Aurora Rising: The Complete Collection (141 page)

The grounds were decorated in Earth-style flora and fauna, highlighted by perfectly-trimmed grass, manicured hedges of juniper and rows of dwarf aspens. The landscaping created a sense of privacy and seclusion around every curve of the pathway.

They were shown not to the enormous mansion at the center of the estate, but to a nonetheless impressive guest house near the rear of the property. The exterior was decorated in synthetic stucco, retro columns, high windows and an upstairs balcony. The owner of the estate had eclectic tastes.

Their escorts opened the door and entered ahead of them. Once she and Caleb were inside one of the guards pointed to a panel beside the doorway.

“If you require any assistance, we can be reached via this panel at all times. You are free to explore the estate with the exception of the main house. The kitchen and other rooms are fully stocked with all the amenities you may desire. Two guests have already arrived. You will find them in the business center straight ahead and to the left.” Then they were gone.

“Well this is all a bit…strange.” She assumed the guards’ knowledge of the others’ whereabouts meant they enjoyed real-time access to security feeds from inside the house. So no real privacy here, either.

“Typical reclusive billionaire setup. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“If you say so.” She steeled herself and embarked down the broad hallway the guard had indicated.

Richard met them at the open entrance to the business center and grabbed her in a bear hug, lifting her off the ground like he had when she was a child.

“Alex, girl, do not do pull that kind of disappearing act again, you hear me?”

She was laughing as he set her down. “I’ll try. It is good to be home, so to speak.”

Her mother stood at a table farther into the room, conversing with someone. The admiral’s uniform was nowhere in sight; instead she wore charcoal slacks and a navy blue turtleneck. Her hair was bound back, but beyond the nape of her neck it flowed freely.

“Christopher, I have to go. I’ll touch base soon.” She turned to them, and a hand came to her mouth. “You’re here.”

Alex crossed the room, a shaky smile blossoming of its own accord, but fear—yep, this was definitely fear—gripped her heart in its icy fist and stopped her short before the last step.

“Mom….”

Her mother reached out and pulled her into an embrace nearly as tight as Richard’s had been.

Stunned, she tried to reciprocate, but it felt clumsy and strange and she wasn’t sure if she was even doing it right. Over her mother’s shoulder Richard and Caleb had begun talking, but Caleb caught her wide, slightly panicked eyes and gave her a reassuring nod.

At last Miriam backed up to hold her at arm’s length, scrutinizing her up and down as if inspecting for injuries or significant alterations before finally meeting her hesitant gaze. The look on her mother’s face was not something she had seen for more than twenty years.

“It is such a relief to see you, Alexi—” her mother cut herself off and pressed her lips together briefly “—Alex.”

“What….” She found herself at a loss for words. “You…you don’t have to call me that. It’s all right.”

Miriam shrugged almost flippantly. “It’s what your father called you—why wouldn’t I do the same?”

Her eyes still felt as though they were inappropriately wide and she was fairly certain her mouth was hanging open. She had hoped to find her mother open to some level of reconciliation. She had not expected
this
.

“I…okay then. If you insist.”

Awkward silence fell then, abruptly and with all the subtlety of a passing elephant stampede. She scanned the various details of the well-appointed business center until her mother dropped her arms and stepped away.

Alex watched as she approached Caleb and thrust out her hand. “Welcome, Mr. Marano. I understand I owe you a formal apology on behalf of the Earth Alliance, and personally.”

Caleb was the picture of charm as he accepted the hand in a manner Alex recognized as genuine. “Apology accepted, but it isn’t necessary. You did what you thought was right…” his gaze alighted on her “…as did we.”

God how she loved him. Whatever challenges they may encounter, whatever hurdles they may be forced to overcome, she loved him.

“And we’re all very glad that unpleasantness is behind us, right?” She made a show of rejoining them. Yet as soon as she arrived she found she was staring at her mother, taken aback and somewhat flummoxed by the woman’s demeanor.

“So, Fleet Admiral? That’s insane. Dad would be so proud of you.”

It appeared as if her mother
blushed
, but it was an absurd notion. “I’d like to think so.”

“I’m proud of you.” Oops. The thought had accidentally come out of her mouth in the form of words. Should she be mortified? Cover it up with a quick, snarky remark? Dammit, now it was too late to recover….

A strange look passed across her mother’s face before settling into more identifiable astonishment. “What happened to you while you were gone?”

“What happened to
you
while I was gone?”

Miriam turned to Richard, who was failing miserably at suppressing a laugh. Finding no assistance, she returned her focus to Alex with a resigned sigh. “War, followed by the necessity of making peace. An alien invasion, leading to several enlightening confrontations and uniquely weighty decisions. Mostly, though? The fact I believed I’d lost my daughter forever, only to discover I had not.”

“The only thing other than Dad you gave a damn about in the entire universe.”

Miriam fell back against the wall in abject shock. “What did you…how did you…?”

Alex stepped forward to hug her mother again; she was getting the hang of this. “It’s a long story. But the point is—”

Delavasi’s bellow from the hallway interrupted the poignant moment, which was probably for the best. Any more sentimentality in such close proximity and the universe might implode. “Richard, tell me you’re here somewhere—I want at least one friend in this splendorous Hell.”

“In here, Graham.”

Richard met him with a welcoming pat on the back; it served to moderately counteract the chill coming off Caleb in waves.

Richard introduced the man to Miriam, then winced in Delavasi’s direction. “Is it time for the epic drinking yet?”

Delavasi grunted. “Oh, how I wish it were. Perhaps a beer, though?” At Richard’s concurrence he headed into the hallway toward the kitchen. “I’ll go grab us some.”

As soon as he was gone Richard stepped closer to her. “Alex, I realize you have a lot you want to tell us—and trust me we have questions—but before we get started I need to ask you something.”

Her eyes narrowed, immediately suspicious. “That is not a good tone. What’s going on?”

He placed a hand on her elbow and drew her away from the others into a corner, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Is something wrong between Caleb and Graham? You could freeze the Sun with Caleb’s glare when he showed up.”

“There is, but it’s a personal matter. And it’s not why you called me over here.”

“No, it isn’t. I need to know where you got the code to hack EASC Detention Center security.”

A groan accompanied a trenchant shake of her head. “I cannot tell you that. I’m sorry.”

“Yes, you can, because it’s important.”       

“How is it important? It can’t conceivably matter now.”

“The person who wrote the code also wrote the virus which General O’Connell has used to wreak havoc with NW Regional Headquarters communications.”

Shit.
She dropped her head to the wall behind her and scowled at the ceiling. “Shit.”

“Agreed.”

Would Claire have provided someone the ware if she’d been apprised of its intended use? Possibly. “I’ve known this person for years. I can’t send them to prison.”

“You won’t. I don’t care about arresting some hacker—I care about reestablishing communications with Fionava. Your mother requires it to fight this war, and I intend to restore it to her.”

“Come on, Richard, guilt tripping isn’t your style—oh wait, never mind, it’s completely your style.”

“Yes, and I don’t even feel
guilty
about it.”

The firmness in his expression provided her no room for negotiation. Her shoulders sank in defeat. “What do you need?”

“A copy of the code which created the virus. Do whatever you can to get it in the hands of my people, and I won’t ask anything else of you.”

“Okay…dammit. Give me a few minutes. I’ll see what I can do.”

She suddenly realized she had left Caleb at the mercy of her mother. But he appeared to be holding his own, so she imparted an apologetic grimace on her way out.

Delavasi passed her in the hallway; she stole a beer from the bundle under his arm.

The first door she located led to a bath, and a rather extravagant one. She took a long swig of the beer then livecommed Claire Zabroi.

“Alex, babe, you have been living extremely. I am most impressed. By the way, I totally approve of how you used my spoofing routine. He is delish.”

“I know he is. Listen, you sold a comm system virus to someone recently.”

Claire’s voice instantly grew cold and clipped.
“I did no such thing. Why would you think I did—and why would you care?”

“Because it bears your signature, and because the man you sold it to is an Alliance General gone rogue—”

“That fenian paddy was a fragger? I knew the reprobate was wrong. Though if he cocked-up the Complex…. And you won’t believe how much he overpaid for it. I am swimming in credits after the trade.”

“Claire, we need a copy of the virus.”

“Not a chance. And who the hell’s ‘we,’ anyway?”

“He used it to destroy the communications system at the NW Regional Headquarters. The military needs it working, and in order to make that happen they require the source code.”

“Babe, did you forget what I do, what I am? No way in forty hells am I going down for some PTSD fragger.”

Alex willed patience and took another sip of her beer. “You won’t be arrested. You won’t be charged. All you have to do is meet a guy and give him a disk. You have my word.” Well, she had Richard’s word, which was close enough.

“No. My rep will be toast. I do not—”

And that was the end of the patience.

“Claire, I think it’s terrific your world continues to spin merrily along with no disruption inside the hip San Fran bubble you’re living in, but trust me when I tell you it is not going to last. Your precious little bad-girl hacker-cool party life will come crashing down, along with everyone else’s on Earth and the rest of the damn galaxy. The old world is over, and we are playing a new game. Deliver the damn code.”

“I should’ve known you’d turn into your mother one day.”

“Don’t even go there. It’s past time for us both to be grown-ups.”

A string of expletives preceded a sputtered reply.
“You are such a spoilsport. Fine.”

“I’m sending you the contact details. Much appreciated.”

Alex returned to the business center to find it in a state of minor uproar.

Delavasi was traipsing along the far end of the room like a caged lion, waving his arms around flamboyantly while barking orders she couldn’t quite make out at unseen recipients. Richard and her mother huddled at the center table, conversing in hushed but intense tones.

Caleb leaned against the wall beside the doorway, idly tossing the hilt of his kinetic blade in the air. It would have represented a stark contrast to the others’ frenzied activities, except she perceived how much tension resided within his casual stance.

She took up a position beside him. “What happened?”

“Someone blew up the bunker in Cavare.”

“What? The one we were at?”

“None other.”

A surge of lightheadedness washed over her, leaving her unsteady in its wake. They had undoubtedly been the target; perhaps the enemy hadn’t realized they’d departed due to the
Siyane’s
cloaking. “They really are hunting us.”

“As well they should. We are dangerous. But I meant what I said to Mesme. They won’t get us.”

She squeezed his hand. “I believe you. So what are they—” she gestured around the room “—doing?”

“The Director has transitioned from yelling at deputies for not informing him sooner through yelling at different deputies to increase rescue efforts on-scene to yelling at still other deputies to determine how this sort of disaster could happen. On the assumption we’ll be headed to Earth, Richard is setting up draconian security protection for when we arrive, and your mother is terrifying the estate personnel into doubling the doubled security here.”

“I thought Delavasi was the contact person for the estate?”

His countenance lightened into genuine amusement for the briefest interval. “She’s
your
mother.”

“Yes, she most certainly is.” Her gaze found the ceiling while a sigh found its way to her lips. “All right, time’s wasting.”

She pushed off the wall and cleared her throat loudly. “Hey, guys? We knew the aliens were going to be hunting us. I’m confident you’ve all ensured we’re safe here for the time being, so we need to concentrate on why we’re here. Defeating them.”