Peter docked his ship carefully, went through his post flight checklist and finally sat back with a sigh.  He hadn’t had collywobbles like that since he first soloed in his Dad’s ancient Piper Cub.  Stretching all over, he hit the comm button.

 “Hey, Solantha.  How’d I do?”

 “Ninety nine of one hundred.  You ssslipped too clossse to that last asssteroid.”

 “Yeah, I know.  I got so interested in the readings that I forgot where I was for a moment.”

 “It only takesss one moment to kill you.”

 “I’ll do better, I promise.”

 “It isss sssomething that all human pilotsss will need to watch.”

 “Yes, it is.  Maybe two man crews for awhile, one to watch the science instruments and one to fly.”

 “Agreed, Peter.  Jossshua isss due for hisss flight to the asssteroidsss.”

 “I’ll sit down with him before tomorrow.  Make sure he knows what to watch out for.  Are you going to chose another path for him or keep this one?”

 “Another.  I think we mussst guard againssst complacccencccy.”

 “Got’cha, big guy.  We’d better get inside before everybody eats our dinner.”

 “It isss lasssagna tonight.  We should hurry.”

 Peter laughed all the way into the airlock where his Ikiiri flight trainer, Solantha, joined him.  Talking about the flight, he almost missed the opening door and the people waiting for him.  His gaze found Ruth first as he always did when he was returning from a flight.  But when he saw Jane beside her, the rest of them all faded away.  He’d thought he was ready for this but seeing her brought him up short.

 She looked just as she always had.  Curly black hair framing the heart shaped face he’d once known so well.  The green eyes were somber and seemed to question him the same way he questioned himself.  Who are you now?  Is there anything left of our love?  Can we do this again?

 “Janey.”  He found himself by her side, his right hand meeting her left, palm to palm.  It felt like the last ten years hadn’t happened.

 “Peter.  How was your flight?”  Her voice was brisk and she stepped back just far enough to put a more comfortable distance between them.

 And that hurt.

 “Great.  Solantha graded me down for being inattentive.”  He dragged his eyes away from her to meet Ruth’s amused gaze.  “We got the samples for Dr. Reinbeau.  They’re in the forward hatch.”

 “Excellent, Peter.  I’ll have him notified right away.  Why don’t you and Solantha get cleaned up?”  Her gaze shifted to the tall Ikiiri.  “I promise we’ll save you some lasagna.”

 “Yesss, we will hurry.”  The green Ikiiri’s eyes whirled with excitement.

 “I’ll see you later, Janey.”  He hadn’t felt this awkward in years.  But he took her faint smile as a promise that they would speak privately.  “Come on, big guy.”

*******************

 He stepped out of the sonics and wished for the hundredth time that water rationing wasn’t so necessary.  Pulling on his robe and brushing his hair in front of the mirror, he looked at himself.  Same old straw colored hair, a little longer than regulation length.  He had little crow’s feet around his blue eyes and the wrinkle between his eyes was more prominent than it had been in his twenties.  Otherwise, he didn’t think he’d changed at all.

 Was that a bad thing or a good thing?  He couldn’t decide.

 “Peter, are you coming out or are you just going to admire yourself in the mirror for awhile?”  Sam leaned in the doorway and grinned.

 “I have changed, haven’t I?”  He met the eyes so like his own in the mirror.  “Grown up, matured or something?”

 “Neither of you are the person you were ten years ago, Peter.  If it wasn’t right then, who knows, maybe it’s right now.  I know that if I’d met Seth when I was younger, we might not be together now.”  Sam shrugged, happiness painting his face with joy.

 “Have I told you how very happy I am for you?”  Peter turned and took two steps to give his brother a hug.  “You deserve the very best and I think you got him.”

 Sam returned the hug.  “Yes, I did.  But that doesn’t mean that your ‘very best’ isn’t waiting for you out there somewhere.”

 “Maybe.  She said she wouldn’t take second place to my flying.”  Peter let go and wandered into his room, knowing that Sam would follow.  “And I’m still flying and just as concentrated on it as I was then.”  Rummaging through his dresser, he pulled out fresh boxers and his black jeans.

 “Wear the blue sweater that Grandma Sophie knitted for you.  It brings out the blue in your eyes.”  Sam advised from the foot of the bed where he’d perched.  “As to your flying, I think the problem was that you had a mission and she didn’t.  Her mother was the one pushing for an early wedding.  She’s gone on and carved out a career for herself, a very good career that feeds her passion to help society and the individuals in it.  She and I have the same desire, we just went about it differently.”

 Peter nodded and finished dressing.  “I know.  But her career is back on Earth not here.  And here is where I’m going to be for the near future.  First the solar system then exploring the other side of the worm hole.”

 “Well, I didn’t find my heart’s desire until I was 45, so I don’t think you have to rush into anything.”  Seth’s voice came from the doorway and Peter watched while Sam sprang from the bed and went straight into the arms waiting for him.

 That was what he wanted, someone to touch and hold.  Someone who wanted him as much as he wanted them.  Was that so much to ask?  Grinning, he buckled on his watch and gave his hair another brushing to give the two lovebirds time to break their clinch.

 “Come on, you guys.  We’ve got Marag’s lasagna waiting for us.”  He finally raised his voice and watched them split apart slowly.

 “You go ahead and I’ll follow after I’ve cleaned up.”

 “I could stay and help.”  Sam said brightly.

 “Then we’d miss dinner and give Jane something to think about.”  Seth chided him gently, his hand still caressing Sam’s cheek.

 “Then shave so I don’t have to explain away stubble burn to her tomorrow.”  Sam teased him with a last sultry look.

 Seth just laughed and headed for the bathroom while the two brothers went in search of food.  The line was long, as it always was when Marag made her lasagna.  The garlic scent from the bread wafted to them and Peter was suddenly ravenous.  The emotions could wait until he’d filled his stomach.  Mary Two Feathers filled his plate for him and he teased her about contributing to his waistline.  She just laughed and patted her own stomach.

 There were three chairs left at Ruth’s table, one of which was right by Janey.  He corrected his name for her mentally.  Jane, she preferred Jane, he chanted over and over while he smiled and sat down by her.  She smiled at him but kept on eating.  The older man sitting by Ruth must be her editor, David something.  He hadn’t been very faithful at watching the news for the last few years.  He had his Internet account set up so he just got the stories that fit his keywords.

 But one of those keywords was ‘Jane Hyde’ so he’d read every story she’d ever filed.  The old guy was asking Ruth about the mining and when he mentioned the accident, Peter shot a look across the table to Sam.

 “Not bad.  Jim Horn just got a burn.  He’ll be fine.”

 “I suppose Ruth showed up to help.”

 Sam just nodded and Peter made a mental note to make sure he hugged her before he turned in for the night.  Every time somebody got hurt, she expended her own energy to speed up the healing and she was stubborn about asking for help to replace it.  So those of them who knew about her healing powers made sure that they were extra touchy-feely with her until she was balanced again.

 “I don’t suppose you’d like to share that cryptic little exchange with me?”  Jane’s voice was pitched to reach the two of them and no one else.

 “No, not now.”  Peter said and just kept eating.

 “That’s all right.  We’ll be here for a week.  I can wait.”  She took another bite and went back to listening to the conversation at the other end of the table.

 Seth sat down by Sam and Peter watched Jane’s gaze turn a little flirtatious.  He realized that he really didn’t know her now at all.  But he was also petty enough to want to be there when she realized that Seth was taken.  Unless that interfered with her friendship with Sam and suddenly he was worried about that.

 “What haven’t you seen yet, Jane?”  Seth said after his first blissful bite was swallowed.

 “Hydroponics, water storage and the rest of the command center.”  She answered, sipping at her hot tea.  “Also, the mining being done and I’d love to go flying again.”

 “Would you like me to show you hydroponics?”  Peter asked tentatively.

 “That would be nice, Peter.  Perhaps later this evening?”

 “Okay.  It’s a . . . an appointment.”  He finished lamely having almost said ‘date’.

 She just nodded and went back to finishing her dinner.  Sam sent him a ‘way to go buddy’ look and Seth just smiled.  Peter thought ruefully that he was going to be teased unmercifully until this was resolved.  And at the moment, he didn’t know what he wanted the ending result to be.  He hadn’t been this wishy-washy in years.

 They made stilted conversation at his end of the table and he found himself wishing for a diversion.  Anything at all would do, he cast out the wish to the universe.  And right on cue, a shriek sounded from the kitchen.  Looking over, he saw Wolf back from Earth bending Marag over his arm in a deep kiss.  Laughing, he shook his head and went back to mopping up the red sauce with his last piece of garlic bread.

 Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jane throw Sam a questioning look, seemingly confused at the by-play between the two lovers in the kitchen.  For a moment, he wondered why then caught a look between his brother and Seth that clued him in.  For some reason, Jane thought that Sam and Marag were an item.  He couldn’t wait to find out how that had happened.

 Laughter followed the entwined pair while they made their escape from the dining hall and Peter sat back to take a look around to see if Joshua Clemens was eating.  Seeing him across the hall, he told Jane he’d be right back and crossed to the table where four of the astronauts were sitting.  Telling him that it was his turn to solo with Solantha the next day, he stopped to answer some questions then left them to their evening.

 Returning to Ruth’s table, he asked Jane if she was ready for her tour of the hydroponics lab.  She said good night to David and Ruth before getting up from the table.  Sam gave him a discrete thumbs up before he turned away to walk along side his former fiancée.  He’d never had so much trouble talking to anyone in his life.

 “It’s all right, Peter.  I don’t know what to say either.”  She cast a glance up at him.  “Ten years seems like an eternity right now.  But when I first saw you . . . it was just like yesterday.  Ruth told me that feeling never completely goes away.”

 “Ruth said that?”  He kept walking but his thoughts darted to what he knew of her past.  “That’s odd.  She never said much about her past except for the whole accident and asylum stuff.  But you’re not talking about one of her other lives, are you?”

 “I don’t think so.  It sounded like something that happened when she was young this time around.”  Jane looked at him curiously.  “Who was the bearded guy kissing Marag?”

 “Wolf or rather Simon Hughes, former Marine, currently our resident go-between for supplies on Earth.  He and Marag are very much in love.  I envy them.”  He stopped at the doorway that led into the hydroponics bay.  “We’ve got a barrier here that’s a little different.  It’s going to feel like something is tugging at your clothes but it’s harmless.”

 She looked at the opalescent shimmer with a doubting eye but once he stepped through, she took a deep breath and came after him.  “Wow, that was weird.  What is it?”

 “The Atlantean version of screening.”  Peter shrugged and pointed to the crystals imbedded in all four sides of the doorway.  "We imported bees to help in pollinating the plants and didn’t want them getting out into the rest of the Base. Ruth came up with it from her first life and Wolf found the crystals to put it into effect.”

 “Did they share a life in Atlantis?”  Jane walked slowly through the winding path that led through the plants.

 “Yes, as did Joe and Marag.”  Peter hesitated to say more, wondering if she was putting two and two together.

 “What life did you share with her?”  Those green eyes skewered him where he stood.

 “I didn’t.”  He really didn’t know if he could tell her about the dreams with the Goddess.

 “Really?  How interesting, Peter.  I’m guessing that Sam and Seth shared a life with her though.”  She leaned over to sniff an orange blossom on one of their dwarf fruit trees.

 “Yes, the second meeting with the Ikiiri in ancient Greece.  She was a Cretan Queen about the time that Thira blew up.”

 “And who were Sam and Seth?”  She rocked back and forth on her heels with her hands clasped behind her back.

 “You should probably . . . um, ask Sam that.”  Peter had never felt so off balance.

 “I will.  Do you feel as uncomfortable as I do?”  Finally, she smiled at him.

 “Yes.  Nothing’s changed has it?  I’m still flying and you’re still ferreting out the truth behind the facades.  Your immigrant series was important.  I followed it for weeks until you finally had Richardson behind bars.  I was so proud of you but I didn’t know if you wanted to hear from me or not.”

 “I always wanted to hear from you except for the six months after I broke the engagement when I really wanted you hog-tied over a slow fire, a la Dolly Parton.”  She cast him a sly look and they both broke up laughing.

 He held out his arms and she came into them with a rush.  It felt so good to hold her again.  A familiar perfume tickled his nose.  “You’re still wearing Chanel No. 5.”

 “Nothing but the best.”  She rested her head on his chest over his heart.  “I want to stay friends, even if we can’t be lovers.”

 “I’d like that, Janey.”  He grimaced.  “Sorry, old habit.  I’d like that, Jane.”

 “I don’t mind it so much when we’re alone but it definitely freaks me out in public.  I thought I'd die of embarrassment when David used it after your phone call.”

 “How is he to work for?”  Peter turned them towards his favorite part of the bay, the herb garden.

 “I’ve learned a lot from him these last three years.  He’s professional but in his own way, he’s as much a crusader as I am.  He backed me to the hilt on the immigrant story.  It’s because of him it ever saw the light of day.”  She kept on talking while he guided them through their green space.  They weren’t the only ones enjoying a stroll and they greeted each person with a nod before moving on.

 They strolled back into the center of the Base, arm in arm.  In the control room, they met back up with David and the camera crew.  Peter could feel the tension in the room and he looked to Seth for an explanation.  He grimaced and slightly tilted his head towards Jamie McGee and the computer screen behind him.

 “Well, it’s been a long day and we’ve got quite a bit planned for you tomorrow.  How about Sam shows you all to the guest suites so you can settle in?  Your luggage is already there.”  To any one else, Seth would appear his normal genial self but Peter knew better.  Sam ushered them out with a smile and a quip about the nonexistent night life.  Jane said she’d be right along.  Once they were gone, all eyes came to Jane

 “I don’t suppose that I can talk you into leaving as well?”  Seth asked Jane.

 “Not unless it’s a state secret of galactic proportions.  Sam is worried.  I could see it in his eyes.”  Jane leveled that green eyed gaze at the base commander who met it with one of his own.

 “It’s all right, Seth.  Perhaps Jane can think of a solution to our little problem.”  Ruth broke the tense silence.  “You may have noticed that security is pretty tight."

 “The double checks of our luggage at the base.  And you probably went through it again when you off loaded it.”  Jane walked over to Seth, followed closely by Peter and he moved away from the monitor to let her see the message on the screen.

 “The Whore of Babylon must be punished.  Death to Her and all Her Works.”

 Peter felt the same intense anger he’d felt when they’d gotten the first message.  He hated the coward who hid behind anonymous e-mails.  “From the New York Public Library again?”

 “No, this time it’s from the Chicago Public Library.  Right at 3:15 when all the kids hit the Glenview branch.” Jamie said with a sigh.  “He or she is taking no chances and the Yahoo profile changes each time.  It could be one person or a group of people who hate us.”

 “So far, your encryption is holding, right?”  Seth stood at the head computer technician’s shoulder.  “And the virus protection as well?”

 “Hey, you hired the best.  McGee and Associates are always a step ahead.  And we’re working on something special for these guys.”  His normal wide grin turned feral.

 Ruth laid a hand on his shoulder.  “I know you’re working wonders, Jamie.  But it may be time for me to go down and confront my opponents.”

 “No!”  The simultaneous shout from Jamie, Seth, Joe and Peter echoed in the room.

 Seth cleared his throat and shot a glance at Peter.  “What we mean is, we need a little more time to figure out who is behind this.”

 “Besides, we’ll be able to announce the creation of our new Fleet after Joshua solos tomorrow.”  Peter waved the red herring in front of Ruth.  “After all, it’s early in this whole process.  Anonymous messages are usually written by people too cowardly to do anything about it.”

 Jane backed him up.  “He’s right, Ruth.  I got quite a few anonymous letters while I was working on the Ku Klux Klan story.  They just let off steam that way.  They were nasty to read but nothing physical.  Who’s your head of security?”

 “My Marines have been handling it so far but sooner or later, we’re going to have to pull in some professionals.”  Seth was as solemn as Peter had ever seen him.

 An uncomfortable silence followed while they all looked at each other.

 “Well, I’ve got a suggestion if you won’t think I’m being too pushy?”  Jane said hesitantly.  At Ruth’s nod, she continued.  “While I was pursuing the illegal alien story, I had to get one of my witnesses to a safe house.  I wasn’t sure about where to stash her until the trial started.  Witness Protection was right out since she didn’t trust anybody in the government.  A friend gave me the name of an organization who did security work.  They aren’t your average detective agency.”  She hesitated again, her eyes moving from Seth to Peter and back again.  “The Lionesse Agency out of New Haven.”

 “I’ve heard of them.”  Wolf’s voice came from over his shoulder and Peter moved to one side to let him into their circle.  “They’ve got a good reputation for playing it close to the vest.  Once they take a job, they’re loyal to the end.”

 “Should we hire them to winnow out this problem?”  Ruth’s face was neutral and Peter could tell that this was a decision she would leave to them.

 “I think so.  The problem is on Earth for the moment and I’d like to leave it there, not take a chance on importing it up here.”  Seth cast his vote.

 “Agreed.”  Wolf nodded.

 “I know a computer tech who works there and he’s good.”  Jamie nodded.

 “Hiring the best saves us time.”  Peter chipped in his two cents worth.

 “Then we’re agreed.  Jane, if you will give Seth the name of who he should contact, we’ll start the ball rolling.”  Ruth nodded decisively.

 “He’s in my address book.  If I had access to my computer, it would easier.”  Jane frowned.

 “Hey, no problem.  KKRS, right?”  Jamie’s fingers danced over the keyboard.  “What have you named your computer?  Jane Hyde, I’ll bet.  Yep, here you are.”

 He wheeled away from the screen and she took his place.  Everyone looked away while she typed in her password and accessed her address book.  “Martin Hewitt.  Here’s his number.”

 With a quick look at the screen, Jamie hit the keypad in quick succession.  “Who’s going to talk?”

 “Ruth, do you want me to talk to him?  Or do you want to?”  Seth asked politely.

 “I think I’d better, Seth.  I seem to be the focus of the threats.”

 “Hewitt.”

 “Mr. Hewitt, you have been recommended to us by Jane Hyde.  We are in need of your expertise.”

 “To whom am I speaking?”

   “Ruth from Moon Base.”

 “You have got to be joking.”

 “No, I’m not.  We have a security threat on Earth with which we could use some help.”  Ruth motioned Jane over.

 “Martin, it’s Jane Hyde.  You really are speaking to Ruth.  David Elliot and I are on the Moon for a series of news stories.  The threat is real.”

 “I see.  All right, I’m listening.  What kind of threat are we talking about?”

 Jane stepped back and Ruth took her place with Seth at her side.  Peter watched her smother a yawn and slipping an arm around her shoulders, he guided her closer to the door.

 “Ready to turn in?  The story will still be here tomorrow.”  He dropped his voice.

 Her eyes went to the group around the computer then back to him.  “All right.  Where am I sleeping tonight?”

 “Next door to David and the camera crew.  You’ve got your own bathroom and I can tell you the one thing you have to know about sonic showers.”

 “What’s that?”  She shot him a skeptical look.

 “Never . . . ever . . . open your mouth if you have a cavity.  It’s guaranteed to send you straight to Mars.”  He said solemnly, only at the last moment giving into the grin.

 She just laughed and he guided her away, taking a last look at the others.  Ruth stood as still as a statue beside Seth, her profile straight out of a museum . . . a Greek museum.  Her eye moved to him and she smiled, nodding goodnight to them.

 Sighing, he turned down the corridor to the guest suites.  At least, he’d managed to salvage his friendship with Jane.  Now if this whole thing didn’t blow up in their faces, he mused.  Maybe, they could get back to the important things.  Like exploring the Moon and flying a little further out.

 Say to Jupiter and back.

**********************
The end of chapter 27