Vertigo: Aurora Rising Book Two (34 page)

Miriam’s response was tainted by sorrow. “Yes, she is.”

Awkward silence lingered for a moment, and she simply didn’t have the will to end it.

Finally Malcolm cleared his throat and stood. “If you don’t need anything else, I’ll be going. I need to run home and kiss my wife, pack a new bag and catch a transport for Scythia.”

“I won’t keep you. Everything should be in order, but please don’t hesitate to contact me directly if you run into any problems.”

She hesitated for a beat, then gave him a wistful smile as she stood. “I remember those days, when David would dash through the house on his way between assignments. Don’t feel guilty if you linger a few extra minutes.”

“In that case, I may do so.” He turned to the door…then back to her. “Permission to speak freely, Admiral?”

“Granted, of course.”

“She’s more like you than you realize.”

Her lips pursed in puzzlement. “I don’t follow.”

“Forgive me if I’m off-base, but I suspect you believe Alex is her father made over. And though I regrettably never knew him, as I understand it she definitely inherited his adventurous spirit and irreverence.

“But in truth, she’s your daughter through and through. Driven, determined and supremely confident in her abilities. Expecting others to meet the highest standards or else they’re not worth her attention. Refusing to show weakness no matter how difficult the situation. And…well, perhaps a tiny bit wary of letting others get close. I say this as someone grateful to have been allowed to get close, for a time.”

He shrugged, wearing a sheepish look. “I just thought you might want to keep that in mind when you see her again.”

A parting salute and he was gone. She was left standing there, stunned into silence.

Why would he say that? Why would he
think
that? She had assumed he knew Alexis better, seeing as they were together for nearly three years. Perhaps time apart had clouded his memories.

Regardless, she and her daughter had never shared so much as a favorite food in common; they shared nothing except burgundy hair and a complete inability to hold a civilized conversation with one another.

And possibly a formidable drive and level of determination once their minds were set on a goal. And…

…was Malcolm
right
? He was right that Alexis had inherited David’s adventurous spirit and, as he noted, irreverence. Might he have been correct about the rest? No, he couldn’t be.

When she looked at Alexis, David stared back at her. But where David had been open, carefree and vibrant, her daughter regarded her coolly, closing off whatever spirit she possessed behind shuttered eyes and a defensive bearing.

Just like herself. “Oh, David….”

“…looking for the commanding officer?”

Miriam waved the medic off and pressed the medwrap to her neck as she twisted around in the direction of the voice. “Can I help you?”

“Captain David Solovy, 3
^rd
Regiment, 1
^st
Brigade, NW Region. Apologies, ma’am, but the information I was provided stated a Commander Llahso oversaw the station here on Perona?”

The captain stood twenty centimeters taller than her. She made an effort to straighten her shoulders in spite of the fracture in her collarbone, which she decided was a fairly stupid thing to do when a jolt of pain screamed down her arm.

“He does—or did.” She gestured over her shoulder with her uninjured arm at the row of medical cots behind her. “He took a TSG to the chest three hours ago. The doctors don’t know if he’ll survive. I’m the XO, Major Miriam Draner.”

“That’s unfortunate for him. I hope he recovers.” A sly smirk pulled at the man’s lips. “Less unfortunate for me, however. It is a pleasure to meet you, Major.”

She realized she was staring and schooled her expression. “What can I do for you, Captain Solovy?”

“Ah, right. My mission. I lead the tactical assault detachment to the EAS Trafalgar. We’re the reinforcements the Commander requested. I’m here to help you dig these gandonov out of their hole.”

The medwrap must be secure by now, so she dropped her hand from her neck. She had caught the edge of a Daemon beam in the doomed push which had taken out Llahso. The proximity of the wound to her carotid artery meant it had been a close call, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it now.

She indicated for Solovy to follow her and headed out of the med tent. “Excellent. I’m glad your team has arrived. We nearly took out their primary turret in the last offensive, but we failed and are down seven soldiers as a result.”

He matched her step for step through the center of the hastily erected forward operating post as they crossed to the command center in the opposite corner. “What’s the background? My briefing was scarce on details.”

She shrugged, which was also a fairly stupid thing to do. A cringe followed it. “Your standard over-committed radicals. In this case I believe they imagine Perona will be better served by a Leninist utopia, but they—”

“Goret etim pidarasam v adu….” He cleared his throat. “Apologies, ma’am. Please continue.”

Interesting that the memories of the damage inflicted on Russia still lingered more than three hundred years later in its descendants. “Yes. Well. As I was about to say, they are exceedingly well armed and have fortified their compound with a noteworthy amount of ballistic weaponry. How they got their hands on such weaponry is a matter for another day, but suffice it to say we were not prepared for the extent of it.”

“Is that why Commander Llahso was injured?”

“No. He was injured because he was showing off for the soldiers in an attempt to compensate for his innate insecurities. By the point he insisted on leading an incursion we were fully aware of the terrorists’ capabilities.”

“Then I’m even more glad you’re in charge now.”

She frowned as they reached the command center, unsettled by how familiar the man was being, but was interrupted by three separate subordinates arriving to update her on various details. Finally she succeeded in activating a large screen above the center table.

“The primary obstacle is one of vantage. Their compound lies in a depression at the base of the mountains and there’s no way to get to the two large turrets they’ve set up behind the outer wall without exposing ourselves. Our drones are shot down before they can lock and fire.”

“A couple of shots from a fighter would take them out. But I’m guessing you’re trying to avoid the collateral damage sure to result.”

“Those are our orders, yes. The Peronan governor doesn’t want a bloodbath, lest he be accused of slaughtering ‘freedom fighters.’ It is complicating matters.”

“Politicians usually do.”

She spared at sideways glance at Solovy. Distinctive Slavic cheekbones and a strong jaw should have given him a hard, cold appearance, yet somehow his features were warm and welcoming.

A corner of his mouth curled up, and she jerked her gaze away. “It’s not my place to question my orders, not as of yet. The fact is we need an infiltration team to clear the wall and take out those turrets so a larger force can enter, subdue the leaders and arrest the followers.”

He nodded firmly. “We can do that.”

“How many soldiers did you bring?”

“Enough.”

“How many, Captain?”

He rolled his eyes. Entirely too familiar. “Twelve. Counting me.”

She snorted. “It’s your corpse.”

He shifted to lean against the table and face her. “If my team goes in and takes out both turrets and the wall, clearing the way for your soldiers, will you have dinner with me?”

“Excuse me, Captain?”

“Dinner. With me. Preferably somewhere offering candles and proper Russian vodka, but I’ll understand if Perona doesn’t yet have such finery. Alternatively, a picnic in these picturesque mountains and I’ll bring the vodka.”

Of all the impertinence! How dare this man swagger into her command center and lounge about on her command table and throw around romantic advances in the middle of a combat situation….

“Captain, please remove yourself from my table. You’re interfering with the data reaching the screens.”

He pushed off the table. “Haven’t had any difficulty settling into command, I see.”

“I do what is required in the circumstances.”

He regarded her silently for several seconds. There was nowhere for her to go to escape those piercing eyes. “Do you now. You haven’t answered my question.”

“That’s because your question was inappropriate and I have far more important matters to consider. Like the fact you didn’t bring enough men. I’ll need to loan you several of my experienced officers. Please try to not get them killed.”

“Keep your men, Major. I brought enough.”

“I am in com—”

“Go to dinner with me.”

She dragged a hand along her jaw; somewhat to her dismay, it came away streaked in blood. Was it hers? She didn’t think so. Llahso’s, then. “Captain, you—”

“After this mission is complete and while off-duty, don’t worry. I respect the regulations. I have a few days leave left for the year. I’ll stay here an extra day or two. Or three.”

She glared at him dubiously. “You would give up your leave to stay on this backwater planet and take me to dinner? You only met me five minutes ago.”

He smiled, and god help her but it was a remarkable sight. “Life is short and you are beautiful. Go to dinner with me. It will give me motivation to make it out of the compound alive.”

“If it will halt this egregious flirting and allow you to focus on the mission, fine. Now can we please concentrate on devising our plan of attack?”

“Of course, nastoyatel’.”

Alone in her office, Miriam sank against the wall and brought a hand to her mouth.

She had never met anyone like him, before or since. The dashing manner, casual confidence and easy charisma had been evident immediately. The tremendous soul, fierce loyalty and pure heart had revealed themselves later, though not so very much later.

God how she missed him.

Then she was laughing, in a way which bore a tinge of the wild, free laugh she had only ever shared in David’s company. He had ignored all her defenses as if they were invisible and forced his way inside with grace, charm and aplomb. Perhaps this Marano character had done the same to Alexis….

But she didn’t know how to do such a thing. Especially when she was so busy propping up her own barriers.

35

PANDORA

I
NDEPENDENT
C
OLONY

R
ICHARD HAD VISITED
P
ANDORA
several times in his younger days, but it had been years. Nevertheless, the stark shift in the atmosphere of the devil-won’t-care world from the previous trips was starkly apparent.

The spaceport bustled not with tourists eager to begin a vacation but with desperate visitors and residents alike eager to depart, yet not knowing where to go. ‘West’ did seem to be the general consensus and transports to Arcadia, Atlantis, Demeter, Earth and Fionava were all marked as sold out for days. Though he’d feel guilty displacing a civilian, he would be able to obtain a seat when the time came.

His meeting was at a pub not far from the spaceport. He decided to walk.

During the flight his mind had been too consumed by matters other than his mission and he needed to get his head canted straight. But first he allowed himself one final moment to despair in the revelation which had brought him here, and its aftermath.