Only Human (13 page)

Tychon took Nova's arm. "Excuse us,
please. I see that Colonel Jervada is looking for us." He steered Nova
through the crowd, accepting greetings and congratulations along the way.

"Wow!" Nova managed at last.

"What?"

"Are all Delphian women that
beautiful?"

"I suppose." He looked back to
where they had left the woman with her equally stunning companions. "Those
ones can't fly planes, though," he added with a smile.

Nova smiled back, glad for his attention
among these strangers. She was aware of suspicious glances and some outright
calculating stares directed at her. She could imagine what thoughts passed
through those finely honed minds and preferred not to know for sure.

"Tychon, my boy!" Colonel Jervada
exclaimed when they had finally reached him. "Have I told you how grateful
I am to you and your very charming crew?" He took Nova's hand in both of
his. "They don't make soldiers like they used to! At least not on the
outside. Young Devaughn tells me you freed him single-handedly from a horde of
rebels."

"Well, Rhuwacs. And Major
Tychon–"

"This is how legends are made,
Captain," the Colonel interrupted with a chuckle. "The true stories
are generally uninteresting. Or classified." His eyes moved beyond her. "Ah,
there's our lost son now!"

Anders had arrived at the door. Someone
started a cheer. Others applauded.

"Hey, Derry! Heard you took a Rhuwac
mate!"

"Who had to pay to get you out?"

"Who paid Tharron to lock you
up?"

Anders grinned, looking around the room for
Tychon. There was more back slapping and catcalling as he made his way to them.

"See? This is what I look like with my
nose where it should be." He presented himself to Nova. The last of his
bruises were erased, the fractured nose repaired. "Now will you marry
me?"

Nova laughed and shook her head.

"Well, I tried," he sighed.
"Oh, you're so beautiful in that dress! Colonel, if she weren't enslaved
to the Vanguard, she would run off with me immediately. She practically told me
so herself! I suppose the Major is taking her to that Targon desert?"

Tychon nodded. "Targon is on alert. I
have had a message that Tharron's base on Magra is indeed mobilizing. We expect
that they’ll take a few leaps so that we won’t know from where they’ll arrive. Captain
Whiteside and I will be there when they reach Targon."

“If they’re not using stable sites they’ll
have to bring more than one spanner,” Nova said. “This might be a good
opportunity for us to take a few of them out. I don’t imagine that Tharron has
many to spare.”

Jervada frowned. "Was it explained
anywhere why they decided to hit Targon of all places?"

Nova shrugged. "They may be aiming for
the research center. Or they may just want to cause confusion by taking out
Trans-Targon's seat of government."

"So they attack one of the best-armed
bases of the damn galaxy? They'd have to attack with atomics and no rebel would
dare if they owned one. The center is a mile below ground."

"Rhuwacs are not known for their
powers of reasoning," Tychon reminded him.

Jervada's face was surly. "It's not
the Rhuwacs that are pushing the buttons. It's a priority that we cut off rebel
supply of weapons and air power. Is that not your assignment?"

"It is," Tychon said. "We
suspected that they were obtaining them outside Trans-Targon. But the funds for
that just aren't there. Then we found that most of their weaponry is actually
Union issue."

"You know who's behind this, don't
you?" The Colonel's good humor appeared to have left him.

"As long as we can't move on Magra, Tharron's
man there is virtually untouchable."

Anders swatted Tychon's arm. "Come
now, I thought this was a party! I’m going to introduce Nova around. Maybe if
she sees how normal people live she’ll hand in her combat boots." He led
her away.

Tychon and Jervada watched them go.

"She is competent?"

"I think so."

"There are a lot of people here that
don't approve. You are a very prominent entity, Major. They say that you are
setting an undesirable precedent and flaunting Delphi's traditions, if not
outright taboos. And if that's not enough, there is speculation on what merits
she made Vanguard. She's young."

Tychon snarled. "I am aware of that.
She'll prove soon enough that she did not make into Vanguard because of who her
father is. And you know that it is only my clan who complains about me, uh,
consorting with a Human, which, by the way, I am not. Only Delphians can
possibly be that puritan." He hesitated briefly. "I think our co-habitation
might do our backward friends some good. Segregation of Delphi isn't possible
anymore. Not with the Union the only thing between Tharron and Delphi's wealth.
Your people didn't get here by pointing out differences between Human and
Centauri."

Jervada regarded Tychon as the Delphian
watched Nova move gracefully through the crowded room. He saw many things in
the way this man looked at her but they had nothing to do with Terran-Delphi
political relations. "I have confidence in your judgment. I am also glad
that you're on Colonel Carras' staff and not mine anymore."

"Targon isn't Delphi. I have no
interest in others' prejudices."

Jervada decided to change the subject.
"Have you heard that we may have a rebel problem on Delphi?"

"Here?"

The general nodded. "Strange things
have happened. First, Anders' commuter plane is hijacked en route to Targon.
Then we spotted an unidentified craft entering Delphi space, landing and taking
off again within minutes and before we could investigate. Of course, Delphi
Council is accusing us of ineptitude but while Delphi is not a Union planet we
can't really question outside traffic. If our base is ignored it becomes a
Delphian matter. We assume the plane was a rebel ship. Any other would have
landed here on the base. And finally, someone used one of our satellites here
to try to access Delphi's library. The Shantirs shut them down, of course, when
they did not receive an access code. They were rather tight-lipped about that
incident but the intruder could not have been a Union member. We've never been
denied access to your library."

"As long as you don't try to access
the wrong files," Tychon amended. "What do you think is
happening?"

"Wish I knew. Tharron's never been
interested in Delphi before. At least not so far. It’s too close to Targon."

Tychon shook his head in puzzlement.
"Do you have more bad news?"

"Since you asked, Jelani wants to see
you."

Tychon sighed; he had expected this.
"I don't have time for him. It can wait, whatever it is. I'm sure he'll
track me down eventually."

* * *

The party drew to a close much later. As
Anders had promised, Delphian nights were longer than the cycles to which Nova
was accustomed. Yet she felt far from tired when they prepared to leave the
base residentials. Much of the food and drink had been new to her and Anders
had encouraged her to try a little of all that was offered.

She felt giddy and lightheaded and agreed
when Tychon passed the airfield carts and suggested a walk back to the Eagle.
The crisp air at this altitude would go a long way toward evaporating this
evening's indulgences.

Tychon strolled silently beside her as they
neared the far end of the airfield, slowing his steps to suit hers, clearly enjoying
the feel of Delphi beneath his feet.

"What a wonderful staff on this base!
I talked a bit with Captain Griffin and he absolutely agrees that I need to
stay out of Feyd entirely. But then he got into an argument with Cillian Rafe
about Humans on Feyd and so I left them to it. Did you have some of that orange
noodle stuff? Not noodles at all…" She laughed. “I am babbling! You can
stop me, if you like.”

“Not at all. I’ve just never seen a Human
civilian before. You are very civilian tonight.” He smiled in anticipation when
they reached the end of the runway. "Look," he said.

Nova stared speechlessly at the panorama
before them. Her hands gripped the metal links of the high fence surrounding
the base.

The ground on the other side of the
enclosure dropped gradually to form a deep, vast valley. The moons of Delphi
poured their light over dense forests, exposing the taller trees in stark
relief. Thick streams of mist edged the meadows and obscured the lights of
faraway settlements. The mirror surface of lakes shone everywhere on this
cloudless evening. The valley narrowed in the South where she saw the only
large city of Delphi, Chaib Psa, its graceful skyline bordering the rustic
lowlands without the preamble of suburbs. All of this was ringed by snow-tipped
mountains whose fringes formed the site on which the base had been built.

"It's so much like Earth! I've seen video
that showed places like these. You grew up here?"

He inclined his head toward the foothills
of Chaliss'Ya, Mother Mountain.

"And you left?"

He turned toward her with a sudden movement
that startled her. Whatever he meant to say did not seem to want to pass his
lips and she peered up into his face, desperate to understand his mood. The
moonlight had softened his features and Nova realized that he was no longer the
unsympathetic officer that she had met on Myra. Probably hadn’t been for days.
The hand he now placed on her bare arm sent a rush of sparks through her body.
His eyes touched her lips for an eternity and for some reason she felt that all
the way down to her knees. Then he blinked, as though awakened from a daydream.
He looked once more down into the valley and then he turned away, toward the
Eagle. "I am a pilot, not a farmer. Maybe some day I will be back."

The Eagle screamed into the well-guarded
landing bays of Targon, the Union's military headquarters in Trans-Targon, after
general quarters had already been sounded.

Even through the limited range of their
real-vid screens, Nova perceived the high-pitched tension as the base personnel
prepared for the impeding attack. Normal, efficient routine was put aside; all
hands on deck, pilots and ground crew racing against time to ready planes and
weapons.

This was her favorite of all places, where
thousands of individuals from dozens of distant places came together to work
and learn and live. Even the cool, only partially concealed rivalry between
Terran and Delphian was usually ignored in this melting pot, allowing each to
work for the continuity of the Union. Here rank was based on merit, not origin.

The base was a hulking gray complex of
airfields, hangars and administrative buildings, all connected by covered
roads, tunnels and conveyors. Constructed in what was essentially a combat
zone, few buildings exceeded a height of more than a few floors. Most of the
more sensitive areas were located well below ground level.

The planet was a mostly unexplored sponge
of tunnels, shafts and caves ranging from small chambers to vast, vaulted
caverns. Its surface was dismal, its atmosphere thin but livable, its sub-level
water reservoirs no longer apparent on the featureless surface. The native inhabitants
were cave dwellers that rarely sought the light of day. When the water had
finally seeped entirely underground they had followed it, learned to hunt the
white, fish-like creatures and to harvest algae and subterranean mosses for
sustenance. When the Union arrived, there had been more than enough room to
share, or perhaps the natives simply did not care.

What made Targon a suitable base was its
central location, the hub of Trans-Targon. From here, space was measured,
distances between planets charted into neat sectors, and jumpsites accounted
for. Targon was Terra Centauri's embassy, its capital in the New Domain. That
it was also its largest military base seemed only prudent.

Tychon and Nova slipped into formal
uniforms before leaving the ship.

"Is that what you're supposed to look
like?" Nova asked.

He looked imposing in the dark gray jacket,
crossed diagonally by an ornamental ammunition belt. The gun at his side was
anything but ornamental. His hair was brushed back over the crown of his head
and caught in a tight braid at his nape, robbing him of anything that might
soften his severe expression.

He snarled, pulling at the stiff collar.
"How can you stand these soldier suits? It's like wearing a box. Is this
necessary?"

"The Colonel doesn’t want us looking
like a couple of Outland scouts here,” she replied. “Bad enough that the Eagle
looks like one.” She smiled, but the awkwardness that she had felt since they
had left Delphi two days ago made that smile feel false on her lips.

She had awoken aboard the Eagle with a minor
hangover, wondering if that moment near the valley’s rim had been a dream. Tychon
certainly made no reference to it and seemed completely oblivious to her
discomfort as he readied the ship for takeoff. He let her jump the charted reach
to Targon by herself and seemed pleased by her performance. In the end, she
decided that the thick Feydan wine had led her to imagine things.