33

“Nineteen minutes,” Gap said, sitting in the pilot’s seat of the Spider. “Where is she?”

Behind him, twenty-nine fellow crew members were strapped into their seats, their eyes wide with anticipation. The same scene was taking place in the remaining Spiders, as well as inside the transport pods. Smaller storage craft, engineered to carry payloads of gear and equipment, stood by as well. All that could be stuffed aboard the escape vehicles was locked down and ready to go.

But Triana was missing. She’d called down half an hour earlier and reported that she had things to take care of. Now, as the clock ticked and Walzim approached, the assembled crew waited for their leader.

Channy’s voice came through Gap’s earpiece from one of the other Spiders. “Is she saying good-bye?”

He heard Lita respond: “Triana doesn’t say good-bye.”

*   *   *

Lighting along the gracefully curved hallways was dim, so Triana walked with a flashlight, just in case. She skimmed the various levels, calling out for any possible stragglers, but only as a precaution. Gap had reported that two separate roll calls had confirmed everyone present and accounted for, and there were no additional life readings aboard the ship.

Her final stop wasn’t her room, nor the Control Room. She walked out of the emergency stairwell into the slightly humid air of the Domes. Although technically still daytime aboard the ship, the current circumstances made it necessary to shut down Galahad’s artificial suns. It was cooler than normal as Triana began a quick walk down a dirt path toward the center of Dome 1. Once there, she stopped and glanced around. It was an eerie feeling to be, for all intents and purposes, the last person aboard the ship. The tomblike silence that draped the air, however, didn’t frighten her. In fact, it was exactly what she wanted.

She closed her eyes and held her arms out at her sides, her head tilted back. She breathed deeply, taking in the moist air and exhaling with a slow, measured pace. In a moment she saw him, a vision that both calmed her and emboldened her.

“Hello, Dad,” she said, a smile breaking across her face. “It’s time.”

In her mind she saw him smile back at her, and give a wink.

“You made this possible,” she said. “Not just by sending my information to Dr. Zimmer. You made this possible years ago, with everything that you taught me. You didn’t pick me up and place me here on this path, but you pointed me in the right direction. You cleared some of the brush out of my way, and gave me just the slightest nudge in the back.

“Thank you for urging me to take the more difficult path, and not the easy way out. Because of you I believe in myself. You taught me to never settle, to always keep reaching for more, because you had faith that I could do it. You encouraged me without giving me false hopes. You disciplined me in ways that showed me the meaning of consequences, which I never appreciated until I was here, faced with the most critical consequences of all.

“You taught me to listen, to keep an open mind while at the same time not being afraid to defend what I knew to be right. You showed me how to handle disappointment. And, Dad, more than anything, you showed me how to quietly inspire, because that’s what you’ve always done.”

She opened her eyes and looked through the clear panels of the Dome. The blazing star field ignited her emotions, as they always did. She felt a rising surge of love for the people in her life who had sacrificed so much for her, especially her father and Dr. Zimmer. More than anything, against any odds, she wanted to prove that their confidence in her was not misguided.

She wouldn’t let Dr. Bauer’s scheme derail the mission. She wouldn’t let Merit’s veiled threat distract her from the second stage of that mission, to settle and colonize humanity’s new home. And she would never forget the lessons that she’d learned from her fellow star travelers, and from the benevolent alien life-forms who patiently guided Earth’s emigrants to their new home.

One of those alien entities was safely stored within the Spider that waited for her now on the lower level. Talon and his kind would become partners with the struggling refugees from Earth.

“And now, Dad, I’ll take everything you’ve taught me, and bring it to a new world. I’m glad that you’ll be there with me. We still have some peaks to climb together.”

With one last deep breath, Triana turned toward the stairs, leaving a final set of footprints in the soil of Galahad’s farms.

*   *   *

With eight minutes until launch, she walked into the Spider bay control room to find Bon waiting for her.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “You should be aboard already.”

“I was aboard. I was coming to find you.”

Triana could hear an anxious exchange on the intercom between Gap and Lita. Galahad’s Council Leader was missing, and now Bon had bolted. Triana keyed the system and eased their concern by telling them she would be aboard in minutes. Then she turned to Bon.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Just had a few things to take care of.”

His eyes bored into her. They were inches apart, reliving a scene from a year earlier, alone in this same room, standing in the exact same spot. Only now, things were different. They, in fact, were different. Both, she realized, had not only grown, but had grown apart. Up until this point all she’d considered were the changes that had taken place within him. But now …

“You’d better get back aboard,” she said, with a calm that surprised her. “I’ll be right behind you.”

There would be no reenactment of that long lost scene. There would be no embrace. Instead, Bon held out his hand.

“Thank you for getting us here in one piece,” he said. “You were the right choice to lead us. I know you had your doubts; I hope you don’t anymore.”

Triana hesitated, then placed her hand in his. “Thank you, Bon. There were times when I didn’t think we stood a chance.”

Bon’s grip was firm. “In my country, we say: I lugnt vatten har alla skepp en bra kapten.”

“What does that mean?” Triana asked.

Bon lifted his chin. “In calm water, every ship has a good captain.” He waited, then said: “Understand?”

Triana could only nod, but inside she felt an odd combination of exhilaration and regret. She wondered if Bon could feel her tremble.

A moment later he released her hand and walked back into the bay. She exhaled and looked at the room’s vidscreen, and the timer. It registered 6:20, counting down.

She felt the presence that waited with her in the room.

“I don’t know what to say to you,” she told the computer. “How do I thank you for this? For everything?”

“I could give you a list,” Roc said. “I already mentioned naming the mountain, but you could also find some new clothes for Gap, and maybe take away his gel.”

Triana concentrated on her breathing; she knew that otherwise she’d never be able to finish what she had to say. “I couldn’t have made it without you,” she said. “And I’m not just talking about … you know, the work. I mean the talks we had. You kept me grounded. I’ll … I’ll never forget you.”

“Ah, immortality,” the computer said. “The Legend of Roc. I like it.”

Triana bit her lip. “And … about the things I said to you earlier. About doubting you. And … and about you trying to prove that you’re human. Well, I was wrong. I never should have doubted you. And as far as I’m concerned…” Her voice trailed away, and she fought for control as her voice broke.

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re human enough for me. You’re one of my best friends, Roc.”

She looked down for a long time, silent. Then she glanced out the window into the bay, at the fleet of pods and Spiders that beckoned, waiting to take her away.

“You better run along,” Roc said. “Before you accidentally say good-bye.”

In spite of her breaking heart, Triana found room to laugh softly. “No, I’m not going to say that. Somehow we’ll find a way to be together again.”

“You may be right,” Roc said. “I might have a trick or two up my sleeve. Not to mention the most obvious trick, which is a computer with no arms having a sleeve in the first place.”

With a sad smile, she brought her index finger up to her lips, then reached out and touched it to the glowing sensor on the panel.

“Remember your strengths,” Roc said. “Always.”

Two minutes later she was aboard the Spider, and the outer doors of the massive hangar began to silently glide open. Starlight spilled in as Earth’s fleet of young explorers stared outward, taking in the universe, and taking on the challenge.