Warrior Chronicles 6: Warrior's Glass

by Shawn Jones

  “You still haven’t told me where Diane is. Are you taking us with you?” Angela asked as she massaged her wrist.

  “Yes, because I have to. We don’t know what effect my actions will have on history, but I couldn’t let Diane die.”

  Angela stopped moving and asked, “What about me?”

  It seemed like an eternity to both of them before Cort repeated, “I’ve been clear about that. I wanted you to die, but my wife wouldn’t let me leave you.”

  “Why did you save me then?”

  “Are you not listening? My wife told me I had to,” Cort replied honestly. “Otherwise, someday I would have to explain to Diane why I didn’t.”

  The room was silent for several minutes. He wondered when it would register with her that he had remarried.

  As if she was reading his mind, Angela asked, “Where does this leave you and me? And why won’t you tell me where Diane is?”

  “We aren’t married anymore. I have a new wife and two sons. Diane is going to be a part of our family. So long as you don’t cause problems for me, you will get to see her anytime she wants to see you. But it will be her choice, not yours.”

  “What will I do here?”

  “Anything you want to, so long as you don’t cause problems for my family. You won’t need to work, though. I’ll provide a home for you on Solitude.”

  “Solitude?” Angela asked, still facing the viewscreen.

  “The home planet of the Ares Federation. Where my government is based. Diane is excited to get there.”

  “Can I go to Earth?”

  “You can go anywhere you want to. You’d be a celebrity there. Hell, my opposition would probably make you their poster child. But Diane will stay with me on Solitude. I assumed you would want to be near her.” Was I that wrong about you, Angela? If we end up back in the future, please choose Earth. Leave my family alone.

  She was getting angry. Cort knew her next words would be targeted. I know you too well, Angela. Your next shot will be at Kim. Maybe Diane, but probably Kim. But you don’t know me, anymore. And you won’t like my answers. Gods but I wish I could have left you down there.

  In a new voice, Angela said, “What will she do when you are gone? You are still gone a lot, aren’t you? How does your new wife feel about that? Does she have someone on the side, too? Or does she keep a secret better than I did?”

  Angela’s attempted dig was powerless over Cort. “Diane will play with dinosaurs and wolves and ten foot tall cockroaches. My relationship with my wife is none of your business.”

  “Dinosaurs? Cockroaches? Really, Cort? So your new wife is fucking around on you because you’re nuts. When do I get that drink?”

  Cort tapped his flexpad for a moment, and said, “You’ll need this.” When Angela turned around, he handed it to her. “That one is now yours. It’s like a tablet. I’ve set it up like an old Android, so it should be pretty intuitive for you to use. The icons on the main screen will catch you up on the last three centuries. Tap it with two fingers about an inch apart to activate it.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  “Yes. You need some time to absorb everything that has happened. If you would like to join my family for supper, touch the telephone icon on the screen and ask for me. I won’t be available again until it’s time to eat, but you have run of the ship so long as you don’t interfere with my people.”

  Angela seemed lost when she replied. “Thank you, I guess. Will you make me some lasagna?”

  “I don’t cook for you. My wife wants crusted salmon.”

  Her anger rose again. “I don’t know why you are doing this, but I want a divorce. I’m tired of this crazy shit. How the fuck you get away with the crap you pull is beyond me. And I’m taking Diane. I want to see her right now.”

  “Are you sure, Angela? Do you really want to see her right now?”

  She screamed, “Where’s my fucking daughter, Cortland Addison?”

  Cort tapped his own flexpad and the viewscreen on the wall showed an image of the armory. He was disappointed when he realized there were no Jaifans visible. But there were several CONDORs in the background, and both of the family wolves were playing with Diane and her brother. Dalek was pulling Bane’s tail, while the beta wolf pulled Diane across the bay floor by the collar of her tunic, with Shart nipping at her feet.

  What Cort recognized as pack play, terrified Angela. “Oh my God! They’re going to kill her! Cort please!”

  He turned on the audio feed. Diane was laughing and screaming, “Faster! Go faster!”

  Cort looked back at Angela. “They are playing. Those wolves would die to protect her. The one pulling her is so protective, I can barely get him to leave her alone.”

  “I want to see her.”

  “When she’s ready. You hit her. The first thing she told me when I woke her up was that you had hit her. I almost refused to wake you up after she told me that. Like I told you earlier, you owe your life to my wife.”

  “Yeah well, forgive me if don’t send her a thank you note.”

  “I’ll never forgive you, Angela. For anything. There’s something else you need to know, though. Kim, my wife, is as deadly as I am. I’ve watched her kill. So be very careful how much you drink around her. If you pop off in front of her or lose your temper, she will likely put you in a medical bed.”

  Cort walked to the door, turned one last time, and said, “And Angela, there really are ten foot tall cockroaches, and they are my best friends. If you leave your quarters, you’ll see them here on the ship, along with the wolves and several other alien species. But the cockroaches are called Jaifans, and they are sworn to defend my family. I know about you slapping Diane when she asked you about Tim, and if you ever touch her again, one of them will kill you, if a wolf doesn’t. It’s not my choice. Rather, it’s a blood oath by their species to my son, Dalek. I wouldn’t be able to stop them, even if I wanted to. But to be clear, I wouldn’t want to. I wish you were still dead.”

  Then Angela was alone, living in what she thought a sci-fi novel must be like.

  —

  Kim and Salana were waiting for Cort in the armory. He knew they’d watched the meeting with Angela.

  “I tried to be nice.”

  “I know, Baby. You did good.”

  He looked at Salana and said, “I’m sorry for how I acted toward you, and I’m in your debt.”

  “Cort…”

  “Let me finish.” He took a deep breath and gratitude poured out of him like water from a faucet. “I know you suggested everyone lie to me. I know you gave me back Diane. I won’t make excuses for how I’ve treated that woman, because I still wish she were was dead. If I had it to do all over again, I don’t think I’d let Kim talk me into saving her.”

  He opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of scotch. After pouring himself one, he put the bottle back and took a sip from his glass. “I’m going to tell you the same thing I tell everyone in my inner circle. If you think I’m fucking something up, tell me. I listen to the people I trust. I don’t always agree with them, but I always listen.”

  Cort sensed pride from Kim, and something between confusion and surprise from Salana. He sat down and pulled a cigar from an old wooden humidor.

  She proved what Cort was saying, but ruined what should have been a touching moment. “Does this mean I get a raise?”

  The two women watched as he cut the head of the cigar off and held its foot to the plasma coil of a handgun. He took a long pull from the cigar and let the smoke slowly escape his mouth. “Gods but I hate that bitch.”

  Salana asked, “Then why did you marry her?”

  “I’ve asked myself that question for nearly thirty years.”

  Kim laughed. “And he married her twice. The most powerful man in the universe is also the stupidest, Salana.”

  Salana made her own jab at Kim. “Says the woman who married him.”

  Fourteen

  Cort went to the medical bay, where Salana was giving Diane a chec
kup.

  She finished the exam, and walked with Cort and Kim to their quarters, while Dalek took Diane to see the other species of non-humans on the ship.

  Cort asked, “How is my daughter, Doc?”

  Salana looked at Cort and rolled her eyes, conceding she had lost the battle of honorifics. But she also realized that he liked her. It was as much affection, as a slight. “She’s fine. She is healthy, and all the damage from the accident and the ab…”

  When Salana caught her words, Cort stopped, and let go of Kim’s hand. He turned toward the doctor in an intimidating way. “And the what, Doctor Biyadiq?”

  There was a sudden menace in Cort’s voice that startled both women. He suspected he knew what Salana had stopped herself from saying, but he needed Kim to hear it. More than that, he needed to hear it. To know that he wasn’t imagining it all those years. “I told you to always speak your mind. And the what?” he repeated.

  Biyadiq’s shoulders slumped. “There was some damage from possible child abuse.”

  Kim was suddenly defensive and asked, “Do you suspect Addison?”

  Biyadiq held up her hand. “No. Not at all. I may not be able to read minds, but clearly Diane is at peace with her father. It’s her mother that she is afraid of, not him.”

  Cort sighed and walked away from them, saying, “I think I always knew. I never wanted to admit it, but I think I knew.”

  Kim released a long breath. “I’m beginning to understand why Cort didn’t want to save her.”

  —

  Cort stood on the bridge of the Remington and watched the planet. Kim was beside him, explaining to Diane that there were bad guys on the planet, and they had a really neat way to kill them all.

  “Are we ready, George?”

  “Yes, Father.”

  “Light ‘er up.”

  On a viewscreen that covered the front of the room, a red dot, representing a drone, travelled into the Threm’s atmosphere. When the drone was deep enough, Cort gave the order to ignite. At the edge of a giant, swirling, storm, the drone exploded. The fire raced up one arm of the storm, then expanded out from the center of it, and spread across the visible part of the planet.

  “Whoa!”

  Cort glanced down to see Diane’s eyes wide open, as she grasped Kim’s hand. Looking back at the planet, he watched the skies burn. The forests ignited, and the surface was overtaken by clouds of smoke. Soon, only patches of water in the center of the oceans were visible.

  Cort asked, “How long will the burn take, George?”

  “The atmosphere itself will burn for fourteen hours. Surface fires will last several days. We will clear the smoke by cloud seeding, and the resulting storms will fertilize the soil. The Threm will have a lean year, but their next crop cycle should be bountiful.”

  Cort looked at Biyadiq. “What about the animals, Salana?”

  “The settlements have taken their livestock below the surface. Wildlife will take several decades to recover. Doctor Ceram is working on a system for Wwelv that will allow her people to clone docile species for a faster recovery.”

  Cort thanked everyone for their work, and ordered Captain Rai to put together several fire teams of Neanderthals and CONDORs to kill any exos that survived the fire. Like any good Captain, Rai passed the shit detail down to Lieutenant Schwartz.

  —

  “Are you really as powerful as you say?” Angela asked that night at dinner.

  Kim marked her territory, saying, “My husband rules the known galaxy, and part of another universe.”

  The children had left the table and were playing with the wolves. Cort and Salana watched the battle play out, as they both knew it must.

  “He was my husband until a few days ago,” Angela hissed.

  “He’s raised his standards.”

  Angela looked at Cort, who just watched her. “You’re going to let her talk to me like this?”

  He said, “It works just fine for me.”

  Angela looked between them and asked, “Wait. What did she mean about another universe?”

  Cort remained silent. Kim said, “Oh, you don’t know that part. Let me tell you about it. He went to another universe to save people who were being abducted from Earth. Including his great-grandfather, Clem. When we didn’t think there was a way for him to come back, I followed him there, with Diane’s two brothers.”

  “Bullshit. George is too old to be yours, and Clem died in World War One.”

  “You’ve no idea how old George is. But you’ll learn.”

  It took a moment for Angela to gather her composure. She’d spent years of her life knowing that Cort would protect her from anything. Even herself. But he sat quietly. Trying to take back some ground, she said, “You talk tough.”

  Angela jerked back as Kim snatched a knife from the table. Even Salana fought the urge to scream when Kim dragged the blade across her own palm. They all watched as Kim looked at the wound, licked it, then shoved it in front of Angela’s face. Right before her eyes, the wound seemed to close, and Kim licked it again. The second time she showed it to Angela, the cut was completely healed, with only a pink line where the blood had been leaking from her palm.

  Kim stood up and leaned over the table, her face just a dozen centimeters from Angela’s. “I am tough, bitch. And if you ever lay a hand on my daughter again, I’ll kill you.”

  —

  After breakfast, Diane wanted more bacon, so Cort took both kids to the crew’s galley. He had another cup of coffee and worked on his flexpad while they ate more bacon than a child’s stomach should be able to hold.

  Finally they were full, and after sending Kim a message, Cort stood up to leave. Almost immediately, he sat back down and moaned, “Biyadiq.”

  Two nearby Jaifans rushed to his side as one of them clicked for the doctor. Cort fell backward into the arms of one of the insectoids just as she raced in. Seeing her father on the floor and the commotion around him, Diane began to cry. She remembered too many times like this. Dalek was able to hold back tears, but just barely. He had also seen their father injured too often.

  “Lay him down!” Biyadiq commanded as she pulled a syringe from her kit. “And call Mrs. Addison.”

  One of them clicked into a comm and told Kim what was happening. He answered the questions he could, and broke the link, telling Doctor Biyadiq the Pledge Mother would meet them in the medical bay. Then he commed Clem with Kim’s instructions for the kids.

  A medical bed and two human orderlies appeared in the door of the galley.

  Kim was already in the room when the group wheeled Cort’s bed into the medical bay. Biyadiq looked up at her and shook her head. “He’s having another stroke. It’s much worse than the last one.”

  Ceram waited in the next room, with more equipment, ready for Cort’s arrival. The bed was locked in place between two large, robotic arms. The orderlies peeled his FALCON off and the robotic arms attached to his shoulders.

  Diane had followed them inside clinging to Kim’s leg. Tears streamed as she said, “This is like when Daddy’s face got cut. But I think it’s worse.”

  “He’ll be okay, Sweetie,” Kim said. Her words caused Salana to look up and shake her head.

  “Be careful what you promise, Kim.”

  Ceram flexed his mandibles into a scowl, and clicked something only Doctor Biyadiq heard. She turned to the scared little girl and said, “We are doing our best, Diane. You should take your mom outside and help keep her mind off this.”

  Just as the door closed behind his family, Cort’s body contorted and spasmed as a seizure hit him. Ceram clicked, “He wanted to wait another day.”

  “He doesn’t have that option now.”

  “Go and ask the Pled… No. I will. Begin preparing for the surgery. Start filtering his synthetics.”

  Outside, Ceram spoke with Kim privately. At that moment, Clem arrived, and Kim sent both children with him.

  With Salana’s knowledge of the human brain, and the scan Cort had taken of
Addison’s brain, Ceram told Kim surgery was the best option. The alternative was that the strokes would become more frequent and more severe. At the very least, he would begin to lose his memory, and at worst, he would die.

  Biyadiq’s plan was to filter the synthetics from Cort’s blood. Once there were not enough in his system to inhibit the surgery, she was going to remove the scar tissue from the affected parts of his brain, and reinject him with synthetics that were programmed to Addison’s brain scan and younger DNA. It was key to reprogram his synthetics to a time before the original stroke, so that Cort would have a better chance against further complications.