Time Bandits (Part 3)

The soft swish of the cockpit door opening behind him roused Jel from his drowsy state. He glanced behind him to see Tisha walk in, her face expressionless. Her hands and shirt sleeves had black soot and grime smeared on them, no doubt from the Siphon. He could see a dark lump forming on her forehead where she had hit it. Her right sleeve was damp, and some of the black stuff had transferred from it to her face from wiping away tears.

"Hey Honey," he said quietly. He smiled at her, but she didn't look at him. She went straight to the copilot's console and deftly pulled up the navigation charts. Satisfied that Jel had set them on the right course, she next checked the condensed time buffers. Jel could see they were almost full. Tish continued to stare at the screen, but her eyes seemed to loss focus. Jel got up and walked over to her. He tenderly laid his hand on her shoulder.

"You should have waited," she stated in a low, flat tone.

"Sweetheart, I'm sor—"

"You should have waited!" she shouted in his face. She was facing him now, her eyes blazing. Jel's instinct was to put up his defenses and make excuses, but he knew that wouldn't help anything, so he said nothing. He just glanced between her eyes and the blackness in the windshield behind her. He couldn't hold her gaze for long at a time. Finally he broke the tense silence.

"Tish..." She didn't respond. "Look, I know it's my fault the Siphon exploded, I know that."

"You're right, it is your fault!" she snapped.

"Also," he continued, trying to keep his voice calm, "I'm sorry the Siphon was destroyed, but I'm not sorry I warped when I did. I made a judgement call, and I'd choose the same thing again if I was in that situation again. We would have died if I hadn't warped when I did!"

"You don't know that! A few more seconds and it would have been done! We could have lasted that long!" The fire in her eyes blazed even brighter.

"You didn't see the lasers coming at us! We wouldn't have survived that many hits. We cut it close as it was."

"But—" Suddenly the fire in her eyes was doused by a rush of water. Jel was immediately next to her, wrapping her in his arms. She shook as her tears soaked his shirt. "That Siphon was my father's life work. It was all I had left of him..." she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I know sweetheart. And I wish we'd had time to save it. But don't you think he would rather see you alive than die trying to save his creation?" Her shaking had stopped, and she looked up at him with tears streaked across her face.

"Yeah, I know. I just... I feel like he just died all over again." Jel smoothed her hair with his hand, and brushed tears from her cheeks. He smiled at her and kissed her tear-streaked cheek. Staring at her, his eyes said it all. I love you. I treasure you. And I always will. She smiled back, and laid her head on his chest, hugging him tight.


They stayed like that for a while, without even noticing time passing.


Eventually, Jel pulled out of the embrace and said,

"Don't forget, we still have the Spindle. You haven't lost everything your dad left you."

"Yeah, but the Spindle isn't much use without the Siphon. It's pretty hard to manipulate time without a supply of condensed time, and our buffers won't last forever." Tisha replied thoughtfully. "Unless...." Tisha's brow furrowed, as her mind spun across the possibilities. Jel smiled, knowing the conversation was over. His wife was as brilliant as she was beautiful, and once she got an idea in her head, it consumed her attention. As if to confirm his thoughts, Tisha turned and quickly moved toward the back of the cockpit. At the door she paused and glanced back at him.

"Thanks Dear," she said. Her face lit up with a big smile. He smiled back.

"Go my Love," he replied, but she was already through the door. Go use that passion and drive I love so much.

To Be Continued...