Dark Space: Origin (13 page)

Chapter 10

D
estra couldn’t believe her eyes. She’d never expected to see Ethan again. Had he come looking for her? What right did he have to intrude on her life now, after so much time had passed? It wasn’t fair to either of them. She saw her husband smile—her most recent husband, Hoff. He said, “I can see that I was right to bring Ethan here. Your old husband has gotten himself into quite a lot of trouble, darling. He’s been accused of some very serious crimes.”

At that, Destra’s eyes hardened and she wiped away the solitary tear which was running down her cheek. “
Again,
Ethan? Nothing’s changed, has it? Did your time in Dark Space teach you nothing?”

Ethan wiped away his own tears and shook his head. “It’s not what you think, Des.”

“Really?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Then how do you explain the stun cords around your wrists?”

Ethan smiled and shook his head. “I can’t believe you survived.”

“Yes, I lived. You can thank Hoff for that.”

“Hoff . . .” Ethan trailed off uncertainly and shot the admiral a quick glance. Turning back to Destra, he shook his head. “This isn’t exactly what I pictured when I dreamed of seeing you again.”

“What’s going on, Mommy?” Atta asked.

“Go back inside, dear. Go to your room and play with your toys.”

“Okay . . .”

When Atta was safely out of earshot, Destra turned back to Ethan and asked, “What are you doing here? I left you to move on with Alara. I gave you your space. Why couldn’t you give me mine?”

Ethan’s brow furrowed. “How do you know Alara?”

“We never met, Ethan, if that’s what you’re wondering. I went looking for you, and—” She broke off and swallowed thickly. “—and Atton. I guess you thought you’d never see me again. Or you assumed that I’d died. I’m not blaming you for anything, but what are you doing here now? And where is Alara?”

“What are you talking about? Alara is my copilot, Des! Or she was before Brondi got hold of her. She and I are friends, nothing more.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“Yes.”

Destra saw Ethan’s lips trembling and his muscles starting to shake, as if he were about to explode.

“Well, this is a happy reunion,” Hoff interrupted. “We should go inside. You both look like you need to sit down.”

The admiral gave Ethan a not-so-gentle push, and Destra stepped aside to let them in. She shut the door behind them and then turned to see Ethan frozen just inside the entrance, his eyes flicking around the clean, modern living space. Destra looked around the room with him, seeing it through his eyes, as if for the first time. The soft, gold lighting, shiny white walls, dark ceiling with gold crown moldings, and polished silver floors were all opulent enough, but the size of the space was what really spoke of the admiral’s wealth. Simple furniture and plush black area rugs left plenty of open space and only added to the open, airy feel. To one side lay a wall of windows looking out on a leafy green garden and wide synthstone terrace.

Hoff pointed to a dark red couch and matching pair of chairs sitting opposite a large holoscreen. “Let’s sit.”

Ethan walked woodenly to the living room and sat down in one of the chairs. Destra felt Hoff take her by the hand and lead her to the couch. They sat down together. Ethan’s gaze found their clasped hands, and he stared unblinkingly at them. Destra saw the hate burning in his green eyes, and she squeezed Hoff’s hand to remind him whose side she was on. She noted the stun cords binding Ethan’s own hands and she frowned.

Heston sighed. “Now, Ethan, if I’m not misunderstanding you, you’re saying that you had no idea your wife was still alive.” When Ethan didn’t reply, Heston went on, “She assumed you had moved on with your copilot, Alara, but you insist that she’s just a friend. Is that correct?”

Ethan nodded, his jaw clenching and unclenching like a fist. He looked away from their clasped hands and turned to look around the room, his gaze tracing the gold moldings along the ceiling, as if to find their source.

“It would appear that you may have been mistaken about your previous husband, darling,” Hoff said.

“Maybe,” Destra replied, “but I’m not mistaken about who or what he is. What is it this time, Ethan?”

Heston answered for him, “High treason and holoskinning.”

Destra’s eyes widened. “I underestimated you. You have changed. You’ve gotten worse!”

Ethan’s eyes flashed and he turned back to her. “You don’t get it.”

“I’m sure you can explain it to me. You always have a good explanation, don’t you? How about you start with what happened to our son? Did you even find him before he died?”

“Destra . . .” Hoff began, squeezing her hand, but she wasn’t paying any attention to him.

Ethan let out a long breath before quietly saying, “He didn’t die, Destra.”

Destra blinked and shook her head.

“Ethan’s right,” Heston added. “Your son is standing trial right alongside his father.”

Tears beaded on her long lashes and then fell to her cheeks. “I saw the records myself. He died in a shuttle crash.”

“No, Des, he didn’t,” Ethan said. “He faked his death so he could take over for his adoptive father, the previous overlord, when he died.”

Hoff inclined his head with interest. “So that’s how this all started. . . .”

Ethan met the admiral’s gaze. “The previous overlord was also a ‘skinner. I don’t know how long that’s been going on.”

Heston snorted. “An unlikely story.”

“The good ones always are.”

“Take me to him,” Destra said, already rising from the couch. “I want to see my son.”

Heston shook his head and grabbed her wrist to stop her. “No, darling. We need to be more discrete. I’ll have him brought here.” He stood up from the couch and Destra saw him look from Ethan to her and back again. “Meanwhile, I suspect you two have a lot of catching up to do.”

Destra saw her husband walk into the dining room and put a comm call through to one of his subordinates. She noticed in her periphery vision that Ethan was staring at her and she turned back to him. He looked furious.

“Ten
years
I waited for you, Destra! You couldn’t do the same for me? You didn’t even wait half that time. Atta is already seven!”

Destra felt a stab of guilt and she shook her head quickly. “I told you. I thought you’d moved on. You can’t blame me! This is your own fault. If you hadn’t gotten caught—”

“
My
fault?” Ethan boomed. “You’re incredible! I did what I had to, to provide for my family! You’re holding that against me
now
? I did it for us, Destra!”

“Yes,” she said, “and look at where it got us.”

“Des . . .” Ethan whispered. “It’s not too late.”

“But it is. It’s long past too late. I don’t know what you and your copilot had—”

“Nothing! For frek’s sake, I already told you that!”

She sniffled and smiled sadly at him. “Then maybe it’s time you did something about that. There’s no going back to the way we were. My life is with Hoff now. You weren’t there when I needed you, and Hoff was.”

Ethan shook his head. “This can’t be how it ends.”

Destra smiled, her blue eyes shining with sympathy and pain. She reached out and squeezed his arm. “Don’t look at it as the end. This is a chance for a new beginning—for both of us. The galaxy where we fell in love and built our life together is gone. We’ll never get things back the way they were. It’s time for you to move on, Ethan.”

*  *  *

Alara sat on a bench in front of the concourse viewports outside the trial room. She gazed down on the dark surface of Ritan below. It was like a living thing, with glowing, blood-red veins of magma disappearing into dark, glittering fields of ice. To say that the exoplanet was inhospitable would be an understatement, but apparently the Gors loved it. Said it reminded them of home.

Home.
Alara couldn’t remember hers—not her real home, anyway. She remembered very little of her past life . . . only Ethan. She frowned as her thoughts turned to him. He’d been mysteriously saved at the last minute when the admiral had intervened on his behalf.

As for her father, Doctor Kurlin, she couldn’t remember any connection to him, and she couldn’t feel any more sympathy for him than she would for a complete stranger. She had a bad feeling that if her slave chip were ever disabled, she would be devastated to find out that he had died from a mind probe or been executed for his crimes. Alara’s eyes skipped to her mother—yet another person she couldn’t remember. Darla Vastra stood by herself to one side of the concourse, looking old and frail. She had insisted on being allowed to watch the trial. Alara didn’t know how Darla could bear it, but when she thought about Ethan, she thought she understood.
When you love someone, you want to be with them no matter how much it hurts.
Not that she’d had to ask to watch the trial. She and all the others from the
Defiant
had no choice in the matter. They had all seen and interacted with the imposter overlord in some way, which made them either accessories to his crimes, or witnesses to them.

Alara felt someone bump into her shoulder. “You all right?” It was Gina. The two of them had formed a tentative bond during their time sharing quarters on the
Defiant
and then later while piloting the
Rescue
together.

“No, I’m not,” Alara said. “The whole thing is confusing—and hard to watch.”

“I know, but at least you don’t remember he was your father. That’s got to make it easier.”

Alara nodded and went back to staring at Ritan. She hadn’t been talking about Doctor Kurlin. Gina didn’t know who the imposter overlord was to her. No one knew that. Not yet, anyway. She wondered if their past relationship would cast even more suspicion on her and eventually land her in one of those probe chairs, too.