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Herthoughts were cut off when she looked up at the viewscreen.Glimmeringin the darkness of space like an enormous pearl was the huge shape of theMotherShip.
“MotherShip, please come in!”Holdsaid, pressing a button. “Damnit—it’s not working!” he added.
“That’sbecause you’re trying the long range communications.Trythe short range,”Fiercesaid.
Holdpressed another button and tried again.
“MotherShip, this is long range shuttle registered toTwinKindredHoldsTightlyandFightsFiercely.Pleasecome in, we are returning from an interstellar mission.”
Therewas silence for a moment and then a male voice said,
“Heardand understood.Waitjust a moment—Ihave standing orders to informCommanderSylvanthe minute you get back.”
Therewas another long moment of silence, during whichCeliahad time to register that her harness felt uncomfortably tight.Sheloosened it some and shifted around, trying to get comfortable.Shereally feltofffor some reason, though she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what was wrong.
Thena new voice came over theCom-link—a voice thatCeliarecognized at once.
“Ohmy goodness—Celia, doll, is that really you?Arethe three of you okay?”Katdemanded. “Wewere so afraid you were lost for good!”
“Lostfor good?”Celiafrowned. “Whatare you talking about?We’veonly been gone three days.”
“Threedays?Trymore than threeweeks!”Katexclaimed.
“What?Whatare you talking about?”Celiademanded. “What’sthe date?”
“What’sthedate?Doll, you of all people ought to know that,”Katanswered. “It’salmost eleven o’clock at night ofDecembertwenty-third—the night before your wedding!”
47
CELIA
“Sowe think, from piecing together what you’ve told us, that the three of you experienced what is known as a ‘time dilation,’”CommanderSylvanexplained as they sat together in his consultation office at theMedCenter. “Whichmeans that you actually traveled in time—specifically, you cameforwardin time more than three weeks—during your last trip through the wormhole.”
“Thatwould make sense—it was in the act of starting to destabilize when we entered it,”Holdsaid thoughtfully.
“It’sa well-known fact that the time-space continuum can get rather wrinkled—bunched up almost like a piece of fabric under such circumstances.”
CommanderSylvannodded at the dark red hospital gowns the three of them were wearing as an illustration. (Celiahad refused to leave the ship until they got something to cover up with—she wasn’t about to go parading around theMotherShipwearing the see-through silk gown with the slits in its front!)
“Iguess we’re fucking lucky it didn’t wrinkle even more,”Fiercerumbled. “Wemight have been thrown forward even further.”
“I’veheard of rare cases where people jumped centuries forward or backwards in time,”Sylvanremarked. “You’revery lucky you only came forward a matter of weeks.MayIask why you chose to use such a dangerous method of transportation instead of just calling for theMotherShipto fold space for you?”
“Wellfor one thing, our long range communications array was out so wecouldn’tcall,”Fierceanswered. “Andfor another,Celiathere was worried for a while that she might be pregnant with another male’s baby.Whichwould have been a fucking mess—so we’ve been taking wormholes this whole damn time.”
“Hey!”Celiaexclaimed, feeling her cheeks heat with an embarrassed blush. “That’sprivate,Fierce!”
“Youcould have just left it at mentioning the communications array,”Holdremarked, frowning at his brother.
“Sorry.”Fiercethrew up his hands. “Justtelling it like it is.Anyway, we’re not worried about it anymore—Celia’swith us now,” he added, speaking toCommanderSylvan. “Sothat idiot of a human fiancé of hers is out of luck.”
“Isee,”CommanderSylvansaid neutrally. “Well, just so you know,PeterThielgoodwasnotified when the three of you returned, just as he was notified when you went missing.Soyou’re going to have to deal with him eventually.”
“What?Why?”Fiercedemanded, frowning. “Whywould you tell that idiot human anything at all,Commander?”
“Becausewe were legally required to,”Sylvanreplied, frowning. “HeandCeliahave signed some sort of agreement which he showed as proof that he needed to be kept abreast of where she was.OurLegalDepartmentdecided it was best to comply.”
“Youdid the right thing,”Holdassured him. “Hehas the right to know thatCeliais home and safe—he loves her too.It’sjust that she’s with us now,” he added, putting an arm aroundCelia’sshoulders.
