“The dreadnoughts measure approximately 2.4 kilometers in length and 410 meters in width. There are seventy-eight of them in the visuals, but they were apparently still emerging from that ring structure when our agent departed the scene so he could get the report to us. As for the smaller ships, there are easily hundreds of thousands.”
“And this is in Metis? But there’s nothing in Metis.”
“Agreed. Clearly the portal originates elsewhere. Where that might be is anyone’s guess.”
Vranas guzzled his bottle of water and activated a holo. “Field Marshal Gianno. Apologies, but I need your immediate attention.”
The leader of the Military Council and Commander of the Armed Forces crystalized into view. She stood at a bank of screens bright with data, but turned to face them. “Chairman. Director Delavasi. What can I do for you?”
“I’m sending you a file. Take a moment to review it then we’ll discuss the matter.”
Graham stood to pace along the rug in front of Vranas’ desk while they waited. It didn’t take long.
Unlike Vranas or even Graham himself when Michael had initially shown him the report, Gianno’s expression remained as neutral as when she had answered the holo. The woman gave new meaning to the word ‘unflappable.’
“Well this represents a complication. I don’t relish fighting a war on two fronts. Am I looking at the most up to date information we have?”
“You are.”
“Is the Alliance aware of this development?”
Graham nodded. “If they aren’t yet, I believe they soon will be.” Vranas’ eyes shot over to him in question; he gave a weak shrug. “It’s complicated.”
Gianno opened a new screen and scrolled through data too detailed to be read over the holo. “The 2nd GOI Platoon on New Riga can be inside Metis in a day and a half. They’re heavily armed, fast and very covert—and should it be necessary they’re unmatched in a fight. We need updated intel and a location on these ships.”
The Chairman raised an incredulous eyebrow. “They can stand up against those dreadnoughts?”
She gave the tiniest little smile. “Well, as much as anyone can. Perhaps more relevantly, they can bug out faster than anyone can. The report states communications aren’t working in Metis?”
“Correct. I’ve set one of my Tech groups working on it, but it’s not looking like an easy fix.”
The tiny smile had already faded to a tiny frown. “The lack of real-time intel is going to be problematic. I’ll instruct the team to send back drones with updates for the time being, until we devise a better solution. Chairman, on your order I’ll initiate the operation now.”
Vranas let out a long, heavy exhale and stared at the foreboding images, then nodded. “Authorized.”
“Very well. Director, is this Agent Marano available to accompany the team? His experience in Metis and observing the ships firsthand would be valuable.”
Graham rubbed at his forehead then ran the hand through his hair. “I don’t believe he’s in the region at the moment, but I’ll request he report to New Riga promptly.”
“Thank you. It will take around twelve hours to ready the mission. If he can’t be there in sixteen, we go without him.”
33
SIYANE
Space, Northeast Quadrant
* * *
Caleb was leaning against the back of the couch when she came upstairs. The expression on his face was as weighty as when they’d discovered the portal and its travelers. She paused at the top of the stairwell. “What is it?”
“I heard back from Volosk.”
“And?”
His eyes closed with a slow exhale that screamed weariness. He looked tired in a way she had never seen. Of course, she probably did, too.
“Alex, I need to get back home.”
“Why, so you can join the war effort?” Damn that sounded snippy. She hadn’t meant it. Unless it was true.
“So I can do my job. Listen, I don’t want this war any more than you do—almost certainly less—but they didn’t ask me.”
“And the army of invading aliens?”
“My top priority—my only priority. They want me to join a team heading into Metis for a more extensive investigation. Which is a good thing—it means they’re paying attention to the threat.”
She flinched and spun away, toward the kitchen. Tea. She needed tea. It kept her mother absurdly calm, no reason it shouldn’t do the same for her, right? Her pulse pounded in her ears, causing his voice to sound distant, all echo-y and muffled. Why did she feel as though she was about to panic?
“No.” Her voice was so soft she hardly heard it above the pounding.
Silence lingered for aeons.
“No…what?”
“No, you can’t go home right now. We passed New Orient hours ago and are well into Alliance space.” She half-turned to him, leaving herself the option to retreat again. “At this point I can’t afford to turn around. I’m sorry, you’ll have to come with me.”
He blinked at her. His jaw solidified into a chiseled line. His lips pursed together. He blinked again. She could see his eyes darken, until they were the color of the Pacific under a moonless night sky. “So I’m still your prisoner after all.”
“There’s no reason to look at it that way….”
“Not really seeing another way to look at it.”
“I told you before, I need you with me when we get to Earth.”
“You need me. Tell me Alex, how exactly do you need me—and don’t even try the ‘two voices are better than one’ line, because that is bullshit.”
She wished then she were the recipient of an expression of pained patience, as it beat being the recipient of the expression he wore right now by several parsecs. But she had no answer for him. She couldn’t have an answer for him.
“I guess you’re still my prisoner then.”
“Well. That’s…outstanding.” The tight muscles along the line of his jaw flexed. Abruptly he pushed off the couch and started down the stairs.
“Where are you going?”
“To take a shower. A long one.”
“But you already—”
He paused mid-step, but didn’t even glance up at her. “I. Don’t. Care.”
She watched him disappear down the stairwell. Terrific move, Alex. Top notch.
She walked slowly to the cockpit, tea forgotten. She sat and toed the chair in aimless circles and tried to puzzle out precisely why she had done it and what she had expected the result to be. But she hadn’t expected any result, because she hadn’t thought. Instead she had panicked and reacted instinctively.
Which wasn’t like her at all. She felt…detached, untethered. Like the firmament of the world had been yanked out from beneath her, leaving her adrift without an anchor. It was odd, since she usually felt more grounded in space, on her ship, sailing amongst the stars. Now though, her beloved stars had become the enemy. And she was on the verge of turning an ally into another one.
But when he reappeared upstairs half an hour later, she couldn’t bring herself to retract her declaration. She told herself once he cooled off it would be fine. “Listen—”
“Don’t.”
“I only—”
“And I said don’t.”
Okay, not quite cooled off just yet.
He practically stalked over to the data center. “Give me access to the raw data. I’m going to search for anything else to help the team heading in.”
When she didn’t respond, his gaze rose to find her. Her brow had furrowed in uncertainty at him.
“Alex, give me access to the raw data.”
The tone of his voice brokered no argument, permitted no resistance. She found she was standing and walking over.
She entered a sequence in the holo control panel then reached across and activated the interface in front of him. Their shoulders touched, and she looked up at him; he didn’t look down at her.
She swallowed and backed away. “You can access
whatever you need from there. I’ll be over here working…if you have any questions.”
34
EARTH
Houston
* * *
The ballroom gleamed from a ceiling adorned in thousands of fiber-optic icicles. The orchestra occupied a circular raised dais in the center of the room so their dulcet strains could be heard throughout the space without overpowering any portion of it. The bar and buffet lined the left wall, split in the middle by the cake—an enormous affair which spelled out ‘Happy 50th Anniversary.’ It should provide sufficient pieces for the 640 guests. She had underestimated.
War may have been declared the day before, but it had not yet hit the radar of this social scene. That much was certain.
Kennedy entered the room fashionably late, having just arrived on the suborbital from Manhattan where she had picked up her dress, her shoes and her date. The dress was sea foam lace, the shoes translucent strappy heels and the date the CEO of a startup solar-power satellite firm. He also happened to be an old friend from university, and more than happy to entertain her when she came to town…or Earth for that matter. It was a shame she had never managed to fall in love with him, because he genuinely was quite a good time and a good friend on top of it.
She leaned in close on his arm. “Oh my. I haven’t lived here in twenty years, I don’t recognize any of these people—except the famous ones, obviously. You run in these circles, help me out, Gabe.”
He chuckled. “Well, to the left is your brother, alongside his dashing husband. And there toward the middle near the orchestra are your mother and father. If I’m not mistaken, they’re talking to the Alliance Attorney General and the District Governor.”
“They are such ass-kissers. And you’re a smart ass.” She sighed and rolled her shoulders gamely. “I suppose we should go speak to them. But I see Tara Singleton over there eyeing the cake—we’re escaping to her at the soonest available opportunity. Oh, and drinks first.”
He gestured for her to lead the way. “You know, if you dislike your parents so much, why did you travel over three hundred parsecs to be here?”
“Because it is expected. Because I deplore making a scene, even by my absence. And because I don’t dislike them—I’m merely bored by them.”
Her parents were intelligent enough people. Capable and shrewd. In their years together they had served as excellent stewards of the family fortune, growing it by over forty percent while investing handsomely in the economic and environmental improvement of the Texas coast and Louisiana delta.
But they didn’t do anything. They didn’t make anything. The family fortune existed solely due to the genius and sheer determination of her great-great-grandmother, whose design of a commercially viable Woodward-Mach impulse engine opened the solar system to colonization and development. Sixty years later the sLume drive opened the galaxy to the same and rendered the impulse engine a commodity, but those were a very lucrative sixty years.
Though her great-great-grandmother had died in a construction accident during the early days of the Jupiter orbital habitats, her devoted husband had ensured her legacy endured. Yet each generation since had been less impressive. Her great-grandfather helped improve the radiation shielding necessary for interstellar travel, while her grandmother and granduncle contented themselves with managing—but not improving—deep core oil drilling in the Gulf. Her uncle was a representative in the Earth Alliance Assembly and served on several environmental committees. Her father…he simply married well.
“Dad, how are you?” She smiled broadly as she hugged him, careful not to spill a drop of her drink in the process. As she pulled back the smile remained firmly in place. “Mom, you look ravishing, as usual.”
“Oh, but you put me to shame, Kennedy dear. What a stunning gown, truly. And Mr. Hamilton, isn’t it? I believe I saw you on the cover of Galactic Entrepreneur Weekly recently, yes?”
He bowed at the waist to kiss her hand, ever the gentleman. “It was an honor to be mentioned.”
As he rose, Kennedy extended a hand to her parents’ companions in turn. “Governor Samus, it is so good to see you again. We met once, at the party my parents gave for my university graduation—I don’t presume you would remember, of course.”
“And of course I do.” The woman accepted her hand with refined elegance. As a politician, it presumably was her job to remember everyone she met lest they later prove relevant. “You had a bright future then, and it is my understanding you are not disappointing. Your father and mother both have been bragging on you nonstop.”
Her smile grew into genuineness. Just when her parents threatened to annoy her beyond reproach, they went and reminded her they loved her. She gave her mother a small, heartfelt nod in appreciation and turned to the distinguished-looking man standing beside them.
“Forgive me, I spend my time these days slaving over ship schematics on Erisen, far from the center of power….”
The man tilted his head in respect, then met her gaze. Sharp, piercing eyes which almost matched her dress but sparkled far more intensely met hers. “I would not expect you to know me even were you to frequent the Earth social scene, for I am only a humble public servant. Marcus Aguirre, Ms. Rossi. It is a pleasure.”
“The pleasure’s mine, I’m sure.” She directed her most diplomatic smile at him, though she found his gaze a tad unnerving. “What brings you to my parents’ little celebration? Given current events, I must say I’m surprised your presence isn’t required in Washington or London.”
She ignored Gabe’s subtle elbow to her side. She wasn’t insulting the man; she was curious. No, that was a lie. She wasn’t remotely curious, but rather making conversation until she found an opportunity for escape.
Aguirre’s mouth curled into a dark sneer for the briefest second; it was gone before she could be sure it had even been there, replaced by a grim frown. “Such unfortunate circumstances we find ourselves in. I had hoped we had at last moved beyond the need for war, but alas. When I leave here I will be traveling up to the EAO Orbital to join the Prime Minister in meeting with the governors of the colonies closest to Federation space. It will be a late night, I’m afraid—but I didn’t want to miss the occasion.”
“How do you know the family? Are you from the area?”
“Kennedy dear, I’m sure the Attorney General doesn’t—”
He gestured her mother silent. “In a manner of speaking. My family benefited from your parents’ Gulf rehabilitation initiatives in the second half of the 23rd, enough to pay my way through university until I earned a scholarship. I am showing my appreciation in the smallest possible way.”
“Well…” she paused to sip on her drink “…I imagine that is a very good story. I would love to hear it—but I must excuse myself for a moment first to speak to my brother. It was a pleasure seeing you again Governor, and meeting you, Mr. Aguirre. Mom, Dad, enjoy your party.”
She grasped Gabe’s hand firmly in hers and delicately yanked him away. Once they had put a safe distance between them and her parents she leaned in to whisper in his ear. “While I speak to Ian, you get us fresh drinks. And use your powers of persuasion to ensure they’re strong, please.”
PANDORA
Independent Colony
* * *
The Promenade was not the wealthiest district on Pandora, but it was close. The entertainment engaged in here included no less depraved activities than what occurred on The Boulevard; it was merely engaged in via far more refined surroundings by guests in far more refined clothing.
Gleaming mid-towers rose alongside the walkway, all constructed of a brushed chromium and all lit in a soft blue-white glow. The walkway appeared suspended twenty meters in the air, but in reality an invisible membrane extended out beyond it, ready to catch anyone who fell off the side due to clumsiness or intoxication. A small sign of the men behind the curtain.
Noah didn’t feel much more comfortable here than he did on The Boulevard, but his father had at least made sure he
knew how to act, and dress, in places such as this. He straightened his blazer and joined the fashionable denizens strolling toward their evening’s entertainment.
His destination was a club not far into the core of The Promenade. Distraire was a mid-range establishment striving to become something greater. As such, it tended to attract clientele seeking the same thing.
Mia Requelme fit the bill perfectly: a feisty young entrepreneur striving for more rarified heights. He admitted to being a bit surprised she’d agreed to come to Pandora…but he supposed any ghosts she harbored were by now either dead or long vacated.
Over a decade ago she had been a street rat here—a hacker and thief working for Eli, a lieutenant in the Triene cartel. Noah had looked out for her when he could, though his resources were pretty meager back then. Then one day she had simply vanished. He’d feared she was dead, especially since most of Eli’s operation got taken out around the same time.
But two years later she contacted him out of the blue, searching for some specialized items. Come to find out she had gotten away, gotten out from under Eli—somehow—and was running a home tech supply business on Romane. She ran a good deal more than that now.
He found her at the bar, slender legs crossed beneath a midnight black dress and significantly exposed by the slit which cut up it. A mane of even darker razor-straight hair fell across a toffee-hued shoulder. She sipped on a martini and scanned the crowd for him. Her mouth curled up ever so slightly when she spotted him.
He slid in beside her and dipped his chin in appreciation. “You are looking most stunning this evening, Mia.”
Her tongue ran lightly along subtly glossed lips. “What can I say, I clean up well.” Her gaze ran over him appraisingly. “As do you. I must admit, you are cutting quite a striking figure yourself these days.”
His grin sported a wicked flair as he accepted the drink the bartender placed in front of him with a nod. “I do try. So how is business on Romane?”
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