by Autumn Birt
That his father would continue to deny the truth to him lanced pain through Derrick with the heat of a bullet.
“I heard you. Averys thought I was in command because MOTHER had summoned me, because I’m your son.” Derrick spat the last word like a curse. “Did you enact my suggestions to Parliament because you liked them or because you wanted me to feel useful, father?”
David took a step toward him, reaching out a hand. Derrick jerked away, his glare angry enough to make his father keep his distance.
“I can explain—”
“I don’t care. Not anymore. Get out.”
This time, Derrick turned his back on his father and limped away.
Derrick knew it wouldn’t be that easy to be rid of his father. But the argument would buy him space. At least for a few days.
Byran turned up late in the afternoon. “You didn’t come to session this afternoon. There were reports on the attacks at other bases,” he said referring to the afternoon meetings of all parliamentary members on base.
Information and decisions made here were given to the other outposts housing senators via the Guard, or so Derrick had thought. Now he could believe MOTHER sent the information ... or not – or only what they wanted. Derrick almost told Byran the farce MOTHER made of Parliament, but looking at his friend he could not. He wondered if that made him as bad as his father.
“My knee ... I’m not supposed to walk on it for a week,” Derrick replied, not actually lying. “So how did the FLF coordinate the attacks? It was just three other bases?”
“Bombs at three and the gunfight here and it looks like it was old fashioned recon to pull it off. Maps, photos, all on paper with an imprinted code in Braille. They found the same in Lennet’s house hidden under a false step. It’s like something from a century ago.”
Derrick snorted. “Are you really surprised? Most of Europe is without power. There is a carriage maker opening outside of base for goodness sakes. We both own horses instead of cars. Maps and codes might be the best they can do.”
Though not us, he thought, remembering the vid screens and satellite maps. The Guard had technology. Had he had any part in ensuring that?
Byran’s silence pulled Derrick from his thoughts. Byran watched him, though he pretended to be enjoying the afternoon sun. “Well?” Derrick prompted.
“You really enlisted again?”
“Is it you asking or my father?”
“Through me? Shit. Seriously Derrick, did you get hit in the head while you were out fighting the FLF?”
Derrick looked away from his friend, swallowing a bitter taste. He was tired and in pain, feeling out of sorts in just about every way. “No,” he said finally. “I just helped out. There wasn’t time to join or anything. Lieutenant Averys didn’t ask. He just gave me a gun and told me who to listen to.”
Averys knew of MOTHER and accommodated his father with a room and access to computers. That bothered Derrick. The Lady Grey might not obey MOTHER, but she did nothing to prevent the manipulation MOTHER had of Parliament. And Captain Vries listened to her. The betrayal hurt worse than his knee.
They sat for another minute before Byran looked back over. “Are you going to?”
“No.” Derrick answered, the word taking away some of the weight smothering him even as it sparked moisture to his eyes. Byran hesitated, brows bunched and mouth parted. Derrick guessed the question. “Because my knee will keep me out for a month. And maybe because the Lady Grey’s Guard is not the same as Captain Prescot’s and I don’t think I want any part of her force. Maybe you’re just right. The war is nearly over. We’re down to tossing out random FLF, stopping incursions into Europe, and figuring out how to keep them out. There are even a few places rebuilding. By the time my leg heals, they won’t need me.”
“So will you come back to Parliament?” Byran asked, sensing there was more unsaid.
“I don’t know,” Derrick answered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I need to think about it. Don’t tell my dad that I didn’t enlist, all right? I want him to stew a bit.”
“Fine by me,” Byran said with a grin.
—
The soft knock on his door was nearly drowned by the bustle of the base in the early afternoon. Four days after the attack, Derrick managed to get around with a hobble and a cane. The pain was less, but the sleep wasn’t much more. It was hard to put the idea of fighting again behind him, no matter that he knew he couldn’t go back. He wasn’t going to take orders from the Lady Grey or his father.
When he opened the door, Danielle stood in the afternoon light, hair smooth and dazzling, and the color of a milky sun. Her grey eyes were all shadows though. His father’s plan had hatched. Derrick let out a slow breath then pushed the door open the rest of the way.
“I heard you’d been injured,” she said, eyes wide with concern. “I had to come.”
“Of course. Across country after an attack. That would be a wonderful time to visit. How is your father? He looked ill when I saw him the other day.”
“You saw him?” she asked, appearing confused. “He has been tired ... drained really. The doctors are running tests. So far, they think it is just stress from the war.”
“And not from running Europe without Parliament’s knowledge?”
Danielle leaned away, innocent eyes wide. Despite the anger, he wanted to believe that shocked look and imagine that she hadn’t been part of the ruse to keep him from returning to fight.
Before Danielle could answer, Byran walked in. “Would you believe someone drove a car to base? Even I don’t have the money for that.” Byran’s words and motion stopped at the sight of willowy Danielle with her long, pale blond hair and smoky eyes. Byran barely managed to pull his gaze away to glance questioningly at Derrick. Derrick fought a chuckle as he began introductions.
“Byran, this is the woman with the car, I would wager,” Derrick said.
“Byran? I’ve heard David mention you,” Danielle said, offering her hand.
“David?” Byran said, floundering for recognition.
“My father,” Derrick said, amused.
Byran took a double glance at Derrick before turning back to Danielle. Byran’s natural affinity for women rose as he gently took her hand, sliding his fingers over her skin as he smiled at her. Derrick wanted to laugh. Byran had no control over it. It was how he responded to women.
“And you are?” he asked.
Danielle glanced at Derrick. “Danielle le Marc, Derrick’s fiancée.”
Byran’s flirting fell into a pit. “You’re engaged?” he asked, rounding on Derrick.
“Not exactly,” Derrick answered.
“Yes,” Danielle said firmly at the same moment. Hearing Derrick’s answer, she turned soulful grey eyes on him.
“I thought we agreed it was just to get you away from your father? We aren’t actually going to get married,” Derrick said to her in frustration.
“For how long?” Byran asked, stiff with shock.
“Almost three years,” Danielle replied, tears piling up behind her dark lashes.
“There are times I don’t know you,” Byran said to Derrick before turning and leaving.
“You didn’t tell him about us?” Danielle said, appearing truly hurt.
Derrick walked after Byran, then turned back to Danielle. “Shit.” Decision made, he chased down his oldest friend.
“It isn’t like you have never kept something from me,” Derrick said to Byran’s back as Byran walked out the door. Relief flooded Derrick to find Byran waiting on the other side, his expression troubled. Byran stood with his gaze on the ground for a moment. A trace of guilt tinged his gaze when he looked back at Derrick.
“Arinna, the Lady Grey,” Byran began.
“Is taking the role that belongs to Captain Vries. She isn’t even military!” Derrick snapped, frustrated by the change of topic. The openness in Byran’s eyes closed.
“Never mind. When you are done making excuses, let me know,” Byran said as he
stalked off.
This time, Derrick let him leave. When he returned to Danielle, he expected haughty injury to cover the artifice. Instead, she dried her eyes, glancing away when he entered as a new shimmer of moisture spilled down her smooth cheeks.
“I’m sorry. It was a mistake to come here. I was worried ... I needed to get away. It was foolish.” Danielle stood, gathering her handbag.
“No. I’m the one who needs to apologize. I’ve ... not been myself. Stay. You’ve driven all the way here. You needed to leave your father’s estate? Something is wrong?” Derrick asked.
Danielle remained standing, not looking at him. He placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder, surprised at how slight she was under the silken shirt. Of the few occasions they had spent time together over the years since their “engagement,” Derrick could not remember having touched her other than when she had held his hand when he’d been injured. The pressure of his fingers on her arm finally brought her eyes, swimming in tears, up to his.
“I know you only accepted our engagement because you thought to spare me. It isn’t love. But ... you are the only one who understands what it is like to have such a father. I trust you. I want you to know that. And I do like you, a bit,” she said with a glint of a smile. It faltered.
“It’s silly, but it is nice to pretend this is something more when I’m trapped in that house of his. And ... it is changing out there. Did you know? That line our fathers fed us of ‘joining houses’ or such isn’t so alien to the world now. Being engaged gives me status and protection.”
“Being Count le Marc’s daughter does not?” he asked, though he kept his tone gentle to smooth the less than kind words.
“Do you prefer the status that comes with your father’s name?” she asked, not nearly as defenseless or naive as he imagined her.
“No,” he answered with a cough.
She was right that he understood what it was like to be the child of a powerful man, one with expectations and whose orbit was difficult to escape. Byran’s parents had been gone since he was a teenager. Raised by an uncle more absent than not, Byran had never understood the times Derrick had hesitated to disobey David Eldridge. At least he’d had Byran. Danielle had been alone.
“Stay for a bit. My father will want to see you before you go. Can I make you tea?” Derrick asked.
“Coffee.”
He knew so little about her. She sat while he busied himself, waiting until the scarce and expensive coffee that he kept for Byran’s benefit was done, and he could sit across from her before speaking what else was on his mind.
“And you really did not know that our fathers still ruled Parliament and Europe through MOTHER despite everyone’s belief it had been dissolved?”
“It is our fathers,” she answered with a sigh. “I had hoped not ... but am I surprised? No. I thought they would feed their ideas to Parliament through us. Not use us for what? Information?”
She looked sincere. To emphasize it, she reached across and took his hand. “Have you really enlisted?” she asked. “I will worry so, but I understand the desire to escape. After all, I’ve come to see you. I’ve come how many times over the years when I needed to escape?”
“The injury to my knee will keep me out for a month or more. I have time to consider my options,” he said, hedging. He heard his father’s tone in her words.
Danielle nodded, picking up her cup as she sat back. Savoring its warmth, she held the rim against her lips.
“What does your friend Byran think of MOTHER still controlling Parliament? He is a Senator too?”
The question was too innocent. Derrick looked out the window and shook his head. “Are they worried I’ll tell him and ruin their little game?”
“If we can’t trust each other,” Danielle began.
“Then tell me what you know, dammit. Don’t be their spy.”
Coffee spilled over the rim of her cup as she set it down with a clink. Danielle pressed her lips together, fighting tears as she searched for words. “He frightens me. That is the truth, the most important truth. Before I met you, my brothers were the only ones who were kind to me. And ambition drove one away to die as a soldier and the other was killed fulfilling my father’s dreams. I know your father is sweet to me as a ploy to learn about mine. But you ... you’ve been kind because you are good and decent. And that is a truth too. You are stronger than me. I can’t fight my father without you. He’ll use me up like he does everyone else.”
Derrick wanted to yell as much as he wanted to sweep her up and offer to protect her. The Guard was gone from him. Parliament was a ruse. But Danielle truly was afraid of le Marc. Every word was manipulated by her father. She was a pawn like him. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that he couldn’t even shake himself free from David Eldridge, much less protect her from Renault. She looked that desperate for any hope.
“I’ll get a room ready for you. Stay for a few days, until you feel strong enough to face your father.”
She took his hand as he turned to walk away. Her smile glowed. “Thank you.”
She’d said kind – that he was kind. Her look said it too. Of course, his father had raised him to be so. Derrick felt old cage walls pressing close. Just as suddenly, a word came to him offering him the freedom and refuge Danielle claimed she sought from him. It was a link to his mother and heritage that his father had no tie to.
Kesmere.
Last Battle
June 2065
“You need to return to Europe,” Eldridge said, voice barely heard over the static and sounds of battle.
“What? Why? Is the FLF a problem again?” Arinna asked, worried. Kehm would have told her if she were needed back in Europe. Kieren hadn’t mentioned any issues when they’d spoken a day or so ago. In fact, the fighting had seemed nearly done.
“No. Everything is fine. We need you for a victory celebration,” Eldridge said.
“You have to be fucking kidding me,” Arinna blurted, ducking as a bullet struck the wall nearby. She hung up on him, choosing to fight and live than listen to his lunacy. When the comm buzzed to life again, she ignored it.
The fighting carried on for three more days. The FLF had made a base in a little outpost of Azerbaijan, hoarding a small supply of water and plots of tillable land. They meant to keep it, knowing it was a stable and long term location in which to infiltrate Europe. Arinna was having none of that.
Unfortunately, they had more ammo. And had put out land mines. That really pissed her off. So she fed the sonic waves of her dactyl’s engines into an amplifier powered by a transport. From there, she transmitted them to the ground. It took some fiddling, but they got the frequency right by midday. The remaining mines blew nearly as one, showering earth and debris skyward.
The Guard was across the pockmarked field before the FLF fully realized what had happened. The fight lasted until dusk but the base finally fell. One more threat erased from the planet.
Tired, sore, grubby, but highly satisfied, Arinna signaled Jared to join her as she called Central Command back in Europe.
“It’s over?” Kehm asked.
“Yes. There are a few prisoners and we need to tear apart the infrastructure so the FLF isn’t tempted to come back. But the fighting is done for now.”
“Good. Eldridge wants to speak to you,” Kehm said.
“Damn him. We’ll give a report tomorrow!”
Jared glanced her way but remained silent. The look was all the reminder she needed to calm herself down. The man irritated her like no one else, though she tried to ignore it.
“It isn’t a report. He needs you to come back to Europe for—”
“Victory in Europe. He called during the fighting, a few days ago,” Arinna said with a wave of her hand to answer the startled look in both Jared and Kehm’s expressions.
“What did you tell him?” Jared asked.
“It was a bad time. I hung up on him.”
“Yes and he appreciated that, I’m sure. He has been calling Command
every day ... several times really. He’s serious,” Kehm told her.
“But we haven’t won. The FLF is barely outside of Europe’s borders. This is ridiculous,” Arinna said, feeling the days of heat and fighting settle on her. She needed food, shower, and sleep. Not Eldridge. Not today.
“It isn’t that odd. Even during World War II, they celebrated victory on the eastern front,” Jared pointed out.
“After a peace treaty. After the Nazis surrendered. Unless Eldridge heard from the FLF directly, I think we are missing that piece.”
Neither Jared nor Kehm said anything. Kehm looked away from the vid display avoiding her eyes. Jared tapped a finger on the dactyl’s console. She knew both of them, well enough to know they didn’t want to argue with her when they saw her mood and mindset. But both thought she was wrong.
“Shit.”
“Things are under control here. I’ll stay and take care of destroying the base while we start looking for the next target to push the FLF back further,” Jared said.
“That won’t work. He wants you too, Captain.”
“Well, fuck.”
Arinna laughed. Jared hated Eldridge as much as she. Having him subjected to the same request made it seem a little less loathsome.
“You are officially the Captain of the Guard,” Arinna told him with a grin. Jared glared at her and then rolled his eyes.
“I could swear you in right now, promote you, and then this can truly be your baby,” Jared offered.
“You can’t promote me higher than you, Captain. Being the ‘liaison’ with MOTHER has its privileges.”
“I thought a ‘liaison’s’ role was to listen to both parties, not to tell them both what to do,” Jared drawled.
“I’m working on a new definition.”
“Lieutenants Farrak Assad and Gabriella Faronelli can handle the mop-up ... I would hope,” Kehm added quickly, realizing he overstepped his authority as both Jared and Arinna stopped their teasing argument with sharp glances toward him.
“Hell with it. The troops need a break. We need to find another target. There is food and water here. I say let them stay a week, run recon from here, and then blow it when we move on,” Jared said. “And he is right. We named them field Lieutenants so they could command when needed.”