Chapter 21

82 Geminorum System GMS Alan Dean Foster 02/24/42 NR 0219 Hours

A quartet of empty drink cups sat in a group on Luisa’s bedside table, belonging to the quartet seated on and around Luisa’s bed. Luisa herself was wide awake, but it was the small hours of the morning for Aaron and his staff. “I hate these late night meetings, Boss,” Kayla complained, “at least the ones where I’m actually working,” she added with a lurking grin at George.

“I’ll make a note,” Aaron deadpanned as George turned an alarming shade of red.

Luisa had just picked up her cup, and she chuckled as she poured herself more water. She took a drink, more to give George a chance to recover than to slake her thirst.

Aaron consulted his notes and looked at Luisa. “Okay, so we’ve talked about the events leading up to when Charlotte attacked you. From what Captain Whitney told us, she didn’t fare so well against you.” Luisa nodded, and Aaron smiled grimly. “As much as it pleases me you did well, it also pains me that a medical person would try to harm a patient.”

He shook his head, and consulted his notes again. “You said that Ku-aya started writing, and you were able to figure out that it was Sumerian, I think you said?”

“Yes,” Luisa lay back on her bed for a moment. The upper part of the bed was rotated as far to the vertical as it would go, and Luisa was still weak from her ordeal. “Sorry.” She sat up again and looked down at her hands as she composed her thoughts.

“Ku-aya is apparently from ancient Sumeria, around the time of Abraham from the Bible. I had some discussions with the ship’s doctor, who turned out to be a very good linguist and an even better geneticist. Ku-aya is human, of course, and we were reasonably certain she’s actually from Earth, too.”

“I don’t understand all of it, but we sent our test results to Doctor Faith Ozawa. She was able to confirm that Ku-aya’s DNA is a close match for people from Iraq and Iran. She was also able to confirm that the child Ku-aya is carrying has DNA that is certainly human, but is equally certainly not from any bloodline she can identify.”

“She’s pregnant?” Kayla’s eyes widened.

“She’s in her first trimester,” Luisa replied with a small smile. “She was able to tell me that her husband was from the stars, and her parents were unhappy when she turned up pregnant. She told them she was leaving, but she didn’t say just how far away they were going.” Luisa grinned. “I suspect they wouldn’t have reacted well.”

“She said they traveled for a long time, and she had to hide sometimes. Her husband told her to get in the coffin, and that she would sleep. He also told her he would be there when she woke up.” Luisa sighed. “He never came back for her, and we don’t know what happened to him. There was no information at all about who they were, or where they came from. Even the equipment we recovered from the shuttle didn’t give us a clue about its origins.”

Aaron nodded. “What did she say about the map?”

“Ku-aya was able to read enough of it for us to get the coordinates. Captain Whitney has them, and it appears they are correct – so far, at least. I even started learning some Sumerian words. Once I had access to the transports’ databases, I was able to start writing notes to her.” Luisa stopped and rubbed her temple. “Something has been bothering me, though. Two somethings, actually. First, I don’t know why her location was inscribed on the map, in Sumerian, way over in the next star system.”

Aaron leaned back in his chair. “That’s a good question. The shuttle you found wasn’t capable of making that flight on its own, and there was no base or outpost nearby.” He shrugged. “Maybe the husband knew he couldn’t come back, and added that bit to the map later?”

“I don’t know,” Luisa shook her head sadly. “It’s heart breaking, though.”

“You said there was something else bothering you?” George leaned forward and regarded her closely.

“Yes, there is. If I could figure out Ku-aya’s writings were Sumerian using the transport’s computers, why couldn’t Adam’s team figure out the Sumerian map inscriptions sooner?”

“Adam?” Aaron’s eyebrows nearly met as he frowned at her. “What motive would he have to withhold information? Unless...” He leaned forward. “Luisa, you said that you told Adam you’d been spying for the Terrans, and that he told you that there was no way I’d send someone to kill you. If he was so certain I was one of the good guys, he would have reacted much differently. If he suspected there was even a chance of the map being leaked to the enemy, I’d have expected him to hold you, and send word to me to come lock you away.” He grunted and waved a hand. “Okay, I know that’s a thin argument, but all of this stinks. In fact, he’s told us nothing about any of this, despite being aboard this ship with Ku-aya and all of the other evidence...” He trailed off and looked at Luisa with wide eyes.