Dark Vengeance Read Free Page B

blurted out a laugh. “Captain Adrian Tarn? Captain?!”
    I rolled my eyes at him. “R.J., didn’t they tell you about this?”
    Our host interrupted, “Sirs, my deepest apologies. Are our records in error?”
    I managed to recover from my flashback to puberty. “No, ma’am. It is we who are sorry for confusing you. Those are our correct names and ranks.”
    R.J. had gone back to his endearing gaze.
    “Thank goodness. We do not make errors here, please be assured.” With that she came out from behind the counter, stood in front of us, and scanned each of us with her handheld device. “Gentlemen, my name is Fantasia.”
    “Of course it is,” replied R.J.
    “I will be attending to most of your needs during this voyage. Please let me show you to your staterooms.” She touched a control band on her delicate wrist. Instantly, two individuals emerged from a nearby archway. They were no more than 4 feet tall, skin tone a light green, dressed in matching green attire that looked like wetsuits. They had no hair at all and their facial features were tiny and crammed together in the center of their faces. They scurried over to us and tugged at the handles of our duffle bags. We obliged by releasing them and the two miniature bellhops took the bags to a spot nearby, and waited to follow.
    Fantasia resumed her hypnotic smile. “Captain, Commander…” She raised one hand and turned to lead us across the room toward a large, open corridor of glass and light. A wide domed entrance gave us access. As we passed by I recognized it as an elaborate pressure door disguised as a simple archway.
    “The grand gallery is a social area for all guests who wish to use it,” she said. “Ahead of us now, this is the main concourse.”
    Overhead the narrow, raised channel of windows continued. The tinting had been removed so that they now showed stars above us. The floor looked like white marble with the same silver star icons embedded within it. The passageway was much wider than the raised row of windows above and the extra ceiling was a display of slow moving intertwining colors that helped light the concourse. The walls on either side had long bands of waist-high blue menus scrolling information with the best deals of the day. Beyond the glass walls were various facilities available to guests. A kind of gymnasium and pool on the right, a cafeteria and lounge on the left. Ahead I could see a recreation area, and theater. Beyond those, still other facilities I didn’t recognize. All along the way glass phone booth-sized displays held items for sale or decoration. Display areas had extra golden light intended to ensure guests did not miss something they might wish to purchase. It was impossible to tell where the light was coming from, and yet somehow it did not interfere with the stars in the view ports overhead.
    “I’m beginning to think this may not have been such a bad idea after all,” remarked R.J.
    “Fantasia, what is the ship called?” I asked.
    Without slowing her pace she answered, “This is the Star-Seven. We are quite proud of our ship.”
    “That’s kind of an unusual name for a ship, isn’t it?”
    “We service many ports, Captain. And even though we deal mainly with humanoid life forms as I’m sure you know, many species employ language that does not translate easily. Also many of them are unable to voice some of the phonetics of other civilizations. For that reason, we have found that base numbers and simple astronomical terms are quite common among advanced civilizations, so those terms are used to make communication easier during passage through other sectors.”
    “Fantasia, how many other guests are on board?”
    “This area ahead houses the guest staterooms,” replied Fantasia.
    We entered a smaller corridor with brown metal slats on the walls from waist high to the floor. The floor became a glossy matching brown with white borders running along the sides. The upper portions of the walls were map