"How did you know?" She asked languidly as she held Tara to her side. Tara smiled, and trailed her fingers up and down her arm.
"I didn't, not until you came into my room, and looked like you wanted to ask me something. I saw something in the meeting, but you gave it context when you were unsure. Thompson isn't unsure, and without words to speak. But Daria is someone completely different. That hidden woman, correct?" She nodded and kissed Tara's chest softly.
"Its what people expect from me. Strength." Tara smiled.
"And its why you've excelled at your chosen field." She smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I like this side of you too. Soft, and feminine, with needs and desires. Two sides of the same woman. Complex, and someone I'd like to explore in more detail." Daria frowned.
"You make it sound like an experiment." She said flatly.
"I didn't mean to make it sound like that. Its not. I didn't say investigate, or experiment on. Although..." She tweaked a nipple. "There are certain things I could test for. Such as a fondness for certain things." Daria lifted herself up on a elbow.
"Are you teasing me?" She was pushed down to the mattress and kissed harder this time. It was almost a punishing kiss, and it rekindled her desire.
"No, but only actions speak to you. So now I will act." Daria was not able to question her further for several hours. Tara had many things she wanted to know about this lovely woman, and how she would respond to specific stimulation.
They had a long time ahead to explore each other. If Tara had anything to say about it, much longer then the mission allowed.
"Sir, the course correction has been plotted, and will take several days to complete." The captain nodded.
"Well done. Any unexpected variances?" Thompson checked her readings.
"Negative, sir. I would suggest we check the telemetry of the probe that was sent ahead of us, just in case there is something about the portal we don't yet understand, like speed, or gravitational pull." He thought for a brief minute.
"Send a note to our resident expert, and have her reevaluate the information. Make sure she checks the speed at which the probe went through the portal. That may have been something they didn't look at, as the probe went through without problems. A full sized vessel is quite different from a probe. And check the velocity from the other side out and back in again. I want no surprises." She nodded.
"I'll send the request through now, sir. She'll have plenty of time to study the information, and help us not to fail." The captain smiled a slightly off kilter smile. He knew Thompson was sweet on the scientist, and that she slipped quietly into her room every night, but she was always professional when it was time to work.
He liked that in his subordinates.
"Good call, captain." She said quietly as she read the message. Going right to work, Tara lost herself to the information, and analysis. She was so lost in the work, she heard her stomach grumble only a few seconds before the door opened.
"He was right, I see. You would work long into the night before you came up for air, wouldn't you?" She looked up and smiled slightly.
"What time is it?"
"Eleven." Tara's eyes popped wide open.
"What! Oh damn! I missed lunch, supper, and....I'm so sorry, Dar....." She held up her hand to halt her apology.
"Not outside your room, remember? I brought you some supper, with the captain's permission to interrupt you, that way you could work as long as you wished." She put the plate in front of her. She looked up into her eyes. "Will I see you tonight?" Tara blushed slightly.
"Can you stay here with me? I'm onto something, and I need to see it finished before I shut down for the night." Daria sat down in a chair in front of Tara's desk, and stretched.
"Eat then. Between mouthfuls, can you enlighten me as to what you've found?" Tara gratefully swallowed the cooked rice with soya sauce, and cleared her mouth before she spoke.
"There is a definite speed increase before entry, with massive speeds at exit, but deceleration as well. I think that the portal uses the gravity of the gas giant to create the portal, but once it reaches the other side, the gravity well of the other one either isn't as strong, or it acts slower then this one. It might be that Jupiter is larger, or they have more then one portal in operation, and that its taking some power from the gravity well." Daria frowned.
"Taking power? You mean it reduced the gravity well of a gas giant? Just how powerful is that technology?" Tara smiled.
"Very powerful. Not only is it able to stay in orbit deep within the atmosphere, and well within range of its gravity well, but its able to withstand the pull, and use it to its advantage. If we go through, we have to be sure we do not slack off on the speed, or try to reverse while in the portal. We may not have enough momentum to get to the other side, then slingshot back through, and still not have enough to get out on our side." Daria closed her eyes.
"I see. We would be a cork in the middle of two opposing forces. Stuck in the middle. What would happen if we get stuck?"
"Crushed? Pushed out of the stream and into the atmosphere of Jupiter? I don't know, but we should never want to find out. We may want to investigate that possibility with a probe, but not with a ship." Daria grinned.
"Agreed. That would mean the end of my stellar record. My entry procedures are top notch." She licked her lips on the inside, with just the tip of her tongue, and very discreetly. Tara colored lightly, and pushed another spoonful of rice in her mouth.
She was correct. Daria was really good at it.
"All preparations have been made. We've studied it for the last two months with greater and greater magnification, and we're ready to go through." Tara took a deep breath. "I think we should send out a probe, just to be sure, and to wait for us on the other side. When it gets through, it can send us a signal back, and we can use it as a beacon to follow." The captain thought for a moment.
"Is it necessary though? We may need that probe to explore that system in one direction, while we explore and do all the necessary tests before heading back through. I'm loathe to part with a probe we might need." Tara took a steadying breath.
"I wouldn't suggest it unless it could prove beneficial. The trip itself could be all we accomplish, but as long as we get through the portal, and back safely, this mission will be a success. No if's, or what if's. Just in one side, and back through, and we have successfully completed the mission. All the data we've collected up to now is really important, but the data from one side to the other is the most important. It will help us with new trips, new technology, and improvements to existing ones." The captain nodded.
"Correct. Exploration is a bonus, but not the mission." He looked over at his chief engineer. "Sampson. Prepare a probe for launch." He turned to Daria. "Thompson, slow us down a bit, and give the probe the time it needs for launch, and to traverse the portal."
"Aye, Captain." She smiled and fired the retro rockets. "Feels like we're getting set to open a treasure chest buried thousands of years ago! This is so exciting!" Tara smiled slightly.
"Lets just hope its not a bucket of bad rum, or poison." The captain took in her more somber mood.
"Is there something bothering you?" She shook her head.
"This is the greatest discovery of all time for humankind. It can do what our collective will cannot. I am trying to keep my excitement in check, just in case." He frowned.
"In case of what?"
"Were you ever given a prank gift? Its exciting, until you open the box. I just can't help but be a bit pessimistic about this, even though I know its potential." He nodded, and kept quiet for a few minutes. His response echoed inside the ship, and their hearts.
"If its such a great thing, then where are the builders?"
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