“This is why I like working with you, Captain,” said the first officer.
With the power reserved from the engine shutdown, Rian bolstered the shields. “Ten seconds,” said Shraft through his comm badge, and Rian relayed that information to the bridge. He and Kostin activated the ship’s manual controls. It veered sharply to port, and a few people on the bridge were knocked over by the impact.
The Nym ship exploded cleanly on their viewscreen. Debris rained on the Defiant before floating away, and the red alert sirens began wailing again. Rian cut the noise, and the red lights kept flashing silently.
“Damage?” Rian asked the crew.
“None,” said Kostin proudly. He and Rian corrected the ship’s angle, and Rian did a quick check of the ship’s systems to be sure. There were certainly going to be reports of injuries, but the life form sensors told him everyone on board was alive. He powered the engines again, and the ship jolted and began its familiar thrum beneath their feet.
“Captain,” said Asmo from behind him. He turned around. Lily was awake. He bent down and helped her to her feet.
“I’m really here,” she said.
He nodded.
“You got me out,” she said.
“I had a lot of help.”
“What the hell just happened?” She rotated her shoulder. “I was slammed into the floor and then everything went dark.” Tears formed in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “I killed some of them,” she said.
He motioned to wipe away some of them, then saw the Nym blood dried on his palms and lowered his hands. “I know,” he said. “You did the right thing. I was amazed at what you did.”
“I’m amazed I did that,” she said and scrubbed at her eyes with the back of a grimy hand. She looked at the blood congealing on her skin and made a sound of disgust. “God,” she sighed and sniffed the air. “We both stink.” She looked around the floor and picked up the Nym badge.
Rian remembered dropping the first one and felt like an idiot. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I completely fucked up back there. I should have pinned that thing to my clothes. If you hadn’t had that one...” He didn’t want to contemplate what could have happened.
“We would have taken one from one of the soldiers in the lift,” she said.
“We wouldn’t have had time.” She had nearly died because he let a badge slip from his fingers.
“But it’s over,” she said. “I had one that I took from a Nym I killed.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “It’s going to take me a long time to get past that.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, not caring that they were on the bridge or surrounded by crew, and neither did he anymore. “Rian,” she said. “I love you.”
The crew discreetly turned away. He whispered his next words against her mouth. “I love you, too,” he murmured before pulling her up against him in a passionate embrace. He kissed her, lifting her off the floor as though his life depended on it. It did. He needed her.
“Incoming from Bishop’s Pride,” said Kostin.
“What the hell?” sniped a voice from the viewscreen. “Since when is that acceptable behavior on a bridge, Marska?”
Rian released Lily and turned to the formidable Senior Captain Jena, who was glowering at him. “Captain,” he said respectfully. “We appreciate your assistance.”
“What assistance? I saw a big fucking explosion almost right next to your ship. What is it with you and big fucking explosions, Marska?”
“That was a Nym vessel, Captain,” Rian explained patiently. “It auto-destructed. Me and Lily were transported off just in time.”
“Who the hell’s Lily, and what were you doing on a Nym ship?” Jena leaned forward in her chair. She actually seemed intrigued.
Rian gestured to her, holding on to his arm and cowering under the captain’s fierce glare. She raised her hand tentatively. “Hi,” she said.
“This will be explained later, Captain,” Rian said smoothly. “I certainly owe you an explanation, and so does Fleet.”
“I’ll be seeing you on Kevnar, anyway. I’m being transferred there. They’re taking my ship out of service,” she spat. As an afterthought, she added, “Fuckers.”
“Incoming from the Magna, sir,” Kostin said.
“I have to respond to that, Captain,” Rian said. “Thank you, and I’ll be seeing you shortly.”
They signed off. Lily brought his face to hers for a kiss as the screen changed from Jena to the Magna’s senior captain. He let her go, then took his seat in the captain’s chair.
* * *
Lily hovered by the bridge’s elevator doors, staying out of the way. Should she leave? She desperately wanted to take a shower and change her clothes.
Her comm badge pinged, and she jumped. “Sick bay to Stewart.”
She tapped it. “Mora!” she exclaimed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but all hell’s broken loose in here,” she said. “Taz is here. He broke his wrist when the ship went ass-up. Did you sustain any injuries?”
“Nothing serious. Just cuts and bruises, and my shoulder is sore.”
“Get your ass down here,” Mora said. “That’s an order. I can do that, you know.”
Rian was deeply engaged in a conversation with the captain of the Magna, and Lily wasn’t about to bother him now. She slipped into the elevator.
Sick bay was full of crew, some dressed and others in civvies or pajamas. Mora and a few other off-duty nurses bustled around the area, checking bone regenerators and taking scans. The ship’s other doctor, Bekri, held court from the waiting room in a wrinkled Fleet uniform. Mora spotted Lily and offered a tentative smile. Her short hair was mussed, and she wore a nightshirt and Fleet-issued pants under a too-large lab coat with bulging pockets.
“Stand still,” she commanded. She held out her mediscan unit.
“Here?”
“The rooms are full,” she explained. “We have four concussions, a broken pelvis, and two broken legs, and since you’re upright, you’re getting checked out here.” She eyed the unit’s screen critically.
“How am I doing?” Lily asked.
“Very well considering, and I want to know every detail of what happened,” Mora said. “Your rotator cuff is torn, but that’s not going to kill you.” She removed a big pair of shears in a case from one of her coat pockets. Sliding off the case, she said, “I’m going to put on a bone regenerator, and it’ll be as good as new in a couple of hours. Don’t raise your arms; you’ll make it worse,” she added, exasperated. “That’s why I have scissors. Are you really attached to that shirt?”
“No, and if I was I’d be SOL.” She wrinkled her nose at the stench wafting off her.
“Good point.” Mora cut through the fabric a few inches to expose her left shoulder and applied a small bone regenerator, a piece of flexible material that felt like silicone. Mora made some adjustments to it remotely from her mediscan. “It’ll fall off when it’s done its work,” she said. “Do you want a painkiller or anything?”
Lily shook her head. “I’m not in any serious pain.”
“I gathered that. I just thought you might like to be a little fucked up after what happened,” she muttered. “The back storage area is being guarded by a security detail. Ashford’s still in there.” She stood back and regarded Lily, awe in her face. “I can’t believe you and Captain Marska survived a visit to a Nym ship.”
“It’s never been done before?”
Mora shook her head. “Not that I know of, but mere nurses don’t study that.” She sighed. “If you want to talk, I’m here.”
Lily nodded. “Thank you.” She looked around sick bay. “But you’re busy, and so’s Rian.” Mora raised an eyebrow, a knowing smile on her lips. “Before you say anything, it’s...” She fumbled for words. “I hope it works. And I need to find Taz. He got us out of there.”
Mora pointed to the doorway, where a wild-eyed and disheveled Taz had run in. His left arm was in a sling, the wrist wrapped in a bone regen
erator. “Lily!” he exclaimed. “Thank the gods. Are you and the captain all right?”
“We are. He’s on the bridge, talking to the Magna’s captain and then a bunch of Fleet suits.”
“I figured as much.” Taz eyed the bone regenerator quietly humming on her shoulder.
“I’m okay, Taz. What about you?”
“I’m fine, just worried. I was listening in to everything on the bridge. I held on to a console when the ship tipped over. I’m just a little stressed, you know?” He looked at Lily again. “You’re really all right?”
“I really am, and it’s because of you,” Lily replied. “We never would have gotten out of there if you hadn’t hacked into their ship.” For what felt like the hundredth time that morning, Lily felt tears in her eyes again. “‘Thank you’ isn’t enough. I don’t know what else I can do to tell you how grateful I am.”
Taz opened his mouth to respond, but Mora cut him off. “For gods’ sake, Taz, she already has a lover.”
Lily couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that what you call them? It sounds so old-fashioned and scandalous.”
“You have a better term?” Taz asked.
“I can’t believe this is up for a debate right now,” Lily said, just as Mora turned to Taz and demanded, “You knew about this?”
“A Kurran nurse didn’t?” Taz shot back, reminding Lily that plenty of humanoid races had minor empathic talents.
“I’m mostly human,” she retorted. “I only have the Kurran aversion to sunlight. I can’t invade peoples’ minds.”
“Neither can I, but...”
“Boyfriend,” Lily interrupted. “‘Boyfriend’ is sufficient. This really isn’t the time to argue over who’s psychic and who isn’t.”
“Psychics don’t exist,” Mora corrected. “Anyone who says they do is scamming you. And ‘boyfriend’ is juvenile.”
Lily looked around the waiting area, hoping to see someone in need of a nurse, but everyone was talking into comm badges or checking their bone regenerators. Her own comm badge pinged. “Marska to Stewart,” said a familiar voice. “I need you in my office. Admiral Kentz is on our vidlink.”
Lily motioned to hug both of her friends but paused at the smell emanating from her clothes. Mora rolled her eyes. “It’s just a coat.” She embraced Lily, towering over her smaller frame. She stepped back, and Taz enveloped her in a hug. Lily planted a small kiss on his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered.
She waved a goodbye and headed for the bridge.
Chapter 18
“It’s not as nice as the ones assigned to a captain or an admiral,” Rian sighed. “But at least it beats the Defiant. It’ll have to do.”
“What do you mean, ‘it’ll have to do’?” she replied. “This is twice the size of my place in Toronto, and the hallways smell a lot better.” She heard Rian’s sharp intake of breath at the mention of Earth, but she pretended not to hear it. “What’s so special about a senior captain’s apartment?”
“They get a study, and the admirals get housekeeping service.”
He and Lily were arranging their belongings in the executive officer’s apartment on Kevnar Station. It was a spacious two-bedroom unit with a proper kitchen, large windows, and a bathroom that had a real tub and not a human-sized hairdryer. A small apartment had initially been assigned to Lily, but she had scarcely seen it before Rian offered to help her carry her meager duffel to his suite. Rian had already set up an office in the second bedroom, and Lily downloaded the premiere of Lightning’s Luck, Mora’s party having been postponed and the location changed to Lily and Rian’s new home. The Defiant’s crew was awaiting new assignments on Kevnar and badly needed some distraction from their Nym encounter. So did she, and had avoided talking about it with Rian until now.
He had spent hours in meetings since their arrival at the station four days ago, and under his urging, the admirals weren’t forcing her to talk yet. She knew she would have to give them her version of the events soon and had acquiesced to a meeting the following morning. Rian hadn’t told her much about his dressing down by the admirals but knew she had been a part of the reason.
She liked Kevnar Station, though. It was more austere than Lily expected after the constant noise and rush of Rubidge. In between meeting locals and other officers, she had managed to take in some of it. It had a serenity garden she knew she would be spending lots of time in, full of beautiful, unrecognizable plants, and a library that had a modest collection of bound books in addition to millions of files available for download. She would enjoy her new home.
“I don’t know if I’d want a housekeeper,” she said in response to Rian’s lament. “I don’t like the idea of someone else washing my clothes.”
“Lily...” He drifted off. She knew what he was thinking about, what issue was at the forefront of his mind.
The vortex. Dr. Ashford had told Fleet about the artificial vortex technology that the Nym developed, about the open one that currently hovered in a galaxy neighboring the Milky Way. The route the Nym had taken on their mistimed mission to twenty-first-century Earth.
The technology was unstable, hence Zadbac and Pitro’s stranding in Toronto. It couldn’t be used too often lest it rouse the suspicions of the locals, which their cruiser did in the days before Lily was kidnapped. The Nym had managed to get in and belatedly realized they were two centuries too early to begin rewriting history.
Their miscalculation in time travel made Fleet think positively. The Nym and their science were fallible, and already Fleet was working on developing a device to detect manmade vortexes and wormholes. They could finally keep step with the Nym’s plans.
“Did Ashford ever say why he did it?” she asked, evading him.
“The Nym made the usual promises,” Rian said. “Money. Access to living test subjects. Lily, you have to tell Fleet sooner or later.”
A vortex could be replicated long enough for Lily to go home. Files pertaining to the creation of them had been found in Ashford’s personal effects, and the science team aboard the Defiant jumped at the chance to reconstruct some of the debris from the Nym ship.
“And how did the newshounds figure out there was a time traveler?”
“He had a friend on Rubidge who told someone, also for money.” Rian’s blue eyes were shadowed and worried. “Pelly Bhackhar. She’s been taken into custody, too.”
Pelly. Lily remembered being introduced to a curator by that name on station. She nodded.
“She was involved with the historical society when you were found on Darcan-2,” he explained. “The Nym contacted her when you were moved into a traveling exhibit. She was supposed to keep track of your whereabouts and deliver you to the Nym so you could be killed.” His expression darkened, and Lily’s hands involuntarily formed into fists at her side. “She and Ashford were involved personally, and they followed your movements. She had herself transferred to the museum at Rubidge when she found out you were going there permanently. Ashford joined the Defiant’s crew only a couple of days before you woke up—apparently he was quite insistent on that transfer,” he continued. “She admitted to digging up news clips for you to find in the library at Rubidge. Zadbac and Pitro brought some of your media back.”
“And they figured out how to use my phone to communicate our location in space.”
“Yes.”
“I guess they’re going to undergo mind-wipes?” It sounded gruesome, but still not enough punishment for the doctor.
He nodded. “The trial is scheduled to start next week, but the evidence is pretty damning. Did I tell you that this morning they’ve assigned four teams to dismantle the old satellites in Commons space? It’s a big job, but they’ll have it done within a few months.”
Lily snorted softly. She likely had the one device in existence that could respond to one of those old satellites, but the Commons was now worried about their being used for other nefarious purposes. Her cell phone was being held as evidence, but Fleet had promised to return it. She wanted it ba
ck for her father’s books.
Rian made as if to reach for her, but pulled his hand back before making contact. “Lily, what are you going to do?”
She had already made up her mind but was under orders to give the opportunity serious thought. “I can’t believe you’re worried about my answer,” she said softly. “I told you weeks ago.”
“Are you sure? You didn’t think it would ever come up. You had a life on Earth.”
“I have a life here, a happier one,” she insisted. “Do you want me to leave?”
“Gods, no,” he said.
He clutched her in a hug that squeezed the breath from her lungs. “Rian,” she squeaked. “My ribs.” He released his death grip on her and held her loosely, as though he expected her to turn away.
“I’m staying,” she said. “You’re stuck with me forever.”
“Good.” He kissed her, his tongue flicking her lips apart. He guided her to the couch and didn’t stop, his lips tracing a path down her throat while his fingers fumbled with the buttons on her sweater. “My sister is taking a trip to meet you, gods help us.”
“I want to meet your family,” she said.
“I think you’ll get along. And I have furlough arranged, but not for another seven weeks.” He sat down and pulled her in his lap.
“Rian,” she gasped. His hand slid under her blouse. “Are you sure—but don’t you have another meeting soon?”
“I have three hours,” he said. He laid her back on the couch and kneeled over her, making short work of the sweater’s buttons. “I’m meeting with an arms developer over new weaponry in this quadrant. Arms developers are easier to deal with than Admiral Brynon.” One of his new bosses.
Lily’s hands took on a life of their own and unsealed his shirt. “This isn’t the behavior of a captain,” she admonished him.
“I was demoted, remember?” he said against her skin. “Mere commanders get away with a lot more.”
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