extremely knowledgeable about everything we sell. We are not
the only ones in the universe who trade with other planets, so you must be very
good at what you do. Finally, you must learn the universal laws governing the
planets. All of these things are on the learning disks.”

“I’ll do it,” Janet said. “I’ll do
whatever it takes to do what you do.”

“What is not on the disks is how to find
the customers, get to know the customers, and close the sale. That’s where you
will be by my side watching everything that I do. When I think you’re ready,
then I’ll let you make the initial contact and follow through with the
customer. I will teach you as my father taught me.”

“I can do it, Tarku.”

He smiled at her. “I know you can.”

Each day, she used the glasses for a
minimum of four hours. Tarku tested her by speaking to her in the various
languages,
acting as though she were a customer and talking
about the things she needed to know. Janet was an excellent student and was
soon mastering many languages.

As the months passed, Janet went with
Tarku on every business trip. She was at his side watching how he presented and
made each sale. Kuwal and Jema also gave her advice and were very pleased at
her dedication.

Janet had also mastered how to pilot his
starship, actually doing most of the flying. She quickly learned all of the
star maps and felt right at home behind the controls. She was living her dreams
of traveling the galaxies and visiting other worlds.

Tarku’s customers liked Janet very much
and enjoyed doing business with her. Tarku was pleased to see that, besides
being a first class starship pilot, Janet was quite a good businesswoman,
knowing how to negotiate and close a sale. As complicated and technical as his
business was, Janet had learned everything she needed to know, and was actually
receiving a regular, and very substantial, paycheck from Kuwal. She liked the
feeling of making her own way and not being supported by Tarku.

One day, as they were on their way to
deliver some very high tech products to a customer, Janet noticed a strange
spaceship following them.

“Tarku, there is a ship following us.”

Tarku looked at the monitor and touched
the console to magnify the image. The ship was rapidly getting closer.

“Pirates!” Tarku exclaimed.

“Pirates?” Janet questioned.

“Yes! Anyone else would have already
contacted us.
 
Out here, it is not
an accident or a coincidence for a ship to be following us, without contact,
unless they are pirates.”

“What should we do?”

“I’ve dealt with these types before. They
will try to cripple our light drive and then attempt to board us. They have
done it to some of our cargo ships, killing everyone on board and stealing the
ships. These are ruthless people who don’t give a damn about anything or
anyone.”

“Oh! That makes me feel real comfy,”
Janet moaned.

“Don’t worry! I’ve got some surprises for
them. They don’t know that, since the last time they pirated one of our ships,
we have installed the latest weaponry devised by our scientists. Only our
military has more potent weapons. Watch and learn. Jema travels alone, and
someday, you may also be out here alone and need to know what I’m about to show
you.”

Suddenly, the computer announced a
warning. “Proximity alert! Incoming object! Contact in fifteen seconds.”

Tarku looked at the monitor. “Zentu
torpedoes!”

“What are those?” Janet asked.

“They are designed to destroy the Phemix
Shield.”

“What can we do?”

“Watch and learn!”

He quickly touched the control console
and two small objects shot from the back of the ship.

“These are Kalitides. They are designed
to go after and destroy a variety of weapons, including Zentu torpedoes.”

“Warning! Impact in seven seconds,” the
computer spouted. Just then, the aft monitor filled with two brilliant flashes
as the Kalitides destroyed the Zentus.

“All right!” Tarku exclaimed. “I was
hoping those would work.”

“Hoping?” Janet questioned.

“Yes! I’ve never actually used them
before, except in a simulation unit. This is the first time I’ve personally
been attacked by pirates. But don’t worry, I’ve had a lot of practice in the
simulator and I’ll take care of them. The simulator is very realistic and I
always scored extremely high.”

“I’m glad to hear that. What happens
now?” she asked.

“I’m sure that, right about now, they’re
scratching their heads and contemplating how they’re going to stop us. I can
bet that they weren’t figuring on me having such advanced weapons, and are now
wondering what else I’ve got on board.”

Tarku touched the control console and his
ship began to turn around, heading directly for the pirates.

“What are you doing?” Janet questioned,
looking nervously at the monitor and the pirate ship.

“I’m going to stop them. I can guarantee
that they aren’t expecting this.”

On board the pirate ship, the commander watched
his monitor with total surprise. The pirates were a mixture of aliens from
several galaxies and were used to being the hunters, not the hunted. When Tarku
turned towards them, they all stared in awe.

“What is he doing, Commander?” asked the
first officer, a stocky little alien with light green skin, large dark eyes and
an oblong head, covered with shaggy black hair.

The Commander was a Turnician, from the
planet Turnic. He was nearly as large as Tarku, with brown, oval eyes, and a
scarred face. He had a long mustache dangling around a small, pointed beard on
his chin. Similar to the Zintandians, he had clawed hands instead of
fingernails and long black hair.

“I think he means to attack us. How dare
him!” the Commander boasted. “He may be able to stop the Zentus, but he won’t
stop a combination of five Zentus, followed immediately by three Tolpaks. The
Zentus will take out his Phemix Shield and the Tolpaks will neutralize all
electrical functions of his ship. We can then board at our leisure.”

He was reaching for his console when his
computer began spouting a proximity warning. “Incoming object. Impact in
fifteen seconds.”

He looked up at his monitor. Tarku had
already
beat
him to the punch. Tarku had launched four
Zentus, followed by two Tolpaks, followed by two Grazan missiles.