Senescence (Jezebel's Ladder Book 5)

by Scott Rhine

  Laura couldn’t meet her mother’s eyes. “I’ve done a lot of awful things. Stu is one of the few people who sees me as … pure. I need his vision of the world. Sometimes you just know when someone is right.” After a pause, she asked, “How did you manage to win over my father?”

  “Conrad was a teaching assistant at Sirius Academy and my best friend for years.” Mira described a slow courtship neither had recognized. “On my eighteenth birthday, he resigned his position to train as an astronaut with my team. Everyone else knew he loved me. Someone finally told me what was going on before Kaguya could steal him.”

  “Wow. I heard almost the same story from my mom with her as the love interest. I know she loves the commander. You can’t fake that for twenty years.”

  Mira halted in a strawberry field to pick up runners that were trying to stray into other fields. “Her feelings didn’t keep her from committing atrocities.”

  “People call you and my father criminals,” Laura said, not ready for any more family revelations. “After everything you did to her, Mother defended both of you and your mission to space. Try to have the same kindness toward her and find the good.”

  “Fine.” Mira knelt in the well-ordered row, faced away. “Your mother and I took many of the same classes with Conrad. She was prettier, popular, and, as far as he knew, richer. She was even kind to us, but Conrad chose me. Kaguya ignored that choice and tried to force him to bond to her—twice. Her having my eggs, our babies, stolen feels like the third strike to me.”

  “I would have been destroyed without her,” Laura insisted.

  Mira placed her forehead on the ground and shouted each word for emphasis. “I missed twenty years with you. I’ll never have another child!” This iron-willed woman who had driven the most noble and far-reaching treason of the century sobbed into the dirt.

  “But she brought Monty and me here so you could have the next hundred years with us.” Laura knelt beside her. “We have to find the positive.” She held her new mother, much as she held her old during her spells, stroking her back and whispering sweet phrases.

  Mira whispered, “I won’t have a hundred years. Finding the route back to Earth aged my nervous system by a decade. I hated my mother for burning out the way she did, but she was right. There’s always another emergency, another reason to burn my personal candle at both ends.”

  ****

  With pauses for discussion and tourism, Laura’s journey to the Llewellyn farm took three hours. Near dusk, Stu had his feet propped up on his porch railing. A candle lit the picture window behind him. Laura hugged her mother at the gate to the white picket fence, reluctant to part.

  Stu said, “We can meet Mira for breakfast before our shift tomorrow.”

  Laura glided up the yellow brick path to the farmhouse. It was primitive and pitifully small, but signs of love were everywhere, from the handmade curtains to the lacquered porch swing. Several of the boxes from her Tokyo apartment were stacked beside the living room window.

  Mira sniffed. “Back to duty so soon?”

  “Everyone is,” Stu explained. “We’re coordinating a rescue mission for Aunt Mary and the other Rio folks several days from now. That will give our allies time to move into place and Snowflake time to rebuild.”

  “You actually contacted people from Earth?” asked Mira.

  “Yeah. That was risky, but we found our third enemy—something that started as a Russian oil company. Our opposition has a huge arsenal. We’re still mapping the illegal stuff in orbit: beam weapons, ore haulers that disappeared from manifests, secret lunar outposts, and spy gear.”

  “Where’s Kaguya?” Laura asked.

  “Bunking with Nurse Yvette. Outhouses don’t appeal to Kaguya, and she thought you and I should have some time alone.”

  “You don’t sound excited,” Laura noted, giving Stu a peck on the cheek.

  “Kaguya’s volunteered to spearhead a dangerous distraction that should cripple Mori’s offensive capability.”

  Laura panicked. “What did you people talk her into? She gets like a little girl when she’s without me for too long.”

  “I know,” Stu said, stroking her hair. “That’s why Mo and I will be going with her as backup.”

  “You’re risking yourself, too? Without talking to me first?”

  Mira said, “The planning committee wouldn’t commit to anything like this without me. We have to assume that Mori can hear anything we say over our radios outside this ship.”

  “Nothing is decided,” Stu said, holding up both hands. “The commander just listened to proposals. I told the others, no matter what happened, I wouldn’t let them endanger my mother-in-law without me flying the getaway vehicle.”

  “Oh.” Damn, he always follows up a boneheaded mistake with something sweet. “She’ll need to take my wristwatch, my choker, and whatever other useful jewelry I can find.”

  “Okay, I know the choker can change her voice so people won’t recognize her, but why the watch?”

  “Analog. The blinking dots on the digital ones can send her into a trance,” Laura said, giving a partial answer. No sense giving away all her secrets. “You want her to be on time, don’t you?”

  Mira pressed for details, but Stu replied, “Tomorrow is soon enough, ma’am. I kept the others away from you two for the whole day, but I promised to carry my bride over our threshold.”

  “Oh seven hundred it is, Ambassador Llewellyn. Thank you for introducing us.” Mira wandered toward the lamplights of town with a few backward glances.

  Laura waved good-bye.

  “May I?” Stu opened the front door.

  Laura nodded, and he swept her off her feet. He carried her through the door, gazing adoringly into her face. From the living room, she could smell something delicious wafting from the kitchen. “Heavenly.”

  “Apple pie, from our trees. I peeled and sliced them while I was waiting. Gave me something to do,” he admitted, setting her on her feet.

  “Is that all you had planned for the evening?” she asked with a smirk.

  “I also rolled the leftover crust in cinnamon and sugar to make those little—”

  She shut him up with a kiss on the lips. “Are there any other rooms you’d like to show me?”

  He led her to three doors. “That’s the attic. That’s my old bedroom, and that’s the room my parents used.”

  Only his childhood room was open, so she led him inside. He had another candle burning beside the full-sized bed.

  “So, Ambassador, you’re going on a dangerous mission that you may not return from.” Laura unzipped his flight suit down to his underwear. His chest wasn’t the strongest or the hairiest she’d ever seen, but it would do. She was in love with the man, not the body.

  “Y-yes, ma’am.”

  She kissed his neck, causing him to gasp. “Then as a patriotic Sanctuarian, I should give you a hero’s send off.”

  His eyes were riveted on her as she unzipped her own outfit. “I don’t need fireworks, Laura. I just want to be able to lie next to you the whole night.”

  “The whole night it is, then,” Laura agreed. Opening their personal link, she shared her own burning excitement to overcome his shy reserve. The press of warm skin against skin drove all semblance of thought from his head. She knew he would give her whatever she wanted.

  ****

  As the sun came up, Laura lay in Stu’s arms eating apple pie straight from the pan. He’s still here. This is real. His eyes followed her every movement. “What?” she asked.

  “Everything you do is sensuous. Watching you is better than chocolate.”

  She smiled and licked her spoon clean in what she hoped was a suggestive manner.

  “Would you like me to make you eggs?” he offered.

  For some reason, she felt that he was getting the short end of the partnership. Without wealth, she didn’t have much to offer. “I’m sorry I don’t cook or clean. I’m afraid I won’t be a very good wife.”

  “Pilots ha
ve a lot a time off. I can handle that. You’re great at other things.”

  “Like sex?” she teased.

  “No complaints, but I meant your skills with genetics and trials. You’re also an Index and a Quantum Computer—a natural for the planning committee. What would you like for breakfast?”

  “You’re not leaving this bed.” Laura snuggled into him like a blanket.

  Several minutes later, a chime sounded. He sat up. “I have to check my mail. It could be urgent.”

  She wrestled with him until they were both giggling. Eventually, he shouted, “Audio on. Read subject.”

  Through a speaker in the night stand, Conrad’s voice said, “Requested Vacation.”

  “Wait, you have electricity?” asked Laura.

  “Of course. I used candles because girls like that sort of thing. Read body,” Stu ordered.

  Conrad’s voice continued. “Stewart, because your combat mission has been approved, you’ve been granted leave for the next forty-eight hours.”

  Stu relaxed. “That means we can get some sleep.”

  Yeah, that’s what it means.

  She waited for him to drift off while spooning. Then she moved subtly. When he developed the inevitable erection, she gave him the most erotic wake-up call of his life.

  Chapter 46 – Family

  Laura woke to sunlight streaming through a gap in the yellow window blinds. She stretched like a satisfied cat, reaching for Stu. His side of the bed was empty. For a terrible moment, she panicked. She poked her head into the hall. She smelled tea brewing but no sign of her lover … husband. “Where is he?”

  “Clarify,” requested a neutral voice from the nightstand.

  “You take commands from me?” asked Laura.

  “Brother Stewart has authorized you for all functions except navigation.”

  “Where is Stewart?” she asked cautiously.

  “Harvesting chicken eggs and patrolling for lizard predators.”

  “Are you Snowflake?”

  “Yes, Laura Stewart-mate.”

  “Just Laura, please. Are you feeling better now?”

  “Better than what? Specify comparator and scale.”

  “Your functions seem improved since Stu patched you up. What percent of normal operation have you recovered in your damaged areas?”

  “Fifty-one, primarily due to improved connectivity. Progress should continue at approximately one-third of the remaining connections per day. Sixty-seven percent by tomorrow. Seventy-eight by the next—”

  “Happy to hear that.” In truth, the math made her head swim a bit, but she wanted to connect with her husband’s family. “Stu was very concerned about you when we were on Earth.”

  “Earth has many risk factors we cannot predict or control. Mother Mercy was greatly worried about Brother Stewart.”

  Laura padded into the kitchen. Steward had left an upside-down teacup with jars of honey and brownish sugar. When she flipped the cup, she found a pink flower inside. Smiling, she tucked the flower behind her ear and poured herself a cup. Making herself at home, she wandered to the window and peeked out at the coops. Suddenly, there was a flurry of action and an explosion of white.

  Chickens erupted eight meters into the air, squawking and shedding feathers. For the sake of modesty, Laura grabbed the checkered tablecloth on the way past and ran out the back door into the fenced yard.

  The birds dropped from the sky in slow motion, flapping to slow their fall. Are they flying? Something the size and shape of a submarine sandwich crashed onto the fence.

  Behind a large oak, Stu whooped and blew off the tip of his finger as if it were a gunslinger’s pistol. Then he scooped up a large lizard by the tail. “Barbeque at the cafeteria tonight! The trick is to wait until they pounce, and you can use their own energy against them.”

  “Are you okay?” Laura asked.

  “Sure, just playing cowboys and Indians with the—Wow!” He jogged over to the back door. “You might want to put something on. People in the tents could see you.”

  In the dim light approaching the house the night before, she hadn’t noticed the array of green tents lining the path from the house to the hollow in the hills. Oops. Blocking any view from beyond, he hung the lizard from a hook and opened the door for her.

  As she scampered into the bedroom, his eyes roved over her exposed behind. Knowing he was watching, she added a little extra motion while she picked up her clothes.

  “God, you’re so beautiful,” he said.

  “Fishing for another round already?” she teased. “You promised me dinner, but I’m so weak from hunger, I might not be able to fend off your advances.”

  “I wouldn’t—” he protested.

  She kissed his cheek. “I know. Get my brush, will you? If other people are going to see me, I want to look presentable. Someone has been messing up my hair for hours.”

  Sheepish, he disappeared while she slid into her jumper. A few moments later, he returned with a different brush with a tortoiseshell pattern on the back. “I couldn’t find yours in all the boxes, but you can borrow mine.”

  “Were you throwing grenades at those lizards?” she asked.

  “Huh? No weapons are allowed on this side of the landing bay,” Stu replied. “I just disable gravity while they’re jumping. Their own energy kills them.”

  “Lizards don’t fly so much as they plummet.”

  “Exactly,” Stu said. Gazing at her with admiration, he asked, “Before we eat, could you do me a personal favor?”

  “Mmm. We’re partners. You can ask me for anything,” she said, expecting a romantic request.

  Holding her hand, he asked, “I know I’m doing this out of order, but they were busy before. Could you please come with me to meet my parents?”

  “Of course,” Laura said. Then she glanced at her outfit. “Maybe I should change into something a little more elegant.”

  “You’re perfect the way you are,” he said.

  Laura let him lead her out the back. “You’re biased.”

  Together, they crossed the yard and exited through the back gate. Built into a niche of the mountainside was an eight-sided barn. The outer ring of the shelter held barrels of flour and drums of olive oil. The interior had high windows and barrels of apples. Laura said, “This is just a storage—” Then she saw the incredible frescoes behind the boxes and barrels.

  “Sojiro painted each of the couples as Greek myths,” Stu explained.

  “This is better than a trip to the Louvre. The Rape of Persephone—that’s the nurse. Zeus is my father. With that beard, he could be Monty.” Recognizing winged Eros seducing a princess, she said, “Oh. Being in love made your mother radiant.”

  “Thank you,” said a woman’s voice from a triangular archway in the mountainside.

  Laura swallowed. “That opening wasn’t there a moment ago.”

  “Please don’t tell anyone,” Stu said. “This is the entrance to the backup control room.”

  “Are we going in?” Laura asked.

  “No,” said the woman’s voice. “I want my son to enjoy a long life with his chosen bond.”

  “Thank you. You don’t even know me.”

  “I know your parents, and my son. He says you saved his life a few times.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Call me Mercy.”

  “Are you … dead?”

  “Transcended. To take control of the starship, some of us had to become it.”

  Laura looked over at Stu. His face was a mask. “But you can come back?”

  “After thirteen years of integration, the journey is somewhat one-directional.”

  “You gave your life so we could have Sanctuary?” Through her lingering link with Stu, she could feel the sting of this wound.

  “So my family and friends could survive. Before that, I had five blissful years with my family. I can’t complain.”

  She couldn’t help but mist up, imagining a woman with a loving husband and child giving them u
p. “Does it hurt to see them and not be able to touch?”

  “It hurts more when I know Stu’s in trouble or lonely and I can’t help.”

  Laura wrapped an arm around her husband. “I’ll be here for that.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No,” Laura replied. “Thank you for raising a gentleman.”

  “That was Lou,” Mercy said. “He can’t talk right now because he’s evading searchers. If Stewart is anything like his father, he’ll make a lot of mistakes, but you’ll never be able to stay mad at him long.”

  Chapter 47 – Diversion

  Kaguya was already in the shuttle when Stu wandered in, fifteen minutes before the launch deadline. Because of the device wrapped around her throat, her voice had the whiskey edge from Salome’s earlier disguise. “You look pleasantly rumpled.”

  She had to be referring to his hair because his clothes were hidden under the spacesuit.

  Stu had hoped to check the repair patches Risa had placed to make the leaky shuttle spaceworthy, but there was no time left. He clipped into the pilot’s chair and fumbled with his headset. “Status?”

  “Backwards.”

  His mouthpiece was, indeed, pointing the wrong way, and he corrected his mistake. “How was your induction into the ranks of ethics enforcement?”

  “Yvette was very gentle, and I didn’t experience any seizures. My mind is still adjusting, like dilated pupils after a visit to the eye doctor. Full integration takes days. Oddly enough, Eowyn was my biggest helper in the infirmary. She fights the effects of the Page every day, and she truly regretted threatening me. After I compulsively told her several things my father has done to me, she knows we’re on the same side. We’re not friends, but we can trust each other enough for this mission.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for your ceremony.” Stu flipped switches and checked assorted air and energy levels. “I sent Monty to hold your hand.”

  “Thank you. He thinks a lot of you. Maybe you could introduce him to one of your little friends, like that Fiona girl.”

  Stu grimaced. “Monty isn’t ready for that kind of interaction yet. He looks big on the outside, but he’s younger than me. I asked him to keep an eye on Joan while I’m gone. She sort of represents my childhood here. If he spends enough time with her, I’m hoping he’ll recover some of the innocent times he missed in prison.”