Home in the Stars Box Set

by Mason, Jolie

  “I hope you don’t mind, then”, she waved the short glass in the air. “I find myself in need of something to sleep.”

  Ari poured the amber liquid and tossed back the drink. She loved the burn of it on her tongue. Like Pavlov’s stupid dog, she associated the feeling with blessed oblivion. She contemplated the empty glass. It was just possible she was too comfortable with the need for a crutch to sleep.

  He sighed behind her. “Why are you calling me Carnes, Ari?”

  She pursed her lips and set the glass carefully on the counter top. “I also find myself in need of distance.”

  “Need or want?”

  She paced away from where he stood, putting physical distance between them in place of the emotional distance she actually needed.

  “I’d call it a need”, she answered.

  This had to end. While it was true that his father was the villain of their love story, she couldn’t forget that Caden had left her when it mattered. She hadn’t blamed him for her father’s death, or any of the things he hadn’t known were happening. She blamed him for her being alone through those things. Giving birth and giving Jace up to another woman, alone, had nearly driven her mad. Watching her father’s body burn in the morgue, alone, had made her angry. She

  Couldn’t rail about it. She couldn’t yell about it, so she had to let it go. In all those things, she would continue to be alone.

  “Caden, I know this has an awkwardness to it, but we’re both professionals, right? And we were stupid kids when we.. . ya know.”

  “Loved each other?”, he said incredulously.

  She smiled into her empty glass. “What do kids know?”

  “Yeah”, he said. She watched him strain against his need to argue. Caden, obviously, didn’t agree with her assessment of their intelligence as juveniles. His eyes rested on the chair and fireplace. “Your ship is beautiful.”

  “You think?”, she asked. “It’s a good ship, a fast ship. She’s quick in a fight too.”

  He caught her eye sharply. “Been in lots of those, have you?”

  She shrugged. “A few. Universe is a dangerous place for a girl on her own.” Bitterness. She heard it, and so would he.

  “Ari.. . “, he began. She held up a hand.

  “No, Caden. Just don’t. We don’t have to reopen old wounds.”

  “Don’t you think we’re going to anyway?”

  “Not if we don’t want to, Caden. I’m a big girl. You’re a big boy. We can choose to just let it be.”

  It was his turn to sound bitter. “You can choose. I imagine my choice is to go along with what you want.”

  She bobbed her head forward a bit. “I suppose that is true.”

  No apologies. No regret in her voice. Just acknowledgment. Ari surprised even herself at the callous disregard she heard. She wasn’t cruel, but she was giving a good imitation of it in her hurry to get the man out of her cabin.

  He took a breath and turned away from her. “I’ve compiled that list of possible suspect facilities. There are only three.”

  “Good”, she breathed, something to do. “We can run a scout out there and get a look at the situation.”

  “My scout ships were dispatched more than an hour ago. We’ll have the intel in hours.”

  She nodded. “How far will we have to go?”

  “If the scouts narrow it down, the farthest target is in Starfall. There’s a long shot target all the way out in Heaven’s Gate. I don’t see it as very likely.”

  “Why don’t you like it?” Ari felt calmer as she asked the question. This was business. It helped her get back on an even keel.

  “It’s virtually unusable and exposed. The planet it sits on is overrun by warring factions of mercs. The mercs kill each other more than they work.”

  She smiled.

  He continued, “Terminus”.

  “Hmm”, she said, sipping on her whiskey and watching him over the glass. “Terminus. That’s your winner. That’s where you think they are, isn’t it?”

  “I’d bet the mine on it. It’s in system. It’s rocky, mountainous terrain. Troops have to jump in to get anywhere near the facility. That’s where I’d be.”

  “So if your scout there comes back with any activity beyond the usual?”

  “We’re going. You have assault troops?”

  “I have a small contingent to defend the ship in boarding raids. We don’t have enough men to lead a charge on a merc base.”

  He nodded. “I’ll get us some then. I intend to make these jokers pay hard.”

  Caden moved closer to the hatch. She watched him warily, confused.

  “You’re making it pretty personal. I would think this would be just business for you.”

  He shot his dark, hurt eyes her way. “They attacked my men. They took your brother. I’m going to burn their worlds to the ground, Ari. Maybe you never knew me at all, valah.”

  Caden was gone before the shock wore off. He’d just dropped that little bomb and left. Valah. He’d grown up on Taarken, but he’d gone to school at the academy surrounded by Cachians, a semi-primitive people with cat’s eyes and poetry in their souls. He’d loved their poetry. He had written her a few times about the staff on planet, and how they sang their souls to the sky. She’d never had a chance to see what he shared with her in each of those love letters, but she remembered the word.

  Valah. It meant lover of my soul. He’d explained that, to the Cachians, it was the deepest kind of intimacy. It was being one. To give and receive the word was... rare and extra-ordinary. She’d never given him the word. The world had ended first. Her eyes misted.

  His parting shot had hit its mark. If he’d known, what might he have done differently? Had she trusted him would she have held her baby in her arms, instead of seeing him happy in someone else’s? Was there even any point in wondering now? Of course not, she answered herself, but her mind still turned the possibilities around and around.

  She walked back to the bottle and poured another. It was doubtful she’d sleep now, but she could use something to numb the pain. She’d done what she had to all those years ago. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

  *****#*****

  Ari hadn’t slept. She’d tried for an hour, and then wandered up to the bridge where her pilot was ignoring her order to rest.

  “Captain, we have a troop ship inbound. Displays Carnes ID.”

  “We’re expecting them.”

  The transport ship broke from the bowels of the much larger cruiser and dropped to slower speeds. Ari watched it on her screen gracefully pull about and align itself to dock. It was the hardest maneuver a pilot had to do manually. Once within range the docking webs would take over, but getting it safely in range was hard to do. This pilot made his ship dance as she and Luca watched.

  “Carry Bell, ready for docking. Welcome aboard, NCR.”

  A deep sexy voice responded, “Docking. Thank you, Carry Bell. Captain will be headed your way in twenty.”

  She and Luca met each other’s eyes and laughed. “Mercy”, Luca growled. “I may be in love. That voice and he flies like a butterfly.”

  “Down girl.”

  Ari was still smiling faintly when Caden rushed through the bridge hatch. His expression was anything but funny. “Terminus”, he said.

  Ari looked at Luca. “Get your preflights done and set a course for Terminus. As soon as we undock from this trooper, we’re gone.”

  “Aye. Setting course.”

  She rolled her eyes at the pilot who just loved to make jokes about old space vids. The military ships still followed a protocol, but the Carry Bell didn’t buy into the military crap. It was a civvie ship, and they would act like it.

  “Just get to work.”

  They left the bridge to the musical sound of Luca’s laughter.

  Caden spoke as they headed to the conference room, just down the hall. “You have a very informal manner with your crew, but you manage shipboard discipline very well. I’m impressed.”

 
Annoyance bubbled up like steam. “Well, on Tuesdays, I line them up and beat them soundly.”

  “It was a compliment”, he said. “You’ve managed to find a very nice medium. I believe you have a very tight crew. They’d walk through fire for you.”

  “That’s what we do on Thursday.”

  He shook his head as they walked through the hatch.

  The forward conference room looked very much like the rest of the Bell, with the exception of the potted ferns in the corner and an old fashioned coffee pot on a counter nearby because Ari thought the FDU’s created coffee flavored water. The chairs were all upholstered blue, and the white walls had the trademark orange stripe. Coffee was already brewing, and Ari pulled out the largest mug anyone had ever seen with her name on it, and big crimson letters that said Make me happy. I dare you. The crew though it was hilarious, so she used it. They’d given it to her for her birthday one year.

  He watched as she lifted the mug to her lips and caught him looking. “It was a gift”, she said.

  The cabinet behind Ari contained a compliment of normal sized white coffee cups and supplies, and had been clearly labeled as such. He reached around her to open it, then looked down. Her breath caught in her chest. He was so close she could smell the spicy scent of his shampoo, feel warmth emanating from him. She caught the counter with her hand to keep from wobbling toward his big body, his hard body. The stared, a little lost in each other.

  “Ari, I.. . I want to choose differently.” He reached up to brush his thumb over her full bottom lip.

  She felt her eyes widen and tear up at the same time. She had a briefing in about ten minutes. His timing had always been atrocious “We’ve got a ship to save, Caden.”

  He nodded then dipped his head to gently, sensuously lick her lips and dart in for a small, tangling of mouths, a move she hadn’t expected. “I know, but then we reopen negotiations.” Caden backed away and pointed at her. “You called me Caden.”

  She had, she realized. He smiled a goofy, happy smile. Because she’d called him Caden.

  Ari sat down at the large circular table with her coffee, and commed her staff, while trying to hide the shaking in her fingers. Even if he did want her back right now, that could change any moment. She’d kept a secret from him, a secret that would hurt every single person she loved.

  *****#*****

  Caden sat at one end of the table, while Ari sat at the other. His scout had sent through all the intel they would need to get onto the base. He’d even gotten a look at the ship, the Hag and

  it’s crew working to mine the mountain less than a mile from the base and it’s facilities. There was no guarantee, however that the scout had not been detected, despite extensive stealth technology.

  The tactical troop commander sat near the comm panel with his number two, while the Bell’s Navigator and First Mate sat opposite them. To his surprise, the young engineer was the last to shoot through the door. The boy did nothing in low gear. Jace, that was his name, he recalled.

  He hadn’t met FM Smith. Ra’dan, the non-human, had led him onto the Bell the first day. Caden had had no dealings with that race, but it was clear that the young Sorian cared deeply for his work and his captain.

  Smith was something altogether obvious, and Caden didn’t like it at all. He was your typical merc. Brawny and ready to brawl, he looked like he could take just about anything. His head was shaved nearly bald and his face scarred across the chin, deeply. He sat close to Ari, very close to Ari.

  A man could always recognize one thing, another man in love with his girl. If he wasn’t mistaken, First Mate Smith loved Ari, and she wasn’t completely oblivious to it. It bothered him more than a little.

  Then again, could he really say anything about it? He had no real claim on her himself. That thought carried him back to the taste of coffee on her lips just a few minutes ago and he fought a smile. He’d get her back, he told himself confidently. Something like they’d had doesn’t just go away. Yes, they’d been young, but the feelings they’d had for each other had been no less that magic.

  Ari began the briefing by introducing all the players to each other.

  “We’re gonna need a plan, people. A good one. They have hostages.” She thumbed up the base map he’d made based on the scans his people took. “This is what we need to get into. The Space Hag is deployed in the mountain side, and a compliment of her crew are being forced to mine ore.”

  The hatchway alert beeped and opened to reveal the liaison, Morgan. Caden couldn’t help it. He didn’t like the guy. He was an Imperial to the bone, a man who did more than serve the empire. He believed in it. Caden wasn’t much for the institution. It tended to bend its own way most of the time, not the way of the people it protected.

  “Good morning”, the man said smoothly. “I hope I’m not too late.”

  Ari pinched the bridge of her nose and motioned the man to a seat brusquely. She was getting a headache. Caden stood and went to the cabinet where he’d seen a pill container of pain killers. Likely hers. He placed it in front of her on the table where she sat close to the cabinets. She looked daggers at him, and so did Smith, but she opened the bottle and tossed back a pill, while Caden took his seat again.

  He understood that standing and walking across the room had drawn the attention of every set of eyes. He understood she didn’t like the familiarity of it, the implication. He just couldn’t bring himself to care much. Caden had an instinct when it came to Ari; it screamed at him to protect her, care for her. Even when she didn’t want it. He had mistakes to correct because his instinct hadn’t done its’ job all those year ago.

  “It’s fine, Officer Morgan”, she told the man before continuing.

  “Now, our best bet to get the men is a diversionary attack from space, and a small strike team using the troop carrier to remove the men during the day. Regular mining operations go on day and night, but we’ve talked it over and agree that the pirates aren’t likely to run night operations on the Hag for fear of being vulnerable. They have to worry that we’re coming.”

  Morgan sat straight in his chair. “Captain Badu, there’s more at stake here than just a mining scow. If you follow the course you’ve outlined, we lose access to the weapon. They will run or, worse, attack your careful extraction scenario into oblivion.”

  Ari breathed deeply. “First, we don’t use the term scow to describe our mining vessels anymore, Morgan. It’s derogatory to the crews and their sacrifices. It’s origin is a slaver term. Miners are no longer slaves. They are unionized workers due the respect of the Empire they serve. Second, my priority is that crew. Anything else is your problem.”

  Caden cut in. “I assume the Empire has been informed of the crew’s location, but the weapon may not be here at all, Officer Morgan. There are no sizable vessels coming up on scans. Our scouts don’t believe the weapon is guarding the facility. In fact, we are of the opinion that the weapons test was the point, and the mining compliment was the payment most likely. In which case, the test is over.”

  “They have heavy fire, earth to space cannon, here and here”, he pointed at the holo-map. “There is a perimeter deployment of kinetic, anti-personnel weaponry in a circular pattern. The model most likely to be deployed is the Cutter 225, and we have an engineer here who thinks he can hack those, if we get him close enough.”

  Ari stirred in her seat, shifting her gaze to Jace who listened to the plan intently.

  “So, your plan is to take out the cannon from space, while sneaking an extraction team in the back door. Once the perimeter defenses are down, why not send a second unit here, through these cargo doors and hack the bases’ systems and shut down these pirates for good by getting the location of their only advantage, Mr. Carnes? It’s imperative we take that weapon from them.” Morgan seemed pleased with that plan.

  “No, my plan was to send in the extraction team, and then blow the damn thing off the map from space, thereby shutting these pirates down for good.” Caden knew the Empire had a
n interest, but he was no drone for the guy with the biggest guns. His allegiances tended to be local, most of them were in this room.

  “Mr. Carnes, surely you can see the need to gather any possible data on this weapon’s location. Who is the major mining interest in this sector? Who is most likely to be the target of this weapon in future?”

  Caden tapped the table. Damn it. He was right. The Carnes Syndicate had what these bastards apparently wanted; vast mineral and mining deposits throughout the quadrant. They’d been doing hit and run raids for months. He could think of no other real motive to target his operation specifically. He looked at Ari and read the same understanding in her expression. She nodded. They’d have to take the whole damn base. “Jace, do you have the skills to hack the base systems?”

  Jace thought about it before answering boldly. “I can hack almost anything. The question is; can I do it quietly. Sounds like you don’t need quiet. You need fast. I’ve got fast.”

  He smiled at the boy. Caden couldn’t help but like him. Ari, on the other hand, was going to rip Caden apart after this briefing. Her eyes snapped between him and the boy like lightning.

  “Okay, new plan, Extraction team, Alpha, focuses on the crew of the Space Hag, while Jace goes in with the Bravo team through the cargo bay. I assume the perimeter weapons can be hacked remotely?”

  Jace shook his head. “I wouldn’t call it remote, Sir.” He pointed to the outside of the perimeter. “I’ll need to be within 100 yards of a console node to affect the whole system. Those, we can find by power output. The closest node to that position is here. If they get any clue we’re there or you’re up here, they’ll fire those weapons before I can stop it.”

  Jace fiddled with the console keyboard and lit one of the guns up in red. It left them some open ground to travel to reach the cargo hangar. “Once I’m in, it will take seconds. The base is a different story. I’ll need some time to hack a system that large, and I think it’s possible to assume they’ll be against it.”

  Caden knew what that meant. Jokingly called anti-biotics, it was possible to implant programs in a system that caused neural shock to mechanics and engineers with hacking implants of their own. A system to system attack, and once the hacker was in, he wasn’t getting out.