CHAPTER EIGHT
VERDAN
Verdan stared down at R-333 below, lost in thought. The Moon’s Pride would be landing in an hour or two. The planet was surprisingly large, with wide swathes of green. Even from this height, he could see cities clustered along coastlines. Their destination lay further inland. A farm town, Jrak had said, on their next call. The contact would be waiting with the drugs Verdan didn’t need any more.
But maybe he would again in the future.
He knew the feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. He’d felt it many times, at the start of a battle, waiting for the first charge onto the war field. That pause before the chaos was full of dread, of feeling like he waited for an inevitable loss.
Only this time, the loss wasn’t his soldiers, but Rebecca.
He should have faced the issue head-on. He should have told her he’d leave her on R-333, as they’d originally agreed. She was smart, resourceful and brave. She could find her own way back to Earth. Yet, could he have abandoned her? Was there any guarantee she would make it back to her home?
No, once he’d taken her into his bed, the responsibility for her safety and security fell on his shoulders.
“It’s the right thing to do,” he muttered at the console as he began the landing sequence.
You just wanted to keep her for a few moments longer. He pushed away the traitorous thought.
On the lumis screen, he saw Farrah and Rebecca buckled in and chatting away. Farrah kept glancing at Min’s cage. When she laughed at Rebecca’s words, Verdan smiled.
Of course, he wanted to keep her. She set his bed on fire, drove him absolutely crazy with desire – and frustration, he amended – and, somehow, everything ran smoother than it ever had without her.
Every night, for the past week, Rebecca had slipped into his room. They’d made love. Explored each other’s bodies. Taken turns for pleasure. Every night, she called his name with whispered urgency, fiery passion, or a sweetness that made his heart ache.
Every morning, when he woke, she was gone. He’d find her at the breakfast table, smiling and laughing. He’d find her in the mech suit, training. He’d find her tending to Min’s newborns. He’d find her cleaning out the septic tanks with Farrah.
He longed to wake up and find her curled up next to him.
And he hated himself for it.
Wanting led to needing, and needing led to broken hearts.
Tysa didn’t stay. Rebecca wasn’t staying.
His hands tightened on the controls as he steered the Moon’s Pride downward. Following the coordinates, he touched down on a landing pad in an open field surrounded by thick jungle vegetation.
“We’re here. You can unbuckle,” he said, and on the lumis, Rebecca and Farrah shrugged out of their harnesses. Farrah went immediately to the cage.
They met him at the exit, Farrah skipping ahead, while Rebecca dragged her feet behind. Farrah tried to peek around the door as in flooded the bright sunshine.
“It looks lovely out there!” Farrah exclaimed.
Rebecca breathed in and closed her eyes. “Mmmm, it smells good. So good. Fresh.”
“Can we come along? Please, Papa?”
Verdan shook his head. “I’ll be quick. Wait for me here.”
Farrah’s face fell. “Okay.”
“Wait, Verdan!” Rebecca nudged Farrah. She gave Farrah an encouraging smile. “Go on.”
The girl squared her shoulders, and lifted her chin. “Father, I have given this matter great thought. I-I think we should leave Min and the babies here.”
Verdan frowned. “What?”
“She would be happiest if she and her babies could run and have space and, and, and… It’d be best for them!”
Verdan clenched his jaw. He glared at Rebecca. “What thoughts have you been putting in my daughter’s head?”
“No!” Rebecca said, taken aback. “Farrah came up with it. She’s thought it through. She did her research. She has a plan.”
“I do, Papa! The environment is perfect for Koedeer. They raise them here for their wool.”
“No.” Verdan’s voice was flat. “I forbid it. Absolutely not.”
“She has spent her whole life on this ship!” Farrah said. “She deserves better!”
Verdan stepped towards his daughter, towering over her. “Why? So she can run off and leave you heartbroken? So you can lose her? Is that what you want, Farrah? To lose her?”
Farrah burst into tears and fled down the hallway.
“Farrah!” Rebecca took a few steps down the corridor, before turning to face Verdan. “You’re being foolish. Not everything is about Tysa.” She turned and stormed off.
Maybe it’s about you, Verdan thought. You leave, and I’ll be the one picking up the pieces of Farrah’s heart. Instead he just growled at her retreating back and left the ship. As the hatch closed behind him, he thumbed the locking sequence into his lumis. A pang of guilt gnawed at his belly. Locking them in spoke of mistrust, and mistrust eroded his Honor.
It’s for their own safety, he told himself, but he wasn’t sure he believed it.
On the outside of the ship, he hoisted open a hatch and groaned. The locker should have contained a small single-person all-terrain vehicle, but instead, the space was empty, save for a few food wrappers.
“The Dorians.” He cursed, remembering New Trades, and the shady figures surrounding his ship. “The bastards stole it.”
Slamming the hatch shut, he strode to another hatch. This one contained a six-wheeled machine designed to haul heavy loads. Slow and not nearly as comfortable. The machine powered up with a buzz, and he left Moon’s Pride without a backwards glance.
The scenery was straight out of a holovid. The sun shone down upon him, warming his face and arms. A gentle breeze fluttered the leaves on the trees. The air smelled sweet as he drove past an orchard full of fruit-laden trees. The Ennoi working in the fields raised their heads and waved to him, but Verdan kept his head down and kept the vehicle moving.
He stopped to ask for directions in a nearby town, and found the contact’s place without any issues. A crowd of Ennoi children watched him as he parked in the shade of a tall tree. Once he left, they sneaked forward and climbed onto the seat, giggling.
An Ennoi boy, no older than Farrah, shooed away the youngsters, and leaned against the vehicle, arms crossed and with a serious guard-dog expression on his face. When Verdan nodded at the boy, he nodded back, his face solemn. Suppressing a smile, Verdan knocked on the door.
An Ennoi man opened the door. “Yes?”
“Jrak sent me.”
The Ennoi blinked, then recognition filled his eyes. “Verdan? Verdan Ar’Lhoris?”
“Er, yes?”
The Ennoi laughed. “It’s me! Tumallar Un’Crajor! We fought together on Greydos-32.”
“Tumal? Tumal with the crossbow?”
“Oh, what a story! However, I beseech you not to tell my children that one. Come in! Come in!”
Tumal introduced Verdan to his Avowed, Rannit, who placed a tray of food on the table. Rannit lifted a jug of syrup and drizzled it over the seed cakes on the plates. Where the syrup soaked into the cake, the seeds opened, revealing their bright green interiors. Soon, color decorated the surface of the cake in thin stripes. Verdan stomped his foot in polite appreciation of Rannit’s skill, and Rannit smiled before bowing out.
They spent a few minutes catching up on old times while they ate. It felt strange to Verdan, to see Tumal in such an unfamiliar setting. Without the exhaustion and stress of battle, Tumal had mellowed, smiling often. Now and then, a child would dart into the room, hop on Tumal’s lap and demand a cuddle, which Tumal would provide before shooing the child away.
“My apologies,” Tumal said. “We don’t get many off-world guests.”
“Your children are beautiful,” Verdan said.
“Thank you,” Tumal replied. “This is a good planet on which to raise them. Plenty of room to run, close enough to the main hubs of Ennoi culture for the children to learn, yet distant enough that I don’t have to see my mother every fortnight.”
“I had always hoped for a big family.” Verdan swallowed back the lump in this throat. “I guess that was not to be.”
“Which reminds me, this is not a social visit.” Tumal stood.
He retrieved a small satchel from a drawer, and handed it to Verdan. The clink of glass told Verdan that inside lay vials of the medicine he needed. Or had needed. Would he need them again?
“My thanks,” he said, tucking the pouch into his coat. “How shall I pay you? Credits or cash?”
Tumal waved him away. “I am happy to help an old friend.”
Verdan stared down at the mug in his hands. A friend. How many of those do I have left?
“I was saddened to hear of Tysa’s passing,” Tumal said, settling back into his seat. “She was a soldier without comparison.”
Bitterness filled Verdan’s mouth. “Yes, and that is what cost her life.”
“How so? I heard she died giving birth?”
“We were on our way to visit her family. To prepare for Farrah’s birth. We were ambushed. The Dorians targeted Tysa specifically.”
Tumal hissed. “The scum!”
“Do they bother you out here?”
Tumal shook his head. “Lord Kovos Ar’Cadam has aligned with the Ennoi Haron. He’s marrying Lady Lithyon Ar’Haron. Rumor has it they will announce their betrothal at the Moons Festival.”
Verdan sipped his tea and mulled over that information. He’d heard of Lord Kovos. A younger clan chief who’d inherited one of the most influential Ennoi clans. Kovos had earned a name on the battlefields, but they’d never crossed paths. Verdan had encountered the Ennoi Haron, though. He’d even fought for them. The Ennoi Haron controlled the Relays, which meant they controlled the movement of all Ennoi through different systems.
“That would be an alliance powerful enough to bring peace. But how does that stop Dorians?”
“I’m surprised you don’t know,” Tumal said, folding his hands across his belly. “Dorians are barred from Ennoi territories. They’re no longer welcome. Lord Kovos has a grudge against them for some reason.”
“Who can blame him?” Verdan said. “The decision seems extreme, though.”
Tumal shrugged, and reached for his tea. “It makes sense. Dorians are opportunistic. Give them an inch of leeway, and they wriggle into the gaps.”
A prickle crossed Verdan’s skin. He sat up straighter.
Tumal set down his cup. “I know that look. What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” Verdan said, slowly rising to his feet. “It’s probably nothing.”
Tumal stood. “Your feelings kept us alive through that ambush on Geltaris. I wouldn’t discount them.”
“I should head back,” Verdan said, heading for the door. “I need to check on Farrah. Thank you for your hospitality.”
Tumal followed. He frowned when he saw Verdan’s load carrier. “Too slow. Take my quad.”
With a hurried promise to return, Verdan roared away on Tumal’s machine. As the landscape whizzed by, Verdan tried to pin down the source of the strange unease in his chest. He thought back on his day. What was out of place?
The empty storage hatch.
The missing vehicle.
The wrappers.
The wrappers!
Someone had removed the vehicle, but someone had also left the wrappers. The storage cubby opened on two sides, so the vehicles could be used planet-side, and also serviced from within the ship. The Dorians had access to the ship!
He thumbed the accelerator, urging the vehicle to greater speed. The landscape whipped past in a blur of green, but Verdan’s focus remained on the road ahead. He had return to the Moon’s Pride. Back to Farrah. Back to Rebecca.
Before it was too late.