by M. D. Cooper
“Sure, honey,” Yovette said even though she wasn’t sure an AI could appreciate a picture. If that’s what Fen wanted to do, that was fine by her.
Fen yawned as if on cue, as a mist sprayed down on her.
“I’ll see you soon, honey. Just a few hours and I’ll be back.” Yovette collected her jacket and purse. She lay her forehead against the glass that covered Fen in the protective capsule, wishing she could touch her daughter again.
Soon, the doctors had said. Soon, everything would go back to how things used to be.
Outside in the hallway, Chen approached by with two cups of coffee. “Here you go, just the way you like it.”
Yovette took it with a nod. “You know just what I like.”
“Always have.” He smiled. “How’s she doing?”
“Good. Tired but resting now. She’s going to be fine.”
“I know. I was there when the doctor said so, Yovette.”
‘I just…like to hear it out loud,” Yovette said before taking a sip of her coffee. “I’m sorry I’ve been distant. I’m sorry this damn job drives me crazy. I know I have a lot to make up for. With Fen, with you. Celestia…we almost lost her, Chen, and…” tears rose in her eyes and she couldn’t finish as Chen slid his arms around her.
She relaxed and kissed his neck. She had to admit, she had missed that. Missed him.
“I thought you’d love being governor, but if you hate it that much, if it takes you away from us, maybe we should walk away and do something else.”
It was like permission to do what her heart already wanted her to do. Yovette nodded and rested her head against Chen’s chest. “After the New Year’s celebration. After that and after I give my answer to Peter Rhoads. We might need his money and help, but I think we need AI and technology even more.”
Chen smiled and tightened his arms around her. “Good decision, honey. The best one you’ve ever made. Let’s hope the next governor is as wise as you.”
Let’s hope.
AWAKE
STELLAR DATE: 09.21.8947 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Medical Facility, Persephone
REGION: Gedri System, Silstrand Alliance
The door to Grayson’s room was locked.
Outside two techs picked up the stray bottles and trays that littered the floor. Kylie bent over to help retrieve one but a tech got to it before she did.
“He did this?” Kylie asked. It almost didn’t seem possible. He had always been so in control. Even in those early days when they had met in the academy, Grayson was always more buttoned up than most.
“He threw just about everything that wasn’t bolted down. Transition is always tough when an AI is removed.”
Kylie suspected that may be the case for a lot of Maverick’s strays, but for a military guy for Grayson? She was almost afraid to go in.
She swallowed and placed her hand on the door. She wasn’t sure how it would work but as her hand tingled, she felt dozens of tiny nano probes leaving through her skin. For a split second, it was almost as if she could see through the metal door, able to reconfigure the locking mechanism until it snapped open.
“Odd, I thought he locked that,” one of the techs mumbled as he started down the hall with a handful of trays, bottles, and even a small potted fern.
Kylie stepped into the room. A pile of half torn up sheets on the bed and a broken mirror caught her attention before she saw the stock-still figured of Grayson standing at the window.
He wore a white shirt and grey pants, both of which were stained with a myriad of colors, including what she suspected was blood. His head was wrapped in gauze, and he stared through the glass without acknowledging her presence.
Beyond the window she saw a serene garden filled with blossoming rose bushes and rows of flowers along the paths.
The door behind her swished closed and Kylie gingerly stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Love what you’ve done with the place.”
He didn’t even look at her. “You’d make jokes? Now?”
“I don’t know what else to do,” Kylie admitted simply. “Jerrod took control of the ship. He nearly killed the crew and we were bound for the Trio jump point. I had to do something.”
“You had me under lockdown. I would’ve reached him eventually.”
“Would you? Because from where I was standing you were a prisoner. He attacked us twice. How stupid would I have been to let it happen a third time?” This conversation was going exactly where Kylie thought it would and she hated it. “You were locked up in your own body, doing things you never would do. You were violated,” Kylie said much firmer than she had meant to. In her mind, she could still see the calm, stoic face Grayson wore as Jerrod had tried to kill her.
Kylie could see Grayson’s shoulders hunch ever so slightly. “You don’t have to tell me, all right? I was there. I was the one who had to watch,” he sighed and his gaze shifted to the window, but the serene view didn’t seem to soothe him at all.
“Jerrod was a military AI. You were never going to convince him to go against orders.”
Grayson shifted from one foot to another. “Stop it, Kylie.”
“Tell me what I should’ve done? You couldn’t stay with him. We could never trust him. Should I have left you in a coma forever?”
He turned to her sharply, his hands pointedly waving at her, and eyes bulging. “You did exactly what you should have! Exactly what I would have done. Shrewd, calculated. Everything you did was exactly on point. Happy? Is that what you wanted me to admit to you?”
“To yourself more than me. I’m not the enemy, Grayson. I’m just…sorry.” She tilted her head and studied him as he turned his back to her. Again. It seemed to be what he was always doing.
“I don’t know who I am anymore and I’ve been neutered. Right, wrong, it doesn’t matter. I’ll be no use to your crew or Lana. I can’t bring anything to the table.”
“That’s not true. You have years of military experience. You have military grade nano. You’ve always been a crack shot, an excellent pilot.”
“All of whom you already have. So, you tell me why I’m not redundant. With an AI, I could have helped you, but now?”
“Your mind is sharp. Strategically, we need you.” Kylie needed him. Why couldn’t he see that? “Don’t fall so deep into self-pity that you can’t see your worth to me, Grayson. I saw your value long before there was an AI sharing your skull with you.”
He turned his head and glanced at her, but his gaze didn’t linger as he quickly returned to stare at the garden.
“Fine then, if you won’t talk, maybe you’ll listen. We’re shipping out as soon as repairs are done—which should be tomorrow morning. Stay here or come with us. I can’t guarantee that the GFF or the space force won’t find you here, but it’s your call. Do whatever the hell you like.”
Kylie stormed out angrier at him than she had remembered being in a long time. Maybe the last time had involved broken dishes. She just wanted to get back to her ship and away from him and his inability to see what was right in front of him.
But this time Grayson didn’t let her go.
He turned and raced after her, grabbing her arm. “There was never going to be a letter of marque for you and your ship.”
She couldn’t believe what he was saying. It had to be a lie, but from the look of rage in his eyes she could tell he was saying it to hurt her—and only the truth could hurt that much.
Kylie pushed him off of her. “You lied to me?!”
“Damn straight I did. I lied because Samuel told me to, so that I could secure your cooperation. All the opportunities you gave me to come clean, I never did. Even in the end.”
Kylie struggled to take a breath. “Stop trying to hurt me.”
“I kissed you before you left to rescue Lana. Remember? I did it to cloud your mind. So, the SSF could swoop in and get
Lana after you rescued her.”
His words stung and there was no denying it. “You’re a cold, calculating asshole.”
Grayson’s cheek twitched. “So, you tell me what my worth is? You tell me I deserve anything from you now that you know the truth.”
“You’re reeling. You’re hurt,” Kylie said, trying to deflect some of the anger she was feeling.
“But I still did it. Doesn’t change the fact that I lied. I manipulated you and every member of your crew every chance I got. Why do I deserve to be saved?”
“Maybe you don’t,” Kylie shot back, her tone severe. She watched Grayson’s eyes shift away. “Maybe none of us do, Gray, but it doesn’t mean we give up on each other. I want you on board my ship tomorrow morning. Nothing you throw at me right now is going to change that.”
He wanted to push her away. Was he so angry at himself and Jerrod, that he couldn’t see he was throwing away all the progress they had made?
Grayson’s eyes locked with hers, as though he was trying to see what would make her demand that he get back aboard before they shipped out.
“We’re going to save Nadine. If I remember correctly, you told me that was part of your mission, too. So, don’t let me down.” Kylie pivoted on her bootheel and hurried out of the room before the rage over his betrayal got the better of her and she said or did something that she’d regret.
It was all a moot point now. There would never be a letter of marque, so why did she care? Was there no one aboard the Dauntless that she could really trust?
* * * * *
Rogers slow-clapped as the crew—excepting Grayson—entered the kitchen. “Ahh, the joy of a fully stocked galley. Bacon, pork, beans, corn.” He gestured to the refrigeration units. “Sweet little berry things that are rumored to taste like strawberries but since no one really knows what strawberries actually taste like, it’s hard to validate those kinds of claims.”
“I thought we were trading food for an AP drive?” Kyle asked. “But now we have more food.”
“Yeah, well Ellie told me it was going to take a week to get us an AP drive…and I knew that wouldn’t fly, so I had to decline. She still wanted the bison, though, so we did a big food swap.
Kylie gave him a goofy smile. “Wouldn’t fly? Nice one.”
“Butter and real cream for your coffee.” Rogers pulled the door open and pulled out a jug. “I’m sure the coffee will still taste like ass, but it’ll taste like ass with cream.”
Kylie gave him a big hug—more of a squeeze. “Never change, Rogers.”
“I don’t really intend to. Biscuits, gravy? Chicken? Maybe if we kept our own chickens we could have farm fresh eggs all the time. We’d call them starship fresh eggs, which maybe doesn’t have the same ring to it….”
Kylie smirked. “Someone told you about my visit with Grayson?”
“No,” Rogers waved his hand. “I mean, yeah, but that’s not why I’m doing this. I like food.”
“Who doesn’t?” Kylie agreed and started on a pot of coffee for the crew. Rogers sighed as she grabbed the ground coffee beans. “You know you’re going to drink it so stop being overly dramatic.”
“You’re right, you’re right. Soon, everyone will be here and we’ll get to fly off. Test the baby’s new engines out.” Rogers grinned ear to ear.
“Excited?”
“Aren’t you?”
She was, truthfully. She couldn’t wait to make the jump into the dark layer and see what the old girl had. Yet, another part of her was nervous. Kylie nodded to Winter as he entered the galley with Lana. Would Grayson get on board? Or would he try to stay behind?
Could Kylie really let him make that choice or would she find him and drag him back onto the Dauntless kicking and screaming? She even had to ask herself why she cared so much, but she didn’t really need to. Because a moment later, Grayson was there; he stepped into the galley and Kylie’s heart pattered in her chest so fast, she was afraid other people might be able to hear it too.
Marge said.
Grayson didn’t say anything as he sat; he just watched while Rogers put a platter of crackers and cheese on the table and everyone gathered around. He barely even looked up at anyone. Lana and Winter gazed around anywhere but at him, and Rogers busied himself with spreading a red paste on his crackers.
Tension lay so thick in the room that you could have cut it with a knife—and there were several within reach.
Kylie needed to put an end to it. They had to get back to some form of normalacy. Whatever that was.
She handed Grayson a cup of hot coffee. “Welcome back onboard,” she tried to keep her tone even and flat, but a surge of emotion betrayed her, making her voice crack as she spoke.
He glanced at her but it was as quick as it was heartbreaking. “Trying to kill me with your coffee?” Grayson took a tentative sip. “Guess I know the answer to that one.”
Kylie smiled meekly and backed up to address the others as they picked up crackers and cheese—or in the case of Winter, several slices of cheese. Grayson though, held up his finger.
“Before we get started, I wanted to say…” Grayson cleared his voice and stood up a little straighter. “This is a new time for me. A new discovery. What transpired…it happened without my approval. I’m here to assist and help get Nadine back anyway I can and if I…what I’m trying to say is…”
Lana gave him a slow smile. “It wasn’t you. We know that.”
“Without Jerrod in your head, we’re cool, man,” Winter said. “But if you try any shit like that again…”
Grayson nodded. “It won’t happen again. I give you my word on that.”
Kylie shook her head and sucked her breath in. What was his word worth if he would lie so effortlessly on behalf of the SSF about the letter of marque? But there was no use getting into that now
“Okay, now that we have that settled. We have two days travel ahead of us to Krenko, where he believes we’ll trade Lana for Nadine.”
Lana sucked in her breath and crossed her arms. “I don’t know about you, but I suddenly feel like nothing but cargo.”
“Like I’ve said before, I’m not trading you for Nadine. But Jason—the merc—needs to believe I am. You need to play along. As far as we know, he has no idea the nano has merged with you. He still thinks you’re carrying the capsule. We play to that and take him by surprise. We incapacitate him, then get our asses back to the ship.”
“You might need to do more than that,” Grayson said.
“No.” Kylie shot him a dirty look. “We take him alive. Find out who he’s working for. Who sent him. The more we know about who is after us, the better.”
Grayson’s jaw tensed. “It’s your show.”
“We’ll think of something—lots of places we can dump him where Vaax won’t find him. A lot of that depends on how he treated Nadine.”
Rogers gave her a pointed look, and Kyle shrugged before she turned her attention to Lana. “You think you can do this?”
Lana shook her head but then it turned into a nod. “I guess I have to. Don’t I?”
The statement certainly wasn’t filled with conviction. Kylie hoped Lana trusted her, hoped the girl understood Kylie would only do what was necessary to rescue Nadine—though Kylie couldn’t know for sure. If Lana didn’t trust her, everything would go sideways fast.
“We’ll be there to support you. You’re not doing this alone,” Kylie said.
“We need to be prepared for Jason having bribed the dockmaster at the outpost on Krenko,” Rogers said. “We might find ourselves on lockdown after we land.”
“Everyone reach out discretely to contacts, see if you can find out anything about this place and who runs it,” Kylie said. “If they put us on lockdown or try to separate us…” Her voice trailed off and she gazed at Gray
son. “You’ll need to band together. Break out, get to the ship any way possible, and get the hell out of there.”
“And abandon you?” Rogers asked. “I thought we’ve gone over this already.”
“You won’t need to,” Lana said firmly. So firmly it took Kylie by surprise. “I’ll have Kylie’s back.”
“You girls will need to stick together. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Grayson rose and began to leave the galley, but Kylie wasn’t ready to let him go just yet.
“Anyone you can reach out to in Gedri?” she asked. “Anyone in the SSF owe you some favors?”
Grayson shook his head. “No one I know—no one I would risk talking to, at least. I’m better off sitting this one out ‘til you need a trigger puller.”
Grayson left the room without another word and Kylie sighed. “He’ll come around,” she said to the others.
Winter snorted. “Damn well better before we get there, or this is going to be a real short rescue mission.”
Wasn’t that the truth?
“C’mon.” Winter motioned to Lana. “Help me go through some of the food here in the galley. We need to put an edible meal together for tonight’s dinner. It might end up being one of our last good ones.”
* * * * *
Laughter filled the galley long after dinner was cooked and eaten. Empty beer bottles, and no small number of half-full ones littered its surface.
Kylie gazed around at her crew as she took a pull of a particularly delicious pale ale. Rogers sat beside her nursing his own bottle, his elbows on the table. Across from her, Winter and Lana sat together. She picked apart a piece of bread and laughed as she popped it into her mouth while Winter whispered something in her ear.
He chuckled and said something else and Lana burst out in a girly giggle. Kylie didn’t know what that was about but didn’t approve with how close Winter was sitting to Lana.
Weren’t relationships complicated enough aboard the Dauntless already?