White Fire
Page 27
Pale pink was a horrendous color. Toni actually asked the nurse outside about it. Apparently, the trauma center’s management felt the color aided in the creation of a calm environment and helped encourage patients to accept their diagnosis and submit themselves fully to the demands of the center’s staff nurses. In reality, she told Toni, the color drove the staff crazy and the patients into fits of despair.
Everywhere Toni looked, she found pink—the walls, the ceiling, even the drapes preventing the harsh glare from the early morning sun reaching the beds were pink. Different shades, different textures, but all terribly pink. Xendia, even his bloody hospital gown is pink.
Zaambuka groaned and shifted on the bed. Finally! She’d been sitting in the hardest, most uncomfortable chair in existence for hours, waiting for him to wake, trying to figure out how to ask him about Gallian. Her report on the Marn project was on the tablet in her hand. She couldn’t put it down.
Fortunately for Zaambuka, the laser bolt had impacted his shoulder and burned down his side. His crisp white bandages didn’t show any sign of blood. The nurse told Toni he was lucky—if the beam hit any lower, he’d be in a morgue.
The injured man groaned again. The door popped open and his nurse appeared. She ignored Toni, as she had the last four times she’d come in, and puttered around his bed, straightening already straight lines and checking his screens. Her nametag called her Delin and her uniform was the first non-pink Toni had seen. Faded, untailored, well-worn—but a refreshing blue.
“Excuse me, Commander Zaambuka? The President has requested a short visit.”
He stirred and his eyes peeled open, blinking stupidly at the nurse. How rude. Toni had been sitting here for hours and he didn’t even notice her. The cheerful smile Nurse Delin bestowed on Zaambuka got under Toni’s skin. Toni’s left eye started to twitch. She rubbed at it and the movement seemed to get Zaambuka’s attention. His gray gaze fell on her face, widening slightly before the door opened again. A delicate floral fragrance preceded Cat Ramo into the room. Catching sight of Toni, the woman froze. Reluctantly, Toni climbed to her feet. Ramo waved Toni to sit back down. “Stay, Agent. Please. I was briefed on your success on Marn. Well done.”
Toni nodded, taking the praise stoically.
Cat Ramo’s simple yellow shift muted her regal presence. Her dark hair flowed gently around her shoulders. She focused on the bed. “Commander Zaambuka?”
“You look tired, Madam Vice-President.” Zaambuka attempted to sit up, but the flattened pillows at his back made that difficult. Nurse Delin hurried around Ramo to raise the bed and adjust his attached tubes and lines. Toni didn’t move. Her fingers tightened around the tablet.
Ramo fiddled with his pillows as the nurse checked his screens again. After a moment, the beautiful woman held up a wrapped package. “I am tired, but you look a lot better than you did a few days ago. I brought you a gift.”
“You didn’t need to do that,” he muttered. A red flush rose on his skin. The sight would have normally amused Toni, but Gallian’s face—the mirror of Zaambuka’s—wouldn’t leave her mind. Though her boss’s gaze didn’t return to Toni, she had the impression he was well aware of her attention. He took the small package from Ramo’s hand and thanked her for her thoughtfulness.
Nurse Delin stopped at the end of the bed and made a show of adjusting Zaambuka’s blankets. She glanced at Ramo, in no obvious hurry to leave.
“Thank you, Nurse,” Ramo said. “If you could please give us a minute? Unless, of course, Commander Zaambuka still requires your attention?”
The blue-clad woman hesitated but one look at Toni’s face and she quickly left the room, though she lingered in the doorway as the door closed.
Zaambuka unwrapped the gift. He stared at it straight-faced. “A tie?”
“This one I picked myself,” Ramo insisted.
Toni suppressed a laugh as Zaambuka held the tie aloft. It was pink.
Snorting, he dropped it on top of the mobile table beside his bed. His gaze fell to Toni again. She returned his stare.
Ramo coughed delicately. “An emergency meeting was convened last night. Initiated by the majority Senate who reluctantly agreed to return after the events of, well … you know.”
“What? I must say, I am surprised they returned. Was a decision reached?” Zaambuka shifted, wincing as he struggled to find a more comfortable position.
“Yes.” Ramo smiled, leaning forward to hike his pillows higher. “After it became clear Senator Kalzee’tiam paid that assassin to …” She broke off, seemingly unable to finish. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “To kill me, a number of Senators came forward with the results of their own investigations into the President, and the money he was laundering. With these reports, and the one you gave me, a vote of no confidence was called.”
Toni shook her head. Politicians. Couldn’t they see ’Tiam had been set up?
During the week Zaambuka had been in intensive care Toni had met with the three department heads of the PST.
General Trasken told her that without proof ’Tiam would be held accountable and that they were investigating the links between the President and ’Tiam. The suggestion was that he had conspired with the President to assassinate Ramo.
Ramo continued. “During the same session, they tabled a suggestion that the APE should have a new leader, one to work directly with the leader of the Confederacy to formalize the alliance between our two Sectors. They voted on that too. It passed.”
Toni had been wondering when Ramo would get around to telling him. She personally thought it was all too rapid, but no one cared what she thought.
“I was elected by a unanimous vote. I assume I’ve been offered the role out of sympathy,” Ramo said unassumingly. ”However, I plan to take advantage of the new powers I’ve been bestowed for as long as I can, to get the process underway.”
A smile quirked Zaambuka’s lips. “Congratulations. Then they also voted for the alliance?”
Ramo smiled again. “Yes, effective immediately,” she said. “There will be a great deal more discussion, of course—legal proceedings to be raised against the ex-President, details to sort out, but now that this decision has been made, things should flow more smoothly.”
Toni smirked. An alliance with the Confederacy would be anything but smooth. However, she was sure Ramo was up to the challenge.
“Congratulations on your new position, Madam President.” Zaambuka touched Ramo’s wrist. The woman’s pale skin flushed. Ramo took his hand in both of hers.
“Please, call me Cat. You saved my life.”
“I hear you saved mine as well.”
Toni swallowed a groan. Give me a break.
Ramo withdrew her hands. “Kalzee’tiam’s supporters are in disarray. Did Agent Delle tell you?” she asked, looking at Toni. “Senator Kalzee’tiam has been arrested.”
He glanced at Toni. “Not yet. I—” The door flung open and the nosy nurse rushed back in.
“Madam President!” she gasped.
Toni jumped to her feet. “What is it?”
Nurse Delin moved straight to the wall and activated the viewscreen, changing the channel and standing back.
“—found this morning. I repeat, the former President’s body has been found this morning. After the impeachment notice, the office was sealed pending investigation into the former President’s conduct. The staff here are obviously extremely upset; we have been unable to speak with anyone. We understand Tessa Dutton, the President’s personal assistant, found the former President’s body and has been hospitalized for shock.”
Shenghi. Gallian’s cleaning house.
Ramo stared at Zaambuka, her eyes wide. Her hand covered her mouth. Zaambuka’s lips tightened. Toni’s gaze returned to the news anchor.
“Are there any indications of foul play, Shell?”
The reporter shook her head. “No, Miena. We have spoken to the lead investigators at the scene, and we understand a note was found next to the body.”<
br />
“Do you know what it said?” The well-dressed anchor straightened, her eyes lit at the scent of scandal.
The reporter nodded. “Sources say that the note accepts full responsibility for the assassination attempt on then Vice-President, now President Ramo. Of course, investigators were quick to point out that this—”
Ramo gestured for the nurse to turn the screen off. Her security team would no doubt appear at any moment to hustle her away. She turned to Zaambuka. “Suicide?”
“Apparently.”
Toni knew it wasn’t. She suspected Zaambuka knew too. With the former President accepting full responsibility for the attempt on Ramo’s life, any official inquiry into the assassination plot would end. With the change in government, perhaps no investigation would take place at all. She wondered if that was a coincidence.
Gallian’s plan had backfired. The Senate was more united now than ever. If it was Gallian’s plan.
After a long pause, Zaambuka made an obvious attempt to change the subject. “Have they given you an official title yet?”
Oh, come on!
Ramo grimaced. “Yes. Chief of Universal Unity, Head of the Allied Planets Executive Senate, and Joint President of the new Allied Planets United Confederacy.”
She should be embarrassed. It’s ridiculous.
“That’s quite a mouthful.”
“Well, as I said before, I would like you to call me Cat, if you would, Ant,” she said, touching his arm.
He broke out coughing. Letting Ramo hike his pillow higher, he smothered his next cough against his shoulder to avoid hacking into her ear.
He took a deep breath. “Ant?” he echoed.
Ramo’s face pinked and she let loose a giggle that Toni thought completely inappropriate. “Yes, if I may call you that? Agent Delle said that’s what your friends and family call you.”
Toni stilled. Here it comes.
“Family? I don’t—”
“Well, she didn’t say family exactly. She mentioned your brother.”
Zaambuka’s jaw dropped open. His eyes snapped to Toni. She held his stare.
Yes. I know.
EPILOGUE
“She’s late.”
Toni eyed the C-bot beneath the table. Mate lay at her feet; his head resting on top of her boot. “I know.”
“It’s not like her.”
“I know.” She tapped the edge of her empty glass, her third in as many hours. Jas had never been this late before. A chill kissed Toni’s neck, sending a shiver over her body. Something was wrong. Scratching her shoulder, she ran through all the reasons Jas might have to excuse her tardiness. It was a short list.
Leaning back, she glanced around the noisy bar. Their latest haunt was hopping with many unfamiliar faces. The perfect game pool. So where was her friend?
The twin scents of body odor and sweat threatened suffocation. Toni twitched as three dock workers passed her chair. She needed a new drink to bury her nose in.
Music once again burst through the bar’s speakers, thumping with a beat she felt low in her belly. Toni caught the eye of the man at the bar. Human of Asian descent. Cute. Dark eyes, sensual lips, high cheek bones. It was an attractive package. He would do as a nice distraction. She flashed him a smile. His eyes darted away instantly; his entire body stiffening as he turned his back on her. Whatever. She waved a hand at the barwoman and was acknowledged with a nod. Running a finger along the side of her shades Toni signaled Zach. His text bloomed onto her display.
Zach: Do you want me to send Cos a message?
“Yeah, could you? I’m getting a bad feeling.”
While she waited for the CII to get back to her, she scanned the room again. Two women were engaged in an intense conversation at the table in the far corner. The blonde leaned into the smaller woman’s body, her face furious. The petite woman straightened her shoulders and pushed up, her hands moving as quickly as her mouth. Ouch, lovers’ quarrel. Toni’s eyes skittered past them and locked onto a pair of dark eyes staring directly at her.
No.
Mate picked up on her tension immediately. His head came out from under the table. A growl reverberated deep in his chest.
Toni flung back her chair. It landed with a crash behind her, turning every head, including Asian hottie at the bar. Too late, cutie. Before she could take more than two steps, Daniel Colten stood in front of her. He held up a hand but it was the look in his eyes that stopped her from pushing past him.
“We need to talk.”
*
On the border of Confederacy space, the Ascendancy’s attack fleet opened fire.
THE END
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank the following people who helped White Fire become what it is - so much fun.
Anthony, Cathy and Bernadette - you know why.
Linh, Margo and Carolyn for reading it over and over, and for your CP & Beta-ery goodness! Every time I received an email from you my writing became better. You are just fabulous. Keep on keeping on. I can’t wait to read your words soon.
Mum and Dad who read it time and again, and didn’t sigh too much when I said I had another version.
Kit Carstairs, Stuart MacDonald, Marissa Fuller, Kate Foster, Joel Naoum and Libby Turner - You make my words sing! Thank you for everything.
Helen for believing.
Gerry for loving me and for listening to my doubts, changes, thoughts, edits and for being made to read it! (And for the printer! Oh, how I love thee.)
I love you all so much. Thank you!
About Laurie Bell
Laurie lives in Victoria, Australia with her partner and two cats (who have a mansion outside). As a Sci-Fi aficionado, she maintains an active blog of science fiction, fantasy, and flash fiction pieces (found at www.solothefirst.wordpress.com), and serves as a regular volunteer at her local theatre company. (Including several stints as Assistant Director). She has several short stories published in the Antipodean SF E-Magazine. www.antisf.com and many new books on the go.
First published by Laurie Bell in 2018
This edition published in 2018 by Laurie Bell
Copyright © Laurie Bell 2018
www.solothefirst.wordpress.com
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
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White Fire
POD: 9781925579789
EPUB: 9781925579772
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