It was true, too. Star was an officer of the Fleet, yes, but she never planned to serve on a ship for more than a couple of months, going from one diplomatic assignment to the next. Here she was now, leading a team on a ship of first contact, and feeling a little like a fish out of water.
"So this is just like waging war?"
"Basically, yeah." He shrugged. "Besides, we have to assume the people here are hostile until proven otherwise. I can promise you the captain is doing just that."
"How will she decide if they are or not?"
"That's your job."
She blinked a few times. Star didn't want the job anymore, but here, nearly ten kiloparsecs from Earth, it was a little late to walk home. "What?"
"Oh, it's the skipper's call when all is said and done, but she's going to rely on what you and the rest of the diplomats find out when you talk to the people down there."
"That's just great."
"Maybe, but that's your job."
A few Marines came by and chatted with Spence for a minute, and Star was thankful for the distraction. Of course, she'd known going in what her function on Daedalus was, but his comments really put it into perspective. It all came down to her.
The Marines left the table, and Spence watched them for a few moments before he turned back to face her over the remains of their lunch. "You know, Mike Shelby there has had his eye on you since we left Sol system."
He looked sad, or maybe it was just distraction she saw there. "Spence, I don't have time to date, let alone have a relationship." She didn't even know which of the young men he spoke of. She'd been far too busy the last sixteen weeks boning up on how to handle different situations to even think about anything else.
"Ever heard that old saying about all work and no play makes Star a dull girl?"
She laughed. "Everyone's heard that one."
"Maybe, but it also makes Star frustrated."
"I think you're more worried about your Marines being frustrated."
"Maybe and maybe not. They're grunts, and they'll do what they need to do when they need to do it."
She wondered why Daedalus even had Marines. They were the closest things to an offensive weapon on the entire ship. "So, what is it that they might need to do?"
"A lot of it is tradition. Marines have been on ships for at least the last 5,500 years. Legend has it they were there to prevent mutinies from breaking out and spreading through the ship." Spence shrugged. "Fact is, we're here to protect the rest of the crew if something goes terribly wrong on one of these first contacts."
"What, are there about fifty Marines aboard?"
"Fifty-four counting me." He laughed. "Don't look so surprised. We wouldn't stand a chance against an entire planet, but we're here anyway. Maybe we can buy the skipper enough time to get off a warning message to Fleet."
She blinked at him, amazed by the casual way Spence dismissed the situation. "That's a pretty fatalistic view."
"It's a pretty fatalistic business." He clinked his glass of milk softly against hers. "Cheers."
* * * *
The tactical officer turned from the console. "Commander Harris, I'm detecting small weapons fire on the surface."
Chris looked up from his paperwork. "Any threat to Daedalus?"
"No, Sir. It's all small stuff, handheld lasers and blasters." The officer paused for a moment, his face wrenched into a puzzled expression. "And something else strange. It looks like energy waves, but I see no hardware it could be coming from."
"Show me the location, please." The officer worked the controls, and a map formed on the main bridge screen showing the fire concentrated to a fairly small area about eight kilometers southwest of the city. "Science, can you overlay life sign scans on that?"
"Yes, Sir." The science officer typed a few commands, and two groups of dots appeared. "The red dots are the species from the city, and the green dots are the people living outside."
"Thank you." Chris studied the display. The red dots clustered nearest the city and the green dots concentrated farther away. Traces on the display showed the groups of dots shooting at each other, blue for lasers, yellow for blasters, and the unknown energy weapons in silver. "What the fuck? Has anyone heard these people say they have a war going on?"
No one answered him. He wondered how this would impact the planned descent by the diplomatic team in the morning, but there was no sense doing anything now. He logged the event, and made a note to himself to make sure the captain and the diplomats knew about it at the briefing.
* * * *
Star didn't like the sound of what Commander Harris saw on the sensors in the wee hours of the morning. It wasn't so much that they would be going into a war zone as it was the fact the Hendri had concealed something from them. In the radio discussions with the people from the city, there was mention of another species calling themselves the Rangor, but the Hendri diplomat she spoke with told her they were a primitive people who lived in the hills. No one said a thing about a war.
From the furrows between the captain's eyes, she was at least as concerned about the events.
"I'm not a diplomat, so I don't know how we should proceed." Captain Davis turned to face Star directly. "You need to tell me what to do next, Lieutenant."
She had thought over how to proceed with the contact since finding out about the firefight on the planet and decided what she needed to do as leader of the diplomatic team. "I'd like to talk to Krell and get his side of the story, and then proceed with the landing, Captain." Star just wasn't sure it was the right thing to do.
"Are you sure about that? It could be dangerous down there."
"I know that, Ma'am, believe me. I think I can get a good feel for what's going on by talking to Krell, and I'll know even better after I meet him in person." Over the last couple of days, she'd built what she thought was a good rapport with Krell, the Hendri diplomat.
"Commander Harris and I are combat officers, and we agree that the best thing to do is to get the righteous fuck out of here." The captain shrugged a little. "We can't guarantee the safety of the landing party."
"I understand." Star thought for a moment. "How about if I talk to him, and we decide what to do next after that?"
"It can't hurt anything talking. The ship is in no danger." She glanced at Harris. "Any problem with that, Chris?"
"No, not for me, but I would like to hear the conversation. As combat officers, you and I may pick up on something the diplomatic team misses."
The captain nodded. "Good idea. Call him now, Lieutenant."
Star swallowed and activated the communicator. She still wasn't used to dealing with the captain directly, and having the woman looking over her shoulder while she tried to work made things even worse.
Since the planet had no video capabilities, the contact was voice only. After going through a couple of flunkies on the ground, the communicator hissed and Krell's familiar voice came through with its slightly musical, singsong qualities. His English improved each time she spoke to him, and the Hendri clearly had a much better aptitude for languages than humans.
"Yes, Lieutenant? It's good to hear from you."
"Good morning, Krell."
"Will you and your team be arriving soon?"
"There's a small problem you and I need to discuss first." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "About six hours ago, we detected a small firefight southwest of the city along with life signs of both Hendri and Rangor. I'm hoping you can explain that to my captain and me."
His voice didn't hesitate at all. "Of course, Lieutenant. Sometimes the Rangor raid the granaries outside of the city, and they chose last night to do so. Looking back, I should have told you about these occasional confrontations."
"That would have saved us a good deal of concern up here." Captain Davis slid a note across the table to her, and Star read it quickly. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I don't mean to insult you, but have you told me about the battles and wars your kind fight? Looking at your ship th
rough our telescopes, it's clear the design is based on a warship. Your structure of command also hints at a military underpinning. You haven't concealed your warlike nature, but you have hidden the details."
Star thought quickly. "But we haven't hidden the nature. There's a good argument that you have."
"Not really. We can see your ship." He laughed. "We have no ships for you to look at, but surely your scans have seen our defensive structures."
The scans by the science and tactical stations had indeed identified probable defensive structures and even small gun emplacements, but nothing too alarming to anyone. Star looked at Captain Davis, and she only shrugged. "Alright, you have a good point there. I'd like to discuss this in more detail when I arrive."
"I'll be happy to talk about the Rangor and all your other questions. When can we expect you?"
The captain nodded at her.
"In about an hour. Goodbye for now." Star closed the link and wondered just what she had gotten herself into.
* * * *
"I want it perfectly clear that while you're in nominal command of this mission, if things get tense, I'm in command. If I say 'jump', the only thing I want to hear from you is bouncing noises."
The sound of Spence's voice made Star snap out of her ruminations about her small command. In addition to Spence and his four warriors, she had a linguist, a science officer, and two other diplomats. The idea of being responsible for ten souls, including her own, gave Star a bad case of butterflies in her stomach and an even worse case of shaky knees.
"I understand, Spence." She smiled at him. "Thanks for coming along yourself."
He looked good in his battle armor. Solid flat-black, it covered him from neck to feet, and down both arms to meet the gloves. Made from a material that flexed easily as he moved and hugged his body like a second skin, the armor accentuated the bulging muscles of his arms, chest, and legs. Under impact from projectile or energy weapons, the armor changed to a rigid, nearly-impenetrable barrier to protect the wearer.
A helmet with a visor, now flipped up, covered his head and bristled with sensors, cameras, and communications gear. The helmet completely hid his hair, jet black and short even for a Marine, and Star was sorry for that. She missed the way his black hair and gray eyes played off each other.
For some reason, 'delicious' was the adjective running through her mind.
He smiled, and his eyes twinkled like glittering jewels. "I couldn't let my favorite diplomat go down there without someone to keep an eye on her." Spence pulled a formidable rifle from its holster on his back, and it was far from delicious. He checked a few things on the gun as she watched.
"Well, thanks anyway."
"You're welcome." He stared at her just long enough to make Star feel a little uncomfortable before he turned to his small detail of Marines. "Come on, you apes! Do you want to live forever?"
"Oohrah!" The soldiers ran up the ramp and into the waiting landing craft where the rest of the team had already taken their seats.
She and Spence followed them into the small ship.
* * * *
He caught himself fidgeting with his armor as the landing craft dropped away from Daedalus in a gentle arc that would take it into the planet's atmosphere. He toyed with the straps and, despite the environmental controls in the suit, he could feel sweat running down his body and soaking his armpits. Star sat directly across from him, and, without forcing himself to look elsewhere, she was all he could see. Not that the view was bad at all.
Ever since he'd met her just six months ago, he'd secretly laughed about her name. In his mind, a name like 'Star' invoked an image of a small girl, not much more than a child, petite and pretty. Instead, Star stood only a little shorter than his own 188 centimeters, and the rest of her body had the perfect proportions. Well, except maybe her boobs. Large, firm, and high, he sometimes wondered what her breasts would look like in zero-G. Nude.
She made a move he'd grown accustomed to, even if it did still grab every fiber of his attention and made his mouth want to drop open like a trapdoor. Her hand came up to flip her long red hair over her shoulder. That one simple motion, that casual thing she did so often and probably never thought about or even knew she did, blocked out everything else in his mind, from the mission, to the strange planet and people below, to the screaming whine of thin atmosphere against the hull of the landing craft.
She turned back from looking at the cockpit and caught him staring. Spence checked to make sure his mouth wasn't hanging open.
Star smiled at him. "What's wrong?"
Her eyes sparkled when she smiled, the green irises throwing fire around the compartment like some kind of wildly beautiful laser light show. Making another quick check, Spence thought his mouth might have enough moisture to talk without squeaking. "My armor was just a little tight."
She laughed softly. "Can't have that."
The window beside her lit up with the fiery glow of plasma as the landing craft started its meteoritic entry into the heavier atmosphere, the colors changing as different elements in the ablative heat shield flashed to ultrahigh temperatures. She turned to watch the tongues of flame licking just a few centimeters away, presenting her profile for him to admire.
Her small nose, turned up slightly at the end, sat in the perfect position below the amazing eyes, and just below that, her full lips curled into a gentle smile.
Spence shivered, shaking himself out of his daydreams. This wasn't the first time he'd had daydreams about Star. Far from it. He'd found himself dreaming about her a lot the last six months, both during the day and at night. For some reason, the thought troubled him a little.
He wasn't sure just how old she was. Thanks to modern medicines, transplants, and prosthetics, the average person today could expect to live about 500 years, looking young until around 300, and only middle aged until well past 400. Spence himself was nearly 150, and yet he looked about the same as he did at thirty. Based on the visual evidence, Star could be anyplace between twenty-five and fifteen times that.
He frowned. Why hadn't he looked up her personnel file? He had access to the files, and he'd done just that with some women in the past. Why did the idea of looking in Star's file feel wrong?
His frown deepened. For that matter, why did he find this woman so fucking attractive? He remembered the day he first met her back at the Jupiter Yards. He remembered thinking then that she was pretty, but not devastating. Spence recalled thinking he'd seen a lot of women prettier than Star. As a 100-plus-year Fleet veteran, he'd been around the Empire a time or two, and he knew a lot of women. In the Biblical sense. He remembered thinking there was nothing special about this new one.
Someplace over the last six months, something changed.
As he sat watching her watching the plasma streamers play over the hull, he couldn't remember a woman any prettier than the one across from him right now. He couldn't remember one even close to being as pretty as Star. And none of them were in her league when it came to just plain sexy.
Chapter 3
The landing craft came to rest with a slight jar and thump more felt than heard, and Star was ambivalent about the trip being over. She was nervous about the fact that she was now totally on the spot for the mission, but she'd been enjoying the view of Spence sitting across from her. The skintight armor hid nothing of his form, and the big gun resting between his legs only partially hid the protective cup covering the bulge in his groin. On the other hand, he stared at her for the entire trip down, and it made her feel a little self-conscious and embarrassed.
He smiled at her for a moment. "Looks like you're on."
"Yeah, it does." She swallowed and went to the hatch, waiting as the crew prepared to open the door. When the seal was broken and the door opened, a small group waited for her on the tarmac.
Clearly not human, the people were humanoid in the traditional sense with two arms, two legs, and a head with sensory organs. They were all tall, maybe 220 centimeters, and thin, most not massi
ng more than seventy kilograms. Their skin looked like soft leather in a sort of bluish-gray color, and Star could see only blue-black hair on their heads. With small mouths and noses and large dark eyes set far apart on their faces, she recalled some of the old stories from before the Doom Time of aliens as portrayed in movies and books. These people were far from hideous or comical, though, because unlike the theatrical aliens of millennia past, these people were well designed and evolved for a real world and a real environment. The environment here was hot. The sensor display beside the door read thirty-nine degrees.
As she studied the group, her first thought had been that they all looked alike, but now she saw differences in the individuals. One of the group, slightly taller than the others, and his skin just a little lighter in color, stepped forward to the foot of the ramp.
He bowed slightly. "Welcome to Hendri City. I am Krell."
She instantly recognized the voice, the regular rhythm having a soothing quality to it, and not monotonous at all. She walked down the ramp to stand in front of him. Even though taller than most men she knew, Krell towered over her by at least a head even bowing, but he couldn't mass much more than she did.
She smiled. "I see you've learned something of human habits from the videos and books we sent you, but bowing is reserved as a show of respect to the Emperor and royal family, not something between friends." Star held her hand out to him. "I'm Star Hawking."
He straightened and took her offered hand in his. The touch of the large hand with long, delicate fingers having an extra joint that humans lacked, sent a shiver through her body. The skin felt as soft as it looked, like the finest of kid suede, and his grip was firm yet gentle. But his skin felt hot, almost too hot to touch. It definitely felt a little uncomfortable.
Burning Love [Flights of Fancy 1] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) Page 2