Separation

“Yeah, I’ve listened, and it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, if you ask me,” Sharona snapped. “For someone who’s a leader, you don’t have much in the way of ideas, do you?”

The companions and Sharona were gathered in one of the old briefing rooms. By J.B. and Ryan’s chrons as well as those in the redoubt, it was midafternoon, but in the disorienting environment of the redoubt, where light was controlled by the flick of a switch, it could have been any time. And it felt like any time as once again Ryan’s attempts to marshal forces and move on were being interrupted by Sharona.

The redoubt had been thoroughly investigated, and although the air conditioning and electrical plant were in good order, and would keep going indefinitely, there was little doubt that the supplies were limited. Food and self-heats were in sufficient quantity to sustain the companions for a couple of weeks and then leave nothing to carry away with them, or they could be used as traveling supplies if the companions began their journey immediately. The med bay had been stripped of anything useful by Mildred and deposited in a satchel she had found, and the armory used by J.B. to replenish their supplies of ammo, plas ex and grens. Beyond that, there was nothing left in the redoubt that was of much use. Old vid machines could have taught them something about the redoubt base and the surrounding area, if not for the fact that all the tapes remaining were sec camera recordings, showing nothing but an empty base.

So it wasn’t just the pressing matter of the supplies that prompted Ryan to suggest a move from the redoubt—boredom was also a factor. And, if he was truly honest with himself, he didn’t feel comfortable about how much Dean was sticking to Sharona. It felt as if he were losing his son again, and the longer they rested in the redoubt, the more of the boy she could steal. At least if they were on the move, they would be operating as a unit.

But when he had called them together and suggested the move, Sharona had been immediately divisive. Of course there was no plan beyond making a jump; how could there be? Everyone knew that you couldn’t plan for what you didn’t know, simply from experience. But Sharona wouldn’t allow for that.

The thing Ryan couldn’t decide was whether she was doing it to be deliberately destructive or whether she just didn’t understand. He looked around at the others, hoping someone else would take up his argument, so that it wouldn’t seem to be a mother-father divide to Dean, which he suspected was part of her point.

His glance around the room spurred Mildred to speak.

“I think it’s really unfair of you to say that about Ryan’s abilities as leader,” she began, picking her words carefully so as not to appear hostile. “There can never be an advanced plan when making a mat-trans jump, and the proof of a leader is in the ability to marshal forces and think on your feet when problems arise. And I guess the proof of Ryan’s ability to do that is that we’re all still here, aren’t we?”

There was a murmur of agreement.

“But why do we have to put ourselves in that situation?” Sharona continued. “Why didn’t we just go along with the Pilatans?”

“Because we have to follow our star, somewhere over the rainbow,” Doc said sagely, giving a glimmer of meaning to words that had Sharona looking puzzled. He continued. “Until we find our dream, that is.”

“Crazy words, but right,” Jak agreed. “Look for something never find with Pilatans.”

“But there must be a better way of doing it than risking our lives every time you use that damn machine,” Sharona said in exasperation.

“How?” J.B. asked reasonably. “How else can we cover such distances with such speed?”

“Well, who says you have to cover the distances at all, especially when you don’t know where you’re going. And it’s not just your lives you’re risking, it’s my son’s,” she added, storming out of the room.

Dean shot an accusatory glance at the rest of them as he followed, to calm his mother.

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