Loyalty to the Cause (TCOTU, Book 4) (This Corner of the Universe) (29 page)

*  *  *

“Dive
confirmed, we are in the Hollara system,” Selvaggio said quietly and with a
perceptible shudder.

Heskan
felt it too; his arms had broken out in gooseflesh.  Ahead of
Hussy
,
just 46
lm
away, lay the water world bearing the same name as its star. 
The name had come to represent aggression and betrayal throughout Heskan’s Republic. 
On countless planets in countless star systems, Brevic children were playing
“soldier,” fighting against make-believe “Hollie” marines who dared to invade
their planets.  In the evenings, those same children would be cajoled with
vague threats that Commonwealth founder Anton C. Brennan himself visited
naughty Republic children who stayed up past their bedtimes.  Heskan’s own mother
died shortly after childbirth and he had no recollections of his father
resorting to such tactics, but the gravity inside
Hussy
seemed to have
tripled upon their dive.  Heskan stared at the system plot
.  It’s just wrong
to be so close to Hollara and everyone here knows it.  Diane practically
whispered just now.

Truesworth’s
panel chirped, causing him to jump.  He looked sheepishly around the bridge and
Vernay began to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.  Truesworth responded
with a grin.  “I guess I’m making this into a bigger deal than it is,” he
admitted.

“It’s
okay, Jack,” Heskan said.  “We all feel it.  We are strangers in a strange
land.”  He glanced at Lombardi.  “Well, most of us.”

Lombardi
smiled gently and soothed, “Commander, you have succeeded.  You have led your
people, and mine, from imprisonment and into safety.  Please, there is no need
to fear here.”

Truesworth
played the incoming message; it was simple clearance to proceed in-system.  Due
to heavy commercial traffic at the primary orbital, there would be an estimated
five-hour queue to dock once they reached the station.

Lombardi
acknowledged and then explained to the Brevics that certain docks were
allocated for inbound freighters that would have to undergo inspection.  Had
Hussy
already endured an inspection in an earlier system, they would have been
cleared to dock at a different part of the orbital with less of a wait.

As
Hussy
made way for the central nexus of the Commonwealth, Heskan asked, “When will
you tell Hollaran authority who we are, Isabella?”

“Not
quite yet,” she replied.  “I want to approach close enough to Hollara to have a
conversation with my aunt.  I want to tell her first and listen to what she
recommends.”

“Komandor,”
Vernay asked, “is there a chance we’ll have the same type of reception you received
in the Republic?”

Lombardi’s
uneasy look did little to calm Heskan.  Despite her expression, her voice
remained certain.  “I will not permit that, Lieutenant.”  Then, she hedged.  “Although
we may avoid having to explain who you are entirely.  My aunt works in
Procurement but she has many friends in Intelligence because of
Zio
.”

“Is
that wise?” Vernay said in a distrustful tone.  “Do we really want to get
Hollaran Intelligence involved?”

Lombardi
nodded.  “I think it is.  I hope so anyway. 
Zia
Samanta will have a
tremendous amount of support. 
Zio
Teodore was widely respected and he
argued against the attack on Sponde.  When he was overruled, he still insisted
that he accompany the task force.”  She sighed forlornly in remembrance.  “Despite
official intelligence projections that your carriers were not ready,
Zio
predicted they would make their appearance on the battlefield within weeks.  Sadly,
other admirals thought differently.”  She shook her head slightly.  “I believe
many of
Zio’s
former colleagues will help us. 
Zia
will know
better than me.”

Hussy’s
wall screen flickered.  The
system plot shunted to the left while the right half of the screen showed the
optical through the fixed array.  A brilliant, greenish-blue planet appeared
before Heskan’s eyes.  A massive hurricane looked to be slowly spinning near
the planet’s terminator.  Chills ran down Heskan’s spine again.

“It’s
brighter than I thought,” Vernay said in awe.

“Greener
too,” Selvaggio added quietly.  “Why is your water so green, Komandor?”

Lombardi’s
eyes misted over at the sight and she casually wiped at their corners.  After
clearing her throat, she answered, “The water has high concentrations of iron. 
Scientists say it will be many more millions of years before the oxygen in our
atmosphere rusts the iron out of the water and turns it completely blue.”

“How
much land covers the planet?” Truesworth asked.

“Roughly
twenty percent but there are vast, shallow continental shelves we can use.  In
fact, many of the structures we build on those shelves rise above the surface
of the water.”

Heskan
stood and walked next to Lombardi.  “Your world is beautiful, Isabella.”

She reached for his
hand and held it.  “Thank you.  For everything, thank you.”

*  *  *

Hours
later, as
Hussy
approached Hollara, Heskan and Lombardi were returning
to the bridge after taking a meal together in the galley.  “Isabella, it’s not
my place,” Heskan protested.

The komandor’s
fiery demeanor returned as she shot him a stern look but continued marching down
Hussy’s
main hall.  “You
will
be next to me when I speak to her,
Garrett.”

“But
it’s a family matter,” he persisted.

“I
will have plenty of time for personal encounters with Samanta later,” Lombardi
replied.  “For now, you will be present at every meeting while we figure out
what to do with your people.”

Heskan
stared at her in frustration but Lombardi pressed forward.  “Do you remember
when the ‘Vics started sending coded messages to you in the Tarvos system?  I
was terrified.  And what did you do?”  She began to smirk.

I
decrypted them and forwarded them to you,
he recalled but remained silent.

No
verbal answer was necessary.  “Exactly,” Lombardi said delightedly.  “No
secrets, Garrett.  Not between us,” she promised.

Heskan
broke for his captain’s chair as they entered the bridge.  Before he could step
away, Lombardi’s hand shot out and grasped him by the arm.  She pulled him
toward his cabin but stopped.  Heskan saw a curious expression sweep over her
face.

“Lieutenant
Vernay,” Lombardi announced firmly, “I am placing Captain Heskan and all of you
‘Vics under Hollaran arrest.”

Stunned
faces gaped at the komandor in mute astonishment.  Lombardi grappled to
maintain her stern expression before breaking into animated laughter.  After
drawing in several breaths, she said, “Kidding, Stacy, but would you not have
been disappointed if you traveled all this way to Hollara and not been threatened
with arrest?”  She moved quickly toward Heskan’s cabin, dragging the reluctant
captain by her side.  “We are going to talk to
Zia
now.”

Heskan
was too dumbfounded to resist.

Once
inside the captain’s quarters, Lombardi once again broke into a fit of laughter. 
“That was priceless!  The look on her face made all these last months worth
it.”

“You’re
crazy,” Heskan declared. 
I’m never going to understand her sense of humor.
 
Lombardi had already seated herself at his console, rapidly entering commands.

“It
is evening on her island.”

“What’s
the planet’s rotational period?” Heskan asked.

“Twenty-two
hours.  We take it out of our sleep,” Lombardi responded.  She finished typing
a string of codes and hit the transmit key.  “I feel bad about using my personal
account to call her but I guarantee she will respond to it.”

Hussy
was 6
ls
from the planet. 
The wait for a reply was fourteen seconds.

An
aged beauty appeared on the tiny monitor in front of Lombardi.  The woman was
easily in her sixties but the hand of time had favored her.  Silver-streaked
hair and brilliant, olive skin contrasted a fierce expression on the woman’s
face.  Her tone of voice matched the frigid temperature of space itself.  “You
are using an account code that is restricted and when I find you, your
violations of the HCT laws will be the very least of your troubles.”

Lombardi
pressed to accept and open a two-way communication.  “
Zia
, it is me!”

Twelve
seconds later, the woman’s ferocious expression melted beyond bewilderment and
into elation.  Large tears began to roll openly down her timeworn cheeks.  “
Izzy? 
Come è possibile questo?”

“English,
Zia
,” Lombardi requested.

A
dozen seconds later, the woman asked, “How can this be, Izzy?  Your ship was
reported missing in action and then the ‘Vics said it was destroyed.”

Lombardi’s
own eyes glistened.  “Phoenix is gone,
Zia
.  Along with much of my
crew.”  She turned slightly to glance at Heskan.  “The rest of us were taken
into ‘Vic custody but this man saved us.”

Venerable
brown eyes turned toward Heskan.  He felt the power of her stare from 6
ls
away.  “Who is this man, Izzy?”

Lombardi
reached up to touch Heskan’s elbow as she spoke.  “He is a Brevic officer who stood
up against his government’s injustice.  He and his friends risked everything
for my crew,
Zia
.  He has saved my life, more than once.”

De
Luca’s eyes widened upon hearing her niece’s words.  She half-whispered
urgently, “Please tell me that you have
not
made their identities public
to the Commonwealth.”

The
desperation of those words scared Heskan.

“No,
Zia
, I have not.  I am worried that with the war people will only see
the ‘Vic and not the hero.”

Relief
washed over De Luca’s face.  “Teodore would be proud, Izzy.  Teodore
was
proud,” she corrected.  “Let me terminate this connection and create a new,
more secure one.”  Inspiration struck her.  “Better yet, I will send a shuttle
up to bring you home.  I need to hug you to make sure this is real.”

“Garrett
will accompany me.” Lombardi asserted.

Before
De Luca could respond to the statement, Heskan placed a hand on Lombardi’s
shoulder.  “Isabella, I can’t leave my people right now.  We’re all nervous
about our futures.  I need to be with them.”

Disappointment
flickered over Lombardi but she nodded in grudging acceptance.  “I understand. 
I will contact you as soon as I can.”

*  *  *

The
promised shuttle rendezvoused with
Hussy
three hours into her five-hour
wait for permission to dock at Hollara’s primary orbital.  Before leaving, Lombardi
posted a junior Hollaran officer on the bridge to ensure no complications arose
when
Hussy
finally gained clearance to moor.

The
docking process was eerily similar to Brevic standard procedure.  There were
minor variations to be sure; some of the codes were slightly different, a
secure hard dock was indicated with blue lights instead of green, but Selvaggio
had little trouble positioning the old freighter next to the orbital.  The
docking tube was extended and
Hussy
breathed a slight sigh of relief as
attachment lines were secured.

The Hollaran
junior officer requested a delayed inspection, explaining to the station
officer that after over a week of sailing,
Hussy’s
crew needed several
hours to recuperate and prepare for Hollaran inspectors.  The request, not an
unusual one, was granted with the proviso that the freighter would remain
sealed until completion of the inspection.  This suited Heskan fine; he wanted
Lombardi’s reassuring presence back on the freighter when the time came to
allow “actual” Hollarans on board.

His
fears of complications were unfounded.  Forty minutes into the inspection’s
postponement, Truesworth announced that orbital customs had waived the standard
inspection and needed, only, the non-invasive particulate analysis of their
ship’s atmosphere to ensure no exotic contaminants were present.  The news removed
much of the growing tension on the bridge and buoyed Heskan’s hopes that
Lombardi was making inroads regarding their situation. 

When
Hussy
was declared safe by orbital inspectors, Heskan assembled his crew
in the middle hold and explained their present circumstances.  He assigned a
skeleton watch on the bridge and created a roster of Hollaran volunteers to
staff the watchman’s station in
Hussy’s
docking bay.  Crewmembers not
standing watch were permitted to debark but Brevic crewmembers had to keep
their origin a secret and have at least one Hollaran escort.  Not surprisingly,
the Hollaran contingent on
Hussy
enthusiastically volunteered for escort
jobs.  Their excitement over playing tour guide to their saviors was easily apparent. 
Before the meeting broke, Heskan ordered all of his crew to return to
Hussy
by 18:00 local time each day for a headcount.  Part of him believed that
permitting the crew off the ship and into a Hollaran orbital was a huge mistake
but the realist in him knew he could trust his crew to remain inconspicuous.  As
things were, he could hardly keep the Hollarans from debarking and restricting
his own crewmembers seemed cruel.