by Matt Novotny
Amos said hello to Marie and Greasy and promised to return before heading off with Sebastian.
Burton and Remmy took Bes over to Marie, who was waiting with the Besquith pups. She smiled up at the Lumar. “How about we trade?” she said.
Burton took a knee, and the pups ran to him. “Hey, I missed you two,” he said.
Marie hugged Bes, then Remmy, then took the chair controls. “I think someone is waiting for you, Remmy Bouchard.”
Remmy looked like a deer in the headlights as Marie steered Bes away. Charlotte walked up and pulled Remmy in for a kiss.
Amos watched with a smile. “Dem dice rollin’, I gar-on-tee,” he said quietly. “All right, Sebastian, let’s get you situated. You sure about this?” Amos asked as the pair walked down toward the bayou.
“It is our custom. To know the water a people come from helps the Xiq’tal to understand them,” Sebastian said.
“If that’s what you want, but I’m gonna have to wash the stink off with the pressure washer when you’re done. You ain’t exactly light. I hope you don’ get stuck in the mud.”
Sebastian gave a rasping Xiq’tal laugh. “Jackson is right, you cannot help yourself. I will be fine. Come for me tomorrow,” he said walking into the bayou.
“You watch out for them gators, now!” Amos yelled. He watched Sebastian until all he saw of the Xiq’tal was his eyestalks poking up from the water.
Amos turned and walked along the bank, down one of the paths, through a gate, and across a grassy area. He sat on a bench beneath a huge willow tree. Almost hidden by the drooping branches was a monument they had placed when they came to Sanctuary. Carved into the stone were two names: Simone Yvonne LeBlanc and Louis “Louie” LeBlanc.
“I’m sorry I been gone so long, mon chere. But I wanted you and Louie to know we brought Sabine home safe. She been so brave. She angrier about missing her party den being kidnapped. Now it’s done, it was an adventure.”
He paused to watch a small gator pass by on its way to somewhere important.
“I’m sorry, Louie. Your mama got a mite bit cut up, but she tough it through. She’s gonna be fine. That she’s gotta heal up inna’ chair has her fit to be tied!” Amos gave a chuckle. “I expect she be by before too long, but she and Marie are gonna talk a spell, and you know how dat’s gonna go.”
Amos sat quietly for a while, thinking and listening to the birds’ call.
“Amos? I’m sorry to interrupt. They told me I’d find you here. Race and I will be heading back to Luna as soon as he gets back with Tia. I wanted to thank you for bringing him home,” Raul said.
“He a good boy, Raul. He do all right once all that young on ‘im wears off. He hung it out there with the rest of us, so he earnin’ dem spurs,” Amos said.
“He wants me to move our entire prototype division to Hope. I guess the place makes an impression. It’s the first time he’s had any interest in Romero Enterprises, and it’s past time he sees what’s involved. I should thank you for that, too.”
“None of my doing; he come up with that himself, but you welcome anyway. We can talk business later.”
“Of course, I didn’t mean…” Raul looked at the marker. “I wish now I’d known her better.”
“Except for her daughter, my Simone was the most beautiful girl in the world. When I come up, I’ll tell you ‘bout her.”
“I’d like that,” Raul said. “That’s a plan. I should get going. Be well, Amos.”
“An’ you.”
Raul turned to leave and walked carefully up the path. “You going to tell him, Raul?” Amos said to Raul’s back.
“Not yet, Amos. But I will.”
* * *
Marie pushed Bes’ chair in silence for a few moments, taking her across to the lawn in front of Amos’ new cookhouse before stopping next to a flowerbed that would be a riot of color when they came in.
“I like what you done, Marie. Pretty. Something I never had the time for,” Bes said.
“Wasn’t so hard. I just spent Amos’ money an’ put the boys to work. Greasy handled the details. That man is as bad as Remmy. He’s got a guy for everything. You get to deal with the meltdown.”
“Why, Marie Arton, I suppose you rearrange my kitchen, too,” Bes said sourly.
“No, Bes LeBlanc, I did not rearrange your kitchen! I did rearrange your office, though. How you found anything in that mess, I’ll never know and…” Marie trailed off.
“We gonna talk or we gonna fight?” Bes asked.
“Whatever pay the bills!” Marie said. “I was hopin’ for some gratitude! I shoulda’ known better, you bitter old woman!”
“Thank you, an’ I am bitter! I don’ see my sister in a coon’s age and it take bein’ all busted up and carried off the planet to get her to cross the damn river!”
“You da one moved into plantation country! You folks coulda stayed in Acadia!”
“Sanctuary is an hour away!”
“It ain’t Acadian. The mercs is called Cajuns. They shoulda’ stayed in the parish or changed the name when Louie passed.” Marie started to wind up. “Amos ain’t even a proper Cajun. He—”
“The fuck you say!” Bes said. “That man can trace back all da way to de Monts! It don’t get no more Cajun den dat, and you keep talking about my Louie, God rest him, I’m gonna get outta this chair and slap the sass right offa you if it kills me!”
Marie backed down. “Sorry, Bes, I didn’t mean it like that an’ you know it! I loved Louie, too. It’s just I was so afraid for you and Sabine and dis was the only way I had to help! You make me cry ugly tears!”
“Well…” Bes said, more calmly. “All right, that’s better, I suppose. And I do thank you, for everything, truly. I appreciate you comin’ to help. I’m sure it wasn’t easy. Lord only knows what the place would look like if it were left up to Greasy. Dat old man a hell of a mechanic, but he don’ clean a thing.”
“Greasy ain’t so bad, he just needs a nudge now and again,” Marie said.
The two waited in silence. It stretched between them, grew brittle.
“So, I guess you be headed home now?” Bes asked.
Marie nodded. “After a few days, once you settle in. Or…you could come home. You and Sabine both, just for a while. Rest up.”
“Sanctuary is home now, Marie. Someday it will belong to Sabine, and she can do what she wants with it, but for the time being…”
“I had to ask,” Marie said.
“Be nice having someone to help out, me being in this chair an’ all. Maybe even permanent. Amos was after me to hire an assistant.”
“You askin’ me to stay?”
Bes took a deep breath. “I am. That is, if you got the time. You obviously got a handle on the work. Sabine misses her aunt, so you could spend some time together, take her around and show her what’s what so she’ll learn her history. What do you say?”
“I say I love my sister and my niece, so of course I’ll stay! Now, there are some things we’re gonna have to talk about…”
* * * * *
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sanctuary Plantation
Louisiana, Earth
“Someone is waiting for you, Remmy Bouchard,” Marie Arton said.
Remmy looked where Marie was gesturing. Charlotte Devereaux was standing off to the side, looking at him with a big smile. She wore what Remmy’s momma would have called a Sunday go-to-meetin’ dress made of white cotton that set off her tan and a wide-brimmed hat good for a nice sunny day. Remmy’s heart pounded in his chest, and he wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his jeans. He was trying to figure out why it was hard to breathe and trying to come up with something charming to say when she stepped up and pulled him in for a kiss.
When they parted a brief lifetime later, she looked up at him through long eyelashes.
“Why, Mr. Bouchard, I do believe you might have missed me,” she said with a dimpled smile. “Welcome home, Remmy.”
“It’s after Labor Day,” Remmy said, s
taring at her.
“What?” Charlotte asked, tilting her head.
“Nothing,” Remmy said, trying to gather his wits. “I do—did—ah, hell Charlotte, you look amazing! That’s the nicest welcome home I’ve ever had.”
She laughed at him, then took his arm, and they started walking toward the garden.
Across the way, Greasy and Nolan were leaning against the cookhouse wall. Nolan raised his Abita in their direction. “Think that boy knows what just hit him?” he asked Greasy.
“Nope,” Greasy replied. “Charlotte’s a local. Knows the whole family. Amos said they went to school together. She’s been visiting with Marie since the attack. Half the Olympians are in love with her. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, but she ain’t the type to mess around.”
“She has his number!” Nolan said as Remmy and Charlotte set off toward the garden, talking.
“I’ve got a hundred credits that says she lets him off easy once he recovers,” Nolan said.
“You’re on!” Greasy raised his coffee cup and clinked it with Nolan’s beer.
“Coffee? In this heat?” Nolan asked.
“Bunnahabhain, a twenty-five-year-old scotch. Want to trade up?” Greasy grinned.
“Soon as I finish this, thanks,” Nolan said.
Charlotte gave Remmy’s arm a squeeze. “I’m glad you made it home safe. Marie made it sound like you were very far away.”
Remmy looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yeah, we were out about as far as you can get, but it’s amazing out there.” He broke his stride. “Not as amazing as right here though.” He squeezed Charlotte’s hand, and she blushed.
“Is that what that was about, me being gone?” Remmy asked softly.
“That was a test,” she said. “You passed. I’ve been thinking about us since I ran into you that day in the shop. I’m ready for something good in my life. I know what I want, and I’m tired of waiting for you to do something about it.”
Remmy felt a shock of fear go through him, and his heart skipped a beat. “Now, hold on, you probably know how I feel about you, but there ain’t much safe or stable about my life—”
Charlotte backed off a step, adjusted her dress, dropped to one knee, and held up a ring.
“Remington Bouchard, will you marry me and keep me happy for the rest of our days?” Her eyes twinkled.
“Game, set, match,” said Greasy. “That’ll be a hundred credits.”
“It ain’t over,” Nolan said as they watched Remmy pull Charlotte to her feet.
Catcalls from around the green proved that Greasy and Nolan weren’t the only ones watching Remmy and his ladylove.
Remmy pulled Charlotte into a hug. They barely caught his reply on the wind.
“How about we go on a date first, chere?”
* * *
Peacemaker Shuttle
En Route to Peacemaker Regional Headquarters
Houston, Texas, Earth
“We’re on approach now, Peacemaker Rains. ETA is twenty minutes,” Tia said as she guided the shuttle in to the PMRHQ traffic pattern. There was considerably more activity than the last time they were in Houston, and she was directed to circle while other traffic cleared. Rains could hear the easy cadence between Tia and landing control.
“Thank you, Ms. Clayton. I’ll be ready.” Unlike Tia’s runs to Sanctuary, her conduct for the PMRHQ and Selector Hak-Chet was textbook. She had come a long way since he’d met her on that first flight months ago, adjusting to the abrupt changes in her duties in stride and without complaint.
Rains touched up his report, tweaking it here and there, but really, he had finished long before the long trip back from Hope. At this point, it was more a way to keep his mind off how nervous he was. He gave it up and finally hit Send.
That he hadn’t been detained or arrested was some comfort, but he had sent a request for a meeting with a preliminary report as soon as they reached Karma. The request had been approved, and it may have just been a question of resources. Why send a team after him when he was coming to them?
Rains heard the thrusters spool up for a soft touchdown, then power down to idle, so it seemed Tia would be off on her next run immediately. He expected her to open the ramp from the cockpit, but she surprised him by coming back to the passenger cabin.
She snapped a salute. Rains grinned, returning it. “At ease,” he said.
“Peacemaker, I wanted to thank you. My cadet instructor said you placed a commendation in my file.”
“I did. You earned it. I understand your studies are going well.”
Rains’ slate chimed, and he held up a finger. “Excuse me,” he said, checking the message. His smile got wider. “Go on.”
“They are, thank you.”
“Do you still want to attend the academy?”
Tia looked uncomfortable. “Honestly, I’m not sure. It seems so romantic, but Race told me some of what you faced out there and…I need to think it through. There are a lot of careers in the Peacemakers.”
Smart, Rains thought. “A good answer, cadet. That being the case, I have a surprise for you.” Rains hit the ramp control.
“Who’s holding up the damn shuttle?” a familiar voice demanded. Tia stepped back as a ball of mock fury charged up the ramp.
Tia snapped back to attention.
“Peacemaker Rains! Why is it whenever something goes sideways, I find you in the middle of it?” said Captain Lorm.
“Because, Captain, the Turunmaa and her crew are the finest available, and only the best could keep pulling my ass out of the fire,” Rains retorted.
“Damn right!” Lorm agreed.
Lorm turned to Tia. “You drive this bus?”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Captain Lorm, allow me to present Cadet Tia Clayton. Cadet Clayton, this is Captain Lorm of the Peacemaker Corvette Turunmaa.”
“Pleased to meet you, Captain.” Tia saluted.
“That remains to be seen, Cadet,” Lorm said with a growl, returning the Human salute.
Lorm turned to Rains. “The Selector is waiting for you. They sent you an escort.” Rains looked down the ramp for the first time since Lorm came aboard and saw the two Pushtal Enforcers who had come to Sanctuary with the Selector after the attack. “You’d better go. Good luck, Peacemaker.”
“And to you, Captain. Thank you, and give the chief my regards,” Rains said.
As Rains headed down the ramp, he heard Lorm say, “So, Cadet, tell me everything wrong with this bucket and how you compensate for it…”
Rains reached the bottom of the ramp and was immediately flanked by the two Enforcers. “This way please,” the one to his right said, giving Rains a feral smile.
“One moment please, you’re going to want to see this.”
On the trip from Hope, Lorm had told him her helm officer would be moving into the tactical position. Since a Corvette captain had a lot of leeway with how she crewed her ship, Rains had given her Tia’s file to look at. Tia didn’t know it, but this was the interview.
The shuttle’s engines started to spool up. Rains backed off until he could grab the rail surrounding the landing pad.
“Might want to hold on to something,” he said.
The Enforcers looked at Rains, then realized the shuttle was going to full power sitting on the pad. They grabbed the rail just in time to keep from being sent flying as the shuttle performed an emergency ascent.
The Pushtal glared at him. Rains shrugged. “I told you. Did you not realize who was boarding?”
The older Pushtal checked his slate, then snorted, shaking his head. “This way, please.”
Rains allowed the Pushtal to escort him to Hak-Chet’s office. The older Enforcer knocked twice, then opened the door and gestured for Rains to enter. The door closed behind him.
Selector Hak-Chet stood facing the windows, this time looking out into a clear, sunny day. Rains stopped inside the door and waited to be acknowledged. The silence drew out, and Rains’ heart hammered in his chest.
“Well met, Peacemaker Rains,” Hak-Chet said finally.
Thank the stars! Rains thought.
“Well met, Selector Hak-Chet,” Rains replied.
Hak-Chet turned from the window and moved to his perch. “Have a seat, Jackson. I was just contemplating your report. Anything to add?”
“No, Selector.”
“You traveled halfway across the galaxy on a rescue mission, and in the end you accomplished your goal, but failed to capture or kill either Kr’et’Socae or Sin’Kura. In fact, you allowed them to escape with data that may compromise the safety of the council, the Guild Master, and perhaps the guild itself. While doing so, a number of people on both sides of the conflict lost their lives. How does that make you feel?”
“Angry, disappointed in myself and the result, concerned for what may come.”
“A good, solid answer. Try again.”
“I’m starting to understand him, not his motivations, but his actions. Kr’et’Socae doesn’t seem so much evil as…indifferent,” Rains said.
“Why do you say that?” Hak-Chet asked.
“Because it was more important to him to corrupt me than to kill me. Or perhaps it just amused him. I’m not sure which bothers me more.” Jackson shrugged.
“Go on.”
“I tried to prevent any damage my actions could have caused. I did what was necessary, and people died because of my choices. Each one is a debt I can’t repay. The only comfort I can find in that is that in the long run, it’s possible we saved more than we lost. It’s hard to say.”
“Better, Jackson. On the positive side, you disrupted whatever Kr’et’Socae’s plans were at Hope Station, and he now believes you to be compromised. So, at some point in the future, you may have another chance. You also came within arm’s reach of him, which is closer than anyone else has gotten.” Hak-Chet shifted on his perch.
“It wasn’t enough,” Rains said regretfully and looked out over Houston.