All the forest fire fighters slept late the next day.
Full of energy and well-being, David rolled out of bed, crossed the room, and shook Troy’s shoulder. “A perfect day. Rise and shine, my friend.”
Troy turned over pulling a pillow across his eyes, protesting the sun beaming across his face and David’s thoughtlessness. “Are you deranged? Considering a preponderance of evidence, I am about to perish. My training did not prepare me for fighting fire or riding on hard, leather saddles. Go away.”
David laughed while pulling up his trousers, “Guess that’s a no to breakfast, huh?”
Twitter stood on the bed and stared at him, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
“Look at your baby,” Troy said in an accusing voice. “He’s afraid you are about to abandon him. Do not dare leave it with me.”
“Twitter is not an ‘it,’ he’s a little boy.”
Troy pulled the covers over his head. “You are such a mother.”
“Fuck you.”
A chuckle rumbled from under the blanket. “Are you sure that is what you want?”
David reached for Twitter. “Troy, you’re about to lose your front teeth.” Grinning he sat on the edge of the bed. “Hop aboard, Twit. Let’s go eat.”
When he reached the door, he turned back to the bundle of covers. “Suppose you’ll spend more time in the gym after this experience.”
As he went through the doorway, Troy’s pillow slammed into his back.
On ship, exercise was required, but David went much further than Kyla and Troy, working out hard every day in the ship’s recreation center. Therefore, the fire fighting and travel had barely fazed him except for crapping up his lungs.
Later, when they met with their Elfin friends for lunch, David felt wonderful as he practiced his Elfin speech, expressing his delight with the different people he met and animals he had seen. If it could be believed, he even fell in love with the rhosynhorns. Troy and Kyla remained silent but managed to kick him in the shins when he repeated, more than once, about how great he felt.
Wincing, Troy twisted around toward Cymry. “What has the king and the council decided?”
“I think they’re satisfied with a brief lowering of the shield for you to communicate with your rulers, but are still worried about another sky chariot landing here. They’re still arguing about it.”
Surprised, David said, “I’m sorry we didn’t make it clear. It’s not necessary for another one to land.”
“Why, David?” Awel asked. “Are all three of you planning to stay?”
Troy raised his eyes and looked at David. “Well?”
“No, we have to go back. Even though we want to stay, we can’t. We have to ask for our captain’s permission.” David winced. “I imagine what we’ll get is severely punished.”
“Yes, that’s quite probable.” Kyla rubbed her back against the chair and moaned. “Anyway, I thought visitors to Argel weren’t welcome.”
Eiddyl said, “Our deepest fear is that of being invaded from the sky and our way of life destroyed. A long time ago, a ship arrived and the Ssh’fah people welcomed it. Within weeks, more than half their population was dead or dying from some contamination left by the sky people.”
“What are Ssh’fah? David asked.
“They are very strange and war-like people that live in the Bari desert. The nearest settlement is a hard, ten-day ride south. They’re dangerous and are often seen trading in the port cities. Some people call them lizards, refusing to believe they’re human.”
Troy glanced at David before speaking. “I’m a part of the group of scientists that determines if the UEP settles on a planet. Already, it has been determined this is an unsuitable planet for us; although, it would be perfect as a port for our intergalactic ships.”
“In ger lac ic?” Awel asked.
“Meaning ships that travel from one galaxy to another. Argel is only one planet in your galaxy,” explained Kyla. “Beyond that are many, many other galaxies with hundreds of planets.”
Eiddyl’s eyes expressed a child-like wonder. “Are they the stars we see? I always thought they were holes in the night sky.”
David looked at Kyla and Troy, who covered their smiles with their hands and nodded.
Kyla dropped her hand and turned to Eiddyl. “The sky is not solid—it’s only space. What you see are stars—not holes. They belong to your constellation. But you can only see a small number of your stars—there are many more galaxies filled with stars beyond yours.”
Picking up the chalkboard used for listing the menu, David illustrated the distance around Argel and used it multiplied to show the distance to the Adventurer and its size. Using that distance, he demonstrated the possible distance to a star.
Cymry looked at him with doubt. “I can’t believe that. How can you possibly go so far? Surely your people must die before they arrive at their destination?”
Awel answered. “David explained a little to me. They travel so fast, they can circle Argel before one can blink.”
“This is interesting,” Cymry said, “but doesn’t explain how you’ll get back to your ship without one of your sky chariots landing here.”
David looked at Cymry, his head cocked to one side. “Impossible to explain so you’d understand. You’ll have to wait until we leave, then you’ll see it happen. Our ship, given our precise location, can bring us to it.”
Awel brought her hand to her mouth, wide-eyed, and asked, “Will it hurt?”
“No. For us it will be like being here and, then in an instant, being on ship.”
“Well, this magic is something I want to see,” Eiddyl sat on the edge of his seat, his eyes glowing with excitement. “If we get close to you when this happens, could we go with you?”
David shook his head. “Not at all. The ship has a map of our bodies they use to transport us and anything within twelve inches of our bodies.”
“It would be interesting to go with you.”
Troy laughed wryly. “No it wouldn’t. If you think that council meeting rough, it was nothing compared to what we’ll face when we get back. We don’t look forward to it.”
“Suppose you simply refuse to go.” Awel’s eyes glistened with tears.
David shook his head. “Can’t do that without causing Argel problems. They’d come for us no matter how strong your shield. If angered, our captain will blow through it.”
Awel’s voice held a tremor as she spoke. “I so hoped you could stay.”
He took her hand and squeezed. David couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Cymry stood up and put on his cape. “If you’ll excuse Eiddyl and me, we need to explain all this to my father. He’ll be much relieved. I suppose you already know your leaving will sadden us. Perhaps, by the grace of Alpha and Omega, you’ll find a way to come back.”
Awel’s lips quivered as David, with a gentle hand, guided her from the room.
As everyone was leaving, Kyla saw Troy frowning, while staring into the distance. “I thought you’d be happy to go.”
“I would have before Oth showed me what I am really about. I will never be able to go back to what I was. The truth is I no longer belong with the UEP, or here.”
“You could make a life here. We need to think of bargaining chips.” Kyla threw her arms wide. “What does Argel have the Union could use without causing damage here? What value would we be to the Union if we stayed?”
Troy smiled at Kyla’s enthusiasm. “Setting up a peaceful place for burned-out space travelers or anyone with deep psychological problems is the first thing that comes to mind. The atmosphere would be healing for anyone.” He chuckled. “Also, these priests can do far more for a person in thirty minutes than years of conditioning or psychiatric treatment.”
Kyla looked thoughtfully out the window. “I know what I’d like to do that’s consistent with my training. I believe Earth, many thousands of years ago, seed
ed this planet. I’ve come to realize the root of their language is one of the ancient English languages. If I could prove it—that would change the whole character of any interchange between the UEP and Argel.”
Troy shrugged while sighing. “That might do more harm than good.
“How about how we’ve become able to mind-merge?” Kyla’s voice lifted in hope. “Wouldn’t that be of value? I don’t know, but believe it’s worth thinking about.”
“Come on, let’s get out, and walk around.” Troy linked his arm through hers. “Maybe go to the stable and see our wonderful ugly rhosynhorns.”
“Where’s Twitter? David walked out of here with Awel, but I didn’t see the little fellow on his shoulders.”
“The last time I saw him, he was under one of those mammoth tables in the kitchen playing with another little one.” As they stepped outside, he continued. “What is David going to do about that little twit when we leave?”
Chapter Thirteen
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