Integration

by A. C. Ellas

  “You are sitting on my lap,” Yeri replied wryly. “You didn’t think that wouldn’t affect me, did you?”

  “She has a point, Yeri.” Lee sighed softly. “We could try the inhibitory shot.”

  “I thought you said that didn’t work on him?” Angel swung to face Lee, her brow furrowed.

  “It doesn’t. Or, rather, it didn’t. He hasn’t had the shot in over twenty years now, not counting stasis time, so it’s possible that he no longer has a tolerance to it.” Lee grimaced. “It’s worth a try.”

  “And if it doesn’t work?”

  “Then, he’ll have to make a new friend.” Lee glanced at Yeri and tried not to smirk. “As handsome as he is, I don’t see that being a problem.”

  “If I am accepted as a shipboard officer, then I would like to try the shot,” Yeri said calmly. “Until then, there is no point since I doubt either of you are interested in abstinence.”

  “You’re so right about that,” Angel replied and kissed him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Each jump brought them closer to home, but each jump cost them time spent in the relativistic effects of subspace entries and exits. Of course, they’d have lost far more time flying direct. Cai would rather lose hours, days, and weeks as opposed to hundreds, thousands, and millions of years. Their journey home wasn’t fast by Cai’s standards. The systems they were transiting were unexplored, so he had to spend time in each one. The science teams were kept busy studying the planets and tagging likely terraforming prospects or noting planets where life had already taken root. Earth-like planets weren’t uncommon, and life was more likely than not.

  While the crew cataloged the new systems, Cai mapped the hardpoints. Most of them were only calculated since he didn’t use them to catapult Dark Star into the next system closer to home, but so far, his calculations had been correct for the hardpoints he had used, so his confidence on the others was high. Cai retwisted the untwistable and emerged at the heliopause of yet another uncharted system. This one was a binary system, two golden suns locked in a dance. There was a decent array of planets—at least a dozen that he could detect. He set his course, inward toward the dancing suns, and exited the Chamber.

  Nick was waiting for him as he emerged, Hector in his arms. Cai smiled at them. His husband and their son. Nick threw his free arm around him and drew him into a comforting three-way embrace. Cai took Hector from him then kissed both his men on the cheek.

  “Lunch is ready,” Nick told him.

  Hector replied, “Bababawa.” He wasn’t yet six months, but he was already babbling and trying to sit up on his own.

  Cai grinned at the boy. “You don’t say?” He glanced up at Nick and smiled warmly. “Thank you, dearest.”

  “Any plans for this evening?” Nick asked as they walked toward the dining room.

  “The band is getting together to jam once everyone’s free,” Cai replied absently because he was also listening to a conversation in engineering. He determined that the problem in engineering wasn’t something that needed his attention or assistance, so he turned back to Nick.

  Nick cocked an eyebrow at him. “Trouble?”

  “Not really. Just a faulty sensor. Engineering is on it.” Cai paused, turning toward the only door into his chambers a moment before a soft chime announced that someone was at the door. “It’s Veloki.”

  “Were you expecting him?” Nick raised his eyebrows then took Hector from him. Hector babbled about that but didn’t resist the transfer.

  “No.” Cai shrugged. “But I don’t mind him. He’s well shielded and a pleasant conversationalist.”

  “There’s plenty of food,” Nick suggested. “I’ll get Hector set up.”

  Cai nodded to him as he told the door to open.

  Veloki stepped in promptly, wearing only a wrap—silver with green stripes today. His violin case was slung over his shoulder. “Ya’sas, Captain, Astrogator.”

  “Ya’sas, Loki,” Cai replied. After having the Rovania aboard for nearly a year, his modern Greek was now better than his ancient Greek. The only thing they insisted on was that the Rovania refrain from speaking Greek while on duty. That didn’t seem to bother the Rovania any, as far as Cai knew, there hadn’t been any slip-ups or problems in that regard. “Did you need something?”

  “I was looking through the music files, and I found something interesting.” Loki held up a data cube. “I thought I remembered this piece, but I couldn’t find it earlier. I did a file recovery and discovered that the file name had decayed, making it undiscoverable on a search.”

  “I see. Care to join us for lunch?” Cai glanced toward the dining room door that Nick had just vanished through.

  “Lunch?” Loki blinked then smiled. “That’s kind of you. I’d be honored.”

  “You can tell me about the file while we eat,” Cai continued. He led the way to the dining room, wishing his friend wasn’t so very young. Loki was stunningly beautiful, but Cai was fresh from the Chamber and sitting down was now an urgent need. He could feel the tremors in his muscles as his body processed the dose of raw Synde he’d taken.

  “Are you okay?” Loki’s sharp gaze didn’t miss much. “Your scent... your blood sugar is low. You need to eat.” His nose missed even less than his eyes. Keeping secrets from a Rovani nose was impossible.

  “This is normal after a jump,” Cai reassured him. “But yes, I do need to eat.” He sat down at the table beside Nick after a glance at Hector, already ensconced in his high chair.

  Loki’s eyes widened at the sight of the baby. The Rovani sat down next to the high chair, his nostrils visibly flaring. Hector was staring at Loki with widened eyes, too. Loki gently touched Hector’s cheek with a finger. Abruptly, Hector babbled something and reached for the Rovani with both little arms.

  “Hector likes you,” Nick observed.

  “He’s beautiful,” Loki murmured.

  “So, you found the missing music file?” Cai asked gently as his adjuncts brought their meal in.

  “Ahh... yes, sir. I think you’ll like it. It’s a violin duet.” Loki cast a shy grin at him then intercepted the small plate meant for Hector. “Captain, you eat. I’ll feed Hector.”

  Nick looked surprised. “Aren’t you hungry, too?”

  Loki shook his head. “I can wait. I’m still not used to eating lunch.”

  All of the Rovania were like that, Cai had noticed. They’d eat breakfast and dinner, but they uniformly skipped lunch. “Why is that?”

  “It’s how we were raised, sir. As gatakia, we were only fed twice a day. We were all fed at the same time, even the adults. Tachero told me that when I became a gladiator, I might be fed three or four times a day depending on my caloric needs, but since I was never sold...” Loki shrugged a shoulder.

  Cai dug into his food. It was hot and tasted wonderful. He realized abruptly that it probably wasn’t something Loki could even eat, being a casserole chock full of pasta and vegetables. Loki didn’t seem to care, he was happily feeding Hector, one spoonful at a time. He appeared skilled at the task, surprisingly so.

  “You’re good with him,” Nick observed quietly.

  “We were trained to take care of babies. We practiced on our own younger sibs since there weren’t any human babies at the compound, but the broods always told us that human babies were the same except that they’d smell irresistible. They were right about the smell.” Loki grinned.

  Cai chuckled. “After we eat, I’d like to see that music.”

  Loki offered up the data cube to the nearest adjunct. “I cleaned the file, defragged it, and repaired the decayed sector.”

  Si-el plucked the cube from Loki’s fingers as Cai said, “Thank you.” The adjunct swept from the room. He’d print out the music once confirming the file wasn’t infected or dangerous.

  “It’s one of Yeri’s better violin pieces,” Loki added. He studied Hector then said, “He’s full. May I hold him?”

  “Certainl
y,” Nick allowed. Cai nodded.

  Loki carefully removed Hector from the high chair then set the baby against his chest. Hector babbled briefly, his arms waving, but he quickly calmed in Loki’s arms.

  Cai cocked his head and studied them. “You purr?” He could sense more than hear the vibration emanating from the Rovani.

  “Yes, we purr.” Loki looked ashamed at having to admit this. He kept his gaze down, not that he was ever willing to hold eye contact for more than a moment.

  “What’s wrong with purring?” Cai wondered.

  “It’s hard to explain,” Loki said after a moment, shaking his head. “Things were different when I was a gatakia. The Breedmasters took good care of us, but they also made certain that we knew our place. They made a point of using our feline ancestry to prove that we were animals.”

  “Oh.” Cai winced as his imagination supplied him with plenty of scenarios that would explain many of the psychological problems the Rovania still suffered from. “I’m sorry.” It was a lame thing to say in the face of the systematic abuse his friend had endured, but what else could he say?

  Loki smiled slightly. “It’s okay, sir. You weren’t there, it certainly wasn’t your fault, and you and the captain have been wonderfully accepting of us.” Hector was sleeping in his arms now, and Cai wondered if the purr was classified as a soporific.

  “You can call me Cai,” he said, for at least the fiftieth time.

  “I can,” Loki agreed, his lips twitching with suppressed laughter. “I can, but I won’t.”

  Nick chuckled then stood. “Come, I’ll show you where Hector sleeps. If we’re lucky, he won’t wake when you transfer him.”

  Loki stood easily. “Yes, sir.” He followed Nick out of the dining room.

  Cai also stood, leaving the remnants for his six to deal with; he returned to his front room and picked up the music Si-el had printed out for him. He scanned the first page with growing delight. The melody was lovely. He flipped through the pages, noting that it was a longer piece, five full sheets. He set the music on a stand and removed his violin from its case. He tuned it quickly then turned his attention to the music. He’d played the first page through by the time Veloki padded back into the room.

  “Do you like it?” The Rovani cocked his head as he approached.

  “Yes, very much. Your father wrote this?” Cai found it astonishing that a figure so famous for his actions in war could also have penned such beautiful, moving music.

  “He did. He didn’t write a lot of violin music, and this is the only violin duet I know of,” Loki said in an apologetic tone. “Yeri mostly wrote bouzouki music.”

  “I’ve heard some of that, thanks to you.” Cai tapped the music with his bow. “Shall we?”

  Loki grinned and reached for his violin case. “Yes, sir.”

  By the time they’d returned to human-held space, Cai and Loki had mastered the violin duet. They traveled faster once they no longer had to catalog their findings or calculate hardpoints. Another eight days and eight jumps and they reached Hevetich at last. Cai transmitted his report as soon as he was in range to do so.

  Chapter Fifteen

  As he stepped through the hatch, Nick glanced around the conference room. One of the two long walls was a solid viewscreen, displaying the planet below. The other long wall was broken by cabinets, a counter on which rested trays of snacks. The short walls at either end held hatches. The table in the center was long and unabashedly synthetic, with inset puter stations at each seat. The carpet was dark grey, the walls a lighter shade, the ceiling nearly white, inset with golden simulated-sun lights.

  Admiral Nbuntu raised an eyebrow but made no comment as he motioned Nick to take a seat.

  Nick complied. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

  “Yes, Nick. How’s the baby?”

  “He’s growing like a weed,” Nick replied. “If he’s not eating, he’s sleeping, and I swear he grows a centimeter every night.”

  Admiral Nbuntu chuckled dryly then offered Nick a few sheets of paper—real paper, which was only used for the most official of communications. Nick accepted them and quickly skimmed them. They were orders of promotion and transfer for Juan Cortez, his hard-working executive officer. He was delighted that Juan was finally getting a command of his own, it was something that was long overdue. Captain Cortez would be taking command of the Silver Eagle, a conventional frigate of the first fleet.

  Nick set the sheets down. “Thank you, sir. I’m sure Juan will be beside himself. He’s given up all hope for this.”

  “It was well past time,” Nbuntu agreed.

  “Who’s to be his replacement?”

  The admiral turned his gaze to the viewscreen and allowed the silence to lengthen. Just before Nick grew uncomfortable enough to speak, Nbuntu asked, “Do you recall how you came to be a captain?”

  Immediately, he flashed back to a memory of the sirens and smoke of the first Rel attack on the ship he’d served as a junior lieutenant. “Of course, sir. That isn’t something I’ll ever forget.”

  “It was most irregular, but your ability to take charge under adverse conditions and your tactical brilliance is why I requested you for the fourth fleet. I need minds and abilities like yours, and I don’t give a whit about length in service and whose turn it is for promotion.” Nbuntu turned his gaze on Nick now. “I want officers and crew who’ll push the limits. That’s why I placed an untried captain and a brand new Astrogator together in the first place.”

  Nick hadn’t realized that it had been Nbuntu’s suggestion that put him and Cai on the same ship; he’d thought it had been old Admiral Belcher—but the ship, one of the Owl class stealth frigates, and immediate assignment to the fourth fleet, was evidence enough that Nbuntu’d had a say in things. “This XO must be something really different, or why all the build-up?”

  “I mistrust this,” Cai replied in the back of his mind. “He’s playing you, but why?”

  “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Right now, we have a truly unique opportunity before us... if you say yes. I won’t place this officer with an unwilling captain. Hell, I’ve half a mind to keep him on my staff as it is, but he has told me he’d like to serve on a ship.” Nbuntu took a deep breath then let it out slowly. “He’s a good match for you. He’s a fine strategic thinker and holds a doctorate in quantum physics. He has previous military experience but not in the Corps. He was fast-tracked through the academy—he only spent a year there. Upon graduation, he was jumped straight to commander’s rank. If you accept him, Dark Star will be his first posting.”

  “With all due respect, you’re joking, right, sir?” Nick wanted to swear. Nbuntu’s summary was unsettling. They’ve finally gone and done it: Admiralty has lost its collective mind. No wonder he took pains to remind me of how I became a captain, this man’s service record is even more sparse than mine. His first instinct was to flatly refuse. Dark Star was a huge ship, he needed, he must have, a very competent executive officer at the top of his game. Not some wet-behind-the-ears with stars-in-his-eyes protégé on his first posting.

  “I’m really not.” Nbuntu steepled his fingers. “This candidate was only at the academy for a year because he is a genius—he tested out of most courses, and those we required him to take, he passed with some of the highest grades ever. He already held a doctorate in quantum physics before he applied the academy.”

  “I have no issue with his intelligence or his education; I have issue with his lack of experience. Dark Star is a big ship, I need someone with experience leading, not a greenhorn who hasn’t even had a tour as an ensign.”

  “He has previous leadership experience that we chose to take into account,” Nbuntu said drily. “Nick, trust me, we really haven’t lost our minds. This candidate... Nick, he’s truly unique. There is an immense opportunity here. Dark Star is my first choice for him. I think you and Cai are the most likely to accept him, understand him, and make use of his ta
lents.” The admiral suddenly leaned forward. “Nick, you have no idea how hard I fought to claim him for the fourth fleet. He’s the sort of officer who gives strategists wet dreams. All I’m asking is that you speak to him and give him a fair hearing.”

  “He’s really laying it on thick,” Cai observed. “Either this person is really something else, or he’s trying to pull something on us. Either way, this situation reeks of politics, and I don’t like it at all.”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Nick replied. “Very well, Admiral. I’ll meet this prodigy of yours.”

  Nbuntu smiled. “Excellent. I’ll send him in directly.” The admiral stood and swept out of the room. Nick could have sworn he heard the man chuckling as he went out the door.

  What is Nbuntu planning? Why is he so insistent on this? It’s not merely unusual, it’s so irregular as to be completely without precedent. Restless, Nick stood and walked to the viewscreen. He searched the space above the planet until he found the point of light that was Dark Star. “I hope Juan’s promotion doesn’t ride on us accepting this.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. I hope it doesn’t, either... or, at the very least, that this man is someone we can work with.”

  Behind him, the hatch opened. From the corner of his eye, he caught the entrance of a figure dressed in the black uniform of the Corps. Nick didn’t turn immediately, preferring to wait and see what the prospective XO would do. The man vanished from his peripheral view but didn’t come into view on the other side, indicating that he’d come to a stop.

  Silence reigned. The soft sigh of the vents exchanging the air in the room seemed preternaturally loud. Whomever Nbuntu had sent him was possessed of unusual patience. Nick waited. He wouldn’t be the one to speak first. Several minutes passed before, finally, the man spoke.