“If I may ask, sir, what was it like out there?” Waters asked as the gravlift started to move.
“Pandemonium. Pure chaos.” Justin shook his head. “But we won.”
“We’re all so proud of you, escaping that League cruiser like you did, sir.” Waters beamed. “That’s holovid-hero stuff right there.”
“Just lucky, I guess.” Justin didn’t feel like talking, and after an evening spent with the spotlight firmly focused on him, he was done.
“I would’ve been doing some real praying, if it had been me.”
Justin chuckled. “For what it’s worth, I did offer up a prayer. Not sure if anyone was listening, though.”
“If I might ask, sir, what did you pray about?”
“I asked God, or whatever force controls the universe, to help me get home to my wife and daughter,” Justin replied. He felt a bit annoyed at the line of questioning and didn’t appreciate having his beliefs questioned.
Waters tilted his head. “Sounds like your prayer was answered.” He grinned. “I always figured if something was too improbable, maybe God was looking out for us.”
Justin shrugged. “I suppose. I’m not much on religion, Private.” He glanced at the young man’s uniform and saw the religious flag of Christianity under the country patch. “No disrespect intended. My take is we’re alone, and well…” Justin forced a grin. “Not supposed to talk about religion and politics, right?”
Waters laughed. “That’s what my mother used to say, sir.” The gravlift stopped, and the doors swung open. “Well, this is my stop. Again, congratulations on some crazy flying.” With one foot out of the lift, he turned back toward Justin. “One thing, if I may, sir. A good man is never alone. No matter how much it feels like we are, God is always beside us.”
“Thank you, Private.” Justin couldn’t think of anything else to say.
The young man brought himself to attention once more. “Good evening, sir.”
“Carry on, Private.” As Waters walked away, the doors closed, and the gravlift moved on. Justin retreated into his thoughts. I envy people who believe in something else, because they don’t have to face reality alone. Part of him felt guilty for forming a prayer when all seemed lost, even though he didn’t believe.
A few minutes later, he entered his cabin, stripped off his clothes, and climbed into bed. He repeatedly awoke in the middle of a recurring nightmare throughout the night: the destruction of his Sabre and an added sensation of burning to death. Rest was fleeting.
13
The difference a day makes, Tehrani reflected as she walked through the hatch to her day cabin. Taking on food and resupplying our munitions magazines under the watchful eye of a CDF space station is far better duty than counting the minutes to a jump and hoping the League doesn’t show up. The Zvika Greengold had gotten banged up pretty good in the last engagement, but it was doing far better than after the Battle of Canaan.
Tehrani had scheduled a private meeting with her XO and the CAG for first thing in the morning, and she only managed to get through seventeen administrative paperwork actions before the buzzer chimed.
She looked up. “Come in.”
The hatch swung open, and Wright strode in. He came to attention before the desk. “Major Wright reports as ordered, ma’am.”
“At ease,” Tehrani replied. “Please, sit.”
Wright swung himself into the chair. “How’d you sleep?”
“Better than the night before. What about you?”
“I got to talk to my wife last night, and between that and knowing there’s a small fleet protecting us… I slept like a baby.” He broke into a broad grin. “The crew’s starting to talk about this being a lucky ship.”
“Oh?” Tehrani stared at him with a raised eyebrow.
“I know you don’t like hearing the luck word. But they view our string of victories as you having something a little extra going in your favor.”
Tehrani leaned back. “The something extra is Allah,” she said quietly. “At least, it’s what I’ve retreated into.”
“You know, before about six weeks ago, I heard you talk about your religion maybe five times in two years. Now? Every day. What happened?”
He had a point. Tehrani turned her palms up and shrugged. “Confronting death daily makes one turn to faith?” She let out a sigh. “It comforts me. What can I say? I haven’t offended you, have I?”
“Not at all.” Wright pursed his lips. “The truth is, I’ve been doing a lot of praying myself. Cracked my Bible open and actually read some of it.” He smiled. “I found that perhaps I’ve done an excellent job of labeling myself a Christian but not living it.”
“I came to the same conclusion.”
“Well, thankfully, it’s something we can both work on.”
“Unless our time is up,” Tehrani replied. “I’ve found myself thinking about what comes after this life, especially after our close calls recently.”
“Skipper, that’s everyone on this ship.” Wright cracked a grin. “Even our CAG, who ain’t afraid of anything.”
Tehrani laughed loudly.
Before she could speak, the intercom on her desk went off. “Colonel, this is Lieutenant Singh. We have a small situation here, ma’am.”
“What is it, Lieutenant?” What possible situation could we have in orbit of a space station? By Allah, please let us have one day of rest.
“I’ve got a gentleman from the Coalition Intelligence Service in the conference room. He’s asked for you and Major Whatley to meet him. His security credentials check out at the highest level, and he says it’s extremely urgent.”
Tehrani exchanged glances with Wright. “Spooks. The only thing worse than civilians.”
“You got that right, skipper.” Wright made a face. “Shall we?”
Before either one of them could move, the hatch swung open again. “Sorry I’m late,” Whatley said as he walked in. “I got caught up chewing out the aviation-deck force again.”
“We were just going to the conference room, Major,” Tehrani replied. She stood and stretched. “We have a visitor from CIS.”
Whatley’s expression darkened. “Spooks. Ugh. Anything but spooks.”
“Amen,” Wright said with a grin as he stood as well.
“Shall we, gentlemen?” Tehrani asked.
Both men stood aside,
