Loyalty to the Cause (TCOTU, Book 4) (This Corner of the Universe) (47 page)

Wallace’s
head cocked to one side.  “Explain how can that be, Mr. Persin?”

The
man shrugged defensively.  “I can’t.  We don’t know.  There was an entry
payment and his name was registered but that’s it.”

“Who
paid?”

Persin
remained silent, weighing his answer, and finally stated, “All I can tell you
right now is that payment came from within the Commonwealth.”

Wallace grunted at
the implication.  “Another fee you’ll extort.”  He nodded begrudging acceptance. 
“Very well, I’ll pay the price personally for this information.”  Wallace
walked to his windowed wall screen and looked out at a Saden bay.  “This man seems
to have gone to great lengths to disappear and one only does that when hiding
from someone.”  He smiled confidently.  “I’ll find out exactly who Garrett
Heskan is and then, perhaps, I will reacquaint him with his old friends.”

*  *  *

Vernay
looked down at Denise Gables in her med-bed.  “You know, when I told you that
you had to send someone to their death, I didn’t mean for it to be you, Denise.” 
Tubes ran from Gables’ arms; her hands were bathed in gel.  The operations
officer’s initial condition was critical but she stabilized quickly in
Honor’s
medical bay.  Her transport to Seshafi Major’s surface occurred on the first
night, and two days later visitors were permitted.  Despite her frostbitten face,
Gables looked better than she had any right to.  Only her blanket, smoothly
flowing to the end of the bed where an outline of her feet should have been,
belied her apparent remarkable condition.

Both
of the lieutenant’s feet had been burned horrifically.  As Gables lie dying in an
auxiliary radiator access alcove, she had decided the bitter cold of space was
a better alternative to immolation.  She had mustered the strength to roll over
to and out of the containment field several meters from her.  As she entered
the vacuum, her shocksuit constriction bands had activated around her ankles
once the suit detected the breaches in her boots.  The constrictions saved her
life though also contributed to her loss.

Sixty
hours after her charge into hell, she awoke to discover the price that had been
levied.  Like all Gables in her family, she took harsh news in stride. 
Advances in cybernetics would replace what she lost and Seshafian doctors
assured her that AmyraCorp would spare no expense for one of its wounded
heroes.

Gables
looked up at Vernay and weakly shrugged.  Her throat was still agonizingly dry
but she croaked out, “I couldn’t ask them to do what I wasn’t willing to do
myself.”

Vernay smiled warmly
at her friend and blinked away her tears.

*  *  *

Six days
after his initial conversation with Joshua Covington, Heskan stared at the
advance and retreat of salty water.  The gentle waves caressed the coarse
particles of quartz that provided for a splendid, almost blindingly white
beach.  Behind him, grass rose dramatically with the terrain to a tall, rounded
hilltop.

“I
think it’s beautiful, Garrett,” Vernay stated as she walked to the edge of the
water.  “It almost makes me want to take off my shoes.”

The
parcel of land, a mere forty kilometers from the fourth largest city on Seshafi
Major, promised quick access to urban amenities yet offered the quiet seclusion
Heskan believed he wanted.  “I think I’m doing it,” he judged with a nod.  “I
want this land.”

“What
kind of house are you going to build?” Vernay asked.  “Some of the building
codes on this continent are pretty restrictive.”

“I’m
fine with colonial,” Heskan said.  “I like the nostalgia of it and besides, I
don’t need, or want, a mansion.”

“You
should consider Spanish colonial,” Vernay suggested.

Heskan
tore his eyes away from the ocean’s horizon and looked at his friend.  “Is that
what you’re building?”

Vernay
shrugged.  “I haven’t decided yet.  I’m not even sure where I want to buy.”

“Plenty
of plots near here,” Heskan said.

Vernay
blushed.  “Don’t you get enough of me inside your ship?”

Heskan
turned to face the shuttle near the top of the hill.  “We need to get going.” 
He checked his datapad’s chronometer.  “I’ve got to tour that new second-rate
the Navy is rushing through the finishing yards.  I’m due in an hour.”

“You’re
a busy man these days,” Vernay remarked.

Heskan
nodded.  “Frankly, I think Covington wants me off the surface as much as
possible.  It’s easier to keep the media from me that way.”

“You’re
going to have to face them eventually.  I can’t look at a wall screen without
seeing that damned battle broadcast over and over again.”

“I
know,” Heskan acknowledged as he started up the hill.  “But not while I have
obligations that need my attention.”

Vernay
marched through the beach grass to catch up to him.  “Don’t let them rush the
line ship too much.  We don’t want another Kite on our hands.”

The
shipyard’s scramble to complete what would be Seshafi’s flagship eerily
mirrored Heskan’s last Brevic command.  Although built in Helwan like many ships
of the Seshafian Navy, the navy finished and customized the results in a yard repair
facility orbiting Seshafi Minor.  Heskan was determined not to commit the
mistakes of the past and with his new position perched high in the navy, he was
cautiously optimistic.  Over the last week, his discussions with Seshafian
political officials had been promising.  Every one of them believed it would be
only a matter of weeks before IaCom lodged a second
casus bellum
and,
this time, they believed Sade would come at their system in full force.  The
devastation of the Seshafian naval command chain left the political officials
desperate for military leadership and more than content with Heskan filling the
void.

The
coastal wind playfully tugged at Vernay’s blonde hair.  She swept stray strands
behind her ear and asked, “How are the other repair efforts going?”

“Good. 
Ajax is already in the repair dock and Unadex has opened their repair yards to
our brigs.”

Vernay’s
eyebrows arched slightly. “Which one is that again?”

Heskan
smiled sympathetically as he explained, “Unadex is the mega-corp that controls
Lagrin and three smaller systems.”

Vernay
tilted her head.  “Is that common?  A rival corporation offering to assist like
that?”

He
shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Covington told me that Unadex covets IaCom’s sales
territory.  He thinks they are helping us because we’re sapping IaCom’s
strength.”

“One
big mess,” Vernay restated and shook her head.  “I’m glad I just have to follow
your orders.  I’m a simple girl at heart.”

Heskan
snorted.  “Yeah, right.”  He stopped short of the shuttle door and looked at
Vernay.  “Besides, I think the days of having you on my bridge are coming to an
end, Stacy.  I can’t justify not giving you a command of your own.  The navy
needs combat-experienced ship captains too much for me to keep you, selfishly,
on my bridge.”

Vernay’s
eyes widened.  “Are you telling me I’m getting my own command?”

“Seshafi
will be better for it and you’ve more than earned it,” Heskan complimented.

Vernay
shook her head slightly.  “I’m not sure…”

“Stacy,
you captained Elathra during the last battle.  I was too busy handling the
fleet.  You’re more than ready.”

She
shrugged furtively.  “You’re right.  I just hate the idea of not being on the
ship with the Brevic crew.  Formerly Brevic crew.”

“I’m
splitting them up,” Heskan declared.  “I need combat-experienced ship captains
and the best we have right now are the Seshafians that survived, like Covington
and Baldwin, and our crew.  I’m seriously considering giving Selvaggio and
Truesworth commands of their own.”  He ignored Vernay’s stunned expression.  “I
also want to commission Pruette to ensign and get him behind a WEPS station.”

“He’s
mine,” Vernay stated quickly.  “I also want Gables on my ship.”

“How’s
she doing?” Heskan asked as he looked back toward the brilliant, blue ocean.

“She’ll
survive.  She’s scheduled to take her first cybernetic steps in a week.  She
needs to go through rehab but the doctors say she’ll be ready for duty in
record time.  Gabes won’t have it any other way.”  Vernay reflected on what the
Operations officer had suffered through and sighed heavily.

“Well,”
Heskan said, “I’m not sure I can give you Lieutenant Gables.”  He spoke over
Vernay’s objections.  “I need her for a special program I’ve been thinking
about.  In fact, I have a concept in mind for all of the ‘Kite Sixteen.’”

“Fifteen,”
Vernay corrected.  “Leonard Daily was killed in the last battle pass.”

The fact
he had forgotten made Heskan shudder.  He nodded grimly and thought about the
future.  “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“But
it
is
going to get better,” Vernay promised.

Thank
you for your readership and

be sure to watch for the series
finale,

Last
Measure of Devotion

Coming in early Summer 2015.

For updates on future books,
visit http://www.thiscorneroftheuniverse.com.  If you liked
Loyalty to the
Cause
, consider leaving a review where you bought the book.