Servant of the Siphen

Part 6

As they left the shop and rejoined the others Erica suggested, "Captain, I was thinking that we could cover more ground if you return to the shuttle and do a flyby of the caves."

"Hmm. As much as I hate to split the team up, you've got a point, Erica," Caroline agreed. "Time is a critical factor here."

Caroline quickly brought the rest of her team up to speed, delegating command of the ground search to Tegan.

"Erica, you'll be joining me on the shuttle. Isamura, you know the terrain better than anyone, so I'd appreciate it if you could help the ground team."

"Of course."

"That's it then. Let's get to it before nightfall, we've a lot of ground to cover."

They walked back briskly to the town gates to pick up their weapons. Isamura mentioned to the sentry that they were going to look for the missing woman, and he wished them good luck.

"Did I hear we're going on search and rescue?" Rhona asked as she formed up with the search team.

"That's right," Tegan said. "Local woman by the name of Julienne. She's the sort that ventures into dark caves and finds lost treasures. It's the only lead we've got so we're following it up."

"It beats standing around here on guard," Rhona muttered, out of earshot of the sentries. "It's not the duty so much as the staring," she added by way of explanation.

"Better get used to it. We could be visiting worlds much like these for a while to come."

"It's not so bad. The air's fresher than on that flying death trap."

Tegan laughed. "Yes. I wish we could bottle it up and take it back with us."

Caroline opened the rear hatch on the shuttle using her remote, taking a step back for a moment as it swung down revealing the interior. Then she entered and made her way to the cockpit with Erica following.

During the walk back, they had discussed the best flight path for the search, Erica manipulating the holographic map and finding good sight lines for a visual search.  While the shuttle could detect life signs on the ground, it couldn't magically tell them what they looked like.

"So what's Isamura like?" Erica asked curiously.

"Um, what?"

"You know.  Why does she make you happy?" Erica prompted.

Caroline leaned back in the pilot's chair, thinking.  Eventually she replied, "Let's get this bird in the air first and then I'll tell you about her."

"Great.  Can't wait."  Erica strapped herself in and gave a thumbs-up.

Caroline settled into the pilot's seat and closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating on starting up the shuttle. The control panels lit up and the heads-up display plotted a flight path around the town and out to the caves in the north. Resting her hands on the controls, Caroline watched the ground and the surrounding trees fall away as the shuttle slowly lifted off.

"And we're away," she said with a breath of relief and confidence.

Seated in the co-pilot's chair, Erica scrutinised the display and the controls without daring to touch anything. "This looks really complicated," she remarked.

"It isn't. Well, not for me, the neural link makes it almost effortless to fly.  If Isamura can learn the controls of this thing, I'm pretty sure you can too."

"About Isamura... why did you get entangled with her?"

"Loneliness.  Despair.  Constantly thinking about never seeing my wife again.  Isamura was there to comfort me when I was feeling really low.  She makes me feel alive again.  Which is great - if I'm depressed I'm no good to anyone."