by Darrell Bain
At daylight we were still telling stories. It was as good a way as any to pass the time while you wait to learn whether you will live or die. Most of the time I didn't even think about it, and I don't believe the others did either.
Sergeant Murfro began taking orders for breakfast. I yawned, thinking that after eating I would go back and get some rest if we hadn't heard anything by then. Trump of doom or no, I was sleepy.
The food was being brought in on a big cart when Felinti's face suddenly broke into a huge grin. She hugged Marty, then kissed him for good measure. Any of us who were looking at her had to know that the decision had gone our way. The rest of it was just a matter of negotiating terms of the pickup and some other matters that I hadn't thought of but General Smithers had. All of his time hadn't been spent telling stories or listening to them. Some of his gray matter had been occupied with thinking.
* * * *
I was as excited as a five year old waiting out the day before Christmas and I think the rest of us were, too. If we humans hadn't had to start thinking about what to pack to carry with us (and that required more consultation with the mothership), I don't think we could have stood it, particularly Marty and I. Jim stayed more subdued, but that was just his nature-and he didn't have anyone close like Marty and I had. He wouldn't have passed up a chance to visit another world for anything, even knowing he could probably never return. As it turned out though, he didn't go after all.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
I didn't know it then, but while Marty and I were occupied with getting our gear together, General Smithers was busy negotiating an agreement to let Jim stay behind and for Strongarm to return. They would be transported to the Center For Disease Control in Atlanta and held there, under the most stringent isolation possible, so that the scientists on earth could add their expertise to that of the Cincans in their attempt to find a genetic therapy technique that would enable humans here and elsewhere to become able to accept the Tersha without it killing them. Jim and Strongarm would not only do research but they would provide Tersha samples from their bodies for experimentation and would provide their genomes serve as templates to compare to others. I supposed they would have to use federal prisoners under death sentences as experimental subjects eventually, but who wouldn't volunteer in place of a pending lethal injection?
It was a huge gamble, but the potential benefits were so great that it was finally allowed. Just think what some of the genius level minds like Einstein, Hawkings, Mandel, Darwin and the like could have achieved if they had been given even fifty more years of healthy life? Jim and Strongarm were risking effective imprisonment for the rest of their lives (which might be very long ones now) but both of them were willing. They had confidence in their abilities; I'll say that for them.
When I asked Jim about his relationship with Tera, he said he didn't know, but that he had asked Felinti to pass on a message for him. I left it at that.
* * * *
The lander came in stealthed of course, so that there was no radar signature. The replacement part had worked perfectly. It landed on an old unused runway partially covered with drifts of dirt and tufts of grass poking through cracks in the tarmac. Three humvees trundled us and our luggage out to the lander. I expected that only the pilots would have come in case of treachery, and so they had. But they carried one extra person. As soon as I stepped through the entrance Mona was there, shedding tears of joy and happiness to match my own.
When we finally got ourselves untangled and could look at something besides each other, I saw through the open entrance that Tera had also disembarked and she and Felinti had their heads close together, speaking in voices so low that only the movement of their lips told me they were talking at all. Finally Tera separated herself and came over to me.
"I wanted to say goodby before you left and to thank you again for what you did."
I was stunned. “Goodby? Aren't you going back with the others?"
"No, I've decided to stay here and go into isolation with Jim. Surely, with both our worlds working on the problem we can find a way to safely pass the Tersha on to others. And if not, another ship will be back here eventually. We can both leave then."
I hugged her. “Let's not say goodbye then, but just so long."
"Yes, so long. Speed with God."
No one corrected her English that time.
* * * *
The lander needed to make a couple of orbits before catching up with the mother ship. It had come in from the asteroid belt, ready to sterilize the whole fort if any attempt was made to hinder the lander. None was, of course and Marty and I were allowed to leave our seats and look down on earth, possibly for the last time. It hung there, seen through a flawless observation window like a blue and white and brown colored bauble. It was beautiful and lonely, suspended against a backdrop of stars that shone with hard, pinpoint brilliance. It was a breathtaking sight, and I'm glad they let us look. I hoped that one day we could return, but if not-well, there was a new world waiting. And if that didn't satisfy, there is a whole universe out there to be explored. There were unanswered questions still hanging in the air, like why are there humans on so many worlds? Who put them there and why? Why is Cinca the only world found so far that harbors the Tersha-and where did it come from?
Maybe we would never find the answers, but it would be fun trying and with Mona, I would be content no matter what might be waiting out there.
THE END
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