Again, Lee waited while the machine blinked a silent response.
“I need help, Dad. I don’t know who to trust anymore. I thought the Alliance we were building was a good thing. We defeated the Ch’Tauk and were making something right and good for Earth, and for the rest of the galaxy, but I just watched that same organization use the weapon that cost us nearly everything to slaughter the helpless and it’s my fault. I tore down those defenses and stripped them of their shielding … and for what?”
Lee moved around the stasis pod, anger now strengthening his steps. As he stared at the placid face of his father, emotions he thought he had rid himself of began to surface. Flashes of anger tore through his soul. He stopped again to look at the man in the pod. He looked at the blinking lights and saw again the debris from the Ixloab station spiraling off into the night. A sudden rage overtook Lee and he threw his hands at the casket, pounding the metal surface with his fists. Hardened plasteel and titanium alloy prevented him from damaging the pod, but made his fists hurt as he kept hitting. A scream of anger erupted from his throat and he shoved both hands down.
“Damn you!” Lee shouted at the man’s body. “Where are you now? I need you now more than I have ever needed you before.”
Lee was facing the coffin, slamming his fists into the casing with everything he had. Years of repressed rage were taking over as he threw himself bodily against the stasis pod. He could feel a crack in his ribs as he tried to shove the casket onto the floor. He knew it wouldn’t budge under just his weight, but he needed to feel as if something he was doing would make an impact.
“When I told you I was going into space, you told me not to go. I tried to tell you how much it meant to me. I read to you the stories of the great adventurers and heroic deeds, but all you wanted was to talk about the damn horses,” Lee shouted, his rage beginning to subside as the pain of his action set in. “When I left for the academy, you wouldn’t even come see me off. You were too busy riding the fences out on the north forty or something. You and your damn cowboy stories about men on the range and how life was centuries ago. You were so blind to the real world you wouldn’t even get a comm line to call me when I became first officer. I tried to call you to let you know, but you wouldn’t hear me. All I wanted to know was that my father was proud of me.”
Lee stepped away from the pod, feeling the pain in his side as the anger ebbed. He held a hand against his side as he walked around the pod again. He was staring at the lights now, not wanting to see his father appearing to be at peace. The temptation to shut the machine off flashed across his mind. His father’s body would begin to rot in the hold almost immediately. He would be forced by protocol to eject the body into space. The wild thought of his father floating so far away from his beloved Earth almost made Lee laugh.
“It would serve you right, you old bastard,” Lee said to the casket. “All of this is because of you. All those people are dead because you had to go and get blown up. You should be out here forever.”
He stopped back in front of the pod where he had started and looked back to the clear window. Everett Pearce slept behind the shield of death, blissfully unaware of his son’s rage. It made Lee want to strike out again. Instead, he stepped close and put both hands on the metal. His side hurt, but he bowed his head for a moment. He had been saying prayers to the gods of pilots for his adult life, but this time he said one his mother had taught him. The words, almost forgotten, flowed from his lips in a chant from the past. In the end, he raised his face to his father’s and tried to show a smile.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said to the casket. “I am just so alone now and I could really use your help.”
The door opened behind him and Lee turned.
“I asked you to stay outside…”
“Actually,” replied Alice. “You haven’t said much of anything to me, and the poor man outside is really sorry and feels terrible, but I didn’t really give him a choice.”
“Alice,” Lee replied. “I’m sorry. I just wanted a few minutes with my father. It seems we’ve been going full speed since he died … I haven’t really been down here.”
“I’m glad to find you here,” she said, stepping into the room and closing the door. “I’ve visited a few times and asked the guards each time if you had been. When they told me no, I was beginning to worry.”
Lee stepped away from the casket to meet her. He felt defensive about the pod behind him. For some reason, he didn’t want to share the moment, even with the woman he loved.
“I haven’t really been able to get down,” Lee repeated. “I didn’t know you visited so often.”
“The old man was special,” Alice replied, reaching out to take his hand. “He treated me like a daughter. I wasn’t used to that, not even from my own father.”
“He liked you. He didn’t want me to know how much, but I could see it in his face. He lost a daughter in the war and I lost a sister,” Lee explained, pulling her close but wincing as she embraced him. “He got the daughter back and all I got was you.”
Alice pulled back and slapped his arm. She saw him wince, but didn’t ask. He looked into her face as she smiled at him. For two years he had looked for her and known he would find her. When she returned to him it was as if his life had finally become complete. The addition of his father had renewed a hope he hadn’t known he had lost.
Alice pulled further away from his embrace but kept hold of his hand. She stepped past him and closer to the stasis pod. Lee held back as she looked down at his father.
“He looks older than I think he did,” she said. “But it suits him. It makes him seem more distinguished.”
“He hated getting old, and the cancer almost killed him a long time ago,” Lee said, staying back. “I think finding the children down in the complex kept him going until we got there. After that…”
“After that, he knew his family was alive and he could pass on in peace,” Alice replied, turning back to face him. “Lee, you don’t blame yourself for all this, do you?”
“Of course I—”
“Don’t you tell me you don’t,” Alice replied. “I know you too well. I see that look in your eyes, Lee. You want to take this whole thing on your own back. You think this quest is all yours and no one else can help you.”
“Alice, I don’t.”
“Yes you do. Lee, you are a wonderful man and a great captain, but you are about the stupidest man in the galaxy sometimes.”
Lee felt the tug on his arm and winced again as he was pulled closer to Alice. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. His surprise was tempered by the pain of the cracked rib. Still, he returned the kiss with passion, trying not to think about the casket to her back. When she finally parted from him, he looked at her with a slight smile which conveyed confusion more than passion.
“What was that for?” Lee asked.
“For caring about the whole galaxy more than you care about yourself. It’s cute.”
“Cute?” Lee replied. “I’m not sure I care enough to be called cute. Charming, maybe, but not cute.”
Alice swept a hand back and swatted him. He moved at the last moment, deflecting the blow away from his arm, but it went instead against his cracked side. He drew in a breath, trying not to let her see how much pain he was in. She moved back, afraid she had hurt him.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Alice said, a look of concern crossing her face. “What did I do?”
“Nothing,” Lee said, looking back at the casket. “I think I must have fallen against something during the battle. It’s nothing. I can have Demsiri look at it later. What’s happening with the program?”
“Oh,” Alice said, seeing through his attempt to change the subject. “Melaina is working on it with Preston and the others. Demsiri found the chip embedded in one of Lellda’s hooves. She’s lying down for a bit, but Tuxor agreed to take a look at it with them. It’s good to have everyone back together.”
“I wish it were under better circumstances,�
�� Lee replied. “I still don’t understand all of this, but if it has something to do with the people who killed my father, I want to see it through.”
“I know you will, Flyboy, but it doesn’t have to be alone,” Alice replied. “You’ve got friends here and people who can help if you let them.”
“Henry is a great guy, Alice, but I’m not sure he’s ready for this kind of thing,” Lee said, looking around for a small chair to sit. “Connor is a pirate or something. Actually, I’m not really sure what the hell he is.”
“They are both your friends, Lee, but that isn’t all you’ve got here. This ship is following you on this mission because they believe in you,” Alice explained. “Any one of them could have turned us in to the Alliance, but they won’t. That loyalty is an asset.”
“The crew does what I ask because we have all been through too much not to,” Lee replied, stepping to a corner where a metal chair had been left for the honor guard. “I don’t want to cost any of them anything more than they are willing to pay for my quest.”
“And what about me?” Alice asked.
The question caught Lee off guard and he stumbled trying to sit. His side flared in pain as he hit the metal deck. Alice let out a short sound of fear and ran to his side. He kept his eyes shut as he tried to lift himself from the floor. She pushed an arm under his shoulder and tried to help, but the motion upset his balance. He fell forward, pulling her over him as he rolled. The two ended up wrapped around each other. Alice began to laugh as Lee looked up in pain. It took only a moment before the wince turned into laughter as well, and the two lay there, laughing through the shared pain at their situation.
“What’s this?” Alice asked, spying a small box on the floor where Lee had fallen. “Did you drop this?”
“What?” Lee said, trying to see over her hip. “Oh, that. It’s nothing. I was just … um … holding it for someone and—”
“What is it?” Alice said, twisting around to sit up and reaching for the box. “It looks nice. This box is covered in Malarite silk. Oh, Lee, who is it for?”
“No one—I mean, it’s for someone, but I don’t really know who. I said I was just holding it for someone who was going to give it to someone so it is definitely for someone but I’m not sure which someone it is…”
“Shut up,” she said, cradling the box in her hands and smiling at him. “You are the worst liar in history, Lee Pearce.”
He tried to sit up again and reached for the box, but Alice turned away. As she opened the lid, he settled back, waiting for the reaction he knew would come. It took only a second before he heard the sharp intake of breath. A second longer before she started the high-pitched sound he recognized as her note of surprise. In his mind, he could see her eyes as they gazed down on the open box.
“Lee…” Alice said, nearly breathless. “Is this a—”
“Yes,” Lee replied with a puff of breath. “It’s a ring.”
“It’s beautiful,” Alice replied, turning around so he could see the open box. “It must have cost a fortune. Who gave this to you?”
“Nobody gave it to me, Alice,” Lee said, looking up at the dim lighting in the hold. “I bought it.”
“On a captain’s salary? I doubt it. Who really gave this to you?”
“Alice I…” Lee started before taking a deep breath and rolling upright. “I bought this about a month ago. I’m not holding it for anyone.”
“What are you saying?”
“Alice, I have loved you ever since we met on that catwalk on the Terran Princess…” Lee said. “When you were taken from me, I wouldn’t rest until I found you again, even if it were at the gates of hell.”
“Lee?”
“Let me finish. I asked you to marry me way back during the war and you said yes. After you came back to me, I didn’t want to rush anything between us. I didn’t have the right to impose any commitment on you.”
“I—”
“I bought that to replace the one you never got to wear. I guess I was just waiting for the right time to ask … and then the explosion … and all this started…”
“Lee, shut up!” Alice shouted at him.
She held the ring up to the dim light and took another look. It had an unusual diamond setting on top of a pearl from the octopod home world. Twin gold bands were locked together with a nearly imperceptible ridge along one edge. The ridge, she knew, would contain a molecular code of their DNA strands together. It was a ring meant to show the world they were together in spirit and body. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked back to him. He was getting up onto one knee in a painful display of old-fashioned chivalry.
“I guess this is as good a time as any,” Lee said, reaching for her hand. “Alice Marie Bennett, will you …”
A comm tone interrupted the moment, startling both of them and making them remember where they were. Lee looked embarrassed as he started to stand. Instead of letting go, Alice pulled him back down into her lap. He winced again as she planted a kiss on his lips. The comm signal repeated. This time, Farthing’s voice followed the signal.
“Captain Pearce, you are needed in the conference room. Please respond.”
“I’d better get that,” Lee said as Alice helped him to his feet. “You know how he gets.”
He stepped over to the comm panel, looking back as she held the box in her hands. Her face had taken on a glow he had not seen in years. He realized how much he loved her and how much he had needed her for the years they had been separated. It was a rare love they shared and one he never wanted to lose.
“What is it, Commander?” Lee said, tapping the comm panel.
“Captain,” Farthing replied. “Doctor Petros has requested your presence. It appears she has found something on the chip.”
“I’m on my way,” Lee replied. “Any word from Connor’s contact?”
“Yes,” the Vadne officer said. “I think he has joined the doctor in the conference room with Sergeant Major Moore.”
“Well, it looks like the whole gang’s there. I’ll be right there.”
“Yes sir,” Farthing said. “There is one more thing, sir. Commander Bennett is there with you?”
“Yes,” Lee said with a note of suspicion. “Why?”
“Well, it seems there is a wager on the bridge for which I require an answer, if for no other reason than to keep decorum on the bridge.”
“Alright. What is the wager?”
“Did she say yes?”
17
The holographic imager over the conference room table looked as if the whole of space and time were laid out. Vortices spiraled off into the edges of the room and through some of the onlookers. As Lee and Alice entered hand in hand, a snap of color erupted near the center, drawing the galaxies and nebulae inward towards a central point. As the image collapsed into a hard point, there was a sharp intake of breath from the darkness.
“Dammit!”
The image exploded again, throwing light and matter outwards in all directions. Eventually, the image seemed to spread through the walls and out of the room altogether. Melaina Petros stepped into the afterglow in the center with a concerned look on her face.
“That shouldn’t have happened,” she said as the lights flickered back on. “The damn thing should work. At least I think it should.”
“What damn thing?” Lee asked from the doorway.
“Captain,” Melaina said, obviously surprised. “I didn’t see you come in.”
“I was hidden by the big bang. What’s this all about?”
“We got the codes from Lellda and decrypted more of the data,” Connor Jakes replied, stepping next to Melaina. “Genius here thought she figured out what it was and wanted to show you.”
“It was just extrapolation on the machine. I used some of the design changes Alice suggested,” Melaina said, tapping keys on the table to bring up the scroll of numbers. “I thought I had it. It looked simple enough, see?”
Lines of code scrolled down the display, leaving traces
of holographic light as they passed. Alice stepped around Lee to get closer to the equations while Lee moved closer to Henry in the corner. The older man was confused by the data but keeping an eye on the proceedings. After a few moments of searching, Alice suddenly knelt down to look closer at a single set of numbers.
“What’s this set?” she asked Melaina.
“I believe it’s the quantum flux Heisenberg algorithm, but I can’t seem to make the numbers resolve,” Melaina said. “Look here at the sub-quanta routine. It seems to indicate two sets of data that don’t quite match.”
“Have you tried separating the data and correlating the coefficient of the …”
Lee and Henry watched as the two women went on. Occasionally, Tuxor would confirm an equation, but the discussion seemed to center around the two women. Lee had never seen Alice this way before. He had known she was a brilliant mechanic and engineer, but her ability to run high-level equations with Melaina was new. For a few minutes, Lee watched the conversation with a hand on his side before Connor joined them.
“Have you ever seen anythin’ like this?” the pirate asked. “I mean, Melaina is a helluva engineer, but this is makin’ her positively giddy.”
“I didn’t know Alice was so good with the differentials either,” Henry added. “I guess we all have our secrets.”
There was an uncomfortable silence as Henry and Connor exchanged looks. Lee had heard rumors of some of Jakes’ secrets and wanted to leave it that way. The man had talents, and if he felt the need for anonymity helped him, Lee wasn’t going to stand in his way.
“Did you find out anything?” Lee asked Connor.
“My contact in Intelligence ain’t talkin’,” Connor replied. “He’s a squirrely one anyway, but this time I think there’s somethin’ else goin’ on. He knows, but not all of it. He did tell me what Preston said was true. The signal they got was sent on the admiral’s carrier wave. Once they can get him outta prison, he’s gonna have a lot of questions to answer.”
Resolute Alliance (The War for Terra Book 6) Page 14
