LINKS
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The Christa Affair
Chapter Four
At long last the slow painful crawl was behind them, and Rang and Jashi could stand erect and stretch their cramped muscles. They paused only long enough to get the kinks out and take a long drink of L-4 from their canteens. Away from the canyon rim, they could speak aloud for the first time since taking up their post some ten hours earlier, but neither broke the silence until they reached the clump of brush where they had hidden the airsled. "Why did we crawl all that way?" asked Rang, as they waited for the sled to come up to power. They'd done a total shut-down of the flux-powered generator as a security precaution.
"I don't really know," replied Jashi. "It just seemed to be the prudent thing to do. Maybe that thing -- whatever it is -- is really still there. Maybe the disappearance was an illusion... Or some kind of invisibility screen."
"Could be, I guess," said Rang. "Maybe somebody finally figured out how to make invisibility work -- nearly everybody in the galaxy has tried it. If that \is\ it, I wonder if the thing would still register on our scanners. It sure showed a good return when we picked it up inbound."
"Who knows?" replied Jashi, "We're not gonna try anything until I contact Joahn. If it hasn't reappeared by the end of this watch, we'll transmit scrambled databurst to HQ. We're dealing with a total unknown, and if they do have an invisibility screen of some kind, then they're probably scanner-cloaked too. I guess the only way to know for sure will be to take a sled down there and try to touch it."
"Say what?!" exclaimed Rang. "Try to touch it? Don't look at me!"
In spite of the gravity of the situation, Jashi burst out laughing. "Don't panic yet, Big Brother! Me neither, unless all else fails. I'm hoping the Admiral will send in some backup when she hears about this. Field commission or not, we're not qualified to deal with this."
The laughter had done them both good, and some of the tension ebbed away as they climbed aboard the airsled and headed for the ship, hugging the rolling terrain to keep the canyon rim between them and the site where the ghost ship had been less than an hour before.
*********
As the brothers entered the control room, Jashi paused only to look at the mission-elapsed timer, then Karli was in his arms and in his mind. For a few precious moments everything else was forgotten.
The timer display was in Federation-standard time -- thirty hours to one standard day. The counter showed 0022/18:15 -- twenty-two days, eighteen hours, fifteen minutes. In ten more hours he'd risk a databurst call to Joahn; until then there was little they could do but maintain the watch.
Slowly, unwillingly, Karli and Jashi withdrew the contact. The communion had been unrestricted, so totally complete that it blocked out the reality of their surroundings. Jashi kissed her tenderly, then held her at arm's length and looked into her dark blue eyes. (.... "I love you! ....")
For a long moment Karli held his gaze, her eyes slowly filling with tears, then she turned and walked from the control room; astonished, Jashi could only stare at her departing figure. He turned to Rang and Mowii, who were standing arm in arm on the other side of the control room. "Now what was \that\ all about?" he asked.
"You should know!" retorted Mowii. Jashi could see that she was angry.
Damn females. Ghost ships and disappearing moons, and she throws a temper tantrum! "Know \what?\" he asked.
"Damn it, Jashi!" his bond-sister snapped. "If you have to make dumb jokes, can't you learn not to let her hear? She was with you when you made that crack about trying to touch that horrible thing. You make me glad we're not telepathic! Men! Inconsiderate fools! Every damn one of you! You too!" she added, looking sharply at her bondmate. With that, she flounced from the control room, still mumbling unintelligibly as the door slid shut behind her.
For a long moment the brothers stared at each other, then they burst out laughing -- a deep satisfying laughter that continued until the tears streamed from their eyes. "I know it's not funny," Jashi said when he could control himself.
"Would be, if things weren't so serious," replied Rang, wiping tears from his eyes. "Makes me glad I'm not telepathic either. Some of my thoughts would definitely put a strain on a relationship! How do you guys manage?"
"Not hard, Big Brother... Wouldn't change it for anything. Just this damn spooky situation, that's all. Otherwise it would've never bothered her. She knew I was joking. Excuse me a minute, and I'll straighten this out."
He closed his eyes and reached out gently with his mind; Karli was there -- waiting, apprehensive. He felt her fear. (.... "Sorry, Kitten. Truce? Crew meeting now; bring the others ....")
(.... "Apology accepted, Jash, but we're gonna talk about this later! Be there in ten minutes ....") She broke the contact.
Jashi turned to his brother. "They'll be here in ten minutes, let's make a pot of coffee."
CHAPTER FIVE
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