by Britt Ringel
“Detail, Tench-Hut!” Holloway roared. “Present, Harms!” As one, the marines thrust their rifles out, barrels pointing upward.
She was wearing her navy’s service dress as well. From his lower position on the bay deck, Heskan could not help but notice long, fit calves below her green skirt. Her service coat was perfectly tailored and immaculate. She wore the white beret bearing the iconic green sea serpent that all Hollaran ship captains wore. Striking red and gold komandor podporucznik epaulets rested squarely on her shoulders.
Four full rows of ribbons, Heskan noted. He self-consciously glanced down at the three rows of his own “fruit salad.” Curiously, she wore tasteful makeup. In all his encounters before, he had never remembered seeing Lombardi with makeup. “Knockout” doesn’t go far enough, he thought.
Lombardi stepped down the ramp but stopped at the bottom. She turned to her left and faced the Brevic Republic’s flag emblazoned on the bay’s bulkhead. After rendering a precise Hollaran salute, she resumed walking down the pathway created by the marines. Lombardi’s dark eyes swept to each person waiting for her before settling on Heskan. When he felt the power of her stare, he broke out in goosebumps.
Just one meter from him, she stopped. Coming to attention, she saluted and firmly said, “Komandor Podporucznik Isabella Lombardi requests permission to come aboard for conference.”
Heskan returned the courtesy with a crisp salute. “Permission granted, Komandor. It is an honor to welcome you.” He reached out to shake her hand.
This time, there was no hesitation. Lombardi grasped his hand and shook it genuinely. “Thank you, Commander. The welcome is most impressive.” She looked at Lieutenant Selvaggio and smiled for the first time. “Diane, it is good to see you again.”
Selvaggio smiled. “Anche voi, Komandor.”
Lombardi regarded Vernay with a nod. “Lieutenant.” The corner of her mouth tipped playfully upward. “I half-expected those rifles to be pointed at me.”
Confused, Heskan looked at Vernay as she responded by tipping her head toward her captain and jesting, “He wouldn’t let me, Komandor. Welcome aboard, ma’am.”
“Komandor,” Heskan stated, “if you will join us, we’ll give you a brief tour of the ship that Phoenix so ably led home.”
Chapter 18
The tour lasted just over an hour. It was carefully designed to show the best parts of Kite without revealing anything considered classified by the Brevic Navy. The Cerberus point defense system was strictly off limits, although Lombardi surprised Heskan by asking many questions about it. Heskan did not mind that the person standing in front of him knew of the system, but found it disturbing that it also meant the Hollaran Commonwealth knew as well. He earnestly hoped they did not understand its true state, for while he and Lombardi had become ardent allies, he could not trust that all of Hollara would be so quick to suspend hostilities with their sworn enemies.
After the tour, Lombardi reunited with her shuttle crew in Recreation Room One for lunch and refreshments. Representatives from each of Kite’s sections were available but what started as a technical lunch meeting relaxed into a more casual conversation that centered mostly on the differences between the two navies. Nearly two hours later, the collection had broken into several, smaller clusters in the large room. Heskan made sure to stop and talk with each group out of courtesy but also to ensure the conversations were going “well.” He noticed Lombardi was doing the same thing. When Heskan finished speaking with the last group, he searched the room for his counterpart. She was standing alone, near a wall, reading an allegiance plaque.
“We’ll stand together. For only acting as one, united in our cause, can we secure our liberty. We’ll stand together,” she read quietly to herself.
Heskan silently approached. Standing close behind and to her right, he explained, “Just a very common slogan used around the Republic.”
Lombardi flinched slightly. “I did not realize you were standing there. Kite is most remarkable and the reception we have been given, very warm. Thank you, Commander.” Still facing away, she took a sip from the glass in her hand and cast her eyes toward the deck.
“Please call me Garrett, Komandor, and it’s the least we can do for our friends.”
Lombardi smiled half-heartedly at the word. “Friends. Is that what we are? Now that we are in Brevic space, the future seems very uncertain… my crew’s future, my ship’s future… my own.” Lombardi turned to face Heskan. Centimeters separated them as she met his gaze. “Garrett, I would like to have a private conversation with you.”
The three-minute walk to Heskan’s quarters was in complete silence. Heskan, unsure what the conversation would entail, was unwilling to make any assumptions and stayed quiet. Lombardi remained unreadable and equally silent. When the door to his cabin opened, he bid her into his small waiting room and surreptitiously glanced through the chamber to ensure the door to his actual living quarters was closed. Lombardi entered and bypassed the tiny conference table in favor of the small but comfortable couch.
Heskan cleared his throat nervously. “Can I get you anything, Komandor?” Are her hands trembling?
“No thank you, Garrett,” she replied. “Please sit.”
Heskan felt his stomach lurch but he made his way to sit next to her. Stop being an idiot, Heskan! You’re a grown man and if she picks up on your attraction to her, it will ruin your professional relationship. He clenched his jaws to work the nervous energy out of them and then smiled as he sat. God, she smells nice.
The awkward silence was deafening.
Finally, Heskan admitted, “This is a little strange.”
Lombardi half-smiled and agreed. “Yes. It is one thing to work with you for hours at a time separated by several light-seconds and quite another to be sitting next to you.” She took a deep breath as if to fortify herself before she started. “Garrett, a month ago, I made a pledge that I would return you and your crew to your Republic if we ended up in Hollaran space.” She looked away from him and continued, “I made a similar promise to my crew during our dive to Perdita. I swore on my soul that I would bring them home or die trying.” She looked Heskan squarely in the eye. “I mean to keep that promise, Garrett. I have to.”
“Isabella,” Heskan assured, “I intend to keep my promise to you, too.”
Lombardi shrugged listlessly, her quiet voice filled with despair. “Damn you. How can you say that? Is it part of Brevic culture to make promises you cannot keep? We both know the Republic will impound Phoenix and intern her crew as prisoners of war.” Her voice took a faraway quality. “And when they realize who I am…”
“Who are you, Isabella?” Heskan asked earnestly.
The woman’s shoulders slumped. “I am the sole heir to the De Luca family, raised by Assistant Chief of Intelligence, Wiceadmiral Teodore De Luca himself. And when your Republic discovers this, they will assume that Teodore shared many facets of his job with me. They will not be wrong.”
“Why is your name Lombardi then?” Heskan asked.
She looked back to Heskan. “My mother was Uncle Teodore’s sister. Felisa De Luca married my father, Nico Lombardi.” She smiled wistfully. “We lived on New Bari, the end of one of the system chains from New Roma. They were saline-hydroculturists. Kelp farmers.”
She exhaled as a smile grew on her face, her vision fixed firmly on the past. “God, how I loved the ocean. My parents could never get me out of the water or the submersibles.” Her smile ignited a warm light in her eyes. “I spent more time in our underwater plantation than on dry land. Just looking out at the swaying kelp fields… I felt so connected, so part of something greater than any person has a right to be. I knew by the time I was eight I would spend the rest of my life in those waters.”
“What happened?”
Lombardi’s mouth twisted slightly and she quietly stared deep into his eyes. Heskan met her vulnerable gaze with open, honest eyes. I won’t hurt you, Isabella. Trust me.
After an eternity, she said, �
��When I was thirteen, I was in the two-man submersible with my parents. I had demanded to go along. I threw a tantrum until they relented. We were upgrading the perimeter towers when a support field collapsed and brought a tower down on us. The submersible became pinned, communications were unresponsive… and then it started leaking.” She shook her head. “We only had one suit. I had removed the other so I could fit in the submersible with my parents.”
Lombardi’s eyes began to glisten brightly as she spoke. “They insisted I use the suit to swim back to the plantation for help. They told me there would be enough time but we all knew the truth.” She blinked several times. “And, I left them and saved myself.”
“Isabella,” Heskan protested docilely.
She hung her head. “No, that is the truth of it. I swam hard, all six kilometers. I swam so hard that I threw up in my helmet after the first two and nearly choked to death on it.” Her focus was once again set firmly in the past, making her voice sound far away. “It made it so difficult to see; I was so tired.” She slightly shook her head. “I still remember every detail about that swim.” She looked at Heskan. “I will never go back in the water again.”
“So your uncle took care of you… after?”
She nodded and replied, “Yes. Uncle Teodore was married but had no children. His wife, Samanta, works in Navy Procurement.” She smiled widely enough to flash white teeth. “Zio was so proud the day I told him I wanted to try for the Naval Academy. I guess it was silly for me to worry about not being accepted.” The smile faded and she briefly bit her lip. “And he guided my career ever since.” She gave Heskan a proud look. “You know, I am only one of three women under the age of thirty to have commanded a heavy cruiser.”
“How old are you?” Heskan winced after he realized what he had asked.
She smiled genuinely and the infectious smile spread to Heskan as she assured, “It’s nothing, Garrett. Age is only a number. I am thirty-three now. I have been a komandor podporucznik for four years but I am scheduled for promotion to komandor porucznik soon. I have worked hard for the navy but I also understand that many of my opportunities were only possible because of Uncle Teodore. He has always watched over me.” Her smile faded completely. “Until Sponde.”
Heskan felt his own smile fall as he recalled the moments before the Hollaran carrier Onesti’s destruction. Lombardi’s sharp jawline tensed as she spoke through clenched muscles. “I hate myself for leaving him.” Her eyes brimmed with tears.
Heskan’s heart ached. He reached out instinctively for her hand. “Isabella, he ordered you to dive.”
“And every ‘Vic watched it play out, laughing at me. I cannot believe I forgot about the other channel…”
“Isabella,” he held her hand tighter, “every heart on Kite’s bridge went out to you, including mine.”
They peered into each other’s eyes, neither willing to speak. Heskan thought his heart would pound its way out of his chest. Finally, Lombardi broke the connection and looked down, surprised at her hand wrapped around his. She did not remove it. “Garrett, I cannot leave my crew. I will never again only save myself.”
Heskan’s voice took on a determined edge. “You won’t have to, Isabella.”
“I want very badly to believe in you.”
Heskan’s datapad beeped from the conference table. With great reluctance, he unwrapped his hand from hers and moved to pick up the noisy tablet. “Heskan here.”
“Captain, this is Price, sir. I’m picking up a tunnel disturbance.”
“What?” Heskan said. “Skathi is closed to traffic, sensorman.” His heart leapt into his throat. “Oh no, tell me it’s not the Parasites.”
“No, sir. The disturbance originated from the Narvi tunnel point. We’re currently inside the edge of the second asteroid belt and the interference is so bad I can’t get an optical on the ship but someone definitely just dove in.”
“I’m on my way, Price.” Heskan closed the channel. “Komandor, would you care to visit Kite’s bridge?”
* * *
“Captain on the…” Vernay’s voice caught when she saw Lombardi trailing Heskan onto the bridge. Heskan walked to his command chair and nodded to Vernay as she gracefully rose from it. She moved to her first officer’s chair then paused as she regarded Lombardi.
Is she going to offer her seat to the komandor? Heskan wondered.
Vernay sat and reported, “We still can’t make out the ship, Captain, but we’ll break through the interference soon. Earlier, I had SENS sweep over Skathi Three and the RALF is gone.”
Heskan nodded. “Renard received permission to tow it from the system. Nothing should be here. Did we ever receive a ping from the Narvi tunnel point buoy?”
Sensorman Second Class Price shook his head and replied, “No, sir. It appears to not be functioning.” He typed commands into his station console. The tactical plot updated with the solid green symbol of a friendly civilian ship travelling in-system from the tunnel point. Price split the wall screen into halves and the optical revealed the distorted image of a freighter. “I detect no beacon on that ship, sir.”
Vernay raised a hand to her mouth. “Don’t tell me…,” she said disgustedly.
Heskan felt sick. “Yup, right back to business as usual.” His dark stare threatened to pierce the wall screen.
“Then why did we…” Vernay started. “After everyone we lost… what was it all for?”
Lombardi, who had taken up a position standing between them, pointed at the visual of the freighter and asked, “I do not understand. This is a problem?”
“Komandor,” Heskan stated, “the crew of my former command shut down some pirate activity in this system almost five months ago. We paid a heavy price to stop it and now, it seems, for nothing.”
Vernay’s face grew dark. “Nothing changes,” she growled while balling her fingers into a tight fist and slamming it onto her console. The bridge lighting tinted red as Kite’s battle station alarm sounded throughout the destroyer. “Please let Blackheart’s sister be here,” she snarled.
Time seemed to compress for Heskan as activity flurried around him. He vaguely noticed Lieutenants Selvaggio and Truesworth run onto the bridge out of breath. Stations readying up for combat flashed on his system’s status display. Finally, he broke his trance and whispered, “No. Countermand.” His hand reached up and removed Kite from her highest state of alert.
Vernay regarded her captain with a truly sinister look. “Why not?”
“We aren’t killing Brevic citizens.”
She sneered cruelly as her hand moved toward the battle stations alarm again. “No such thing in this system, Captain.”
“Stacy,” Heskan tried again, “you’ll never forgive yourself.”
The petite officer paused for a time, sighed and begrudgingly nodded. She looked away and murmured, “I’m sorry, Ana.”
“Captain,” Truesworth said, “we have comm requests from Curator and Phoenix.”
“Merge them and put it up, Jack,” Heskan commanded.
Lieutenant Arnold’s and Kapitan Valokov’s faces appeared. Arnold questioned, “Are we headed into battle, Commander?”
Heskan shook his head. “That was an accident, Alan. However, the fleet will wait inside this asteroid field until the freighter passes by. We don’t need to upset that crew by producing a Hollaran heavy cruiser in their path. Kapitan, please come to relative rest and my destroyers will keep station on you.” He looked at Lombardi standing next to him. I wish we had more time together, Isabella, but that freighter probably saved me from making a fool of myself. He stated formally, “Komandor, my first officer will escort you back to your shuttle.”
* * *
Vernay walked with Lombardi through Kite’s passageways, on route to the shuttle bay. They entered an empty transport lift and the Brevic officer manipulated the panel controls to set their destination. Both of them rocked slightly as the transport began to move. The hum of the car traveling along magnetic rails was the only
sound in the compartment.
“Lieutenant,” Lombardi broke the uncomfortable silence, “I owe you an apology. When you came aboard Phoenix, I made an unfair accusation regarding your captain.” She nodded to affirm her next statement. “He is an honorable man.”
“I would die for him, Komandor,” Vernay said plainly. Her voice took on a precautionary tone as she added, “And I’ll wreck anything that attempts to harm him.”
“He does possess the ability to bring out the best in a person,” Lombardi acknowledged. “I was wrong to attempt to use what happened on Derringer as an obstacle between you two. I am sorry.”
“I may not know exactly what happened on Derringer, ma’am, but I knew it couldn’t be as bad as you tried to make it sound,” Vernay replied. “Does this mean you also lied about Kore and Euanthe being safe?”
“No,” Lombardi replied. “We have not bombed them, Lieutenant. The Hollaran government does not wage war on civilians.”
“Unlike mine,” Vernay said distastefully. “I don’t know why we did that. So many people on Salus, murdered.”
Lombardi considered her companion. “I cannot say it is forgiven, but I know Kite took no active role in it.”
Vernay looked up to stare hard at Lombardi. “It will never be forgiven, by either of us.” The transport doors opened.
They traveled the rest of the way in peace. When the pair reached the shuttle bay, Vernay came to attention and saluted. “Thank you for coming aboard, ma’am. I wish you a safe journey, Komandor.”
Lombardi returned the salute. “Safe journey to us all.”
Chapter 19
It took the freighter two hours and thirteen minutes to traverse the 20lm distance between the Narvi tunnel point and the Beta Field. During this time, Phoenix and her flotilla waited patiently inside the enormous distortion zone of the asteroid field. Once sensor sections from all three ships confirmed the freighter had sailed into the Beta Field, the flotilla slipped from the edge of the asteroid belt and cruised, unseen, toward the Narvi tunnel point at .2c.