The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 17: Storming the Gates

Their journey went smoothly. Sabrina managed to sleep enough to satisfy Ford, and she continued catching up on her Praxatillian history to pass the time while she was awake. She preferred to read in the small lounge area on the control deck, where she could hear if anything was going on, and she had Ford's mostly silent company.

She looked up as he sat down beside her, glancing over her shoulder at the rather dry account of the Moon Colony Revolt, which seemed to have been inspired by agitators from a warlike race that Praxatillus had since cut off relations with. It had certainly been put down quickly, and Sabrina knew from experience that if the Praxatillian colonists had believed in the rightness of their cause, they would have fought to the death.

"Almost there," Ford said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "I'll be glad to get there and be doing something. The waiting's hard. But at least I'm waiting in transit now."

He smiled. "I thought about you while I was on the research station. It was so strange, not being able to call home. I've been away a lot, but I always knew that Mother and the rest were just a call away. This was different. Unsettling. And I thought about how I'd feel if I'd known before I left that one of my siblings was seriously ill, and now I couldn't get any news of them that wasn't out of date. It made me realize what you must have been going through back home. I tried to explain it to Father, to make him see that it would be better for you to come."

Sabrina put down the electronic pad. "He doesn't want to face me, that's all. Don't worry. It'll all be all right once I'm there. He'll feel better. He's so busy right now tying himself up in knots expecting the worst. Poor Tirqwin."

"You're remarkable. I could never feel as charitable toward him when he was stopping me from doing something I really wanted to do."

"Ah, but you have a different relationship. He's your father. I lost my father, so many years ago. The relationship I built with Tirqwin was something special, something precious, because it had some of the same elements of my relationship with my own father. I never took that for granted, because I'd lost it once. I pray to God you never know what that feels like," Sabrina added impulsively, looking over at him.

"I hope so too," Ford said. "Was your father so overprotective?"

"Far from it. He was a great believer in finding one's own way. I think he saw his role as more of a coach than a guide. He and my mother were wonderful." She bit her lip as sudden, hot tears welled up. "Ford...I don't know if I'll be able to bear it if Scotty doesn't remember them. If I'm the only one who does."

"Don't expect the worst, Sabrina. He may not remember them as completely as you do, but I'm sure some of the memories will be there."

Something chimed on the main console, and Ford got to his feet. "Strap yourself in, Sabrina. We're coming up on emergence, and the last thing we need is for you to fall and hit your head and develop amnesia."

She smiled a little as she complied. "Don't worry. Even my life isn't that much like a bad movie."

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Three days later, Sabrina was beginning to reconsider. Perhaps her life was like a bad movie: a tedious, badly directed, desperately in need of editing movie. They'd passed no fewer than five checkpoints before being allowed to orbit Kaldoun, then spent several hours arguing their way up the bureaucracy, asking to be allowed to disembark.

Permission for that didn't come until midway through the following day, and then with strings attached: Sabrina must submit to a thorough physiological and psychological scan, and Ford must be scanned to determine that nothing significant had changed since he was last in Homeworld space. They also demanded to be allowed to inspect The Adventure, but Ford allowed them only exterior scans and a copy of the ship's records of entry into the system. He was saving an onboard inspection to bargain with, Sabrina knew, and had to admire his calm perseverance in the face of bureaucratic bluster.

The various scans and checks took two days, at the end of which they went back to the ship to wait for permission to proceed to the checkpoint for the research facility where Scotty and Tirqwin were.

"I swear," Sabrina sighed wearily, "they know more about me now than everybody who ever knew me, combined."

Ford grinned. "Probably. They haven't got anything on me that Praxatillus doesn't, though. I've been thoroughly prodded and poked at since I was born."

"Well, you're the first of your kind, in a way," Sabrina said. "I'm just an ordinary human. Contrary to what they seem to think!"

"Considering all the legends about you, can you blame them for suspecting you might be some kind of superspy?"

"Yes!" Sabrina retorted. "Legends aside, they ought to be paying attention to what's in their official reports, and those would tell them just how harmless I really am."

"Oh yes, so harmless you once hijacked a High Wayship—"

"That was Scotty!"

"Was it really? Hm, maybe you ought to consider not pointing that out."

"You're probably right." Sabrina paced a circuit around the control deck, then dropped onto one of the bench seats. "I wish you'd've let me bring Tristan."

"Why? So we could have the amusement of watching this ship plummet from orbit and crash land on Kaldoun, doubtless killing numerous innocents, because your ill-behaved feline chewed on the wrong circuit?"

"Don't be such a jerk, Ford. I miss him, and I'm upset and bored and frustrated. He could have calmed me down."

"I guess you'll just have to settle for calling me names," Ford replied, running a hand over the control console to check that all was well.

"It's not nearly as satisfying," Sabrina grumbled.

"Then think about this: after this is over, you'll probably never see me again. I expect I'll be disowned when Mother and Father get together and compare notes about my role in this little escapade."

Sabrina tamped down a flash of irritation. It was true: he had a lot at stake here. Perhaps as much as she had. She was trying to save her brother, her only remaining family; Ford had risked alienating his entire family to give her the chance. It was too much to expect him to do it quietly, without a little grumbling. He'd had too much time to think about it now. If events had moved along at a reasonable speed, she decided, he would probably never have mentioned it. "It's not too late," she said. "We can still turn back. I'll tell Mara I chickened out."

Ford shook his head. "Even if she would believe such an outrageous story, you'd hate me, you, and every living thing within a parsec if you could actually bring yourself to go through with it. You're a bad liar, Sabrina."

"You have no idea what kind of liar I am!" she retorted. "I worked on Capitol Hill, for God's sake. I'm a trained and qualified liar!"

"Proud of that, are you?"

Sabrina turned to glare at him and saw that he was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide a grin. This is the most ridiculous argument yet, she thought, and sighed. "No. I guess...it's more about being able to adapt."

"Well, it might qualify as a secret weapon of sorts. Father always spoke of you as if you were incapable of lying."

"I was younger then. And I don't think I was ever incapable of it. I just preferred to avoid it. But there's a difference between lying and concealing information. And I excelled at the latter." She sighed again, recalling her conversation with Mara.

"Well," Ford said, walking over to her and sitting down just barely outside her personal space, "good. You'll be in a position to understand and defend me to Father, then. Maybe I won't be disowned completely."

"Ford, I will, with time, be able to reconcile Tirqwin to my presence, but I'm afraid there's no way I can shield you from catching hell for it."

"I know," he said. "It won't be the first time."