Jubie looked out over the mountain of legal forms. She smiled, knowing that a million years of paperwork had finally come to an end. She personally had been working here since she was fifteen. Ten years, and she'd hated every minute of it.
Her boss knocked on the regulation-grey door of her regulation-grey cubicle. His name was Luce Cannon, but it was a name would never live up to.
"Hello, sir," she said.
He checked to make sure his tie was a regulation three inches above his belt before he addressed her.
"Be advised that I am preparing to ask you a strictly social question that will in no way indicate any type of sexual or otherwise improper interest in your person." he said.
"Okay," she answered tiredly.
"Sign here, please."
Jubie glanced over the form he offered her. It was a standard association contract. Everything checked out. Not that she was worried he might try to cheat her - Cannon was something like a friend and straight as a board. It was simply rude to not carefully read any offered contract. "Agreed," she said, signing it.
She watched him check her signature against the one in his pocket computer's memory. "Great!" he finally said. "So Jubie, are you looking forward to your trip?"
"After ten years, who wouldn't be?"
Cannon smiled. "Yeah. I remember my vacation twelve years ago... Martha and I went to the paper mills on Earth-6. We went for walks in the sawdust, and signed an Eternal Devotion contract over a regulation candlelight dinner."
And they said romance had been filed away. "Sounds wonderful," she said. "Only I'm not exactly on a pleasure trip, am I?"
"No, you've got a working vacation, you lucky girl, you..." Suddenly, he turned pale. "Uh, please understand that I hold you in very high regard, and in no way meant to belittle you with the term 'girl.' It was merely a slip of the tongue... Did I say tongue? I certainly didn't mean to suggest anything remotely erotic!"
He must be under a little bit of stress today, she thought.
"Not that you're unattractive! I hope I didn't violate our association contract by making you self-conscious! Oh my God, I'm doomed, aren't I? You'll sue me for everything I own.. And I said God, didn't I? Please! Please forgive me if I offended you with my religious beliefs."
The man was in tears. "It's okay," she assured him. "I'm not going to sue you." As if she'd want to endure that sort of stress when she was so close to leaving Manifest Station.
"You're... not going to sue me?" he whined.
Jubie shook her head no.
"Oh. Well, good. Great. Yes. Very good." He adjusted his tie again.
"Mr. Cannon?" she said.
"Yes?"
"You came in here for something?"
He was suddenly all business again. "Right," he said. "Now you know that you've been chosen for this mission because your family has been handling this case for four thousand generations, since Earth-324 was first colonized. But, Project Manifest has invested far too much in this project to send you unaccompanied for the first look at this place in a million years."
"So who's coming with me?" she asked.
"The man they selected is Quedox Freem from accounting. He's assisted in Reunifications before. They say he's the best around."
Great. Another stiff-necked, anal-retentive bureaucrat. "I look forward to meeting him," she lied.
"Good," said Cannon, "Here are your passport request forms. Make sure they're filed by noon tomorrow."
He placed a six-inch-thick package on her desk.
"Thank you, Mr. Cannon."
"Right. We'll I suppose that's it. If you'll just sign this conversation- termination form, I'll let you get back to work."
She read and signed the document, then handed it back to him.
"Manifest Destiny!" he said as he left. Regulation farewells...
"Manifest Destiny," she sighed.
Six inches! She got to work.
---------
Luce Cannon and Quedox Freem were waiting when Jubie entered the shipyards three days later. Cannon was his same nervous self, while the other man was cold and motionless. She disliked him already.
Her boss stepped forward. "I trust you brought your copy of the preassociation papers with you?"
"Right here," she said flatly, holding up a three-page contract. She was a little angry that they were putting her through all this when the freedom of space was only minutes away.
Cannon took the papers and scanned her signature. "Great, now if the two of you will just sign each other's copy, I can make introductions."
She took Freem's preassociation contract, and read it over to make sure there were no changes from her version. She noticed Freem was doing the same. Finally, they signed.
"Great!" he said again. "Jubie, this is Quedox Freem. Quedox, allow me to introduce Jubie."
"No last name?" asked Freem.
"I had it dropped to save time signing forms," she said.
"Huh. Well it's nice to meet you, Jubie."
Right. She could just imagine the words swimming through his head. Ooh... Pretty blond girl.. Me want. Yum!
"It's nice to meet you, Freem."
They shook hands. It was protocol.
"Great!" said Cannon. How many times would he use that particular adjective? "Well, you two will be spending quite a bit of time together... Not that I'm implying anything," he added hurriedly. "You've got quite a trip ahead of you, so you'd better get going. The Papierkrieg is waiting for you in docking bay twelve."
"Yes, sir!" said Freem.
"Manifest Destiny," said Cannon.
"Manifest Destiny," said Freem.
"Manifest Destiny," said Jubie.
She left with Freem for the docking bay. It was a short walk, and then there it was, the Papierkrieg, her ticket out of here. Once she reached Earth-324 and completed her mission, she would retire and live out the rest of her life on the planet whose account her family had been handling for the past one million years.
The ship was fairly small, designed for only two people. It would be close, but at least they had separate sleeping quarters.
Freem was still cold and quiet. He'd barely even glanced at her. Perhaps he wasn't as prehistoric in his views about women after all. Or perhaps he was waiting till they were alone in space to make his move. Either way, she still didn't like him.
"After you," he said.
They entered the ship, and took their first look around their home for the next two weeks. Jubie made a quick check of her regulation-grey quarters. Her luggage, amazingly, had been transported there undamaged.
"PREPARING TO LAUNCH," said a flat computer voice. "PLEASE FIND YOUR CHAIR IN THE
MUTUAL HABITATION AREA AND FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT."
She left her room and found Freem already seated, his briefcase open in his lap and several folders of paperwork scattered around his chair.
This was going to be some trip, she thought.
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