by M. D. Cooper
Who knew finding Winter’s sister would have so many amazing fringe benefits?
Jenny smiled as she shredded the pork. “You don’t have to stand clear, though, Captain, I’m not going to bite. Whipping up a meal like this is pretty easy.”
“For you,” Kylie popped a juicy piece of meat into her mouth.
Kylie started to make a small plate of food for Marie as she heard heavy footsteps. They had to belong to Rogers and Winter, but there was another sound coming from further down the passage….
“MOVE IT, ASSHOLES!”
Mr. Fizzle Pop, fluffy as ever, squeezed between the doorframe and Rogers’ foot.
“Not fair,” Rogers called out in a huff. “That’s cheating!”
“PSYCH.”
Kylie set Marie’s plate and her own cup of coffee down on the long, wooden table and pivoted back to the food in time to catch Mr. Fizzle Pop mid-air.
He groaned in frustration, and his legs kicked through the air like his paws still touched the ground. “FOUL. ILLEGAL INTERCEPTION.”
“You wait until after the humans are fed before grazing on our leftovers.” Kylie glared at him. “You have your own plate.”
Mr. Fizzle Pop struggled in her grip. “MOO! DOWN! FOOOOOD!”
“He’s more aggressive than he used to be,” Winter said as he scooped potatoes and meat onto his plate.
Kylie directed a scowl at Grayson and hoped he wouldn’t say what she knew he would. Sure enough….
“That’s what happens when we allow the uplifted cat to get a rejuv treatment. Hyper kitten mode. Again,” he said.
Lucky for him, he was on the other side of the room.
“His fur was getting dull and lackluster.” Kylie placed Mr. Fizzle Pop on the bench beside Rogers, who proceeded to push the cat off onto the floor.
“HEY.” Mr. Fizzle Pop rose up on his back paws and swatted at Rogers.
Rogers shrugged with his fork in his mouth. “Stop giving me your sparkly eyes look, MFP. You know I’m immune.”
“MOSTLY,” Mr. Fizzle Pop argued.
“Hey, Cap,” Rogers coughed to change the subject, “we should go over the supply list before we arrive at the space station.”
“Later.” Kylie glanced at him before her gaze swept over the assembled crew.
Winter and his sister were sitting together, and across from them was Rogers. There was an empty spot next to him left by Ricket, who was off with Lana on a mission for the Alliance that would keep them away for a few more months.
The ship felt emptier—and a little lonelier—without them. It was bad enough Bubbs had moved on.
Listen to me, Kylie thought, I’m turning into a mother hen.
When Kylie heard footsteps, she thought it might be Marie, but it was Rogers’ son, Burton. He was nearly twelve years old and already nearly as tall as his father—not only that, he was always telling jokes and wearing a sly grin just like him, too.
Rogers sipped his beer and leaned back. “Come sit near your old man, Burt. I saved you a soda.”
“I will, but…” Burton sighed. “You know never to call me that.”
“Oh come on, Ernie, don’t be like that.” Winter winked, chewing on some pork.
Both Rogers and Burton scowled.
“What?”
Two decades together, and some things would just never change.
At least Burton bothered to show up to dinner. The same can’t be said for a particular little girl.
Kylie picked up the small plas plate of food just as Grayson slid his arm around her waist.
“Do you want me to go find her?”
Kylie shook her head. “I know where she is. I’ll go.”
“Give her a kiss from me,” Grayson said.
“Only if you pet Mr. Fizzle Pop,” Kylie teased.
Grayson started stammering, and Kylie gave him a parting smile as she headed out of the mess hall.
She made her way to the bridge and wasn’t surprised to see a small head peeking over the top of the pilot’s seat. Brown hair like hers, but in pigtails, Marie wore a grey romper, white tights, and boots. Only six years old, and already such a handful.
Kylie slid in the seat beside her and offered her the plate. “You don’t want to miss dinner again.”
Marie took the plate from her and picked up the dinner roll. “I just wanted to see the stars, Momma.”
“I love the stars, too. That’s why we’re up here and not on some planet, settled down. But dinner is dinner, little one.”
“That would be so boring! Living planetside and having to eat dinner?” Marie shook her head.
“Even still, we have rules. When dinner’s called, you have to come. You can’t sit on the bridge by yourself.”
“Someone has to keep an eye on it,” Marie muttered.
“That’s why we have Chuck. You know he can be everywhere at once.”
Marie giggled and covered her mouth.
“What’s this really about? You know your pop would love if you came to sit with him.”
Marie nodded. “I’d like that too. I… just…I miss Marge.”
Kylie stroked her daughter’s pigtail. “I know. I miss her too. But you know, we completed our mission to help free her AI friends, and she wanted to return to her home, to her people. She wanted to help them. I couldn’t tell her no. Our missions…they just led us in different directions.”
Marie nodded and stared down at her plate. “Will I ever see her again?”
“You will, but not soon. It’s okay to be sad when people move on.”
Kylie thought of Bubbs and Ricket; she missed them both being around all the time.
Marie nodded. “I still feel sad, though.”
“I know, but…what if I had ice cream?”
Marie whipped her head around. “I want ice cream.”
“It’s part of the dessert, you’ll just have to come see,” Kylie teased.
Marie gave a half scowl and crossed her arms.
“Burton’s there too, you know.”
Marie gasped, and her mouth fell open. “Fine. I’ll come.”
Kylie chuckled. “Good girl. Say, before we go, why don’t you tell me how much longer it’ll take us to get to the space station, Homestead?”
“Really?” Marie sat up straighter and stretched out her arms. She activated the holo console and issued a few commands. “Eighteen hours and twenty-minutes, Captain. Enough time for two rounds of dessert.”
Kylie laughed.
One day, Marie would make an excellent pilot and member of the crew. A day that Kylie hoped would be far, far off.
* * * * *
The crew gathered in a section of the ship that was once filled with passenger cabins. It had been converted into a library, with a long window granting a view of the stars, and soft lighting to create a relaxed atmosphere. In the center lay a soft area rug, atop which was an eclectic collection of chairs and sofas. A desk sat in the center, and the walls were covered in bookcases.
The crew was situated throughout the room, enjoying coffee or tea—and of course, dessert—as settled into their customary places. Mr. Fizzle Pop was enjoying a saucer of milk next to the rug, twin white streams dribbling down his furry chin as he lapped it up.
“I don’t know about you,” Winter said as he slid a spoon into his peach cobbler, “but I’m pretty sure we’ve gone soft.”
“It took you ten years to figure that out?” Rogers asked. “Ow!” He rubbed his arm from the jab Kylie delivered.
“Look at us. Sitting in our posh library for a mission debrief while holding fancy plates and eating this stuff.” Winter held up his plate, and Jenny glared at him from her seat across the way, nostrils flaring.
She crossed her arms and legs, looking about ready to squeeze someone’s head straight off. “Tell me more about this stuff?”
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“I mean,” Winter swallowed and put his plate down. “It’s delicious. Props and all, Jenny. No offense. Right, Gray?”
Grayson sipped his coffee from behind his desk, and lowered his mug to reveal a smirk. “Don’t look at me. I’m pretty sure I’m offended you’re balancing your mug on the armrest of my favorite recliner.”
“Gray!” Kylie scolded. “You need to share. There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’.”
“Yeah, well, there’s no ‘dipshit’ in ‘team’ either, but he’s still here.” Rogers pointed his thumb toward Winter.
“Language,” Marie looked up from her spot on the sofa where she played with blocks and nano-infused clay.
Burton sat with her, joining in sporadically, even though he was too old for her brand of play.
Kylie gave her a gentle quiet signal across their Link, before announcing, “We’re about seventeen hours from docking at the space station. From there, you know the orders we received from Seraphina—we gather intel on who might be stealing and replicating stasis shield technology. We need to know if they really do have it and how far along they are in recreating it.”
“And if we find a lab?” Rogers asked.
“We blow it up,” Winter said. “Good old-fashioned ‘oh yeah, boom’.”
“That’s not your call,” Kylie said.
“Then what would you have us do, Cap?” Winter asked.
“Blow it up, but it’s still not your call.” She smirked, though she felt a little hotter than usual under the collar.
The cat snorted in his milk. “HA HA.”
“When we get to the station, we’ll rendezvous with our contact,” Kylie finished. “I’ll go alone.”
“And if some of us have money to burn?” Winter asked.
Kylie raised an eyebrow. “A little field trip isn’t out of the question, but you need to stay out of trouble.”
Winter’s smile faltered. “I…never get into trouble.”
“Don’t worry, Cap.” Jenny slung her arm through his. “I won’t let what went on last time happen again.”
Kylie didn’t think Jenny could keep her brother in line, but she admired the effort. “Rogers, you’ll go with them.”
“Fine, but that brings me to a point I need to cover. Jenny and I have been creating a list of supplies we need. Since we’re stopping at a commercial station, I thought it would be convenient if we did a little shopping.”
“Of course,” Kylie said. “What is it?”
Rogers unfolded a piece of paper and cleared his throat. “Sixteen pounds of apple wood smoked bacon, twenty-two cartons of eggs, three pounds of milk chocolate—”
“LIKE LIST. APPROVE,” Mr. Fizzle Pop all but shouted.
Kylie held up a hand to forestall Rogers from reciting the rest of his list. “Sure, what MFP said. Get whatever we need.”
Two servitors entered the library to collect the dirty dishes, and Chuck came over the speakers.
“Another day has come and gone. Bedtime for a little young miss.”
“No,” Marie crossed her arms and pouted.
“You’ll need to go brush your teeth and get ready for bed if you want pancakes tomorrow.” Grayson wore a warm smile, and his eyes twinkled in a special way they only did for Marie. “Or else I’m going to tickle you.”
Marie screamed and ran out of the room, and Grayson chased after her.
Kylie grinned as her family raced out. “All right!” She clapped her hands together. “Who’s ready to lose their shirts in a round of Snark?”
* * * * *
Kylie checked over her weapons and cleaned her favorite pulse rifle more than once. While doing that, she kept an eye on her HUD, watching Marie sleep via the feed from their quarters.
Would she ever stop worrying?
“No,” Grayson yawned from the bed. “One dinner with your mother proves that. Parents always worry about their children. But the payoff is fair. Though of course we got an adorable girl with more sass and stubbornness in a single pinky finger than in your entire body. May the stars have mercy on all of us.”
Kylie hadn’t realized she’d voiced her question out loud.
She sat beside him on the bed, and he intertwined his fingers with hers.
“I’m not apologizing for that,” she told him.
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“Do you think Winter’s right? About us going soft?”
“We’ve earned it, haven’t we?” he asked. “Battle after battle, war after war. We deserve a family. We haven’t gotten soft; I think if anything, the stakes are just higher than they’ve ever been. Losing family and friends along the way…it’s proved to us what happens if we let our guard down.”
He must’ve been thinking about Maureen. Kylie missed her too. They had grown to be friends, more than just mere shipmates.
Kylie slid closer to him and rested her head on his chest. Grayson flipped the covers over her and rested his hand on the small of her back.
This was what bliss felt like.
“Lights off,” Kylie whispered.
CHAPTER 8 - TANIS
STELLAR DATE: 12.22.8959 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: ISS I2, Mars
REGION: AoS Independent Zone, Sol System, Alliance of Sapiens
The Voyager was an ancient ship, designed before the advent of graviton emitters, which meant its decks were arranged in a stacked configuration, with the bow being ‘up’ and the engines ‘down’.
Even though it had been reconfigured hundreds of years ago with a-grav systems, Katrina refused to have the interior redesigned with horizontal decks, which meant the ship’s several hundred meters of hull stood vertically, towering over all but the largest cruisers resting in the I2’s main dock.
A gantry stretched out to meet the ship’s upper and lower airlocks, and the moment it touched hull, the lower lock opened and Katrina appeared.
“What do you think they found?” Joe asked. “If it was evidence that the Starkiller had been destroyed, I feel like they wouldn’t have us examine it in person.”
“Maybe?” Tanis shrugged as the lift carried them up. “Or maybe she wants us to form our own conclusions rather than rely on her—bearer of bad news and all that.”
They reached the airlock where Katrina stood, her red hair cascading around her face, an uncertain expression pulling at her lips.
“Stars, it’s good to see you,” the Voyager’s captain said, embracing Tanis, then Joe. “I feel like I’ve spent so much time at the core that there’s just an eternal dread in the back of my mind from that damn black hole.”
“I can only imagine,” Joe said, a compassionate smile on his lips. “As if there isn’t enough stress already.”
Katrina nodded. “Come, I want you to see this
and draw your own conclusions before I discuss our recent findings. I fear that our desire for optimism is clouding our judgment and we need fresh eyes.”
“Can’t say I’m going to be much less optimistic,” Tanis said as they followed the former warlord into the ship to the central ladder shaft.
The Voyager had originally been intended as an emergency escape craft at the Kapteyn’s Star colony. As such, it had been constructed bare-bones and without a lift. Tanis had never bothered to ask Katrina why she didn’t have one put in after the fact. She already knew the answer.
They slid down the rails to the ship’s main hold, which was filled with an assortment of debris. Some looked familiar—segments of hull from ancient Terran ships—while other components were entirely foreign.
“Half this stuff looks like it was designed by aliens.” Joe’s tone was hushed as he looked around in wonder.
“Sure, but it’s different in the flesh.”
Tanis nodded. “It is…and I guess the core AIs are about as alien as anything we’ve ever encountered. Nothing they do quite makes sense, even Hades, despite him being on our side.”
“Has there been any sign of him?” Katrina asked. “I still can’t believe that he just left.”
Tanis raised her shoulders. “Me either, but he’s been MIA since we determined that something happened to Tangel and Finaeus.”
“Bob?” Katrina called out as they worked their way through the labyrinthine maze. “Any new ideas?”
“Darla has hinted at that as well,” Tanis added. “She keeps a pretty tight lid on what happened in the universe she and Hades are from, but I can tell that she is flying blind as well. Some measure of certainty is gone.”
“Well, I guess that’s just the same ol’ same ol’ for the rest of us,” Katrina said.