Page 61 of Etched in Stone
“It means that you want me to parade around Duras, singing the praises of the Council, and making them look good,” Ray spat out.
“Did I mention the compensation?” The captain was looking more uncomfortable by the second.
“Really.” Jesse crossed her arms over her chest. “A fricken thousand years and that's what he gets? What kind of compensation?”
“That's negotiable. I have been given a sum of credits to be divided among those who-”
“What if we want to stay?” Ray asked.
“Credits really wouldn't do you any good on such a primitive planet.”
“So the sum is divided among those who wish to go home,” Ray clarified. That was an even smaller number yet. “But I was not asking about the credits. If we wished to stay and live out our lives on Earth, that would not be objectionable.” Jesse wasn’t sure if that was a question or a statement.
“Objectionable is a hard word. Definitely not preferable, but allowable, if that's what you are asking,” Traver conceded.
“Then I will discuss it with my mate, and let you know of our decision,” Ray said, turning away.
The captain was not used to being given such a curt dismissal, but Ray knew that his seniority gave him a little leeway. The captain was in a tough spot, trying to both appease his bosses back on Duras and pay homage to the ones he needed to coax back to the planet for a photo shoot. He nodded to Ray and left.
“You're not seriously thinking about staying? I mean, the Rose Syndicate is still down there, I mean, if we're still near Earth,” Jesse reminded him.
“Probably hiding around the back of the moon,” Ray smirked.
“Do you do that often? Hide around the back of moons?”
“If the primitives have telescopes.”
“Primitives. Ha.”
“Jesse, I can't guarantee any kind of a life for you up here. Duras is a hard planet.”
“Do we have to go to Duras? I mean, you guys have ships that travel the galaxies. Surely there's a place for us.”
“This isn't West Side Story,” Ray said.
“I hope not. In case you forgot, they both die in the end.” Jesse wiggled her eyebrows and they both started laughing. “Ray, I made my decision a long time ago. There's very little that I'm going to miss back on Earth. Imagine the things I can see and the paintings I could create! Especially with my new eyes.”
Ray didn't have the heart to tell her that Khargal art really didn't involve much canvas work. In that case though, she'd probably be unique. No. He could take her to Duras and then explore the cosmos. He had all his designs and pretty much the entire hard drive of his computer. He'd put them on a memory chip that he'd salvaged and had been wearing in his shorts since the sigil activated. He could take the credits and build a ship to travel wherever they wanted.
“All right. But I need to speak to Tas before I make a deal. I have a feeling the captain is holding out on us.”
E P I L O G U E
JE SSE
Jesse stood on the platform feeling big as a house. The doctors had promised her that it was normal to be this size, but she swore it felt like she was carrying twins (or rocks). Maybe twin rocks. Either way, waddling all the way down to the shipyard had not been her idea of a great time. Ray had insisted on it. Their new ship was ready.
He just wasn't ready to let her inside it just yet.
“Ray, I gotta pee!” she shouted out. Several of the Khargals standing nearby let out a snicker. Ray apparently hadn't heard her because he was taking his sweet time. He'd been working on the ship nearly the entire time they'd been on Duras. It was easy to know how long that had been, considering she was nine months pregnant and ready to pop any day now.
Much to her surprise, when they'd landed and the medics had sent her through quarantine, they'd also coldly announced that the embryo inside her was viable and healthy. No congratulations or sugar coating it from Khargal docs. No, they believed that medical advice and opinions were given as straight forward and quickly as possible. When she'd asked about how far along she was, one of them looked at her like a little child and explained that conception had probably taken place just before she'd gone through the change. It was common in lesser species.
So Jesse had gotten pregnant in Canada. It was enough to make a girl cry. Or want to pee. Jesse really needed to pee. She stormed up to the door.
“Ready or not, here I come!”
She headed up the ramp and into the main cabin of the ship. The design was unique. It had similar elements to the craft that took them here, but there were definitely human influences present. She could see tall curved archways like Durassian ships, but at the edge of the columns were definite scrollwork designs that could have been ripped off of a medieval or gothic church.
