Lost Alliance (Dragonfire Station Books 1-3): A Galactic Empire series

by Zen DiPietro

  Brak’s teeth chattered in amusement. “That would definitely be something.”

  Fallon hoped they got the opportunity to give it a try. She looked up at Raptor nearing the top of the climbing wall and wiped her hands on her jumpsuit to ensure they were dry. “Shall we show him how climbing is really done?”

  Brak didn’t even wait, leaping up to grab a handhold. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Levana Prime hung far below the Onari, with a single orbital elevator stretching across the space between the two. Fallon had been pleased to discover that Levana Prime’s docking station had a certified maintenance crew. A systems check would keep the ship in compliance with the PAC’s stringent requirements while hiding its recent undocumented visit to Dragonfire Station.

  She and Raptor would descend to the surface later for a basic supply run, after all the medical crew had gotten their turn on the orbital elevator.

  In the meantime, Demitri Belinsky and Endra had joined Fallon and her team in the sparsely populated bar. Demitri had the responsibility of commanding ops control, much like a captain would on a PAC ship. Endra worked in sys-ops, ensuring that the ship’s many systems worked flawlessly. She also happened to be the best friend of Fallon’s former wife, but Fallon had brokered a relative peace with Endra when she came on board.

  Since neither Demitri nor Endra performed any sort of medical care, they’d both remain on the ship unless they took some leave time to visit the planet.

  “I’ll have a day and night down there halfway through,” Endra said, taking the last sip of her wine. “Then I’ll be right back up for duty. I like to get planetside as much as I can, but I spent most of my leave days on a visit home.”

  “Will you visit Levana Prime?” Peregrine asked Demitri. She’d talked to him more than anyone else that evening, and Fallon suspected she fancied him. Demitri was a little on the young side, maybe twenty-two or so, but definitely fair game. He had pale skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. The contrast between light and dark was attractive, but he wasn’t Fallon’s type at all. She did wonder about his story, though—how such a young person came to work the bridge of Jerin’s ship. He seemed genuine and bighearted, so he certainly fit in among the crew of the Onari.

  Demitri smoothed his napkin over his lap before answering Peregrine. “Nah, there’s nothing down there that interests me. It’s just a nice little farming planet. To tell the truth, I always sleep better on board a ship.”

  “What’s it like commanding the Onari?” Peregrine asked.

  He seemed surprised by the question. “It’s great. Great people, doing great things. You know. Great.”

  “Well, great,” Endra answered with a laugh, causing the others to laugh too.

  Demitri’s cheeks turned pink. “I mean I like it here. I get to do all of the flight, navigation, and operational stuff, while Jerin handles the big decisions and the healthcare side of things. It’s a perfect scenario for me.”

  “I see.” Peregrine sat back, her long ponytail swinging before settling behind her. “You like the flying stuff, but are more comfortable in a supportive role than being the head tomato.”

  Demitri looked puzzled. “Head tomato?”

  Peregrine nodded. “You know, the lead person, the one whose ass is on fire if something goes wrong.”

  “Oh. Right. There’s still plenty that can light fire to my ass, but I like being able to focus on caring for the ship. I’d rather not have all the additional responsibilities of a tomato head.”

  Fallon couldn’t help it. She snorted. And once she got going, her snorts turned into guffaws, which became all-out laughter.

  Hawk and Raptor laughed right along with her. Endra chuckled, though with more restraint.

  “It’s not you,” Fallon assured the blushing Demitri. “Sometimes I don’t understand Per either. The other day, I was lifting a bin and she told me it had gone all kerbity-glop.”

  “No,” Peregrine protested. “I said ‘curdy-got’ and it’s a perfectly good phrase for when something’s filthy dirty.”

  “Where?” Hawk demanded. “I know tons of Zerellians, and I’ve read plenty of Zerellian literature, but I never heard that. Ever.”

  “Well, it’s an old-fashioned phrase,” Per conceded. “I grew up watching all the classics over and over. I guess some of the more colorful phrases stuck in my psyche.”

  Fallon found that sweet, actually. Like Per was their very own generational throwback.

  “So you really can’t blame us for not knowing what the hell you’re saying,” Raptor pointed out.

  “Fine.” Per chuckled, then waved to the barkeep for another drink.

  Fallon caught the smile that passed between Per and Demitri. She’d also noticed that Hawk and Endra created sparks whenever their eyes met. Sarkavians had a relaxed approach to sexuality, with most considering monogamy to be unnatural. Hawk and Endra might just be an ideal live-in-the-moment combination.

  Fallon stifled a yawn. It wasn’t that late, but she’d worn herself out the past few days. Busywork had occupied her thoughts nicely, keeping her from dwelling on bigger issues. At the moment, nothing sounded better than a good night’s sleep.

  After excusing herself, she took a quick shower, dressed for bed, and put her head to the pillow. Tomorrow she’d get a look at Levana Prime, as well as a chance to see the Onari’s crew in action, doing what they did best.

  An invisible weight forced itself down on Fallon’s back, making even the air feel too heavy to draw into her lungs. She felt every bump and crevice of the dirt beneath her, from her cheek to her toes. From the corner of her eye, she saw two moons hanging in space, seeming to mock her.

  She pressed her palms against the ground and struggled to shove herself up, only to find herself doing a push-up on her bed.

  Soft sheets lay under her palms, not damp grass. The air in her quarters felt oppressive. Stale.

  The image from the dream still seared her mind. It lingered like a real event, and she was seized by a desperate urge to look at the space outside the Onari. Immediately.

  She bolted from the bed and right out of her quarters. Her bare feet raced over the deck plates with barely a sound. At the stern she flew down the stairs, then continued down the corridor. She threw herself at the door of the first physical therapy room.

  Locked. Of course it was. The physical therapists had gone to the planet surface. She could get past the lock, but she wasn’t about to break into a room on the Onari.

  The bar, then. She pivoted and ran. Once there, she forced herself to take a breath and walk in like a sane person. If anyone noted her lounge clothes, they didn’t say so. At this hour, the few patrons of the bar had probably imbibed to the point of not noticing much at all, or else had eyes only for their companion. That suited her fine.

  No one paid her any mind as she walked to the bulkhead, her eyes locked on the moderately-sized porthole. She pressed herself to its cool surface and felt her heart bumping between the hull and her ribs. There. She saw Levana’s Luna Major, and—closer—Luna Minor. Why had she dreamed about them? She’d felt like they were looming over her, getting closer. As if they’d been causing the pressure forcing her to the ground. As her gaze wandered over the pitted surfaces of the moons, her heartbeat gradually slowed. The intense feelings faded, like fog burning off under the glare of the sun.

  Why would she dream about moons? Was it some sort of memory, struggling to reestablish itself in her mind? Or was it just a dream, inspired by the planet below?

  She turned her back to the hull and let her head loll against it. Damn. Always more questions than answers, and Jerin and Brak were on the planet’s surface.

  She couldn’t discuss it with them over the voicecom. She also couldn’t go down to Levana’s surface. Just thinking about being beneath the twin moons made her skin crawl.

  Fallon hesitated as she passed Raptor’s door, but kept going. Too complicated. She moved on to Hawk’s door, then froze before she could touch the chime. He p
robably had someone in there with him and it would be awkward if she showed up.

  Sighing, she went back to Raptor’s door and pressed the alert chime.

  He answered, wearing only a pair of lounge shorts and looking sleep worn but sharp. He stepped away from the door in silent invitation.

  She began pacing around the tiny living area.

  “What’s up, Fal?”

  “I need either you or Hawk to go with Per to the surface tomorrow.” They’d agreed that if they had to split up, they’d only do it in pairs. Paranoid, sure, but paranoia kept them alive.

  “Okay. Why?”

  “I might have been there at some point. Someone could be watching for me.” She chewed the corner of her mouth, trying to pull up more than just disjointed thoughts.

  “Relax.” He put his hands on her shoulders and guided her to the mini couch, then sat facing her. “Per will take care of disguises. In medical personnel clothes, it’s unlikely anyone would recognize you.”

  True. She didn’t have a rebuttal to his very logical argument. Even so, she wasn’t about to set foot on Levana Prime.

  He continued, “It’s just a low-key farming planet. Small cities, booming commerce. No PAC presence. What’s your concern?”

  “I had a dream, or a memory, or something. Two moons. A weight pressing me down to the dirt. I don’t know what it meant. Maybe it didn’t mean anything.” She turned to more fully face him. She wanted to look at his eyes, to see if he thought she’d cracked a gasket. “But I started thinking, maybe I’ve been on Levana Prime before. Maybe there’s someone who would look for me there.”

  He rubbed a hand over his jaw. Still smooth, she noticed. He must have had a doctor apply hair-growth retardant. Which explained the smooth chest she’d seen a time or two, as well. “I’ve always been one to follow a gut instinct, even if it seems illogical. So I’ll go to the surface with Per in the morning, but as far as I know, you haven’t been here. Your dream, or memory or whatever, must have meant something else.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. I wish I at least knew which one it was. A dream is fine, it just means my mind is screwed up. We already knew that.” Recovering a memory, though, would be a very big deal.

  He reached over and smoothed her hair. “That’s driving me nuts.”

  Oh, great. She realized her hair had been standing up in a wild, ratty mess. She ran her hands through it, trying to create some semblance of order.

  “When I get down to the surface, I’ll find Jerin and Brak and talk to them. Okay? We’ll leave it to the experts.”

  For whatever reason, his calm approach loosened the knot that had formed in her stomach. “Yeah. That sounds good.”

  She glanced toward the porthole in his room and went to it. Situated on the same side of the ship as the bar, she could make out the moons if she looked hard to the left.

  She didn’t feel the same, looking at them now. The feeling of foreboding had gone. But the memory of it remained.

  “Really spooked you, huh?” He stood right behind her.

  “Yeah. It did.”

  He put a warm hand on her shoulder. She leaned into it for a second, then straightened. “I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

  “You can stay as long as you want.” He let his hand fall away.

  “No. I should try to sleep, too.” She about-faced. “Thank you.” She gave him a long look, to let him see that she meant it.

  “I didn’t do anything,” he said with a shrug.

  She smiled faintly. “Then thanks for nothing.”

  “Hah. Right.” He walked her to the door. “Good night then.”

  “Night.” She took slow steps back to her own quarters, trying to let the entire experience drift away from her.

  Back in her room, she retrieved the blanket, which she’d flung halfway across the small space. She visited the necessary, caught a look at herself in the mirror, and laughed. Her hair still stuck up in all directions. She wondered if Raptor had tried to tame it at all, or only made it worse.

  She climbed back into bed, giggling. She closed her eyes, thinking of him just down the corridor, probably laughing at her.

  She relaxed and let herself succumb to sleep.

  8

  Fragments Chapter 3

  Fallon slept later into the morning than usual. By the time she woke, scrubbed the crust out of her eyes, and mustered up the motivation to go find breakfast, Raptor and Peregrine had already boarded the docking station. They might even be nearing the surface.

  She opted for light protein and a high-carbohydrate tango fruit. They’d provide her with energy for a good workout. It would be a welcome relief to get back into her routine of starting each day with a run. Afterward, she would come back to the bar for some blistercakes and tea.

  When Fallon arrived at the rec center, she was surprised to see Brak, running on a treadmill set at a significant incline. Fallon chose the treadmill next to her friend and cued it to a warm-up pace.

  “Good morning.” Brak didn’t sound the least bit winded, in spite of her speed.

  “Morning.” Fallon began to jog. “What brought you back to the ship?”

  “As soon as I got to the surface, I had two unexpected requests and needed my lab. I figured I’d have a run before going back down. What about you? Getting a late start today?”

  “Yeah. A strange dream woke me in the middle of the night.”

  “Ah.” Brak didn’t pry, but since they were alone, she might as well take advantage of the opportunity.

  “I wondered if it might even be a memory. Do you think a memory would come as a dream?”

  Brak tilted her head the barest amount to look at Fallon. With her greater range of vision, she didn’t need to twist her neck as Fallon did.

  “It’s possible,” Brak answered. “Can you describe the dream?”

  Fallon increased her pace, feeling sufficiently warmed up. “Not very well. It seemed so vivid at the time, but it faded quickly. All that stayed with me was the feeling of two moons, pushing me to the ground. A dire feeling, like I was doomed.”

  “Did the feeling linger?”

  “Briefly. It made me want to look at Levana’s moons. I had to visit the bar to get a view. But by the time I got my eyes on the moons, the feeling had retreated. I just felt kind of anxious and edgy.”

  Brak clicked her teeth as she thought. “Memories are usually more concrete than what you’re describing. A scene, hearing someone speaking, a recollection of having done something. And once you recover a memory, it tends to take root. Maybe even spur other memories. What you describe sounds more like an abstract manifestation.”

  “So not a memory, then?”

  “Impossible to say. What you experienced might be some aspect of a memory, occurring as a sort of posthypnotic suggestion.” Brak touched her treadmill’s controls, slowing her pace to a brisk walk.

  “Hm. So there’s nothing to be done about it?”

  “We can address it during your next therapy session. See if planting some suggestions along those lines dredges up anything else. But it could have been just a dream.”

  “Right. Thanks.” Fallon punched the speed up, falling into a quick rhythm of footfalls.

  Brak’s treadmill slowed to a stop. “Have you had any other possible memories?”

  “No.” Finally, Fallon’s breathing and heart rate started to increase.

  Brak pivoted on the now-still treadmill to face Fallon. “If anything comes up, let me know.”

  “I will.”

  “Want to race me up the wall before I go? I brought anti-grav vests up with me.”

  “Hell, yeah.” Fallon could finish her run later. Next to the climbing wall she found six vests in a bin. “Nice.”

  “More supplies will be delivered later. The shopping on Levana Prime isn’t bad, for a farming planet.”

  “Good to hear. Maybe Per will find some of the supplies we need.” Fallon shrugged into a vest, clipping it securely down her front. She activated it
, and a tiny screen indicated full power. If it detected a sudden loss of altitude, the vest would kick in, letting her drift to the floor rather than plummet. Fortunately anti-grav vests had become quite sleek in recent years, and this one would not encumber or inhibit her climbing at all.

  Brak selected a larger vest and put it on. “Should one of us say ‘go’?”

  “Sure. Go!” Fallon grabbed handholds and swung her left foot up to a secure ledge. She shifted her left hand to stabilize herself, then launched to the right, grabbing a hold with both hands and swinging her legs up so that she was in a crouch. She leapfrogged her way upward, all the while keeping Brak in her peripheral vision. Brak was bigger, and not quite as agile, but she had greater strength. They fought to outdistance each other, with the difference seesawing a half-meter in Brak’s favor, then in Fallon’s.

  In the end, they crested the top of the wall together. No winner, no loser. So unsatisfying. “Ugh,” Fallon said.

  “Nice match to you, too,” Brak said, beginning her descent.

  “Hah. Yes, nice race.” Fallon started down as well. Descents were tougher for her than ascents. “You’re really good.”

  “Thanks.” Brak carefully picked her way down the wall.

  Fallon set foot on the floor moments after Brak did.

  “Did you climb when you were a kid? I’ve always wondered what Briveen childhood is like.” Fallon had never seen a Briveen child in person, but knew that they still had their biological arms, which were short, three-fingered, and relatively weak.

  “No. Juvenile arms can’t lift a body’s weight.” Brak unclipped her vest and returned it to the bin. Fallon made a mental note that they’d need to put up some hooks for storage.

  “Then it’s great that you’re able to climb now. Your cybernetics must have changed your whole relationship with the universe.” Fallon stored her vest as well.

  Brak looked uncomfortable, and Fallon felt a spike of embarrassment. She must have overstepped some line about discussing a Briveen’s arms. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriately personal. Forget I mentioned it.”