Dawnwind 1: Last Man Standing (21 page)

“People are complaining on their own behalf, Tes.
 
You know the floaters look forward to working in Crew Services. It’s a nice break from working in Defense or whatever.”

“But Epcott?”

“As far as I know, he hasn’t said a word to anyone about being stuck in Crew Services.
 
I don’t even think he knows about the complaints.”

Tes leaned back in his chair.
 
“What do you want me to do about this?”

“I don’t know,” admitted the younger man.
 
“Push it forward?
 
Maybe let First Allocator Menuv know what’s going on?
 
Maybe she could have an informal word with the First.”

“Guardsman, have you lost your lonely mind?”

Pim frowned.
 
“I don’t. . . .”

“There is no way I’m pushing this forward,” said the old man.
 
“Not through official channels at any rate.”

“But. . . .”

“Look, Pim, Epcott’s off the
Maiden
as soon as we reach Shrouded Jewel.”

“He is?”

“Yes,” said Tes.
 
“I got that straight from Menuv herself.
 
Unofficially.”

“Why?”

Tes rolled his eyes.
 
“Why do you think, youngster?
 
Because our First is a lonely xenophobe.”
 

Pim gaped, his fingers flushing with
 
embarrassment.
 

The old man chuckled. “What?
 
You think he’s not?
 
Trust me, Pim.
 
I’ve been with the Guard a long time, seen a lot of officers.
 
The good and the bad.
 
Believe me, our First is not one of the good ones.”

“Then why did you agree to serve under him?”

“I didn’t agree to serve under Fe.” Tes sniffed.
 
“I agreed to serve under Menuv.”
 
The old man grinned. “Trust me, boy.
 
She’s the only one on the command who’s going places.”

Pim sat there, trying to absorb all of this.
 
“You think?”

Tes’s grin was wide and knowing.
 
“I know.
 
Menuv is Guard Officer material.”

“And Fe?”

“A nova.
 
About to burn out and become a sucking black hole.
 
You don’t want to be near him when that happens.”

Dazedly, Pim nodded.
 
“All right.”
 
He looked at his PIN, lying on Tes’s workstation.
 
“What do I tell the floaters?”

“Nothing,” said Tes.
 
“But next schedule change, transfer the whiners to Recycling.”

“What? Why? I can’t. . . .”

“Because this is the Guard, boy!” snapped Tes Jebim.
 
“Not a crèche!
 
We do what we have to, not what we like!
 
The sooner these floaters realize that, the happier they’ll be!”

He picked up the PIN and held it out.
 
“Now, get out of here. People probably think we’re having a tryst, you’ve been in here so long.”

* * * * *

Halfway through third shift, Zunova Neyopi stepped into the crew hall and found a party in full swing.
 
She wasn’t clear on the reason, but noticed most of the celebrants were downing tall glasses filled with an orange drink.
 
Everyone seemed to be having a very good time.
 
Across the dance floor, Zunova spotted Epili Menuv seated at a crowded table.
 
The First Allocator saw Zunova and waved her over.
 
Chairs were shifted.  Zunova was welcomed with grins and raised glasses.

“A toast,” said Menuv.
 
“To the Sunset Tornado!”

Laughter erupted from the table and everyone raised their glasses, all of them filled with the same drink that everyone else seemed to be enjoying.
 
A chilled glass was pushed into Zunova’s hand, and she took a cautious sip.
 
Her eyes widened.

“Sweet pantheon,” muttered the First Defender.
 
“That’s good!
 
What’s in it?”

“No one knows,” said the man on Zunova’s right.
 
He was young, fit and shirtless.
 
She took a moment to admire the compact musculature of his chest.

“It’s John Epcott’s discovery,” said a woman with short, dark blue hair going gray at the roots.
 
“He finally got one right.”

Zunova glanced at Menuv.
 
Her fellow officer was smiling, faintly, as she leaned against an older man with short, yellow hair and lavender eyepaint.

“Well,” said another woman, red-haired with complicated yellow eyepaint, “it’s not like he’s had anything else to work on.”

“Mogi, don’t start,” said Menuv’s pillow.
 
He reached across the table and plucked the drink from the redhair’s hand.
 

She squawked in protest, but did not fight.

“Sedim’s right,” said the shirtless man.
 
 
“No one wants to hear you complain about work rotations.
 
If you’d quit floating. . . .”

“I like floating,” said the redhair.
 
“I’d get bored sitting in one job all the time.”

“Quit complaining and dance with me,” said the shirtless man.
 
He stood, took the redhair’s hand, pulled her from the table into the bodies swirling on the dance floor.

“Do I want to know what that was all about?” asked Zunova.
 
She had to shout to be heard over the music.

Menuv shrugged.
 
“Probably not.”

“Mogi’s a complainer,” offered Sedim.
 
He ran his fingers up and down Menuv’s bare arm.
 
“Ignore her.
 
She’ll probably resign when we get back to Juni.”

“That’s fine with me,” said the woman with the blue hair.
 
“I can’t stand whiners.”
 
She glanced at her timeband and sighed.
 
“My shift’s coming up.
 
I’ll see you all later.
 
Don’t have too much fun without me, kids.”

“I feel like I killed the party,” said Zunova.
 
Leaning back in her chair, she glanced at the empty seats around the table.

“Don’t be stupid, Zu,” said Menuv. “Sedim, be a sweet, and get me another drink?”

He nodded and stood.
 
Zunova raised her eyebrows.
 
Sedim was very tall.
 
Giving the First Defender a friendly smile, he turned and headed for the bar across the hall. Menuv watched him go with a lazy grin.

“I can’t decide if I like Sedim more when he’s walking toward me or away,” she confided.
 
“Both views are so good.”

Zunova snorted.
 
“You’re such a predator, Epili.”

“There’s a joke in there somewhere about liking meat, but I’m too demure to make it.”

The First Defender snorted again.
 
“What was all that about Epcott?”

“Nothing.”

“Did you know that you always look down when you lie?”

Menuv scowled.
 
“My mother used to tell me the same thing, in that same voice.”

“Epili....”

The First Allocator sighed, rolled her eyes.
 
“Alright, I’ll tell you.”

“Thank you.”
 
Zunova leaned forward.
 
“Now talk.”

“A lot of people have noticed how Nutip has treated Epcott since he came aboard, Zunova, and they don’t care for it.”

“What do you mean?”

Menuv gave the other woman a hard look.
 
“Don’t play the innocent.
 
You know what I’m talking about.
 
Restricting Epcott to Crew Services.”

Zunova frowned.
 
“That makes perfect sense.
 
Epcott is only aboard the
Maiden
until we get to Shrouded Jewel, where he’ll transfer to the
Splendid Visitor
.
 
There’s no need for him to have access to sensitive systems.”

“Sensitive systems?” Menuv arched her eyebrows.
 
“Zunova, you’re talking about him as if he’s a Jurkuroi spy.”

“How do we know he’s not?”

Menuv stared.
 
“Do you honestly believe that?”

“He’s certainly not Junian.”

“Not biologically,” said Menuv, carefully.
 
“But he’s a full citizen.
 
Do you think the Defense Authority would have let him join the Guard if they thought he was a threat?”

Zunova frowned.
 
“All I know is that I trust the First’s judgment.”

Menuv’s eyebrows shot up.
 
“Since when?”

Scowling, Zunova rose from the table.
 
“It’s obvious that we don’t agree on this, Epili.
 
I think it would be best if we didn’t discuss it.”

“As you wish,” said Menuv.

Zunova walked away, pushing past Mogi and her shirtless companion as they were returning to the table.
 
Breathless and grinning, the two sat.

“What’s wrong with the First Defender?” asked the man.
 
“She looked like she just ate something sour.”

Menuv shrugged.
 
“We just had a difference of opinion, that’s all.”

“Better watch your back with that one,” warned Mogi.
 
“I heard she can hold a grudge.”

Her dance partner grinned.
 
“Well, I heard that she holds more than the First’s ear, if you know what I mean.”

The redhair burst into scandalized laughter at this bit of rumor.
 
Menuv, however, looked across the crowded hall, after the departed First Defender.
 

Well, she thought, that explains a lot.

* * * * *

 
Nutip Fe had always been a morning person.
 
Back home, in Jifuto Province, the moment the sun cleared the peak of Mount Ivis, Fe would be out of bed, eager to meet the day.
 
That had not changed when he joined the Guard.
 
 
The only thing that had changed was that instead of the sun waking him it was the soft hum of his comm.

Carefully, Fe slid out of the large bed he shared with Zunova.
 
Every morning, he did his best not to wake the woman, and every day he failed.

“Good morning.”

Fe sighed and gave up any pretense at stealth.
 
He turned and smiled at his First Defender.
 
“Good morning yourself.
 
You came in late last night.”

“There was a party in the crew halls.”

“Any particular reason?” asked Fe, genuinely curious.

“No,” said Zunova.
 
“It just happened.
 
One of those spontaneous things.”

“You should have commed me.
 
I like a good party.”

“Actually, it really wasn’t that good.
 
The music was too loud and everyone was getting drunk.”

He grinned.
 
“Sounds like a good party to me.”

Zunova shrugged and climbed out of the bed.
 
She slept in her skin these days and Fe took the opportunity to admire her.
 

“When do we shunt back to homespace?”

Fe glanced at his timeband.
 
“About 1000 hours.”