“Too long ago. It’s like the next crisis is the one that will tear the Federation apart.”
“I don’t think it’s as fragile as all that,” Felicity replied. “You are surrounded by good people. Trust them to help you and go get some sleep.”
Christina wasn’t able to see her father. She stood and hurried around Felicity’s desk. “Holy shit, Dad! You look like crap.”
“You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Nathan said with a smile.
“Every time I see her.” Christina waggled her fingers and Nathan waved back.
“How are you doing?” he asked as his eyelids drooped.
“Better than you, clearly. I’ll call you tomorrow. Felicity tells me that I know people who can help me get the bandwidth and the time, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out who they are.”
“Nathan,” Felicity said, looking down her nose at the screen, “we’re going to finish the gate and with a word from you, we’ll activate it with a direct link to Onyx Station. We need this link and lifeline. We will become everything you need from the Direct Action Branch and more. We will be more than just self-sustaining, we will provide excess profit to the Bad Company’s coffers.”
Christina moved out of sight of the camera so she could wrap her hands around her throat and fake choking herself. Then she stuck her finger in her mouth and fake-gagged. Felicity tried to ignore her, but couldn’t as she leaned close from behind the screen.
“Go get some sleep. We’ll finalize the details later.” Felicity clicked off before looking up. “This is the sexy stuff, dear, because this is about power. Not that your father is giving up any of his, but that we are mutually expanding our base, creating a need for products, filling that void, and then expanding further. You want to be a part of a dynasty? Well, this is how you build a dynasty.”
Christina stopped goofing around and stood up straight. She studied the woman before her. “I see the wisdom behind it. On Earth, you did something like this?”
“Ted and I flew the skies in the greatest luxury possible. People held parties in our honor so they could get two minutes of our time. We will have that once again, dear. All it takes is building wealth. There’s a lot of wealth in this universe.” Felicity stood and walked to her window. Spires Harbor lay in the distance. “I’ve found that helping others is the greatest way to help yourself. Through new ships and upgrading old ships, we will help the universe to expand.”
“What do you need from me?” Christina asked, standing shoulder to shoulder with the director as they looked out the window.
“I need you to keep Terry and Char alive so they can keep everyone else alive, including my Ted. Whenever they go into battle, he’ll go with them. If anything happened to those two, I believe that all we’ve worked for will come undone. There are few in this universe around whom things revolve. Bethany Anne and Michael are the key to all of it, and next are General Reynolds and your father. There are the Rangers, the FDG, that Ghost Squadron that no one talks about, and others, but Terry and Char, as much as they won’t admit it, give people hope. As long as they live, they will bring a positive energy to our corner of the galaxy. You keep them alive!”
Felicity took Christina by the shoulders, gripping tightly, her blue eyes piercing.
“I understand,” Christina replied softly. “I will protect them with my life, all of them, because that’s what Terry’s deputy is supposed to do.”
“So that has come to fruition?” Felicity asked.
Christina smiled. “You know it has.”
“I don’t want you to think that I’m all-knowing. I am, but I don’t want you to think it.” Felicity laughed as she glanced back at the shipyard. “I like you a lot, Christina. You’re one of us. Old school but new school. The inner circle. I’m glad you’re here.”
Christina nodded. She wasn’t sure what to say. She one-arm hugged the director before leaving. She had a great deal of work waiting for her if she was going to fill Marcie’s shoes.
* * *
“What is this thing?” Ted asked, miffed at being dragged to the hangar bay. The smallest of the Harborian frigates, looking long abandoned, sat on blocks in a far corner. Dionysus had to dispatch a maintenance bot to activate the lights in that section because they’d been cannibalized sometime in the past.
Joseph, Petricia, and Bundin appeared from behind the warship. “It is the next best ship in the budding Direct Action Branch fleet.”
Ted’s face twitched in confusion before he turned to walk away.
“Woohoo!” Ankh’Po’Turn yelled from somewhere within the vessel. After two clangs, three metallic screeches, and four bangs, the Crenellian strolled from the ship’s open hatches.
Ted looked over his shoulder. “There you are,” he stated the obvious. “I need you in the lab.”
“This ship is going to be the fastest and best in the whole fleet. It’ll be able to do things that even the War Axe cannot.”
Ted turned around, walked to the ship, and started inspecting it from stem to stern. “Why are you working on this?” Ted asked while making faces at a torn fitting on the outside engine housing.
“Because Miss Cordelia asked me,” Ankh replied simply, standing close and looking up at his mentor. “She needed a ship that would take her back to Earth.”
“Why didn’t she ask me?” Ted wondered aloud as he fixed the Crenellian with his gaze.
“Because she knew you were busy, but that you would drop everything to help her,” Joseph interjected.
“That didn’t work out because now that I know, I am going to drop everything, and we will have this ship operational and on its way in no time. Plato!”
“I installed two of the Etheric power supplies, just in case,” Ankh stated, puffing out his small chest as he attempted to replicate the human gesture.
Ted held up three fingers. “Plato, bring a full complement of maintenance and service bots to the hangar bay, I will be retasking them from whatever less important job they are currently assigned to.”
“Are you sure you should be doing that?” Joseph asked. Ted didn’t bother with a reply.
“What can I do?” Bundin offered, his mechanical voice echoing off the deck of the bay.
Ted looked up. “Probably nothing,” he said.
Bundin’s tentacle arms drooped.
“Provisions!” Petricia declared. “If we’re taking this ship back to Earth, we need to have supplies. Let’s talk to Oscar.”
Bundin waved his tentacle arms wildly as his stalk-head bobbed back and forth. He ambled toward the door leading into the station. Petricia winked at Joseph and followed Bundin out.
“We?” Ted asked.
“Of course, we,” Joseph answered. “We’re taking Cory to find her children.”
Ted stamped a foot. “I can do that all by myself.” He looked at the deck and shuffled uncomfortably until Felicity joined them. “Who else is going?”
“Anyone who needs to.” Joseph held one hand in the other and waited patiently while Ted struggled with the ambiguity of the answer.
“I am not going, if that puts your mind at ease,” Felicity told him. Ted smiled at her. “I want you to deliver those boxes of yours to our children so I can talk with them. I’m not saying to find our kids first, but you find our kids next. I miss my family, and now Marcie is going away, too.”
“No…” Ted looked forlorn as he dragged the word out. Tears welled in Felicity’s eyes, but she didn’t let any escape. She blinked them away before composing herself. Ted sighed in relief.
“You do that for me, Ted,” she told him.
“We will all do that for you. Sarah Jennifer, Sylvia, Terrence, Charlita, and Billy. We will leave no door closed in our search for them,” Joseph declared.
Felicity smiled as she mouthed the names of her children. “You find my children and show them how to use that device of yours.”
“It’s an IICS, the Interstellar …”
Felicity interrupted him by putt
ing her finger over his lips. The muscles stood out in his cheeks from clenching his jaw so tightly.
“I’m sorry, my dear. You can tell me, but I won’t remember any of those technical terms. That’s not my thing. The IICS. I need one in my office, too, so I can talk with them whenever the spirit moves me.” Felicity shimmied.
Ted’s expression turned blank as he withdrew into himself. Felicity smiled at him. “I love you, Ted. Let me know when you’re leaving so I can wave good-bye.”
There was no benefit to remaining behind because Ted needed to be alone, disappear into his work in order to recharge. Emotions closed in on him. If they were in their quarters, he’d be able to better deal with it, but not here, not in the open.
“I’ll help with the provisions,” Joseph said at Felicity’s nod.
Ankh and Ted remained behind as a small army of bots trundled toward the ship. Ted sat down where he was, in the middle of the deck. He closed his eyes as he communed with Plato. Ankh sat on the deck facing Ted. He joined the link with the AI and together, they built the project plan and started tasking the maintenance bots to repair and upgrade the small frigate.
Chapter Four
The War Axe
Terry, Char, and Dokken walked from the pod. Aaron and Yanmei had joined them. Two other pods with Bad Company warriors were disembarking. They strolled through the hangar bay and stopped. The second the hatch opened to the ship’s interior.
Micky, this is TH, Terry said using his comm chip. Is there something you didn’t tell us?
We thought since it was Christmas, we’d try to get in the spirit, Micky replied.
“It’s not Christmas, is it?” Terry asked. Char shook her head.
“Back on Earth, it’s July.”
Micky, it’s not Christmas.
Fine. HVAC is broken and we’ve been drying the ship out so the snow sublimates instead of melts. It’s taking longer than we like but should have it all cleaned out in another four days. In other news, extra blankets are already in your quarters.
Ugh, Dokken grunted as he was first onto the snow-covered deck. Enough feet had walked through that a path was clear down the corridor.
“You’re a dog. You’re supposed to like the snow,” Terry said.
Dokken stopped, turned, and ran. He jumped at the last minute. Terry instinctively ducked. The German Shepherd sailed by Terry. The dog’s eyes shot wide as he tried to backpedal in mid-air right before crashing into Char. The two tumbled to the deck.
Sorry, Dokken apologized as he rolled off Char and into the snow. He stood and shook. Terry took a face full as he was stooped to pull Char to her feet.
She gave the hairy eyeball to Dokken as she stood before turning her attention to her husband. “What?” he stammered. “He started it?”
“That’s how this is going to play out, huh?” Char reared back and threw the snowball that she had secreted in her hand. Terry turned his head as the snowball clipped a few errant hairs. He dove to the side, where the snow was untouched. He scooped up a handful but not quickly enough. Char landed on his back, driving him face-first into the deck, where she rubbed his face in the white mess.
“Uncle!” he shouted through a mouthful of snow.
“Smedley, is this your doing?”
“I can’t imagine what you mean,” the AI replied.
“You’ve been icing the corridors for months now, just to watch people take diggers. Are you conducting some bizarre study?” Terry wondered aloud, standing and brushing himself off. Char was also interested in Smedley’s reply.
“I fear that I have been found out. With my ascension to consciousness, I find that I get bored easily. I see how the crew comes together in various crises, and you should have seen them play! They were so happy, Colonel Walton. Right now, the captain is on the bridge with Wenceslaus sitting in his lap. And there’s a snowman in the middle of engineering.”
The warriors from the other two shuttles crowded the doorway, wondering at the snow within, waiting for the colonel and major to give direction.
“Well, General, I’m going to need you to fix this within the next couple hours. I like the ambient temperature to be above freezing because I’ve grown accustomed to life on the warm side.” He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows at his werewolf wife. She blushed as she smiled back.
Dokken harrumphed and shook once again.
“As you wish,” the AI said languidly, projecting through the speakers in the corridor.
The air vents kicked into overdrive, pulling air into them.
“How long has this been going on, Smedley?” Terry asked.
Music started to play.
“Smedley?” Terry asked above the sound of a calming violin concerto. “SMEDLEY!”
“I’m sorry, were you talking to me?” the AI replied, chuckling.
“I think we need Ted to dumb him down. He was so much nicer before,” Char suggested.
“I’m still me,” Smedley sulked. The music changed to a funeral dirge.
“I don’t have the words,” Terry said. He turned to the group wedged into the doorway and gave the order. “Carry on.”
They powered through, down the corridor, and scattered like quail.
“I miss Jenelope’s cooking.” Terry pointed a finger at his mouth as he rubbed his stomach.
“I married a twelve-year old.” Char couldn’t help but smile.
“About a million years ago,” Terry said as he looked at the deck. He reached down and scratched Dokken behind the ears. “I can remember everything from before, but the twenty years was a blur, and then from the moment you and your pack chased me from the mountains is clear again.”
“It wasn’t my pack way back when.” Char touched his arm, gently. She knew where his mind had gone.
“It’s been such an incredible time, but it’s a whole new life. Different from before and it feels like it’s been better, and that makes me feel guilty.”
“It seems better only because it’s fresher in your mind,” Char suggested.
“Will Cory take twenty years?”
“No. When your wife and daughter died, you didn’t have anyone, only a world that was crashing down around your head. Cory has all of us. She has a stable home in which to stay grounded. She has everything you didn’t have.”
“It still sucks.”
“I know, but it can suck a whole lot less.” Char’s purple eyes sparkled above a serious expression. She didn’t like seeing her daughter in pain. It was frustrating and made her feel helpless, but it didn’t mean that she wasn’t helping.
“Let’s talk with Jenelope.” Terry took Char’s hand and they walked slowly toward the stairwell. Dokken pressed against Terry’s side.
Do you think she’ll have any of the good stuff? Dokken asked.
“I think we’re out. We’re stuck eating bistok until we can get back to Earth and resupply.”
Maybe you can bring some cattle out here. I like them better than bistok.
Terry ruffled the big dog’s thick neck hair as they climbed the stairs, strolling from them in silence when they reached the mess deck. The snow was almost completely gone already.
Char smacked her lips. With the humidity near zero, she was drying out as quickly as the ship.
Thirsty, Dokken told them.
“Me, too, buddy,” Terry answered through his cotton mouth.
The door opened to the mess deck. The tables and chairs were neatly arranged, clean, and empty. The snow was gone and it was starting to warm up inside. The clang of pots and trays from within the galley signaled that Jenelope was hard at work. The low voices sounded familiar. Char leaned around the corner to look into the kitchen.
Cory was elbow-deep in cutting up vegetables. Jenelope was at a table nearby working on a side of beef.
“Cory?” Char wondered. “When did you come over here?”
“Hello to you, too, Mom,” Cory said with a slow smile. Char rushed around the serving counter to hug her daughter. Jenelope waved a wooden s
poon at her.
“Wash before you touch anything in my kitchen! You’ve got dog all over you.”
Hey! Dokken exclaimed in mock outrage. He worked his way into the kitchen.
“Get that mongrel out of here and tell him to take his dog, too!” Jenelope bellowed.
“My daughter…” Terry mumbled as he froze in place.
“What are you waiting for? The vegetables won’t cut themselves up. Your hands won’t magically be washed without using the sink. And you won’t be out of here if you stand there like a Moai statue!”
I’m not his dog, Dokken said weakly as he slunk from the kitchen. I smell beef. I want a steak. Rare, please. Eat more steak! Eat more steak!
Cory laughed, lightly, with a small smile.
“Well?” Jenelope asked, pointing at the vegetables with her ever-present wooden spoon.
Cory held up her hands in surrender. “You better wash up, Mom. I’d be honored if you joined me.”
Charumati walked to the sink, making sure not to touch anything on her way. As she was washing, Cory answered the first question. “I came over yesterday. Aaron, Yanmei, and Jenelope conspired to hand me back and forth until I had a way ahead.”
Char finished and dried her hands on the kitchen towel at the side of the sink. She threw it over her shoulder as she returned to the prep cook’s station. Jenelope pointed to the beef.
“Why don’t you butcher that thing so we can get some of it cooking. I already have the grill heating up. We’ll sear it, then cook it just right.” The chef raised her eyebrows and grinned mischievously.
Eat more steak! Dokken continued.
“Oh, hush! You’ll get your steak, but this is the last that I was saving for a special occasion.”
I’m going to get steak! Dokken declared. Two please, obscenely thick and juicy, oh so juicy. I can smell it! I want steak!
“For a sentient being, you’re acting an awful lot like a dog,” Jenelope said while puttering around the kitchen, moving from one stove to another, tasting and checking, dropping more spices where needed.
“I’m with you, buddy. A big old steak. I can taste it already.” Terry took a seat at a table where he could see into the kitchen. Dokken scrambled to the top of the table and sat there, vibrating in anticipation as he watched Char start working on their dinner.
The Bad Company™ Boxed Set (Books 1-4) Page 60