The voices rose, and he heard them clearly now.
"We didn’t do anything to you," Seth said.
A man stepped up to Seth. "You betrayed Mars and murdered Minister Cortez."
"She is alive and well," Seth replied with a wave of his hand, clearly annoyed and defiant. "I just came from a meeting with her."
"Shut up," the man said. "You know who I mean."
"If I’m meeting with the former minister’s daughter, how can I be guilty of anything? Shouldn’t she have locked me up?"
The man seemed to pause and contemplate this for a moment. "Just stay away from Aethpisians. You’re not welcome."
Seth laughed. "This is my home colony. Perhaps you should go back to Mars and not bother me."
The man balled his fists.
"Seth!" Parker shouted. "I’ve been looking everywhere for you."
The man turned. "Parker McCloud. The hero of the Battle of Lunara."
"In the flesh," Parker replied with a bit of pride behind his words. He hadn’t quite got used to the accolades. "Is everything satisfactory for you on Lunara?"
"It was until I spotted these two." The man jerked his thumb toward Seth and Chloe.
"Everything is fine, Parker," Chloe said softly. "No trouble."
"Good." Parker looked at the man. "The food lines are getting long, so I would head over there now. Let me deal with these two."
"I can stay if you need help." The man leered at Chloe.
"That will be all." Parker pointed down the corridor.
The man lumbered away with a woman and a teenage girl.
Parker watched them leave the area and then turned to Seth and Chloe. "You are so good at defusing situations, Seth."
Seth rolled his eyes. "He started it."
"Doesn’t mean you have to finish it." Parker waved his hands at Seth. "Anyway, I didn’t come to lecture you. I’m sure Sarah did enough of that."
Chloe smiled at him. "Just a bit."
"Traitors!" A shout came down the corridor from where the man had left, but it didn’t sound like the same man.
Parker swiveled his head around and narrowed his eyes as he looked down the corridor. He couldn’t see anyone, but the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He felt them. "Come on," he muttered. "Let’s leave before the man’s story spreads, and we have a mob on our hands."
Seth’s chest puffed, almost baiting the shouter to come forward. "Let them come."
"Don’t be a martyr, tough guy." Chloe pulled on Seth, and Parker followed as they headed away toward Ty’s quarters.
"Seth," Parker said, "sometimes you act like a child. Don’t pick a fight with everyone who is calling you names. Otherwise, you’ll be fighting for the next decade."
"They don’t know the facts," Seth said. "I hate ignorant people."
Parker bit his lip as he contemplated the irony of Seth’s statement. They moved down the next corridor, and he felt more comfortable. His strides slowed. "Lay low for a bit. Eventually the truth will come out, but until then, you are guilty in their eyes."
"I can’t believe you are saying that," Chloe said as they arrived at Ty’s quarters. "Hiding from the truth and propagating the ignorance."
Seth opened the door. "Sarah has him wrapped around her finger now."
After Chloe had entered, Parker pushed Seth into the apartment and slammed the door shut. "Don’t push my buttons. Sarah wants you tacked to the side of the Unity as an effigy of what happens to a traitor. I’m between you and a prison cell, or worse, an execution."
Seth flicked his hand indignantly. "Don’t risk your relationship for us."
"Maybe I won’t," Parker rasped. "Sarah gave me a lot to think about concerning you two and the crew. She said I would have to choose between the Alliance and the crew at some point."
"You should choose her," Seth said. "I would choose Chloe over the Alliance."
"I know." Parker frowned. "Sarah isn’t the Alliance, and the crew is still a part of me."
"The crew is no more," Seth said. "Roche is dead; Jan is helping Ty with Lunara; Gwen is with her father; Chloe and I are too much of a risk for anyone to care about anymore; and you are with Sarah and the Alliance."
Parker ignored the omission of Eamonn. "I care about you. I care about Gwen, too. I thought you made a promise you would get her back."
"We can’t do anything from here," Chloe said. "We are under a tight net."
Parker nodded. "But giving up isn’t going to get her back. I’m returning to Mars to help her. Someway, somehow."
"We would help, but Sarah will not use us because of what Ty said."
"Ty was right in some respect," Parker said. "You didn’t want Sarah to use you to lure the MSA. She doesn’t care what happens to you. You are a pawn to her."
"Don’t say such callous things about your wife."
"My wife is caring. The minister of the Alliance has to think about the people and her family’s legacy. You’ll have to gain the people’s trust again. It might be best to get to Mars and help us."
"But Sarah—"
"But Ty." Parker tightened his lips. "It doesn’t matter what excuse you use. Acting is how we’ll win this war."
Tears welled in Chloe’s eyes. "The last time we acted…the minister got killed."
Parker hated to see Chloe upset. Somehow, her aura pulled on his emotions when she cried, or for that matter, when she was happy, too. But she expressed her feelings more when she was visibly or audibly upset. She somehow projected her strongest feelings onto him. "What happened to you in Memnonia Sulci?" Parker asked.
"We were used," Seth said. "Josef Vhortov played to my weakness, and the chancellor capitalized on it. I probably would have done the same thing even now. We had to make a decision because we thought the minister was going to act at the gala. Stopping and thinking wasn’t an option."
"Even with our doubts," Chloe added, wiping the tears from her cheek. "I wanted to stop Seth, but the gala was the climax of the takeover. We knew that much. We couldn’t see who the puppeteer was, and it backfired."
"I understand, but do you understand how bad it looks?"
Seth folded his arms. "It is obvious that if we were wrong, it would seem we were part of the plot."
"And you did it anyway."
Chloe put her hand on his shoulder. "Because we had to."
"I know," Parker said. "I just keep wishing you had picked the right leader of Mars to accuse, but with Gwen there, how could she not have known, so therefore, the minister was the obvious choice."
"Exactly," Chloe said. "And we were out of communication with the rest of Mars until we reached the gala. Eamonn wasn’t there."
Parker pushed past them and stopped in the middle of the room. "The crew abandoned you. I abandoned you."
"You had to fight for Lunara," Seth said. "I don’t hold any resentment against you guys."
"You should," Parker said, turning back toward him. Seth’s eyes softened for a moment, for the first time since they had left for the meteor run. "A crew doesn’t split up when the situation turns sour. I felt we should have waited for you or even looked for you."
"But—" Chloe protested.
Parker interrupted. "We left without even a message attempt to you. We needed the stealth, yet it seemed wrong."
"You needed to complete your mission, or Seth and I would be on experiment tables," Chloe said sternly. "Don’t beat yourself up. Seth and I can take care of ourselves. Plus, Gwen came back for us. She is a member of the crew, so you didn’t abandon us."
Parker wanted to believe her, but Gwen’s loyalty was still in question. "She saved you, but—"
"Don’t say it," Chloe said. "She is a part of the crew."
"What did she say to you? Why did she stay?"
Seth shook his head. "She stayed to save her father. The war will be fought between the Alliance and the MSA, but it will be Gwen’s diplomacy with her father that will end it. She is our best hope for peace."
Parker hadn’t
really thought about Gwen’s efforts to fight with the Alliance. He assumed she was scared to leave the MSA’s entrusted circle because of her implied guilt. And he didn’t blame her for it either. Seth and Chloe were having a hard enough time living within the walls of their home colony. Gwen, the chancellor’s daughter, would be lynched on Lunara. The Aethpisian mob would be unstoppable, and he didn’t wish to see a confrontation between Sarah and Gwen. As Sarah had said, "the Alliance versus the crew." A choice he wasn’t prepared to make quite yet.
"You didn’t sense betrayal in her, did you?" he choked out.
"No, she saved our lives," Seth said. "She did well, and I own her my life five times over."
"I guessed as much." Parker pursed his lips. "I just wanted to hear you say it. The crew has been preoccupying my thoughts for the last two weeks. I might be a hero to some, but I feel a great loss. More than losing Mars to the MSA, losing the crew feels like someone died, and I haven’t had time to mourn."
"I wish we had rounded the Earth and found a peaceful Lunara," Seth said. "But a part of me is glad that this happened—"
"Seth!" Chloe scolded him.
Seth waved his hand at Chloe. "Not the deaths or the destruction. Perhaps humanity will look to the Earth for guidance, and not rely on Mars to be our anchor. We were born on the Earth, and we should return to it."
Parker shook his head. Seth, being the idealist, was more annoying during a war than in peacetime. "The Earth is inhabitable. You have seen the orbital sensor data yourself. You check it monthly."
"He checks it because he has hope," Chloe said. "The fact remains that we need to help the Alliance."
"Don’t help too hard," Parker said. "I want you to come, but Ty makes some valid points about your safety. You can’t be caught again."
Chloe shook her head. "You’re right about Gwen. We should help her. I’ll do my best to get Ty to agree to allow us to come to Mars. You go to Mars as planned and complete your missions for the Alliance. Seth and I will survive, and we will get Gwen back."
But fighting against the MSA for the Alliance is fighting against Gwen, a crewmember, Parker wanted to say. "Don’t let your guilt drive your desires." He put his hand on Chloe’s shoulder. "Being brave and being stupid sometimes go hand in hand."
Chloe ran her fingers through her hair. "We aren’t safe anywhere, so I think it’s stupid to sit around and fix Asterfighters or some other inane job."
"Correct. Lunara isn’t safe," Seth said. "The scouts indicate the MSA are going to strike again. Chloe and I will find a way to help. We just don’t want you worrying about the crew anymore. In some ways, it is disbanded, and the ties that bound us are loosened. Don’t risk Sarah or the Alliance for it."
Parker bit his lip, wanting to scream at Seth for his disloyalty. But he was slowly realizing that everyone on the crew, and even Sarah, shared Seth’s viewpoint. Perhaps, the crew was no more.
Chapter 9
Eamonn and Shannon stood outside the office of Minister McCloud, waiting for her arrival. Eamonn pulled Shannon’s hands up to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
"Stop that," Shannon said. "The minister might come by any time. I don’t want her seeing us." But she didn’t try to stop him.
Eamonn eyed the beautiful woman. Her hair had been drawn back into a series of braids to show off her neck. He ran his finger along the side of her head down to her shoulder. "It’ll be okay. She invited us."
"What is this all about, anyway?" Shannon said. "I don’t like surprises."
"Not sure. I figure she wants me to lead the fleet to Mars, or she is relieving me of duty. I’ll be in charge of the Protector again."
"That isn’t fair to take away the fleet from you. Your plan for the Battle of Lunara was flawless."
"Terry is better suited in the long run. He commanded half the men who remain, at one point or another."
"He is not as good as you. At least I’ll be your pilot. Ripley and Fenor being reassigned hurts the Protector. Who are you going to get to replace them?"
"I don’t know. Parker could take over Ripley’s position, but I don’t know if he wants it anymore. He has a new position next to Sarah. One of the more painful things about this ordeal is I have to replace the entire crew. Maybe it’s my fault for doubting them."
"You can’t blame yourself for their life paths. Fate decided to split the crew."
"For better or worse?"
"I hope your pilot is better…"
"Definitely." He smiled.
Footsteps echoed down the hall; they turned as Sarah came around the corner with several aides walking beside her: clerks, officials, and military personnel. She shooed them away when she arrived at her door. "I apologize for the delay," she said to Eamonn and Shannon. "You see the exorbitant amount of business that I needed to attend. Come inside and close the door behind you."
Once they entered the room, Eamonn was struck by the distinct décor, which was quite a change from standard Lunaran design. A reddish hue, similar to Mars, darkened the walls. Several pieces of artwork on the wall displayed the Martian landscape. Curtains draped a small window, and the tint was off, which was curious to Eamonn, since most newcomers to Lunara used maximum tint levels for the increased brightness from the sun.
Sarah directed them to sit on a couch across from her desk.
"I love those curtains," Shannon said. "Where did you get them?"
"They were aboard one of the light cruisers. I took many of the Aethpisian and Martian furnishings for my office. I guess it helps me miss Mars a little less."
"So why did you want to see us?" Eamonn said. He had been engaged in small talk since the tribunal and wasn’t in the mood for it any longer. He was ready for action.
Sarah looked at him. "I brought you here because you are the one person I can trust with this plan, and you are the only other person I know who has the same motivation. We have something in common, Captain Dalton."
He raised his eyebrows. They had known each other for only two weeks. How could she know anything about him? Anything that mattered to him, anyway. "And what would that be?"
"Who mortified both of us by killing our loved ones at the gala?" Sarah said rhetorically.
He felt an instant stab of pain in his heart at the reminder of Madelyn’s death. "Did you bring me here because you think we both need counseling?"
"Of course not. The gala haunts me every night. I wake up in cold sweats. I can’t live like this anymore. My heart tells me you regret leaving Madelyn behind and are haunted like I am. We shouldn’t be, but the emptiness and the haunting linger."
"Yes," Eamonn conceded. He hadn’t realized how similar their choices had been even with an obvious difference; he had disregarded Madelyn, abandoned her, left her to die at the gala as he led the fleet toward Lunara. "So what do you have in mind?"
"The body becomes useless when you cut off the head of a snake. I want you and Shannon to return to Mars in secret, leaving tonight." She stood with the evening sun across her face, creating darkness in her eyes as she turned toward him. "I want you to assassinate Chancellor Damon Arwell. I left you a contact. He will give you everything you need. All I need from you is to pull the trigger."
Kill the chancellor! He sat more upright in his chair. Her casualness seemed odd to him, but it told him her mind was set. "Why me? Why not the contact on Mars? Can’t he do it?"
"No, he refuses. He is old and unable to perform these types of operations. With all the leaks in the Alliance, I can’t trust anyone but you."
Eamonn’s body numbed as he searched for a reason to back out but couldn’t find one. He wanted to do it. He needed to kill the chancellor. Nothing in the solar system would bring him more joy, not even a free Mars. A bitterness pooled under his tongue as he thought about Madelyn at the gala. "I’ll need a new crew on the Protector."
"Wait a minute," Shannon said. "More killing—don’t you think that will lead to outrage inside the MSA? They might react with more fury."
"It d
oesn’t matter," he replied. "This is something that Sarah and I need to get done."
"Revenge is a cowardly act. I don’t think this will lead to anything other than more hatred and anger. How do we know the next ruler of the MSA won’t be more vicious?"
"The MSA will be disrupted, weakening them for us," Sarah replied. "They won’t have time to install a new despot. As Eamonn said, it is something that he and I need done. It might be cowardly to you but it will put me at ease."
Shannon shook her head. "I guarantee your minds will not be put at ease. Think about your new family. They will calm the turmoil in your mind faster than vengeance."
"I’m doing this." Eamonn narrowed his eyes. "Who will help me?"
"Shannon will help you—"
"I guess I have to now," Shannon grumbled.
"And what was his name again?" Sarah scanned her notes. "Fenor Davis."
"Fenor?" Eamonn exclaimed. "What can he do?"
"I got him assigned to your ship for this mission. Your cover story is: you are to escort Communications Senior Officer Fenor Davis to the Martian Communications Center. Fenor believes these are his orders, and you are to make him believe it. Once you land at the airfield, the Protector will be stowed inside the hangars, and you will move around Mars with local transport to the rendezvous point. I’ll give you an encrypted datapad before you leave with all the information. Meet me at the Protector in four hours."
Eamonn turned to Shannon. Doubt cast disapproval in her eyes, but none in his. He wanted the chancellor dead. "We’ll be there," he said.
Chapter 10
Gwen crept along the hallway inside Samantha’s apartment. She heard splashes from the bathroom. She moved to the edge of the door and jumped into the doorway. "Boo!" Gwen shouted.
Lunara: The Original Trilogy Page 42