"That close, eh?" David asked, his inner smart-ass leaking out.
"That's enough —" Harris started.
"It's alright, Ron." Forstmann interrupted. "I understand a young man's frustration at not being allowed to understand something he's seen with his own eyes. It's OK."
Powell and Smith were dismissed, heading back to the BOQ for the night. After walking them out, Ron returned to the conference room.
"Randy, how about dinner with us tonight?"
"That would be very nice, of course, but you should clear it with your wife," Forstmann responded, cautiously.
"Oh, I will, Randy."
"Make sure she's willing, Ron. My presence can create a real circus."
"I know, I know, but we live on the base, so I think we're well enough insulated from the cameras. But, yes, I'll talk to her."
"Good."
Ron returned to his office and dialed his wife on his personal phone.
"Can we do a dinner for a guest tonight?" he asked.
"I guess, yeah. Who?"
"Well, Fiona —"
"Fiona's not a guest."
"Yeah, I know. It's Fiona and someone else."
"Who else?"
"Can it be a surprise?"
"I guess. Depends on the surprise."
"It's a good surprise."
"OK, fine, be that way, Admiral Mysterious, but is this a lasagna surprise? If so, I have one in the freezer. If this is a burgers surprise, I have those, too."
"OK —"
"But if this is like a beef tenderloin surprise, I need to order it, get the asparagus, get some fresh horserad—"
"Yes, this is definitely a beef tenderloin kinda guest."
"Hmm. VIP, huh? Let me guess —"
"Please don't."
"HA! Gotcha old man."
Ron never tired of Meredith's laughter. Every time he heard it, he felt twenty-two again. He hung up smiling and walked back to the conference room.
"We're set."
"Wonderful. Did you tell her who was coming?"
"No. I just requested the menu."
"You're a brave man, Admiral Harris."
Just after six, the kitchen door opened and Fiona came in, followed by a small, older man in jeans. As Meredith turned from the stove to greet her guests, she froze as she saw him.
"Mr. Forstmann!"
"Good evening, Mrs. Harris, thank you for inviting me tonight."
Meredith looked at Ron, then back at Forstmann, and smiling with one hand on her hip, and pointing to Ron with the carving knife in her other hand, she replied, "Actually, sir, this guy invited you."
"Something smells wonderful," he answered.
"I sure hope so! Do come in Mr. Forstmann."
"Randy, please."
"Meredith." She shook his hand, then turned back to the grill on the stove.
"Fiona?" she called without looking away.
"Yes?"
"Why is there not a glass of wine in my hand?"
Fiona gave her a gentle hug as she passed by and headed for the wine rack. "One Norton, coming up. Randy?"
"Oh, when in Rome..."
"Three Nortons it is, then."
After dinner, they sat around the table, talking about the war, and about family. Meredith put down her glass and looked down the table at Ron.
"I've had Ron gone for months before, but this time was so different. There were always dangers, but I never had that feeling that someone might actually hurt him."
"And this time you did?" Randy asked.
"Yes. It was much harder to keep a normal life going. The girls picked up on it and they tried their best to help me."
"I can see how that would be."
"Any children in the Fleet, Randy?" Fiona asked.
"No. But there are several cousins, nieces, nephews, that kind of thing. I only have the one son, and he's a little old even by Fleet standards."
"But you worry about them?"
"Yes, Meredith, I do. But, really, I worry about all of them. It's my invention, my dream of practical space travel, that's at the root of this conflict, and that concerns me very much."
"So, are we going to win?"
"Meredith!"
"No, Ron, it's fine." Forstmann took another sip of his after-dinner coffee. "I am not a military man, certainly no strategist. But I believe our victory is almost certain. We have several tactical and technological advantages. From what I have read, we understand combat better than they do."
"But?" Fiona asked.
"But this won't be some bloodless walkover. They are powerful. And, ruthless. So far, they're also unpredictable, which makes them even more dangerous. But, Ron's people are working very hard on that."
Meredith shook her head gently. "I think you are too hard on yourself, Randy."
Forstmann set down his cup and looked back down the table at her. "How so?"
"Without your invention, seems to me very likely they would have shown up here someday just like they did at Inor and we would have had no answer for it. But for you, we might have lost it all on the first day."
Forstmann nodded slowly to himself. "I think that's overly generous. We have other kinds of defensive weapons that we would have used had that happened. But, thank you for that, Meredith. I appreciate the thought."
Fiona and Ron cleared the table as Meredith and Randy talked children and family. Randy had grown up not far from Meredith's home town, and they shared memories of a few places, restaurants, parks, and theaters. She was surprised that he was aware of her education, her two master's degrees, her work with the families of young fleet officers.
"But, even with all that, Meredith, I think I'd really like to send my chef here for a week."
"Say what?"
"Yes, I think you could give him some lessons."
"You have got to be kidding. "
"Not really. This meal was beautiful, and I know it was expensive because I pay the bills for ours, but it still felt like a home cooked meal, and I miss that part."
"Well, Randy, there's a small trick to that."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, don't try to be too perfect. If it's not exactly medium rare, if the potatoes are in for ten minutes too long, nobody really cares. The food is only part of the meal."
"The rest is good company?"
Meredith smiled. "Yes. And, good wine!"
For dessert, there was a classic, simple New York cheesecake, made from a several-generations-old family recipe. It was excellent by any standard, and Randy went back to his penthouse apartment with a new appreciation for the Harrises. He made a note to send a few Forstmann Foundation Scholarships along when their three daughters headed for college in a few years.
It had been a good day, and he slept more soundly than he had in some weeks.
Intrepid
Approaching Beta Hydri
Saturday, November 19, 2078, 2110 UTC
Ben found Natalie Hayden head-down in her office. She'd spent the last six hours back-checking weapons inspections. It was boring but necessary work for the Weapons Maintenance Officer. Ben slipped in as quietly as he could, but Natalie looked up before he got to her.
"Stalking me, Price?" she said, laughing as she sat up straight.
"Naw, just looking," he said, smiling, and nodding as he continued, "for you."
She regarded him carefully for a moment. This late-evening visit wasn't a business call, that much was obvious.
"So, what's up?"
He leaned against the steel frame of her office door. He paused a moment before speaking. His voice was quiet, intense.
"We're going to be there in two days, Nat."
"Yes, I know," she responded quietly. Something else was going on here, she thought, but she decided to let Ben come to it at his own pace.
He looked away as he asked her, "What do you want, Nat? I mean, what do you really want?"
She sat back in her chair and stretched her arms above her head, leaning back to let out some of the stiffn
ess she felt after hours in the stacks and then pouring over the reports. After a moment, she pulled herself back down and leaned her elbows on the desk. She was stalling for time to think, but the stretch felt good, too.
"You mean today? Later? What?"
He turned to look at her directly. "I mean forever."
She thought about it for a second and then looked steadily back at him. "I want to do good work, hard work, work that I love, and at the end of the day I want to fall into bed with someone who wants nothing more in the world than for me to do just that."
Ben looked up at her. "Then, I am your man."
Natalie looked at Ben for a few seconds, her head inclined a little.
"So is that —" she began to ask, but he leaned over quickly and kissed her.
Straightening up, he repeated quietly, "I am your man, Nat, and yes, that's a question. Think it over."
A step after he turned to leave, she said, "Mister Price?"
He turned back to her. She was smiling slightly as she looked off into the distance.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"OK."
He smiled. "Is that an answer?"
"It is."
"You're sure this isn’t too soon? You're sure you're ready?"
"I've been ready since we launched the second Sentinel."
He smiled, recalling the time they spent head-to-head inside the second surveillance drone, troubleshooting a problem with the RTG. He had enjoyed that interplay, too, but clearly it had made an even deeper impression on her,
"Cool. Should I, like, ask the Captain for your hand?"
Natalie laughed. "I kinda thought I'd have to ask her for yours!"
"OK, well, then maybe we should ask her together?"
"Sure. But Ben, we're not waiting around, OK? Let's get this done right away."
"You're sure about that? I mean, I don't have a ring or anything—"
"Buy me a ring after this is all over if you want to. For now, just give me your word. That's all I really need."
"Well, you know you have that already."
"OK, then."
"So, I'll get us an audience with Henderson, and we'll see what she says, OK?"
Ben and Natalie appeared in Joanne Henderson's office the next day. Ben had asked the Captain for an appointment but left out any mention of Natalie or the subject. None of that was unusual, as Price would meet with the Captain routinely to cover Intel or administrative topics.
So, Joanne was surprised when they arrived together and closed the door behind them. She suppressed a smile, but there could be no doubt, in her mind, what this little gathering was about.
"We've decided to get married," Ben reported.
"Well, there's the least shocking thing I've heard today. Congratulations."
"Least shocking?" Natalie asked.
"Yes. Least shocking, most obvious, whatever. But, contrary to popular belief, I can't help you. Fleet Captains can't marry people."
"No, we just thought you should know. And we had to tell somebody."
"Well, thanks for that. And I appreciate the notice, I do. When we get back, you'll have to file the relationship declaration with FleetPers. For now, your status doesn't change."
"Yes, Captain, we understand."
Joanne smiled now, her laugh barely suppressed. "But I am very glad for both of you. You'll be great."
They rose and left the Captain's office happy, and as the door closed behind them, Joanne Henderson was left unsure whether to laugh with joy or cry that her best friend in the world — in the universe, she corrected herself — was yet another step away from her. She missed him brutally already, their deep and free-wheeling conversations now past, but the rules and realities of command required a distance between Captain and crewmember. Their friendship was a rare thing. She had once called it lightning in a bottle talking with Fiona, and would likely never be repeated.
But life goes on, she reminded herself. We live, we find people to enrich our lives, and we enjoy them while they are present. The patterns of life change, the lights dim or brighten, and everything looks different. She shook off those thoughts, picking up Ben's synopsis of what Fleet knew of the Seekers, what Sol it would be when they arrived, and what FleetIntel thought they might find. She could hear his voice in her head, reading each word to her, laying out for her the nuance of what was important, and what probably wasn't.
She finished the Intel summary and returned to considering what had just happened in her office. She wasn't jealous, that much she was sure of, because she never wanted the kind of relationship with Ben that Natalie now enjoyed. But she missed what she once had, and how it had made her life more tolerable. Perhaps, she thought, the time has come to think differently, to allow for new options, new choices. For now, she had her ship to attend to, but she let herself consider, however briefly, that when they got back home, she might be making some changes.
ISC Fleet HQ Main Briefing Theater
Ft. Eustis, VA
Tuesday, November 22, 2078, 0900 EST (1400 UTC)
The four briefings, summaries though they were, took all morning. The sudden wealth of information now rolling around in CINC's mind, and that of his staff, was almost overwhelming. The enemy was ultimately Terran. They had a giant supply facility of some kind in the middle of nowhere twenty-five light years to the south. The Beta Hydri culture — the 'Seekers' — were alive and in hiding. The enemy had returned to Beta Hydri. And, finally, FleetIntel's message intercepts now had a revealing new source: Alpha Mensae. Some of this knowledge would confirm decisions he'd already made, and some would cause him to pursue new and more promising modes of action.
As they left the long morning meeting, David and Carol came across Susan Scranton.
"Good morning, Doctor Scranton."
"Hello, Lieutenant Powell."
David turned back to Carol. "Oh, Carol, this is our exobiologist, Doctor Scranton. She led the investigation of the wreck and did the DNA analysis." He turned back to Scranton. "Doctor Scranton, Carol—"
"Hansen," Scranton said firmly, clearly recognizing her.
Carol found herself looking carefully at the tall, thin physician. "Scranton..." Carol looked away, then back at Scranton. "Susan Scranton?" she asked gently.
"Yes, Lieutenant."
"Chief Vaughn Scranton's daughter?"
Tears grew around the edges of the doctor's eyes. David found himself completely lost.
Susan reluctantly nodded and said, "Yes."
David's question was plain on his face.
Carol leaned over to speak quietly in his ear. "Chief Scranton was the senior enlisted man on Liberty. He used to talk all the time about his daughter the doctor, but I didn't make the connection to your Doctor Scranton until now."
They moved to the side of the lobby where they could sit down. Scranton's hardened armor guard was clearly gone, her emotions coming fully to the surface. Susan turned to Carol, seated next to her on a small bench.
"I've wanted to talk to you for so long, Lieutenant Hansen, so long."
"Oh?"
"You found him. I read your report."
"I did."
"Tell me about it. Tell me everything."
Carol looked down, wondering how to answer her pain-filled question. "He was a brave man, Doctor Scranton, brave beyond whatever words I have to express it."
"That's not much of an answer, Lieutenant Hansen."
"It's the best answer I can give you. The rest is irrelevant."
Susan looked at David, the mask that once occupied her face now gone. "So, now you know why I was so single-minded. I had to get them, Powell, I had to find them and somehow make them pay."
David just nodded in response.
"Everyone told me I was nuts. Told me to calm down and stick with my research. Stay where I belonged."
"Of course."
She looked back at Carol. "For you, he was an admired shipmate. But he was my Dad, he was all I had, and they took him away."
"S
o, you joined FleetIntel."
"They'd take me. Nobody else would. Besides, I could make a good case for a geneticist if we could find something to examine."
"Turns out you were right," David said softly.
"Yes, I suppose so."
David looked at Carol, sharing an understanding, then back at Scranton. "From what I see, Doctor, you belong just fine right here. I can't see Harris letting go of you now."
"I hope that's right, Powell. But I've never counted on people doing the right thing."
"You can here, Doctor, and that's a promise," Carol responded.
"I wish, Doctor Scranton, that you had told us who you were back on Columbia. We never understood what was behind the demands, the stress."
"I've never really been able to trust people other than my Dad."
"Well, then, start with us." Carol reached around and gave her a gentle hug. Scranton nodded and relaxed a little.
David stood up from the kneeling position he'd been in, rubbing his sore left kneecap.
"I think you should talk to Harris, tell him why you're here. He'd respect that." She looked up at him.
"Yes, I'll do that. I suspect he already knows."
"Well, that's possible. He is the head spy after all. If you don't mind, I'll let Commander Smith know?"
"Yes, that would be fine."
Carol looked up at David, who returned her look with a slight nod.
"So, how about some lunch?" she asked.
Scranton let go a small laugh, wiped her eyes, and stood.
"Sure, that would be lovely."
David smiled as he responded, "Doctor Scranton, that is a word I never thought I'd ever hear from you."
"Oh?"
"Yes, but I like the sound of it. Shall we go?"
They headed off for the HQ commissary.
After lunch, Connor Davenport sat with his senior staff and the most experienced ship captains available: Kieran Barker, Terri Michael, Mark Rhodes, Anna Nonna, Nobuyuki Kawaguchi, and Dan Smith.
Smith felt like an intruder in this company, the rest being much more senior officers, but CINC had called him in, so he went. He tried his best to be listening far more than talking.
For Rhodes, it was familiar territory but a very unfamiliar role. He was accustomed to sitting off to the side, taking notes and passing questions to Cook. Now, he was at the table between Barker and Michael and expected to help figure out what to do with what they now knew.
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