Heart of the Nebula (20 page)

“
These men are here from
the Colony police,” James explained. “They’re going to escort you
to the penitentiary, where you’ll stay until we get things sorted
out. You’ll be treated well there, with food and a place to
sleep.”

How do you know?
Kyla wanted to ask. Instead, she said
nothing.

“
You don’t have a court
date yet, but it shouldn’t be more than a couple of days from now.
Lars assures me that that’s plenty of time to file the paperwork
for guardianship. If you cooperate, you’ll probably get off with a
few hours of community service and won’t have to worry about child
services taking you away. Does it sound like a good
deal?”

It sounds too good to be true, which
probably means that it isn’t.

Probably.

Kyla lay motionless on the bed, refusing to
acknowledge James or the police. Perhaps if she ignored them, they
would simply go away.

“
Kyla, do you hear me? This
is the best chance at a new life that you’re going to
get.”

It wasn’t until then that she realized just
how scared she was. Her future was uncertain, and for the first
time in years, she had something to lose.

Hope.

“
I’m coming,” she whispered
as she rose to her feet. The men in the dark blue uniforms came
forward to take her away, but though all of her instincts screamed
at her to run or fight back, she did not resist.

* * * * *

James could not believe the crowd that had
gathered in the spaceport terminal to greet the delegation. The
gate was packed from wall to wall with cheering people, while
banners hung from the bulkheads welcoming them home. As they
stepped out of the tram and onto the platform, they were
immediately mobbed by a horde of citizen reporters with microphones
and transcoders.

“
How does it feel to be
back?”

“
Was the conference a
failure?”

“
How many of the other
delegates were killed?”

“
Should we prepare for any
Hameji reprisals?”

Instinctively, James looked around for the
people he was supposed to protect. Sara was only a few feet ahead
of him, but with the noisy press of the crowd all around them, she
might as well have been on the other side of a wall. He glanced
over his shoulder at Sterling and Lars, but they were cut off from
him as well.

“
We’ll be giving a press
conference in just a few hours,” Lars told the reporters. “Until
then, I’m afraid I can’t take any of your questions.”

Even so, the reporters swarmed as quickly as
a pack of beggars to a man with money in his hands. Lars ignored
them much better than James ever could, coming within inches of
colliding with some of them before they moved out of his way.
Though his face was expressionless, James could tell from the fire
in his eyes that their questions were aggravating him.

“
Do you personally feel
responsible for the massacre, Lieutenant?”

The question knocked him completely off
guard. He glared at the reporter who’d asked it—a young
twenty-something woman with carefully groomed hair and too much
eyeliner.

“
Responsible for what? We
brought back the entire delegation without a single casualty. In my
book, that’s a success.”

The words no sooner left his mouth than he
realized he’d made a mistake. Instantly, almost a dozen microphones
converged upon him.

“
Will the security
situation in the Karduna system deteriorate because of—”

“
Do you feel that the
patrician was justified in—”

“—
see any relief from the
occupation?”

A wave of dizziness and claustrophobia swept
over him, worse than the sensation of jumpspace. Much worse. He
took a deep breath and lifted his arms to swat the reporters away.
He had to get through them—had to get out of this mess.

Before he could do so, though, the
patrician’s voice sounded from the other side of the gate.

“
Sara!”

“
Dad!” Sara exclaimed,
rushing forward. She threw her arms around her father in a warm
embrace, camera flashes exploding all around them. In an instant,
the press deserted James and thronged around the patrician and his
daughter.

“
You’ve never looked
better, my dear,” the patrician exclaimed, smiling as he looked his
daughter over. “When we heard about the massacre, we feared the
worst.”

“
I know,” she said. “But
thanks to these two brave soldiers, we all made it out
alive.”

“
Let me see
them.”

A chill ran down James’s back as the
patrician turned to him and Sterling. He stood up straight and gave
his best salute, kicking Sterling in the leg to make sure he did
the same.

“
Outstanding—simply
outstanding. Here, let me shake your hands.”

The decidedly more civilian gesture was a
bit awkward, especially with the crowd pressing in, but they
managed it as well as they could. As the patrician took James’s
hand in both of his, he gave him a quick wink.

What was that for?

“
Lieutenant McCoy and
Ensign Jones,” said the patrician, “on behalf of our entire
community, let me be the first to thank you for your bravery. By
risking your lives to see our entire delegation safely back home,
you demonstrated exceptional courage. For that, the military
council and I have decided to give you both promotions.
Congratulations, Lieutenant Jones and Commander McCoy. Welcome
home.”

James’s eyes widened in shock. “C-commander,
sir?”

“
That’s right, McCoy.
Congratulations.”

The patrician shook his hand again, but he
could barely feel it. He glanced over at Sterling, who looked just
as shocked as he was, then at Sara. As the patrician moved on to
shake Sterling’s hand, she stepped forward and gave him a hug.

“
Play along,” she whispered
in his ear.

Instantly, a thousand questions rushed
through his mind. Play along with what? Was this part of the
patrician’s game? How had he gotten the military council to agree
to this promotion? Were they in on it as well? And most
importantly, what did this have to do with Sara’s mission?

“
Citizens,” said the
patrician, addressing the crowd, “I’m sure you all have many
questions. First, the members of the delegation must be debriefed.
I apologize for the delay, but we will hold a press conference as
soon as we have more information. Thank you.”

A few of the citizen reporters still pressed
forward with their questions, but most of them began to disperse.
James glanced at Sara, who motioned for him to wait. Sure enough,
the patrician soon came over.

“
I hope to meet with you
after your military briefing, Commander,” he said in a voice that
only James could hear. “Please come to my office at your earliest
convenience.”

Chills ran down James’s back. Before he
could respond, though, the patrician was already boarding a car
with his daughter. James stood and watched as they took off.

“
Can you believe it,
Captain?” Sterling asked, as excited as James had ever heard him.
“Promotions! How does it feel, Capt—er, Commander? How does it
feel?”

“
Ominous,” James answered
under his breath.

“
What was that?”

“
Nothing, Sterling.
Congratulations on the promotion—I knew you’d make lieutenant
soon.”

Sterling beamed. “And congratulations to
you, too, sir! Now, shouldn’t we be headed to that debriefing?”

James glanced around the crowded terminal.
The mob of citizen reporters had more or less dispersed, but there
were still plenty of people watching them, and not all in an
admiring way.

“
Right,”
he said. “Let’s go.”
And not just
because of the debriefing,
he added
silently.

* * * * *

Sara followed her father away from the
crowded terminal. Together, they boarded a private car that whisked
them away from the spaceport and back toward the official
residence.

“
That lieutenant is quite a
character, eh?” her father said as the car sped away.

“
I suppose,” said Sara,
remembering their dinner date and the way he’d cut it short to take
care of the stowaway. “He hasn’t got much tact, but he does stick
by his principles.”

“
Yes,” said her father.
“And he certainly can be useful for the purposes of political
spectacle.”

“
Is that all that was to
you?”

He chuckled. “Practically speaking. Off the
record, of course.”

“
Of course,” said Sara,
rolling her eyes. She and her father were so close, “off the
record” was practically a joke.

“
Now tell me,” he said,
clasping his hands together. “How did the meeting with the
Nabattans go?”

“
Very well, all things
considered.”

“
Ah, good. So you were able
to strike a deal?”

“
Yes. They bargained hard,
though—the price isn’t going to be cheap. It’ll take almost half a
year’s production to fill it.”

“
Not a problem. As long as
it saves our people, we can pay anything.”

“
There is one more thing,
dad.”

“
Oh?” he said, raising an
eyebrow.

She swallowed.
Here goes nothing.

“
James found out about my
mission and forced me to tell him everything. The exodus, the
station drive—I tried my best to keep it from him, but he cornered
me after the massacre and wouldn’t let up.”

“
Very well,” said her
father. “I trust you got his promise not to go public?”

“
Yes, but—”

He silenced her with a casual wave of his
hand. “I’ve had my eye on that young man for quite a while. He can
be a maverick now and again, but at the same time, he’s a deeply
practical man with an incisive mind and good intuition. And as you
said, he sticks by his principles. Once convinced that we’re doing
the right thing, I had no doubt that he would prove both capable
and loyal.”

She stared at her father incredulously. “You
knew that he’d find some way to get that information out of me, and
you didn’t tell me that that was part of your plan.”

“
Well, to be fair, I didn’t
know for sure that he’d get it out of you. But if he had failed to
put it all together, that would have proved he wasn’t capable
enough to be let into the inner circle.”

“
And what if he betrays us?
What if he goes public?”

Her father grinned. “Leave that to me.”

“
What’s that supposed to
mean?” Sara asked, frowning.

“
James is too honest to go
back on his promise without first investigating your claims for
himself. He’ll go to the source, and when he sees what we’re
working to accomplish, I’m confident that we’ll win him over to our
side.”

Just like you convinced me that I had to
keep my mission a secret?

“
You could have told me
that you planned to let him in on everything,” she said, folding
her arms.

“
I’m afraid not, my dear.
If you had known that I intended to bring James into the inner
circle, that would have changed your behavior significantly,
wouldn’t it?”

Sara thought back again to her date with
James and the self-defense lesson he’d given her. She had to admit,
her father had a point.

“
That was still very
manipulative of you.”

“
All leadership is
manipulation,” said her father, “just as all warfare is deception.
Democracy is fine and good, but without someone at the top to pull
the proper strings, it’s little better than mob rule.”

Sara nodded, still dumbfounded by the way
she’d been played by her own father. In some ways, she wished that
he’d been disappointed instead. At least that way, she wouldn’t
have to face the awful truth that her father had used her like a
pawn.

“
This is why Mom left you,
you know,” she said. It was the only retort she could come up with
that she knew would hit home.

Her father frowned. “This has nothing to do
with your mother.”

“
But you treated her
exactly the same way you’re treating me.” She knew that she would
regret this fight later, but she couldn’t help herself.

“
Sending you on a first
class luxury liner at the family’s expense with an attractive, and
very eligible, young Defense Corps officer?”

Her cheeks reddened, and not just from
anger.

“
Using me as one of your
pawns to accomplish your political ends.”

“
I only do what has to be
done, Sara, and I do it for the good of us all.”

“
But your career always
comes before your family.”

Her father sighed and stared out the window.
“I assume you’re prepared to present your report on the
negotiations to the inner circle?”

“
Of course,” she said,
scowling as she turned away. It was just like her father to deflect
when he knew he was losing an argument. Well, she’d show him that
she was just as capable and independent as he was. She wouldn’t let
him use her.

Chapter 11

James stepped into the patrician’s office
alone, not sure what he’d find inside. The reception area was
rather generic, with a couple of couches and wallscreens along the
off-white wall tiling. A set of shelves sat in the corner, with a
few antique synth-paper books on display. Generic planetscapes
cycled through the wallscreens. Except for a young female secretary
behind the counter, the place was empty—conspicuously so.