“Are you comfortable in front of the media, Mr. Kane?”
The captain’s question made Thomas turn, pulling his eyes away from the looming shape of Astral Base One as projected on the bridge sphere. Bowen was on initial approach to the giant station, a dark silhouette against the dazzling backdrop of Earth. The lights of other craft teemed in the orbital space. Apparently at least one of them carried a news crew, and more reporters had been authorized into the base.
“Not particularly, sir,” he replied. Once, not long ago, he would have jumped at the chance to appear on camera, but journalists were sharp, and had long memories. Thomas didn’t relish the prospect of explaining his demotion on interplanetary news.
Commander Hu shot a questioning glance down to him. Seated in his command chair next to the busy officer of the watch, he wore the expression of a man concentrating on a dozen things at once. Yet still he had capacity to interrogate his strike officer.
“The request,” he said firmly, “is to interview the officer who led the initial search of Toronto.” Bowen’s discovery of Toronto, a ship thought lost, had ignited a firestorm of attention back home. The fact that the crew were missing suggested that they might still be alive. At the same time there was the inevitable gnashing of teeth over the fact that the vaunted Astral Force had suffered such a defeat.
“In that case, sir,” Thomas said carefully, “I think that honor clearly belongs to the executive officer. He led the search—I simply conducted the initial security sweep.”
Hu regarded him in silence for a long moment, dark eyes revealing nothing.
“Very well, Mr. Kane,” he replied. “That’s all.”
Thomas stepped back from the command chair, retreating to the after section of the bridge as the captain called over to the XO. Jack sidled up to him, and Thomas offered a smile to his young friend.
“Got any plans for shore leave?”
“No,” Jack replied. “I think I might head up to Vancouver to see my folks. They worry.”
“Yeah, I reckon mine do, too, but they stopped saying so years ago.”
“Are your parents veterans?”
“No, I’m the first.”
“Really?” Jack looked thoughtful. “Something about you suggested a long line of family service.”
“I think it’s my wife’s money that gives that impression,” he said with a wry smile.
“How is she?”
Thomas considered. His wife Soma was absolutely thrilled to be pregnant with twins, but quite irritable at having to significantly reduce her recreational drug habits. She’d been keeping busy, however, preparing the nursery and hiring additional staff, and spending money always cheered her up.
“On balance, quite content.”
“She must be due any day, now.”
“Another month, although with twins you can never tell.”
“You must be excited.”
“How so?” he asked.
“Well, to be a dad.”
“Oh…” The comment caught Thomas by surprise. His focus had been on preparing himself for the inevitable onslaught of social and financial demands. The way Soma spoke of the impending children, they seemed more like assets than offspring. In fact, when he’d heard the news his first thought had been that the babies would need to be DNA-tested, to prove who the father was.
“Yes,” he acknowledged. “It’s going to be a big change.” At least there would be more servants around.
Jack looked at him strangely, and he didn’t like it, so he turned his attention back to Astral Base One. The station filled the entire forward view, the beckoning lights of the docking spar blinking in response to Bowen’s approach. The line officer in Thomas immediately began to assess the ship’s vectors, but he shook off the thought.
Not my problem anymore.
“Are you going to see Amanda this time?” he asked.
If possible, Jack’s face fell even more.
“No, her ship is deployed. She can’t even tell me which system she’s in, let alone when she’ll be back.”
“Good for you two, though, making it work.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Jack said. “When we’re together we’re together, but the rest of the time I’d hardly call it a real relationship.”
“Shame she isn’t here,” Thomas offered. “You look like you could use a friend.”
Jack’s face hardened, but he just wasn’t the type to clam up.
“What’s the point of having friends?” he spat. “Bullshit bad luck can snuff anybody out, any time. For all I know Amanda’s ship took a torpedo this morning.”
“Jack…”
“I mean, look how amazing Katja was, and even she got killed. What chance do any of us have?”
It was too big a question to try to answer, Thomas knew, and it was one every soldier eventually asked. He could try to respond, but anything he said would just be empty words, especially since in his heart he’d accepted his own death months ago. He didn’t know when he was going to die, but he doubted very much that he’d ever have to worry about growing old. Or being a good father, for that matter.
This war was taking its toll.
“All you can do,” he said finally, “is look out for yourself and your shipmates.”
“What about the mission? Aren’t we supposed to sacrifice ourselves and our shipmates to accomplish the mission?”
Classic Astral Force doctrine. Thomas could hardly argue with the philosophy, but, looking into Jack’s hollow gaze, he knew it was time to share a hard-earned truth.
“As officers, Jack, part of our job is to know which is more important to sacrifice—our troops or our mission. Every situation is unique, and you have to trust your own judgement.”
“And what if my judgement’s wrong?”
“Then the wrong people will die.”
Jack sighed heavily, closing his eyes and fighting down emotion. Thomas looked forward just as Bowen linked up to the spar for docking. He patted Jack on the arm.
“We’ll be secured in a minute, Jack,” he said. “Why don’t you get out of here and head ashore. Catch the first flight to Vancouver and forget about all this for a couple of days.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, offering a fist-bump. “Thanks, Thomas. See you in a few days.”
Thomas lingered on the bridge for a few more minutes, idly listening to the chatter between line officers as shore connections were made and systems began shutting down. The XO hurried past him, face alight with excitement, and through the broad windows on the spar he could see a crowd of civilians gathered to welcome the crew home. Somewhere in that crowd, he knew, was his beautiful wife and her entourage.
He glanced down at his uniform.
Time to change out of one role, and into another.
* * *
The house had been transformed. An entire section of guest rooms had been redone as a nursery, a playroom, a green room, and a pair of residences for the incoming nannies. Contractors were still finishing off the adjustments, but the baby rooms were ready to receive.
Soma herself had also transformed. Her sleek, tiny frame had been carrying the baby bump well when Thomas had left on patrol, but now her limbs had thickened and her entire frame widened to carry the massive womb which her belly had swollen to contain. Her face had rounded out and her breasts, he couldn’t help but notice, were enormous. She waddled instead of walked, and sat heavily whenever chance offered her a seat.
She looked, Thomas realized, absolutely beautiful.
Soma obviously didn’t agree, and as they prepared for the dinner party that evening she spent twice as much time as he remembered on her hair and make-up.
“Are you wearing your uniform this evening?” she asked as she applied mascara.
Thomas was impressed at the new selection of suits she’d bought for him while he was away. His uniforms with their sublieutenant rank, he noted, were pushed discreetly to the far end of the dressing room.
“No, I want to try one of these gorgeous new suits,” he replied. “Do you have a preference?”
“I think the dark blue would go nicely with your medals,” she called back, “if you wanted to wear them.”
Before the war, Thomas would never have worn his military decorations with a civilian outfit, but apparently that had become the style. Quite a few civilians had been honored for various services to the State, and a new galaxy of awards had started appearing at formal social gatherings. As a genuine veteran, Thomas was welcome to display his own honors, even in a civilian setting.
“Sounds good, darling,” he said.
As he slipped into the dark-blue suit, he marveled at her subtle ability to discourage him from wearing the uniform, with its rank insignia, while keeping medals and awards prominent. As always, the world just seemed to fall into place according to her advantage. If only, he mused as he made certain his rack of medals was straight against the dark-blue pocket of his jacket, he’d mastered that skill to the same degree.
Nevertheless, he had his role to play in Soma’s game. He took his wife’s hand and guided her down the hall to the glass-sided elevator which gently lowered them to their waiting cluster of guests. The doors slid open to a hearty round of applause, and Thomas gestured for his wife to precede him into the ballroom. Winters in Longreach never got that cold, but the sun set too early for an outdoor party, so Soma had decided to host a dinner inside.
She reintroduced him to several Jovian business magnates, all long-time friends of her family, as well as a pair of senior State officials based here on Earth. There was a distinct lack of fops or dandies present, Thomas noticed, suggesting that this particular dinner was intended for serious business. It was just as well. Soma’s dilettante friends and their floozy girlfriends tended to make his blood boil.
Before long he found himself standing, drink in hand, in a conversation circle with the gentlemen. Then came the inevitable question.
“And what are you doing with the Astral Force these days, Thomas?”
“I’ve been assigned to Admiral Bowen,” he said easily, adding, “one of our modern cruisers.”
“Oh, yes, weren’t you the ones who discovered poor Toronto?”
“Yes, I was on the initial team who searched her.”
“Damn shame, that business.”
“I saw an interview today,” one of the Jovian magnates commented, “with a member of the Bowen crew. I think he was the… executive officer? That’s not the captain, is it?”
“No,” another joked, “that would be the chief executive officer.”
Thomas joined politely in the chuckles.
“The XO,” he explained, “whom you saw being interviewed, is the second-in-command.”
“So you report to him?”
The idea of being subordinate to Lieutenant Perry made Thomas want to roll his eyes. Time for a mostly truthful statement.
“Actually, I report directly to the captain.”
“I see. In what role?”
Thomas borrowed an expression Jack had used. He’d quite come to like it. He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice.
“I’m the ace in the hole.”
The gentlemen all nodded conspiratorially. The cluster of medals on Thomas’s chest spoke for themselves, he knew, and his enigmatic answer would stop any further questions. Each gentleman would now tuck away his own bit of delicious information, having dined with a military man who was more than he seemed.
“And what about that Centauri terrorist,” someone commented. “Do you think she’ll be captured?”
The face of a female Centauri spy had been splashed all over the media lately. She was the sole survivor of a failed assassination attempt, and while her co-conspirators had all been killed or captured, she was still at large.
“I’m sure she will,” Thomas said. “Having been so clearly identified, there’s no way she can escape our borders, and it’s only a matter of time before someone recognizes her.”
Thomas’s earpiece sounded softly.
“Sir, madame. Minister Shah and Mrs. Shah have arrived.”
“Excuse me,” Thomas said, bowing slightly, “our next guests have arrived.” He joined Soma in the middle of the room and strolled forward to where the new arrivals would emerge from the front hall.
“I’m impressed,” he said quietly to his wife. “We don’t often host senior members of Parliament.”
“I met him through his wife,” Soma replied. “Lovely lady.”
They paused near the entrance, watching as the new couple entered. Thomas pushed a welcoming smile to his face and turned his eyes to Vijay Shah. The Minister of Natural Resources and a member of the largest party in Parliament, he was a tall, slim man with a mane of gray hair over his angular features. His eyes flicked down to the medals, then he reached out to grip Thomas’s extended hand.
“Vijay Shah, sir.”
“Minister Shah, it’s an honor to have you in our home. My name is Thomas Kane.”
“Modesty is not required. What rank do you hold in the armed services, so that I can honor you with a proper salutation.”
Thomas was about to modestly dismiss the query when he heard Mrs. Shah’s voice beside her husband.
“He’s a sublieutenant, if memory serves.”
He looked over at the politician’s wife, and his smile froze in place.
Standing elegantly on the arm of her husband, one of the most powerful men in Terra, was a woman he knew only too well. Dazzling blue eyes embedded in porcelain features framed by long black hair, hourglass figure wrapped in a stunning silk dress and jewelry to shame a queen.
Charity Brisebois.
“Mrs… Shah.”
“Hello, darling,” Breeze said as she leaned in to accept his cheek kisses. She held him in the embrace just long enough to whisper, “Did you miss me?”