by A. Payne
A persistent beep pulled Victor from pleasant dreams. Ignoring the summons didn’t work and only threatened to wake the woman at his side. His persocomm fell to the floor on his first attempt to grab it. He shifted away from Zoe’s warmth and swept the device up. A text communication waited for him.
Victor stared down at the message and swallowed back his conflicted feelings. Oblivious to his inner turmoil, Zoe lay sprawled in the bed beside him. It was time to stop running away and face his past. He touched her shoulder lightly and shook her awake. “Zo?”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“I need to go handle something. Will you be okay here for a bit?”
Zoe had already stretched out, taking over the warm spot he left behind. “How long?”
“A couple hours, tops.”
“M’kay,” she mumbled drowsily. “I’ll go lay on the beach and wait for you then.”
Victor leaned down and kissed her nose. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”
***
The meeting took place in the underwater restaurant attached to Victor’s hotel. Elaborate decor sculpted from unique marble, pearl, and other precious metals employed use of the best features from Eloran and human design. They were a friendly culture, and while they prohibited the desecration of their beautiful world, the natives had aided the humans in the construction of their own underwater colonies, protected by glass domes. The two cities, Pacifica Cove and Atlantica Gulf, were proof that the two species could peacefully coexist.
Victor traveled down two flights of stairs and crossed the hotel grounds until he reached the restaurant. He passed several Elorans on the way, as the hotel employed both species in its staff. They chatted in their own tongue and the two friendly creatures waved to him in passing. He may not have remembered them, but the recognition was visible in their slender, pale faces. He smiled courteously in passing and waved.
Ylara didn’t waste a precious second. She threw herself into Victor’s arms and hugged him tight. Her affection caught him by surprise.
“Ylara?” She smelled like the ocean. Like Ylona. Her daughter had resembled her greatly in life, from skin the color of a twilit sky down to the sleek strands of bicolored, purple and ivory hair spilling down her back. He hugged her tightly, unconcerned with the press of her damp skin against his pristine dress shirt. A thin, frayed skirt of seaweed and kelp clothed her lower half, adorned by beaded embellishments, pearls, and tiny shells that glittered in the candlelight.
Eventually, Ylara leaned back and held him at arm’s length with her hands on his shoulders. Her smile revealed a few dozen tiny teeth set in two tidy rows. The slender woman stood eye to eye with Victor, as the Elorans were a tall race with builds varying by their climate preference. The Elorans of Pacific Cove, like Ylona and her mother Ylara, possessed aquiline features and graceful, elongated limbs. Her flesh felt like seal’s skin beneath his fingertips, damp velvet to the touch. Their cold water counterparts carried an abundance of insulating fat beneath thicker arctic fur. Victor once joked with his wife and showed her photos of Earth’s extinct manatees.
You look well, Ylara said to him, her voice a mere whisper that slid through his mind. Victor never quite came to understand how it worked, and whether she knew the language, or if the magic of her psychic prowess translated it for her.
“As do you.”
I did not think you would come. Her fingers delivered a reassuring squeeze.
“I’m sorry, Ylara. Coming back, it’s been hard in a way.”
I understand.
“Well then… shall we?” Victor asked nervously. He offered an arm and escorted her toward the hostess who led them to a small table where they settled near the window view to the ocean. A school of colorful, rainbow colored fish drifted by and performed spectacular patterns.
Ylara took his right hand in her left. I tried many times to contact you, Victor. You have become a stranger.
Remorse filled his heart and flushed his face until Victor ducked his head to sever eye contact. He studied the tiny script on the menu instead.
As if sensing his discomfort, Ylara quickly leaned across the table and touched his cheek with her other hand to guide his attention back to her huge, midnight blue eyes. I am not upset with you, Victor. We have missed you. Most of all, we have wanted to know if you are well.
“I am.”
You hide something from me.
The beautiful Eloran matron took both of his hands in hers. Victor’s fingers trembled between her webbed digits.
With no idea what to say, he blurted out exactly what was on his mind. “How could you possibly desire a meeting with me when Ylona is dead because of me? I killed her, Ylara. Me. If I hadn’t deployed again she’d be alive now.”
She had no words, but Victor experienced the full range of her emotions. Sorrow, loss, and compassion – but no condemnation. He sensed her movement but didn’t lift his gaze until she slid into the neighboring seat and pressed her cool, thin lips to his cheek.
“I miss her so much. There isn’t a day that I don’t think of her,” he confessed quietly. His eyes burned until he blinked back the stinging sensation.
We never blamed you. There are many worlds in this galaxy, each one filled with its own dangers. Ylona knew that when she left our home, but you were worth the risk to her. You showed her a world beyond Elora, Victor. There is no shame in that. Oron and I lived for our daughter’s stories of Albion and your people. He will be disappointed that their hunt cost him the opportunity to reconnect with you. You are missed dearly.
“She told you stories?”
Many. She told us she once answered your door for the postman without the pretty clothes you bought for her.
Victor chuckled. “She frequently forgot to don anything at all. I would find her in the garden without a single stitch. Our neighbors were scandalized.”
They chatted for hours over a shared meal, as was Eloran custom. A large platter with a single seared fish and raw sea vegetables dominated the center of the table. The crisp taste of Eloran sea apple complimented the succulent orange fish. Fond memories of family dinners at her parents’ table led him to pick out more of Ylona’s favorites from among the assortment of green spears and flowering ocean buds.
Eventually, Victor remembered to check his watch. “Christ. Where did the time go? I should get back, Ylara. I… Someone is waiting for me.”
She perked up quickly and a big smile spread over her face. Eloran smiles were disconcerting for some humans, but Victor had long grown used to them. You have taken a new bondmate? she asked.
“I have,” he answered slowly, uncertain despite Ylara’s delighted expression. “Her name is Zoe.”
Will you allow me to meet her?
Victor stared across the table. He blinked a few times. “You would like to meet her?”
She must be truly wonderful if she has earned your heart.
“She is exceptional,” Victor agreed. He swallowed heavily and suppressed the guilt. As a mostly peaceful society, Elorans didn’t understand malice or jealousy. They freely loved one another and unbonded adolescents engaged in selective promiscuity within groups. Ylona’s death had severed his lifebond to her, and if Ylara said she wanted him to happily move on, then she meant it.
May I meet her?
For some reason, the sincerity of the request took Victor back. All of his knowledge about their generous culture hadn’t prepared him for experiencing her goodwill firsthand. “I… well yes, of course you may, Ylara.”
He paid the bill and offered an arm to escort his mother-in-law to the upper level of the underwater resort. A sharp chirp and flashing red light from his persocomm interrupted their idle chatter along the way to the surface. Victor groaned and played the urgent text.
Trouble?
“It’s an emergency recall from the Jemison. Something’s happened.”
The same message passed over the city’s announcement system. “All hands, return to the Jemison immediately.�
��
“I’m sorry, Ylara. I have to go.”
The woman raised her hand to his jaw and smiled up at him. Her lips brushed his cheek and a final whisper skimmed his mind. Keep safe and return to us. Do not stay away so long again. We have never stopped loving you, Victor. You will always be my son.
He took her kind words with him and rushed to his room.
Chapter 22
Decontamination burned sometimes. Zoe’s eyes still stung when she emerged to enter the main deck, but she entered a world of orderly chaos. Enlisted personnel ran back and forth, accepting their new commands and preparing the Jemison for takeoff.
“All combat personnel, report to your supervisors,” the executive officer announced over the public channel.
Zoe pushed her way through the heavy crowd and quickly visited her berth to change into uniform. Afterward, she descended to the armory and found the rest of the squad had already gathered in the adjacent shuttle bay.
Their nervous faces revealed what she had already guessed. They were all still in the dark.
“You know anything about what’s going on?” Saskia dropped down in the seat beside Zoe. “Did your boyfriend say what’s up?”
“No. We weren’t together when the call came in so I haven’t seen him.” Not since his date… Zoe sighed and clasped her hands in her lap. Now wasn’t the time to think about what she saw at the hotel. She trusted Victor too much to doubt him over one incident.
“About Doctor del Toro…” Fairchild began reluctantly. She glanced away from Zoe to sever eye contact swiftly. “I heard some sneaky rumors when we were boarding the shuttle.”
“Like what?” Saskia asked before Zoe had a chance to open her mouth and protest.
“Well, Radha told everyone on the deck that his lust for xenophilia must not have ended and that he broke off your relationship.”
“We didn’t break up!” Her sharp protest failed when her voice cracked.
“She saw him with an Eloran. At dinner.” Fairchild rubbed her arm awkwardly. “Sorry, Zoe.”
“You should never take rumors at face value, Beth, you know that,” Zoe admonished. “I think I’d know if he broke up with me. He even sent me a text when the recall occurred to make sure that I was all right. He got all of our things.”
“Zoe, love. It isn’t your fault if he fancies aliens. Pox on him for hiding it behind your back,” Fairchild continued as she laid a sympathetic hand on Zoe’s shoulder. “I’m certain that there’s more to it than this.”
“Than him being a bloody cheater?” Saskia asked in disbelief. “Honestly, Beth, you should be ashamed of yourself for even suggesting that he's cheating! Don’t listen to her, Zoe.” Fairchild opened her mouth to protest their friend’s censure but the doors hissed open.
“Listen up!” Daniels strode into the shuttle bay where the marines waited. “The Jemison received a distress call from one of our own in this very system. We will arrive at the coordinates in fifteen hours. I want all of you back here rested, geared up, and ready to go in twelve.”
“Aye, Commander.”
“Raines and Abernathy, I want you both in the armory for the next hour. DuPrie, make sure Lackley has things in hand on the cannon. Lopez, get the pre-flights done on the shuttle. Everything needs to be ready to go. The rest of you, report to your bunks. We can’t afford for any of you to be less than your best.”
Everyone dispatched as ordered. Zoe welcomed the work to keep her mind busy.
“Any idea who he meant?” Abernathy asked across the workbench.
“No. From the sound of it, I’m guessing they received a Royal Marine distress code.”
“Huh.”
Preparation for missions involved a full inventory check on all squad weapons and gear. Zoe and Abernathy had the dubious honor of guaranteeing that everything was in working order.
“Hey, I’m going to go check in with Saskia a minute. One of her clips is missing. I bet she left it in her vest again.”
Abernathy waved her off, focused on the weapon in front of him. “Bring back some coffee, would you?”
“Yeah, sure thing.”
She needed the walk to clear her thoughts. Fairchild’s words played through her mind, accompanied by her own observances on Elora. Indecision followed her into the lift. Zoe’s fingers hovered over the selection for medical but she decided against seeking Victor out. He’ll be busy, and I have a job to do, she rationalized. We’ll talk tonight and… and I know he’ll be honest with me. He told me his Eloran lover died.
The internal pep talk renewed her courage. Victor wasn’t an unreasonable man. He was a good man, an ethical and dependable man. He wouldn’t make love to her and turn to the arms of another woman – human or Eloran – without letting her know his feelings had changed.
As expected during war time, she encountered a busy main battery. The room teemed with offensive specialists and technicians charged with the maintenance of the ship’s guns.
“Where’s Saskia?” Zoe swept her gaze around the room. Lackley was squeezed between two power panels adjusting a series of resistors.
“She stepped out to get some coffee,” Lackley replied. “The cannon is off by two millimeters and I have no clue how it happened. I just calibrated this damn thing.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll go see if I can catch her. You want me to send her back with anything else?” Zoe asked.
“More coffee.”
“Popular request today. I’ll let her know,” Zoe laughed and stepped out of the enclosed space.
The entire ship shuddered. Alarms screamed their warnings and bright red emergency lights glared from every corner. Zoe stumbled against the wall to her right and hit her shoulder against the wall.
“Breech detected in level 3. Breech detected in level 3,” Jem announced over the ship’s system.
Another explosion rocked the ship in its flight. The sirens maintained a steady, deafening alert that spread from corner to corner of the Jemison. The very floor beneath Zoe’s feet vibrated with the hum of energy.
“All hands to the shuttle bay. The Jemison is currently under at–” The sensual female voice abruptly stopped mid-sentence and died. The emergency lights flickered.
“What the hell is going on…?” Zoe continued forward with one hand braced on the wall.
She climbed down the access shaft with only emergency lights guiding her. Another quake shuddered through the ship and the tube went pitch black. The explosion knocked Zoe’s grip loose and she fell several feet before she snagged the rungs with her biotic arm and caught herself. The alarms dimmed in comparison to her beating pulse. She clung tightly to the ladder and waited for her trembling limbs to still before continuing down.
When she crawled out of the access shaft into the hangar, Zoe stumbled over a motionless shape on the floor. A shape with a bullet hole between his wide-open brown eyes, beneath neatly gelled black hair.
Lopez. “No!” she cried out, touching his still warm face. He hadn’t been dead for long. “Raines to Medical. I have a man down in the ha–” Zoe cut herself off. Something moved in the corner of her vision, something familiar and colorful. The vibrancy of Saskia’s genetic ability always looked like dozens of sparkles in many different hues.
Zoe slowly stood.
“Saskia. I know you’re there. I can see you.”
The splicer stepped out of the shadows and dropped her camouflage. “Toss your communicator here,” she ordered, her gun aimed at Zoe’s unprotected chest.
Weaponless, Zoe did as instructed. She pulled her persocomm from her wrist and tossed it. The slim band skidded across the floor and hit Saskia’s boot. The woman promptly crushed it beneath her heel.
“I didn’t want it to come to this, Zoe.”
“Why?” She gestured toward their fallen pilot. “Saskia, what are you trying to do?”
“No one else has to die. Step back and walk away. Let me leave in peace,” the genetic shifter told her in a calm voice. The tone chilled Zoe and ran
icy fingers down her nape.
“You killed Lopez. Why?”
“He locked me out of the bloody shuttles. I could have been far away from here by now, but it’s taken me every second to unjam what he’s done.”
She would have killed him anyway for witnessing it. He must have known what would happen, Zoe thought. She swallowed back the forming lump in her throat. A nearby console glowed with a combination of green and red lights. The shuttles are still offline. She’s trying to override it.
“Did you also take the engines and A.I. offline?”
“A necessary price to guarantee my freedom from this farce. A Commodore who’s chief concern is his cock, and a government that doesn’t care about the people beyond its closest borders. I found a new cause to serve, Zoe. You can come with me.”
Zoe stiffened. “Excuse me?”
“Come with me,” she said again. This time she lowered her gun to her side. “You’ll have the best cyberneticists at your disposal.”
Behind her, one of the shuttles began its startup routine. The engine hummed to life. Zoe’s time was running out.
“That’s treason.”
“So what?! It’s a small price to pay. What did they teach us at United Command? Sometimes, a little sacrifice is required for the greater good. Don’t you have a wee sis in cancer treatment? She could benefit from their research, Zoe,” Saskia pleaded to her. “They could have fixed her by now and allowed her to live a normal life.”
“No… Victor said–”
Saskia shook her head. “Don’t make me laugh. Del Toro is a brilliant tool, but he won’t take the steps needed to further his work. How can you possibly put your faith in a man who’s already dishonest with you?”
The barb stung, but Zoe refused to be baited. Saskia had defended Victor against Fairchild’s earlier insinuations. Bringing him up now struck her as a desperate move.
“Saskia, you sabotaged the ship and now we’re under attack.”
“They came for me, and the moment you allow me to leave, the attack will end. Don’t force me to kill you, too. You’re the perfect candidate for their work, Zoe. Don’t you understand that we’re working for a cause willing to improve this galaxy?”
