Blue Galaxy

by By Diane Dooley

  “What’s next?”

  “A three-course meal will be delivered in about an hour. Until then?”

  She rolled onto her side and snuggled up next to him, burying her face in his neck and inhaling deeply. “Mmm, you smell so good.”

  The feel of her in his arms broke him. “Why are you here?” he asked suddenly. “What are we doing?”

  With her finger, she caressed his eyebrow and ran down the length of his nose before touching his lips. “I like you, Javan. I like you very much. I like your sad eyes.” She kissed his forehead, then ran her fingers over his jaw. “I like how rough this feels when you kiss me. I love how smooth your skin is when you’ve just shaved. I love the taste of brandy on your lips. I love how you need a haircut.”

  Javan closed his eyes. She was using the word love again.

  “I love your body. So strong, so gentle.” She sighed. “So beautiful.” She bent and kissed his chest.

  “Oh, so you just want me for my body?”

  “Well, it is a very nice body, but there are other things.”

  “Such as?”

  “You’re kind, you’re funny, you’re clever—”

  He cut her off with a kiss. She grasped his head and responded wildly.

  They broke minutes later, breathing heavily.

  “Let’s just enjoy our time together,” she said.

  He flipped her over and spread her legs.

  “But we mustn’t fall in love.” She grasped his head and forced him to look into her eyes. “It would be too painful—for both of us. Don’t let it happen. Please…” Her last word trailed off in a moan as their bodies joined.

  He clenched his teeth so the words could not come out. But they were there in his head—words he would not admit, words he could not allow to leave his lips. He threw himself into their passion, shuttering his emotions and allowing his body to speak for him. And when she cried out his name, as she always did, he bit deeply into the pillow so that he would not say the words he knew he mustn’t.

  Javan woke refreshed yet exhausted and with a profound sense of satisfaction. He reached for the reason he felt so damn good, but she wasn’t there. “Sola?” He waited and listened to the resulting silence.

  He got out of bed and looked around, taking a few bites from the remains of their meal. He smiled, remembering her pleasure in the delicious food, how they had fed each other and how, later, they had fed on each other again. He knocked on the door of the water chamber, but there was no answer, so he pushed the door open. Her clothes were gone—and so was she.

  He hurriedly pulled on his clothes, cursing her under his breath. Maybe she’d just gone off to explore the station. But why the hell wouldn’t she have woken him? He paused midway through zipping up his pants as a disembodied voice rang through the room.

  “Checkout time in one hour, dear guests. Checkout time in one hour.”

  “Dammit, Sola.” He threw on the rest of his clothes and rushed out of the room, unsure whether to be worried or furious.

  Javan searched the Red Sector from top to bottom: the dives and the dens and the classy joints. She wasn’t in any of them, and his anger dwindled to concern. He even checked in with a highly amused Destin Grady, who offered to have his security people track her down. Javan paused only a moment before agreeing, despite knowing it was foolish to be in the position of owing Grady a favor. There was no telling what trouble the impulsive little fool had gotten herself into; Artemis Station wasn’t exactly the safest place in the universe. He stalked back to the docking bay to wait for Grady’s goons to do what they did best. He scowled and shoved his hands into the pockets of his flight jacket—and realized she’d taken the last of his loose credits.

  He came to a halt. There hadn’t been many credits, but she had stolen them. His thoughts whirled as he went over the last weeks in detail. That speech about how she must fulfill her duty—could it have been a lie? She’d been desperate for him to take her to Artemis. It was possible he’d gotten her all wrong, that she was taking matters into her own hands rather than submitting to the arranged marriage. He’d offered her a way out, and she’d refused. No doubt she thought she could do better. And she’d been so interested in Grady. He was too angry to think straight.

  His pace quickened as he came to the end of the tunnel. He turned toward his ship and tripped as he rounded the corner. Sprawling into a heap, he caught a flashing glance of startled brown eyes as he went down. Sola.

  He pulled himself into sitting position. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “I got lost. I couldn’t find my way back to the Red Sector.”

  “Why did you leave the room without waking me? Where have you been?”

  Pale and crying, she said, “I wanted to explore. I tried to wake you, but you just mumbled and went right back to sleep.”

  “I’ve been worried sick. Anything could have happened to you. What on earth were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking I would never get this chance again!”

  Javan stood and brushed himself down. “Where did you go?”

  She stood also. “I got bored quite quickly with the Red Sector.” She smiled tremulously. “Once you’ve seen one opium den, you’ve seen them all, so I started to explore the tunnels just to see where they go, and I ended up in the Blue Sector.”

  “Oh, of course. Running back to your own kind, huh? And did they welcome you with open arms?”

  “No, they didn’t. They said I’d be arrested if I didn’t leave. They were very strange for Blues. They didn’t believe I was one of them.”

  “They don’t have the same kind of status here as on Earth. They might be bent on ruling the galaxy, but they don’t rule here. It makes them suspicious and paranoid. And of course Grady keeps them that way. I think he lets them live here just to have fun with them. They have to obey someone they don’t even acknowledge as ever existing.”

  “I see. What a strange man he is.” She paused. “Javan, I borrowed some of your credits. I didn’t have any on me.”

  “How could you find your way to the Blue Sector, but couldn’t find your way back to the Red Sector? And how did you find your way here? It seems a little hard to believe.”

  “I…ah…I don’t know. I couldn’t find the Red Sector. I wandered for a while before I got to the docking tunnels, and I remembered the berth number. So…I came here and waited for you. I knew you’d come back to the ship eventually.”

  Javan cursed. “I’m now beholden to Grady. I’ll have to get a message to him to call off his dogs. He’s not the type of man you want to owe a favor to.”

  She hung her head and spoke quietly. “I bought you a gift. I wanted to give you something…to say thank you. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m sorry.” She put a package in his hands, then walked off toward the ship.

  Javan stared after her before unwrapping the present. It was a book—a rare and costly gift. He turned it over in his hands, and a lump leaped to his throat. The Blue Aegean. He flipped through the pictures of his beautiful, beloved birthplace and was inundated with memories. Fishing with his father, running home to show his mother what he’d caught. Memories of everything he had lost so young, when there had still been hope for their planet. She couldn’t know how precious a gift this was. As she disappeared into the ship, he wished there were a way to breach the chasm between them.

  He stalked over to the nearest com, contacted Grady and told him Sola had been found. Grady sounded disappointed. Bastard.

  Javan was having second thoughts about the way he’d treated her. While he’d been sleeping off his amatory excesses, he suspected she’d lain awake, thinking of the life sentence she was on her way to and desperate for a diversion—anything to take her mind off it. She didn’t seem to be sulking, though. She’d returned his credits with a smile and a word of thanks. He’d brought her meals, checked on her, but she’d said only that she couldn’t drag herself away from the files he’d compiled on Artemis Station and Destin Grady, as well as the on
es on the Three Worlds War. He was pleased she was so eager in fill in the holes in her education and get the undistorted version of Earth’s recent history. He was also amazed by her stamina. Every time he went to see her, she was immersed in the files. She barely slept. When she eventually surfaced, it was to ask a question.

  “Why?”

  He’d been unable to respond for a moment. She was dressed in a short sheer dress that swirled about her thighs and slid enticingly off her shoulders. His desire to touch her was overwhelming. It was flattering that she was so interested in his writing, but she seemed to have forgotten about his body.

  “Why what?”

  “Why have we permitted Grady to live after what he did?”

  “We? You mean the Blues?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, everything he did—the bombings, the massacres, the civilian deaths—was on the orders of the dictator. I would imagine he’s allowed to live because he’s useful and they couldn’t kill him without destroying Artemis, which is far too valuable to destroy.”

  “And because they fear him?”

  “Yes, they know what he is capable of. He stays away from Earth—he’s not safe there, but he gets around. He has allies on other planets, other stations. He’s no direct threat to power of the Blues or the expansion of their power, because he chooses not to be.”

  “He would be a formidable opponent if he ever decided to go against the dictator?”

  “Absolutely. He was a brilliant commander and utterly ruthless. But I don’t see it happening. He has too much to lose, and I can’t imagine many people rallying to his cause. He inspires fear, not loyalty, not sacrifice. Why so interested?”

  She smiled briefly. “Just filling in the gaps in my education. And of course whoever I’m going to marry is going to expect me to be useful to him. Knowledge is always useful.”

  “You seem…different.”

  She gave him a startled glance. “Meaning?”

  “Oh, I don’t know—like you’re on a mission or something?”

  She laughed. “It’s finally starting to seem real that I’m never going back to Earth. And if I’m to survive my new life, I have to be…prepared.”

  This beautiful woman had an inner core of determination. She was a survivor. She might turn the marriage into a success, no matter who her intended bridegroom was. He decided to give her a test. “So based on your knowledge of Artemis and your brief meeting with Grady, what would your counsel to your husband be regarding him?”

  “Based on my knowledge? I wouldn’t be qualified. But based on the information in your files, my advice would be to keep him allied no matter the price and to never, ever allow him to become your enemy. He could be very useful or very deadly.”

  “Yes, you’ve summed him up nicely.”

  “Your files are amazing, Javan. You wrote all of them?”

  “Yes, I told you. It’s how I fill the time on long journeys.”

  “Your account of the Battle of Lunar Base was incredibly moving. I felt like I was there. Where did you get all those details? They were fascinating.”

  Javan hesitated. “I knew some people who fought in that battle.”

  Sola watched him silently, waiting.

  Time to change the subject, he decided, and brought her attention to the jump coordinates he was about to enter. She watched him key in the numbers, listened to his explanation of what jump entailed, but remained silent.

  Until she said, “Tell me about your wife.”

  His hands froze on the keyboard. “Ex-wife.” He wondered how much he should tell her.

  “She was a Blue?”

  He nodded and resumed his fascination with the coordinates.

  “You must have done something to earn her, something out of the ordinary. It’s very rare for a Blue to be married to a…” She fell silent.

  “To a nobody?”

  “You couldn’t have been a nobody. Her family wouldn’t have permitted it. The dictator wouldn’t have approved it. So what did you do?”

  Javan knew he was being pumped for information, and Sola was certainly a woman with an overwhelming curiosity. He tapped in the final check on the coordinates and sat while it ran. “I was in the military. I served with distinction and was offered Morna as my reward.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I did as I was ordered, my lady. Now, it’s time to jump. Strap in.”

  Sola moved to obey, strapping herself in, tightening the leathers as he had shown her, but still deep in thought. Javan checked her restraints, bending to make sure everything was secure. She snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him close. She kissed his cheek, then his lips before burying her head in his neck and holding him to her fiercely.

  “I envy her,” she whispered.

  Javan couldn’t control the short laugh that erupted. Sola pushed him away, her eyes a world of hurt. Javan stroked a finger down her cheek and tightened the straps one last time. “Being married off to me was a massive blow to her pride. She went through with the marriage but made sure we both suffered for it. ”

  “She’s a fool.”

  “Really? How would you have liked being married off to a nobody? You may not know the man you are going to marry, but you can rest assured he is rich, powerful and entirely alliance-worthy. Right?”

  Sola shook her head. “But will he be kind like you are? Will he be intelligent like you are? Will he be handsome?” She put her hand to his face. “Like you are.”

  His sadness was complete. He was sure she loved him. Though she hid it behind her need to do her duty, it was right there in her eyes.

  “Did you love her?”

  “I tried to, Sola. I tried. Things might have worked out for us if I could have been the man she wanted me to be.”

  “Which was?”

  Javan turned away. “Not the man I was or could ever be. She divorced me.”

  “What did you do for the dictator to allow that? Once he’s approved a match, divorces aren’t allowed.”

  Javan was silent. His downfall and the reasons for it were common knowledge among the Blues, but apparently Sola had led a sheltered life. He sat in the command chair and tightened the straps with unnecessary force. “It’s time to jump. Close your eyes and focus on a particular thing or person or memory. Focus hard, Sola, or you’ll come out of jump vomiting. I’ll count down from five. We’re going across the deep dark to the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy. We’ll make a brief stop and jump back to the other side of the Milky Way.”

  Sola opened her mouth to speak, but Javan, eager to avoid any more questions, cut her off. “Pick something to focus on. Five, four, three, two, one and…jump!” He hit the jump key and held on to the vision of Sola with love in her eyes. Then the familiar terror of jump took him in its maelstrom, and his body screamed its protest. Seconds later it was over. He wasn’t vomiting, but he was crying. And when he looked over at Sola, she was too.

  She breathed a huge sigh. “No wonder you drink,” she whispered before passing out.

  He could have prepared her better, he realized as he carried her to his cabin. Even after thousands of jumps it wasn’t easy for him, and he should have had more consideration for her. Was he subconsciously punishing her for her disappearing act? Or for the fact that she had not yet begged him to save her from her fate—and it didn’t look like she was going to either. He laid her gently on his bunk. She trembled slightly, and he remembered the terror-filled dreams that had overcome him after his first jump so many years ago. He lay down beside her and cradled her in his arms, seeking to calm the rampant demons within her. Her lips moved, and he put his ear to them, trying to discern what terrible place her jump dream had taken her to. But her words were not the ramblings of a jump-drunk nightmare; they were terse and full of conviction, not fear.

  “We must rendezvous at Ramses,” she muttered. “Will you be there? Will you be there, Destin?”

  Javan uncurled his body from around her and stood. She’d referred to Grady by
his first name.

  The puzzle pieces started to fit together. She’d met with Grady. When he’d been going insane on Artemis trying to find her, she’d been with Grady. The gift she’d given him. He’d never heard of a book dealer on Artemis, but Grady was rumored to have an extensive collection. And she was planning to meet with him on Ramses Space Station. He’d heard of it but had never been there. It was a Blue stronghold and in a sector on the other side of the galaxy from where they were traveling. He remembered Sola’s desperate and imaginative efforts to get him to take her to Artemis Station. All to get him to take her to Grady. But why, then, had she reappeared? Why hadn’t she just stayed with Grady on Artemis?

  He left his cabin and paused outside to key in the locking mechanism. His head and his gut were telling him he was on to her; his heart was screaming its denial. He went into her cabin, where her luggage was neatly stacked and packed in the corner. He searched it thoroughly and found a plethora of her delightful outfits, a surprisingly large number of loose credits and the flight jacket and cap he’d given her. Inside the cap was a square of folded paper. Evidence of her meeting with Grady, he thought, but after opening it, he found only what looked suspiciously like a lock of his own dark hair. He stared down at it, confused.

  He replaced the items, logged on to the cabin puter and pulled up her search history. An incredibly long file popped up, and he examined it closely. All his entries—everything he’d written about the places he’d been, the history he’d witnessed, the people he’d met—had been opened and marked as read. Impossible. It would have taken years to read them all. She must have just scanned them for items of interest. He tapped into his encrypted personal files and checked the security history, then heaved a sigh of relief. She’d found them but had made no attempt to break the code. He threw himself onto her bunk, ignoring her light scent.

  He scratched at the rough hair on his chin. He’d offered her a way out of the arranged marriage. She’d refused, claiming she had to do her duty. But now it seemed she was going to stand up her bridegroom and meet up with Grady instead. Unhappy with the unknown elements of the arranged marriage, perhaps she had fallen back on the ancient right to arrange her own alliance. And perhaps she had chosen, of all people, Destin Grady.