Resolution

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Nickie snorted as she switched on the shower to heat up the bathroom. Worry all you like. I’ve got the shower to end all showers. When I get home, the first thing I want to do is to wash the damned day away. She stepped in and braced herself on the wall while the jets got to work pounding the tightness out of her muscles. What would be nice is if I could get a bit of privacy.

  Meredith was quiet after that, giving Nickie time to reflect on her day—and the year leading up to it.

  The EI would have to get used to Nickie trusting her own counsel. She was past needing to be held up, and Barnabas’ offer proved she wasn’t the only one who thought so.

  Still, she didn’t need to be such a bitch about it. Sorry, Mere.

  You’re just upset by being this close to home.

  My ship is my home, Nickie stated firmly.

  She waited for Meredith’s usual rebuttal, which didn’t come.

  Whatever. She switched the shower over to the sonic dryer and stepped out a moment later, shaking her hair out behind her. She dressed quickly and got into bed, a huge improvement on the hard slab she’d begun with on the ship.

  Is there a message? she asked tentatively as she slid under the covers.

  Not today.

  Nickie shrugged. I wasn’t expecting another so soon. I’ll read through the old ones.

  Again? Meredith asked.

  Yes, again. Nickie’s tone made it clear she wasn’t in the mood to discuss it. Again with the judgment, Meredith. You sound like my mother.

  Someone should, Meredith snarked. Since you refuse to go and see yours.

  Nickie muted the EI, something she’d worked out since living on the space fleet base. She cupped a hand to her ear. What’s that? Nothing? She smirked and dropped her head onto her pillows, loading the first message Tabitha had sent into her HUD.

  So… You didn’t reply. I figure I earned that. Looks like I’ll just have to hold up both sides of our conversation until you’re ready. That’s okay. I can talk enough for us both.

  You probably already worked out where I am, and I’ll be here when you’re ready. Devon isn’t too bad. Pete likes it. Did you know we got together? We even had a kid. Bet you can’t believe that!

  I miss you, Trouble. I hope that I hear from you soon.

  Nickie couldn’t read any farther than that. Her eyes got prickly when she looked at the attached photo. Her Aunt Tabitha looked the same, just a lot happier than Nickie remembered her, and so did Peter. It was the little boy in Tabitha’s arms who brought Nickie’s emotions welling up.

  She had no fucking business being anywhere near a kid.

  Nickie squeezed her eyes tightly closed until the tears quit threatening to spill. Maybe one day she would earn the right to be a part of that sweet boy’s life.

  One day.

  It wasn’t today, but she wasn’t going to keep pushing away the person she missed most in the world for another minute.

  She opened a reply window and started to write.

  Devon, First City, The Hexagon, Penthouse Apartment

  Peter walked into the living area to find Tabitha crying into a pillow. “Babe?” He crossed the room in five steps and knelt at Tabitha’s side. “What’s wrong?”

  Tabitha looked up, her eye makeup streaked and running down her cheeks. “I’m okay,” she told him, sitting up and scrubbing her eyes. “Really.”

  “Looks that way.” He sat beside her on the couch and held out an arm. “Wanna talk about it?”

  Tabitha smiled through her tears. She adored Peter’s attempts at sensitivity, even when he got it all wrong. She shuffled over to him and tucked herself into his embrace. “Really, I’m good. Nickie wrote me a letter, and it was emotional.”

  Peter frowned. “I don’t get it. You’re crying because you’re happy? Are you pregnant again?”

  Tabitha slapped Peter’s chest and got off the couch. “You have to be a man about it, don’t you?” She snorted at the kicked-puppy look he gave her. “I’m not mad at you.” She waved her hands, her elation making her want to dance. “This is great! She’s accepting the fleet captain position. She’s coming home.”

  Peter grinned, caught up in Tabitha’s whirlwind. “She’s transferring to Devon?”

  Tabitha deflated. “No. Her duty will keep her between the Federation and QT2.”

  Peter winced. “That kind of sucks. I’m sorry, babe.”

  Tabitha brightened again. “It’s all good. She wrote to me. I’m going to reply in a couple of days. Give her a chance to come to grips with her new assignment.”

  “That sounds like a plan.” Peter got up and wrapped his arms around Tabitha’s waist. “Everything is coming up Tabitha, babe.”

  Tabitha snorted and. “Don’t speak too soon,” she told him, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him on the nose. “I’m about to chair the first mediation session between Mahi’Takar’s family.”

  Peter moved to catch the kiss on his lips. “You’ve got it,” he replied, releasing her. “If anyone can argue a generations-old family feud into submission, it’s you.”

  Tabitha raised an eyebrow, pointing her finger at him. “Don’t make me murder you before we know I’m going to survive this mediation.”

  Chapter 5 Tabitha and Nickie

  Devon, First City, The Hexagon, Lecture Room

  Tabitha sat with Tu’Reigd, going through some last minute questions she had about his uncles. She shuffled her papers on the table, hearing a large group approaching the lecture room. “You ready, Trey?”

  The Bakan heir shook his head. “I’m having second thoughts about whether mediation is going to work. I understand it in theory, but nobody took my family into account when they designed the process. It’s all about domination for them.”

  Tabitha was about to reassure him when they heard a fight break out in the anteroom.

  Trey dropped his head onto his folded arms. “I told you they would do this. That’s Da’Mahin, pushing my patience again.”

  “I wish the rest of your family wasn’t so uptight about nicknames. And everything else.” Tabitha pressed her lips together, seeing that Trey was conflicted. She had chosen the lecture room for its enormous circular table, anticipating the issues that would arise from any seating arrangement that favored a particular Baka. “There’s no way that argument is really about who gets to walk through the door first.”

  Trey snorted, having picked up the habit as quickly as a Yollin learns to shrug since moving into the Hexagon. “It really is. The thing you have to remember is they’re all equal in rank, but none of them believe they are. Li’Kein, Ll’Eirion, and Li'Orin will listen to reason, but Da’Mahin, Ban’Clai, and Ma’ Ruen will fight to keep their dominance over the others. Fu’Ksi will go with whichever faction wins out, which means Da’Mahin’s unless Mahi’ steps in. It’s always the same.”

  Tabitha had her game plan as to how to handle the brothers pegged. “Da’Mahin isn’t winning a thing today, apart from a lesson in how to have your family’s back instead of sticking a knife in. We’re going to resolve this, Trey. I promise. Are you ready to speak?”

  Trey scratched his furry cheek and offered Tabitha a weak smile. “I hope so. I appreciate everything you and Be—Baba Yaga have done for my mother. For my people.”

  Tabitha ruffled his fur, nodding toward the lecture room door. “No problem, kiddo. You want to do something about them before your mother gets here?”

  As if on cue, Mahi’Takar’s voice boomed over the clamor in the corridor, and the seven brothers filed sullenly into the horseshoe-shaped room behind their sister.

  Tabitha remained seated, waving the dispossessed royal family in. “Take a seat, everyone.”

  Mahi’Takar brushed past Da’Mahin and swaggered over to the table. She took her seat at the table, bookending her son, and glared at her younger brothers until they were seated in relative silence. “Takar’Tu’Reigd. Tabitha.”

  Tabitha returned Mahi’Takar’s nod and indicated Trey with a hand. “Before we beg
in, I’m going to open the floor to your future leader so you can hear from him what he wants for you as a family and as a people.”

  Trey did a double-take, then squared his shoulders. “Huh? Oh, right. Yeah.” He cleared his throat and ran a hand over his fur to push it out of his eyes. “I want to be remembered as the Takar who freed our people from the influence of the Seven.”

  His uncles jumped to their feet as one and started yelling at Mahi’Takar.

  Tabitha repressed a snicker when Mahi’ folded her arms and sat back, her raised chin making it clear she was fully supporting her son.

  Trey took it in his stride. He growled and slapped the table. “Look at me, not my mother. You’ve been mites in her fur for as long as I can remember, and it stops now.” He got up and began to pace in the space behind his seat, his hand never straying too far from the short knife on his belt as he laid the law down. “You chose to follow us, to swear to me. I am going to take back our home. I am going to remove Lu’Trein from power. I will not take a single warrior I cannot trust with my life.”

  He looked at his uncles with a mixture of sadness and resolve. “You have become petty and dishonorable. Your names will be absent from the histories unless you convince me of your loyalty to me, to my mother, and to our people. None of you will take my position. I am too well protected with Mahi’ and the Mistress at my back.”

  The seven males backed down, to varying degrees. Da’Mahin’s faction glared skeptically, while the smaller three brothers appeared satisfied by Trey’s show of force.

  Trey continued, standing taller as his teenage slouch dropped away and the leader he was born to be came to the surface for a moment. “It’s time to prove that the vows of loyalty you made to me at my birth are worth anything. I have chosen to accept Baba Yaga’s offer of enhancement.” He held up a hand before any of his family could interrupt. “I am assured that the Vid-doc technology allows me to experience time at an accelerated rate while my body is force-grown. I will not be taking any shortcuts, and Tabitha tells me I can access a much wider range of training scenarios to learn from.”

  Tabitha took over to give the brothers a brief rundown of the process Trey would undergo. “It’s completely safe. Baba Yaga wouldn’t allow any harm to come to Tu’Reigd.”

  Trey flourished his hands. “There you go. What is it to be, Da’Mahin? Keep fighting for power you’ll never get and destroy your chance to return home, or work with me to take your brother down?”

  Da’Mahin continued to glare for a moment, then his shoulders dropped. “I will honor my vow, Takar’Tu’Reigd.”

  Trey’s expression was unmoving. “Damn right. You will mend your relationship with Mahi’, and work with Tabitha to increase your knowledge of the Ooken.” He grinned, punching the air. “This is going to be an epic fight! They will sing of our glory for generations to come.”

  Tabitha listened to Trey talk about his hopes for their family’s future and about putting aside their differences for the sake of fighting for their home and people. She couldn’t help but contrast Trey’s heartfelt appeal to his uncles with the long message she’d received from Nickie that morning.

  Times were getting darker, but hope shone through in the end.

  Outskirts of Yollin Space, Waystation, Aboard the Penitent Granddaughter

  Nickie strolled into the mess, full of energy after an unexpectedly good night’s sleep to find the rest of her crew nursing strong black coffee and aching heads. “Is there any alcohol left on this rock?” she teased, pouring herself a cup of beautifully over-caffeinated sludge from the pot.

  She sipped her coffee and dropped onto the bench between Keen and Adelaide. “Did you all hit every bar in the place?” A smirk played on her lips. “You know, I feel great. Maybe because I took it easy, knowing we had a long day ahead of us.”

  “Okay, already,” Keen protested, wincing at Nickie’s chipper tone. “No need to rub it in. Besides, can you even get drunk?”

  Nickie shrugged. “Dunno. It’s been a while since I put any real effort into getting wasted.” She paused with the coffee cup halfway to her mouth, a look of horror dawning on her face. “Is this it? Am I past it?”

  Grim patted Nickie’s arm to console her. “I’m sure the party animal we all know and love is still in there under the responsible person you’ve become. Somewhere…”

  Nickie gagged and put the cup down on the table. “Fuck that. Get me a bottle of brandy, stat.” She narrowed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Grim when he groaned. “You ruin all my fun.”

  Grim lifted his hands in supplication. “What can I say?”

  Nickie narrowed her eyes and resumed sipping her coffee. “Time to get to work.”

  They finished breakfast and made their way to the cargo bays to open them up for the loading crews.

  The loading crews were just arriving when Nickie rode the ramp to the hangar floor. “Things are getting pretty slack while Aunt Bethany Anne is away,” she teased.

  A regal-looking blonde woman wearing four-inch heels and a no-nonsense expression walked in behind the crew and headed straight for Nickie. “You must be Jean’s granddaughter.” She held out a perfectly manicured hand. “Giselle Foxton-Thomas, civilian resources manager at the QBBS Helena.”

  Nickie held her face straight while she shook the intense woman’s hand. “Yeah, um. Nickie Grimes. You’re the Admiral’s wife, right? What does a civilian resources manager have to do with supplying a military shipyard?”

  “Nothing whatsoever,” Giselle confirmed. “However, my husband will be relieved that we have a solution to his supply problem.”

  Nickie raised an eyebrow as she extracted her hand. “That’s me, fixer of supply problems.”

  Giselle looked askance at Nickie for a moment. “Your grandmother did warn me about your idea of humor.” Her lips pressed together in disapproval. “I see what she meant.”

  Nickie winked and turned to go back aboard the ship. “Then you’ll know I’m not joking. See you at the Helena.”

  She grinned to herself as she got back on board the ship, leaving Giselle gaping in annoyance behind her.

  Meredith tsked. Maybe pushing her buttons wasn’t the best idea. Never mind that you have to work with her, she appears to be friends with your grandmother.

  Nickie shrugged. I thought I was nice. I wasn’t the one who went into the conversation with a stick up my ass.

  Meredith chuckled. The Admiral’s wife is rather militaristic in her manner.

  You don’t say. Nickie decided to stick her head in on the crew before heading for the bridge. She found them in the belly of the ship after getting lost in the new corridor layout twice.

  Keen was supervising the placement of the crates and pallets that Durq and the house bots were directing in from the hangar below.

  Where’s Addie? she asked Meredith, knowing the answer already.

  Adelaide is in the engine room, Meredith replied, confirming Nickie’s prediction. We are recalibrating the gravitic drives to account for the full load.

  Nickie was more than grateful for Adelaide’s growing skills in engineering. She was doubly glad somebody was thinking about shit like that because it wasn’t on her agenda.

  She headed for the bridge and took her chair to plot the course to QT2.

  I don’t know how we’d manage this assignment without a Gate drive, Meredith remarked.

  Fucking slowly, Nickie shot back. I could have kissed Barnabas when he told me the Gate drive was part of the ship’s upgrades.

  Didn’t you? Meredith teased. I remember you displaying a certain amount of affection to make up for your initial reaction.

  Nickie’s mouth twitched. How are the crew getting on with the loading?

  They have almost finished filling the second cargo bay, the EI replied.

  Nickie turned her chair, then hesitated before getting up. And the investigation into the Silver Line company?

  I found something that might amuse you, Meredith told her. Technical
ly, you own this base. Or you will when you accept the position.

  Nickie spluttered out loud. Fuck, for real? What else will I “own?”

  I have compiled a breakdown of Silver Line assets for you to read at your leisure, Meredith informed her. It’s going to take you a while to get through all the gains from Luther Voidrux’s generous donation.

  Nickie snickered as she scanned the contents index in her HUD. Donation, huh? That’s one way to frame Bethany Anne’s hostile takeover.

  Meredith sniffed. You don’t sound concerned about that.

  Nickie shrugged. What do I care how we got the company? That sorry excuse for a human being was running his workers into the ground for ever-decreasing pay.

  We’ll take care of them, Meredith reassured her. Have you decided when you will tell the crew the whole story?

  Just as soon as I find my feet, Nickie murmured, turning her chair as the bridge door cycled open. I can’t tell them what’s coming if I don’t know myself.

  Whatever is coming, at least we will get there in good time, Meredith segued. The Gate drive is primed and ready.

  Nickie smiled as the crew piled in. Light it up, Mere. It’s been too long since I got to travel without restrictions.

  Leaving Waystation, Aboard the Penitent Granddaughter, Bridge

  Nickie and Meredith weren’t alone in appreciating their new ability to circumvent the public Gate system.

  “No more waiting in line!” Adelaide danced around her station, completely ecstatic over the circle of shimmering light on the viewscreen.

  Keen and Grim exchanged a glance and burst into laughter as the ship headed through the Gate.

  “What?” Adelaide protested. “I’ve never been on a ship with its own Gate drive before.”

  Nickie chuckled. “Don’t get too excited, Addie. It just means Barnabas can send us farther out.”

  Adelaide shimmied back to her seat. “All the more reason to get excited. Don’t you want to see what’s out there?”