by Susan Hayes
“Tell me what happened the day Travis died.”
Fraxx. “You know I can’t do that.”
“No, I don’t. The last time we had this conversation, I was a heartbroken little sister who wanted to know why her brother was dead. It’s different, now.”
“Yes, it is. The last time we spoke, you were a civilian. This time, you’re an officer in the IAF. The mission you’re asking about is classified, Trin. You know I can’t give you that information.”
“My family deserves to know what really happened. His casket was sealed. We couldn’t even say goodbye. His medical records and autopsy report are locked away. They wouldn’t even tell us where this supposed training accident took place. Were you with him? Did he suffer? Did you even try to keep your promise to me?”
He ground her name out from between clenched teeth. “Trinity. I can’t.”
“You mean you won’t.”
“You’re not being fair.”
She shot him a pained look. “You’re not one of the good ones, remember? What do you know about fair, Fido?”
Not one of the good ones. Veth. When he’d written those words, he never expected them to be thrown back in his face. He’d thought he was doing the right thing. Even Travis didn’t think he was good enough for her, so he’d let her go.
“Damn it, Trin. We were kids. My leave was over the next day, and I didn’t know when I’d be coming home again.”
“You broke my heart.” The second she said the words, her hand clapped over her mouth.
He moved in front of her and took her hand. “I’m sorry.” He could give her that much of the truth.
When she pulled out of his grasp, it was all he could do not to haul her into his arms and tell her everything she wanted to know. He hated that he was hurting her again.
“I wish I could believe that.”
“If you can’t, then we’re going to have a problem. My team is investigating everyone on this base. How’s that going to go if their commanding officer doesn’t trust my team or me?”
Her amber eyes were full of fire as she met his gaze. “You’ll have my full cooperation when it comes to the investigation. I want to find the truth as much as you do. Maybe more.”
“The odds are, the one who did it isn’t even on the base anymore.”
“I know. But this is my base and my responsibility.”
“You sound like him right now.” It was strange to hear her echo the same sentiments as the man he’d followed into hell and back.
For a moment, her expression softened. “You think so?”
“I do. This isn’t the life he wanted for you, you know. But I bet wherever he is, he’s proud of you.”
“This isn’t the life I wanted either.” She tipped her head back, and he saw the grim determination in her expression.
“Then why did you sign up?”
“Because it’s the only way I’ll ever know the truth about what happened. Since no one else will tell me, I’m going to have to find out for myself.”
“That’s insane. He wanted you to be able to follow your dreams, not give up on them to chase down a truth that doesn’t matter.”
Her jaw tensed, and she stepped away from him. “It matters to me.”
“Why?”
“I told you. I need to know if he suffered. I need to know if he was alone, or if he had someone there with him at the end. I need to know why my brother is gone. Did his death mean anything? Or did we lose him for nothing? That’s why.”
For one brief moment, the mask dropped, and he saw her grief and anger, still raw after all these years.
“Okay.” He didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t sure the right words existed in any language in the galaxy.
Her mask snapped back into place. “So, still nothing you can tell me?”
“He didn’t suffer. It happened very fast.” It was more than he should have told her, but so much less than he wanted to.
Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open, but she didn’t say a word. Finally, she nodded, then walked away.
It wasn’t until she was at the door that she glanced back over her shoulder, but even at that distance, he could see the tears gleaming in her eyes. “Thank you.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, you will, Commander Rossi. Good night.”
Once the door closed, he went and poured himself a glass of brandy from his private stash and then went to sit by the window. The lake was a perfect mirror, reflecting the night sky overhead. He had seen countless starry skies on more than a dozen worlds in his life, but there’d been a time when he’d never seen one. There were no skies in a hive city. No sun, no stars. Even the wind was an artificial construct. Millions of people crowded together in a self-contained city that protected them from the environmental threats of a ravaged planet.
As teenagers, he and Travis had roamed through the labyrinth of maintenance tunnels and ventilation shafts, marking their routes until they had a working map that could take them anywhere they wanted to go. They found the long-forgotten observatory dome by accident. It was the first time either one of them had ever seen the sky.
That was where he’d taken Trinity when he’d come back home on leave. Away from the fetid air and pressing crowds of the city. He’d brought her to the roof of their world, and showed her the world beyond it. That first night, she had stared up at the stars in awe, and he had stared at her. That was where he kissed her for the first time, and later, he’d made love to her in a moonlit bower he built out of blankets pilfered from his family’s home.
He hadn’t meant to fall for Travis’ little sister. But the night she’d snuck into his room and begged him to look after her brother, something had changed. She became a symbol for him. She represented home, and family, and all that was good in the world.
When he’d come back on leave, he’d taken one look at the woman she’d grown into and fallen for her, hard.
Everything had been incredible…until Travis spotted his baby sister kissing his best friend. He’d waited until Trinity had gone to bed, and then he’d dragged Dax outside and torn into him with a vengeance.
“What the fraxx are you doing with Trin? She’s my baby sister, you bastard.” He punctuated his comments with a shove that made Dax take a step backward.
“She’s eighteen, Trav. Unless I’ve forgotten how to perform basic arithmetic that makes her about ten minutes younger than the blonde you’ve been seeing since we got back.”
“It’s not the same thing, and you know it. Saphra knows the deal. We’re having a good time, and when I ship out again, it ends. This was always a short-term thing. Trin’s been half in love with you since she was twelve years old. There is no way she thinks this is short-term.”
“Maybe it isn’t.”
Travis’ eyes narrowed, and a dangerous light came into his eyes. “It has to be.”
“That’s not your decision to make.”
He’d backed off a little, but his expression didn’t change. “You’re right. It’s your choice. If you crook your finger, Trinity will follow you to the end of the galaxy without a second thought. She’s a sweet, naïve kid who believes there’s good in everyone.”
“You don’t think I’m good enough for her.”
“I don’t think she’s good enough for any of us or this place. I didn’t join up just to escape. I’m sending home enough scrip for her to be able to train at a real school. She’s smart enough to get a corporate job and get out of here for good.” Travis had gestured around them, encompassing the rusted corridors and battered walls of the prison they’d been born into.
“I’m not going to stop her from following her dreams, Trav. She’s special, I get that. Believe me, I do.”
They’d stared at each other for a long time, then Travis sighed. “I believe you.”
“Good. Then you know I’m going to keep seeing her.”
“If you do, she’ll never achieve her dreams. She’ll give them up to support you
rs. That’s who she is.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
Travis laughed at him. “Have you even met my sister? She’s the most determined human being I’ve ever met. She wouldn’t give you any other choice.”
In the end, he’d agreed with his best friend and ended it. He thought he’d been doing the right thing. She’d suffer a moment’s heartbreak, but then she’d be free of him, and in exchange, she would have a lifetime of opportunities he’d never be able to give her.
He took another drink of his brandy and stared out at the moonlit lake. “We were wrong, buddy. It wasn’t me she gave up her dreams for. It was you. When I see you again, I’m going to kick your ass for that.”
He drained the glass but didn’t move for a long time. When he did, he moved slowly, weighed down by memories and regrets.
4
Trinity’s comm unit chimed for the fourth time in the last three minutes, and like the last three times, she ignored it. Ever since the Nova Force team had started their investigation a week ago, she was constantly barraged with complaints and demands that she “do something” about the team or their investigation. While most of the messages were from Tony and his team of researchers, there were a growing number of complaints from Master Sergeant Gottfried, too.
Cleo Gottfried was the base’s administrator, and she worked hand in hand with V.I.D.A. to keep everything running smoothly. Since the arrival of what many around the base were referring to as ‘the inquisition force,” nothing was running smoothly, or even close to it. Everyone was on edge. Morale was plummeting, and tempers were rising all over the base. Communication was breaking down, too, which led to simple issues blowing up into serious conflicts, leaving herself and Cleo to handle the cleanup.
It had been a long, frustrating day, and she decided it was time to call it quits. Dinner had been served nearly an hour ago, but she had been too busy to do more than consume a protein drink from the small food dispenser in her office.
She pushed back from her desk and rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the tension that had become almost a permanent condition. After a few minutes, she admitted defeat. The only thing that was going to help her loosen up was some serious exercise.
“V.I.D.A., I’m going for a run. Redirect any urgent inquiries to the on-shift duty officer until I get back.”
“An excellent idea, Lieutenant. Your bio-signs indicate you are in a highly stressed state. Exercise would likely assist you in returning to a more optimal mental condition.”
“What have I told you about monitoring me without permission?”
“You dislike it when I do so. However, it is part of my programming to ensure that everything on this base runs at optimum capacity. That includes you, Lieutenant West.”
“You say that every time.”
“Of course. My answer will not change unless my programming does. Enjoy your run.”
One of these days she was going to learn not to argue with a logic-based machine. “I plan to.”
Ten minutes later she had changed into her running gear and was heading for the door. It had been too long since she had been outside. The fresh air and endorphins would clear her head, and she could burn off some of her frustration at the same time.
There were no roads for her to follow, but over the years the residents had worn a number of trails that led over and through the hills around the base. She chose one of her favorites, a looping track that would take her the better part of an hour to complete.
The sky was overcast, and there was mist shrouding some of the higher hilltops as she stretched and warmed up before heading out. When she had first arrived here, she had been unnerved by the vast, empty silence that was part of this place. The only sounds were natural: the babble of flowing creeks, the howl of the wind through the rocky crevasses, and in summer, the soft hum of the insects that were the only indigenous lifeforms to inhabit the area. She’d never lived somewhere as wild and open as this before, and it had taken some time to adjust. Her runs had helped with that, and as the months passed, she had come to love her brief escapes into the quiet wilds.
Today, not even the mist-shrouded silence could calm her overloaded mind completely, but it helped. A sprint up the steepest hill helped too, the flood of endorphins making her feel momentarily relaxed.
Night was falling by the time she was on her way back to base. In the growing darkness, she missed the storm clouds coming in until the rain arrived in a drenching downpour cold enough to spur her to sprint the rest of the way home.
By the time she was back indoors, she was sopping wet and cold, a combination that made spending a few minutes in the dry sauna sound like a perfect plan. The saunas were on the same level as the gym, which was an area she’d been avoiding since Dax and his team had arrived.
It was hard enough dealing with Dax when they were both in uniform and she could use protocol to keep her distance. If she ran into him in the gym, then they’d just be two people having a conversation, and she wasn’t ready to do that again.
The last real conversation they’d had, he’d finally told her that Travis hadn’t suffered. By doing so, he’d confirmed what she already suspected. He’d been with her brother when he died. That admission had answered one question but brought up a dozen others to take its place. It was clear to her now that Travis, along with Dax and Kurt, had been assigned to Nova Force at the time of his death. Had they both been there? Who had led the fatal mission? What had they been doing?
“Veth West, is it raining, or did you fall into the lake fully clothed?” Kurt’s booming voice interrupted her musings as she crossed in front of the gym doors.
“Are you calling me clumsy, Sabre?” She called back. She didn’t know Kurt well, but he had accompanied Travis and Dax back to Earth on leave ten years ago. She’d spent most of her time with Dax, but Kurt had been nice enough.
His nickname puzzled her, but so did several of the other team members’ monikers. Buttercup was a big, brash bruiser, totally unlike the Terran wildflower he was named after, and Kurt didn’t seem to have much in common with an ancient bladed weapon, either. At least Dax’s nickname was obvious. Fido was an old term for any kind of dog back on Earth. Clearly, Dax’s reputation with women had carried on into his IAF years.
Kurt grinned. “You forget, I knew your brother. I’ve heard all the stories about you, including that time you got stuck in the ventilation shaft for six hours during a game of hide-and-seek.”
“Is that how he told the story?” She marched into the gym, curiosity overcoming her desire to get warm and dry.
“Yep. And then Rossi had to climb down and pull you out.”
She scoffed. “I guess they both forgot about the fact the game was their idea, and my brother was the one that suggested I hide there in the first place. They were trying to ditch me and didn’t realize I was stuck until they came back hours later. They had to bribe me with a small fortune’s worth of ice cream to get me to agree not to tell my parents.”
“Stories like that are why I’m grateful I was an only child,” Aria declared from across the room.
“You were lucky,” Trinity agreed.
Eric wandered over to her, grinning. “What other stories do you have about the commander? C’mon, Lieutenant, spill. The next time I’m in trouble I can use it as leverage. Consider it your revenge for him leaving you stuck in that shaft as a kid.”
She gave his suggestion careful thought, then ignored all the reasons why it was a bad idea and started regaling the group with tales about their commanding officer’s early years.
Twenty minutes later, they were all laughing together. It had been a long time since she’d been able to relax and laugh with anyone. As the highest-ranking officer on the base, she had to maintain a certain amount of distance between herself and the other personnel. It left her with limited options for socializing.
Dante Strak leaned in and lowered his voice to a conspirator’s whisper. “I have to ask because you might be the only
person in the galaxy who knows the answer. What’s with the commander and large bodies of water?”
Eric nodded. “Yeah! He won’t even go into a swimming pool.”
“Still? I figured he’d have gotten over that by now.”
“Got over what?” four voices asked in unison.
“I heard a version of this from your brother, once. I’d like to see how it matches up to yours,” was all Kurt said as he moved closer.
“Aw man, you knew? You never said anything,” Eric complained.
“I knew, but it’s not my story to tell. I wasn’t there,” Kurt said.
“Before I tell this story, I have to know, does he still avoid eating fish?” Trinity asked.
“I never thought about it, but you know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him eat fish,” Dante murmured.
“Not even a fish stick,” Aria agreed.
“Why doesn’t he eat fish?” Cris asked.
“Because he fell into a sewage treatment vat full of carp once, back when we were kids.”
Everyone spoke at once. “Ew!”
“Fish in sewage?”
“That’s nightmare fodder.”
“How the fraxx did that happen?”
“Hive cities are self-contained, and can only trade for supplies when they have a surplus, which doesn’t happen that often. That means they have to recycle everything. One of the ways that happens is by combining water recycling with aquaculture. Once the water has been partially processed, a bunch of bottom feeder type fish are dumped in, and they clean out more of the particulate by eating it. The fish become food, and the water is cleaned up and recycled.”
Blink shuddered. “That’s disgusting. People actually eat those fish?”
“We did. The fish tasted a lot better than the algae nutri-broth.”
Kurt groaned in horror. “Oh yeah. I remember that stuff. Your brother and Rossi bet me a week’s pay I couldn’t eat two bowls of it without puking. I lost.”
“I still want to hear how he ended up in a sewage tank,” Eric reminded her.
“The two of them decided to break into the water recycling plant and try their hand at fishing. They had this homemade net they’d put together, but the handle was too short. Rossi overreached, and splish-splash, in he went.”