Chapter 12
Natalie stood on the Mixtidelin’s command bridge with Kyan on one side and Commander Axilon on the other. They gazed at NCQ585 floating lifeless and abandoned on the display screen. “They’ll never tell anybody your secret now. You'll be able to go undercover again.”
“Because of you,” Kyan returned. “We never would have gone if you hadn’t convinced us to go.”
“What will happen to it now?” she asked. “Will you confiscate the regeneration beds?”
“We won’t confiscate them,” Commander Axilon replied. “We’ll destroy them. We'll destroy the whole ship.” He turned to Arno at the Tactical Station. “Lock blasters on target and fire.”
Arno pushed a button on his console. A volley of blaster fire rumbled out of the Mixtidelin and shot through the vacuum of space. It hit the Toom ship, and the edifice trembled from the concussion. Then the whole vessel erupted in a brilliant explosion of colored light. Glowing dust and trails of energy sailed past the screen and disappeared into nothing.
Natalie sighed. “That’s it, then. It's all over.”
“It’s over,” Kyan murmured. “They won’t bother anybody else again.”
“There are plenty of other Toom doing the same thing, though.” Commander Axilon turned to Arno again. “Break orbit and set course for the Rings of Dorfli. There's another gathering there, and we have word the Toom are bringing another shipment of Syllic slaves”
Arno settled himself at his station and concentrated on his console.
Natalie faced the Commander. “I won’t be going to the Rings of Dorfli.”
His head shot up. “No? Where are you going to go?”
Natalie drew herself up to her full height, but her head still didn’t come up farther than the medals on his lapel. “I’m going to the Eblian home world with Kyan. I've had enough of battling the criminals of the universe. I lost my home on Earth. Now I need to build a new one somewhere else.”
Commander Axilon cocked his head. “Is that true, Kyan? Are you going home?”
Kyan put his arm around Natalie’s shoulders. “I lost my home, too, when the Toom wrecked our planet. I didn’t think I'd get the chance to rebuild our people. Joining the Galactic Police was the only way I could think of to clean up the mess they made and stop it from happening to somebody else. Now I have a way to rebuild. I've done my duty to the Force. It's time I got back to some kind of life for myself.”
Commander Axilon nodded. “That’s all very well for you, but what about the other Earth females? If you two leave, I'll have no choice but to drop them off at the nearest rehabilitation center. I can't keep them on board, and Tina won't respond to anyone but you, Natalie.”
Natalie shook her head. “You don’t have to drop them off at the rehabilitation center. You can drop them off on Eblian with us. I'm sure Amber and Melanie will be happy to make lives for themselves there. The Eblians need reproductive females to build up their population, and the planet resembles Earth enough that they'll feel right at home. They can build families for themselves and dedicate themselves to repairing the damage done by the Toom.”
“And what about Tina?” Commander Axilon asked. “She won’t be ready to build a family any time soon.”
“I’m not so sure,” Natalie replied. “I suspect she’ll recover a lot faster on a planet like Eblian than she would in space. Out here, she has nothing but empty stars to stare at and remember her experience with the Toom. Eblian will give her something else to think about and other people to connect with. She'll focus on the future instead of the past.”
“And what if they don’t agree to go to Eblian?” Kyan asked.
Natalie smiled. “I’m sure they'll agree to go there instead of the rehabilitation center.”
“You better go tell them, then,” Commander Axilon replied “We’ll be passing that system in a few days. You have a lot of work to do to prepare them for their new life.”
Kyan accompanied Natalie down to the medical bay, where Dima gave them a report on Tina’s condition. “Of course she’s perfectly healthy. The regeneration bed cured everything that was wrong with her.”
“Where is she?” Natalie asked. “I want to see her.”
“She’s back in her quarters.” Dima pointed to his display. “See? She hasn’t moved from her couch since she came on board. She's more catatonic now than she was before she left.”
Natalie shook her head. “The regeneration bed couldn’t cure what's wrong with her mind. Only a real future can do that.”
Dima turned away. “I sure hope you’re right.”
Kyan held Natalie’s hand on the way to the crew compartments. They stopped outside Melanie’s door. “Are you ready for this?”
Natalie nodded. She could laugh out loud at the plans racing through her mind. “I’ve never been more ready for anything.”
“How are you going to convince them?” he asked.
“That will be easy,” she replied. “I’m excited about the future. All I have to do is tell them how excited I am, and describe what our lives will be like when we get there, and they'll get as excited as I am.”
“Amber and Melanie might react that way,” he told her. “How can you be sure Tina will?”
“I can’t,” she replied. “But she won’t have any choice. In fact, I don't think I'll tell her in advance what we're doing. We'll just transport her to the surface, and she'll have to live with it.”
Kyan shook his head. “I didn’t think even you could be so harsh. Maybe you should take it easy on her.”
“Harsh would be dropping her off at the rehabilitation center,” Natalie replied. “That’s what the Commander will do with her if she doesn't go with us. On Eblian, at least she'll have the rest of us to help her. She'll be in the closest place to Earth as she's ever going to get. She'll have to sink or swim. But I think once she gets there and sees the way things are, she'll thrive like the rest of us. She's a strong woman. She just can't live out in space. As soon as she gets her feet on the ground, she'll come back into her own strength.”
He eyed her. “It sounds to me like you’re talking about yourself.”
Natalie put her arms around him. “Maybe I am.”
Just then, the lift door opened, and Arno stepped out. He nodded to Kyan and faced Natalie. “I’ve made up my mind. I'm coming with you.”
Natalie stared at him. “You don’t have to do that.”
He shook his head. “I’ve made up my mind. I've had enough of the gatherings and chasing all over the galaxy for the next rogue trader. I'm coming back to Eblian with you.” He glanced at Kyan. “If you'll have me, that is.”
Kyan straightened up. “We’d be glad to have you.”
Arno turned again to Natalie. “You said Tina was as strong and resourceful as you. I’ve been thinking about it, and I believe you. I saw the way she acted in the training studio. That's what I liked about her from the beginning. It was those Toom and their regeneration bed that poisoned her. If she gets away from the gatherings and the regeneration beds, she'll get back to the way she was. She'll become strong again.”
Natalie laughed out loud in pure joy. “Just give her a chance, Arno. I know she made a terrible mistake going back, but I’m convinced her feelings for you are real. I've never seen her the way she was with you. She was strong and sure because of you. Come with us, and give her a chance to prove herself.”
He nodded. “I’m in. I gave the Commander my notice, and now I'm on my way to my quarters to get ready. You let me know when you're ready to leave.”
Natalie squeezed his arm. “Thank you, Arno.”
He fixed her with his eyes. “I should be thanking you. I wouldn’t look at her again if you weren't sure about her.”
He walked away, and Natalie watched him out of sight. “He’s ten times the man I thought he was.”
Kyan nodded. “I told you he was a man of honor.”
Natalie sighed. “I’m glad he's with us.”
“Me, too,” Kyan replied. “Eblian needs every hand it can get.”
Natalie turned to Melanie’s door again. “I better get in there. We’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.”
He let her go. “Let me know if you need any help with anything.”
Natalie waited until he disappeared around the corner. Then she took a deep breath, rang the bell, and strode into Melanie’s quarters. She found Melanie sitting across from Amber in the main room. The two women turned toward her as she walked in.
“Is it true you found Tina?” Melanie asked.
Natalie nodded and sat down. “We got her back. She’s in her quarters right now.”
“Is she all right?” Amber asked.
“She’s just fine,” Natalie replied.
“That’s great!” Melanie exclaimed.
Natalie smiled. “I have something to tell you both, something even better than rescuing Tina.”
Their eyes widened. “What?”
Natalie swept her friends with her eyes. “We’re going home.”
The End