The Commander (19 page)

“Order up,” Danilo called out and rang the order bell. “Let’s move it!”

“
Coming
,” Annie shouted from the floor.

It was a hectic day. Rosanne’s Diner had never seen such traffic. Ever since the new hotel and convention center opened, the once lonely eatery had become a hotbed of activity. Not surprising, as it was the only restaurant in town.

That would soon change. Construction on the new McDonald's was almost finished. KFC would open soon. Three more fast food chains were talking to the planning department of the newly incorporated city of Baggs.

Rosanne was wisely getting all she could while the getting was good. Surprisingly philosophical about the situation, Rosanne had seen booms and busts in Baggs before. At the start of each one, the populace let their expectations run wild and at the end commiserated with each other about what might have been.

Annie suspected Rosanne had money squirreled away but no one knew for sure. It couldn’t be that much or she would have left long ago. Like everyone else, she talked about big dreams. But the diner had stayed open even during the lean years.

Annie examined both orders of chicken fried steak waiting on the stainless steel shelf between the diner and the steaming kitchen. “I said fries, not veggies,” she shouted at Danilo.

He frowned and grumbled but snatched the plates back and corrected the order. Annie wondered sometimes if he knew how to read. She accepted the food with a sweet smile and hurried to the booth where a nicely dressed couple waited. Out-of-towners for sure. Thirty minutes ago they came into the diner carrying thick leather shoulder bags. Annie was afraid she knew what was coming next.

“Here you go,” she said, laying the plates on the table. “Would you like anything else?”

The woman pulled a microphone from under the table and the man brought up a video camera.

“Yes, I was hoping I could get a word with you. I’m Cassy Fisher with ABC7. Aren’t you Annie Daniels, the commander’s woman?”

Annie took the order pad out of her apron pocket and scratched through the total on the bottom of the first page. She picked a number at random and wrote in the new total. “Nope, I’m your waitress. That’ll be eighty-nine dollars.” She slapped the adjusted ticket on the table and stepped back to give Bruiser Cotton a nod.

“We’ve heard that you and the commander have spli—Yeowch!”

Bruiser relieved the unlucky Cassie of her microphone. The cameraman thought he could evade the hulking bodyguard by sliding under the table, but seconds later he too was nursing sprained fingers. Bruiser tossed the equipment toward the back of the row of booths and took one newsie in each hand.

He dragged them to the front door and paused, holding their faces inches from a posted sign that warned confiscated recording equipment would not be returned, before pitching them out the door.

“Thanks, Bruiser,” Annie said, patting him on the arm and accepting the reporter’s wallet.

“Not at all, Miss Annie,” he replied.

Annie charged the eighty-nine dollars on the enclosed credit card then stuffed the receipt and the card back into the wallet. She gave it back to Bruiser, who left the diner to return it to the owner.

Rosanne sighed wistfully. “I wish I’d hired him a long time ago.”

“He’s a sweetheart,” Annie agreed.

“That’s not how I’d describe him. More of a stud muffin.”

“Rosanne!”

“I’m not getting any younger, child. Neither are you.”

The words stung. Rosanne didn’t mean anything by them, but it was one more reminder of Luke. Annie ached from the loss every day. She wanted to go back, but there was no way she could do it. She was being unreasonable but it didn’t matter. She had fled to Earth in a rage but was staying away out of fear. What if she did something outside the boundary of allowable behavior and triggered Luke’s bomb?

Unfortunately, hiding away wasn’t working out either. “That’s the second time today, Rosanne. I can’t stay here.”

“Forget about it. Bruiser can take care of those rascals.”

Annie snorted. “They’re not
rascals
. They’re reporters with attorneys. I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

Rosanne scoffed but Annie remained concerned.

The reporter had been right. She was the ‘commander’s woman’. The first time she heard the comment she teased Luke about it, telling him to make her an honest woman. He agreed immediately and she had to put her foot down to stop him from arranging a marriage the next day. From then on, they had an understanding: first, save the human race; second, get married.

That’ll never happen now
, she thought.

At six-thirty, she helped Rosanne close up for the day. Annie made a copy of the security video and sent it off to Hawley, Hepworth & Kidwell in Seattle. The law firm took care of the moon’s legal problems on Earth, which were significant. But the two reporters would discover the little diner was part of that impenetrable empire if they chose to pursue action against Rosanne.

Annie left the diner and drove to her new apartment. The parking lot was filled with news vans so she drove by without stopping. The airport’s conference center kept three luxury suites available for visiting VIPs. One of them was available and Annie got a key. She saw Carrie Faulkner in the hallway and squealed with delight.

Carrie started on the moon shortly after Annie had arrived and the two girls became fast friends. Annie was tickled by Carrie’s rapid rise in the hierarchy following her celebrity status from the space station disaster. Nowadays she worked in Amanda’s PR department and was often engaged in negotiations with heads of state.

“What are you here for?” Annie asked.

“The Chinese.”

Annie gave her a look of mock horror. “How’s that going?”

“About what you’d expect.”

They giggled and gave each other a hug. Of course, it was not a joking matter. Luke had wiped out a big chunk of the Chinese navy and then destroyed the Great Hall of the People in the middle of Beijing. There was no justification from the Chinese viewpoint.

“China will do its best to destroy the alliance,” Annie predicted. “Tell them we’re trying to populate other star systems with people from Earth, including China. If they don’t join us and the Bakkui hit Earth, their race will be wiped out.” Annie shuddered involuntarily.

“I know,” Carrie agreed. “Sometimes it just comes over me. I can’t imagine how the commander does it.”

Tears suddenly flowed down Annie’s cheeks.

Carrie was apologetic. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay,” Annie sniffled. “I’m just miserable about everything these days. I feel guilty for leaving him but I’m too afraid to go back. I can’t tell you why but it would put him in danger.”

“Don’t tell me,” Carrie said. “I’m not asking. Whatever it is, I hope it gets resolved. He really needs you. Sorry. That probably doesn’t help.”

It didn’t. But having Carrie suddenly appear was the right medicine. Annie dragged Carrie into her room and they decided to empty the room’s mini-bar. They drank and talked about what was going on at the moon. Carrie had a knack for embellishing other people’s embarrassing stories and Annie laughed more than she could remember in a long time.

Before they called it a night, on a more serious note Carrie bragged about the upcoming colony ship. “The
Marco Polo
launches day after tomorrow. That will be number three. You should go. Everyone would love to see you. Maybe you could move to the Gateway. There must be twenty thousand people living there by now.”

“I probably should,” Annie said. “Any more of that Jack Daniels?”

Nothing else was said about the Gateway or the upcoming colony launch. Once the mini-bar was empty, Carrie tottered to her own suite to prepare for another round of negotiations with the unhappy Chinese.

# # #

Thanks to Annie’s implant, hangovers were a thing of the past. On the downside, she had no excuse not to show up for work. By seven she was up and dressed and stopped in the hotel restaurant for coffee and a blueberry muffin. Normally she would catch something at the diner. But today she was only going in to say a final goodbye.

“What do you mean permanently?” Rosanne asked when given the news.

“Just that,” Annie replied. She nodded toward the parking lot. Another van was pulling up to join the other two broadcasters. “I can’t live like this and I won’t ask you to.”

“This is a phase, honey. Another few days and it’ll be Annie who? No sense in doing anything drastic.”

There was wisdom behind the advice; most things did blow over. Annie’s notoriety for being the commander’s ex would soon be replaced by a new scandal or the next tragedy. But only until the moon made headlines once again. Scandals had a way of resurfacing at the wrong time and Annie wanted to sink into permanent oblivion. That wouldn’t happen on the moon and certainly not on Earth where an intrusive photo was worth a fortune to the paparazzi. She had already seen her picture on a few scandal rag covers.

“Don’t tell anyone, Rosanne. That’s all I ask. When I can, I’ll drop you a line.”

“I promise. But tell me where you’re going. I’ve known you since you were born. I can’t let you go without even knowing where you are.”

It was a fair question. Annie could not remember a day when Roseanne had not been part of her life. She had been best friends with Grandma Shelly and the two women had thrown more than one birthday party for little Annie.

Annie glanced at the TV mounted to the wall at the end of the counter. The CNN backdrop was a photo of the
Marco Polo
, the third colony ship. It would launch in the morning. Rosanne followed her gaze and gasped.

“On that? I thought that was going to another planet or something.”

Annie nodded. “A long way away, that’s for sure. No one will know me and I can start a new life. More important, it’s the only thing I can think of that will keep Luke safe.”

“Baby, you’re gonna regret this. You should never make big changes because of a breakup. But I know you won’t listen. Give me a hug.”

A few tears leaked out during the mutual assurances of affection, and Annie finally escaped. She had one more good-bye to make at the airport terminal building. After saying farewell to Linda, Annie walked onto the flight line.

Thankfully,
Duffy
was still there. Annie had noticed her on the way to the hotel the night before. Carrie had confirmed that she had flown down on the little shuttle.

“Open up,
Duffy
.”

“Good morning, Miss Daniels,” the shuttle greeted her.

“
Duffy
. I need you to take me to the Gateway, but you have to keep it a secret. Can you do that?”

“A secret from whom, Miss Daniels?”

“From everyone, especially George and Luke.”

“I can make an unreported trip, but if queried about my location I have to respond. That function is hardwired.”

“That’s fine. We’ll take our chances. Take me to the Isaac Newton Gateway, please. When you drop me off, you can come straight back here.”

“Course set,” the shuttle whispered conspiratorially.

The
Marco Polo
was the third colony expedition to the stars. In the morning, to great fanfare, its amazing gravity drives would take it out of the solar system and journey at unimaginable speeds to a star thousands of light-years away.

On a new planet in the remote system, the colonists would create a world where their descendants would live in a different kind of society. The reality was made possible by the Nobility’s gift of replicators. The colony ship’s equipment list included hundreds of them and included the ability to create new ones. The
Marco Polo
AI contained all of that knowledge. As the colony grew, the AI would generate offspring in the form of dozens of specialized versions. The technology would ensure the fledgling colony survived and prospered. It meant hunger and deprivation wouldn't exist. Even the concept of money would be unknown in their civilization and Annie would be part of the new world.

The night before, after Carrie went back to her room, Annie lay awake considering the idea. She had thought about it for weeks. She was not going back to the moon; not with George aware her every move, waiting for a mistake that could kill the only man she loved. Just as she could not stay on Earth as a reminder to the world that the commander’s woman had run away. But if she was actually gone, if she wasn’t even in the solar system, the threat to Luke would vanish, as would her distracting presence.
Out of sight, out of mind
. It was the only solution.

During the quick flight to Gateway, Annie dug through the equipment locker and found one of the personal force fields that all shuttles maintained. She activated it and strapped it to her belt.

Duffy
set down on Gateway’s east landing pad, far away from the bustling activity around the
Marco Polo
.

“
Arriving
at destination,” the shuttle said.