Chapter 41

"Good morning, lover," Meiersdottir practically sang.

Igwanda started awake. The sun was well over the horizon; it was the first time in ... he couldn't remember when, that he had failed to wake with the dawn.

"My God," he muttered hoarsely, squinting up at the sky.

"We slept in about an extra half hour or more," she said. "I've only been up for a few minutes. God knows we needed the sleep; yesterday was pretty ... intense. Including very much the last part. Mmm, lovely. But I think we need to be up."

He shook his head to clear it. "Yes," he said. "Yes to everything," he added, smiling, after a moment. "Still, that is unlike me. Have you checked in with the Gardener?"

"No, I thought better not, after yesterday's revelation it would arouse too much lascivious speculation if I did it. That's actually why I woke you, we're late enough that they're probably worried silly."

"I expect so," he said. "All right, a moment for hygiene and I will call."

"Don't let them get started, I want coffee and breakfast before I face whatever they've got stored up," she warned.

It was Ziang herself who responded, almost instantly, to his transmission. "Is everything all right, Colonel?" she asked by way of greeting. "You're very—"

"Yes, late," he finished for her. "We are well, it was a completely uneventful night. We were merely tired and overslept."

"I'm relieved. We were ... very concerned," she said. "Can you talk now? As I'm sure you can imagine, those here have quite a lot to say."

"Please allow us to wake fully and break our fast," he said. "We shall transmit again in perhaps half an hour."

"All right." She broke the connection.

"'Break our fast, '" murmured Meiersdottir. "I don't think I've ever heard anybody actually say that. You're so ... tidy, Carlos, with words and everything else. I'll bet I was right back in that hotel room, and you did fold your towel after your shower."

He laughed.

"Well, was I? Right, I mean."

He gave an uncharacteristic grin and abruptly, even more uncharacteristically, leaned over to kiss her. "That discovery will have to await a future shower," he said.

This time Toshimura was manning the communications console when Meiersdottir re-initiated the transmission. "And a good if belated morning to you, Amanda," he responded to her greeting.

"Cute," she said. "We needed our beauty sleep last night; it was a seriously long day. How on Earth do you guys do it, you seem to be awake all the time. Don't any of you sleep?"

"Fitfully, Amanda," he said. "I know we also serve who stand and wait, but it's pretty tense up here. Especially when you take off on flights of fancy without even letting us know," he added pointedly.

"All right, get it said," she told him.

"Well, the consensus on board is that this was about the most irresponsible action most of us have ever seen."

"I'm going to be very disappointed if there isn't a pretty substantial 'but' associated with that, John," said Meiersdottir.

"It's conditional," he responded. "We all of us about wet our pants when we realized what you were doing. The troopers were nearly going crazy. But in hindsight most of us, at least on the 'boffin' side, think you were probably right; the consequences if they'd lost a lot of their mothers in the move could have been pretty long-lasting."

"And their young, John, their children," Meiersdottir added. "Carlos and I are pretty sure the nests are nurseries, too."

"Yes, that, too," he said. "And there isn't a person on board who doesn't admire the hell out of how you handled it. It was absolutely brilliant. But dammit Amanda, I know you're there and we're here, but this isn't a one-person show. Or two-person. I think you owe us a role here, not just taking over."

"John, there wasn't time. It was nearly dark—"

"Well, that's the question, isn't it? When did you find out they were planning to move the mothers? And how, for that matter?"

"We did not 'find out, ' Dr. Toshi— John," Igwanda put in. "It had been my speculation all along. From a military standpoint, when your enemy threatens a particular target and proves it has located that target, you move the target if it is movable. I was quite sure they would do so as quickly as possible, though we never had any direct evidence of that."

"Then why—"

"I did not, however, make the connection to the move being possibly life-threatening for the mothers and the young," he cut Toshimura off. "Nor, frankly, would it have greatly concerned me had I done so; I would have regarded it as simply extended casualties of their attack on us. It was only when I mentioned that I thought they would move their mothers in conversation with Amanda after our first transmission yesterday that she leaped to a perception of the health risk and concluded it could imperil the scientific and sociological mission."

"He gave me the logic, and I was sure he was right," continued Meiersdottir. "Even so, I had to talk him into it. And I knew I'd have to talk all of you on board the Gardener into it, too, and there just wasn't time by then. I thought they could even be ready to make at least one move as early as last night—and from the way they responded I think they might have been—and we had to act immediately."

"Then this wasn't what the secret talk between you and your sergeant was about last night, Carlos?" came Toshimura's voice.

Igwanda laughed briefly. "I see; you believed we had discussed this behind your backs. No, my talk with Sgt. Chavez dealt with another matter, one entirely unrelated and which has been resolved completely."

"Well," said Toshimura, suddenly deflated. "I guess— I suppose that pretty well answers our concerns."

Another brief background buzz, and Heisinger spoke. "No, it does not entirely resolve our concerns," he contradicted. "The outcome in this case is difficult to fault, but I believe it's imperative that such a situation never be repeated. This isn't your personal fiefdom, Amanda; the decisions you take concern us all. I must ask you to promise never to take such a step again."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that, Gustav," she said softly.

"Dr. Heisinger, Gustav," Igwanda cut in. "I am not familiar with how the scientific community works, but in military actions it is critical to allow field commanders, even individual soldiers, the discretion to deal with unexpected developments on their own initiative. Some decisions must be made in the field. Amanda is saying we cannot guarantee that some future development will not also require immediate attention, in either her or my judgment; as the only two on-planet, it is only we who can make that judgment and take such action as we deem fit."

"And how long must that situation persist?" demanded Heisinger. "I'm pleased for you that you two are reaching such a, uh, close working relationship, but the pavilion isn't your private honeymoon cottage. We, too, have a major role in this voyage, and we don't wish to spend it confined aboard ship."

"Gustav, that's unfair and professionally disrespectful," Meiersdottir said firmly. "I thought the applause yesterday was meant in fun, but if you seriously believe either of us is letting personal concerns interfere with our—"

"I apologize," said Heisinger abruptly. "I spoke out of frustration. We're all frustrated here, and most of us, as John told you, are sleep-deprived as well. Of course I don't seriously question your professionalism, either of you. But I would hope we could begin to include greater representation in the planetside party at some early time to allow for a broader range of participation in what the colonel is calling field decisions."

"And I agree," said Meiersdottir. "But that has to be Carlos' call. We disregarded his advice last time, and you know what happened. This time I think we need to listen."

"I am sorry," Igwanda interjected before Heisinger could speak, "but for the moment I feel strongly that no other lives be put in jeopardy here. It is less than two full days since their attack on us, and you have suggested the weapon that saved us on that occasion will no longer serve. Last night was delicate enough that I was prepared to draw my laser and kill both Amanda and myself rather than risk capture or a much more unpleasant death at their hands; only Amanda's careful handling of the situation saved us, I believe, from possible renewal of hostilities."

There was a pause as the Gardener complement absorbed that shocking piece of news. Heisinger finally spoke. "I'm sorry, Colonel—Carlos. I hadn't truly grasped how precarious you view your circumstance. But is it possible to even give us some sort of time frame?"