I Got A Rock Chapter 210: You Have Been Recruited

Maggie took another deep breath.

"You're sure about this?" Steve asked her. She nodded.

"Hey, why aren't you asking if I'm sure?" Brian complained.

"She's cuter."

Brian pretended to consider that. "That's fair."

Maggie knew that the real reason was that Brian was only going up for a few days, while she might be leaving Earth for good. Steve didn't ntion it, so neither did she. Brian had a single bag, while Maggie had six. Brian had made a clueless comnt about won always overpacking, and she didn't deny the believable (to him) explanation.

She had talked things out with Vanessa and had a tearful farewell in her guest room earlier. Her friend didn't co out to see her off because she thought she would break down again. "You make sure you write, or whatever," she'd said.

Beth walked out onto the lawn, crouched down, and felt the grass, savoring the sensation. The decoy truck held literally a couple of tons of supplies, as well as their bags. She got back up and leaned against it, tasting the Boston air and wishing her last breath on Earth had been clean from a mountain or forest or sothing.

There was nothing left to do but wait, but they were not left idle for long. A sudden downdraft stung Maggie's eyes and would have flipped her skirt up if she'd worn one. A chanical whine rapidly got louder, and then there was a clunk, and deep depressions ford in Steve's lawn. Then the shuttle itself beca visible, causing shouts just past the edge of the property, where a few determined newshounds were still camped out, facing off constantly against the security teams.

"Oh, shit, do we have to carry everything up the ramp?" Maggie guessed, dreading.

"Nope," Steve declared. "We're going to drive it right in."

"Will it fit?" Maggie asked doubtfully.

"That's what all my girlfriends ask," Steve answered drily. "More seriously, if it doesn't fit, we'll just back up the ramp as close as we can, and we'll only have to shift everything a few feet."

"Still a pain in the ass," Brian groused.

Steve took the wheel of the truck, and backed the truck up as far as possible. It did not fit, and Steve just shrugged philosophically. They squeezed past the truck into the shuttle bay, opened the truck's back, and started moving bags and boxes. They'd only been at it a minute or so when so kind of alarm blared at them, causing the three of them to freeze.

Then they all heard a voice saying sothing in what sounded like Goldaskian to Maggie's ears. "English, please?" she called out, hoping that would help.

"Use...the...movers."

They all looked around. Whoever was on the other end of the comm was kind of an asshole, because they could hear him giving very human-sounding laughs and noises of incredulity, and then exaggerated, sarcastic praise when Brian figured out how to make sothing pop out of the wall. They were subjected to another minute of this, before the speaker gave a sigh and said, "Move...back."

The gadget Brian had found detached itself, floated over to the truck, and started unloading it into the shuttle bay. In just a couple of minutes, everything was transferred. You could have done that at the start, you jerk, Maggie thought.

"Move...your...wagon," the voice ordered next.

"It's called a truck."

"Move...your...little...toy...wagon."

"I guess there are assholes all over the universe," Steve complained loudly. He looked at his friends. "Brian, see you in a few days. Don't get a disease from an alien girl."

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He turned to Maggie, and his face got stiff. Maggie went up to him and they shared a long hug. Steve pulled back but didn't let go. He cleared his throat. "You...you take care of that dumbass up there, you hear ? If you get in trouble, I'll hire the best lawyers in the galaxy. Take care of each other. Tell Nick I'm sorry I couldn't see him in person."

"I will," Maggie answered, tears in her eyes. "Take care of yourself, Steve, and take care of Ness. Thank you for everything. Live well, make billions, and cure this world."

"That's the plan. Have fun storming the castle." With one more pat on her arms, Steve turned and exited the shuttle, got back in the driver's seat, and drove forward about fifty feet. Then he got out and waved.

The ramp began to close, and Maggie heard Brian muttering to himself. "Greetings, Starfighter! You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Kodan Armada." The ramp finished closing with a hiss. A couple of lights ca on and two chairs unfolded.

"Sit...down."

Brian continued the quote. "Get ready. Prepare for blastoff."

"That was a goofy movie," Maggie declared as they sat down. They looked for seat belts but didn't find any.

"Don't let Nick hear you say that. He loved that one."

"He loved two scenes in that movie," Maggie pointed out.

"It was classic. The original 'play a ga to save the world' story."

"Our sci-fi movie n—UNGH!" Maggie got the wind knocked out of her as acceleration suddenly hit. She struggled to breath for what felt like an eternity but was probably under fifteen minutes. Then the weightlessness hit.

It was glorious, or would have been if Brian hadn't imdiately lost his lunch. The speaker emitted a string of curses, and acceleration returned for a short burst, just enough to land Brian's ejecta on the deck so it wouldn't float around. Then it cut out again.

Maggie lifted her arms and let them float, watching in fascination. She wanted to fly around the bay, but couldn't figure out how to get out of the seat. She had no idea what was holding her in it, and Asshole the Goldaskian would probably leave them stuck for as long as he could get away with.

There were various noises and jerks, though not as many as Maggie would have expected from a docking maneuver. Must be computer-controlled, she guessed. With crazy efficiency because of the higher tech.

Suddenly, gravity returned. There were more noises, and then part of the shuttle hull seed to retract, revealing a large cubical room with greenish-white walls. The moving gadget got to work unloading, and soon all of their belongings had been shifted over. Maggie gave an experintal tug, but was still stuck in place. Yup. Asshole.

Brian surprised her by popping up out of his seat abruptly. "How'd I do that?" He peered at his seat a mont, then moved in front of Maggie, and started prodding it near her left arm. "It was one of these..." Maggie felt the mysterious force release her and jumped out of the chair. So noises ca over the comm. Probably their version of a cheer or a slow clap.

"Out."

"Gladly," Maggie called back, and walked off the shuttle into the green room. Behind them, a fourth green wall appeared. She had no idea how it had been done.

"Hello, and welco aboard the New Hope," a different, but familiar voice said. They looked around, and the far wall of their room turned transparent. On the other side stood the Goldaskian doctor, Sana Vickall, savior of thousands if not millions already. Of course her voice is familiar.

"Thank you," Brian said. "Is this quarantine?"

"It is. May I know your nas?"

"Margaret Palr, Brian Liebowitz," Maggie answered, pointing.

"Thank you. This is going to be a lot faster for you than the previous batch of humans," Dr. Vickall promised. "Each of you, please pick up one of those cubes with your own hands, and put them in the tray over there." They did so, and Maggie thought she felt a faint tingle in her fingertips, but wasn't sure.

"I'm running a differential on the air now, and I'll have your blood examined in a few minutes. Make yourselves comfortable." The alien glanced upward. "Nick? ...I'm sorry, there isn't a Maggie here, just a Margaret and a Brian...Nick?" The doctor raised an eyebrow, then looked at the humans again. "Apparently, he is on his way down—"

"Maggie!" Nick appeared at a run, quickly stopping and coming up to the transparent wall, grinning from ear to ear. A knot of tension released in her chest. He's glad to see . He hasn't forgotten about . Her head had already known it, but her heart was another matter.

"God, are you a sight for sore eyes! And Brian! I might have known you'd show up."

"Think I'm going to let a starship leave without looking at its engines first?"

"Sana, how long until they can co out?"

"Six hours," the doctor replied, sounding amused. "Possibly less."

"That's great, thanks. Guys, I can't wait to show you around! It's...it's good to see you." Nick was staring at Maggie's face like it was the best thing he'd ever seen. Maggie could feel her smile muscles working hard. Then Nick looked chagrined. "Maggie, I'm sorry I haven't answered all your ssages, it's just been one thing after another up here."

"No, no, I get it, you're a VIP now. My parents warned that you'd be busy. They say hi, by the way."

"That's great. That's great. How are they doing?"

"They're fine. My mom sent along a big piece of her apple pie."

Nick's eyes widened. "Maggie, I love you forever."

You big dumbass, Maggie thought. But she couldn't keep from smiling.