Ice and Peace (7 page)

Unfortunately, that had been the norm for most of the people who had undergone the procedure. Unregulated and open to whoever took an interest, most were either sold as medical spare parts or used in experiments. Then there were the ones used by the military—considered to be legally dead and therefore devoid of rights. Their main purpose was that of functional suicide. Assigned to tasks too dangerous for regulars, no thought was ever given to their training or well-being before Tau Ceti, where they proved to be valuable.

He continued down the corridor, glancing at the names on the room doors. Sykes, Mosely, Jesswan…Driskoll. He stopped, causing the officer behind him to stumble. Staring at the name again, he could not believe it.

“We’re done,” he snapped to the surprised lieutenant.

***

Keegan knocked on Hollis’ hatch as softly as his fading patience would allow.

“Who is it?”

“Ruth, it’s me.”

Their long history had afforded him some benefits and one was the ability to be on a first name basis, for which he was grateful.

“Come in,” she said. “How’s it going? Ready to quit yet? You know it always looks easier from the other side—” She stopped at his glare. “What is it?”

The light from the lamp glinted off the medals on her chest. He drew in a quick breath before he spoke.

“What’s going on?”

“I asked you first,” she countered.

“I was just below, inspecting the room assignments for the shooters coming aboard.”

“And…?”

He tensed his jaw and looked away. “
She
is one of them.”

“Who?”

She closed the folder she was reviewing and gently placed it aside.

“My wife.” He met her gaze, waiting see the truth in her eyes, but he found only shock.

As the implications dawned on her, Hollis shook her head. “You’re kidding me.”

“No.”

“She still serves?”

“Yes, but in the reserves,” he said rubbing his chin. “They listed her under her former name.”

Was this some sort of game Command was playing? He was bounced out because of his relationship with her and now they were deliberately assigning them to the same ship?

Hollis chuckled with disbelief. “Those guys in Washington are a real class act.”

“I’ll say. She can’t stay down there,” he informed her.

“Why not?”

“For one, it’s against regs. She’s an officer.”

“She is? What’s her rank?”

“Chief Warrant. And they have her assigned to the enlisted quarters.”

“Any other time I would agree with you on that one, but we’re squeezing everybody in as it is. To be blunt, there is no place else for her to sleep.”

“What about the fact I’m the CO of the ship with his wife coming aboard?”

Hollis paused. “Medoro, I would be remiss in not saying this. It would not be the first time a husband and wife have served together on board a warship.”

“Not like this, they haven’t,” he mumbled.

“I have to admit, it’s unusual and damn irregular. I’ll check into it. But for now, there is nothing we can do about it. So it looks like you are going to have to work this out on your own,” she said nonchalantly, “because apparently someone back at Command thinks you are capable of doing so.”

“Right,” he said, sarcastically. He spun and left the room without another word.

Chapter Eight

Caitlin gripped the cold examination table inside the space station infirmary. The two CS jumps she’d just experienced to get to Eckhardt Station were a blur melding one day into the next. No matter how hard she tried to clear her head, the room still spun.

She rubbed her temples. They felt cold and clammy. No doubt she needed another dose of her meds. She automatically lifted the side of her shirt to activate the pump. It was no longer there. Her shoulders sank.

“Damn,” she whispered. The base doctor had removed it before she left.

What am I going to do?

So far, the temperature inside the room was bearable. But what about later?

The door across from her opened. A woman with black-rimmed glasses and a no-nonsense expression entered the room. Her chunky shoes clunked against the floor as she approached.

“Hello, Chief. What can I do for you?” she asked, switching her clipboard to her left hand.

Caitlin handed her the scriv she had been carrying since she’d left Cole NAS.

Inputting her code, the woman read the information before handing it back to Caitlin. Silently, she turned and walked back toward the door.

“What’s this all about?” Caitlin asked.

The woman ignored her and closed the door behind her.

“Great,” she said, expelling her breath loudly.

The last place she wanted to be was inside another infirmary but, as usual, she was under orders. The same orders that pulled her and her team out of training and sent them on their new assignment on the USS Blanchard. When asked about the nature of their mission, her former CO had been cagey at best. She’d never forget the expression on his face when he had handed her the scriv. He had looked like he was losing his favorite toy. She didn’t agree with the decision of deploying them so early in their training but then again, the Navy was not in the habit of asking her input on these sorts of things.

Sent separately, she wondered how her team was fairing. Nervous, she shifted her position on the bed. She had been through this too many times before to not know what was coming.

“For once I’d like to go through this with my eyes open,” she murmured, frustrated.

She gazed at the door but couldn’t move. In theory, she could run but then they would find her and either lock her up or give her the shots anyway. Resigned to her fate, she rolled up her sleeve. The doctor entered silently with a syringe filled with light blue liquid and injected it into her arm.

I hate this
.

As the plunger filled her veins with the icy fluid, Caitlin shuddered.

“Just one more,” the doctor said, injecting her once again. “All right, you are all finished.”

She smiled and pulled off her gloves. Caitlin looked around. The room was still the same. It wasn’t spinning, and the doctor was her normal self. She even felt the same. Relieved, she sighed. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“I hope not,” the woman said amused. “I know most of my patients hate these things so I try to make it as painless as possible.”

“By the way, what was it you gave me?” She tried to maintain her focus, even though the desire to flee teased her.

“Just your basic series—flu shots, vitamins, C-2 Space Sickness, vaccine to various foreign viruses we just discovered along with your basic O.S. cryo soup.”

“Oh no, not again.”

Caitlin watched as the doctor walked over to the sink and washed her hands. As she observed the doctor, a familiar feeling began to rise in the back of her mind, causing her world to become fuzzy. Anxiety and doubt regarding her purpose in life dissolved, leaving only one purpose. To serve without question.

Chapter Nine

“Commander Berger, how go the repairs?” Keegan asked, entering the command deck. He tried to rid his mind of thoughts about his wife.

Berger checked his watch and then replied, “They are making the last of the system checks, and we’ll be set to go in four hours.”

“Very well,” Keegan replied, taking a seat in his chair. Feeling some semblance of control returning, he began to relax. “Crew status.”

“We are topped off and ready to go.”

“Excellent.”

Now only if he knew where they were going, everything would be perfect. Once again, Command was being cagey and very silent. In spite of his repeated requests, their only reply was to wait.

“Are we going to do the standard shakedown?” Berger asked.

“Looks like we don’t have to. Everything that could have come loose already has.”

“Yes, sir. Indeed it has.”

“Cap’n, flash reports coming down from Command,” a Sailor called out behind him.

“Very well, bring it down,” Keegan replied.

Flash reports tended to be reserved for initial enemy contact messages or operational combat messages of extreme urgency. Considering they were finally at peace, he wondered what could be the matter. A moment later, the Sailor handed him the scriv.

Keegan punched his code into the small handheld device and briefly scanned the communique.

“What is it?” Berger asked

“We have a request to board.”

“Who is it?”

“It doesn’t state.” Keegan sighed, knowing full well what it meant. “But the request comes directly from Command.”

Berger folded his arms. “Sounds like Halloween came early this year.”

“Yep, looks that way to me. We got ourselves a spook.”

The XO chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry about it. After all, what’s one more passenger?”

Keegan turned to the Sailor and stood. “Send back on general band, request granted. Once he’s on board, have him meet me in the fourth mid-deck meeting room. And alert the security team I need them to do a sweep for bugs. Berger, you have the conn.”

“Aye sir,” he replied.

“And get us out of here before someone else asks for a ride.”

“You got it. And by the way….”

Keegan paused as he headed for the door.

“Have fun.”

He shook his head ruefully. “I know I will.”

“You heard him, people. Let’s get out of here.” Berger ordered, standing in front of his chair. “Prepare to get underway.”

***

Hanging around the ship’s briefing room on the fourth mid-deck was not something Keegan was accustomed to doing. But it was better than having an intelligence officer snooping around his personal briefing room. No matter how he tried to shake it, he couldn’t drop the feeling he was being judged. Watched even. Maybe this new person was Command’s way of checking up on him. Either way, he wasn’t eager to meet him.

He strolled around the room and stopped in front of a logo painted on the wall. The words “Semper Fidelis” was written in large letters. It was the Corps’ motto, and his. Pride filled his heart knowing he was continuing in the tradition of the men and women who came before him. He knew whatever the Corps asked of him, he was ready to meet the challenge.

What if the challenge involved his wife? Threads of doubt spread throughout his mind. His life had been a mixed bag of blessings since they’d first met. When awakened from her cryo stasis, Caitlin had been tempestuous, headstrong, and annoying on more than one occasion. However, something in her caused him to see life through a different lens. One filled with family, love, and hope. And she gave that to him. They had each been married before, but both of their marriages had ended in tragedy. It made it easier for her to understand his pain. And he, hers. Though he, for the most part, did not desire to hear about her married life before him, on occasion, he’d listen and learn a bit more about her. It deepened his love for her and strengthened their marriage. What they had he kept deep within his heart. It was not to be share with the world.

Shaking his head slightly, he focused his thoughts on the task at hand. He was not at home, but aboard ship. And the crew needed a leader whose head was actually here, not somewhere pining over his wife. He went over his notes in his mind. As usual, they were sketchy. They always were when it came to VIPs who were specially transported in.

The hatch to the room slammed shut.

“Sir, Commander Ryan Gadison reporting.”

Approximately Keegan’s age and height, Gadison wore a dark blue double-breasted Navy uniform. In combination with his short, light brown hair and freshly shaven face, he looked like a man who had never done a hard day’s work in his life. A weary note of caution flickered in his mind. He’d seen him before. But where?

“It’s a pleasure, Commander,” he replied, shaking Gadison’s hand and pushing his reluctance aside. Keegan offered him a seat closest to the front of the room.

“Thank you. But first, I believe congratulations are in order. You are the CO now.” Gadison gestured around him. “That’s pretty amazing.”

It’s not that big a miracle
.

Though he appreciated the sentiment, he frowned at the implication of not being qualified. He’d served for over twenty years, was a four star-rated carrier qualified pilot, naval postgraduate school and held more commands than he could count, so giving him the Blanchard wasn’t exactly a
gimme
despite what he’d done with Cate.

Deciding to play it cool, he bit back the sour taste on his tongue. “I am grateful, though it was through no fault of my own, I can assure you.”

“Couldn’t have happened to a better man.”

“I understand you have a guest accompanying you?” Keegan changed the subject. Why couldn’t he pinpoint where he’d met Gadison before?

“Yes, she is in medical.”

“Medical? Why?”

“Several species of unknown origin have attacked three of our installations,” Gadison explained.

“Which installations?”

“Kodiak, Argo Navis, and Potanus. Two are military installations and one is a research colony.”

Keegan stilled.
Kodiak
. Now he knew why Caitlin had been so silent about her last assignment. It hadn’t been a simple training mission. They were attacked. He clenched his fists. Why hadn’t she told him? Why hadn’t she come to him? But he stopped. Confidentiality was part of their job. Even though she’d been right not have confided in him, he couldn’t stop his worry.

“Our guess, and we think it’s a good one, is they were after the technology to make cryos.”

Keegan folded his arms across his chest. “Cryos? What led you to this conclusion?”

“Frankly, it was the targets. Especially the last one. They directed their actions at facilities used for cold weather warfare. But for the most part, no real damage was done. Potanus on the other hand, we’re not so sure.”

“What’s their status?”

“Unknown. But them hitting there was our biggest clue. Potanus is where we perfect the technology for cryo transformation.”