The Girls From Alcyone (42 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

New Home

June 21, 2348

Lady Hitomi Kimura stared up into the sky at Medea's newest satellite. Construction on the new Warp Relay was nearly complete, and the 400 meter-wide structure could clearly be seen through the pair of binoculars she carried. She watched for a few minutes as the Daedalus crews began maneuvering the last of the sections into position before handing the binoculars back to the man at her side.

"Thank you, Joffrey," she said. "Just think. In a few more days, you'll be free of this place. Although I can't imagine why you'd be in such a rush to leave." Hitomi looked down the beach at the group of girls cavorting in the shallow surf, while others languished on the shore under the warm sun.

Joffrey grunted, not letting his eyes linger.

"Why, Joffrey, I do believe you're blushing."

"Perhaps you might arrange for some bathing costumes for the girls…"

Hitomi let out a sympathetic laugh at the man's discomfort. His name was Joffrey Deschamps, CEO of the Daedalus Corporation. Hitomi had always found him handsome, in a rather dashing sort of way. She didn't think he looked at all out of place in the paradisiacal setting, standing there, barefoot on the soft, sandy beach. She knew that he was not at all happy having to be there, but Hitomi hadn't given him much choice.

It had taken time, but she had finally repaired the message Sigrid had found, and the message had revealed a great deal. What they had found turned out not to be a letter, but a file detailing all of Daedalus' payments to the Dalair Mercenary Group. Daedalus had been behind the attempt on the
Agatsuma
. They had forged the Permit for Seizure, and worse, they had taken bribes to divulge information on traffic through the relay system. It was an understatement to say that the Federated Corporations would not be at all pleased with Daedalus—should they find out.

No one would tolerate anything less than complete neutrality from Daedalus. Learning of their attempt against Kimura would be the excuse many corporations were looking for to finally move against the giant company and break its hold over the relay technology. Learning of the bribes and payoffs would be their undoing.

"This makes us even, you realize," Joffrey said, looking up in the direction of the Relay. "My debt to your father is repaid after this."

"Of course. But let us not forget our agreement…"

"Yes, yes—no one will know of this Relay. Not our Board, not the shareholders."

Hitomi looked up at him slyly. "No one
can
ever
know, Joffrey. Unless you wish to see how widely and how quickly I can make copies of that file available. People would
not
be pleased with you."

"You have my
word
, Hitomi. No one will find out about the Pegasi Relay."

She patted his hand. "That's all I can ask."

"You know, I
could
have just left you here," he said with mock indignation.

"Ah, but that's why I insisted you come along. Now, let's enjoy this wonderful sunshine. I may even arrange to take a dip. Perhaps with your assistance…" Hitomi held her hand up to him.

* * *

Five of the young ones raced along the beach, leaping over Sigrid and Suko, who lay basking in the afternoon sun. All five girls cleared them easily, but kicked up a good amount of sand, spraying Sigrid for the most part.

"Hey!" Sigrid was still dripping wet from her swim and the sand stuck to her bare skin. "Oh, look, they got sand everywhere." Sigrid brushed the sand from her stomach and thighs, aided a great deal more than was necessary by Suko, whose hands seemed to linger on various parts of Sigrid's exposed flesh.

Sigrid laughed. "Not here," she protested, but no one seemed to be taking any notice.

"Come on. Let's go wash that sand off."

Hand-in-hand, the two girls walked back toward the water.

After more than a month on Medea, Suko still claimed she was unable to swim, but Sigrid knew she was only pretending.

"No! You have to save me," she said, splashing Sigrid and diving into her arms. "See. I'm sinking." Suko kicked and splashed and Sigrid held her in her arms, floating easily in the salty water.

It had taken a while to adjust to life on Medea—strange to have to adjust to the idea that no one was trying to kill them—but the last month had been the most pleasant and peaceful of Sigrid's life. And no one seemed eager to leave once the new Relay was complete—not even Honey and Cherry. Sigrid had discovered their real names were Stefani and Katherine, and they were content to stay, at least for a while. They were further down the beach, the surf washing over their toes as they collected the little shells that washed up in the sand. Rodney was eagerly pointing out various aspects of the marine life to the two girls, who were rapt with fascination. Like most of them, Honey and Cherry had probably never even seen an ocean up close before.

"Hello!" Karen called from the beach, arms waving.

Both girls waved back and swam toward the shore. As they strolled back through the surf, another splashing group of girls ran giggling by.

"Oh my," Karen said, jumping out of the way. Always well-dressed, Karen had on a little bikini, in deep burnt-orange and red. It was daringly cut and very brief, but still she blushed at the sight of the two girls before her who wore nothing at all. "Why is it I suddenly feel a tad overdressed?"

Sigrid and Suko laughed.

Suko said, "Sorry. We didn't exactly get a chance to pack our togs."

Karen blinked back her confusion.

Sigrid translated for her. "She means our swimsuits."

"Oh…Well, when in Rome," Karen said. Steeling her nerves, she slipped out of her bathing suit, still feeling a little self-conscious. "Well—that's actually quite exhilarating!"

"We're just glad you're finally up and about," Suko said.

"Dr. Garrett worked wonders. Look, you can't even see where the bullets went in."

A loud rumbling emanated from somewhere above followed by a telltale sonic boom; a ship had just entered the atmosphere. Sigrid froze and her head jerked up, scanning the heavens for the source.

She felt Suko's hand tighten around her own. "They found us."

"They couldn't have," Karen said.

"No, wait. Look!" Sigrid pointed up at the ship as it feathered its way down, circling ever lower. Zooming in, she could see now that it was just a shuttle, definitely a mercenary vessel. She could clearly make out the markings of the Athena Corp. "That's one of Ms. Lawther's ships."

Sigrid grabbed both their hands and towed them quickly in the direction of the landing pads, stopping briefly to gather up their clothes.

"Gah!" Karen said, reaching for her discarded bathing suit, before hurrying after them.

They arrived in time to see the shuttle settling in on its landing struts. All the young ones from the beach had run up to witness the spectacle, even Hitomi and Joffrey had joined them on the rise. Sigrid was just pulling her shirt back on when the lower airlock opened and a very familiar redheaded girl leapt out.

"Leta!" Sigrid and Suko screamed, jumping forward and gathering her in a rib-crushing hug. "We've been so worried about you. Thank God you're okay." Leta looked sharp in her Mercenary Naval Cadet uniform.

"Us?" Leta said. "What about you! We all heard about Scorpii."

"We? Who's with you?" Suko asked.

"Why—all of us!"

Leta stepped out of the way, and sure enough, the rest of the girls from Alcyone began to emerge from the ship, each of them staring in wonder at the stretch of sandy beach and inviting waters, framed by swaying palms and tall grass.

"Holy…" one of them said, gaping, while the girl behind her shoved her along.

Marylyn Lawther stepped out of the airlock. "Marylyn!" Hitomi cried, wheeling herself forward and extending her hand to her friend.

She wore a ship's uniform in her clan's colors of red and gold. Sigrid noted the rank insignia of admiral on her collar. She also wore a large black sidearm on her hip. Sigrid expected she'd be quite capable of using it, as well. She was even more of a commanding presence than she'd been on Crucis.

Marylyn took Hitomi's hands in her own. "Hitomi. What a wonderful spot you've chosen."

"I've had my eye on it for some time. You remember Sigrid, of course."

"Sigrid, so nice to see you again."

Marylyn Lawther held out her hand to Sigrid who bowed deeply instead. "Lady Lawther."

Marylyn chuckled. "Oh, you and your manners."

"I can't thank you enough for this," Hitomi said. "I trust you didn't have too much trouble with the authorities."

"Oh, posh. We girls must stick together. And no, we intercepted the transport exactly where you said. I'd like to claim that I
rescued
them, but by the time we arrived your girls had the situation well in hand. I don't think those CTF soldiers knew what they were taking on. The only problem we had was trying to convince the girls we weren't there to harm them as well. Your girl here…" she said, nodding to Leta, "…proved invaluable. Without her I think they may very well have destroyed us! I'm just glad you decided to place some of them in our care at the Naval Academy."

"I knew you'd take good care of them."

"You should be very proud of them, Hitomi. The things I've seen…it's no wonder they've caused such a stir."

"I am proud. Very. I owe them my life," she said, looking directly at Sigrid. "Now, come. We have much to discuss. I've prepared a delicious dinner for all of us. I think you'll be quite pleased."

"Wonderful. I'm absolutely ravenous."

The two ladies headed off toward the larger of the two buildings that had been completed, while Sigrid led the others to their new quarters. Like the Annex, each of the girls would have their own accommodations; Hitomi was busy building a sprawling new complex to house all of them, with room for many, many more.

It was difficult to get them all settled. None of them would leave Sigrid's side, demanding to know what had happened on Alcyone and Scorpii.

Sigrid gave in. She gathered everyone in the large common room so she could tell them all at once instead of over and over again. They'd heard of the attacks, but knew very few of the details. Sigrid told them everything—all of them listened without saying a word, although there were several gasps when Sigrid told them of her encounter with Sara, and more when she described the destruction of the elevator over Panama and their narrow escape. All the while she spoke, Suko held her hand, especially when Sigrid described the rescue of her and Khepri and the new girls from Scorpii.

The girls were extremely angry to hear of Mei and the others who were killed in the attempts to reprogram them, even more so to find that Lei-Fei and Christi still suffered. Dr. Garrett was confident she could restore them, but it would take time. Dr. Farrington's work had been invasive and thorough, but also incredibly careless.

"We can't let this ever happen again," Leta said.

There was a murmuring of assent.

"But aren't we prisoners still?" another girl asked. "We're here—we may be safe—but will they ever let us leave?"

"Leave?" Khepri asked. "Where would we go? Anywhere we go they'll hunt us down and kill us. Or worse. I saw what they did to the others. That's not going to happen to me."

The girls started talking all at once, arguing over whether to stay or go, or whether they even had a choice in the matter.

Sigrid listened for a few minutes before raising her hands, asking for silence. "You're all free to go." A hush fell over the room at that. "You're also more than welcome to stay. You won't be safe on Earth, or anywhere else right now. But I promise, whatever you choose, it will be
your
choice. No one will tell you what you can or can't do anymore."

"What about school?" one of the younger ones asked. Her name was Lilith and she was nearly twelve. "Do we still have to study?"

Sigrid smiled. "Yes. You still need to keep to your studies. Now more than ever. But you're all free." Sigrid glanced at Suko who was still holding onto her hand. "This is my home now. I know I'm staying right here, and I hope you all will too."

Lilith looked up at her. "Can we really go home?"

"I can answer that."

The gathering of girls turned to see Lady Hitomi enter the room, accompanied by Marylyn Lawther.

"Medea was never meant to be a prison. I'd rather hoped you'd find it a haven, a sanctuary. You will always be welcome here, regardless of whether you chose to leave or stay. When the Relay is complete we will take any of you that wish to back to Earth. But Sigrid is correct in her estimation of the danger. If you leave here, you will be hunted, and I fear I will not be able to protect you."

"You will also be welcome on Crucis," Marylyn offered. "The Guild can offer some protection."

"I want to go home!" one girl called out, and there were more rumblings of the same vein.

Sigrid felt her heart sink—
what if they all left?
What would happen to them?

"I'll stay," Suko said.

"Me too," Leta said.

Khepri stepped forward. "Think about what you're saying. If you leave, what kind of life will you have? Go see Lei-Fei, see what they did to Christi. Then tell me you still want to leave. Sigrid saved my life. I say we stay."

"I'll stay," Lilith said, putting her hand in Sigrid's.

Sigrid gave it a little squeeze, feeling her spirits rise.

One of the girls in the back stood up. Her name was Una, and like Leta, she wore one of the Naval Cadet uniforms. "Sod it. I say we stay. What do we have to go back to anyway? We're with you, Sigrid!"

A cheer rose from their ranks, and Sigrid was nearly crushed under the surge as the animated young ones crowded around her.

Suko laughed. "I don't think any of the little ones will ever leave you."

Sigrid smiled and raised her hands. The girls grew silent again. "Some of you may change your minds when you find out what I have in mind. Alcyone is gone, and it won't be safe for any of us on Earth—not as long as there are men out there who want to dominate us…and girls
like us
."