The Lost Star Episode One (18 page)

“Hunter, we need to talk. Now. You’re not on
duty, so whatever it is you want to do can wait.”

“
Meva,” his tone dropped low in warning,
“Let go of my wrist now.”

His voice carried, and as two confused
ensigns walked down their section of corridor, Meva finally dropped
her grip and took a step back.

Hunter tugged down on his shirt as he fixed
her in an angry pointed stare.

“Fine. Go.” She curled one arm around her
middle and gestured dismissively with the other. “But come find me
as soon as you can, once you’ve done whatever it is that’s more
important than me.”

The confused ensigns hadn’t finished
traversing this length of the corridor, and he could tell their
attention was transfixed on him.

He didn’t want his relationship with Meva
advertised. She apparently didn’t care as she took a step forward
and seductively inclined her head to the left, letting her gaze
slip up and down his form.

He took a solid step backwards, reinstating
his personal space. “That’s enough. We’re in public,” he dropped
his tone to a harsh whisper.

“So we are.” She gestured with her elegant
fingers. Then smiled again.

Once again that smile set him on edge.

He’d never noticed the predatory quality to
it before today.

“
Anyway, come find me,” she purred, maybe
realizing she was likely to catch more flies with honey than
vinegar.

He shook his head tersely. “Good luck with
that. I’ll be busy the rest of the day.”

She looked down at his feet then slowly slid
her gaze upwards as she arched an eyebrow. “I don’t appreciate your
tone, lover.”

He cringed. “My tone is the least of your
problems. You’re behavior here is out of line.”

Her head tilted to the side with all the
menace of a snake jerking to follow its prey. “What are you
saying?”

He stopped.

What was he saying?

He’d had an emotional couple of days. He’d
almost died twice. A rational man would step back, deal with his
feelings, and try not to make any important decisions.

“Hunter, what are you saying?” Meva
repeated, lips curling hard over her teeth as her eyes flashed.

He brought a hand up and dug his tensed
fingers into the back of his neck.

His single moment of indecision was enough
to see her smile.

And that smile was all it took.

“I guess I’m breaking up with you,” he
realized out loud.

Once the words were out, he couldn’t pull
them back.

Meva stiffened. Her face looked as if it had
been cast from steel.

Slowly one lip twitched up, then she let out
a derisive snort.

His hackles rose.

“I suppose you are. Oh well, better you than
me,” she said as she slowly tipped her head to the side and took a
step to his left.

She drew up alongside him, hooked her hair
gently behind her ear, and slowly flicked her gaze over to him.

He held it.

“This way, with you breaking up with me, you
can keep whatever little dignity you have left.”

His jaw locked with tension.

“
Oh, little Hunter, you’ll never break out
from behind your brother’s shadow, will you? You’ll always be half
the man he is. No matter how path
etically you struggle.” She tilted her head and
gave a soft, lilting laugh. Then she clenched her teeth and pulled
her lips back. “I was always too good for you, Hunter, you know
that, don’t you?” She smiled triumphantly. The exact same move, the
exact same curl to her lips.

This time he saw it for what it really
was.

He took a hard step back, never dropping her
gaze. “I hope your next boyfriend realizes how great you are, Meva,
because I have a feeling I’m going to forget real fast.” He turned
and walked away.

At first his stomach sank.

It didn’t sink too far.

He couldn’t even begin to feel sorry for
himself.

Meva had shown her true colors. Better to
find out sooner rather than later.

So, despite his messy breakup, he fixed his
mind back on the task of helping Ava.

Realizing he had no time to waste, he made
it to the bridge as fast as he could.

Ordinary crew members couldn’t march onto
the bridge and demand a meeting with the captain.

Hunter was hardly ordinary, and nor was he
in an ordinary mood.

The more he thought about this situation,
the more screwed he realized it was.

Sure, the Coalition needed the Avixans,
but they also needed to know who the hell the Avixans really
were.

No more lies and half-truths.

When Hunter marched onto the bridge,
Harvey swiveled to look at him. Then, in one continuous, smooth
move he stood from his seat, motioned towards the discussion room
with a flick of his head, and led Hunter forward.

Maybe Harvey had been expecting Hunter
to
come striding onto
the bridge sooner rather than later, because he didn't ask a single
question until the doors to his discussion room closed.

He strode behind his desk, sat down quietly,
and looked up.

Hunter's chest punched out as a swirl of
frustration and plain confusion stormed in his heart. "This isn't
right."

"What isn't right? The fact you just stormed
onto my bridge?"

"Screw that, Harvey. You know what I'm
talking about. I can't stand the fact we don't know anything about
the Avixans. We have no idea what’s going on. We can't make
informed decisions."

"For once," Harvey let out a stiff breath,
"I agree with you."

Hunter's brow crumpled. "Aren't you going to
take another serve at me for marching onto your bridge and snapping
at you?" He looked at his brother keenly.

At first Harvey didn't make a move, then he
let out another plainly frustrated breath. "I probably should. Your
behavior has been completely out of line for these past few days."
He trailed off, gaze dropping to his desk. "... But so has
mine."

It was the first time Harvey had actually
admitted to doing something wrong.

Hunter didn't know if he was gratified or
relieved. Probably both.

This was the Harvey he knew and loved.

He let out his own relieved sigh, took a
step forward, and folded into the seat behind Harvey's desk. "First
thing's first, I've got to tell you Ava's terrified."

"Of what? I took your advice... I have
instructed Shera to stay away from her." Harvey's expression was
cold, hard, a touch defeated.

It must have been goddamn hard giving that
order to his girlfriend.

Still, it was the right thing to do.

"Ava's sitting in her quarters. Hasn't moved
for the past eight hours according to her roommate. Keeps mumbling
she's going to be taken off the ship."

Harvey's brow crumpled hard. Concern flashed
in his gaze.

It gave Hunter immeasurable relief to see
it.

It confirmed his brother wasn't an asshole
after all.

"Says her government are going to extradite
her. Said she committed a crime when she shared information about
her armlets."

Harvey frowned, cheeks practically sinking
off his face and falling on the desk. "She barely told us
anything."

"She says it's enough. She's terrified she's
going to get taken away."

"... Maybe she's overreacting."

Hunter leaned forward, hooked his arm on
the desk, and stared at his brother seriously. "Yeah, Harv, and
maybe she isn't. We have no goddamn idea what the Avixans will do –
because we have no goddamn idea who they really are."

Harvey didn't respond. Maybe he didn't know
how. Heck, Hunter didn't either.

This problem was intractable. Bigger than
them both. They didn't have the power to go against the Coalition
top brass and force the Avixans to give them
information.

Yet at the same time, they desperately
needed to know what was going on.

"What do we do, Harv?" the words were out of
Hunter's mouth before he could stop himself.

As a kid, he'd always looked up to his
bigger, stronger, smarter brother.

But when Harvey continued to hesitate, it
became clear Hunter had to forge his own path on this one.

"I told Ava I'd come here and ask you –
no, beg you," Hunter leaned forward again, until his back was
practically bent in half, “Not to include anything about her
telling you information on her armlets in your official report.
It's a tiny detail. It would be easy to leave it out. Come on,
Harv. It may not be protocol, but if the Avixans find
out—”

"It's too late, Hunter."

Hunter's stomach sank so quickly it could
have reached light speed. "What?" he asked through a dry, scratchy
mouth. "What do you mean it's too late?"

"I already submitted my report."

Hunter paled. His cheeks felt
colder than deep space, and a
nasty prickly sensation rushed down his neck and front. "What did
you write in your report—”

"All the relevant facts." Harvey wouldn't
make eye contact. Then he sighed. "Including the fact Ensign Ava
willingly shared information about her armlets, or locks as she
called them."

Hunter winced, closed his eyes, and
recoiled, muscles feeling weaker than if he'd run flat out for a
day.

He'd failed. "When did you submit the
report? Is there time to retract it?"

"Right after the incident."

Hunter swore, locked a stiff hand on his
brow, and practically hid under his hand.

Every time he blinked his eyes closed, he
saw an image of Ava crouched on the edge of her bed, defeated,
fragile, and alone.

It made his stomach crawl. It was easily the
strongest sensation he'd ever felt in his life.

"We don't know what the Avixans will do,"
Harvey tried.

Hunter laughed. "I don't know, Harv, if
they treat Ava anything like the other Avixans on board do, I'm
thinking it won't be nice. Speaking of which, I thought you were
deliberately keeping information on this morning's incident amongst
the crew directly involved?"

"I am. Why?" Harvey's brow crumpled in a
snap.

"Because I'm pretty sure the other Avixans
know. You should have seen the way they looked at me."

"Looks are not evidence, lieutenant,"
Harvey defaulted to using that serious, officious tone once
more.

"No, but I'm dead sure Meva knows. She
accosted me in the corridor as I headed here."

"And?"

"And..." Hunter trailed off as he realized
Meva had never actually said anything to him about the
incident.

"Do you have any actual evidence that she
knows what happened?" Harvey demanded.

Hunter winced and shook his head. "No. Just
a gut feeling. She was real insistent that I had talk to her right
now."

"Maybe she was justifiably pissed off that
you appeared out of an enclosed tunnel with an ensign and without a
shirt."

Hunter swallowed the insult that punched to
the fore of his mind, and cleared his throat. "You know exactly
what happened to my shirt, Harv."

"Presumably, Meva didn't. You should cut her
some slack. She was probably worried about you."

Hunter gave a whooping internal laugh at
that.

Maybe Harvey could make out Hunter's
incredulity, because he leaned forward. "She's the best thing that
ever happened to you, Hunter. You've never made a relationship
stick before her."

Slowly Hunter dropped his head back and
looked into his brother's eyes.

... Harvey was being serious, wasn't he?

To him, Hunter had finally moved up in the
world when he’d scored a girlfriend like Meva.

And now Hunter had gone and lost her, he
was back at square one. Maybe that should piss him off more than it
did, but right now he was too concerned for Ava, so he tipped his
head back and shook it. “I broke up with her, Harv. Pretty sure
she’s not the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Harvey looked genuinely shocked. “What?”

“Sorry to ruin your opinion of me, Harv, but
I think I’m better off without her.”

“
Hunter, don’t tell me you let this
situation get to your head? Okay, I get it – you’re pissed off over
what happened to Ava. But that’s no reason to break up with Meva,”
Harvey looked genuinely exasperated. Heck, he looked like he wanted
to get up from his seat, stride over to Hunter, and grasp him by
the shoulders.

Hunter just looked at his brother with an
even expression. “I guess I realized it’s not a good idea to have a
relationship with a member of the crew.”

Hunter recoiled, though you had to know
him to pick it up. To anyone else, the captain’s expression
hardened like reinforced steel.

He also pushed back in his seat, his
shoulders tensing as they flattened against the
backrest.

At first Hunter thought Harvey would tell
him to get out.

That’s not what happened.

Harvey pressed one hand on his polished
desk, then the other, his knuckles tensed and white. “I am not
letting my relationship with Shera affect my judgement.”

Hunter knew he was going too far. There
was only so much he could push his brother before his brother
pushed back.

But this needed to be said. “I trust you,
Harvey. If you’re telling me Shera hasn’t affected your judgement –
that your inability to trust Ensign Ava has nothing to do with the
lieutenant commander, then okay. But I’m going to admit to you that
Meva got to me. I took her side wholeheartedly, didn’t ask Ensign
Ava for hers, and I made a grave mistake in doing so.”