“Jack, are you sure they’re on Javet III?”
Captain Rochelle glanced over at his wife. “They have to be. The only other planets within this system, capable of sustaining sentient life, have been thoroughly monitored.”
“Perhaps they crashed on some other planet and are no longer alive.”
“The rover would have sent out a distress signal. Because we haven’t picked up a signal, they must be alive and turned the locater off.” He rubbed his forehead. Now, that would be incredibly stupid. He leaned back in his chair, threw his feet onto the desk and crossed his ankles. “I’ve never heard of one becoming non-functioning in a crash. Since we haven’t located them on the other planets, they have to be on Javet.”
Kelly picked up a model ship from his desk and turned it around in her long delicate fingers. With a worried frown, she returned the model. “I hope the life forms on Javet aren’t too aggressive.”
“It would serve them right if they tangled with some violent, territorial creatures. It would save me the job of ripping off their heads should they get back on ship. As a matter of fact, our investigators reported warring in the southern lands.”
“Shades of space, Jack. If they could hear you now, I doubt they would want to come back, no matter how they got there.”
They turned to a loud knock on the door. Without waiting for a response, a rotund figure bound through to the captain’s desk, his collar rumpled. “It’s no use. For days now, I’ve sent out my most experienced pilots, and they all say that when they get within a hundred feet of the barrier, their vehicles bounce back like rubber balls. We’ve never experienced anything like it before. I really don’t know what to do we haven’t already tried.”
The captain frowned and ran his hand across his stiff crew cut. “Did you get any samples of the thing?”
“No, sir. There’s nothing physical about it.”
“Joe, meet my wife, Dr. Kelly O’Brien. Let’s ask her.” Captain Rochelle turned to her, raising his brows. “Any bright ideas, Dr. O’Brien?”
“Paranormal?” She braced herself for an outburst.
“Damn it, Kelly, it’s taken me years to accept your abilities; how can you expect me to think some pre-literate, pre-tech people can do anything this advanced?”
“Well, merely because you don’t believe in something doesn’t mean it’s not true, as you’ve found out with me.” Her eyes brightened as she slipped forward on her chair. “I want to go up with a pilot and see if I can sense anything.”
The captain looked at his flight deck controller and threw up his hands. “You might as well set it up. I’ll never hear the end of it, if we don’t.” He turned back to his wife. “Be careful, report to me the minute you’re back on ship.”
The flight deck controller’s eyebrows lifted in question. “If we can’t get through, how the heck did David pull it off?”
“It beats me, but we’ve looked everywhere else. You know, we need to leave for the Gyran sector within three weeks, and I intend to leave with or without them. I’m going to catch enough hell because of these three idiots, and I don’t dare compound the problem by being late to our next assignment.”
By mid-afternoon bells, his work slowed down, and he again reviewed the personnel records of his three AWOL personnel. “What in the name of Creation could have given them the notion to go out exploring?” He glanced down at a file. Troy, older than Kyla and David, was a rather staid, professorial type, inclined toward solitude and study. “I know this wasn’t his idea. He would never go absent without leave.”
The captain slammed the stylus down on his desk, rolled his chair back, and stood.
He walked to a port window and stared out at the nothingness. The Union of Evolved Planets had spent billions of credits training his crewmembers. I have to find them—they’re too valuable, and I need them.
As he went to get a cup of coffee from his dispenser, Kelly and a uniformed pilot entered. Her eyes glowed with excitement.
“What? What did you find out there?”
“It is a paranormal shield. I felt it when I used my own psi ability to push against it. It’s very strong—very powerful.”
The pilot added, “I saw wavering in the air when she held her hands up to the window of the rover. It really did respond to Dr. O’Brien.”
Captain Rochelle strode back and forth across his office. Turning to his wife, he shrugged. “Okay, I believe you. I’m not giving those upstarts any more time to contact us. They managed to get through that shield—they must know how to get back. In the meantime I want you,” indicating the pilot, “to take the larger barge ships and ram the damn thing. If that fails, come back, and take a larger force. Let’s see what happens. Dismissed.”
“Belay that order, Captain. We need to talk,” Kelly said.
His brows rose and his mouth tightened. He abruptly turned to the pilot. “Come back in an hour, and we’ll see what’s to be done.”
The pilot nodded and did an about-face. When the door closed behind him, the captain fastened his eyes on Kelly. “You know better than to counter my orders in front of anyone.”
“Yes,” she dropped her eyes to her fisted hands that lay in her lap. “Haven’t you asked me over and over to try to restrain you from overacting when in a temper?”
He dropped to his chair and ran his hands over his face. “Right. You’re right. What other possible thing can I do other than plow through that shield and get our crew members?”
“First, let’s consider a few facts. Number one, those are well-trained people down there and have brilliant minds. Number two, if we can’t get through that shield, neither could they.”
Rochelle, frowned and threw his legs up on his desk. “Where are you going with this? Obviously, they did get through.”
“Maybe they were pulled through. Ever consider that? And, if they were, it’s up to them to convince whatever power controlling things to let them come back.”
“They could have, at least, sent a message to the ship.”
She raised her brows and held her hands out, palms up. “Through that shield? I don’t think so.”
He groaned and dropped his feet to the floor. “What’s number three?”
“Wait as long as you can to give them every opportunity to get back. Then when time runs out, leave them. You won’t be the first captain to lose members of your staff somewhere in space.”
“Spinning space crap, Kelly, don’t you realize what a bloody rotten mark will go on my record if I do that?”
“Not as rotten as the one you’ll get for not obeying orders and fail to arrive at the Gyran Galaxy on time. Our supply ship won’t sit around waiting for us. We must arrive on time.”
“I really hate it when you are right.”
Chapter Ten
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