Second Earth (11 page)

  
Shawn looked at the
attractive young woman in the photograph, her long red hair cascading over her
shoulders, its vibrancy highlighted by the bright blue and green of her academy
graduation gown. In her hand was a gleaming silver rod, about a foot long and
capped on the ends with gold crowns. The rod was banded in the center with
ribbon dyed in the colors of the Unified Academy. The entire assemblage denoted
that she had graduated from the academy with high honors. He could see the look
of pride on William’s face as he held his child close to his side, and Shawn
silently prayed the admiral would be given the opportunity to do so again. He
turned the photograph over, and inscribed on the back were the words, “My life’s
greatest work.”

  
In the meantime,
Melissa had retrieved the fallen object, which was wrapped in a thin, foil-like
material. Shawn carefully placed the photograph in his flight suit pocket and
stepped up beside her as she opened the item. Shawn reached for his flashlight
and aimed it at her palm, the gleaming gold of the article coming into view. It
was a micro-sized computer cartridge, perhaps no bigger than half a fingernail.
She looked into Shawn’s eyes and they both knew what they had to do.

  
“We need to get
this back to the
Rhea
,” they
whispered to one another in unison.

* * *

  
When they had
safely exited the building and were back in the open air of the street, Shawn
contacted Raven and told her that they were ready to be picked up. Lieutenant Commander
Brunel informed them that she and her pair of Marines were collecting the last
of the samples, and that they would be arriving shortly.

  
“I still don’t get
it,” Melissa offered as she sat on a lone bench near the entrance of the
building.

  
“What’s that?”

  
“I don’t get how
someone could have gotten into that building without making a single track when
they departed.”

  
Shawn nodded.
“Remember that shattered window in the office up there?”

  
“Yes, of course.”

  
“I took a look,
just to be sure: it’s three stories, straight down to a pile of jagged marble
and overturned debris. I don’t care what species you are, you wouldn’t make it
through a fall like that without a scratch. You gave the entire area a second
look on our way out, and you didn’t find anything, right?”

  
She shook her head
and slapped her palms lightly against her thighs. “Nothing. I found nothing.
It’s as if they just…disappeared.”

  
“And the prints
definitely didn’t belong to the remains we found.”

  
“Right,” she said
decisively. “Those remains have been there for years. Those tracks we found
were recent.
Very
recent.”

  
Shawn nodded, then
looked up to Second Earth’s gleaming sun, its warm rays a welcome comfort from
the simulated sunlight on the
Rhea
.
Truly, he thought, there was nothing quite like the feel of the real thing. He
looked out across the desolate street and, on a corner on the far side of the
thoroughfare, he saw what appeared to be the remains of a small coffee shop. He
began slowly walking toward the structure, not really caring if Melissa was
following him or not. It wasn’t until he was within a few paces of the large
storefront window that he saw Melissa’s reflection right behind him.

  
As he stepped
closer, Shawn wiped away a thin layer of grime from the glass edifice and
peered inside. He noticed the empty tables and booths, the abandoned beverage
equipment, and video monitors that had long stopped displaying whatever
broadcasts or menus they had been used for. On the table nearest the window,
the remains of a discarded newspaper and a single, empty coffee cup lay where
they had last been placed. Of all the similar shops in Crystal City, had his
wife ever come to this place? Sylvia had been an avid fan of coffee since she
had started college, nearly dragging Shawn to every barista stand in the
quadrant in search of “the perfect blend” while they were dating.

  
When the Kafarans
arrived to decimate Second Earth, Sylvia had already been missing for some
time. At last report, she had been headed in this direction when her transport
ship disappeared. Communications, even traveling near the speed of light, took
some time to journey across the expanse of Beta Sector. It was possible her
ship had traveled this far, only to be destroyed in orbit. It was also possible
that she’d made it to the surface, only to end up a casualty of whatever had
happened down here. In that case, her body could very well have been one of the
hundreds lying here in the city, or one of the thousands near Delta Base.

  
Still staring into
the dilapidated coffee house, Shawn’s mind conjured up a spectral image of his
wife, sitting in one of the long-abandoned booths. He watched as Sylvia sipped
at a cup of coffee, lost in a daydream of her own. His wife turned, looking out
the same window he was looking in, and their eyes locked.

  
In Shawn’s mind,
the scenery changed in the blink of an eye. Sylvia looked radiant; she was
standing atop a small grassy hill, silhouetted against the unimaginably blue
sky behind her. There wasn’t a single cloud to draw his eye away from her form.
Her white dress was billowing softly in the cool summer breeze, her deep brown
hair pulled casually back behind her head. Her eyes sparkled like diamonds and
her alabaster skin was like freshly poured milk. Something in his mind told
Shawn this would be the last time he saw her before he went off to fight the
war. They had planned the picnic weeks in advance, and this day was turning out
to be blessedly beautiful. He slowly walked toward her outstretched arms,
eagerly searching for the warmth and love of her embrace one final time.

  
“Shawn.” It was
Sylvia’s melodic voice. It sounded as lovely as the first time he had heard it,
but for some reason it also appeared alien to him. “Shawn.” The word was
distant, and seemed to echo off every vertical surface as it washed past his
ears. “Shawn, it’s time to go.”

  
Time to go? To go where? No. I don’t want to
go. I want to stay here with you.

  
Seeing the
commander lost in thought, Melissa reached out a gentle hand and placed it on
his shoulder. He flinched, then turned around in surprise as he took in the
destruction of the city. He had a faraway look in his eyes, one that Melissa
had seen in him before, and she decided she’d bring it up with him later.

  
“Shawn, I said it’s
time to go.”

  
“What?”

  
Melissa cocked her
head over her left shoulder. “Raven’s here with the transport.” She looked at
him with concern. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  
He pivoted back to
the empty booth inside the coffee shop, seeing the blue- and gray-striped
synthetic material of the seat still caked in a thick layer of dust. She hadn’t
been there; she was never there. It had all been in his mind. Shaking the
remnants of the daydream out of his head, he turned back to Melissa and offered
her a weak smile. “Yeah…yeah. I’m…good.”

  
She gave him a
questionable glance. “You don’t look it.”

  
“Must be that
latent radiation affecting my mind.”

  
Melissa smiled.
“Well, I don’t think you’re going to end up crazy like Cal Vross, if that’s
what you’re worried about.”

  
“Good.” He forced a
smile that Melissa had little faith in. “I’m okay, really.”

  
She hooked her arm
around his and smiled warmly at him. Her gesture was rewarded with a genuinely
friendly smile. “Come on, Commander. We’ve got a ship to catch.”

  
Shawn regarded the
coffee shop once more, then turned and left the storefront.

* * *

  
As the small
personnel carrier skimmed effortlessly above the ragged streets of Crystal
City, Melissa couldn’t help but wonder what had so preoccupied Shawn near the
remains of the café. She had attempted to elicit the information from him once
they were well on their way out of downtown, but he had simply smiled and told
her they could talk about it some other time. Melissa smiled inwardly at the
irony of that statement, realizing that however their relationship was going to
be defined, it seemed to always hinge on information that needed to be
disclosed at a later time. In a way, she could relate to that, as she was used
to keeping secrets in her duties with the OSI.

  
In fact, it was a
job necessity.

  
Now, however, she
was beginning to feel as if she needed to tell someone everything about her
past. The disappearance of her father—and the looming perception that she might
not ever find him—had been the catalyst that provided the epiphany to her that
life was too short. The moments she thought would last forever were now
dangerously close to becoming fond memories she would never be able to relive.
Melissa knew she needed to hold onto something, something good and true in a
universe on the brink of chaos, and the gnawing at the edge of her conscience
to receive absolution from someone for the sins of her past became more
overwhelming each day.
What has it all
been for, and for what purpose?

  
Melissa turned her
emerald eyes to Shawn, who was gazing out of the side of the carrier, seemingly
lost in thought. Not yet realizing he was being watched, he sighed heavily as
he slowly took off his gloves and then placed them in his pocket. He brought
his hand to his mouth, rubbing the short growth of hair surrounding his lips.
His eyes returned to the view outside, his mind reaching out to a point beyond
the confines of their present universe. Melissa could see on his face the
internal struggle that his emotions must have been waging. The sudden
recollection of the loss of his wife during the war, and of the good friend who
was currently missing, would understandably tax anyone’s emotions. Add to that
the fact that Shawn had only recently been plucked from his peaceful life on
Minos and pressed back into the service of Sector Command, and it made his
situation all the less enjoyable.

  
Melissa could tell
he was trying hard to be a model officer, despite whatever paucities he’d faced
in the process. Shawn handled his people well, and his squadron mates seemed to
accept him as their new leader rather effortlessly. He and Captain Richard Krif
appeared to be at one another’s throats more often than not, but even she had
to admit that Shawn Kestrel could be difficult to get along with at times. As
far as Melissa herself was concerned, Shawn had more than made up for any lack
he was ridiculed over when she’d first met him.

  
Reluctantly, he had
agreed to aid her in her search for her father when even trusted colleagues had
turned her down. He further decided to remain on board the
Rhea
to continue that quest when almost anyone else would have
tucked tail and run. And he had unquestionably saved her life while they were
investigating the
Icarus
. To deny,
especially to herself, that she cared for him would have been an outright lie.
Despite his obvious bravery and dedication to the people he cared about the
most, in this moment all Melissa could feel from him was despondency. It was
then that the revelation hit her like a thunderbolt: Shawn Kestrel deserved
better than that.

  
Not really sure of
what she was doing until she had done it, she slid next to Shawn and curled her
arm around his elbow once more. He didn’t resist, nor did he seem to approve.
He also didn’t offer a single word as she leaned over and rested a tired head
against his exceedingly hospitable shoulder. Before she realized it, she had
fallen fast asleep.

  
Shawn didn’t avert
his gaze from the outside world until her heard the soft rhythmic breathing of
the passenger beside him. He turned his head to see Melissa lying comfortably
against his shoulder, her head slumped somewhat forward as she snored lightly.
When had she moved closer to him? And, more importantly, why hadn’t he noticed?
In the open air of the transport, a strand of her hair blew across his nose,
giving him a slight itch he instinctively scratched. He reached out his free
hand to smooth her hair down, to which she responded by tightening her hold of
his right arm. As he finished primping her hair he lightly kissed the top of
her head, praying silently that they would both be reunited with her father
soon, and that this entire ordeal would come to an end. Looking to the Marines
in the front seat, then out to the war-torn city, and finally down to his
uniform, he wished to be back at The Old Flamingo’s office on Minos, staring at
a stack of unpaid bills, with
Sylvia’s
Delight
fueled and ready to go at a moment’s notice. It was then that
Melissa tightened her grip on his arm. He looked to her again, watching her
sleep peacefully in his arms, and he knew without a doubt that whether his wish
would ever be granted or not, he was glad he was here at this moment.