“bye *sniff* see you when you arrive…” Karen tapped the end call button
--- Peer to Peer video call terminated ---
Karen tossed the datapad onto her pillow and curled up in to the fetal position, as she hugged her knees emotions of grief and frustration flowed through her. She had managed to put the thought of Daniel’s death to the back of her mind but when it surfaced it was still raw and felt to Karen as if someone was poking at an exposed tooth nerve. Surprisingly the sense of frustration came not from the investigation but from the fact she had let Lorleii see her so upset, so vulnerable… so pathetic…she uncurled and lay on the bed, allowing these feelings to slowly ebb away like the going out of the tide.
After about an hour she sat up, took a deep breath in and wiped her eyes. With a clearer mind she set about planning for Lorleii’s arrival, which was now no longer than 5 to 6 hours away, and the next day’s science expedition. Karen decided she would meet Lorleii down on the landing pad herself rather than involve Steve Wilson, or any other OS&C staff member for that matter. It would mean they would have to share the dingy box room for one night, but Karen thought it was for the best and did not mind sleeping on the floor. She reached in to a bag beside the bed and rummaged for the radio communicator, it was a small device and had managed to worm its way right to the bottom. Once it had been dug out Karen tuned it to the frequency of Diogo’s control tower. As she waited for Pete’s voice requesting a landing vector she typed a message to the crew of the science vessel, confirming the sailing time the next morning and their acceptance of another unexpected guest.
Tomorrow, thought Karen, would be make or break for the investigation, either another dead end or the start of some real progress towards finding Lorleii’s mother, although this gave Karen a feeling of apprehension it was the imminent meeting with Lorleii that was foremost in her mind. For some reason she felt a connection with her, this women she had not even met… Karen could not put a finger on it… but it made her uneasy.
