Robert Asprin – Tambu

The cabin was bathed in a ghostly light, illuminated by the starfield on the console’s viewscreen. Silhouetted by the light, Tambu sat naked at the console, staring at the screen.

Ramona frowned as her mind struggled to analyze what she was seeing. This was highly unusual. Occasionally their sleep would be interrupted by a late-night call from a distraught captain, but then Tambu would deal with them in abrupt, terse tones, and return immediately to bed. He slept and loved seldom enough that when he did, he clung to it with an almost savage intensity. He was constantly either engaged in activity or sleeping. Sitting up quietly at night was something new for him.

“What is it, love?” Ramona called, stretching sleepily.

The figure at the console made no move to respond or to acknowledge her question.

“Tambu? Hey!”

Concerned now, she crawled to the foot of the bed and rose, moving to his side.

“Tambu?” she asked again, touching his shoulder lightly.

He turned his head and focused on her as if seeing her for the first time. “Oh! Sorry, love. Did I wake you?”

“What is it?” she pressed, ignoring his question. “Is something wrong?”

“Not really,” he shrugged. “I just made a decision, is all. A hard decision.”

“A decision? What is it? You haven’t said anything about a major decision in the works.”

“Believe it or not, I don’t tell you everything,” he smiled weakly. “No. This is a personal decision, one I’ve been thinking about for some time now.”

“If you’re going to tell me, tell me. Otherwise, let’s go back to bed.”