Bowman

"Not at all, she's right here." He explained, taping a spot behind his ear. "Mastoid implant. She's right here any time I need her. Unfortunately, she's right here any time she wants to contact me too," he explained.

"Hey! Pretty neat!" She exclaimed as she leaned forward to examine the indicated place. "Can't even see it, but how can you talk back." She asked.

"No problem, care for a demonstration?" He asked.

"Sure! Can I hear it too?" She asked.

"Best call her number One, or her. She is very touchy about things like that," He explained as he touched the place behind his ear and said, "ONE, you busy?"

"What is it John?" A voice asked from mid air. "I was talking to port control."

"Like you to meet someone if you can spare a moment." John said. "She likes to feel important." He explained.

"IMPORTANT!! You ungrateful ---."

"Now! Now!" John interrupted. "Be nice I have a guest. This is Vicky. She wants to meet you," John coaxed.

"Hi Vicky. You got John squirming on the hook," One asked in a rather sarcastic voice. Vicky blushed and half rose form the chair.

"Do you want me to shut down your outside lines again? If not, you better be a good girl. That was just plain rude!" John informed her in a stern voice.

"Afraid not One. He just flat turned me down. Maybe you could give me a few pointers," Vicky said with an impish smile. "After all, you should know plenty about men." She added.

There was a pause. John didn't know what to expect. He waited apprehensively to see what was coming next.

"John can I project? I gota see this one." One asked.

"Go ahead. Just don't scare our guest." John replied.

A holographic image of a young woman in a rather risqué evening gown with shoulder length auburn, wavy hair materialized in the center of the room. She perched on the edge of the bunk next to John.

"Now we can talk." She said in a sexy, husky voice. "I like this one. She's got spunk," she added.

Vicky looked shocked. John looked amused. Molly, who had been eavesdropping, let out a horrifying shriek and charged down the stairs in terror.

"Guess we’ll have a few ghost stories spreading around the neighborhood," Vicky said, while trying to control a fit of hysterical giggles.

"Guess I best go see if I can calm her down." John said as he jumped up to follow the frightened Molly. "Serves her right for eves dropping," he added as he left in pursuit.

Molly ran to her room behind the kitchen and locked the door. She was cowering in the corner when John arrived. He finally coaxed her into opening the door and spent the next half hour trying to explain to her what she had seen in his room. "If you like, you can come up and be introduced," he offered.

"You Ain’ta introducing me to no spooks!" Molly insisted in a loud shaky voice. "Them things Ain’t natural," she insisted as he continued to try coaxing her out of her room.

"I'm sure she would enjoy telling you about all sorts of things, and she’s an excellent cook. You could swap recipes," he coaxed to no avail. He gave up and left. The door slammed and locked behind him. He could hear the bolts click in place and furniture being moved as he went back up the stairs. He found Vicky and the hologram of One whispering and giggling like a couple of school girls.

"I can see that leaving you two alone was a big mistake," he commented as he entered the room. "Do I have any secrets left?" He asked.

"Just girl talk." One insisted. "No secrets. Honest!" She exclaimed. "Vicky didn't ask."