Blue solace complete ser.., p.33
Blue Solace: Complete Series Boxset, page 33
“Yes, but I wanted to make sure they both had something from me.”
“Are you the one who keeps putting crocheted throws in my room?” Mo tried not to grin.
“Oh, like I haven’t seen you wrapped up with them in the window seat,” Leti said. “Which one would she like best? I’ll give the other to Alex.”
Mo grinned and pointed at the one on the left. Leti waddled out of the room, and Mo turned back to Hack. “I can’t believe they’re coming today.”
“I know,” Hack said. “How are you feeling about your mom and dad?”
Mo shrugged. “Honestly, I think that’s the only way it could end. I’ve talked with Uncle Bowan. His mate was pregnant and Mom knew it. She wanted to kill him anyway. I’m glad Rosie was there. As for Dad, he’s hated Uncle Bowan for as long as I can remember. Grandpa Moses and Uncle Bowan are the ones who taught us to hunt and spent time with us. Dad never seemed to care what we did.”
“You are too mature for a kid your age,” Hack said. “Too damn sensible.”
Mo elbowed him. “Someone has to be the adult in this house.”
“Hey now, that’s me and Leti!”
“You chased Leti through the house last night. He was giggling and you were play growling. I don’t want to know what happened once we all went to sleep.”
“Well, adults do things like that,” Hack said, blushing.
“None of the adults I know do that,” Mo said, narrowing his eyes. “That’s not even considering the pranks you and the crew play on each other.”
“Laughter keeps you young,” Hack said. He had switched Cordelia’s shampoo with hot pink insta-dye last night.
“Exactly. That’s why you guys are toddlers. I’m the responsible one.”
“Really? Who organized a mock pet battle in the backyard last week?” Leti said, coming back in the room.
“Fluffle kicked ass,” Mo said. Hack grabbed him and started tickling his sides. “Okay, okay, I may see your point.”
“I think I’m going to puke,” Hack said. They waited at the station gate as the incoming ship finished docking. Leti held his hand. His parents stood behind him, offering their support.
“This is going to be great,” Mo said. “Alex and Rosie are going to love it here, and I know Grandpa Moses is going to be happy to see you.”
“He’s right, Will,” Leti said. “It’s okay to be nervous though. It’s been a long time since you saw Moses, and you’re meeting your siblings for the first time.” He leaned up and kissed Hack’s chin. “I love you, doofus.”
“Love you too, baby.”
“Gods, they say that all the time,” Sebastian said.
“Bah, you and Alois will be just like that when he comes back,” Shae said.
Sebastian sputtered and blushed. “We’re just friends, Shae.”
“Sure,” Shae said, drawing out the word.
“Adults are weird,” Rizzie told Xu. The two best friends held hands and waited with the others. Hack’s sweet girl was eager to meet Mo’s brother and sister.
“Just think, Sebastian,” Nettle said. “Within the next few days, you’ll have a baby, and in another couple of weeks, Alois will be home. When do you think you’ll get married?”
“Friends! We’re just friends,” Sebastian yelled.
“Friends, my fine rear end,” Cordelia huffed. Her hot pink hair looked great, but she had sworn vengeance on Hack.
“How’s Quinn, Cordy?” Leti asked.
Hack saw Sebastian shoot him a thankful look.
Cordelia blushed. “How would I know?”
“Don’t you talk to her every morning?” Lilah asked.
“Okay, everyone,” Leti said as the cargo bay door opened. “They’re coming.”
Hack watched as Beck led a group of Burnished from the ship. There were about fifteen extra passengers, all young. Hack’s dad had been surprised when Chieftain Bowan told him how many wanted to come. Almost all of them wanted to train to fly, but a few were interested in engineering. Bowan said he’d send more after the group returned.
One of the Burnished caught his eye. It’d been just over twenty years since he’d seen him last, but Hack would recognize Grandpa Moses anywhere. He was short for a Burnished and slim of build. Despite that, he was pure muscle and stubbornness. His hair was white now, and there were more wrinkles on his face than not, but that strength was still there.
As soon as his eyes met Hack’s, he stopped walking. “Willard?”
“Fuck me, did he say Willard?” Finn tried to hold the laughter in.
“Yes,” Selene said. “That’s what he said. Willard, are you going to greet your grandfather?”
Hack ignored them and walked to Moses, dragging Leti behind him. Then he was there, right in front of him. “Grandpa?”
The old man crumpled, tears streaming down his face. Hack grabbed him, pulling him into a hug. Moses wrapped his strong arms around Hack, sobbing into his chest.
“You’re alive. You really are alive,” Moses said. “I’m so sorry, sweet boy. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Hack said through his own tears. “It’s okay. We’re here now. Together.” He vaguely heard Mo reuniting with his sister and brother. Leti’s voice filtered in and out, but all Hack was aware of was his grandfather’s arms and tears.
“I swear to you, if you let me back into your tribe, I’ll never abandon you again,” Moses said. “I swear it.”
“You’re in, old man,” Hack said, sniffing. He finally stepped back and pulled Leti forward. “This is my mate and husband, Leti Hackett.”
Moses held his hand out to Leti, who grabbed it, then pulled the old man forward for a big hug. “I’m so glad to meet you Moses. When Mo told us about you and how you missed Will, I just knew he needed to see you again. We already have your room fixed up. It’s directly off the kitchen.” He leaned in and whispered. “Don’t tell anyone how often I get night snacks, okay?”
“Your secret is safe with me,” Moses whispered back.
“I have a few kids around here,” Hack said. “Pepper, Sami, and Rizzie.”
“Do you know what this one is yet?” Moses waited for Leti’s nod, then reverently placed his hands on Leti’s big belly.
“It’s a boy,” Hack said. “We haven’t settled on a name yet, but we know it’s just one.”
“Why did you feel you had to specify only one baby is growing in here?” Leti was getting really good at arching his brow. Moses chuckled.
“Will, come meet Alex and Rosie,” Mo yelled.
“Oh, damn. I should go,” Hack said. His feet seemed frozen in place. On the one hand, he needed to leave so Leti wouldn’t yell at him for commenting on his size, but on the other hand, that was his brother and sister.
Leti took ahold of Moses’s hand, waving encouragingly toward the younger Burnished. “Go on. They’re just teenagers. Hmm, wait, that sounds ominous.”
Hack rolled his eyes and followed Mo’s voice. Standing beside his brother was a tall, broad-shouldered young man who looked just like Mo. He carried Rizzie on his back and smiled good-naturedly. With them was a young woman, around fifteen, with wild, black curls and a round face. She held Abbot in her arms, looking uncertain. Gravy leaned against her leg. She was the spitting image of his mother. Gods.
“Will,” Mo said, pulling him forward. “This is Alex and Rosie.”
Alex grinned and nodded, and Rosie smiled shyly.
“I told them about Princess and their rooms,” Mo said.
“I can share a room,” Rosie said. “I don’t need my own.”
“You’re a growing young lady,” Hack said. “My mom assured me that you do, in fact, need your own space.”
“Your… mom?” she asked. Her shoulders slumped and any bit of confidence she had disappeared. Hack winced.
“That would be me,” Renee said, stepping forward. She bounced Pepper in her arms. “Fasi and I adopted Will when he was found. I’m his mother. Will you come with me and Leti, Rosie? We’d like to talk to you a moment.”
“Yeah, sure,” she said and shuffled beside Leti. They stood a distance away, huddled close to Rosie.
“Grandma will make sure she understands she has nothing to feel guilty for,” Mo told Alex. “Leti will too. He had a similar problem with his own parents.”
Alex sighed. “I’ve tried to talk to her, but she’s so stubborn.”
“By the way,” Mo said, “Alex said he wants to join Charybdis Station. Do you think he can serve in your fleet? If not, he can be in Uncle Cas’s, right?”
“Well now, I can answer that,” Fasi said, holding onto a giggling and wiggly Sami. Moses stood beside him, looking around in wonder. “What do you want to do in the fleet?”
“I want to be a fighter,” Alex said. “Beck told me about the Concords and what they’re doing. I want to help.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Fasi said with a grin. “If Hack will have you, you can start training with Selene.”
“I would be honored,” Hack said, nodding to Alex. “Selene will work you hard, but trust me, she’s the best.”
“For now,” Draif said, draping an arm over Selene’s shoulder. “I’m still getting better.”
“You do keep me on my toes,” she said, then tilted her head. “I’ve gotten better too, Draif.”
“Lucas! Come on, we need to go spar,” Draif said, running towards the tram.
Lucas rolled his eyes and followed. “Thanks, Selene,” he said. “There goes our whole day.”
Rosie, Renee, and Leti joined the group again. Rosie’s face was red, but she held Leti’s hand, adoring eyes focused on Renee. Hack hoped they’d worked their magic.
Hack looked around. His friends, his family, talked to the Burnished and welcomed them into the station. They didn’t have to be here, and he hadn’t asked them to come. He hadn’t had to. They came to help him and Leti. They came to offer their support.
Charybdis Station had a rough road ahead, but together, Hack knew they could handle it. Death, Life, it didn’t matter. He had his friends with him, his parents and brothers behind him, and Leti and the kids beside him.
Epilogue
“General Caspian,” Rundel said. “What do you have to report?”
Cas’s face projected for all the Council to see. Leti noticed he looked paler than normal. “We easily traced the shuttle when it entered Silverlight System,” Cas said. “Our fleet spread, hoping not to tip it off.”
“Sounds good,” Mitchell said. “It went toward the Crellic System?”
“No,” Cas answered.
“No? Where did it go?” Fasi asked.
“Straight to Frost Veil. We tried to intercept, but anytime one of our ships got close, it was frozen.”
“What about multiple ships?” Hack asked.
“Didn’t matter how many there were,” Cas said. “They all froze. The strangest thing, though, was how they reacted to the Concords.”
“The Concords? They tried to take them?” Brinanda asked.
“Yes. Four of our ships were frozen and two small Concord fighters showed up.”
“What did Franklin do?” Warren asked.
“I don’t think it was Franklin,” Cas said. “The ships just imploded. Completely.”
“What did she fire?” Fasi seemed puzzled.
“Nothing. Just like when we get frozen. No missiles are fired. It just happens.”
“If not Franklin, then who do you think did it?” Renee asked.
“They went to Frost Veil, not the Crellic System,” Cas said. “Think about it.”
“Why Frost Veil?” Leti knew the significance of the place to Dr. Morrick, but not to Franklin.
“Exactly, why Frost Veil?” Cas said. “Their ship landed illegally at Facility B194A. We hacked the dock’s recording system. We’ve edited it to skip over the boring shit, but watch.”
Cas disappeared, and a video popped up. It was daytime, and it wasn’t snowing for once. The video showed the stolen shuttle landing. The angle from the camera showed straight into a window to the bridge. Blood smeared across the window and a pale face pressed against it. Dr. Franklin’s dead eyes stared straight at them. From the looks of things, she’d been dead for a few weeks. The same amount of time it would have taken the shuttle to reach Frost Veil.
The angle jumped to the shuttle door. It slowly lowered and a figure walked down the ramp. He had bone white skin and hair, just like Remy. He wore a wrapped sheet around his waist but didn’t seem to mind when his bare feet crunched in the snow.
The angle changed again to give a close up of his face. Leti cried out. Dr. Morrick. His plain face was as familiar as his own. It’d been haunting him for so long. His eyes, though, were no longer brown. They were completely black. No pupil, no cornea, just pure black throughout.
* * *
My beloved son,
Yesterday, you turned five years old. Your mother threw you a massive party and all your friends went. The neighbors, your mother’s family, even my parents went. Your mother called me after the party, screaming. She said that you waited for me, all day. Instead of having fun and opening your presents, you sat at the door and waited for me to come. I didn’t. I had meant to, but then I started researching a new virus. Before I knew it, your mother was calling me, and I had missed it. I don’t know what to say. All I can see is your little face watching the door, waiting. I don’t know what to say.
I want to make promises. I want to say, “When I’m done with this new virus, I’ll make it up to you. We’ll spend some time together, just the two of us, and I’ll take you wherever you want to go.” I know better though. I know myself. I have to make the galaxy a better place for you. I have to make sure you’re safe. I’m afraid of what that means. I’m afraid it means I’ll lose you. I may not be there, but know that you are the most important person to me. You are more important than any of my work, any of the other people I’ve saved. I wish I could gather the courage to tell you that.
I love you more than all the stardust in the galaxy.
-- Your father
Part III
The Soldier’s Mate
Book Three
Author’s Note
The first half of Book Three in the Blue Solace series takes place about five months before the end of Book Two. The story begins with Dru and her crew on their mission to find and rescue Wyatt Morrick. The second half continues on from the end of Book Two.
Chapter 1
The Blue Sparrow, en route to the Sugarworm System
“Sebastian says he’s having a girl,” Alois said, sitting sideways in his chair, legs hanging over one side and his head over the other. The Dedril looked pensive for a moment. “He’s going to name her after his cousin Nina.” His expression turned wistful as he talked about his maybe-mate. “He’s taking on translation work for a lot of Leti’s university colleagues. Sebastian still doesn’t realize how smart he is. He’ll be bringing in a nice, steady salary soon enough.”
Morgan Murray leaned back in his chair, his long legs stretched out in front of him. “That’s nice,” he said. “Have you told him you already started a college fund for the baby?”
Alois blushed. “Of course not. He’s a bit skittish, so we’re taking our time. I have to be cautious, so I don’t scare him.”
“You make him sound like a feral cat.” Morgan brushed a strand of silky hair from his face and sipped his coffee.
He watched the two young women on the mats circle one another. When Quinn’s chin dropped, Morgan raised his phaser and quickly zapped her in the shoulder. He had it set extremely low, but he knew it stung. She winced, then started moving again, without the chin drop.
“I just don’t want to fuck up. Sebastian is special. I don’t know for sure if he’s my mate, but honestly, I don’t give a damn. He’s going to be mine.”
“Aww,” Morgan said. “That’s so cute, the way you think it’s your choice.”
Quinn threw hit after hit, interspersed with the occasional kick, and Hazel blocked more than Morgan expected. The young engineer was getting better.
Hazel tapped her foot, readying a kick, and Morgan zapped her in the shin.
“Ouch,” Hazel squeaked, then carried through on her kick, that time without the foot tap.
Quinn blocked it, then went on the offensive. The two got zapped three more times each before they finally collapsed on the mats.
“I still didn’t get a fucking hit in,” Hazel said. The young hybrid woman rubbed her pointed ears. Morgan had noticed she did that when she was stressed. Her light pink skin glistened in the light of the ship, and her white hair hung limply, wet with sweat. The poor thing looked pitiful.
“You’re getting better, Hazel,” Alois said, giving her an upside down smile from his chair. She smiled back, her grin infectious.
Quinn slowly rose to her feet. Morgan knew she had to be sore, but the woman sure as shit had some grit. He’d sparred with her himself that morning. She kept coming and coming, no matter how sore and tired she was. She would make a damn good fighter one day.
Right now, she was an average one, and average fighters died fast. He didn’t want that for the tough hybrid woman. She had already suffered so much at the hands of the Concords.
“You both still have too many tells,” Morgan said, standing smoothly. He paced around the women. “The expression on your face isn’t the only thing your opponent sees. Quinn, you tilt your chin when you’re about to attack, and your fingers twitch when you’re about to throw a punch. Hazel, your face shows every emotion you feel.”
Quinn groaned and dropped back to the mat, resting on her knees. “Any good news?”
“You’re both getting better. Quinn, I only shot you four times. Hazel, you’re down to eight. Yesterday, I shot you thirteen times. I know it’s a pain in the ass to break these habits, but it’s necessary.”
