Riding on Whispers (the Wolfegang series Book 3) (11 page)

My silence seemed to make him uncomfortable. He kept moving in his seat, like he couldn’t figure out how to sit normally. “Look,” he said quickly. “If you don’t like it I can always take it back.” He went to grab it out of my hand.

I moved the flower out of his reach, and Wolfe finally stopped avoiding my gaze. He looked at me, unsure. I still didn’t know what to say. What I
did
know was that I didn’t want to give it back. “How did you get this? I don’t even…Why?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and generally looked out of his element. “Ricky told me it was customary to bring flowers to someone who was sick or injured back in the day. You seem to be really into history, and we made a stop at a space port yesterday while you were still unconscious.”

“I love it.” I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading.

I was still so shocked he would even take the time to do such a thing. Usually, I tried to be invisible, and I was pretty good at it. Which meant there normally weren’t flowers involved.

Wolfe’s cheeks were slightly flushed and he couldn’t hold his hands still. I was flustering him, or he was pleased the whole thing hadn’t gone completely south.

“Thank you,” I said. It was kind of an amusing situation. Suddenly this man was just like the rest of us; not an infallible soldier, but a real person. “It was incredibly thoughtful of you, and it does make me feel better.”

I placed the rose carefully on my nightstand. It still looked fresh, like someone had just gone and picked it moments before. It’d been longer than I liked to think about since I last saw something that reminded me of Earth. Green and growing things weren’t common onboard the
Wolfegang
.

When I looked back at Wolfe, he seemed upset. His brow furrowed, and he frowned slightly.

“What?” I asked. I didn’t understand what was wrong. He seemed fine just a second ago.

“I made an incorrect decision. I shouldn’t have pushed you into combat training so soon.” He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and ran his hands over his face.

This conversation was starting to sound a lot like the conversation I had with Kevin right before he convinced me we should get back together. I shook my head. No, this was not the direction I wanted my thoughts to go in. I didn’t want the memories and all those feelings to come back right at that moment.

Wolfe mistook the reason I was shaking my head. He thought I was reacting to what he said. “No, listen. I really should have listened to you,” he said. “Celeste is the best at her job, but neither of you were ready. She should have held back more and started slower. I was just…if I can’t be there you need to be able to protect yourself.”

I huffed. “Captain, I don’t need you to save me all the time. I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself for the most part.” We had to get off this topic and soon before I lost it and all the memories flooded back. “I forgive you, I promise.”

He looked like he still wanted to say more. I desperately needed something to distract him. “How is the deciphering of your map going?”

There was a pause as he processed my question, and all the guilt erased from his face until he was grinning. Suddenly he looked young. The smile erased the lines and shadows from his face.

Wolfe leaned forward. “I was hoping that you would look at something, maybe you could help me interpret it,” he said. “There is a lot to translate. Some of the words on the map are in Latin, some are in pictographs, and some are in languages and alphabets I don’t even recognize. There is one phrase in Japanese that I can read, and that’s about it. Would you be up for that?” His face was reserved and polite, but his eyes sparkled with excitement.

I actually had never really got a chance to look at the map. My curiosity piqued. I didn’t even know what it was a map of. “What about this map is so important?” I asked.

Wolfe grinned. “It’s supposed to tell us where to find certain treasures and lost artifacts. The map I managed to get a hold of is whispered about in the underground circles. By carbon dating, it’s a few hundred years old.”

What treasures and artifacts could it possibly lead to? I wondered if it was even a legitimate map. It sounded too good to be true.

“Yes, Captain, I would like that very much.”

“When you’re feeling better,” Wolfe said. “You can come see me and we can go over it together.” He stood up and clasped his hands behind his back. “I look forward to seeing you later.”

Then he turned and left my quarters, and I watched him go. I couldn’t help but smile as I glanced at the rose. There was a really stupid, girly part of me that was extremely pleased he’d given me the flower.

I saw Wolfe’s manual next to the white rose, and his notes on the crystals sitting there. They stared at me, waiting for me to read them. I didn’t know if that’s what I wanted to do though. My fingers trailed along the stem of the rose as I thought. I grabbed my tablet and resisted searching for any games I could play. Instead, I brought up the search bar.

Wolfe’s explanation of how the military worked gave me a lot of questions. I didn’t think I should ask him the finer details of the military’s infrastructure as I wasn’t sure how much of the amnesia excuse I could get away with.

In the search bar, I typed in ‘Galactic Federation military structure.’ The search brought up endless results. I tapped the first option, deciding to make my way down the list until I had the answers I was looking for.

There was an article written by the President General. The commander of the entire Military branch was also the political President of the entire Galactic Federation. I frowned; that sounded a lot like a military dictatorship. If the President controlled both politics and the military with no resistance, a lot of decisions could have multiple, underlying reasons. I thought about it. The President wanted more citizens who would pay taxes, and so he approved his own proposal to go to war if a society didn’t sign his treaty. I shook my head. It sounded like a huge mess.

I scanned the article. Confused, I went back to the beginning. How could the entire Federation military be staffed by humans alone? There were hundreds and thousands of alien races. Why would none of them join the military? I kept reading.

Apparently the Federation military was in charge of all other armies, fleets, and soldiers from planets that fell to the Federation’s rule. There was a list of cooperating armies who fought for the Federation as needed. They were allowed to defend their planet only from a society or race that didn’t fall under Federation rule.

If the Federation called, they had to fight, regardless of what the people thought. The whole idea felt slimy to me.

Hold up, there was a special mention. ‘The Sarmation Army was disbanded at the end of their war with the Federation for their freedom. Sarmatia is forbidden to have a standing army.’

I stared at that line and didn’t even know how to react. Why would they specifically disband that army? I may not like Celeste all that much, but that girl could kick some ass from here to next Tuesday. I would want her and her race on my team if I were the Federation.

I turned the tablet off when I realized how hungry I was. I still couldn’t quite get over the Sarmation Army being disbanded. How many thousands or hundreds of thousands of people were out of work because of that? If I were Celeste, I’d be angry all the time too. It explained why she hated humans so much.

I put the tablet away, and tried not to think about it too much. It wasn’t like I could ask her about it without her freaking out on me. She’d probably break my nose again.

I took the covers off but sat on the bed for a second before I got up. Ricky told me I wasn’t allowed to get out of bed that day, so I had to comm him and let him know what I needed. If I did what I wanted to do – which was go to the galley and get my own food – it wouldn’t just be Ricky who’d be angry with me. It’d be Wolfe too. The chances of me running into either one of them was slim, but I wasn’t sure it was worth the risk.

To get to the galley there was a direct path through the common area, but the way the ship was built there was no way
someone
wouldn’t notice me.

The door opened with a
whoosh
. “I’m glad you didn’t try anyway,” Ricky said as he carried in a tray full of food. “I would have sedated you for your own good.”

“I was only a little hungry,” I said, a tad dismayed at how much there was to eat on the platter.

“You can take what you want and leave the rest; I just thought it would be good for you to also have some snacks.”

“What have you been working on all day?” I asked, perusing the food.

“Nothing exciting. I’ve been updating all of the medical equipment, the information manuals for the new techniques and cures, and ordering supplies for the ship. When we arrive at our next port they will be waiting for us.” He popped something from the tray into his mouth. “I’ve also been catching up on my Earth mythology. Wolfe asked me to help with his new pet project. That blasted map has had him locked up in his office all day.” Ricky shook his head at the thought. “I worry sometimes that he’s going to forget he’s human and completely stop eating and sleeping.” Ricky sat on the edge of my bed and watched me nibble on a piece of cheese. “A lot like someone else on board this ship.”

“No, I like my sleep,” I told him, trying a little bit of everything on the platter. Most of it I didn’t recognize, but everything was tasty.

“I meant the bit about being human,” Ricky stressed.

I didn’t look at him. Maybe if I pretended that I didn’t hear him, he’d drop it.

“I’m not going to drop it,” Ricky said, answering my thoughts. “It’s unhealthy to shut everything out.” His golden-honey eyes watched me closely. “The tragedy and horror of everything you lost when you woke up isn’t going to go away. It’ll just wait until you least expect it, and leave you incapacitated when you need your strength most.”

His insight was ridiculously accurate and annoying.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Ricky, but I’ll let you know how I’m feeling after I’ve rested a bit more.”

Of course, I knew exactly what he was saying, but I still wasn’t sure how to deal with it. So I put it away, hidden in the back of my mind. Until one day when I might have the strength to face the reality of what was done to my genes…and whatever future I might’ve had, but lost.

Ricky sighed at me, aware that I was ignoring him, but he was stubborn as well. “I’ll be back in a few hours with some tea and to replace your bandage. Good luck with your research.”

I munched on something crunchy. More research wasn’t something I really wanted to do at the moment. A nap sounded like a much better idea.

I woke up to Ricky taking the bandage off my nose. It stung like hell.

“Couldn’t you have woken me up first?” I snapped at him. I pushed him off and carefully tested my nose. At least it didn’t seem so wobbly anymore.

“How does it feel?” Ricky asked.

Like all the fires from the seven levels of hell took residence in my face. “Better,” I said. If you compared it to how my face felt before…better was an adequate response.

Ricky ignored my inner ramblings and grabbed his portable x-ray machine. He held it over my face for a second before examining the image more closely. “Well, it should be feeling better. The cracks in the bone have rejoined much faster than anticipated. Only a hairline fracture remains,” he informed me.

“Convenient for me.” I was relieved the pain wouldn’t last long, but the unusually quick recovery would only complicate things.

He rubbed a salve on my nose and then re-bandaged it carefully.

“How does the bruising look?” I asked.

“Like you got kicked in the face by a donkey.”

I laughed. At least it would look convincing for a while.

“It seems that the genes are programmed to heal essential structural damage first before it moves on to critical areas.” Ricky put away his things in a black bag, and then sat on the edge of my bunk. “Are you going to stay in bed, or are you going to work on something?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “As long as I don’t have to go up against Celeste again, I should be fine.” I shrugged and took the tea he offered me.

“What exactly happened?” he asked.

“I don’t even really know,” I answered. “It didn’t seem like she was intentionally trying to hurt me, but like she hoped I’d understand something. I’ve no idea what though.”

I rubbed my cheek, feeling the bruising under the skin. “Maybe I’ll learn something from her. I just have to figure out what.”

Knowing a little about Celeste’s history might help me understand what that something might be. With her knowledge in the field of weapons and self-defense I assumed she used to be a part of the Sarmatian Army. Maybe in her own warped way, Celeste was trying to get me to understand what she went through. The pain she felt at the end of the war when everything she knew and loved was destroyed…or I was completely wrong, and she really just wanted to teach me how bad it felt to get punched in the face.

Ricky smiled at me in a way that made me think he was questioning my sanity. “I wish you the best of luck with that,” he said.

Pushing the tray of food away, I smirked at him. “Thanks,” I said sarcastically. I finished the rest of my tea. “Between the crystals, Celeste, Wolfe’s little mystery map, and everything else, I’m not quite sure how it’s all going to fit in.”