Journal Entry 079 / 0672 It didn't seem to matter much that I had spent the last three weeks eating three meals a day and showering regularly.Journal Entry 079 / 0672 It didn't seem to matter much that I had spent the last three weeks eating three meals a day and showering regularly. It didn't seem to matter that P'nyssa had been by my side the entire time, or that the autodoc had examined us completely over and over and every report had come back the same. I was in perfect health, well fed and cared for. It didn't matter. I felt tired. I felt completely, bone-wearingly tired. I had paced the open floor of this Mark 454 Starcruiser, much like the one we had crashed in seven months ago (or fifty years ago, depending on who you asked), at least a dozen times today when Vega came up the small stairway leading to the bridge to find me. "Less than twenty minutes, Ken," she said, smiling. "Thanks, Captain," I replied, sighing. "Aaden's supposed to be on board the Eldarfaroth, isn't he?" She nodded. "It was my understanding that your coimelin hates space." "He does." "Then he must love you very much, to come this far to be with you on your return." I smiled. "Yeah, I guess he does. I know I love him, but there isn't much that frightens me the way space frightens him." I heard footsteps behind me, and P'nyssa and Thera came walking in from the cabin area. "Hi," I said, taking P'nyssa in my arms and hugging her tightly. "Hi," she replied back, smiling. I don't think it was my imagination that her smile was as weary as mine. I reached out with my hand to touch Thera's shoulder; she startled a little, them covered my hand with hers. "You look tired, Thera." She laughed. "I think that's the theme of the day, Kennet. We are all tired. We all want to be home." Vega looked up from her controls, her Tindal eyes smiling. "And home wants you home, guys. We've missed all of you for too long." Thera smiled. "You mean they missed Ken and P'nyssa and Pan. The rest of us are not so important." "You were all important," Vega replied. "No particular priority was given to Ken or anybody else. A higher priority was put on a defensive rescue ops because when the Sinox heard you were missing they went completely berserk. We had sixteen defensive operations the first year you were gone." "Sixteen?" I asked, incredulous. |