Excerpt: Lesgas d'Eva

John Taris Saul craned his head around to look back at the makeshift shelter, which wasn’t sheltering them from any unkind weather at the moment, but kept the brightness of the summer sun from their eyes and went a long ways to prevent sunburn. Though, if they were as far back in time as he had been able to judge in the past few minutes, the majority of the ozone layer typical of this class of planet would be there, strong and thick. Inevitably, his thoughts turned to playing over the scene that lead into Miriya’s death, as it often did. At first, it had been constant and he could barely function enough to lead his crew. It was the last vestiges of that wreckage that was partially responsible for their situation now. There was no point dwelling on what was already done. No dwelling on what he couldn’t have any control over. He knew, eventually, because of his slight of presence and defiance of the Faithful, that they would soon trace back to Earth and make their way there. A sick feeling balled up in his stomach and he grimaced. It was the worst feeling to have, helplessness. For all the things that John Taris could do, he couldn’t do a single damn thing to defend his home. It was a thing to know, however small, that the rest of the crew would come to this same realization on their own time and thus, Taris kept it to himself. It was just another item of a life that was, effectively, no longer theirs. John Taris stood and turned, heading back to the shelter where celebrations had reduced in volume and people had begun to take note of his absence, exiting the shelter to watch the back of his head from a distance. Mostly, it was Ely and Rettan.

“John? Are you alright?” Ely asked. She was always a kinder, more caring soul.

John nodded, giving her a weary look and shrugging his shoulders. “I have little choice in the matter.”

“Of course you do, bro…” Peter Rettan said. “…you’re only human. The crew will understand. We understand. We’ve decided (and I figure somewhere in that stubborn head of yours you knew it already) that we’re going to follow you wherever you lead. I know you’d rather not have the extra weight on your shoulders, but these men and women trust you implicitly. You’re their leader and they want you to lead, to the ends of the uni…” He paused, laughing. “…well, s’pose it’s just the ends of the earth now, huh?”

It caused John Taris to smile a little, despite himself. The rest of the crew had begun to filter out behind his brother and Ely.

“Point is, we’re ready for anything. We’ve always been ready, no matter how it looks, no matter how at each other’s throats some of us have been or the threats that have been made in past times that one or another of us would mutiny or go AWOL, the truth is, we’re yours, Cap’n. You’re the leader. So lead.”

“Alright, Rettan.” He said, nodding, then turning his eyes to address everyone. “Here’s the deal: We’re where we should be. This is the right place. However, it is not the right time. Something between the field the Faithful were drawing upon to be there and our jump cause us to be thrown back in time. I’m not certain exactly how far, but far enough that there is no way we will ever leave. You knew this, partly, but you didn’t know just how serious it was. It’s serious, folks. This is our new life. We have only each other now. The lives we had will mean relatively little, here and now. Earth will become a myth. From here, we cannot even spot our star.”

John stopped, looking over all of them, expecting the usual chatter, but all he got was eyes staring back, intently hanging on his every word. They were waiting for orders.

“In one hour, myself, Rettan and two volunteers will head out to scout the area ahead, see if we can come across a nearby water source, try to get a better look at what’s at the foot of those mountains and scope out any potential threats. It’s likely that any threats might come from the mountains or the forests, but we cannot assume anything. This is a strange planet to you all and we must exercise the utmost caution without personally causing ourselves harm. Those of you that are staying behind will be given tasks to attend to and orders for what to do, should we for some reason not return. Now, do I have any volunteers?”

They all raised their hands. All of them. Taris looked at one, Ely, and frowned.

“I’m sorry, Ely. I’m going to have to ask you to stay here. You’re too valuable to the health of the crew and they might need you to keep them well, if anything happens.” She started to look like she was going to protest. John let her.

“But John…” She had always called him by his first name. “…you’re the captain, the chief. You’re just as important.”

John smiled. “I am no more important than any of you. I just have the skill to convince others that they should follow me, listen to me and trust me with their lives.”

“But…” She began again. He interrupted, this time. “I’ll take Higburn. And really, Ely, I’m insulted that you think I can’t take care of myself, but I feel good, knowing that you are concerned for my safety, as well as that of the others.”

Ely smiled, saying nothing further and leaning into Rettan, who squeezed her close. She knew when to give in, that nothing could change her soon-to-be brother-in-law’s mind. She felt safe with his judgment, but she knew just as well as any of them that anything could happen. Anything. It didn’t hurt to exercise a little caution.

“Alright.” John said, closing that business. “So, aside from Higburn, I still need two more volunteers. I know you’re all willing and I’m not going to play favourites. Put down your hands. It seems the decision is entirely mine, after all.”

He scanned over the assembled as they lowered their hands. It was a hard decision. All of them were worthy choices, each with their own well-established skill sets that had been proven time and time again. He couldn’t ask for a better crew. Memories of battle, teamwork, leaves, bonding, fights and other things of their lives together in this military and this mission came to mind as he looked over each face. A smaller, more amusing thought that had no place in this discussion came to mind and he briefly wondered who would end up with whom and imagined the generations as they passed. These men and woman were family adopted, before. Now they were more than that. John felt, however, that none of them were for him. He had his one and it would be too much like betraying her. He doubted anything would ever change his mind.