Nova (26 page)

“No squalling brood of offspring for you, then?” Diana asked
with a playful smirk.

“We’ll see. I’m not even forty–five yet. That’s a
way
future topic for me.”

“You’re sister’s not much older.” Adeline shrugged.

“With my life? Anyway, what’re you trying to do, marry me
off, then?”

“Hardly. At least, only to someone I entirely approve of.” Diana
proclaimed with a humorous combination of sincerity and playful haughtiness.

“Well, you let me know when you’ve got it all mapped out;
you’ll save me the trouble.”

“You have my word, I shall.”

Caught a bit off–guard by Adeline’s surprisingly serious
tone, Avara felt it was time for a little friend–prodding of her own,
especially given Adeline’s recent moodiness. “Well,
speaking
of snogging
and, whether using a gestation–pod or home–grown recipe, popping out a batch of
kids… what’s been up with you, lately?”

“Whatever do you mean, Avara?” Adeline asked, her eyes
widening slightly and a thrill of somewhat embarrassed, yet eager emotion
slicing forward, sure as a sword–strike.

With a ribbing smile, Avara replied, “Um, let’s see…
who
seems to hang on every word you say, and trails you about like a lovelorn hyrenn
during mating season?”

“Who?”

“
Uh
!” The Captain exclaimed in mock exasperation at
her friend’s continued obtuseness. “
Hello
? Senior Engineering Officer
Gareth Philips, that's who.”

To her surprise, no answer was immediately forthcoming.
After the passage of several heartbeats, Avara found she could but meet
Adeline’s dark–eyed gaze as Diana steadily regarded her, yet still said
nothing.

Finally, the Shield asked “
Well
?”

Instead of directly answering, Diana took a half–step, a
shift that placed her squarely front–forward and barely an inch away. With eyes
that suddenly seemed to rock with a fixed intensity, Adeline gently placed the
palms of her hands on Avara’s cheeks in a possessively–tender gesture.

At last Diana spoke, her low, somewhat shaky voice both playful
yet unmistakably urgent at the same time. “Well… And what would you say if it
is
not
Gareth Philips who holds my interest?”

Avara found that she could say nothing at all. Especially as
after another moment’s solid regard, Adeline ever so gently but firmly used her
fingers to bring Avara’s head within reach of her own and then kissed her. Fully,
wholeheartedly, and passionately kissed her.

Avara was at least as shocked by the sudden tidal–spray of
emotion that broke through at the contact as she was by the kiss itself. It was
as if a heavily–weighted vault–door had suddenly been ripped off its bearings.
Adeline’s odd behavior of late, the oh–so many comments, small exchanges and brief
flashes of feeling were suddenly bared, stripped of any unknowing ignorance
clothed in the firm friendship the two had nurtured over the last few years.

The stray thought that Diana’s mouth tasted like the chrysanthemum
tea that they had consumed hours ago danced across her mind.

Then, though at first somewhat stupefied by revelation,
Avara found herself responding to the kiss. Soon their lips and tongues were
both avidly questing, and their bodies pressed against one another as hands
moved in escalating enthusiasm.

“Captain Serros, do you read? Captain Serros, please respond.”

Gradually, Avara became aware of the familiar voice sounding
from her CPA, and with that voice, a semblance of reason reluctantly returned
even as her forehead and lips met yet again with Diana’s.

“Captain Serros, please respond.”

“Yes, I read you, Marcus. What’s the issue?” Serros finally answered,
voice husky even to her own ears and with Adeline still holding her shoulders,
her lips only a brush–stroke apart from Avara’s.

“Sorry to interrupt your R&R, Captain, but we have a
Priority One from Delegate Sweetwater coming in over long–range communications.
I think it’s urgent that you and the rest of the Senior Crew on shore–leave
rotation return to
Excalibur
immediately.”

After a heartbeat’s hesitation, Serros answered firmly
“Understood, EXO, and good call. Lieutenant Commander Adeline and I shall be
retuning presently.”

“Understood, Sir. See you soon.”

“Serros out.”

Looking at Adeline’s lovely face for a moment, Avara found
that she had absolutely no idea what to say; not with so much that now lay
between them, and not in that rushed moment. Serros felt exhilarated, aroused,
uncertain, and vaguely anxious all at once.

With a soft yet satisfied smile and a quick kiss on the
lips, Diana remarked “We should go.”

“Um, yes we should.” Avara answered, shaking off her
questions as the two of them fell into an easy jog towards the closest
transport–node to the tramway and
Excalibur
.

CHAPTER 14

“Okay people, here’s what we know. Approximately nine standard
hours ago, the Ministry received a distress call encrypted using an older Navy
code. It was bounced between several deep space Comm Buoys and though garbled
and initially difficult to decipher, the message is now clear in that the
sender requires immediate assistance in the face of attack and capture.”

Hearing the gravity that was in his Captain’s rich–toned voice
and having been present for the Vid–conference with Delegate Sweetwater and so
knowing what Avara was about to say, Marcus Perez was utterly unsurprised by
the stark mask Serros’s face was set into as she took a deep breath before
continuing.

“Though there are a few standard search and rescue
transports available and one X–Class Human Ministry Cruiser that could be
underway in approximately twenty–hours, Delegate Sweetwater feels that Nova
Squad and the
QS Excalibur
is the better choice for the mission.”

Looking around the Strategy Room’s occupants all sitting to
attention in their respective places, Marcus could see Serros deliberately
making eye contact with each of the ten attendees before continuing.
“Sweetwater’s assessment is based on the fact that the distress call is reading
from the Arkaia System at the edges of Karukai territory; its exact origin has
been pinned to Black Space.”

“
Black Space
? Whew!” Lieutenant Rygel exclaimed, left
eye ticking in agitation at the disclosure.

“But there’s nothing out there.” Naxos added with a hiss.

“That we know of.” Major Ca’rrakk interjected, his always
surprisingly urbane voice contemplative. “Our stores of data are sketchy at
best. We are fortunate the system is even named rather than only referred to by
a numerical designation. There is a reason why it’s called Black Space, after
all.”

“I find the potential Karukai link to be troublesome. Could
the call be a Karukai fabrication, Captain Serros?” Lieutenant Z’arr asked, her
delicate royal blue brows raised inquisitively.

“Very possible.” Serros answered. “It’s one of the reasons
why Sweetwater has assigned the mission to us.”

“Especially given what occurred on Ophere four months ago.”
The Vosaia added, and by the troubled cast to her beautiful features, Marcus
could see that she was easily following Avara’s reasoning and concern.

“And there’s no mistaking that the signal is genuine?”
Senior Engineering Officer Philips asked, glancing towards Diana Adeline.

Having also been present for the initial long–range mission d–brief,
A shook her head in the negative. “None at all. That does not mean, however,
that the code wasn’t cracked or obtained by force.”

“Regardless, it’s not unlikely that if the attack is genuine,
the culprit is Karukai; perhaps slavers or border raiders.” Lieutenant Claudius
Chopa added, the Navigation Officer’s knowledge based on years of work in and
study of space, including flight patterns and the associated dangers with such
travel.

“Could be smugglers.” Lieutenant Commander Philips inserted.

“Doesn’t have to be Karukai, no? Could just as easily be any
à m
èche
… uh… roving band of pirates.” Dane Rygel added. The EXO
could hear the Communication Officer’s fingers drumming across his knee in
anxiety under the table.

“Any of
sss
uch would be all the better then. Threat
sss
should be hunted down and eliminated, never allowed to thrive.” Belgrum Naxos stated
insistently, his agitation causing him to unconsciously emphasize and draw out
his
S’s
even more than usual.

“Yeah, well, could be any or all of the above. Either way,
I’m sure it’s no coincidence that close to a quarter of the starships that
venture into the Black never return.” Chopa commented.

“Aren’t you just chipper?” Adeline remarked.

“In any case, we better hope our strays haven’t wondered off
into completely unchartered space; would make our job a lot harder.” The often
quiet but consistently perceptive Senior Systems Officer Tildon Jaxx announced.

“The Vosaia believe that the majority of disappearances into
Black Space are simply due to the lack of charted routes and the risk involved
in carving out new star–roads.” K’llan interjected. Marcus was pretty sure her
motivation was to calm the rising anxiety that even
he
could sense
clustering in the Strategy Room.

“Yes, quite true.” Ca’rrakk seconded. “It takes years to
accurately scout and map–out new routes, to ensure their safety as well as the
deployment of necessary sensor and communication buoys to maintain accurate
data.”    

“Despite the risk, it is our duty to at least attempt a
rescue.” Dr. Argos threw into the momentary silence.

Though her voice held certainty, Marcus could see the quick
look Jenna grazed her husband Tildon with. Despite the physician’s calling that
Perez knew she believed in utterly, it would have taken a significantly lesser
person to
not
experience any concern about traveling into such potential
danger with those that they loved the most.

“As it is, I happen to agree.” Captain Serros announced, her
modulated yet magnetic voice immediately recapturing the attention of every
person present. “Plus, if the Karukai
are
brewing some form of new
trouble, we need to know. Marcus?”

“The last of the crew who had been on–planet for shore–leave
are returning now.” Perez promptly answered the Captain’s unspoken question.
“I’ve already had Quartermaster Zibai speed–up the restocking of our stores and
the process should be complete by seventeen–hundred. Our official business here
is concluded and our ship’s systems are all a go.”

“Well done, EXO. Lieutenant Commander Adeline,” Avara said,
turning to the woman directly seated to her left. “Can you please gather
whatever data you can on the Arkaia System as well as any known activity within
the area during the last twelve months? Work with Major Ca’rrakk and Lieutenant
Z’arr to flesh–out our information.”

“Yes, Captain.” Diana answered straight away.

Curiously, Marcus noted a strange flush on her cheeks as she
gave her reply, not to mention that she wasn’t quite meeting the Captain’s
bright gaze.

Interesting.

“Okay, Nova. At full speed, we have just under twelve days
before reaching our destination. If we’re traveling into the Dark, I want to be
one–hundred percent prepared and ready to face whatever we find.” Avara’s voice
resonated with resolution as she again swept her gaze around the HUD. “Any
other questions?”

“So much for shore–leave.” Rygel sighed, running clever yet
ever nervous fingers through his short–shorn hair.

“After this next Op, we’ll turn the Comm off for a bit; say
a month.” Avara responded, her faint smile easing the tension. “Dismissed.”

 * * * * *

Breathing deeply to keep the annual swirl of bittersweet
emotion at bay, at least for just a stretch longer, Commander Marcus Perez
gently keyed the entry–alert of the steel colored durexium door in front of
him. Though he could neither hear the chime on the other side of portal nor the
footsteps of the occupant’s approach, he knew they were to open a split–second
before doing so.

“Evening, Marcus.” The dark haired woman before him greeted.
Though as straight–postured as always, Marcus was struck by the disquieting and
exceptional thought that she seemed somehow vulnerable, standing there within
the frame of her doorway.

“Evening, Avara. You ready?”

With a certain nod and holding a plain gray case under her left
arm, Captain Serros responded “Ready.”

Just as they had a hundred times before, the two senior–most
officers on–ship made their way through Deck 3’s hallways to the lift, then continued
their traverse down to Deck 8. The hour was fairly late, approaching nine o’
clock, and so foot–traffic was beginning to thin as those that called
Excalibur
home commenced their end–night routines. Still, though he was unsure of how
much it was due simply to his personal state of mind, Perez found the mood to
be more reserved than was the norm.

When the third crewmember passed him and Avara and didn’t
offer any more acknowledgement than the briefest of glances, Marcus realized it
wasn’t just his own mental frame coloring his perceptions. Someone had asked
the crew to keep a respectful distance for the remainder of the night. As he
and Avara exited the lift and made their path towards the Mess, the Commander
felt a rush of gratitude towards their quiet benefactor, whom if he had to lay
bets, Marcus would wager was either Diana, Gaius, Claudius, or Jenna. Or, he
mused, in all probability the entire lot.

The two walked through the large
swooshing
doors of
the Mess Hall without pausing to even glance at the Galley and culinary
concoctions Chief Tanner had prepared for the day. Marcus and Avara continued
to and through a second set of doors to a smaller back room, the deck’s main
Crew Lounge.