Victoria's Challenge (49 page)

Courbet leans back in his chair
, steepling his fingers against his mouth. “One more question Major.” Courbet pauses. “Why?”

“Why sir?
” Lucas’ confusion is easily heard.

“Yes
. Why? You went to Earth to retrieve the Chamberlains. Why risk them? Why engage the enemy? You risked not only your life mate, but also her family. Why not wait and make a run for Carina.”

Lucas talks a deep breath
, gathering his thoughts.

“Admiral Courbet…
we’d just come from Earth and the destruction… sir, I can’t describe it to you. Nine cycles ago, I flew over that planet and it was one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen. It was Carina only smaller.” He pauses. “Now it’s this sickly green and yellow... thing, tilted off its axis with nothing on the surface but huge deadly storms. The Regulians did that, sir and we, Victoria and I, weren’t going to let them do it to Carina.”

“How many kills did you have Major?” Admiral Kalt asks, completely changing the subject.

“I have no idea
, Admiral.” Lucas looks at Kalt. “I don’t keep count.”

“You are an excellent pilot Major
I find it hard to believe you don’t know your personal kill record.” Kalt raises a disbelieving eyebrow.

“Admiral
, I’ll be honest, when I first got my wings I kept count. I was young but as time went on, I stopped.” Lucas pauses, wanting to look to his father for guidance, knowing he can’t. “I believe in the Coalition, Admiral, and its mission to protect Carina. I have no regrets in the Regulians I’ve killed. I believe every one saved Carinian lives, but a life is still a life, Admiral, one that
I
am responsible for taking and that’s not something I can take pride in.”

“Is that why you took the Captain’s test
? So you wouldn’t be responsible for killing anyone else?” Kalt challenges.

Victoria
stiffens in surprise. She didn’t know Lucas had taken the Captain’s test. How had he done?

“No Admiral
. I took the test because I believe I can benefit the Coalition outside of a Blade. I believe what I’ve learned as a pilot will translate well to a battleship. As for not killing… when I’m in a Blade, I’m responsible for the life of every member of my squadron, twenty men sir. As a Captain I will be responsible for the lives of every man, woman and child on board my ship, they will be mine. Death is death, Admiral.” Lucas’ eyes are hard. “Just because I don’t personally pull the trigger, doesn’t mean their deaths aren’t my responsibility.”

The room is silent for a moment.

Victoria carefully wipes away a tear before anyone notices, her heart swelling. There he is, her life mate, standing before the most powerful men in the Coalition, telling them that
every
life mattered, not matter who they are, where they’re from. That
she
mattered, that her planet had mattered and everyone on it. He’s standing for her, and she’s not going to let him down.

“And you believe you’re up for th
at challenge, Major?” Kalt finally asks.

“I’ve been assured that it’s just like flying a Blade
, Admiral, only bigger.” Victoria realizes she’s heard Quinn say that same thing about the Retribution and wonders. Her attention is brought back to the High Council as they start to speak quietly amongst themselves, slowly one after the other nods to the High Admiral who addresses his son.

“Major.
” The High Admiral stands. “You were brought before the High Council to answer questions that were raised as a result of your testing. It appears you’ve answered them to the satisfaction of the Council. That being said, it is my privilege to inform you that you are being promoted to Captain. Effective immediately and are being assigned to a ship that we believe will not only compliment your abilities but also expand them. There will be an official announcement and ceremony later because right now there are decisions you need to make.”

“I…
what…” Lucas looks at his father stunned but before he can say more, the High Admiral continues.

“King Jotham, you have the floor.
” William sits as his King and friend stands, trying not to smile.

“Captain Zafar,” Jotham stands. “The High Admiral is allowing me the honor of informing you of your first assignment as Captain. It gives me a great sense of pride to know that the Captain for the Guardian will come from the House of Protection.” Jotham watches as it takes a several seconds for Lucas to process what he’s saying, when it does, he sees Lucas’ jaw drop.

“Jot
h… my King… The
Guardian
?” Lucas’ eyes fly from Jotham to his father and back again.

“
The Guardian.” Jotham tells him firmly. "The flagship for the House of Protection. You
can
handle her, can’t you, Captain?” Jotham gives him a hard look.

“Yes my King!
” Lucas snaps to attention. “Thank you, my King.” He realizes the opportunity he’s being given.

“
Don’t thank me, Captain, you’ve more than earned it.” Nodding to him, Jotham sits back down.

“Captain Zafar,” The High Admiral pulls Lucas’ attention back to him. “The Guardian is two moon cycles away from being ready for her maiden voyage. You need to select your crew and while the crew totals eight hundred and fifty eight, you will only be responsible for the selection of seven hundred.”

“Excuse me
, High Admiral? Why aren’t I selecting my
entire
crew?” The High Admiral’s gives him a hard look while inside he is secretly pleased that his son isn’t letting himself be intimidated.

“The Guardian carries the new cyclotron propulsion system
. Your engineering crew has been selected for their knowledge of that system.”

“I can agree with that
High Admiral, but I would still like to review their files.” William raises and eyebrow at his son.

“
They will be supplied to you. Now while you know the Guardian will be first in the Coalition with the cyclotron system, you don’t know that it will also be the first to carry a civilian crew of twenty that will not be under your command. They will answer to another civilian.
She
will have complete authority over them. If there is a problem, you will need to resolve it with her.” William waits a beat. “Can you handle that, Captain?” William watches his son narrow his eyes, assessing what he’s said.

“Without more information
, I can’t tell you what I can handle High Admiral.”

“Fair enough
, Captain, I believe you’re familiar with the Head of the newly formed Coalition Burn Treatment Center. Victoria, would you please step forward.” Lucas freezes momentarily, and then whips around, his eyes rapidly searching for her.

Victoria is frozen in her s
eat. Uncle William hadn’t warned her, he’d given her no indication that he’d taken her proposal to heart. All eyes turn to her but its Lucas’ that have her rising to slowly approach.

Look at her, Lucas thinks
as she walks towards him, tall, poised and strong. Look how beautiful she is. He wants to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless but realizes he can't, not yet.

Victoria
wants to run and jump into his arms, wrapping herself around him, it’s been nearly five weeks and she’s dying to kiss him. Looking at him, she sees he feels the same way but this isn’t the time or place. They are under the scrutiny of the entire High Council, and she wouldn’t let them think less of Lucas, because of her.

“High Admiral.
” She addresses him once she’s next to Lucas.

“Do you think you’ll have trouble dealing with problems that might arise between your doctors and Captain Zafar?
” The High Admiral asks.

Victoria looks at her Uncle
, deciding how she wants to deal with the situation he’s thrown her. Then decides she’ll treat him no different than she would any other Admiral.

“As I explained to you earlier
, High Admiral, the doctors I’ll bring into the Coalition will be under stresses that you and your officers will never fully comprehend.” She sees all the Admirals stiffen at her claim. “Captain Zafar has already stated how every kill he’s made has affected him. I don’t believe he's stated anything that you, on the High Council, didn’t already know from personal experience. None of you would have advanced as far as you have if you enjoyed death.” Now she can tell she’s confused them.

“But the doctors I’m going to bring to the Guard
ian, what they are going to do…” She looks to Lucas searching for the words. The absolute faith she sees in his eyes gives her the strength to turn back to the Council. “Death is easy gentlemen. You pull the trigger and it’s done, over, you move on. While I’m not trying to minimize what it costs each of you, you've never have to look into that person’s eyes ever again, never seen them filled with so much pain they’re almost black. You have never heard them scream until their vocal cords rip, never had them
beg
you to kill them.”

She sees she has their undivided attention
. “You’ve never done that to someone knowing that tomorrow and every day after you’ll do it again until they are healed. Knowing they are going to hate you before it’s over.” Her eyes move from one Admiral to another. “It’s hard enough to do that to a stranger but to do that to a friend, a family member, a life mate…” Victoria can’t help but look at Lucas. “Could you do it gentlemen?” She pauses, letting it sink in. “Because that is what I’ll be asking these doctors to do, what they will be facing in treating the burn victims of the Coalition. I can’t promise you that Captain Zafar and I will always agree, but I
can
promise you this: your people will never suffer needlessly at the hands of my doctors. Every moment of pain, every procedure they don’t think they can endure, serves a purpose and that purpose is to get them back to how they were
before
the injury, and if for some reason we can’t do that, we will make it so they can lead a productive life.”

Silence meets her comments
. Lucas can tell she’s astounded not only the High Council, but also his father. None of them expected such a logical yet impassioned argument out of one so young.

Finally,
the High Admiral clears his throat to speak.

“
Captain Zafar, do you think you’ll be able to handle Ms. Chamberlain and her people?”

Lucas finds he can be no less honest then Victoria
. “High Admiral, having been one of those people begging to be killed, I think I’m in the unique position to understand both sides of the situation.” He doesn’t miss the gasp from all the Admirals or the shock on his father’s face. “I’ve been trained by the Coalition to withstand all sorts of torture, but I’ll swear to you here and now, that it is nothing compared to those treatments. Even knowing it was to help me made no difference, the pain… I tell you all truly, I can’t imagine what I’d be like today if Victoria hadn’t been on the Retribution when I’d been injured. Those treatments were excruciating but I stand before you today with the full use of my hands.” He raises them showing them his scars. “I can fly a Blade and now you trust me with the Guardian, none of that would have been possible if I hadn’t received immediate treatment. Every member of the Coalition deserves the same chance I had, and if to do that means the people treating them receive a little more leeway then others in the Coalition, then so be it but I assure you, there will be limits because when it comes right down to it, we are all one.” Lucas lets his words sink in.

“I believe we can all live with that
, Captain.” The High Admiral looks around the room receiving nods. “Now Captain, Victoria, I’m sure you both are anxious to tour the Guardian to see what you are getting into, but we have some other matters to address first.” He nods to Hamlin.

“If you’d follow me…
” Hamlin gestures them outside the chamber then leads them back to the High Admiral’s private office. “There’s food and refreshments on the table. The High Admiral wanted me to let you know that it would be at least an hour before he can take you to the Guardian.” Hamlin barley contains his smile. “Congratulations to both of you.”

“Thank you Hamlin.
” Lucas tells the man as he leads him to the door then locks it behind him. Turning, he finds Victoria inches from him.

“God I missed you!
” She whispers then leaps into his arms.

“Quiet!
” Lucas orders. “Your lips have better things to do!”

Swooping
down, he captures those lips in a crushing kiss. His hands move to her pants, ripping them down gripping her bare ass as she wraps her legs around his waist. Twisting, he presses her against the wall, while Victoria’s talented fingers quickly release him from his pants.

“Now Lucas
! Now!” She rips her mouth away to beg than gasps as in one thrust, he completely fills her. Gripping her hips, he holds her at the angle he wants pulling almost completely out before thrusting back into her hot, wet heat, setting a frantic pace.