Bright Horizons

Chapter 19

19 August 2044

The curtain pulled back and bright light fell across Kyle’s face.

“Sir, we are about to rendezvous with the Berlin,” said Leonard.

Kyle sat up on the small bunk in the sleeping cabin. He wished he had been able to sleep at least a little before arriving, but he had been up for the last eight or nine hours thinking. He was thinking about how to get his sister out of the Otina base. He was thinking about what condition she would be in when he found her. He was thinking about his last dinner with her. He was thinking about the incredible grief his family went through when they believed she had died. But mostly, he was thinking about bringing his sister home.

“Thanks Lieutenant,” Kyle said as he stood and stretched.

“No sleep at all, sir?” Leonard asked.

“No, but that’s ok. Sorry to make you change up your day,” Kyle said, stifling a yawn.

“No need, sir. We understand. If it were my sister, I’d be doing the same thing.”

Kyle smiled and patted the young pilot on the shoulder as he walked into the main cabin of the ship.

The view out the main window of the Hedali vessel was amazing. None of the Earth ships, except the pre-contact shuttles, had an actual window to look out of from the bridge. There were some small view ports, but they were locked down for the most part. There were external camera’s that gave good images for the cruisers and allowed the scooters to land planet side using thrusters, but it wasn’t the same as looking out a good old-fashioned window.

Ahead of them was the Berlin. Several scooters were moving around it and two were docked with it.

“Berlin, this is Earth Transport Three. Approach vectors received, docking computer online. Guide us in,” Andrews said.

Kyle watched as Andrews pulled his hands away from the controls. The large cruiser seemed to subtly twist and turn and grow much larger until Kyle saw the small hatch that would provide docking.

Leonard pressed a button on the console near the surface hatch and Kyle watched as the floor of the main cabin revealed a shallow depression with a docking hatch nestled at the bottom.

“Sir, you might want to know that I will kill our artificial gravity in a few seconds,” Andrews informed Kyle.

Kyle nodded and then felt his stomach roll as he suddenly went weightless. A few seconds later he felt their transport make contact with the large cruiser.

Leonard moved to the hatch, opened it and crawled inside. “Port is up,” he called when he had moved in a way, letting the others know how to orient themselves when they experienced the Berlin’s artificial gravity.

Kyle made sure he climbed into the hatch facing the port side of the Hedali ship so that he wouldn’t suffer the disorientation that he had encountered many times before. He hoped that one day they would standardize the docking of their vessels so the first crew member transferring wouldn’t have to let the others know from which position to enter.

As Kyle crawled through the short tunnel, he noticed there were several men waiting for him on the other side. He took a hand offered to him and was pulled up by Commander Ramon Salazar. “Good to see you, General.”

“Good to see you as well, Commander,” Kyle said. Sergeant Kiskaliski stood slightly behind the others, but Kyle made eye contact and smiled. “You wear First Sergeant well, K-Man.”

K-Man smiled back at Kyle .“Your star looks lonely, sir. Maybe they should add another.”

Kyle laughed and shook his head. “I don’t know if I could stand that. Now, gentlemen, what is the plan?”