Ages in Oblivion Thrown: Book One of the Sleep Trilogy (17 page)

“
You look like a man with a plan.”
Antonio restrained himself from jumping nine feet into the air,
slowly turning around to face the source of the voice.

“
Colonel Tarkington, sir. Did not
expect to see you here. I was just wandering the lanes, marveling
at all the ships.” Tark smiled at Antonio, hoping he didn’t look as
crocodilian as he felt.

“
To include a careful investigation of
the electronic locks? And in front of a dock that holds a ship we
also have some interest in?” The blonde man paled. Tark’s smile
grew fractionally. “Two people came in on that boat. Would you like
to know what happened when we ran their photos through our
computer?”

“
I have a feeling you’ll tell me
anyway.”

“
We got nothing.”

“
Oh.”

“
Until someone expanded the
parameters, and strangely, all the files from your vessel were
included. We got a result then.”

“
Sir, I know this looks funny, but if
I’m right, the people who came in on this ship are another piece of
our puzzle.”

“
I knew it. You all do know what’s
going on, don’t you? And be sure to include how it is that two of
your shipmates magically appeared on board my base.”

“
We don’t know how that happened. I
mean, it’s true that we all have our memories, except Maeve, I
guess. But as to how we ended up where you found us? Your guess is
as good as mine.” Antonio threw up his hands. “We’re as confused as
you are about the other two. We thought they were probably
dead.”

Tark found himself trusting Antonio, and
asked him to tell all he knew. The Colonel listened while opening
the lock to the docking door. Three-quarters of an hour later, Tark
knew as much as anyone could about the container, its occupants,
and the nature of their mission.

It was supposed to have had practical
application, at least how Antonio explained it. The ten of them had
been chosen for many reasons. Intelligence, leadership, special
skills, and finally, because they had no ties left. In one way or
another, they were all devoid of family, friends. Anything that
would normally distract from duty was gone.

“
There you have it, sir, we were all
orphans, loners, you know?”

“
What you’re trying to tell me is that
nobody expected any of you to live?” Antonio laughed. The Colonel
had hit something right on the head, while missing the point
entirely. It was too perfect.

“
Oh, they expected us to live through
the initial process.”

“
What are you saying?”

“
The plan was to place us,
strategically, one might say. Then the timer would go off, ding,
and we’d wake up, and do our job.”

“
What
kind
of job?”

“
The kind that nobody walks away
from.” Antonio was very matter of fact. There was no point in
sugar-coating it. He knew that some of them had accepted the
parameters of the mission. Others, like him, had chosen to believe
that they could come through the other side. The only problem had
been getting rid of a leader with a death wish. Now, it didn’t seem
to matter. She was her own problem.

“
The question remains, who were you
working for…and against?”

“
It was not the most stable period
we’d had in our history. I mean, we had…bad economy, really big
divides in ideology…after a while, there was a lot of domestic
terror and…well, stuff I never imagined seeing.” Their conversation
was brought short when Antonio brought aloft, triumphantly, a
handful of worn papers that appeared to have taken a vacation from
their binding. Handwritten paragraphs crowded barely controlled
doodling.

“
What are those, and why do you look
so happy?”

“
These, sir, are from the journal of
the young man to whom you referred, who might not be so young, come
to think of it. He is what polite society calls a thorn in our
rear. Fergus Wallace, and if you doubted his connection to us, only
read.” Tark took the pages, and did so, aloud.

’
At this place, in my
memories, I can see her so well, and know that I betrayed
everything that she was struggling for and away from. In the
evenings, when we would do her rounds, talking to the men, I could
find in her eyes the light of so many stars. She was perfect in her
wanting of a just world, and in the way she loved me perfectly.
After that night, I saw her as a tree in winter, with all the
things that should have been green cast down into death. And then
she was perfect in her grief, after she of her brother’s death. She
looked at me, through me, and I saw on myself the black robes,
while she saw the blood of many. It’s a fight every day to force
myself into penance, and to ignore the callings of an easier way. I
know that I have to someday make amends, and restore the walls of
the fortressed city I once inadvertently helped to rend
asunder.’

“
Jeez, this guy needs to get out more.
He’s gone goopy in the head. I presume he must be referring to
Maeve…?” Antonio smiled grimly.

“
That is something I can’t say I’m an
authority on. I mean, I heard the rumors, but by that time, Maeve
was…gone, and they’d just thrown in Wallace at a wholesale bargain.
His father bought him a slot, we were told. Maybe as punishment.”
On that subject, Antonio only had rumors. The colonel thankfully
ignored the last comment.

“
Who was his father?” Tark shuffled
through the smudged papers.

“
The Secretary of Defense. From what I
understand, Fergus worked on Maeve for months before she would even
give him the time of day.”

“
Fascinating. So, what did he do to
her that was so horrible?” Tark looked over at Antonio, who turned
a bit red.

“
Like I said, sir, you should probably
ask someone else about these details. I know next to nothing as to
actual fact.” He coughed and directed his attention to the rest of
the ship’s interior.

Tark nodded. He knew that Leif would be a
safe bet. He seemed to have the protective instincts of someone
who’d spent considerable time with Maeve. Tark kept the pages,
slipping them into the leg pocket of his uniform trousers.

Antonio felt more at ease. Perhaps Leif had
already found Wallace, and pounded him into a jelly. Maybe they
could put his lifeless head on a pike and throw rotten oranges at
it. Well, it was a nice thought, anyway. He left Tark standing at a
window, and made his way out of the lanes. Hopefully Maeve had
resurfaced, though he knew it wouldn’t mean revelation time for
her.

۞

۞

Tark felt at odds with himself. Part of him
wanted nothing more than to take care of these people, assimilate
them into the station’s workings, and give them new lives.
Realistically though, he knew it couldn’t last. Sooner or later,
someone would notice, or one of his own people would let it
slip.

Now he had two other members of this strange
little party, along with Antonio’s unsettling tale. He left the
window that had held his dazed attention, and made his way to the
commercial district. Once he got there, he’d call Sa’andy to have
her meet him, and they could talk all this through. That was if
she’d left her work yet. She tended to get lost in it.

He wandered around the district, trying to
smell everything, and figure out what he was in the mood for.
Sa’andy had pulled the girl trick; she didn’t care, he could choose
where they ate. Seafood? Vegetarian? Comfort? Healthy? There were,
as always, a few too many options. Nothing was piquing his interest
just yet, so he started reading all the specials boards.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a
familiar form walking by. He turned his head, in time to see Dmitry
walking with Maeve, in very close quarters. Tark frowned and took a
step forward, only then seeing something that gave him pause. He
recognized the look on Dmitry’s face, as well as the protective arm
that was firmly around her waist. It was the expression of a man
wrestling with love.

“
Bonswa, mes amis.” He shook his head
in awe. “I will not forget that too soon.” He wondered whether this
was because of the mysterious Maeve, or whether Dmitry had
simply
arrived
.

“
What will you not forget, my love?”
Sa’andy smiled at him from around his shoulder.

“
You will never believe it when I tell
you.”

۞

Wallace was lost, especially in the
literal sense at this particular moment. He had no clue where he
was. He hadn’t meant to get turned around, away from his duties,
away from what mattered. Jules was going to kick him in the ass, if
he ever found his way back.
Fergus, you’re
up shit creek, and you don’t even have a boat, let alone
paddles.
Wearily, he leaned against a wall, and soon
found himself sitting. There he sat with a glazed look about him
until he focused on a pair of feet in front of him. He didn’t want
to look up.

“
My night is made. We’ve been looking
for you.” Shit. That maniac was the last person he’d wanted to run
into.

“
Look, you Scandinavian fruitcake,
we’re all on the same side here.”

“
Relax, I’m not going to kill you. All
I want to do is make life a little more…painful. Trust me, you’ll
get over it.”

“
Leif, can you back off a little?”
Josh was clearly worried; Wallace shot him a look of relieved
thanks. “If you want to hurt him, we can’t do it out in
public.”

“
What the hell! Can’t you guys let go
of anything?”

“
No.” They were set to jackboot him
back to someone’s quarters. That would make things less
conspicuous, at least.

“
Well, boys, this wasn’t how I planned
the reunion, but here we are. Can you drop him, please?” They
turned around as one.

“
Jules? Jeez, we didn’t know you were
here, too. Glad to see you!” Leif thumped her shoulder happily. Her
expression remained unchanged.

“
You’re going to break him.” They
looked at Wallace. Leif shrugged noncommittally.

“
No big deal. Modern medicine is
amazing these days.”

“
I’m asking nicely. I like you guys.
Always did.” Julieta Ramirez was not to be taken lightly. She’d
been a Brazilian jiu-jitsu and muay thai champ back when they’d
first met her. One might imagine that she was still up to par on
those skills. That thought having resurfaced, they let go of
Wallace in unison. “Thanks. Now, I’d think you might like to hear
what we’ve been up to.”

“
I do have one big question, well,
okay, two questions, but I reserve the right to more.” Josh held up
two fingers, flicking a third up and down.

“
Two years.”

“
Two? Seriously?” Josh paced a bit,
mulling this over.

“
The answer to your second question
has a lot to do with our mission.”

“
Come on. You can’t expect us to
believe that a three hundred year-old mission could possibly still
be relevant.” Leif gave a firm shove to Wallace, hoping it would
make him feel better.

“
I can and do. If anything, it’s going
to be harder than we originally thought it would be. I mean, we’ve
been cooling our heels for two years, trying to make a plan. We
were trying to figure out how to come get you, but a bit of luck
fell our way.”

“
Yeah, someone found us by
accident.”

“
It wasn’t any accident. We just had
somebody offer to make the ‘discovery’, as it were.” Julieta let
that sink in. “Why don’t we go get with the others? I don’t want to
tell this story two times.”

۞

“
You don’t have to stay.” She was
clear-eyed, if not completely sober. There was a challenge in her
voice. An hour and some food had made a difference. Dmitry had
waited while she’d showered, as his thoughts turned over and
over.

“
That’s not the question for the
moment. It’s whether
you
want
me here.”

Maeve could feel time slow for her
consideration. She looked at him, his blue eyes meeting hers with
equal intensity. For the first time she noticed that his hair was
not completely brown, but more of a dark reddish brown. It would
probably show up more in his beard. What would he look like with a
beard? He was still waiting for an answer.

“
I’d like it if you stayed.” Her
breath caught in her chest. “If you don’t have anything better to
do.”

“
Don’t do that.” He sat up in the
chair he been waiting in, his jaw set in a heated angle.

“
What?” Maeve’s eyes stayed on his
face. The trouble with military men was that they had to shave
every day. Clearly, her thoughts were rapidly progressing past
moderation.

“
Go hot and cold.” He stood and walked
over to her. Her hair was still wet; the smell of whatever she’d
washed with lingered. “It drives me a little crazy.”

“
You keep using that word.”

“
You have a tendency to bring it to
mind. Frequently.” How long ago had they met? He’d lost track. Some
moments it seemed like it had been ages. Then he’d blink and
realize how brief it had actually been. But a month? That was the
longest he’d ever waited, wasn’t it? He was still hesitating on the
edge of something…what?