Aurora Rising: The Complete Collection (71 page)

A series of loose threads lay scattered around their corner of the galaxy, any one of which if tugged on sufficiently hard would unravel the entire operation. But so long as events continued on their current trajectory they would soon move beyond the point where anyone could alter their path. The inertial force of a galaxy-spanning plan in motion would soon become far too powerful to be diverted.

He only had a minute to relax, so the boxes cluttering the office were going to have to stay packed for now. Following a quick meeting with Barrera to receive instructions and guidance as to the new administration’s official stance on numerous issues, he was headed to the Orbital to meet the governors of the First Wave worlds. The meeting would be followed by visits to Romane, Sagan and several other notable independent worlds in the hopes of persuading them to express public support for the Alliance in the war.

Such support would be the first step in coaxing them under the political and military umbrella of the Alliance, but one step at a time. He should—

We require your attention.

Jesús Cristo!
He scrambled to make sure the security shielding remained active from the office’s previous occupant, then took a deep breath and straightened up in his chair. The alien couldn’t see him—at least, he didn’t think it could—but it helped set the proper frame of mind and demeanor.

“Certainly. I have news as well. Matters are proceeding according to plan, and I have achieved a position from where I will be able to exert far greater control over events.”

Your plan is now irrelevant. We warned you escalation may become unavoidable, and so it has.

“I request you exercise restraint for a short while longer. The war is approaching criticality and will soon overwhelm all other concerns. I promise you, everyone will forget the Metis Nebula even exists, much less the fantastical ramblings of two wanted fugitives.”

Knowledge of our existence has expanded beyond our or your capability to contain it. Already others have ventured near, seeking answers. We are left with only one option.

For a brief moment his polite, respectful composure cracked in frustration. He was trying to save the human race, dammit—he simply needed a little more time. “Pray tell, what option might that be?”

Annihilation.

71

ROMANE

I
NDEPENDENT
C
OLONY

A
LEX GAVE
K
ENNEDY A QUICK HUG
at the hangar bay door. “Thank you so much for coming.”

“Of course. But what’s going on?”

“We’ll talk about it in a few. Come on inside. Caleb’s heading out, but he wants to meet you.”

“Does he now? And what have you told him about me?”

“That you’re a spoiled, over-entitled daddy’s little rich girl.”

“You didn— ”

“I’m
kidding
. Not much I’m afraid. We’ve been a bit busy.”

“With what you’re doing that you’re not telling me.”

“Right.” She motioned Kennedy ahead of her into the ship.

Caleb was leaning casually against the data center, an easy smile lighting his features. He pushed off the table and met them halfway, his hand extended. “Caleb Marano. It’s a genuine pleasure, Ms. Rossi.”

She was as always the picture of grace and accepted his hand in style. “The pleasure’s all mine—and please, call me Kennedy. I understand you and Alex have had quite the two weeks.”

“It’s been…well, I’m very glad we met.”

A wicked grin fought valiantly to pull her lips ever further up. “Indeed.”

“And now, I will let you two get to work.”

Alex had paused at the edge of the couch to enjoy their introduction. Caleb came over to run his hands gently along her arms while pressing his mouth equally as gently to hers. She rested her hands on his hips and, when the kiss finally ended, whispered against his lips. “Watch your back, will you?”

“Always. I’ll only be gone a few hours. Promise.”

As soon as he had left Kennedy spun around, eyes wide as saucers. “Oh, girl—”

“Let’s go downstairs. You can help me get the module installed.”

“And you can tell me how you managed to win the romance lottery while cavorting in uninhabited deep space…Alex, are you okay?”

She glanced over her shoulder from the second step. “Sure, why?”

“You’re…limping. Stepping gingerly. I don’t know, not barreling through the ship as per usual.”

“Oh, yeah.” She rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “I got shot.”

“You’re serious.”

“I told you it was worse than you knew.”

They reached the hatch to the engineering well, and she gingerly climbed down the ladder. “Which is why we’re heading back.”

Kennedy skipped the last two rungs and landed on the floor. “Back where? Not to Metis—not to the alien ships?”

“Yep. Though there’s no reason to assume the ships are still there. Regardless, we need answers and Metis is where they are.”

“You’re insane.”

She laughed a little and removed one of the panels protecting the core engineering systems. “That’s what Caleb said. But no one else is going to do it. I don’t trust anyone else to do it anyway. Someone, perhaps the aliens themselves—don’t look at me like that—doesn’t want the portal investigated. So it’s exactly what we intend to do.”

“Wait. You’re not planning to go
through
the portal, are you?”

“Um…” her nose scrunched up “…probably.”

“Dear god, you really are insane.” Alex motioned for the module, and she handed it over. “You know, you ought to think about….” Her voice trailed off as she peered at the floor. “What happened to your hull?”

Kennedy’s attention had been drawn to the wide streaks of almost luminous silver winding along the center of the hold. It matched neither the onyx of her hull material nor the muted bronze of the salvaged material from his ship.

“Caleb ripped it open with a pulse laser—to clarify, this was before we were sleeping together—and we had to patch it using scrap from his ship.”

“Which you blew up,” she mumbled, bending down so close to the floor she was all but lying on it.

“Right.”

“What was his ship made of?”

“Amodiamond. The discoloration is on the seams where we melded the two materials together. It started changing color once it cooled. Some kind of chemical reaction I assume. Do you think it’s weakening the structural integrity?”

“No, quite the opposite.” She reached behind her and pulled a small scanner out of her bag, then ran it above a segment of the discoloration. “Integrity is definitely solid. Stronger, even. The materials have fully bonded together and….” She glanced up at Alex. “Is it okay if I take a piece back with me to analyze? Just a sliver.”

“Sure, but why?”

“Because I think you’ve made something new.” A metamat blade materialized out of Kennedy’s bag; she carefully shaved off a thin three-centimeter long strip. She placed it in a gel pouch and dropped everything back in her bag. At Alex’s raised eyebrow, she chuckled and hugged her knees to her chest. “Ship designer, remember? Exotic metals turn me on.”

“Everything turns you on.”

“Hey, that’s low. True, but low—especially when your sex life is far more interesting than mine at the moment.” Her voice lost most of its teasing tenor. “I can’t help but notice you’re using ‘we’ and ‘us’ a lot.”

“I know.” Alex shrugged. “What do you want me to say? I like him.”

“Clearly. And I am the
last
person to dissuade you from running off on a crazy romantic adventure, but this is serious business. He’s accused of terrorism and murder and you’re already being sought for questioning.”

“He’s being framed. Someone tried to kill us, and did kill his boss. Besides, I could give a fuck about political posturing.”

“Believe me, I know—though I’m not certain I’d call the military police ‘political posturing.’ Regardless, I wouldn’t be your best and most marvelous friend in the galaxy if I didn’t point out there might be a few negative consequences from all…” she gazed upward and twirled her hand in the air “…
this
.”

“Well, as for the frame, Richard’s on it. It’ll get sorted out.”

“And your mother?”

Alex closed her eyes and dropped her head against the wall. “What about my mother?”

“You being implicated in the bombing is going to complicate her job, particularly since she—thank goodness—wasn’t there when the bombs went off.”

“I can’t care about that right now, I don’t have the bandwidth. My mother can take care of herself. She excels at it. And if she needs to disown me in order to keep her power, so be it.”

“Alex—”

“Don’t, Ken. We’ve had this conversation dozens of times. Nothing has changed.”

“There’s another war. An impending alien invasion. Your life is in danger.”

“
Granted
. Look, I actually mean it. She needs to concentrate on this war—not the Senecan war but the war to come. If she has any sense—and she does, as much as I hate to admit it—she won’t let me interfere. It’s too important.”

“Have you told her any of this?”

“Well, I think so. I mean, I told her to
do
something. I thought I was pretty clear.”

“Oh, Alex, your communication skills are legendary for a reason….”

“
Whatever
. Okay, we’re good. The conduits and infrastructure were still in place so I only had to replace the main box. I’ll run some diagnostics, but I don’t want to hold you up.” She grinned. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you,
thank
you. Now you’re off to…Messium, was it? Dare I ask why?”

Kennedy groaned and glared at the low ceiling. “The Board’s pimping me out for materials.”

“Are you kidding?”

“Well not literally. Oh, I hope nobody expects it’s going to come to anything so extreme. No, we require metamats to build ships—big surprise—and our primary supplier got blown up by your Pleasure Model’s military.”

“Ken!”

“Fine,
fine
…your dark, dangerous, subversively sexy intelligence agent’s military. Anyway, I’ve been dispatched to woo a potential new supplier.”

“Woo how?”

“With my name and my dazzling smile, apparently.”

Caleb returned to the spaceport feeling reinvigorated. He knew it probably showed, but he couldn’t help it. While out he had received a message from his sister…he read it again as he entered the hangar bay.

Hey big brother,

I’m sure you have a lot going on and a lot on your mind right now, so I won’t bother you with a livecomm. I merely wanted to say I am certain you had nothing to do with the bombing. I know what you do—what you really do. I’ve always known. I understand you were trying to protect me by keeping it a secret, but I will never not be here for you.

I know your soul. And I believe in you.

— Isabela

In the space of two days, the two people he cared for most in the world—wow, the unexpected realization of
that
truth jarred him for a second—had both willingly accepted him, darkness and all. He’d spent so much time and effort over the years shutting himself off from others emotionally, erecting walls around his heart strong enough to repel any inquisitive soul…when maybe he simply should have had a little faith.

Then again, Isabela wasn’t just anyone. She was his
sister
— intelligent, strong, loving and understanding, but not foolish. And Alex…well, she wasn’t just anyone either. To say the least.

He had told her she was insane for wanting to go through the portal—and she was. But if she hadn’t suggested it he likely would have, because in truth he viewed it as the only strategy worth a damn.

It was one of the most fundamental lessons in his line of work, if one many never managed to learn: when you find yourself under siege, outnumbered and out of options—attack. Don’t play defense; the enemy’s superior numbers or position will whittle you down until you have nothing left. Don’t run away; the enemy will only shoot you in the back. Once you’re backed into a corner, you’ve already lost.

While you’re still strong, still have weapons and will and time, do what the enemy least expects—attack. Turn into the punch, grab ahold of the gun, leap into the arena. Take control of your own fate. If you’re quick, good and lucky, you just might survive and be out the other side before the enemy realized what had happened.

Thus far in his life, when it truly mattered, he had been all three. Now, though….

Now the enemy was maddeningly elusive. Hidden in the shadows and presumably spread across numerous worlds. There was no target he could locate to attack in settled space—and one very clear one at the edge of it. Every instinct he’d relied upon for almost twenty years to survive seemingly impossible situations told him the real enemy, the ultimate enemy, lay on the other side of that portal.

Alex intended to go through the portal to search for answers. He intended to go through the portal to
win
.