The Army Of Light (Kestrel Saga) (18 page)

    
As Melissa placed her coffee cup on the bar, Shawn quickly moved in to snatch
it just as her hands slid away. He attempted to down the rest of the liquid,
but was met with an empty mug.

    
“Sorry,” Melissa said half-heartedly.

    
“That was my coffee, you know?”

    
She stared back at him innocently,
then
smiled
fiendishly. “Serves you right, you know.”

    
“How do you figure that?” he asked in wonderment.

    
Toyo piped in. “She’s right, you know? Keep drinking that stuff and you’ll
checkout before you know it.”

    
“Oh, so you’re taking her side in this,” Shawn chuckled. “I’m the one who’s
been cheated.”

    
Toyo tittered. That’s when Melissa took the opportunity to speak up. “We should
probably get going, Captain,” Melissa offered with a soft smile, both to the
captain and to their host. “It’s a long flight to Corvan.”

    
Shawn nodded as he accepted the fact he was going to have to take her there
sooner or later. “So it is, Miss Graves. So it is.”

    
“Is there anything I can get for you,” Toyo asked politely. “Anything a humble
old soldier can do for his friend and his lovely… partner, is it?”

    
Shawn quickly corrected Toyotomi. “Employer, Toyo,” then he looked to Melissa.
“She’s my
lovely
employer.”

    
“Employer.
Yes, of course. I must again be in error.”
Toyo smiled and offered a slight bow of his head.

    
“The only things that come to mind are a few provisions to get us there and
back, maybe a little fuel, and—”

    
“And?”
Toyotomi asked playfully, knowing full well
what Shawn was about to add to his small list.

    
“And, if you can spare the power, maybe you can charge up the lasers on the old
girl.”

    
Melissa coughed in shock. “That thing has weapons on it?”

    
The captain gave her a warning glance, which she was quick to answer with a sly
wink.

    
Toyo clapped his hands together in delight.
“Ah, Shawn.
Not only would I be happy to do each of those things for you, but know now that
they are already done.”

    
Shawn knew better than to ask for further clarification. “Thanks for going to
the trouble.”

    
“I owe you, Captain-san. We both know that. I will say, for the record…”
his words trailed off as he looked to Melissa, then back to Shawn, “if
there is such a record to be made of this conversation, that I will
officially miss seeing you in action once again, Captain.” Toyo then slid his
eyes to Melissa. “Consider yourself honored, my dear, to have Shawn Kestrel to
lead you safely into the lion’s den to retrieve your cub. There is not one like
him in a thousand parsecs of here… perhaps even more. Of all people, he is most
worthy of your trust.”  

    
Shawn looked to Toyo in confusion, but let the statement pass with a roll of
his eyes. “I think I’m officially done drowning in your compliments, Toyo.”
Shawn gestured to Toyo with his empty mug. “Besides, you seem to be out of
coffee.”

    
“Then we are in agreement, Captain?”

    
“We always end up that way, don’t we?”

    
The three rose from their respective stools as Toyo walked them back to the
main foyer. Once Shawn and Melissa had gathered their personal effects, Toyo
was there to escort them out of the front door. Outside, the same long, black
hover limo that had delivered them to the house the day before sat idly by,
waiting to ferry the duo back to the loading docks. Toyo opened the car’s rear
door for Melissa, but before she entered she turned unexpectedly and embraced
the older gentleman tightly. It surprised both Toyo and Shawn. The captain
watched as Melissa slowly let go of Toyo and without another word entered the
vehicle.

    
Shawn then took the liberty of approaching his old friend with a grin. “I’m
afraid you aren’t going to get the same treatment from me.”

    
“I know you would never dishonor me in such a fashion, Captain.” Toyo replied
coolly.

    
Shawn sighed heavily, still trying to wrap his head around everything Toyo had
told them. “You know,” he began after a moment, “that this is crazy. I mean,
the Kafaran’s rearming, old enemies realigning into a new threat, not to
mention a government conspiracy. Can you really be that sure about the
information you’re getting from your network?”

    
Toyo nodded thoughtfully at Shawn,
then
turned his
head to face Melissa, now seated comfortably in the car behind the closed door.
“Don’t just take my word for it.”

    
Shawn gave him a crooked smile. “I have no idea what that means.”

    
“I know.”

    
Done with the riddles for the time being, Shawn stepped back and performed a
perfectly executed bow. “Until the next horizon, my friend,” Shawn said with a
solemn nod.

    
Toyo returned the pleasantry in like style. Shawn couldn’t interpret the
expression on Toyo’s face, but he had the distinct impression that something
was definitely going on in his mind. If anything, Shawn could almost say
Katashi looked envious. Before Shawn could inquire about it, Toyotomi reached
out a hand towards Shawn, which the captain took in a firm and friendly
handshake.

    
“May the sun always shine on your path, Captain
Kestrel.
”  

*          
*           *

    
The ride back to the warehouse district—and 
Sylvia’s Delight
—was
both uneventful and strangely silent. Only the sound of the hover engines,
themselves barely discernible in the comfortable confines of the transport,
could be heard as the car whisked the passengers through the still slumbering
downtown of Welga. 

    
Nestled in the back seat of the car, the silence hung between Shawn and Melissa
like a thick fog for reasons neither of them could describe. The conveyance
wound its way through the twisted streets, lightly skimming a few feet above
the road and kicking up small clouds of dust as it passed over silt filled
potholes in the uneven surface. The car continued around a sharp corner, then
shot straight and true for the decrepit warehouse number seven. 

    
As the imposingly large, crumbling structure came into view, Melissa spoke up for
the first time since they’d left the Katashi family residence. “Toyo is a good
man, isn’t he?” Her tone was thoughtful, yet somewhat cautionary.

    
Shawn took his time in formulating an answer. He could see the gleaming hull
of 
Sylvia’s Delight
—always a welcoming sight—parked right where
they’d left her. He watched as the ship came more into focus, and he noted
several umbilical hoses attached to the underside of 
D
 were
bringing onboard fresh water and other materials while simultaneously pumping
out the waste. As he gazed at the Mark-IV, memories of the past flashed through
his mind as he contemplated Melissa’s question. Some of them were the stuff of
horror tales, while others were things that the most pleasant dreams were made
of. “Yes, he is,” he said into the glass, looking out of the side window as the
hover car came to a halt near the aft cargo hold of 
Sylvia’s Delight
.
He then turned his eyes to Melissa.
“One of the very last.”

    
“And… my father?”

    
Shawn sighed heavily before answering. “If you’d have asked me yesterday, I
wouldn’t have hesitated to answer that. But… after what Toyo told us last
night…”

    
“You’ve formed reservations?”

    
There was a long moment of silence between them before Shawn continued. “The
one thing your father and I had in common the most was our distaste for
killing. True, we were at war and we had a job to do, but I can tell you with
full confidence that he liked it even less than I did, and I hated it. Now, to
hear he might have been working for the government on some super-weapon capable
of utter decimation…” Shawn shook his head in disdain. “Let’s just say it’s far
removed from the man I remember.”

    
She wore a blank expression on her face, and it was impossible for Shawn to
tell what was going through her mind as she processed his words. He did
understand, however, the conflict that must be going on in her mind between the
person she thought she knew and the person her father might actually be. 
How
do you reconcile that? 

    
“My father was always a peaceful man at heart. That is a fact I’ve always
known,” she began, her tone utterly confident. “In fact, I used to have this
dream that he would someday become a major figure in of the Unified council,
maybe even more,” she said as she half laughed, half struggled to hold back
tears Shawn saw welling in her eyes. She turned to him with a look of utter
despair. “What’s happened to him, Mister Kestrel?”

    
Shawn knew she was looking for something more than just an answer to the
admiral’s whereabouts. He gazed into her eyes, and on impulse cupped her hand
as it lay peacefully on the seat between them. “People change, Melissa.
Sometimes for the better, sometimes…” His words trailed off he looked out
beyond the front widow of the car. He felt his own despair welling up, knowing
that his next words could hurt him as much as they could her.
“Sometimes not so much.”
He released her hand, then reached
for the door handle and slipped out of the car before she had a chance to
reply.

    
Shawn walked to the driver’s side of the vehicle, resolved to open the door for
Melissa so she could exit. As he neared the vehicle, however, the short, mouthy
Denarian
got out of the driver’s seat and beat Shawn
to his objective. Shawn dejectedly held up his hands up and backed slowly away
from the door. “It’s all yours, 
friend
,” he offered
cautiously. 

    
The
Denarian
grunted before answering.
“A wise decision,
hu
-man.”

    
As soon as Melissa exited the vehicle, the scaly creature closed the door and
stood to face off with Shawn. “Mister Katashi said to inform you that your ship
is ready, and that he’s placed a few extra items into the cargo hold. He also
said to have a safe trip and to come back anytime.” The
Denarian’s
hideous eyes turned to Melissa as he licked his lips with a slimy forked
tongue.

    
“Does that mean I’ll have the pleasure of seeing your pretty face again?” Shawn
asked.

    
The
Denarian’s
smile faded to a scowl almost
immediately. “Don’t get cute, Kestrel. Just be glad you’re on the friendly side
of my gun,” it said as it patted its chest, signifying its weapons were
holstered close to its body and out of sight, “and not the business end.”

    
Kestrel stared the alien down, crossing his arms across his chest. “Don’t
worry, 
friend
. I’ll remember it, just like I remember how helpful
you all were during the war.”

    
The
Denarian
shrugged, appearing to smile, but it
could just have easily been something bad he ate. “That was a long time ago,
Captain.”

    
“Not to everyone it isn’t.”

    
The creature leered at Shawn. “You know, Captain, it’s a tragedy what happened
on
Cortorolla
V.
A Sector Command
star base in complete ruin, orbiting a destroyed colony world like an enormous
tombstone.
It’s a shame really. I even heard there was a
Denarian
cruiser not two parsecs away when the battle broke
out.” The creature made a pitiful slithering sound with its tongue. “I wish
there was something we could have done. But, war is like that, isn’t it? It
fills our dreams and nightmares with the great and unanswerable ‘what-ifs’ of the
galaxy.” The
Denarian
turned before Shawn could reply
and stepped into the car, speeding away a moment later in a cloud of dust.

    
Shawn glared at the car until it disappeared from view, then turned and stepped
into the open hold of the Mark-IV with Melissa close on his heels.

    
“What was all that about?” she asked with unease. “He seemed… well, I just
didn’t take you for someone who would condemn an entire species for one
person’s shortcomings. You didn’t need to be rude to him and—”

    
Shawn spun on his heels and held himself like a statue directly in her path.
“Let me be clear on this, alright?
It
is not
a
him
,
nor is
it
even a
person
. It’s a
Denarian
.
And, if you don’t recall you’re history too well,
then
let me refresh your memory: the
Denarian’s
weren’t
exactly our allies during the war, got it?” He turned to continue up the ramp.

    
“But, neither were they are enemies,” she defended as she rushed up behind him.

    
He halted in his tracks, stopping so suddenly she nearly ran straight into his
back. He turned tersely to stare into her eyes once again. “Yeah, but that
didn’t help the war efforts any. There were more than a few times we could have
used any assistance to win those battles,
Cortorolla
V being one of them. But then again,
Cortorolla
wasn’t a battle at all, really. It was the systematic slaughter of over three
hundred unarmed civilian colonists on a world less than three light-years from
Denarian
space. When a passing
Denarian
cruiser received the colony’s distress call, do you know what they did? They
offered their assistance in exchange for payment… up front.

    
“I didn’t mean to say—” she tried softly, but was quickly silenced.

    
“The
Denarian’s
had their chance to impress me…
multiple times… and they failed. I give them no quarter because they gave us
none. It’s a known fact that, over the course of the war, thousands died—some
of them friends of mine—because the
Denarian’s
wanted
the Unified government to pay for their courage during a wartime situation. The
Unified government refused, not because they didn’t need the help, but because
they didn’t have the spare credits to spend on mercenaries. So, if it’s not
already abundantly clear to you,
Denarian’s
will get no love from me.”