by Rick Bentsen
K’Itea moaned. There was no mistaking it for what it was. The nurse watched as K’Itea’s eyes fluttered open. K’Itea closed her eyes again just as quickly, moaning against the pain of the bright light in her eyes.
“Doctor!” the nurse called. “She’s awake.”
Jewel came running into the room. She looked over her vitals then looked over at the bed.
“K’Itea, are you awake?” Jewel said.
“Unh,” K’Itea said. “I’m… awake.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I feel like an entire building fell on top of me,” K’Itea whispered, her voice hoarse. “But that beats being dead.”
“Good. I’ll get your husband down here right away,” Jewel smiled.
“He’s here?” The thought of seeing her husband again looked to have a better affect on the young woman than any medicine could have.
“Yes, and he’s anxious to see you.”
Chapter 4
2.1.2136
0945
SLS White Knight
K’Alan Bryce’s Quarters
THE only light in the room came from the faint starlight coming through the windows of his quarters. K’Alan sat in solitary contemplation, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow. While he had not been doing so often of late, K’Alan liked to meditate to try to work through issues. Meditation had helped him through many difficult periods over the years. He could only hope that it would help him through this one.
There had not been a more difficult period than this one. It had been a long two days since the White Knight had rescued the survivors on Duterius Prime. All in all only 14,150 people that had been on the planet had survived the catastrophe. And his wife, the woman he loved more than anyone, was lying in medbay in a coma. He had no idea if he would ever get to see her smile again.
And then there was Elam. He could surely understand why the child resented him, but he had not known about the boy. Kit hadn’t told him. Neither had his sister. In Kit’s last message, she had told him that there was something that she had been keeping from him. That it was something better said in person. Now that he knew what it was, he wished she’d told him years before. He doubted things would have changed, though. He would not have been able to leave the Defense Force. Not with the way the war had gone.
There was a knock on his door that knocked him out of his silent retrospections back into the present.
“Come in,” he called.
Admiral John Bonetti, the commander of the Gamma Epsilon sector of the Star League, walked into the room. He stopped just inside the door as if unsure of whether or not he should be there.
He looked over at the younger man and tried to gauge what the commander was thinking. It was hard to see K’Alan clearly in the darkness, but John could make out the medium length brown hair and the pale pale skin so common amongst the Duterians. He marveled to himself again how similar in appearance the Duterians were to humans. If it weren’t for the small cleft right on the bridge of K’Alan’s nose, John might have mistaken him for human.
“Have a seat, John,” K’Alan said quietly. He did not look in the admiral’s direction. He had been expecting the visit, so he was not surprised that the admiral had made the visit unannounced.
“When you weren’t in the party that greeted me, I knew that the situation was bad. How’s Kit doing?” John asked as he took a seat opposite where K’Alan was sitting.
“Jewel says that if she wakes up, she’ll be OK.” K’Alan took a sip of tea. The tea had long since gone cold and K’Alan winced at the taste. “Did you know I had a ten year old son?”
“No, I didn’t,” John frowned.
“Neither did I until two days ago,” K’Alan shrugged. “Neither my sister nor my wife wanted to tell me unless I was there to hear it in person.”
“So they’ve been keeping this to themselves for ten years?”
“Yeah,” K’Alan nodded. “I don’t even know whether or not to be angry about it. I cannot change the past ten years. I don’t know if I would even if I were able to.”
“Unreal. Listen, I need you to be at the mission briefing today.”
“Of course I’ll be there, but why are you saying I need to be?”
“We need to address the issue of what to do with the survivors of the Duterius Prime tragedy. Now I have a proposal, but I doubt that Captain Ker’sal will agree, at least not without a fight. Since it’s your people that are affected, I think you need to speak for them.” John pulled out a datadisc and tossed it to K’Alan. “This datadisc has all the details of my proposal. I think…” John was interrupted by K’Alan’s wristlink.
“K’Alan here,” he said as he switched on his com.
“K’Alan, this is Jewel,” the medtech’s voice floated in through his link. “You need to get down to medbay ASAP. K’Itea is awake and she’s asking for you.”
“I’ll be right there.” He switched off his com and looked at John. “I’ll be at the briefing, but this is my wife. She must take precedence.”
“I wouldn’t have expected any less.”
2.1.2136
1011
SLS White Knight
Medbay
K’Alan Bryce raced into the medbay, almost knocking over a nurse in his haste. He nodded in apology to the nurse and hurried to the isolation room where his wife was being treated.
Jewel was the only other person in the room. She was checking over some readings when he raced in. Smiling to K’Alan, she motioned him over to the bed.
“I’ll give you two some time alone,” she smiled. She laid a hand on his arm. “But you have to remember, Commander, she’s been through a lot in the last couple days. Take it easy.” She smiled again before leaving, closing the isoroom’s door behind her.
K’Alan sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at the woman he loved. She still had a sizeable greenish-blue bruise on her forehead, but other than that, she was as beautiful as she had ever been. Her long curly golden hair spread out across the pillow, and her fiery green eyes twinkled with an odd combination of humor and wisdom.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi!” she exclaimed.
“So, I guess you know how bad it is,” he began.
“Were you able to drive the attackers off?”
“Yes,” he nodded. He hesitated a moment, not wanting to be the one to tell her just what had happened. “But, Kit, we were just too late. I’m sorry.”
“How bad?”
“Duterius Prime is uninhabitable,” he turned away, a tear rolling down his cheek. “And counting the members of our race who are currently serving in the Star League Defense Force, there are just over 15,000 of us left.”
“Oh, gods!”
“Admiral Bonetti has a proposal about how to help our people.” He held up the datadisc. “I haven’t taken a look at this yet. When I’d heard you’d woken up, I raced right here. I thought we should look at it together.”
K’Itea nodded, and K’Alan placed the datadisc in the room’s reader. They watched the proposal in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. When the datadisc finished playing, they just looked at each other for a few minutes.
“They have to agree to this, Kal. It’s probably our only hope,” she said softly.
“I’ll do my best to convince them.” He paused and looked at her with sad eyes. “Kit, I know about Elam.”
“I should have told you years ago. He needed you to be in his life.”
“Well, at least now he’ll have that chance. He’s staying with my sister for the time being. I haven’t exactly been the most pleasant of people to be around the past couple days.” He smiled a sad smile. “And he’s quite an angry young man.”
“Just be there for him,” she said quietly, as she put her hand on his.
“We both will. Doc says you’re gonna be OK.”
“Yeah, I am. Thank you for being there when I needed you the most.”
“I did promise that I always would be,” he
leaned down and kissed her forehead gently. “And now I need to go be there for us again and knock some sense into the command crew.”
2.1.2136
1030
SLS White Knight
The Conference Room
Thala looked at the empty chair to her left where K’Alan should have been sitting and frowned. It was the third time she had looked at the chair. And the third time it had been empty. It was time for the briefing, and her XO was late. In all the time she had known him, Thala could not remember K’Alan Bryce being late for anything.
“He’ll be here,” Admiral Bonetti said softly, noticing her look. “I know where he is and I have excused him from being on time to the briefing. Meanwhile, I suggest we get started.”
“Agreed, sir,” Thala nodded. She turned to her command staff and looked them over. “Ladies and gentleman, thank you for coming. Admiral Bonetti, would you care to begin the briefing?”
“Before I go over Gamma Strike’s first mission, there is a proposal that I would like to make,” the admiral said. He stood up and strode over to the room’s viewer. He slipped a datadisc in the reader and graphics, statistics, figures and graphs scrolled across the screen to support his proposal as he spoke.
“With the destruction of Duterius Prime, a critical situation has arisen,” the admiral began. “There are currently exactly 15,132 Duterians left alive.”
“Fifteen thousand?” Kath gasped, looking pained. “Duterius Prime was home to over four billion people.”
“I know,” Admiral Bonetti began. “And we know who is responsible. But that information is irrelevant to this part of the meeting.
“Due to a cultural taboo and a lack of necessity, the Duterian people never developed the abilities and technology necessary to colonize a planet. Without colonization abilities, the Duterian people will not survive any new planet that they attempt to colonize.”
“What does this have to do with Gamma Strike?” Thala rolled her hand as if telling the admiral to get to the point.
“When the White Knight was designed,” Sarah Hodge said. “She was designed to carry diplomats from all of the major governments of the Star League as well as diplomats from non-aligned worlds, such as the Brentax when the war ends. The goal was to have a place where issues can be discussed and resolved before they lead to war.”
“It’s a self-contained city inside the ship,” Admiral Bonetti continued. “It can hold a quarter of a million people comfortably.
“The area was labeled Top Secret. That’s why only Sarah and I were allowed in the area. But with the recent catastrophe on Duterius Prime, I propose that we use this space to house the survivors while scientists from all of the other major governments teach those survivors how to survive when colonizing a planet.”
“This is your proposal?” Thala said incredulously.
“The Duterian government respectfully requests that the Star League implement Admiral Bonetti’s proposal immediately,” K’Alan said as he slipped into his chair.
“Nice of you to join us, Commander,” Thala said dourly.
“I apologize for being late, Captain. The High Gentlewoman of the Duterian people has regained consciousness and I had to confer with her about the Admiral’s proposal before I came to the briefing.”
“Very well. Continue, Admiral,” Thala sighed.
“We can’t force Gamma Strike to implement this proposal,” Admiral Bonetti said. “A vote is required by the command staff, and one vote will be allocated to the Duterian government.”
“Very well,” Thala said. “I cannot vote in favor of this proposal.”
“Well, the Duterian government votes for the proposal,” K’Alan said. “And so do I.”
“I have to side with the Commander,” Colonel Bonetti said.
“For,” Kath said simply.
“We have to,” Tyla Barros said.
As the votes were cast one by one, Thala realized she was going to be the only dissenting voice. With each vote, she slumped a little further against her chair.
“The proposal passes,” Admiral Bonetti said. “The housing of the Duterian survivors will begin immediately. Now, we need to discuss Gamma Strike’s first mission.”
“Admiral Bonetti, with all due respect,” K’Alan interrupted. “I want to go after whoever did this to my people.”
“Funny, that’s what I had in mind, Commander,” the admiral smiled. “We know that the Brentax are responsible. We were able to determine that the base ship involved in the attack was the Torellia Corvax under the command of M’Bek Tarmos himself. I want this man brought to justice.”
“It will be my pleasure,” K’Alan grinned.
“Don’t get too cocky, Commander. This will not be an easy mission,” Admiral Bonetti warned the commander. “But it may mean the end of this war. It may mean peace in this quadrant.”
“Well, that’s reason enough to want this mission to succeed,” K’Alan nodded. “I assume you want him alive.”
“Yes, Commander. Alive.”
“Darn. Alive wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I guess I can do alive.”
“Good. Well, that concludes this briefing. Dismissed,” Admiral Bonetti said.
Thala stormed out of the conference room even before the admiral had finished speaking. K’Alan and Mario just looked at each other.
“Listen, Kal,” Mario said. “I know you’ve been busy worrying about Kit for the last two days, but I was hoping we could talk. Wanna meet at the lounge in a few minutes?”
“Sure,” K’Alan smiled. “I could use a little drink.”
“No alcohol, remember,” Mario shook his head.
“Yes, Dad,” K’Alan snickered.
“K’Alan, I want to talk to you later,” Admiral Bonetti said. “There are some things about this mission we need to discuss.”
“Why aren’t you taking them up with the Captain?” K’Alan asked.
“Because I think she has some other issues she’s going to be dealing with. And besides, you’re probably the one who’s going to be bringing him in.”
“All right, John,” K’Alan sighed. “Let me know when.”
“Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go talk with the captain,” Admiral Bonetti said as he turned to leave.
“Shall we head to the lounge, Colonel?” K’Alan grinned.
“Yes, we shall, Commander.”
2.1.2136
1200
SLS White Knight
Forward Observation Lounge
Thala Ker’sal stared out the window at the Gamma Epsilon station. It had been a difficult day. With the Duterian situation and the mission briefing, it had been a really rough morning for her. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do about the situation. All she wanted was some time alone to think and figure it out.
“Captain, I was hoping I might have a word with you,” Admiral Bonetti trod on her interspection.
“I’m not in the mood right now, Admiral,” Thala snapped. She kept staring out the window. She saw his reflection start to cross the observation lounge towards her
“That’s too bad. You stormed out of the briefing in a bit of a huff. Why?”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it,” Thala growled.
“You’re about one step away from insubordination, Captain,” Admiral Bonetti snarled.
“Well, then, maybe you should bring me up on charges,” Thala whipped around to face the admiral. “It sure wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to me today. And, by the way, you’ll have my request for a transfer within the hour.”
“Transfer?”
“I won’t stay on this ship. And you can’t force me to stay. If you deny my transfer, I will resign my commission.”
“I’m not sure I understand, Captain.”
“Let me put it bluntly, Admiral. You have placed me in a very awkward position and I don’t want to deal with it. So, I’m doing what I must in order to get myself out of that situation.”
“Not
until I get a straight answer from you, Captain. I thought you would be happy about the mission.”
“I am. It’s ferrying the Duterians around that I’m having a problem with.”
“Are you sure it’s the Duterians you have a problem with?”
“No,” Thala exploded. She flung the datapad she was holding across the room. It shattered against the wall by the door. “It’s not the Duterians. It’s HER! It’s his wife. I wish she had never pulled through.”
“What?” Admiral Bonetti asked incredulously.
“Ever since the Academy,” Thala slumped in a chair and closed her eyes. “I’ve been hopelessly in love with K’Alan Bryce. And when I’d heard that she was injured, I was filled with hope. Hope that maybe there was a chance that he and I might be able to eventually get together.”
“I’m not sure I believe what I’m hearing,” Admiral Bonetti said. He walked over to the viewport. “All right. I’ll approve your transfer. But I suggest you talk to someone about these feelings, Captain. I’m putting you on detached duty until you work this out. When you do, I’ll assign you a new command.”
“Thank you, Admiral.”
“I would like you to consider staying on for this one mission though,” the admiral turned back to her.
“Admiral, as tempting as it is to go after M’Bek Tarmos, I just don’t think my staying on this ship is a good idea. Commander Bryce can handle this ship and her crew.”
“Very well,” Admiral Bonetti sighed. “You stand relieved. I’ll brief the Commander later. And, Captain, I’d suggest you be off the White Knight within six hours. They’re going to be shipping out that soon.”
2.1.2136
1210
SLS White Knight
The Lounge
“I still can’t believe that Soran is on the ship,” K’Alan laughed. It was good to laugh after the events of the past couple days.
“Well, the Captain told me she wanted the best people on here, and Soran is the best barman we’ve ever seen,” Mario grinned.
“Well, I just want you to know that even with Kit and Elam living on board, nothing’s going to be different between us,” K’Alan sighed, sipping his Duterian Sunmist.
