Captives of the Kratzen (Hearts in Orbit)

by S. C. Mitchell

  While people who escaped or were forced to flee to other planets had seen a bigger galaxy, and how it worked, those who’d stayed behind clung to traditions ingrained for generations. Bringing the two factions together would take an incredible amount of work and time.

  “You can’t marry him.” Kathryn held Tina’s gaze.

  A cold, emptiness gripped her. Life without Carter? This wasn’t worth it. “I’ll abdicate. Give up my throne and crown.”

  “You can’t. You dare not.” Kathryn stood and began to pace. “I am the only other of blood la Cross to survive the slaughter of our family, and I am in disgrace, deemed unacceptable because of Fenrus’s propaganda campaign against me. Many still believe me a false pretender to the throne. Even those that do acknowledge my blood, accuse me of treason. Only your protection right now keeps me free of prison . . . or worse.”

  “But you are Kathryn la Cross.” And she’d be a perfect queen to sit on the throne of House la Cross. Much better than herself. Kathryn actually liked the politics. And she was good at it.

  Across the table, Antigua’s eyes filled with tears. “It’s not right. It’s not fair. Princess Kathryn is who she always said she was.”

  Libby laid a gentle hand on her granddaughter’s arm, but she looked at Tina. “The truth doesn’t matter. Only what people believe. Once again, it will take time to convince people that Kathryn never betrayed Quendor. Time you need to stay on that throne.”

  Tina pushed her own plate away and rose. “Why?”

  This didn’t matter to her. Carter did. She’d happily walk away from her crown and never miss it.

  Kathryn confronted her, taking hold of her upper arms and capturing her gaze. “If you abdicate now, the throne would go back to the last non-blood to sit on it. Pavel Fenrus.”

  “What? He’s a traitor to the House. A murderous bastard. How could anyone place him back on the throne?”

  “Because that’s the way this world was . . . and still is to some extent. Thrones fall to the cunning, not necessarily the deserving. Pavel may be in prison, but his people are still entrenched throughout the kingdom. His propaganda network still spreads misinformation across the planet. It will take years for us to dismantle his organization. If you abdicate, he’d have the support needed and the planetary laws behind him.”

  Tina shook with anger. By the galactic gods, she didn’t have a choice.

  ~ ~ ~

  Tina found Carter sitting in front of a Galaxynet data terminal. Even with Quendor’s isolationist policies, the planet did want a certain level of connection to the rest of the galaxy. Heavily filtered content was available. And really anything else simply required a basic knowledge of Galaxynet gating and firewalls.

  She leaned down, put her arms around his shoulders, and kissed his neck, breathing in the scent that was all Carter. She’d miss that, along with everything else. But not yet. She needed a little more time with him, before she sent him away.

  Not forever. She hadn’t acquiesced to that. She could never give him up completely. But she needed it to appear she had, for both their sakes. She hadn’t realized the danger she’d put him in.

  She’d play the role of queen for now, and work like hell to repair Kathryn’s reputation and restore her standing. For that to work, though, she needed to appear the proper Quendorian.

  In private she could still be a little improper.

  She ran her tongue from the base of his neck up to his ear, sucking in his earlobe to gently nibble on it.

  “I’ll never finish this if you keep that up. Not that I’m in any hurry.” He turned his head to drink in her lips.

  Cupping the back of her head with one of his big hands he pulled her closer as his mouth ravished hers.

  She drank him in one last time. So warm. So wonderful. She was really going to miss this.

  Breaking the kiss, she danced away from his reach. “What are you doing?”

  As much as she’d rather pursue it, she needed to cool down the situation. If he dragged her to bed, she’d lose her resolve.

  He spun in his seat, his gaze traveled down her length, then up to capture hers. “I hacked through your firewalls to get to Fleet records. I need to resign my commission so I can stay on here. My leave time from The Starboard Mist is almost over and I’d have to report back otherwise.

  Frack, she’d forgotten about that.

  As one of the refugee appointees to The Starboard Mist she had a leave any time clause in her appointment. Rik had really done his refugee crew right. On the other hand, Carter was a Fleet officer assigned to the ship. He was so proud of his service. That he was willing to give it up so readily to be with her warmed her heart. Still, she had to stop him.

  “Don’t.”

  He raised an eyebrow, studying her, but didn’t say anything.

  Calm, cool under pressure. That was so Carter.

  She sighed. “You can’t stay. We have to part . . . for a while.”

  His eyes narrowed as she explained her plan, and his part in it.

  “As long as you’re not breaking up with me, I can wait. I see how important this is to you.”

  She hugged him. “What woman in her right mind would ever break up with you?”

  “Gods, I’m going to miss you.” He pulled her in, holding her close. “I’ll contact Kirtl and have him stop by to pick me up on his way back to the ship.”

  Chapter 28

  Tina rolled her eyes. “No. We are not going to close our borders. These people need some place to go.”

  Civil unrest had broken out in two of the bordering kingdoms. Pavel’s organization working to cleanse the planet of the unwanted. Refugees were streaming in, fleeing the conflict.

  Rising from his council seat, Calton el Bafron swept his gaze around the seated members. “So many of them are undesirables. Half-breeds or former citizens who fled to other planets and then returned with alien spouses. And these are not our people. We have problems enough with those of this House. Other kingdoms have already decided to expel these undesirables. Is it wise to allow them on our lands, seeing as how we are currently debating their status here?”

  Calton had arisen as the head of opposition on the House le Cross council after the removal of Pavel Fenrus. It was because he was so like Pavel that Tina had kept him on. If she could convince Calton to side with her on the status of alien spouses and half-breeds, she knew she’d be able to move the masses to accept it as well.

  Aliens and half-breeds. Tina hated the terms. They were all Quendarians. The kingdom would never be united if one person was thought less than another. But confronting Calton directly on the issue hadn’t moved him much. Perhaps a different approach.

  “I was once a refugee and found sanctuary. Without it I would never have made my way home. I will not refuse sanctuary to any needy people, no matter what their heritage. We aren’t talking citizenship here, simply safe harbor, food, and basic needs.”

  One step at a time.

  As queen, she held ultimate veto power, but she still had to weigh her decisions against the will of her people. And she had many entrenched traditionalists in her kingdom.

  She could easily see the human cost if she failed to integrate the old with the new as she went. The refugees would need to be eased into the population, or she’d have riots.

  Though she hated the politics, and wished daily that she could throw it all in Kathryn’s lap, the opposition was well entrenched and stubborn. Every step forward seemed to be accompanied by another step back. Kathryn was still considered undesirable.

  In the end, nothing was really decided, which meant the refugees could continue to come in. Tina counted that as a win.

  At least for today.

  As the council shuffled out, she signaled Libby to remain behind.

  “What
’s the real mood out there?”

  Sequestered in the palace, Tina relied on Libby to be her eyes and ears among the people of her kingdom.

  Libby shook her head. “It’s still mixed. All the needs of our citizens are being met. Most citizens are just worried about bettering themselves. But parts of Fenrus’s propaganda network persist, despite our efforts to root them out. They feed fear into the population. Most of it is out and out lies, but with enough manufactured facts to keep the general population wondering.”

  Pavel Fenrus sat in the prison below the palace. Was there any way he could still be running things from his cell? Tina still didn’t know who she could trust. A guard, one of the cooks, maids? Anyone working here could be sneaking information out of the palace.

  Calton el Bafron made no secret of the fact he would prefer Pavel back on the throne. He certainly could be behind some of the shenanigans. Still, she had nothing solid to pin on the councilor.

  Oh to have Kirtl at her side once again. “Anything positive you can give me?”

  A smile spread across Libby’s face as she nodded. “A new movement is coming together. Full-bloods of the Kingdoms with alien spouses and half-breed children, like my daughter. They aim for a political voice on House councils.”

  She’d need to protect this new potential political faction, without looking like she was supporting it. “Do they have a prospective representative yet?”

  Libby nodded. “His name is Asher be Lintle.”

  Navigating a starship was certainly easier than navigating a ship of state.

  “Make sure you set up a meeting with Kathryn for him. One I know nothing about.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “Reporting for duty, sir.” Carter brought his hand up to salute Captain Mazar.

  “Carter.” Luna Callista barged forward to wrap him in a hug. “Carter, Carter, Carter.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Luna.” Carter chuckled.

  Rik shook his head, waiting for his wife to finish her greeting, then pulled Carter into a guy hug. “Gods, I’ve missed you, ya big lug.”

  A firm pat on the back, and then Rik held him at arm’s length, capturing his gaze. “You okay?”

  Folding her arms, Luna cocked her head at Rik. “Of course he’s not okay. He had to leave Tina behind.”

  Carter had messaged ahead his medical report and discharge from Caprica, and a brief description of his activities after leaving, noting that he’d be returning, and that Tina wouldn’t be.

  “I’ll be fine. I just need stuff to keep me very busy for the next few weeks.” He trusted Tina to figure it all out. One way or another, they were getting back together.

  “Weeks? More like years, if then.” Kirtl grunted as Luna swept him into a hug.

  Luna nuzzled his cheek. “Don’t be such a pessimist, Kirtl.”

  “Pfft. I’m a realist. Some of the minds on that planet . . . you wouldn’t believe the level of stubborn stupid. Tina has her work cut out for her.”

  That was Carter’s biggest fear. And there was nothing he could do to help her.

  “No, Carter. There is, and you’re doing it. You left because she needed you to.”

  Kirtl disengaged from Luna and placed his small hand on Carter’s arm. This was rare. Kirtl at his most serious. “She needed your love and your trust, and you gave her both. If anyone can pull this off, it’s Tina. Keep trusting her.”

  Rik clapped him on the shoulder. “In the meantime, Mr. Arcturus, we have a mission. Drop your gear off in your cabin and get up to the bridge as soon as you can.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Carter plopped into the control chair of his weaponry station on the bridge of The Starboard Mist.

  Home.

  No place else felt like this.

  “Carter, man, welcome back.” Quatrain Tyson sat across from him at the second weaponry station.

  Okay, technically the first weaponry station. Carter was the kid’s backup.

  At only fourteen years old, Quatrain could outshoot any Fleet trained gunner. And the kid had picked up his skill playing video games.

  I really should have misspent a lot more of my youth.

  “How’re you doing, Quat.” Carter was one of the few that could get away with shortening his name.

  Quatrain had been part of the refugees picked up in the Dark Nebulan system. An orphan, with a really hard life on a backwater pirate-run planet and a chip on his shoulder the size of Jupiter. It was no wonder he’d escaped whenever he could into his games. But his real world skill set couldn’t be beat. And the chip on his shoulder was finally starting to wear down.

  “Bummer that Tina’s not comin’ back. Miss her.” That was a little too nice for Quat.

  Wait for it.

  “Nice tits.”

  That was the Quatrain he knew and loved.

  Carter refused to rise to the bait. He knew Quatrain respected Tina, though the kid would never admit it. She’d been the closest thing to a real mother the boy had ever had.

  From his captain’s chair, Rik Mazar only had to reach out slightly to slap Quatrain across the back of his head. “That will be enough of that, Mr. Tyson.”

  “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” But his smile told Carter he wasn’t.

  Brat.

  But little by little, The Starboard Mist was changing even Quatrain’s outlook. In a couple more years he might even be able to interact with the general public.

  Rik spun his chair toward Tina’s navigation station. “Miss Jansky, plot me a course to the wormhole. Our next stop will be Andromeda.”

  Kyra Jansky now sat in Tina’s chair, the ship’s primary navigator. “Aye, Captain.”

  Well, it almost felt like home.

  Chapter 29

  The Starboard Mist rumbled and shook. Carter kept one hand on his chair arm, and wrapped the other around his stomach. Nausea rose to threaten a rather unpleasant discharge.

  He’d been aboard the first time The Starboard Mist took the wormhole to Andromeda.

  Well, on that flight it had accidentally created the wormhole. An accident. A disaster. He’d gone mercifully unconscious and the ship had barely survived the journey. No one thought they’d ever get back. Millions of light years away from home. But Luna Callista and Ian von Alderamin had figured out the science stuff needed to create a wormhole back to the Milky Way.

  Now, thanks to their science, a permanent connecting wormhole existed between the two galaxies. While the trip was much less stress-filled than that first jump, it still turned Carter’s stomach upside down.

  “You gonna hurl, old man? You’re turning as blue as a Dzlozian.” Somehow Quatrain never got sick during the jump.

  Carter bore down, determined to keep down his lunch. “Hell no, I’m fine.”

  But, damn it, they’d made the jump enough times that Quatrain was starting to catch on to his queasiness.

  Quat shifted in his seat to catch Carter’s eye. “So did you make any levels while you were on shore leave?”

  In an effort to better understand how the young man had acquired his skills, Carter had been playing Oberon Rising, the Virtua Comptab game Quatrain used to learn targeting and weaponry.

  “Level thirty-five.” Carter smiled. That one had been a killer, and had taken him hours to master, but the next time the bugs attacked, he had a few new targeting moves he was dying to try out.

  Quat nodded. “The Carbell roll?”

  “I always wondered how you did that.” The technique wasn’t something they’d even touched on at the Fleet academy. “Next time we get a chance, I’ll set ‘em up, and you can take ‘em out.”

  “Deal.”

  The ship stabilized, and outside the spinning artifact of the wormhole jump clarified into a calm star field. His stomach settled
.

  “’Nother thing I learned. You don’t get as sick during the jump if you keep yourself busy thinking about something else.”

  The scamp. Quat had purposely brought up the Oberon Rising game talk to keep him distracted.

  Not that he’d ever admit it, but the kid had a good heart under that cocky exterior, which was why Carter gave him a pass on his crudeness . . . most of the time.

  On the port side of the ship, Andromeda Star Base One drifted by. Construction bots swarmed the space station that now looked three times the size it had been when he, Tina, and Kirtl had been captured. The Federation had renewed its efforts to get its foothold here in Andromeda, and with the new Dzlozian alliance now a thing, they needed this station more than ever.

  Dzlozia was their first port of call. Evidently the Dzlozians had uncovered a Kratzen installation. Something big and new. Fearing it could be the bug’s wormhole generator, the Federation Fleet Council had ordered it taken out before the Kratzen gained access to the Milky Way.

  In orbit around Dzlozia, The Starboard Mist joined an armada of ships from both galaxies. Tendle’s manufacturing plant had been churning out starships and Carter noted two new Dzlozian designs among the taskforce.

  Back in the Milky Way, the Federation had also ramped up their production as well. Fear of a Kratzen invasion had starship production maximized, and Fleet recruiters working overtime.

  While he’d been relaxing on the red sands of a Caprican beach the rest of the universe seemed to have kicked into overdrive.