Méridien (The Silver Ships Book 3) (32 page)

“Does Director Stroheim hold a grudge against Alex?” Katie had asked in trepidation.

Christie had burst out laughing. “That’s the funny part, Mom. Director Stroheim said he has learned more from Alex about being a better human being than through his entire Méridien life. He says his initial meeting with Alex was a wake-up call that he heeded.”

Since it appeared Christie knew much more about Alex’s present circumstance than they did, Duggan had begun questioning Christie. “So you believe Alex won’t permanently return here?”

“Do you remember that injured wild diablo puppy that Alex brought home? It was dying of starvation, and it was too far gone to take food. Every time Alex tried to help, the puppy bit him. He never quit trying to save that puppy despite being bitten twelve or fifteen times until …”

“Until that puppy died,” Duggan replied, completing Christie’s point. “Now he has a quarter-million human people depending on him.”

“Exactly, Dad,” Christie said. “Put that together with Renée herself, Alex’s submersion into Méridien tech, especially his implants, and I think Alex will have a new life, one far away from us.” She had paused for a moment to stare at her feet before she had raised her head up and looked at her parents. “And I don’t want that.”

Alex sat at his cabin desk, working on the flotilla’s launch schedule, which was dependent on the arrival of the last supplies and the processing of the pioneers. His scheduling app said he had a few more moments before an interview with a pioneer family that Director Stroheim wanted his opinion on.

Alex looked up as Renée came through the cabin door—followed by Alex’s own family. He jumped up from behind his desk and rushed to hug them.

Julien replied.

Alex stood absolutely still while his eyes took in his family.

“See what I mean about his implants,” Christie said. “I will bet you hover-car privileges that he just requested a delay of his scheduled appointment and was told, probably by Julien, that we’re his appointment.” She was rewarded by Alex’s expression shifting from a quiet stare to that of a raised eyebrow. She felt herself folded into her brother’s massive chest and a kiss planted on the top of her head.

“Clever girl,” Alex told Christie. He invited his family to take a seat as he threw a pointed look at Renée. He knew she had to be part of the subterfuge. All he got in return was a wink.

Once everyone was seated, Alex asked them for a moment. Christie had completed the entire application as requested by Tomas and Eric, and they had found nothing to disapprove. Her request was properly supported and funded by her parents and cosigned by two Librans. On closer examination, Alex noted the cosigners were Eloise and Amelia.

Alex came out of his fugue to stare at his family sitting quietly and respectfully on the cabin’s couch. Renée, on the other hand, was perched on the edge of his desk, one leg crossed over the other, and an anticipatory grin on her face.

“It’s so much better to watch Alex wrestle with problems that don’t have the possibility of us ending up dead,” Renée said.

“Thank you for your assistance, my dear Co-Leader,” Alex deadpanned.

“It’s my pleasure, Admiral,” Renée responded as respectfully as possible, trying to tone down her excitement.

As the father in this situation, Duggan decided he should start the conversation. “Alex, is our application in order?”

“Yes, Dad, it appears to be,” Alex replied.

“Have we provided an ample amount of funds for the endeavor?” Duggan asked.

“More than enough, Dad,” Alex said.

“Then your hesitation is one of discrimination,” Duggan said, cornering Alex with his final point.

The gleams in the eyes of Christie and Renée resembled predators that had spotted prey.

“If our paperwork and funds are in order, why are we sitting in front of you?” Duggan asked. “I understand all of the other applicants are interviewed by either Sers Monti or Stroheim.”

“Your application was probably singled out by the SADEs because of their concern for me. Our new world will be fraught with dangers … from the environment, from the lack of infrastructure, and potentially from aliens. It will be a dangerous world for many years.”

“But not too dangerous for Renée,” Christie said, which caused Renée to look at Alex and arch an eyebrow in question.

I should have banned those vids when they first came aboard
, Alex thought. Renée was becoming extremely artful at manipulating their conversations through feminine wiles, something she hadn’t exhibited when they first met. Although, now that he thought about it, those wiles weren’t all bad.

“More importantly, Alex, there’s your children to think of in this new world of yours,” Katie finally spoke up.

“Wait … what children?” Alex asked, getting confused. The combined force of personalities in the room was getting difficult to manage.

“My grandchildren, Alex,” Katie replied. “Who will care for them while you’re out building a new society? You are expecting to have children, right? I mean, it is possible isn’t it between the two of you?” Katie asked, glancing between Alex and Renée. “I mean between Méridiens and New Terrans.”

Renée hadn’t enjoyed herself so much since she’d first gone to bed with Alex … except for the first time he linked with her implant while they made love … and then there was that other time …

Snapping out of her reverie, Renée returned to the discussion, saying, “Yes, Ser Racine, children are quite possible between our peoples.”

“Oh good. That’s settled, then,” Katie replied.

“What’s settled, then?” Alex asked with frustration, rising from his chair.

Duggan started to correct his son’s temper, Admiral or no Admiral, but Renée intervened. She slid off the desk, signaling with a hand for Duggan’s patience, and walked over to Alex, sliding her arms around him. Looking at Alex’s family, she smiled, feeling the happiest she had ever been. “Alex, my love, it’s obvious that your family is trying to tell you that despite the dangers, they want to be with you. They want the family to stay together, and I honor that sentiment. I would wish you to do so as well.”

Alex looked at Renée, who was glowing with contentment, and he thought of all that she had been through, losing family, friends, and associates. She had been adopted by his family and was as anxious to keep them close, and apparently that’s all his family wanted.

“You should know,” Alex said with deadly seriousness, “the agreement I’m drafting will require pioneers receive implants and cell-gen treatments.”

“Yes!” Christie said.

“Dad and Mom, are you going to be okay with that?” Alex asked.

Katie reached out to grip Duggan’s hand, squeezing it nervously. “Yes, Alex, we are,” she said.

“Then I will refer your application back to Director Monti for his review. When the pioneer agreement is completed, you will need to review and sign it before the application is approved.”

Christie jumped off the couch with a cry. She and Renée hugged each other, jumping up and down together before Christie ran to hug her brother.

It was Alex, Duggan, and Katie who were carefully eyeing one another, each of them wondering what they had just gotten themselves into.

In the waning days of the flotilla’s final preparations, Edouard and Miko were on a test flight with the
Outward Bound
. They were the only two individuals aboard. Julien was monitoring their operational parameters. He was being cautious since the shuttle was the primary transport of the Admiral.

“Are you excited about our new start, Lieutenant?” Edouard asked. Miko had gotten very quiet the last few days, and he feared for what might be occupying her thoughts.

“I haven’t made any decision as to whether I’ll remain with the flotilla or resign my position, Captain,” Miko replied.

Edouard’s heart lurched. He had failed to communicate his interest in her, and now he might have lost her.

Miko was pleased to see the consternation on Edouard’s face. The gentle, quiet Méridien had become very dear to her. But despite all they had been through, he had yet to express anything to her other than perfect manners. It was Edouard’s overlong glances at her when he thought she wasn’t looking that she had first noticed. And it wasn’t just the length of his gaze. She saw the change in his expression whenever he watched her, his longing for her quite evident.

“Do you find Méridiens difficult to be with?” Edouard asked, concerned she didn’t find him suitable.

“Not at all, Captain,” Miko answered simply, keeping under control the smile that threatened to creep out. “In fact, I find some Méridiens quite attractive.”

“There are … uh, others you find attractive,” Edouard asked.

Miko couldn’t contain herself any longer. “How can your people have such an advanced society and simultaneously be so oblivious?” She signaled the controller into a fixed trajectory, released her harness, and crawled into Edouard’s seat. She spread her legs across the arms of the chair to support her weight, grabbed his face with both hands, and planted a firm kiss on his mouth. It wasn’t tentative or short. Miko had been dying to kiss Edouard ever since they had risked their lives together, driving the
Outward Bound
to its limits to lift the Librans to freedom.

Edouard felt certain his shock showed in his frozen expression, but Miko continued to ply her mouth over his. The gentle warmth of her lips banished his thoughts that protocols were not being observed, that a partnership had not been negotiated.
We aren’t Méridien; we aren’t New Terrans; we aren’t Librans
, he thought.
We’ll make our own way
. Then he leaned into Miko’s kiss and returned it with all the passion he had held inside.

When Miko finally pulled back to take a breath from Edouard’s amorous response, she smiled at him and a delightful thought crossed her mind:
You’re mine now, Captain
.

Accompanied by Renée, Tatia, Edouard, and the twins, Alex was transported via a Libran shuttle from the
Rêveur
’s bay to the
Freedom
. After disembarking, they made their way to the city-ship’s enormous bay where the dark travelers had been deposited. When Alex had last seen the fighters, they’d sat alone on the bay’s bare deck.

Engineering had permanently pressurized the bay and sealed its gigantic bay doors with nanites. Despite that precaution, Alex’s group was still required to pass through an expansive airlock to gain access to the bay.

Instead of a bare bay, the huge cavern was a hive of activity. Bright lights illuminated every meter of the deck, crowded with engineering benches and hundreds of engineers and techs going about their work.

The two dark travelers no longer sat on the deck. They floated in cradles of grav-pallets two meters above the deck, surrounded by cages of metal bars. Sensors were attached along every meter of the bars. In an imaginative move, Mickey had split a massive power conduit and attached each end to the ship’s bow and stern, allowing the intact shell to complete a circuit of energy and power the Nua’ll technology. For the shell with a hole, the engineers had fed power cables directly to the interior equipment, bypassing the drive.

Alex located Mickey via implant and navigated toward him. The engineers and techs nodded politely to the august personage as they passed and then resumed their frenetic activity. To Alex, it resembled a hive at work and their efforts gave him hope. The financial success of his g-sling program had opened up so many possibilities for his family. Now he needed something even grander to fuel their new society. In his mind, he couldn’t think of a greater opportunity than to be the producers of grav-driven shuttles.

Alex discovered Mickey seated at a small desk, surrounded by an array of vid monitors. In front of him, a small holo-vid projected the internal structure of a dark traveler. A line of people had formed at the desk, and Mickey alternated between his current petitioner and studies of the monitors and holo-vid for answers to the questions.

Alex joined the line, which advanced slowly, his people smiling at his choice.

An engineer approached the back of the line, unsure of what to do until Renée motioned him forward, and the slender Libran found himself staring into the broad back of the Admiral.
My partner and children will not believe this
, he thought.

Mickey finished his conversation with the New Terran tech, whose inquiry dealt with the Nua’ll crystal energy collectors, which powered the grav-drives. Mickey had been turned around, studying a vid display of energy equations. His back was to Alex.

“Yes?” Mickey said with exasperation when the next individual in line failed to ask his question without fanfare. When no answer was forthcoming, Mickey said, “This is not the time to be shy, Ser.” Then he turned around to find his Admiral patiently waiting with a smile on his face.

“Might you have a few moments for me, Chief Engineer?” Alex asked.

Mickey jumped to his feet, the laughter of the group reaching his ears, and then his own smile broke out.

“I believe that can be arranged, Admiral,” Mickey replied, a hint of red tingeing his ears. Before stepping around his desk, he rolled his big shoulders, twisting his neck in different directions, popping vertebrae and stretching tight muscles. If the truth was known, he felt grateful for the interruption, especially one that would require a high overview of their efforts, which undoubtedly the Admiral wanted.

Mickey led the group through a series of bench setups, explaining the steps he had taken and hoped to take. “Admiral, on the one hand, we have an easy win. The SADEs have designed analytical devices to test the structure of each part of the interior. They believe that given the proper facilities, which will have to be land-based, they can re-create a dark traveler’s operational structure.”

Mickey’s statements brought the entourage to a halt.

“Mickey, are you saying we can build a grav-drive shuttle?” Alex asked.