Teardrops In The Night Sky (Steven Gordon series) by J W Murison Page B

flame lanced out.  The detonation ringing off the walls drowned out her cry of surprise and pain, she hit the floor with an audible thump.
    ‘… Gun.’  Malcolm finished his sentence.
    There was a moment’s stunned silence, then Brian was on his feet, ‘Nooooo.’
    Colonel Howe started rapping out orders into his radio and stepped in front of the distraught scientist, ‘No heroics Doc, I've sent my men in to get her out and deal with Sales.’
    Brian swung back to the monitor, ‘how is she, is she alive?’
    Malcolm was fiddling with the switches, ‘there's something wrong, I’m losing the picture.’
    The screen went blank with Malcolm frantically tried to fix it as Brian screamed over his shoulder.  Then a young Scientist burst into the room.
    ‘It's gone,’ he burst out breathlessly.  It took a bare second for the operators to get the jist of what he was saying and to start pressing buttons.  Brian dipped from consol to consol, but each told the same story, only one ship remained, bobbing gently on a cushion of air.

Chapter 12
     
    T hey were right to have been cautious.  The Centre for Scientific Research into Space had always been their first choice.  Years of waiting and listening to Earth communications had finally led them to this spot on the Blue Planet below.  Then for many years they had eavesdropped on the communications emanating from the centre.
    It quickly became apparent that this was the only site on Earth that came anywhere near grasping the complexities of deep space travel.  It also had one other major advantage, it would be difficult to conceal their arrival, but still the humans had tried.
    The large inflatable hanger had been easy to dispose of. They had watched with relief as pictures of them were beamed across the world.  They had believed this would afford them some form of security.
    Never before had they came across a planet of such cultural diversity.  Their own planet of origin had only one culture, one people and one race.   
    Although they were spacecraft and machines, they were of a complexity that man had never achieved.  Each had feelings and experienced emotions.  Although both ships were identical in shape and size, their programming was gender based to fit with the builder races complicated mating rituals.
    There were always two ships built at a time, one male and one female.  As the ships were mated so were their crews.  Although there were male and female in both crews, the captain of one was always mated to the captain of the other.  The male in the female ship and vice versa.  They believed this gave an even balance to all decisions made.
    When they were travelling to preset coordinates, the ships always flew in tandem, linked together.  This allowed free and easy access to all mated couples including the captains.  Only separating for landing manoeuvres or when indulging in exploration.
    As time passed and the original captains retired, the ships were handed over to the oldest offspring and their mate.  Younger children had to have their own made for them when they were mated. 
    Both ships were now in a quandary.  It wasn’t the first time ships had lost one or even both their captains, but there had always been a mated couple on board both ships that could take over the running of them until they reached home.
    The situation they were in now was totally alien to them.  They could not return home.  Both were less than a generation old.  All of the captain’s children had died with their parents.  There was no one to be handed down to.  Their situation was totally unprecedented. 
    It was only now they were beginning to comprehend the situation that truly faced them.  When they first began to view the television programs from space family virtues had been strong.  Reassured they had concentrated on technical matters.  Now it seemed as though society had begun to breakdown.
    Of course they knew what they were offering the human race and