*** Living Dream Hotel * Room 28 * Level 12*** Rangi opened her eyes. Beside her Shane was sleeping soundly, his breathing even and deep. She knew something had woken her but couldn't pin point exactly what. Into the stillness of the room came the soft sound of a three toned chime. Rangi turned her head toward the door and listened. The tones were repeated and she recognised it for the sound of the wall screen when Z aba had contacted her and called her to the infirmary. Having little worries Shane dreamt about a long holiday on a remote beach planet with his beloved. As usually, Shane slept like a baby and there was very little that could wake him. A faint chime sound by far not. {Somethings happened!} she thought, easing herself as gently as she could from beneath Shanes arm which was draped across her body. He stirred slightly at her movement, muttered something she couldnt understand and slept on. She slid from the bed, reaching for her robe and silently crossed the bedroom, bare feet sinking into the thick cream coloured carpet. A dim light shone from the holoscreen and glancing at it Rangi saw it now showed a full moon had risen behind the second highest peak. {Very apt} she thought. "Lights?" she said hopefully, glancing around the room and was rewarded by an immediate responce as the room grew brighter. Sure enough the tones were coming from the room but not the wall screen as she had expected. They came from the door. She hurried across the sitting room pulling the robe around her securely and wondering what in worlds was going on. She opened the door. A certain feeling that something was not all right intruded into Shane's dreams and the sun lit white sand beach from his dream was replaced by a dark bedroom in the hotel ... with dim light peering into the room from the living room. "Commander. Forgive this intrusion but I have a message for you that I thought you would want even though the time is late." Z aba stood in the doorway and bowed. Rangi,frowning, looked down at him. "From whom?" she asked,automatically speaking quietly given the hour of the night and the sleeping Shane in the next room. Her mind ran through possibilities but none prepared her for his reply. "Your father Commander." She stared at his huge oval eyes that were blackly unreadable. "My father?...but he's..." Three seconds of silence passed. "How have you got this message?" Rangi asked with a slight tone of suspicion in her voice."Surely it would go to Chimera." She was aware of 'warning bells' at the back of her mind but Z aba had a ready answer. "We moniter the subspace relay network intercepting messages to the ships of our guests. This one is a personal message and so I had it diverted here thinking that you would want to have it as soon as possible." he replied and produced an oblong padd like object. He offered it to her, his thin boney fingers holding it steadily. "It is a joint communication. One from a Professor Remo Maddock and one from someone with your name..Summers." Slowly dressing, Shane walked still in half-sleep towards the living room's door where the Z aba's words of monitoring subspace communication reached his mind. For a little moment a suspicious thought flashed through his mind ... but it almost instantly vanished like conjured away. For the smallest fragment of a second the image of Shane's alien guide in the hotel appeared in his mind. "I see." she said quietly, her attention fixed on the padd. Z aba tilted his head a little to one side as though questioning why she didnt seem to want to take it then stepped nearer so she might reach it. "What's going on?" Rangi started in surprise and Z aba too glanced quickly towards the bedroom doorway where Shane stood, tightening the belt of a dark blue robe around his waist, a puzzled expression on his face. "Rangi?" he asked walking towards her. "It's alright." she replied. "I didnt mean to wake you." He pushed the statement aside unheeded."It's the middle of the night." Shane did his best not to yawn. Rangi gave a small smile and turned to Z aba, accepting the padd from his outstretched hand and showed it to Shane. "Z aba brought this for me. He thought I'd want to see it." Shanes eyes moved from the padd to Rangi to Z aba and back to the padd. {A PADD at this late time?} Shane wondered. "Thankyou." Rangi said,addressing the small grey alien. "I appreciate your thought." Surprising them Z aba asked: "You 'will' read it?" "Yes she will...thankyou" Shane said, taking charge of the situation and stepping forward he began to usher Z aba towards the door who went without further comment but stopped, turned and bowed before he left them. Shane felt that it was time for Z aba to leave and arranged it firmly but in a gentle way. After the door behind the alien closed, Shane returned to the centre of the room where he saw Rangi was now sitting on the edge of a chair, staring at the padd in her hand.She looked up as he approached. "He said they moniter all the messages for the ships docked here and retrieved this one because its personal. Its from Professor Maddock." Shane knelt down beside her recognising the name and understanding her reluctance to accept or open the padd. She always told him of each new update from the professor, the man in charge of her fathers treatment. He knew it had not been going well and that they were now into experimental stages, that time was running out and he knew too that there was a strong possibility that what Rangi feared now lay in her hands. Her met her eyes,gave a smile of reassurance, reached to her hair and pushed back a strand of it, ran his fingers across her cheek and rested his hand on her shoulder. He knew that Rangi feared what might be written inside the PADD. "Open it Milacik." he said softly. There was no reason to push the moment of truth away ... She sat still. Raising her head she saw that the holoscreen now showed the moon setting and a faint glow of sunrise behind the mountains. Shane squeezed her shoulder when she looked at him and knew she took a deep breath before she pressed the oval button at the top of the padd. He watched her face as Maddocks voice began speaking, concentrating more on her than what was actually being said. He saw expressions pass across her face..wariness and fear, the frown of concentration, the shake of her head in non understanding puzzled disbelief and then wide eyed surprise. "You know what this means?" she asked suddenly turning to him, her eyes full of unshed tears."I cant believe it." she said turning back to the padd and forwarding the message until Wes Summers voice was heard. Shane looked down at the padd, recognising the somewhat gruff voice and Rangis father looked up at him and said "Hello Moppet." Moving from his crouched position, Shane sat beside Rangi who squeezed along to make room for him and together they heard Wes say: "Remo will have explained it all fully...theres no need for me to go into the details except to say that yes..it is true. After all this time.. success." Wes' tired and lined face beamed at his daughter from the screen. "Oh I'm not out of the woods yet.." he continued " I know that, but its been too long since I felt so well. Three days now without any pain at all..its more than wonderful." He paused, his expression saying more than words could. "As soon as you have shore leave again tell me where you'll be and I'll come to see you. We must celebrate Moppet." Rangi nodded, her attention fully on her father as she dashed a stray tear from her left cheek. "Later today.." Wes continued " John and I are going to try a spot of fishing..we might have some luck, what do you think?" he chuckled. "Listen to me!..fishing! I hadnt thought i'd be planning that again. Tell me where you'll be and I'll arrange a trip...Take care Moppet. I love you very much." The face faded to a shadow and was gone. The hotel logo replaced it, an ever changing stream of languages advertizing the Living Dream Hotel. Rangi turned to meet Shanes gaze, her lips wide with a smile of happiness and her pretty eyes brimming with tears. "Shane." she said simply half laughing and crying at the same time. "Thats great news my love" Shane said joining her smile, "Its worth a big celebration tomorrow!" "Yes." she said, tears spilling over despite her wide smile.Next moment, she moved into his embrace, burying her head against his shoulder and crying from relief and happiness. *** End Log *** Commander Shane Guzman CO USS Chimera-A & Commander Rangi Summers XO USS Chimera-A