Tales From The Triple Suns (Chapter Eighteen)

1

If there is a cultural center to the system, then I think I’m on the planet furthest from it.  There are no ballets, operas, concerts, movies, (or even tacky back room plays that you never admit going to see).  Entertainment is brought in via the System Broadcast System, or S.B.S.(catchy name, isn’t it), and consists mainly of sporting events, badly acted movies, or the ever popular nature watch.  After ten months on a newly populated planet, I’d had more than enough nature, thank you very much.2

It wasn’t that I was into cultural events…I wanted something to do to take my mind off of Craig canceling my dig, then basically refusing to discuss what happened later with me.  It had been two weeks since the artifacts suddenly disappeared under the care of Mark, who shipped them off to the System Central Agency, or S.C.A. for further testing.3

I was staring at the sunset one night, thinking about how pathetic it was that this seemed to be my recent form of entertainment. “You know what this planet needs?” I asked while watching the rays of light disappear.4

“A nudist colony?” Craig suggested hopefully.5

I looked at him and rolled my eyes.  “No…not that that would be a bad idea, but not what I was thinking about.”6

Craig took my hand.  “Tell me what it is you require, my darling, and I shall move heaven and earth to get it for you.”7

“That is so corny,” I laughed.   “Positively lame.”8

He shrugged, not the least offended.  “What do you think this place needs?”9

“This place needs some culture.”10

“Culture…” Craig said slowly.  “Like…what?”11

“Like… ballets, operas, concerts, movies,” I paused.  “You know…theater.”12

“Oh, boy…the theater.” 13

“You don’t like?”14

He tried not to roll his eyes, but wasn’t successful.15

“Any why not?” I asked.16

“The theater…” he sighed.  “Zieana used to drag me to those all the time.”  He frowned slightly.  “Hated it.”17

One thing that I hated was being compared to his ex-wife.  “Fine,” I snapped as I pulled my hand from his and got up.  “Excuse me for wanting something to do!”18

Craig blinked in confusion.  “Wha-?”  He went to stand as I opened the door.  “Cali, wait...” The rest was cut off as the door slammed behind me.19

I went to the kitchen, got a coffee and walked out the same time Craig opened the door and walked in.  “What’s wrong?” he asked.20

I took a sip from my coffee, then put it on the counter beside me.  “What do you do during a normal day?”21

He looked slightly confused.  “I don’t know what you mean.”22

“How is your day spent?” I asked.  “What do you do to keep busy?”23

He stared at me and suddenly the confusion in his eyes cleared.  “You’re bored.”  It was more of a statement than a question, but he had hit the proverbial nail right on the head.  “But, your writing…”24

“I don’t feel like writing,” I replied, harsher than I had intended.  His eyes flashed from confusion to hurt to annoyance in a matter of a second.  I picked up my coffee mug and walked away, wondering why I was so angry.  I still must have been ticked off about the ‘wifey’ comparison…added to the archaeological dig issue.25

“I’m sorry if you’re still pissed at me about canceling your dig,” Craig said from behind me, “but it had to be done.”26

“So you’ve said.”27

He ignored the sarcasm.  “Look, there are things that I can’t tell anyone…even you.  Certain topics require that…”  He paused for a moment.  “I’m sorry.”28

I finally turned to face him.  “I just don’t like it when things get pulled out from under me, then you get all secret about it.”29

“Everyone has secrets, Cali.”30

“I tell you everything.”31

He raised his eyebrow slightly.  “Really.”  He closed his eyes slightly when I nodded.  “So…not mentioning that the authorities had originally wanted to question you after Tony’s death musta slipped your mind?”32

I stared at him, unsure how he had known about Tony’s murder.  I hadn’t mentioned it to him because, frankly, it was none of his business.  “That’s different.”33

He nodded, but I noticed that he didn’t really seem upset that I had not told him.  “It was something you felt I didn’t need to know, right?”34

“Yeah,” I said softly.35

“And maybe you thought you were protecting me somehow?”36

I shrugged.  He continued to watch me until I clued in.  “Point made.”  I smiled slightly, then turned and walked away.  Okay, so he had cleared himself on the dig thing…maybe.  I’d have to decide about that later.  But I was still irked at what he had said about the theater, and I was trying to hold back annoyance about him knowing about Tony.  “Gonna take a walk,” I said as I headed for the door.  “Be back in a few.”37

~~~~~~~~~~38

Although I knew the community and walked through it daily, this time I actually looked while I was walking.  The once small community had somehow grown into a small city, with new building areas popping up almost overnight.  I had known that land had been granted a few kilometers away for future development, but I hadn’t realized that the borders between the two areas had actually merged, making one district.  The boundaries nearest the growing areas had not changed, and never would, but there was definitely more of the city in all other directions.  The Agro-building where we lived was no longer in the center of activity, but it remained the center of the business district.39

A few more restaurants had emerged near new stores, and I stopped in surprise as I looked in the window of a semi-exclusive clothing boutique.  It seemed that just yesterday this area was in development…and now it was complete, with cobblestone roads for an antique, quaint look (and to help rainwater better seep into the ground).  40

I opened the door to the shop, walked in, and magically entered any shop from my home planet. True to form, a salesperson immediately descended on me.41

“May I help you?” she asked dubiously, taking in my appearance.42

I looked down, forgetting that I had been wearing rather plain and somewhat old clothes…my ‘lazy-ass attire’.  “Just browsing,” I replied, instantly pulling an attitude.  “If I need you, I will summon you.”  I breezed by her shocked face and went immediately to the displays of clothing.43

I was neutral about shopping, but it was something to do.  I glanced up at the sale person as she hovered nearby.  “You accept System Cards?” I asked, referring to the system wide equivalence of money chips.   She nodded, and I went back to looking.   Most preferred System Cards when visiting various worlds, or when dealing with large amounts of money.  I had large amounts of money which grew daily due to investments…and right now I was in the mood to put a sizable dent in that amount.44

~~~~~~~~~~45

I made it back home a few hours later, laden down with parcels, bags and other merchandise.  Craig looked up from the vid-phone when the door opened, stared at the bundles I put on the couch and said, “Call you back.”46

I glanced up from arranging the bags to find him leaning back in his chair, studying me.  “What?”47

“I have to check out some places around the planet for future development,” he said, pointedly ignoring the bags.  “Leaving in four days.”48

“Oh, yeah.”  I picked up a big bag and pulled a dress out of it.49

“It’ll be rough terrain.  I don’t suppose you bought yourself some hiking boots.”50

I rummaged through the bags, pulling out a pair of tan hiking boots.  I held them up and blew him a kiss.  “Like these?”51

He smiled slightly.  “Yeah.”  He stood and walked over.  “Should I even ask how much all this…”52

“Nope,” I cut him off.  The amount had surprised even me, and I was use to paying outrageous prices.  I kissed the side of his head.  “Thanks for including me in the trip.”53

He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close.  “It’ll be over a week…that’s too long to be away from you.”  He eyed the purchases.  “So…get me anything?” 54

“Greedy,” I laughed.  “Of course I did.”55

~~~~~~~~~~56

I decided to break my new hiking boots in before leaving on the ‘exploration trip’, and drove out to the nearby mountains with a few friends for a day of rock climbing.  Craig claimed to be too busy to go, but I think it scared him every time I climbed since I preferred to do it free style…not ropes, no harness.  I never climbed a rock face that I hadn’t thoroughly checked out first and always used ropes for the descent, but it still made him nervous.57

The climb up was great, and the boots worked perfectly.  After a light lunch and rest at the top, we started the procedure for the climb back down.  One of the group wanted to repel the entire way, so she went first and then held the line while we sent the equipment down.  Mark went next, climbing down with ease.(I think, although he denied it, that Craig subtle told him to go to keep an eye on us). I watch Mark reach the bottom, then signal that he was going to put the equipment in the back of the vehicle while the remaining two climbed down.58

I started down, pausing to enjoy the view of the river and the agro-fields, then continued to the bottom.  Although I was hooked onto the line, I climbed down using rocks and footholds.  About three meters form the bottom, I reached out for a hand hold, shifted my weight, and was startled as something moved below my hand.  I instinctively pulled my hand back as a small lizard like thing scurried away, and knew that I had just made the biggest mistake ever.59

The movement caught me off balance, and my foot slipped from the small rock it was on.  I grabbed the rope as I started to fall, and slipped ungracefully the remaining way to the ground.  I knew it would probably hurt, so I tried to relax as my feet hit, and roll with the fall.60

I could hear people yelling out and the next thing I knew Mark was in my line of vision.  I moaned as I tried to sit up, sucking in pain as my muscles stretched.  Someone was talking, and I looked up.  “What?”61

“Are you okay?” Mark repeated.  He looked worried.62

I lightly flexed muscles. “Yeowch.  I think I pulled some muscles, maybe sprained something.”  I put my arms out to be helped up, and staggered slightly when I put weight on my left leg.  “Oh, yeah…definitely.”63

The final member of our group arrived as Mark scooped me up in his arms and started to carry me to the vehicle.  “Mark…put me down,” I said.64

“Cali,” Mark sighed.  “Craig’s gonna kill me as it is, so just shut up.”  He put me in the passenger seat, making sure I was comfortable as the others climbed in behind me.  “Did you want to call Craig now or from the Medical Center?”65

“I don’t need to go to the…” I stopped at the look he gave me.  “Fine,” I sighed in defeat.  “Craig’s not gonna kill ya.”66

“So says you.”67

“And don’t ever tell me to shut up again.”68

“So says you.”  He grabbed a small phone from his pocket, punched a button, and waited.  “It’s Mark…ummm…no, not really.”  He held the phone away from his ear as the other person shouted something.   “Craig, relax…it was a small fall, she’s fine, and…” he stopped, sighed, and handed the phone to me.69

“Craig? I’m fine.”70

“Define small fall.”71

I sighed.  “I’m okay, hon…really.  We’re almost to the Medical Center.  I’ll tell you there.”  I turned the phone off and passed it back to Mark.  “Okay, so he might kill you.”  I smiled at the pained look that passed over Mark’s face.72

~~~~~~~~~~73

Craig was waiting outside the Medical Center when we arrived, and from the way he approached the vehicle, I could tell he was nothing but relieved to see me.  He helped me out and into the building and waited while the doctors looked me over.74

I explained what had happened, and answered the questions the best I could…until the doctor asked if I had blacked out.75

“I don’t know.”  I looked at the others in the room.76

“I don’t think so,” Mark answered, “but you were stunned by the fall.”  He looked at the doctor.  “After she hit the ground, there was about three to five seconds were she just stared…didn’t realize I was talking to her.”77

The doctor nodded, checked a few things on various machines, then motioned for me to lay down.  He walked out, talked to a nurse, who entered.78

"I think we’ll get you to spend the night here,” she said with a smile.79

“I’m fine,” I sighed.80

“I’ll stay with you,” Craig said as he took my hand and squeezed it lightly.81

“I’ll pass your request on to the doctor,” the nurse said.82

“It wasn’t a request,” Craig said without looking at her.83

~~~~~~~~~~84

I tried to push myself up in the bed in a vain attempt for comfort.  Craig looked up from the file he was reading to see if I needed anything, then went back to what he was doing.85

“Craig?”86

He looked up again. “Yeah, hon?”87

I finally reached a comfortable spot and stopped moving.  “Go home, get sleep.”  I paused.  “I’m fine, and you’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”88

Craig shook his head and motioned to the electronic notepad in his hand.  “No, I don’t.  I’m just working over some things for Mark…he’s going to go in my place to scout new…”  He stopped at the look I gave him.  “What?”89

“I said I was fine.  There’s no need for you to shift the assignment.”90

“Yes there is.”  He put down the notepad and took my hand in his.  “You think I’m just gonna go off for a week while you’re hurt?”  He sighed when I nodded.  “No.  I’m not going.”91

“Why?”92

“Why what?”93

“Why are you not going?” I squeezed his hand lightly.  “It’s just a couple pulled muscles and bruises.  I’ll be fine in a couple days.”94

“You zoned out,” he reminded me.95

“A fall from a few meters will do that to a person,” I responded dryly.  I decided to try another tactic.  “Are you determined to stay?”96

“Yes.”97

I smiled slightly.  “Then you should know that your entire next seven days is going to consists of me talking like this…”  I cleared my throat, then adopted my most annoying, whiny, diva-bitch voice.  “Craaaaaaiiiiigggggie…can you get me this…Craaaaaiiiiiggggiiiieeee…I need that.”98

“Like I said,” he interrupted without missing a beat, “I’m determined to go on this land scouting trip.”  He brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it. 99

“I’ll be fine,” I assured him.  “Sleep in, lay around, do absolutely nothing for a couple days.”100

“Ha!”101

“You scoff?”102

“You’ll lie there, staring at the walls, and get some idea about painting them,” he said with a smile. “Or watch movies all day, then get some idea to move the entertainment center to the other side of the room…then move everything else to suit the new look…then decide that all the other rooms need a new look, and…”103

“Shut up.”  Damn, but that man knew me.  “I’ll sit outside on a lounge chair then.”104

“And I’ll come back to a redesigned back yard complete with a pool.”  He reached into a pocket, pulled out another small notepad and passed it to me.  “I was going to follow up on this, but since I guess I’m still going on the trip, I’ll leave this in your capable hands.”105

I took the thin computer and read through the information on it.  “What’s this?”  I looked up at him.106

“I’ve been so busy, that I didn’t even think that you might have been bored,” he said.  “I contacted main office the other day, and put in a requisition for that,” he touched the corner of the notepad.  “It came in earlier today, but needs to be looked through, and decided on, since it’s not really a priority issue in the overall planning of the community…it’s more of a P.C. Consideration project.”107

“Politically Correct?”108

“Personal Choice,” he said.  “Little projects that people think might benefit certain areas, but aren’t in the original design or budget.”  He smiled.  “Since I put the idea in, it’s my responsibility to work on it in my spare time.”109

“Do you even know what spare time means?”110

“Hush.”  He squinted his nose at me.  “But, I can also contract it out for development.  So, wanna work for me?”111

“Mmmm,” I breathed, “do I get fringe benefits?”112

“Sleeping with an employee,” he teased.  “How kinky.”  He leaned forward and kissed me.  I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer.  When the need for air drove us apart, he said, “You’re hired,” briefly kissed me again and sat back in his chair.113

I took a moment to let my breathing return to normal.  “What did you want me to do?” I finally asked, holding the notepad up.114

He gave me a lopsided smile. “Look though the designs, suggest a few that would be compatible with the other buildings and overall feel of the area.  Look through the specs for what would wear well with the weather.  Make sure the interior is aesthetically pleasing, and practical for what it will be used for.”  He paused.  “Then go through the list of, and descriptions for, funding and grants, applying to those that are appropriate.”115

I pulled at his hand slightly, and he stood, leaning towards me.  “Love you,” I told him.116

“Your idea, your project,” he said then kissed me.  He took the plans for the soon to be discovered performing arts center and tossed them back onto the chair he had been sitting on.  “Figured that you designing this has got to be safer than you redesigning our home.”117

“Shut up and kiss me.”118

~~~~~~~~~~119

Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, I was acutely aware of just how big the bed really was.  I rolled over and stared at Craig’s pillow.  If I had known I would miss him this much, then I wouldn’t have convinced him to go on the land-scouting trip.  Sure, we had been apart in the past, but since the wedding, it hadn’t been longer than a night or two. Didn’t matter what I did, I missed him.120

I buried my face into his pillow, inhaling deeply as his scent washed over me.  Deciding to sleep on ‘his side’ of the bed, I wrapped my arms around the pillow, holding it tight as I closed my eyes.121

I jumped as the vid-phone sounded, and as I reached for it, wondered who would be calling this time of the night.122

“Hey, beautiful,” Craig’s face smiled at me.123

“Hey, sexy,” I replied.  I sat up in bed and smiled at him.  Somehow he always knew when to call.124

“Just wanted to say goodnight, tell you I miss you, and love you.”  He paused slightly.  “You weren’t asleep yet?”125

“I miss you too much to sleep,” I admitted.  “The bed’s too big, and there’s too many blankets.”  I smiled as he frowned in slight confusion.  126

Then he clued in.  “Hey!  I do not hog the bed and the covers.” He smiled.   “When I get back, you can sleep on my side.”127

“Where would you sleep?” 128

“On my side of the bed...under you.”  He sighed lightly. “I miss you.”129

“Are you still going to be done in two days?”130

Craig nodded.  “I hope so.  We’ve got two more sites to check, gather samples at, and analyze.” He suddenly looked more tired. “Good thing Tarra’s a whiz at analyzing…makes things go a lot faster.”131

Two others had gone with Craig, both from his office. “What about Kai?” 132

Craig snorted.  “He’s too busy lusting over Tarra to be effective.”  He ran his hands over his face with a sigh. “I better get going…the shuttle is in it’s cool down mode, and portable vid’s only got so much power.”133

“Okay,” I whispered.  “I miss you, Craig.” He blinked at my voice, and instead of replying brought two fingers to his lips, kissed them, then placed them on the screen.  I did the same, letting our fingers linger on the image of each other.134

“See you in a couple days,” he finally said. “I love you.”135

“Love you, too.” I replied. He smiled as the screen went blank.136

~~~~~~~~~~137