Aboard? Derek wondered. He didn’t stop for questions, though, only followed the strange man and the Stacian toward, of all things, a Sirocco-class transport, the hatch open but no gangplank deployed. As he ran, he took a quick look around. They were definitely still at the processing facility, at a wing that jutted out from one side. Then he heard another explosion rock the base, and thought he saw a sleek arrowhead-shaped craft circle the plant before heading up into the murky sky.
“We’re out,” the strange man said into his own wrist-mounted comm. “Jerem, provide cover, but you can stop the bombardment.”
The Stacian lingered at the open hatch, obviously waiting for Derek to go in first. As he clambered aboard, he thought he heard the incongruous sound of a boy’s voice emerging from the stranger’s comm.
“Come on, Dad — just one more strafing run. This is fun!”
“I said stop, and I mean it.”
“Fine,” came the reply.
The stranger caught Derek staring at him and shrugged. “Kids.”
And then they were all aboard, the Stacian pulling himself inside and closing the hatch, even as Derek felt a pair of arms go around him and give him a fierce hug.
“You’re safe!” Cassidy exclaimed, pulling him against her so tightly that he had to work to force some air into his lungs. “They said you would be, but — ”
“I’m fine,” he said, kissing the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair. She felt so very real in that moment, real and alive and unharmed, standing here in his arms as the ship lifted off and accelerated away, moving so fast that he staggered a bit to retain his balance.
Then, realizing they had a somewhat incongruous audience consisting of a Stacian and a man who had to be mercenary of some kind, Derek released her gently and glanced over at the other two occupants of the cabin. “So….” he began, and then stopped, not knowing exactly what to say. Thank you…and who are you, precisely?
“So,” said a new voice, one that belonged to a woman who was now emerging from the cockpit and making her way into the luxurious little craft’s main passenger compartment, “I’m guessing you have a lot of questions, Dr. Tagawa, Ms. Evans.”
“A few,” the two of them replied in unison, and then stopped and looked at one another in some amusement.
“That’s understandable,” the woman said. “Please, take a seat.” She flicked a glance over at the swarthy stranger, the merc. “Jerem?”
“Fine,” the man replied. “A bit put out that he couldn’t keep dropping ordnance on the base, but….”
“Typical.” She smiled, then returned her attention to Derek and Cassidy. He guessed she was somewhere around his age, maybe a year or two younger. Attractive, with that long dark red hair and smoky green eyes. “My name is Miala Thorn, and that’s my husband Eryk.”
Somehow Derek managed to keep his eyes from widening. Even cloistered academics like himself had heard of the notorious Eryk Thorn. No wonder the man had come across as a mercenary — he was the mercenary’s mercenary. Nothing had been heard of from him for several years, and the Consortium had boasted that he’d been caught and imprisoned, but obviously that was just another of the lies they’d cooked up for public consumption.
Derek nodded, and Cassidy said, “It’s very nice to meet you, and….” Her gaze strayed to the Stacian, who had propped himself up next to the hatch.
“Rast sen Drenthan,” he replied. “My wife would come out to meet you, but as she’s busy piloting this ship, that’ll have to wait.”
Wife? This whole thing was getting stranger and stranger.
Miala Thorn seemed to note his confusion, and said, “I’ll get to the explanations in a minute, but first I want you to see something.” She tilted her chin up toward the vid-screen that was mounted in one wall of the passenger compartment, and Derek saw her lift her handheld and point it at the screen. It came to life, showing the video he’d taken inside the processing plant, now overlaid by narration in a crisp feminine voice that he realized belonged to Miala herself.
“…It is vital that the citizens of the Consortium understand the depths of the lies their government has told them about the disposition of the victims of the Cloud. Rather than being treated with the respect they deserve, those victims are being harvested, mined for any valuable items they might still have within their bodies, and then processed so the elements within their corpses can be used for fertilizer and any other uses the Consortium deems valuable.”
Derek glanced over at Miala. “That’s…amazing.”
“Oh, it gets better,” she said, still smiling. The screen blanked for a fraction of a second, then went on to show another channel with the same footage…then another…then another. “I took over all the satellite feeds. You can’t see anything else. Not your favorite vid-drama, not a low-g football match…nothing. And anyone who watches those things on their handhelds…they’ll all be seeing the same thing as well.” Her smile widened, sending green lights dancing in her eyes. “I have a feeling the Consortium is going to be answering a lot of questions in the near future.”
“But…why?” Cassidy asked. “That is, I — we — really appreciate what you’ve done for us, but why us in particular? Why this case?”
“Because of me,” said another woman, now just stepping out of the cockpit, but stopping by the entrance, in case she needed to go back in and handle something quickly. She had dark hair pulled back away from the fine bones of her face, and very deep blue eyes. Oddly, something about her seemed almost familiar, as if Derek seen her somewhere before. But that had to be a mistake. When would he have ever met a woman like her, someone who piloted a Sirocco-class starship and was apparently married to a Stacian?
“Or rather, because of Liam,” she added. “Liam Jannholm. I’m Lira, his older sister. When I found out what had happened to Theo — ” Breaking off, she gave a grim shake of her head. “Of course I was shocked at first. But then when I looked into it further, something didn’t smell right to me. I tried talking to Liam about it, but he didn’t want to have anything to do with me, let alone listen to what I might have to say about his husband’s death.”
“But why wouldn’t he talk to you?” Cassidy inquired, then hesitated, as if worried that she was getting too personal in her questions.
But Lira only smiled, and that was when Derek recalled where he’d seen her. A holo-portrait on Liam’s desk, showing her in the dark gray uniform of a GDF officer, captain’s stars shining on her collar. Well, she didn’t appear to be in the GDF now, that was for sure.
The Stacian, Rast sen Drenthan, shifted slightly and said, a wry tone to his deep voice, “Lira’s family did not precisely approve of her…choices.”
Well, Derek could see why some families might have a slight issue with one of their children marrying a Stacian. Being at almost-war for nearly a hundred years tended to have that sort of an effect on people.
“Oh, yes, I’m definitely the black sheep,” Lira said cheerfully. “My sister will still talk to me on the sly, but Liam always did have his head up his ass.”
Miala Thorn’s mouth quirked. “So Lira came to me with her concerns, and I started doing some investigating on my own. I’m not too bad at poking into databases and getting the information I need.”
There was an understatement. “I see,” Derek commented, his tone neutral.
“And I saw what was really going on, and sent along some information to members of the underground. They took care of actually helping you get off Titan.” Her expression turned serious, and she pointed her handheld at the vid-screen, turning off the images of countless bodies on their grim journey to being “processed.” She went on, “I am sorry about the leak on Europa. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly happened there.”
“It’s all right,” Derek said, and Cassidy nodded. “We survived.”
“Barely, and only because of your own resourcefulness. At any rate, I’ve been keeping watch and assisting as I could. The truth needs to c
ome out. The citizens of the Consortium need to know precisely what sort of government they’re supporting.”
Glancing from her to the others in the passenger compartment, Derek saw equally grim expressions on her compatriots…grim, but determined. “And your stake in all this?”
“Let’s just say we know what it’s like to run afoul of the Consortium,” Eryk Thorn said. “They’ve been trying to catch up with us for years, but luckily their people aren’t quite as good as they think they are.”
No, Derek kind of doubted that. This small group of people made quite the formidable army all on their own.
“You might not have gotten caught at all,” Lira said, her expression shifting to an irritation her next words explained. “Except Liam was being rotated back to the GARP facility, and saw Ms. Evans leaving the supply depot. Apparently the authorities had notified Liam of Dr. Tagawa’s return to Gaia, and told him to keep an eye out for his former compatriot and the woman who appeared to be traveling with him. So Liam made contact and said he had a possible sighting, and that put everyone on heightened alert. The only real break you caught was that the surveillance cameras near the pipeline where you entered the base were down. It took them a bit to catch up with you…and then it took us a bit to catch up with them, if you take my meaning.”
“It’s all right,” Cassidy said, although the smile she offered appeared a bit shaky. “You did catch up with us, which is the important thing.”
Derek wondered exactly what had happened to her during her brief captivity, but he would have to ask her about that later. “So…what now?” he asked.
Miala tilted her head, seeming to consider him. “Normally, I’d say that was up to you, but since you’ve now managed to piss off the entire Consortium government…”
“…we don’t have a lot of options,” Derek finished for her. That was putting it mildly. They’d be hunted in every sector controlled by the Consortium, which meant a large portion of the galaxy was now off-limits to them.
It was something he and Cassidy had discussed briefly, but only in passing, a contingency they hoped they’d never have to implement. Could he ask this of her, to come into exile with him, to the one place he thought they might be safe?
She must have seen the question in his eyes, because she nodded and then slipped her hand into his. “It’s all right,” she said softly. “I always did want to see Eridani.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Mair Lennis, president of the planetary council, was an older Eridani male, his hair now pale lavender with age, his skin an even paler lavender than his hair. But he held himself straight and tall as he greeted Cassidy and Derek, telling them they would be granted sanctuary on his world and in the sectors controlled by the Eridani Hegemony.
“We here on Eridani…and on many other worlds…understand the sacrifices you have made to ensure that the truth will not be buried,” he said in his calm, soft voice. “Arrangements have been made for you to make your home here in Teliir, but if you should find anything not to your liking….”
He let the words trail off, and Cassidy said, “I’m sure it will all be wonderful, Mr. President. We can’t thank you enough for allowing us to claim asylum here.”
A smile. “I would say it is nothing, but I know for you it is far more than that.” He took her hand and bowed over it, and although she’d somehow thought his skin would be cool, it was actually warm, warmer than her own. “A vehicle is waiting to take you to your new home. If there is anything you require, send word directly to my secretary, and he will see that the matter is addressed.”
She stammered her thanks, and Derek added his own, saying he was sure they wouldn’t need anything else, that the president — and, by extension, the rest of the government — had already done so much for them.
Then that same secretary, a younger Eridani man, his hair vivid purple, guided them out of the gleaming high-rise that housed the president and his staff, and on into an aircar, this one driven by a mech so shiny it looked as if it had just come off the factory floor that week. The unfamiliar streets of Teliir began to slip by, all gleaming glass and steel and other metals Cassidy couldn’t even put a name to. Everything was clean and bright, and so very unlike the few glimpses she’d had of Gaia. Here, the sky was pale purple, the sunlight faintly tinged with blue.
Very beautiful…but very alien.
They hadn’t said much on the trip to Eridani. Once Lira Jannholm had piloted her Sirocco-class ship safely away from Gaia, they’d headed to Triton, where they rendezvoused with another, older ship, this one piloted by Miala and Eryk Thorn’s son, who didn’t appear to be a day over fourteen. Cassidy had wondered at his parents allowing him to take on such a dangerous task as bombarding the GDF wing of the processing plant, and then flying on to Triton alone. A few minutes in Jerem’s company, however, was enough to convince her that Miala and Eryk knew exactly what they were doing…and so did their son.
On Triton they’d said their goodbyes and given their thanks, and Lira and Rast took Cassidy and Derek the rest of the way to Eridani, a journey of some fifteen hours through the shifting, shimmering non-colors of subspace, something she’d never seen before. It had been some hours before she’d allow herself to doze on the divan in the passenger compartment of Lira’s ship, head pillowed on Derek’s shoulder. And then they’d come to Eridani.
It was clear that Miala had sent word ahead, for Cassidy and Derek were welcomed without question. At the time Cassidy wasn’t sure what to make of that, except it was clear that the Eridanis, for all their talk of mutual cooperation and understanding, enjoyed seeing the Consortium’s shortcomings revealed in all their glory.
Now she and Derek were alone in the house that had been given to them, a modest villa-style structure on the outskirts of Teliir. She had no experience of acreage or any terrestrial units of measurement, but the place seemed to have hugely extensive lands, with no sign of neighbors on any side. Alien trees in shades of purple and blue and dark, dark red shaded the grounds, through which an actual stream meandered, bordered on either side by silvery-gray sand. Everything seemed to have been attended to, from personal hygiene products in the bathrooms to wardrobes stocked with clothing to the full refrigeration unit in the kitchen.
Hand in hand, they’d walked over the property, still silent, still trying to take it all in. Or at least, that was what Cassidy was doing. She didn’t know if she wanted to guess what might be going through Derek’s mind, what he thought of this completely new life they’d been given.
Finally they returned to the large central room that functioned as a sort of combination living area/dining room, all tastefully furnished in shades of purple-tinged blues and grays, the dining section separated from the living area by what appeared to be a free-falling cascade of water, one that disappeared into a bed of gray rocks and then, by some hidden miracle, was pumped back into the ceiling to start the process all over again. So much water, such an extravagant use of it. It was something she could never have imagined, but she had a feeling she’d be facing much more of that in the days to come.
“So….” she said at length.
He turned to her, took her hands in his. The faintest beginnings of a smile touched his lips, brought some warmth to his dark eyes. “So…I’m thinking this definitely beats a cell in MaxSec.”
“Or the Avalon,” she agreed.
“Or pretty much any place I’ve ever lived.”
Something inside her seemed to ease slightly then. “So…you’re okay with all this?”
“I think I am.” Still holding her hands, he brought one to his lips and kissed her fingers gently. “On the trip here, I thought about what I was leaving behind — my family, my home world, my career. But in a sense, I’d left them behind when I was sent to Titan. I felt pretty sure I wouldn’t see any of them ever again. I’d already said my farewells.” His dark eyes caught hers, held, and she made herself remain that way, her gaze fixed on his. “When I was captured back there, when I thought I
was either going to be sent back to MaxSec or killed outright, I wasn’t thinking about any of that. I was only thinking about you, whether you were safe, whether you’d managed to get away. That tells me I know what’s important.” He paused, and she held her breath, thinking there was no way he was going to say what she desperately hoped he would. “What’s important is you, Cassidy. Us. We make quite a team, don’t you think?”
“I think so,” she managed and then he was kissing her, mouth finding hers with an urgency and need that told her he had no regrets, only wanted what she wanted, which was the two of them together, no matter what happened.
He scooped her up then, and she laughed out loud, clinging to him as he took her to the master suite, which was decorated in soft blues accented by the same deep crimson of the trees she’d spotted outside. There he laid her down on the bed, and she reached up and pulled him to her, mouths coming together once again even as they wrestled with the unfamiliar fasteners and construction of the Eridani clothing they wore. At last, though, they were naked, flesh pressed to flesh as they erased the worry and doubt and fear of the last few days in a joining that told them this was right, that this was where they were meant to be…and who they were meant to be with.
Afterward, Cassidy dozed a little, and awoke to see Derek coming toward her with a tray of exotic-looking food, beautifully shaped fruit in shades of purple and crimson, pale loaves of bread, a bottle of purple-hued wine.
“I thought you might be a little hungry,” he said, setting the tray down on the bed next to her.
She was, but hungrier still for his presence, as if the lovemaking of earlier had only served to whet her appetite. Well, to be fair, they hadn’t been able to be together nearly as much as she would have liked, considering all the running around they’d had to do to avoid being killed. And now, watching him as he settled himself next to her, chest still bare, although he’d put on a pair of loose-fitting dark pants — well, she could feel the heat rise in her once again, and knew this simple meal was only a refueling stop before they went on to more important things.
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