by Lisa Medley
Yeah, that seemed about right.
Last night with Tessa had been…fucking amazing. She’d continued to surprise him. He prayed there would be many more surprises like that in their future and fewer of the wormhole sort that he was currently studying as their intended target.
Tessa worked inside the ship, readying what she could for their takeoff.
On top of the mesa, he spotted Noah, Bimisi and a band of Apache working their way to the ship. As they got closer, he saw that two Apaches carried Ela on a large stretcher made of poles and hides. The last thing he wanted was to risk someone else’s life on this crazy foray, but, Noah assured him, Ela’s demise wouldn’t be their fault. At this point, it was highly unlikely she would make the flight back alive even if they succeeded. Ela was hanging on by a very thin thread.
Long shot or not, it was obvious that Noah had grown fond of the girl in their short time together. Cole had no idea how they were going to explain all of this mess when they got back. He just hoped they had the opportunity to try.
“He’s here,” Cole called up through the open hatch to Tessa.
Tessa disembarked and stepped beside him, following his gaze up to the still swirling sky. He felt her hand close around his and squeeze briefly.
“Not long now,” she said, not looking at him.
“Nope,” Cole choked out around the hard lump forming in his throat.
She released his hand and walked toward Noah to help retrieve the remainder of their supplies. Cole’s heart ached as he watched her go, acutely aware that each moment together could be their last. He shook off the dread threatening to build inside him and followed to help.
“Everything’s ready for her, Noah,” Tessa said, gathering an armful of blankets and leftover MREs.
Noah climbed down from his horse and directed the braves carrying Ela forward into the ship. Noah and Cole had managed to remove the two lounge chairs from their own ship yesterday and fastened them to the grated floor behind the bridge so Ela could ride more securely. They’d also salvaged the captain’s chair restraint systems and the cargo jump seat, and made several lash-point adjustments inside the alien ship. It was the equivalent of trying to turn a sports car into a station wagon, but it would have to do. They couldn’t exactly free float around the ship during takeoff and landing.
The braves entered the ship, wide-eyed and hesitant. Cole didn’t blame them. Chief Itza-Chu followed them, overseeing their efforts. Bimisi made himself at home. This was old hat for him now. They lowered Ela onto the lounge chair then the braves nodded at their chief and retreated from the ship immediately. Noah arranged the unconscious Ela and strapped her down.
“Guess it’s time for good-byes,” Tessa said, sending Cole a slight smile.
“Bimisi, tell Chief Itza-Chu thank you for his help. We’ll do the very best we can for Ela.”
Bimisi translated, and the chief bent to kiss his daughter’s forehead. Tessa winced, but their crew had long given up on convincing the tribe of the dangers of contagion. They prayed the disease didn’t decimate the entire tribe more effectively than the alien ever could have.
Chief Itza-Chu looked at Cole. “You will be successful, Tarak Jishnu. The Great Spirit is with you.”
Bimisi translated, and Cole nodded, the lump returning to his throat.
“What did he say?” Noah asked before Tessa could translate again.
“The Force is with us,” Cole said.
“One hundred dollars, Tarak,” Tessa said.
The Apache chief and their young friend walked down the exit hatch and onto the desert floor.
“You need to stay far away while we launch. Back to the mesa at least, Bimisi. Make sure everyone stays put. We don’t know what’s going to happen here when we ignite the thrusters.”
Bimisi ran back for one final hug from Tessa then raced away.
“I’m gonna miss that kid,” she said.
“Yeah.” Cole agreed. “Let’s get out of here.”
***
Tessa took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She pulled the crucifix from beneath her flight suit and kissed it then muttered a quick prayer.
“Everyone ready back there?” Tessa asked.
“As ready as we’re ever going to be,” Cole said.
Tessa sat in the captain’s chair, and the ship’s systems hummed to life. She spent several long minutes going through the pre-flight checklists she would have used in her own ship, as Noah looked on from behind her.
“Don’t forget the vertical thrusters. You know which ones those are, right?” Noah said.
“I think you know how I feel about backseat flying, Noah. I know which ones we think they are. We’re about to find out.” Tessa said.
The tension inside the ship was palpable. Tessa almost envied Ela’s blissful ignorance to what was happening.
“Hold on to your asses back there. System ignition in five, four, three, two, one.”
The ship rumbled beneath them for several seconds then, in a slow-motion swoosh, Tessa felt them hover briefly above the ground as combustion built in the fuel cells below them.
“Vertical thrusters, Tessa,” Noah called from behind, barely audible through the din.
“Yep.” Tessa flipped the switch and held her breath, waiting to see if they’d guessed correctly.
A burst of power exploded below them and pinned her head and body back against the seat as they shot upward. Tessa hoped to God Bimisi and the other Apaches had made it far from the blast zone. They raced upward and away from the desert, and the ship vibrated around them.
“Forward thrusters, Tessa. Pull in the stabilizing legs. Orient the ship toward the portal,” Noah yelled.
“I know!” Tessa said, desperately trying to work against the quickly increasing g-forces. She flipped the second series of switches, turning the thrusters and adjusting their course, until the wormhole filled their viewing windows.
They passed through the gaseous layer of Earth’s atmosphere, past the Karman line and into the wormhole.
The ship shuddered around them, and she worried perhaps she’d missed some vital step. Seconds later, they began the now familiar spin as they traversed through the wormhole. The ship’s power extinguished, and the hull filled with silence. Tessa held her breath as the ship spun, and gravity came and went inside their craft. Her hands gripped the seat until they ached. She looked ahead into the darkness, praying desperately for the first signs of light and salvation, but there was nothing.
Finally, she closed her eyes and did the only thing she could do. Wait.
“Do you see it?” Cole asked.
Tessa snapped her eyes open and searched wildly the space before her. More black nothing. Then, there off to starboard, she did see it. A blue and white blur began to take shape.
“Home again,” Noah said.
“Let’s hope we’re in the right decade,” Tessa said.
“Amen that. No way I’m reliving the 1990s with you,” Cole teased.
The Earth grew larger in front of them much quicker than it should have.
“We’re on the cosmic slide again. Hold on back there. It’s going to be another hot and fast ride,” Tessa said.
“I’d expect nothing less,” Cole said.
Tessa bit back a retort. Payback would be a bitch.
If they survived. She wondered how many times they could tempt fate.
They passed the Karman line again and began their freefall through the atmosphere. The ship roared back to life, and Tessa struggled to work the controls against the force of their descent. Light blinded her as they arced through the sky. Something raced directly toward them then deflected off an invisible barrier, rocking the ship violently. The projectile whizzed past their port side and into space.
“That was a freakin’ missile,” Noah yelled from behind above the din.
“I think we’re home all right. And they’re trying to shoot us down,” Cole said.
“The ship must have a weapons shield after all
. I hope it holds!” Tessa yelled. “’Cause here comes another one.”
The ship shook hard again, and this time the instrument panel lights sputtered on impact.
“I’m not sure how many more hits we can take,” Tessa said.
“Get us down, Tessa. As fast as you can,” Noah said. “The ship can take the landing. It has before.”
“I’m more worried about us,” Tessa said.
“One more hit like that, and none of us will be worrying anymore,” Cole said. “Get us on the ground, Tess.”
Tessa turned the thrusters up to a punishing pace and held on for dear life as the ground came into view. Nothing but desert as far as the eye could see, until two Air Force fighter jets flanked her on either side. With no way to communicate with them, she loosened her chest strap and leaned forward as far as she could to see out of the viewing window. When she made eye contact with the port side pilot, the look on his face made her laugh out loud.
“What’s so damned funny up there?” Cole asked.
“I think I just gave an Air Force pilot a heart attack,” Tessa said.
“At least they aren’t shooting at us anymore,” Noah said.
“Thrusters off. We’re rolling in like a bowling ball, folks. Contact in five, four, three, two—”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Briefing Room, SpaceXport Base, NM
Cole sat in the SpaceXport conference room enjoying a naughty little daydream as he stared at Tessa across the table while Janson droned on and on and on. Her small smile did not go unnoticed when she made eye contact with him for the briefest of moments. He admired that she was even still trying to pay attention. Cole had checked out forty-five minutes ago.
“As I mentioned earlier, we’ve done some careful analysis of your debriefing. Our best people think the wormhole or portal or whatever you passed through was in fact a magnetic X-point. NASA’s THEMIS spacecraft and some European probes have been searching for one for years but have yet to be in the right place at the right time,” Janson said. “You were in exactly the right place at the right time.” He smiled broadly.
Cole rolled his eyes. Sure Janson would think that. It hadn’t been his ass on the line out there.
“In the six months you were gone, work has continued, and we’ve almost completed the final touches on the replacement spaceship. Of course, now, with the technology you returned with, the next ship will be even more amazing. And the fuel mixing tech is revolutionary. Our best engineers have already taken the system apart and expect to replicate it within the next few months.” Janson paused for effect and scanned their faces, bursting at the seams with some news. “After careful consideration, we’ve named the replacement ship. We’ve decided to call it Spaceship Apache. What do you think?”
None of the crew responded, but the palpable tension and the grim line of Noah’s mouth answered Janson loud and clear.
Clearly deflated by the reaction, Janson continued. “Well then, on to the mission binder. We’ll depart again in thirty days. Despite your—erm—difficulties, for all intents and purposes the mining bot was a success. We’ve tweaked the balance and re-righting capabilities to avoid another unsanctioned spacewalk, although I am very thankful for your efforts, Mr. Hudson.”
“If you’re so thankful, Janson, ‘show me the money,’” Cole said.
He caught a sly smile quirk up one side of Tessa’s mouth. He knew she was silently fining him in her mind.
“Fear not, Mr. Hudson. The three of you have a very lucrative future ahead of you. I think we can all expect an impressive payday. The platinum in the ship’s skin alone will finance the building of the first hotel pod. With your help,” Janson aimed his smile at Cole, “we can offer much more than mere space travel.”
“You’re talking about time travel?” Noah asked, incredulous. “After all we told you, you think you can control the portal? We got lucky. We could have been stuck there, and no one would have ever known what happened to us. Who knows what our time there might have messed up in the future. Who knows what it will do to Ela? You can’t seriously think you can control that portal.”
“I do, Mr. Wright. Now that we know exactly where to find one, we can study it, and, the next time it opens, we’ll be ready for it.”
Noah shook his head. He shoved back from the table and walked out of the meeting, leaving Cole and Tessa to deal with Janson. Cole couldn’t blame him. Ela had survived the trip and was recovering slowly, but her adjustment was troubling at best. Noah felt more responsible for her than he needed to, which made him wonder if there wasn’t something more going on between them.
The three of them hadn’t been able to spend much time alone together in the ninety-six hours since they’d returned to Earth. Well, ninety-six hours for them. Six months for Janson and the rest of the base. Apparently, the whole wormhole thing had a way of warping time. Big surprise.
They’d been declared dead. Lost in space.
Which was great as far as Cole’s previous debts were concerned. They had a clean slate.
Seemed like he’d been redeemed after all just by surviving.
Go figure.
This meeting was supposed to be their last debriefing. And from what Cole could see, this meeting was over.
“If you’ll turn to the back of the binder—” Janson continued.
“Nope. We’re done here.” Cole strolled around beside Tessa and offered his hand to her. “Let’s get out of here.”
Tessa took his hand and let him lead her from the conference room. Neither of them looked back.
***
Cole knocked on Noah’s spaceport pod door. “Noah?”
“What?” Noah answered through the door.
“Meet us behind Building 61 in ten minutes.”
Silence answered. “Noah?”
“Okay.”
Relieved, Cole went to his own pod to retrieve his Colt and a bottle of Jameson. In a moment of déjà vu, he hesitated to notice the sun setting outside his pod. He opened the sliding glass door and walked outside to join Tessa in the Bombardier.
By the time he arrived, Noah was already there and buckled into the back seat. He couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across his face when Tessa looked up and saw him carrying the bottle.
“Hudson!” Tessa said with fake disgust.
“You can call me Tarak Jishna, thank you very much,” Cole said, climbing in to ride shotgun.
Tessa mashed down on the gas and raced forward before Cole could get situated, let alone buckled.
“Slow down, wife,” Cole teased.
Tessa shot him a fiery side glance and sped up to spite him. They raced across the desert flat and toward the mesa to watch the sun set. She slid the Bombardier to a stop but none of them go out.
They sat and watched as the sky changed colors. Cole unscrewed the cap of the bottle and offered it to Noah first. He took the bottle and threw back several good shots before handing it back. Cole offered it to Tessa, and she drank without argument, then Cole did the same.
It was a good twenty minutes before the last of the light left them with nothing but stars to look at. Tessa finally broke the silence.
“Do you think it’s still out there? Buried where you left it?” she asked.
“The alien?” Cole asked.
“Yeah.”
Cole considered it. Could there be anything left of it after more than a hundred and fifty years? There’d be bones if it were human. So maybe? What he’d really like to know was what else had come through that portal and crashed into the desert through the years. And what had happened to their ship? Someone, somewhere would had to have found it. It was too big to bury in the desert. But maybe not too big to bury in the government.
There were lots of questions that probably weren’t going to be answered any time soon.
Good thing he was a patient man.
The only thing he wasn’t going to wait for was Tessa. He was going to take her back to their room and never let her go. He reached
over and took her hand, pleased when she didn’t pull away.
“I love you, Tess,” he said. “You might even make a fine wife one day,” he teased. “After all, you saved our lives. More than once. You even got us home.”
Tessa turned to him, tears in her eyes. “I love you too, Cole.” A mischievous smile spread across her face. “And ‘there’s no place like home.’”
“One hundred dollars!”
The End
About the Author
Lisa adores beasties of all sorts, fictional as well as real, and has a farm full of them in her Southwest Missouri home, including: one child, one husband, two dogs, two cats, a dozen hens, thousands of Italian bees and a guinea pig.
She may or may not keep a complete zombie apocalypse bug-out bag in her trunk at all times, including a machete. Just. In. Case.
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Other Books by Lisa Medley
Haunt My Heart A Civil War ghost in the 21st century. - Available now!
Space Cowboys & Indians A sci-fi adventure romance - Available Now
The Reaper Series
The only thing worse than having nothing to live for…is having everything to live for.
A small group of reapers and supernatural beings in Meridian, Arkansas are all that stands between humanity and the apocalypse when a fallen angel stages a demonic invasion. In their battle to save the world, each will meet his or her match, discovering the power of love…and the importance of risking everything to protect it.
Reap & Repent (Book I of The Reaper Series) - Available Now
Reap & Redeem (Book II of The Reaper Series) - Availble Now
Reap & Reveal (Book III of The Reaper Series) - Available Now
Reap & Reckon (Book IV of The Reaper Series) - Coming in 2016
Bibliography
Mining the Sky by John S. Lewis
The Mescalero Apache by C. L. Sonnichsen
