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 ByKristine Williams2000 All Rights Reserved
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Alex woke to the sound of the morning alarm and moaned. Hadn't he just seconds agofallen asleep? He opened one eye and glared at the chronometer, but it held firmwith its opinion of the hour. Resigned, he forced both legs out from under thewarm blanket and sat up, facing the large, heavily shielded glass window. Heblinked, startled to see the stars in the distance moving as if the Ascalon was inmotion."What the hell?" He didn't remember launching. Was he hung over?Confusion drove him out of the room in search of Evan and some answers, but theexpected sight of the Sha'erah at the breakfast table, dressed and ready for theday, was not forthcoming."Evan?" Alex stood in the center of the room and blinked. Was it possible? Couldhe actually have beaten the man out of bed for the first time? No way. He ran ahand through sleep-ruffled hair and felt it instantly.The ring was gone."Evan?" Alarmed, Alex charged forward, staring at his bare ring finger. He fumbledfor the access plate then pushed the bedroom door open. "Evan, what's -- "The bed was empty.Alex's heart was racing. He charged back out of the room and stopped just short ofdashing out into the corridor without any pants. After stumbling into a pair ofclean sweats, he ran out to the main hallway and headed for the closest lift. Itwas still too early for the day shift, but Alex passed several crewmen on the wayto the bridge, none of whom he recognized, but they all nodded and smiled as heran by.It's a joke. Though Sha'erah weren't exactly known for joking. Alex ran throughhis recent memory while the lift slowly ascended, but he could find nothing thatwould explain Evan's absence or the ring's.The intricate, silver band that marked him as a Keeper -- the very ring Evan hadexercised control over and willingly given to him -- hadn't left his finger sincethat day in VanHolt's office. Alex hadn't been without it, and couldn't ever imagebeing without it. And yet it was gone.He burst out of the lift when it reached the bridge and ran to his office,ignoring the startled greetings from the bridge crew."Evan?""Captain, is something wrong?"Alex turned to find his Bridge Chief Reilly looking at him, puzzled. "Where'sEvan?""Excuse me?""Evan! Where is he?" Alex looked around the bridge angrily."Captain you . . . Don't you remember?"Alex blinked, staring at his chief. "Remember what?""He left."All the warmth drained from Alex's face in an instant. The ring finger of hisright hand grew suddenly and painfully cold."You remember. When you two got back from destroying his creator, you told him hecould do what he wanted."No. No, no, no, this is wrong. Alex stared at the chief blankly."He decided to leave, and we launched back for the nebula." Reilly shook his headand smiled. "And frankly, Captain, I'm glad he did. After we all heard the truthabout him, about where he comes from, none of us were all that excited abouthaving him around anymore.""We have to go back." Alex heard the words leave his mouth, but he felt nothing.His entire being was a dead weight, numb and too heavy to move into action."We're three months out, sir. We can't go back now."
 
Alex shook his head, but the motion made him dizzy. His sight was blurring withbursts of white clouding his vision. The ring finger, now void of the symbol he'dgrown so desperately comfortable with, felt cold and numb.Finally anger gripped him. Alex reached forward with both hands and took Reilly bythe shirt. "We have to go back!""We can't, sir."Alex shoved Reilly out of his way and the blanket went flying. He blinkedviolently and the bridge blurred, then came back into focus as his bedroom, softlylit from outside the large window by the lights of the Scotian shipyard.Nightmare! Alex held his hand up, inches from his face, and was rewarded by theglint of light off silver. He stared at the ring and heaved a huge, shudderingsigh of relief. Just a nightmare. Evan was here, sleeping in his room on the otherside of their quarters. The ring was there, on his finger where it belonged. Alexswallowed and ran the hand through his hair, comforted by the familiar feeling ofthe ring.He remembered now. They hadn't left the shipyards, at least not yet, and lastnight he hadn't been drunk. In fact, they'd only just begun advertising for a newcrew and had a lot of work ahead.Alex glanced at the chronometer and realized how early it was. If his nightmarehadn't woken Evan, then being awake for too long now certainly would. He paddedover to the bathroom and splashed cold water over his face to wash out the lastvestiges of shock, then climbed back into bed and got comfortable on his stomach,facing the window and the view of the shipyards beyond. It was the first time in along while he'd had a goal that didn't involve hurting anyone.Delving back into the Pendulum Nebula this time around wasn't going to be a raceto win, and there was no reason to believe it would cause the death of eighty-sixinnocent people. But more importantly, it wasn't going to be personal. This tripwasn't going to open up old wounds, or tear down ideals or anyone's way ofthinking. He didn't have to feel guilty about what they were going out to find.Not this time.The fact that Evan didn't hate him forever, after Alex had dragged him out to meetMaker and the horror that came from it, was nothing short of a miracle. And oneAlex wasn't likely to ever forget. He owed his friend more than just his life. Heowed him a life worth living, and everything that entailed, good and bad.When the morning alarm finally did go off, Alex didn't mind opening his eyes. Thefirst thing he saw was the ring around his finger, then he raised his headslightly and noticed the Scotian shipyards, still brightly lit and beginning tobuzz with morning activity. He climbed out of bed and was rewarded with familiarsounds of movement in the main living area. In a quick detour, he opened the doorand caught sight of Evan standing shirtless in the galley, hair still wet from ashower. With a sigh of relief, Alex went to the bathroom and prepared for the day."Good morning." Evan glanced up as he finished pulling his shirt down over damp,jet black hair. He straightened the shirt, and retrieved the coffee just deliveredby the catering unit."Thanks." Alex finished a yawn and accepted a steaming cup. "Did you sleep okaylast night?" He sipped the hot coffee and eyed his friend over the rim.Evan shrugged. "I know you had a bad dream and woke up, if that's what you mean.But after that, I slept fine."Alex felt a pang of guilt, but he knew from experience there was nothing he coulddo about it. "Sorry.""What was it about?" Evan set two plates of breakfast on the table and sat down."Nothing." Alex shook his head and joined him at the table. "I don't evenremember." It was a lie, but he didn't feel like going over it. He'd explain hisanxieties, Evan would tell him he was being ridiculous, and that'd be that. "I'mjust restless again, ready to head back out there and see what we can find.""Well, we're getting responses to the ad for a new crew. I have answers from mostof the last team, and a group of applicants to go through."
 
"Good." Somehow the confirmation that Evan had plenty of work to keep him busy andactive in staying with him moved out the last of the night's visions. Alex smiledand picked up his fork. "We've got our work cut out for us.""Us?"Alex laughed shortly at Evan's raised eyebrows. "Don't worry, partner. I'm notsitting back letting you do all the work. I've got appointments with a fewsuppliers of exploration equipment, then depending on what I find, I'll have toarrange shipments or find other dealers." He stabbed an egg with the fork. "It'sbeen a while since I've shopped for gear to land and explore with.""Do you really think we'll find planets we can explore?"Alex glanced up and saw an unusual sparkle in Evan's black eyes. He looked for allthe world like someone anticipating with excitement a great adventure. "I thinkthe chances are better than good, yeah." He grinned at his partner's suppressedexpression. "You're looking forward to this, aren't you?"Evan blinked. "I was just thinking . . . I've never been on a planet no one's everseen before." He leaned forward and rested both elbows on the table, holding hiscoffee cup in both hands. "Have you?""Been the first to a planet? Yeah, sure." Alex's grin remained firmly planted onhis face, just a little off-center."No, I mean on one. You've discovered plenty, but you send other people down tosearch for minerals, right?"Alex shrugged one shoulder. "Okay, in that respect, then no, I guess I've neverbeen the first human on a planet before. I rarely have time to go down. If thegeologists don't find what we're looking for, I have to have another direction tosearch already set, before the competition beats me to it.""But this time we're not racing anyone.""No, not really. We'll just have to get out where no one else is looking. I don'tthink we'll have much trouble doing that.""So this time we can go down."Alex's grin widened as the sparkle in Evan's eyes grew. "You're excited aboutthis."Evan's attempt to look hurt and disgusted failed miserably. "I just -- ""No, you are." Alex sat back in his chair. "You really are looking forward to thisexploration. Not just the fact that we're doing something, but what we're doing."Evan appeared to abandon his efforts. "All right, yes. I am."Alex could only stare at him, blinking."I told you I enjoyed doing what you do." Evan began collecting the dishes."No, that's not it. You're looking forward to this just as much as I am for thesheer pleasure of doing it."Evan rolled his eyes, but tried to hide the motion by standing up with their emptydishes in hand. "I just think being the first humans to see and explore somethingno one else has ever seen before should be interesting. It's not something I'veever had the chance to think about before.""And you like it." Alex stood, still grinning, and carried their cups to thegalley. "Not just because I'm doing it and you're coming with me, but because itsounds like something you'll like.""I've told you before, what you do is what I like." Evan gave him a look ofextreme patience."Yeah, well, maybe it's just semantics." Alex shoved the cups into the chute andgave his friend's back a pat. "Don't mind me, Evan. You've just put me in a goodmood, that's all." The look he received spoke volumes the Sha'erah would neverhave voiced. It made Alex laugh again. "I gotta get going.""I'll come with you. No sense starting to pick a crew if all the applicationsaren't in yet." Evan turned and watched Alex begin his search for the shoes heinvariably shed in the evening.Alex found one shoe and slid it on. "I'm only going a block down from the dockingbay." He looked around for the other one, typically not far from the first."Good." Evan pointed to the computer table at the far side of the room. "Then we
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