Chapter 9: First Sighting

Time: January 19, 9570 3:52 PM UCT

"Excellent game Basel," Eliana said as she extended her hand. The final score on the Jamgo display was 224 points for her and 221 points for her opponent.

Basel nodded as his eyes left the holographic game board and he accepted the handshake. He then stretched his arms wide. "The closest I've come since our first day. That was fun! Except perhaps for the very end."

Eliana smiled back and said in a deadpan voice, "Not fun at the end? I hadn't noticed." She then laughed. "I need to savor these victories while I can! You play is getting better with each game." She saw Basel yawn and asked, "Like to listen to some music before we turn in?"

"Sure, that'd be great!" Basel got up and went to the entertainment console. "How about something pre Bel'dar?"

"Okay."

"Jazz from the old Karbalan crystal data?"

"Sounds perfect."

Basel turned and was delighted to find Eliana waiting for him on the two-person sofa. He sat by her side and she sighed happily, resting her head against his shoulder. "Ah, nice choice. I love the sound of the clarinet. What's this called?"

Basel was busy burying his nose into her hair and enjoying the clean fragrance. They were already dressed in their sleep clothing, and her body felt delightful in his arms. He sighed. "Ah, the title... I forget. The musician's name is Jimmy Dorsey I think. I can go look up the song."

"No, don't bother." Eliana slowly returned the embrace put her arms around Basel as the music played. They petted each other playfully, and when there was a short break between songs, Basel popped the sofa to an almost full-reclining position. Eliana was soon lying down using his left arm as a pillow, while his right arm lay across her body. Basel started caressing her ribcage as he smiled at her.

"How are you doing Eli?"

"Me? Oh, I'm fine. I'm not nervous at all." She kicked out her legs and wiggled the toes of her bare feet. She purred, "I love how I'm feeling now... Basel, may I ask you a really personal question?"

"Sure."

"If I asked you to bed me, right now, would you want to?"

Basel gulped and then sighed heavily, leaning the side of his head against hers and just holding her for a while. Then he kissed her ear and nodded. "I would."

"That's what I thought. You are so sweet. Before, when we both agreed we should slow down... I think I was the one who was nervous, and you have such great empathy for me, you accepted my desire as your own."

Basel kissed her temple. "I don't want to hurt you Eli, and I don't think you're the type of woman who would like sex without commitment."

"That's true, and commitment takes a long time, I know. And it should take a long time. Commitment should come before sex. And yet..." They lost themselves in a long kiss. Eliana came up for air and continued her thought. "And yet, I feel your desire for me Basel, and I want to respond to it, to accept it and return it. Look at you! You're almost fully erect for me! I want to respond to your desire, to accept my dream of commitment for commitment..."

Basel gasped and held Eliana closely. His hand came up from her ribs and cupped a soft breast, and he cried softly from the pleasure.

Eliana whispered back, "This is your first time, isn't it Basel, to hold a woman like this?"

He nodded and breathed heavily as he lay by her side, stroking the soft breast with his fingers, tracing the outline of Eliana's erect nipple through her thin pajamas, and then caressing the soft underside with his palm. He whispered, "Does it show?"

"Yes. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining! I am your first girlfriend. It shows wonderfully! And you are my first boyfriend." Eliana's hand came up, unfastening his pajama-top and then slipped her hand inside to caress his chest and nipples. And they lay there and caressed each other as the music played. It was all softness and pleasure, excitement and uncertainly and joy and playfulness and sexual arousal, all swirling around the core themes of love and acceptance.

They began to pant as they kissed. Eliana offered Basel her tongue, extending its tip to slide into his mouth. Basel began to moan in his pleasure, and he began caressing Eliana's lower legs with the arch of his right foot. He rolled his body partway onto Eliana to caress her better, and he felt a sharp flash of nervous tension within her.

Eliana grimaced and whispered, "Oh, I'm so sorry Basel!"

He rolled off and gently stroked her head. "It's okay."

"It's not okay. I don't want to frustrate you, especially with this..."

A quick peck on her cheek. "We have a big day tomorrow."

Eliana returned the kiss. "Are you sure? I don't want to be cruel, arouse you and then..."

Another kiss, and then a playful smile. "Look at the time."

"Yes, it's late," she said at last, accepting his kindness, "and we do have a big day tomorrow. We should turn in."

Basel nodded, giving her one last hug. "Goodnight Eli, pleasant dreams."

"Goodnight Basel. I love you." They were in their separate bedrooms moments later.

Five hours later...

"Oh, fabulous omelet Eliana, bravo!" He took another bite. "What'd you put in it?"

"Oh, nothing unusual." She swallowed a bite of her hot bagel. "Four egg equivalents, sharp cheddar on the inside and sprinkled Parmesan on top, light amounts of garlic salt, paprika, and black pepper, chopped parsley and mint, a little milk and butter..." She took a bite of her creation. "Oh, this is good. You're probably noticing the taste of the gourmet mushrooms... Want to know something Basel?"

"Yeah?"

"Guild Rangers are pampered! The food storage systems here are state-of-the-art. We never eat like this during military survival training."

Basel laughed. "Well, we normally do eat very well on assignment. But this is a little unusual. The extra food rations dropped off with us were gourmet quality. I think the Guild is trying to send you a message."

"Me? Really?"

"Sure. With your achievement record, they must be thrilled to have you registered as a life member. Seriously Eli, you're a great catch for them, especially two hundred years from now. The Guild is probably expecting you to make Stateswoman."

"Well..." She grinned and continued her meal. "So, what's the weather forecast? Are we go for the CAT run?"

"The CAT is in flawless shape, and local diagnostics are predicting a perfect day. We couldn't ask for better."

Eliana nodded. "I miss getting the big picture from the weather satellites."

"Yeah, well, part of the test."

"So, how far do you want to go?"

Basel leaned back in his chair and considered. "Well, if there are no problems, want to test what the distance-governor is on the CAT?"

"That far?" Eliana thought for a moment. She felt vaguely uneasy about the proposal, but couldn't figure out why.

"We'll have more than two hours of sunlight today, 5:00 AM to 7:12 AM."

"I know, but the sun will be on the horizon the whole time." She paused for a moment. "Still, I agree, an amazing change for just a few days."

"The CAT is an incredibly rugged piece of equipment Eli, a reliable as this station. And we'll have more than two hours of twilight on either side of the day. Plus we have a 24-hour waxing gibbous moon tracing a big oval in the sky, and finally, the CAT could find its way back here in a blizzard. Just run the homing program." He paused and shrugged. "Are you worried about a breakdown?"

Eliana sighed. "No, I guess not. What direction do you want to head?"

"Well, how about south?"

For some reason Eliana could not understand, she felt relieved by the choice of directions, and by the end of breakfast they finalized their plans for a 2:00 AM departure.

Six hours later...

Time: January 20, 9570 3:30 AM UCT

"Well, halfway mark right now," Basel called out. He was driving the CAT south-east across a small frozen pond at an easy pace of 60 kph. Since leaving their station ninety minutes ago, they had been following a natural contour of the land, closely hugging the ancient border between Sweden and Finland.

Eliana turned from gazing out her window. "So, fifty-five straight-line kilometers from the station. There was a 50% chance we'd get this far?"

"Yeah, we're guaranteed ten, and guaranteed not to get a hundred. I'm happy we're in the upper half though. This will really help my studies in April. We lucked out."

Eliana nodded and turned to look out the window again, surveying the landscape in the dim light. The horizon in front of them was showing definite predawn promise, but most of their light was still coming from the moon. But with the bright moon and the CAT's running lights, their visibility was excellent. Eliana felt just the slightest bit uncomfortable that they were advertising their presence with their running lights. She turned to Basel and commented, "I thought you said we'd be heading south. Our course so far has been southeast."

"Hmm? Yeah, sorry for not being more explicit, but this is the natural contour to follow and get some quick distance from the station. Another hundred kilometers or so, we could turn more southward, and 300 km after that hit the top of the Baltic Sea where old Sweden and Finland used to part company. Won't get there today of course, but maybe in July, if you want to go skinny-dipping in freezing water, you could talk me into it."