THE PRIZE: BOOK TWO - RETRIBUTION, page 36
“So you’re really going ahead with this crazy plan?”
“Of course.”
“Um…”
“Yes?”
“Well, it just about the troops and me. That long in jump space is going to affect us as well.”
“Not if you’re asleep.”
“Then who’s going to guard you while you’re asleep?”
“No one. Jump space doesn’t affect me like others. You and the boys will sleep the whole time, and I’ll wake you before the rest of the crew.”
“Still a bit risky, sir.”
“Boys, would you two go and run a bath for me and get my sleeping quarters ready.”
“Yes, sir.” They both stood and scampered off. Penn waited until the door slide shut before answering Brask’s question, hating to do it.
“How fast can you draw your side arm, Sergeant?”
“My sidearm? …fast enough, sir, and faster than most.”
“When I say draw, go for your sidearm.” Penn sat with his back towards Brask, and reaching out with his senses he felt him tense. “Ready?” He asked, squeezing down on his stomach muscles.
“Draw!” Time appeared to slow to a crawl as he stood and walked around his chair, Brask’s hand barely moving as he walked up and took the weapon. He returned to his seat and relaxed, hearing Brask let out an oath as he did.
“Is this what you are looking for?” He asked, holding up the sidearm.
“Holy Mother preserve us. How…”
“Any assassin that enters these quarters, or attacks me while I’m walking about the ship is in for a nasty surprise, before he dies that is.”
“But how did you do that?”
“Maybe one day, when we know each other a lot better, I’ll tell you.”
“Yes, sir. I understand.”
Soon after, the fleet moved away from the station and out towards the hyper limit where they could jump. Usually this meant moving above the plane of ecliptic and out to at least 25 to 30 AU’s from a star, depending on its size and density to escape out the gravity well. As the star in this system was small, they only had to move out to 20 AU’s before jumping out. Penn chaffed at the delay, willing to make the Fleet go faster. Time was his enemy and the longer they took to jump, the further down the spiral arm Ellis would get and less the chance of catching up with her. The first night he actually went to bed to sleep, the two boys climbed in bed with him, one on either side.
“Hay! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Um… we thought… that is it has to look as if you um, went to bed with us if someone checks.” Terrance murmured.
“Look, I don’t swing that way. I told you it was just for show.”
“We know.” Rem said, cuddling up to him. Penn sighed and put his arms around both of them, feeling that they needed reassurance.
All this must be frightening to them, and like most human children, they needed to feel safe from the monsters under the bed. In this case the monsters were right outside the door and they knew the only thing that stood between them and the monsters was this yellow eyed human who’d rescued them from hell. It really wasn’t much different from his tribe back on Alpha Sigma Prime, and more than once he’d awoken to find one or more of his adopted children cuddling up in bed beside him and Ellis. He smiled thinking of what Ellis would have to say about him adopting more stray children. The days passed with more grumbling from the crew according to Brask, yet strangely it was directed at the Var, as most understood the need for extended sleep while in jump space. They all knew of the debilitating effects of jump space if you stayed awake for that long. Even normal sleep wasn’t enough to offset the effects. There was also the question of less strain on the CO2 scrubbers and available supplies. At last they made the jump into uncharted space and began the process of putting the crew into cryo-sleep. This gave the designated crew time to get into their suits and into their bunks before the medics came round to check their air supply and give them their injection of Sominex gas. Even so, Penn had to wait until the majority of the crew was soundly asleep before letting his security detail go into hibernation themselves. Brask and the boys were last, all three protesting until they drifted off to sleep.
The ship felt and sounded strangely quiet after that, and Penn took the time to walk about and check on things before sealing the stateroom door. After a light meal and some water, he undressed and took up a position in the center of the stateroom, clearing his mind of distractions to begin meditating. As his body temperature dropped and his metabolism slowed, he concentrated on Ellis, reaching out with his mind to try and make a connection. For a while he drifted in limbo as clusters of disconnected thoughts came and went, some of his childhood, others of current events, of people, places, things he needed to do, others what he should have done differently. As the images drifted by, he didn’t try to hold onto any of them, or become emotionally connected, and at last his mind quieted as he reached a higher plane. He sought nirvana and the imperturbable stillness of mind after the fires of desire, aversion, and delusion have been finally extinguished. Something drifted toward him out of the gray stillness, warm and comforting, wrapping itself around his being and he knew he’d found her.
“Hello my love.” A voice whispered as his and Ellis’s mind became one. There was no recrimination, no fear, no haste, just pure love as their thoughts intertwined. He knew she was safe and well, what her plans were and where she was going, but after a while even that drifted away and they just became one. She could see into his soul, as he could see into her’s, knowing all the things he’d done, the bad and the good and the why of it. She neither approved nor condemned, simply accepted him for what he was. For a brief moment, they were one person, like two bright flames touching and becoming one, blazing brighter than a super nova.
“I’m coming for you, my love.”
“I know. We’ll be together very soon.”
“Keep heading for Silurian space and I will find you.”
“Take care my darling. I’ll be waiting for you.” Without warning, Penn suddenly found himself alone and felt sad, as if a part of him was missing, like an arm or leg and he knew the connection was broken. He reached out for her in the grayness but she wasn’t there, only the echo of a feeling of danger. Who was in danger he couldn’t tell, only that it was close.
At last, his body became still, as if frozen, but one part of his mind stayed alert for changes in his environment, or something out of place. Should anyone manage to gain entrance he’d know it instantly, and go from deep meditation to full combat mode within a few heartbeats. It wasn’t something conscious, but something buried deep within his genetic code, like a built in survival mechanism. It had only happened twice and both times he had no recollection of what he’d done, or how he’d done it, only knowing there were a lot of dead bodies around him when he finally came fully awake. His only concern was finding Ellis and Jenny, and with that thought in mind, he drifted into deep sleep.
END OF BOOK TWO
Rob Buckman, THE PRIZE: BOOK TWO - RETRIBUTION
