"A Lady in Space" by Tina R Walls

A Lady In Space.



Lieutenant Mercury Hardcastle stood on the loading dock, hopping nervously from foot to foot. She watched as the space cruiser Calypso went through systems check. She'd been standing there for an hour and fervently wished she was somewhere else.



Except the vote had been unanimous. The crew of space station Excalibur chose her to be the one to greet today's arrival. After all, she had been the last person to see the apparition.



And nobody wants to be the pigeon Professor Tinagli fries, Merc thought as she wiped her sweating palms.



I should have told the Admiral how I felt, Merc thought as she watched the decontaminate flow around S.C.Calypso. I should have had the guts to turn down this assignment.



She didn't want Professor Tinagli to do his job.



And I most definitely do not want to watch him get rid of our ghost, Merc thought vehemently.



Space station I.S.S Excalibur was haunted.



At least, that was the general opinion. To date over four hundred of the Excalibur's thirteen thousand member crew had witnessed the specter. All of them claimed to have seen a woman dressed in a flowing blue gown. No one could describe her in detail. They were unable to remember.



At least he'll understand about the ghost, Merc thought as, with relief, she saw the 'Disembark Now Please' sign light up. Professor Tinagli's field was parapsychology, specializing in installing the MEI (Metaphysical Electrical Inhibitor). His business was ghosts.



In the Twenty-third Century, a scientist, Dr. Robert Davis-Smith, made an amazing discovery. He found that the human body used many different kinds of electrical current. This was not a new finding, but his take on the knowledge was unique. He theorized that after death it was possible for human brain waves to still function on an electrical level. Simply, that ghosts were human brain waves still trapped in their electrical state. For centuries, parapsychologists had used the practice of checking for electrical pulses to determine that ghosts did exist, but they had been unsuccessful in finding conclusive proof. Dr. Davis-Smith used his theory to invent the Metaphysical Electrical Pulse Detector and then subsequently invent the Metaphysical Electrical Inhibitor.



The passengers were now coming down the disembarking corridor. Merc scanned their faces and tried to determine which one of them was the professor, but with no success.



So many of them look like they could destroy a soul that I can't pick! Merc raised a hand to wipe her brow and realized it was trembling. Damn! I have got to calm down. This is ridiculous. This is merely an assignment. She told herself this again and again, but it was hard.



It was difficult to know that you were about to meet the most educated and, possibly, the most intelligent person to even enter your sphere and know that you were going to make a complete idiot of yourself. And there was nothing you could do about it.



Admiral Vegasen had given her detailed instructions of what she was supposed to tell the professor. She was to mention several of the sightings, then show him where some of them had occurred. She was to give exact numbers of sightings and she had to tell him about the rumors. Those utterly ridiculous rumors.



There was no getting around it. I'm going to make a fool of myself, she fretted.



"Impossible, just plain impossible." Merc murmured as she realized one person, a tall gaunt man carrying several large cases, seemed to be searching for someone, and that no one seemed to be claiming him. It must be Professor Tinagli, Merc thought as she stared at him, hoping someone else would claim him.

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Professor Nathanial Tinagli stood on the tarmac and glanced inquiringly around him. He knew there was supposed to be a greeting party around somewhere but there apparently was none.



Why does this always happen, he thought with a deep sigh. Every time he visited a site people were always trying to avoid coming in contact with him. That usually meant that the job of greeting him was passed around so much that occasionally he'd not been met at all.



But in my line of work, thought the professor as he removed a palm sized organizer from his pocket, you get used to it. With the push of a button a holograph appeared in the air a few inches above the small device.



I'm to be met by a Lieutenant Hardcastle at Docking Bay 7, he told himself as he read. The professor glanced around him and confirmed his location. Lieutenant Hardcastle was reportedly the last person to have seen the client.



The professor smiled. It always tickled his funny bone to see the University refer to the ghost as the 'client'. That had been one of the Human Rights activists major breakthroughs, to get them to call them 'clients' instead of 'apparitions' or 'ghosts'. They protested that a person's rights should not end just because they passed away.



As if we treat them like anything other than people, the professor thought with a smirk. Himself included, the eighteen professors of paraelectronical pulses took their jobs as seriously as he did. But getting people to believe that was impossible.



He couldn't blame them, though. To know that if you do cheat death you'll probably end up with all of your powers suppressed by a little black box made even him nervous.



Where is Hardcastle? With a frown, Nathanial glanced around. There was maybe a dozen or more people standing around wearing lieutenant's stripes, but on a space station that wasn't unusual. In these times of peace, promotions were handed out at the drop of a hat, just to keep morale up.

The man must have ditched me. As usual, he thought with a smirk. The professor turned to pick up his bags, when someone caught his eye.



He turned back and found himself looking across the tarmac at a small fidgety blond. He had missed her when he first scanned the crowd. She was so small everyone stood a head or more above her.



She was hopping nervously from foot to foot. More importantly, she was staring directly at him.



"Hello, lieutenant." The professor whispered, as he smiled, watching her every fidget. She had a lot of courage to even show up, but now he wondered how long it would take for her to actually come anywhere near him.



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He was still standing there.



Oh, God! He's not looking at me is he! Merc thought as she fought the urge to run.



More than anything she didn't want to be the one who walked over to him. She didn't want to be the one to talk to him, and she most definitely didn't want to be the one who gave him his information.



She liked the Lady. She had seen her for the first time only a week ago, but she halfway believed the rumors herself. That I.S.S.Excalibur's ghost was none other than the Lady of the Lake.



It all came back to the station's name, Excalibur. The man who held Excalibur ruled the kingdom of Camelot. Or in this case, the largest shipping lane between Old Earth and New Terra.



When people first began to notice the Lady, it was assumed she was the spirit of one of the hundreds of workers killed in the construction of the huge station, but her manner of dress was too odd. She was always described as wearing a long flowing gown that shimmered from light blue to a midnight blue. A mist seemed to swirl about her, and even stranger was the fact that the mist left water on everything it touched. The station scientists had analyzed every drop of that water and found it to simply be H2o. That was when the rumors started.



Merc sighed. How do you tell a man who specializes in killing legends that almost thirteen thousand people believe that their home is haunted by the Lady of the Lake?



Not everybody believed it of course. Most of the science officers were holdouts, but almost all of the crew were converts. The Lady brought a feeling of peace to the station. It seemed the belief that all our heroes and legends had still not given up on us gave everyone hope. All of the crew members had mentioned it, even discussed it, but none of them had tried to refute it. It was like they were willing to believe in anything that would make the Excalibur different from the other forty-seven space stations.



It's not so hard to believe really, Merc rationalized as she continued to stare at the man. I mean after the mess we made of all the water on Old Earth, anything that could leave would have by now, and the Excalibur is as good a place as any. That was the opinion of most of the crew.



Merc continued to watch the man. Since he was the only other person left standing on the tarmac it was now obvious that he was the professor. Well, she thought with a sigh, I might as well get it over with.



Merc threw her head up, straightened her shoulders, and marched across the tarmac. Straight up to the tall man.



"Professor Tinagli?" Mercury was ashamed that her voice sounded so husky.



"Yes, that's me.", he answered, a slight smile on his face. "Are you the Christian?"



"What?!" Merc blurted, caught off guard.



"The Christian. The one they throw to the lion." The professor smiled widely as he extended a hand. "Nobody ever wants to be the one who meets me so they usually pick some sacrificial lamb to come and do it."



Merc laughed as she took the professor's hand, but she was slightly disturbed. This man wasn't what she expected.



"I'm Lieutenant Mercury Hardcastle, systems-checker. I was the last person to see the apparition, so I was chosen to show you about."



"Well then, let's go.", the professor handed her the smaller of the cases he held, as he motioned with the other. "Lead on."



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"This is where it was." Mercury threw up a hand to indicate the hall before them. "I was walking through on my way to the supply office, when I glanced up and she was standing there." She pointed to a spot a few feet in front of them.



Mercury couldn't figure the professor out. She'd told him the stories she was supposed to, except the rumors, and showed him where they happened but he had insisted on seeing where she'd seen the apparition.



"Now tell." The professor said, as he kneeled down to open the larger case.



"Excuse me?" Merc stared at him. He was not what she expected, but instead was a very strange man.



The professor looked up at her and smiled.



"Tell me what you remember, Lieutenant Mercury Hardcastle." Merc swallowed hard. How could he know? How had he known that she remember more than anybody else? Everyone else could only recall the blue gown but she saw other things. She'd seen the silvery hair with its spattering of water droplets. She saw the fine porcelain skin smoothed over the high cheekbones and the large blue eyes in the beautiful face. She recollected everything, but she wasn't going to tell him that.



He was watching her. His silver gray eyes were staring at her, unblinking. Merc began to sweat again. If she had been wearing anything but the station issue jumpsuit she would have looked as if someone had thrown water on her.

"She was.. was", Merc stammered. She was a horrible liar, but she gave it her best. "She was wearing a blue, no, more of a light blue, dress, and it reached to the floor. She wasn't walking, just standing. Like she was looking out a window, but there isn't any window here. She was tall. Taller than me anyway. Everybody is taller than me." Merc tried to laugh but it sounded forced.



She tried to keep eye contact during her story but it was hard. She always heard a liar wouldn't meet your eyes so she tried to, and she almost made it, but the laugh messed her up. It sounded too fake. She looked away.



"Yes, I could see that." Mercury looked down at the professor. He was looking at her legs.



She didn't care that he was looking at her like she was in a shop window. She didn't care that she was thinking like an idiot. She just didn't want to lie anymore.



He was still staring at her. Then he smiled.



His smile was beautiful. He held nothing back.



"Well, let's see what we can find." He looked away from her and reached into the large case. He pulled out a large circuitry unit, almost three feet long, a foot wide, and several inches thick. It was the largest Mercury had ever seen.



"What is that?", she asked. The professor was busy checking his equipment. It was a few moments before he answered her.



"It's the metaphysical electrical pulse detector, or MEPD, as some people call it." He indicated the gauges before him. "See, these are the readouts that tell me the level of current being produced by the station and what types." He pointed to several small unlit screens. "When I turn this on, these here will start flashing letters and numbers. I'll watch them for the type I'm looking for."



Merc was silent for several moments. There was something not adding up.



"Wait," Merc gestured to the circuitry before him. "If that's the detector, then where is the MEI?"



Then she knew. Merc looked down, her eyes wide with disbelief. She was holding the inhibitor!



She let go of the case as if it burned her. If it wasn't for the Professor's quick reflexes it would have fallen to the floor, an act guaranteed to scramble its delicate innards.



Mercury took several steps back. She assumed the MEI was somewhere else. She never thought she had it.



She glanced at the Professor's face. He was staring at her, his face pale. He carefully lowered the case to the floor, his eyes never leaving her face.



"You don't like what I do very much, do you?" The professor slowly rose to tower above her. His gray eyes were trained on her face, unblinkingly.

Merc paled. She almost blew it. She'd almost caused the whole station a great deal of credits. An MEI was expensive. All because of her own little hang-ups.



Taking a lonely soul that was trying desperately to cling to something it knew and trapping it in an electrical cyclone just because a few people couldn't stand the unknown was cruel to her. It was especially horrible that most of the ghosts never caused any real trouble, like the Lady. She had never done anything to anyone, just walk around and startle a few people. Now she would be eliminated, having her last tender thread to the world she'd known cut and taken forever out of her reach.



No, Merc thought, I don't like what you do. But she wouldn't tell him that. He was her superior. There were still rules.



Mercury took a deep breath, and answered.



"Professor Tinagli, what I think doesn't matter. It's what I was ordered to do that matters." Merc took a step back, to put distance between herself and the large man before her. She couldn't handle this. She felt too emotional about the whole thing. The Lady, Peter, the MEI, and this strange man, they were all too disturbing.



She knew she would be reprimanded for this later, but she had to get away.

"Now, Professor, if there isn't anything else you need me for, I must be returning to my post. Stop in at any of the requisition stations and give a retinal scan and the scanner will give you detailed directions to your quarters." Merc couldn't look at him. She had the horrifying feeling that he knew she was lying. She hated to lie. "Now, if you'll excuse me."



Merc turned and started to quickly walk away. She had taken only a few steps when the professor suddenly grabbed her arm. She turned to angrily ask what he was doing, but he hissed at her, a strange look on his face, and pointed down the hall.



Merc looked and sucked in her breath. The Lady! She was walking down the corridor towards them.



Merc stared and she felt the professor's hand tighten. She watched as the Lady walked toward them, her long blue gown swirling about her.

It was the gown that caught Merc's attention. It wasn't right.



It was a beautiful dress. A deep royal blue, it flowed with every step the woman took. An off the shoulder design, it was form fitting from the bosom on down to her hips, where it flared into a full skirt. It was gorgeous, but it was all wrong.



The Lady's dress had been as form fitting as this one and also had a full skirt but the Lady's gown had covered her all the way from her chin to her wrists. No skin but her face had shown.



As the image made her way towards them, Mercury realized that this woman was not the Lady!!



She was so ingrossed in watching the video playing in front of her, Merc barely noticed when the professor let go of her arm.



What's going on here? Merc thought incredulously. She looked up at the professor, but he was gone. For a moment she thought he had left until she realized that he was kneeling on the floor. He was busily pushing buttons on the MEPD, completely oblivious to Merc. His fingers were moving at a speed that she envied and Merc couldn't help her curiosity. She took a step closer, to better see the screens, when the professor suddenly asked.



"Mercury, is this the woman you saw?" He was scanning the numbers that were rapidly flashing across several small read outs.



Merc stared at him for a few moments before she looked back at the woman. She had stopped half way to them and appeared to be talking to someone. She threw back her head and laughed but no sound came out, and that was when Merc realized what she was seeing. This was a hologram!

And it was definitely not what she had seen a week earlier, but maybe this was good. Maybe this was what she was looking for. If she could convince this was what she had seen then maybe..... maybe what?



Merc glanced down at the machine running smoothly beside her. The MEPD couldn't see the video, but it could detect the Lady where ever she was hiding. And when that happened, in would come the MEI and the end of the Lady. Unless something happened to the MEPD.



Merc's heart began to race. The MEPD was very sensitive, and fragile. One good shake and it would need to be reset, and from all accounts the professor didn't have the time to waste on a second scan.



If something.... bad happened to the MEPD maybe the professor would take my word that this is the Lady, and anyone can see that this is a vid, and then the MEI wouldn't be needed. Merc's mind was running at a hundred miles per hour. Can I do this? she thought wildly, as she watched the professor checking his readouts.



Then, in a split second, she made up her mind. I'm going to kick that thing to the other side of the hall, Merc thought as she suddenly smiled widely. I'll pretend to be scared of the 'ghost' and trip over Professor Tinagli and 'accidently' send that thing flying!



Merc turned back to look at the video one last time and, with a fortifying breath, gathered herself to spring.



Here goes nothing! Merc, giving what she hoped was a convincingly frightened squeal, spun quickly and slammed directly into Professor Tinagli. He stood up so suddenly that she'd caught completely off guard!



"Hey!" the professor grabbed Merc by the shoulders. "Watch what you doing Lieutenant."



Merc was stunned for a few moments. What was she going to do now?



Everything was ruined. There was no way she could 'accidently' fling herself around the professor's huge person and attack the MEPD. Her plan had failed and now she was stuck.



"Ummm......sorry Professor." Merc stuttered as she looked around wildly.



"No harm done." the professor said as he watched Merc, a strange look on his face. "Well, lieutenant we should be going now and I could really use your help carrying this things. Unless you still have to leave?"



"What!!!" Merc shut her mouth with a snap. She hadn't meant to shout like that. What did he mean 'leave'? "I'm sorry professor but I don't understand. What about the MEI?"



"There is no need for the MEI lieutenant. This station is clean of all paranormal activity." The professor was watching the flickering vid before him so he missed the look on Merc's face.



"That's impossible! I saw her myself." Merc's face was flushed and her voice squeaky as she continued "Not over two weeks I saw her." She pointed a quaking hand. " And she sure wasn't..........."



I almost did it again! Merc thought as she quickly turned her back to the professor. I almost blew a perfect opportunity to get that MEI off the Excalibur.



"Something wrong lieutenant?" the professor's voice held a small note of amusement.



"Uh, uh.....no professor." Darn, Merc thought, I knew I'd end up looking like an idiot but I quess it was unavoidable. And now, to get out of here.



"Professor Tinagli I believe you mentioned helping you carry your things?"



Merc watched silently as the professor packed his equipment. She felt a small tinge of regret at the fact that the crew of the Excalibur would now probably be know throughout the galaxies as complete and utter idiots. But she'd done what she thought was right. The Lady was now safe, and when she returned who would admit that they had been frightened by a hologram malfunction?



Mercury was caught off guard when the professor stood up.



"Well, Lieutenant, I can honestly say that this has been an experience. I have encountered none like it in my entire career. In more ways than one." He handed Merc the MEI, which she gladly accepted. The professor stared at her for several moments before saying, with a slight smile "Shall we be going now?"



"Oh course Professor. The Admiral gave instructions for you to be brought to his offices and I'll be glad to take you now." Merc gestured with her free hand. "If you'll come this way."



They had walked down the hall a good distance before the professor spoke.



"So, if the admiral gave instructions for me to be brought to him, why were you leaving with out me earlier?"



He threw back his head and laughed when Merc turned pale and began to stutter.



"Don't worry about it, lieutenant. Happens to me all the time." The professor placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, then laughed once more when she speed away from him saying, "This way please, professor.



He gladly followed, chuckling as he went. He didn't notice a tall, stately blond watching them from an alcove.



Sometimes things go so easily, she thought with a smile. Yes, this time things would go as she planned, no interference. The lovely blond watched them until they disappeared around the corner. And to think they believe I"M a ghost!



She stood there for several minutes more, allowing a lone maintenance man to catch a brief glimpse, then she was suddenly gone.