The Archangel Chronicles Part Three: Come to the Table

Daniel Calderon lay back on his rumpled bed and desperately tried to sleep. He’d changed clothes on the Archangel, because his old set had been drenched with blood on Botasi station, but the sonic wash on the ship never allowed him to feel clean, and he wanted a shower. Once he’d seen his bed, however, he hadn’t been able to keep himself from falling back on it, staring at the ceiling. Since he took time only to remove his boots, his belt cut into his torso as he squirmed atop the mattress, searching for the bed’s comfortable sweet spot. Even if he’d been up for over twenty-eight hours, on Patmos it was the middle of the day. Daniel did not want to sleep long, but he felt as if he’d worked so far past the point of exhaustion that now his body was unable to relax.

Daylight poured into the garden plaza just outside his window. Even though Daniel lived, technically, in a cave, the light would not let him forget the world outside. His room, as yet, had no shutters or curtains, since his window was high enough that they were not necessary for privacy. He wished he could do something about the blasted light. At least sleep would allow him to forget about what about the disaster the last two days had been. His first time off planet in the month he’d been here. What were these people doing to him?

He heard footsteps clopping on the stone stairway, slowing as they came closer. Daniel rolled onto his side so he could watch the door. When his visitor was framed within it, she hesitated, peering into the darkened room. She started and backed away.

"I’m sorry," Margrace said. "I didn’t realize you were sleeping."

Daniel sat up and dropped his feet to the floor. "I’m not. I can’t."

Margrace approached the door again, and leaned against the frame. "I just came to say thank you."

"For what?"

"Subbing for Galen. Danae’s really close and he wanted to stay with her. You’re excellent on tactical, by the way. Better than Galen, really, but it would crush him if he knew that."

"Don’t compliment me," Daniel said. "Tell it to the programmer who downloaded the skills."

Margrace shrugged. "We had no idea how much we were going to need you. You did more than we could have expected of you, especially for someone who’s . . ." Margrace paused to consider how best to say what she wanted to say.

"Not really a member of the club, yet?" Daniel supplied for her.

Margrace didn’t dispute the assessment. "We had no right to ask you."

"You didn’t ask. I volunteered. And I remember the blue dwarf being right there with me. How is the girl?"

"As you’d expect. Keeping quiet, a little shell-shocked."

"Just a little?" Daniel asked.

"No, not just a little. I don’t think she’s quite realized that she’s lived through it yet."

"Would you?"

"No. And I think it would take some time. I know it would. But she’s with your . . . with Damaris right now. She’ll take good care of her."

"It’s all right, Captain Rhodes. You can call her my mother."

"Really? I knew you were sensitive about this."

"But I’m not a child, either. She is my mother, and I’m here because of her. I suppose I’m grateful for that."