Lords of the Ice Moons by Michael Carroll

Author:Michael Carroll
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783319981550
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018

Michael CarrollLords of the Ice MoonsScience and Fictionhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98155-0_22

22. You Can’t Go Home Again

Michael Carroll1

(1)Littleton, CO, USA

Taina was still playing the part of the enigmatic woman, oozing with mystique. As soon as Tony and Gwen boarded the ship, she sealed herself in the cockpit with the hatch shut behind her. Gwen could just hear her punching keys and sending some kind of voice message. Mystique, my ass, Gwen thought. The captain was getting on her nerves.

Gwen stripped down to her liquid thermal garments, dropping the rigid torso assembly of her environment suit on the floor by her hammock. She wiped a damp washcloth across her face, stretched her neck, and let the light gravity of Enceladus drop her slowly into the webbing of the bed. It felt luxurious to be horizontal after the intensity of the day. She closed her eyes, heard Tony get into the hammock against the opposite wall, and let her mind drift. But the places it went wouldn’t bring her sleep.

She sat up and stepped toward the back bulkhead in search of something to read. She opened a small cabinet in the corner. A deck of cards spilled out. She leaned over to pick them up.

“Do you want to play a few palms of something?” Tony asked. “To help us unwind?”

“Hands. Hands of cards. I’m kinda tired. Just looking for something to read.”

“Where were those?” He jabbed a finger at the deck.

She gestured with her chin. “Down there.”

“I found more in the fore bulkhead.”

Gwen was suddenly intrigued. “More cards, you mean?”

“Lots.”

“Show me.”

Tony lurched from the hammock and opened a small cupboard. He pulled out several decks, each from a different destination: Las Vegas, Syrtis Major, Copernicus Casino. “And then there’s this one. It’s not really for game, I know. Mysterious?” He held up a Tarot deck.

Taina peered through the front hatch. “The boss likes cards.”

“Apparently,” Gwen said, glancing at the rear compartment with its separate deck. Suddenly, she was no longer sleepy.

Later, after Tony began to snore and Taina sealed the rear compartment door behind her, Gwen ventured to the comms station in the cockpit. She sent another communiqué to the contact that Melciéna had given her.

Melciéna:

We could use some advice. On our way to Atlantis West. Is there anything we should be watching out for? When was the last time you saw it? How did you leave it? Please respond before tomorrow morning if possible.

Gwen

Gwen assumed that she would not respond in time. Why would she now? With the exception of recent history, she’d been silent for decades. Too little, too late as far as Gwen was concerned. She also knew that if Melciéna didn’t get back to her, she would be needing a serious attitude adjustment. Tony would cheer her up. She began a mantra. Forgiveness… forgiveness… forgiveness.

Taina took off at first light. The time of day really didn’t matter; the Belvedere One had plenty of navigation sensors to fly blind in the deepest darkness. But Tony wanted to see the landscape, and Gwen felt that arriving at Atlantis West would be “less creepy” in daylight.

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