Fumbles

Nina Black and Scott Dunson had received new orders. They were to rendezvous with a vessel named Arcadia.

The girl didn't have much to pack, so she simply grabbed her canvas bag. Stopping by Dunson's door, she heard complaints. The cabin was... to put it politely, stuffed. Looking around, Nina noted that Dunson hadn't tossed out thing one since secondary school. Posters covered every inch of wall space in clashing colors. Several game consoles littered the floor. In interest of speed, Black began to pack.

The pair walked toward the shuttle depot. Craft of different shapes and sizes huddled together like emperor penguins in the Antarctic wind. Scott looked at each one, wondering if that was the one he would have to ride in with Nina Black. Some had tiny nacelles that looked like wings attached; others looked like squat boxes on top of massive nacelles. The designs in between were simply legion.

"Who's flying the shuttle?" Scott asked.

"I am," Nina said as they located their shuttle. She gestured at Dunson to climb in.

In the shuttle, Dunson was complaining. "We're getting an out-of-date clunker starship?"

"Said 'clunker' has quite a history, Dunson," Black corrected. "And starships can be upgraded, repaired."

"Thing's thirty-odd years old Nina!" Scott exclaimed.

"Its shell is," Nina corrected. "Its innards are state of the art."

"What's its comfort level?"

"Irrelevant. We do as instructed." Nina stroked her wrist band, where her little holographic walking rose resided, to keep her from mischief. The little creature that Nina created as a child had the personality of an overly friendly rodent.

"What will you be doing once you get aboard?"

"I'm a holographic specialist. I'm sure something for me to do will be found."

The craft began to wobble, rather like a drunk. "What the..." Dunson mumbled as Black tried to regain control. Stars began to swirl into a brighter and brighter mosaic outside her window. "What's happening?" Dunson's eyes became huge. Primary colors assaulted the two as light became so bright eyes had to be shut.

"Nina Black."

Nina peeped out of her lashes. The brightness had subsided, but the view out of the window was cotton white. It was featureless, as if the shuttle was accidentally stuffed into a pillow and sewn in. The very young woman turned around and saw Nina Black and Scott Dunson as if they were in a mirror. The Dunson next to observing Nina muttered something incomprehensible. "You are?"

"Nina Black. This is Scott Dunson," the Nina across from Nina replied. "You are no longer."

"Huh?" Scott demanded.

"You don't belong to this universe," Black-second declared. "Your universe is no more...."

"Show me," Nina's voice snapped.

The second Nina rose to her feet. She strode toward the skeptical woman, and began to sit, as if on her. Nina began to react by pushing the duplicate away, but her hands pushed through thin air, as if dealing with a hologram. Nina the first merged with the second and began to glow a white aura, just like the cloud or whatever it was outside.

Scott Dunson was so busy watching Nina become merged with a doppelganger, that he didn't note his second approach. As he felt the merge, Scott fainted at the strangeness of it.

The smelling salt roused Scott. "What?"

"You fainted."

"Where are we?"

"On approach to the starship, but you are being picked up; there's been a mix-up," Nina Black replied.

"Bureaucracy." Scott laughed. "That's the one thing you can count on in this universe."

"That, red tape, snafus, and all other forms of government fumbles." Nina laughed.

"So, do they know where they are putting me?" Scott queried.

"You will be put in a holding pattern on the starbase. They've a great lounge restaurant where you can hook up with employment tending bar. Considering the show you can put on with bottles, you'll be a hit."

The starbase pinged the shuttle as it approached. At its query, Nina replied, "This is shuttlecraft Charley en route to meet with the starship Arcadia." The girl gave the disembodied voice Arcadia's stats. "We also have orders to drop off a Scott Dunson."

"Shuttlecraft Charley, you have permission to approach." The link was disconnected.

Scott raised his eyebrows. Nina merely shrugged.

To convenience the station's transporter operator, Dunson stood in the middle of the craft. He disappeared in a perfectly normal sparkle of lights, Nina noted as a fading memory teased her consciousness.