by T. Y. Carew
Xander’s face filled the comm’s screen when Matt answered it. The slightly mussed-up hair, strong angles of his face, clever gray eyes that were never quite as stony or impassive as he tried to make them… all of it, all of him filled her lungs, her heart, her mind. Matt thought time might have helped calm the emotions Xander brought out in her, but it hadn’t. Every day, it felt like they were growing closer and closer to something each knew they wanted and shouldn’t act on.
“Xander,” Matt said, giving him the fond little smile she seemed to have only discovered around the same time as her feelings for him blossomed into a sudden, shocking realization of love. “I bought you a fuzzy hat.”
Xander returned the smile hesitantly, if only for the briefest of moments, then his mask slid back into place. “Captain,” he said formally.
The camera zoomed out and panned the room. Drew sat up and at attention in a leather chair in Admiral Kelton’s office. Trey was nowhere to be seen, but the general came into the shot, actually smiling. That was… bizarre.
“And did you buy me one too, Captain Adair?” General Kelton asked, his smile threatening to turn into a full-blown grin. In all her days serving with Xander, Matt could count the number of times Kelton smiled on both hands. Grinning wasn’t in the man’s repertoire. It wasn’t even an action she was sure he knew how to do.
“General Kelton, did you just make a joke?” Matt said, and winced immediately.
“Even us old dogs have a sense of humor every now and again,” Kelton said. “Lieutenant.”
Drew cleared his throat and the camera focused on him. “Matt. There’s about to be a press conference. Uh…” He scratched at his cheek and cleared his throat again. “Between Simon and Dr. Cardew.”
Matt lost any and all of her good cheer. The woman with the red hair, as she’d come to think of the vile doctor, always spelled bad news for the crew of the Contessa. First had come an investigation into a murder by Adamanta Dr. Cardew helped cover up. Then, and so recent as to still give Matt, Drew, and possibly Xander occasional nightmares came an incident when the woman used human and Beltine alike as test subjects for a chemical weapon based on the psychosis-inducing Anathema mists.
As for Simon, he was an enormous stain on her dating record. The rich playboy still held a grudge against her that extended far beyond their personal relationship and bled into their working one. He’d gone as far as cutting his funding and support to the military, something Matt, Xander, and the others had only recently managed to mitigate with new private investors. Sometimes Matt woke herself up punching the air, dreaming she was actually connecting with the right cross she’d pulled at the last second in her condo when they’d broken up. Those dreams were kind of the best.
Her jaw clenched, Matt asked, “Why?”
Drew glanced at Xander, then Kelton. Xander laid a hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder and Drew had never looked so grateful as when the colonel starting talking.
“I’ve sent a shuttle to the nearest available landing pad for you and Tyra. We’ll discuss the specifics after the conference, but…”
“Colonel,” Matt said, biting the word off. “Please. Tell me.”
Xander nodded. “They’re going to announce a partnership. Simon is going to officially bankroll her research, and Dr. Cardew is granting him the first rights to her discoveries.”
Chapter 2
Matt didn’t remember snarling at Tyra that it was time to go, or the Lentarin guiding them through the wall-to-wall people on their way to meet with the shuttle. All she remembered in the hours to come was watching the press conference aboard the short flight to the administrative building housing Kelton’s office.
Simon looked so cocky, so effortlessly arrogant in front of a projection of what was clearly a redesign of the Contessa, one of Simon’s greatest ships. It was at least three times the size of their ship, though, and far more garish—a peacock to the Contessa’s beautiful swan. At the bottom was a name—the Exemplar. Even that made the ship seem all the more pretentious.
His suit subtly clung and showed off his frame, and not a single strand of hair seemed out of place. Even Simon’s five-o’clock shadow was precisely trimmed to give him that devil-may-care look Matt had so adored once. Now she could hardly stomach the sight of him, and that wasn’t even factoring in the woman at his side. Dr. Evelyn Cardew, once of the unforgettable red hair and formerly of an ordinary brunette color, now had dyed her hair a color vaguely reminiscent of sand, and for a brief, crazed moment, Matt had to fight back a snicker at the thought of crabs poking out beside the woman’s ears. The doctor’s smile may have been wide enough to swallow a watermelon whole, but it didn’t touch the eternal contempt in her eyes. She too was dressed to the nines, in slacks that clung to her legs and a long pale coat that came down to her knees, edged in a blonde color matching her hair.
The speech was simple and relatively brief. Simon was happy to announce a new partnership, much as Xander detailed. Cardew’s smile grew even wider, if that was possible, and could now possibly encircle a small stellar object, like… oh… a moon.
Cardew spoke a few words about the great progress she and her team expected to make with Simon’s backing, and they held up their hands together as though they were actors on stage taking a bow—then they actually did bow, making Matt want to retch. Had Simon really fallen this far?
That wasn’t all, though. Simon made as if to walk off the stage, then turned back and winked for the cameras’ benefit. “Oh, and one more thing. We believe in transparency, not just for the sake of our investors, but for you at home with your justified fear of the Beltine threat. Not only is my company going to continue to pursue advances in personal Adamanta usage for all, and not just the military, but Dr. Cardew and I will have some very exciting new announcements coming very, very soon. I can’t say much yet, but for the first time in what feels like decades, we’re finally going to take it to the Beltine bastards.”
A cheer rose up from the crowd of supposed impartial reporters and journalists, and the feed cut off right as Simon shook Dr. Cardew’s hand one more time.
Matt was very proud of herself. Her tightened fist only barely cracked the edges of her comm device.
***
Xander pored over operation notes and estimated FTL travel times while Drew requisitioned the explosives they’d need for the mission as Kelton had laid it out for them. Trey was preparing the Contessa. The colonel and the techie didn’t have long to wait after Simon Dantos’s blockbuster announcement for Matt to storm through the door, Tyra trailing close behind. For Xander, it was hard not to smile at Matt, despite the consternation on her face. Even angry, she was damned cute. Sure, most people who knew what she was capable of would probably be terrified at that maniacal glint in her eye, but to him, it just spoke volumes as to the strength of the woman and the steel in her heart. Xander stowed the thoughts away. Even without the attraction, it was still hard to keep a stoic façade. Matt would be thrilled in about three minutes.
The pair fresh to the meeting saluted Kelton, who nodded curtly at them and gestured at the available seats around the table.
“Permission to speak freely?” Matt asked.
“No,” Kelton said, his voice serene tranquility. Mattie strangled on an outburst and flopped into a chair. If she’d been a bomb, she would have gone nuclear. Tyra followed much more gracefully, her gaze flicking between Xander and Drew. “Colonel, fill them in, please.”
“Yes, sir.” Xander rose while Drew tapped at a few buttons on his personal device. A screen at the center of the table showed a cluster of asteroids against the backdrop of a red-and-cream swirled planet. The camera panned slowly back and forth across the asteroids, a long incomprehensible string of alien fonts filling a box in the lower right-hand corner.
“The feed is from an Agathen nomad ship, searching for ice to mine and bring back to allied space,” Xander said. “Normally not the sort of thing we’d care about, except that this video was shopped around via
private channels and purchased a week ago. Two guesses by whom.”
Tyra seemed confused, but Matt leaned forward, her finger tapping her lips. “Simon. Or Cardew.”
Drew, grinning, spoke up for the first time since they’d entered. “Ding-ding, you get a prize.” Kelton silenced him with a look, but the smile didn’t disappear.
Xander continued, “Kelton’s mole on the inside of Simon’s operation sent us a copy of the video, along with Simon and Dr. Cardew’s plans to come forward and announce their partnership. It’s been a done deal for a while, but they wanted to go public when they had something big to put the exclamation point on their press conference.”
“I’m not seeing it,” Matt said. It was nearly perfect timing, because almost immediately afterward, she did.
The camera almost didn’t catch the motion of the Beltine ship. The framework resembled that of a typical Dairos fighter, but in place of guns, the belly of the ship came down to a round turret. The camera stopped panning, froze on that ship, and after a lengthy pause, zoomed in. The Dairos ship dove towards a glittering asteroid, and the turret whirred to life, firing off thick salvos of concentrated laser fire into the mineral-rich rock, carving it up. Another Beltine ship, this one unfamiliar in its stocky design but its purpose clear, dove down, its belly wide open, and swooped up the matter.
Matt glanced up, surprised. “A Beltine mining outpost.”
“A rarity,” Xander confirmed. “The Agathen would have been smart to run away, but their own sensors were tricked by the particulates within the asteroid field.”
Drew jumped in. “Their assumption was—and they were right, at least as far as we know—that the interference affected the Beltine too. It worked both ways, and the Agathen wound up with nearly an hour’s worth of footage.”
“The captain is a shrewd one,” General Kelton said. “Having heard about our little separation with Simon, she decided to see what she could get for the footage through back channels. As it turned out, a fortune.”
Xander nodded. “Simon believes this is an opportunity to study Beltine mining techniques, which at least in regards to Adamanta have always been somewhat more efficient than humankind’s. After they’ve had a chance to conduct their own studies at a distance, they’ll destroy the Beltine base. Even if they learn nothing, they’ll still come out looking like heroes to their investors and the public at large.”
“I don’t get it,” Matt said. “Why are you all looking like you’re cats and you’ve just visited a big canary buffet?”
“Because before she went silent, my mole gave us one last little gift,” General Kelton said, and he leaned forward, not bothering to hide his smile now. “Coordinates.”
“They’re hours ahead of us, but Simon and Dr. Cardew do not have any sort of authority,” Drew said. “We fly after them, we arrive at the asteroid field, and we blow up that mining operation first.”
Tyra chuffed out a great, belly-shaking laugh and clapped Matt on the back. “We are finally going on the offensive.”
“Not just with the Beltine, either,” Xander said, now grinning too. “We do this right, and we blacken Simon and Cardew’s eyes before they’ve even had a chance to really get started.”
***
The Exemplar was nothing short of a dream. Every inch of it yawned its luxuriousness, from the supple lines of its many rooms to the full-wall screens and leather seating. Real leather, too, supple and so fresh from the tannery that it still held the rustic smell to it. Everything was top-of-the-line, and engineered to perfection. No shortcuts on the Exemplar, no warped panels, none of that. This was the next generation of luxury class ships for the elite among Simon’s buyers, and he couldn’t have been prouder to be a part of her maiden voyage.
The crew was nothing short of the best either—the best captain, headhunted personally by Simon. The best crew, selected from the finest in the private sector. The best engineers, plucked from Simon’s own shipyards and his company’s fleet. The best three chefs from Netera and Tarkan, servicing the bellies of the humans, Lentarin, and Agathen on board. And on Dr. Cardew’s end, the finest scientists and soldiers.
Truth be told, Simon wasn’t very comfortable with the last bunch. They’d agreed on a small squad of marines to help keep peace on board the Exemplar and act as a line of defense in case combat with the Beltine became necessary. All of them were Adamanta-trained and veterans of several conflicts. They were, for the most part, cordial and indifferent to the others on board the ship, exactly as Simon could wish for. He just didn’t like the idea of what they stood for. The Beltine were a threat to the Exemplar, absolutely, but she was more than capable at ship-to-ship combat, with some of the newest heavy laser weaponry available as well as more traditional kinetic munitions. Soldiers on board felt like overkill.
Still, safety first, and all that, he mused to himself as he laid down another winning hand in a game of poker with two of the aforementioned soldiers and his right-hand man, Kingston. One of the soldiers groaned, and Kingston shook his head, his lip twitching upward in a frown, about as much emotion as the man ever showed. As a bodyguard, he was outstanding, but he’d truly missed his calling in life as a wooden board.
As Simon raked in the pocket change on the table, he cocked an eyebrow at Kingston. “Any word from the authorities on Sally?”
“They checked with her family in Gainsbridge,” Kingston rumbled.
Simon waited for the man to continue, but it appeared all the water had been bled from the stone. “And?” he asked patiently.
“Nothing. They haven’t heard from her either.”
Simon folded his arms and rested the elbows on his knees, thinking. “What could have happened to her? She was so excited about this trip.”
Kingston shrugged. Sally, Simon’s latest personal assistant, had come up missing just the morning of the press conference. It was truly bizarre. She would have been up on stage with him, and not that Sally needed a particular boost, but the high visibility could have only shot her career prospects straight up. Simon had no illusions she was entirely happy in his employ and wanted to run her own business someday, but they were both sharks in their own fashion and had gotten on quite well. He’d never had a finer assistant, and Sally’s absence troubled him to no end.
“Well, nothing for it, but in the future, if you do hear something, even if there’s no news, tell me, yeah?” Simon asked Kingston. The big man nodded and dropped more chips in the center of the table. His boss stood up abruptly. “Back in a bit, guys. Need to stretch my legs before I take your next paycheck, too.”
“Har, har,” one of the soldiers grunted.
Simon meandered out into the hallway, nodding and smiling at a perky young thing in one of the ship’s unfortunately shapeless jumpsuits. How was a guy supposed to gauge whether or not he wanted a night of fun when they wore something half a step away from a drab canvas sack? Still, this one was quite pretty, with a face as delicate as a doll’s and three ponytails stretching down to her shoulders. Simon ambled after her, already thinking of how to start up a conversation, when Dr. Cardew stepped out of the galley, a sealed mug in hand.
“Simon,” she said, giving him that tight-lipped smile with just a hint of her teeth. She glanced after the quickly disappearing crew member and then back at him, eyebrow cocked. “Aiming to sample the local cuisine?”
“Something to that effect. The ship treating you well, Evelyn?”
“Oh yes.” Her smile became even toothier. Simon liked the doctor’s mind, but something about Evelyn Cardew’s smile over the last few days unsettled him. Nerves, he supposed. Both of them had quite a bit riding on this venture of theirs. “Your crew has been very accommodating to my people.”
He laid a friendly hand on her shoulder. “Excellent, excellent. How is the training coming along with the sensory equipment? Ready for the mining observations?”
“Absolutely. With five practice runs a day, I feel confident they’ll perform exactly as I hope. Relax, Simon
. When we arrive, it’ll be like we’re right there in the midst of things.”
“Let’s hope not,” Simon said, and gave her a polite little chuckle. “Well, carry on then.”
“Aye sir,” Dr. Cardew said, giving him a mockery of a salute. Her smile never once touched her eyes, but Simon was already thinking about that pretty crew member again. Had she been in the personnel files he’d reviewed? Funny, he was usually good with people’s faces but he was drawing a complete blank on hers. As Dr. Cardew headed off to the barracks and private quarters, Simon started down the hallway again, hands jammed in his pockets, trying to recall the woman’s name or any information about her.
Probably one of the junior technicians or janitorial staff, Simon reasoned with himself. There were a dozen of those and he might have just skipped right past her profile. Still, not knowing her name wasn’t exactly the best way to make a first impression, so he decided to head back to his room, what would eventually be the captain’s private quarters, and review the personnel files again.
Cardew had disappeared by the time he started back after her, though her quarters were on the same upper level as his. Probably fraternizing with one of the crew members, just like he planned to. Simon didn’t particularly care. This whole mission was a bit of a joke, something flashy and big for the cameras and the masses. A paid vacation, more or less, as their real work would come after this voyage, when they both returned.
Dr. Cardew’s research facilities were housed in a safe, secure abandoned waystation meant for basic repairs and resupplies for passing freighters that never took that route anymore. Simon would be headed back to Netera, to the grindstone of briefing his investors on the long-term plans of working with Dr. Cardew. From there, he’d oversee closely the Adamanta miners in his employ, especially if his people or the doctor’s discovered anything notable from observation of the Beltine after this expedition. All in all, their presence on the Exemplar was nothing but a show. He hadn’t even intended on coming, but Evelyn talked him into it.
