Phantom

Chapter 13: The Terror of PR-1124984

They were back at the Dome on the Isle of Man.

"It's the same thing, over and over," said Sophie. Her hands moved over the artificial keyboard on her tablet as her eye became glazed once again.

PR-1124984.

PR-1124984.

PR-1124984.

PR-1124984.

"Who is sending these messages, Doctor?" Alanna asked.

"We don't know," said the Doctor. "But this one may be clearer than most. That's a planetary designation." He took out his Pad and rapidly looked it up. "PR-1124984. Uncharted planet. Oh come on, you can do better than that." He spoke to the Pad. "Tie into the Survey Service database."

"You have access to the Survey Service database, Doctor?" Alanna asked.

"Of course," said the Doctor. He spoke into the Pad again. "Bring up all information on PR-1124984."

A holographic image appeared. "That information is classified to security rank two and above."

"Then give me security rank two," said the Doctor. "No, better yet, give me security rank one. I always like to be number one." He fished in his pocket for a girl ball. "Blonde, just my luck," he said, as he popped it into his mouth and started sucking noisily.

"Doctor, how do you come to have top level access to the Survey Service database?" Alanna asked.

"They gave it to me," said the Doctor.

"They did?" said Alanna.

"Yes. Well, they didn't realize they were giving it to me at the time, but they did," said the Doctor.

"The Doctor is a genius with databases. In fact, the Doctor is a genius at everything," said Sophie, beaming at him.

The Doctor smiled back, a bit embarrassed. "You're very discerning, Sophie." Before Alanna could make a tart comment, the Doctor said, "Ah, here it is. Interesting." He read rapidly. "It seems this uncharted planet is

not quite as uncharted

as we were led to believe." He pulled another girl ball out of his pocket, saw it was blonde, frowned but put it in his mouth anyway and started to suck. "It seems that robotic probes recorded energy signatures coming from the planet." He held out his bag of girl balls towards Sophie.

"What kind of energy signatures?" Sophie asked. She looked hesitantly at the bag, then at the Doctor, then reached in and took one out. It was dark brunette, like herself. She smiled at the Doctor and popped it into her mouth, and sucked on it with a sly expression on her face.

"The probe took this image," said the Doctor, and a holographic image of a pyramid appeared above his Pad. The pyramid looked incredibly old, and it had a blue pulsating star on top of it.

"What is that?" said Sophie, making loud sucking sounds as she stared at it.

"The Survey Service thinks it's a Monument." An extinct race dubbed the Monumentals had scattered Monuments all around the galaxy. But no one knew what their purposes were.

"I've never seen one like that," said Sophie, staring at it.

"Neither have I," said the Doctor.

"What do you mean?" Alanna said.

"Well, most Monuments are big, black obelisks. A pyramid, with a giant blue star on it? I wonder why they think it's Monumental," said the Doctor. He read further. "Wait. The Survey Service sent a science ship to investigate. The USS

Hudson Bay

."

"What did they find?" Sophie asked.

"No one knows," said the Doctor, looking up at her. "They never returned." He gave Sophie an ominous look, and read further. "It says here a rescue mission is being mounted. The USS

Talent

, Captained by Commander JS Esteban. It leaves Port Auburn in two days."

"What do you think it means, Doctor?" Sophie asked.

"You received that sending for a reason," said the Doctor. "I think we should go and investigate."

"No, Doctor, absolutely not," said Alanna, speaking so suddenly through him that Sophie looked startled. Yesterday she had borrowed the Doctor's holocom, as well as the Doctor, to get in touch with the Circle. She discovered that the Penguin had once again tried to launch the Nova Missiles. "Our first priority is to stop the Penguin. He's already tried twice to destroy the world."

"Maybe he's going to try and destroy it a new way," said the Doctor. "Monumental technology is highly advanced. Maybe there's some weapon hidden there which can destroy the Earth."

"It sounds very unlikely, Doctor," said Alanna.

"The last three sendings Sophie has received were, in order, Otis, Cleave, and now the name of this alien planet. We now know that Otis Cleaver is the Penguin. I'd say the two are connected," said the Doctor.

"We don't even know where Sophie is getting these sendings from. It could be a trick, to distract us, or even worse, a trap," said Alanna.

"My hair is curling again," said the Doctor, feeling the back of his head. "Which either means it's about to rain, or that we need to investigate this." He checked the forecast. "And there is no rain scheduled for the next two days."

"No, Doctor. We must keep focused," said Alanna.

The Doctor struggled to contain his anger. "You asked me to trust you. You asked me to believe you. I spared that ghoul you called Max. For all I know he could be going around killing people all over the world right now. But you assured me that he was a good ghoul, a contradiction in terms if I ever heard one. But I listened to you, Alanna. I trusted you, and I let him go. Now I'm asking you to trust me."

Alanna paused for a long moment. All her instincts said that this mission had nothing to do with the Penguin. But then, looking through the Doctor's eyes, she saw the pleading in Sophie's face. Something in her relented. "All right, Doctor. We'll try it your way. But I think this is a mistake."

"Of course you do," said the Doctor, giving a big grin.

"How are we even going to get aboard this USS

Talent

?" Alanna asked.

"That shouldn't be much of a problem," said the Doctor, sucking on another girl ball.

"I'll start packing, said Sophie, with a smile.

"No," said the Doctor.

"What?"

"You're not coming, Sophie," said the Doctor. He indicated the image of the pyramid with the glowing blue star on top of it. "That thing swallowed up a top of the line Survey Service vessel. It's too dangerous for you."

"But... not too dangerous for you? Or

her

?" Sophie looked stunned. "You take me into dangerous situations all the time!"

"But not like this," said the Doctor. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay behind on this one."

Sophie glared at him. Then she stomped off. A moment later the Doctor heard a door slamming, and he winced slightly.

You made the right decision, Doctor.

"Tell her that," said the Doctor.

********

The Doctor was sitting in the Captain's Ready Room on the USS

Talent

. Captain JS Esteban was only a Commander, but military custom dictated that the officer in charge of the ship was called Captain. The USS

Talent

was a frigate and didn't rate a full Captain like a destroyer or cruiser or battlecruiser. Ideally a capital ship would have been sent to relieve the

Hudson Bay

, which itself was a science ship, but the Survey Service was stretched thin.

On the subject of being stretched thin, the

Talent's

first officer, Lieutenant Commander Melanie Starnes, was also absent. In her place as acting First Officer was Lieutenant Sophie Astor. Commander Starnes had taken leave when she discovered that she was pregnant. Sophie Astor didn't think that Commander Starnes had just "discovered" she was pregnant; she had obviously known for some time. But when it was announced that the

Talent

was going on a likely hazardous rescue mission, Starnes had requested maternity leave, even though she was barely two months pregnant, and World Government rules allowed pregnancy leave for an unlimited length of time, even if the woman taking it wasn't yet pregnant.

Due to the urgent nature of the mission there was no time to replace Lieutenant Commander Starnes, and so Sophie Astor was made acting First Officer.

Sophie Astor was a Passive Observer. That meant that she was very analytical, very wedded to logic, and didn't show a lot of emotion. She had pursued a career in the Survey Service because she wanted to dedicate her life to science, and discovery. What she had discovered were crews full of men and women governed by irrational emotions. Sophie noted more than once that superior officers often ignored her advice in the favor of the counsel of male officers, or female officers who, in Sophie's judgment, were far more attractive than her.

And so Sophie sought to rectify the situation. Last year during leave time she got nuclear breast implants. When she returned to duty, the change was dramatic. Captain Esteban, who had previously patronized her, suddenly listened to everything she had to say and even took her advice. Even Lieutenant Commander Melanie Starnes found herself respecting Sophie more. All Sophie needed on her side was logic, common sense... and large breasts.

At least, that's all she needed until a few days ago. The crew had just returned from planetary leave when they were suddenly reactivated for this rescue mission. As they prepared to depart, Sophie noticed that Captain Esteban was... different now. He smiled more frequently at Sophie, but there seemed to be a hard edge to his smile. He seemed more cynical now, but he kept that cynicism buried deeply, where no one could see, no one but Sophie. Something had happened to the Captain during leave, something fundamental, but Sophie wasn't quite sure what.

At the moment Sophie sat in the Captain's Ready Room with Captain Esteban and the man who called himself the Doctor.

"A Doctor of what?" Sophie asked.

"What?" said the Doctor.

"What are you a Doctor of?"

"Almost everything, my dear," said the Doctor.

Sophie looked at his floppy hat, long black coat, and black boots. "You don't look like a Doctor."

"How many have you met?" The Doctor grinned.

"Quite a few, actually," said Sophie.

"You're in good health, I hope?" the Doctor grinned.

Captain Esteban cleared his throat. "Doctor, what is your purpose here?" he asked. That was another thing that had changed about the Captain. He talked a lot less now than he used to. He simply... watched. For some reason, it left Sophie unsettled.

"Well, I've been sent by the World Government as an observer, you see." He saw Sophie's frown. "Perhaps you'd like to see my identification."

"Perhaps we would," said Sophie.

The Doctor grinned and pressed a button on his Pad. The Doctor's holoimage appeared, complete with the proud hammer and sickle of the World Government. "I'm a Doctor of Unsocial Justice with the World Government Department of Diversity and Fundamental Unfairness," said the Doctor. "I'm here to conduct a diversity audit."

"A diversity audit?" said Esteban. Although Esteban himself had a very Spanishy name, he looked white. Perfectly white. Even more white than Sophie.

"To observe the racial, sexual, gender, and class diversity of your crew, as well as to interview them, to find out whether the levels of inherent racism and sexism on this ship fall within acceptable World Government guidelines," said the Doctor.

"I see," said Esteban woodenly.

Something was wrong

, Sophie thought. "Doctor... Ren. We can't let you onboard now. We have to depart right away for an emergency rescue mission."

"That would be excellent! I would get to observe you in action. It would add so much more validity to my report," said the Doctor.

Sophie glanced at Esteban, who still said nothing. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but we can't-"

"Can't?" said Esteban, coming alive suddenly. "You forget your place, Sophie." He turned to the Doctor. "Sophie is acting First Officer. Forgive her Doctor, she's still acclimating to the role." He paused. "Of course we'd be

delighted

to have such a distinguished representative of the World Government with us. It's times of crisis like this that bring out the best of us. Isn't that so, Sophie?"

"If you say so, Captain," said Sophie dryly.

Esteban laughed, but it had a hollow sound. "You'll have to forgive Sophie, Captain. She's a Passive Observer. Manners aren't as high on the list as the Scientific Method."

"Oh, I'm sure she's quite charming," said the Doctor. He took a bag out of his pocket. "Would you like a girl ball?"

"Sure," said the Captain, taking one from the bag and sucking on it. At that moment Sophie was

certain

something was wrong with Captain Esteban.

"Lieutenant?" said the Doctor, pushing the bag nearly in her face.

"No," said Sophie, not moving an inch.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," said Sophie.

"It's just that when I offer a girl ball to people and they say no, later on they change their mind and say yes," said the Doctor.

"This won't be one of those times," Sophie assured him.

"Are you sure?" said the Doctor.

"Quite sure," said Sophie.

"What are your needs, Doctor?" Captain Esteban asked.

The Doctor stretched his arms and legs. "Oh, not much, Captain. Simply comfortable quarters, access to the crew for interviews... and of course, I will need to see all your personnel records. I will need to know the racial, sexual, genderal, and class background of all the crew."

"Anything else?"

"Yes," said the Doctor. "I'll also want to see the internal sensor logs from the past six missions."

"Why do you need those?" Sophie asked.

"I need to check to see how much ass sex the crew is having, to see if you're meeting World Government quotas," the Doctor explained.

"Of course, Doctor. It shall be done," said Esteban, even as Sophie rolled her eyes in the background. The Captain paused, and gave an odd stare. "Tell me, Doctor, have we met before?"

The Doctor gave Esteban an odd stare in return. "I don't think so. Have we?"

Esteban shrugged and smiled. "Perhaps not. I thought maybe I once met you... but I'm probably mistaken. Anyway, we'll give you all the cooperation you require." He called a crewman in, who led the Doctor away to his new quarters.

After the Doctor had left, Sophie turned to Esteban. "You can't seriously be thinking of humoring this man when we're about to go into a dangerous situation?"

"I can and I will," said Esteban. "Rescuing a lost crew is important, but so is diversity and social justice." His eyes glittered. "I'm putting you in charge of satisfying all the Doctor's needs. See to it, Sophie."

Sophie Astor glared at the Captain.

He was a complete stranger.

"Yes, sir."

********

Meanwhile on the Isle of Man, Sophie Janssen, the

other

Sophie, was brooding and pacing back and forth. She had been infuriated that the Doctor hadn't taken her on this mission. Instead he had gone with

her

.

Sophie told herself that she couldn't be jealous of a ghost. The Doctor didn't even

like

Alanna.

And yet... Alanna was inside the Doctor. Sophie imagined that they were sharing thoughts... and feelings. The Doctor even told her that Alanna somehow rubbed his back to help him sleep! The small smile he had on his face when he said that burned her deeply.

Sophie played nuclear miniature golf with herself on the course the Doctor had set up in the Dome. The hole in each section was always cloaked, and it moved, from stroke to stroke. It could be a very challenging and very frustrating game, and Sophie had always enjoyed playing with the Doctor when she was growing up. It wasn't until she got older that she realized that the Doctor let her win a lot of the time. It wasn't until she got older that she realized a lot of things.

As she swung her club she realized how much she missed him. Why didn't he take her with him? It was probably because he still thought of her as a child. Sophie was 17 and a half years old, a fully grown woman biologically and legally, but the Doctor still looked at her as the ten year old he had informally adopted.

Sophie had tried to let the Doctor know that she was no longer a child by means subtle and direct. She wore tight shorts and tight pants which showed off her ass, and even tighter shirts which showed off her Dutch breasts. She purposefully wore breast control collars which made her breasts look even larger. She knew the Doctor noticed them--she could see him looking at them, when he didn't think she noticed--but he still thought of her as a girl. A girl in a woman's body.

Maybe that was the answer. She had to become a woman. A full woman. The Doctor had forced her to go out on dates, but she had never gone beyond that guy she had kissed, the one who turned out to be a Lemure who was trying to use her to get to the Doctor. Maybe she needed to go all the way. Maybe losing her virginity would give her new insight into men. Maybe the experience would change her, would cause her to act in a way that would convince the Doctor that she was a fully grown woman.

And so Sophie tossed her nuclear golf club aside and took a deep breath, and as her bosom heaved, decided to lose her virginity.

********

Sophie was methodical, and Sophie was efficient. She could go on a pointless string of dates with a guy she didn't like and then--no. Why bother? Better just to get it done. So Sophie activated her Hololink and logged into the P Into V Exchange.

The P Into V Exchange was a network for men and women looking for sex. Naturally, the men logged into it way outnumbered the woman. Sophie searched her personal database, and found an alluring image of herself, one with her breasts sticking out while she played a theoretical piano in the music room, and uploaded it.

Within 20 second Sophie got her first offer.

After the first minute Sophie got ten offers.

Within ten minutes Sophie had 149 offers.

This was even more impressive, given that geotargeting had identified that Sophie was on the Isle of Man, and there weren't a lot of people in general on the Isle of Man. Sophie scanned through the offers and noticed that the majority of them were located elsewhere. Sophie looked at the image of one bearded man, located in Oslo. What did he expect, that she would jump on a stratoliner and fly all the way to Norway for sex? Or maybe he would fly to her. Men were strange that way.

Sophie sighed. She should have exchanged numbers with that young man, Jack, she met at Earystane Plantation. He seemed nice, even if there had been something unidentifiably odd about him. Something about his eyes. Still, Sophie would have gone out with him again.

Sophie sifted through the profiles of the men she responded, and stopped at the image of a gorgeous brown haired man with a brilliant smile. She checked his location. She was sure it would be the other side of the world.

It wasn't.

His name was Jeremy, and he was located on the Isle of Man.

********

Jack decided that the time had finally come for Sophie Janssen to die.

He had been keeping an eye on the Doctor's Dome, and when the Doctor left without Sophie, he knew he would never have a better chance of eliminating her. And then when he tapped into her holocomm and saw her looking for a man for a quick sexual hookup, he realized it was meant to be. She was simply asking for it.

It really didn't matter which man Sophie had chosen. As a poltergeist, Jack could assume solid form and look like any man he wanted to. And so when Jeremy came over for drinks at Sophie's Dome, it was actually Jack, in the form of Jeremy, driving Jeremy's grav car, while the real Jeremy's body was in the trunk.

Sophie looked so beautiful and vulnerable when she opened the front door to the Dome. Beautiful, because she was wearing tight white pants and an even tighter pink shirt which practically screamed "Fuck me!". And vulnerable, because Jack could see in her eyes that she wanted to have sex but was really really uptight about it.