by David Ryker
“Yes.”
He stared at me with cold eyes before tilting his head back and pulling on his chin with his knuckle and thumb. “And that was the main reason for attacking the Telmareen Guard Central Command Tower — without proper sanctions or permissions?”
I returned his stare and nodded firmly. “Yes.”
“Not to rescue Airman Kepler?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“We all knew the risks. We all knew what we were signing up for.” I said the words, but realized then that I’d never signed up for anything. I wondered whether most did, or if it was just a thing people said but didn’t really mean.
“But you did rescue her? By killing no less than sixteen more Telmareen Guards, no less, and of course almost as many defense droids.”
I thought about the words before I said them. “With good reason to believe that they had been compromised and turned against the Federation, and of in self-defense—” I stopped, seeing that he didn’t really care what justification I had. “But,” I said, “yes. Upon discovering that Katherine Fox, along with any other Free rebels she may have had with her, had vacated the tower, we then elected to attempt to save Airman Kepler, a secondary objective that was, in fact, accomplished.”
He rapped on the file, cocking his head. “Accomplished?” He laughed a little to himself. “Strange choice of words, considering the outcome. You didn’t apprehend Fox, and nor did you see her — all you have is hearsay that she was even on Telmareen.”
“The evidence we—”
He laughed. “What evidence? You recovered no evidence from the informants, from Barva. The day that your team vacated Telmareen airspace, Rase Barva was reported as dead, by your team.”
“Sir, if—”
“No — no ifs. Your team went there, met up with this Rase Barva, of which you have no record, then you met with his confidential informants, which you also have no record of, who provided you with evidence suggesting serious corruption across all levels of authority in a trusted Federation Colony — something which should have been reported immediately — which you also don’t have, might I add, and nor do you have any record of ever possessing it. And you say that after the unsuccessful attack on the Central Command Tower, you attempted to meet with these informants so that they could deliver all of this ‘evidence’ to you, but when you arrived at the designated location, you found them to be already dead, presumed killed by the vert Free Rebels who found out that they were supplying you with information that would incriminate them; and then, to top it all off, there was just simply no sign of Barva after that at all?” His lined mouth had twisted into an incredulous smirk. It sounded like total horseshit — which was probably because it was horseshit.
“Yes,” I answered, with as much surety as I could.
He shook his head and tapped his teeth together. “And after a twelve-month investigation, during which your team was placed under probationary status, all we have substantiated is that the bodies you say you discovered on Telmareen — those of your confidential informants, who were working alongside the Free Rebels — were indeed at the location you gave us, and that furthermore, there was indeed a Free presence in the city, in some form, though the scale of that corruption is still yet unconfirmed. Which, I might add,” he said, leaning forward and slamming his fist on the top of the bench, “we already knew! It was the very reason we sent you there to begin with.”
I swallowed hard and kept my jaw locked.
“During the investigation, we found no significant evidence suggesting that Katherine Fox was ever on Telmareen, outside of your testimony, that is. And, following the unsanctioned attack you mounted on the Command Tower, around forty percent of all surviving Telmareen Guard stationed there mysteriously disappeared without a trace, and so weren’t available for questioning. None of those who vanished were issued with approved travel visas, or were scanned through official reports, which, while perhaps unsettling, does not vindicate your claims of deep-seated corruption in the Guard, but nor does it disprove it. All those who remained swore blind allegiance to the Federation, and said that they weren’t aware of any Free presence at the Tower, at all — under oath, and under duress.”
I didn’t think that was a question, so I said nothing.
“Which leaves us with only one option — and that—” He stopped and took a long breath, his eyes aglow with anger, “is to drop all charges and close this investigation. Your testimony, along with that of your team — barring Airman Kepler, whose injuries resulted in serious brain damage — were written under oath, and considering both Major Volchec’s and Lieutenant Everett’s glowing records, we have no reason to suspect and no evidence to suggest that they would perjure themselves. As such, we are forced to take your corroborated reports as truth, and reinstate your team fully. Your probationary period has been served in full, and you were all found to have been acting to the best of your abilities and judgment, and considering the time constraints and clandestine nature of the mission you so woefully botched, I have only this to say—” He pushed back in the chair and let his eyes wander across our faces in turn. “Act with more care, and less abandon, because next time, you may not all be so lucky. Airman Maddox, Airman MacAlister, Airman Sesstis, Lieutenant Everett, Major Volchec: you are dismissed.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Now get out of my Judiciary Hall, and don’t ever let me see you in here again.”
My heart squeezed warm blood into my chest and all the stress and tension that had been mounting for the last twelve months drained away. We did it. We broke about a thousand Federation laws to get there, but we managed it, scraping by with our asses intact. I breathed heavily, not sure whether to laugh or cry, and turned around on the stand.
The hundreds of witnesses all got to their feet, grumbling mostly at not having seen any punishments being doled out. But the guys weren’t grumbling. They were all restraining smiles, as well as they could. I’d never really seen them as a team before — as my team, as my family — but this had been a ride worse than Telmareen. Going through this together, relying on each other — betting our lives on each other, that we were all going to keep the story straight and lie our asses off to try and make it through — that brought us closer than dodging bullets ever did. And now we’d done it. We’d made it through, together, and as I looked at them, I couldn’t help it — I broke first, and grinned.
Mac went next, shaking his head and lowering his chin, laughing as he did. “Son of a bitch.”
Fish’s gills and fins started flickering and he let out a high-pitched hiss of joy. Everett was looking at me, mouth screwed up into a pursed-lip smirk. Volchec was nearly in tears, her wide smile threatening to reach her ears. She had the most to lose, and though we were all ebullient to be leaving with our lives in our own hands, I genuinely thought she was about to burst out and cry, maybe throw herself to her knees. Instead, she said something that I was very, very glad to hear.
“Anybody want a drink?” she asked, a clear catch in her throat. “I’m buying.”
2
The glasses hit the top and Fish squealed, black eyes twitching.
I gritted my teeth and tried to keep the fifth shot down in my guts. “Damn,” I coughed between gags.
Volchec was staring into her glass, smirking. The smile hadn’t left her for the two hours we’d been sitting around the table slugging drinks. Every now and then she’d shake her head and say, “Goddamn!”
The sentiment was shared. The last year had been hard on everyone. They’d kept us together, which was something at least, though it wasn’t because they cared about how we felt — it just made it easier to keep an eye on us. Not like we could have got up to anything crazy anyway. Being part of the entourage for a diplomatic ship that was cruising a system and doing meet-and-greet with what passed for Federation politicians — perpetually grinning yes-people that nodded thoughtfully and promised shit they’d never deliver when leaders said they needed more resource
s, more credits to improve infrastructure. They said that interstellar relations were key to maintaining a healthy galactic government. At first, it was sort of nice to do something quiet, where bullets weren’t flying, but considering our specialty — that being Mech pilots, we were rarely even on the worlds, and spent most of the year in orbit, hanging above the surfaces of these planets without ever needing to step foot on them.
The ship they had us on wasn’t exactly a palace, either — pretty bone stock. But it made a good holding pen while they looked into our fuck-up on Telmareen. The ship was monitored pretty heavily, too, so I guessed it was a win-win for them that they managed to keep us nearby in case they needed us, but we were practically jailed, on probation the whole time.
There were maybe a few dozen bodies on the modified transport, and plenty of room to move around, get in sim time, socialize, practice and train, but there was no way off the thing. And after I’d mastered throwing a ball from my bunk and hitting the same spot on the wall every time, I started to miss the bullets and the carnage of active duty. It was like a broken bone healing under a cast — an itch I knew I shouldn’t, but was desperate to scratch.
Volchec’s and Everett’s ranks had been suspended temporarily during the investigation, but they were still prized on the ship for their field experience and stayed in the officers’ quarters, advising on the security of the diplomatic missions to the surfaces.
Most of the planets were humanoid inhabited, too, which meant that even when backup was needed, they would send the ground troops. We were just sort of left hanging, our Mech gathering dust in the lower holds. I tried to get down and see Greg whenever I could, but the hold was freezing, and Greg didn’t seem to mind waiting. I wasn’t sure if it was some sort of hibernation mode or something, but he was always just as chipper and never bitter when I did get down there. Sometimes when things were quiet I would zip down and sit in him for a while. I missed that enclosed space — the claustrophobia of it.
But, as time wore on, I found myself heading down less and less, and socializing more and more. We’d all been through some shit, and though we couldn’t discuss the story we’d spun on the way back from Telmareen, all agreeing on it prior to being detained the second we docked, we all knew each other better than anyone else, and that sort of bond is hard to shake.
Volchec chuckled to herself and tapped her glass on the table again, pulling me back to the room and out of my dunkern reflection. “Goddamn!” She almost yelled it this time, the glassy-eyed haze of the shots descending over her. “Another one!”
Fish groaned and Mac laughed. “You trying to kill us, Major?”
Everett was smiling too, which was nice to see. I hadn’t seen much of that during our time on the dropship, but now, her features seemed softer, her countenance warmer. Her face had healed beautifully from Draven, too, all the bruising and scar tissue gone. She didn’t look the same as she had before, but she didn’t look worse. I was studying her cheek and lips when she turned and caught me looking.
I don’t know if it was the alcohol or not, but I didn’t look away, and neither did she.
“I’ll get them,” she said, glancing at the others, who didn’t seem to have noticed, before looking back at me.
“I’ll help,” I said lightly, pushing back from the table and almost knocking my chair over.
Her mouth curled and she shook her head, her now longer blond hair shaking gently over her eyebrow. She’d let it down, and it changed the shape of her face, cushioning the angles of her cheekbones and jaw. I pulled my eyes away and righted my chair before heading to the bar.
I got there first and sank forward onto it, sighing and suddenly kicking myself for seeming so eager. My brain was fuzz. I wasn’t thinking straight. I looked up and around, surveying the huge copper-topped bar and all of the bottles stacked up against the back wall, lit up in white and blue, for a change.
The Athena was a colossus. About half a million people lived and worked on it, and it provided a stable base for the Federation in this sector. They didn’t make their bases on any planets, in case they were seen as biased. After all, they were a objective governing body, and it needed to remain that way from the outside looking in. As such, all their command stations were floating in space. A lot of the people who worked for the Federation made their homes on stations like this — they were perfect places to retire if you didn’t miss real gravity, and it was free accommodation if you choose to, as well. Otherwise, it was part trading hub, part floating city, stocked with bars and restaurants and shops and businesses of all sorts. The Federation liked to encourage commerce and the mixing of species, so naturally, it had its very own embassy row, too. Though it wasn’t technically a row, since the units were arranged vertically and you accessed them via a clear glass elevator that moved up and down at a sickening pace.
Now that we’d been cleared again for active duty, we’d remain here until our next deployment — but when that would be, we couldn’t say. Still, I wasn’t minding the downtime. It was the first bit of real ‘leave’ I’d had since joining.
I stared up, trying to read the label on the bottle that Volchec had been ordering shots from. I couldn’t make out the letters, but I blamed that on them being in an alien language — or maybe the contents were just hitting me harder than I thought. Either way, it had a picture of some sort of fruit on the front that I’d never seen before. I ran my tongue along my teeth and tasted a mixture of sour and sweet — something like citrus, but heavier and with more kick.
I was sucking on my incisors when Everett slid onto the bar next to me, pressing herself against it and resting on her elbows. She pretended not to see me as she gazed up at the colored bottles, but then slowly turned, staring sideways through her waved bangs. “You’re looking a little green, Red,” she said, voice quiet in the din of background music, a slow heartbeat of electronica.
I leaned closer and turned half on so I could hear her better. She made no effort to increase the space between us. “I never was a good drinker.”
She peeled her eyes away from mine and surveyed the bottles again. “I thought all you colony rats loved the bottle?” If I didn’t know her I would have taken it as an insult.
“Humph,” I laughed. “Guess I’m just not your average colony rat.”
She turned toward me now, hanging her head over her shoulder. Her lips twisted into a pursed pout and she looked at me. My throat tightened. “Guess not,” she said.
A bartender approached, and with barely a cursory glance she held her fingers up to him and muttered something. I wasn’t looking and didn’t see. My eyes wouldn’t leave the line of her jaw, her cold blue eyes electric in the dim glow of the neons above the bar.
He came back a second later and put two shots down in front of us. She picked hers up and held it at her chin. I reached for mine and we knocked them back. The liquid stung my throat and burned like I’d just swallowed coals. It wasn’t the same as the last stuff we’d drunk, and she knew that. She restrained a smile, accustomed to whatever acid she’d just fed me, and then laughed when I coughed.
“Yeah,” she laughed again, before brushing her hair out of her eyes. “You’re definitely not like any other colonist I’ve ever met.”
I measured her gaze. We were close enough to talk without raising our voices. I could see the pulse in her neck, quickened a little. The way her nostrils flared every time she took a breath. The flush in her cheeks. The slight parting of her lips. I swallowed hard and mustered the courage to say something stupid, but before I could, the moment was shattered.
Mac’s arms enveloped both my and Everett’s shoulders and he sagged between us. The force brought us forward and our foreheads all knocked together.
“Shit,” I swore, shoving him off.
Everett groaned and turned away, cradling her head and muttering under her breath.
Mac laughed throatily and grabbed my shoulder again. “What the hell’s taking you guys so long?”
“The servic
e here sucks, what d’you think, Mac?” I retorted sourly. My head was throbbing.
Everett swung back around, covering one eye with her left hand. I’d caught her on the eyebrow with the top of my forehead. She grabbed at Mac’s collar and shook it a few times before letting it go. She wasn’t really pissed off, Mac was just being an idiot. “Just for that,” she said, baring her teeth, “you’re getting the drinks.” She slapped him on the chest and went to breeze past, but she only got a step before Mac did something I could have punched him for.
“So, Red,” he started, barely acknowledging Everett. “Now that we’ve got some time to ourselves, you going to track down Alice? See about that unfinished business—”
I cut him off by driving my elbow into his gut, but it didn’t matter, Everett had heard. She stopped for half a second and picked her head up just as he said Alice’s name, but she didn’t turn around. I saw her shoulders drop, but it was too late. She moved away back toward the table at a brisk pace and Mac kicked up again.
“What the hell was that for?” he sighed, rubbing his gut.
“I slipped,” I growled, contemplating doing it again. I couldn’t say why, because there was nothing to talk about — Everett and I were friends, but I was her subordinate, too. Nothing could happen, and yet… Without Alice in my orbit, there wasn’t any pull toward her. And with so little to do on that damn dropship, and it with it being so small… Like I said, we all got close. It turned out Everett and I got on better than we expected. Both social outcasts, orphans, dryly humored. And it was proximity. Two objects in space being pulled together by cosmic force.
“Well, I’d appreciate you watching it next time,” Mac said, dragging my attention back to him from the table over his shoulder. “I was only trying to help.”
“Oh yeah? And how is that helping, huh?” I shook my head. I’d taken the whole Alice thing hard, feeling like I was responsible — at least more so than anyone else. She’d had something to prove on Telmareen, and it got her hurt. When the medical transport picked her up, they carted her off to some nearby station or planet to be treated — and after that, I hadn’t seen her again.