Tales From The Triple Suns (Chapter Sixteen)

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the computer screen.  I decided to have another talk with my uncle after he sent me another recommendation on a story.  Call me, and I will inform you of what it is I require.  Oh, yeah…I’ll get right on that.  Then again, it had been over a month since I had talked to him, and when he got out of the ‘Editor-Owner’ mode, and slipped into the uncle one, he was a pleasure to talk with.1

Besides, he had asked me to call…and to me, that sounded like an ‘I’ll accept the charges’ type of invite.  I punched a few buttons on the vid-phone beside my desk and waited.2

~~~~~~~~~~3

Damn, but my uncle knew how to peak my interest.  He knew just what to say, and how to approach something to get me to consider and eventually agree.  His brother, my father, had been the same way…yet not as smooth.  I left the phone conversation nursing a touch of homesickness and missing for my family.4

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading the information he sent me, highlighting certain things for future reference and examination.   I had no idea who had put the information package together, but I assumed it was Sindra since it was complete and extremely knowledgeable.  Plus, Sindra knew to put in certain facts that would make me nearly beg to be allowed to do this article.5

When I finished reading the rather large file, I walked though the door joining the living area with the offices and went to Craig’s office.  What had started as an idea to have his desk in the main area had quickly changed to one of the bigger offices when the need for privacy hit some meetings.  The office itself had also slowly changed over the past eight months.  A nameplate had suddenly appeared on his door and, against his better judgment, had been told by his main office that it had to stay.6

I knocked on the door, then entered when he called out, “It’s open!”7

“Do you have geological maps of this area?” I asked as soon as the door closed behind me. “Within, say, a seventy five kilometer radius?” 8

Craig turned his seat around to look at me.  “Yes,” he said slowly.  “Why?”9

“I was doing some research, and discovered that the original Old Earth refugees settled approximately sixty kilometers from here.”10

“And?” he prompted.11

“And it stands to reason that when they were forcible removed when this was declared a D.N.T. zone that they probably were not able to take everything with them.”  I smiled at him.  “I want to do sort of an archaeological dig.”12

“Really.”13

I sighed.  “Yes, really.”14

“Archaeological digs are strictly regulated,” Craig pointed out, sounding every bit like a bureaucrat.  “Especially on agricultural planets.”15

I smiled again.  “I know.”  I handed him a small disk, which he put in his computer.  He read the first line, and looked at me.16

“When did you apply for this?” he asked.17

“I didn’t.  The magazine did…I’m just the…shall we say…relic hunter.”  I smiled again.  “My uncle would like some sort of story.”18

He continued to look at me, sighed, then turned back to his computer, typed in a few things, grabbed a portable notepad and passed it to me.  “The maps requested, my lady.”  I took it with a smile and turned to walk away.  “Cali?”19

I turned back.  “Yes?”20

His face set into lines of concern.  “Be careful.”  He turned away before I could ask what he meant by that.21

~~~~~~~~~~22

I had the dig planned for two days from now in order to give me some time to further research information, and to await equipment needed.  In knowing that I would accept this, my uncle had shipped out equipment two weeks before he contacted me.  But I pick my own assignments echoed through my brain.  “Oh, shut up,” I whispered with a little laugh.23

I heard people talking and I looked up from the book I was reading and glanced out the window to see Craig and Mark standing just off the step leading into the building.  They looked to be in serious discussion, and as I went to turn away, I noticed that Mark seemed to be ordering Craig.  Now why would an assistant be telling his boss what to do?  Their voices filtered through the open window and although I couldn’t make out what they were saying, I was sure they were talking in Esperanto.24

Esperanto, which was a common mixture of European languages on Old Earth, had grown to the third largest language before the exodus, and had since become the second largest language on some planets, nearly as popular as English…or Common as it was now called.  I knew some Esperanto, enough to get by, but they were talking too fast for me to understand any of it.  After four hundred years, different areas of different worlds had their own basic dialect and phrasing for the popular language, and since these two were from the same basic area of our home planet, they were using their own version.25

Mark seemed to be either asking or telling Craig something, with Craig supplying brief responses.  Craig sighed and looked at the sky for a few moments, then nodded and walked away.26

The only reason I could think of for Mark seeming to be in charge, was that it had something to do with government issues.  Every newly formed argo-planet had to have a System Representative present, and Mark was it.  I had sometimes forgotten that he was the rep, since he never played on the power it came with, and at times seemed almost embarrassed when he had to step out of his preferred agro-rep role and take on the system-rep one.27

I went back to my book, trying to concentrate at the historical information I had been given about the original settlers who had been forcibly removed.  The information was brief, sketchy, and seemed to contradict itself at times.  At some point in the past, this planet had been one of the precursors for the Coalition planets…or at least the settlers had been removed by government members who would eventually form the Coalition.  Records from the Alliance of Planets only went back to when they had ‘liberated’ the planet nearly one hundred eighty years ago…when it officially became a D.N.T. zone.28

I wrote a few notes beside certain paragraphs, small reminders for me to try to find further information.  I looked up as the door opened and smiled.  “Hey.”29

Craig smiled briefly.  “Whatcha doin’?”30

“Looking over the information the magazine sent me on the history of the planet.”  I held up a notepad.  “You wouldn’t happen to have another version, would you?”31

He took the electronic pad and quickly scanned through it before handing the information back to me.  "Basically the same,” he said.  “Did you want the press copy?”32

I sighed.  “No thanks.”  I watched him walk into the kitchen are and return with a coffee.  “Got any other version?” I asked innocently.33

He paused slightly while taking a drink, then put the cup on the coffee table.  “Yes, I do……no, you can’t see it……why? Because it’s classified.”  He sat on the couch, grabbed the notepad he always kept there and started looking through some files.  He glanced at me and sighed.34

“Don’t pout.”35

“I’m not pouting,” I said, knowing full well that I was.  I figured that he would have some information that differed from the one I had, and I knew that he would probably not show it to me.  But, hey, I had to try.36

~~~~~~~~~~~~37

I wiped my arm across my forehead as I sat on the ground.  I grabbed the bottle of water I had with me, taking a sip as I looked around.  I had been on the ‘dig’ for approximately two weeks, and although we had found a few artifacts, nothing was overly interesting.  A few dishes, buttons, and general garbage was all there seemed to be, and all of it had been found in partially decayed metal trunks.  It looked like there had been some sort of fire in a community, and this was all that had been spared.  More than likely, the entire settlement had been burned to the ground after the forcible removal of the ‘pioneers’.38

Two other people were helping me look; a friend of mine from the community who had actually been on a dig on Old Earth five years ago (I was so jealous that she had been there), and one of the scientists who had heard about my little project, and asked if he could join…purely from a scientific standpoint, of course. I think he just wanted to get out from behind his desk for a few weeks, and get back to fieldwork.  The permit the magazine received had a four-week window, and I doubted we would need all that time to dig up what I was quickly recognizing as trash. 39

I glanced at my watch, surprised that Craig hadn’t made his tri-weekly visit.  As Planetary Director, the dig fell partially under his jurisdiction, and he could have easily sent someone else to check on it weekly, but I think he too liked to get out of the office on occasion.40

I looked up into the sky and frowned at the accumulating clouds.  Last thing I wanted was to get caught in another rainstorm, and end up face first in the mud.  I decided to call it a day, and set off to tell the other two.41

~~~~~~~~~~42

I made it home seconds before the rain started, causing me to smirk at the sky as I closed the front door.  I took my shoes off, and went to walk into the bedroom when I noticed a pair of feet sticking out from the side of the couch.  I peeked around at Craig’s face, and smiled as he slept with some papers on his chest.43

I went to our bedroom, got changed and came back to the living room after making a detour to the kitchen for some coffee.  I sat in the chair opposite him to read the book I had on archaeology.  I opened it, and paused when I glanced at him.  He always looked so peaceful when he slept, and I couldn’t help staring.  He was wearing an old Army sweatshirt, the one he always used to work out in, and the one he considered his ‘lucky’ shirt.  Whether he considered it lucky from his time in the Army, or lucky because he had been wearing it the night we first made love, I didn’t know…the ego in my liked to think it was the second one.44

I looked at the hall display, then opened the apartment door when I saw who it was.  Craig smiled at me and walked in, wearing that sweatshirt.45

“Hey, babe,” he said. “I was jogging by, and thought I would drop in.”46

I smiled and kissed him.  He had a ‘thing’ for jogging, and would usually jog to work, or anywhere else that a ‘normal’ person like me would drive to.  I had to admit though…it did wonderful things to his physique. (not to mention his behind.)  47

He wrapped his arms around me, holding me to him as we kissed.  I could feel his heart beating through the material, and I inhaled deeply.  Oh, yeah…he definitely smelled…well, sexy.48

He finally let go of me and walked to a chair, falling into it gratefully.  “Not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked when he noticed a pile of disks on the coffee table.49

“Nothing I can’t do later,” I said absently as my mind wondered what he would smell like with another type of sweat. I blushed and turned away.  It had been nearly a month since my embarrassing drunk confessional and I had thought of basically nothing but him since then.  50

“Have a long run?” I asked as I sat on the arm of his chair.51

“Couple miles,” he said with a shrug.52

“You need a shower.”53

His smile faltered slightly as he stood.  “Yeah…maybe I do.”  He started for the door, sure that I was dismissing him.54

I stood, grabbed him by the shoulders and gently turned him in the direction of my bathroom.  “Towels are in the closet by the sink.”55

He stood still, then turned and looked at me.  “Uhhh…okay,” he said, slightly confused.  He waited for me to say more, but I merely arched an eyebrow at him, and he walked to the bathroom.56

I waited until I heard the shower start, then a few minutes longer before I walked to the bathroom door. I inhaled deeply, exhaled, then quickly got undressed.  I opened the door quietly and slipped in, closing it behind me.57

I could see his silhouette through the shower door, and hesitated slightly as I asked myself if I was ready to take this rather large step in our relationship.  Thankfully, my mind had no nagging feelings as I walked towards the shower.58

He turned in slight shock as the door opened, and his eyes grew wide as I stepped in behind him.  He wiped the water out of his face with his hands.  His eyes traveled over me as he slowly exhaled, then finally looked me in the eyes.59

“Are you sure?” he whispered.60

“Oh, yeah,” I replied, unable to take my eyes from his body.61

The alarm on his watch sounded, jolting me from my daydream.  In one movement, he took the watch off and threw it across the room before rolling over and going back to sleep.62

I smiled at his back, before getting up and quietly walking over to him.  I crouched down and whispered in his ear.  “Craig?’63

“Mmmmm.”64

“Did you have your alarm set for a reason?”65

“Yeah,” he whispered in a sleepy voice.  He sighed as he rolled over, but kept his eyes closed. “Meeting at eight…wake me at seven-thirty,” he mumbled before going back to sleep.66

I kissed his forehead, then leaned back to sit on my feet as I stared at him, noticing that he looked more tired than usual…lines were appearing beside his eyes and grey was creeping into the hair at his temples, making him seem more ‘dignified’(sexy).  He still looked youthful at thirty-seven, but the last few months were starting to wear on him.67

Working on average twelve hour days, adding in late night meetings and early morning conference calls made for a very long work day, and a usual interrupted night’s sleep.  He tried to entrust the conference calls to his subordinates as much as he could, to give them the experience, but there were times when his presence was ‘demanded’ for certain issues.68

I kissed him once more, causing him to smile in his sleep before I got up and went back to my chair.  I set the alarm on my own watch in case I got too caught up in my book, and forgot to wake him.69