Knight Squadron - Out in the Cold

Aiden politely, and loudly, cleared his throat.

Gisela's head jerked up.

"Oh. Hi, Aiden. I didn't see you."

Aiden watched, fascinated, as her face transformed. The worry lines smoothed, though they didn't disappear completely, and the despairing look mutated into one of polite interest. She was every inch the princess, he thought, except for her eyes. They were still dark and haunted.

"I'm just heading back to my quarters," he informed her. "We want to get an early start in the morning."

"Thank you," Gisela nodded, as she stepped past him.

"Princess!" She stopped and turned back. The look on her face made his heart ache. "Gisela," Aiden said more gently. "We'll find them. They'll be fine." He reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine." There, he'd said it. Let Gisela wonder which 'he' he'd meant. But Aiden had a feeling she already knew.

She offered him the ghost of a smile. "Good night, Aiden." As Gisela turned, Aiden could see all the fear and all the pain reappear on her face.

"Hey, cousin!' he called after her. "Trust me!"

The hint of a real smile lifted the corners of Gisela's mouth.

"You know we're not really cousins." she pointed out. It was a mistake quite a few people had made.

"Well, your mother was a Hunt," Aiden answered her. "Somewhere way, way, back we have to be related."

"The odds are astronomical."

"I'm Korscian, never tell me the odds!" He grinned briefly. "Try and get some sleep, Gisela," he recommended gently.

"You, too. I'll see you in the morning."

***

Chapter Three...

Clear Light At Dawn...

Gisela woke to sharp stabbing pain in her neck and back. Where was she? The space was black and cold, with only a single, faint glow relieving the stygian darkness; the surface on which her face rested was smooth and unyielding. Her breath caught—the Base Star. In any moment, Lord Shayatin would be back to resume the torture. The light must be the interrogation droid, waiting for its Master's return. Cautiously, she opened her eyes and squinted in that direction. 0418 shone back at her from the small chrono perched on top of an upended packing crate. With a groan, she raised her head and rubbed at the screaming muscles in her neck.

"Lights on half-full," she ordered. Her cramped sleeping quarters swam into focus in the brightening light.

The Princess rubbed her hands roughly over her face, swiping away the worst of the nightmare. She'd fallen asleep over the weekly fuel consumption reports, of all things. The pain in her neck was merely the result of sleeping face down on her small table, instead of the Jaheem's questionable mercies. She continued rubbing at her strained muscles as she pondered what could possibly have possessed her to look at that uninteresting set of data at any time other than directly before a quartermasters' meeting.

And the old nightmare was replaced by a new one.

Her heart began to race the moment it came back to her. Jac and Jo. How could she have forgotten that they were lost somewhere in the deathly cold of a night on Siria? How could she have fallen asleep? Gisela scrubbed her hands over her face again, willing the last traces of her somnolence away. She dashed into the bathroom, intent on doing only what was absolutely necessary.

Moments later she was out again, drying her face and hands on a rough towel. Usually she was loathe to use the coarse fabric, but today she welcomed the scratchy surface—she needed all the help she could get this morning. As she tucked stray hairs back into her braid, she checked for messages. Of course there weren't any. It was only in her imagination that Jac and Jo had magically appeared at the shield doors in the middle of the night, demanding entry. Grabbing her gloves, she palmed open her door and headed out into the frigid corridor.

***

The hangar was bitterly cold at this early hour, even with the shield doors shut tight. Ice crystal rainbows haloed the lights high overhead as Gisela pulled on her heavy gloves, and the outlines of the Valkyries and Warthogs stood out sharply in the frigid air. Her teeth chattering against the numbing cold, she wondered how much worse it must be beyond the heavy doors. Behind her she could feel the dark presence of the Ghost filling the far end of the hangar, even as she could feel the absence of its Captain. She shuddered involuntarily.

There were an inordinately large number of people filling the flight deck at this early hour; the exhalations of the dozens of beings creating a misty fog around them. A group of tired looking mechanics poked and prodded at the H-74's, but Gisela could tell from the humming roar of engines that the speeders were finally functional. They must have worked all night. As she watched, Kono pulled himself out from underneath one of them, his arms matted with lubricant all the way up to his elbows. Instead of going to bed, as he'd insisted the Princess do when they'd parted company last night, he'd obviously gone to work alongside the mechanics. He looked exhausted. A few meters away from them, the pilots of Knight Squadron huddled together, their black and silver flightsuits a sharp contrast to the white gray of the H-74's behind them. Several of them were drinking java out of thermal containers, one or two yawned. All of them were listening to instructions from General Ryker. He broke away from the group when he saw the Princess.

"Gisela, I was hoping you could sleep a little longer," her father's old friend greeted her. "I know this must be hard for you," he said gently. "Strauss and Jordan are your closest friends, and Jordan..." he left the thought dangling there. The General, who knew her as well as anyone on the base did, carefully ignored Gisela's quick, sharp look in his direction.

Getting nothing further from Ryker, the Princess looked around the hangar. Her scan picked out two others she hadn't seen before. In a far corner, isolated from everyone else, were a medical droid and a human medic. Gisela shivered, fervently hoping their services wouldn't be needed. God! What was she thinking? Of course she hoped they were needed! If they weren't, that would only mean...

Gisela didn't want to finish the thought. Up until this moment, she had been thinking of Jac and Jo only as being lost. Now, she had to face the fact that they could be dead... frozen in the deadly cold. She shuddered. Jac...

A picture formed in her mind. Jac Jordan, lying half on his side in a snow bank, the hood of his jacket blown back by the icy winds. His hazel eyes, open and unseeing, were glazed with a thin layer of ice. She remembered their last conversation, there in the corridor outside the command center. They'd snarled at one another. What if those were the last words she ever spoke to him?

She bit back a strangled cry, willing herself to remain composed. What demon in the lowest of the hells had her picturing that? And why was Jac the focus of her fears? Of course she was worried for Jo as well. She shut her eyes, forcing her errant mind back on track.

She opened them again at a gentle touch on her arm. General Ryker squeezed consolingly.

She looked around again at the milling groups of people.

"How much longer do we wait?" she asked Ryker coolly.

"As soon as it hits -30 they'll open the doors and Knight group will recommence the search," he answered her, nodding once to acknowledge Gisela's change in demeanor. "Thanks to the people who worked through the night, the speeders are set to go." The General smiled a little. "It says quite a bit about how well liked Jordan and Strauss are," he observed. "There were a dozen workers here all night, getting those H-74's prepped. And Kono, of course," he added as the Bwandi came to stand protectively behind the Princess.

Gisela was surprised to discover just how much better she felt with Kono's warm presence behind her.

"General!" Aiden's voice rang through the hangar. "We're at -30." He waved his gloved hand at the temperature sensor on the outside wall.

"Open the doors," General Ryker ordered.

Before the words had left Ryker's lips, the doors were opening and the Knights were maneuvering the speeders out into the cold, clear dawn.

***

Gisela could feel her heart beating unevenly in her chest as she squinted into the white glare outside the shield doors. She found she was standing in almost exactly the same place she had been the night before... close enough to the doors that she could see if something or someone returned, but far enough away that she didn't feel the worst of the cold. This morning, however, Kono stood with her, instead of pacing in front of the doors. She wondered about the change. She knew he was just as anxious as she was... she could feel the tension vibrating off him... but he seemed unwilling to leave her alone. God! Had he given up on Jac, too... on Jac and Jo, she quickly corrected herself... as so many of the others had? She didn't think she could bear it.

Time crawled.

Then Kev's voice boomed out as it was broadcast through the hangar, announcing that he'd found the missing men. A tired, ragged cheer echoed off the high ceiling. A more enthusiastic cheer ensued when he informed the waiting group that both men were alive. The euphoria dimmed when Kev requested medical personnel meet him as he landed.

The personnel filling the hangar drifted like snow toward Kev's speeder as it came to rest on the tarmac. No one spoke as they moved Jo's limp, battered body from the back of the H-74 onto a hover-stretcher. Gisela held her breath until one by one, the monitors on the stretcher lighted, indicating its occupant was alive. The relieved sigh of the watchers was audible. Kono moaned sympathetically

The Princess watched with wide, worried eyes as they moved Jo toward the base medical facilities. Her first words, however, had nothing to do with the young Commander.

"Where's Jac?" she asked. Her eyes darted from Kev to the glistening white landscape beyond the shield doors. She didn't see any other speeders coming back. "Is he okay? Is he badly hurt?"

The pilot's eyes widened in momentary surprise, then narrowed curiously, before he answered the Princess.

"Captain Jordan looked in pretty good shape, all things considered, Ma'am," he answered. "I'm no medic," Kev continued, his voice even, "but I'm betting he's got some frostbite. But he was more concerned about Commander Strauss get medical attention than anything else. He was waiting for Commander Hunt to come and pick him up." Kev smiled. "He did ask me if I had any hot Korscian brandy stowed anywhere."

Kono howled a booming laugh. Gisela's lips curled upward for a fraction of a second.

"He would," was her only response, but relief washed over her in a warming wave.

The sound of another approaching snow speeder drew their attention. It landed with a flourish a short distance away from the group. Gisela watched as the canopy opened and Aiden Hunt hopped out. He reached in back to give his passenger a hand, and was haughtily rebuffed. Carefully, Jac Jordan climbed out of the H-74 and stood shakily next to it.

With an ear-shattering yowl, Kono ran toward his friend, enveloping Jac in a rib-cracking hug. The Korscian had little success fending him off. Gisela allowed herself a quick, amused smile when she saw Jac arguing with the medic who had trotted up to check on him. Kono voiced his opinion on the stupidity of his friend and reached for his arm, intent on dragging him forcibly to the medical ward.

Gisela didn't realize that she was staring until Jac's eyes made contact with hers across the tarmac. He raised one eyebrow in a curious smirk. She felt the heat of a blush rush up her cheeks and a tiny flutter in her stomach. Angrily, the Princess turned on her heel to head toward the medical facilities. When she knew no one could see her, she allowed herself another relieved grin.

***

Gisela continued talking to the med-droid about Jo's condition, even while she listened with half an ear to the commotion coming from the other treatment room. Jac Jordan was not happy with his own med-droid's suggestion that a short immersion in Locara would remedy the Captain's case of frostbite and hypothermia. In response, the Captain had suggested reformatting the droid as a garbage compactor.

Gisela turned her attention back to Johann. He floated, unconscious, in the healing Locara bath. He had very nearly died from hypothermia, the med-droid had informed her. The young Commander had been very lucky that his body heat had stayed just above fatal levels. The Princess knew luck had nothing to do with it; Jac Jordan had kept him alive.

The man would never cease to amaze her.

The door to the treatment room slid open and Jac walked in. He didn't appear to be in any distress, Gisela observed, though his fingers still looked a little pale and bluish at the tips.

"How's the kid?" he asked, moving toward the tank.

"He should make a full recovery, but it was close." A little hitch in the Princess's voice expressed her concern for their friend.

"Yeah," was Jac's one word reply. After an awkward silence, he turned to leave.

"Jac!"

He turned back, looking curiously at her.

"Thank you," the Princess said.

The Korscian waved her thanks away with a wave of his hand and a mocking half-smile. "It was nothing, your Ladyship."

"It wasn't nothing. He could have died." Jac's face reflected no emotion; he turned back to the door.

"You could have died," Gisela hurried on.

"Would you have cared?" he asked her. Jac's tone was light, mocking, but there was a tentativeness in it that Gisela didn't miss.

"Of course I would!" she answered vehemently. What did he think of her?

Jac waited, as if he were expecting something more. Gisela didn't know what that something could be.

He spun on his heel. "Never mind, your Ladyship!"

"Jac! Wait!"

This time he stopped but didn't turn. Gisela reached over to a small shelf, then walked around to face Jac.

"Here," she said. She held out a large, thermal mug, filled to the brim with steaming java.

Jac looked at her oddly, as if Gisela's small act meant something larger.

"I thought you might want this," Gisela hurried on. She extended the mug.

Jac reached for it, their hands touching as he took it from her.

"Thanks, Gisela." This time his smile was warm and genuine. With a grateful sigh, he took a sip, shutting his eyes as he savored the warmth.

Gisela felt it again, the tiniest flutter in her belly, as she watched the smiling Korscian. Something had shifted in her thinking—or maybe it was in his attitude—she wasn't sure. Something as warm as the java she'd given him.

Jac opened his eyes and peered at her over the mug. "Yes, your Ladyship?"

"Nothing, Captain." She knew it couldn't last. The feeling gone, Gisela turned back to the Locara tank and its occupant. She never saw the Korscian's fond, lopsided smile.

***

The End!