by Mike Smith
Jon was almost finished when the chime of the door interrupted him. “Come,” he called without thinking who it could be.
Turning to face the door he was half expecting to face an extremely irate princess, but was relieved to see Paul instead. At least he still had one friend on Eden Prime. It looked like Jon wasn’t the only one who had suffered a bad night, as Paul also looked tired and dishevelled.
“Paul I am glad to see you. I wanted to say goodbye,” Jon explained hurriedly.
“Goodbye?” Paul replied, looking around the room, bleary eyed and confused.
“I’m leaving. I have no further business on Eden Prime and I want to start tracking down Harkov before his trail starts to get cold.”
“Sofia came to see me last night,” Paul interrupted. “She was in tears, devastated. Saying that you had betrayed her. Is what she said true?” He demanded angrily.
Jon averted his eyes, refusing to let him see the answer in them, instead he changed the subject slightly. “I’m glad she had somebody to talk to. I wouldn’t have wanted her to be alone.” Fortunately Jon was looking aside, so he did not see the flash of guilt in his old friend’s eyes.
“So you are going after Harkov alone? Are you crazy?” Paul replied, purposefully changing the topic as he had no wish to discuss Sofia with Jon, after his own shameful actions.
“It wouldn’t make any difference if I took a task-force with me. In the end it’s just going to be Harkov and me. It’s always been that way between us, personal.”
Paul nodded his head sadly. “Well you take care of yourself okay?”
“Sure, and Paul?”
“Yes?”
“Look after Sofia for me? I know it will not make much difference, but tell her I am sorry and I never wanted it to end this way,” Jon replied earnestly, heading for the door.
“Yeah, sure,” Paul replied despondently, but by then Jon had already left.
*****
Sofia was roused from her restless sleep by the arrival of a message on her communication console. Wondering who would be calling her so early, she slipped out of bed, padding barefoot to the console. Glancing at the message, her eyes widened in shock.
“Bastard!” She hissed angrily. “He is not going to get away that easily.” Grabbing the nearest clothes she had within reach, Sofia quickly dressed and hurried to the spaceport before the Eternal Light could depart.
*****
Jon was just about to board the Eternal Light when a voice rang clearly across the flight deck.
“Leaving so soon Commander? Running away, again?”
Jon briefly closed his eyes, cursing under his breath. It seemed they were going to have this conversation, which he had been hoping to avoid, and in the middle of the flight deck nonetheless. Putting an expression of casual indifference on his face, he turned round to face her.
His breath caught in his throat, for although pale and dishevelled, with bloodshot eyes and dressed in the rumpled dress he saw her wearing last night, Jon thought she still looked beautiful. Not wanting the entire flight deck to overhear this conversation, he took a step forward, closing the gap between them, until they were standing only a few feet apart. “Princess,” he inclined his head slightly in greeting.
“Going somewhere?” She demanded angrily, her eyes looking towards the ship, as it waited patiently behind him.
“Yes,” Jon replied simply. “I don’t think there is any reason for me to remain here, is there?” he inquired, looking intently into her eyes.
Surprised by the intensity of the question, Sofia looked aside, suddenly unsure. “Where are you going?”
“I swore an oath that I would find Harkov and make him pay for everything he has done.”
Sofia looked up in shock, her expression slipping and a hint of worry crossing her face. “Alone?” She asked hesitantly.
“It’s my duty, nobody else’s,” he nodded. Turning once again, he started back to the shuttle.
With his back to her, he could not see her flash of panic. Suddenly a thought occurred to her and she called out. “I think you’re forgetting something Commander. That ship now belongs to me.”
Jon stopped mid-step as her words flowed around him. The Eternal Light was the personal possession of the Aurelius family. With the death of her father, Sofia was correct, the ship did now belong to her. Jon gazed at the shuttle regretfully. Since the death of the Emperor and the murder of his fellow Praetorians, the Eternal Light was all that he had left of his old life, except for Sofia, and he had already lost her. However, he would not beg Sofia for it. He had very little personal pride left after his recent actions, but he would not, could not sink that low. Therefore, he just bowed his head resignedly and nodded reluctantly, turning back once again to face her. It seemed she would indeed have the final say.
Approaching her, he stared hopelessly into her face. The shuttle meant little to him compared to the knowledge he would never see her again, to be able to touch her soft skin or to be able to bask in her love. Staring deeply into her eyes he decided it was not enough and he needed something to sustain him through the long years ahead. Reaching out with a shaking hand, he delicately cradled her cheek in one palm and lowered his face to hers.
Sofia felt his mouth, warm and firm, on hers, which was difficult to resist. The satin caress of his lips and the taste of him overwhelmed her senses.
He kissed her closed mouth and sucked gently on her lips, coaxing them to open. The silky tip of his tongue teased her, seeking admittance, but still she resisted. Sofia sensed instinctively that if she gave into him, she’d be lost. Her eyes fluttered closed as she felt his soft lips brush against hers. Not demandingly, not urgently, but softly. A gentle kiss, a final kiss goodbye. Sofia had to fight the automatic instinct of her body to wrap her arms around him, to never let him go. Then the moment was over and Jon stepped away from her.
Bowing deeply to her this time, a Praetorian offering his lady his final respects, he pivoted towards the exit of the flight deck.
“Jon!” Sofia cried out, tears threatening to fall once again from her eyes. He stopped, but did not turn to face her. “The Eternal Light, I give her to you, as a gift from my father. He would have wanted you to have it, as you served at his side, faithfully, for many years, never asking for anything in return. You have earned that.”
Shocked, he turned back to face her, staring at her intently for the longest time.
For a moment Sofia thought Jon was going to tell her something, but then the moment was past and he only nodded his head in thanks.
Turning for the last time he took a few steps into the shuttle. A moment later the boarding entrance retracted and the powerful engines started up. The shuttle slid gracefully into the air, hovering for a moment a few feet above the ground with the hull glistening white in the weak morning sunlight. Then with a barely detectable roar, the main engines ignited and the shuttle shot forward. Once clear of the flight deck it angled sharply up, soon disappearing into the azure-blue sky.
Sofia spent a long time on the flight deck staring at the spot where the shuttle had vanished, wondering if she would ever see him again.
Somehow she thought not.
Chapter Eleven
Present Day,
Planet Tartarus, Sigma Draconis System
With a sudden jolt the freighter dropped at least twenty meters and with it Miranda felt a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Fortunately she quickly managed to halt the sudden descent by increasing power to the aft thrusters. Daring to take her eyes off the altitude indicator for a fraction of a second, she confirmed the freighter was still on course for a landing at the Tyrell Corporation. The landing beacon was one hundred and fifty kilometres ahead, and at their present rate of descent, in fifteen minutes they should be on the ground. Again another sharp jerk shook the freighter, making her once again firmly grab the flight control stick, her eyes returning to watch the altitude indicator. While Miranda was confident on being able to land the
freighter, she was just a little unsure about how many pieces the craft might be in when she eventually touched down.
However, where was the risk, the danger? After all she was flying with the greatest pilot ever, arguably the best pilot in the Confederation and possibly in the entire spiral arm of this galaxy. As she had already done every few minutes since starting the descent into the atmosphere, Miranda’s eyes glanced across at her co-pilot.
Snoring loudly.
Jon reclining in the co-pilot seat with his eyes firmly shut, his feet propped up on the flight controls. Miranda could not decide if she was more amused or furious. Seriously though, he had to be faking it, as nobody could possibly sleep through this landing.
Soon after passing through the orbiting Titan defence stations, with their authorisation codes supplied by Johansson having worked perfectly, Jon had yawned. Announcing he would take the opportunity to have a nap before their arrival. “I didn’t get much sleep last night as somebody kept hogging the bed covers,” He had stated with a wide smirk.
Miranda had refused to respond to the obvious taunt and glanced away so that Jon could not see her blush. When she had next turned to face him, he already had his feet up and was snoring loudly. The nerve of the man! Whether it was Jon’s way of demonstrating the confidence he had in her piloting skills or his way of getting revenge for her antics the night before, Miranda had no idea. All she knew was considering his reputation as the greatest pilot, ever, he had done very little actual flying.
She knew, however, his reputation was well deserved. Prior to her arrival on Terra Nova the Syndicate, her previous employer, had ordered her to ambush Jon and erase any trace of him or his ship. The two of them had engaged in an epic clash, first on the outskirts of the asteroid belt in the system, before eventually weaving in and out of the asteroids themselves. While Miranda considered herself an expert pilot, flying a deadly Hawk fighter, she had been unable to best Jon, even though he had been flying a much slower, less capable shuttle.
The end result had been Miranda having to eject before her ship collided with an asteroid. Jon had recovered her escape pod, in the process saving her life. Ever since that day, Miranda had repaid the favour by having saved Jon’s life on numerous occasions. But still she found herself staying with him, as she realised she had developed feelings of her own for this quiet, unassuming man, who was possibly the most honourable and bravest person she had ever met.
The break in her concentration was almost fatal for the freighter and crew as they descended through another gas pocket, putting the freighter once again into a steep dive. Miranda desperately pulled back on the flight control, feeding more power into the already overstrained engines.
*****
With a heavy thump the freighter Phoenix came to a shuddering halt on their allocated landing pad. Relieved they were still in one piece, Miranda started to power down the engines.
“I see we’ve arrived,” Jon yawned. Stretching, as his eyes flickered open.
“No thanks to you,” Miranda snapped back. However, the response was spoilt by the wide smile on her face.
She had done it. She had landed the ship on a planet, all by herself.
Miranda never thought she would ever be able to step out onto a planet, as she had been told from childhood that, having been born in space, her body would not be able to handle the stronger gravity. However, that notion had been firmly quashed first by Jon and later by Doctor Richardson, the station’s resident Chief Flight Surgeon. Miranda could already feel the excitement bubbling up from inside of her. To finally step out onto a planet—a different world!
Noticing the beaming smile on the younger woman’s face, Jon could not help but to return the smile. “So how is the heart? Any palpitations yet?” He inquired with a wink. “As it certainly seemed to be beating furiously last night.”
Once again Miranda refused to rise to the obvious taunt. She was not surprised her heart had been beating furiously, considering she had first enjoyed watching Jon strip down to a pair of shorts, then had him slide his firm body against hers, as he tightly drew her against his warmth.
“So what now?” Miranda asked, ignoring the statement.
“We gather our gear and find somewhere to bunk down,” Jon replied promptly. “We have no idea what sort of waiting committee there is for this ship and I for one do not want to find out. Better they find the ship empty and wonder the whereabouts of the crew. I, for one, do not resemble Captain Johansson at all.”
Tossing Miranda her flight bag and grabbing his own on the way out of the cockpit, Jon was not surprised to find Gunny and his Special Forces team ready and waiting. “Is your team ready Gunny?”
“Yes Commander. Ready and waiting to move out.”
“Very well, remember we need to keep our presence here hidden for the time being. Hence let’s keep this low key. We disembark, find somewhere to hide ourselves away and gather some intelligence before we decide upon our next move.”
“Understood Commander,” Gunny agreed, before turning back to his team. “Prepare to move out,” he shouted.
The dozen troops promptly hauled the heavy holdalls over their shoulders. Unshaved and dressed in standard crew jumpsuits, they looked like any other freighter crew. However, a quick glance into their eyes would have dispelled that illusion. They were all combat veterans, many having worked with both Gunny and Jon on previous clandestine operations. The heavy holdalls each carried contained enough weaponry, ammunition and high explosives to start a small war. The minute the hatch was open they double-timed it in single file out of the freighter, across the open flight deck and into the spaceport.
Following behind the troops, Jon, Miranda and Jason exited the freighter, with Jon locking and sealing it behind them. He had changed the entry code, hoping that would buy them some additional time when somebody eventually came enquiring about the crew’s whereabouts.
It was only when they were halfway across the flight deck Jon realised they had already lost one of the crew—Miranda. Looking back, he saw she had stopped halfway, her head angled upward towards the sky. He’d forgotten this was Miranda’s first time on a planet, so he motioned for Jason to continue ahead to catch up with Gunny and his team.
Turning back, Jon quietly approached Miranda from behind. She was gazing at the sunset across the flight deck, with a child-like wonder, eyes wide in astonishment. The sky was a beautiful ribbon of fire. Yellow, gold and red bands all bleeding into one another, a river of colour meandering across the sky. Dropping his flight bag onto the deck, he sidled up behind her, pressing his chest into her back, one arm looping around her waist to pull her snugly against him.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Jon breathed quietly into her ear. Miranda could only nod, filled with emotions she could not understand, with feelings she could not put into words.
Jon remained like that for a few minutes longer, letting Miranda take in the view, while he enjoyed the closeness of just being able to hold her. However, soon Jon started to feel a burning in the back of his throat, caused by the thick volcanic atmosphere. He assumed the spectacular sunset was caused in part by the atmosphere, all the thick volcanic dust particles in the air causing their breathing to become laboured.
“We need to go Miranda,” Jon interrupted her. “It’s not good for us to be outside for more than a few minutes. I promise when this is all over I will take you to Eden Prime and show you the sunset and sunrise there.”
Miranda turned her head to look into his eyes in wonder. “They are even more beautiful?” She asked disbelievingly.
“Probably not,” Jon confessed. “However, at least you get to live long enough to see sunrise the following morning. Now come on,” he tugged at her arm. Picking up both of their flight bags he gave her a gentle push towards the entrance of the spaceport.
*****
Fortunately it seemed the Tyrell Corporation had very few visitors, as there weren’t any immigration or customs posts at the spaceport. Either of which
would have been a significant problem, as none of them were carrying identification papers and what they were carrying would have raised a few eyebrows. Wishing to get as far away from the spaceport as possible, they followed the directions supplied by Johansson and, taking a light monorail, descended multiple levels, before finally arriving at their intended destination. A cheap, rundown motel that, according to Johansson, was regularly used by crews on their downtime, when they wanted to get up to activities usually banned on ships, which Jon interpreted as the usual booze, gambling and women. It went without saying that he kept a close eye on Miranda, who had already attracted more than a few leering stares.
“Stay close and don't go wandering off,” Jon whispered.
“I can look after myself.”
“That might be true, but we want to stay inconspicuous, remember? It’s going to be hard to do that with the locals sporting black eyes or broken arms.”
Miranda sighed, but nodded in agreement and they continued on their way.
Finally, after haggling over the price of the rooms, more to stay in character than any real care about the cost, Jon finally hired out a couple of rooms adjoining one another.
“I would give you your own room,” Jon explained uncomfortably.
“I understand,” Miranda replied resignedly.
“So I’ve put you in the same room as Jason,” Jon concluded with laughter in his eyes.
“What?” She cried.
“Seriously, have you seen the guy?” Jon continued on, pretending to not notice her shocked expression. “He worships the ground that you walk on. I thought that if you had trouble sleeping again tonight…”
“Not. Another. Word.”
Jon laughed, giving her a gentle push into her room. “Dinner is in thirty minutes, don’t be late.”
*****
Stepping into the small apartment, Miranda was slightly deflated when she saw Jason sitting on the opposite bed, concentrating fiercely on the datapad in front of him. She had been half hoping Jon might have been joking. While she knew nothing was going to happen between them, it was a nice thought and her body had been throbbing gently ever since Jon had held her while watching the sunset, suggesting it wouldn’t mind being held again.
