Jason chuckled.
Tyler walked over the threshold and took a seat on the captain’s chair. He strummed the guitar. “I can show you a few chords. We’ll start with the basics.”
“I’m probably a lost cause.”
“That I already know,” Tyler said, tongue-in-cheek. He put the guitar beside the chair and threw a deck of cards at Jason from his pocket. “Poker then.”
“All right.” Jason opened the pack and shuffled. He dealt three cards to Tyler and three to himself. “Okay, this is difficult without chips, but you’ll get the idea.”
He spent the next few minutes going over the basics of Cerberan Poker and then began.
Tyler glanced at his cards. “I know it’s probably not something you’ll want to discuss, but have you thought about what you’ll do if you—”
“Don’t find anything?” Jason looked at his three hidden cards. “I haven’t thought that far ahead, to be honest.” He placed the two community cards in the middle on the command console between them. “I’m broke, but I guess I’ll head back to Odyssey Station. I still have business contacts who could find me work to tide me over.”
Tyler studied the community cards. “So, this is the point where we can either keep our cards or replace them, right?”
Jason nodded. Tyler mucked one of his cards, and Jason handed him a replacement. After viewing his cards again, Jason decided to keep them all. He had a flush draw.
“It doesn’t seem like you’ve planned this out.”
“I guess not.” Jason put the third community card down. “You probably think I’m nuts.”
Traveling halfway across known space to find a particle that may or may not have something do with a friend’s death. I don’t think nuts is quite the word for it.”
Jason scowled. “You wouldn’t understand, the man was like a brother.”
Tyler glowered at him. “Is that the kind of lengths you’d take for your own family?”
It was only in that moment that Jason realized what he’d said. A lump formed in his throat and he dealt the last community card. “I’ve traveled to Frontier’s Reach for my best friend. If it were you, there’d be no ship fast enough to take me where I’d need to go.”
Tyler’s mouth gaped open, but no words came out.
“Just because I left, didn’t mean I ever gave up on my family,” Jason continued. “Cassidys all the way. Right?”
A small grin formed on Tyler’s face as they both looked down at their cards.
“Now if both of us would have bet to this point of the game and not out-bet each other at this round, we’d have to flip our cards. What have you got?” Jason asked.
Tyler revealed his hand. He had two tens, which matched up to one other on the board. “Are these trips?”
“Beats my nothing,” Jason said, revealing his four clubs. He raised an eyebrow at his brother. “You sure you don’t know how to play this game?”
Tyler smiled. “Shut up and shuffle.”
Thirteen
UECS Vanguard
The Vanguard disengaged its FTL drive and smoothly entered sub-light. Nicolas checked the scanners on the central command station satisfied with the efficiency of the new navigational computer. They’d dropped outside the gravitational field of Orion V, just as planned.
He turned to the helm. “Ensign Worthington, plot a course toward Orion V and commence orbital insertion.” With a touch, he activated the ship’s intercom. “Engine Room, shut down the FTL engines and let them cool off.”
“Gladly, sir,” Chief Engineer Devers replied from below decks.
“Approaching orbit, sir,” Worthington said, as the ship moved toward the deathly cold orb of Orion V. “Orbital insertion in five seconds.” The young ensign deactivated the maneuvering thrusters and let gravity do its thing. “Orbital insertion established.”
“Thank you, Ensign.” Nicolas turned to Commander Perera joining him in the pit. “Are our guests ready?”
Perera nodded. “Doctor Tai and the Marines are on their way to the hangar deck with the package as we speak.”
“Good. Ensign Xeh, open a commlink to the mining facility.”
She keyed in the command. “Commlink open, sir.”
“This is Captain Marquez of the UECS Vanguard.”
“Welcome to Orion V, Captain Marquez,” came the voice from the planet below. “This is Administrator Koeman. I trust your journey was a pleasant one.”
“It was… long, but uneventful. Thank you, Mister Koeman.”
“How soon can we expect you?”
“We’ll be down within the hour.”
“Good. I understand you’ve been instructed in the correct protocol regarding the container’s transportation to the surface.”
“The Marines will escort the container to the surface along with Doctor Tai. Only I will accompany them.”
“Very good. I’ll see you when you arrive. Koeman out.”
The commlink ceased.
Perera pointed down at the surface scans on the monitor. “I hope you packed warm.”
“Lucky for me I have no plans to go for a stroll outside.” Nicolas made his way out of the command pit. “The Vanguard is yours. Don’t break anything while I’m gone.”
“I’ll do my best, sir.” Perera gave his CO a casual salute.
After taking the elevator through the heart of the ship, Nicolas arrived on the hangar deck, where Deck Chief Klapecki was waiting for him.
“Is everyone aboard?” Nicolas asked him, looking at the transport pod sitting in the middle of the deck.
“Yes, sir.” Klapecki handed him a large blue jacket.
“Where would I be without you?” Nicolas put on the thick jacket and zipped it up. The heat of the thermal packs lined inside it instantly warmed him up.
“Maybe HQ could pick a tropical planet for us to visit next time,” Klapecki quipped. “Big sun. Big mai tais. Big b—”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He walked into the rear airlock of the pod and passed by the Marines who were buckling themselves in. He squeezed past the container and took a seat next to Susan at the helm.
“You want to take the stick, Doctor?” Nicolas said with some amusement.
She had all her piloting certifications. He knew because he’d been the one to give them to her. Though he wondered how long it’d been since she’d last flown.
Susan looked at him with a
