by M. D. Cooper
Erin hugged her. “You look great. I can hardly believe you’re the same person I watched the Marines carry out of the cave a little over a day ago. The wonders of medicine, huh?
“Yep,” Isa said. “The wonders of medicine. But we should go see him, then get a good night’s sleep.”
They were too late to catch that evening’s flight to Carthage, but Isa was looking forward to going home the next day. She’d had enough of Tyre for the moment. Though she hadn’t completed the infomentary for Placement Services, she was pretty sure her old boss, Stanford, would allow her some time to recuperate. She would return to the planet one day soon, though she didn’t think she would ever see it in the same light again.
“Sure,” Erin said as she stood and offered Isa her hand. “It’s time to view Martin.”
AFTER ACTION
STELLAR DATE: 03.27.8937 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Parliamentary Buildings, Landfall, Knossos Island
REGION: Carthage, New Canaan System
“What do you think?” Tanis asked as Erin stepped out of the groundcar and walked up to the wooden house on the hill.
She watched Erin take in the sights around them: the house with a wraparound veranda; beyond, a grassy slope that led down to a lake; and to the right, a long barn with corrals alongside it.
“You know…without the barn, it would look a lot like your lakehouse on the Intrepid,” Erin said at last.
Tanis laughed softly as she held out her hand to clasp Erin’s. “Well, I’d like to think I did better work on this one. At least it hasn’t seen so many renovations that it tremors at the sight of a hammer.”
Erin barked a short laugh. “You seem a lot more relaxed, Governor.”
Tanis groaned. “Not out here, you don’t. That’s ‘Tanis’ to you. And as for being more relaxed, well, not having to worry about a bunch of SSS terrorists trying to destroy a planet with stolen antimatter does make me feel a lot better.”
“You and me both,” Erin replied as they turned and walked toward the house. “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up on Pippa’s duplicity sooner.”
“There were a few errors made,” Tanis said darkly. “One of them in the enforcement of certain policies pertaining to the visual examination of antimatter reserves.”
Erin pursed her lips. “How did that happen, anyway? I don’t see how the Eos could have gone that long without anyone noticing.”
“They picked the right ship at the right time,” Tanis said as they climbed the steps to the veranda and walked around the perimeter of the house.
“The Eos’s crew was scheduled for shore leave, but the ship didn’t need any significant refit. I’m not going to name names, but there’s a chief of boat who won’t be chief of anything for a while, on account of heading to Athens without first verifying the antimatter reserves.”
“Damn,” Erin shook her head. “How…” She was at a loss for words and took the seat on rear deck that Tanis offered.
“Well, not everyone spent as much time out of stasis at Kapteyn’s Star as you and I did, Erin. To them, this is still the promised land, the utopia we all thought we’d come to. Even though we had to fight tooth and nail to get here…well, to a lot of people, those are just stories. Not something they had to live through.”
“I’ll not forget the cleanup on Victoria,” Erin said quietly. “Half the damage to that world was from our own ships.”
“Not our finest hour,” Tanis agreed. “But a lot of voices in the parliament had been clamoring for a decrease in our militarization. I’ve been trying to explain that we face real threats without. And now, it seems, within.”
“Does that mean you got the opposition to back down?” Erin asked.
Tanis nodded as a servitor came out with two glasses and a pitcher of lemonade. “Though it was an internal threat, the near destruction of a planet showed that we still must remain vigilant. And unlike the business with Hart, it’s something that everyone knows about. I won my resolution in parliament, and we’re going to start to see a few changes, Erin.”
Though Tanis knew that Erin understood what the stakes were—better than most—she could still see a hint of worry in the other woman’s face.
“That sounds ominous, Tanis.”
“Maybe a bit,” Tanis replied with a solemn nod. “But on top of this, the Transcend has increased the strength of their fleet at the heliopause. This may seem like a paradise, but make no mistake, we’re under siege. I’ve finally managed to convince all the right people of that, and can move forward with the next step for the fleet.”
Erin lifted the glass of lemonade that the servitor had poured. “You know, Tanis. When I joined the colony mission, it was to build space stations. You know, nice, clean, orbital things where people live?”
“What?” Tanis asked with a wink. “You got to build High Victoria, wasn’t that enough?”
“Tanis….”
“I’m kidding. Of course I know that’s where your heart is—well, there and other places.”
Erin chuckled and took another sip of her lemonade. “I have an idea for an amazing station. I’ve been calling it ‘The Palisades’.
“Oh?” Tanis raised a brow. “That sounds like good name. Tell me about it.”
Erin brought up a holo and began to relate the station’s design and attributes to Tanis in the excited tones that only a true engineer could muster.
Tanis had to admit that it looked like a fantastic facility, and could make for a great location for running the ISF’s training academy.
As Erin was wrapping up, Angela interrupted.
The women looked up to see two figures approaching on horseback, and Tanis rose. “Erin, would you like to say hi to Cary and Joe?”
Erin rose with a smile on her face. “Would I? It’s been ages since I’ve seen your little girl.”
PICNIC ON THE SAND
STELLAR DATE: 06.02.8937 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Marine Eco Station #14, Knossos Island
REGION: Carthage, New Canaan System
Isa spread a blanket on the sand and sat down. She took the cover off a large basket and lifted out the contents one by one, putting them down on the blanket. Cheese, olives, pickles, grapes, ham, salami, hummus, smoked salmon, sliced tomatoes interleaved with fresh basil and drizzled in olive oil, peaches, strawberries, figs, chutneys, sliced cucumber, potato salad, cold chicken, melon wrapped in prosciutto, guacamole, blueberries, egg salad, and bread fresh from Landfall that morning. She took out plates and cutlery too and arranged them. Everything was set, but she was the only one around for the celebratory picnic lunch by the sea.
“Hey,” she called to Erin. “Am I going to have to eat all of this by myself?”
Erin’s head and neck were the only parts of her that were visible above the waves as she floated, rising up and down just beyond the shore.
“I want to stay out here a little longer,” Erin called back. “It’s so relaxing.”
“But you’ve been there for hours,” Isa complained.
Erin did look as if she was having a great time, Isa had to admit, and she was glad. It was hard for Erin to take time off from work. The governor always seemed to rely on her to do one thing or another, and Erin was too conscientious and responsible to protest about her workload. The truth was, she was too competent for her own good. Isa wondered if she should encourage her to try to be a bit more dispensable, though deep down she knew there wasn’t much point. Erin was who she was, and no amount of gentle persuasion or nagging would change that.
Isa put down her hands on the blanket behind her and leaned back, propping herself up on her straightened arms and taking in the scene. Canaan Prime was high in the sky, its rays glinting on the rolling waves of the Med. In the distance, the ever-present gas clouds rose into sp
ace, dissipating into clouds of vapor in the upper reaches of the cobalt sky.
All she could hear were the waves and the steady, salty breeze that blew toward her. The day was perfect. Not too hot or too cold, pretty much like most days on Carthage.
It was a scene Isa had witnessed many times and expected to see many times more, now that she’d decided to make that spot her home. She didn’t think she would ever tire of it. For the moment, though, it looked like she was going to be the only one on the beach to enjoy it for a while.
Isa decided to make a start on the food. She was ravenous, and if she waited for anyone to join her, she might have to wait all afternoon. She picked out a fresh strawberry and bit into it, savoring the sweet juice that burst out. Next, she took a handful of blueberries and popped them into her mouth, and then she chose a perfectly ripe, luscious fresh fig.
The sound of someone sloshing through the water made her look up. Erin had finally decided to come and eat. She was probably worried that Isa would eat all the figs if she left it too long. She was wearing the barely-there bikini she’d worn when they’d tsunami-surfed in Athens, and she looked fantastic as always, despite the months she’d spent off-world. Not that Erin gave the slightest thought to how she looked, Isa was sure.
The sight of Erin in her bikini also reminded Isa of their night at the Athens hotel, when Erin had her revelation about the sabotage on Irridia and had leapt out of bed then stumbled around as she tried to find the manual switch to turn on the light, planning on returning to Carthage right way. Looking back, Erin had cut a comical figure, though it hadn’t seemed so—or at least not to Erin, Isa guessed—at the time. And of course, that moment had signalled the beginning of a particularly dark episode of their lives.
Erin was standing in Isa’s light, blocking out the sun, surveying the dishes. “This is quite a spread,” she said. “There’s enough here to feed Landfall.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Isa replied. “I couldn’t decide what to leave out, so I didn’t leave out anything.”
Erin finally chose what she wanted to eat and reached over Isa to pick up a fig.
“You’re dripping on me,” Isa said.
“Mmm, sorry,” Erin replied through a full mouth. She walked around the blanket to the other side and sat down, not bothering to dry off. The breeze from the Med would dry Erin’s wet skin and hair soon enough.
“These are fantastic,” Erin said, picking out another fig.
“They are, aren’t they?” said Isa. She filled a plate with prosciutto-wrapped melon pieces and tore a piece of bread from a loaf before smothering it in guacamole.
“So when are we watching the infomentary?” Erin asked.
“Not now,” Isa replied. “Maybe later. Or never. This is just to celebrate finishing it. We don’t have to watch it too.”
“Why not? I bet it’s great.”
“Well, Placement Services seemed happy enough with it,” Isa said. “They paid me, anyway.”
“Don’t put yourself down. I saw some of it already, remember? I thought you did an amazing job. New settlers will be flooding to Tyre in no time. They’ll be turning them away.”
“I hope so,” Isa said. “The place needs a fresh start after what the SSS did. An influx of new people full of enthusiasm for the planet will help the Tyrians move on from how close they came to dying. Tyre can finally get on its feet.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Erin. “Do we have anything to drink with this?”
“I believe our drinks should be coming soon,” Isa said, looking over her shoulder.
As if on cue, a figure appeared at the door of Martin’s beach house carrying a tray. He walked across the sand toward them, taking care to keep the tray level and avoid spilling their drinks.
When he reached them, Malcolm squatted down. “Two ice-cold beers and one fresh lemonade,” he said.
“Thanks. You aren’t having a beer?” Erin asked Isa, taking hers from the tray.
“No,” said Isa. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable about it.” She looked down at the slight bump above her bikini line.
“I’m sure the docs can fix things so you can drink alcohol if you want to,” said Erin.
“Yeah,” Isa said. “I think they can, but I don’t mind not being able to drink.” She lifted her glass of lemonade off the tray.
“How’s the work going?” Erin asked Malcolm.
“Not too bad, you know,” he replied. “The blue whales are getting too big for their site, that’s the main challenge at the moment. They have to be moved farther out to sea soon. It’s when they’re born, though, that things will really go crazy. Everything I’ve done so far has had its learning curve, but that one’s going to be a doozy. Not that I’m complaining. I love it. Talking of work, I just remembered something I have to do. Back in a minute.”
He walked back to the house, slipping on the loose sand.
“What about your work?” Isa asked Erin. “What have you been doing?”
Isa actually found listening to Erin talk about her job pretty boring and sometimes more than a little confusing, but she knew that Erin liked to talk about it, so she would always ask her. This time, however, Erin had something interesting to relate.
She took a sip of her beer and announced, “I saw Usef just before I came back. He was on a heliopause patrol.” She had an expression that said there was more to the encounter than she’d stated.
“You did?” Isa exclaimed. “How is he?”
She hadn’t seen her friend since that terrible night in the crystal cave, and then she’d only seen him for a moment before he’d carried Martin’s corpse away.
“He seemed fine,” Erin replied. Then she added, “But he wasn’t speaking to me.”
“What? That doesn’t sound like Usef. Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I mean, he spoke to me a little bit, but only when absolutely necessary. When I tried to chat with him, he wasn’t having any of it. He gave me this really dark look and walked off.”
“You’re kidding. What’s gotten under his skin?”
“I think I know what his problem is,” said Erin. “You remember when I found you and Martin in the cave on Tyre, and I shot Pippa? Well, I didn’t do what he told me to. I didn’t follow orders.”
“He’s pissed at you because you didn’t follow orders?” Isa was incredulous. “But those circumstances were kind of special, and it all happened months ago, and you aren’t even a Marine!”
“I know, right?”
Isa was staring at Erin, round-eyed with amazement. “Actually,” she said, “after seeing the way he acted around you on our way to Athens, I can just imagine what he was like.”
She imitated Usef’s “on duty” face, looked Erin up and down, and then sharply swept her head to the side in an exaggerated gesture of avoidance.
Erin snorted with laughter, and Isa began giggling too. Erin was laughing so hard she had to put her beer down.
“He’ll come around eventually,” said Isa. “And you know what, I guess he has a point. I mean, you were taking a hell of a risk, just shooting that bitch in the head like that. Things could have gone a lot worse than they did in the end.”
Erin wiped her eyes as her chuckles dried up. “Yeah, I know you’re right. And I know Usef is right to be annoyed. Honestly though, Isa? I didn’t make a choice about that. I already knew that Martin was in a bad way before I stepped into the space where you all were. I knew someone had hurt him, and I was in this uncontrolled rage. Then the second I saw that Martin was dead and you were there too, and Pippa was threatening your life, I didn’t think about it. I just reacted.” Erin was screwing the bottom of her can of beer into the sand, looking somber and thoughtful.
“From my viewpoint,” said Isa, “until you raised your visor, I totally thought you were a Marine, although a particularly short one. That was how you behaved; minus the not obeying orders part, I mean. I didn’t know about that.”
“Huh,” Erin said. “I a
cted like a Marine? Maybe I’m in the wrong job.”
“From the sound of it, Usef wouldn’t have you if you asked.”
“No. But I prefer being an engineer anyway. Though I learned something about myself that day.”
“I learned that you’re a damned good shot.”
Erin reached out over the spread of food and tucked Isa’s hair behind her ear. “It helps when it’s close range.”
“Did you hear what happened to Pigtail’s twin?” Isa asked.
“Anwen? I did. A prison sentence seems a bit harsh. I’m convinced she didn’t know what Pippa was involved in, even though they were close. She was too trusting and too loyal. Blindly loyal to someone who didn’t deserve it.”
The sound of splashing attracted their attention. “Martin’s back at last,” Isa announced, somewhat gratuitously.
He wasn’t far from the shore and was swimming quickly closer. When he reached shallow water, he stood up to walk the rest of the distance to the beach. As usual, Isa found herself checking out his chest, though not for sensual reasons. The sight of it always reminded her of the wound that had nearly killed him—or rather, had killed him. Only, Eamon had kept his brain alive and the skilled doctors at Ushu’s hospital had completed the save by bringing his body back to life. When she saw Martin’s chest, she almost had to reassure herself that he was still okay.
She guessed she felt like that because her mind was easily affected by traumatic sights and events. When she’d undergone the limbic decoupling treatment, the doctors hadn’t mentioned why her memories affected her so badly. They’d only focused on removing the emotions associated with them that had prevented her from truly moving on.
Her more recent grim memories remained untreated, but it was a comfort to know that if she ever wanted to, she could remove the emotional component of those recollections too. For the time being, she was content to live with them. The upside of her experiences meant that she appreciated Martin and Erin even more.
“My,” Martin said as he stopped at the picnic blanket, “that’s a lot of food.”