Halcyon Nights (Star Sojourner Book 2) by Jean Kilczer Page B

expression anesthetized as he went to Tickbag's unit, stared down at him and swayed.
    “You better get the captain,” Leo whispered to Sharkie.
    Bjorn overheard. “I am the master aboard this vessel!” He slammed the unit's cover with a palm. “And if I say… If I – “
    Defrost the dog!
I sent.
    ”If I order you to defrost the dog,” Bjorn demanded, his hands clenched into fists, “then defrost the goddamned dog!”
    “Yes, sir.” Leo mumbled something to Sharkie, kicked the 'bot with a swift foot and strode to Tickbag's unit.
    “Tickbag's coming, too,” I whispered to Lisa.
    She sucked her thumb and nodded.
    Sharkie told Bjorn he was going to gather my supplies. He gave me a look to frost the flames of hell as he left the compartment. I could only hope he wasn't going to the captain instead.
    Prepare the module for launch!
I sent to Bjorn. How long would his zombiehood last? I repeated the message with more force and sent more images. Was I getting better at tel control or was Bjorn just a weak-minded wimp? I hoped for the former.
    At the module's launch bay Sharkie scowled as he shoved a backpack and two bedrolls at me. “This constitutes all our have. You unplease? You voca with Captain!” His accent was Gangrian, a cold rocky planet with few amenities.
    “What's missing?” I called to his back as he strode out the passageway.
    He didn't answer.
    I shoved a hand into the backpack as I waited for the module's systems to be checked out. My hand closed on the cool slim metal of a flash stingler with a beam ring that could stun or kill. Well, perhaps Gangria isn't as cold a place as I'd imagined.
    Lisa shut her eyes and sucked her thumb as I carried her to the module. What was she trying to deal with, within her six-year-old mind?
    No matter his power, that silver slimeshit alien had a lot to answer for!

Chapter Five
    It was night in our little corner of Halcyon, snowy winter night. The module, stuffed with crates that left us little room, and smelling of astringent cryogenic chemicals on wet dog fur, lowered toward the surface through scudding clouds. Far below and to the southeast, the huddled lights of Laurel shimmered in the boundless wilds of this alien world.
    The automated craft headed for a region unbroken by lights.
Where the hell had Bjorn sent us?
    The trip down was cold. They keep the module's interior at freezing for the cargo and I couldn't reach the thermostat past all the crates. I'd helped Lisa into warm clothes and gloves from her travel bag. Now I tucked stray curls under her jacket hood and smiled.
    “I feel cushy, Daddy.”
    “Cushy?”
    “That's what Mommy says when she dresses me to play in the snow. 'Stay cushy, Lissie'. I made a snowman and Mommy gave me raisins for his eyes and I got two sticks and…” She wiped her eyes. “I got two sticks – Daddy, when can we go home? I don't like it here.”
    “Lisa.” I hugged her close. “If I could take you home right now, baby, I'd do it. But I promise I'll stay with you. No matter what happens – “I held her face between my hands. “I'll always be here for you. Promise.”
    She lowered her head and played with the strings of her hood. “Ok, Daddy.”
    I kissed her nose and smiled. “OK, Lisa.”
    I used my stingler to pry open crates within reach. I'd read the stamped labels on the outside in the small, overhead light: Parts to assemble air and ground vehicles, tools, appliances, vis holo sets, comp cubes. And a lot of other stuff we couldn't use. I'd skinned my hands trying to drag the crates aside to get at others.
    I found heavy blankets, though, and we kept two. The memory of Sharkie's leer came to haunt me as I sifted through my backpack of meager camping equipment, then lifted out a wrist locator that worked off a compass. When I turned it on it projected a small holomap that could be scrolled by a stem on the unit. There was even a Halcyon-time watch attached to the wristband. All that was lacking was a thermometer