Chapter 20
Helena and Nathan shared a quick breakfast before heading into the morning sun. The acid rain had receded, but the upper atmosphere still made it unsafe for any ships to leave the planet until later in the day. Helena’s resolve to keep her distance had been shattered late the previous evening when she had an inappropriate dream involving Nathan. After that, she determined that while she was on Caledonia, her actions couldn’t possibly endanger her mission. Why not enjoy her time and explore Human sensibilities.
She justified her reasoning by telling herself she needed to study her enemy, though she knew her reasoning was thin. For once, she decided to ignore her logic and ‘go with her gut,’ as Humans often said.
They decided to spend some time on the beach, but Helena had only the dress she wore when she departed the Jupiter. After much coaxing, Nathan convinced her to enter a beach store to look for something called ‘swimwear.’
“I don’t know,” she said as she examined a slinky bathing suit. “This hardly qualifies as clothing.”
A Human teen with dyed hair and a name badge approached and said, “Can I help you with anything?”
Nathan smiled and said, “Can you help my friend find a suit? She’s having some difficulty.”
The teen, Tiffany, examined Helena’s dress and then she noticed Helena’s tattoos. “Nice ink,” she said, “but that dress has got to go. You can’t waste a rare sunny day all covered up like that.”
“So, you’ll help her?” Nathan said.
“Definitely,” Tiffany said as she led Helena to a dressing room.
Moments later, the hooks on the inside of the room were full of bathing suits. Some of them were no more than several strings attaching microscopic patches of cloth. Helena decided to skip those garments.
“With your body,” Tiffany said, “I’m thinking micro. How about…?”
“No,” Helena said as she closed the door on the eager salesperson. “I’ll try on some of these one-piece suits.”
Tiffany peeked over the door and said, “Look at you, girl. I’m telling you, go for a bikini. Your man won’t be able to keep his hands off you!”
Helena glared and said, “Some privacy, please?”
Free from the watchful eye of the store employee, Helena shed her remaining undergarments and analyzed the complex nature of the suits. They weren’t simple contraptions. After settling on a black one-piece with a covering skirt, Helena emerged from the stall. Nathan, dressed in trunks and a tank top, eyed her with renewed vigor. He seemed surprised and pleased at her exposed body. How did Humans consider this type of clothing proper? However, as soon as the thought popped into her head, she felt her own arousal. Nathan’s defined arms and legs caught her attention and breath. He was sculpted, much like the Antaran heroes in their history books.
The beach was packed with people, blankets and music. Humans frolicked in the water and on the sand. Children ran from the waves to blankets and back again. Couples walked together along the water and occasionally stopped to examine sea shells.
Though Helena’s tattoos extended along her entire face, torso, and arms – she felt exposed. Sure, some of the women were wearing much less than she was, but this was new to her.
As they searched for a suitable patch of sand to lay their blanket, a ball careened towards Nathan’s head. Helena deflected the ball at the last instant.
“Whoa,” a shirtless Human man said. “Good reflexes.”
Helena smiled and noticed the man was playing a game along with a group of other young Humans.
“What’s that?” Helena asked.
“Volleyball,” Nathan said. “They hit the ball over the net until someone misses.”
“You guys should play,” the shirtless Human said. “We just lost two players.”
“I don’t know-” Nathan said.
“We’ll split you up,” the young Human said. “It wouldn’t be fair to have two older people on the same team. Come on!”
“Older?” Nathan said.
The young man chuckled. “Sorry, but so you know, most of us play on the school team. We’re pretty good.”
“I want to play,” Helena said, aware that the last time she enjoyed true exercise was before she departed for Terra.
“Are you sure?” Nathan asked.
Helena eyed the game hungrily and said, “Yes.”
“Alright,” Nathan said as he reached for the glowing globes in her hair, “we’ll just put these aside so they don’t get ruined.”
They joined the game, and Tyler – the one who invited them – instructed them to either side of the net.
“Looks like we’re enemies,” Nathan said.
Helena’s heart paused when she heard his words. If he knew how close to the truth he was he probably wouldn’t be so cordial with her.
For the first few minutes, Helena studied the game. It was simple enough. One team ‘served’ the ball and points were scored when someone missed a shot. To her delight, she discovered the game was one of angles and reflexes. She entered her opponent’s minds and readied herself for action.
One of the opponent’s ‘spiked’ the ball in her direction, but she anticipated the shot and bumped it into the air for her teammates who scored.
“Whoa, that was awesome!” one of the Human girls said with her hands in the air. She expected a hand-slap from Helena.
“Thank you,” Helena said as she completed the Human gesture of victory.
Now, Helena was at the net, across from Nathan. He jumped to perform his spike and Helena calculated the angle. Unfortunately, she misjudged his power. The ball deflected off her hands and the other team scored the point. Helena fell to the sand with a thud.
“Are you okay?” Nathan asked as he dove under the net to help her to her feet.
Helena refused his help. How could she miss the shot?
“I’m fine,” she said through clenched teeth. She wasn’t accustomed to this kind of defeat.
“Ooohh,” one of the Humans said, “she don’t like losin’ to her man!”
Nathan returned to the other side of the net and accepted the hand-slaps of his teammates. He was pleased with his second victory after their chess match.
On the next volley, Helena jumped and sent a vicious shot towards Nathan, but he somehow blocked the ball and received a set for his own spike. This time, Helena was prepared for the force of his shot and she blocked it into a vacant patch of sand near the back of the court.
Nathan rose from the ground and brushed the sand from his chest. Smiling, he said, “Nice shot.”
Helena nodded. She wasn’t sure if she received her competitive streak from her mother or father, but one thing was certain – she gave no quarter to her opponents. The remainder of the match was exhilarating. She dove around the sand and blasted the ball at every opportunity. When it was over, and her team was victorious, she dropped to the beach blanket. Both she and Nathan were short of breath after the exertion.
“That water looks pretty inviting, doesn’t it” he said. “You can swim, can’t you?”
“Yes. We have water on Antares,” she said, “just no oceans. Race you there?”
They ran along the sand, but Nathan’s powerful legs were no match for Helena’s lithe running style. She reached the shallow waves and dove beneath the surface. The cool water washed away the sweat of the volleyball match and also much of her Gima markings. She didn’t care. Nathan joined her in the rolling waves.
“I must admit,” Helena said as she dropped to the blanket again, “the beach is now one of my favorite places.”
Nathan turned to her and squinted in the sunlight. “It has always been mine,” he said.
After the sun re-warmed their bodies, Nathan’s communicator buzzed to life. Grumbling, he examined the display and said, “Time’s up. We’re heading out.”
“Lieutenant Rhom was able to get the medical supplies?” Helena said.
“Yup, we better get moving before my reprimand grows any large
r,” he said.
As they packed their little area, Helena wanted to embrace him and thank him for a wonderful experience. However, the time for play was over. Her people needed her and she felt guilty with her overindulgence.
They reached the captain’s yacht in the late afternoon and Nathan again showed her the prelaunch routine. Helena stored the information in her mind for when she would need that knowledge to abandon the Jupiter after she sent it into the tellium star.
Chapter 21
“Don’t you walk away from me, Captain!” Rowe said with flared nostrils. “You weren’t authorized to take her to the surface!”
Helena stepped from the yacht into the middle of a verbal fight between Nathan and the assassin, Rowe.
“I am well aware of your orders, Agent Rowe,” Nathan said. “She never left my sight and you have my word she wasn’t allowed access to long-range communications.”
A small crowd had gathered to welcome the captain aboard the Jupiter, but now they stared in shocked silence as he was challenged by an agent of the Human Council.
“Yeah,” Rowe spat, “I’m sure you watched her closely.”
Nathan stepped towards Rowe and said, “Careful. Be mindful of how you speak to me on my ship.”
“This won’t be your ship for long,” Rowe said. “The Council will hear of your recklessness and impropriety.”
“Of what impropriety do you speak?” Helena said. “The captain was acting upon my request. I wished to see more Human culture before I returned to my homeworld. I find my visits to your cities more enjoyable when I don’t have an assassin’s gun pointed at my back.”
Several of the crewmembers gasped and turned to Rowe, their eyes filling with realization.
Rowe pointed at Helena and said, “You are a devious little witch! I’ll expose you for the danger you are. The moment my orders change, I’m going to-”
Nathan took another step towards Rowe, clenched his fists and said, “Are you threatening a member of my senior staff?”
Rowe backed away from Nathan. “No, Captain,” Rowe said as he composed himself. He realized he was outgunned. “I am out of line. But please, in the future, tell me before you leave with her as she is my responsibility. How can I fulfill my mission if I don’t know where she is?”
Nathan relaxed and said, “That’s not my problem, Agent Rowe. I don’t have the time nor the patience to play the Council’s game. Lady Helena is a valuable tactical asset and I decide what’s best for her. Understood?”
Rowe and the crowd dispersed. Lieutenant Rhom briefed Nathan on the recent happenings onboard the Jupiter while he escorted Helena to her quarters.
Interrupting the Lieutenant while they waited for the lift Helena said, “So, I am merely a tactical asset?”
Nathan turned to her and said, “What?”
Helena lifted one of her eyebrows and said, “And you decide what’s best for me?”
Lieutenant Sandra Rhom chuckled. “You did make her sound like a piece of equipment, sir,” she said.
“I did?”
Helena nodded and turned to the Lieutenant. “I think he’s still raw after losing in a game of beach volleyball.”
“You lost, sir?” Lieutenant Rhom said.
“To my team,” Helena said.
“You know that’s not what I meant,” Nathan said. He reached for Helena’s hand, but he stopped when he realized Lieutenant Rhom was watching their every move. She was suspicious of what happened overnight in Caledonia.
“I know, Nathan,” Helena said. “I was just having some fun at your expense.”
Helena sensed he regretted telling her to use his first name. In front of the Lieutenant, it wasn’t proper. The lift doors opened, closed, and they sped towards Helena’s deck.
Correcting his mistake for him, Helena said, “So, Captain, how long until we reach Antares?”
“Two days,” he said as the lift doors opened and Helena’s praetorians snapped to attention in the hallway.
“Very well,” Helena said. “In the meantime, do allow Agent Rowe unrestricted access to my movements and orders. I’d hate for another scene between you two.”
“I think I can handle him,” Nathan said.
Helena winked at Lieutenant Rhom and said, “I’m sure you can, Captain.”
The doors slid shut and Duronious was at her side. “Are you well, My Lady?” he asked as he visually and mentally inspected her. Almost immediately, he spotted the one new detail. “That jewelry in your hair. Is it safe?”
“It is not a spying device,” she said as she led her guards down the corridor.
“Things have been tense, My Lady,” Duronious said. “That man, Rowe, is aligned against you. He requested, on several occasions, to search your quarters in your absence. We, of course, did not allow it.”
“Thank you, Centurion,” she said. “You have done well in my absence.”
“We’re almost home,” he said, “but our vigilance is doubled. We will not fail you in these last few hours.”
Before parting with her guards, she leaned towards Duronious and said, “Thank you. This voyage was not an easy one and you have been my rock in uncertain waters. I will speak these same words to my father and I hope to return you to your daughter very soon. May your twilight years be free from violence.”
“I hope they are full of peace, My Lady.”
“That is why we are here.”
Duronious allowed the corner of his mouth to curl into a smile. “You know I’ll defend you to the last breath, My Lady.”
“I know, Centurion. But your battle will soon be over,” she said. “You have served your term with honor. The Archives will honor you.”
Without another word, Duronious disappeared into the adjoining room. Helena sensed his vigilance. He wouldn’t sleep until they stepped on Antaran soil. His devotion came from his heart, not from his sense of duty or a god-struck awe of her royal family. He genuinely cared for her as he did his own daughter. Helena meditated on this problem. Was emotion stronger than logic? Before she met Captain Nathan Connor, Helena was convinced that logic was supreme and emotion full of weakness. Now, she wasn’t certain.
She fingered the orange globes before retiring for the night. The gasses danced and appeared as if they wanted to tell her a story.
“What tale do you have to tell?” she asked them.
She snuggled under the warm blankets and reminisced of a simpler time when she dreamed with her sisters about grand adventures and forbidden romances. Why was it, after tasting parts of those nearly forgotten dreams, that she now feared them? Perhaps she now realized that only misery awaited her at the end of those dreams?
Chapter 22
“Heir Helena, you have done well,” Emperor Agreios said. “To accomplish all you have with the obstacles you faced… your mother would be proud.”
“Thank you, Emperor.”
The remainder of the trip home was uneventful. Helena studied all the data she accumulated while on Terra and prepared for her arrival. Safely back in the palace, their time for action was at hand. Forgoing sleep and official functions, Helena immediately called the war council.
“Now,” Agreios said, “I sense you wish to discuss the second tellium star?”
Helena nodded and activated the holo-table. “As you can see, the star is in a remote location. After many failed attempts to manufacture their own star, the Humans stumbled upon this smaller version. It must be destroyed.”
Agreios scratched his chin and said, “Of course it must. Valeria will alter her plan to include the destruction of this star.”
Valeria smiled and peered at everyone through her raven hair.
“A wise decision, Father,” Helena said.
“I will not fail,” Valeria said and Helena didn’t doubt her sister’s words. Valeria always shined when she faced a test. Unfortunately, Valeria viewed Helena’s status as heir a personal challenge as well.
“I have everyone’s assignments as well,” Helena said as
she pushed the small tellium star to the corner and called seven readouts to the forefront. “These are the seven battleships where we will be assigned.”
She sensed her father’s anger before he spoke. “Seven?” he said, shaking his head. “No. Terentia stays.”
“I would not presume to argue with the emperor,” Helena said. “Please allow me to offer my alternative, as the second tellium star changes my equations.”
Agreios leaned backwards in his chair and waved his hand. Helena sensed her father knew the truth of their new success chances, but he was resolute in his wish to keep Terentia on Antares.
“Thank you, Emperor,” Helena said. “As you can see, my assignment is to the flagship called Jupiter. It is the largest and most heavily armed, though all seven battleships carry weaponry of extraordinary magnitude and a full support fleet within their bellies. I have already won the complete trust and affection of the captain and a retired admiral. So, I have an advantage. The rest of you will have to work harder to win the trust of your captains and crew.”
Valeria huffed and Helena sensed her sister in her mind. She was probing her feelings on Captain Nathan Connor. Raising her mental defenses, Helena glared at her sister before continuing.
“Valeria, your ship is the Kraken,” Helena said. “I’m told their captain is a real xenophobe. Please do try to keep your insults to yourself.”
“My sister disrespects me,” Valeria said. “I know the gravity of our mission.”
“My apologies,” Helena said. Turning to Justina, Helena said, “You are assigned to the Nova. I’m told their captain is a man of faith, so you two would probably have much in common.”
Justina bowed her head. “My sister has made a very wise choice,” Justina said. “Though our faiths differ, I’m sure a study in Human religion will help us.”
“Also,” Helena said, “you’ll have something to discuss from day one. Use that angle.”
“I will heed my older sister’s advice,” Justina said.
“Very well,” Helena said. “My dear Marcella, your vessel is called the Waterloo. I’m told the name is significant to Human history, but I have not had the chance to research the topic. From what I hear, the captain is an unmarried Human male of renowned comeliness. I hope you don’t mind, but I calculated your skills the best to win him over.”
For Duty (Antaran Legacy Book 1) Page 15