Empire of Bones (7 page)

The other two men had black tunics over black pants. They also had red strips on their sleeves where the man in front of them had two wide red bars on the shoulders separated by a thin red line. She’d probably best spend some time learning what those meant. The two men in back bowed.

The man in the blue tunic did not. She couldn’t help noticing he was more than passingly handsome with his cropped blond hair and blue eyes. A hint of deviltry sparkled in his smile. He held his hand out to Vega. “Welcome aboard, Ambassador. I’m Lieutenant Commander Charlie Graves,
Athena’s
Executive Officer.”

Vega took his hand and smiled as he shook it. “Thank you, Commander. It’s a pleasure to be here. I’m very sorry for the last minute disruption. I assure you I had my very own version of it a few hours ago when the Secretary of Imperial Affairs woke me up. This is my assistant, Deputy Ambassador Kelsey Bandar.”

The officer’s expression told Kelsey he knew exactly who she was, but no hint of it made its way to his voice. “Deputy Ambassador Bandar. A pleasure.”

“For me as well, Commander Graves.”

“Ratings Welch and Soto will see that your gear is stowed. I’m afraid the cabins don’t have enough space for everything you’ve brought, but all your bags will be readily accessible if you need something from them. Come this way, please.”

He led them back into the lift leaving the two ratings to handle the baggage. “We’re putting you into separate cabins. They were two person cabins, but I think it best for senior personnel to have some privacy to do their work.”

Vega nodded. “Excellent, Commander. I like Miss Bandar quite a lot, but not that much. She might snore.”

Kelsey laughed when Carlo winked at her. “If I might ask, where are the displaced officers going?” she asked.

“We have some missile tubes offline for repairs. They’re almost big enough for one person each, if they hold their arms over their heads.”

Kelsey felt herself gape before she remembered that hint of wickedness she’d seen in his eyes. She snapped her mouth closed and shook her head. “You had me for a moment. I’m going to need to keep an eye on you.”

He grinned, making himself look even more roguish. “I couldn’t resist. We’re adding extra bunks in one of the small conference rooms. They’ll need to go into marine country to use the head, but they’ll have some extra space to make up for the inconvenience.”

“And why didn’t you put us there?” Vega asked.

“Because you’d need to go into marine country to use the head.”

“I’m sure the marines aren’t so bad,” she objected.

“Of course not, but they are a little rough around the edges. I shudder to think about the diplomatic crisis one of their late night poker games would cause.”

The lift opened onto a tight corridor with several crewmembers hurrying along on some duty or another. She followed Graves’ example and pressed her back to the wall when they passed. She wondered why the officer was giving precedence to the others for a moment, but decided it was not the right time or place to ask the question. There was probably a logical explanation.

Graves stopped at a hatch marked ‘6P432’. “This is your cabin, Ambassador Vega. Deputy Ambassador Bandar is two down and on the other side of the corridor. Memorize your room numbers so someone can get you home when you get lost. Everyone does when they first come aboard, and so will you.”

“Or they’ll put us into a missile tube,” she muttered, imagining the pranks that could happen to new people on a ship.

The Executive Officer laughed. “That particular prank isn’t appropriate for civilians. You’re not going to end up in marine country either. Not unless you intentionally go there. The crew will find…subtler ways to welcome you aboard.”

He pressed his thumb on the lock and the hatch slid open. “I have authority to enter every cabin, but won’t do so unless there’s a reason. In this case, I need to be inside to add your access to the room. I could do it remotely, but I don’t have your biometric data. Please press your thumb to the lock Ambassador.”

Vega did so and looked inside the cabin curiously. “Very interesting.”

Graves did something inside the door and stepped back outside. “Ratings Soto and Welch will see that you have access to your belongings and help you stow away what you will need in your cabin. While the compensators keep the grav drives from tossing things around during normal maneuvers, we secure everything just in case. They will also see to your safety briefings. Deputy Ambassador Bandar?”

He had her press her thumb to the lock beside her hatch and gave her identical instructions. Her cabin was ‘6P435’. Vega still stood inside the open hatch to his cabin, so the officer looked at both of them when he spoke again.

“Don’t wander around until you get your orientation. This ship can be a dangerous place to the uninitiated. Not because of the people, but some equipment can be lethal to the untrained. If you inadvertently found yourself in engineering, you might touch something that could kill you before your body hits the floor. Everything dangerous is marked as such, but you don’t know how to recognize that yet. Stay put. Understood?”

His voice held a hint of command. Not like Captain Mertz. More subdued, but crystal clear.

“Yes, sir,” she said.

He smiled. “I don’t need a ‘sir’ from either of you. Just pay attention while you learn your way around the ship. Feel free to examine your cabins while you wait. Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’re about to break orbit and I should be at my station.”

Graves returned the way they’d come with a purposeful stride.

Vega gave her a pointed look and went inside his cabin. The hatch slid shut.

Taking the not so subtle hint, she stepped into her new home. The hatch slid closed as soon as she stepped away from it. One quick glance told her a fact that should’ve been obvious before she came aboard. Space was at a premium. Her closet at the Palace was larger than this two-person cabin.

Life was full of unexpected challenges.

The layout was quite spartan. Two bunks folded out from the wall, one above the other. The far wall had a compact desk that looked like it folded up when not needed and a hatch. The wall opposite the bunk had two wardrobes built into it.

Even with two, she wouldn’t have much space at all for clothes. If she stretched out her arms, she could easily touch the bunk and the wardrobe at the same time. Three strides took her from the foot of the bunks to the desk. A glance through the hatch revealed a cramped bathroom. The sonic shower looked about the size of a coffin.

She sighed. Well, if her father had lived this way, so could she. The thought brightened her mood. She’d be able to share some stories with him that would bring them closer. Besides, this was an
adventure
—the adventure of her lifetime. She didn’t need to think about what she didn’t have. She needed to think about what she was getting.

Kelsey sat down at the desk with a smile. She keyed in her thumbprint and started sorting through the publicly available files on the network while she waited for her luggage to arrive.

Let the adventure begin.

Jared spent the next three weeks reviewing personnel files for the scientific staff and consulting with the senior scientists over the communications channels. They’d need to have another face-to-face meeting soon, but Jared thought that would have more impact if he waited until they were ready to jump into the unknown. The delay gave him time to review the scientists’ background.

He already knew his crew, including the marines, in detail. Adding familiarity with several hundred scientists and almost that many merchant officers and sailors took time, but he could at least begin the process. He needed the distraction to take his mind off his unwelcome guest, even if only for a little while.

He hadn’t gone out of his way to ignore Princess Kelsey…or rather Deputy Ambassador Bandar, but he hadn’t sought her out, either. He’d focused his attention on her boss instead. Ambassador Vega was a levelheaded man and went out his way to work with Jared and his officers. He fit in so well that it was hard to believe that he hadn’t been aboard for months.

Any time Jared encountered Kelsey was a different matter. She was always distantly polite, almost like a silent rebuke for his reaction to her presence. His overreaction, rather. She hadn’t stepped over the line once. She hadn’t really come close. Somewhat to his disappointment.

Now that they’d passed through the fourth flip-point and were travelling in unclaimed territory, he needed to address their problematic relationship and call a truce.

He ran into his first obstacle when he went to find her. Since she had no assigned station, she could be almost anywhere on the ship. Well, not engineering, the bridge, operations, or the missile tubes. He decided against paging her because that would make it seems as though he’d summoned her. Rather than get her back up, he’d just have to play ‘Find the Princess’.

Jared started leaving word for people to call him if she showed up, but he hadn’t found her in any of the places he thought most likely. He considered searching the maintenance shafts, but he wasn’t sure how she could’ve gotten into them. It was as if she’d vanished.

Time to form a search and rescue party, and no one was better for the task than the marines. He made his way to marine country and stopped dead just inside the large hatch blazoned with their unit flash.

Deputy Ambassador Kelsey Bandar, second in line to the Imperial Throne of the Terran Empire, sat at a table with four burly men and a wiry woman dressed in battlefield trousers and black tee shirts. Cards and chips covered the tabletop. More than half the chips sat in front of the Imperial scion.

The Princess had dressed down in a plain blouse and slacks, and she’d pulled her unruly blonde hair back into a loose ponytail. She took a sip of what looked like beer and tossed some cards out face down. The dealer slid her some replacements with a look of wary respect.

When some of the watchers spotted him, Jared held up a hand to stop them from announcing his presence. The sight of the Imperial Princess gambling with some of the roughest, toughest men and women in space boggled his mind.

There was no one he’d rather have at his back than a squad of marines, but he’d never in his wildest dreams let his sister—if he’d had one growing up—gamble with them. She’d come home scratching herself and swearing. If she didn’t come home pregnant.

Lieutenant Timothy Reese, the detachment commander, slid around the compartment until he stood beside Jared. “Captain. I’ve been keeping an eye on things, but I’m starting to think I never needed to worry. She’s bonded with them like their little sister.”

The odd parallel to Jared’s thoughts made him glance sharply at the marine officer. Reese grinned. “Their sister, not someone else’s.”

Jared shook his head. “Are they letting her win? That’s a first. I thought the Imperial Marine motto was to never give a sucker a break.”

“That’s pretty close to the unofficial motto. When it comes to cards, they don’t cut anybody any slack. She doesn’t need any help, though. She’s beating the proverbial pants off all of them, despite their best efforts. I’ve been watching to make sure she wasn’t cheating. Though I have no idea what I’d do if I found out an heir to the Imperial Throne was cheating card sharks like my people. Probably applaud.”

Jared tried to imagine where she could’ve learned to play poker at this level and failed. It seemed wildly out of character for her. He made a mental note to ask about it one day.

Kelsey picked that moment to stretch and she must’ve caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. She spun her chair toward him and stood. “Captain Mertz. I didn’t see you come in.”

“My apologies for interrupting your game, Deputy Ambassador. Might I have moment of your time?”

She counted out her chips, gathered the Imperial credits the dealer paid her, and bowed to her fellow players. “I’ll come back and get the rest later.”

“You wish,” the burliest of them said with a grin. “We’ll get ours back next time.”

“How’s that working out for you so far?”

Everyone at the table laughed. Obviously no hard feelings there. Any intimidation they may have felt at her Imperial stature wasn’t apparent now.

Kelsey joined him at the door. “Thanks again for making me welcome, Lieutenant Reese.”

The young officer smiled. “Anytime, Kelsey. Consider marine country your second home. Come down in a couple of days and we’ll give you a tour of the firing range. The assault rifles might be a bit much for you, but we have some kickass pistols.”

The young noblewoman grinned. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Jared raised an eyebrow at the marine, but said nothing as he followed Kelsey out.

She turned to him in the corridor. “What can I do for you, Captain?”

“You can help me figure out how we can work together going forward. I realize neither one of us is overly fond of the other, but we need to get past that. At best, we’ll be together almost two years. At worst, three or more.”

She nodded slowly up at him. “We have a lot of history to get over, but you’re right. This mission isn’t the time or place for allowing our feud to continue.”

He nodded. “Allow me start off by apologizing for not having sought you out before now.”

“No apology needed. I’m certain you’ve been very busy. I may not know precisely what a Fleet captain does, but taking on a second ship full of scientists and coordinating a mission of this magnitude must occupy a lot of your time.”

A wry smile crossed her lips. “And I’m sure that an official stowaway wasn’t the most anticipated part of your day either. I don’t blame you for being angry with me. It wasn’t my idea to come, but I didn’t object when the opportunity presented itself.”

“Have you gotten a tour of the ship?”

The Princess nodded. “Only the common areas. It’s fascinating.”

“Then let’s tour some of the restricted areas. Starting with engineering. Perhaps you can explain what you mean while we walk.” He started them toward engineering. “Who else had a hand in your being here? Your father, I assume.”