Earth Song: Etude to War (3 page)

Minu gently massaged the flesh at his mid left thigh, just above where that leg ended. The muscles underneath were just as strong as before, but the skin was a mishmash of scar tissue and inflammation. The other was the same where it ended, just above his knee.

It was ironic that he'd healed from the repairs that had saved his right arm, while the replacements to his severed and melted limbs which should have had him walking and running in weeks were still struggling to heal. The doctors said they thought they would eventually succeed, it was just taking a long time.

“How was the meeting with the board of governors?” he asked, changing the subject.

“They cut me by five percent.”

“What? Why?” he asked.

“Realigned some research grants. Environmental sciences.”

“Oh.”

“Ted says hello,” she said. “He was wondering how you were.”

“Offering his pity?”

“Don't be like that.” He snorted and got to his feet, heedless of the pain. She tried to cut off his mood. “He just hopes you’re getting better, that's all. People care about you, Aaron.”

“That's why the fucking council forced me into retirement?” She sighed, it was too late. “They'll wait two years for Pip, and don't even make him retire when he comes back as a sexual deviant with a metal plate in his head.”

“Aaron!”

He looked back at her as he stared out the office’s lone window. Outside the sun bore down relentlessly, but the window’s UV shield and the building’s atmosphere processor made it a comfortable twenty degrees Celsius inside. “You're right, I'm sorry.”

Minu got up and came over, putting her arms around his waist from behind. They were so close to the same height it was a comfortable thing to do. He tensed then relaxed, caressing her right hand.

“You're the lucky one, you know?”

“Lucky?” she asked. “I didn't feel lucky when that kloth was gnawing on my arm, or when the Tanam tore my legs to shreds.”

He looked down at his naked cybernetic feet, both indistinguishable from his originals. “We've both been pretty fucked up, haven't we?”

“You can say that again.” Minu looked over to his desk. A model of the AX-1 sat there, and a large 3-D image was on the wall behind his desk, only slightly smaller than an artist’s mockup of the AX-2.

She'd sat in the operations center as he’d piloted the AX-1 on its first reentry. Stood there, unable to breathe as he sent his last transmission. “Controls are unresponsive.” The controllers begged him to eject, but the records showed he never once reached for the bar, even when the manual attitude control jets he’d used to ride the dying shuttle all the way down from orbit ran out of fuel, only twenty meters above the runway.

At four hundred KPH, a twenty meter fall was like being dropped in a wood chipper. For all his effort the prototype was still a complete loss, and his legs were melted in the fire while he waited for three eternal minutes as the fire crew fought through the wreckage to reach him. The fire crew chief had been in tears when he saw Minu later.

“He never once screamed,” he had told her, “just calmly led us to him asking if we could hurry but be careful. We thought he was fine!”

“Why are you pushing yourself so hard?” she asked him, as he stood there in obvious pain. She'd felt that pain as she fought to get used to prosthetic muscles in her legs after the fight with the Tanam. The cybernetic muscles in her legs were harder to adapt to than the complete replacement of her right arm. She already knew the answer.

“The AX-2 will be ready in six months,” he said. Minu tried to ignore the shiver of terror that ran up her back, but it must have reached him through her arms. “You don't think I can make it?”

“No,” she said and gently turned him to face her, “I'm terrified that you will.”

His face softened and he kissed her, with passion this time. “That massage felt real good.”

“Yeah? You want some more?” She was slowly unbuttoning the conservative blouse she wore.

His eyes sparkled as he watched the show. “Sure. Lock the door, will you?”

“I already did,” she said as his strong hands found her breasts.

Chapter 2

Julast 13th, 533 AE

Groves Industries, Tranquility, Bellatrix

Hours later, Minu was setting the table in their cabin while Aaron was putting the finishing touches on dinner; farm raised sea bass from Peninsula with new potatoes and broccoli. Minu had installed a couple strategically placed handholds in the kitchen months ago. Aaron had been furious at first but she'd raged back at him to shut up; the house was hers, not his.

He’d quietly begun using them within a few days and now they were part of their normal routine. It was difficult to cook with one hand holding a cane all the time. The extra places for him to lean and hold on gave him the little help he needed in order to make their nightly ritual a partnership.

Outside an aerocar whined overhead and Minu almost snarled unconsciously. Her secret hideaway had been public knowledge for years, and it wasn't unheard of for a reporter to make an unauthorized visit. But she glanced at the clock hanging next to the sink and saw what time it was.

“Gregg is here,” Aaron said by the stove where he had a view of the enlarged parking area, confirming her thoughts.

Minu's old red aerocar landed smoothly outside on the smaller of two landing pads. The second pad, added years ago and made of ceramic concrete, was nearly as big as the house. Occasionally a shuttle would arrive from orbit carrying a special visitor who would only set foot on Bellatrix in this very cabin.

She turned and glanced at the car, feeling a little pang of regret. She'd left it to Gregg after running on her rescue mission for Pip. It was only fair that after he'd used it as his own for years that he would get to keep it. Still, the hot red machine was her first love, even when the dealer who sold her that car gave her a newer, hotter one upon her return.

The codex had saved the dealer’s twin daughters when they had been born with a rare genetic defect that would have claimed their lives without the knowledge she'd found. She'd tried to refuse the gift, only to find out that he would 'set the god damn thing on fire if she didn't accept it!'

The car doors gullwinged up as Gregg unfolded his long frame from one side and his wife emerged from the other. Approaching thirty-five, he'd developed a small bald spot that he tried to cover up by letting the rest grow longer. It didn't stop Aaron from harassing him every chance he got. Aaron was five subjective years younger, his hair thick and full. The codex proved useless on hair loss, a problem that the ancient simian hominid species apparently didn’t suffer from.

The front door opened a moment later and Gregg's voice boomed out. “What's for dinner?”

“Shit sandwiches,” Aaron replied.

Faye stepped in, her face scrunched up in disgust at her husband and Aaron's usual ritual. She was just as tall as he was and with equally blond hair, cut short to her shoulders. Her own blue eyes were a little more subdued than Gregg's, but her choice of a pretty red blouse/skirt ensemble set them off brilliantly. Gregg had somehow managed to marry a woman even prettier than he was. When Minu had first met her, last year when he'd announced their engagement, she had liked Faye instantly.

“I'll make you a shit sandwich if you don't give it a rest,” Minu barked and threw a napkin at Aaron. Then she went to greet their friends, hugging first one, then the other, with a little kiss for Faye. She put a hand on the tall blonde’s stomach and smiled at her. “And how is baby?”

“Just a little thing so far,” Faye told her. “Had a fetal imaging done day before yesterday.”

“And?”

“Boy, of course!” Gregg laughed. He struck a muscle man pose and both girls laughed. Aaron grabbed his cane and quickly hobbled over to hug his longtime friend. It was only when they were right next to each other that Minu remembered that the rescue mission had left Gregg behind. They were all technically within a year of each other age-wise until she'd taken her future husband and a few friends and leapfrogged ahead in time.

“When are you guys going to have a baby?” Faye asked. Minu and Aaron looked at each other then away, going back to finishing their preparations for dinner without a word. “What...”

Gregg leaned over and used a peck on the cheek as an excuse to whisper a quick sentence in his wife’s ear. She looked hurt and confused, but not another word was said. Minu knew Gregg couldn't tell her the truth, it was all classified. Especially the ship that orbited far up in space over their heads, and its enigmatic pilot.

Eventually the mood lightened and they all sat down to eat. The dinner had started as a tradition after Minu returned and quickly married Aaron. At first it was all the friends, but slowly the numbers dwindled. Now, almost six years after their return, it was just the two couples.

“How's Pip doing?” Minu asked Gregg. Unlike her and Aaron, he was still fully active in the Chosen. His command of the Rangers had been cemented after years of successful operations for the Tog, and paying jobs all over the Concordia.

Many expected a final decision to make the Rangers the sixth branch of the Chosen soon, and take away one of Gregg's stars. Minu hoped so; she was tired of being the only two star in her group of friends. It might have given a lot of prestige, but it also caused some contentious differences as well.

Chewing on her meat, she thought about all of her friends being on the council, wondering who would be First. According to the women of the Chosen, she already was. Of course that was a farce, she was retired in all but name. Her only regular duty was a few days a month on Herdhome as humanity’s liaison, a job that remained from years ago. The position had been assigned by P'ing to keep her in power within the Chosen.

“He's working with a number of the offworld projects that are integrating Concordian and human tech. That and spending a lot of time on Project Enigma.” She nodded at the mention of their code for Lilith and her Kaatan ship.

There was no longer any doubt the ship was hers. Minu's steadfast refusal to provide any help in changing that fact was the reason she was 'permanently detached to the University of Tranquility.'

“Cherise saw him a week ago when she was meeting with Var'at on Remus.” Minu was constantly annoyed at the various lies and half-truths they had to tell people around them. She didn't know how Gregg kept from telling his wife about things she wasn't supposed to know, but her reactions were always a verification that he kept secrets well.

The Rasa were not public knowledge, yet a secret below that of Lilith and the Kaatan. Some knew about the Rasa, former enemies living on one of Bellatrix's moons. Few knew of Minu's secret daughter and her killer warship. It was all so confusing. “Last time I saw him he'd just visited his son,” he continued as Aaron and Minu nodded.

The subject of Pip's brief marriage was touchy; no-one wanted to linger too long in that awkward territory. “Christian was declared officially lost in action.”

Minu nodded again and shook her head. He’d followed her example five years ago and went off the reservation on a mission out on the frontier. But unlike her father, there was never a message, no explanation; he’d just left his team while on a remote world and never returned.

“That's too bad,” she said and all the Chosen lowered their heads while Faye remained respectably silent. She felt little actual emotion; that ship had sailed many years ago. “The First waited quite a few years before making it official.”

After dinner Faye and Gregg cleaned up the dishes, another tradition they considered necessary to reimburse their hosts for the meal.

When the table was clean the mead and playing cards came out, and the bragging began. Minu and Faye chatted lightly as they watched the boys bluster and punch each other in the arm after a particularly good joke or remembered exploit. Gregg's stories were always of interest to her since they usually involved the Rangers. Her only regret was not being their leader after she’d spent so much energy to bring them into existence.

As the last of the mead was poured out, they partook of one more tradition. The three Chosen raised their glasses and saluted. “To those who didn't make it,” they said and downed the golden brew. Faye held her head down in respect.

“What’s it like being a female Chosen?” she'd asked Minu early after they'd first met.

“Painful,” Minu said simply, “but worth it.”

On the mantel above the cabin’s old fieldstone fireplace floated several holographic images. She knew all their names; they were the men, women and Rasa who'd died under her command. Floating above them all was an image of her father, Chriso Alma.

Unlike the others, this was a brief loop of him standing behind a podium, his chiseled face in a rare smile as he waved to those in attendance. The glass was empty but she still lifted it in toast to her father. The only real mystery she cared about, she'd never solved. She'd add an image of Christian tomorrow. He might not have died under her command, but she felt he deserved to be remembered. Minu wondered if Aaron would say anything.

* * *

Later as they snuggled in bed, Aaron spoke quietly. Not because he was afraid of being too loud in the small space, but because the island was thick with howlers this time of the year and one mistake would be disastrous. “Don't blame Faye about the baby thing, she doesn't understand.”

“I don't,” Minu assured her spouse, “I just wish we could introduce her to Lilith. Maybe as my cousin, or something.”

“She's still too thin,” Aaron reminded her, “and besides the girl couldn't tell a lie to save her life. She'd spill the beans in a minute flat.”

“Probably sooner,” Minu agreed. She was regretting just then that they didn't have another child, but she knew the regrets would be gone by morning, they always were. She rolled over and yawned, her subtle clue to Aaron that she wanted to go to sleep.

He rolled over slowly to minimize the sheet’s movement on his inflamed legs, his back just touched hers, the way she liked it, and he was soon snoring lightly. Minu sighed and felt herself drifting into sleep. Life was pretty good. Somewhere in a little room of her mind came manic laughter, and a voice saying that it would never last. It never did.

* * *

The shuttle was Concordian manufactured and reliable, if not as nice as the ones from the Kaatan. They were careful with any public appearance of those shuttles, since too many questions were asked every time they were spotted: “Where did those shuttles come from? How come we never get to see the inside of those shuttles? What is the Chosen hiding now?”

So a pair of Concordian-made shuttles had been purchased and used prominently in support of the public space ventures under way. Three massive solar farms were under construction to beam power down to the planet, and reduce their reliance on Concordian shipments of EPC that continued to get more expensive every year.

The solar arrays were almost entirely of local construction. Vast amounts of raw materials for the collectors were available on dozens of junk piles around the galaxy. Why no other species did the same thing was a mystery to Minu. Microwave energy was beamed down to vast antenna farms in Desert Tribe territory, to be converted to electricity and distributed to a hungry industrial world.

As they climbed aboard, Ted, Aaron, and herself, she recognized the Chosen pilot and nodded to him. There wouldn't be any difficulty getting him to divert for a quick hop behind Romulus as it orbited by in a few hours.

The shuttle lifted off on chemical thrusters and switched to gravitic impellers, quickly racing them towards orbit. In the back Aaron tried to enjoy the ride and not show his wife and friend just how much pain he was in, both physical and mental. It was hardest to keep the tears of loss from coming to his eyes when he flew.

The shuttle might have been simple compared to the ones on the Kaatan, but it still delivered them to orbit in only a few minutes where the pilot’s voice came over the PA. “You guys want some zero G?”

“No thanks,” Ted spoke up quickly. “My damn stomach never handles it well.”

Once they were in high orbit and beyond the prying eyes of ground cameras the craft altered course, breaking orbit and making for the tiny sphere of Remus.

The first time anyone flew to the little moon they were often shocked at how quickly it grew to fill the entire view. At a touch over seven thousand kilometers at the equator, it was only a fifth the size of the world it orbited, and half the size of its sister Romulus. But a seven thousand kilometer-around rock was still a lot bigger than anything most people ever saw up close.

The pilot put the shuttle expertly into a deteriorating orbit. As they descended, the seas of algae began to resolve into individual tidal movements. The signature green and blue colors were huge floating rafts of green algae moved by the massive tidal forces caused by the proximity to Bellatrix. No-one even knew for sure what else lived in those deeper blue waters. The Rasa and Chosen teams who’d set up the first floating settlements had been the first to ever set foot on the moonlet.

The shuttle swept into the atmosphere, exposing them to some light gravity as they decelerated, then flared out over the surging seas. Show-off, Minu thought as they skimmed the waters at less than a hundred meters, but Aaron nodded at the bravado. It was nothing he wouldn't have done in the same situation.