He’d get used to it. The office, the desk job, the whole thing. Anything was worth it to have her in his life.
They’d talked on the trip back to the coreworlds. She loved him. She really did. Bless the galactic gods, the oracles, whoever . . . she loved him. Now he just needed to get his life back in order, and be someone she could be seen with in public with.
And I need a haircut.
She was a big celebrity now. He’d caught some of the vids where she and Doctor von Alderamin announced their sweeping new technologies. He didn’t understand half of what she’d said, but that didn’t matter.
“And may I add it’s good to have you back with us, Rik.” Marshal Halon’s smile was genuine. “I don’t know how you lasted three years among those scoundrels, but this is a job very well done.”
Rik nodded, but Marshal Halon pushed his hand, palm forward in a gesture that meant for Rik to stay.
“And it pains me to say that I already have you assigned to your next mission.”
“What?” Rik’s head whirled. “I thought I’d be consigned to a desk, at least for a while.”
Marshal Halon nodded. “I know, I know. You’ve earned a rest, and I’d certainly not send you back undercover again so fast. Good gods, man. Three years? I’m surprised you can still function in civilized space.”
Rik crossed his arms and hunkered back into the chair, ready to decline the mission. They had no right.
“I wouldn’t have even put you on the table, but Doctor Callista herself specifically requested you lead this mission.”
Rik bolted upright. “Luna?”
A twinkle played in the old marshal’s eyes, as a smile spread across his lips. “I thought that would get your attention.”
He’d been set up . . . played.
“We need you to continue to captain The Starboard Mist. She’s been recommissioned as one of our vessels and no longer flagged to the Pirates of the Dark Nebula. The Federation wants to move ahead on construction of some kind of permanent gateway between our galaxy and Andromeda. Doctors Callista and von Alderamin have agreed to be a part of the project. Your job would be to protect them and house them on your vessel while they do . . . whatever it is they’ll be doing.”
“So Luna . . . Doctor Callista . . . and Doctor von Alderamin will be living on The Starboard Mist?”
“I’m led to believe they already have quarters on your ship, and are quite comfortable with them.”
Luna, in his quarters? This was shaping up to be the best assignment ever.
“Of course you’ll need a crew. Ensign Arcturus has agreed to a transfer from fleet to stay on. As for the rest, you’ll have your pick of anyone available. This mission is a top priority.”
His pick? Anyone? “Sir, I’d like to keep the present crew intact, if they agree.”
“The present crew?” The commander snorted. “Rik, they’re spacers. My gods, man. Your other gunner is a thirteen-year-old boy.”
“With all due respect, commander, I would put that young man up against any gunner in the marshals or the fleet . . . and he’d win.”
The commander pulled at the collar of his shirt, as if the material was suddenly binding. “Rik, be sensible. They’re not military.”
Maybe not, but they are family. “Give them commissions. I want any one of them that will stay on.”
Commander Halon shook his head. “You’re serious.”
“Dead serious.”
“I’ll . . .” he shrugged, “. . . see what I can do.”
Luna sighed as the elevator door swished open and Captain Rik Mazar strode boldly onto the bridge of The Starboard Mist to the rousing applause of his crew. Tina, Quatrain, Carter, Kyra, Pyxis . . . even Markus. They’d all stayed on, accepting commissions and hefty pay from the Galactic Federation, plus full pardons for any past indiscretions.
Thurban Pinder’s voice rang over the intercom. “Ion drives at one hundred percent Captain Mazar.”
Rik nodded. “Then launch, Ms. la Cross.”
“Our course, sir?” Tina was smiling broadly.
“I’ve decided we require one more member for our crew to be complete. If we encounter the bugs again, it would be a good idea to have someone onboard who can read their minds . . . find out what they’re thinking.” He turned to Luna. “What did you say your nephew’s name was?”
Luna smiled. It had been her suggestion, but she let him have it. “Kirtl, sir.”
“Yes, Kirtl. Thank you.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Ms. la Cross. Set course for Blarm.”
A Hearts in Orbit Bonus Featurette:
I Know A Secret
Twin suns rose above the horizon of the heavily forested world. Rik breathed in air fresher than he’d ever experienced. Blarm was an amazing, beautiful planet.
“Oh, you should see it at suns set.” The high-pitched voice startled him from his reverie.
“Kirtl!” Luna’s admonishment made the little creature bow his head. “If you’re going to be among humans, you have to stop doing that.”
“I’m sorry, Rik.”
Luna sighed. “Captain. You need to call him captain.”
Luna’s frustration with her nephew was comical. Rik held in a chuckle.
Kirtl’s hands went to his hips. “He calls himself Rik, not captain. Why must humans be so confusing?”
“You sure you want a Blarmling on your ship, Captain Mazer?” Ambassador Antares had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “They can be quite a handful. Especially this one. I could find you another volunteer. Someone older . . . more mature.”
“No!” Kirtl widened his stance. “They asked me. Luna wants me. You . . .”
Kirtle tilted his head. Was the creature actually reading Ambassador Antares’ mind?
“You don’t want me to leave.” The Blarmling’s voice caught. Moisture gathered in the corners of his big purple eyes.
The ambassador went down on one knee and gathered the little guy into his arms. “I’m going to miss you.”
The tableau held for a long moment then they separated.
Ambassador Antares sighed. “But, you’re right, Kirtle. It’s time. You’re all grown up now. You can make your own decisions. Go help your Aunt Luna and Captain Mazer on their mission. Be good and be careful.”
He turned toward Rik and offered his hand. “And you be careful too, Captain Mazer. The refugees will be welcome here as long as they want to stay, and if any want to leave, I’ll arrange to get them wherever they want to go.”
Rik accepted the man’s hand. “You’ve been more than accommodating, Ambassador. Thank you.”
Eight of the refugees had turned down military commissions, but Rik hadn’t wanted to leave them to the Federation review system. Luna had convinced her brother-in-law to grant them asylum on Blarm.
“It’s not like they could make any trouble on a planet full of mind-readers.”
She had that right. Blarmlings were now being used in courtrooms across the galaxy, to determine guilt or innocence. If any of the eight caused any trouble, the Blarmlings would know.
Ambassador Antares’ face grew grim. “How dangerous is this mission?”
“I won’t lie, sir.” Rik swallowed. The last thing he wanted was a galactic ambassador mad at him. “There’s a real element of danger. But, Luna has convinced me that having a Blarmling along to read minds would help immensely. We will accommodate him as much as possible within the constraints of the mission.”
“Blarmlings are adapting quickly to the rest of the galaxy, but we’ve got a long way to go. Each one we send out, comes back with new experiences that are shared by the planet’s communal mind.” The ambassador ran his hand across the top of the little Blarmling’s head. “This one is probably more ready to go out than others, to tell
the truth. He’s been around me since his birth.”
“And, I will be good, Captain. You can count on me.” Kirtl’s firm declaration rang with earnest sentiment.
Ambassador Antares patted the creature on the head. “As you can see, Captain Mazer, they are very fast learners.”
Markus trundled into the room. “Son of a bitch, it’s true! Rigel Antares, a galactic ambassador? I thought it was just moontalk.”
A broad grin broke across Ambassador Antares’ face. “Markus, you little clown. Where the hell did you find a galactic marshal uniform in your size? Is that part of the new act?”
Rik shook his head. It certainly is a small galaxy.
Luna cradled her niece, enjoying the warmth and scent of the newborn. “I wish I could stay.”
Phoebe stuck her tongue out at Luna. “Plplt. No you don’t.”
As usual, Phoebe’d seen right through her.
She’d been gone from Blarm only a few weeks, and was just realizing how much she’d fallen in love with the world. But, there was a mission . . . and Rik . . . awaiting her.
Butterflies erupted in her stomach at just the thought of the sexy galactic marshal.
“He’s quite good looking.” Her sister always was one to cut right to the chase.
“It’s not . . .” Oh, what was the use. On Blarm, there was no way to keep anything secret, and Phoebe’s friend Oolo was standing right next to her. The Blarmling had probably told Phoebe everything.
“I did not,” Oolo stated firmly.
Phoebe turned toward Oolo. “Didn’t what, dear?” Her head swung back toward her sister, questions in her eyes.
Heat rushed up Luna’s cheeks. Don’t you dare! Oolo had been around humans long enough to learn discretion, she hoped.
Luna forced a sigh, attempting to pull Phoebe’s attention. “Yeah, he is very good looking.” Phoebe didn’t need to know she’d slept with him.
Oolo trundled over, holding up her paws to receive the baby. “Kirtl comes for you. His mind is filled with more human questions.”
Luna deposited the sleeping babe in the Blarmling’s arms.
Oolo had a sly look in her eyes. “Maybe someday soon you’ll have one of these of your own.”
Scamp.
But Luna smiled. “Maybe.”
She and Rik had talked about having her birth-control process reversed after this mission was done. Someday.
Kirtl trundled up to her. “Aunt Luna, what’s a secret?”
Oh, this might take a while. In a culture that could read each other’s minds, the concept of keeping anything secret would be completely foreign.
Phoebe gave her a knowing smile. “Good luck with that.”
Luna rolled her eyes at her sister. “You’ve never tried to explain it to him?”
Her sister shrugged. “I live on Blarm. What would be the point? I stopped even trying to keep something secret months ago.”
Kirtl put his hands on is hips. “I know it’s something humans have, so I need to understand this secret. Is it something I can have also?”
Luna smoothed the fur on the top of Kirtl’s head. “Once you are off Blarm and living with humans, I think you can have and keep secrets. Let’s go for a walk.”
With the young Blarmling at her side, Luna strolled with him toward the lake just outside the town.
“A secret is something only a very few people know,” Luna began. “Something they don’t tell to everyone, because they don’t want everyone to know.”
Kirtl nodded. “You mean like how the asteroid avoidance system works. You don’t want pirates to know how to build it, so you don’t tell them.”
A very good example.
“Thank you,” Kirtl replied to her thought.
Luna chuckled. “Ah, but you see, that’s why it’s impossible to keep a secret from a Blarmling. I didn’t say it was a good example, I only thought it.”
Kirtl stopped walking, his face screwing up in a manner Luna had come to recognize as the Blarmling in deep thought.
There are times I wished I could read your mind.
“Oh, I was just thinking about the difference between talking and thinking. It is different for humans. It’s almost a wonder that Blarmlings developed a language at all.” Kirtle paused. “I did it again, didn’t I?”
Luna chuckled. “It is second nature for a Blarmling.”
“So with humans, if they think something, I need to pretend I don’t know it?”
Yes.
Kirtle hummed a little tune, and started walking again. “So with humans, if they think something, I need to pretend I don’t know it?”
Luna smiled at his repeated question. “Yes.” Very good.
Splashing sounds accompanied by boisterous reveling filled the air as they approached the lake. Through the trees she could make out the form of The Starboard Mist where it sat on a wide stretch of sandy beach. The crew had been given shore leave, and was making the most of the beautiful day by swimming and picnicking under Blarm’s warm twin suns.
“Well, they seem to be having fun.”
Kirtl smiled. “They are all very happy for many different reasons . . . that I cannot tell you about because I don’t know them.”
“Now you’ve got it.”
A finely muscled torso rose out of the water. Carter Arcturus wadded toward the shore. His bruises were healing and it was nice to see a smile on the man’s handsome face. The skimpy swim trunks hid almost nothing of the man’s incredible physique. Not bad, but not Rik. Still, she couldn’t help admiring the real estate.
Then she realized who was standing beside her. “Okay, that’s your first secret. And you’d better keep it.”
But Kirtl barely acknowledged her.
Luna followed his gaze to a figure leaning against a tree up ahead. Tina la Cross also had her eye on Carter. And it wasn’t the first time Luna’d seen that look in the woman’s eye. Yeah, there’s something there.
Kirtle put his paw on her arm. “What about if I hear something big, something important, that someone is thinking? Can I know it then?”
Luna could see Kirtl would need some ground rules. Part of his job on The Starboard Mist would be using his mind reading for security related projects.
“If the thing you know can hurt someone, then it will be okay to tell Captain Mazar. Or if he tells you to find something out. Only then. Otherwise you have to keep it a secret.”
Kirtl looked back at Tina. “I know a secret.”
Luna chuckled. “If you mean that Tina has a thing for Carter, it’s not much of a secret.”
“No.” Kirtl shook his head. “It’s big.”
Curiosity prickled the back of Luna’s neck. “What is it?”
Kirtl harrumphed. “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”
Also by S. C. Mitchell and Soul Mate Publishing:
THE BLARMLING DILEMMA
(HEARTS IN ORBIT BOOK 1)
“They’re not animals. They’re people!”
Phoebe Callista’s pleas fall on deaf ears and she’s forced to rescue two helpless Blarmlings from certain death. Fleeing across a backwater sector of the galaxy, with Galactic Marshals in hot pursuit, Phoebe falls into the hands of a handsome but determined bounty hunter.
Rigel Antares has captured wanted criminals throughout the galaxy rim, but he’s never come across anything like Phoebe Callista. The gorgeous blonde is playing the innocent, and something deep inside wants to believe her, but Rigel has problems of his own—a ship that’s falling apart and an unscrupulous Galactic Marshal looking for any excuse to send him back to the prison planets of the Theiler System.
An intergalactic circus, vicious space pirates, and a planet full of backtechers cross their paths as two hearts go into orbit to s
ave a pair of adorable Blarmlings.
HEARTS IN ORBIT BOOK 1: THE BLARMLING DILEMMA is a science fiction romance set in the far-flung space traveling future, and sets a new course across the galaxy that leads to love and adventure.
Available now on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/n9wl28v
SON OF THUNDER
(HEAVENLY WAR SERIES BOOK 1)
The man looked like a god. Then again, he was one . . .
Jord Thorson was a god–the son of Thor, the Norse God of Thunder. In his search to find his missing father, Jord seeks out the mortal, Meghan Larson, who is in possession of his only clue–Megingjörð, Thor’s magical belt of power.
But when the belt decides to take matters into its own hands, locking itself around Meghan’s waist, Jord and Meghan are plunged into the middle of a massive conflict that rages across the heavens.
Giants, magical artifacts, and a golden city in the clouds weren’t exactly what Meghan Larson expected when that amazing belt arrived at her museum. Now Megingjörð is stuck around her waist and talking to her in her head. She’s got to be dreaming, but with the wonders around her and hunky Jord Thorson at her side, Meghan’s not sure she wants to wake up.
Available now on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/qfaej46
Pirates of the Dark Nebula (Hearts in Orbit Book 2) Page 23
