by Beth Sadler
Chapter 4
Jethro and Sam arrived back at home base in Perth Australia two days later and immediately put in for two months leave. Jethro needed to get back to Tasha in Queensland as soon as possible, and Sam wasn’t letting him go anywhere without him until he helped him to find Staren. Both men were glad to be out of the firing line for the time being.
“You think we might be getting a bit too old for this lark J.J.? Maybe we should consider retiring into civilian life,” queried a half serious Sam.
“Maybe, but I think I’ll give the instructor route a go before I call it quits,” answered an unworried Jethro. He had more to worry about than his career at this point in time. He needed to see Tasha, and soon. With an inward, depreciatory chuckle, he wondered what the chances of him turning green in the near future were.
The two men had unpacked their kit as soon as they had arrived on base and were now re-packing for the flight to Queensland’s Gold Coast. It would be no problem to score a flight with a troop carrier heading out for Amberly Air Base in Queensland, from there it was only a little over an hour’s drive to the Gold Coast. Someone on the base was sure to be heading in that direction for a week of R and R and give them a lift. Slinging their backpacks over one shoulder the two warriors headed out the door, aiming for the car pool and a lift to the airfield.
The six hour flight from Perth in the slow, noisy troop carrier had left Jethro weary and not the least bit cranky. He really hated the noisy planes; they were alternately freezing or blistering hot and only tolerable if you jammed earplugs half way down your ear canal. It beat walking but, not by much. Sam however, was his usual cheerful, joking self and Jethro was seriously considering choking him into silence if he didn’t shut up.
“Come on J.J., cheer up,” Sam heckled him. “We’re here now so stop complaining. You whinged that much I worried that the flight crew was going to try and stuff you into the only head on board,” Sam reminisced happily. “That of course would have been down- right entertaining as I would have been forced to defend you. I don’t think we would have ever got another lift if it had come down to that pleasant little set-to.”
Jethro finally shook off his bad mood as he visualised that scenario. “Now that would have been one entertaining way to break the boredom,” throwing his head back he bellowed out a happy laugh as, he continued walking to the exit. “
They had just cleared the hanger area and were looking for a lift to the base carpool when Jethro felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. A strong feeling of being signalled had him turning away from the vehicles and heading around to the back of the hanger.
Half way down the road he spotted a tall figure in a jump suit, leaning over a jeep, with its head under the bonnet. He knew he would recognise that shape anywhere in the world, even under a burqa. That was no ordinary airman, that was Triena or he was a blind man. It looked like they wouldn’t need a lift after all.
“That’s a neat trick the way you got my attention Triena,” Jethro called out softly as he got closer to her. Triena moved gracefully out from under the engine bay and turned towards him, smiling in welcome as she slammed down the hood of the jeep.
Pulling a slim metal tool from her pocket, she held it up for him to see, it was pencil shaped and seemed innocuous enough. However, with a flick of her finger the device started to hum and the hair all over his body started to prickle.
“Hey, cut that out,” Jethro grumbled as he got the urge to scratch every inch of his body, Triena laughed and with another flick of her finger turned it off.
“When I was on guardian duty these gadgets proved useful for distracting wild animals or for silently signalling our team members. You responded well, even without training. More proof of your heritage it seems.” Triena looked behind Jethro and spotted Sam’s silent approach. “You two seem to like each-others company?” she questioned him with an unhappy look.
“Sam is determined to see Staren again—he seems to think she’s his destiny, so I’m not allowed to move without him until he has the correct introduction,” Jethro grinned at her shocked look. “Don’t blame me, he thought it up all by himself, I’m as surprised as you are.”
“Triena grew very thoughtful at his words and came to an immediate decision. “He is welcome to accompany us. I have a feeling that Teril will be very interested in his reaction,”
Closing the bonnet she waved Sam forward and gestured for them both to get into the jeep. “The transporter is close by. You must meet with Teril before I take you to your sister, he’s very eager to meet you and enlist your help. Anything that affects Tasha is his number one priority these days,” she laughed softly. “The man is crazy in love with her.”
Jethro immediately sobered at her words. His sister was all he had left in the way of family, their parents having died in a car accident several years earlier and there being no other extended family. This Teril had better be making her happy or an SASR was about to come down hard on his alien head.
“Let’s hustle then, I can’t wait to meet this paragon of virtue. I just hope he knows I’ll seriously hurt him if he upsets Tasha.”
“You have no need to worry about Teril’s commitment. He will take excellent care of your sister. I have known the man for several years and he has always held to the highest of standards.” As she finished speaking, Triena stopped the jeep at the far end of an old, crumbling runway.
Signalling Jethro and Sam to accompany her she headed towards what looked like a vacant parking lot. Soundlessly a set of steps appeared in the air in front of them, unfolding smoothly until they hit the tarmac. Triena didn’t pause in her stride, just ascended the steps effortlessly and vanished inside. Jethro quickly followed with Sam hard on his heels.
Being fully conscious this time around Sam took a few seconds to absorb his surrounding, before quickly scanning the room looking for Staren.
“Hey, love of my life, where are you?” Sam bellowed out into the vast space. “I need you to give me the conducted tour.” Staren appeared silently through a sliding door in the wall and immediately went to Sam, smiling and placing her hand in his. Seconds ticked by as some kind of silent communication seemed to take place between them as they stared calmly into each other’s eyes. Like a lock clicking, they both dropped their hands at the same time and smiled a look of love and acceptance at each other.
“It is done.” spoke Staren in a soft shy voice. “We are bonded and will be life-mates from now until death.”
Jethro stood perfectly still, amazement fogging his mind, not so much at the small ceremony but, that it would be Sam who experienced it. Wasn’t he supposed to be the part alien who spoke the language and understood the situation?
Triena moved forward to hug Staren and congratulate her. The two women happily conversing while Sam just stood beaming not understanding a word of what was being said.
Jethro listened to the women for a minute and then reached out to shake Sam’s hand. “Congratulations mate, it appears that you just got engaged, or bonded as they call it,” he looked intently into Sam’s eyes looking for any confusion. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Oh yeah, Staren’s the woman for me. I knew it the minute I saw her,” Sam replied happily. “I suppose I’ll have to learn the language but, that doesn’t seem to be half as important as the fact that she feels the same way about me.” He turned to Staren placing his arm gently across her back and drawing her close for a brief hug.
Triena reluctantly brought the happy reunion to a close with her next words. “We must be on our way now. Teril is waiting for Jethro and we have much to accomplish today.” Turning swiftly to the control panel she gestured the men to take seats, instructing them to fasten their seat belts. “The belts are an extra precaution as the seats already have inbuilt magnetisation that holds your body down. Still, we like to take extra care.”
Several minutes passed in contemplative silence before Jethro thought to ask where they were going. Triena’s answer stunn
ed him anew.
“For as long as we have been visiting Earth we have always tethered the Pods in the Hinterland behind the Gold Coast. There are vast areas of unpopulated bush there, perfect for tethering a pod as large as a city from discovery. Ours is actually called The Interplanetary Research Pod 6.”
Triena’s voice changed to a lecturing tone as she continued on with her narrative. “We have ten pods that travel the galaxies doing research work as well as trying to find the origins of the human species. Each pod can carry up to eight transporters, although the usual is six, unless it’s a very hostile planet. The transporters are used to take the teams to different points on the planet for their individual research specialties. Most areas on Earth can be reached in two hours this way.
“Bloody Hell,” grumbled Jethro. “The least you could have done is saved me that bloody awful flight from Perth to here” Triena laughed at the disgusted look on his face. “We are not meant to interfere in any way that would draw attention to us. If you had vanished in Perth and then turned up an hour later on the Gold Coast it would have been impossible to explain away. This way you are now free to go off the grid without questions being asked.”
“Damn it, you didn’t have to sit in that bloody noisy troop carrier or you wouldn’t be so blasé. I’ll probably be deaf for days.” He complained.
The rest of the group laughed at his disgusted expression. As he had spoken in English Sam understood and gave the rowdiest laugh of all, then filled the others in on Jethro’s complaining during the trip home.
“Thank God he slept through most of the flight back from Afghanistan or you would probably be fishing him out of the ocean about now.” More laughter filled the room, before a comfortable silence descended on the flight deck for the rest of the trip.
A short time later the large viewing screen showed that they were hovering over a huge, bush covered valley deep in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Triena and Staren sat comfortably relaxed in their seats at the control panels, their fingers flying over the buttons and keys.
With a slight jerk, the transporter glided sideways into apparent emptiness for several seconds. Suddenly, a cavernous tunnel appeared out of nowhere in the clear blue sky and they were sucked smoothly into its hidden depths.
Bright lights shone from every part of the metal interior, lighting up an unbelievably large space. It looked like a city lit by an artificial sun. Finally, after endless minutes, their transporter stopped in a huge polished metal hanger, next to another vessel like theirs. The viewing screen went dark, cutting them off once more from the world outside the flight deck.
“Yep, we aren’t in Kansas anymore, that’s for sure.” Sam heard Jethro’s muttered comment and finally showed some interest in more than Staren,
“Ah, J.J., you wouldn’t have any idea of where we are would you? not that I’m worried, mind you but, I would like to know if I’m going to have to fight an army to get Staren away from here.” He whispered close to Jethro’s ear.
“Don’t worry. Staren wants you so I don’t think you’ll have to fight anyone, however, I think you better get used to the idea that these people aren’t from around here. You better face the fact that you just got engaged to an alien,” Jethro replied, worried about Sam’s reaction.
Sam looked thoughtful rather than alarmed.
“Oh well, I always did like exotic women, I can handle it,” he grinned happily.
“Don’t sweat it Sam, apparently we’re all part of the human race, so, no green kids.” Jethro doubled over laughing at the staggered look that passed over Sam’s face. “Come on, let’s move, the ladies appear to have shut down our ride, time to meet my future brother-in-law.” At Sam’s questioning look he just shrugged. “I’ll fill you in, just as soon as I know what the situation is myself.”
Finding the magnetised seat was no longer holding him down he stood, stretching, then moved towards Triena. Time to assess this whole damn situation, part alien or not, if it came to it, he would defend Earth with his last breath.
