Nicholas Halstead led the big black gelding out of the stall.  It was still dark in the early morning hours with a thin grey line to the east.  The horse snorted and nickered to the other horses already saddled and ready for the journey.

Tying the lead rope to the upper rail on the corral he brushed the horse down and threw the saddle blanket followed by the saddle, onto the black’s back.  Lacing the latigo through the cinch, he pulled the leather girth tight around the gelding’s chest. 

He paused to look over his work and chuckled to himself.  A year ago, he had never seen a horse in real life,  and here he was riding, saddling, and taking care of them like an expert.  It was amazing how adaptable humans could be.

Alexander Black walked out of the house and into his stall, pulling his horse and going about getting it ready for the journey.  He watched the other man’s hands and body as he moved – a natural at animal care.  He finished loading his horse and nodded appreciatively at Halstead, “You have all the appearances of a natural, Nicholas.  Even in my younger days could not have had such skills.  You sure you want to travel the stars for the rest of your life?”

Nicholas leaned on the pommel and stared off into the distance.  After a brief moment of silence, he spoke, “No, I am not certain. Had you asked that question a year ago… I would have said yes. Without hesitation.   I am comfortable in this world, but Aoife….” He glanced over at the cottage,  “Aoife’s place is with the stars, and I think my place is at her side.”

The elder cleric cinched up the saddle and gently checked his horse’s feet before returning his attention to the man, “Thinking is not the same as knowing.  I’ve liked and loved plenty of women in my lifetime – I never had one that I knew was the one I wanted to follow into the fire.”  He shrugged and scratched at the horse’s head, “It is your life to live. I do not presume to tell you how to live it.”

“I wouldn’t listen to you if you did,” Nicholas said with a grin. Shrugging, he sighed,  “I can’t stay here regardless.  I have a family. And while I don’t know the future of Aoife and I, I do know my son needs his father. No, I have to return.”

Black understood those feelings, “Home is where the ones you care for are – I often wonder what my last years will be like here.”  He glanced around, “I still have many more to go, but I contemplated it more and more.”

The cottage door opened, and light within poured out. Silhouetted and wrapped in her cloak Aoife stepped out, closing the door behind her. Approaching the two men, she handed them cups of tea, “So what were you two going on about?”

“Oh, just guy talk,” Nicholas said, accepting the tea, “Thanks.” Taking a sip and smiled contentedly.  “I do miss coffee,  but this is good tea.”

“I doubt there’s a coffee bean within a hundred light years from here,” Aoife said with a smirk.

“Yeah, I know.  Still doesn’t make me miss it any less.”

Black accepted the tea, “There have been rumors of this…coffee bean for many thousands of years.  I’ve searched the land for it, but nothing was ever found.  Lots of leaves for a drink, of course.”  He finished his and turned to the two, “I’ll gather the rest of the supplies from the barn.”  He walked off, leaving the two of them to talk.

Nicholas glanced over his shoulder and watched Black dissappear and returned his gaze into the distance.   Looking at Aoife he suddenly spoke, “What of us? I mean what of us if we get back?”

Aoife gave Nicholas an odd expression, “What about us?”

Nicholas sighed, “We have lived as a married couple for the last year.”

Aoife sipped her tea.  Tapping the cup with her index finger, she gave Nicholas a thoughtful look. “We did that to save face in a community where men and women were not to be living together,  and I, as a woman, could not survive alone. At least not without doing something that would put me on the edge of society.”

“I know, but… Aoife, I believe I have feelings for you….”

Aoife was shocked and tried to form words that she could not find.

Alexander ambled back after some time and strapped the remaining supplies to the horse, checking to ensure it held.  He glanced at the sky, “There could be rain this evening.  Wherever we get to, we should locate some strong shelter.  The storms of our land are not to be trifled with in any form.”

“Then we should plan accordingly,” Aoife said, thankful for the interruption. 

Alexander looked at each of them and felt he had missed something.  He had suspected in the short time he had come to know them that there were some…complicated matters between them.  He had learned long ago to keep such thoughts to himself lest he opens up a chasm from which he could not escape.  “Let us ride – the wind will be at our backs for a short time.”

They gathered the last supplies, and Black secured his home before mounting his horse.  They started slow and then picked up speed on the path as the day’s light began its trip onward.

Aoife was silent as they rode.   She was careful not to make eye contact with Nicholas.   She still wasn’t sure how to respond to his declaration.   Did she feel the same way?  As Captain, she never had the luxury of even allowing herself to think in those terms; now, her world was being turned upside-down again.

Black pushed them on, driving them deeper and deeper into the hills and forests, his eyes searching the landscape.  The clouds began to grow as the light pushed higher and higher.  The air felt damp and clumsy, and Alexander grumbled, “The rain is coming.”  He consulted his map momentarily and smiled, “There is an old settlement just down the way – last time I was there, a few buildings remained.”

“I assume by your description that it has long ago been abandoned?” Nicholas asked.

Black gave a sad nod, “Nothing out here has seen life for a long time.  Our people abandoned the life out here long ago – too dangerous, they said.  Too afraid of the wonders that are around, I say.”

They moved quickly, and the horses were just being pulled into the haphazard barn when the rain broke with a thunderclap, dousing the world around them.

“Glad you knew of this place,” Aoife said, staring into the rain.  “That would have been a miserable ride, to be sure.”

The old cleric watched the rain aggressively stomp down from the sky above, “One of my reasons to come here was the rain…but the other reason is that there is an old library just a door or two down…a library which I have been working on moving to my home.  There is a book there – too heavy to move – that may tell us the site’s location we seek.”

“And no one else knows of it?” Aoife asked.

Black smiled, “If the clerics from the towns knew it existed, they would burn it to the ground.  They twist and turn the words of old into what they need it to be.”  He handed them heavy blankets from the shelf, “The overhangs should keep us dry.  Come along.”

Aoife sighed and nodded, “Commander watch the horses.  We’ll be back. Let’s get this over with.”

Alexander led her down the wrecked walkway as the rain sputtered and spattered through holes in the awnings until they reached the door, where he carefully inserted a worn iron key and slipped inside, followed by Aoife.  The room was dark, and he lit the candles, the musty and dusty smell clawing at their nostrils.

“No one has been in here for a while.  What is that smell?” Aoife asked rhetorically.

Black smiled, “It is an acquired odor, I admit.  Up here.”  He walked to the far end of the room, where a raised altar dominated the library’s back area.  A massive book with stone covers and pages of hardened wood sprawled across the marble stone.  He took in the sight, “It is the holiest scripture I have been able to find in my years of searching. I suspect this was a thriving city once, and this place was the center of many studies about our faith…but times change, and hearts grow distant from hope and truth.”

“That is the human condition, Mr. Black.  That same was true on Earth.  They call it progress.  I’m not so sure.”

He jostled the pages and slowly began to turn them, “You can see now why trying to bring this home would have ended in my early doom.”

“I thought you were exaggerating.   That’s a tome to last the ages.” Aoife circled the book resting on its table, studying it with a scientist’s curiosity,  but reluctant to touch it like it would shock her or something. 

He continued to work the pages until he found what he was looking for and let out a long breath, “I think I can count that as my daily body work in my journal.”  He chuckled and slipped his glasses on, “Now, let’s see here…”

“The device that brought us here… Well, you remember,” Aoife said cutting herself off.  She was repeating herself.   Black was no fool and smarter than most.  He didn’t need her telling him about it again.

He gave her a curious look but smiled warmly, “You are anxious to return home.”  He turned the pages, grimacing at the old weight, “I couldn’t help but notice something…was different between you and your…friend when I returned to the horses.”  He searched the words on the pages feeling as if he was getting closer to the truth.

She hesitated and then let out a long sigh.  Who else was she going to talk to about this?  “Nick… Commander Halstead wanted to open the door for a relationship.  As his captain, that would be inappropriate,  possibly even against regulations, with him being my XO and direct subordinate.”

Black did his best to understand the meanings of the different words she was speaking.  It took him a moment, but he arrived at the meaning, “There are plenty of stories in our history and mythology to suggest otherwise.”  He read through a page and flipped some more before realizing she didn’t understand his references, “My apologies my lady.  I forget this is not your native land.  There are stories of Lady Caitlyn and her guard who would gaze at each other, wanting each other…but they remained bound to their positions for so long…until one day, she could take it no more.  She knelt at his feet and proposed marriage.  It was a scandal, yet the nation’s people eventually accepted them.  Their love is taught in schools to this day as a model for us all to follow.  No matter the position or the pedestal – one should not deny the love that drives our hearts.”  He turned a page, “Ah, yes.  There it is.”

Aoife sighed considering his words. She remained silent as Black thumbed through the pages

He traced the words with his fingers, “The place and instrument we seek are over the hill and in the next valley…at least it was there when this was first written.  ‘The Great Bridge’ is the name this document refers to it by…it seems there have been many names given to this thing.”  He turned back to her, “The real question is – are you a Lady Caitlyn…or will you stuff your feelings into the raging depths of your heart?”

“I… I…” She blushed, “This is more than a scandal. It means the uprooting of something I have worked so hard to build. Twenty years to be a Starship captain. It’s an identity that is tied to me now.  I do not know if the risk is worth the reward. And there is a very real possibility that I don’t lose my captaincy, but Nicholas is reassigned to another ship, and a relationship across light-years never works out.”

Black listened to her, his face remaining blank as she finished her rationalization.  “I do not claim to understand how the world works in your place and time…but I do have a claim on understanding love in all its forms.  There is a concept of risk in our practiced faith – the risk of war, the risk of love, the risk of….well, anything.”  He finished copying the notes from the heavy book, “I have our next step in this journey.  We’re close now.”  Alexander stepped down from the elevated platform and headed towards the door, “You must make your decision about your journey with him soon.  When you find your way back home…you may have run out of time.

“If it’s meant to be, time is irrelevant,” Aoife replied dryly not caring for the sermon much.  She sighed and gave the book one last look and followed Black outside.