Excelsior

by Jasper T. Scott

  Afraid. She was afraid of how he would react. What if he lashed out again? She could smell the alcohol on his breath from here. He wasn’t drunk, but he wasn’t sober either.

  “Háblame,” he implored. “Por favor. I’ll even talk to you in English. Just don’t ignore me.”

  Her lip twitched and she looked down into her tea cup. She began circling the rim of the cup with her index finger. “There’s something I need to tell you.” Looking up, she found his eyebrows raised, and head tilted with one ear angled toward her. He wrapped both hands around hers, trapping them between the tea cup and him.

  “Anything, my love. Tell me. I will listen.”

  Caty wanted to object to the way he kept addressing her in a romantic way, but she contained herself. David might not be the prince that Alexander was, but he was here, and he was trying to make amends. Maybe that also meant that he deserved a second chance. She took a deep breath and let it out in a shaky sigh. She could work her way up to it some more, but she didn’t want to draw this out. Sometimes it was easier just to deal with things head-on.

  “I’m pregnant,” she said.

  David flinched, his head jerking back as if she’d punched him. His hands recoiled from hers.

  “Como? Es imposible! Tienes…”

  “I’m three weeks late. I got a blood test. It’s positive. Then I got another one to be sure. It’s positive, too.”

  David’s eyes narrowed suddenly. “You tricked me?”

  Caty’s jaw dropped and hot rage came boiling into her chest, puffing it up with air. “I tricked you?”

  “You have an implant. Everyone does. You’re supposed to be sterile until it’s disabled. So you must have disabled it without telling me. Then you seduced me…” He began nodding as if it all made perfect sense. “All you wanted from me was a baby. You used me.”

  Caty shook her head, incredulous. “No.” Unbelievable! She began rising from the table. “Never mind. I’ll figure this out on my own.”

  “Wait.” He grabbed her wrist, turning it white.

  She eyed his hand. “Let me go.”

  “If you didn’t plan this, then how did it happen?”

  “I don’t know! Implants fail. Sometimes they move out of position or they just don’t work. They’re not a hundred percent effective.”

  His grip loosened and some of the suspicion left his gaze. She jerked her wrist out of his grasp and turned away, shaking her head.

  He caught up to her in a flash and stood in front of her, blocking her way. She felt cornered. Her heart began to pound…

  “I’m sorry for the way I reacted. Give me another chance.”

  Caty frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, regarding him with thinly pressed lips. She thought she’d just given him a second chance. Now he wants a third. Three strikes, you’re out.

  He went on, “I’m still processing. This is… good news,” he said, as if trying to convince himself. “Yes.” Now he smiled, fully convinced. “Very good news. I promise I will do everything I can to be the best father, and… more than just a father, if that’s what you want.”

  “I don’t know what I want yet, but you are the father, so you’d better be a good one.”

  “I will. The best.” David grinned.

  “Good. You can start by not drinking anymore.”

  David blinked, shocked. Then his lips curved up in one corner. “If I don’t drink, I’ll die of thirst. I have to hydrate myself.”

  “I agree, but water is better than alcohol for that. No more alcohol, David. I’m serious.”

  His wry expression vanished, and he blew out a sudden breath. “I need to relax somehow! You never see me drunk do you?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you just hide it well.”

  He shook his head. “One or two drinks a day, that’s it.”

  “Every day. And how do I know that one or two doesn’t turn into three or four? Listen, you want to make this work, you want me to forgive you, you’re going to have to show me you’re serious.”

  David hesitated, eyes narrowed, teeth grinding… at last, he nodded. “Okay. For you, mi amor.”

  “Good, but alcoholics don’t just quit because they want to.”

  “I’m not an—”

  She held up a hand to stop him. “Whether or not you are one, you’re going to go get yourself adjusted. Tell them you slapped me, and that you have problems with alcohol. You’re in the North, not the South. All it takes is a few minutes in a gene parlor and you’ll be cured.”

  “You want to turn me into a puppy dog who will sit and roll over when he’s told? How am I supposed to protect you if you take away all of my strength?”

  “You slapped me. I had a bruise on my cheek for two days. Mrs Walton asked me about it, and I had to lie and say I was robbed so that the police wouldn’t come for you. Does that sound like protecting me?” David swallowed visibly, but said nothing. “You’ve been coming home smelling like beer for weeks… months now that I think about it, and that’s the last thing you need with your impulse control problems.”

  “I…”

  “Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself, and for your baby.”

  “I will go tomorrow. Te prometo.”

  “Good. I want to see the adjustment report. If we feel like they over-adjusted something, we’ll go back and fix it.”

  David began nodding. Before she knew it, he wrapped her up in a big bear hug, picking her up off the ground and spinning her in a circle. “Te amo, Catalina!”

  He loved her. Did she love him? Did it matter? They were going to have a baby together, and for that baby’s sake, she had to do her best to make things work. “Yo tambien te amo, David,” she said, but it came out sounding like a question.

  He put her down and withdrew to an arm’s length to look her in the eye. “Me amas?”

  He obviously didn’t hear the question mark. She hesitated. “I care about you,” she said, trying to backtrack from love.

  “What about Alex?” David asked, again choosing not to read between the lines.

  “He sent me a message over a year ago, telling me to move on. To be happy. I just got it—the day that you slapped me.”

  David’s eyebrows floated up. “He told you to move on?” He shook his head. “Then he never loved you.”

  Caty recoiled from him, shoving him away. “How dare you!”

  David took a deep breath and held up his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. What I meant was… I can’t imagine ever letting you go. I don’t know how he could do that if he still loves you. Maybe he has also moved on, and that is why he told you to do the same.”

  Caty’s jaw dropped. That hadn’t occurred to her, but maybe it should have. He was a captain on a ship with plenty of women, and over the past ten years he’d spent far more time with them than he had with her. Maybe he’d been cheating on her for years already and she hadn’t even known? She remembered the engraved pocket watch she’d given him before he left, and then she remembered that he hadn’t thought to get her a parting gift. Suddenly, that looked more like neglect and emotional distancing than simple forgetfulness.

  “I am sorry, Caty. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s gone. What we had is in the past. It’s time to focus on what lies ahead. Even if he comes back, it’s too late. Too much time has passed, and I’m having a baby with you, not him.

  David nodded, stepping in close to her. “You have made me a very happy man.”

  Caty searched his eyes, trying to gauge the truth of those words. The love she saw shining in his gaze warmed her heart and melted some of the ice between them. She relaxed her posture and smiled. “Get yourself adjusted, David. We have a whole life ahead of us, and I need you to be the best possible version of yourself if we’re going to make it work.”

  “I will, and it will work.” He leaned in for a kiss. Caty resisted the urge to turn away, reminding herself that she had to make an effort, too. The scent and
taste of him filled her nostrils, and she relaxed still further. He wrapped his arms around her, and suddenly the whole world felt right. For a brief, blissful moment, forgetting didn’t seem so hard.

  She forgot all about David’s outburst, and all about Alex. This time instead of feeling guilty, she felt justified. She knew she was doing the right thing. They hadn’t planned to get pregnant, but by some miracle her implant had failed, and maybe that was a sign—something telling her to move on.

  David withdrew, leaving her in a dreamy bubble of hope. Suddenly, her world looked bright, as if from now on everything was only going to get better, not worse.

  Onward and upwards, she thought.

  Chapter 32

  June 6th, 2790

  (The Lincoln’s Frame of Reference)

  “I’ll take him from here, Doctor,” Korbin said.

  Doctor Crespin looked uncertain. “I should be the one to escort him to the G-tanks. He is my responsibility.”

  “You have enough to do as it is. The crew’s safety is just as much my responsibility as it is yours. I’ll make sure he doesn’t take off his helmet or otherwise compromise the integrity of this ship.”

  Crespin scratched at the stubble on his face. Obviously he needed to give himself another round of depilatory treatments before he entered the tanks. “Okay.”

  Korbin flashed a smile and turned to Max. “Let’s go.”

  They marched away, out the doors from the med center and down the corridor to the nearest elevator. The Lincoln was still under one G of acceleration, so gravity was functioning normally throughout the central column, but soon, once everyone was safely ensconced in the G-tanks, the ship would go from one G to ten and continue that way for almost three weeks while it accelerated up to half the speed of light.

  As they reached the elevator doors, Korbin glanced around to make sure they were alone together, and then she sent Max a private comms—text only, which she composed mentally via her cerebral implant.

  The captain sent the mission data through the wormhole ahead of us in case something happens to the ship on the way home. Should we do the same?

  Max glanced her way before replying. I’ll make it happen.

  How?

  I have a way to stay awake and get out of the G-tanks while everyone else is asleep.

  Korbin blinked, shocked. How? she asked again.

  Too complicated to get into right now. Just trust me. I can do it.

  You’ll be crushed like a bug.

  There’s a half an hour window between entering the G-tanks and accelerating up to speed. That’s long enough. How do you think I got the nav data?

  She had to admit that did answer a nagging question. Okay, but this is different than simply stealing data. Even if you find a way to use the Lincoln’s comms to send the data, the Alliance will pick up any transmission you send.

  I’ll use Confederacy encryption algorithms.

  Then they’ll know there’s a traitor on board.

  Max shook his head. But they won’t know who, and we already have Williams to pin it on.

  He’s in the brig.

  I’ll plant the data drives and a hacked comm band with a backdoor into the Lincoln’s systems in his personal effects. People will wonder how he smuggled that into the brig, but most will just take it at face value.

  And if they don’t?

  Then one of us needs to take the fall. I’m too valuable to compromise myself, so it will have to be you.

  Korbin considered that with a frown. Her reconditioning told her to leave self-interest out of her decision-making, and when relying on unbiased logic, comparing her value to the value of a spy who was the president’s direct representative and plenipotentiary to the Alliance, there was no contest.

  Agreed, she texted back. I’ll take the fall if it comes to it.

  You have the perfect excuse. You were captured and reconditioned.

  Yes.

  Korbin turned and hit the call button for the elevator. They waited a few moments for it to arrive. When it did, the doors parted to reveal Captain Alexander.

  “Korbin—I thought you would be waiting at the G-tanks by now.”

  She shook her head. “I came to check on Max first.”

  Alexander appeared to notice Max for the first time. “Oh, so did I,” he said. “I guess we can go up together, then.”

  Korbin smiled. “I guess so, sir.”

  Alexander held the doors open for them as they walked in, and Max traded a look with her when his back was turned.

  Leave everything to me, he texted.

  She gave no reply, afraid that Alexander would somehow overhear their very thoughts, but of course that was impossible.

  “Something on your mind, Korbin?” Alexander asked, turning to her with eyebrows raised.

  She started, afraid that he somehow had read her mind.

  “No, sir, why do you ask?”

  “You’re unusually quiet.”

  She shook her head and smiled. “Just thinking about my kids back home.”

  “I’m sure they’re fine. We need to be positive, Commander.”

  She nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  *

  Alexander stood in front of G-tank number 23 once more, stripping out of his pressure suit and uniform to stow them in the locker beside the tank. As he rolled up his uniform, he noticed the heavy weight in the inside pocket of the jacket. That had to be the pocket watch his wife had given him. He unrolled the uniform and withdrew it. He studied the engravings, running his thumb over them as he read. He smiled and depressed the clasp at the top of the watch, popping it open. Inside he saw the photograph of him and Caty. Then his eyes drifted down to study the time. The hands pointed to eleven and one—11:05, and the date read JUN|6|90.

  Just under three weeks had passed since they’d emerged from the G-tanks. Not bad considering they’d been afraid they might end up stuck in the Wonderland system for years, not weeks.

  “See you on the other side, Captain,” McAdams said from the tank beside his as Doctor Crespin opened the hatch for her.

  He nodded to her, pretending not to notice her nakedness, and making sure to keep his eyes on her face. “See you in seventy days, Lieutenant.” She walked inside, giving him a nice view of her rear. He looked away with a frown, chastising himself for allowing his gaze to linger. You’re a married man.

  “All ready over here, Captain?” Doctor Crespin asked.

  Alexander nodded and noticed the doctor’s gaze sliding down to the pocket watch in his hand. “I didn’t have you pegged for an antique collector,” Crespin said.

  “A memento from my wife,” Alexander explained.

  “So you can count the seconds you’re apart,” he said, nodding. “Sounds like an appropriate gift from a loving wife.”

  “It was. I just hope it still is.”

  Crespin nodded absently as he configured the tank, as if he understood what Alexander meant by that. “All set.” The tank doors slid open, and lights snapped on inside the small chamber. “If there are no unforeseen emergencies, you’ll be waking up in seventy days—from our frame of reference that will be August 15th, 2790. Of course, from Earth’s frame of reference it will be about two years later than that. You know—even if we don’t end up colonizing Wonderland, I bet we could use the Looking Glass to sell one-way tickets to the future.”

  Alexander smiled. “But who would buy them?”

  Crespin shrugged, and Seth Ryder chimed in from the tank beside Alexander’s. “If we’re lucky, the entire Confederacy will. Maybe we can work a deal where we take turns ruling Earth. Their government schedules a trip to the future, and when they come back it’s their turn.”

  Alexander sent Seth a bland smile. “I doubt that will fly. More likely we’ll end up nuking each other until everyone is lining up to buy tickets to a future where Earth might be habitable again.”

  “Yeah…” Seth said, and looked away.

  Alexander grimaced. Not the best comment to make unde
r the circumstances. He was going to have to get his implants adjusted for impulsivity.

  “Captain,” Crespin gestured for him to enter the tank. “By your leave, sir.”

  Alexander finished stowing his belongings in the locker and nodded to the doctor before entering the tank. He walked straight up to the harness and life support in the center of the chamber and began separating his life support lines. The door of the tank slid shut with an echoing boom. Alexander glanced at the now-shut door and shivered. He looked up at the glaring overhead lights inside the tank, then all around at the gleaming walls, and he felt trapped. The tank could easily double for a coffin if something happened in transit.