by Kal Spriggs
“It's good to see you, Mel,” Marcus said as he stepped forward and embraced her. He had waited for her outside her quarters. She hadn't really expected a hug. For that matter, she hadn't really expected anything. Before he had seemed to guilt-ridden to do more than look at her.
Mel stiffened in his arms. It was too sudden, too weird, especially with him wearing another man's face. The oddest part was that he even had a different smell... but his voice and his mannerisms were once more Marcus.
He stepped back, “You okay?” The hurt on his face made things worse.
Mel nodded, “I'm sorry, it's just...” She didn't know how to explain, “It's odd, you wearing someone else's features.” That wasn't all, she knew, but it was part of it. He could sense it.
“Can't get over our past, can we?” Marcus asked softly.
“It's just,” Mel shook her head, “I was so angry with you for ten years... and then I find out that I should have been angry with you, but for other reasons. And now... now we're starting over and I'm not even sure that we shouldn't do that too, you know?”
As much as she tried, she couldn't get past the fact that he was the one who had killed her parents. It wasn't that she hated him, it was just that she didn't know if she could love him and not hate herself for doing so. Forgiveness is one thing, she thought, forgetting is something else.
He stared at her, his eyes intent. She could see thoughts flash behind his eyes, too fast for her to follow.
“You want a fresh start, then, between you and I?” She couldn't quite tell how he felt about that, whether it was what he wanted to hear or not. “Leave our pasts in the pasts and be new people?”
Mel looked down at her feet, “If that isn't too much to ask... yes. We've both got a lot of burdens on our shoulders, it doesn't hurt to leave those behind.”
“What about your brother?” Marcus asked.
She didn't miss the intensity of his voice. Clearly this was a question which he thought he deserved an honest answer. Mel had certainly spent long hours in thought about the problem of her brother. He had joined the terrorist organization that opposed the Guard... but which used tactics abhorrent to her. Rawn had made that choice because of Marcus, when he learned that Guard Intelligence murdered their parents in a bombing intended to assassinate a defecting scientist and implicate a Guard Free Now terrorist cell for the crime. If Guard Free Now didn't use those kinds of tactics, Mel might have felt more sympathy for Rawn's decision.
Mel didn't look up, “He's made his choices. I can't spend the rest of my life trying to fix his.”
She could sense Marcus's gaze. She forced herself to meet his eyes as he thought it through. There was hurt on his face and uncertainty, but there was also acceptance. “Okay,” he nodded, “A new start for both of us.”
She wondered if either of them really believed it.
He smirked a bit, “How do you like me as a blond?”
Mel just shook her head, “It takes a bit of getting used to... is that your natural hair color?”
He shook his head, “A dark brown. This is closer to my original face, though.”
“You were that handsome?” Mel asked. It figured, she thought, he had that cocky attitude that she'd generally found in handsome men.
“Actually,” Marcus cocked his head in consideration, “I think I looked better than this. I'll have to see if I can find a good photo.”
Mel just rolled her eyes, “I'll await that with bated breath.” She gave him another look, “Though, truthfully, a change of face might make it easier to start over. I can't say I mind the blonde hair, either.”
Marcus gave her an odd look. “Okay. I'm willing to try that.”
“Well,” Mel said awkwardly, “I think I'm going to go get some rest, it's been a long day.”
As she closed the door, she saw something, almost suspicion flash across his face. She hoped she was wrong... but Bob's words about Marcus came to mind. She hoped that he could move on, start over... and he said that he meant to, but she couldn't quite believe him.
Then again, she hadn't been telling him the entire truth either.
***
Mel knocked on Aldera's hatch a bit later and the woman answered after a moment. Bob had brought her off the shuttle, but neither of them had spoken to Mel since she had let Claude go. Bob would probably talk to her later, but Mel felt that Aldera deserved an explanation.
“I cannot believe you let him live,” Aldera said with a glare at Mel.
“As far as we can tell, he was telling the truth,” Mel said, “and while I'm not a big fan of Guard Intelligence agents in general, I'm even less a fan of killing people for spite.”
She had sought the woman out after she'd recovered from the stunner. Given her history with Guard Intelligence, Mel just wanted to be certain the woman understood.
Aldera looked away at that. “What if he comes after us?”
“He'll have a hard time of it,” Mel said. “Even if he goes to Guard Intelligence, they'll have to spend months or even years going through the database to find the identities that Fenris changed. We should have some bit of warning if they go that route. And given everything he said, I don't think he will.”
Aldera took a deep breath. “It is just so hard. They took away decades of my life, they took everything from me.” The bitterness in her voice was an echo of the pain Mel felt when she thought about her family, taken by a Guard Intelligence plot, and her brother, convinced to join Guard Free Now as a result.
Mel nodded, “Trust me, I know what you mean.” She didn't mention that it was Marcus who'd killed her parents and ended her career in Guard Fleet before it ever really started. He had done it under the leadership of Guard Intelligence... and they had congratulated him on a job well done afterward. The organization was rotten, she thought, but that didn't mean every agent in the organization was rotten as well. Besides, Fenris had a point, the man had already covered for them.
“But we have a new chance,” Mel said. “A fresh start. You can be whoever you want to be, now. Don't you want a chance to see that through?”
Aldera nodded slowly, “I do.” She gave a deep sigh. “I haven't thought about freedom, real freedom in years. Being able to go anywhere, to walk around outside without the fear of capture or execution... it is something that I couldn't dare to hope for. I'm honestly not certain where to even go or what to do with myself.”
Mel smiled. “Well, if you need somewhere to hang around, you're more than welcome to stay.”
“Thanks,” Aldera said with a genuine smile, “I appreciate that.”
***
“Melody Amiss?” Mel asked in shock. “You've got to be joking.” She stared at the profile for her cover identity and shook her head, “What kind of name is Melody Amiss?”
“It does sort of fit,” Bob said lightly.
Mel glared at him, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, Mel,” Marcus shook his head, “did you get drunk while I was gone?”
“She sang,” Bob nodded, “It was awful. I think I still have hearing damage.”
“I did not sing,” Mel said sharply.
Aldera patted her on the back, “You did. Even drunk, I remember that.” She cocked her head, “I've never been so sick in my entire life. I'm pretty certain I threw up a toenail. But even that doesn't quite erase the memory of your singing voice.”
Mel patiently ignored Aldera's comment. “I am not going to have Melody Amiss as my identity,” Mel said. “If it comes down to it, I'll legally change my name.”
“That would require a high level of effort and expense,” Fenris said. “And while the humorous reference is quite fortuitous, I assure you, the reasoning for the choice was sound.”
Mel grimaced but she couldn't argue. Fenris had selected a woman who could have passed for her twin sister. A change in hair style, a bit of makeup, and a change of clothes would be enough to make her fill the role. Mel would have to adopt an accent if she wanted to pull off being fr
om New Madrid, but she possessed little of Century's drawl in any case.
She had no siblings, no living relatives, and all of her surviving friends and acquaintances lived in the Evistar Sector.
Even better, Melody Amiss had been a salvage pilot, running a small startup, but she had served for ten years in Santiago's Planetary Militia and that military experience would give her a background for working as a mercenary.
Granted, Mel thought, the real Melody Amiss died working salvage last year in the Evistar Sector, but now the records will show her as alive and well... after one last salvage job.
That led her to Fenris' backstory. The Evistar Sector Guard Fleet, ESGF, battlecruiser Tenacity had been lost with all hands in the Chandler system in a patrol mission that ran into more than they could handle. The official logs stated that the ship was destroyed and unsalvageable, but that was easily changed to salvageable... and thus Fenris was now on paper as having been salvaged by her, made operational by her salvage crew, and given papers of ownership that Hanet could legally accept.
The Tenacity as a Lucas-class battlecruiser wasn't a perfect match for Fenris. The human-crewed battlecruiser had a lighter original armament and a shallower warp drive field, but that wasn't an insurmountable issue, especially since the ship's reported damage meant that it would need heavy repairs. If they listed the Tenacity as being heavily modified, few would question it.
“Well,” Marcus said, “Nice to meet you, Melody. My name is Nigel Troy.”
His words brought their earlier conversation to mind and Mel gave him the slightest nod of acknowledgment. She just felt relief that he seemed over his anger.
He read off the synopsis of his biography, “Born in the Parisian Sector, Nigel is a native of Trafalgar. He did a stint in Guard Fleet as a counter intelligence officer before he left for the private sector.” He gave a smirk at the next bit, “He worked corporate security for a few years with Odin Interstellar, but then transferred over to do private security on his own.” His frown deepened a bit, “Real world, he was shot and killed working a surveillance mission on Falkland. Possible ties to organized crime. You aren't worried someone will wonder if their hit men didn't do a good enough job, Fenris?”
The warship took a moment to answer, “The group he was watching were rolled up a month later by local law enforcement. They shouldn't be an issue.”
Marcus shrugged, “Nothing else here of any interest.”
“Nigel,” Bob nodded, “You could pass for a Nigel.”
“I,” Tank said and cleared his throat, “Am Sergio Martinez. Two tours in the UNGMC in the Sepasso Sector, fighting the Culmor on a number of worlds. Real world, killed in action with my entire squad with two days left on Ironfall. In my new background, I finished the tour and got out. No family, no surviving friends.” He looked sort of sad as he said that.
“You've got some friends,” Mel patted the big man on the shoulder and then grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. He flashed her a big smile at that, yet she could see the concern in his eyes, that the background might not be as inaccurate as he could hope.
He's a good man that he can worry about his former squadmates and his entire family even with the relief of pulling this whole thing off to distract him, she thought. She didn't miss how he held onto her hand, not firmly, but just tight enough that she couldn't easily pull away.
She didn't want to pull her own hand away, though. Somehow, it felt good to have his big hand holding hers. Mel could feel Marcus's eyes zero in on her and she almost let go of Tank's hand, but she didn't. It wasn't like they were involved or anything. They were just friends.
Aldera gave a groan, “I'm Alexa Kornakov. Former resident of New Kalnishov. Licensed engineer, worked for New Kalnishov Weapons Company for the past twenty years designing weapons and equipment, fired due to alcoholism. Drank herself to death.”
“Fenris?” Mel asked with an ominous tone.
“Well, it does give you both some reason to avoid further drinking,” Bob said. “If she's trying to give it up to save her new liver.” Aldera hit him in the shoulder, hard enough that the man winced.
“What an amazing happenstance,” Fenris said.
Mel just sighed. “Brian?” Although the genmod could alter his biometrics, he still needed a new identity if he wanted to function in civilized space.
Brian didn't look up for a long moment as he read through his. When he finally did, he wore a broad smile. “David Sun Yi. A veteran of the Guard Army, Special Service.”
Mel rolled her eyes at that. The Guard Army Special Service were notorious for being wildcards. They billed themselves as the most elite light infantry in the Guard Military, which might well be true. But what was also true was that they were called on most often when the Guard needed a mission where their people could go in and go 'native' on a rough planet.
The Special Service often did some of the nastiest missions... things like wiping out illegal colonies and pirate bases or assassinations of warlords. They were tough, mean individuals.
“Lots of redacted data,” Brian said, “Lots of planets I've never officially visited. The real David left the Guard Army, opened a burger stand on Veleca and was killed when a freighter fell out of orbit near the spaceport. So not a lot of chances that someone's going to recognize him.”
“Yeah,” Mel shook her head. “That's everyone, then?”
“Uh, mine is okay,” Swaim said. “Just a college kid. Can I trade with anyone?”
“No,” Mel said.
“Oh, okay,” Swaim said. “You guys are no fun.”
“What, you aren't even going to gloat about your share of the payment?” Mel asked.
Swaim waved a hand, “Why? I just wanted to be a part of the crew. It's not like money matters much, anyway. Just knowing you guys liked having me around means more than that. Fenris can have my share for upgrades.”
Mel stared at him, “You're giving up something like twenty million Guard Dollars.”
Swaim shrugged, “So? It's just money.”
Mel couldn't think up an appropriate response to that. Twenty million Guard Dollars wasn't a token amount. It was enough to buy a small starship and have enough left over to fit it out as a yacht. It was enough to live in luxury for life on a number of worlds... and for whatever reason, Swaim didn't care.
Maybe I underestimated him, she thought.
“Besides,” Swaim said, “this way I can stick around and help out on the next mission. I want to be there the next time Mel blows up a building.”
Maybe not, she thought with a sigh. Mel looked around and spotted Paul Kruger with a patient look on his face. “What about you?”
Bob's contact just shook his head, “Oh, I've got mine, but no need to share, I think. Especially since I want nothing to do with you lot. I'm going to retire on a warm, sunny world where it never snows. A place with nice beaches and beautiful women.”
“Might I recommend Century?” Bob said. “Mel is from there.”
“Ah, really?” Paul looked her over. “Are there more like you?”
Mel gave him a glare, “I refuse to answer that.”
Paul nodded, “That is a yes. If I remember right, that world is well outside of the core systems, out on the Periphery. I imagine my payment will go a long way towards setting me up comfortably there. I think that works well, thank you, Bob.”
Mel just shook her head. While Paul had come through for them, he didn't seem a particularly good person... seeing as he'd betrayed his employers for money and all. It didn't seem right to let him go throw money around on her homeworld. Then again, she thought, since he's a witness and all to our survival, maybe having him out of the way where he can't be caught is a good thing.
“Alright, then,” Mel said. “We'll head back to Hanet, take our payment, and then those of you who want to go your separate ways can do so.”
Everyone nodded their heads. She could sense their excitement, they were free and clear. They had new lives ahead of them, even Fenris.
She wondered how long that would last, for some of them, before they were in trouble again.
I wonder, she thought, if I can make this new life stick, even for me.
Time: 1230 Zulu, 30 October 291 G.D.
Location: Danzig, City of Neuhaven, Neu Emshaven System
Punatra considered the information from the newsfeeds and pondered how it tied into the information he had received only a few days earlier. The takedown of the security at Odin Interstellar was too professional for it not to be one of their operatives... and the only operative who he didn't have direct contact with was the one who had sent his report.
It had to be Galapanatra, he thought as he viewed the footage of the guards being taken down, one after the other, often by hand. None of the Apru were fast or strong enough to move like that or to so efficiently take down armed men. Yet Galapanatra was unlikely to have left any of them alive as a matter of pride. He would want to prove his superiority, which Punatra understood even if he thought it a childish behavior. Then again, Galapanatra was young, yet. He didn't have centuries to move past that.
Punatra himself was beyond such things. He well knew his superiority to the Apru, enough so that he could tolerate living among them, secure in the knowledge that they would learn of their inferiority in time... but only when it was too late for them to do anything about it.
That consideration done, he went back to his examination of Galapanatra's data on the Guard Free Now terrorist cells. He found the information interesting, both in the terrorist organization's methods and potential as a tool as well as the fact that the Guard were sentimental enough to tolerate such insolence rather than doing the practical thing and wiping them out.
Certainly they would not tolerate such behavior back home. The perpetrators would be made into Lazaran and then turned upon their families and the results would be broadcast to all the inferior Apru, so that they knew the price of uprising and insurrection.
Yet here, the terrorists would be of use. Certainly if provided with weapons and equipment he would be able to make use of them. Perhaps even select of them could be enhanced, not beyond the Soldat caste, but high enough that once his people conquered the Guard worlds, they could serve as low-level officers to oversee that conquest.