by M. D. Cooper
If there was one thing to be said about the former crew of the Emperor’s Tears, it was that they liked to eat well. The ship’s larder had been stocked for a month’s journey. He opted for something simple, and made himself a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and apples.
He made coffee, something that would always remind him of Kylie, and sat down to tuck into his…brunch, as it turned out.
He was just chewing his first bite when the ship alerted him to an incoming transmission.
Grayson Linked to the bridge’s comm systems and saw that it was coming from an SSF cruiser, the Excelsior. He didn’t know anyone aboard that ship—hopefully his reputation wasn’t so soiled that they’d treat unfairly with him.
Grayson rose and took a deep breath as Lana ran into the room. Her face was sweaty, hair plastered against her moist cheeks, and her wide eyes filled with fear. “It’ll be all right.” He reached for her hand. “This is what we hoped for. Right now, this system is a disaster. Remember if we had broadcast, it would have been just as likely that Maverick’s people would have found us. It’s why we flew into the SSF’s search grid in the first place. They’re just surprised to stumble upon us.”
He held out his hand and Lana squeezed it with a nod, but she didn’t respond out loud.
Grayson responded to the hail.
There was a brief pause but too brief to have been worrisome. Then a woman’s voice came over the comm system.
Grayson glanced at Lana. Pensively, she bit her bottom lip and gave a nod.
Separatists, Grayson thought. This is really happening. Maverick is trying to secede from Silstrand.
With the communication ended, Grayson let out a light sigh. “It seems we’re on our way.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Lana said.
So did Grayson. He had faith that once he explained everything, it would go their way. How could it not? The only other options were imprisonment and running from the SSF forever, neither of which he found acceptable.
“Did she sound hostile to you? It was hard for me to tell.” Lana asked and her fingers twisted together nervously.
“She was professional. Normal for an officer of her rank, but not hostile.”
Of course, it wasn’t as though they were going to the Excelsior unarmed. They had Lana and, if push came to shove, Grayson was sure she could get them out of any situation, as long as they stayed together.
Grayson connected to the helm systems and cut the ship’s engines, turning the Emperor’s Tears into so much drifting metal in the black of space.
“Why don’t we eat,” he said. “It’ll take them an hour to match vector and link up. Who knows the next time we might get a good meal.”
Docking took slightly longer, but not overmuch. After their meal, Grayson and Lana waited in the corridor outside the ship’s port-side airlock while the umbilical from the other ship made a positive seal, and the outer lock doors opened.
Four armored SSF soldiers stepped into the airlock, and Grayson hit the control for it to cycle. It seemed that Captain Quinn was not in a trusting mood.
Two of the soldiers took up positions on the sides of the airlock, covering their teammates who strode into the corridor, weapons raised. He could see another quartet of soldiers in the umbilical, moving forward cautiously.
The soldier in front of Grayson spoke through his armor’s speaker. “Down on your knees. Hands up.”
Grayson raised his eyebrows in surprise. It was Captain Quinn. It seemed she was a hands-on sort of woman.
Grayson raised his hands and slowly lowered himself down. “We’re not armed. We agree to come peacefully.”
“And we’re just going to make sure of that. No offense, but the SSF has heard this all before.”
“Not from me you haven’t,” Grayson said.
“You too,” the captain gestured at Lana who stood in defiance. Her jaw was clenched and her gaze darted between the soldiers closing in. She cupped one of her hands and Grayson sensed that her flight or fight reflex was a moment away from being triggered.
She glanced at Grayson.
Lana leaned forward and Grayson feared what she might do. Then her arms rose over her head, and she sank to her knees. He let out a long breath as the soldier next to the captain placed thick restraints around Lana’s wrists.
“She’s done nothing wrong,” Grayson said as his own wrists were cuffed by one of the other soldiers as the captain moved to the side.
“Insurance,” Captain Quinn said. “We know what she can do. We all read the brief from General Samuel about what happened aboard that junker ship. What you allowed to happen.”
“We were returning willingly,” Grayson said. “Maybe you should drop your attitude and listen to what I have to say.”
The captain pulled her helmet off, revealing short red hair and bright green eyes. She looked him over, obviously sizing him up. “You’ve returned the general’s daughter in a healthy condition. That may buy you some forgiveness with him. Not me.”
Grayson held his tongue as she turned and walked off the ship and down the umbilical. One of the soldiers pushed him on the shoulder.
“Move.”
Lana glanced at Grayson, fear growing in her eyes as they led were led through the umbilical toward the Excelsior.
Things were going to be a lot harder than he had anticipated and a lot harder than he had led Lana to believe, but he had to do this for her—and for himself. If he could make this right, if he could secure an immunity deal for the crew of the Dauntless, then, maybe then he could face Kylie again.
Maybe he could find the strength to even fight for her because, since leaving her, it was all he could think of.
* * * * *
Lana was escorted into a private room with a white chaise lounge, several soft chairs and a white stone-topped table—though she supposed it must be fake. No one would have a stone table on a warship.
She glanced back at the man who followed her in and stood next to the door. She knew rank insignia well enough. He was a major, not the sort usually assigned to watch young women. A tag on his chest read: Kyran.
She ignored him and walked to the small port hole—which was only a holodisplay—and saw the Emperor’s Tears detach and take up a position ten kil
ometers away, boosting to stay alongside the Excelsior.
“You’re taking our ship?” she asked, turning back to the guard.
He nodded. “I expect so, we can’t just leave it out there for separatists to take and use against us.”
Lana shook her head and leaned against the bulkhead, looking around the spare room.
“Why don’t you have a seat and make yourself comfortable. “Are you hungry?” the Major Kyran asked.
“I guess I am. Thirsty too,” Lana said as she sat down in a plush white chair.
“I’ll send for something warm to eat. If you need a shower, that can be arranged too.”
“Sounds like I’m a prisoner in here. I mean, far as prisons go, this is pretty nice. You wouldn’t believe some of the places I’ve found myself in lately.”
Kyran nodded. “Sorry about that, miss. For now, you really need to stay here. But I’ll give you some privacy. The door will be locked but guards will be stationed outside in case you need anything.”
Lana nodded. The room sounded more like a prison cell every passing moment. “I understand, but there’s something you need to understand too.” She turned her wrist over and focused her nano into the device, threading into its control systems, feeling out its inner workings.
The cuffs unlocked and fell from her wrists. She picked it up and set it on the table.
“You may want those back. But make no mistake. I’m here because I want to be here. I’ll stay in this room because I want to play along and for things to go smoothly, but don’t think you’re holding me. Because you’re not. I’d also like to see Grayson very soon. I understand you military people need to debrief and all that, but eventually I might get curious and have to go looking for him.”
Major Kyran swallowed as he picked up the cuffs. “Uh…I’ll…bring you some dinner right away.”
“Make sure it’s hot,” Lana called after him, cupping her hands around her mouth. A satisfied smirk pulled at the corners of her mouth as the door slid shut and she sat back, crossing her legs.
* * * * *
Grayson fumed as Lana was taken in a different direction once they were brought onto the ship, although he could tell that she was going forward, toward officer country, and he was on his way to the brig.
The soldiers weren’t rough, but they weren’t going out of their way to be gentle either. Eventually he found himself in a cell with high-density carbon bars, and a grav shield to keep him from even getting close to the doors.
In a strange way it felt comforting. A proper cell, on a well-equipped ship. He’d been making do with whatever limited resources he could for so long, he’d nearly forgotten what life was like outside the Gedri System.
A low bed was built into the floor, and he settled onto it. One of the guards brought him a bowl of hot soup and a hunk of crusty bread. He wasn’t hungry after his oatmeal, but decided that one never knew when the next meal would come and tucked into the food.
All things considered, he was being treated well. Considering how the crew of the Emperor’s Tears had treated him, he was living like a king.
He heard a door down the passageway open and close, and then Captain Quinn appeared outside his cell. She was no longer armored, and now wore her uniform, crisp and well fitted.
The captain’s hair was slicked back, and her eyes sparkled. He set his bowl on the floor and leaned back against the bulkhead.
“Are there any other questions you have for me?”
Quinn nodded. “Many. Though I imagine the General will want to ask most of them himself.”
“And we’ll be seeing him when?”
“Soon. Gedri isn’t safe right now. We’re meeting up with several other ships for an escort to Trio. The general will meet us there. He did express some amount of pleasure that you had come in peacefully, and that his daughter is well and unharmed.”
Grayson knew Samuel would, but for what reasons would he be happy—because of the girl? Or because of her tech? “And how is Lana? Is she all right?”
“Doing well. Eating and talking. Seems very amicable so far. Guess we have you to thank for that.”
“Just promise me you won’t try anything. Don’t hurt her, don’t experiment on her. She’s had enough of that.”
“Our orders are just to keep her safe. This isn’t a research vessel. Nothing will happen until we get to the general. He’ll decide her fate and yours, Grayson.”
Ever since she had boarded the Emperor’s Tears, Quinn had stopped using his rank—a telling sign of what was yet to come. Was there a limit to what he could talk his way out of? He might soon find out.
“Keep in mind, if Lana doesn’t want to do something, you’ll never get her to cooperate. You need her happy and comfortable if you expect her to be agreeable.”
And if they expected not to end up dead, but that bit of information was better withheld.
Quinn turned and walked away, the lights dimming as she left the brig. “Light’s out. Breakfast at 0600. Sleep tight, Grayson. You look like you need the rest.”
Wasn’t that the truth?
Grayson lay down on the cot and stared up at the ceiling. He had a lot to think about. Much to plan for in the coming days. If he was honest with himself, he missed Jerrod. This was when they’d have a discussion and he’d work out the details before they played a game of cards or chewed the fat, such as it was.
Kylie hadn’t had much choice in removing Jerrod, that much was true. Grayson had been so angry with everything that had happened, things he had allowed to happen, that he had taken his shame out on her.
Now, Grayson just hoped the Dauntless had gotten off The Futz in one piece. If he ever got out of this situation, he needed to find her. Shouldn’t be hard. Trouble seemed to flock to Kylie no matter what it was she was doing.
If she could stay alive long enough, maybe Grayson could thank her for saving his life.
FAMILY
STELLAR DATE: 09.31.8948 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: RFS Ark of Justice
REGION: Interstellar Dark Layer, Silstrand Alliance
The days aboard the Ark of Justice passed by slowly. Kylie busied herself with reading schematics and figuring out where everything was. She timed herself to see how quickly she could move from the armory to the escape pods. Even Marge performed drills to keep her skills up on hacking the security systems. They discovered that if she shut down certain systems fast enough, the ship had a brown out on level fifty-two.
So much for good old human craftsmanship.
Kylie also became good friends with Hannah, though Kylie frequently had to bite her tongue. Her brother’s wife was a kind, sweet soul who was as compassionate as you could get. There was a naïve quality about her Kylie liked, and she suspected that quality might’ve been exploited to get Hannah into Peter Rhoads’ cult.
Kylie had called it many things in the years, from a religion, a philosophy, a way of life, but cult really identified what it was. As much as it pained Kylie to think of her father as a cult leader, it fit him. If Peter Rhoads was going around telling stories of pure humans and the dangers of impurity, Kylie didn’t know what else to call him.
She considered these things as she stood in the nursery folding a set of soft blue blankets. She got them just right and set them in the crib. Kylie thought about the time she and Grayson had almost had a baby but it hadn’t been meant to be. A false alarm and at the tail end of their marriage, Kylie had been grateful nothing more had come of it.
At the time.
Life sure would’ve taken a different turn if a baby had come into the picture. She couldn’t say if it would’ve been better or worse. Just different.
> In the corner of the room, Hannah hung baby clothes in the closet. “We chose this room because of the hum. Can you feel it? We thought it would be good to help lull the baby to sleep. Well, it was David’s idea but I really like it.”
“I can feel it.” Truth was, Kylie could feel the engines and the vibrations wherever she went. She didn’t know if it was because she was becoming hyperaware of her surroundings thanks to observation, or because of her nano, or if the ship’s construction was sub-par.
Hannah gave her a smile of appreciation. She looked tired and her belly was carrying very low now. After being on the ship for nearly a week, Kylie thought Hannah had to be close to going into labor. It just made her question why Hannah had been there at all.
“How come you came with David to find me? Blockade or not, the Freemont is never a safe place to go. Especially not for a woman in your condition. And this ship isn’t exactly built for a peace mission.”
“Family. I needed to stand by my husband.”
“And seeing that he’s your husband, he’d want you protected. At home. Where you can give birth with safely.”
“Being pregnant is something that’s happened to women for millennia. I’m not special, Kylie. The doctors on board are wonderful and I get all the checkups I need. But…” reluctantly she shrugged, “David likes to keep his wife close. Same as all the Rhoads men.”
“Except I’m a Rhoads woman.” Kylie smirked and wondered how her brothers felt about that. She wondered what her father thought about that. The only one of his children to give him trouble was his daughter.
“And divorced. You were part of the SSF but left. I guess the moral of the story is, no one’s perfect. We all have our own path. At least you’re back now and they’re going to be so happy to see you once we arrive.”
It was great to have all her past mistakes thrown into her face by a stranger—even if she was family. “Have you seen Mom? Recently? Is she all right?”
Hannah nodded. “Growing older, such as we all are. She keeps up all right with your father. She has a lot of duties to attend to and I think that helps give her purpose.”