by Terry Mixon
Once behind the ornate doors, Kelsey could hear the murmuring of the crowd and the soft organ music.
The majordomo cleared her throat. “Once I open the door, the bridesmaids will proceed to the dais. Their Highnesses will follow them, Crown Princess Elise in the lead. Once Her Highness reaches the dais, Princess Kelsey will begin.”
“Where’s my father?” Elise asked.
“Right here,” he said, stepping in the front door. “I was merely getting your escape vehicle ready.”
He beamed at his daughter before pulling her into his arms. “You look radiant.”
“You’re going to make me cry,” Elise protested as she held him.
“It’s your wedding. You’re supposed to cry.”
“I will not cry before I even see him,” she said firmly.
The king turned to Kelsey. “As your father cannot be here, I shall act in his stead. Once I walk Elise to the dais, I shall come back for you.”
“It’s time,” the majordomo said firmly.
* * * * *
Jared stood on the dais, watching the back of the church with a mixture of anticipation and worry. The crowd was much larger than he’d anticipated and the lights were just as bright as the tailor had warned him they would be. The floating holocameras were no doubt sending the images out to everyone on the planet and recording them for transmission to the Empire.
Talbot hadn’t figured that out, so he wasn’t going to enlighten the man.
They had a number of comrades behind them in support: Charlie Graves, Dennis Baxter, Carl Owlet, and Pasco Ramirez. He’d have loved to have more people, but there just wasn’t space.
The organ picked up into the wedding march and his stomach lurched. The ceremony was beginning.
The doors to the rear of the cathedral opened and the bridesmaids began streaming in. He smiled at them. It was more reassuring than he’d expected to have people he knew in the lead.
Then he saw Elise and nothing else mattered. She came down the aisle on her father’s arm with a smile only for him. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It took all his willpower not to take her hands when she stood in front of him.
The king returned to the rear of the cathedral and brought Kelsey out. He heard Talbot’s breath catch. She looked like a bright pixie in her small white dress.
Once she stood beside Elise, the minister stepped forward and smiled. “Marriage is a sacred bond that brings two people who love one another even closer,” he said. “But in some cases, it is also a matter of state where it involves more than family or friends.
“Today is one such circumstance. We will see our crown princess wed to a hero from legend. This marriage will bring our people closer together, yet, this ceremony is only a reflection of the love and commitment they already have for one another.”
The man paused, allowing his words to sink in. “I could go on and on about what that means, but I think it’s far more appropriate that they say what they truly feel to one another. Jared Mertz, why don’t you go first?”
Jared reached out and took Elise’s hands in his. “The first time I saw you, I realized how special you were, but I never expected that we would have a future together. The gulf between us was too vast. Me, a lowly officer born on the wrong side of the sheets, and you a powerful noblewoman who would one day lead your people.
“And then you showed me that the space between us was all in my mind. That together we could overcome every obstacle. Even those we erected ourselves.”
He gazed into her eyes for a long moment, enjoying the wide smile on her face. “While I don’t feel worthy of many of the rewards heaped up me, I’ll accept them if that’s what it takes to be your husband. I love you with all my heart and pledge my life to making you happy. Even if this inconvenient war gets in the way.”
A low rumble of laughter ran through the hall.
“Well,” she said with a twinkle in her eye, “that might be the understatement of the year. Let me make one thing clear. I would walk away from every one of my titles without the slightest hesitation if that were what it took to make you mine.
“I’m glad neither of us has to do that, but between us there is no gulf. You will be my husband and I your wife. Crown princess and prince consort are simply labels that others apply to us, not who we are. I am Elise Orison, the woman who loves you madly. You are Jared Mertz, the man who makes me complete.”
She looked at the minister. “It is time. Make me an honest woman.”
The crowd did laugh at that, and the minister smiled. “You’re already an honest woman, Highness. I’m just here to make it official.”
He looked at Jared. “Do you, Jared Mertz, take Elise Orison as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, forsaking all others for the remainder of your days?”
Jared’s throat tightened. “I do.”
The minister turned to Elise. “Do you, Elise Orison, take Jared Mertz as your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, forsaking all others for the remainder of your days?”
Her smile took on a hint of triumph. “I do.”
The minister raised his arms and stepped back “Then I take great pleasure sealing this eternal bond between you. My lords and ladies, I present to you, Elise Orison and Jared Mertz, your crown princess and her husband.”
The crowd erupted into cheers, but Jared only had eyes for Elise. His wife.
He reached for her, but she was already pulling him tightly into her embrace, kissing him soundly.
“You’re mine forever,” she said fiercely. “Thank God.”
Jared laughed and kissed her back, only stopping when someone cleared his throat. A glance up showed his father-in-law standing where the minister had just been.
“I’m very sorry to interrupt this tender moment, but you’re not quite done, Prince Jared. There remains one more ceremony to be completed, and we’d best move along sprightly because your sister is impatiently waiting.”
Kelsey laughed and tapped her foot.
“Now, this is complicated by the fact you aren’t a citizen of Pentagar, other than by marriage, of course,” the king said, but I’ve been in communication with your father about the matter and we’ve come up with a solution.
“You are a serving Imperial Fleet officer and your oaths to the Empire are sacrosanct. The oath I shall now require of you will take that into consideration and fall second to it. Is that acceptable?”
Jared nodded. “It is.”
“Kneel.”
Once Jared had sunk to his knees, Raymond Orison stared sternly down at him. “I won’t lecture you on taking care of my daughter, because she can take care of herself. What I will say is that you displease her at your peril. I’ve had a nice cell set aside in the dungeon if you err too grievously.”
Jared mostly restrained his smile. “I wouldn’t dream of displeasing her.”
“Excellent. Now, as king of Pentagar, I require the oath of prince consort from you, as modified by negotiation with the Terran Emperor, your liege. With the exception of your oaths to the Terran Empire and to the Imperial Fleet, do you, Prince of the Blood Jared Mertz, swear to stand firm beside the crown princess of the Kingdom of Pentagar, helping her to rule it when that time comes?”
“I do.”
The king smiled. “Then rise, prince consort of Pentagar.”
The crowd began chanting something, but Jared couldn’t hear it clearly. Raymond pulled him into a ferocious hug. “It’s so good to have you as part of my family. I know you’ll make my daughter very happy.”
“Thank you.”
“Excuse me,” Elise said, “but if you’re finished, my good friend Kelsey is less-than-patiently waiting her turn.”
Jared risked his sister’s wrath by kissing his wife once more before stepping back to his place. Now it was time for her moment in the sun and he couldn’t wait for her and Talbot to take their vows.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kelsey was happy for Jared and Elise, but could
barely restrain herself. It was her turn, dammit.
The minister took the king’s place. “Now we come before you to wed the heir to the Terran Empire. At the risk of going at this ceremony backwards, I call upon Princess Kelsey to go first.”
Her eyes were swimming in unshed tears, but she had a tissue handy. She dried her eyes and then took Talbot’s hands in hers.
“Russ, when I first met you, I was a pampered little noble girl. She’s still in here somewhere, but you didn’t let the social gulf stand between us, and you became my friend. Then when my world came apart, you stood beside me shouting defiance in the face of death, and worse. A more steadfast, caring man is impossible for me to imagine.
“Inside that blunt shell is a heart as big as the universe. I found myself loving you, but unsure of how to say the words. Then you showed me that words could sometimes get in the way. We are made for one another, and I pity anyone that tried to come between us. I cannot wait for you to be mine forever.”
Talbot didn’t wait for the minister to speak before he started.
“I’m a blunt-spoken man, so forgive me if I don’t have any flowery phrases at the tip of my tongue. I never expected to have someone like you in my life. Hell, I never expected to find someone as strong inside as you. Someone I could love without restraint.
“I only thought I was self-sufficient. I never realized something was missing from my life, but you’ve made me whole. With you at my side, I’m not afraid of what the future might bring. Together, we can do anything we choose. I love you, and want you to be my wife.”
She looked at the minister. “We’re waiting.”
He laughed. “Then allow me speedily move things along. Kelsey Bandar, do you take Russel Talbot as your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, forsaking all others for the remainder of your days?”
“Hell yes.”
The crowd rumbled with laughter and the minister gave her a look of mock disapproval. “We try not to bring hell into the wedding ceremonies, but I’ll accept that.”
He turned to Talbot. “Russel Talbot, do you take Kelsey Bandar as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, forsaking all others for the remainder of your days?”
He smiled down at her.
“Hell yes.”
“Then it gives me great pleasure to seal this eternal bond between you. My lords and ladies, I present to you Crown Princess Kelsey Bandar of the Terran Empire and her husband, Russel Talbot.”
She pulled Talbot down into a kiss that she hoped would make everyone blush. He was her willing co-conspirator.
Once she had to come up for air, she coughed. “That was very nice, but now it’s my turn to swear you to an oath. Russel Talbot, I now speak with the voice of the Emperor, your liege. He wishes he were here to do this in person, as do I, but he will have that pleasure soon enough. Kneel.”
Once he settled to his knees, his face was almost level with hers. He was actually still taller. She reached out and nudged his head down a little, to the delight of the crowd.
“Russel Talbot, do you swear to stand with the heir of the Terran Empire, and to support her rule when she ascends to the Imperial Throne?”
“I do,” he rumbled.
“Then I name you prince consort of the Terran Empire. Let no one stand between you and your duty to me and the Empire. Rise, Your Highness.”
Raymond Orison stepped forward as Talbot stood, facing the crowd. “Normally, there would be round the clock celebration, as well as even more pomp and circumstance, but matters of state press close.
“The newlyweds will have scant time to celebrate, so I declare tonight as theirs alone. Come morning, Prince Consort Jared leads a strike deep into the heart of the Rebel Empire. We’ll just have to celebrate without them.”
He turned to the wedding party. “I have two vehicles out back. I’ve taken the liberty of arranging some secure and discreet lodgings for the evening. Once you return from your mission, it will give me great pleasure to host your long and well-deserved honeymoon. Is that acceptable?”
Talbot swept Kelsey off her feet with a whoop. “Why are we still standing here?”
She laughed as he threw her over his shoulder and charged for the indicated exit. Kelsey vowed to have her revenge by carrying him across the threshold when they got there.
* * * * *
Zia laughed as Talbot carried the princess out, and Jared more sedately escorted his bride away. Those couples would be just fine, no matter what the universe threw at them.
She, on the other hand, had a ton of work to do. In his absence, she and the newly promoted vice-commander of the mission—Commodore Charlie Graves—had a lot of work to do if they were going to get out of here on schedule.
Captains Levy and Vitter would see the carrier group arranged. She had to focus on helping Charlie get the rest of the ships into order.
He stepped over to her as soon as the crowd began dispersing. “Let’s take my cutter up to Invincible. We can see what Carl managed to pull out of the computer cores and get a general order of battle arranged.”
“Sounds good, but I need to change first. I’m starving and there is no way I’m going to eat in this dress. It must cost a year’s salary. I’d undoubtedly spill something on it.”
He glanced down at his own suit. “Good point. Meet me at the cutter in an hour.”
Zia retired to the changing room the bride’s maids had used to get ready and quickly got back into her duty uniform. She found a car waiting for her when she was ready, and it speedily took her to the spaceport.
Charlie Graves was already on the cutter, so they departed immediately.
“I took the liberty of getting you something from a deli we drove past. I seem to recall you have a special place in your heart for meatball subs.”
“You are a god.”
“That’s what they tell me,” he said with a roguish grin.
She took the bag from him, spread her food out on the folding tray on the back of the seat in front of her, and dug in. The meatballs were scrumptious, though a tad messy. Changing had been a wise decision.
Once she’d taken the edge off her hunger, she focused on Graves. “Last I heard, Carl had dug out some hard details from the freighter cores, but nothing from any of the recovered military computers. Has that changed?”
He shook his head. “Not to the best of my knowledge, but hope springs eternal. At least we have an idea of where we’re going. Dresden isn’t very populous, I understand.
“I’ve gone over the possible entry points to the Dresden system. It has three flip points. One leads to a heavily populated system, one to a more lightly occupied one, and one to an empty one. The last one would be best, but we can’t get to it without cutting through some systems we’re prefer to avoid.”
She nodded. “So we have two possibilities.”
“Right. We’d take six flips by the closest route, and eight by the other. I figure we’re talking adding a few days to a week to get there. The second route has the more sparsely populated system.”
Zia brought up the two routes on her implants. “Being less direct might be more advantageous for us. Once we’re done, they won’t have the force to stop us from getting back to Erorsi.”
He nodded slowly. “The one system in question isn’t heavily traveled. We could come in on one side and take a longer curve above the plane of the ecliptic to the final flip point. It adds another day, but reduces the opportunity for detection.”
That made sense, so she nodded. “We can have Persephone scouting the way in front of us. If they run into anything problematic, they have enough firepower to shut them up and they’re unlikely to be spotted.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “We’ll follow up with the smaller ships and take the big ships last as a group. We can keep our acceleration down to a reasonable level and never tip the people we’re sliding by.
“One thing we need to consider is communications. Do we seed FTL coms in the systems between us and Eror
si?”
Zia frowned as she considered that. Not being able to communicate had bitten them hard, but they absolutely could not afford to allow the technology to fall into Rebel Empire hands.
“Maybe if Carl can design self-destruct charges for them. If we seed them in the outer part of each system, we can leave them there. Are we certain that they’ll work as relays? I didn’t think Carl had all the bugs worked out.”
“I don’t know. We’re almost to Invincible, so let’s go ask him.”
She threw away her trash and secured her tray. The cutter docked and she followed Charlie onto the superdreadnought.
“Welcome aboard, Commodores,” Marcus said. “I’ve been expecting you. Allow me to say that the wedding was an interesting ceremony.”
Graves grinned. “That it was. You can pester Jared with questions about it when he comes up in the morning. Assuming, of course, that he can string comprehensible sentences together.”
“I’m quite certain that he will be more than able to do so,” the AI said primly. “Sir Carl is waiting for you in his lab.”
The two of them made their way there and walked in to find the young scientists hunched over a wide screen, typing quickly.
He glanced up at them and then returned his attention to the screens. “Hang on a second. I’m almost ready.”
Zia looked around his lab with interest. She hadn’t had much opportunity to drop by when she’d been assigned to the same ship as him. It was bigger than she’d imagined, and filled with other people in lab coats doing various tasks.
It took more like five minutes for Carl to wrap up what he was doing, but they waited patiently. When the young man finished, he stood and stretched.
“Sorry about that, but I’m looking for hidden or deleted files. People think they’ve gotten rid of something important, but you can often dig it back up, if you know how to look.”
“What are you hoping to find?” Charlie asked.
“There are no close approach scanner readings. I’d like to have a better idea of what the station look like. That might narrow our search for the manufacturing area when the time comes to board. I’d imagine saving hours is a good thing.”