“What about Rem? That was legendary.He broke Grandpa’s record.”
“Hardly,” Logan drawled. “He tied it—which iscommendable. But he didn’t break it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your grandfather toppled one giant with oneskirmisher. Rem toppled two, but he used two skirmishers to do it,”Logan reminded her with a shrug. “The average is the same.”
“Oh, my God! You’re competing with him, justlike in my dream.”
“Pardon?”
She arched a teasing eyebrow. “I had a dreamwhere you and Rem turned into mechs and fought each other.”
“Who won?”
“I don’t know. But Rem’s pretty surehe did.”
“That’s unlikely. I’m a bigger man with morematurity and military experience on my side. It would be close,” headded magnanimously. “But I’d win.”
Zia rolled her eyes. “Now I’ve heardeverything. If you’re so down on him, why did you offer to supporthim if he ran against my uncle for president?”
“He told you about that?” Logan grinned. “Irespect him. I wouldn’t want to compete with him or supporthim if I didn’t.”
“I guess that makes sense,” she murmured.
The commander’s expression grew sober. “Whywas Dr. Annur here, Zee? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She hesitated, then asked himcautiously, “You knew Aengus Stone, right? Were you competitivewith him too?”
“Absolutely. He was one of the finest men Iever met, so naturally I wanted to be better than him. That’s howit works, Zia,” Logan explained. “Why do you ask?”
She gave him a weary smile, then motioned toa nearby sofa and warned him, “You’d better sit down for this,Commander. You’re not going to believe it.”
Chapter20
Over the next few days, Zia continued torefuse Rem’s calls, but now she had an additional reason. Shedidn’t want to get his hopes up, either about their romantic futureor the possibility that his father had a bold new defense againstcharges of murder and treason.
Unfortunately, her own hopes were rising, andthat was dangerous. She didn’t dare do that to herselfunless there was a real possibility she and Rem could have afuture. And for the moment, there was no such possibility. Therewas only a mech girl’s crazy theory, unsupported by any facts. Sofor the time being, it was best to avoid Rem altogether.
But on the morning of the ceremony, she hadno choice but to see him, even though she hadn’t heard back fromAnnur yet. So she put on her “dress whites” for the very firsttime, brushed her hair until it shimmered, then allowed the SecretService to escort her to the parade grounds.
Her uncle had wanted her to go with him, sothat they could arrive together, but she had pretended not to beready. She had lost all faith in him because of his treachery intelling the world that Rem had been playing games during the Vekzorattack. Plus, since her return, he had made a couple of nastyreferences to the fact that she had “made Stone into a hero” onMalara, implying it would have been preferable for her todie there with Rem rather than allow him to returntriumphantly.
She didn’t really care. Not anymore. Anyillusions she had had about family bliss—or even familyloyalty—were gone. And apparently her uncle felt the same way,because he hadn’t made any real effort to spend time with her untilnow—the first public event since her return.
An important event, too. Even Zia had toadmit that. It was a day worthy of respect, which was why she hadworn her dress uniform. Still, she had never appeared in public inanything resembling a suit, and she kept pulling at the slimknee-length skirt and tailored white jacket, while bemoaning thelack of style in the two-inch-heeled blue shoes. But the uniformwas part of the Air-Space Service, and she wasn’t about to givethat up—not after what she’d gone through to earn it. If wearingbad clothes was part of it, she’d have to power through.
She was the last of the dignitaries toarrive, and when she saw how huge the audience was, she almostturned back toward home. Thousands had been expected, buttens of thousands had turned up, from OmniVid, to Air-Spacepilots, to regular families with their children in tow, sometraveling across oceans. They wanted to see a real live hero inperson, and Zia wanted them to see one too—Rem Stone.
But she suspected they wanted to see her aswell. It was a source of pride, of course, but she knew thetruth—Rem had toppled two giants. He had made history. It was hisdestiny to make history throughout his life. The last thing shewanted to do was confuse that with being a celebrity likeZeeZee Quito.
As she climbed the steps to the stage, thecrowd started chanting “Quito-Stone, Quito-Stone,” and she stole alook at her uncle’s face, just to see how livid he was. As usual,he was controlling his expression expertly. But his hands wereclenched into white-knuckled fists in his lap, and she knew he’dmake Rem pay for this if he had half a chance.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t.
She noted with amusement that AmbassadorHumber was applauding briskly, as was Commander Logan. She almostexpected them to break into their own chorus of Quito-Stone, butthey were too discreet for such an overt show of support for Rem.At least, for the moment.
Rem himself was at the far end of the stagewith Harada and Jackson, and as soon as Zia turned to them, theystood tall and saluted her proudly. Rem gave her an inquiring look,as if asking for permission to join her. But she shook her head,then walked right up to the master of ceremonies—her uncle’s presssecretary—and said quietly, “I’ll take it from here, thanks.”
He placed his palm over the microphone.“What?”
“You heard me. This isn’t a press conference.It’s a public celebration for Captain Stone, and for me, and forthe other officers that served on Malara.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “And for PresidentJared Quito—the forward-thinking patriot who authorized the missionin the first place.”
“Like he had a choice?” Zia glared. “This ismy day. And for once, I earned it. Are you really going toargue with me in front of all these reporters?”
The press secretary gulped, then stepped awayand took a seat next to the president while Zia faced the audienceand flashed a
