While the agents of Terra Group busied themselves within their pair of starships, some patching up injuries and others desperately trying to patch up the Situations that they knew would fall out from the blaster fight in the Old City during the night, Raymond and Cheriss sat on the Red Home's opened entry ramp and watched the sun rise over the Judean hills. What they sought to patch up would be a minor concern to those inside the ships, but Raymond could wait no longer.
"I worried," he told her, not for the first time.
"I told you not to," she said, setting her jaw and looking away. "I can take care of myself, remember? I'm trained for this sort of thing."
"That has nothing to do with my worries," he grumbled.
"Nothing to do with your worries, Raymond? What then?" she turned blue eyes upon him, eyes that questioned with a sense of his worry being unnecessary no matter what spawned it.
"I'll always worry for you," he began earnestly, "because I--"
A sound of laughter interrupted his protestation. The Frenchman and the Adumari woman looked up as one to see two people, hand in hand, making their way over the rocky terrain to where the Terra Group ships were hidden.
Cheriss was struck with the irony of the situation. She had seen each of those people leave, both in pensive, depressed moods. That they were together now, and laughing. It made her half smile.
Raymond started in recognition beside her. "Where've they been?" he whispered.
"They left seperately, earlier this morning. Somewhere in Jerusalem, I imagine," she whispered in return.
"I might have to ask him just where," she heard Raymond mutter under his breath, but then the couple were close enough to recognize them sitting there.
"Raymond!" the girl smiled. Then her eyes fell on Cheriss, and rested there for a thoughtful moment before widening in recognition. "Is it you?" She stepped closer. "It is! Thirteen's mother--I almost didn't recognize you, it must be years since the holo in the locket was made, but--Cheriss! How'd you get here?"
The woman blinked, two words catching her attention. "Thirteen's mother?"
"Oh--um--well, we didn't know what you'd named her. . . ." the girl grinned and shrugged. "We called her Terra Thirteen, like she was another member of the squad. I'm Three, by the way. Becki." Cheriss accepted the girl's handshake. "And this is Thayer." The man standing with her offered a bow almost reminiscent of customs in Cartann.
"I saw that Alienor was not here, where is she?" Motherly concern, present in all women, especially mothers.
"Alienor?" Raymond latched on to the name, easily echoing the pronunciation Cheriss had given it--the Adumari name was not unlike the French one, a Gallic version of Eleanor, with four pure vowels, each different from all the others, clearly sounded, and the stress on the final syllable.
"Is that her name?" Becki beamed.
Cheriss looked down and muttered, "I knew I forgot to tell that droid something...."
"She's well," Becki reassured.
"Who's . . ." Thayer began.
"Cheriss's baby," Becki said, "that came home with us to Mendellia."
"She's in Mendellia then. With whom? Is she safe? Well cared for?" Worry shone in the woman's eyes. "I hated leaving her, but it was necessary," she let out a regretful sigh.
Becki nodded. "I left her in Iris's care." She nodded to her companion. "Thayer's old nurse, and he turned out quite well, yes?" she giggled. "Thirteen'll be fine. She's a good baby."
Cheriss nodded, not sure whether to speak her thoughts on that, or not.
Thayer's eyes narrowed. "Is this the baby you were carrying around when you first got back from Paris, Bec?"
"No one else was inclined to babysitting duty," Becki shrugged and smiled. "I didn't mind."
"I want to thank you for taking care of her," Cheriss said earnestly. "I have been worried."
She ignored a meaningful snort from Raymond's direction.
"Of course," Becki said.
"And I can assure you," Thayer said courteously, "she will indeed be well, if she's in Iris's care. There could be no better place for her in all my country. Though--to be certain--I think I would speak for all of Terra Group in hoping to see her back in her mother's arms as soon as may be." He repeated the bow.
She returned it, glad for the bit of familiarity it gave her. "As do I also hope."
"The sooner we finish up this mission, the sooner that can happen," Becki noted.
"Speaking of," her voice turned all business. "I saw you found those slippery women. They have a piece of the shield, you know."
"Had," Raymond corrected. "Jedi Boyd has it now."
"Terra Nine?" Cheriss recalled. The others nodded in confirmation.
"And anything else they may have," Thayer said, "Sci will find it out."
She let out a rueful chuckle, "He seems a very persistent young man. I can see why he was chosen for this duty."
"Not to mention his timing," Becki chuckled. "From what I hear, the firefight could have gone quite differently if he and the new recruits hadn't shown up when they did."
A flash of gruesome memory passed over her eyes. Just as Cheriss was about to answer, two figures appeared, hand in hand, at the top of the ramp.
"Sylvana?" Thayer asked wonderingly, as Becki said, "Crispy?"
The two figures glanced over at Becki and Thayer. Sylvana waved with her free hand, flashing a smile and a wink in stead of speaking, and Crispy said nothing as the two headed away from the ship toward a rise further in the gulley.
"I wonder where they're going?" Becki mused.
"Not the right direction for the Mount of Olives," Thayer grinned.
Becki laughed and leaned closer to him. "What? You don't think they--"
"You didn't hear about the alien incident, did you, love?"
Cheriss simply raised an eyebrow at the exchange.
Raymond raised an eyebrow, too, at the mention of the Olive Mount.
Becki studied Thayer's face dubiously for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm not asking. I'm just not. Anyway, wasn't that the new medic, that came with you and Sci?"
"Dr. Lorrdain, yes," Thayer confirmed.
"If she's leaving the Home, I wonder if that means she's finished with Lenka? Maybe we should go check up on her."
With that, the two, hand in hand still, bid farewell to Raymond and Cheriss and slipped past them into the Red Home.
"Cheriss?" Raymond spoke after a while.
"Hm?" she responded distractedly.
"What would you think of a walk over to the Mount of Olives?"
She looked at him tenderly but sadly. "Not everyone can afford such a diversion, Raymond. Not in the middle of this mission. Now that I've made contact with Terra Group--and since it looks like I'll be obliged to stay--I've got work to do, trading information with them, planning where to go next. The shield is still out there." With that, she left him, vanishing into the Red Home's hold.
Raymond sighed after her and sat morose as the sun's early light sparkled in the dust at his feet.