Aurora Rising: The Complete Collection (153 page)

Satisfied he now had all their attention in full, he continued. “Your job will be first and foremost to serve as an added, invisible layer of protection. Security officers are conspicuous, deliberately so. You’ll be in plain-clothes and sticking to the shadows. Look for threats before gunplay is required. Ideally, apprehend the threat before gunplay renders them unable to provide information.

“Best case scenario: we capture some of the assailants and are able to cast a wider net. When or if we receive intel, I’ll handle the follow-up investigations. I want you to stay on protection duty. And if the choice is between their safety and intel, the answer is absolutely and without question their safety.”

“Sir, what are our operating parameters?”

The actual question was what measures were they authorized to take, both to secure suspects and acquire information. “Prime Minister Brennon has designated the overarching situation Alpha-One. As such, you are authorized to use any and all measures you judge to be necessary.”

Kessler dipped his chin in acceptance. “All right then.” The others followed his lead, and no more questions followed.

“I’d tell you to work in rotating eight-hour shifts, but I’m not sure your charges will be here for longer than a day or two. But for as long as they are here, keep them alive.”

Caleb excused himself from the lounge shortly after Alex departed. It was genuinely good to see Noah and a relief to learn he hadn’t unwittingly gotten the guy killed, and were the circumstances otherwise he’d jump at the chance to relax and hang out with a buddy. But they were not, and he needed to do something. He needed to act, even if only in the smallest way possible. For starters, he needed information.

His military guards dutifully escorted him to Richard Navick’s office and took up positions outside as he thanked them with a silent nod.

He stepped in the office to find the man regarding him thoughtfully, leaning forward in his chair with a hand propped at his chin. “The wonders of modern medicine. Less than two days ago I watched you knock on Heaven’s door. Now here you are knocking on mine.”

Caleb grimaced as he leaned against the wall and tried for a casual stance. “It wasn’t
that
bad….”

“It was that bad. I’ve seen my share of injuries over the years and…well, I’m glad to see you in one piece.”

“More like the pieces are taped together. Which is why I’m here.”

Navick straightened up in his chair. “You’re concerned about security.”

“I’m confident you’re on top of it and your people are more than capable. But the fact is I’m in no shape to stop an attack if it comes, and I need to know Alex is safe here.” He may not need to ‘protect’ her in the existential sense, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t try to
protect
her.

“Then it may interest you to learn there have been three attempted attacks since your arrival.”

Caleb shoved off the wall, survival instinct—and protection instinct—surging through the damaged pathways of his body. “What? How? Where?”

“Calm down. They were all thwarted before they represented any imminent danger, and you were none the wiser. I’m telling you merely to demonstrate that we are in fact on top of it.”

“Christ….” His hand came up to abuse his jaw. “Will you at least give me an overview of the security procedures in place? Humor me?”

Richard shook his head, triggering a scowl from Caleb. “Why not?”

In response Richard tapped his ear then pointed to the ceiling. The message was clear: the aliens were listening, and each time information was shared the odds increased it would be recorded and reviewed and identified.

Caleb glared at the ceiling and its unseen watchers, but didn’t push the matter. It was evident Navick was taking their security quite seriously, and this was all the reassurance he was going to receive.

“Where is Alex? I’m surprised she let you out of her sight.”

“She’s meeting with Dr. Canivon.”

“Ah.” Richard eyed him carefully. “And how are you feeling about that? If you don’t mind me asking.”

He pulled out the guest chair and sat, dropping his elbows to his knees and ignoring the twinge of protest in his right side. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about it.”

“On the contrary, I suspect it matters a great deal how you feel about it—to her if nothing else. When you were hurt…Alex may not always be the best at expressing her emotions, but I hope you don’t doubt how much she cares for you. After seeing her with you, no one could doubt it.”

“Oh, I don’t—and that’s the point. Yes, my feelings on the topic do matter to her, which is exactly why I can’t share any misgivings I might have with her. The simple fact is she’s correct. Not only is she the right person to do this, if she doesn’t do this it could mean our extinction. She
has
to be the one. Any concerns I have about the possible cost are irrelevant, because they must be.”

Richard fell quiet for several seconds, though he was clearly considering how to respond. Finally he rocked his chair back and gave Caleb a half-smile.

“I remember Alex’s fourth birthday party. Miriam was stationed in Oslo working at European Logistics, and David was teaching a Defensive Flight Tactics class in London and commuting in on the weekends. I was doing a tour on Shi Shen but burned a few days’ leave to visit.

“Anyway, the party’s on a Saturday morning. There had been an early snowfall the night before, so Alex and her playmates are outside doing what kids do in the snow, which is to say mostly throwing it at one another.

“David arrives about an hour into the party, sweeping in with his usual panache. His birthday present to Alex is her first lev-bike, which he had acquired while in London without Miriam’s knowledge. She was all aflutter, protesting that Alex was far too young and the area near the house far too mountainous and treacherous and so on. They took the dispute inside, but the end result was Alex got the lev-bike.”

He paused to chuckle. “David was persuasive that way.”

Caleb had nothing to add, so he continued. “Following cake and ice cream and more presents, David shows Alex how to operate the bike—it was this tiny little thing dyed neon yellow so you were able to spot it a kilometer away—and she’s off to the races.

“David and I are standing there watching her dash around the yard. The bike had an elevation limit of a few meters or she would’ve been on the roof in the first minute. I felt the need to point out Miriam might have had a few good points and asked him whether he worried Alex would hurt herself.

“David shrugged. ‘She’s been borrowing one from the neighbor’s seven-year-old son for the last two months when she thinks we aren’t watching. That little girl is going to do what she wants. If we try to stop her she’ll simply find a way around what she views as an annoying but insignificant obstacle. The best—the only—thing we can do is try to guide her toward the right paths and give her the tools she needs to…to not get herself killed at least.’”

Navick smiled in seeming amusement, and after a beat Caleb realized it was because he was smiling. He rubbed at the healed cut on his chin and indicated for the man to keep going.

“I was a bit skeptical and said as much. ‘David, she’s four years old.’ We watched her weave figure-eights around two trees while ducking to miss the lowest row of limbs, and he cocked his head to the side. ‘Your point?’”

“I couldn’t really argue any further, so I mumbled, ‘She’s not afraid of anything, is she?’”

“David shook his head. ‘Oh, she’s afraid sometimes. But it only makes her angry. Fear’s another obstacle to be vaulted over or rammed through.’

“Then he ran a hand through his hair and stared up at the sky. ‘You can’t imagine what it’s like trying to raise a child like her. It’s exhilarating and terrifying and half the time I’m holding on by my fingernails and praying I’m doing it right. But it’ll be worth it. If we can just get her to eighteen without death or serious bodily injury, she’s going to set the galaxy ablaze. And no one will be able to stop her.’”

Caleb breathed out and let his gaze drop to the floor. He could see the scene Richard described with such startling clarity the story had to be true. Not surprisingly, it made him fall in love with her even more. “You’re not telling me anything I don’t know.”

“I realize I’m not. I’m afraid for her, too. We all are. Miriam’s petrified for her—you can’t tell by watching the woman, so you’ll have to trust me. But the truth is, Alex has been on a trajectory to this moment her entire life. Don’t feel bad if you can’t stop her, because no one can. The best—the only—thing we can do is help her however we’re able.”

Again, not anything he didn’t already instinctively know…but it did help to hear he wasn’t alone. Silence lingered until he looked back up. “So what happened with the bike?”

Navick took a sip from the mug on his desk. “She figured out how to disable the elevation throttle inside a week, crashed it and broke her arm two weeks later, and made her dad show her how to repair it while her arm healed.”

He had no choice but to laugh. “Of course she did.”

23

SPACE, NORTH-CENTRAL QUADRANT

E
LATHAN
S
TELLAR
S
YSTEM

T
HE
A
KAGI
DROPPED OUT OF SUPERLUMINAL
equidistant between the medium- and long-range sensor-equipped beacons designed to detect potentially unwanted visitors to Elathan. The
Yeltsin
and
Chinook
appeared alongside two seconds later. If any of the ships progressed more than a few megameters they would be detected by the beacons, so they hovered in silence.

Subterfuge wasn’t a tactic Liam considered his specialty, but here it was required. Elathan represented the farthest east they had journeyed, and as much as he hated it he couldn’t ignore the reality of the aliens’ advance. Based on the colonies the invaders were sieging when he implemented the communications blackout, they may be at Elathan by this point—and he didn’t intend for his insurrection to become a target of the aliens, incidentally or otherwise.

“Sir, I’m picking up a significant number of artificial signatures near Elathan. Some of them are Federation, but many return as unidentified.”

“Send the recon craft in to visual range. I want to see it for myself.”

“Yes, sir. Images expected in seven minutes.”

Liam passed the intervening time by carving a precise course along the central forty percent of the bridge’s width. The blackout was becoming a problem, for him as well as the crew—or rather his control of the crew. They had left behind a galaxy in chaos and under assault; they may have left behind civilization in its death throes.

He was okay with that. Everything had been taken from him—his mother, then his father, then his command and now his career. If the military caught him they were going to lock him up like some gutter scum and slander the name of his family. So once he had his vengeance, once his life’s mission was complete, the aliens could have humanity for all he cared.

Until that time, however, the lack of real, up-to-date information was causing difficulties. He could order a comm officer to bypass the block for him alone and only long enough to get up to speed on the current state of events. But such action risked detection by those he knew would be attempting to track him, and their inability to track him had been the key to his survival thus far.

Plus, if word got out among the crew that he had broken his own blackout, it risked an uprising if not outright mutiny. Already there were whispers, and not merely whispers of worry for loved ones. The crew thought he didn’t hear them, thought he didn’t notice the averted eyes and awkward throat-clearing whenever he loomed. Oh, but he did. Regrettably, he also assumed their justifiable fear of him would not keep them at bay forever.

He just needed to hold everything together for a while longer.

“Sir, images from the reconnaissance craft incoming.”

Three visuals materialized on the overlook display. They showed the silhouette of Elathan, all fulgent sulfur and straw, its rings glittering brighter than gaudy circus strobes. They showed numerous Federation ships with their showy, faux-threatening knife edges mid-combat amidst explosions and a sprawling field of debris. They showed a dozen or more of the hulking alien vessels and thousands of small dots which designated their grotesque little creature ships. The frozen visuals did not reveal who currently enjoyed the upper hand in the battle, but it was ludicrous to think even the entire Federation military stood a chance against these mighty alien raiders.

Well, shit.

He’d really been hoping to wreck this obnoxious beauty of a planet. He’d dreamt about it the night before, seen the towers crumble in the jaundiced morning light beneath the fire of the
Akagi’s
weapons. The ‘Jewel of the Federation’ deserved to burn by his hand…but perhaps it was enough that it burn.