{"id":261,"date":"2012-10-14T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2012-10-14T04:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=261"},"modified":"2012-10-13T20:35:30","modified_gmt":"2012-10-14T00:35:30","slug":"chapter-forty-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=261","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Forty-One"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apologies for the short chapter – it’s really a continuation of the previous…\u00a0 I’ll try to have Forty-Two be a bit beefier, I promise.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Fear makes cowards of us all.<\/h3>\n

— Unknown<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

20 Novem, 5249 PD<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you ladies don\u2019t mind,\u201d Frederick said quietly as he limped over to join Lindsay and Rachel at the other end of the chamber, \u201cwould you be adverse to my hitching a ride with you up to\u2026wherever we\u2019re going?\u201d\u00a0 He glanced back over his shoulder toward Daci and Adam, a frown creasing his brow.\u00a0 Lindsay followed his gaze and frowned herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looks like he swallowed a lemon,\u201d Lindsay said quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Frederick agreed.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think the conversation that the two of them are about to have is one I want to be a party to, especially when it\u2019s concerning me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t think that you could defuse the situation?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a chance,\u201d Frederick said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m good, but I\u2019m not that<\/em> good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are<\/em> we going?\u201d\u00a0 Lindsay asked quietly.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Grace\u2019s sister said something about halos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay and Rachel exchanged a look even as Lindsay\u2019s heart skipped a beat.<\/p>\n

Halo Ridge.\u00a0 They\u2019re going to have them land at Halo Ridge.\u00a0 The old Grace house on the cliff.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They\u2019re coming home.\u00a0 They\u2019re coming home right now.<\/em>\u00a0 She swallowed hard.\u00a0 They\u2019re coming home.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we\u2019d better get going out to Zephaniah\u2019s, then,\u201d Rachel said quietly, shoving her hands deep into her pockets.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStraight there?\u201d\u00a0 Lindsay asked as she and Frederick followed Rachel out of the Council chambers and into the corridor.<\/p>\n

\u201cStraight there,\u201d Rachel confirmed, not looking back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need to stop and get anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel looked at her strangely.\u00a0 \u201cWhat would we need to get, Lindsay?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she said quietly, momentarily hating herself for the sudden nervousness that she felt, the sudden urge to hide.\u00a0 \u201cSupplies, I guess.\u00a0 I\u2026Aunt Rachel, I saw something. About them coming home, I saw something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frederick climbed into the skimmer first, followed by Lindsay and her aunt, who continued to give the younger woman a strange look, though one that was now laced with concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat sort of something?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay caught her lip between her teeth.\u00a0 \u201cI saw them coming back.\u00a0 I saw Kara hug Ezra, but I never saw Brendan or Alana.\u00a0 We know Alana\u2019s okay because she\u2019s been on the comm with Uncle Adam\u2014she\u2019s flying the damn ship.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t know how Brendan is\u2014how bad it is.\u00a0 What am I going to do if he\u2019s not going to be okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlana would have told us, Lindsay,\u201d Rachel said, her tone careful and voice soft.\u00a0 She was trying to be reassuring, and the fact that she was trying both touched Lindsay\u2019s heart and terrified her that much more.<\/p>\n

How can I be sure she didn\u2019t and everyone isn\u2019t just trying to find a gentle way to tell me?<\/em><\/p>\n

Frederick\u2019s hand closed around hers and the frail man squeezed with what felt like every ounce of his strength.\u00a0 \u201cHave faith,\u201d he said softly to her.\u00a0 \u201cJust because they call you the Oracle doesn\u2019t mean everything you\u2019ve ever seen will come to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

A shiver shot down her spine and she swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cHow can you know that, Frederick?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk your father sometime.\u201d\u00a0 His fingers tightened again and he looked toward Rachel.\u00a0 \u201cHow far is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot far,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cBut far enough that D\u2019Arcy might not notice the landing until it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s getting more dangerous,\u201d Lindsay mumbled.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll only get as dangerous as we let him get,\u201d Rachel said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I don\u2019t intend to let him get very dangerous at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s already reached that level, Aunt Rachel.\u00a0 You\u2019re too late.<\/em>\u00a0 Lindsay closed her eyes and slumped in her seat, trying to take deep, calm breaths, trying not to dwell on what lived in her nightmares.<\/p>\n

She tried not to believe that Brendan dying was a possibility.<\/p>\n

She knew that she was wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apologies for the short chapter – it’s really a continuation of the previous…\u00a0 I’ll try to have Forty-Two be a bit beefier, I promise. Fear makes cowards of us all. — Unknown 20 Novem, 5249 PD \u201cIf you ladies don\u2019t … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-last-colony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p25yjF-4d","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions\/262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}