by Terry Mixon
The noblewoman left without another word.
Veronica lay back in her bed and considered the events that had gotten her here. It had been one hell of a journey, both physically and intellectually. She felt adrift. Everything she’d worked so hard to achieve was gone.
Even once her body had healed, she had no idea what she’d do now. Even if she could, she’d never go home. She had no doubt the AIs would find out what she’d learned. They couldn’t allow that kind of information to spread into the Empire.
Worse, she knew she could no longer deny the truth. Her people were slaves. Even a gilded cage was still a cage. She had a lot of thinking to do, but she had to do something about that.
41
Kelsey stopped outside the compartment where her mother was waiting. Part of her really didn’t want to have this conversation, but they had to settle this business. Their relationship wasn’t healthy. That had to change.
As much as it galled her, her mother wasn’t going to be the one making alterations. Trying to change other people was a recipe for going crazy. If they were going to settle this, Kelsey would have to do the settling.
She pressed the admittance chime and waited. A few moments later, the hatch slid open.
Her mother stood on the other side. She’d obviously used the time to clean up from her imprisonment.
Kelsey smiled a little. “I’m glad to see that you’re—”
Justine Bandar yanked her daughter into a tight hug. “Enough. I can’t stand what’s come between us. I don’t know that I can ever change what I’ve done or who I am, but I love you with all of my heart, and I’m sorry I’ve hurt you.”
That was more than enough to get Kelsey to crying. The two of them stood there, arms around one another. Finally, her mother stepped back.
“I’ve got some tissues beside the couch,” her mother said as she wiped at her own damp eyes. “Come in and let’s talk.”
Kelsey sat down beside her mother and did what she could to dry her eyes. It wouldn’t last, she knew. This was going to be that kind of conversation.
She took her mother’s hands in hers. “I’ve been so worried about you. Ever since they took you, I thought I’d never see you again. I don’t want what I said to be the tombstone of our relationship. Yes, I’m hurt, but that doesn’t matter. We’ll find a way around this.”
“It does matter,” Justine said. “You’re absolutely right that I’ve been selfish. I always have been. I’ve just gotten worse at hiding it.
“I can’t change the past. I cheated on your father, and I certainly should’ve told you that Karl wasn’t your father. I just never expected to be called on it.”
Kelsey shook her head. “He might not have been the man who sired me, but he is assuredly my father. And, as much as you cannot stand the idea of it, Jared is my brother.”
Justine sighed. “I think that’s going to be the hardest thing for me. I’ve hated that boy since the moment I heard about him.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” her mother said with a shrug. “It’s all emotion. I’ve never bothered to consider why I can’t stand the outcome of my ex-husband’s infidelity when you and your brother came from mine.
“I’ll find a way. Somehow. Just as I’m going to have to accept the fact you’re married to a commoner who isn’t afraid to tell me unpleasant truths.”
Kelsey raised an eyebrow. “You’ve met Talbot?”
Her mother shuddered. “The good major came to visit me before I was kidnapped. I can’t see what you like about the man. He’s probably covered with hair.”
Indeed, he was. Thankfully, that was something that technology could deal with.
“He’s very good at everything he does. You’ll need to upgrade the rank if you talk down to him again, though. We’re going to be stuck with a large number of marines for the foreseeable future, and we have too many majors.
“I want Talbot in overall command of all the marines, so I’m promoting him to lieutenant colonel. That’s appropriate for a brigade-level assignment. I’ll get around to telling him eventually.”
The corner of her mother’s mouth quirked upward. “It’s good to see that nepotism runs in the family. That seems oddly appropriate.
“Again, I have to accept that it doesn’t matter what I think about him. He’s your husband. If I want to improve my relationship with you, a good first step would be accepting that he’s part of the package. I can’t promise that I can change, but I’ll try. I really will.”
Her mother took a tissue and dried her eyes again. “I understand you captured the people that took me prisoner. I thought you were making all that up.
“I was wrong. The man who led that other group is dangerous. He’s smart and ruthless. Keep an eye on him.”
Kelsey smiled a little. “One good thing to come out of this is that you don’t have to worry about him anymore. He didn’t precisely want to come peacefully. I’m afraid that he died resisting.”
That wasn’t precisely the truth, but it was close enough for this conversation.
“I don’t have time to go into the details of what happened to them or what’s happening now. Events are in progress that give us a very narrow window to escape some very unfortunate consequences.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get clear of the situation in about five hours. If things work out, we’ll have plenty of time to talk. Mother, no matter what happens, I love you. That will never change.”
Of course, Kelsey wasn’t actually certain that she liked her mother. That was a stretch. Also, there was an all-too-real chance that her mother would revert to her old behavior.
Well, if that happened, it happened. She’d deal with it.
Kelsey rose to her feet. “I’ve got to go. There’s still a marine outside your hatch, but it’s not because you’re under arrest. If you need to go anywhere, he’ll make sure you get there safely. There are a lot of dangerous areas aboard a warship. I don’t want you walking into something you’re not prepared for.”
Justine rose to her feet and pulled her daughter into another hug. “This isn’t going to be easy. Not for me and not for you. I’m absolutely certain that I’m going to fall short. People don’t change in a day. Or a week.
“But no matter what happens, I don’t want us to ever stop talking. I don’t want to ever see you hate me.”
“I’ll never hate you, Mother. I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get going.”
Kelsey kissed her mother on the cheek, let herself out, and headed back toward her quarters. If she was going to get any sleep before they arrived at the multiflip point, she had to get it now.
She’d been awake long enough that she was starting to feel the effects of exhaustion. Her mind needed to be sharp when she made the final throw of the dice.
Besides, it had been over a week since she’d seen her husband. When he finally finished with the prisoners, she had no doubt that he had a very special welcome in mind for her.
Four hours later, Kelsey was back on the bridge, and Persephone was approaching the multiflip point. She felt better than she had since they’d kidnapped her mother. Things might still go to hell, but she was going to pray they didn’t.
Her new friends Jacob and Derek sat in spare chairs against the bulkhead. They watched everything with wide eyes. She was certain that they’d wanted to be on the bridge during the battle, but she couldn’t afford to take that risk.
The readings from the FTL probe in the Clan system indicated the enemy task force was a little more than an hour away from the flip point. The readings were still sketchy, but she felt confident that there were at least half a dozen capital warships. Possibly more.
She’d dropped a second FTL probe on this side of the flip point to watch their emergence. Once she was ready to take Persephone through the multiflip point, she’d send the destruct signal to the one in the Clan system. She couldn’t take the chance that they’d find it later.
True, it supposedly had a se
lf-destruct package that would take it out if an unauthorized ship came close, but she wasn’t in the mood to risk it. They’d never tested that feature, and all it would take was one failure for someone else to get the FTL technology.
Angela turned. “Incoming signal from Audacious. It’s Commodore Anderson.”
“On screen.”
The display of deep space cleared to show the flag bridge of the carrier. Zia Anderson sat in the center seat.
“We’re about as ready as we’re going to be, Highness. We’ve already sent the freighter through. Carl and his team have installed some type of modulator for us, but he won’t give me any kind of odds about how it’s going to work out. He says he just doesn’t know enough to guess.”
“What happens if it doesn’t work? Is it going to burn out the flip drive?”
The commodore shrugged. “Probably. It’s not as if we have a choice.”
Kelsey nodded. “We’re coming up on you right now. Cross your fingers and press the button.”
“One roll of the dice coming up. No snake eyes.”
The com channel closed, and Kelsey watched the image of the carrier floating in the darkness. The longer it sat there, the more worried she became that the flip drive had failed. Then, with a flicker, it vanished.
“Did you see that?” she asked.
Angela grinned. “I sure as hell did! They made it!”
Kelsey held up her hand. “No, not that. They didn’t just vanish. They kind of flickered before they were gone.”
Angela brought up the playback and watched it again. Then she slowed it down a great deal and played it for a third time.
The carrier had definitely disappeared and then reappeared before disappearing again. Not just once, but three or four times in the space of a fraction of a second.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” the marine said quietly. “I’ve never even heard of anything like it.”
“Drop an FTL probe and let’s get to Pandora,” Kelsey said. “We need to make sure they made it. They could have gone to any of the potential branches. If they went to Archibald, we’re totally screwed.”
The helm officer touched his console. “Probe away. We’re ready to flip at your order, Colonel.”
“Take us across.”
A moment later, they flipped into the Pandora system. To her relief, Audacious sat just ahead of them, and the freighter was a ways off to the side. They’d all made it.
“Incoming signal,” Angela said. She threw it up onto the screen.
Zia appeared, frowning. “I’ve got good news and bad news. Obviously, we made it. The problem is that the flip drive burned out. It’s completely nonresponsive. We’re trapped here.”
Kelsey sighed. “Well, that beats being trapped on the other side of the flip point or going to Archibald. Maybe you’ll be able to repair it.”
“I suppose anything is possible,” Zia said. “I wouldn’t hold my breath, though. What do we do now?”
Kelsey looked toward Jacob and Derek. “I believe we have some visitors to take home. It seems we’ll be staying longer than we’d anticipated, so we might as well make as many friends as we can while we’re doing it.
“Continue monitoring the FTL probes we left in the other system. We need to know what the Clan task force does. From what I understand, even if they suspect we’ve gone through the multiflip point, the default destination isn’t this system. We should be safe here.”
“What do we do if the drive is beyond repair?” Zia asked.
“That’s a little more complicated. We know the multiflip point can get us to Archibald. If push comes to shove, we may have to insert a team into that system and acquire the parts we need.”
The commodore didn’t seem convinced. “We don’t have a lot of experience dealing with the Rebel Empire. Even if we did, those kinds of parts are going to be difficult to obtain. Perhaps impossible.”
Kelsey smiled. “We always seem to find a way. Don’t count us out of the fight.”
“Whatever you say, Highness. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get us headed toward Pandora.”
“Pandora?” Jacob asked. “What’s that?”
“The name we decided to use for your planet. We had no idea what you called it, so we had to have a name. What name do you use?”
He shrugged and deferred to Derek.
The alien shook his head. “We have no name for ourselves or our planet that would make sense when referred to by someone not from here. Pandora will suffice. Does that make me a Pandoran? You’ll have to explain what that means at some point when we have more time.”
Kelsey nodded and sat back in her seat. No matter how good a face she put on this situation, they were in a real bind. One that might be impossible to solve.
She didn’t know what she was going to do if that were the case, but she had the best people in the universe to work the problem. They’d find an answer. Or die trying.
The hatch slid open and Lieutenant Commander Clark Malone came onto the bridge. The medical officer gave Jacob and Derek an odd look before walking over to her chair.
“Might I have a few minutes of your time, Colonel? Outside?”
That was unusual, but she assumed he wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important. She excused herself and stepped into the corridor.
Once the hatch had slid shut, she raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
The doctor licked his lips. “I was examining some of the medical waste left over from treating the aliens. I didn’t have much of a chance to look them over while they were aboard. Things were a bit tense, as you recall.”
She nodded. “That they were. I understand the injured only had relatively minor cuts.”
“That’s right. I didn’t want to look the dead over very closely at the time. Their living comrades were already on edge. I finally had a chance to test some of the tissue and blood samples, though. I found something bizarre.”
“They’re aliens. That isn’t shocking.”
He shook his head emphatically. “What’s shocking is how recognizable their DNA is. And I use that term with the specific meaning for deoxyribonucleic acid. Colonel, they might look alien, but their genetic markers are not only the exact same material that organisms from Terra have, but they are more than ninety-six percent identical to human DNA.”
Kelsey frowned. “What? That’s impossible.”
“I thought so too. I checked the results a dozen times. Pandoran DNA is derived from human DNA. There is no mistake. It’s obviously been modified at some point in the past, but the roots are crystal clear.”
She opened her mouth to argue but stopped herself.
“I see,” Kelsey said after a moment. “That’s unexpected. Can you tell how long ago the modification took place?”
The medical officer shrugged. “A long time ago. Thousands of years. Tens of thousands of years, probably. Perhaps even longer than that.”
That really was impossible. That almost certainly meant the modification had happened before the formation of the Terran Empire. Hell, before humans had ventured into space at all. Definitely before they’d had that kind of skill with genetic manipulation.
“Find out everything you can,” she finally said. “Take the samples over to Audacious for further testing with Doctor Zoboroski. Keep this quiet. Only tell Commodore Anderson.”
He nodded. “Will do, Colonel. I’ll let you know if we make any headway on figuring this out.”
Kelsey rubbed her face as the officer left. What did this mean? Was there some other player they didn’t know about? It would have to be another alien race.
Considering that the Old Empire had never found any evidence of nonterrestrial sentient life, this was getting ridiculous. Worse, how did she and her people keep stumbling across them? What would happen when they found a more advanced species?
She had no idea, and ignorance might kill them.
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The Empire of Bones Saga
Empire of Bones
Veil of Shadows
Command Decisions
Ghosts of Empire
Paying the Price
Reconnaissance in Force
Behind Enemy Lines
The Terra Gambit
The Empire of Bones Saga Volume 1
The Humanity Unlimited Saga
Liberty Station
Freedom Express
Tree of Liberty
The Fractured Republic Saga
Storm Divers
The Scorched Earth Saga
Scorched Earth
The Vigilante Duology with Glynn Stewart
Heart of Vengeance
Oath of Vengeance
About Terry
1 Bestselling Military Science Fiction author Terry Mixon served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army 101st Airborne Division. He later worked alongside the flight controllers in the Mission Control Center at the NASA Johnson Space Center supporting the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and other human spaceflight projects.
He now writes full time while living in Texas with his lovely wife and a pounce of cats.
www.TerryMixon.com
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