LINKS
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The Christa Affair
Book Three
They Went That-a-Way!
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Chapter Thirty-One
Blue and beautiful, Ultazari-Seven swam lazily across the forward viewport from port to starboard. The \Klondike\ was in geosynchronous orbit, tumbling slowly to provide a panoramic view of the entire system; the effect was breathtaking. Directly beneath them, the campsite where Rang had been given the alien Sphere and the mysterious telepathic instructions was cloaked in darkness, bathed only in the soft glow of a full moon. Jashi stopped the rotation, steadying the ship with the idyllic world below centered in the port, and they watched in fascination as the terminator crept slowly toward the site of their previous planetfall, what seemed a lifetime ago. Karli squeezed Jashi's hand for comfort, and the thoughts that passed between them were filled with unanswerable questions.
The journey out had taken twenty-eight days, and though the distance between Ultazari and L'sa'ria had widened measurably in the forty-five days during which the frozen lifeless world had been home to the eight of them, the modified hyperdrive had made quick work of the return trip; three and one-half days to cover almost fifty-three light-years and enter planetary orbit.
In spite of the Keeper's assurances that the ship's computer could handle navigation at the higher speed as safely and efficiently as before, Toko had insisted that a crew of two remain on duty at all times. They had returned to normal space on three occasions just to take scanner readings and navigational bearings, and each time found things exactly as they should be; the new high-speed drive appeared to be working flawlessly.
As they watched the continent below slowly awaking to the approaching dawn, Jashi thought back to L'sa'ria, remembering the last day before they jumped planet. With the \Klondike's\ holds bulging with everything for which they could envision a need in the coming days, and her food lockers stuffed full of every delicacy they could think up for the Keepers creative talents, Jashi had declared a holiday -- one full day off-duty; thirty hours of much-needed relaxation.
*********
Hand and hand Jashi and Karli strolled along the shore of the lake. Rather than transporting, they had walked the distance with Suu and Toko for company, and the four had enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, catered by the Keeper and several of his efficient robowaiters in the gazebo near the boat docks; Jashi and Karli had declined the others' invitation to join them aboard a small motorcraft after the meal.
It was early morning, not yet an hour past daybreak, and a fine mist hung in wisps over the water, reluctant to be borne away by morning breezes still heavy with the humidity of the night's rain. They had left behind the conventions of their trade -- no weapons, no communicators, no uniforms. Karli wore only her white swimsuit, Jashi a pair of sky-blue trunks; their near-naked bodies luxuriated in the warmth of the rising sun. The thoughts that passed between them were deep-level, shapeless, without specific form or word -- the joining of their innermost beings into one entity -- and weren't given to the unresolved questions of the mission ahead. Neither had spoken aloud since taking leave of Suu and Toko.
Their path along the shore took them to the far end of the lake. A small island was visible thru the retreating fog, and by unspoken consent they walked into the warm crystal-clear water and began swimming. Though the distance was distorted -- becoming greater than it had appeared, once they entered the water -- they were both strong swimmers, and the half-mile swim was to them as a brisk morning walk; they arrived on the tiny atoll merely invigorated.
The beach was of sand the texture of finely ground white sugar, barely clinging to the soles of their feet as they stepped from the water. Karli snuggled close, kissing Jashi lightly on the lips, then goosed him playfully in the ribs. He had known it was coming -- their communion was still total -- but nevertheless he jumped involuntarily; it was a reflex he had never been able to overcome, though his brother had tickled him mercilessly when they were small children. As she ducked away laughing, Jashi aimed a roundhouse swat at her thinly-covered bottom -- it missed -- and Karli sprinted for the line of trees that ringed the top of the tiny isle. He felt her withdraw, cutting the telepathic link between them -- she was going to make him do it the hard way. Jashi gave her a few seconds head start, then trotted toward the place where she had disappeared into the purple foliage.
It was darker beyond the tree line. The thick overhead canopy shut out much of the early-morning light, lending an eerie dusk-like quality to the forest that was almost mystical; Jashi felt as though he should expect any of several mythical creatures from Karli's collection of Old-Earth literature to appear out of nowhere at any moment. He slowed to a walk, then stopped, listening. There was little underbrush beneath the umbrella of trees and he heard no sound of movement.
Jashi continued inland, treading silently on the soft loam of the forest floor, stopping repeatedly to listen; his efforts were rewarded by silence. Once he thought he saw movement just ahead, but it was just a low-hanging limb, swaying in the rising breeze.
Abruptly he broke out into a small clearing, solidly carpeted with lush, short-cropped purple grass. The limbs of the surrounding trees reached toward the center from all sides, just failing to connect. Refracted light from the cloudless blue sky streamed thru the opening in the foliage; the effect was that of a soft-blue floodlamp. A spire of stone stretched upward, disappearing from sight beyond the reaching limbs; water cascaded down its sides and fell bubbling and foaming into the small pool surrounding it at the base. A fine mist drifted toward him, dissipating slowly in the humid air.
Jashi probed, once, lightly, and felt her mischievously block the attempt at contact. She wasn't quite quick enough -- he felt water all around. He dropped back into the woods and circled the clearing, staying just out of sight in the trees, and approached the pool from the opposite side. She was where he expected to find her -- lying motionless on the shallow bottom, holding her breath, watching the surface above in the direction of their original approach.
He felt her probe, but he was prepared. Carefully blocking his thought patterns so as not to give himself away, he eased into the water and slipped silently beneath the surface. One strong scissor stroke propelled him across the short distance that separated them. Caught completely off guard, Karli screamed as his arms encircled her slender waist from behind; they burst thru the surface together, laughing, gulping air.
There, in the gently swirling water of the L'sa'rian pool, they made love. The restored contact was complete, total, perfect -- heightened by the after-effects of the Teacher -- and their consciousness fused into one as they clung to each other, joining their bodies in intense, tender passion. They lay as they were -- resting in each other's arms on the soft shallow bottom -- for a very long time after it was over.
Without breaking the contact, Jashi stood and carried Karli from the pool. They stretched out side by side in the purple grass and basked in the warmth of the sun that now streamed thru the break in the overhead; Karli reached for his hand and their fingers intertwined. They slept, and they dreamed -- strange, peaceful dreams of a shapeless life-form hovering over them, protective, approving -- dreams they could later only dimly recall. When they wakened, the sun was low in the western sky.
*********
With intense effort, Jashi shook himself from his reverie, and returned his thoughts to the present. He preferred not to spoil it with unpleasant memories of what had followed. They had done what was necessary -- nothing more, nothing less. The \Klondike\ wasn't equipped to carry prisoners, and the two remaining Raiders certainly couldn't be left behind -- allowed to run loose in the city. The Bardarani were a resourceful lot; to leave them behind -- guarded only by the somewhat-naive Keeper -- was unthinkable. They'd probably talk him into building them a hypership.
If both the \Klondike's\ landingcraft hadn't been destroyed during the attack on the pirate ship, they could have set the Raiders adrift in one of them -- perhaps a passing vessel would have picked them up before their supplies were exhausted -- but as things turned out... Jashi had taken care of it alone, shooting both of them dead without warning; no one had spoken of it since.
Along with the mounted wand (they hadn't figured out anything else to call it) and the enhanced hyperdrive, the \Klondike\ was now equipped with L'sa'rian ship-to-shore transport. It was a one-way device -- for transporting down to a planet only -- and required no booth on the surface, but rather projected a receiver-field, then transported to it. Its limitation was that it required line-of-sight to solid surface, and very careful synchronization between the planet and the ship. If the projected receiver booth wasn't perfectly stationary at the moment of transport, the results could be very messy indeed; the simple way was from geosynchronous orbit.
The four males transported down, armed to the teeth, each equipped with a personal return device programmed to the newly-installed transporter in the \Klondike's\ recreation compartment. A quarter-mile north of the deserted campsite they found the object of their search -- the reason for their stopover on this world -- a hidden transport facility, the source of the hordes of Estarani that had attacked them during their attempt to rescue Rang. "Blow it!" Jashi ordered curtly. "That's one we won't have to deal with later. Let's get back to the ship."
They activated their PRDs and were instantly back aboard the \Klondike\. "Fuckin Magic," Jashi muttered to himself as he trotted down the corridor toward the control room.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
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