So here is the next part. Big thanks to JulesDPM for her beta work.

Enjoy ...

Chapter 7

"Okay, so I see his clothes, but no dogs or rabbits. Are you sure they're there?"

"Positive." John smiled, shaking his head in amusement.

Maybe trying to teach her how to identify stars over the radio was not the brightest idea he had ever had. Then again, since he knew their relationship would never go beyond this, it was the only way he could. At least when talking about constellations he didn't have to watch what he said, so long as he avoided any stories of trying to get his brothers into stargazing. Alan had taken to it with enthusiasm, Scott and Virgil with mild interest, but Gordon had been just about as confused as Cecily. Looking back, John couldn't help but think that it might have been easier to try and teach the redhead over the radio. Then he might not have gotten sprayed by the hose. Coming back to the present, John looked over the image he had brought up of the current night sky over Cecily's rig.

"Here, I'll give you an easy one. Find Orion's left shoulder and scan to the left until you see two bright stars."

"Okay, I see them … now what?"

"That's it," John answered, leaning back in his chair in triumph. "You are looking at Canis Minor, the lesser dog."

"That's supposed to be a dog? It's a line! How does a line become a dog?"

John laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. She sounded just like Gordon … right before he went for the hose.

"Hey, I didn't make the constellations, I only learned about them."

"Yeah, well maybe next time I can teach you how to identify different maple trees by their leaves."

Despite the fact he couldn't care less which tree was which, he actually liked that idea. Over the last few months he had known her she had been incredibly supportive of his work and his hobbies, even though she only knew a few details. It would be nice if he could support her for a change.

"Sounds easier then teaching you stargazing over the radio," he commented. "Might even be fun."

"You might not think so after the first few dozen species."

Her playful tone once again reminded him of Gordon, only she didn't give him a desire to shove her face first into the family pool. Still, he figured it might be a good idea to ask a question before agreeing to anything.

"How many different kinds are there?"

"Over a hundred."

Wow, that's … a lot more then he would have guessed. And Cecily knew them all? That girl never ceased to amaze him. On the other hand …

"I think I'll stick to the stars."

This time she laughed, and John smiled at the sound. He loved her laugh more then he would ever care to admit. But this time it sounded off, mostly due to the fact she was also yawning.

"Should I let you go? You sound beat."

"No, I'm okay," she insisted, though she sounded ready to collapse. "Tell me more about the stars."

Knowing that she was probably too tired to register anything beyond the sound of his voice, John started to list off each star in the Orion constellation by name and position. While he talked, he brought up the weather reports for her area of the Pacific to make sure that he would not regret letting her fall asleep on the roof. Satisfied that she was in for a restful night, he paused to listen to the soft sound of breathing. She must have fallen asleep with the hand-held on her chest again.

"Goodnight, Cecily," he whispered.

Normally, this was the time that he would sign off and go to bed himself, but he didn't feel right cutting communications with her asleep out in the open like that. Granted he knew that the temperature was not going to drop much more and the weather should stay fair, but that didn't keep him from worrying about her. There was only one thing he could do. Walking over to the secondary radio that he used during their longer conversations, John patched her signal through their monitoring system. That would keep the line of communication open all night, just in case. He just hoped that it wouldn't be needed in the middle of the night. Luckily, no calls came in and, after a very embarrassed geneticist apologized for falling asleep on him, John ended the call just in time. An earthquake in Tajikistan caused a chain reaction that resulted in a landslide and buried two dozen civilians and the rescue workers who were trying to help them.

"Virgil is just bringing up the last of them now," Scott reported several hours later. "Once Alan finishes up with the Firefly we will be packing up."

"Good work, boys," Jeff praised. "See you when you get back. Base out."

"Hey, Scott," John called once his father was off the line, "how's your head?"

"It's fine," his older brother assured him. "Just a bump."

"Make sure to get it looked at, Virgil too."

"We'll be fine John. But I'll have Virgil call you later with an update."

"FAB. Let me know when you are ready to leave."

"Will do. Mobile command out."

John sighed and sank down in his chair. Even thought they got everyone out, relatively unharmed, this had been a bad one and one of the many times he hated being stuck in space while his brothers put their lives on the line. Just as Virgil had been bringing the Mole up with the first group of victims an aftershock hit. In their typical fashion, all three of the brothers had rushed in to pull people away from falling debris, two of them getting hit themselves. Luckily, Alan had not been hurt and had quickly reported in, but those first few minutes before he did seemed like hours as they waited to hear about the boys' fate. Maybe he should talk to his dad; Jeff sounded as worried as he felt as they waited for word about what happened. Of course, the person he really wished he could talk to was Cecily, but that was out of the question. Without giving details, such as the fact he was related to all the other pilots, there was no way he could make her understand how he felt. Besides, since her experiments were taking up so much of her time, she probably wouldn't call again for a week or so.

/O\O/O\O/O\

"International Rescue! Come in, please!"

John frowned as he picked up the radio. It had only been three days since they last spoke, but he was more concerned with the fact he hadn't heard Cecily this frantic before. She hadn't even been that desperate when she was trapped under a shelf.

"Cecily, its John. What's wrong?"

"John! You have to call your friends! Tell them to hurry!"

Fear gripped his heart and he ran a quick check in her area. A tropical storm was right on top of her. What if that rig had finally had enough and was slipping into the ocean? Or maybe lightning had struck and her lab was now on fire? Stay calm, he told himself, trying to comply with his own advice. If he was going to help her he needed details.

"Slow down. Now, what happened?"

"It's an oil tanker! Oh God! All those men! You have to hurry!"

Not taking the time to feel bad about the relief that she was not the one in danger, John slipped into rescue mode.

"Just stay calm, Cecily. Help is on the way."

I got the next chapter ready, but I have to wait until after work to post it.

In the meantime, I'd love to know what you think. Reviews are always welcome.