No Other Love (13 page)

“Or perhaps Osiyar is aware of some danger to
the ship.” Merin set the plate she was still holding down on the
captain’s chair and went to another panel of lights to check an
abnormality she suddenly noticed.

“I guess Osiyar’s telepathy is always a
possibility.” Still Herne sat at his console, pushing buttons. “Now
the communications equipment is totally dead.”

“Herne, look.” Merin pointed to the panel in
front of her. “Air circulation has stopped. The heat just went off,
and the water reconditioning machinery, too. The entire ship is
shutting down, one system after another.”

“That squares it. Tarik knows something we
don’t.” Herne stood, caught Merin’s arm, and pulled her toward the
hatchway. “I don’t know about you, but I have no intention of
staying on a ship with no functioning life systems. If one system
went down, we could fix it, but we can’t fix everything at once,
and we can’t stay here with no air or heat and no communications.
We are going to obey Tarik’s orders right now, without further
discussion.”

* * * * *

“What happened just then?” In the central
room at Home, Tarik stood over the large computer-communicator,
watching Carlis, the communications officer, at work.

“All communications with the
Kalina
are blocked, Carlis announced. “I can’t make any contact with the
ship. It must be the solar flares.”

“Did they get my message to stay aboard
beyond their four days, that we aren’t going to risk sending anyone
up there in a shuttlecraft until these storms have ended?” Tarik
asked.

“I can’t be certain they received your last
message,” Carlis admitted. “But Herne and Merin are both sensible
people. They know better than to leave the safety of a
well-shielded ship. Besides, they know the routine of not leaving
the
Kalina
before the next crew arrives.”

“It’s just possible,” Tarik said, recalling
what Osiyar had said about them, “that they won’t mind a few more
days together until things calm down.”

* * * * *

In an airy villa some distance beyond Tathan,
a dark-haired woman faced a globe of glowing white light.

“Remember, you promised no one would be
hurt,” the woman said.

“New knowledge is never gained without
danger,” the light responded. “They have received my false message
and they will be in position shortly. Our preparations are
complete. It is too late now to change our plans.”

“Then,” said the dark-haired woman, “it is
time to begin the great experiment.”

Old Tathan

“Doesn’t it strike you as odd,” Merin asked,
“that while the entire ship has shut down, everything is working
perfectly here on docking deck?”

“I haven’t had time to think about it. I’ve
been too busy stowing supplies and cleaning up, and at the moment,
I’m just glad to be warm again. I never fully realized how cold
space is until the heating system stopped, or how much I appreciate
artificial light until we were left with only inadequate red
emergency lighting. Not to mention the healthful effects of
breathable air.”

Herne filled his straining lungs with the
clean air of the docking deck and felt his body readjust to the
improved conditions. He and Merin had rushed through the
last-minute check-off lists, trying to complete them before the
environment aboard the
Kalina
became unlivable. They were
leaving just in time. He had almost reached the shuttlecraft when
the full impact of her words struck him. “What are you implying,
Merin?”

“I’m not sure. We are now in the segment of
Kalina’s
orbit that takes us over the southern hemisphere of
Dulan’s Planet, across the South Pole, then northward again. For
the next thirty-five minutes,
Kalina
will be south of the
equator.”

“And?”

She glanced up, saw his tense expression, and
knew he had made the same connection that she had.

“When the systems on the ship began to shut
down,” she informed him, “we were directly over the ruins of
Tathan.”

“The conditions aboard the
Kalina,”
he
said, his words slow and careful, as though he was fighting with
himself and trying to assemble his arguments, “are the result of
severe solar storms and unusually large sunspots and flares. We are
certain of that. To suggest anything else would be unscientific and
irresponsible.”

“Still, it is an interesting coincidence,
isn’t it?” She paused before delivering the blow she hoped would
make him angry enough to forget his new-found affection for her.
“Perhaps Ananka wants to see you again.”

“If that is intended as a joke, it’s in very
bad taste.”

An angry silence fell between them. It drew
out while Merin waited, her hands still above the buttons. Herne
faced her on the other side of the docking deck console. She could
see his fists clenching and unclenching, in the way he had when he
was trying to fight down his inner rage. She was surprised at how
much it hurt her to remind him of the episode at Tathan. She ought
to be immune to that kind of jealous pain, but it seemed she was
not. The silence deepened. Herne said nothing more.

“I shall set the outer hatch to open on a
two-minute delay,” Merin spoke at last. “We must board the
shuttlecraft at once.”

“After your remarks about Tathan, I’m sorely
tempted to leave you behind,” he growled.

She hoped that statement meant he was as
irritated with her as his frown seemed to indicate, but in case he
was not she answered in the meek way she knew would annoy him even
more, and she kept her eyes downcast.

“If you wish me to remain aboard the
Kalina,
Herne, I shall do so.”

“To die of cold and asphyxiation? What in the
name of all the stars do you think I am?”

“A Sibirnan, with a typical Sibirnan temper,
which you are not keeping under control very well,” she replied as
unemotionally as she could. She punched the console buttons with
unnecessary vigor. “There. We have exactly two minutes until the
hatch opens and the docking deck decompresses.”

“What are you trying to do?” He was so
suspicious that she knew he had seen through her clumsy attempt to
put emotional distance between them. “Why are you deliberately
trying to make me angry with you?”

“I seem to be succeeding.” Picking up the
softbag containing her few personal articles and toiletries, she
started walking toward the shuttlecraft. Herne moved in front of
her, blocking her way.

“A little more than eight hours ago,” he
said, “I held you in my arms and we almost made love.. You admitted
that you wanted me. Now you treat me like an enemy and you throw
the incident at Tathan in my face. Are you trying to make me hate
you?”

“What I am trying to do,” she said, “is reach
the shuttlecraft before the docking hatch opens and we are sucked
out into space.”

“I won’t hate you, and I won’t let you make
me angry,” he told her. “And no matter what you say or do, I won’t
stop wanting you.”

Knowing that there was, indeed, something she
could say that would forever end his interest in her yet sworn not
to reveal it, she dared make no answer. She walked around him and
got into the shuttlecraft, taking the pilot’s seat. Herne sealed
the shuttlecraft hatch, then took the navigator’s position across
the aisle from her. He reached over to take her hand, holding it
tightly when she would have pulled it away.

“I think you are afraid of your feelings,” he
said. “I believe that is what this attempted quarrel is about.”

“If you will release my hand,” she replied
coldly, “I have work to do.”

“We will talk about this again, when we are
safely on the ground,” he promised, releasing his grip on her.

She turned her head away, pretending to check
a gauge while she fought for self-control. She had assumed that he
would take immediate offense at her remark about Ananka. She had
not expected him to choose this time to be understanding.
Unfortunately, he was right; she was afraid. She was terrified of
the way her feelings for him grew every time she looked at him, and
she was panic-stricken when she considered the certain result of
giving way to those feelings.

“Docking deck hatch is open,” Herne reported,
his words recalling her to the job at hand “Deck atmosphere has
decompressed.”

Merin gave her full attention to the task of
releasing the binding wires that kept the shuttlecraft in place
during decompression. The engines started immediately and the
shuttlecraft lifted off the docking deck and through the hatch.
Once they were away from the
Kalina,
Herne plotted the
downward spiraling course that was the standard maneuver to bring
them toward Home, while Merin tried to contact Tarik.

“I get nothing but static,” she said.

“I’m not surprised.” Herne worked at his own
instruments. “A major magnetic storm is going on. But, just a
fifteen-minute ride and we can make our reports to Tarik in
person.”

He broke off as a blinding white light filled
the shuttlecraft. The engines shuddered, died, then started again
when the light faded.

“What was that?” Merin lifted both hands to
cover her eyes. “I feel nauseated, and I’m so dizzy. Herne, was
that you laughing?” She glared at him in accusation, but he didn’t
seem to hear her.

Herne was slumped in the navigator’s seat.
After a second or two he straightened, shaking his head as if to
clear it.

“I didn’t laugh,” he said. “We must have
taken a direct hit from a bolt of lightning, and there is nothing
funny about that. Do you realize we are off course?”

“How can you tell? The instruments have gone
mad. I have no idea where we are.” Merin fought back the nausea
while trying to keep the shuttlecraft on a steady course. “Let’s
get closer to the ground and see if that helps. If the instruments
don’t settle down, I may have to land by sight alone. At least the
viewscreen is still working.”

Rubbing his forehead as if it ached, Herne
squinted at the viewscreen.

“Our present course will take us down on the
wrong side of the planet,” he informed her. “How did that happen?
It’s noon at Home, but this is the night side.”

“I can see that. There’s daylight just
ahead.” Fighting fluctuating malfunctions in the instruments, Marin
guided the shuttlecraft toward the streak of light she could see
along the horizon.

“Damnation!” This expletive burst from Herne
as they roared just above the treetops of a dense forest, and then
out across a sparkling blue sea. They were now in full daylight.
“Where are we? I don’t recognize anything.”

“I do.” With both hands busy on the controls,
Merin could spare only a quick nod of her head toward the
viewscreen. “See the plateau and the cliffs? That’s Tathan, there
on the plain beyond. I know the way home now.”

“We aren’t going anywhere,” said Herne,
checking the navigational instruments. “We have just lost all power
except for the viewscreen.”

They both fell silent, Merin wondering if
Herne was remembering her comments aboard the
Kalina,
if he
was considering, as she was, the possibility that they had been
deliberately brought back to the ruined city by the creature who
had for a while held Herne under her control.

“If there is no power, then we’ll just land
on the plain,” she told him, trying to sound calm. “Once we are
down we can try to get the engines started again. Even if we don’t
succeed, at least Tarik will be able to find us easily by the
emergency beacon.”

She was pleased when Herne didn’t insist on
taking the controls away from her. He let her manage in her own
way, let her use the shuttlecraft like a glider, looping around and
around until they were low enough to for her to land it on the
broad, flat plain with some hope that they could avoid a fatal
crash. He did help her with the manual brake, which was difficult
to use. She welcomed his strong hands next to hers on the lever,
pulling back in unison with her efforts until, after a rough
landing and a long, bouncing roll across soft turf, they came to a
gentle stop.

“Nicely done,” he complimented her. She made
no response because she was busy trying to restart the engines. She
pushed the buttons, but nothing happened. She tried again. Still
there was no throb of smoothly functioning machinery, nor even the
sound of a malfunction.

“They won’t work,” Herne said. “Look at this
panel, and this one, too. All of our instruments are dead. We can’t
start the engines, and without power, we can’t call for help. The
emergency generator is down, too, which means we have no
beacon.”

They both knew what that meant. When they did
not appear at Home on schedule, Tarik would send out crews on the
remaining two shuttlecraft to search for them, but without a beacon
to mark their location, they would be difficult to find. The search
would continue for a predetermined period before it was stopped on
the assumption that they were dead. They had all agreed to this
arrangement when they had first begun exploring the planet. Now,
with no means of communicating with Home, they were on their
own.

“Let’s look at the engines,” Merin suggested.
“Lift the deck panels. There must be something we can do to repair
them.”

They spent almost an hour on the engines.

“There’s nothing wrong with either one,” said
Herne. He finished replacing the movable panels over the engines,
then crouched on the deck, watching her reaction to his
conclusions. “It’s just like the
Kalina.
Everything checks
out in perfect condition and fully functional, but nothing works.
Every system on this shuttlecraft has shut down.”

“Including the viewscreen now.” Merin was at
the controls once more, trying every possibility to bring back the
power.. “I guess we were lucky we could see through the landing. At
least we know where we are.”