Briannas Prophecy Read Free Page B

so long, that is a distinct possibility,” Niklas commented, his expression grim.
    “Uh, Sir? I don’t think you’re going to like this.” Reba was listening to the radio again, her hand pressed to her ear, a frown on her face. “They are very advanced and the possibility of finding The One here could be very high, but…”
    “What do you mean, I’m not going to like that? If the possibilities are high, that is good.”
    Reba eyes didn’t meet his, a sure sign of her nervousness. “Sir…” She paused to take a deep breath and nervously lick her lips. “The possibilities are so high because there are billions of them, Sir.” She looked like she wanted to flinch away when he turned toward her clearly agitated.
    “Excuse me?”
    “There are billions of people on this planet, Sir. I don’t know how we will ever choose the right place to begin our search. Perhaps we should leave and search the other less populated worlds.”
    Niklas frowned at her suggestion. He would be able to cover more ground if he left and went to the other worlds she suggested, but then again, a world which had Morwyyn helping it, would have flourished.
    “No. We’ll stay, at least for a while. We are already here. It would be more of a waste to leave and have to return.” Niklas sighed, hoping he hadn’t just made a huge mistake. “Find out how out of date our information is. Get some information up here, and put it on discs fast.” If this took very long, he wasn’t going to be happy. Not happy at all.
     
    Niklas was not pleased. It hadn’t taken long to find that their information was no longer useful. It was so out of date, to call it obsolete was an understatement. To coin a colorful Earth phrase, he was pissed! He paced in front of the communications console, waiting for the verdict from Reba.
    How long could it take to do some catching up? There were new phrases to learn such as new slang and colloquialisms, so it was like learning a new language. Again. He didn’t want to sit back and do nothing, but it had been his designated job since they’d maintained an orbit behind the single moon. Niklas paced, stopping every few steps to scowl at Reba.
    She ignored him. After nearly a year of serving on the vessel, Reba knew his moods were mostly show. After an hour of interminable pacing, he noticed her attention and nearly pounced on her. “What did you find? Do we have enough information to learn so I can go down to the surface?” His hands held her arms. He hated this waiting—hated wasting so much precious time.
    “I have something we can load onto a subliminal disk. There is so much to learn, we need to run a routine scouting mission to learn it all.”
    Niklas squeezed her shoulders, released her. “How long is that going to take?” Shoving his hands in his pockets, he looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes, trying to gain some measure of self-control before he glanced back at his communications engineer.
    Reba tilted her head and looked at him as she reached up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “As you know…Sir, a routine scouting mission usually takes about two weeks. If we put everything on disks as soon as we receive it, you should be able to function very well down there in sixteen days at a maximum.” She sat stiffly, obviously steeling herself against his temper.
    Sixteen days…then approximately three months for the return trip left only a year to find The One if Trinaugh’s calculations about the death of the sister were correct. He could only hope he had enough time.
    Niklas lowered his head and stared at his boots. He’d never felt so helpless in his life. Would he ever find her? The thought of losing his friends and his family was staggering. Even if they moved off world, he would still lose his home and everything he had grown to love through the years. Niklas had already made the commitment to marry the one who possessed the power to save his world, even at the cost of his own