Epsilon Eridani (Aeon 14: Enfield Genesis)
Page 25
“Wasn’t why I was looking up.” His voice was curt. He turned, facing away from where she stood. “And if you’re about to say something religious, forget it. I’m not interested.”
“No. At least, not like you think.” She stopped next to him, her frame relaxed, head tilted back. “One of your ancients from Old Earth once wrote, ‘Talk to me about the truth of religion, and I'll listen gladly. But don't come talking to me about the consolations of religion, or I shall suspect that you don't understand’.”
She turned to glance at him. “I understand enough to know that there is no consolation, not at a time like this.” Her eyes once more sought the night sky. “Tobias told me that this is the first time you’ve lost someone truly close to you.”
He tensed, angry at what felt like betrayal from an old friend. She must have sensed it. She turned toward Jason.
“Don’t blame him. I asked. I was concerned.” She hesitated, then continued in a soft voice, “I lost someone too, once.”
“It’s not the same.” His voice was harsh, and yet he couldn’t stop it. “I can’t bring her back. She doesn’t have a system restore point.”
The words hung between them. They’d been cruel, he knew, deliberately hurtful. They implied…a lack of sentience. AIs might be able to back up a copy of themselves to immutable crystal storage, true. But most didn’t.
Simone turned her face back toward the glittering expanse above them. “I remember looking out there and raging against the unfairness of it all. The death was so unnecessary, a waste.”
“So your faith failed you, then.” He could hear the bitterness in his voice, the sharp edge, his words continuing to seek a target to hurt.
“On the contrary,” she responded, her tone mild. “I don’t see where we’ve been promised anything special or unique.” She shrugged. “I’ve certainly not been visited by an oracle, or told that the people I care for get any form of special dispensation.”
Jason’s laugh was harsh. “Why are you here, again? Because you’re doing a piss-poor job of cheering me up, in case you were wondering.”
Simone just stood there quietly. Not speaking. Not moving.
“You’re right, Jason. She’s gone,” she said suddenly, her words harsh, shocking him like an electric current. “And nothing will bring her back.”
He eyed her warily for a moment. “Thought your kind believed in life after death and the immortality of the soul.”
“Neshama, yes,” was all she said in response.
The word didn’t translate for him.
“Neshama,” she said again, then explained, “The breath of the creator, that spark that is in all living things. We believe it is not subject to the dimensions of spacetime as we know it. Or of entropy,” she added somewhat incongruously.
Jason turned on her suddenly, irritation sparking in his eyes. “What the fuck does entropy have to do with anything?”
Simone held his angry gaze, her own steady. “Everything in a closed system goes from a state of higher energy to a lesser one, from order to disorder.” She gestured to the stars. “You’re a pilot, you know this. You have to pump energy into a system to maintain order.”
After a long moment, she spoke again, her voice whisper-quiet.
“The same can be said for you. Phantom Blade came into existence to fight against corruption and decay. Your people’s actions in Little River worked to restore order where Barat fought to dismantle it.” She paused. “Calista pushed energy into a situation unraveling on the Barat plains in order to prevent your loss of life.”
Her tone gentled, and she reached out to touch his arm, then withdrew it. “All I’m saying is that, as you work through your grief, don’t ignore her sacrifice. Don’t let entropy steal her gift away.”
Jason’s numbed mind didn’t take in all the AI said. Possibly, he knew, it never would.
It was a long time before he noticed she’d slipped away.
* * * * *
Terrance lay in the dark, one arm around Khela, her head tucked under his chin and her hand resting on his chest. He could feel the beat of her heart, pressed against his side, and he shuddered inwardly at the thought of what losing her might do to him.
The file he’d reviewed—the one recorded by Eidolon, of the flight, the sudden betrayal, and Calista’s final sacrifice—was one he’d asked Charley to send to him privately. Every moment was now seared into his brain, a vivid series of images he knew he’d take with him to his grave.
Calista had been his responsibility; he owed it to her to be there, if not in person, then in memory, during the last moments of her life. He’d actively pursued her—not romantically, he thought with a smile, running his hand up the gentle arch of Khela’s spine and then back down to rest on the curve of her hip. Not like that. No one had ever captivated him the way his warrior woman had.
The smile fell away as his thoughts turned back to the day back on El Dorado when he’d heard of an ace pilot, a Space Force top gun who could fly any craft, ancient or modern. He’d known then that he had to convince Calista to come to Enfield Aerospace as its Chief Pilot once her tour of duty was up.
And she had. With Shannon, who at the time, had been Enfield’s Chief Engineer, the two had been formidable. And then an unlikely set of circumstances set them on an intersect path with a covert operation that had irrevocably changed all of their lives.
For a brief moment, he bitterly regretted the events that had led to him accepting a role with Phantom Blade. But then—he glanced down at the sleeping form he held, and his grip tightened momentarily at the thought—this enigmatic and beautiful Marine would never have become a part of his life, never held a piece of his heart.
“Will he be okay, do you think?” Khela’s quiet voice cut into the silence.
He should have known that she’d be aware of the direction his thoughts had taken.
“I don’t know,” he admitted honestly. “Maybe. Eventually.” He sighed, bringing his other arm around her and rolling her on top of him. She stared down into his eyes, hers dark and unreadable. “He’s suffered a lot, over the years.”
Terrance’s eyes shifted, his mind taking him back to a place and time light years away, where he’d stood, looking through the scope of a sniper’s rifle, Jason’s sister in his sights.
His eyes returned to meet Khela’s. “Something happens to you when you experience that kind of pain, up close and personal. And it’s happened to him more than once.”
She stroked his chest rhythmically with her fingers as she contemplated what he’d told her.
“He’s stronger, I think, than anyone truly realizes,” she said after a moment.
Her hand stilled, and she cocked her head, her expression taking on a speculative look.
“What about Godel, will they be okay? So much food was lost when Barat took out those storage silos.” Her gaze drifted inward, and he knew she was recalling her own brush with death.
He shrugged, the movement jostling her gently against him, and he ran his hands up and down her arms to steady her, and to offer comfort. After a moment, he spoke.
“I’d imagine they have some tough times ahead of them, but Edouard told me they’d feared Barat might try something like this. He said their secretary of agriculture advised farmers to retain a measure of their fall harvest on the farms against such an eventuality.”
Terrance felt more than heard the relieved breath she blew out at the news.
“There was also a considerable amount of grain in transit, stored in maglev cars at the time,” he continued. “And then….”
He drew the word out, pausing until she pinched him out of frustration.
“Okay, okay! Bloodthirsty wench,” he growled, grinning as she scowled and slapped him lightly on the chest. “I offered to sell them Enfield’s stealth tech, to help give them an edge and keep Barat at bay.”
A slow, satisfied smile spread across her face. “Something tells me Barat is about to realize what happens when you stir a
nest of angry hornets.”
He responded with a grin of his own as he recalled Edouard’s reaction.
“Good,” Khela’s voice held a note of finality. “I can think of no one more deserving. Speaking of deserving….”
Her voice lapsed into silence, and she turned her face up to his, eyes blazing with a focus that he felt more than saw in the dimness of the cabin.
“I think…we should agree to Edouard’s proposal.”
He cocked his head at her apparent non sequitur. “To check up on the rumors coming out of Sirius? About the atrocities there?”
She nodded. “It’s on the way home, sort of. And going after them….” Her forehead wrinkled as she pursed her lips in thought.
“It will give him a cause, something to focus on,” she explained.
Abruptly, he understood.
“Jason you mean.”
She nodded. “He has a need, almost ingrained in him, to rescue those in trouble.” She smiled in gentle irony. “He plays at being the reluctant hero, but you can see it here,” she tapped on his chest, “in his heart.”
He smiled back at her. “I think you’re right.”
He took a deep breath in and brushed her hair out of her face, letting its silky strands slide through his fingers, enjoying the sensation as much now as the first time he’d seen her with her hair restored.
Pulling her face down to meet his, he whispered, “Why are you talking about another man when I’m laying right here?”
A wicked light glinted in her eyes, and with a swift move only a Marine could manage, Terrance found himself in a very…interesting position.
“Wait,” she said suddenly, lifting her head, her eyes narrowing. “Where’s Beck?”
Over the Link, they heard the sound of a throat clearing.
Terrance grinned as Khela rolled her eyes.
THE END
* * * * *
Pick up the next Enfield Genesis book where the team goes to Sirius.
THE BOOKS OF AEON 14
Keep up to date with what is releasing in Aeon 14 with the free Aeon 14 Reading Guide.
The Sentience Wars: Origins (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/James S. Aaron)
- Books 1-3 Omnibus: Lyssa’s Rise
- Book 1: Lyssa’s Dream
- Book 2: Lyssa’s Run
- Book 3: Lyssa’s Flight
- Book 4: Lyssa’s Call
- Book 5: Lyssa’s Flame
Legends of the Sentience Wars (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/James S. Aaron)
- Volume 1: The Proteus Bridge
- Volume 2: Vesta Burning
Enfield Genesis (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/Lisa Richman)
- Book 1: Alpha Centauri
- Book 2: Proxima Centauri
- Book 3: Tau Ceti
- Book 4: Epsilon Eridani
- Book 5: Sirius (2019)
Origins of Destiny (The Age of Terra)
- Prequel: Storming the Norse Wind
- Prequel: Angel’s Rise: The Huntress (available on Patreon)
- Book 1: Tanis Richards: Shore Leave
- Book 2: Tanis Richards: Masquerade
- Book 3: Tanis Richards: Blackest Night
- Book 4: Tanis Richards: Kill Shot
The Intrepid Saga (The Age of Terra)
- Book 1: Outsystem
- Book 2: A Path in the Darkness
- Book 3: Building Victoria
- The Intrepid Saga Omnibus – Also contains Destiny Lost, book 1 of the Orion War series
- Destiny Rising – Special Author’s Extended Edition comprised of both Outsystem and A Path in the Darkness with over 100 pages of new content.
The Warlord (Before the Age of the Orion War)
- Books 1-3 Omnibus: The Warlord of Midditerra
- Book 1: The Woman Without a World
- Book 2: The Woman Who Seized an Empire
- Book 3: The Woman Who Lost Everything
The Orion War
- Books 1-3 Omnibus (includes Ignite the Stars anthology)
- Book 1: Destiny Lost
- Book 2: New Canaan
- Book 3: Orion Rising
- Book 4: The Scipio Alliance
- Book 5: Attack on Thebes
- Book 6: War on a Thousand Fronts
- Book 7: Precipice of Darkness
- Book 8: Airtha Ascendancy
- Book 9: The Orion Front (2019)
- Book 10: Starfire (2019)
- Book 11: Race Across Spacetime (2019)
- Book 12: Return to Sol (2019)
Building New Canaan (Age of the Orion War – w/J.J. Green)
- Book 1: Carthage
- Book 2: Tyre
- Book 3: Troy
- Book 4: Athens
Tales of the Orion War
- Book 1: Set the Galaxy on Fire
- Book 2: Ignite the Stars
- Book 3: Burn the Galaxy to Ash (2019)
Perilous Alliance (Age of the Orion War – w/Chris J. Pike)
- Book 1-3 Omnibus: Crisis in Silstrand
- Book 1: Close Proximity
- Book 2: Strike Vector
- Book 3: Collision Course
- Book 4: Impact Imminent
- Book 5: Critical Inertia
- Book 6: Impulse Shock
Rika’s Marauders (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1-3 Omnibus: Rika Activated
- Prequel: Rika Mechanized
- Book 1: Rika Outcast
- Book 2: Rika Redeemed
- Book 3: Rika Triumphant
- Book 4: Rika Commander
- Book 5: Rika Infiltrator
- Book 6: Rika Unleashed
- Book 7: Rika Conqueror
Non-Aeon 14 Anthologies containing Rika stories
- Bob’s Bar Volume 2
- Backblast Area Clear
The Genevian Queen (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: Rika Rising (2019)
- Book 2: Rika Coronated (2019)
- Book 3: Rika Reigns (2019)
Perseus Gate (Age of the Orion War)
Season 1: Orion Space
- Episode 1: The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star
- Episode 2: The World at the Edge of Space
- Episode 3: The Dance on the Moons of Serenity
- Episode 4: The Last Bastion of Star City
- Episode 5: The Toll Road Between the Stars
- Episode 6: The Final Stroll on Perseus’s Arm
- Eps 1-3 Omnibus: The Trail Through the Stars
- Eps 4-6 Omnibus: The Path Amongst the Clouds
Season 2: Inner Stars
- Episode 1: A Meeting of Bodies and Minds
- Episode 2: A Deception and a Promise Kept
- Episode 3: A Surreptitious Rescue of Friends and Foes
- Episode 4: A Victory and a Crushing Defeat
- Episode 5: A Trial and the Tribulations (2019)
- Episode 6: A Deal and a True Story Told (2019)
- Episode 7: A New Empire and An Old Ally (2019)
- Eps 1-3 Omnibus: A Siege and a Salvation from Enemies
Hand’s Assassin (Age of the Orion War – w/T.G. Ayer)
- Book 1: Death Dealer
- Book 2: Death Mark (2019)
Machete System Bounty Hunter (Age of the Orion War – w/Zen DiPietro)
- Book 1: Hired Gun
- Book 2: Gunning for Trouble
- Book 3: With Guns Blazing
Fennington Station Murder Mysteries (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: Whole Latte Death (w/Chris J. Pike)
- Book 2: Cocoa Crush (w/Chr
is J. Pike)
Vexa Legacy (Age of the FTL Wars – w/Andrew Gates)
- Book 1: Seas of the Red Star
The Empire (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: The Empress and the Ambassador (2019)
- Book 2: Consort of the Scorpion Empress (2019)
- Book 3: By the Empress’s Command (2019)
The Sol Dissolution (The Age of Terra)
- Book 1: Venusian Uprising (2019)
- Book 2: Scattered Disk (2019)
- Book 3: Jovian Offensive (2019)
- Book 4: Fall of Terra
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Lisa Richman lives in the great Midwest, with three cats, a physicist, and a Piper Cherokee. She met the physicist when she went back to get her master's in physics (she ended up marrying the physicist instead).
When she's not writing, her day job takes her behind the camera as a director/producer.
If she's not at her keyboard or on set, she can be found cruising at altitude. Or helping out the physics guy with his linear accelerator. Or feeding the cats. Or devouring the next SF book she finds.
* * * * *
Michael Cooper likes to think of himself as a jack-of-all-trades (and hopes to become master of a few). When not writing, he can be found writing software, working in his shop at his latest carpentry project, or likely reading a book.
He shares his home with a precocious young girl, his wonderful wife (who also writes), two cats, a never-ending list of things he would like to build, and ideas…
Find out what’s coming next at http://www.aeon14.com