Across Our Stars: Victor

by A. Payne

  Victor waited for his heart to calm before he answered. It hammered rapidly in his chest and tension coiled in every muscle in his body. “It’s all right,” he said slowly.

  “Are you sure?”

  He scrubbed his face with the heel of his palm and exhaled. “Why are you awake at two in the morning?” he inquired while plucking the baggie up.

  “I told you. Night owl. Sometimes I wonder if it’s a side effect from the splicing.” Zoe rounded the couch and dropped down beside him, drawing her legs up. “I used to be a terrible sleep-in, Doc.”

  “Victor. We’re both off-duty, so the name’s Victor.”

  “All right… Victor.” She smiled shyly and swung her gaze to the video. “You’re always watching these old shows. And eating sweets.”

  “Is there something else to do at two in the morning?”

  Her warm laughter filled the quiet space. “True enough. Unless you like the gym. Or the bio-farm.”

  “Tried that once,” Victor admitted. “Daniels and Etherington like to visit the gym around three and leave by four. That’s when I head inside. As far as the bio-farm goes… The trees are a little too popular at night for my liking.” Couples took advantage of the flora-filled pathways to find privacy for stolen, romantic moments.

  “Not one for intimate strolls, Victor?” Zoe reached over and snagged a couple sugar glazed nuts from the bag. Their fingers briefly touched.

  “I’m not one for tripping over two shagging corpsman,” he replied awkwardly. “There’s kind of an unspoken vow between us officers and the rest of the crew to remain away from a few locations during certain hours of the day.”

  “Is that so you don’t have to, uh, bust people or so they don’t try to lure you into mischief?”

  “Both.”

  “Not a bad deal, I guess.” She settled back against the seat. “What about you? Anyone waiting back home? A wife? Kids?”

  “No. I’m not married,” Victor told her quietly. Tension knotted his belly into a wave of turmoil, and it became easier to avoid eye contact with Zoe until the moment passed. Marriage wasn’t in the cards for Victor, and it probably never would be again.

  “Sorry. Your private life is your own.”

  “It’s fine,” Victor assured her, waving it off with one hand. “The military life doesn’t suit marriage, and since I prefer living on ships, it wouldn’t be fair.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Some people seem to make it work. Look at the residential deck. Abernathy has a wife onboard, did you know that? She works in one of the science labs, I think.”

  Yeah, but that only works if you’re not surrounded by racist twits, Victor thought bitterly. He didn’t realize until the denial of his third application for residence that Ylona wasn’t the right species to live in the civilian residence quarters as his wife. “No, I wasn’t aware.” He focused on the candied nuts and crammed a few into his mouth, creating the perfect excuse to become silent.

  “Elena is real nice. She’s sent cookies down to the armory a few times, too.” She leveled her curious gaze on him. “So, if it’s okay to ask, why do you prefer a stateroom and mess food to a house and cooking your own meals?”

  Goddammit, she asks a lot of questions. “I was born on Paradiso but grew up in a large city on Albion where no one cared. This is nice and personal, the people are reliable, and I know for every Daniels, there’s someone supportive when I need them. Doctor Oshiro mentored me into the Navy.”

  “Oh. I suppose I can understand that then. I grew up in the capital city on Tallulah. Not as big as the cities on Albion, but not small. Just enough that most everyone knew everyone else’s business.”

  “No husband waiting back home for you?”

  “Me? Goodness, no.” Zoe shook her head vehemently. “Actually, if you want to know the truth, I joined the marines to escape just that. Marriage, I mean.”

  “I’m told that the word ‘no’ also works,” Victor quipped. “Poor bastard. I suppose he didn’t take that well.”

  Zoe shook her head. “His family didn’t, but arranged marriages are an archaic tradition my planet decided to bring back into practice,” she told him. “I was seventeen and I didn’t want to be thrown at a stranger to become a… proper housewife. I wanted to do more with my life, so here I am.”

  Victor raised his brows and stared at her. “That’s respectful. I couldn’t imagine marrying without feeling an emotional attachment.”

  “Exactly. So my folks practically disowned me, and we didn’t see each other again ‘till after…” Zoe flapped her right elbow out and smiled sadly. “Funny how tragedy reunites people sometimes. They didn’t approve of my choice to remain in the service, but they didn’t fight me on it.”

  “Small favors.”

  “What about you?” she asked quietly. “Any family?”

  “My mother and father died a long time ago, during one of the last Soviet uprisings,” Victor explained. “They attacked my home city in Paradiso, but I survived.” Lucky me, he thought. So fortunate his aunt Celestina took him in at the tender age of eleven once the hospital released him into her care. Not. He spent the next three years receiving physical abuse from her and her alcoholic boyfriend.

  A gentle squeeze drew Victor’s gaze down to Zoe’s smaller fingers curling over his hand. He appreciated her lack of hollow platitudes. Too many people automatically offered apologies with no real sense of understanding or true sincerity behind them.

  “Did you end up with family after that?” she asked, releasing her supportive touch.

  “An aunt on Albion took me in, but we’re no longer on speaking terms,” he replied dryly. “So I joined the Navy.” Enlisting in the Navy offered him a way off the streets and a way to finally heal from the hardships endured in his youth.

  “And now we’re your family. The ship, I mean.”

  He merely nodded and raised his mug toward her. “Want some tea?”

  “I don’t have a cup.”

  “We’ll share then.” Victor shrugged and offered his tea again. “I’ve seen your records so I know you won’t pass me anything I can’t cure.”

  Her grin brightened his mood. Without any further hesitation, Zoe accepted the warm porcelain into her hands. “Such an unfair advantage, Victor. I don’t know what’s in your record.”

  Conversation fell away as they both turned to watch the rest of the movie. The mug passed between them, fingers brushing more than once as they handed it off. Eventually, Zoe’s weight shifted against the sofa and her head dipped forward. Victor attempted to guide her back against the cushions, but her cheek snuggled into his shoulder instead.

  “Zoe…” he whispered.

  “Just… just ten minutes,” she mumbled drowsily with her eyes closed.

  Victor touched his fingers lightly to Zoe’s dark, pixie-cut hair. Her baby face made it difficult to discern her age at a glance. At rest, her youthful features seemed too peaceful and innocent, as if she didn’t have the same blood on her hands.

  “Zoe?” Victor persisted gently.

  A sigh parted her lips, and if he lowered his head another inch, they would have pressed perfectly against his mouth. An enticing but unfamiliar floral note clung to her caramel skin. He’d never noticed before that Zoe wore perfume.

  I shouldn’t have these thoughts on my mind, Victor discouraged himself hastily. The young woman had fallen asleep beside him, but that didn’t grant a license for free physical contact.

  Zoe shifted until her cheek slid against his shoulder, curling her body intimately toward his side. Somehow, Victor suppressed the urgent desire to learn the taste of her skin, opting to tilt his head and rest his cheek against her brow instead.

  They remained like that for close to an hour until a faint chime from his watch warned him of the approaching time. He was due to start his shift at medical soon.

  “Zoe.” He rubbed her arm and gave her a light shake.

  “Hmm?”

  “Time to get up.”

  The
young woman bolted upright and rubbed at her face. “Did I fall asleep on you?” Her large, golden eyes fixed on his shoulder and then a hand rubbed instinctively at her mouth.

  “No, you didn’t drool on me, and it was only for a moment. It’s fine,” he assured her, while reaching out to smooth an errant black wave sticking out from her temple. “But I have to head into medical soon.”

  “Yeah, I should get going, too. I have the next armory watch.”

  Seconds ticked by and threatened to become minutes. The holovision started its next feature presentation, but the man and the woman on the sofa remained in their seats, each waiting for the other to leave first. Zoe reluctantly stood.

  “Will you be joining us for training this afternoon?”

  Victor nodded. “I’ll be there. Though I don’t imagine Daniels will be doing his usual matches. I plan to fill in for him.”

  Chuckling nervously and avoiding direct eye contact, Zoe glanced away and rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, I guess we’ll see. Catch you then, Victor.”

  “Hey Zoe,” he called out, catching her before she reached the door. “Thanks for the company.”

  “Same to you.”

  Her bright smile stayed with him through the remainder of his day.

  Chapter 11

  The Jemison’s bridge maintained round-the-clock dim lighting and was one of the quietest spaces on the ship. Victor was certain he would fall asleep within ten minutes if he had to pull a shift in the darkened space. Ethan’s command seat dominated a raised section at the back of the room and gave him a full range of vision over the various stations and personnel below, including the pilot. During a normal shift, less than ten people occupied the room.

  Victor joined Daniels and Trevor at the commanding officer’s side. An intergalactic identification file expanded on the holographic display, featuring the bearded features of a man in his sixties. Glossy, cream-colored adornments dangled from the neatly groomed triple braids lying against his chest.

  “I owe a favor to Lieutenant Shahid Amir for her assistance in the matter,” Trevor spoke up to the three officers. “As you can imagine, there aren’t any guns on the open market equipped to fire pyro rounds. They’re old tech.”

  “Must have taken awhile to figure out which gun they used. Boring?” Victor asked Trevor.

  “Are you kidding? Zoe and Saskia had a blast in the simulator. So did I, to be completely honest with you. This shite is right up my alley–” Trevor’s amused words died when Ethan shot him an impatient look. Without further delay, he cleared his throat and promptly continued. “I asked our intel officer to cross-reference the caliber of the pistol against known criminals and recent news reports. It took a couple of weeks to comb the galaxy, but we found this ugly bastard. Jarvis Crane. He’s the big boss of the Black Jackal Brotherhood.”

  “So what makes you think he’s our guy?” Daniels asked.

  “Lieutenant Shahid Amir tapped some connections, so we know that he purchased a Smith and Wesson model 2140 Ignite off a black market weapons dealer out of Astreya a year ago. It’s a pricey piece. About a half million quid, as there’s less than a dozen in working condition these days.”

  Victor whistled. “So it’s only a possibility that he’s our man?”

  “No, I’d say it’s about 98 percent.” The communications chief minimized the window and pulled up Crane’s list of misdeeds and crimes. The United Empire wanted him for countless violations, and the least of them were murder and burglary.

  “Unlawful trade of children…” Ethan read out loud.

  “Forced prostitution,” Victor continued, swallowing heavily afterward.

  “He fits the profile, too,” Trevor said. “The man is taller than you, Doctor.”

  “We don’t have much of a bloody choice then. We need to find this cretin and put an end to this,” Victor said.

  Ethan glanced up at him sympathetically, allowing his emotion to show. “We will, Victor. Contact United Command and tell them we’ve identified our man, Lockhart. I want Crane and his ship found.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  In an effort to calm his troubled thoughts, Victor sucked in a deep breath and leaned against the side of Ethan’s chair without concern for what was proper or professional. He expected the commodore to complain or order him off of the luxurious, leather-covered seat, but he didn’t. Years later, the friendly dynamic to their professional relationship hadn’t changed from when Victor had first enlisted. Ethan was practically a brother to him. An older, loving brother who thought he always knew what was best.

  “Commodore?” A young woman at the communications terminal spoke up from her station. “We have an emergency transmission from Athena. You might want to hear this, sir.”

  “Patch it through to my terminal,” Ethan ordered. He swiveled his chair around, knocking Victor from his comfortable position. The doctor swore under his breath and stepped away to give his friend a wide berth.

  “This is Commodore Bishop of the HMS Jemison. What–”

  “Oh thank god!” A frazzled voice sounded over the comm. “Please, you must help us. We need immediate evacuation!”

  Victor raised both brows and exchanged glances with Daniels. Both commanders turned their attention to eavesdropping on Ethan’s call.

  “What’s the nature of your problem?”

  “I’ve spent bloody hours searching for someone, anyone. I’m an engineer, and I work for Hephaestus Tek, the manufacturing plant on Athena. We came under attack three days ago. They killed most of the technicians and took others about an hour ago. God only knows where. There’s wounded people everywhere. Pregnant women in labor.”

  Ethan’s green eyes cut toward Victor. “I need you to remain as calm as possible. Tell me everything you know about your captors.”

  “Pirates. Well-armed pirates equipped with cybernetics unlike anything I’ve ever seen. They overwhelmed our security force–” A single gunshot abruptly ended the communication.

  “Shit,” Victor muttered.

  “I’d put fifty quid on this bein’ him,” Trevor spoke up. “I’ll contact United Command and find out whether we’ve got more ships in the area.”

  “You do that. Agosti, set an immediate course for Athena,” Ethan ordered the on-duty navigator. “Give me a time frame.”

  “I can have us there in two hours, Sir.”

  “Get us there in one.” Ethan turned to Victor and Daniels. “Grab your gear. We’ll get a shuttle down there and pursue Crane’s ship by radar if we can locate her in time.”

  “Right away, Commodore.” Daniels turned about face and strode off the bridge.

  Ethan input a set of commands into his terminal and the ship went into alert. Red lights flashed overhead. “All hands to their stations. Alpha team, gear up and report to the shuttle bay.”

  Victor waited until he closed the ship’s comm line. “Did he say pregnant women? Plural?”

  “You’re going to have your hands full, Victor. Good luck.”

  ***

  Athena orbited a gas giant in a yellow star system. The barren moon held little of interest aside from a subterranean colony developed beneath its rocky surface for two purposes: mining and technical production.

  Rich fields of liquid valerium beneath the moon’s surface provided a clean-burning fuel for manufacturing plants across the galaxy. In its solid state, valerium formed the basis for plasteel, the galaxy’s most profitable metal. Since it was lighter than plastic and stronger than steel, it was favored for cybernetics and space vehicles.

  An inhospitable atmosphere required breathers for any surface work or travel. The colony below relied on extensive oxygen generators for their life-support systems.

  “Masks on, everyone, and be prepared for gunfire as we exit the shuttle,” Daniels called out to the squad. “If they expect our approach they’ll flood the surface landing pad. Raines, I want you leaned out the barrier with a gun on that door.”

  “Will do, Commander.” Zoe rose from
her seat and activated a button on her combat suit. The individual pieces of her helmet slid from the neck of her form-fitting combat suit. Breathable, stretchy fibers rearranged and expanded until they wove together and snapped into place. It concealed her features from the bridge of her nose to her throat and served as a functional re-breather mask.

  The rockskipper’s side door opened, generating a shimmering energy barrier in its place to maintain the interior atmosphere and pressure. Zoe clipped a line to her belt, placed her rifle to her shoulder, and then leaned out of the protective shielding.

  Victor swallowed back a brief wave of vertigo. He didn’t envy the sergeant for her job, but he kept a close eye on her vulnerable position. Below them, rocky terrain rushed past the descending shuttle.

  “There’s a fair chance that they have pain dampeners. Pirates and merc bands like them. That means that no matter where you shoot, they won’t feel it,” Victor muttered.

  “You heard the man. Let’s go for headshots,” Daniels said.

  The military-issued devices were hot on the black market, desired for their ability to numb all sense of pain and discomfort. A man could fight until the bitter end. The Empire outfitted every marine in the Royal Defense Force with a similar device, especially those sworn to protect the Empress. Those highly trained, seasoned warriors were expected to defend her and any member of the royal family to the death.

  An ear-splitting gunshot rang out before they touched down. Two more followed and a round sparked off the kinetic barrier. Three feet above the surface Zoe unclipped and leapt down.

  “Move out!” Daniels ordered.

  Victor led the rear assault. He and the three marine field medics in his squad had but a single task – to save as many lives as possible while supporting the primary assault squad.

  Cold, dry air leached the moisture from his exposed skin, pulling it tight around his eyes. According to the environmental alert displayed in the glass of his bioscanner’s visor, surface temperatures maintained a steady -1 degrees Celsius.

  They had a difficult job, keeping their eyes on the hostiles while also maintaining constant vigilance for their teammates. From the corner of his eyes, Victor saw Zoe take down two men with the same bullet from her high-powered rifle, but an aggressive, six-man squad emerged through the blast door.