Jethro 7 Snippet 2

 So far nothing from Goodlifeguide. I'll keep checking my inbox. :)

Chapter 2

 

Antigua

 

Shanti had been about to go into work when a text told her that she could report in and do work from home. She was grateful; the kittens were a handful for Red now that they were mobile. They seemed to be growing in spurts. They also had recently started to talk, though their understanding was mixed.

She was still struggling with the news about Horath. It wasn't helping her work at all. She couldn't focus worth a damn sometimes.

She felt a tremor as her doorbell rang, and she checked the video feed. She saw two familiar forms there, both in formal uniforms.

She felt her eyes tear up and felt a sinking sensation but forced herself to get up and go to the door.

General Lyon was there with Admiral Thornby. They had their covers off and tucked under their arm. “I'm sorry to …,” she closed her eyes, willing her ears to close too as she heard the formal words of apology of loss. She'd expected it, dreaded it the moment she'd heard about the final battle in Horath. The general had been good to send an official notice when word had broke a few days before; she'd been on auto pilot since then, hoping it was just a mistake.

“Come in,” she said as she stepped aside. They each stepped past. Red saw them and teared up instantly. Her distress set the kittens off.

~~~-^-~~~

Nara and General Lyon were quiet for a while but then began to talk on the ride back to the base in their government air car. "This sucks. It is the hardest thing, to tell people we don't know. That we may never know their fate."

"I know. Being in limbo is a terrible thing. Torture," Nara said with a sad face. “Is it too soon though?” she asked.

“They are overdue. We don't know if they got off the planet, to the ship …,” the general grimaced. “There are too many variables. The odds of their survival drop the longer they don't report in.”

“I have been running the scenarios in simulations, trying to see what the decision tree they were faced with and then reconstruct what might have happened,” Mars stated.

“And?” Nara prompted.

“It's not good. If they had to delay to get off the planet, which we expect, then they had to take one of a dozen courses away from Finagle or any known jump point in order to have even a small chance at survival. The longer they waited the lower the odds of survival were. To be honest, they might have waited too long. Given that there are last messages from Warrant McClintock and others, I believe they knew it too.”

Nara closed her eyes in pain. They were silent the rest of the way to the base.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw the flags being flown at half-mast.

~~~-^-~~~

Zuhura closed her eyes in pain as she felt her mom and younger siblings in the room. She had come home when she'd gotten the call from Admiral Thornby. They were all quiet and in mourning, just sitting on the couch and chairs glum. The younger litter were piled around their mother. Her tail was wrapped around two of them. One of the kittens had his thumb in his mouth. After a moment, Red sighed and slapped her thighs, startling them. “Well, I'm going to go find something to eat.”

She opened her eyes in surprise and looked at the small domestic cat. Red flicked her ears. “What?” Red asked.

“Really? At a time like this?” one of her younger siblings said in an accusing voice. It was surprising to hear that voice. They might be physically small but they had recently learned to talk. They seemed to share some sort of link that the other litter lacked. Zuhura had twigged on it when Red had noted that they seemed to learn collectively, almost like a hive mind. One would pick something up and the others would learn the trick without experiencing it within hours. Words were picked up fast.

“I'm hungry?!” Red said defensively. “Besides, if I don't eat, I get a headache and upset stomach. I'm not going to make myself sick. I miss the big lug, but I know he wouldn't want that.”

“No, he wouldn't,” Shanti murmured. She opened her eyes and stroked the kittens gently. “We'll eat or not.”

“So, that's it? Life goes on?” Zuhura asked softly.

“At the moment, yes,” Red said with a nod. “We don't know for sure he's dead. We may never know.”

Zuhura saw her mother stiffen.

“If he comes out of this scrape, we can razz his fanny for a long time for giving us a scare,” Red said with a buck-up tone in her voice. “Until we know for sure, I'm going to keep the faith.”

Zuhura nodded slowly. She looked at her mother who was also nodding. Of course her mom was, well, mom. She took care of them, and her instincts were coming into play there. “I'll give you a hand,” Zuhura said as she followed Red into the kitchen.

~~~-^-~~~