Cold Venture

Reunions

"Would you quit pacing and sit down, Ice? Your agitated anticipation is not going to make the London dock any sooner."

"I know, I can't help it, I miss her."

"Um... if I may quote you, Put a sock in it, unquote. If it is any consolation, I feel the same about Marie. However, I calm myself by practicing meditation and emotional centering," Brain said in a smug tone. What goes around comes around.

"Meditation and emotional centering, my ass. Since when are you from Planet Volcano."

"Since I realized that we have a lot of work to do and constantly thinking about Marie is interfering with my thought process."

"So then, you would agree that we don't need a face to face with Lonetree and should just get the ship ready and go." That ought to get him.

"Aw come on Ice, you said we could all go, you did... besides, we really should complete the plans in person... and... and you need to buy supplies because we ate up a lot this last few weeks and..."

"Lost your center there? Hee hee."

"Argh."

"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE? THE CITY OF LONDON IS NOW DEBARKING AT LOCK 7." That put and end to the verbal abuse. We quickly went to greet the weary travelers. Well okay, you can't get weary traveling on a Space liner, but it's the thought that counts.

"Fi, I missed you."

"Ice, my love... Me too."

"Doc, how was the trip back?"

"Wonderful, Brain. The London had a wealth of data about British society and the Sherlock Holmes stories."

"That's great. We ought to get you two home so we can plan our next move. Assuming we can pry the lovebirds apart." If they got any closer, it would be indecent, not to mention a violation of several physical laws. He thought to himself.

"Hey guys... uh, get a room," Brain said, tapping me on the shoulder.

"Huh?" I said coming up for air.

"Oh!" An equally eloquent reply from Fire. She looked up, around then down in embarrassment.

"Okay, let's go. You two going to stand around jawin' all day?" I came back, in a feeble attempt at recovery. Brain looked at Doc.

"Sheesh, like we're the hold up here." Two men approached us.

"Oh, wait," Fire said. "These are the two traveling companions Benton sent with us, this is Sam and this is Dave." Although kind of young, these guys looked like they could handle anything that came at them. Carver certainly wasn't taking any chances with Fire's safety. After introductions and pleasantries, I pointed them to the best hotel on Ceres and told them to hang around for a while, we'd be in touch.

After retrieving the luggage, we rode the Ceres Transport System, first to Fire's place to drop off her stuff, then to Doc's. His house is just what you would expect of an academic, subdued, elegant in an old Victorian way and books everywhere. I quickly filled Fire and Doc in on the latest news from Lonetree and a slightly edited version of Carver's call, making no secret of my irritation at his wanting to come out for a prelaunch inspection. To my surprise, Fire smiled, kissed me on the cheek and pulled me closer to her. I had a feeling our relationship had reached a new level, maybe she would marry me yet.

"Ahem, it seems to me, the quicker we get this Venture started, the less time our foes will have to do us mischief. Perhaps we should formalize our immediate plan of action and itemize the priority actions."

"Doc has a point. We have cash, a ship... um, outer space to Fire and Ice..."

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I guess we need to pay attention. I did hear you Doc and you're right," I replied.

"The first order of business is to take possession of the Starship and get it to Ice's place. He has room to house all of us for the refit and a good security system. Then we should all go to Belt Central. I want to meet this Lonetree face to face and I really want to meet Marie," Fire said, the last looking at Brain, whose expression was somewhere between a big stupid grin and panic. Right to the point, my sweetie is . . .

"The next thing is the hired help we got from Carver. Do we need them or should we send 'em back to Mars?" My own feeling was the less Carver was involved, the better I liked it.

"Just off the top of my head, Ice, I believe we will need all the help we can get to outfit the expedition. If Sam and Dave can assist by being gophers for supplies and stuff, it will allow us more time to do the actual planning and work."

"Brain is correct in his assessment. I believe if Benton trusts them, we can too. I for one do not look forward to shoving crates around, at my age."

"Okay! Okay! All in favor of keeping the muscle raise your hands. Resolution passes unanimously." I was outnumbered and they were probably right anyway.

"We should appoint Fionna as Chief Financial Officer. Are there any objections? Good. My dear, you should complete purchase of the Starship first thing in the morning."

"It's as good as done, Doc, I don't have to wait until morning. Let me use the Comm." After a short pause, while us men tried to mentally catch up, Fire came back.

"All done. Money transferred, documents on the way, we now own an almost-Starship."

"Uh, wow, that was fast." Fire, love of my life, didn't fool around when it came to business.

"You didn't have any doubts about this Venture at all did you my dear."

"Of course not Doc. With three of the greatest guys in the universe working on it, there wasn't any doubt at all."

"Not to mention the most awesome woman in the entire cosmos" I raised my glass. "A toast, to our beautiful CFO and the... um... Oops, we forgot something. Our Corporation doesn't have a name." There was a silent pause.

"Ad Astra Inc."

"Been used, Doc. How about Starship Inc.?"

"Real catchy Brain, reminds me of Mars Inc.," I sarcastically remarked. "How about Universal Explorations." Next to me I heard a snicker.

"I think we should call it Poodles in Space."

"Huh?"

"Say what!" Doc was just sputtering.

"Hee hee," Fire giggled, "now that I have your attention, I would like to point out that as far as everyone outside this room is concerned we are going to mine some rare ice. The name should reflect that. Don't you think?"

"Oh yeah."

"Right."

"Without question my dear, point well taken. Also, it occurs to me, that should ownership of the Alien vessel come into question, we