Hex (5 page)

“I'm afraid I did.” Andromeda slowly let out her breath. “All right, I'm in. When do you want me to leave?”

“Soon as you're ready, I suppose.” Standing up from his chair, Harker leaned down to switch off his pad. “No need to rush. Take your time getting your crew together again. We're still putting together our own team.”

“You're sending someone with us?”

“Of course... From the Corps of Exploration.” As he slipped his datapad into his pocket, he seemed to notice the expression on her face. “Why, do you have a problem with that?”

“Oh, no,” she lied. “None at all.”

I
T TOOK NEARLY NINE HOURS FOR THE CORPS OF EXPLORATION gyro to travel from Hammerhead to Albion; the flight included a brief refueling stop in Midland, the only time the passengers had a chance to get out and stretch their legs. Like the other four members of Special Survey Team Three, Sean Carson spent most of the time either sleeping or reading. A long mission was ahead of them, and no one wanted to get on anyone else's nerves with unnecessary chatter. Once the gyro was halfway across the Great Equatorial River, and the pilot announced that they would be landing in twenty minutes, the others began to stir, looking at one another as if it were the first time since they'd left Fort Lopez that they'd become aware of the fact that they were sharing an aircraft.

No. That wasn't entirely true. Sean was acutely conscious of the young woman seated beside him. The two of them said little to each other, but there was a reason for that; a few days earlier, he and Kyra had agreed that it was probably best that they put their romance on hold until the mission was over. It wouldn't be easy, particularly since they'd lately discovered that there was nothing they enjoyed more than each other's body. But the Corps frowned on sexual affairs among its members, and while most of their teammates politely looked the other way when Corporals Carson and Wright took off on their own, there was no sense in aggravating Lieutenant Cayce.

There was nothing wrong with talking, though, so as the gyro began to lose altitude, he felt Kyra's elbow nudge his own. “Colonial for your thoughts?” she murmured.

Sean looked away from the window beside his seat. “Nothing, really,” he said quietly. “Just wondering how I'm going to handle my mother for the next few weeks.”

Kyra glanced over her shoulder, making sure that neither Mark nor Sandy was paying attention to them. But Sergeant Dupree was studying his datapad while Corporal LaPointe gazed out the window on her side of the compartment, and if Lieutenant Cayce had overheard them from the gyro's front right seat, he gave no indication. “I wouldn't worry about it,” she whispered. “She's probably just as nervous as you are.” She caught the dubious expression on his face. “All right,” she added, smiling slightly. “
Almost
as nervous.”

Sean let out his breath. “You've never met my mother. She had her emotions surgically removed years ago.”

Kyra raised an eyebrow. “You can't mean that.”

“Just wait. You'll...”

“Something you'd like to share with the rest of us, Corporal?” From his seat in the cockpit, Cayce addressed him even though he continued to look straight ahead.

Sean felt his face grow warm, albeit more in anger than embarrassment. He could have sworn that the noise of the gyro's twin props would have drowned out their conversation, but apparently Amerigo Cayce had sharper ears than Sean thought. Either that or, more likely, he just didn't like having his people sharing secrets.

“Just talking about the assignment, sir,” he replied, adopting an easygoing tone that he didn't feel. “Wondering why we're so lucky to get tapped for a first-contact job.”

Lieutenant Cayce turned his head to look at him. “It's not a first-contact mission... or ‘job,' if you want to call it that. Our people met the
danui
a long time ago. It's in the material you've been given if you haven't read it already.”

There was a note of accusation in Cayce's voice, and it was impossible to miss the disdain in his eyes. Four days earlier, the survey team had been given intelligence reports pertaining to both the
nord
and the
danui
, with the expectation that the Corpsmen would study them thoroughly before the mission. Knowing Cayce, he'd probably read everything twice already, probably right after running twenty miles every morning at Fort Lopez.

“I've read it, sir,” Sean said, meeting his gaze. “My mistake. This isn't the first time we've met the
danui
... only the first time we've been to their home system.”

An abrupt cough from the seat behind him. From the corner of his eye, Sean caught Sandy covering her mouth with her hand. The cough was an attempt to keep from laughing out loud. Although Mark displayed no more emotion than he usually did, he was staring at his datapad screen just a little too fixedly, as if trying hard not to chuckle at Sean's subtle comeback. And while Kyra said nothing, Sean felt her slide her foot against his and, ever so gently, apply pressure against his toes.

Cayce didn't say anything. Then a smile slowly spread across his face. “That's all right, Sean,” he said, assuming a cordiality neither of them had ever felt for the other. “I'm sure you have other things on your mind just now.” A pause. “So... looking forward to seeing your mother again?”

Damn it, he
had
been eavesdropping.
Either that, or he already knew that Sean's relations with his mother were not very warm. “I'm sure we'll be fine,” he said, staring back at Cayce until the lieutenant looked away.

Behind him, he heard Mark and Sandy move restlessly. He half expected them to say something, but Mark's
Sa'Tong
ian beliefs prohibited him from any words or actions that might harm another, and, for once, Sandy refrained from the smart-ass remarks for which she was infamous. So they both remained quiet, and Kyra knew better than to ask him what she already knew: seeing his mother again was the last thing Sean wanted, let alone embarking on a mission with her.

But he hadn't been given a choice. Four days earlier, Sean and his teammates had just returned to Fort Lopez from a furlough, when they were summoned to a classified briefing for their next assignment: an expedition to a human-habitable planet located in HD 76700 system. Like the rest of the team, Sean was intrigued by the prospect of being the first people to visit a world that might possibly support a human colony; it was the sort of assignment for which he'd joined the Corps of Exploration. His enthusiasm waned, though, when they were informed that the ship that would transport them to the
danui
system was the
Carlos Montero
; he didn't need to be told who its commanding officer was even though it was a revelation to the others that Captain Andromeda Carson was Sean's mother. Sean had never told anyone in his team about his mother, and he was particularly reluctant to air the grievances between them.

A bump from the gyro's undercarriage caused Sean to return his gaze to the window. The coast of Albion was within sight, and the pilot had lowered the landing gear. A quick glimpse of the port city of New Brighton, then the aircraft made the left turn that would bring it toward the spaceport on its outskirts.

If I'm lucky,
he thought,
I won't see much of her. And if I do, I'll just have to suck it up. But why the hell did it have to be her?

The gyro swept over the spaceport, passing low above shuttles and freighters parked on its vast concrete expanse, until it came in for a touchdown near a row of hangars on the military side of the field. The pilot cut the engines, then reached up to yank the T-bar that unlocked the passenger hatch. “Here you go,” he said. “Good luck.”

“Thanks. Buy you a drink when we get back.” Cayce unbuckled his seat belt and stood up. “All right, then,” he said to the others. “Grab your gear and follow me.”

Sean reached up to fetch his duffel bag from the rack above his seat, pulling down Kyra's bag as well. She was closer to the hatch than he was, so he waited while she followed the lieutenant from the aircraft. Once again, he found himself admiring her. Petite yet athletic, with olive skin and jet-black hair habitually tied back in a bun, she looked more like the university student she'd once been before enlisting in the Corps. Nonetheless, the Corps uniform suited her well; it was hard to ignore the way its blue unitard clung to her slim body. The contrast she made with Sandy—short and stocky, looking as if she wrestled creek cats for exercise—was striking; there weren't many women in the Corps as good-looking as the one with whom he'd shared a bed during their recent furlough. Unfortunately, that was another reason why he wasn't looking forward to the mission; once they were aboard the
Montero
, the two of them would have to refrain from their usual playtime. Sean didn't want to have to introduce his girlfriend to his mother.

The gyro had landed near two spacecraft. One was a Federation Navy shuttle, the recently built version of the type used to ferry passengers and freight to orbiting spacecraft; its side hatch was open, a ladder had been wheeled into place beneath it, and a small group stood below its port wing, apparently waiting for the Corps team. The other was a landing craft; a little larger than the shuttle and nearly thirty years old, with collapsible delta wings on either side of an indigenous-fuel nuclear engine, its midsection cargo hatch open to allow the ground crew to bring aboard the rest of the team's equipment.

“We'll be riding up with
Montero
's crew,” Cayce said, as they walked toward the shuttle. He had an annoying trait of explaining that which was already obvious. “Hand over your bags to the...”

“That won't be necessary.” A woman stepped away from the group. “If those are your personal belongings, you'll want to keep them with you.”

“Oh... all right, then.” Cayce stopped in front of them, raised his right hand in a formal salute. “Lieutenant Amerigo Cayce, commanding officer of Special Survey Team Three, Coyote Federation Corps of Exploration. You must be Captain Carson. Pleased to meet you, ma'am.”

The woman smiled without returning the salute. Tall and slender, with dark hair twisted into a long braid that nearly reached her waist, she bore absolutely no resemblance to Sean. “Pleased to meet you, too, Lieutenant,” she said, “but I'm not the skipper.” A few chuckles from the people behind her, which she acknowledged with an amused wink before looking at Cayce again. “I'm Melpomene Fisk, the helmsman. Thanks for the salute, though.”

“Oh.” Cayce's face reddened as he dropped his hand. “I see. So who is...?”

“I am.” Another woman spoke up from the center of the group. “Don't bother with the salute. I'm not impressed.”

How like her,
Sean thought, as his mother stepped out from among her crew.
Let some poor schmuck make a fool out of himself just so her people can get a laugh at his expense.
He didn't realize it, but this was the first time he'd ever felt sympathy for Cayce.

“Captain Carson.” Cayce did his best to recover from the gaffe although even his own team were hiding grins behind their hands. “Sorry, ma'am. I only assumed...”

“Yes, yes, I understand.” A nonchalant flip of her hand brought an end to any unnecessary explanations. “I know this is when your people are supposed to be introduced to mine, but we're on a schedule here. The
Montero
has been given priority clearance through Starbridge Coyote, and before that we need to rendezvous with the gatehouse to pick up our last passenger.”

“We have someone else coming along?” Cayce was puzzled. “I wasn't informed of that.”

“Guess you haven't read the memo, then. A senior representative from Janus will be joining us. He'll have the hyperspace key to the
danui
system.” Captain Carson was becoming impatient. “That means we need to get out of here soon, so if you'll get your people aboard...”

“Yes, ma'am.” Pulling together what remained of his dignity, Cayce turned to the others. “You heard the captain. Let's get moving.”

“Yes, sir,” Sandy muttered, barely able to suppress the sarcasm in her voice. The rest of the team hefted their bags and headed toward the shuttle. The five
Montero
crew members received a quiet nod from their commanding officer and fell in beside them; together, the two groups formed a line in front of the ladder leading to the shuttle's passenger hatch.

Sean avoided meeting his mother's gaze, and for a moment he thought he might be able to board the spacecraft without having to speak to her. She was having none of that, though. He was about to walk past her when he felt her hand on his arm.

“Sean?” she said quietly. “Aren't you going to say hello?”

Sighing inwardly, he paused to look at her. “Hello, Captain. Good to see you again.”

As always, there was no expression on Andromeda Carson's face, yet the look in her eyes betrayed her surprise at the coldness of his tone. “Good to see you, too, Corporal,” she replied. “I was surprised to learn that you're on this mission. I'm looking forward to...”

“Thank you, ma'am.” Sean took a step forward, freeing himself from her grasp. “If you'll excuse me...”

“Corporal.” From behind him, Mark Dupree spoke up. “Before we go, I think we ought to make sure our equipment has been properly stowed.” Sean glanced at him, and Mark nodded toward the nearby lander. “The gyro, I mean.”

Sean was about to tell Mark that he was sure the gyro was in fine shape when Cayce stopped at the foot of the ladder. “Good idea, Sergeant. Captain, with your permission... ?”