Rockin' The Paradise

At the Party . . .
Zack and Cubie were tearing up the dance floor, or trying to.
It was so crowded that they were constantly jostling the other people
around them.
"Sorry!" yelled Zack at the fifteenth person he bumped into.
"Who's hairy?" the female security officer shouted back,
obviously offended.
"No! SORRY!"
"Oh, so I'm a smarty, eh? Well, you're suit is a reject from
the chrome bumper company!" The security officer turned and stomped
off the dance floor.
Zack looked down at himself. "This is my best suit!"
Cubie kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry about it. Looks
good to me!"
Zack brightened. "Thanks."
Cubie pointed up at the stage. "Looks like they're setting up
some live entertainment."
Zack nodded. "As long as the new XO doesn't start another
kareoke competition."
Something that Zack should have noticed hours ago suddenly
occurred to him. "Hey! Back in the store, didn't you take that
woman into the future?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Zack's eyes lit up. "Then . . . you can make ST jumps again!
We can get out of here!"
Cubie looked at him with a half-grin. "And go where? This is
the first place that you've had a steady honest job since you quit
working at Flaverty's Hovercraft Rentals."
"I didn't quit! You snatched me nine hundred years into the
future!"
Cubie shrugged. "Did you ever go back?"
"Er, no."
"Exactly. You could have gone back. You still could, even
now. I could return us to five minutes after we left the lemon lot
and you could be back in the exciting world of hovercraft rental like
it had never ended."
Zack made a face. "Well, perhaps we will stay for a while."
They danced for a while longer when another thought intruded on
Zack's bliss. "Cubie, don't you trigger alarms at STCP HQ whenever
you ST-jump?"
"Yeah. I've been flagged by the STCP mainframe. Sometimes I'm
detected, sometimes not. So?"
Zack heard tiny alarm bells begin ringing in the back of his
head. "Then . . . they know you jumped earlier today, right?"
"Maybe."
Zack's inner bells were ringing louder now. "But they've always
traced us by our latest jumps. Won't they be tracking us now?"
Cubie paled. "You're right. Oh, Zack! I'm so sorry!"
Zack looked around, but then abruptly relaxed and
smiled. "Well, it's been several hours. Perhaps they missed this
one. They've missed them before."
Cubie looked hopeful. "You think so?"
Zack gave her his sales smile. "Sure. You know Blotz would
have been here as soon as possible if he'd known where we were."
Cubie's shoulders slumped in relief. "Yeah, that's right." She
hugged him impulsively. "Well, let's dance some more!"
The cheerful couple shimmied on.
- - - - -
Eight decks down . . .
A hole opened in the ceiling, and three armored giants dropped
to the deck with a thud, huge power rifles at the ready. Making a
quick scan of their surroundings, they tapped controls on their
chestplates, activating personal defense grids and holographic HUDs
that hovered inches in front of them displaying targeting information.
The largest of the three flipped open a panel on his wrist armor
and activated the tiny viewscreen embedded in the cover. Maxillus
looked up at him with a confident smile as he reported in. "Blotz to
Maxillus. We've arrived. It seems to be some sort of ship."
Maxillus rolled his eyes. "Of course, you idiot. It's the JMC
Blue Dwarf. They just finished their unsuccessful attempt to work
out a peace agreement with the GELFs." He held up a
datadisk. "Didn't you review the history files I sent you?"
Blotz shrugged. "No. I didn't know it had anything pertinent."
Maxillus rubbed his temples, his smile shrinking. "We're time
police. Don't you think we have the ability to do a little research
in order to assist in captures?" He looked up at Blotz. "They're at
the party. Ship's security is pretty much blitzed. Just go get them
when they leave to get something to eat."
Blotz smiled. "Right!" He turned to go, then stopped and
looked back at the tiny watch. "When are they leaving the party?"
Maxillus' last vestiges of a smile faded. "In twenty minutes!
It was all in the history files!! What did you do with those files -
eat them??"
Blotz was silent. He hadn't eaten them, but the truth wasn't
likely to sound any better to the irritated supervisor.
"Oh, forget it! Just bring in Richards and the CUBIE unit -
alive!"
Blotz nodded. "Richards and Cubie in five - got it!" He shut
off his commlink before Maxillus could correct him. "All right, set
your rifles to 'atomize'."
The three STCP agents started lumbering down the passageway.
None of them spotted the scutter that had ducked behind a bulkhead
support girder when they had arrived. It raced off, looking for a
security officer to warn.
<Security - this is your only warning . . . Bwah-hah-hah-hah-haaaah!>
~Zack & Cubie~