by Chris Reher
She waited.
"Your orders are to retrieve the child and return him to Delphi by whatever means necessary."
"I'm aware, sir."
He paused. "If there comes a moment and opportunity, Captain, where you feel that this mission is in danger of failing. If the boy proves to be irretrievable. If you find that any... damage has been done to him already. If there is any chance that they will escape with him again..."
Nova's breath caught in her throat.
"You will terminate him."
"Sir, I.." she began. "Kiran? You want me to kill Tychon's son?"
"I do." He stood up and paced as much as the small space allowed. "I cannot order Major Tychon to do this. There are limits to what even he is willing and able to do. And certainly to what I am willing to ask of him."
"Sir, I don't know if I can do this. Don't ask this of me, either!"
He ground his teeth. "I am not asking, Captain. There is no one else as close to Tychon as you are. If I replace you now with another agent he will know. He cannot know."
"He will kill me," she said, but that fact was not foremost on her mind. He would not just kill her. This would kill him as well. Losing Kiran, too, in this war would hurt him in ways that the Colonel could not even suspect. But losing him at Nova's hands would destroy him utterly. She had seen the unspeakable fury he unleashed upon his Rhuwac victims; how much more hatred would he feel for her and her kind if she took his son?
"Yes, he may. I will arrange an immediate transfer to a safe location for you."
She closed her eyes. Did he really not know? Had he not seen the way Tychon looked at her when he thought no one else was watching? Had he really not noticed their stolen kisses and furtive touches over these past few days? Could he not tell that just seeing Tychon walk into the room lit a delicious spark of pleasure deep inside her body? They had kept Vanguard Three waiting on the airfield after Carras left for his meeting, barely shutting the gate before tearing out of their clothes, making up for four days of pretense and unrelenting craving. Was it really not obvious?
She opened her eyes to look into his face and the answer was clearly written there. He did not want to know. He had allowed himself to become too close to his subordinates and now the order handed to him by the Elected Factors was sure to devastate them all. There was no truth about Tychon and her that he needed to hear at this moment.
"Nova, it may not come to that. I have faith in your abilities. But your lives cannot come before the safety of thousands of others. We cannot take chances. Do your job."
Nova looked out over the pink-tinted dunes that drifted past the dome of her air car as she sped along the deserted coast with no more clarity than she had when she had left Carras on Targon. It seemed too large a concept to grapple, slipping out of her reach as soon as she tried to get a firm grip on it. Could she do what Carras had ordered? Was the threat of this Tughan really so great?
"Woah!" She pulled up on the skimmer's controls when she nearly collided with the remains of a shuttle that had crashed into some shoreline rocks.
Tychon had warned her during her approach to Magra that they had suffered a rebel attack on the previous evening but the destruction she saw here was far more extensive than he reported.
She slowed her skimmer, hovering close to the ground, when she approached the remains of a town. She retracted the car's canopy and attached an interface link to tap into the skimmer's sensors to enhance her own.
The settlement was ruined. Besides the scorch marks of laser fire she saw evidence of explosives used here as well as percussion charges. Roofs were caved in; many houses had been reduced to mere outlines in stone. A few dead animals lay scattered here and there but the casualties had been removed. Why would anyone destroy a fishing village?
Her scanner indicated a cluster of people nearby, thankfully standing upright. She settled the skimmer noiselessly onto the ground and moved along the silent street until she heard voices coming from one of the larger buildings still more or less erect. Her weapon drawn, she entered, stepping around the door that had been blown from its hinges. "Major?" she called when she recognized one of the voices.
"In here," came the reply.
Tychon was standing amid the rubble caved in from above. A few Vanguard were with him; one of them held a map, another was poking at a computer screen. She felt a quick stab of excitement when she saw Tychon and then once again the weight of that ugly something descended over her head, reminding her that things just weren't as all right as they had been just a few days ago. Tychon glanced up when she entered, then returned his gaze to the map. When she joined them he touched her arm in greeting.
"Local rebels?" she asked. She nodded to Vanguard One's Major Adachi and smiled when she saw Dylan perched on a blasted window sill. He waved and smiled back and she thought how much more tired he looked since she last saw him on Myra. They all looked tired. Their fatigues were dust-covered and stained and even Tychon looked disheveled.
"Not certain, but it hardly matters. No doubt this was in retaliation for the ship from Nebdan we took."
"Why this place?"
"These people were Centauri, not Magran. There'll be less of an uproar over this among the locals but it'll send a clear message to Targon."
"Casualties?"
"Total. It was a complete surprise. There were almost a hundred and fifty settlers here this time of year." He cursed, a rare occurrence. "We didn't get here fast enough. Cubber, any news from Stormer and Haddad?"
The man whose neural interface was plugged into the computer in front of him nodded. "On their way down. Should be here soon."
Nova strolled over to Dylan. "Been fun?" She hopped onto the sill beside him.
"Not the way I'd put it," he replied. "Last night was bad. Just one air assault after another. We didn't get out here until most of the damage was done. Then just hours of endless sniping for no damn reason. Now we’re just waiting for the clean-up crew to finish so that we can get out of this hole." He shrugged tiredly. "But, overall, not a bad assignment. Adachi is a solid C.O., if you can deal with his snoring. How are things with the..." he coughed, catching himself. "Major."
Nova looked over to Tychon and Adachi, both engrossed in conversation over their map. "Best spanner I've ever watched," she said, looking for a new subject. "Were you guys on Aram when that went down?"
He nodded. "Never been so damn cold in my life! Took a blast in the leg but we had a good medic. Awful lot of casualties."
"You kids! Get away from the damn window!"
Both Dylan and Nova obeyed the command before they realized that it had been issued from outside the building, delivered by a bellicose voice that could only have come from Bowie Haddad's barrel chest. She heard Cubber's mocking laugh when he saw them leap from the sill.
Haddad was a legend among the younger officers. His experience as the longest-lived Vanguard member and his vast inventory of tales made him a frequent lecturer at the academies and training upgrades. Nova thought that, if they weren't on alert and likely to fire back at once, he would have taken a pot shot at the window to teach them a lesson.
He bustled into the room, his large frame nearly filling the doorway. His co-pilot, likely half his size, followed in his wake along with their spanner. The frail Centauri was burdened with several bags and parcels and Dylan moved to help her with the load.
"Thought you folks might want some real food," Haddad boomed. He gestured to Dylan. "Step lively, boy. Let's have a bite before your bosses perish for lack of edibles."
Dylan grinned and started to unpack the parcels. The very presence of this animated individual was enough to lighten the dour mood that permeated this room. The others rearranged themselves around the scatter of broken furniture and masonry and began to pass around boxes and bowls of food that seemed to actually have originated in a kitchen. Haddad himself set up a portable unit to brew cups of steaming and fragrant tea.
Nova perched close to Tychon on an upended storage
box before she caught a few amused glances from her squadron mates. Too late to shift away now, she turned her attention to unwrapping a foil parcel.
Tychon looked up. "Try this rice thing." He passed his bowl to her. "Wonderful, whatever it is."
Nova blushed for no particular reason and then cursed herself for it.
Bowie Haddad cleared his throat, which, like most of the noises that emitted from him, was thunderous. "So, now that we're all tucked in, how about we find out what we're doing out here, other than count bodies."
“The last evac is headed back to Deen,” Cubber reported. “We’re clear.”
Tychon nodded to him and sipped his tea. "I've already briefed V6 and Nine," he said. "They've left for some leads on Pelion and Targon." Briefly, and without delving into any of the details that made this matter so very personal to him, he outlined the issue of the Tughan Wai. Nova watched the faces of those around her. Dylan stared open-mouthed, Adachi's lips had formed a thin, hard line. Haddad had stopped chewing. Cubber's attention was on his sensors but both of Haddad's officers looked every bit as alarmed as Dylan by the time Tychon had finished.
"Forgive me for saying so, Ty," Bowie Haddad said after a pause, "but your Delphi wizards are tragically disturbed individuals."
Tychon shrugged. "I am in agreement there," he said, reaching for more tea. Nova recognized the tilt of his body and realized that his composure was largely false. Not because of Haddad's opinion of Shantirs but because he had taken great pains to play down the fact that the Tughan Wai was his only son, likely the only child he would ever have. She glanced at Haddad's female navigator and saw that realization there, too.
"We've got orders from Carras," Tychon continued. "Covert operation, as per the Ten. No real support till we find something."
Nova heard Haddad curse.
"Adachi is going to head out to Aram."
This time Dylan swore.
"Whiteside and I are going to see what's to be found on Delphi. Captain Devaughn has also been briefed and will work with the council and the Shantirate. That leaves Magra to you, Bowie. I thought you'd enjoy turning a few rebel dives upside down."
Haddad laughed, startling Cubber from his work with the scanners. "Got that right! I'm also interested in whoever decided to remove this place from the map."
“Did they say why we can’t get more support?” Dylan asked. “With a hundred scouts on the ground we could shake down a lot more places than we can with a dozen.”
“Because it’s Delphi,” Nova said. Tychon turned his head to look at her quizzically. “Union bosses don’t want this getting out,” she continued. “What Delphi did once they can do again. We here are just doing damage control but you can be sure that the Union and the Clan Council are huddling right now. Imagine if this sort of mental ability becomes more commonplace. We think Tharron might get interested in Delphi because of their crystal or water or because they are really good at math.” She shook her head. “It’s their other talents that have everyone worried. So the last thing anyone wants is for outsiders to know what these folks can really do with their heads.”
“Thanks, Whiteside.” Tychon cast a sardonic glance at Nova. “Don’t all look at me like I’ve got three noses. She’s talking about a future generation. And mostly politics. I don’t know what the Shantirs are up to and I don’t care. This is now. And speaking of now, Carras wants a debrief while we're all here."
The others got busy with their arrays, not without another speculative glance at the Delphian among them. Cubber recorded their reports as each downloaded information about their work on various assignments into the message going back to Targon.
There had been the surprise rebel attack on the peaceful colony of Nebdan. Settlers murdered, whole families taken to slave camps on Drar Drogh, livestock and machinery destroyed.
There had been the evacuation of Pelion's third moon, Bria. Vanguard Nine and One had made countless trips to protect the refugee ships as they ran before Tharron's guerrillas. Bria was laid to waste.
There had been the loss of one of the super stations, Skyranch Twelve. Vanguard Nine arrived in time to watch it fragment. Two thousand dead.
And there had been the rebel takeover of Zera, dangerously close to Targon and Delphi. A costly counter offensive had been launched and the planet was taken back by the Union.
Adachi reported on yet another lab suspected on Bellac where Tharron's people dabbled with defoliants, viruses and nerve gasses. Doctor Comori was becoming more inventive. And cheaper than the hardware required to destroy towns like this one.
Nova listened silently, more distraught with each account. Was there nothing that Tharron considered out of bounds? Nothing sacred? Hiding his outposts among civilian populations, he carried out his operations in plain sight, safe in the knowledge that the Union's dealings were ruled by public opinion. Instead of conducting all-out warfare against the scattered rebel armies, much of the Union's methods were preventative. Using scout teams like the Vanguard remained the most effective method against places like Tamotsu Comori's laboratories but for every scheme they uncovered, his people devised three more.
She looked around the demolished room, saw her squadron mates, heavily armed, dirty, combat-ready and exhausted, perch on broken bits of other people's lives. Eagle Eight had been destroyed with all hands two weeks ago. Eagle Twelve was just a memory now. How would any of them stop Tharron if the rebel leader was handed a weapon that needed nothing more than a cheap ticket on a commuter transport to wreak the sort of destruction that would otherwise require planes, explosives, manpower and currency? What more would the K'lar leader be willing to do? How many more civilians would get in his way?
Her eyes lit on Tychon who had also fallen into a dismal mood as the reports continued. Perhaps Colonel Carras was right. How could the sacrifice that he demanded of Tychon possibly measure up against the horror of these events? Even Tychon would not put Kiran's life ahead of so many others. But would he pull that trigger? Nova looked into her bowl of rice as if to find some answers there. But like her tea cup it was empty, no leaves at the bottom revealed what lay ahead.
"Boys," Cubber said, looking up from his screen. "And assorted not-boys. Time to do the dishes. Bogeys coming in fast."
All of them came to their feet. "Let's bug out, then," Haddad said. "I'll rush into their waiting arms while you get skyward. It's shrill-hunting time!"
"We'll come along," Adachi said. "Whiteside left her Eagle in Deen for some light housekeeping. Let's give them a head start."
Haddad laughed raucously. "What's a little flak compared to clean sheets, I always say."
She wrinkled her nose at him. "Eagle was out of air. And coolant."
The group filed out of the building. Eagle Two and One were airborne and heading toward the rebel recon group before Tychon and Nova had even reached her air car.
"How did it go with Carras?" Tychon asked.
"Fine. I didn't stay long on Targon."
"Because you missed me?" He placed a hand on her rump. "So much so that you couldn't wait to get back here and forgot to load up some air?"
Nova frowned, irritated by his mild censure. She gestured back toward the ruined building. “I suppose those boys all think I’m sleeping with you.”
“You are sleeping with me.” He peered into her face. “What’s wrong?"
She shrugged. "They don't need to know, that's all."
"Nova, they don't care! They know you didn’t sleep your way into Vanguard, if that's what you're worried about. Bowie had you vetted for the team months ago, when he was lecturing on Myra. In fact, he wanted you for V2 but he needed a spanner so he drew the little Centauri, whatever her name is.” He grinned. “I’m convinced I got the better deal.” He climbed into the skimmer. “Gets lonely out here, Nova. Don’t think that Dylan and Cubber aren’t sharing a bunk and Adachi couldn’t care less as long as they do that quietly. Frankly, Dylan would look good to me, too, after a few weeks on Aram. You drive.”
She stole glances at Tychon’s sharp profile. He was lost in some khamal that allowed him to recharge without needing sleep and she read nothing but tranquility there. Had Anders been right? Was Tychon’s affection for her little more than simply gratitude for sharing his bed? Having given his heart once, would he really never do so again? Perhaps that was all there was ‘out here’. Sex for convenience on a lonely and dangerous mission.
* * *
"You are beyond the definition of utterly awe-inspiring," Tychon opined when he saw the connectors leading to the Eagle at the service station on the outskirts of Deen. One of them was a water hookup. "I am going to stand in the shower for about an hour, I think."
They passed through the cargo space and into the interior of the Eagle.
"No, you're not," she said. She unbuckled his wide weapons belt and let it drop to the floor.
"I'm a filthy mess, Nova," he protested, not especially forcefully when she stepped into his embrace.
She kissed him. It was not a tender kiss.
“My boots. Can I–"
“No. Leave them.” She loosened her waistband and let her pants slip to the floor. Once he pulled her shirt over her head she pressed her body against his and he grunted in surprise when she ground her hip against him.
He nudged her backward until she dropped onto the cabin lounger. She pulled him down with her and flipped him onto his back with very little effort. Astride him now, she leaned down to kiss him and when his fingers brushed over the interface nodes at her temples she felt his gentle touch inside her mind just as she felt it on her skin. Too gentle.
"You're a live wire," he murmured, feeling the tension that occupied her conscious mind. "What's got you so–"
She stopped his words with another kiss, gripping the collar of his fatigues, demanding from him the thoughtless oblivion that their mental and physical coupling brought. She wanted to stop thinking, to feel him inside her head and her body and let his powerful presence erase the orders she had been given and the doubts in her mind.