by M. D. Cooper
Lew shook his head. “No, the three corvettes we brought are enough to fend off any pirates—of which there are more than a few in this system right now—but if Orion has more ships like that cruiser out there, we’d be torn apart like a wet napkin.”
No one had much information on the Orion ships, other than what the Intrepid Space Force had given Silstrand several months ago, and that was intel they’d received from the Transcend. Winter yearned for the days when Scipio was the only looming empire they needed to worry about.
And now they’re our allies…times sure are strange.
“If the data you have on Orion is correct, then their stealth tech is beyond us. There could be one ship, or there could be a hundred,” Captain Penelope of the Coalesce Legion’s Slyvan said, “A show of force or an amazing bluff? We won’t know unless we challenge them.”
Captain Quaker chewed his lip. “Orion is here…in the Fringe. We have a mandate to control this stretch of space, not to start a war with an empire. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but help from Scipio sure would be appreciated. But if Orion has more than just the one ship, any engagement is a losing battle. We need to find another option other than a head-on fight.”
Winter bounced his leg and spun his seat around. “I won’t have Chimin destroyed with them storming the asteroid, either. I just put this rock back together and I really don’t want to do it again.”
“So your plan is…?” Captain Quaker asked. “To ask them for more time and hope they’ll forget what they came here for?”
“Once they see we don’t have it….” Winter wiped his mouth clear. He knew how naïve it sounded, but what other choice did they have?
“They’ll never believe you,” Quaker shook his head. “They’ll send in assault teams and tear apart Chimin-1 through Chimin-7. They’ll rip the place apart looking for that damn virus.”
“And there’s nothing the SSF can do?” Winter grunted out the question. While Captain Quaker seemed like a decent guy, and he respected the man’s desire not to send his people to their deaths—an attitude Winter understood well—he missed Grayson’s can-do attitude.
“We could have more ships here in a week, but unless we know the scope of that Orion fleet, we don’t even know how to array our forces, let alone take a stand.”
“The Coalesce Legion has four more warships around Battia,” Captain Maysia offered. “We can move them closer and prepare for an attack, but we don’t have stealth like Orion does. They’ll see us coming. They’ll probably take it as the aggression they warned you against.”
Everywhere he looked, Winter saw only men and women hedging their bets. Maybe no one cared about Chimin the way he did. They didn’t know the people, they hadn’t seen them struggle.
He fought the urge to get up, kick his chair, and get the hell out of there.
Lana said to him privately.
She shifted her eyes to look at Quaker and then at Lew.
Even better.
Winter stood and pushed his chair in. “For now, then, we delay them best we can for as long as we can. We don’t have any other options, if all you can give me is a bunch of maybes. Chimin needs your help.”
“We’ll send out probes,” Quaker said, his lips pursed in regret. “See if we can find any way to spot their ships, bending gravitational waves, warped occlusions, something. I also need to get a courier back to Silstrand and warn the brass about this incursion. Also, I have to ask. Is there any of the virus left? Any research, samples, anything?”
Winter shook his head. “Hell no. You don’t know what the virus can do. It was in me. I nearly destroyed these people. I won’t see it happen to anyone else.”
Penelope stood. “I’ll send for the Coalesce ships at Battia, get them to start out toward the star for a slingshot. They can be here in a few days. We’ll do whatever we can to protect the people here. Battia and Chimin stand together.”
Winter nodded his thanks as Quaker leaned forward. “We’ll get ready, come what may. I’m not going to pull our ships back from Chimin, but if they have even half the ships they’re claiming, I’m not sure how we’ll stop them.”
Winter wanted to snap back at the captain, ‘You’re the military man. Isn’t a plan like this your job?’, but he just wanted them out of there so he could talk to Lana.
Lana was smiling as she talked to Lew and didn’t even display a facial tic to tell she had received a private message.
Hell yeah, he had Dolph. His favorite rifle was not only the most powerful rifle he had ever owned, but it brought him luck.
Lana’s avatar rolled her eyes.
Turned out, Winter could.
VISITING
STELLAR DATE: 02.18.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Delphin Reach, Silstrand City, Silstrand
REGION: Silstrand System, Silstrand Alliance
Half the day was gone by the time Admiral Matilda was finished questioning Kylie. It felt like every choice she had made drew more and more criticism. She was reminded that the feeling of being constantly second guessed was one of her least favorite things about the space force.
“Thank you for your time, Captain Rhoads,”
the admiral said as Kylie rose from her seat. “If you’re heading out, I can have a groundcar take you where you want to go.”
“I’d like to see my brother before I leave,” Kylie said as she rose from the table. “I won’t see him again until the trial, as it was explained to me, and I’d like to say goodbye.”
Matilda’s smile faltered for a moment. “Of course. I’ll see if Admiral Manda is ready to take a break with him, and we can have you shown in.” She turned toward the door, but changed her mind and turned back. “You won’t be able to touch him or hug him, but you can visit with him.”
“Of course.”
Matilda left the room, and Kylie felt her spirits sink just a bit further. Not because she wanted to hug Paul, but because she couldn’t. The entire situation was maddening, and if she was honest with herself, she just wanted it to come to a close.
Which would mean losing her brother forever.
She felt a bit of nervous excitement. She was going on a date with her ex-husband…but she tried not to think about him in those terms. He was Grayson. She was Kylie. They could do this. Things could end up better than before.
Couldn’t they?
Kylie smiled without restraint. She’d always wanted to go there before their marriage blew up, but the money it cost….
Well, that was good to know. Kylie thought her style was pick-up-whatever-is-cleanest-off-the-floor.
A moment later, Marge flooded Kylie’s HUD with twenty different dress choices and accompanying shoes.
It sounded nice, even if Kylie was more comfortable on space ships. She swiped through the photos quickly.
Movement at the door caught Kylie’s attention. A moment later, General Matilda re-entered and offered to take her to see Paul. Kylie followed behind into the hall.
“How’s he been?”
“Cooperative and sullen. Though I guess I’d be too, if I were him.”
They reached the interrogation room door, and one of the noncoms standing guard unlocked and opened it, allowing Kylie to enter.
Paul shifted in his seat as she sat down across from him. She nervously tucked her hair behind her ears and gave a glance to the staff sergeant standing inside the room with them. She knew better than to ask for a moment alone.
“You OK?”
“As OK as I’m going to get, I guess. They’re treating me well, and I got through hours of questions without incident.”
“They’ll be transferring you to Clipper Island. Security is tight and you should be safe there. Your lawyer—”
“I know all that, Kylie. You don’t need to make me feel better. It’s over.” Paul’s shoulders rounded forward, defeated.
Kylie paused and thought over what she would say next. “A lot went wrong. It doesn’t change our blood.”
“No. And yet my daughter and wife are still dead. I always dreaded the day you and I would face each other again. Never in my wildest fears did I envision it going this badly.”
She sat up straighter and held her breath as he continued.
“You never should’ve come after me. You should’ve let me slip away. I wouldn’t have hurt anyone else.”
“And that makes it OK? What you did? What you and Dad did together? You aided him in genocide.”
“Don’t judge me from that pedestal you put yourself on,” he sneered. “It’s a long fall, and I know what you were. A thief working for a gangster. One of his slave girls on a leash. You left the family to become what?”
Paul couldn’t have hurt her more if he’d slapped her.
Kylie stood and pushed her chair in. “I don’t have anywhere near as much blood on my ledger as you do. Mom and David will be allowed to see you soon, if you wish it. Maybe try to clean up your attitude before that happens; Mom doesn’t need it.”
Kylie made her way to the exit.
He called out to her, tried to get her to stop, but she kept walking, feeling hollow inside. What had she expected? A grand reunion? A change of heart, maybe Paul would see the errors of his ways and seriously repent?
Maybe she was the biggest fool of them all.
Kylie acknowledged it, but it didn’t make her feel any better.
Marge’s avatar lit up with happiness.
* * * * *
Her suite at the Entourage was modest in size and décor, but in the center of Silstrand City, it had gorgeous views of the canal that ran through the city square and of the river beyond. Hovercars flew by to the upper level shops and restaurants surrounding the hotel, and Kylie could hear the sounds of music coming from merchants down below.
At this latitude, Silstrand had four-season weather, and as Kylie stepped out onto the balcony, she enjoyed the warm early summer breeze. She’d spent so much time on Chimin and on space stations that even the humidity didn’t bother her. It was nice to experience something natural. You could only enjoy perfectly controlled temperatures for so long.
She longed to run barefoot through the grass and play in the rain. Maybe one day soon, she’d be able to do just that. She’d always return to the Barbaric Queen, but she needed to remember what it was they were fighting for.
Back inside, Kylie slipped into the long, fitted fuchsia dress. There was a slit running up her thigh, and the material hugged her ass, even giving it a little lift. One muscular shoulder was exposed, while the other had a pink boa attached, running down the back.
She recolored her brown hair to black and added a cluster of pink streaks down the sides to complete the look. She turned in front of the mirror, admiring her pink heels shimmering with sequins.
Marge giggled.
Kylie wondered what he’d be wearing. Knowing him, he’d show up in his uniform or his dress whites. Not that she really minded the dress whites—there was something sexy about them. Legions of men and women agreed with her.
Grayson pinged to say he was on his way up to the hotel, and Kylie took a few moments to grab her purse and apply her lipstick again.
The suite’s doorbell chimed, and Kylie’s heart jumped. “I guess this is it.” She swallowed hard. A date, a real date? She thought walking into an ambush might be easier.
Marge flooded her HUD with floating red hearts.
Kylie pulled open the door and stared out at Grayson in shock. He wasn’t in military dress, but instead looked like a normal, everyday civilian in his black trousers, a white shirt—the top button undone—and a black blazer. He always was a traditionalist in the finest sense.
“You made it,” she said, then realized it might’ve sounded like she was being critical. “I mean, you’re right on time. You’re—”
“Stunning,” Grayson said with a dumbfounded expression. “You always are, of course, but that dress….”
“Marge ordered it for me. Do you like it?”
Of course he did—it was dancing in his eyes—but Kylie wanted to hear it.
“Very much. I fear I’m not up to par.”
“Your par is just fine.” She stepped over the threshold and took his hand. “Are you ready? I’m starving.”
“As ready as they come. I hope you don’t mind, but I got us a groundcar. I don’t normally keep one on Silstrand.”
“A groundcar sounds nice. These heels aren’t really made for long walks.”
Grayson chuckled as they reached the elevator. “It helps to always be prepared.”
Alice said.
Kylie laughed while Grayson shook his head.
“I suppose we have to get used to them being around,” he reasoned.
“But not that much, at least not tonight,” Kylie said.
In the elevator, Grayson slipped his arm around Kylie’s shoulder, and she noticed his cheeks reddening.
“I feel like that young man all over again,” he admitted. “When I saw you enter officer candidate school for the first time. I was so taken by you…”
“You walked into the wall.”
Grayson’s eyebrows raised. “You always said you never noticed.”
“You’re not the only one who can lie, Gray. I didn’t want to embarrass you.”
“And now?”
“Now?” Kylie gripped his collar and pulled him down to her level. “I live to embarrass you.”
Grayson kissed her, stars how he kissed her. Kylie felt warm and bubbly, and dinner slipped from her mind as he stroked her hair away from her face.
“Part of me doesn’t want to take you to dinner,” he admitted softly.
“But you should.”
“It’d be the chivalrous thing to do,” Grayson agreed.
“Indeed, it would,” Kylie said, just as the elevator dinged, letting them know they’d reached the ground floor.