The Exxar Chronicles: Book 03 - Acts of Peace and War

by Neal Jones

  "What do you want for breakfast?" he asked.

  "Cereal!" she spat. Ben gave his daughter a stern look, and she added meekly, "Please."

  When the bottle was empty and the table cleared, Ben hustled Emalie out the door – nearly forgetting the diaper bag in the process – and the three of them began the trek to school and daycare, both of which were located on the promenade.

  "Daddy, how come mommy isn't walking me to school today?"

  "Because she went back to work today, remember?"

  "Oh yeah!" Emalie said, the disaster with her blue dress completely forgotten. She glanced up at her new baby brother who was snuggled against his father's shoulder. "His face looks weird," she said, wrinkling her nose.

  Ben laughed. "You looked just as weird at that age too."

  "I did not!" Emalie protested with utter seriousness. "I was always beautiful!"

  Ben just smiled and teased his daughter's hair as they stepped into the PTL. "Of course you were, sweetheart."

  ( 5 )

  "Josh! Breakfast!" Commander Mariah Decev, Exxar-One's chief science officer, shook her head, exasperated, and bit into her toast while reaching for her cup of coffee from the food dispenser. Her son was late to the table, as usual, and she was just about to holler into the comm panel once more when he appeared in the doorway.

  Mariah almost choked on her toast. "What in gods' name are you wearing?"

  "Mom, please don't make a big deal of this, okay?" He slouched into his seat, his pet estuck scuttling up on his shoulder, ready for any morsels the boy might see fit to give him.

  "Oh, I am going to make a big deal. I know what that phrase says, I can read Murdohn. I was fine with you dyeing your hair, and I was fine with the ear piercing, but I am drawing the line at you wearing something to school with profanity on it! Especially that phrase! Is that a nano-shirt?"

  "Yeah. I bought it with my allowance last week."

  "Then change that phrase, or get something else on. And please get him down. I told you I don't want him at the table."

  "Gods, mom, why don't you just stop nagging for five fucking seconds, okay??" Josh tapped angrily on his right sleeve, and the nano-fibers on the front of his shirt reassembled themselves into another pithy slogan – this one in English.

  Chanticleer, the estuck, waddled under the table to scavenge for crumbs. He looked up at Mariah, his four eyes blinking lazily. Mariah stared at her son, shocked, and then shook her head as she sat across from him. She sipped her coffee and nibbled her toast, calmly waiting. He took two bites of his cereal, not looking at his mother.

  Mariah swallowed the last of her toast and sipped her coffee, watching her son. He had just turned fourteen last month, and while she thought she was prepared for this phase, the actual reality of it was overwhelming. It truly was as if something had abducted her son and replaced him with a monster. She had thought that many parents were overreacting when they used that metaphor, but now she saw exactly what they were talking about, and it was all true. For his birthday, Josh had insisted on dyeing his hair with neon green highlights and getting his left lobe pierced. Thank the gods he had opted for a tiny steel ball and not some grotesque alien symbol like the one Tjase had gotten for his birthday two months ago. Tjase was Josh's best friend, a Murdohn boy, and Tjase's mother, Siyri, had become good friends with Mariah because of their sons' friendship. Mariah made a mental note to ask Siyri later when they met for lunch if Tjase had ever sworn at her.

  Mariah stood and walked to the door, and then waited for her son to finish. When he stood she blocked his way. "I'm waiting for an apology," she said calmly.

  Josh stared at his shoes. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

  "Thank you." She stood aside. "Have a good day, sweetheart," she said, smiling, knowing how much the term of endearment would irritate him.

  Josh's reaction was exactly what she expected. He grumbled something under his breath and charged for the door like a prisoner who's been given exercise time in the yard.

  Mariah sighed once more as she tossed her coffee mug into the reclamator, along with Josh's empty cereal bowl. Chanticleer skittered up one of the chairs and cocked his head at Mariah. He made his customary sound, flurp, flicking his forked tongue as he spoke, and then blinked at his master.

  "Sorry, bud, you've already had breakfast. Why don't you try getting a job and contributing a little around here?" She walked into the living room and reached for her uniform jacket. "You could start by cleaning this place up while I'm gone."

  The estuck simply watched her from the kitchen doorway. Flurp!

  "Eh, whatever," Mariah muttered, shaking her head as she walked out the door.

  ( 6 )

  The wall screen chimed just as Marc stepped out his bedroom, freshly showered and dressed. "Screen on," he commanded as he reached for his uniform jacket. Laura's face appeared, and he smiled, stepping into the view of the camera above the screen. "Hey, Laur. Good morning."

  "It's late afternoon here," she said, chuckling. "I actually didn't think I was going to catch you. What time is it there?"

  "Almost seven-thirty. I've got a few minutes."

  "How's everything going? I'm sorry I didn't call back the other day. It's been busy as hell over here."

  "It's all right." He transferred the call to his desk monitor and sat. "Same-old, same-old here. We're getting ready for the arrival of the peace delegations next week."

  "Oh, that's right! How's all of that going?"

  "About as well as can be expected."

  Laura nodded. "By the way, I was able to arrange it so I can be back on the station in six weeks. I'll be there a week, and then I'm leaving with the Dauntless on one of their exploratory missions."

  Marc's excitement at hearing that Laura was going to be back on Exxar-One soon was immediately tempered by the last part of her sentence. "The Dauntless? I thought you were only going to be working on K'Ssala Ormmai."

  "I am. But I thought it would be fun to explore one of the other star systems in this sector. More of a change of a pace than anything else. It's just for a couple months, and then I'll be back here on K'Ssala."

  "I see. Well, I'll definitely look forward to seeing you in six weeks."

  She smiled. "Same here." Something off screen caught her attention. "Marc, I better go." She blew him a kiss. "See you soon."

  He pressed his hand to the screen in a gesture of affection. "Goodbye." He shut off the terminal and headed for the kitchen. He had just enough time to grab some toast and coffee before heading up to the wardroom for the staff briefing.

  ( 7 )

  Lieutenant Commander Kiran Garrett, chief engineer of Exxar-One, zipped up his uniform jacket on his way to the kitchen. He deliberated over the menu of the food dispenser, trying to decide what he was hungry for. He'd had scrambled eggs and Murdohn tath bacon for the past week, but this morning he was in the mood for something else. He finally settled on a cinnamon roll and OJ. As he sat at the table, he said, "Computer, open file labeled 'KG-236' and begin a new message. Use same delivery address as previous message."

  After a moment, there was a soft chime from the panel on the nearby wall. "Message open. Begin when ready."

  Kiran swallowed his bite of roll. "Hi, mom. I know it's been awhile since I last wrote, but I've been busy. No, I'm not dating anyone yet, and yes, I'm doing fine." He paused, taking another bite while trying to decide what to say next. "I could bore you with all the details of my work, but I'll just say instead that I'm very happy with my new post. Being a chief engineer – especially of a starbase like this one – is exhausting, and more difficult than I ever thought it would be. But, at the same time, I'm finding it very challenging and rewarding. And, yeah, I know I said that last year when I first arrived, but now that some time has passed, I'm definitely glad that I accepted this assignment." He drank his juice and swallowed another chunk of his roll. "I think the most challenging part of this job has been managing the officers under my command. I have a giant staff, and I
have shiftleaders, of course, that help me manage all the teams and specialists, but, at the same time...I don't know." He sighed. "I guess I've had to learn a lot of new people skills. I'll tell you all about it the next time we get together. Which, by the way, I've asked for shore leave in a couple months. I took ten days, but I could probably make it two weeks if necessary. Just let me know where to meet you."

  Kiran downed the last of his juice and put the empty dishes in the reclamator. "I've gotta go, mom. Sorry this letter was so short. Love you. Bye. Computer, end message and send."

  As he passed through the living room on his way out the door, the computer gave a soft chime. "Message sent."

  ( 8 )

  "I'm telling you, Marc, it's like night and day." Decev leaned closer, lowering her voice. The rest of the senior staff was trickling in the door, chatting with one another as they found their seats around the long table. "I knew this was going to be rough, but seriously? Cursing at me like that?"

  Gabriel gave her a sympathetic smile. "At least you got an apology out of him."

  "Did you ever use that word with your mother?"

  "Yes. More than once, in fact."

  "Really?"

  "Oh yeah." He whistled softly, cringing at the memory. "I was in high school at the time, and mom and I...well, I wasn't exactly respecting her authority. But, hey, look at the bright side. This will only last for five, six years at most. You'll get through this."

  "Yeah, if I don't kill him first," Mariah muttered.

  Gabriel chuckled as he glanced around the table to ensure all senior staff members were present. "Good morning, everyone. The first item of our agenda is, obviously, the peace talks next week. Commander Navarr, please brief us on the security arrangements for the delegations."

  "In light of what happened last year when Ambassador Vorik was here, I'm initiating standard alpha protocols, as well as a couple extra measures of my own. For starters, I've ordered the civilian housing service to not book any guest quarters on deck thirty-six of DS-5. I will have a team of eight assigned to that deck round the clock. Four will stand outside the assigned quarters, and the other four will conduct regular foot patrols of the entire deck. Now, that's assuming that each of the ambassadors' entourages will be staying in their quarters with them. I figured since those cabins each have three bedrooms, there would be more than enough room for everybody. I also thought it best to put Ambassador Zar's delegation on the opposite side of the deck from Ambassador Morryn's. I won't be assigning the actual cabins until the day before the delegations arrive, just as an extra precaution.

  "Whenever the ambassadors are out of their quarters, they will be escorted by teams of four each. At this point there's nothing on the agenda except the talks themselves, and the location for that is still being arranged. However, since we have no idea how long these talks are going to last, it's safe to assume that the ambassadors could be here for up to six months, maybe longer. For the sake of flexibility, I've assigned a team of eight – four for each ambassador – to accompany them wherever they might want to go."

  "I thought they were going to use this room for their negotiations," Kiran interjected.

  Gabriel shook his head. "If it was just going to be for a month or so, then I wouldn't mind. But like she said, we don't know how long these talks are going to last. And since we're on this subject, we might as well settle this right now." He glanced around the table. "Where's the best place on this station to have these kinds of negotiations?"

  "I think that one of the reception halls on the recreation deck would be an ideal location," Saveck offered. "No external viewports, limited access from the outer corridor, and it's not too far from DS-5."

  "I was thinking the same thing," Navarr added. "There's a total of five reception rooms in section twenty-seven, and two of those are on the last deck. We could easily quarantine that deck and block off the second room."

  "Good," Gabriel replied. "Let's go with that. As soon as you've updated your protocols, let me know the details. Oh, and there's been a last minute change, folks. There's going to be an official state dinner to open this new round of negotiations. Next Thursday night, the quarterdeck. Yes, you all must attend, and no, I will not be accepting any excuses. Apparently President Enkaro's administration decided that it was important to commemorate the occasion after all. I just found out this morning that Admiral Hazen is on his way, as well as some brass from the DrayH'M naval forces, and, although the president isn't going to be here, the vice president will be, and possibly one or two senators. I don't have a final list yet."

  "Fuck me!" Navarr muttered, and then realized she hadn't lowered her tone as much as she'd thought. She glanced around, her face reddening. "Sorry, sir," she said to Gabriel.

  He shrugged again and sighed. "It's all right. It's pretty much how I felt when I saw the communiqué. Pull whatever personnel you feel necessary to provide the extra security. Use some of Bryant's men as well. I know his Marines have been itching for something to do."

  "Yes, sir."

  Sikandra glanced at Saveck. "What about the Chrisarii?"

  "I don't know," the major replied. "I haven't received any messages from the military council concerning this."

  "Neither have I," the commodore added. "I guess we'll wait and see." He looked at Navarr. "Assume for the time being, commander, that we're going to need escorts for at least three Chrisarii officials, just in case."

  She nodded, taking notes.

  Gabriel consulted his pad for the next item on the agenda. "Commander Garrett, Ilkara, what's the status of the latest round of upgrades? These involved the defense grid, correct?"

  "Yes, sir," Garrett replied, exchanging a glance with Ilkara. "The goal was to increase the maximum effective range of our PDAs by fifteen percent. We were actually able to increase the range by eighteen-point-six." He tipped his head to her as a way of acknowledgement. "We're going to begin field exercises tomorrow. Lieutenant Sikandra will be assisting Ilkara and me to get those tests set up and run."

  "That reminds me," Decev interrupted. "I need to review your upgrades to the sensor arrays with you. The beta shift yesterday reported some glitches in the software of the secondary arrays."

  "Yes," Ilkara replied. "I discovered the same thing when I went back to check them earlier this week. I've been meaning to set up an appointment with you. My apology."

  "It's all right. Let's get together this afternoon after lunch. Your office, commander?" She glanced at Garrett.

  "Sure."

  Gabriel checked to see if there were any other items. "It looks like that's all we have for this morning. Unless anyone has anything else to add, you're dismissed."

  ( 9 )

  Jennifer Rosenberg walked into the teacher's lounge, stifling a yawn as she paused in front of the food processor. She ordered a cup of coffee, black, and turned to search for an empty seat. Several of the teachers were on early lunch or prep periods, and an older human woman waved at Jennifer from a table in the corner.

  "Hey," Jennifer greeted her as she sat.

  "Good morning." Sally Brookman taught fourth grade, and Jennifer had subbed for her class a few times the previous year. "Welcome back! How are you feeling?"

  "Exhausted." Jennifer managed a weak smile. "This is my third cup."

  Sally nodded knowingly. "I love my kids dearly, but gods, I thought I was never going to sleep for the rest of my life. Hunter, my youngest, was the worst. That boy did not sleep through the whole night until he was almost two. Now, my oldest –"

  Jennifer listened to Sally's comforting prattle with only half an ear, while she mentally reviewed the errands she needed to run after school let out. She wondered if Ben had remembered to tell the daycare about Jeremy's formula, and that reminded her of something she needed to pick up from the market on the promenade. Jennifer reached into her pocket for her compad so she could start compiling a grocery list. She sipped her coffee, nodding every once in awhile to Sally, and grimaced when she glanced up at th
e clock. She only had five minutes left on her break.

  "Jennifer?"

  "Hhmmm? Oh, sorry, I'm listening. Just making a grocery list while I'm thinking about it."

  "It's all right," Sally chuckled. "I was just saying that if you wanted, I would be happy to watch Emalie for you once or twice in the afternoons. My granddaughters come every Monday and Thursday, and they're about Emalie's age. She's in first grade now, right?"

  "Yes. She's loving it, too."

  "So...how's everything with you and Ben? Besides getting no sleep?"

  "Oh, Ben sleeps just fine. We still take turns getting up in the middle of the night, but he has no trouble falling right back to sleep."

  "Oh, honey, don't take it personally. You're lucky he's lasted this long."

  Jennifer nodded, downing the last of her coffee. "Oh, I know. And he's been really good about getting Emalie ready for school in the mornings. I guess now that Jeremy's here we're both so exhausted taking care of the kids that we don't have much time for ourselves anymore." She stared into her empty mug, lost in thought.

  "Are you sure you're all right?" Sally asked, laying a hand on her arm.

  Jennifer looked up, blinking. "Yes, I promise." She smiled, rising. "Thanks for the chat. I'll let you know about babysitting Emalie. I'll talk it over with Ben tonight. Thanks for the offer."

  "Have a good day," Sally replied, watching with some concern as Jennifer left the lounge.

  ( 10 )

  Lieutenant Ritano yawned as he waited for the Dagonite liner to complete its docking procedure. Beside him, Ensign Markovitz snickered.

  "Late night?"

  "Not really. No more than usual."

  "You're still seeing what's-his-name, right? The Marine?"

  "Yeah. Sergeant Frakes."

  "How long has it been? Six months?"

  "Yep."

  "Wow, must be getting serious."

  Jeff shrugged. "We haven't really talked about it. We're just...dating."