Get Ready To Go

The speeder dipped over the side. I stepped to the edge to watch it descend. several meters before it hit bottom, the repulsors kicked in and did their job, causing the speeder to bounce harshly, but kept it mostly intact. I watched, waiting for it to stop moving. it came to a rest next to a large boulder. I triggered the det. A muffled boom echoed up through the gorge. If anyone was near by they'd hear it, but the sound wouldn't travel far. Some snow that had been on small outcroppings of the gorge walls floated down slowly settling near the burning speeder.

I looked over at Dante, "Do you want to watch it burn completely, or would you like to head back? There is virtually no chance of the fire spreading, it's all rock and snow down there." I personally wanted to head back, the cabin's speeder didn't have much in the way of a heater, so I'd been a bit chilly for several hours.

"How long will it take to burn?" Dante asked. I looked at the burning speeder, "I would guess anywhere from 20 - 40 minutes. I'll be in the speeder, I want to get out of the wind." I made my way back to the old speeder and climbed inside. I understood his desire to stay it outside, it made a lot of sense. Never wise to walk away and assume that something has happened. Assumptions are a poor replacement for knowledge.

About 45 minutes later, Dante climbed into the speeder, "Let's get out of here," he said. "No need to ask twice," I said and eased the speeder back towards the cabin.

Dante was quiet most of the ride back. He seemed lost in thought and I thought it best to let him be. This had been a long couple of days and I understood his need for silent thought. The drive back to the cabin took less time than the trip out, which was really good since the heater in the car wasn't do much of anything on the ride back.

When we got back to the cabin, I looked over at Dante. "If we're taking off today, I just need to clean up some before we go. I can call Patrin and let him know that we were here and that the speeder will be in town." I backed the speeder into the garage, which put Dante's side close to the door into the house. When we got in I told him, "Just sit and hang out, I need to wash some stuff, put things back in place and back our gear, I should be done in less than an hour." Then I went about doing just that.

"So, how's your brother doing?" Dante asked as I was finishing up. "He's doing well, he likes being his job and his wife just started teaching again. And the kids are doing great, they keep my mom content on the grandbaby front, though she does give Brishen and his wife a hard time about not having had several kids by now." I smiled and rolled my eyes, I've never understood the obsession with wanting grandbabies. "Speaking of being maternal and such, how is your cousin Kory doing? Isn't he in a matrimonial way?" I teased. I finished up the cleaning and sat down. I needed about 5 minutes of rest before heading off to the speeder.

"I guess by the time mothers reach 'grandmother' age they've forgotten the challenging parts of being around small children," he commented. "I suppose all mothers do that to their adult children, although I must say, my mother seems to have given up on the grandmother idea. She's very disappointed with me in that respect."

"I doubt that your mother has ever been disappointed in her baby boy," I said teasingly.

"It's called 'unconditional love,'" Dante said with an easy smile. "I have to get it from someone," he teased back.

He smiled, "I suppose I'll have to be the one who does his bachelor party. That oughta be interesting."

TBC

read Cpt Typho's POV here