Chen sneered. “The Greys have seen by now that we pose the greatest threat. Admiral Yamato saw to that before he died.”
“With all due respect to Admiral Yamato, sir, he executed the only course of action he had left. His ground force elements were terribly outnumbered and outgunned, and the firepower of the Grey ships dwarfed the capacity of the three platforms and all of the Fleet vessels mustered. Admiral Yamato dealt the largest blow he could, and that was by ramming the Grey ‘mothership’ with the Yokohama, not by any tactical advantage.”
“You will restrain yourself from such accusations, Colonel. As the director of force enhancement, your comments on tactics and strategy are not necessary. I have staffs of people far more qualified than you to give me that information.”
Munsen clenched his fists at the position of attention. “Permission to depart, sir?”
Chen shook his head. “Not until I’ve set you straight. From every indication we have, the Greys have begun to mass their forces to sweep the Outer Rim. I expect them to arrive at Earth in less than three months. We are directing two-thirds of our total Fleet to Earth defense. The other fleet vessels we’ve parceled out to our allies to appease their concerns and our treaty agreements. No matter what happens, we will defend Earth. If we have to, we will sacrifice all our alliances to do so.”
“You are making a catastrophic mistake, sir. The enemy’s objective is Libretto. It’s the most likely target.”
Chen laughed. “I told you, Colonel, I do not need your opinion on enemy tactics. Your job is to give me the best soldiers you can muster.”
“So they can be thrown away like cannon fodder? What a novel concept.”
Chen stood. “That’s enough! One more word and I will court martial you for cowardice in the face of the enemy, and conduct unbecoming an officer. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.” Munsen dropped the emotion from his voice. This would continue to go nowhere. Chen and the Earth-bound commanders would never be able to see beyond the orbit of their planet. “Permission to depart, sir?”
Chen sat and waved him away. “Dismissed, Colonel. Do not go spouting your theories to my staff. You are supposed to do your job, and no one else’s. Write a white paper if you want to, but otherwise stick to your own program of research and leave the fighting to us.”
The stateroom door slid closed. Munsen wanted to laugh and punch something at the same time. The truth was simple—when the commanders didn’t listen to the troops on the ground, bad things tended to happen. This would be no exception. One third of the Fleet would be defending the main thrust of the Grey attack.
They may hit all of the other colonies first, but Libretto gives them a strategic position. Munsen shook his head. When are we going to start thinking at the level of our enemies?
There was some solace in the fact that he’d hedged his bets, and that more than one hundred sixty of the two hundred active imprints were among that third of the fleet deploying to Libretto. He hoped it would be enough.
* * * * *
Ten
Mairin woke to a crash of thunder so deep it vibrated her chest. For a moment everything was wrong. The soft sheets were both unfamiliar and comforting. A storm raged beyond the wall of windows. Outside the dome of Libretto City, Tallenaara’s home sat on the edge of a small lake that fed into the Little Amazon. The terrain around them dark, only lit by flashes and sheets of lightning, the disorientation was complete and Mairin moved up into a sitting position.
Knees pulled up to her naked chest, Mairin listened to Tally’s soft breathing next to her. Should I even be here? What am I doing? Why shouldn’t I be here? And, why can’t I love her? Mairin clutched at the stray thoughts like spiderwebs and brushed them away. She was going to war. All of this might not matter in a few weeks. What mattered was that there was something about Tally that resonated through Mairin. To be near Tally, to hear her melodious laugh, and feel the touch of her hands. Even the thought of six toes didn’t bother Mairin. She fought a giggle and won, but barely.
“What’s wrong, cariad?”
Mairin reached over and put her hand in the small of Tallenaara’s back. “Nothing. The storm woke me.”
Tally made a sound like a purr and rolled over, raising herself to one elbow. “And what are you sitting here thinking about?”
“About going to war.” Mairin turned and frowned. “How all of this might not matter in a few weeks.”
Tally rose to a sitting position and wrapped an arm around Mairin. “You have to believe you are coming home, no matter what. That belief will drive you, and protect you. The skills you have, or will learn soon, can get you through the conflict. But without a firm belief in yourself and your loved ones being here for you, you may survive but a part of you will die out there. I don’t want that for you, cariad.”
“What do you want?” Mairin turned and faced her lover. “From this?”
Tally smiled and half-shrugged. “Had you asked me that a week ago, I wouldn’t have known how to answer. Now, I’m not sure what I may want, but I know that I want you to be a part of that. Does that make sense?”
Mairin nodded. “I feel the same way.”
Lightning flashed outside, but the thunder dulled and faded as the storm rolled over the horizon. They said nothing as the storm grew farther and farther away, just held each other tightly. A short time later, Mairin fell asleep under Tally’s protective gaze.
Helios rose several hours later in an eastern sky awash with fiery orange and purple clouds. Mairin opened her eyes to the spectacle and smiled into her pillow.
“Care to join me?”
Mairin rolled over in the plush bed, opened her eyes, and decided it really wasn’t a dream. Tallenaara stood over her, dressed in a Cardiff University athletic top and long shorts with hiking shoes. Mairin stretched a little and smiled. “Doing what?”
Tally smiled. “I do have another job, cariad. Remember? I thought you might want to join me.”
“For what?”
“A long walk in the woods.”
Mairin dressed and walked downstairs, tying her hair behind her. Turning into the downstairs sitting room, she fell in love with the wall of windows looking to the north over a small lake and rolling hills. The rich dark wood floors gleamed, and the stone walls called to her. Water streamed down a feature on the wall, and a large fireplace dominated a corner. The couches looked comfortable enough to sleep on. Mairin hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“Something funny?”
Mairin turned and felt her insides tremble. “Hoping I don’t have to sleep on the couch.”
“Never.” Tally smiled and crossed the room to touch Mairin on the shoulders.
It wasn’t a dream. Mairin opened her mouth to say something and decided against it. Tally’s touch was fire on her skin, and she loved it. They kissed for a moment and Mairin felt like giggling. Just when she wanted more, Tally broke the kiss.
“Ready?”
“What are you planning on showing me?”
Tally smiled and walked toward the door. “The real Libretto.”
Outside, Mairin’s chin dropped as she looked at the curving clamshell design of Tally’s home, with curves in opposite directions and a full wall of windows from the kitchen and living area looking out over a small lake. “Did you design it?”
“Mmhmm.” Tally smiled as she tucked some food into a small pack. “What does it remind you of?”
Mairin looked up at the curving roofs and her mind wandered for a moment. There were stairs. A breeze blew up the smell of the lakeshore. The sun shone down and turned the water into a thousand shimmering diamonds. Circular Quay. She blinked and said, “Sydney Opera House. The first version.”
Tally nodded. “Impressive.”
“Imprint.” Mairin shrugged.
Tally nodded and finished packing. “Are you hungry?”
“Famished.”
They sat and ate a quick meal of mixed grains and nuts. Tally called it mueslei. “Deli
cious.” Mairin grinned around her full mouth.
“I’ll teach you how to make it. It’s very easy.”
Mairin looked up into the windows and caught a brief glimpse of light shifting through the colors of the rainbow. There was no seam. Mairin looked again and moving her head and eyes, she saw it again. “Is there something on the window?”
“In the window.” Tally chewed and swallowed before continuing. “The wall faces south, the resin windows contain photovoltaic threads. They’re the primary source of power for the cabin, entirely self-sufficient. The entire foundation is built for power storage.”
“You live on top of a battery?”
“Not quite.” Tally grinned. “The very slight electromagnetic field generated by the foundation does serve as a buffer. The cabin could survive a massive seismic quake with no effort. Just like all of the buildings on Libretto.”
Mairin grinned. “Spoken like a proud architect.”
“I just design them. We’ve been building structures like that for four hundred years.” Tally touched her shoulder. “Ready?”
Mairin fell into step behind Tally as they entered the forest a few feet above the shoreline. The forest seemed to pull her forward. Like the rooftop garden on Eden, smells bombarded her. The moist soil and bright green plants seemed so alien, and yet so familiar. In the early morning light, strange violet and orange blossoms opened like toothy mouths to take in nourishment. Bees the size of her thumbs buzzed around the flowers. Where sunlight spilled down through the canopy, dew glistened like diamonds. A breeze whistled through the tall, pine-like trees. The sound was nothing that she’d ever heard before and she almost stopped just to listen its beauty.
In the distance, she heard a growling sound to her left and up the hill. Tally did not stop, but the strange sound caused Mairin to hesitate. Almost all wildlife is more afraid of you than you are of them. The thought brought some clarity. Her ancestor had done this sort of thing on a regular basis, so much so that his instincts assuaged her fears.
Is that what it’s supposed to be? Mairin wondered. I have to know more about you, grandpa. Whatever I can find, including why you loved the woods so much.
Nothing like it, was all that came back to her. The woods erased her anxiety and her fears. All of it called to her to just enjoy and relax. She could get used to such a life, Mairin decided. She walked with a smile on her face until a question came to mind. “So this is part of your job?”
“It’s not really a job, cariad. It’s more of a responsibility. Every Styrah has two vocations, one is our vocation and the other is meant for service to the rest of our culture. This is my service responsibility.” She gestured to the lake. “I am responsible for this reservoir and everything within five miles of it. I look out for the flora and fauna, test the water, and monitor some science packages at work here in the forest as well.”
“So you’re like a game warden?”
Tally looked over her shoulder, her eyebrows furrowed. “We do not allow hunting for sport. There’s no purpose to hunting if you’re not going to eat and use the animal to the utmost.”
Mairin looked down. “I didn’t mean—”
Tally turned and looked down at her. “Meet my eyes, cariad.”
Mairin looked up. “I’m sorry.”
“Do not apologize. Ever.” Tally touched Mairin’s chin. “Be wise in what you say, apologize only if you are truly at fault for having done something and not having said something.”
Before Mairin could nod, or speak, Tally began to walk in long graceful strides. Mairin looked around as they walked. The pine forest seemed vibrant and alive, but devoid of any fauna other than chirping birds. “What kind of creatures are here?”
“Deer mostly, and something like your antelope at the higher places. It’s called smigara,” Tally said over her shoulder. “They sound a lot scarier than they are. We brought a lot of wildlife from Earth as we engineered this planet. There are a great many species of flora from Earth here as well.”
“You keep saying engineered. Was this planet not anything like this?”
Tally laughed. “Of course it was. We just wanted to make it feel like home to you humans. Libretto is the hub for all inter-system travel. From here we can fold to Earth, Styrah, or Vemeh in equal time. It’s the perfect terminal.”
Mairin blinked away a thought about it being a perfect target. She shook her head and looked up at the surrounding hills. Not a defensible position, too many avenues of approach. Stop it. She focused on Tally’s long legs and slightly broad shoulders. Every movement relaxed and powerful. Was Tally a warrior, too? She seemed too smart, too well read, too perfect to be some type of hardened killing machine. Her touch last night was light and loving, teasing and playful, and then so incredibly passionate.
Mairin smiled to herself. Not a virgin anymore, girl.
She shook that thought off, too. For something that seemed so incredibly important as she grew up, her virginity didn’t seem that important now. Despite what she’d heard the girls in the Eden Academy locker room gushing over, and it was nothing indecent or risky. Maybe it was the fact her first time was with an alien, and maybe it was the fact that she’d fallen hard for the beautiful woman. Mairin felt her heart flutter as Tally looked around with her green eyes and coal-black hair. She smiled and knew what mattered. Tally mattered, and she wouldn’t apologize for that ever again.
They’d walked for nearly an hour before stopping at a small fenced area where a large section of pipe, at least a foot in diameter, came out of the ground abruptly before diving into the soil again. There were monitors attached to the pipe, and what looked to be a valve. Tally opened the fence and walked in. Crouching down, Tally tapped the screen on the monitoring equipment a few times. “All’s well with this unit.”
“What are you pumping?”
Tally shrugged. “Crude oil.”
Mairin blinked. “What?”
“Yes, cariad. Believe it or not, oil is still a valued commodity out here in the Rim. Especially for the Greys.”
Oil hadn’t been drilled for, or refined, for at least fifty years. And longer than that on Earth. “The Greys are interested in oil? Do you sell it to them?”
“No, we don’t. Actually we pump it and send it off planet for storage. We want it as far away from us as possible. It keeps the Greys away. If it’s not here, they won’t come trying to find it.” Tally closed the fence. “Now, we’ve got another ten kilometers until we stop for lunch. You coming with me?”
They kept hiking, Mairin alternately staring at the ground in front of her to place her steps and then staring up into the vistas through the forest at the surrounding mountains. Was Earth like this? What would the planets out there be like?
As they broke out of the forest into a field of tall sun-kissed grasses, Mairin saw several deer across the glade leap to their feet and bound into the woodline. She smiled. At least something here was wild and unpredictable. She looked at Tally walking in strong, powerful strides. Well, make that two things, she thought with a smile.
They walked all day, Mairin never tiring. Perhaps this new enhanced body is a good thing after all, she’d thought with a smile as the opposing clamshells of Tally’s cabin came into view. Helios was low along the western horizon, the bright light of the day giving way to soft grays as the nahalla clouds developed. There would be rain soon, maybe before they even returned to the cabin. There was moisture in the air, a smell both familiar and startling.
She’d never smelled the rain before the imprint, and now she knew that she would always be able to. What kind of man had so many memories? So many thoughts and impressions? Mairin knew that she possessed much of that now, and for some reason that made her special. More special than her classmates at the Eden Academy, and more special than most TDF officers. Her mind flashed to the drunken colonel reading something on his neurals about her. Something powerful enough that he stopped and basically capitulated to her needs and ushered her out of his office quickly.
Why?
She looked back into the wilderness as the path began to widen into the clearing around Tally’s cabin. She stopped and looked hard into the fading light of the forest. The dark path in the deep green foliage looked like a path to another world. Somewhere in there was a part of her, it called to her as loud as her love for Tallenaara, and she knew that the forest had a place in her experiences and her destiny. There was so much wonder there. Every second of every day passed in a way that few could understand. Mairin jogged a few steps and began to hike after Tally who looked at her with a question in her eyes.
“I’m okay. There’s something about the forest, I suppose.”
Tally nodded. “The best two days of my week. You can come with me anytime.”
“Okay,” Mairin smiled. “New body or not, I need a shower.”
Tally grinned. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but.”
Mairin slapped her lover playfully on the ass and ran into the house. She knew that Tally was following her, and the thought filled her with anxiety and a deep sense of excitement she wished she could bottle and keep with her no matter where she travelled. There was nothing like her lover’s arms.
* * * * *
Eleven
Munsen chuckled. “I agree that a junior officer should not speak to a senior officer in such a tone, but given the circumstances and situation I would attest that her behavior was merited and genuine.”
“Not to mention totally out of character if you believe her instructors at Eden Academy.”
Munsen nodded. “I think behaviorally we’ve reached a point of no return, Miles.”
“Meaning that your subject has completely integrated the imprint?”
“Among other things.” Munsen paused for a sip of scotch, thankful for an audio-only conversation. “Complete integration is something we’ve seen before on a hundred imprints. She has a new skill set at her fingertips without so much as thinking about it. A month ago she couldn’t have pointed an electromagnetic rifle out of a line-up, and now she could perform crew member-level maintenance on it, whether she realizes it or not. We’ve done what we said we can do, but we’ve got a high-quality impression and a near perfect-genetic match. There are clearly going to be some anomalies.”
Runs In The Family Page 7