––––––––
“Drago, are you back with us yet?” asked Jaxon’s voice. “Our doctor said I should leave you to regain consciousness in your own time, but it’s been over an hour since they gave you the wakeup shot and we need to discuss a few things.”
I opened my eyes and stared at confusingly perfect whiteness. I remembered the upside-down fighter, and the figure in an impact suit reaching out towards me. Of course that figure must be Jaxon, but space should be black not white.
Then a gloveless human hand waved in front of my eyes, and I realized the whiteness I was looking at was a ceiling. I was wearing one of those embarrassingly ghastly hospital gowns, and lying in one of the distinctive, technology packed beds of a Military Medical Centre.
The hand went away. I turned my head to see where it had gone, and saw Jaxon was lying in another bed crammed right next to mine. He must have been waving at me with his nearer, left hand, because his right arm was encased in a bulky regrowth unit.
I tried to roll on my side to face him, but had trouble moving my legs. I lifted my covers to peer at them, and discovered they were both encased in grey regrowth units. I didn’t know what injuries the units were hiding, but my legs were obviously salvageable. If I’d needed to grow new limbs, I wouldn’t be lying here awake in bed. I’d be unconscious and floating in a full body regrowth tank.
I skipped the trivial questions, like which planet we were on, and went straight for the important one. “The comet core was destroyed in time? Hera survived?”
“Yes,” said Jaxon. “It was a close call though. That core was diamond hard rock, so the Hera solar array only just managed to destroy it before it entered the atmosphere.”
I relaxed back on the bed and let my mind adjust to that knowledge. “Hera is safe, and you rescued me. How long ago was that?”
“Only two days,” said Jaxon. “And of course I rescued you. What did you expect to happen after you hit the eject button? I was right behind you, heading in to crash my fighter into the comet core, when you stole my job. Did you really believe I’d pull out of my approach run and fly away, leaving my best friend floating in space to be killed by rocks or vaporized by a planetary power beam?”
“I wasn’t expecting anything,” I said. “I never hit the eject button. I was planning to stay with my ship when it exploded. I needed to make sure it hit precisely on target, and there seemed no chance of making it out of that debris field alive anyway.”
Jaxon burst out laughing. “You mean you were about to heroically kill yourself to save Hera, and had forgotten your fighter safety systems would eject you before impact? Chaos, I wish I’d seen your face when your cockpit cover blew and your ship tossed you out into space.”
I joined in his laughter. “Oddly enough, the fighter pilot training course spends far more time teaching you how to fly fighters than they do teaching you how to blow them up. What happened to your arm?”
“I got hit by a fragment of rock as I was pulling you inside my fighter.” He shrugged. “It’s only a cracked bone. Naturally we ended up at the same Military Medical Centre. They were overloaded with Hera pilot casualties, so they wedged both our beds into a single room.”
“Are the rest of the team all right?”
“Ramon is in a room just down the corridor. He got a bit dented in the collision he mentioned on ship to ship. Apparently his diplomacy doesn’t work on rocks. Everyone else made it through in one piece.”
There was a moment of silence. The fact that Jaxon was here and not insulting me implied certain things, but I felt I had to check the situation anyway. “We’re good?”
“You should know we’re good. Don’t you remember me saying that before you fired your missiles at the comet core?”
“You only said that because of the special circumstances. I’d done nothing to earn it, so I wasn’t sure it still counted.”
Jaxon shrugged again. “Yes, I only said that because of the special circumstances, but I can’t go back on my word now. Anyway, you saved my life straight afterwards, which I’ll grudgingly count in your favour.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t save your life. You were the one who saved me.”
“You only survived that suicide run because I was right behind you ready to pick you up,” said Jaxon. “If you’d followed your orders, fired your missiles, and flown on with the others while I made the suicide run, then I’d be dead.”
He grinned at me. “You’ve no right to argue about this, Drago. It’s totally my decision whether you’ve proved yourself a changed man and made up for your past dishonourable behaviour or not. I’ve decided we’re good, so you have to shut up and accept it.”
I reached out to take his hand for a second, then saluted. “Yes, sir.”
“I can’t salute back until I get this thing off my arm.” He jerked his head at the regrowth unit.
“How long will it be before the refugees can go back to Hera?”
“At least a few months. With so many rock fragments around, there were a few sizeable impacts on the planet surface before the other fighters could get back with more missiles and start clearing up the space neighbourhood. The night sky of Hera is still having spectacular meteor displays from all the smaller debris, there are some minor changes to the coastline of the inhabited continent, and it will be a while before the weather gets back to normal. The refugees will have to wait for Hera Off-world to be rebuilt anyway.”
“Hera Off-world was hit?” I remembered the image of those two little children outside Hera Off-world. My hands clenched into fists and I felt a sharp pain as my nails dug into my palms. “Did any of the people there make it out alive?”
“There wasn’t anyone there by then,” said Jaxon. “The Military knew a lot of fools had hidden from the evacuation enforcement patrols. Hera Command waited for the last of the civilian police to leave Hera, and people to gather outside Hera Off-world, then sent in Military Security to make them leave.”
“How could they do that? You’d need vast numbers of Military Security officers to forcibly drag all those people through interstellar portals.”
Jaxon grinned. “Gemelle didn’t use force, but superior tactics.”
I blinked. “While we were messing around in space, Gemelle was down on Hera?”
“Oh, yes,” said Jaxon. “She wasn’t in command, of course, just one of the junior officers involved, but she got a starring role in the newzie coverage because she’s the one who persuaded that vid reporter, Kasim Hashmi, to leave Hera.”
“How did she do that? Did she break his nose or stun him?”
“Neither. Gemelle confiscated the man’s vid bees. After that, he meekly followed her into Hera Off-world. Apparently there was no point in him staying without dramatic live coverage of his death being shown on Alpha Spectrum newzie channel, and a sizeable number of other people decided to leave with the vid bees as well. The sight of them all trooping off into Hera Off-world, combined with a loud explosion as a chunk of comet debris hit nearby, broke the resolve of the rest of the crowd. They all started running off into Hera Off-world, so Military Security just had to persuade the few remaining stubborn cases to cooperate.”
“I’m impressed by Gemelle’s tactics, but not surprised,” I said. “After the shock I got when I arrived at the Military Academy, I’m prepared for almost anything from her. Why didn’t you tell me what was going on when we were kids? You must have known all about it.”
“Not at the beginning,” said Jaxon. “Gemelle knew all about our adventures, because half the time we messed up. We didn’t know about hers, because she was far better than us and only got caught once. That was when a couple of high ranking Military Security officers showed up at the clan hall to question her about a breach of the Betan Parliament security system.”
He paused for a moment to laugh. “You were somewhere in Alpha sector with your parents at the time, and my parents were away on assignment too, but obviously our clan council leapt to Gemelle’s defence. I was cowering in the corner while they all made impassioned speeches. Gemelle was an innocent child, a member of a proud and historic Betan Military clan, and a descendant of humanity’s greatest hero. If Military Security wanted to arrest her, they would have to do it over the dead bodies of the entire Tell clan!”
He laughed. “When clan council finally gave Military Security a chance to speak, they announced they weren’t there to arrest Gemelle, but to recruit her as the youngest ever member of their highly secret, special training programme.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this when I got back to Zeus?”
“Two reasons,” said Jaxon. “Firstly, as I just said, this was a highly secret training programme. Secondly, it was embarrassing to think that while you and I were pulling faces at statues outside the Betan Parliament Building, my younger sister was infiltrating its security system.”
I could see his point. “When I arrived at the Military Academy, I was stunned to see Gemelle wearing a Military Security Captain’s uniform. She was attending some of the standard classes with the rest of us mere cadets, but vanishing off for special sessions as well.”
“While we’re on the subject of Gemelle,” said Jaxon, “you’ve been under sedation for two days while the doctors messed about with your legs, but I’ve been conscious the whole time. Gemelle came to see me yesterday, and she gave me a message for you.”
I tensed, turned my head away from Jaxon in a paper thin pretence of studying the flashing lights and screens attached to my bed, and waited in silence.
“She says that what you did at Hera shows there’s still hope of you becoming a decent human being,” said Jaxon. “She’s willing to admit you exist again and she doesn’t actually hate you any longer. That doesn’t mean she either likes or trusts you though, and if you make advances to her again then she’ll break more than your nose.”
I gave myself another moment of privacy to adjust to that before turning to face him again. “Please tell Gemelle she’s been more than generous, and I promise she won’t need to use her Military Security combat skills to teach me a second lesson.”
“I hope you mean that,” said Jaxon. “I couldn’t cope with a repeat of what we’ve been through in the last week.”
I sighed. “You were right when you said I took after my father, Jaxon. It’s taken me a long time to learn to put myself in someone else’s position, see things from their viewpoint and appreciate their feelings, but I think I’m finally getting there. I understand what Gemelle is saying. There’s a level of betrayal where you can never really trust that person again.”
“I’ve got a confession to make about that.”
I frowned. “About what?”
Jaxon rubbed his nose. “About the accusation that you took after your father. When I found out what had happened between you and Gemelle, I started ranting at you, but the truth is I was ranting at myself as well. It’s not just your father who has problems when it comes to emotions. It’s the weak point in our whole branch of the clan and I inherited it the same way that you did. When you told me your story, it reminded me of the time I did something very different but even more selfish.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“Believe it, Drago. People have been keeping my secret the same way Gemelle kept yours. I never dared to tell you about it before, but now I think there’s a chance you’ll understand. Once we escape from the doctors, we can have a few drinks and I’ll tell you the whole story, but right now I need to warn you about a few things before your father arrives.”
I groaned and flopped back on my pillow. “Father’s coming to visit me?”
“Both your parents are coming,” said Jaxon. “They would have been here when you woke up, but our doctor lied about the timing.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Why would our doctor lie?”
“Because she didn’t want your father bullying a semi-conscious patient. You mustn’t get her into trouble by giving away the fact she lied.”
“I won’t.” I’d be glad to see my mother, and I could cope with seeing my father as well. I had a lot to be happy about at the moment. Gemelle didn’t actively hate me any longer, and Jaxon was my friend again. The weight that I’d been carrying on my shoulders all through my Military Academy graduation and fighter pilot training had gone.
“You don’t have to worry about your father coming,” said Jaxon. “He’s delighted with you.”
I grimaced. “My father has never been delighted with me in my entire life. He was moderately pleased with my high scores on the fighter pilot training course, but he said I could have done even better if I’d worked harder.”
“He’s thoroughly delighted now,” said Jaxon. “Hera Command got rather excited about what happened with the comet core. From the outside view, it must have looked perfectly planned. You launched your missiles, set your ship to self destruct on impact with the comet core, ejected, and I was instantly there picking you up. Hera Command assumed the two of us had discussed the situation on a private comms channel and come up with a last minute improvement to the suicide run plan. We’ve both been promoted, and they’re hinting we’ll be awarded the Thetis medal as well.”
I frowned. “If you and Gemelle have accepted that what I did made up for my past behaviour, then I can’t be rewarded for it with promotions and medals as well.”
“I’m not sure I understand your logic.”
“Chaos, Jaxon, I can’t benefit from the same action twice. If the Military promote me or give me the Thetis medal for this, then I’ll have all my past guilt back round my neck again.”
“Gemelle and I don’t feel that way about it.”
“You may not, but I do. I refuse to be rewarded.”
Jaxon waved his left hand in the horizontal, slicing movement that was the Betan gesture of rejection. “I’m afraid it’s too late to block this, Drago. I’ve requested my promotion to Commander be held pending, but your promotion went through yesterday. Your father is already boasting to the clan about it.”
“Well, I can deal with the promotion later, do something to get myself unpromoted, but I can’t be awarded an important medal like the Thetis. Once you’ve got one of those pinned to your shoulder, there’s no getting rid of it.”
Jaxon gave a shake of his head. “I’m about to get drawn into one of your wild plans, aren’t I? Just like when we were kids.”
“Some of those plans were yours. The abseiling was your idea.”
“The face pulling was yours. Can I make a request here, Drago?”
“Of course.”
“You may not want to see the Thetis medal on your shoulder, but I’d rather like to see it on mine. I’d also like to keep my promotion. I’ve asked for that to be held pending because I feel I need more experience before I move to take on a higher position, but it’s rather nice being flagged for promotion.”
He paused for a moment. “My parents don’t pile on the pressure the way that your father does, but everyone expects a member of a Military clan like ours to have a highly successful career. It’s a relief to know I only need to make one call on my lookup when I’m ready to be a full Commander. You understand that?”
“There’s no problem with you getting your medal and your promotion, Jaxon. You’re entitled to them. I’m not. I’ll tell Hera Command that I fired my missiles, then froze in terror and accidentally crashed into the comet core. You realized your suicide run was no longer needed, and saved the fool who’d nearly wrecked everything.”
Jaxon started laughing, covered his face with his hand for a minute while he fought for breath, and eventually managed to speak. “You’re going to claim you accidentally collided with the comet core at the exact point and angle that would save Hera from destruction?”
“Yes.”
“And you accidentally triggered the self destruct sequence as well?”
I grinned. “I didn’t trigger the self destruct sequence at all. That must have started as a freak result of collision damage. I’ll work out the details later.”
“Nobody is going to believe that story, Drago.”
“Probably not, but Hera Command can’t give me the Thetis medal for this if I keep telling them it was an accident. You just have to stick to the truth. Say we hadn’t planned what happened, so it came as a complete surprise to you.”
Jaxon’s amused expression abruptly changed to one of alarm. “In about twenty minutes, your father is going to walk into this room. I hope you aren’t planning to tell him that story.”
“I have to.”
“But after all the years of criticism, you’ve finally made him proud of you.”
“Father wouldn’t stay proud of me for long,” I said. “I’ve been through this before, Jaxon, so I know exactly how it works. Every time I succeed in something, I get rewarded with a couple of days of grudging praise and then punished by him raising his expectations higher for the future. The better I do, the harder he pushes. If I get awarded the Thetis medal, he’ll want me to get the Artemis. If I admit to saving Hera, he’ll expect me to save the whole of Alpha sector next.”
Jaxon shook his head. “If you tell your father you accidentally collided with that comet core, he’s going to try to murder you. I can’t defend you when I’ve got a regrowth unit on my arm, and you’re in no state to defend yourself. You can’t even stand up, let alone run away.”
“Father is going to be extremely angry, but he won’t kill me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Drago.”
“I’ll be perfectly safe,” I said. “You told me both my parents were coming to visit me. Mother won’t let Father kill me.”
“You’re planning to hide behind the awe-inspiring Madrigal?” asked Jaxon. “Isn’t that a bit cowardly?”
I grinned at him. “I think Gemelle would say that it’s good tactics.”
“In which case, I shall use tactics too. Once your parents arrive, I’ll say hello to them and then go down the corridor and hide in Ramon’s room. By the way, I feel Ramon still doesn’t believe in himself as a fighter pilot, and we need to work on building his confidence. Would you agree?”
I shrugged. “Probably.”
“Akinyi’s fighter literally fell apart around her on the way back to the Hera orbital portal,” said Jaxon. “Lotta was lightning fast picking her up, grabbing her out of the wreckage just seconds before the remains of the thrusters exploded. Akinyi was a bit shaken up by the incident, but I think she’ll be fine.”
This conversation was starting to puzzle me. “I hope so.”
“Brandon is having a bad reaction after playing dodge with a planetary power beam. I don’t want to interfere unnecessarily, but we need to keep an eye on that situation.”
I frowned at Jaxon. “Why are we discussing your management of the team?”
“Because we aren’t the only ones who’ve been promoted. Mari’s a Major now, she’s been given her own team, and you’ve been assigned as my new deputy.”
“Oh no,” I said. “I’m not ready to be your deputy. We have to work out how to get me demoted right away.”
“You can’t ask me to help you get demoted,” said Jaxon. “I’m your commanding officer.”
“Which makes you the ideal person to advise me on what would make you demote me. Presumably we’ll get to Freya eventually. How about if I paint lots of insulting comments about you on the Freya solar array?”
Jaxon shook his head. “I refuse to listen to this.”
“Or a giant cartoon of you.”
“I told you I’m not listening, Drago.”
“I could show the rest of our team that vid clip of us abseiling down from the clan hall roof.”
Jaxon slumped back on his bed and raised his eyes to the ceiling in despair. “I was a fool to tell you we’re good, Drago. We’re not. We’re very, very bad.”
I grinned at him. “It’s too late to change your mind now, Jaxon.”
“No, it isn’t.” He pulled the covers over his head. “I’m blanking you out of my life forever. Drago Tell Dramis, you no longer exist for me.”
I laughed.