Tommy looked at Dianne, suddenly feeling a bit nervous for some silly reason. He asked, "How soon after we cross the gate can you contact Wyatt?"
"I can call him now if I have to. He's got a quancom."
That was surprising. Sabercat had a quancom, but it was one of the few ships sailing to have the expensive piece of communications equipment. Tommy had been convinced he needed it and had blown way too much of his startup capital in the process. Max Wyatt having one meant the man had either money, or connections. Or both.
"Okay, we'll keep that in mind. We need to know the full status on the ground as soon as we can. If there's a hitch, the sooner we know about it, the sooner we can adjust."
** ** **
The bridge provided a certain solitude that could be hard to find onboard a ship. Tommy loved sitting in the cockpit, just him and the stars in the distance, like he was the only one in the whole universe.
Just in front of him was the massive structure of the gate, a gigantic space station built around a huge ring that made up the gate itself. Some sixty thousand people lived and worked on the station, most actually keeping the gate running, but a few thousand with their own businesses or working for those businesses. Quite the thriving economy, all things considered.
Tommy wouldn't live on a station to save his damn life.
"Hey," Dianne's voice called from the doorway.
He turned to look at her and smiled. "Hey. What's up?"
"I heard we were getting close to the gate, so I thought I'd see if it would be a good time to call Wyatt."
Tommy nodded and said, "Yeah, absolutely. You can use the screen in your room if you want. It's patched in to the net already. I've just got to give you permissions."
"May I?" she asked, gesturing toward the bridge itself.
"Please."
Dianne stepped through the hatch almost reverently and approached. "I didn't know you could fly," she said.
"A little. Adele's a damn artist in this chair. I can keep us pointed in the right direction and that's about it," he said.
"That's not what I've heard. Adele says you're pretty good."
Tommy shrugged, as if to push off the compliment. "Nah. I'm a decent back-up at best."
Dianne looked around. "Isn't there supposed to be another chair up here?"
Tommy groaned.
"What?"
"Sore subject," he said, smiling softly to try and let her know it wasn't a big deal.
She raised an eyebrow in question, but said nothing.
"So," Tommy said, "What do you think of my domain?"
Dianne chuckled. "Not what I would have expected from Tommy 'the Maniac' Reilly."
He nodded. "Yeah, well, people change."
"So I'm learning," she said. "Daddy always said people didn't really change, but you seem to have. I guess I'm going to have to tell him he's wrong."
"He's kind of right too," Tommy said.
Her eyebrow shot up again.
"People don't change, as a general thing, but events can change people. It's why people go off to college and come back differently, or off to war, or wherever. Their environment during that time, the day to day stuff, that changes them. But people trying to change themselves? Doesn't seem to happen that often."
She leaned up against a railing and said, "You sound like you tried."
He smiled painfully. "No, I knew better. They liked where they were at. I didn't bother after I saw how they looked at me when I got back."
Dianne studied him as a comfortable silence settled between them. "Can I ask you something?" she asked.
He nodded, his attention now focused on his heading.
"I just don't get it. How did getting stranded on an island change you into the guy that's on this ship? I'd have figured you'd have been bitter as hell."
Tommy smiled and looked up into her blue eyes. Again, he felt that nervousness, but dismissed it. "Because I'd been told my whole life that I wasn't meant to do things. That's what everyone else was for. I was the third child, good for nothing except being a pretty face. Maybe marrying someone with connections that could further Mother's ambitions.
"But on that island? I had to do. I had to perform, or Harley and I were dead. There wasn't any other choice. It was liberating, in a way. I lost all that…look…that everyone seems to think is so damn cool, and became someone like in the old stories, you know? One of those guys who runs around the forest and knows every inch of it."
She nodded thoughtfully for a moment, then looked at him again. "What about the sabercat?"
Tommy grimaced. The sabercat had been a touchy subject when he'd gotten home. Despite hunting being an appropriate pastime for the rich, the sabercat was considered too majestic to kill. "Well," Tommy said, "the thing decided that Harley and I were going to be eaten, and I didn't want to have to watch my back for the rest of my life."
"Isn't that a little melodramatic?" she asked playfully.
He smiled. "Maybe now, but then? Hell, we didn't know if anyone was coming for us, much less when."
"Then why name the ship after it?"
Tommy considered for a moment, then said, "Because that animal was responsible for all this. It jumped us, and everything spiraled from there. I was scared of it, but I kind of owe it too, so…"
Footsteps echoed from down the hall, each footfall a bit louder than the previous one until Adele stepped onto the bridge, her eyes locked onto the apple in her hand. She looked up, her eyes like a deer's in a spotlight. "Am I interrupting…"
Tommy shook his head. "Nope, just talking," he said, pushing himself up from the pilot's chair. "The gate's coming up. Let me know when we're ready to transition, okay?"
"Yes sir," Adele said, sliding between Tommy and Dianne to get into the seat.
"Well," Dianne said, her left hand toying with hair, "I guess I'll call Max. Talk to you later?"
"Yeah, absolutely," Tommy said.
Dianne nodded and strode off of the bridge quickly.
From the cockpit, Adele laughed softly, her eyes facing the approaching gate.
"What?" Tommy asked.
"You, captain. You and her."
Tommy peered at his pilot quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"How long did you two date in school?"
His confusion deepened as he said, "We didn't. Why?"
Adele looked over her shoulder. "You cannot take your eyes off of her unless you are speaking to someone else, and then you do it so pointedly that it is clear you are trying not to look at her. It is rather amusing."
Tommy rolled his eyes as he left the bridge. "Whatever. Just call me when we transition, okay?" he ordered from over his shoulder
"Absolutely, sir," Adele said, the humor still in her voice.
** ** **
Sabercat slowly approached the event horizon of the gate. The reflective, convex surface showed a distorted view of the ship, her downward swept wings and sleek body twisted and bizarre. Tommy watched, amazed as always.
The shimmering facade drifted closer.
Adele had the ship moving just centimeters per second. The nose of the ship, ten plus meters of shaped and aged metal, vanished slowly into the pool as it seemed to crawl its way up the craft.
Tommy held his breath as the event horizon reached the viewport, then overtook it.
Adele punched the acceleration to clear the gate, pulling the rest through and into another solar system.
"That never gets old," Tommy muttered.
"No, it does not," Adele said. "There are worse ways to travel, are there not?"
Tommy reached up and activated the intercom. "This is the captain speaking," he said, instantly feeling ridiculous at the cliché. "We've just made our transition. We should be making Ararat orbit in three days’ time."
He released the button and looked at Adele. "I'll be in my cabin," he said, barely noticing the pilot's nod out of the corner of his eye as he left the bridge and headed down the dimly lit corridor.
Tommy turned
right to his door and spun the hatch lock until the door swung open easily.
Inside his cabin was a little piece of home.
A mattress lay on the floor, a couple of pillows scattered. The bed was folded up into the wall. A small desk, a sink, a few drawers, and a green and black pelt hanging from the wall were all that remained in the cabin. Everything that he needed in the world these days.
Tommy walked over to the sink and turned on the cold water. He slipped off his shirt, throwing it onto the mattress for the time being, and splashed water on his face. He was dog tired, not getting any sleep prior to transition. The bed looked awfully tempting.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
"What the hell is it now," he muttered to himself.
Louder, he called out, "Enter."
The hatch swung inward, revealing Dianne. Her eyes widened as she looked at him. Tommy looked back, confused.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
The sound of his voice seemed to snap her out of whatever trance she'd been in. "Um, yeah, sorry. I talked to Wyatt. There's a problem."
Tommy gestured for her to enter and take a seat at the small table in the corner of the cabin.
She stepped over the hatch's lip and made her way, sitting down on one of the chairs. Tommy sat opposite her. "What's wrong?"
He noticed her eyes scanning his chest and abdominal muscles, like those of a cage fighter from a bygone era. Meanwhile, she seemed to have grown a little deaf. "Dianne?"
Again, his voice seemed to snap her out of whatever the distraction had been. "I'm sorry," she said, her cheeks turning red.
"What did Wyatt say?" he asked.
"The shipment got picked up by Hatcher's men."
Tommy's hands slammed down on the table, propelling him up as he barked, "What?"
"Hatcher's men came up and grabbed the shipment. EDC troops backed them up. There's nothing to pick up," she said, her eyes wide with surprise and fear.
Take a deep breath, Tommy. It's not her fault, he thought, then forced himself to sit. "Sorry. I'm jagged, but not at you."
She nodded slowly. "I'm not exactly happy myself," she replied cautiously. "I just wasted your time with this. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he said, willing himself to relax. "You needed to come here, right?"
Still cautious, she nodded.
"Well, then we need to see what we can do. Maybe we can get this cleared up or something. Even if I have to play the 'Reilly Family' card, I'll figure something out."
She relaxed a bit. "Thank you. I know Max will appreciate it too."
Chapter 6
Tommy stepped out of the ship, his boot hitting the hard permacrete deck. He inhaled deeply. While he loved his ship, he loved fresh air too. Luckily, he got tired of being dirtside far faster than he got tired of life onboard Sabercat.
The next to exit was Dianne. She wore a pair of dark brown cargo pants held up with a slightly darker woven belt. Her beige shirt buttoned up the center, sleeves rolled up and held in place with a button too. She topped it all off, both figuratively and literally, with a dark brown hat with a brim only in the front. Tommy thought she looked more like a revolutionary than a rich man's daughter.
He also thought she looked pretty good in that getup.
Approaching them was an older man, skin only a few shades lighter than Adele's. His face lined with decades of experience and graying hair neatly coifed.
"Max!" Dianne said, rushing toward the old man and sweeping her arms around him in a colossal hug.
"Good to see you again, too. I wish I had better news for you though," he said as Dianne pulled herself away.
"We'll deal with it. Max, I want you to meet Tommy Reilly."
The other man held out a weathered hand. "Captain Reilly."
He took the hand and shook. "Please, call me Tommy. Not a big fan of the family name these days."
Max nodded. "After your last visit here, I can imagine."
"Dianne told you?" Tommy asked.
The old man shook his head. "Nope. I remember when it happened. Hatcher and his goons shut down the shuttles. Took me a while, but I found out why. They didn't want us coming to get you and bring you to something approaching civilization."
"What?" Tommy barked. "That son of a-"
Max held up a hand, cutting Tommy off. "I get that you're angry, but this might not be the best place to vent that, if you understand what I'm saying," he said as he gestured to the Port Control officers.
Tommy nodded. Max was right. He had every right to be mad, but it wouldn't do a bit of good right now, and might actually do some harm. He had a job to do and it was time to let that be his focus.
"You've got to deal with these folks, you poor bastard, but it shouldn't take too long. You folks are running empty, right?"
"Yep. Just a passage run for Dianne."
The old man nodded. "Good. I'll meet you at Ringo's Tavern later tonight. We can talk then. Sound good?"
"Sounds good," Tommy said.
Max nodded, turned, and walked away.
"Now," the Port Control officer said, "Let's see what we've got here."
Tommy fought the urge not to roll his eyes. He almost won that fight too.
** ** **
Ringo's Tavern was a unique surprise, especially considering where he tended to hang out on Jericho. Rich woods blended with one another to create an Earth pub-like atmosphere, complete with various knickknacks littering the walls. Sports teams from cities that couldn't have cared less about Ararat hung next to neon beer signs, drafts that probably had never even left Earth, much less run through a gate. However, through it all was a unique feeling of the home world, something Tommy was sure wouldn't have been nearly the comfort that it was.
Cody and Harley sat at a table, with Adele at the bar next to an attractive blonde woman.
Tommy sat at in an empty spot, his back to the bar so he could keep an eye on the front door.
"So, boss, how bad did they bend us over?" Cody asked.
"They didn't, believe it or not," Tommy answered.
"Let me guess though. They tried. Royally," Harley offered.
Tommy nodded. "Oh, they tried. But Dianne's contract didn't specify a time to make planetfall, and we were clean on everything else they wanted to hit us on."
Harley grinned as Cody chuckled. "Bet they chafing hated that," the engineer said.
"You could say that. But hey, what could they do?"
Tommy heard two barstools shifting behind him. Replaying his entry in his mind, he knew it had to be Adele and, apparently, the blonde woman.
As the two of them passed, Adele looked at them. "Gentlemen," she said, a faint smile dancing on her lips.
The blonde smiled at Adele, the look on her eyes making her intentions for the evening clear.
"Hey, Adele," Cody said as Tommy cringed inwardly. For someone who grew up around as much wealthy as Tommy had, Cody had the manners of a non-housebroken goat with ADHD. There was little chance that whatever came out of his mouth wasn't going to be ridiculous.
Adele stopped and turned to face the engineer as the blonde continued. "Yes?"
"How is it, no matter what planet we're on, no matter what bar we go into, you always seem to find the one chick that's into chicks?"
A mischievous smile crossed the pilot's face. "What makes you think that they were into 'chicks' before I walked into this bar?" she asked with a wink, then spun on her heal and caught up with her companion for the evening.
Tommy busted out laughing, while Harley hid his mirth behind a coughing fit. Cody smiled widely. "Not that's going to mess with me all damn night now," he said.
At least the engineer could take it when things got switched around on him a bit.
"Yeah, I bet," Harley said between coughs.
Tommy watched as, a few seconds later, Max entered the tavern and approached.
"Max," Tommy said, greeting the old man with a nod.
Max put his hand on the empty chair and raised an eyebro
w.
Tommy nodded.
The other man pulled out the chair and sat.
"Max, this is Harley, my first officer, and Cody, my engineer. Guys, this is Max Wyatt."
"Mr. Wyatt," Harley said, offering hand.
He shook hands with both of them, then turned his attention to Tommy. "So, you think you can help?"
Tommy shrugged. "I won't make any promises, but I can try. I may not like being a Reilly, but it does come with a few perks. It's not like Mother Dearest is advertising our falling out, so I might be able to use them. Maybe."
Max nodded. "I have to ask though. If that doesn't work?"
"I'll see what I can do."
The old man smiled. "Outstanding. I know where it's being held. What do you want to do first?"
"Me? Oh, well," Tommy said, staring off into space as if pondering life, the universe, and everything. "I figure I'll start with asking nicely."
** ** **
Several days later, Tommy found himself standing outside of a secure warehouse in Wyattsville. All around stood EDC soldiers and men wearing the SolTech Security patch on their right sleeves.
Seeing the path, Tommy smiled inwardly, carefully keeping up his façade of annoyance.
"You," he barked, pointing to the closest SolTech guard. "Who's in charge here?"
"Sir?"
"Don't play stupid with me, you inbred moron. Supervisor. You have one right? I swear to God that if you say you're in charge, I'm going to crap a duck right here."
"Uh, no sir. Mister Greenly's in charge," the guard eventually choked out.
Just more proof that people kind of expected to be treated like crap by the folks on high. There's no way he'd have given the man in charge's name like that to someone off the street unless he figured he'd be in more trouble by not saying anything.
"Fan-freaking-tastic. Get him," Tommy said.
The guard stared at him.
"Now!" Tommy yelled, clapping his hands together. He may have hated how he treated people before, but that didn't mean he'd forgotten how to do it.
Sabercat (Tommy Reilly Chronicles Book 1) Page 6