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The Christa Affair
Chapter Three
The eight shipmates sat in stunned silence, staring at the empty screen. "What a turn of events!" thought Jashi. Twenty minutes ago they were Freetraders, plying their trade among the stars -- friends and shipmates doing what they liked best in the company of those they loved -- now they were backed into an inescapable corner. As skipper, Jashi knew the decision was technically his, but that wasn't the way they did things aboard the \Klondike\.
For almost six years now, the \Klondike\ had been home to the eight of them -- four bondpairs -- as they roamed the galaxy, trading or hauling cargo for hire. They had worked for the Federation before, and some of the missions had been dangerous, but this was different. This was spooky... And the Admiral's apology kept haunting him. Jashi knew he was no coward. In his younger days he had sometimes been downright reckless, but now there was Karli to think of.
Karli -- wonderful, beautiful Karli. How different life would be without her. They'd met ten years earlier on Summit, in the home offices of Federal Interstellar, where she worked as a freight dispatcher; Jashi remembered as though it were yesterday.
*********
He'd been feeling very self-important that fateful day as he strolled into the company's dispatch offices, the collar of his uniform adorned with a shiny new pair of single gold bars -- the insignia of Second Officer. "Wow! What a place!" he said to himself. As helmsman first grade, Jashi had never had reason to be in these offices during the two years he had worked for Federal Interstellar; coming here to pick up the ship's cargo manifest and dispatch papers was now part of his job.
"Classy people get to go classy places," he thought a bit smugly as he admired his reflection in the mirrored walls of the office entrance-way. He turned slightly, so the light from the elegant chandelier glinted on his collar insignia, then reddened in embarrassment as he saw in the glass the most beautiful face in the entire galaxy -- soft curls of golden hair, deep blue eyes, and she was watching him watch himself... And smiling. Feeling his ego shrink rapidly by several sizes, Jashi turned away in embarrassment and started toward the desk nearest him -- one occupied by a stern-faced older woman.
"Second Officer Abram?" The voice floated musically across the room. "Over here please." It was she! And she was still smiling.
Her voice was as lovely as her smile, and Jashi's legs felt a bit unsteady as he crossed to her desk. "Stop that, fool!" he told himself angrily. "You've known dozens of beautiful women." But Jashi hadn't felt like this since he'd asked Lindi Zonoro to the school dance in the fourth year of his formal schooling. As she handed him his papers, her hand brushed his lightly, and he wondered if his legs would carry him back to the door.
The feeling persisted for the entire voyage -- sixteen days out to Dagos-Four, sixteen long days back. What if something happened while he was gone? Transfer... Promotion... Family relocation? He didn't even know her name! What if she was bonded? Would this slow broken-down old bucket \never\ make it back to Summit?! A month after his return they were bonded -- lifetime contract.
They honeymooned at Palace-Four, a man-made resort complex in planetary orbit about Summit. Two wonderful weeks together -- two beautiful weeks of learning each other -- and neither was ever disappointed. Two weeks of a closeness so intense it was almost frightening; it was during this time they discovered they were telepathic.
They were sitting in the hotel restaurant, preparing to order dinner. Karli looked up from her menu and said softly, "that will be fine for me too, Jashi."
"Okay," Jashi answered, then looked at her sharply, suddenly realizing he hadn't spoken. "What'll be fine? I didn't say anything."
"The Delfinan brandy, silly. You know I love it." Seeing the puzzled look on his face, she continued. "You said, 'I think I'll have a brandy,' and I said, 'That will be fine for me... Too'...?!" Their hunger forgotten, they were still staring at each other in astonishment when the waiter came to take their order.
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Although it is said by the experts that some telepathic ability is latent in every member of the Human species, it is manifested only in one of every two hundred thousand, and then at a very low level -- a mere sensing of mental energy, an awareness of emotions and vague thought patterns. The ability to communicate specific word-for-word thoughts -- though common in some non-human life-forms -- is very rare in Humans.
In all recorded cases, it had been between two persons within a close relationship -- usually a bondpair, occasionally in siblings. Many times, researchers had tried to link two telepairs together, but all such experiments had ended in failure. From outside his own telepair, even the most skilled telepath could sense only a weak mental presence.
By the end of their stay at Palace-Four, Jashi and Karli could communicate telepathically as easily as they could converse by spoken word -- better really, for they were reading each other's thoughts directly, without the need to translate into words unless they wished to. Sometimes as they lay in each other's arms, they would totally open up to one another, each partner actually experiencing the complete range of emotions and sensory perceptions of the other. During this communion, it was as if they became one mind with two bodies, and the pleasure would become so intense as to be almost unbearable.
All too soon Jashi's leave was over, and he returned to active duty. Though Jashi was rarely off-planet for more than twenty to thirty days at a stretch, the time apart was unbearable for them; if his ship had seemed like a slow broken-down old bucket that trip following their first meeting, it now seemed to be in parking orbit.
For nearly four years they tolerated the constant separations. During each trip, they weren't just apart physically -- they were also denied telepathic communion. Once Jashi's ship went hyper, they were cut off from each other until the ship returned to normal space and began its approach to Summit. When Jashi stumbled onto the \Klondike\ -- for sale at half what she was worth -- he jumped at the chance to buy her.
*********
The \Klondike\ wasn't much to look at. A gamma-class hyperdrive cargo vessel built by General Galactic Limited, she was a lease ship owned by a prospecting and mining syndicate based on Summit. Ten years of hard use showed, inside and out, but the important things were in good shape. Her hydrofusion torch was almost new, the gravity polarizers worked, the hyperdrive checked out to tolerance... And the price was right.
Jashi, Karli, and Rang bought her as registered equal partners. Though he was the younger of the two brothers, Jashi was listed as Captain because he was an experienced hypership pilot and qualified for his Master's license; Rang was listed as First Officer, with Karli as Second. Mowii, Rang's bondmate, was the official everything-else.
Two weeks in the refurbishing facilities of General Galactic, and the ship was as spaceworthy as the latest model to roll off the assembly line -- another four weeks of red tape, certifications, and permits, and the \Klondike\ was ready to jump planet. There was always cargo to be hauled across the vast emptiness of the galaxy, and trade goods would fetch a high price on the frontier worlds along the galactic rim.
They turned a healthy profit their first year, and hired Toko and Suu, friends from Jashi's early days of formal schooling on Summit; four months later, during a stopover on Uzos-Two, Roi and Lito joined the team. The four bondpairs got along well together, and were temperamentally suited to the long periods of close confinement. Many found shipboard life a bit claustrophobic; to the eight shipmates of the \Klondike\ it was exhilarating. They weren't confined, they were free. The entire galaxy was their playground.
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As always when there was an important decision to be made, they took a vote. Eight people, eight votes -- each vote carried equal weight. It was unanimous; Admiral Rieley swore them in by hyperphone. When the ceremony was finished, the eight were officers of the Elite Guard, Galactic Federation of Worlds, field commission class-two. The \Klondike\ was now a commissioned attack cruiser under the direct command of Admiral Rieley -- authorized to bear arms against any threat to the Galactic Federation of Worlds.
They tagged their cargo and jettisoned it, to be picked up in two days by another freighter and delivered to Delfina-Two. Jashi was tempted to try to persuade Karli to take one of the \Klondike's\ landingcraft and stay with the cargo, but he knew she wouldn't hear of it; they would face this danger together. As they boosted for Ultazari-Seven, he set the mission-elapsed timer to zero.
CHAPTER FOUR
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