by M. D. Cooper
Marge sent a happy vibe across their connection.
Kylie was glad someone did. She sat down on the bed, crossed her legs, and waited.
BROTHER MINE
STELLAR DATE: 09.25.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: RFS Ark of Justice
REGION: Interstellar Dark Layer, Silstrand Alliance
By the time her door opened, Kylie had nearly dozed off.
Her eyes snapped open and, she took in the sight of her smiling brother. He wore the same grey uniform as the others she had seen, and a wide grin graced his face. “Kylie!” He opened his arms to her as if she would immediately jump into them.
“David.” Kylie said as she rose and adjusted her jacket, making sure her weapon remained hidden. “Where are we? Where’s my ship? Where’s Nadine?”
“Whoa, whoa, baby girl!” He held his hand up to slow her down. “What’s with all the questions? Can’t I just get a good old-fashioned hello from my sister?”
A hello? Was that really what he was looking for? “You brought me aboard this ship without my consent and tore me away from my ship and crew. I’m not exactly going to jump into your open arms.” Kylie sighed, exasperated. Her brother was as clueless as he had always been.
His eyes crinkled. “Not even a little bit?” He held his index finger a centimeter from his thumb and made a small pinching motion. Kylie resisted an eyeroll—resisted punching him in the face too.
“David—”
“Now, now. I was asking nicely for you to come with me. I’m not the one who knocked you out. Nice girl, by the way. Hope she managed to get off The Futz before it got blown to smithereens.”
“She’s not here?” Kylie asked with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I offered! She said she’d catch up to us later. Not sure how because I didn’t tell her where I was going and she didn’t ask. Strange folk you been keeping company with.”
If she said that, Nadine must’ve somehow been tracking her, but why? And more importantly, how? It could’ve been something in the dose of nano that Nadine had injected with her, but her own nano had long ago purged any traces of them—something Nadine would have expected. Kylie scratched behind her ear and found it. A small tracker, nearly invisible, right behind her earlobe.
A risky move, but apparently Nadine liked to take risks more than Kylie had thought. Her stomach soured as she was reminded of their final conversation and everything that had transpired after. Kylie wished she understood what was going on, what Nadine was after.
“Did the Dauntless get away? Any idea?” Kylie asked.
“That your ship?” David waited for her to nod. He sucked on his bottom lip as he thought it over. “I don’t know. Wish I did; if I could, I’d put your mind at ease. This ship was orbiting Freemont, the journey on my shuttle from The Futz over here was harrowing to say the least. I saw a lot of ships go down.”
“It sounds rough,” Kylie said and felt depression pulling her under. The Dauntless had to have made it out. Rogers, Winter, Nadine…Lana. Kylie realized that she still had no idea what had happened to Lana.
There were so many things she needed to find out. She needed to get back to her friends and her ship, but instead she was stuck on this damn ship with her brother.
Her brother’s warship.
“Sure was. I heard the SSF was after some girl, A general’s daughter—she had some sort of tech that they wanted. I hope they took her out when they razed The Futz.”
Kylie’s eyes widened. “How can you say that? Innocent people, women and children, live on that station. They had nothing to do with—”
“The tech they said she had? The girl probably had an AI, too.” David’s eyes narrowed and his cheeks reddened. “Heathens, that’s what they are. Polluting the human race. Making it impure.” He took a step forward and touched the blue streak in Kylie’s hair and coiled it around his hand. “You forgot your family’s message? Where you came from?”
“Of course not.” Kylie didn’t bat an eye but she wanted to pull away from him. Could he really think hundreds of thousands of people had gotten what they deserved because they used nano and advanced tech?
David wagged his finger at her. “You told me you have nano and an AI now too. That’s not going to get you in Dad’s good graces, you know that.”
Crap, Kylie had hoped he’d forgotten about that—a fool’s hope, it seemed. What had she been thinking? “Silstrand nano. I was in their space force, you remember that. It’s nothing fancy, just standard issue.”
His eyes narrowed as though he didn’t trust her. “And this AI? This abomination you have crammed inside your head?”
Waves of disgust rolled off Marge and Kylie sent a warm feeling, reminding her AI that she’d take care of it. “Helps me communicate with my ship when I’m nearby, but it won’t work out this far. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll deactivate her while I’m here.”
Marge said.
“You can do that?”
“Sure can. I’m in charge. I needed it for a mission that’s done now. I’ve been planning to get rid of her anyway.”
Marge’s avatar wore a shocked expression in Kylie’s mind.
David crossed his arm and glared at her. “You wouldn’t just be telling me what I want to hear, would you?”
“Me? Oh, David. I wouldn’t lie to my big brother, would I? AIs are tools. You use them when needed and set them aside when you’re done.”
It disgusted her to say the words, and she hoped that Marge could see that. Kylie had been brought up with her father’s demagoguery pushed on her through all her formative years. She knew just what to say to get her brother to back down.
“I guess that makes sense.” He gazed at her like he was trying to figure her out. “Still, when I tell Father what you’ve been up to…”
“We can keep it between us, can’t we? So the visit with him goes better?”
David’s jaw tensed and his face grew red once more. “We don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“I’ll tell him, I promise, but on my own. Once we get caught up. I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot with him—well, a worse foot…you know what I mean.”
He paused, staring at her, then turned to look at the wall showing the endless nothing of the dark layer. It was almost as if he couldn’t make this decision on his own. Kylie ran her hand along his arm and gave him a squeeze to help him along. “C’mon, I don’t want to give you a noogie, like old times. Just do this one thing for me. I’m your sister.”
David let out a long sigh. “All right, but it goes against my better judgement.”
Kylie breathed a sigh of relief.
“But you’ll tell him before we start the mission.”
Mission? What mission?
She was going to ask about it, but David’s anger seemed to have dissipated and a smile was plastered on his face. Kylie decided it was best not to ask more questions just yet.
“You want to get out of here?’ David asked. “I’ll give you a tour of my ship, show you the bridge, since you turned your AI off. You did turn her off, right?”
Kylie nodded even though her stomach felt sick. “Put her right to sleep.”
“Excellent! You’re going to love what you see. Plus, tonight’s dinner is one of my favorites. Had it prepared just for you.” He offered Kylie his elbow.
She glanced at it and weighed her options, of which there w
eren’t many. She schooled her expression and forced down her disgust. “Sure,” Kylie hooked her arm through his, “I’d love that.”
“Excellent!” David patted her hand as they walked out of her room and into the curving corridor. “Wait until you see what we’ve accomplished.”
“It’s a huge ship,” Kylie said, gazing about with a look of amazement on her face as he led her to a lift. “I can’t believe what Dad’s accomplished here.”
David chuckled. “Girl, you haven’t seen anything yet. Wait until you see the others.”
“Others?” Kylie swayed slightly on her feet. “Just like this one?”
“Bigger, darling! So much bigger. This one is just a baby in the fleet. I know, I deserve a bigger ship. Something faster, but like Dad says…”
“Baby steps,” Kylie whispered.
The people and the resources it would take to pull that all off…. Kylie couldn’t wrap her mind around how her father had amassed so much of either. His message might’ve been well received on the fringe, but the systems out there didn’t have the resources or populations to build so many capital ships, to amass so many weapons…. What the hell was Peter Rhoads up to?
And how had Kylie gotten stuck in the middle of it?
“I can’t wait to see the others. Where is Dad? When do we meet up with them?”
“Soon. Slow your horses! We’re rendezvousing with Dad in a few weeks. He’s traveling fast as he can to meet us…so you can rejoin the family. You know, what we’re doing is a family effort. It can’t be done without you, Kylie.”
A few weeks? She didn’t know if she could last that long.
Kylie nodded and swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat. The lift doors opened, and the ship’s bridge was before them. Dozens of consoles lined the edge of the space, crewmembers hard at work doing stars-knew-what while other stations for pilots, weapons and the captain’s command chair stood in the center. A massive holotank was at the fore of the ship, currently displaying information about the vessel and its status.
“Captain on the bridge!” the officer—a young woman with blonde hair—said as she stood from the command chair.”
“At ease, Commander Jensen, everyone,” David said with a winning smile. “I’m just showing my sister around the Ark of Justice.”
Kylie took a tentative step forward, trying to come to grips with her emotions.
She just wasn’t sure how she felt.
“Real beauty, ain’t it?” David wore a smile of pride as he put his arm around her shoulders.
All she could do was nod. It wasn’t that much different than the bridge of the SSF cruisers she had been on back in her tenure with them—that was part of what was bothering her. “David, where did you get this ship?”
His expression softened as he distanced himself from her. “We built it, of course. Human resources. Human hands-on craftsmanship unlike any other.”
Kylie couldn’t believe there was no assistance by AI or nanotech to make something this big. “Where did you get the schematics? A ship like this is no easy task.”
David waved his finger at her. “You’re going to have to wait and ask Dad that. I’m just a cog in the wheel. Like you will be.”
Kylie felt the same way. “I’m not going to work for Dad, David,” Kylie said with a sighed. “This is a visit. I have a life.”
His face darkened, as though an angry cloud had rolled across his features. “I don’t want to hear talk like that, Kylie. Dad said he needed you back. I got you. It’s all as it’s meant to be. Now, why don’t you come over here with me? I’ll introduce you to the missus.”
He had a wife? For some reason Kylie hadn’t even thought about that. He was a good-looking guy but the idea that someone hadn’t been scared off by David’s beliefs—or by Dad, for that matter—hadn’t even crossed her mind.
Kylie followed David through a door to their right. Inside was a small office, the captain’s ready room. Another door led off to what looked like personal quarters. There were two desks in the ready room, one large, and one small. At the smaller desk sat beautiful brunette. She looked tired but her eyes twinkled as she set eyes on David. “Back so soon, David?”
David held a hand out to her and one to Kylie. “This is my baby sister. The one I’ve told you all about. Kylie, this is Hannah Rose. You can just call her Hannah though. Everyone does.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Kylie said and offered Hannah her hand.
Hannah smiled as she rose from the desk with a definite struggle. Kylie saw how her gray uniform bulged out at the middle. Hannah was pregnant and, if Kylie didn’t miss her guess, in her ninth month.
Kylie’s hand faltered just as Hannah shook it with a wide smile. “I’m so thrilled to meet you. I’ve heard so many great things about you from David and your mom.”
“Congratulations, I guess, are in order.” Kylie tried to keep the scowl off her face. Who puts a pregnant woman on warship? Let alone your wife! Instead she forced a smile, though she worried her cheeks might crack under the pressure.
Hannah laughed and smoothed out the wrinkles in her grey tunic. “I guess so! It’s like Peter always says. Another soul for the cause. It’s always a good thing. The more pure humans we can have…”
“The closer we are to our end goal. The easier it’ll be to wage war,” David finished for her.
Kylie bristled at the notion that they treated Hannah like her job was to have babies and at the idea of raising them for the purpose of waging war. “Since when has Dad’s message been about war? I thought it was about avoiding war, David.”
“It’s about saving the human race. By any means necessary.” His scowl returned. “I know you’ve been away from the family for a while, Kylie, so I’ll forgive your doubts of Dad, but don’t speak like that in front of the crew, all right? They won’t be as understanding with you as I am.”
Kylie’s face fell and a deepening anxiety from Marge sat on the edges of her mind, silent though she was. “All right. I’m…sorry, David. I’ll keep quiet for now. Until we see, Dad.”
“Enough tense talk.” Hannah extended her hand to Kylie once more. “I’ve had a meal put together in your honor. Family should always put aside differences and break bread together. I believe that as sure as anything. You’ll join us for dinner, of course? You can meet some of the crew and our families. It’ll be so much fun, Kylie.”
“I’d love to,” Kylie said without much excitement at all. Whatever she was in the middle of, whatever she was walking into, Kylie had to believe she was here for a reason. Nadine wanted her here and maybe those motives weren’t about reconnecting with family at all. Maybe it was to find out more about these warships. She just knew it couldn’t have been a coincidence.
It just couldn’t have. Nadine might had lied about who she was and what she could do, but Kylie refused to believe she was a bad person, even if Kylie had no evidence to back that up. Nadine had killed Harkin in cold blood for their cause. Maybe she was ruthless, calculating, and maybe what Kylie wanted to believe was true was coloring her perceptions, but they had made so many good memories together. Kylie wasn’t ready to just throw it all away.
“You can tell me about your space adventures on a small freighter. It sounds so scary to me!”
“It’s not.” Kylie smirked and felt her first real taste of joy since waking up. “It’s everything. My friends, my crew, they’re everything to me.”
Solemnly, Hannah nodded. “Too bad you had to leave them behind, but it’s for the greater good. You really didn’t belong there, you know. You belong with Peter. As we all do. Come on, we’re having spaghetti!” Hannah hurried toward the bridge.
Kylie moved to follow, but David pulled her back into the ready room and pushed her against the wall. Kylie exhaled. “Problem, David?”
Leaning in close, he whispered against her cheek. “I saw the vids. I saw you managed to somehow get out of your room. You
get a pass this once, but from now on, you do what your captain tells you to.”
There was real anger in his eyes as he pulled away from her. It seemed that their sibling spats weren’t left too far in the past after all.
“Now, c’mon, let’s go get that dinner!” David said brightly and guided her across the bridge to the lift. When a crew member smiled at Kylie, she returned it and felt Marge slip closer to the surface.
“Well, there you are!” Hannah brightly grinned. “I thought I was going to be waiting here forever for the two of you!”
“Just some sister-and-brother talk, right darlin’?” David asked, throwing his arm around Kylie’s shoulder.
She stiffened. “You know it, brother.”
“I’ll show you the baby’s nursery room later, if you like. It’s all blue for our little bundle of joy.”
Kylie did her best to hide her shock. “I’d love that. I’ve never gotten to be an aunt before.” She knew her other older brother had children but Kylie hadn’t met them.
“You okay, sis?” David asked as the lift stopped one level below the one her quarters were on.
Kylie forced a tender smile. “Just a little out of it from being unconscious for so long. No offense.”
“None taken!” David said. “I’m not the one who knocked you out, remember?”
Hannah regarded Kylie warmly. “You really need to keep better friends, Kylie. At least you have us now.”
“Sure do,” Kylie said and felt the spread of unease. With family like this, she didn’t need the enemies she already had.
As they walked down the curved corridor, David and Hannah talked about the names they were thinking of for their baby, and all the amazing things he’d get to see on the Ark of Justice.
Finally arriving at a small galley, they entered and Kylie scanned its length and breadth. It was almost as though they were trying to replicate the idea of a family kitchen and dining room on the ship.