“Come back here, you womprat!” Ruth yelled.
“Catch me, slowpoke!” Sulu called back. He ran across the clearing and into the woods, dodging trees and laughing till he was out of breath. Then he waited just beyond a large, oak-like tree until Ruth came flying by. He jumped out behind her, grabbing her by the arms and upper torso. She shrieked and they tumbled to the forest floor, mock-fighting the whole way. Finally they rolled to a stop amid moss and leaves.
“Was it good for you, too?” Ruth asked breathlessly.
“You’re always good,” Sulu replied with a grin. Suddenly Ruth threw her arms around him.
“God, I’ve missed you, Roy!”
Sulu hugged her back just as hard. “I miss you too, Spike.”
“Do you think Spock and Jilla will be too jealous if we spend a lot of time together the next two weeks?”
“I hope not, since that’s kind of the point of this joint vacation.”
Ruth grinned. “So that you and me can spend time together?”
Sulu shrugged, but there was the hint of devilishness in his dark, almond eyes. “Sure. What else?”
“And I suppose everybody else is just along for the ride.”
“Why not? They can enjoy each other, too.”
Ruth sighed, settling comfortably into Sulu’s arms, then began picking leaves out of her hair. “Good thing we’re both monogamous.”
“Well, I don’t know if I’d call it a good thing... Ow!”
Ruth removed her elbow from a sensitive portion of his anatomy..
“I was joking, Ruth!” he protested.
She grinned up at him. “I know. It was just such an easy target...”
Sulu laughed easily, then hugged her again.
They were still picking leaves and moss from each other’s clothing and hair when they returned to the encircled encampment.
“Have a good romp?” Jim asked.
“The best,” Sulu returned with a grin, then laid himself down with his head in Jilla’s lap, sighing with great contentment. She smiled gently at him.
Ruth plopped herself down next to her guitar, then reached up to affectionately stroke Spock’s left ear. When he flushed a slight green, she chuckled and picked up her instrument, beginning to pick out a slow blues riff. The wind stirred her hair, and she shivered, then glanced over her shoulder. “Wasn’t the wind from the southeast, and warm, a few minutes ago?” she asked.
Sulu sat up, and both Spock and Jim looked toward the north. The wind had definitely shifted. Jim took a deep breath.
“Smells like a storm,” he said.
“Smells?” Jilla asked curiously.
“There’s a certain smell in the air when a storm is coming up, especially if it’s from the north,” Jim told her. “On Earth, sailors learn to pay attention to those kind of subtle warnings.”
“We aren’t on Earth,” Ruth pointed out for the second time. “Not that I like being redundant.”
“Well, this is Class M, and the weather patterns are similar,” Jim returned. “Trust me, we’re in for a storm, and if my instincts haven’t atrophied, it’s going to be a big one.”
“I, for one, trust your instincts,” Sulu put in, getting up from his place at Jilla’s side. “If it’s going to rain, we should make sure everything’s secure.”
“Jim and I will check the tent’s moorings,” Spock said. Ruth pouted, and her Vulcan husband turned to her. “We will have many nights for music, my wife.”
“And just think, our first night alone on vacation and we have an excuse to hole up with our husbands,” Jade suggested, her voice full of insinuation.
Ruth brightened. “I like that,” she said. “Come on, let’s get everything stowed away! What are we waiting for?”
“You have a true talent, beloved,” Jim said to Jade. Dr. Han only smiled.
The storm hit late that night, with strong winds, lightning and thunder, and driving rain. Jilla went to the Nest, only to find that Sarek had rearranged the sleeping bags into a circle around his, and was sitting up, awake, and humming softly. Surprisingly, the sound dimmed the noise from the storm to a faint murmur.
“It’s an Antari lullaby,” he told her between hums. “Antaris live in trees. It’s used to soothe babies when it storms.”
“It seems to work very well, Sarek,” Jilla whispered back. The boy smiled at her.
“Well, they were pretty scared, and Ara and Father are making another baby, so...”
“What?”
“Ara and Father are making another baby, and...”
“How do you know that, Sarek?” Jilla asked, her skin’s natural shimmer increasing with her embarrassment.
Sarek tilted his head. “I can feel it,” he replied simply.
“Can you - feel it - every time your mother and father...”
“Sure.” He glanced around him. “But I’d better concentrate now, Aunt Jilla, or they’ll wake up.”
Jilla nodded, thanked him quietly, and returned to her own tent. She tried not to listen for any sounds that would confirm Sarek’s statement, and was relieved when she was successful.
“Are the kids all right?” Sulu asked Jilla as she settled back into the sleeping bag next to him.
“Yes,” she replied. “Sarek is singing an Antari lullaby to drown out the storm.”
Sulu grinned. “Handy having an almost-keheil in the Nest, isn’t it?” Jilla said nothing more, but her skin flared with a blush. “Okay, what am I missing?”
“Were you aware that Antari children can feel their parents... engaging in... That they are aware of... When their parents are...”
By the amount of hesitation, it was clear to Sulu what Jilla was not saying. “Can they really?” he mused. “I suppose that makes sense. They are telepathically linked to their parents, after all.” He thought a little more. “Wouldn’t that be the same for Indiian children? Not the telepathic part, but wouldn’t they feel the - um - passion - from their parents... or from anybody else within a certain distance?”
Jilla’s blush deepened. “I have never considered it,” she whispered.
With sudden clarity, Sulu realized how much of the standard Indiian ‘birds and bees’ information Jilla must be lacking. She had married so very young, and to a Vulcan, and had been completely uninterested in the opposite sex up until then. And once married, her family would not have instructed her except in what Vulcan customs they could have researched, since she was expected to adapt fully to Vulcan ways. And he couldn’t imagine that there had been any instruction at all from Vulcan. But still...
“Weren’t you - aware - when you were a child, hon?” he asked gently.
The blush faded as Jilla considered the question. “I suppose I was,” she said at last. “But it seemed no more than a normal part of the emotional exchange that existed between my parents.”
“So why would it be any different for Sarek... or for Jenni or Ki?” he continued, still carefully gentle.
Jilla’s left hand automatically closed, and Sulu carefully reached for it, kissing her fingers, cradling it within his own hands. “Okay, I know,” he said softly. “Celletyea, tu pelano’s’em.”
“I am not beautiful,” Jilla whispered.
“To me you are,” Sulu replied, then carefully eased her clenched fingers open, kissing the dark scar on her left palm. “Even this.”
Jilla curled silently into his arms. He focused his mind on only the feelings of love and contentment until she relaxed and, with a sigh, drifted into sleep.
“You were right about the storm,” Jade said as Jim turned over, obviously as awake as she was.
“Sailors’ instincts don’t lie, even on alien planets,” Jim returned, grinning.
“I’d be willing to wager that they’d fail miserably on Vulcan,” Jade suggested.
“Ah, but there are no seas on Vulcan, and so no sailors.”
“True.” Jade turned herself, resting her head on Jim’s shoulder. “Should we check on Chris?”
“I don’t think so. I heard Jilla going to the Nest a little while ago. If he needed us, she’d tell us.”
They listened silently to the howl of the wind for a few moments. “It’s pretty bad out there,” Jade remarked.
“The tents are secured,” Jim said. “Spock and I strengthened them after the wind shifted.”
“Is there any way to get weather reports at the campsites?”
Jim sat up, reaching for his pack. “We could call the port,” he said. “The communicators are tuned to that frequency.” He took out the small device and opened it. Instead of the usual double-toned whistle, there was only static. He frowned. “The storm must have ionized the atmosphere. We’ll try again when it settles down a little.”
“Have I ever mentioned how much I hate technology?” Jade commented.
Jim smiled wryly, settling back down. “Now that you mention it, no. Never.”
“Or perhaps I just hate how dependent we are on it.”
“Or maybe you just hate what ion storms do to our equipment.”
“There is that.”
Jim put his arms around his wife. “Now if we had a roaring fireplace, and two cups of good, hot chocolate...”
“And a pipe of Rigellian...”
“Well, all right, just for you. And a pipe of Rigellian, the storm wouldn’t be bothering us at all.”
“Of course not. We’d have to be indoors to have a fireplace.”
“I’m trying to be romantic here, Jade.”
She smiled at him. “And you’re succeeding, my darling.” Then she stopped any further conversation with a deep, lengthy, thoroughly welcoming kiss.
“It’s a girl,” Ruth said dreamily into Spock’s ear.
“I beg your pardon?” Spock replied, raising his head from the pillow of fur that lay beneath it. Ruth shifted her body, lifting herself off his chest.
“I said,” she repeated, kissing his shoulder as she slid next to him, assuming her usual position, half-sprawled over her husband, one arm thrown over his chest, one leg thrown over his thigh, “it’s a girl.”
“What is a girl?” Spock asked, his right arm moving up to cushion Ruth’s head.
“The baby.”
“What baby?”
“The one we just conceived.”
Abruptly, Spock sat up, staring down at her. “Did we?”
Ruth stretched. “You know I can tell right away. Didn’t I with Glorf, and with Luthien?”
Spock considered. “Yes,” he agreed carefully. “I had assumed the knowledge of Sarek’s conception was due to the union of the salish.”
“And Luthien?” Ruth wanted to know.
“She was of the Time,” Spock replied. “But you can know immediately... every time?”
“Every time?” Ruth teased, sitting up. “How many ‘times’ are we talking about here?”
Spock immediately assumed Vulcan dignity in response to her attitude. It was, after all, expected. “I was content with one son, wife. It was your desire to procreate further.”
“You have a point there,” she conceded, and resisted the temptation to add ‘two, in fact,’ then answered his question with a grin. “Yes, every time.” She skimmed her hand up along his back, leaning to press her body against his. “Wanna try for twins?”
“Another daughter,” Spock said, ignoring the suggestion. He sat in thought for a moment, then turned to face Ruth. “My wife, I love you.”
Her smile was warm and gentle and loving. “That’s why,” she said. One eyebrow rose quizzically. “Why we’re having another child,” she clarified.
His eyes smiled back at her. “Indeed.”
When Jilla woke, Sulu was gone from the tent. She listened for sounds of movement outside in the camp, but heard none. It was unusual for him to leave without waking her, unless Jenshahn or Kichae needed him. And perhaps he had taken them away from the immediate campsite so as to be considerate to those still sleeping.
With a suitable explanation established, Jilla rose and dressed, then re-rolled the sleeping bag and straightened the tent. She realized that it was probable that Sulu had already made coffee, so there was no need for her to hurry out to set it brewing. Shortly she heard voices and footsteps then there was a tap on the tent pole nearest the door-flap.
“Sulu?” Ruth’s voice called.
Jilla turned, opening the tent door. “He is already up, Ruth,” she said, “I assume with the children.”
“No, the kids are all still asleep,” Ruth returned. Her tia was worried, and Jilla picked up the anxiety. She stepped out of the tent. Jade stood by the kitchen tent, but neither Spock or Jim were anywhere she could see. “What is wrong?” she asked.
“Spock left this morning without waking me, and Jim did the same with Jade. Did Sulu tell you where he was going?”
Jilla shook her head. “No, he did not wake me, either.”
“That’s not like him,” Ruth returned.
“I had thought he had taken the... “
“Yeah, me too, but they’re still... “
“Have you tried the...”
“We get only static...”
“Perhaps the ionization...”
“And nothing we can do about that.”
“It’s constantly amazing to me how you two can do that,” Jade commented as she walked up to Jilla’s tent. “Unfortunately, in this situation, Valjiir isn’t coming up with brilliant and intuitive solutions.”
“Perhaps they discovered that the communicators were non-functional and decided to walk back to the Base Camp,” Jilla suggested.
“Without telling any of us?” Ruth replied skeptically.
“James and I talked about communications being out last night,” Jade put in. “He said he thought it was the storm.”
“He’s probably right,” Ruth said. “But that doesn’t explain where they are.”
“Perhaps one of us should hike to Base?” Jade suggested.
“Good idea,” Ruth rejoined. “I’ll just take some water and a peach or two.”
“A peach or two?” Jade repeated. Ruth grinned.
“Spock and I got a little enthusiastic last night.” She wondered at Jilla’s sudden blush, but didn’t comment.
“And you got pregnant,” Jade concluded.
“Yep.”
“And you know this already.”
“Yep.”
“Leonard must be very bored.”
Ruth laughed. “Except when I’m pregnant, yeah.” She turned and started walking toward her tent. “I’ll grab a small pack and a water flask. If they haven’t been to Base, I’ll just inform the Berylians of the communication problem and head back. I shouldn’t be gone more than four or five hours, depending on how fast I walk.”
“With the child, you should take your time,” Jilla cautioned.
“She’s only a glob of cells, Jilla.”
“She’s only a glob of cells?” Jade said.
Ruth bared her teeth in a wicked grin. “Do you have something against daughters, Jade?” Jade hid her answering grin and shook her head. “Take care of Glorf and Luthien for me, okay?”
“Of course,” Jilla returned. “Be careful.”
“I will,” Ruth promised.
It was only three hours later that Ruth returned. Sarek and Jenshahn were playing in the trees, Chris was swimming with Kichae under Jade’s watchful eye. Luthien was at the cooktent with Jilla, helping her clean up from breakfast.
Upon seeing his mother, Sarek swung down from the tree, landing in front of her. “That was quick, Ara,” he said. “Did you teleport once we couldn’t see you?”
“No, Glorf, I didn’t,” Ruth replied, apparently nonplused at seeing her son drop from the skies. “I need to talk to your aunts now, okay?”
The boy’s grey eyes narrowed speculatively. “What’s up?”
“Nothing that has to concern you yet,” Ruth told him. “Go back up and flirt with Jenni.”
Sarek grinned. “Okay.”
“What’s going on?” Jenni wanted to know as soon as he climbed back up to the branch where she sat.
“I don’t know. Ara feels worried, but she doesn’t want to scare us.”
“If we climb over there,” Jenshahn said, pointing, “we’ll be right over the cooktent.”
“I like the way you think, Jen.”
The six-year old grinned. “I bet I can beat you!”
“Maybe, but I bet I can get there quieter than you.”
“Yeah? What?”
Sarek thought for a moment. “A kiss?” he suggested, his eyes twinkling.
Jenni considered, then nodded, and said, “Done.”
“Done,” Sarek replied. Immediately, his younger ‘cousin’ sped off, dancing among the treetops. He watched her for a minute, then focused his gaze on the branches she had indicated. He saw them clearly, memorized them, knew them, then simply thought himself to them. He was sitting serenely, waiting for her, when she quietly landed on the branch next to him.
“Cheat!” she hissed.
“I didn’t say how I was going to beat you,” he replied smugly.
“I hate you!”
“Do not.”
“Do so!”
“Doesn’t matter. Done deal.” He grinned mischievously at her. She scowled, but leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. They were silent for a while, then he heard her chuckling to herself.
“Give,” he told her.
“Sucker,” she whispered.
“Oh yeah?” he challenged.
“I would have kissed you anyway,” she giggled.
It was his turn to scowl, but the thought was triumphant in his mind.
“Luthien, get your Aunt Jade for me, okay?” Ruth said as she stepped into the cooktent. Luthien obeyed without a word, and Jilla put down the dish she had been drying.
“What is wrong?” the Indiian asked quietly.
Ruth set down her pack. “Let’s wait for Jade, all right?”
Jilla nodded, but her silver skin went pale.
In a moment, Jade came into the tent. “What is it?” she said. “Ruth, what happened? Why are you back so soon?”
“You want the short version?” Ruth replied, sitting cross-legged on the ground. “We’re not on Epsilon Beryl IV.”
“What?!” both Jade and Jilla said in unison.
“The woods should have ended about half an hour out from camp, right?” Ruth elaborated. “But they didn’t. In fact, they got more dense. I circled around just to make sure that my infallible sense of direction was still infallible. Forest, and more forest, as far as I could see. So I took out my tricorder and did a long range scan. Forest, in every direction, for at least 15 miles.” She paused, looking up at Jilla and Jade. “So either I’ve completely lost my memory, or this is not Epsilon Beryl IV.” She grinned sardonically. “Or at least, not the one we arrived at yesterday.”
“That’s impossible,” Jade said.
Ruth reached into her pack, taking out her tricorder. “You want to try it?” she offered. With an uneasy glance at Jilla, Jade took the device, slowly turning as she scanned the area.
“Oh dear,” she whispered. When she looked up, her face was pale. “There must be some explanation.”
“Well, it does explain why we get only static from the communicators,” Ruth said as she took a bite out of a pear that had been in her pack. “Epsilon Base Camp isn’t there.”
“This makes no sense,” Jilla said. “How could such a thing have happened? The universe cannot alter itself around us while we sleep.”
“Apparently, it has,” Ruth returned. “And don’t let this calm fool you. Inside, I’m hysterical.”
“I know,” Jilla murmured, then shivered. “What has happened to our husbands?”
“Well, they’re not within 15 miles,” Ruth answered. “There’s plenty of small game-type life forms, but no humanoids besides us and the kids.”
“Could we have possibly been beamed somewhere else on Beryl?” Jade wanted to know.
“Camp and all?” Ruth snorted. “Not bloody likely!”
“A significant portion of the ground would have had to have been materialized as well,” Jilla clarified. “While that is not impossible, there would be signs at the edge of the materialized area.”
“And I didn’t see any such signs,” Ruth rejoined.
“And to be considering an area larger than the radius that Ruth is able to walk within an hour and a half...”
“Like I said. Not bloody likely,” Ruth finished.
Jade folded her arms, her black eyes flashing with worried anger. “Then explain it!” she demanded.
“Can’t,” was the succinct reply.
“Jade, she is terrified,” Jilla put in gently.
“Well, so am I!” Jade returned brusquely. “What do we tell our children?”
“Nothing, for the time being,” Jilla said. “If the situation does not change by nightfall...”
“Then what?” Ruth wanted to know.
“Then we will deal with it then!” Jilla snapped.
“Try keeping that from telepathic and sensitive kids,” Ruth muttered.
Jilla took a deep breath. “What would you have me do, Ruth?”
“Click your heels and say ‘there’s no place like home’?” Ruth suggested. Jade scowled. Jilla only looked confused. “Terran literary reference, never mind.”
“I never do,” Jilla replied, but there was no teasing in her voice.
“Do we tell the little kids?” Jenshahn whispered.
Sarek shook his head, his blond braid whipping over his shoulder. “No, your mother’s right. We shouldn’t worry them.”
“Ki and Luthien will know…”
“No, they won’t,” Sarek interrupted. “I can shield them.”
Jenni frowned. “You’d better not try that on me.”
Sarek grinned. “If I did, you’d never know it”
“Bets?”
“You’re cute when you’re mad, Jen.”
Jenshahn socked him firmly on the arm, but he kept grinning. “Come on, let’s go before Ara looks up and finds us.”
Still frowning, she nodded, and they moved silently away from the cooktent.
The light was cross-hatched before his eyes, and his ears felt stuffed with cotton. He could barely make out two other forms that seemed to be twisting or writhing, suspended in mid-air. He fought for coherency, closing his eyes to concentrate… and he was abruptly filled with a thunderous pressure, followed by a sharp stab of pain in his left side, directly over his heart. Fire flooded his senses for one terrifying moment, then all - sight, sound, knowledge, sensation - was lost.
There was a buzzing noise in his ears as Spock woke. Instantly alert, he sat up, glancing around the small camp. Jim and Sulu were still on their mats, resting from the hunt. The spears, bows and arrows were still nearby, the deer-like creature they had taken still hanging from the carrying pole they had made. Insects buzzed around the caked wound on its side, and the sound that had awoken him made sense. He stood, calming his anxiety. He was still hyper-alert, not yet used to the alterations necessary for outdoor living. He glanced at the sky. The sun was already halfway to the horizon. They had a long hike back to the campsite. He whistled.
Jim and Sulu both woke, Sulu up and aware slightly before Jim. Spock saw him, too, take stock of the surroundings, and nodded pleased approval to himself. Jim stretched.
“Time to head home, Spock?” he asked.
“Yes,” Spock replied. "The sun will be nearly gone by the time we return.”
Sulu was already up, shaking out the mat of grasses he had woven earlier in the day. “We have to better our skills,” he stated. “We can’t afford to take all day to bring down one animal.”
“This is new to us,” Jim reminded as he, too, rose. “Plus we had to make our gear. That took some time.”
“Fortunate for us that Vulcan still teaches primitive survival skills,” Sulu returned as he knelt, rolling several wooden spears into his mat, securing it with a piece of vine.
“And fortunate that your artistry includes weaving,” Spock rejoined. Sulu smiled at him.
The other mats were also rolled, then slung across their backs, along with the crudely fashioned bows. The makeshift arrows were then stuck into the top of the roll, creating a quiver. Sulu and Jim lifted the carrying pole onto their shoulders and Spock carefully erased all traces of their rest-camp.
“Due east,” Sulu said, and Spock nodded. He took his bearings from the sun, and they began the long walk home.
That none of their actions or conversation made logical sense when compared with the memory of being on vacation on Epsilon Beryl IV seemed to be of no concern to them at all.
Jilla made a vegetarian dinner for everyone, but didn’t eat very much. Nor did Jade - Ruth commented only that she had to keep up her strength for the baby. The children hadn’t asked where their fathers were, a fact that Jade found strange until, after Chris, Luthien and Kichae had run off to play, Sarek quietly informed her that he was shielding the younger children to keep things calm. Ruth frowned and informed her son that such things were unethical without permission. The seven-year-old looked contrite and formally asked permission of Jade and Jilla to aid their children. When Ruth glared at him, he said, first, “What?” then “Luthien is my sister!” then “Sorry Ara.”
“Your motive is appreciated, Sarek,” Jilla said to him, “but I would prefer my children learn to appropriately handle such emotion.”
“Jenni knows anyway,” Sarek returned. Jilla turned her gaze to her daughter.
“And you did not inform me?”
Jenshahn blushed. “Glorf said not to.”
“Indeed.”
“I’m sorry, ama.”
“Enough!” Ruth rejoined. “Glorf, stop it. We’re the parents, we’ll deal with it.”
Sarek hung his head. “Yes, Ara.” His grey eyes closed for a moment. Within moments, Luthien, Chris and Ki came running up, asking for their daddies, fearful that they hadn’t seen them all day. Each woman attended to her child, leaving Sarek and Jenshahn to clean up from the dinner.
“It’s getting worse,” Jen murmured as they worked.
Sarek turned from the cooler, where he had returned the vegetable dish. “I know.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know. Ara said she couldn’t feel them.”
“Can you?”
Sarek stopped in his tracks, wry chagrin showing clearly on his face. “I didn’t try.”
Jenshahn came up close to him. “Please, Glorf?”
Sarek glanced down at her, expecting her usual teasing plea, but there was only fear and worry in her almost-black eyes. “’Course, Jen,” he responded, then took a deep breath, concentrating.
The smell of cooked vegetables wafted through the trees ahead. Spock inhaled deeply, feeling vaguely dissatisfied. “No meat,” Sulu’s voice whispered behind him and he turned his head. The younger man looked as displeased as he.
“But we have remedied that,” Spock returned, equally quietly. Just saying it out loud made him less uneasy. Sulu grinned.
“And we’re almost home,” Jim put in. “Only a few more minutes’ walk.”
Father?
Spock froze. Alert, Sulu stopped, Jim following suit.
Sarek? Spock replied to the telepathic contact.
Thank Zehara! came the mind-voice of his son. Where are you? Where have you been? Ara has been worried sick!
There is no need to thank an Antari deity, Spock returned, letting his disapproval color his mental emanations. He felt Sarek’s surprise at that and his disapproval deepened. We have secured food for our families. We are but a few kilometers from the camp site. Tell our wives to greet us.
Yes, Father, came the subdued reply. There was a hesitation, as if Sarek would say more, but no more thoughts came. Spock closed the mental link.
“My son,” he explained to Sulu and Jim. “Apparently our wives were concerned for us.”
Jim bristled. “Do they think we’re incompetent?”
“I’m sure not, Jim,” Sulu returned. “They’re just worrying. Women do that.” He smiled. “I think it’s kind of sweet.”
“You would think that,” Jim snorted. “Jilla is.”
Sulu considered. “No…” he said slowly. “More fresh. Ruth, now…” He glanced at Spock. “Begging your pardon, of course.”
“You have both had some experience of my wife,” Spock rejoined. His tone held a touch of bitterness. “I do not hold either of your responsible for that fact. Neither of you were elsewhere committed at the time.”
“And you did get to Jilla first,” Sulu reminded. “That at least makes us even.” There was bitterness in his voice as well, though he was still smiling.
“Enough idle chatter,” Spock said abruptly. “I am certain all the game for a mile has heard us and fled by this time.”
“Good thing we’re not on a hunt,” Jim agreed.
“Still, we should learn to be more circumspect,” Sulu said. “You never know when our survival might depend on our ability to move undetected through these woods.”
There were nods of agreement from Jim and Spock, then Spock simply pointed ahead, and they began again to move quietly toward camp.
“Ara,” Sarek said as he stepped up to where Ruth was soothing a silently sobbing Luthien. “I’ve spoken with Father.”
“What? Where is he?!” Ruth demanded. She immediately stood, and Luthien’s dark eyes became wide and hopeful.
“Only a few kilometers away. Uncle Jim and Uncle Roy are with him. He said…” He paused, his skin taking on a slight golden cast, clearly uncomfortable. “He told me, ‘tell our wives to greet us.’”
Ruth studied the young face. “What’s wrong, Glorf?” she asked uneasily.
Sarek blushed again. “He sounded… felt… Ara, he was emotional.”
To Be Continued.....