Out of the jumpship’s side viewport I could see the raid unfold below me. It looked like the Marines were assaulting the detention center. Streaks of blaster fire lit up Vortis, on the ground and in the air.
“Where are the others you rescued?” I asked the soldier who was escorting me.
“On board the Revere, sir. That’s where we’re headed.”
I turned back to the viewport, but exhaustion finally got the better of me and I must have dozed off.
Some time later TenSix nudged me awake.
“We’ve landed.”
I was escorted to a ready room where I was met by a short, intense-looking man in his fifties who identified himself as Lieutenant Colonel Will Husker, Commander of the Revere.
Husker perfunctorily welcomed me on board and then turned me over to a trio of intelligence officers who debriefed me for a half hour. I was pretty forthright with them, but did not volunteer the fact that I had been on the ill-fated Beck Salvage mission of 2358. As far as the world knew, it was Sean Beck, not Jannigan Beck, who led the expedition back then.
I asked about the Larks and Grannt and was told they were being debriefed as well. I’d be able to see them once that process was complete.
“What about TenSix?”
“Who?”
“My bot.” During my debrief I had mentioned how Kira and I had met TenSix and how the bot had instructions to transmit an important message to Marlington University.
“The bot is with our tech team. We’ll get it back to you when we’re done with it.”
I didn’t really like the sound of that
My reward for enduring all the questions was to be escorted to the mess hall for a cup of moxa and some food. I sat by myself, nursing the moxa.
I was still wiped out and I couldn’t think straight, but I tried to process what the intelligence officers had told me—which wasn’t much.
Apparently, after this rescue operation—which involved the extraction of all the scientists captured by the Mayir, as well as a few hundred non-human Imperial citizens who had been illegally imprisoned—we would return to the Marine base at Camp Langdon. There we’d be processed—whatever that meant—for a day or two. After that, we’d be dropped off on Jaalbar. From there I could take a commercial flight back to Anglad.
But what would I be going back to?
Beck Salvage was closed down. I was sure my domus had been sold, especially since I had been missing for seven years. And what about my friends? They all probably had moved on with their lives. The social scene on New Torino burned intensely, but it didn’t last. Kane and Blieggs and Shaela would probably be married with families of their own. And Lir? She probably ended up with Trey Ackerman. Which was fine with me. I didn’t really feel anything for Lir.
The more I thought about it, the clearer it became. There was nothing left for me on Anglad.
I was snapped out of my reverie by warm arms around my shoulders and soft lips pressed against mine.
“Hey, adventure boy.” Kira gave me the biggest smile I had seen in a long time.
“Kira!” I stood up and pulled her towards me, my heart racing. “Thank Dynark you’re safe!”
We kissed for a long time, and I inhaled her sweet aroma and the faint tang of leptic on her breath.
When we finally parted, I asked about her parents.
“They’re fine. Resting. They went through a big ordeal.”
“Yeah, they sure did. And what about Grannt?”
“Not sure. Off somewhere around here. He’s definitely in his element.” She shrugged. “I was mostly concerned about you. Especially when you didn’t show up at the rendezvous point. What happened?”
I told her the whole story, but kind of glossed over my weird fugue state at the end where the porthole blew out. I couldn’t explain that to myself—let alone someone else.
“So you just managed to break the window?” Kira asked.
I could tell that she thought something was weird.
“Yeah, but I’m not going to lie, I was half dead at that point, so I can’t tell you exactly how I did it.”
“Well, I’m just glad you came back to me.”
“Me too.”
We held each other for a long time and then a yawn escaped from Kira’s mouth.
“I’m not boring you, am I?” I smiled at her.
“Sorry,” she said shyly. “I’m exhausted. Where’s your room?”
“They didn’t give me one.”
“Oh really? I’ve got one. It’s not much, but I’m happy to share.”
“I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”
As we walked to Kira’s room, I said, “You know what I still can’t figure out?”
“What’s that?”
“How did the government know we were there?”
“What do you mean?”
“They just happened to raid Vortis while we were trying to escape?”
“Didn’t they tell you?” Kira asked.
“No.”
“It was Lhiana.”
“Lhiana?”
“She managed to get a message out. I don’t know how she did it, but she got a distress call to the State Department.”
“Wow.”
Kira arched one eyebrow. “You look shocked. Didn’t you say you filled her in on what was going on?”
“Yes. I’m just surprised that the State Department took it seriously. I mean, they sent a carrier and a battalion of Marines, for Dynark’s sake. To rescue three people.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t just us that they were rescuing.”
“Still, this could turn into a major interplanetary incident,” I said. “An act of war, probably.”
“I told you we were working on something important.”
“For the government?”
“I can’t say. I’m sorry Jannigan.”
“That’s okay.” But my head was buzzing. What could three botanists have been studying on a jungle moon that would justify this kind of military action?
I wondered if I’d ever find out.
Maybe.
It was a big universe out there.
THE END
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