I went down several floors in the hospital to where Deborah was. She had left at some point while I was busy with Hailey. It wasn't until I found her that I heard in her thoughts what had happened. She was in a break room and drank some odd liquid and fought not to cry.

“I take it the reconciliation didn't go as planned?” I asked as I sat down across from her.

Deborah let out a bark of laughter. “It's funny how I never really saw how dense he could be until you showed up.”

I raised my eyebrows at her and she waved her hand around to indicate everything.

“The job, the high pay, the expensive flight suit, free accommodations for employees and for partners if we have them, and even free trips to the planet's surface on a weekly basis if we want them.”

“Wait... other companies don't provide that?” I asked, surprised.

Deborah snorted a laugh and took another drink. “You don't know how happy I... how happy we all are... that you're doing all of this for us.”

“I was doing it for me, actually.” I said and it was her turn to raise her eyebrows. “Peace of mind, efficiency, and a great work environment were what I was striving for.”

“For yourself?” Deborah asked, surprised.

“You don't know how relaxing it is to have a competent pilot in control of the ship.” I said. “I have four of you to keep an eye on things and I don't have to worry about it.”

“But... all we do...”

“You all check every system each time you go on duty, don't you?” I asked and she nodded.

“Air purity, power consumption, flight controls, and even our environment... both inside and outside the ship.” Deborah said.

“If it was just me, I'd probably check it once in the morning and then once at night, assuming I was staying on the ship.” I said. “If I wasn't, I would leave the cargo bay doors open and never enter any other part of the ship until it was time to leave.”

Deborah stared at me and wasn't sure what to say.

“As it stands, I know that all of the immediate needs of taking care of the ship are being handled by professionals. If anything happens, you'll let me know and we can deal with it.”

“You're putting a lot of trust in us.” Deborah said.

“Actually, I'm trusting you to look after your own lives and I get to go along for the ride.” I gave her a crooked smile and she laughed.

“All right. I can believe that a lot quicker than you being completely altruistic.”

I put a hand on my chest. “Oh! The pain! Right through the heart!”

“Stop that.” Deborah laughed and stood up. “I'm pretty sure the staff are searching all over for you.”

“They sure are.” I said and stood up, too. “They'll be on this floor in another few minutes.”

“We better get going, then.” Deborah said. “Unless there's anyone else you want to visit?”

“I've avoided talking to the press so far, so no.”

We walked over to the door and left the room, then went down the hallway to the stairs, then made our way back to the guest room. Once we were inside, the unspoken race began. Deborah had her top off and opened the suitcase on the bed to put it inside. I did the same thing with my shirt and mirrored her movements. Our pants were next, then our underwear, then we grabbed our flight suits and slipped them on. Since they had already formed to our bodies somewhat, it was easier to put them on.

Surprisingly, Deborah's suit snapped into place a split second before mine and she grinned at me as she slapped my shoulder. I chuckled and handed her a trench coat, then put my own on and we left the room. With my directions and some lucrative use of my Stealth technique, we made it back to the shuttle without incident. Surprisingly, no one was there waiting for us, so we climbed aboard and ditched our coats before we started it up.

No one was near or coming out for us, so I told Deborah to take off and to do a loop around the hospital and to hover near the ward with Hailey. She didn't question me and did what I asked slowly, since she really didn't have much practice flying the small ship in close quarters. When she was in position and the cockpit faced the windows, I stood up and waved enthusiastically.

*

“He's coming back! I just know it!” Hailey said and pushed the medical technician's hand away that had some weird medical tool in it. They weren't leaving her alone long enough to eat.

“Hailey...” The female medical assistant beside her started to say, then they heard the rumble of a shuttle come around the building.

“I told you!” Hailey said and pushed the tray aside and made the motions to be picked up. The assistant reached for her and took the now much heavier girl into her arms and walked over to the bank of windows. When they got there, a shuttle slowly floated into view about fifty feet from the building, then they saw Hunter in a skin tight flight suit stand up in the cockpit.

Both Hailey and the woman holding her had bright red faces as Hunter waved at them like his arm was going to fall off. Hailey giggled at the sight and waved back to him, then all of the other kids started to jump around excitedly and waved as well. Hunter said something to her, then turned his head to the woman with him. The shuttle moved back another fifty feet and then rose up into the air, turned around, and flew out of sight.

The assistant brought Hailey back to the bed and tucked her under the blanket. “That was nice of him.” She said and put the tray of broth back in front of her. “I wonder what he said.”

Hailey could still feel Hunter's energy and she looked at the assistant. “He said that he can't wait to see what I become.”

The woman chuckled. “What are you going to become?”

Hailey's face flushed red again and whispered.

“What was that?” The assistant asked and leaned in close to listen.

“I'm... I'm going to be... his wife.” Hailey said and let that thought fill her.

“That...” The woman stopped herself from discouraging the child's wishful thinking. The only thing she had ever asked them for, during all the years she had been in the hospital, was to meet Hunter and that had just happened.

“Just you wait.” Hailey said with much more confidence than a moment ago. She started to feel full of purpose and knew she was making the right decision. “I'm going to be everything he needs and... and... I'm going to kiss him every day!” She exclaimed loudly.

The other kids and medical technicians looked at her with surprise, then some of them started laughing.

“Just wait.” Hailey said and looked up at the ceiling. She wasn't sure why she could still feel him; but, she knew he was in that direction and smiled. “Just wait.”

*

“We should be back just in time for your shift.” I said as the shuttle left the atmosphere.

“I can't believe your quick visit lasted all morning.” Deborah said with a chuckle.

I shrugged. “Once I was in there, I couldn't only visit just one of them.”

“Hunter... the Hero of Chofaris... is a big softhearted marshmallow!” Deborah laughed. She had actually called him some alien word; but, he had gotten the image from her mind and that was what she was comparing him to.

“Ha. Ha.” I fake laughed. “How long do you think it'll take for the footage to hit the news?”

“It depends on how quickly that medical assistant can get to a console.” Deborah said with a grin, then we both laughed.

We arrived back on the ship just in time for lunch and then I got back to work. It was only one six hour shift, so it was over fairly quickly. I was tempted to do another one; but, I didn't want to mess up the set schedule, so when the shift was over, I closed up the cargo bay and went up into the ship. I felt it move out of the debris field as I entered my room and by the time I was showered and dressed in casual clothes, the ship was in a stable parking orbit.

Once again, I was prepared for what was going to happen next and opened my room door. In front of me were five women, all dressed quite casually, and each had similar expressions on their faces.

“So, is there another monster movie or something for us to watch?” I asked.

“I told you he would accept.” Sandy said with an arm around Beatrice's shoulders. “What guy can resist sitting on a couch and rotting their brain for hours at a time?”

“I'd say me; but, I need to relax after what happened today.” I said.

“Deborah gave us a quick rundown of what you did at the hospital.” Gleas said and she carried a big bowl of snacks in her arms. “We were kind of hoping you could tell us about it.”

“Only if you actually want to hear it.” I said and they all wanted to. Watching the screen was just an excuse to gather together. “I could have told you while we ate supper.”

“We're filling up on snacks instead of eating a meal.” Sandy said with a grin.

I chuckled. “All right.” I stepped out of my room and we all walked down the hallway to the large living room. “Who is sitting where?”

“You can have the command position.” Gleas said and pointed to the center of the couch. I sat there and Gleas sat on one side of me and Deborah sat on the other, with Kalina on her other side.

“Are we all going to fit on the one couch?” I asked and looked to see Sandy sit beside Gleas on the end with Beatrice on her lap. “I guess so.”

“I've wanted to do this for a while.” Sandy said and hugged Beatrice to make her blush.

I raised my eyebrows at her and she laughed.

“We were always too busy to spend a lot of our spare time together.” Sandy said as an explanation.

“No wonder you like being on this ship so much.” Kalina said with a laugh.

“It's been the best time.” Beatrice said, her face still red. “We're only apart for six hours and then...”

“...the rest of the time is just us together.” Sandy said and kissed her cheek.

“Aww... someone hand me a bucket! I'm suffering from the sickening sweetness!” Deborah said and pretended to gag, and the others laughed.

I waited for a few moments and then spoke. “What are we watching?” I flipped through the various signals the ship could pick up.

“There!” Gleas pointed when she saw the thing they wanted to watch. “This is a good one!”

I sat back and had to enter a partial meditative state, because what was on was a romantic comedy. Or, the local version of it. I would have classed it as a monster movie; but, I was on a ship with five women and was completely outvoted on that opinion. It was almost laughable as they watched it with rapt attention and the snacks were handed back and forth and they ate them, almost automatically, as they concentrated on the screen.

I had to admit that it was eerily fascinating to see how engrossed they were. I could understand having two or even three of them caught up in the story; but, all five of them were reacting to what happened on the screen. They made appropriate noises when they liked what they saw and then when something sad happened. Once or twice one of them would turn to look at me to see if I was paying attention to the screen and they relaxed, because I was looking with my eyes in that direction. I let their thoughts and emotions flow over me and enjoyed watching them watching the screen.

Gleas stood up when the credits started to roll. “I told you it was a good one.” She said and stretched her arms, as if she had been holding them still the entire time. Her pants had ridden up a little on her from sitting so long and she had to pull on the legs of the fabric to loosen them. She was right in front of me and shifted from side to side, then she turned and looked at me. “Give me your honest opinion.”

“I enjoyed the spectacle.” I said and gave her a smile.

“It was great, wasn't it?” Gleas looked at the others and they nodded. “I'm going to grab a drink from the kitchen.” She said and walked towards the hallway. “Does anyone else want...”

“I'll go, too.” Beatrice said and stood up. “Sandy's lap needs a break.”

Sandy laughed and rubbed her thighs. “The aches are worth it.”

Beatrice gave everyone a slightly worried look for a second, then she leaned down and kissed Sandy on the lips.

“What was that for?” Sandy asked with a huge smile.

Beatrice whispered. “I love you.”

I pointedly looked away from the exchange so that when Sandy blushed and looked around, none of us were staring at them. Beatrice kissed her again and she left with Gleas to get a drink. They came back and we all enjoyed spending the evening together and I told them everything that happened in the hospital ward. When it was over, I thanked them all for a lovely evening and went to my room. I thought about going right to bed, then decided to check the console for a few things.

I didn't find any news about my visit to the hospital and I thought that was a little odd, so I messaged the hospital to see if everything was okay. I was surprised to get a response right away from a member of their administration. The man said that they didn't want the publicity or to be swamped by fans of mine and had kept it quiet for the most part. They couldn't do anything about the locals knowing about it, though. Too many people had seen me there to keep it completely confidential.

I thanked them for their time and closed the message, then saw a private message for me. It had been sent the day before and it had a low priority, which meant I hadn't gotten it until this afternoon. I opened it and discovered that it was a personal video message from Sheph. I watched it and listened, and a few times the Presence wavered a minuscule amount, which meant she almost lied or implied it was a lie, and then she gave me an explanation about why my involvement in certain things had been downplayed and in some cases, completely ignored.

I was a little shocked by this revelation, especially since I had expected the government to use my involvement to bring attention to the situations I had uncovered. They didn't want to do that, or to even have those situations talked about in general. I shook my head and watched the rest of her video. When she went into her own personal views, especially about me, my eyes had widened at the regret in her voice.

I realized then that she had the same thought as me, that they should be using my involvement to the best of their ability, and she was sorry that the others wouldn't see things her way. She knew they were losing a huge advantage by not utilizing the resource right in front of them, and I had to agree. I sat there and thought about her words and what impact they would have if she had been in charge, and sighed.

I can't force them to make everything public. I thought and closed her message and saved it into the permanent backup. Now that I was there and in the messaging system, I sent a message to Rhubin, Luxea and Simone, and asked them to change their day off to match mine, then requested a dock so we could talk things out. I made an argument for both a private and a public talk, that way they could pick which one they wanted, assuming they didn't want both. A public one where we can get everything out in the open and a private one where we can deal with everything else.

With that done, I stripped off and went to bed. I took several deep breaths and relaxed under the blanket. The bed felt empty and I ignored that feeling, just like I did every night. I didn't sigh, even though I could easily rectify the situation. I didn't want just anyone to share my bed, though. My popularity was really high with the locals and that made my prospects pretty low on finding a suitable woman to be with. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with being with a woman that's infatuated with you, it's just that would peter out after a short while and then where would the relationship go?

I chuckled at that thought and entered a meditative state and went over my feelings again. I wasn't sure why I was even thinking along those lines, especially since I had a couple of women that had the same problems about making a commitment. Luxea, Grace, and even Kris were worried about the same things, only for different reasons. Luxea liked her independence and she also liked having someone to depend on. Grace was independent and wanted someone to depend on long term, and Kris... well, she could be independent if she wanted to be and she needed someone to depend on.

It was the fact that I wasn't going to be staying in this system that dampened both Grace's and Kris' thoughts and their hopes for being with me. In fact, Grace couldn't even bring herself to date me without freaking out about where the relationship was going to take us. I chuckled again at that thought, mainly because I was currently thinking about the same thing and wondered where I could take those relationships. I pushed those thoughts aside and hoped that at the meeting, I could find out what was going on with Luxea and if she had decided if she wanted to stay around after the salvage contract was finished.

I used a calming technique and cleared my mind of all thought and let my mind and body relax. I needed to rest after the exertion today and I closed my eyes as I let sleep claim me.