Stars of Blood and Glory (3 page)

Roman whistled out the corner of his mouth.
“Four times? And this was starting price?”

“
Yes,” said Danica. “Of course, I
negotiated it up to five. But their main battle fleet is almost
ready to depart, and we still need a new cybernetics
officer.”

The main window turned into a massive display
screen, the view of the planet fading out to black. A slightly
unfocused picture appeared in the center, showing the face of a
young woman with jet-black hair and expressionless eyes.

“
This is our prime applicant for
the cybernetics post,” said Danica. “Her name is Rina Al-Najmi. She
arrived at the main station less than an hour ago and wishes to
conduct the interview as soon as possible. I told her to meet us at
the airlock in fifteen minutes.”

“
This girl is prime applicant?”
said Roman, pointing at the screen with a grunt. “She is too
young—she cannot be more than twenty.”

“
Young, yes, but she’s already
quite accomplished. The Federation employed her in a number of
intelligence gathering operations deep behind the Coreward
front.”

“
She is number cruncher,
then?”

“
Perhaps,” said Danica, “but she
has some military training as well. I found her listed on a
hit-and-run operation in the Gamma sector just a few months ago,
though what role she played I don’t exactly know.”

Roman nodded. “What else can you say about
her?”

“
Surprisingly, not a lot. Either
the Federation has been using her in some secret operations, or
she’s very good at covering her tracks.” Danica stood up straight
and turned to face him. “That’s why I want you to interview her. I
need you to shake her up a little, get her to show her true
character. Whatever impression she gives you, I want to hear about
it.”

“
Understood.”

“
There is one more thing you
should know,” said Danica, turning back to the computer. The
picture disappeared, replaced with the girl’s identifying
information. “It took me a while to discover her star of origin,
but I found some records in the refugee data banks that indicate
she’s from Gaia Nova.”

Roman’s lips curled into a snarl. “So she is
Gaian Imperial citizen, then?”

“
Probably—though she couldn’t
have been older than five or six standard years old when the Empire
fell. Either way, I don’t want you to let that color your
perceptions of her. The days of the Empire are gone, and the
revolution is long over. Wherever her loyalties lie, she poses no
threat in that regard.”

I am not so sure,
Roman thought,
keeping the comment to himself. A chime sounded, drawing Danica’s
attention back to the computer.

“
That’s her,” she said, “showing
up exactly when I told her to. Better get to work,
Sergeant.”

“
Sir,” said Roman, giving Danica
a sharp salute. He turned and walked off the bridge, clenching his
prosthetic hand into a fist as he did so.

* * * * *

The airlock door hissed open, revealing the
dockside chamber with its LED lights lining the windowless metal
walls. The girl from the briefing stood on the other side, dressed
in black. Roman narrowed his eyes; she looked even younger in
person than she did on the display screen. At her full height, she
barely came halfway up to his chest, and her arms were thin enough
that he could probably touch his fingers together while gripping
them. Even so, the gaze she fixed on him was as cold and unyielding
as the depths of space.

“
Rina Al-Najmi,” said Roman. “You
are here to interview for cybernetics position?”

“
Yes,” said the girl, her voice
low but far from soft.

He nodded. “Then come inside.”

She stepped onto the
Tajji Flame,
and the airlock
hissed shut behind her. Roman palmed open the door to the main
corridor, coming face to face with Private Nikolai, one of his
men.

“
Search her,” he ordered. Then,
in Tajji, “Don’t be gentle.”

Nikolai turned to the girl and motioned for
her to stand with her arms outstretched on either side. She
complied without a word, barely flinching even as he jostled her
nearly off her feet. He pulled out a pistol from her belt and a
laser-knife from her boot, but nothing else.

“
That’s all, sir,” he said,
handing over the weapons. Roman nodded and motioned for the private
to leave.

“
We will hold these while you are
on board,” he told the girl. “You will receive them again when we
are finished.”

“
Understood.”

Roman led her down the main corridor to the
enlisted mess hall on the main level. Because they were in port,
the windowless room was completely empty. A handful of faded pinups
graced the dull metal walls, while caged lights flickered overhead,
making the place feel like the hold of a bulk freighter. Roman
keyed a button to raise a bench from the floor and motioned for the
girl to sit. He remained standing, hands clasped thoughtfully
behind his back.

“
So,” he began, “I understand you
wish to be our new cybernetics officer, yes?”

“
That is correct.”

“
What makes you think you are
qualified for position?” he asked, pacing slowly around
her.

“
A good cybernetics officer needs
to be an expert at gaming systems and breaking rules,” she
answered. “I have extensive experience at both—I believe my file
speaks to that.”

“
No doubt. But what makes you
think you belong with us?”

He let the statement hang in the air,
observing her reaction. Instead of answering, she waited patiently
for him to explain himself. He pulled off his eye patch and met her
eyes with both of his own.

“
If you wish to join our private
military company, there is something you must know,” he said. “With
few exceptions, we are all Tajji. During Imperial occupation of our
homeworld, many of us fought as revolutionaries. None of us has any
love for the Empire.”

“
Neither do I,” she said calmly.
“My parents were desert tribesmen living outside of any government,
and the New Gaian Empire collapsed when I was just a child. I never
had any allegiance to it.”

“
Perhaps,” said Roman, narrowing
his good eye. “But you are still Gaian, yes?”

“
Yes, I am. Will that be a
problem?”

He declined to answer, watching her closely
for any sign of discomfort or weakness in her resolve. Despite how
small and fragile she seemed, Roman had to admit that she knew how
to carry herself.

A glint on the back of her neck caught his
eye, and he reached down with his prosthetic hand to touch it. In
one swift, reflexive motion, she spun around and grabbed his hand,
reaching up to jam her thumb into the crux of his elbow. When her
fingers met his hardened durasteel prosthetic instead of an artery,
she stiffened a little and let him go.

Roman chuckled. “For one so small, your
reflexes are impressive.”

“
Don’t touch me,” she said, her
voice low and dangerous. It was evident she was talking about the
neural implants in the back of her neck.

“
I see you have one, too,” he
said, turning and pointing to his own. “Where did you get
it?”

No answer, but the coldness in the girl’s
gaze had turned from indifference to anger.

Come,
Roman transmitted directly to her
mind.
Tell
me, where did you get it?

Her eyes widened. “How did you do that?”

“
It was not difficult,
considering how you had already broken onto our ship’s private
network. Perhaps there is something you are looking for? Or is this
how you demonstrate your skills?”

His questions finally broke through her
impassiveness, if only for a fraction of a second. In that moment,
however, he saw a surprising degree of vulnerability. Her pulse
accelerated and her body heat began to increase, but she resumed
the mask of indifference like a seasoned professional.

“
Simply testing for weaknesses,”
she said, taking a barely suppressed breath. “It’s my field, after
all.”

Roman doubted she was telling the full truth,
but for some reason he didn’t quite understand, he decided to let
it go. Perhaps it was the momentary panic he’d seen when she’d
realized he’d caught on to her. It made her seem more human, like a
little girl trying desperately to fit into a world of cyborgs and
soldiers. He could respect that kind of quality in a person—indeed,
he couldn’t help but respect it.

“
Why do you wish to join with
us?”

“
Your company was the first
military force to win a direct engagement with the Hameji,” she
said, falling into a practiced answer. “In addition, your team is
small enough that your officers have a degree of flexibility that
can’t be found on a Federation capital ship. For those reasons, I
think I stand to gain more valuable experience from serving with
you than with any other battle group.”

“
And why do you wish to be part
of this war?”

She hesitated for a fraction of a second
before answering. “The Hameji destroyed my homeworld. Do I need
another reason?”

“
No,” he said, scratching his
chin. “I suppose not.”

Though her voice lacked no
conviction, her face was expressionless, her eyes strangely dull.
If revenge was still her primary motivation, the last few years
must have taken the edge off of it. Not that he couldn’t
sympathize—indeed, the
Tajji Flame
was full of ex-revolutionaries who were little
more than drifters now, living from job to job with nothing left to
fight for. But to see it in someone so young, that was
unusual.

“
Have you ever killed a
man?”

“
I have.”

“
Could you do it again, if
necessary?”

“
I could.”

The ease with which she answered the question
made him raise an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“
Why would I want to become a
mercenary if I couldn’t?”

Good answer,
Roman thought,
chuckling to himself. The girl certainly wasn’t afraid to tell
things like they were. There were a few more questions on his list,
but he’d heard enough to form an opinion of her.

“
Thank you,” he said, unfolding
his arms. “That is all. Stay here.”

She nodded, the heat signature
of her body betraying her anxiety.
She wants this position,
Roman thought to
himself.
She
wants it very badly.

“
Wait,” she said, stopping him as
he palmed open the door. “I didn’t get your name.”

He turned slowly to face her,
still sitting on the bench in the center of the empty room. “I am
Master Sergeant Roman Andrei Krikoryan,” he said. “On
Tajji Flame,
I am
second-in-command. Only our captain has served longer than I have.
If she decides to hire you, you would do well to remember
that.”

She nodded. “I will, Sergeant.”

* * * * *

Roman paced the empty bridge while the watery
world below slowly turned in the forward window. The dark blue
crescent rapidly waned as they orbited over to the night side of
the planet. All across the surface of the hydrosphere, little
specks of light glimmered against a soft turquoise glow—enclaves of
human settlement floating in a sea of bio-luminescence.

The door hissed open, and Captain Danica Nova
stepped through. Roman stood at attention and saluted.

“
Captain.”

“
At ease, Roman. What do you
think of the girl?”

He brought his hand to his chin, carefully
considering his thoughts. “She is spirited,” he said. “Cold, but
spirited. She has sharp reflexes, too.”

“
Yes, and her cybernetics
abilities are quite impressive. I think she has exactly the kind of
skill set we need.”

Roman’s muscles tensed, seizing up a little
where the metal prosthetics met his aging flesh. “But Captain,” he
said, “you do realize that she is Gaian?”

“
Of course, Sergeant. Do you
think that will be a problem?”

He hesitated for a moment. “Perhaps yes,
perhaps no.”

“
Do you have any other objections
besides her star of origin?”

“
No, Captain.”

“
I understand your prejudices,
Sergeant,” said Danica, looking him in the eye. “I used to share
them. But as much as we both hated the New Gaian Empire, it’s
nothing more than a phantom from the pages of history now. This
girl is not our enemy—are you willing to accept that?”

“
Of course,” he said, scowling at
the implication that he might find it difficult to accept Danica’s
orders.

“
Then if you have no other
objections, I’m ready to give her the position. In every way, she
strikes me as exactly the kind of cybernetics officer we’ve been
looking for.”

Roman nodded. “Yes, Captain,” he said. “I
agree.”

Chapter 2

Katsuichi drew a deep breath and gripped the
edge of the balcony guardrail. Overhead, the sun shone bright in
the hazy blue sky, its light reflecting off of the brilliant golden
spires and ivory pagodas of the floating city of Fukai-Nami. From
the palace balcony where he stood, he had a magnificent view of the
deep blue world-ocean, ringing the horizon in all directions as far
as he could see. In the distance, other floating cities glistened
white in the shimmering haze, their cascading domes making them
look like beautiful islands made of gold and crystal.