The Lost Star Episode One (9 page)

Shera would never make a move against
her.

It would just be too costly.

...

Lieutenant Hunter
McLane

As soon as he was finished with Shera, he
rushed to the med bay.

Every now and then he passed a bloodied
footprint, and they sent guilt and fear kicking through his
stomach.

By the time he reached the med bay he was
running at full pelt.

He swung through the open doors and almost
plowed right into someone.

He looked up to see a shocked Chen. "Whoa?
You okay?"

"I'm fine. How's Ava?" Hunter craned his
neck past the lanky Chen. "Ensign Ava. Tell me she got here,
right?"

Chen's expression crumpled, his lips
pressing into a tight frown. "Oh, she got here alright. She's been
fixed up and is back in her quarters. But what the hell were you
thinking leaving her alone to walk through the ship with an injury
like that?"

Despite the fact Chen had just told him
she was fine, Hunter couldn’t stop himself from pushing past and
checking the med bay with jerked movements. When he was sure she
wasn't there, he turned and let out a trapped breath. A breath it
felt as if he'd been holding since that lift had given
way.

Chen watched him carefully, the edge of
his terse gaze turning into concern. "I told you, she's fine,
Hunter. How she walked here on her own with that much blood loss, I
don't know though. But she was in good spirits and is obviously
pretty resilient. She didn't even ask for any pain
killers."

"You gave them to her anyway, right?" for
some reason Hunter kept stumbling over his words.

"Of course I gave them to her. I know my
job, do you know yours?" As soon as he said it, Chen looked like he
regretted it.

It was too late though. Hunter took a
stiff breath, blew it through his even stiffer lips, and dropped
his gaze to the floor. "I thought I did. But today's been kind of
crazy. Shera gave me a direct order. She said Ava would be
fine...." Hunter couldn't help but trail off. He was cold even
thinking about that interaction.

"Well, she was fine. So I guess Shera's
right. Despite Ava's insistence, however, I'm still going to have
to flag this with the captain."

Hunter
nodded. Even if Chen hadn't brought it up, Hunter would
have done it anyway.

Harvey needed to know something wasn't
quite... right between Shera and Ava. If he didn’t already know,
that was. Hunter couldn't rule out the possibility that the reason
Harvey was suspicious of Ava was because Shera had told him to
be.

Hunter
withdrew into a pensive silence only broken when Chen shot
him a pointed look. "Are you just going to stand there blocking the
doorway forever? I told you where she is. Her quarters are on B
Block."

Hunter’s
brow crumpled with a twitch. "I'm not going to go
see her."

"You burst in here looking for her,
running at light speed, and you don't have the gall to go see her
in her quarters? I'm sure she wouldn't mind. She seems pretty
reasonable."

Hunter
opened his mouth. He had no idea what to say to
that.

He didn't get the chance anyway.

His wrist device beeped. Surprised, he
shook his head. "These are working now?"

"Sure. B'cal got them up with limited use
for senior staff a couple of hours ago," Chen said offhand as he
walked away. "If that's the captain – and I bet it is – inform him
I will be preparing a report on this incident." With that, he waved
and ducked out of sight.

Hunter
took a steeling breath and tapped his wrist device.
"Lieutenant McClane here."

"Hunter. Get to my office. Now. I want you
to tell me why the hell one of my lifts is a smoking pile at the
bottom of the ship."

Hunter
let out a slow breath. "On my way."

He twisted hard on his foot. Rather than use
a lift to get to the bridge, he settled for sprinting through the
corridors.

It took him a full fifteen minutes, but
finally he reached Harvey's office.

"You chose to walk?" Harvey snapped as
soon as Hunter entered, the doors swishing closed with a
hiss.

"Can you blame me? I think I'll give the
lifts a miss for now."

"Fair enough. Now sit down and tell me what
the hell happened."

Though Harvey looked as though he was trying
to control his expression, he was failing. Badly. Stress lines
marked his brow, his mouth drawn into such a thin frown it looked
like it had been drawn on by a ruler.

Hunter
told him the full story from beginning to end, leaving out
nothing.

Harvey sat there silently as he either
tried to take it in or decide how much to believe. Then he let out
a sharp sigh and collapsed his hand over his eyes briefly before
letting it drop to his desk. "So you're telling me I almost lost
two crewmembers without even leaving space dock."

"Almost. We're still alive, Harv. Nothing
happened."

"Nothing? By the sounds of it, Ensign Ava
almost bled out in an access tunnel. How'd she get to the med bay,
by the way? You left that part out."

Hunter
stiffened.

He had no idea what to say next.

He'd known Shera for years. She was a close
friend of Meva and nearly all the other Avixans he'd ever met.

Apart from Ava, obviously.

But worse – Shera was very much
romantically involved with Harvey. Harvey had never told Hunter
this, but Hunter wasn't an idiot.

"What aren't you telling me?" Harvey
pushed.

Hunter
winced.

"Just spit it out."

"You want to know how Ava got to the med
bay... she walked."

"Sorry? I don't understand."

Hunter
couldn't control his expression. He knew it was a confused
mixture of guilt and confusion. "She walked herself to the med
bay."

"W-h-y?" Harvey asked, e
nunciating every syllable, his expression
becoming dark. "If she was as injured as you claim...." Harvey
quickly typed something on his personal computer panel. His
expression stiffened even further as he read something. Finally he
jerked his gaze up. "And the medical reports confirm," he continued
in a truly dark tone, “Then what the hell was she doing walking
herself to the med bay?"

"... Shera pretty much ordered her
to."

In a single second, Harvey was derailed.
His expression went from barely-restrained anger to shock. "What
are you talking about?"

"I wanted to go with Ava to the med bay, but
Shera insisted I show her where the lift crashed. She said she knew
more about Avixan biology, said Ava would be fine on her own."

Harvey didn't move a muscle.

Neither did Hunter.

"I see," Harvey managed eventually.

Really? Because Hunter didn't.

The more he thought about this, the more he
didn't understand.

He pressed forward in his seat before he
knew what he was doing. "I think Shera has a problem with the
ensign." Maybe he should have chosen his words better – phrased
things differently. But he had to say something.

Harvey visibly stiffened. "Why do you say
that?"

"It's plain as day. You should see the way
they look at each other."

"So Ensign Ava has a problem with the
lieutenant commander," Harvey concluded, stressing Shera's proper
rank.

"I didn't say that."

"You said you should see the way they look
at each other. That suggests the problem, if there is one, is
mutual."

"Fine. But it's not like that. I don't think
Ava's the problem."

Harvey drew his arms back and crossed
them, a telling move – a move that, if Hunter was in the mood to
listen, would tell him to stop.

He wasn't in the mood to listen.

"Really? Barely a few hours ago you were in
here telling me she shouldn't even be on this ship."

Hunter
couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, then I
almost died," he spat, “And she's the only reason we're both alive.
So that kind of put things in perspective for me."

He shouldn't be talking to the captain
like this. But the captain was being a jerk.

Harvey had one defect, though he'd never
admit it – he was too loyal.

"I've known Lieutenant Commander Shera for
years. She's a trusted member of my senior staff—”

"And your goddamn girlfriend," Hunter
interjected before he could stop himself.

Harvey stiffened. Heck, stiffened wasn't
the right word. It looked like all the blood drained from his body
and he became nothing more than a plank of bone and hardened flesh.
“Lieutenant, what the hell did you just say?"

Hunter
clenched his teeth and drew a deep breath through them.
"I'm sorry, captain. I wasn't speaking as a lieutenant."

"Well you sure as hell better not have
been speaking as my brother either – I'd hope my brother would have
more tact than that."

Hunter
sunk back into his chair, the barbed insult sinking hard
into his gut.

"At times I don't get you," Harvey spat.
"You have everything going for you, but you keep making stupid
decisions."

"Fine. You're right. I'm an idiot and I'll
never live up to you. But that's not the point, captain. I'm
telling I believe Lieutenant Commander Shera has a problem with one
of the ensigns under your command. I'm telling you, her
understanding of Avixan biology aside, it was damn out of line to
make an injured crew member walk themselves to the goddamn med
bay," Hunter's voice became louder and louder as the injustice of
the situation caught up to him.

He shouldn't have followed Shera's order.
It had been the right thing to do in terms of the chain of command,
but the wrong thing to do morally.

For a few drawn out seconds, Harvey did
nothing. He said nothing. He didn't even blink. "Go back to your
quarters."

Hunter
shook his head, pressed his lips closed, and rose. "Aye,
captain." He turned on his foot.

"I don't know what you think of me,
Hunter, but you should know I'm capable of putting my personal
feelings aside. I will talk to Shera. I'll find out her side of the
story before I throw away her years of loyalty and condemn
her."

Hunter
was damn lucky he had his back to Harvey. If Harvey saw the
snide frustration scrunching Hunter's brow, there'd be a court
martial.

"Is that all?" Harvey asked.

"Yeah."

"Yes, captain."

Hunter
paused. He wanted to stalk through the door without
kowtowing to his brother. A single scrap of reason held him back.
"Yes, captain." With that, he walked off.

He came across Shera on the bridge. She
looked up and nodded at him courteously. "Did everything go
okay?"

"Fine." He forced himself to nod. Then he
walked for the door that led back into the hall beyond.

"The lifts are now fixed," Shera called from
behind him.

"If it's all the same, I'll keep my feet
on solid ground for a while." He strode out of the doors and into
the corridor. Only when he was alone did he allow his expression to
crack. And his calm cracked along with it.

He balled up a fist and struck it into the
wall. It sent out a resounding, thumping echo.

A few ensigns took that moment to walk
around the corner. He straightened up just as they looked around
curiously. "What was that?" one asked.

"Probably another problem. We'd better
tell the chief."

Hunter
strode past them, locking his hand behind his back as he
clutched his fingers in and out.

He wanted to hit something again.
Specifically his brother.

What the hell was Harvey's problem? He was
a captain. He was also Hunter's brother. Did Harvey think such
little of him that he'd ignore a direct warning? Or was Shera more
important than his goddamn flesh and blood?

Hunter
strode through the corridors aimlessly.

He should follow Harvey’s order and return
to his quarters.

He didn't.

Block B. Ava was in Block B. A part of him
wanted to see her, a part didn't.

A part reasoned that if he'd never met
Ava, he wouldn't be in this position. He wouldn't have just been
insubordinate.

Then again, if he hadn't met Ava, he'd be a
pancake at the bottom of that lift shaft.

His conscience got the better of him. He
walked towards Block B.

He didn't reach it.

Meva found him. She walked up to his side
and tipped her head down, a few loose strands of her silky white
hair shifting over her shoulders. "You okay?" She kept step beside
him, her hands locked behind her back, her head still tilted
towards him.

He didn't want to look at her for some
reason.

"Hunter." She pushed out a hand, her warm
fingers curling around his arm.

It was enough to stop him in his tracks.

"I know you. I know that expression. You're
pissed about something."