Alpha Class: Discovery – Snippet 2
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Earth Orbit
Diane and Dorene poured over the schedules for the umpteenth time. Dorene stamped her foot in frustration. “They start in two days, and we still haven’t gotten the assignments pinned down! Whose idea was it to mess with the class schedules?”
Diane looked up. “That would have been you, DJ. It’s going to be worth the hassle. The competition for a spot in one of the two fighter groups this semester was one of your best ideas yet! The kids took their skills to the next level to try and win a place.” She took a second to smooth her braid, catching a loose strand and tucking it in while she stared at the roster on the desk. “Look at Todd Grimes’ scores. He’s going to be one our best pilots when he grows up. We knew it would cause problems this term, so we just have to suck it up.”
Dorene cheered up at that. “You’re right, dear. I was speaking to one of the fighter boys last week. Thomas, his name was—nice young man with such a cute…”
Diane arched an eyebrow.
Dorene hid her laugh with a cough. “He told me that the students’ training tactics are being added to the playbook as fast as the kids come up with them.” She took a sip of the cooling coffee on her desk and set it down again with a grimace. “Ugh. Aleksi from Delta is applying his skills in statistics to the planning of the gaming events now. He’s got the whole thing running as smooth as silk.”
Diane agreed, “It’s getting competitive! The top ten deserve to get specialist training, and increasing their knowledge base can only help them improve on what they’re already achieving. But it is going to be a total nightmare for the scheduled core classes. Our faculty are extending themselves to fit the classes into their schedules as it is. They don’t have the time to repeat the class when the fighter groups are done. Those students will have missed out. We can’t have that, DJ.”
Diane’s brow furrowed in thought. “It’s a good idea, we’re just not thinking big enough.” She began tapping on her tablet and muttered, “I have the solution. There’s already one group specializing this semester, so why not go the whole hog and send each student to the place they’re likely to end up when they graduate? We have their aptitude scores from the entrance exams, and we can use those to build a list of skillsets and assign a mentor to each.”
Dorene stared open-mouthed at her twin for a moment as the idea sank in. “That’s…genius. We split all the classes, sharpening the individual students and strengthening the teams overall in the process. Then no student misses out on the core skills.”
She began making a new list.
Diane dropped her tablet on the desk with a flourish. “I’ve just sent a memo to all department heads, telling them their future replacements are coming to spend the semester learning from them.”
The two just looked at each other for a moment, imagining what the teachers would do when they got that email, then burst into laughter.
Diane wiped a tear from her eye. “Let’s arrange it all before the conscripted mentors descend on us. If we’re going to create chaos, let it be organized chaos!”
Alpha Class: Discovery – Snippet 1
United Kingdom, North Wales, Undisclosed Location
The door of the sterile room opened. The woman twisted her wrists, attempting to relieve the pinch of the cable ties holding them to a metal loop embedded into the tabletop. She looked up, meeting the expectant stares of the sharply dressed men as they took the chairs in front of her, one at a time.
Her eyes narrowed. “Do you scumbags know who I work for? You’re going to be in a world of hurt when my bosses find out you’ve taken me!” She worked her wrists one more time for good measure.
And got nowhere.
The man to her left gave a brief, brittle smile. “Don’t worry, Dr. Llewellyn. You are only scheduled for a short visit. It is your position at TQB Enterprises that drew our attention to you.”
The second man took a sheaf of papers from his briefcase and passed it to the first, who shuffled them, looking for something. “Ah, there we are. Doctor Laura Llewellyn. Early graduation from university, straight into a research position. Stayed there until your radical thesis on isostatic pressing interested TQB enough that they bought you a castle.” He looked up at her. “Is all of that correct?”
She pulled against the ties on her wrists again, to no avail. “Do you know my underwear size as well? Creepy little man—that’s what you are. Let. Me. Go! I’ll report you to the authorities, I will! You won’t get away with this!”
“We are the authorities, Doctor Llewellyn.” The man smiled blandly. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his wallet to show her his identification. There was an MI5 watermark in the background.
He leaned forward just a touch. “You see, we are working on behalf of Her Majesty’s government. You are in the position to assist us in a matter of vital national importance. This will all go away in an instant if you get us the specs for TQB’s armor and guns.”
The man—Agent Broadbent—put his wallet away and straightened up. “What will it be, Doctor? Will you do the right thing?”
“That’s not the right thing, and no, I won’t do it. TQB has been good to this nation—especially here in North Wales—and I won’t betray them!” Her eyes narrowed in defiance and her mouth pursed in an angry grimace. “You can go to Hell, the lot of you!”
Broadbent tutted and shook his head. His face was sad as he took a smartphone out of his immaculate suit jacket. He sent a message, then pulled up a video with a couple of swipes and held it out for her to see. She gasped when she saw her husband and two children being shoved roughly into a scruffy Ford Transit van by more suited agents.
“Doctor Llewellyn, you have put me in a difficult position. I was hoping we could avoid such nastiness, but your lack of cooperation has given me no choice.” He put the phone away. “Look, I don’t want to have to do this. Using innocent citizens as leverage is beyond the pale, but my bosses want those specs. These are frightening times, Laura. May I call you Laura? You must know what is happening in the wider world. War is everywhere, and it will reach our shores soon enough. We need those weapons.” He leaned in, placing a hand atop hers. “England needs you.”
Laura pulled her hand away quickly, ignoring the bite of the ties when she jerked them tight. “I don’t give a damn about what England needs. England sure as hell doesn’t give a crap about Wales! What have you done to my family? Where have you taken them?” She strained against her restraints, spitting mad.
Broadbent sat rigidly in his chair, his face stony. “Histrionics will get you nowhere, Doctor Llewellyn. Why not just do as I ask? Then your family goes free and we forget about all this unpleasantness.” He waved at her. “The nation will be indebted to you for your service. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
She shook her head resolutely. “No, it doesn’t. It sounds like the biggest pile of horse crap I’ve ever heard.” She sighed heavily. “Even if I wanted to help you, I can’t do it. It’s not my department!” she finished, her voice just a touch less strident.
“Dr. Llewellyn, if you do not comply, I assure you that the consequences for your family will not be pleasant. See?” Broadbent took out his phone and displayed the video stream again. Laura repressed a sob at the sight of her children crying in their father’s arms. They were huddled together in the back of the dirty van, shell-shocked and afraid. “Just do as we ask. Then they go free.”
Laura’s head dropped in defeat. “If I get caught I’m sending them straight to you! My family…” she asked, jerking her chin at the phone. “Where are you taking them? You’d better not hurt them!”
The other man spoke. “They are safe—for now. But you understand what’s at stake here, Doctor Llewellyn: if you do not do as we ask, I will be delivering much sadder news. Her Majesty must have those specifications.”
Committed – Snippet 3
Chapter 2
Aboard The Scamp Princess, Hangar Deck, Gaitune-67
“Okay, another twenty minutes, and that will be all of it. Oz, you got that?”
“Yes. Downloading fine.”
“Good.” Brock leaned back on his haunches from under the console of The Scamp Princess. He started tidying his tools away.
Crash rocked gently in the navigator’s seat. “Sure there’s nothing I can do?”
Brock unplugged a connector from the console he had a device hooked into. “Not yet. Not until we’ve got any clue about where we’re going.” He winked at Crash.
Crash leaned an arm on the nearest console. “Okay. Well as soon as we do, I can get the coordinates plugged in and find out what we’ll be walking into.”
Brock continued to clean up tools and pieces of debris he’d left strewn around as he worked. “Yeah. That’s a good idea. Shit, I can’t believe that all the time we were talking about our vacay, Sean was sitting there contemplating taking off without us.”
Crash just watched Brock.
“Makes me feel guilty for having gone away,” he continued.
“Hey, we needed a break,” Crash said flatly. “And maybe if Sean took a day off once in a while, he wouldn’t be wound so tightly.”
Brock snorted at the thought of Sean heading out to Club Sark with them. “Yeah. You may have a point. You don’t think he’s actually… you know? I mean, Scamp wouldn’t leave him if he were still alive so…” He left the thought hanging in the air, wanting closure, but also not wanting to be told his friend was dead.
Crash shook his head. “Stop thinking like that. He wouldn’t be the first military tool to bite off more than he can chew. Don’t worry. We’ll find him and bring him home,” he told him decisively. “And then give him shit about running off to save damsels on his own.”
Brock sighed. “Yeah. You’re right.” He packed away the last of the tools, leaving one connector hooked up to the console. “Okay, I’m going to take this lot over to The Empress. Nothing we can do until Oz finishes that transfer.”
Crash hauled himself to his feet. “Okay. I’ll pack a bag. Want me to do one for you, too?”
Brock nodded and rested his hand on Crash’s bicep as they headed out of the cockpit. “Thanks, man.”
Crash patted him gently on the back, comforting him. “It’s all gonna be fine,” he reiterated.
The pair made their way through the passage to the side door and carefully headed down the invisible staircase to the hangar deck.
Aboard The Empress, Hangar Deck, Gaitune-67
The crew clambered on board The Empress. It was familiar territory and comforting, despite the unspoken dread that their mission may already be a failure before it had begun.
And yet, no one dared admit that Sean may already be dead.
Jack plonked herself opposite Pieter, who was more anxious than normal. She smiled at him reassuringly, without being too nice. Too friendly, and he would know that they were worried, and that would stop his brain from doing what they needed him to do.
She glanced over at Joel. Joel nodded, catching on to her tactic to keep Pieter calm.
Pieter, oblivious, threw his pack into an overhead locker and sat down. A moment later, he was up again and fussing with his pack. Jack watched without looking directly at him, smiling to herself as if she were just a fly on the wall. Detached. Collected.
Molly was the last one to board. Joel had seen her giving her instructions to Paige. He hovered, not quite deciding where he would sit. Jack was on to him. He was going to pull “Operation: Calm Molly Down.”
She stomped through the cabin with her pack and gun belt thrown over her shoulder. Her holo hadn’t been closed down, and if she had been wearing boots with laces, Joel guessed they wouldn’t have been tied, either.
She threw her pack down on a lounge chair and collapsed next to it, preventing anyone from sitting next to her.
Joel, quick as a flash, grabbed his jacket and mirrored her move by throwing his jacket down in the chair opposite her and plonking himself down across from her.
That was as close as he was going to get. Clearly.
The gentle hum of the drive started up. Crash’s normal banter was nowhere to be heard in the liftoff process. In fact, Molly found herself checking out the window to confirm they were indeed airborne and heading out of the hangar. Only Emma’s voice recited the normal announcements and safety notices.
Molly closed her eyes and allowed the process to wash over her. She tried to still her mind as Arlene had taught her in her realm-jumping training.
Her body was a mishmash of emotions. Emotions she’d rather not have to deal with right now.
She felt a nudge on her leg and reluctantly opened one eye, letting the outside world invade. Joel was looking at her pointedly. He’d nudged his knee against hers.
“What?”
“Wondering if you’re ready to talk.” He nodded at her bag on the seat in front of him. She took the hint and moved it to the one opposite her where he’d dumped his jacket. Joel deftly moved from his seat to the one next to her and buckled his harness.
“You’re taking this hard,” he said quietly.
Molly shoved her arm onto the outside armrest and stared out of the window. Her other shoulder half shrugged.
“I know you don’t want to talk about it,” Joel persisted, “but we need to. You need to.”
Molly turned her head and glared at him.
“I’m here for you,” he continued, ignoring the glare and looking straight ahead of him now. He knew how to handle Molly and her avoidance strategies. She just needed to feel safe enough to open up.
And not pushed.
He readjusted himself in his chair so that his upper arm was touching hers. He felt her defenses come down. All the hardness that she used to shield herself from her own feelings melted, and a single tear trickled down her face.
She sniffed as quietly as she could and rummaged for a tissue to catch the tears before anyone else could see.
“I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this,” she confided.
Joel’s gaze snapped to her. She continued to look down at the tissue, avoiding his eyes. “What’s changed?” he asked.
Molly shrugged. He could see the tension welling inside of her again. He didn’t want her to start crying here in front of the crew. She wouldn’t want that, and it wasn’t fair on her. But she needed to process.
He leaned in a little more. “Is this about Sean?”
“Kinda. But also everything else.” She paused and swiped away another tear. “It’s just one thing after another. It feels like it never ends. I’m exhausted.”
Joel bobbed his head and pressed his arm more against hers. She responded and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. He glanced over at Jack and Pieter, wondering if he should put his arm around her, or whether that would arouse too much interest from the others.
He decided against it. “Hey. It’s okay. We’re going to get through this.”
“Will we?” she asked combatively. “I just can’t help thinking that if I wasn’t around, none of this would be happening.”
Joel frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Sean. He wouldn’t have needed to go off on his own. He’d still be with the Federation and have their backup.”
Joel’s brow furrowed deeper, confused at what she was saying.
Molly continued. “You can’t ignore the fact that his relationship with them has become strained because of his relationship with us.”
Joel hesitated, processing what she was saying. “Well, there may be some truth to that, but that’s not going to get him killed. And it’s certainly not your fault. What’s really going on?”
Molly pursed her lips. “Sean came to see me before he disappeared.”
“About his mission?”
“No. About me.”
“What do you mean?”
“He thinks I have some ability to push my will onto people. Another side effect. He was going to report it to Lance, and I asked him not to.”
“And now he’s gone, and you’re feeling guilty.”
Molly sniffed, finally finding the strength to bring her gaze up to meet Joel’s. “And wondering if somehow I also influenced him to disappear…”
Joel put his arm around her. “That’s just crazy talk. I mean, even if you could push your will onto other people, you would never want him dead. You’re just not wired that way.”
“But what if it was a component of his decision making?”
Joel shook his head. “No way,” he told her firmly. “This thought process is a pattern you run. You look for ways to make things your fault. Or your responsibility.”
Molly allowed herself to sink against his body, allowing his arm around her to stay. “How do you figure that?” she mumbled.
“Look at all the things that have happened: the way you want to change every injustice on Estaria. The way you relate to each team member personally, helping them to find their groove. No way you could even accidentally do what you’re suggesting.”
Molly pulled away and tried to look at Joel. “You think I’m doing things wrong?”
“No,” he corrected her. “I think there is a reason that you’re wired this way, and if we understood it better, you wouldn’t need to feel so damn guilty all the time. So, what is it?”
“What you mean?”
“Well, what happened in your childhood? What is this really about?”
Molly thought for a long while, even though her mind had jumped immediately to what the issue was that Joel was trying to get out of her.
Eventually she spoke, sitting up a little. Joel removed his arm.
“I was about twelve. I’d been hacking into my parent’s EI to find out stuff. Actually, stuff about The Empress. Rumors. History. Missions. There wasn’t much, but I used the EI because it had greater reach, beyond just the local Estarian network.”
Joel nodded.
“Well,” she continued, “my parents had told me it was off limits. Turns out, they had been using it for the business and had taken it offline because they were attracting heat from certain criminal elements in their line of work.”
“And you got it back online?”
She nodded, fiddling with her tissue. “Yeah. I must have triggered some flags or something because one night, I heard something in the house. And shouting. I went downstairs and there were men in the house—in full combat gear. With guns.”
“Who were they?”
Molly shook her head. “I dunno. Dark ops. Mercenaries. We never found out. But they took my parents. At gun point.”
“Philip and Carol?”
She nodded again.
“But they’re still alive,” Joel reminded her, trying to understand what had happened.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “No thanks to me. They managed to escape somehow. Goodness knows how. They said something about having some help. They were gone for about a day. It was the worst day of my life. The police kept asking me questions about what happened, and their work, and their business. I didn’t know anything, but they treated me like a criminal. Like I knew what was happening.
“After they came back, the police had very few questions, and everything just seemed to go back to normal again. They wrapped up that business a few years later when Dad retired and Mom got some kind of government job. And we never really talked about it again. They just said it wasn’t my fault and that they were fine, so it didn’t matter.”
Joel frowned.
“But it was my fault,” she insisted. “If I hadn’t been poking around with that EI, none of it would have happened.”
Her voice started to break. Joel put his arm around her again as she sobbed quietly.
“Look,” he whispered. “I know it feels like it’s your fault, but things happen. Maybe the EI wasn’t the trigger. Maybe it was. They should have told you why the EI was offline. And besides, they’re still alive and doing fine. Something tells me that whatever they went through, it can’t have been that bad.”
Molly’s face was hidden from him. He felt his T-shirt getting wet from her tears. He held her tighter and continued to whisper in her ear. “It wasn’t your fault. You were a kid. You didn’t have all the information… and you don’t know what other good things that served.”
Her muffled voice spoke into his T-shirt. “I don’t understand…”
“Well, think about it. Maybe it was the shock your folks needed to get out of that business they were in. Sometimes these things demand too much of us, either in terms of risks we need to take or in terms of working too hard. Sounds like your folks were already taking risks, for those kinds of people to show up at the house.”
Molly’s sobbing subsided, and she became still.
“Also,” Joel continued, “imagine if they’d continued, and your dad didn’t retire. Maybe he would have ended up working too hard and giving himself a heart attack or something. Maybe your mum would have had problems if she hadn’t taken a more low-pressure job in the government.”
Molly nodded her head, still up against Joel’s T-shirt.
He squeezed her reassuringly under his arm. “Sounds like that was a well-timed warning shot to me. And they don’t seem too traumatized by any of it.”
She sat up. “No. You’re right. They were fine afterward. But that was the unnerving thing. Everything went back to business as usual.”
Joel’s eyes flickered with some kind of recognition.
“What?” Molly pressed.
Joel took a deep breath, thinking. “Well, I wonder… have you talked to them about it since? You know, now that you’re all grown up and all?”
Molly shook her head. “I’ve barely spoken to them at all since I escaped to university early.”
Joel pursed his lips. “Well, our perceptions as kids are super different from the reality of what happened. Sometimes, we misinterpret things, or we misunderstand. We try and make sense of it from the schemas that we’re operating from at the time, but as we get older, we have more understanding of the world. You know, you’re a lot older now. And you’ve seen a huge amount. You’ve got all your life and military experience. You think maybe if you talked to them about it now, you might understand it better?”
Molly sat herself up again, drying her eyes. “Yeah, probably,” she admitted.
Joel smiled. “Of course, it would mean braving your parents again. But it would probably be worth it.” He paused. “I’d come with you if that would help?”
Molly hesitated.
“No pressure,” he added. “I’m here for you, though.”
She bobbed her head then lunged forward to her bag on the other seat, rummaging for another tissue as a distraction. “Yeah, maybe. When we get Sean back…”
Joel put a hand on her back and rubbed it soothingly. “Okay, when we’ve got Sean back,” he agreed.
He checked over his shoulder, briefly catching Jack’s eye. Jack looked away quickly, respectful of their semi-privacy. Pieter looked like he had his implant feeding him sound and was off in his own little world.
Joel kicked back his seat and pretended to relax. He knew it was good for Molly for him to just hang nearby. Even if she didn’t understand that herself right now.
Aboard The Empress
Joel, Jack, and Pieter sat quietly, spread out through the main cabin of The Empress. Pieter had several holoscreens open and seemed to be continuing the work he had started as soon as they had access to Scamp’s data.
Molly gazed out of the window, her thoughts dancing from sensations of anxiety, to sadness, to determination, and back again.
“Molly?” Crash interrupted her thoughts through her audio implant.
Molly hit her audio device. “’Sup?”
“We’ve got a call coming in via the ship’s quiet link. It’s Giles, calling from The Scamp Princess.”
“Okay, patch him through.” She sat up in her seat and took a deep breath.
“Hi, Molly.” Giles’s voice announced himself in her ear. He sounded uncomfortable.
“Giles, hi. Everything okay?”
“Well, yes. Although not really. I heard about Sean, of course.”
Molly leaned her head backwards against her headrest, her gaze flicking to the ceiling. “Yes, we’re on our way to his last known now.”
“Good. Oz told you I offered my services?”
Molly assumed that was a question, even though his intonation suggested otherwise. “He did. Thank you.”
“Okay. Well, erm, the other thing is, we’ve had a lead on the talisman thing. So, erm… if you’ve cleared Scamp for duty, would you mind if Arlene and I went and chased this lead down?”
Molly processed the request for a moment. Her mind scrambled for any reasons for or against. Anything that wasn’t insurmountable. Then she hit one.
“What about the part where I needed you at the university to make sure everything is handled there?”
“Oh… erm. Right. Of course.”
There was a silence on the line. Molly felt Joel looking over at her but chose to remain focused on one conversation at a time. She knew he’d only interject in favor of Giles.
She spoke again. “How long do you think it will take?”
“Well, you know how these things are…”
“I have an idea,” she said.
“What if I promise to be back before the semester starts up again?”
“Yes, that would be fine. But stay in touch with Paige, and make sure that she can make any decisions that need making for the school.”
“Right you are. Thanks Molly. And… good luck.”
“You too, Giles. Good hunting.”
She could hear him breathing on the line for a second or two longer. She wondered if he might have something else to say. And then the line went dead. She turned her head and gazed out the window, watching the stars shift around them. She didn’t have the brain power to allocate any to Professor Kurns right now. She needed to stay laser focused on finding Sean.
Committed – Snippet 2
Base restrooms, Gaitune-67
Molly couldn’t stop her eyes from streaming. Her hands over her mouth, she tried to stifle the sobs. She leaned back against the wall of the restroom stall and put her hands to her head. It was throbbing.
It’s okay. We’re going to find him.
You can’t know that. What does the evidence say?
Molly sobbed again, thankful that she could have this conversation in her head and not have to speak the words. That would make it too real.
We don’t have enough data to conclude that he’s dead. And until we have the data pulled from Scamp, we won’t have a clue about what happened. Be patient. Don’t write him off so soon. Scamp only returned twenty minutes ago.
Molly didn’t respond. Her mind just couldn’t engage in conversation. She could barely see through her eyes, she had cried so hard.
I have to go. They’re waiting.
You’ve got a few more minutes. They’ll understand. They’re processing for themselves, too. They’ve never seen a ship return without a crew, either.
You mean they’re also crying.
No. But they’re worried and trying to wrap their heads around what might have happened.
They’re all in the conference room?
Yes. Mostly.
Okay. I’ve got to move.
Molly wiped her face with her hands and grabbed some tissue to dry them. She fumbled with the lock on the door and headed out to the basins. She hardly dared look at herself in the mirror. There was no way she would be able to fix the swollen eyes before walking in to face her team and give them their orders.
She opened the faucet and watched the water for a moment. Then she looked up.
Fuck.
It’s not that bad.
Not that bad? What do you know? You’re an AI.
I’ve been monitoring your body the whole time we’ve been connected. With cold water, you can reduce the swelling to acceptable levels. I’d suggest dabbing with a wet towel, though.
If she hadn’t been so distraught, she might have smiled at the notion of her AI giving her tactical beauty advice. She splashed water on her face and looked at herself again, pulling a blonde strand back from her face and hooking it behind her ear.
That’s going to have to do.
Well then, your subjects await.
Molly grabbed a paper towel and dried her face and hands before dropping the towel in the trash and heading out.
Turning left out of the corridor, she strode confidently up to the conference room and walked straight in. She did a quick assessment of who was present.
“Where’s Brock?” she asked.
Crash answered. “He’s already working on Scamp. He’s pulling every scrap of data to find out where he was and what happened.”
“Okay.” She closed the door and strode around to the head of the table. She didn’t sit though. “Here’s the plan. As soon as we have the coordinates, we’re going after Sean.”
She turned to Crash, who was sitting bolt upright awaiting instructions. “Crash, help Brock. Do whatever he needs to get us that data and get us airborne in The Empress.”
Molly turned to look at Joel and Jack on the left-hand side of the table. “You two are on supplies. Which includes weapons. Lots of them.”
Joel almost smiled. If the situation hadn’t been so tense, Molly suspected briefly that he would have punched the air.
Boys and guns, she thought, mentally rolling her eyes.
“Pieter and Oz,” she continued swiftly. “Start working on the data as Brock pulls it. Paige, you’re running point for this investigation. Let the general know Scamp is back, and see if there is anything else the Federation can tell us based on the data Pieter gathers.”
Paige raised her hand and spoke fast. “What about telling Giles and Arlene?”
Molly paused only long enough to draw breath. “Oz will take care of that. Maya you’re on food supplies. But then I need you and Paige to work from here when we leave. Any questions?”
Pieter raised his hand awkwardly. “What about Bourne?”
Molly’s brow furrowed. “What’s he doing?”
“Still binge-watching the archives,” Pieter said judgmentally.
Molly thought for a moment. “Is he likely to do anything else until we get back?”
Oz’s voice connected over the intercom for the conference room. “Unlikely, if past behavior is an indicator of future.”
“Fine,” Molly concluded. “Let’s leave him be. Anything else?” Molly’s gaze flicked around the room.
Everyone was silent. They knew what they had to do.
“Okay. Wheels up in two hours. Dismissed.”
No one spoke as they pushed back on the anti-grav chairs and filed hurriedly out of the conference room. Molly stayed out of their way for a minute while they vacated.
What do you want to tell Giles and Arlene?
That Scamp came back, and we’re going after his last known location. But Giles isn’t coming. He needs to stay here and look after things at the University.
And when he argues?
Tell him I’m putting my foot down.
Okay. On it.
Thanks, Oz.
Molly followed her team out of the doors and into the base corridors. She also had work to do before they left, and two hours was almost no time to get her head in gear.
Bates Residence, Estaria
The house was quiet. Philip knew it would be hours before Carol got home. Even on a regular week, she’d be the last one in the office. But he knew from her patterns and mood that this had been no regular week.
Their operative code kept them from discussing agency business at home. Carol insisted it was better for their relationship anyway. Philip wasn’t convinced. But that was what he had signed up for during his exit interview, knowing full well his wife would remain inside the fold when he stepped out.
No disclosure and therefore no lies, he reminded himself.
He paused, knowing full well what it would mean if he was discovered. Part of him didn’t care. Part of him was more concerned about protecting his daughter. He’d replayed the conversation he and Carol had had in the parking lot that day after seeing Molly… and Sean. No way had his wife really let it go, despite her protests that she had nearly been rumbled and had learned her lesson.
Carol didn’t learn lessons.
She just adapted.
He glanced over at the window for one final check. It was still daylight. And no sign of her car.
He sat down at the family terminal. Though the EI had been stripped out a long time ago, well before they’d moved to this property, certain things did remain. Like the agency-grade firewall and military-grade defense arrays. They weren’t stupid. They needed to protect their XtraNET connection. Plus, there were certain things they needed access to at all times, especially now Carol was head of the agency.
He woke the holoscreen and started picking his way through the security protocols. Technically, he wouldn’t have clearance. But he knew his wife well, and guessing her passwords had historically been a breeze.
The grandfather clock ticked pointedly in the hallway, pretending as though everything was just as peaceful as usual. But the hint of the seconds going past niggled in the back of Philip’s mind. He took a deep breath and entered the last protocol.
ACCESS GRANTED.
Yes! Still got it! He smiled to himself.
He ferreted through the most likely files. Anything under something inane like “Archive” was a likely candidate. He quickly found old case files mixed in with current ops. Most of them didn’t interest him. Just the usual stuff he used to deal with as an operative: politicians, unusual trading activity, statistically anomalous spikes in data or energy in core threat areas…
None of it was what he needed.
He kept rummaging, opening files methodically and eyeballing them as fast as he could.
Then he found a text file. It was labeled “Notes”. His brain honed in. The file contained a couple of strings of numbers. They looked like the right kind of length for them to be access codes for a network tap.
Gotcha!
He quickly memorized the strings. If these were what he thought they were, they would allow him to tap into whatever the live sting was on the network that connected directly up to the target. He’d have to be careful. Her techs would be able to see him access it, and the action would be time stamped, too. There would be logs. Detailed logs. But it would potentially give him the last bit of proof he needed when he finally found out what she was up to.
He started to close the holoscreens down, but then something caught his eye.
He stopped.
There was a link to her internal calendar. He poked it, and it opened up on another screen. He took a quick look, two weeks back and two weeks forward, mentally checking that against what he knew of her movements. She’d been late a number of times this week. Last night, she’d said she had a department meeting. But there was nothing in the calendar. Otherwise, it was convincingly populated.
He closed his eyes, checking he’d memorized it all correctly, then closed the holo. Shutting down the terminal, he wandered back to the kitchen, gathering his thoughts.
Snack and then thinking time, he told himself.
+++
Several hours later, the Sark had gone down.
Dinner time had come and gone.
All that remained was a dish that was ready to be relegated to the fridge for when Carol returned.
Philip sat reading in his favorite armchair in the living room when he heard the car pull up in the driveway.
There was the familiar clatter at the door and then in the hallway as Carol made her way inside.
“You’re pretty damn noisy for a spook!” her husband called playfully.
Her heels clipped across the floor and into the living space. She brought the scent of the night air in with her. “Well, it’s a good thing I wasn’t sneaking around then,” she retorted.
She appeared in the doorway, looking just as exhausted as every other day for weeks.
Philip smiled. “What’ve you been up to?”
She unceremoniously plonked her purse down on the chair by the door. “Just working late.”
“On what?”
Carol paused. “You know I can’t answer that.” She looked at him quizzically.
Philip got up, still smiling, and walked into the open-plan kitchen. “You know I know better than to just let it go.” He picked up the bottle of wine and reached for a couple of glasses, which he placed gently on the counter.
Carol approached the counter, drawn in by the idea of the alcohol hitting her system. “Yes, your tenacity is one of the reasons I married you. It’s late.” She looked around the kitchen for clues. “Have you eaten?”
“Yes, but I saved you some. How about I heat it up and pour you a glass,” he poured the wine, “and you can tell me all about your day?”
Carol eyed him suspiciously. She had been married to a spy for nearly thirty years. “Sounds good. Let me just go and get out of this atmosuit, and then we can relax.”
She wandered out, feeling his gaze on her back.
+++
Dinner passed with very little probing. Carol wondered if maybe Philip realized that he was breaching protocol and had decided to back off.
Or maybe he just forgot that he had been suspicious? She smiled to herself as she gently drifted off to sleep in the soft bedclothes and half-light from the city beyond the bedroom window.
Philip waited until her breathing had settled to a slower rate and then made his move.
Carefully and slowly, he slipped out from between the bed covers and padded around the room. He reached her bedside table and lifted her holo from the charging pad. It lit up, but he moved it so that the light wouldn’t disturb his wife.
Slowly, he moved out into the hallway. The bathroom would normally have been a better option but too noisy. The dark quiet of the landing served him better.
He flicked straight through to the screens he needed. Flicking through the latest progress reports that had come in since she left the office.
From what he could make out, it was a Dark Net Op, or DNO. They had a whole team who handled this particular type of operation. The reports were stacked with probe responses and hypotheses. There weren’t any real interpretations of what their data was telling them, but it seemed that perhaps they were trying to figure out the owners and users of certain Estarian-based servers, under massive encryption and cyber security protocols.
Nothing unusual in itself.
He breathed, trying to slow his thinking for clarity. He wasn’t going to figure it all out tonight. But this was at least another piece of the puzzle. Maybe.
He closed the holoscreens and tapped the button to set them back to unread so they wouldn’t be deleted off the server before she could see them. That would be a red flag if there was anything in there that the rest of the team referenced later.
And this was a long game.
As quietly as he could, he padded back into the bedroom and replaced the holo. Just as he was walking around to his side of the bed, he felt her stir. Instinctively, he headed straight for the bathroom door and then closed it a little more loudly than he would have otherwise.
She muttered something.
“Sorry,” he whispered across the room to her. She rolled over, and he clambered back into bed next to her.
Committed – Snippet 1
Aboard The Scamp Princess, Kirox Quadrant
“Okay, space cowboy, you’re up!” Scamp announced cockily over the cockpit audio.
Sean opened one eye and then the other, his dream of naked ladies catering to his every whim while he fired guns on the test range evaporating away to reveal his harsh reality.
He eased himself into an upright position in his console chair and turned up the heat in the cold cockpit. “Thank you, Scamp,” he mumbled as gracefully as he could manage. He started poking at the holoscreen keys, checking and double-checking before setting a scan.
“Sean?”
“Yes, Scamp?”
“Why are we checking for short range transmissions?”
“Because we’re trying to pick up a short-wave, short-range transmission at these precise coordinates.”
“Oh.”
Silence fell over the cockpit for a few moments, before:
“Sean?”
“Yes, Scamp?”
“Why?”
Sean finished what he was doing and then sat back in his self-adjusting console chair. “Because this is what Karina and I agreed. We’d leave a short-range beacon right here at this location, with the location of our actual meeting point.”
“Why, though?”
“Because even if someone somehow knew about these coordinates, they would never know to look for a tiny beacon that wouldn’t show up more than a kilometer from here.”
Scamp paused for a moment, processing. “Oh. Right. That’s smart.”
“Yes. It is.”
Beep beep beep. A light on the pilot’s screen started flashing urgently.
“Looks like we’ve found your beacon, then,” Scamp commented.
“Looks like.” Sean watched, waiting for the signal to settle and then ran it through a descrambling program he’d uploaded from his holo before his power nap.
“Okay, Scamp, those are our next coordinates. Shoot out the beacon with the auxiliary lasers, and then let’s get going.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if anyone needs to track you—”
“This is the point. I don’t want anyone tracking me. It’s not safe. Blow it up, and then let’s get going. She’s in trouble.”
Obediently and without any further comment, Scamp locked on to the signal. “Armed and ready on your command, sir.”
“Fire!” Sean commanded.
Pew. A laser shot out from the undercarriage of The Scamp Princess.
Pop.
Sean shoved his bottom lip out and shifted sheepishly in his chair. “Well, that was an anticlimax.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard that a lot.”
“Ha, you’re hilarious, Scamp,” he retorted dryly to his EI.
Scamp sniggered at his own joke. “I guess it was just a tiny beacon, after all.”
Sean glanced at Scamp’s screen, raising one eyebrow, knowing full well Scamp couldn’t see him. “Indeed. Okay, Scamp, let’s go.”
One moment, the ship was there, hanging in the blackness. A second later, it had popped out of existence, leaving barely a ripple of a particle trail as it gated to its next destination.
Calzone Offices, Bronislovas Trading Outpost, Kirox Quadrant
Vito Calzone stood at the window of his office, watching the ships coming and going from the dock just across the way. The colored lights blipped and ambled before coming to a halt in the dock or disappearing in a flash as they tripped into FTL and tripped out of the system in the blink of an eye.
The door of his office swished open quietly. Calzone didn’t turn around. He didn’t need to. “You know,” he mused philosophically, “they’re like fireflies.”
An anxious voice replied, “Sir?”
“These spaceships,” Vito drawled in an old accent from the region going several generations back. “They never existed like this when I was a kid. And now, they’re in and out of here like fireflies. One blip and they’re gone again.”
“Yes, sir.”
Calzone kept watching them, still not turning around to look at his visitor.
“Okay, Roberto. What’s so important?”
“Sir, it’s… well. We’ve noticed money coming into one of your guys’ accounts.”
“That’s not unusual.”
“No, sir. But it’s not from us.”
Calzone turned around and took a few steps to his desk chair. “And who do we think it was from?”
There was a slight pause before Roberto answered. “The sender is Ms. Karina Duffy.”
Calzone waved his hands. “That supposed to mean something to me?”
“Well, erm, if you remember, it was one of her favorite assassins.”
“So what? You’re saying someone is sending us a message?”
“Possibly, sir. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless she’s still alive.”
“She’s not alive,” Vito snapped. “And even if she were, she’s dead to me. Whose account is it?”
“Ronnie’s, sir.”
“Who?”
“Ronnie Matherson. He works on Bill’s side of the family.”
Calzone nodded wisely, as if he remembered. He took his time and sat down at his desk. “So,” he said slowly, “looks like someone is paying Ronnie money.”
Roberto nodded, then swallowed hard. “Unless that’s what they want us to think, of course,” he added. There was an awkward pause. “Sir, what would you like me to do?”
Calzone lowered his eyes in contemplation. “I’ll handle it,” he said quietly. “Keep an eye out for anything else, though.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Send in Churchill.”
“Yes, sir.”
The lanky computer ops nerd headed back across the carpeted office and hit the close button for the door on the panel behind him as he left.
Moments later, the door whooshed gently open again.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” Churchill was broad and stocky. He ran a team on the west side and reported in directly to the Don. Thirty years of service, and he never once took a day off. Nor did he have any trouble from within the ranks of the family.
Calzone regarded the loyal soldier carefully as he approached his desk. “We have reason to suspect Ronnie is going outside of the family.”
“You want me to take care of him?”
“No. I want you to follow him and find out what he’s up to and who he’s up to it with.”
“No problem, boss. I can have someone on it immediately.”
“No,” the Don said firmly. “Do it yourself. And this stays between us.”
Churchill lowered his head in deference. “Yes, sir. Of course, sir.”
“That’s all,” Vito said, dismissing him.
Churchill backed up a few steps before turning and hurrying out again.
The Don leaned back in his leather covered anti-grav chair, steepling his fingers in front of him.
Base restrooms, Gaitune-67
Molly couldn’t stop her eyes from streaming. Her hands over her mouth, she tried to stifle the sobs. She leaned back against the wall of the restroom stall and put her hands to her head. It was throbbing.
It’s okay. We’re going to find him.
You can’t know that. What does the evidence say?
Molly sobbed again, thankful that she could have this conversation in her head and not have to speak the words. That would make it too real.
We don’t have enough data to conclude that he’s dead. And until we have the data pulled from Scamp, we won’t have a clue about what happened. Be patient. Don’t write him off so soon. Scamp only returned twenty minutes ago.
Molly didn’t respond. Her mind just couldn’t engage in conversation. She could barely see through her eyes, she had cried so hard.
I have to go. They’re waiting.
You’ve got a few more minutes. They’ll understand. They’re processing for themselves, too. They’ve never seen a ship return without a crew, either.
You mean they’re also crying.
No. But they’re worried and trying to wrap their heads around what might have happened.
They’re all in the conference room?
Yes. Mostly.
Okay. I’ve got to move.
Molly wiped her face with her hands and grabbed some tissue to dry them. She fumbled with the lock on the door and headed out to the basins. She hardly dared look at herself in the mirror. There was no way she would be able to fix the swollen eyes before walking in to face her team and give them their orders.
She opened the faucet and watched the water for a moment. Then she looked up.
Fuck.
It’s not that bad.
Not that bad? What do you know? You’re an AI.
I’ve been monitoring your body the whole time we’ve been connected. With cold water, you can reduce the swelling to acceptable levels. I’d suggest dabbing with a wet towel, though.
If she hadn’t been so distraught, she might have smiled at the notion of her AI giving her tactical beauty advice. She splashed water on her face and looked at herself again, pulling a blonde strand back from her face and hooking it behind her ear.
That’s going to have to do.
Well then, your subjects await.
Molly grabbed a paper towel and dried her face and hands before dropping the towel in the trash and heading out.
Turning left out of the corridor, she strode confidently up to the conference room and walked straight in. She did a quick assessment of who was present.
“Where’s Brock?” she asked.
Crash answered. “He’s already working on Scamp. He’s pulling every scrap of data to find out where he was and what happened.”
“Okay.” She closed the door and strode around to the head of the table. She didn’t sit though. “Here’s the plan. As soon as we have the coordinates, we’re going after Sean.”
She turned to Crash, who was sitting bolt upright awaiting instructions. “Crash, help Brock. Do whatever he needs to get us that data and get us airborne in The Empress.”
Molly turned to look at Joel and Jack on the left-hand side of the table. “You two are on supplies. Which includes weapons. Lots of them.”
Joel almost smiled. If the situation hadn’t been so tense, Molly suspected briefly that he would have punched the air
Boys and guns, she thought, mentally rolling her eyes.
“Pieter and Oz,” she continued swiftly. “Start working on the data as Brock pulls it. Paige, you’re running point for this investigation. Let the general know Scamp is back, and see if there is anything else the Federation can tell us based on the data Pieter gathers.”
Paige raised her hand and spoke fast. “What about telling Giles and Arlene?”
Molly paused only long enough to draw breath. “Oz will take care of that. Maya you’re on food supplies. But then I need you and Paige to work from here when we leave. Any questions?”
Pieter raised his hand awkwardly. “What about Bourne?”
Molly’s brow furrowed. “What’s he doing?”
“Still binge-watching the archives,” Pieter said judgmentally.
Molly thought for a moment. “Is he likely to do anything else until we get back?”
Oz’s voice connected over the intercom for the conference room. “Unlikely, if past behavior is an indicator of future.”
“Fine,” Molly concluded. “Let’s leave him be. Anything else?” Molly’s gaze flicked around the room.
Everyone was silent. They knew what they had to do.
“Okay. Wheels up in two hours. Dismissed.”
No one spoke as they pushed back on the anti-grav chairs and filed hurriedly out of the conference room. Molly stayed out of their way for a minute while they vacated.
What do you want to tell Giles and Arlene?
That Scamp came back, and we’re going after his last known location. But Giles isn’t coming. He needs to stay here and look after things at the University.
And when he argues?
Tell him I’m putting my foot down.
Okay. On it.
Thanks, Oz.
Molly followed her team out of the doors and into the base corridors. She also had work to do before they left, and two hours was almost no time to get her head in gear.
Never Submit Audiobook Release!
Never Submit, The Kurtherian Gambit 15
By Michael Anderle
One Last Hail Mary attack by those on Earth goes awry when the Queen herself shows up with John Grimes along for the ride.
Five puppies have plans that surprise everyone.
The Queen has a problem, and her closest friends travel to Earth to find her a solution.
It’s time for an audience with the King of Yoll, and he isn’t going to like the outcome. Not one bit. He has a secret he has been hiding, and those sneaky aliens in space find out what it is, and turn it against him.
It’s time to release the Queen Bitch for her final clean-up of Kurtherians – This area of the galaxy will never be the same, again.
So, grab your favorite drink, recline in your favorite chair or bed or couch, and relax for just a moment or two, because….
Bethany Anne is back!
Sanctioned Audiobook Release!
Sanctioned, The Ascension Myth Book 4
By Ell Leigh Clarke & Michael Anderle
General Lance Reynolds needs Molly’s team for a clandestine operation. The only problem? It kicks off in one week, and the Syndicate needs cleaning up once and for all.
So what is a girl to do?
Go on the offensive, of course.
But with the ultimate take down planned for the bad guys of Planet Estaria, you know it’s going to be epic.
But at what cost?
Torn Asunder Release!
Torn Asunder: Protected by the Damned Book 1
By Michael Todd
Katie Maddison never wanted to learn how to kick a demon’s ass, all she was doing was helping a fellow university student with his Chem homework.
She just trusted people too much.
Now, she will be the new weapon in a war she had no idea existed with warriors wielding both weapons and supernatural abilities.
Demon Hunters, Demon Fighters … Known as The Damned.
People possessed by Demons, but still remaining in control of their bodies.
One of the most powerful Demon’s in Hell can’t defeat his sister, so he sets her up to be sacrificed and killed.
The only problem? The human she possesses retained her sanity and together they might be a catalyst to change the future of the war.
If they can stay alive and learn how to share one body, that is.
Now, a millennium old Demon who has no morals is stuck with a hard-headed young woman, who has her own ideas regarding what her future will be.
Together, they work out a truce, of sorts.
Until the Demon gets hooked on soap operas, game shows and changing Katie’s body without permission.
Then All Hell Breaks Loose.
Covert Talents Audiobook Release
Covert Talents, Uprise Saga: Book One
By Amy Duboff & Michael Anderle
When the Galaxy calls, do you have the courage to answer?
Rogue Instigator – Snippet 2
Giles Kurns: Rogue Instigator
By Ell Leigh Clarke & Michael Anderle
Unedited
Molly’s conference room, Base Safe House, Gaitune-67
“It’s been four days!” Molly paced her personal conference room upstairs in the safe house.
Joel, attempting to be a supportive, calming influence, sat patiently, watching her like one might watch a quaggle ball being pinged back and forth across the net in a match.
She paused, turning to face him with one hand on her forehead, holding her hair out of her face. “I mean, what was he thinking? Leaving us no way to trace him. Who does that?”
Joel pushed his bottom lip out in the most sympathetic way possible. “Molly,” he said firmly, “it was his choice. We have to respect that.”
“But what if this is something he can’t handle on his own? What if he’s in trouble right now?”
“Well then, that was also his choice. He’s a big boy. And he’s been around longer than you and I put together, I’d guess.”
Molly looked at the chair in front of her and thought about sitting down. Her holoscreen was open at the seat, holding a freeze frame of the video—the only clue they had about what Sean was up to.
Molly, Emma has detected the Scamp Princess in the vicinity. She’s hailing Scamp now.
Molly froze, before repeating to Joel what Oz has just told her.
“The Scamp Princess is back!” she announced quietly in a state of complete shock.
Joel’s eyes widened in surprise, but he said nothing.
“Oz?” Molly called so they could have the conversation over the in-conference audio so Joel could hear.
“Yes, the ship is on its way in.”
“And Sean? Is he ok?”
“So far Emma has only been able to communicate with Scamp. Scamp is saying that Sean isn’t on board.”
“What the—?”
“Apparently, he left orders for Scamp to return without him if he wasn’t back within a certain time.”
Molly scowled, tears brimming in her eyes. “What, and Scamp just followed those orders?”
Oz paused a moment as if waiting for data. “Well, not exactly. Ze managed to override the programming for a significant time longer and did a sweep of the area where Sean should have been. Ze also tried to follow clues in things that Sean had let slip and told zir, and ze tried to put it all together. Personally, I think if I were to take a pass at the data, I might be able to figure something out. We’ll need Scamp to pull it off though, and for Brock to manually download the conversations off the hard drive.”
Molly’s face set firm. “Have Brock meet us at the hangar deck. We’re on our way down.”
Joel looked confused.
“Sup?” Molly asked, about to stride out of the door.
Joel’s brow furrowed another inch. “Why is Oz talking like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like . . . ze and zir?”
Molly tried to connect her brain to her mouth to explain something that was important but not urgent to the impending situation. “It’s . . . erm. Well, you know how Shamans and some AIs don’t identify with one gender over the other?”
Joel shook his head, but Molly ignored it.
“Well, those are gender-neutral pronouns. It makes it easier to refer to them correctly without having to overuse their name.”
Joel, still confused, at least started to get up.
Molly started moving out the door again. “Yeah. I dunno why we didn’t adopt it centuries ago, but hey, that’s the Sark System for you. Anyway, Scamp has chosen gender neutral because ZE is sick of being identified as a princess and is feeling kind of boyish at times. This just allows zir the fluidity to be who ze is.”
Joel’s head was about to explode. “Ok, let’s revisit that when we’re not trying to save someone’s life . . .” he muttered as he followed her out and down the corridor.
Lecture Theater 3, Skóli Uppstigs Academy
Giles sat at the front bench of the darkened lecture theater. Anne was still with him, sitting at one end of the bench drawing on some actual paper he’d found for her.
He had some work to do before he dropped her back, and she seemed reluctant to leave the university straight away. He was secretly happy for the company.
And the lecture theater was as safe as anywhere on Gaitune, especially since no one knew they’d be there.
Besides, he liked it here. It was peaceful.
Most faculty members preferred doing their marking in their classrooms . . . where they had their creature comforts—mocha machines, slippers under the desk.
Not Giles. He preferred the majesty of the lecture theater. It reminded him of his glory days when he’d be called from all over the Empire to lecture on space archeology, helping the military figure out how to deal with their newest encounter. Or helping fresh recruits come to terms with the customs of their fellow comrades of different species.
Yes, being an arch and anth specialist certainly could lead to a varied career. Yet between the tomb raiding and military ops, he’d always return to the lecture theater. It was his one touchstone—even if now, stuck educating kids on some backwater planet in a relatively insignificant system . . .
He sighed, his gaze drifting into the rows and rows of empty seats ahead of him.
Just then, his wrist holo flashed up a message. It was Oz.
PLS CALL, the message read.
Giles hit the return call button, and Oz instantly connected through his audio implant. “Giles, hi. We’ve had a development. Scamp just arrived back. Without Sean.”
Giles took a moment to absorb the information. “What do you mean, without Sean?”
“Just that. Scamp was programmed to return if Royale didn’t show backup at the appointed time. And he didn’t. So he came back without him.”
Giles’s mind whirred, wondering what might’ve happened. “How can I help? Are we going to retrace Scamp’s steps?”
“Affirmative. Joel is getting the team together now. They ship out in a few hours.”
Giles was already on his feet, closing holoscreens. “I’m on my way!” he relayed quickly.
“No need,” Oz countered.
Giles wasn’t sure he’d heard right. “Say again?”
“No need. They’re leaving Paige and Maya to look after the base. And Anne. And Molly needs you to hold the fort on campus. We’ve no idea how long this will take.”
Giles felt the air leaving his sails. He sat down on the stool again. “Are you sure I can’t be of assistance on the mission. I know the world that Royale comes from . . . if this is anything to do with his past . . .” his voice trailed off, hoping that Oz was going to interject and give him a role on the crew.
“I’m sorry, Giles. Molly was clear. She wants you here.”
Giles thought about protesting. Or calling Molly directly. Maybe this was because of their close encounter . . .? he wondered in passing.
“Well, er . . . let me know if you need anything then,” was all he could manage.
“Will do. Thanks, Giles. Oz, out.”
His audio went dead.
Anne had stopped drawing and was watching him with a concerned look. “What is it?”
Giles sighed, taking his glasses off and placing them gently on the table in front of him. Their presence disrupted the light of the holoscreen he’d been working on. “Well, it seems Scamp is back. But no Sean.”
Anne pulled her lips to one side, a slight frown forming across her young forehead. “Hmm. Well, he seems pretty tough. Was he out drinking and got lost?”
Giles smiled despite his obvious concern for his chum. “Possibly,” he lied. “Although, that would’ve been rather careless of him.”
Anne looked very serious for a moment. “Well, I’m not an expert in behavior, but I’ve seen lots of people do careless things.”
Giles chuckled to himself. Could this child be any more precocious? he wondered.
He decided to keep packing. “Come along, young one,” he called over to her. “We should probably get you back to base before Molly disappears anyway.”
Anne started gathering her drawings. “Yeah right. You just want to see her before she goes.” She continued packing. “Either that, or you want to be in on the preparations so you can wheedle your way onto that trip.”
“Mission. It’s a mission, Anne. Not a trip. These things aren’t jollies, you know.”
Anne rolled her eyes at him.
“And you should have more respect for your elders!” he said, noticing her reaction.
Anne smirked but made a feeble attempt to keep her face straight—meaning her mouth got all twisted up.
Giles couldn’t help but be amused. “Come along,” he said, pretending to be cross with her. “We’ll call Arlene from the pod. At least we might gain access to Scamp if she ever gets those coordinates sorted out.”
Anne carefully clocked all the information Giles was hemorrhaging. After all, she never knew when details like this might come in useful.
Hangar Deck, Base, Gaitune-67
Molly strode as fast as her enhanced legs would carry her across the hangar deck. Even GI Joel struggled to keep up with her.
The dense vibration of Scamp Princess’s engines filled the space between the hangar doors and the free landing pad.
Molly felt the anxiety flood through her. They didn’t know that Sean was dead. There was still a chance he was ok. They just had to find him.
Breathe, she told herself, willing herself to stay in the present moment. Her mind spindled out like an evil machine monster from a horror movie, swallowing up hope like a demon.
Be present, she willed herself. Stay. She took her awareness into her breathing, feeling each breath as Arlene had taught her. Then she brought her awareness into her toes to ground to expel the excess energy she was producing. The last thing she needed now was to realm jump. She needed to focus.
The tone of Scamp’s engines shifted into hover mode as Scamp deftly set zirself down in the landing area. Molly waited only long enough for the radiation to settle from the core before she was walking into the stirred-up air towards the door. It took several more seconds for the back door to open. It felt like an eternity.
Molly watched every moment, imagining that it’d all been a terrible a miscommunication and that Sean was indeed on board. Maybe he’d just been injured. Maybe Scamp had got it wrong and he was going to be standing there a bit beaten up but otherwise very much alive.
Maybe it was all just a practical joke. She prayed it was a practical joke.
On my ancestors, please let this be a joke. I promise I won’t be mad at him. I promise, I’ll do anything. Just let him be ok. Let him be standing there.
The tailgate opened enough for the belly of the ship to be visible. There was no Sean standing there. No one present.
Joel looked up from his holo, then showed Molly the results.
LIFE SIGN SCAN: No life signals.
Molly felt her insides crush in on themselves. The anxiety ripped through her chest and gut as strongly as if it were a knife. But there was no time for feelings now. She could process later.
Right now, she had to find Sean.
Brock appeared at her side. “What do you need, Boss?”
Molly nodded into the ship. “We need to know everything that Scamp knows about this trip. Every coordinate. Every conversation—even between Sean and Scamp as well as the ship-to-ship communications. Every satellite Scamp has pinged off on the journey, and every sensor reading. And then have Emma send the raw data to Oz.”
Oz, I hope you’re ready for this. This is going to be a shit-ton of intel.
Don’t worry. Since Lance hooked me up with the extra capacity, I’ve never come close to being full.
Ok, well that’s something.
Joel headed onto the ship to help Brock and to perform a visual sweep to make certain Sean wasn’t there.
Molly started to think about their next move, but then sensing the eyes of the others, she turned and looked up. Lined up at the railings, ready for orders, standing at the entrance to the hangar deck stairs were Crash, Paige, Maya, Jack and Pieter.
She smiled, realizing she wasn’t the only one in emotional turmoil over potentially losing a crew member and friend.
She headed over towards them, made the wind-up sign with her right hand, then pointed at the doors to the corridor on her level. They nodded, knowing to meet her in the conference room.
You’re going to fill them in?
Damn right. We’re going after Sean as soon as we have those coordinates. We’ll be taking the Empress. Make sure you have the data with us. We’ll have to figure this out on the fly.
Roger that, Boss.
And with that, Molly took herself off to the restrooms for a few minutes while the team made their way down to the base conference room.
When she showed up to brief them, only Paige could tell she’d been crying, and thankfully, she never said a word.
Gaitune-67
For the next couple hours, the base was a hive of activity and tension. Everyone on the team knew what they needed to do and worked as if they were one mind to make everything ready for their departure.
Now, loaded up with as many weapons from the artillery as they could fit into the cargo hold, they were ready to leave.
“But we should be coming with you?” Paige protested quietly to Molly as they stood on the yellow deck behind the Empress.
Molly shook her head. “I need you at the base. We might need you to run an op from here. We might need you to call for reinforcements. Heck, Sean may even show up here and need help. I need you to stay.” Molly was emphatic.
Paige nodded, understanding that she wasn’t just being benched. She was holding the fort.
“And Anne. You need to take care of Anne. This mission is no place for a kid.”
Paige nodded her understanding again, then shifted into friend mode. “It’s going to be ok. If anyone can take care of himself, it’s Sean.”
Molly dropped her leadership veneer, allowing Paige to see her real feelings and expression.
Paige leaned in and hugged her tightly. “I know he’s special to you. And there’s no way he’s not coming back. It’s going to be ok.” She chuckled through the emotion. “I’ll bet you get there and find him drinking with the locals or something. And then you’ll be forced to give him such an ass-kicking . . .”
The two girls giggled as a couple tears escaped down Molly’s face. “You’re right,” she agreed, pulling herself together again. “He’ll be due an ass-kicking, for sure.”
Paige rolled her lips together and held Molly at arms-length. “That’s the spirit. Go get ‘em.”
Molly smiled weakly, her lip twitching with tension and emotion even then. She glanced up to see Maya at the railing again. She waved. Molly nodded back before turning to the Empress and heading up the invisible staircase along the side of the ship.
At the top, she waved, then remembered something. She opened an audio line to Paige. “Oh, and make sure that Anne practices those exercises every day. No excuses.”
Paige nodded from the hangar deck floor and waved. “Don’t worry. I got this. See you soon.”
And with that, Molly nodded her thanks to her friend and disappeared into the Empress.
Moments later, the air around where the staircase had been visibly rippled as the stairs dematerialized. A second after that, the engines of the core came online.
The Empress lifted gracefully, tipped her wings, then glided out towards the open hangar door and disappeared into the darkness.
Paige stopped waving. The hangar deck suddenly eerily quiet and deserted. She felt an emptiness settle inside herself.
Maya was still up top waiting for her.
“Anne,” Paige muttered to herself. “Look after Anne,” she said, repeating the instructions to herself. “Need to check on Anne.”