Pax Imperia (The Redemption Trilogy) (20 page)

Stony faced, Jon rose to his feet and, for a moment, Albert thought he was going to salute. But instead he turned about face and, without another word, left the small room, the door sliding closed behind him.

Albert allowed the wicked grin he had been hiding the whole time to appear on his face. After all, he had kept Jon so off-balance throughout the entire meeting that the other man did not have time to contemplate the destination—the Senate on Eden Prime, where Sofia Aurelius was currently residing. Additionally, Albert was certain Jon did not know she had recently been elected to the Senate herself. He made a mental note to warn his spies of the up-and-coming meeting. He would not want to miss a moment of it. Perhaps they could record it for his future viewing pleasure? Albert smiled. That of course did not exclude the specific instructions he had given his niece prior to Jon’s arrival. The Commander was going to be in for a most uncomfortable assignment.

Albert could not contain his laughter any longer.

*****

Forewarned by Albert, Jon was not surprised to observe the young woman waiting patiently next to the
Eternal Light.
Glancing at her, Jon would have guessed her to be in her mid to late twenties, although he could not be certain. He knew that Albert was well over a hundred, but had never managed to determine his exact age. Hence her young looks could also be deceiving. He took in the shoulder-length blonde hair and brown eyes. She was thin, with an athletic build, obviously she exercised frequently and, based on the healthy golden glow of her skin, he assumed she was not a native to Memphis. Not unless she spent some serious time under artificial UV rays. However, it was none of these features that first drew his attention.

As he approached she looked up at the sound of his footsteps, and Jon came to a halt in front of her to stare down his nose at her. His stare started to unnerve her, as she took a nervous step back.

“What is it? Have I suddenly grown a second head or something?” she asked self-consciously.

Jon shook his head in a negative.

“Then what?”

He looked at her for a moment longer, before smirking. “You’re just taller than I expected.” With that he strode past the five-foot, four-inches woman and into the waiting shuttle, calling out behind him. “You had better get on board, we are departing immediately.”

*****

Even after a few days together, Jon had not yet managed to pry out of Sarah her family name, probably at Albert’s insistence. But at that precise moment her surname was the very last thing on his mind. What was very much at the forefront of his mind was that she was currently standing before him, dripping wet, wearing—well, nothing at all. His eyes had started to drift downwards before this realisation hit him, and his gaze quickly returned back to her face.

“Clothes are
not
optional on the
Eternal Light
,” Jon snapped out, doing his best to keep his face expressionless. What was worse was the expression on her face was one of blatant desire. Combined with the fact he had been pretty much alone for the past three years, and his promise to her uncle to keep a close eye on her did not include getting that close, Jon was ready to bang his head repeatedly into the nearest bulkhead. He would welcome the mindless oblivion.

Jon was fairly certain Sarah was deliberately trying to test his resolve. After all, just how many times could you walk in on one person naked? Memphis Station was less than a few hours from Eden Prime, yet Sarah had insisted on a roundabout route that had taken days. If the sexually charged atmosphere on the ship was not bad enough, he had spent the past few days contemplating their arrival at the Senate on Eden Prime. He would never have agreed to this, had he known their exact destination, which is why Albert had failed to mention it, he mused. Realising his thoughts had been drifting back to the past, where they frequently had been over the past few days, Jon realised that Sarah had asked him a question and was waiting for a response.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said that I left my towel in the bedroom, so do be a sweetie and run and fetch it for me.” Sarah ordered, with a knowing twinkle in her eye. After all, the bathroom was directly connected to the master suite, which Sarah was using. Soon after their departure, Sarah had offered to share the shuttle’s only bed with him, after which Jon had rapidly retreated to the cockpit, where he would remain for the duration of the voyage. Her appearance also failed to explain her presence in the main passenger cabin, as she had to walk
through
the bedroom and hence
past
her towel to arrive at her current location.

With narrowed eyes, Jon decided that enough was enough and he would no longer be a prisoner to his hormones on his
own
ship. Therefore, without answering her question, he instead simply reached for the top button of his uniform and started unbuttoning it.

Sarah’s eyes initially opened wide in shock at his blatant actions, especially with her current state of undress, but that soon passed as she stared in rapt appreciation at his chest. Her gaze came to rest on the scar tissue just underneath his shoulder, a few inches above his heart. Running the tip of her forefinger against the inflamed tissue, she asked hesitantly. “How did you get this injury?”

Jon simply stared at her intently for a minute, before shrugging nonchalantly. “Somebody broke my heart.” With that he brushed past her, shedding his jacket on the way and throwing his uniform trousers onto the back of a seat a few steps later. “You can get your own towel,” he called back. “As it seems that the washroom is now free.” With that he stepped into the small washing facilities, closing and firmly locking the door behind him. Stepping under the shower, he moved the temperature to its lowest possible setting before switching on the spray.

Jon shivered, but it was not the cold water that bothered him, so much as their imminent arrival on Eden Prime. He had hoped never to return, as he had been honest with Sarah when he had told her that his heart had been broken. He had no idea what he would do or say if he happened to meet Sofia. After almost three years without seeing or talking to her, without her touch or smile, the desire for her that he kept locked deep inside had grown to a white-hot, burning need. He did not know how he would stop himself sweeping her from her feet and making love to her until they both passed out from exhaustion. Of course the likelihood of that happening was remote at best, as it was far more likely she would just hit him for his earlier betrayal.

Anyway, they would be there one, two or three days at the most. What was the chance of an accidental meeting?

*****

Jon looked around the opulent ballroom of the Confederation Senate with disgust. A small part of him had hoped for better, expected that after the wild excess of the initial months the Senate would settle down to the serious business of governing the Imperium and would put these wild, endless parties to rest. The more realistic part of him looked around unsurprised. The party was only just getting underway and the massive room was already filling up quickly. Many of the older senators and their much younger partners were already indulging in the free flowing champagne and seemingly endless hors d’oeuvres.

He had already glanced at the menu, detailing the dozen or so courses that were shortly to be served, and had to resist the temptation to tear it to shreds. If anything the Senate excesses had grown over the years. He had to spend ten minutes alone, breathing in the fresh air on the balcony, before he could get his temper back under control. He repeatedly reminded himself that this was Sofia’s decision and he had promised to support whatever she decided. However, the desire to walk back into the ballroom and take back the authority they had squandered was so strong he could almost taste it. Somebody had to start forcing them to rule the Confederation for the average citizen and not just for those contained in this room.

Taking full advantage of the free champagne, it was not until he had downed two glasses of the cold liquid that he stopped shaking with anger sufficiently to go back inside. On his way in he collected another glass for him and his
date.

Jon had no trouble locating Sarah, as the amethyst evening dress she wore stood out easily in the crowd. However, it was the deeply irritating laugh from a senator, who was easily twice her age and at least three times her weight, that drew his angry gaze. The Senator was standing far too close and his eyes were fixed more at chest height than on her face. From the pained expression on her face and the way her eyes lit up at his approach, Sarah was more than happy to be rescued. For a moment Jon considered abandoning her, especially in light of her own recent actions. In the end his own personal sense of honour would not allow it and he casually bumped into her companion, accidently spilling the contents of one champagne glass down his tuxedo, which probably cost more than an average family earned in a year.

“Whoops. Pardon me,” Jon uttered unsympathetically.

The Senator, furious with indignation, was about to let loose a torrent of abuse when he looked up into the Commander’s face. The scowl was enough for the Senator to quickly lose most of his ire and made a quick excuse to depart.

“Your champagne, my lady.” Jon offered Sarah the remaining full glass. “I apologise for my prolonged absence, as I suddenly felt myself in need of some fresh air. I find the atmosphere in here quite stuffy.”

Sarah laughed honestly at the explanation, not the overly forced laugh that she had been using earlier with the Senator. “What about you? You seem to have already finished your glass, although it was for a good cause.”

“I’ve already had two, which I think is my limit for the evening. Any more than that and I might not be held responsible for my actions,” Jon growled, with obvious disdain for the crowd that had now started making its way towards the dining area.

“I’m sorry,” Sarah commented honestly, taking his arm as they followed the crowd. “I know enough about your history to know how uncomfortable being here must be for you.”

Jon stopped, looking at her quizzically. “I was not aware that my history was public record.”

Sarah looked embarrassed for a moment, before replying. “My uncle spoke about you often.”

“Not all bad, I hope?”

Sarah shook her head in response to his question, choosing her next words carefully. “He said that you were one of the few people he ever respected. He told me that you always chose the right path, no matter how difficult it might be. I don’t understand, what did he mean by that?”

Jon just shook his head in surprise, before replying. “It often feels that there is never a right decision. You just end up choosing the least worst option.”

“Well thank you for coming anyway, even if I did not request it. Uncle Albert can be so overbearing sometimes.”

“Perhaps it is just his way of showing that he cares,” Jon replied carefully. “Your uncle has lost much in life. I guess that he has a right to be a little overprotective of what little family he has left. As for being here, I hardly feel that it is a burden. After all I rarely get to attend a party, especially with the most beautiful woman in the room.” Jon added sincerely.

The comment obviously surprised Sarah, as she stopped on the threshold of the dining area, looking at him in surprise, taken aback at the sincerity in his voice. “Jon, can I ask you a personal question? I asked my uncle but it was the one question that he refused to answer.”

“You can ask, I cannot promise to answer it,” he replied honestly.

“Why are you so lonely? It does show, you know, although you hide it well.”

Jon looked around the now almost empty ballroom, with the deserted dance floor and most of the servers having long since departed, along with their guests, to the dining area. “I’m alone because I want to be,” he finally said. “I do not deserve happiness, because I have never offered any, only pain and heartache. Too many people have suffered because of me and my mistakes.”

“You need to forgive yourself, one day,” Sarah commented sadly.

“Maybe,” Jon replied, motioning her ahead of him. “But not today.”

*****

They eventually found their allocated seats and Jon was relieved to see that they were not the last to arrive, as two seats still remained vacant. He distinctly disliked being the focus of attention, in the current situation even more than usual, as he was forced to lie repeatedly about their relationship. Speculation around the table quickly shifted instead to the final missing pair and the reason for their tardiness.

Jon did not feel it appropriate to opine that he expected the reason was that a much older Senator was probably better enjoying his time with his much younger partner in the bedroom than he would attending this unending torture of a party.

His contemplation about the event was interrupted when he felt movement behind him and their fellow guests at the table hurriedly got to their feet, greeting the latecomers. He slowly stood up and turned round to face the pair behind him. He glanced over to the Senator, who matched his earlier expectations; late forties, an overly expanding waistline, pale blotchy skin and a receding hairline. Not unexpectedly the Senator had his arm slung casually around a far younger woman.

Jon took his time to peruse the woman with interest. Her sexy scarlet evening dress revealed her shoulders and dipped just low enough to hint at what might be waiting underneath. The fabric creased and stretched, hugging her narrow waist, only to flare out in a skirt that barely reached her thighs. He continued on to look at the pair of strapless, wraparound high heels that accentuated the strength and shape of her calves.

A frown touched Jon’s lips, as a strange feeling of familiarity began to wash over him. He looked up quickly until his gaze reached her face and he forgot to breathe. For he found himself staring into a stunning pair of emerald-green eyes, neatly framed by a flaming mass of auburn hair that had been carefully put up, with just a curl framing one cheek. He felt the desire that he had pent up inside of himself unfurl like a slumbering dragon. Heat exploded within him as he gazed upon Sofia, like a dying man who had just been offered salvation. The feeling lasted a fraction of a second, before his thoughts came crashing down around him and his eyes looked down at the arm circling her waist.