The Girls From Alcyone (22 page)

She had to laugh; when she'd accepted the job as instructor for the new group at the Academy, she'd somehow assumed that it would be her task to run
them
into shape. She'd had no idea what a handful she'd undertaken. She suddenly found herself with a new appreciation for her old instructors. Had she and the other girls really been such hard work?

Suko finally became aware of the pounding on her door and the chime ringing. She turned the water off and stumbled out of the shower, her wet feet slipping on the tiles.

"Come," she said, only then remembering to grab a towel and wrap it around herself as the door slid open. Leta stood there; positively bursting with excitement.

"Didn't you hear them?"

"Hear what—when?"

Leta pointed up. "The shuttles. They came. Suko, they…brought you something." Leta held out a pad to Suko. "I thought you should have it right away. It's a letter."

Suko felt her heart quicken as she took the pad from Leta. She was almost afraid to look, but there, blinking on the screen, was a letter from Sigrid. Suko looked from the letter to Leta. "Did you read…"

Leta's eyes widened in mortification. "What? No!
I'd never…
"

"No, of course not. Sorry." Suko frowned at the pad, she was almost afraid to open it.

"Well, go on!"

Suko looked to the pad then to Leta, hesitantly. Finally, she backed away from the door. "Well, you might as well come in."

Leta smiled gratefully and sat next to Suko on the large, comfortable chair in her modest quarters. Suko caressed the tab; she eyed Leta suspiciously as she angled the pad away from her.

"I won't peep—promise," the feisty redhead assured her .

Suko thumbed the tab and opened the letter, reading it slowly and carefully. She read the letter three times. Only after the third did she realize her tears were flowing and that Leta was holding her.

"How could I do that?" Suko asked. "How could I have done that to her?" she said as Leta rocked her gently in her arms. "I blamed her for leaving. I never even told her—I never even said goodbye. I just left her."

Leta did her best to comfort her. She wiped her tears with the edge of her sleeve and kissed her softly on her cheek. "I'm sure she didn't mean what she wrote. She was probably just angry."

Suko looked up between sob's. "Angry? What do you mean?"

"Did she find someone else? Is that what happened?" Leta frowned. "She met someone, didn't she?"

Suko pulled away from her. "What?
No!"

"I just—I thought…" Confused, Leta tried to grab the pad from Suko. "Wait...what did she say?"

Suko pulled the pad away defensively. "She said…she said she loves me."

"
Loves you!"
Leta clapped a hand to her chest in relief.

"She said she's going to try to come back to me." Suko's tears had finally abated and she brightened at her own words. "She
Loves
me, Leta." Suko laughed.

Leta snatched the pad away from Suko and read the letter quickly. "Oh my God! Suko…" Leta swatted her hard on her arm. "You had me thinking she
left
you. Dear
God
—I thought you just got a
Dear John
letter." Leta continued to swat her on the arm and shoulder. "Silly girl. She's not
mad at you
. She's mad
for
you."

Suko laughed as she wiped at her eyes and blew her nose.

"Oh…my…" Leta handed the pad back to Suko quickly. "I don't think I was supposed to see that."

Suko took it; there was a picture of Sigrid standing before a ship. Suko thought she looked magnificent in her smart uniform. She also looked taller; Suko realized she'd adopted high-heeled-boots. "I can't believe it! She has
her own ship
."

Leta looked embarrassed. "Um…no, not that picture; the other one." Leta reached over and flipped the image to the second photo she'd seen just a moment before.

Suko's jaw dropped open, and she sat back in the chair, staring at the evocative photo Sigrid had attached. "
Wow…"

"I
know!
" Leta leaned over her shoulder to admire the photo. "Perhaps I should leave you two alone."

Suko didn't answer. She was immersed in the picture. Leta laughed as she let herself out.

* * *

Two Kimura transports stood on station atop the shimmering glacier, ready to take twenty-one girls to their new assignments. Snow had fallen during the night and the wind whipped the light dusting of powder across the ice. Suko stood by the wide landing platforms, saying her goodbyes to each of the girls as they boarded the waiting ships. She was sad to see them go—well, most of them. The years of being at odds with some of the girls over their
bullying had left some permanent scars.

Suko had been offered two contracts, but she'd chosen to stay at the Academy as an instructor. She was far from eager to head off into space on some perceived adventure. She felt no love for Kimura, but she did want to stay with the new girls. There was something about them; it wasn't that she wanted to
protect
them as such, but there was a bond there; a bond that wasn't rational or logical, but she felt it nonetheless.

This was where she wanted to be. If Sigrid wanted to find her, she would look here first, and so Suko would bide her time at the Academy.

Leta dropped her duffel at her side, lifted Suko in her arms, and gave her a tremendous hug, expelling all the air from her lungs.

"
Gah—
careful! The…
ribs…
" Suko gasped as Leta released her grip.

"I'm going to miss you, Suko."

"I can't believe they're sending you to the Naval Academy on Crucis," Suko said, with a little envy. Kimura had assigned Leta and six other girls to the Mercenary Naval Academy; there, the girls would go into officers' training to learn ships' systems and tactics. It was a much sought after position.

"I know, it's unreal," Leta said.

Suko could see how happy she was. Leta loved to fly. Then suddenly, the smile faded from her face. She touched Suko's cheek with her hand, wiping away a stray tear with her thumb. "She loves you, Suko. She'll come back."

"Or I'll go find her."

Leta glanced around quickly, but there was no one in earshot. She gave Suko a cautionary frown. "Don't do anything foolish. This…you don't just
leave
a job like this. They won't let you."

"I know. I'll be careful." Suko registered the obvious concern on Leta's face. She smiled and swatted her on her rear. "I said I'll be
careful
. Now get—go to your ship. They're waiting for you."

Sure enough, they could hear the thrusters of the transports firing up behind them. The Academy girls shared their parting moments: some with other girls; others said polite goodbyes to their instructors; and then there were the fond farewells to the Mercenary boys who'd captured their affections.

Leta kissed Suko hard on the lips and gave her one last rib-cracking hug. "See you 'round, Suko." Tears welled in her eyes as she snatched up her duffel and headed to the ship. Suko didn't leave until all the girls were on board and the transports had blasted their way up into the morning sunlight and out of sight.

Seven other girls stood nearby staring up at the heavens.

* * *

April 8, 2348

Crucis Prime was a small red rock that traced a distant orbit around the binary stars of Alpha Crucis. Unlike the other planets in the Federation, Crucis had no habitable atmosphere. What it did have was a vast treasure-trove of resources. Rich in minerals and energy, Crucis had quickly become one of the more vital and active trading hubs in Federation Space.

Vincenze Station
had grown in magnitude over the years. A few decades earlier it had been little more than a floating tin can in space, serving as a docking hub for the mining and engineering crews who descended to strip the planet clean of everything it had to offer. Over
time, different companies had arrived, adding more modules to the station as they were needed. There had never been any formal plans for the station's expansion, thus it resembled a random nightmare of twisted metal and modular construction.

"Ugly," Sigrid remarked, as she viewed the station from her position on the bridge.

The Lady Hitomi snickered behind her. "Any word on docking clearance?"

"None yet, Milady," Christian told her. "They're asking us to hold. They say it might be a few days before they can accommodate us."

"No doubt," Sigrid said. In front of them, spread out in the space, were fifty-six ships. Most were small, but there were several large warships: destroyers, cruisers, even several hulking battleships and troop carriers, all flying different Mercenary banners. The surrounding space was so crowded with ships and shuttles it seemed a miracle to Sigrid that they weren't all smashing into one another.

Hitomi scowled at the floating chaos in front of her. "Put me on. I want to speak to the Dock Controller."

"Yes, Milady," Karen said, and in a moment the forward monitor filled with the image of a tired and haggard-looking old gentleman. The collar of his uniform was pulled loose; he didn't look as if he'd shaved in days. Dark circles ringed his eyes.

"I
told
you I'd get to you as soon as we could. We've got a tremendous amount of traffic to deal—"

"This is the Lady Kimura Hitomi. We're requesting immediate priority clearance for docking. I trust that you can find your way to accommodating our small ship. I'm sure there must be someone willing to give up a spot. They will be compensated for their inconvenience, of course."

Sigrid stifled a laugh as the jaw on the Controller's face dropped. "Milady—of course, of course." His hands flitted over his console, his eyes frantically scanned the data in front of him. "We can accommodate you directly—no compensation required. I'll send the coordinates right away. Rooms for you and your crew will be prepared immediately."

"I thank you, but that won't be necessary. We won't be staying long." She signaled to Ensign McTeer and terminated the call. "Nice to know I still have
some
pull here
.
Now, let's go see what's going on. You have the coordinates yet?" she asked the navigator.

"Yes, ma'am," Ensign Greenway said from her station. "Docking bay thirty-seven."

"Take us in, Mr. Lopez," Sigrid said.

"Aye, ma'am."

Christian set to his task. Sigrid sensed the rise in his adrenalin. He'd need to take the ship in manually, maneuvering carefully between the waiting ships, all the while dodging the shuttles and service vehicles that crisscrossed their path.

He cleared his throat. "Sure you don't want to hire a docking pilot for this?"

"You'll be fine, Lieutenant." She gave what she hoped was a reassuring pat to his shoulder, and stepped back to let him concentrate on his task.

Christian pushed the thrusters forward, moving the ship faster through the traffic. Sigrid held her breath, watching—he sweated with the effort of juggling the unfamiliar controls—but she noted that the Lady Hitomi remained perfectly calm during the whole process. Despite a near miss or two, Christian's only gaffe was on his first attempt at aligning the ship with the station's docking ring; he missed it by a full meter. The sound of metal scraping against metal reverberated the length of ship.

"Sorry," he said, wincing.

Sigrid couldn't help but wince too. That would cost her. On his second attempt, all the lights flicked to green on the panel before her; they were docked.

"You have the ship, Mr. Lopez." Turning to Hitomi, she gestured to the door behind them. "Milady…"

"After you."

Sigrid led them out onto the docking platform. It was a wide ring that circled the entire station. Built in sections and sealed off from the station and the individual berths, the docking ring was lined almost entirely with glass, affording a spectacular view of the station and surrounding space.

Hitomi wheeled herself out behind Sigrid, flanked by four of her security contingent. Sigrid was surprised to see the Station Administrator himself come out to the platform to greet them. One of the dock workers stepped forward to scan the identification chip Sigrid wore pinned to her collar, but the dock-master slapped the man's hand away.

"That won't be necessary." He scurried past them both, hurrying to the Lady Hitomi's side. "Milady, it is both a pleasure and an honor to have you with us again. You should have announced your intentions—we could have prepared—"

"I was hoping to avoid a fuss, but there is something you can do for me."

"Anything, Milady…"

Hitomi handed a pad to him. "There are some people I was hoping to meet with. If you could track them down for me, that would save us a great deal of time and trouble."

"Of course. Right away." He handed the pad to his assistant behind him. "If you'll come this way, we can take care of this immediately."

* * *

The Station Administrator could only find one of the people on Lady Hitomi's list: Lt. Commander Selene Tseng, ex-Senior Officer of the Tarsus Mercenary Group. She was still in residence on the station. As a senior member of the disbanded group, she'd been saddled with much of the blame for the blundered operation against Kimura on Alcyone. Consequently, she'd been virtually blacklisted, and no other company had deemed to hire her. Doing so would have been considered a major affront to both Kimura and the Mercenary Guild itself.

They tracked her down in one of the many dockside pubs that were favored spots on
Vincenze
. These were the places where most of the freighter captains conducted business—even some of the mercenary leaders could be found here. Sigrid scanned her, confirming her identification in her database. Selene wore a casual jacket and pants, with the high, buckled boots common aboard ships. She wore no rank insignia or any mercenary colors, but then, the Guild had seen to strip her of her rank and status when the Tarsus Group had been disbanded.