Retribution (8 page)

She got out from under the cover as quiet as she could and pulled on her gown and sat next to him. Recalling her own recent spiritual experience she too was soon in meditation. But unlike Dave she was soon flying at such a rapid exhilarating speed not through the emptiness of the void but through a spectacular star scape – a kaleidoscope of light. She had never experienced anything like this. The vista was moving at such speed she started to get anxious but then recalled Dave telling her of his incredible experiences after his awakening. ‘It’s the Shakti unleashed. It’s been coiled all these years within you. Once awakened it wants to explode. Don’t fear it, ride it!’

Ride it she did. She became aware at the inner horizon of a constant bright blue light. One moment it would be masked by some other image but soon enough it would become visible again. She was drawn to it. She focussed on it and soon the other images dropped away and the blue light became bigger, closer and more beautiful than she first imagined. She let out an audible sigh of bliss.

Dave awoke from his rapture on hearing Rihan sigh. He had not heard that before other than in their lovemaking. He slowly turned his head and opened one eye to confirm that there was a dark shape next to him. He smiled and closed his eye. He felt overjoyed that she too was in rapture. He completely forgot about his question.

Another fifteen minutes passed before first Dave and then Rihan came out of meditation. While Dave was disappointed he never got an answer to his question he was so grateful for the experience. He felt his face with the open palms of his hands and could feel how relaxed his face was. The tension in his forehead had drained away completely. ‘Always a good sign’ he thought to himself.

He waited till Rihan opened her eyes. Her face was relaxed and she was beaming. “Good morning” he said softly.

“Good morning” she said and leaned over towards him. He reciprocated and they kissed softly. ‘A perfect start’ thought Rihan.

Chapter 14. Resolute at Tumos 0730, 2 June

The Admiral was already seated at a table eating his breakfast when Dave and Rihan came into the mess. They joined him. Phil swallowed and wiped his mouth with the napkin. “I have some ideas…about our problem” he said with a smile. “Can we talk about these up in your office after breakfast?”

“Of course Sir” said Dave. “You look like you got a good night’s sleep.”

Phil smiled. “I did. That’s a mighty comfortable bed.”

“Good to hear it Sir.”

Half an hour later they met in Dave’s office.

“Here’s what I’m thinking” said Phil. “First, you were right yesterday Rihan. We don’t know for sure whether our Supreme Council knows about this offer, nor whether it authorised these strikes. I will endeavour to confirm this but it will take some time. It will take at least four days turn around in comms alone. I’m going to have to be discreet. The Fleet Admiral won’t be too pleased if she finds out I’m checking up on her.”

“Now if the Council doesn’t know about it then I will make sure they do pronto. There may be some ‘political games’ being played back on Earth in which case we may be able to diffuse this with a judicious leak. But the odds are that this is a fully authorised directive.”

“I will buy some time with the Fleet Admiral by reporting back that the Resolute is damaged and needs time to refit and that it’s the only ship with a fair chance of pulling off this mission and surviving. I won’t file that report till we have Mani’s prognosis on how long this refit is actually likely to take. So it will be next week at the earliest before I receive instructions from the Fleet Admiral. She will most likely tell me to conduct these strikes with other assets but she may agree to wait. I don’t really know. But either way we’ve bought some time to verify the directive.”

“What happens after that then?” asked Rihan.

“That all depends doesn’t it. I have some options but it’s best I don’t canvass those with you yet. It’s for your own safety. This way if things back-fire you won’t be implicated” said Phil with a deadly serious demeanour.

“OK Sir I’m fine with that” said Dave “but what do we and my crew do in the meantime. Can we arrange for some leave?”

“And what about replacements, Sir” added Rihan.

“Mmm…” thought Phil out loud. “Give everyone one week’s leave effective tomorrow and I’ll liaise with Alex Peebody about the replacements.”

“Sounds great Sir” said Dave. “What about the posting for Rihan?”

“Leave it with me for the moment. In the meantime I’ll ask Alex to source another XO for you.”

“So I’ll definitely be staying here on Polaris then?” asked Rihan.

“Most likely” said Phil. “But you can definitely start planning for those additions you want” he said with a wry smile.

Rihan spontaneously leaned over and gave Phil a peck on his cheek.

“I wish all my decisions were rewarded like that.”

Chapter 15. Resolute at Tumos 1400, 2 June

The Admiral had left on shuttle just before lunch and now Rihan was flat out coordinating and confirming leave arrangements for the crew when Ivan knocked on her office door.

“Yes Ivan. I’m busy” she said.

“Not as busy as our overloaded comms channels” replied Ivan. “They’re maxed out with everyone trying to tee up travel and accommodation.”

“Just let them outside and they can use their personal communicators.”

“Can’t do that Maam.”

“Why not?”

“Security. This is a classified, and supposedly secret, facility. It won’t stay that way with a surge of calls from this location.”

“Oh you’re right” said Rihan. “Ask the facility if they can help and if so send them out in batches. Make sure they don’t hang around there.”

“OK I’m on it” said Ivan.

A minute later Val appeared. Rihan raised her eyes without adjusting the angle of her head which was directed at her workstation. “Yes?”

“The facility staff want us to remove all personal gear from the craft. Where are we going to store it?” asked Val.

“Don’t they have space? It’s a bloody cavern in there. They must have space somewhere.”

“Already asked. Vetoed by their security officer.”

“On what grounds?”

“He said if I can’t vet and vouch for everyone’s kit they are not going to receive it. There is no way that me and my team can personally inspect everyone’s kit before we depart tomorrow.”

Rihan shook her head in annoyance. “Bloody pedants. Don’t they know there is a war on? Oh leave it with me. I’ll call Dr Govinda and get this sorted.”

Dr Govinda was more accommodating than his security officer and got back to Rihan twenty minutes later saying that the personal gear would be received and stored provided it was scanned.

“Val” hailed Rihan.

“Maam.”

“Good news and bad news. The good news is they’ll take our gear. The bad news is it needs to go through their scanners.”

“Oh goody. And these scanners are where?”

“Don’t know. Liaise with their staff and have the crew drop off their kit individually. It’s all got to be completed by the time the shuttle arrives tomorrow, which is…1000 hours.”

“Right oh Maam.”

Rihan went back to processing the leave approvals.

Dave poked his head in the door.

“Yes?” she said with a tone of mild frustration.

“Where are we going?”

The question caught Rihan unawares. She sat back in her chair and said “Ooh how about we finish off our honeymoon at Terra Fuaga?”

“Sound’s great. I’ll leave it with you.”

Dave was already half turned when Rihan pleaded “Oh please Dave, can you do it?”

Dave about-turned and walked over to her side of the desk. She swivelled her chair to face him. He took her head in the palms of his hands and kissed her lips softly. “Poor Rihan!”

She looked up at him with her green almond eyes pleading. “Please?”

He kissed her on the forehead. “OK just for you.”

She swivelled her chair back to face her workstation and said “Right answer!” and then looked up and gave him a wink.

Down on B deck Aubrey went into her cabin to gain some privacy for a call she had just received from Brennon Warner. She had been planning this call for some time now. She had to word things just right. She knew Brennon had been interested in her last month, both at Dave’s wedding and later when they came to pick up the droids at Butros Alia. But there had certainly been no commitment. ‘There had not been enough time for that’ she said to herself.

Because of the secrecy surrounding Butros Alia she had to leave a message for Brennon and wait for him to ring back. She had left that message at 0845 as soon as she heard about the leave. It was now getting on to mid-afternoon and she had started to get concerned that maybe he wasn’t that interested after all.

“Sorry about that Brennon. We can talk now. I’m in my cabin.”

“You left a message for me? So you’re obviously back on Polaris.”

“Yes I am. I’ve got a week’s leave starting tomorrow. Can you get some time off? I’d love to see you.”

“I want to see you too” he said in a soft voice. “But it’s going to be difficult. We’ve just received a rush order and I bet that’s your doing.”

“Oh that’s terrible. Can’t you hand that over to your deputy?”

There was silence for a few moments and Aubrey was getting a little anxious. Finally Brennon replied “I’ll see what I can do and ring you back.”

“Please do Brennon. You were so nice to me before. I want to return that with interest.”

“Gee…” said Brennon, temporarily lost for words. “Aubrey, I will try. I do want to savour that interest.”

For the first time in the conversation Aubrey smiled. “All right Brennon. I’ll be waiting. Can you let me know later this afternoon?”

“Yes I’ll ring you later, no matter what.”

Down on the apron Kali Chada was joining the line into the facility to use their comms facilities to ring her mother in Nova Vista. It would be good to see her mother but her heart was longing to see Buster. She had sent him a get well message, even expressed her love, but it seemed so inadequate. How she hoped he was making a good recovery and that he would be coming back soon. But she knew it was unlikely he would be able to walk yet. The doctor had told her in that brief conversation she had with him that Buster would probably take two or three weeks before he could walk again and that would be with a robo-walker.

She remembered how she had clamped her legs around his buttocks as they made love against the wall in the Niku spaceport. She had her share of ‘quickies’ before but she knew this was different. There was real chemistry between them. They had lain together after, just talking for hours. ‘No, he’s the one’ she said to herself.

Back on board in his work area on A deck, Chase received a call from his father. He was returning Chase’s earlier call.

“Chase, it’s your father” he said.

“Thanks for calling back dad. I’m back in Polaris. I have a week’s leave and I would like to catch up with you and mum.”

“Oh that’s wonderful son. Your mother and I would just love to have you stay. You will stay with us, won’t you?”

“Well actually dad I have met someone and we were planning to…get away together.”

“Oh I see. Your mother will be disappointed. Look why don’t you both come and stay with us. You can stay for one night or as long as you like. Please son.”

“All right dad. Would tomorrow night be OK?”

“Sure, and the other nights after that too if you want.”

“Look forward to it dad.”

“Me too son.”

After he hung up Kat could see a puzzled look on Chase’s face. “So?”

Chase nodded but remained silent while he pondered what had just happened. Kat held out her hands as if to say “Well?”

“Oh he’s invited us both to stay with them.”

“Oh no Chase. I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet.”

Chase just shook his head. “No you were born ready. You’ll be fine.” But he still had this puzzled look on his face.

“So what’s the matter then?”

“I just didn’t expect dad to be so…enthusiastic to see me.”

“Maybe he’s enthusiastic to see me” she said teasing him.

“No even before I mentioned you...”

“Oh fine!” she said with feigned disappointment.

“You don’t understand Kat. I expected him to be his usual cold self.”

“There’s a war on Chase and you have been in the thick of it. He knows you’re in harm’s way. Time’s too precious for bullshit.”

Chase nodded. “Yeah I think you’re right.”

“I’m always right, remember” and she gave him a smile and ruffled his hair.

From the cubicle on the other side of the divide Jasmin called out. “That’ll be enough you two.”

“Well that’s the pot calling the kettle black” came back Kat as she poked her head over the divide, always keen for some verbal sparring.

Jasmin looked up with a smile “meeting the parents, hey?”

That had the desired effect of sobering Kat. She grimaced. “Scary isn’t it?”

“Especially when you realise they sired Chase” added Ivan who was sitting next to Jasmin as they planned their own escapade.

“I heard that” said Chase. He stood and looked over the divide too. “So where are you two off to?”

“Ivan wants to take me mountain climbing” said Jasmin with a hint of disapproval.

“You romantic you” jibed Chase.

“Where do you want to go?” asked Kat seriously.

“Terra Fuaga” said Jasmin. “It looks lovely.”

“I think that’s where the bosses are going” said Chase matter of factly.

“Well that rules that out” said Ivan.

Jasmin looked really disappointed. “Look, what are the chances of bumping into them up there?”

“One hundred percent” added Chase, stirring the pot.

“One hundred percent’s good odds” said Crystal shortly after she entered the office area.

“Where should we go then Crystal?” asked Jasmin.

“Where are you going Crystal?” asked John as he followed her in.

“Somewhere where I won’t bump into you lot” she responded as she sat down at one of the workstations. “Nothing personal mind” she added “but I prefer my playmates not to wear a uniform.”

“I’d take mine off for you anytime Crystal” said John.