The Lost Star Episode One (20 page)

For what, she didn't know.

…

Lieutenant Hunter
McClane

Diplomat
Tarka was seconds from arrival.

He stood nervously just outside of the
arrival hatch.

He paced, boots practically skidding across
the floor as he switched direction and paced the other way once
more.

It was a testament to Harvey's trust in
his brother that he'd allow Hunter this important role.

That, or right now Hunter was the only
person Harvey could trust with this – the only person who knew just
how screwed this Avixan problem had become.

A light above the hatch flashed blue and a
sonorous beep echoed through the corridor.

He found himself gulping, swallowing for
air, fighting against his dried and constricted throat.

He stood back just as the door opened.

Out walked an
Avixan male.

It was the first Hunter had seen. All the
other Avixans of the Coalition were female.

The man was tall, handsome, even by human
standards. He had broad shoulders, a muscled chest, and the kind of
body that bristled with power.

Unlike Avixans females, he didn't appear
to have any hair. Just a smooth bald skull tattooed with intricate
black lines that ran all the way down the back of his neck and
disappeared behind his stiff dark blue collar.

He was wearing a pin a
ffixed on the left breast of his
tunic.

He suddenly flattened a hand over it,
locked one foot in front of the other, and bowed low.

"It's good to meet you, Diplomat Tarka,"
Hunter began.

"I must correct you. I am not Diplomat
Tarka. She could not make it. I am Aide Phar."

Hunter tried to keep the surprise from his
face. "We weren’t informed of this change."

"No. You weren’t. Because it is
irrelevant. Now, where is your captain?"

The man was direct and officious, but he
also looked nervous. His moves pressured, quick.

Hunter's stomach sank. After hearing about
the possibility of civil disturbance on Avixa, he’d hoped the intel
had been wrong.

Everything with Ava and Meva aside, Hunter
knew just how important Avixa was to the Coalition.

Especially now.

It wasn't just the rebuilder incident
several years ago, or the recent Axira incident. It was the general
mood of the Milky Way.

It felt as if events were quickening
somehow, arcing up, building towards some calamity.

He stifled the thought as soon as it
struck him, pushing it away as he offered the aide a low nod. "I
will lead you to the captain."

“
Incorrect
. You will lead the captain to me." With that the
aide turned sharply on his bare foot and began walking down the
corridor.

Hunter baulked, pushing off and jogging up
to him. "Sir, I'm here to direct you through the ship."

"I already know where I'm going."

"Excuse me?”

"I am only here for one purpose. I will
fulfil that and return to my people. We cannot be away at a time
like this," he added in a low distracted tone.

Hunter kept pace beside the man, even
though he walked so quickly and with such a large stride Hunter
practically had to jog to keep up. "Where are you
going?"

"I believe you know her as Ensign Ava,"
the aide replied as he kept marching forward, the stiff flaps of
his tunic jerking hard around his legs.

Hunter's stomach sank as a quick flighty
feeling pulsed through his heart. "Ava? Why?"

"I cannot discuss that. However, you will
have your captain meet me there."

"Why?"

"Because Ensign Ava is no longer a member
of the Coalition. She will return with me to Avixa."

Hunter's heart constricted. "She hasn't done
anything wrong," he blurted before he knew what he was saying.

Though the aide had been largely ignoring
him before, now the man stiffly swung his neck to the side and
narrowed his eyes. "Of what do you speak?"

Hunter's heart quickened, his fingers
growing sweaty as he clamped them into fists behind his back.

He should just keep his mouth shut. One
wrong word and he could condemn Ava. Yet he couldn't just ignore
this.

It
was so wrong.

…
If, indeed, this aide was here to
extradite Ava for her so-called crime. Perhaps Harvey was right,
and she was just a spy who was being recalled due to the
instability on her home world.

Hunter had to make a decision, didn't
he?

Who to trust.

His brother, his goddamn captain, or an
ensign he'd met barely a few days ago.

His body seemed to make his mind up for him
as his heart beat harder and harder and his breath became shorter
and shorter.

The aide slowed down his frantic pace and
arched his neck to the side, locking Hunter in his full attention.
"Has Ava shared information with you?"

Hunter recoiled. "No," he snapped
immediately, “It's nothing like that. I barely know her," he lied.
Or maybe it was true, he couldn't quite tell. Sure, it had only
been a couple of days, but the intensity of their handful of
experiences was enough to trick his mind into thinking he'd known
her forever. His heart too. “She hasn’t told me anything. I just…
assumed from your actions.”

The man held his gaze but said nothing.
Then he pushed into a purposeful march once more.

“
You can go and get your captain. I have
already familiarized myself with the route.”

Hunter ground his teeth together. “With
all due respect, sir, no.”

If Harvey had been here, he would have
winced, probably clapped Hunter in restraints. Harvey wasn’t here,
and it was time for one of them to do the right thing.

The man inclined his head towards Hunter
again, that direct gaze of his like a pulse from a laser. “Excuse
me?”

“
It is against Coalition policy to allow a
visitor aboard a Coalition warship unrestricted access to
systems.”

“
Avixa is a member state of the
Coalition.”

“
It sure is, sir, however you yourself are
not a member of the Coalition army. I’m afraid wherever you go, I
will go with you.” Though everything Hunter had told him to look
down, to be non-aggressive, not to stare this guy right in the eye,
he ignored reason. He dipped his head back, angled his chin out,
and didn’t blink once.

The aide looked as if he wanted to
complain, but he also looked as if he didn’t have the time. He
pared his stiff lips back from his clenched teeth and nodded. “Very
well,” he breathed hard. “But hurry.”

Why? Why was this guy in so much of a
hurry?

And why did it
make Hunter’s heart beat at one million miles an
hour? So fast he was sure the muscle tore itself free from his rib
cage and shot through the hull into outer space.

…

Captain Harvey
McClane

He couldn’t deny his nerves. They raced up
his back, lodged hard into his skull, felt like knives tracing a
cruel pattern over his back and stomach.

As he sat in his command seat, he rested
his chin on one clenched fist, his knuckles so white it looked as
if all the blood had drained from his hand.

“
Diplomat Tarka has arrived,” Shera said
needlessly.

He caught sight of her expression as she
spoke. Her head was tilted back, that regal angle to her neck he
loved so much accentuating the curve to her chest and the dip of
her back.

She looked expectant. Excited. As if she
couldn’t wait to meet this Diplomat Tarka.

Harvey had
tried to broach the subject of civil instability
with her, but she had, as always, told him she couldn’t say a word.
He knew not to push her about her people.

Now that curiosity burned within his gut
as bright as a flare on a dark night. It climbed higher and higher
as if it wanted to engulf every muscle and sinew, and burn right
out of his mouth.

Hunter, in his usual in
eloquent brutal style, had done what
Harvey couldn’t. He’d set Harvey’s priorities straight.

Hunter was right. Harvey couldn’t keep
making assumptions. He had to find out more about the Avixans,
whether they liked it or not.

With five aboard his ship and civil
disturbances on their planet, this was a risk. That’s why he’d
confined Ensign Ava to quarters.

Did she deserve it? Was he sure she was the
bad apple amongst this group?

…
He was 90% sure. And it was enough for
him.

He pushed to his feet, letting his tensed
hand fall beside his leg.

He watched Shera glance down and note it.
Then she made brief eye contact with him. He imagined she said a
lot with that. She’d be telling him to calm down, to get a hold of
himself.

This was just a simple diplomatic visit,
right?

“
Shouldn’t Tarka have arrived on
the bridge by now?” Shera
suddenly questioned.

At that exact moment, Harvey got a direct
call from his brother.

Almost immediately Harvey’s stomach
started to sink as he brought a hand up and tapped his wrist
device. “Yes?”

“
Change of plans. Aide Phar doesn’t want to
meet you on the bridge…. He’s meeting you in Ensign Ava’s
quarters.”

Harvey knew he paled. He knew he lost all
control of his expression as he took a sharp step forward. “What?
What’s—”

Before
he could finish his question, Shera interrupted, pressing
forward, her eyes growing wide. “Where is Diplomat Tarka?” she
asked in a snapped, curt tone.

Hunter paused. “… Captain?”

Harvey cleared his throat. “Answer the
lieutenant commander. Where is the diplomat?”

“
I don’t know, apparently there was a
change of plans. This Aide Phar is here instead. Is that a
problem?”

Shera
took an uncomfortable breath. Out of the corner of Harvey’s
eye he saw her shift back, her shoulders jutting forward, her chin
jutting down.

“
Shera?” Harvey asked in a low
tone.

“
I assume I am speaking to Captain Harvey
McClane,” a resonant deep male voice suddenly cut over the
intercom. “I am Aide Phar. I do not have the luxury of time. If you
wish to know why I am here instead of Diplomat Tarka, then you will
meet me at Ensign Ava’s quarters.”

The transmission suddenly cut
out.

All eyes on the bridge turned to
Harvey.

Of course they did. It wasn’t every day that
some random aide snapped at a captain.

Today wasn’t an ordinary day, and this
situation had just taken another inexplicable turn.

Harvey found himself swallowing hard as he
shifted on his foot.

Shera
darted in front of him, heading towards the
lifts.

He frowned. “Lieutenant commander, you’re
in charge of the bridge.”

She hesitated. “I have a… personal matter
to attend to. It is of… cultural importance.”

Harvey hesitated. “You also have a duty.
Your personal matter can wait.”

She turned from him, darted towards the
lift, opened it, and walked inside. “It can’t,” she said as the
doors sliced closed in front of her face.

Harvey stood there, shock
paling his features.

Had Shera just ignored a direct
order?

He cut her slack wherever he could. But he
couldn’t ignore this. She’d disobeyed a direct order in front of
all the bridge crew.

Clenching his teeth hard, his heart sank.
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Finally, shaking his head, he
cleared his throat. “Contact Commander Hutchins,” he ordered no one
in particular, “Get her to replace the lieutenant commander on the
bridge. And inform… Commander Hutchins… what happened here,” he
finally pushed his words out, every one snagging in his throat like
fingernails catching along skin.

Shera
was his partner. He honestly loved her.

But he had a duty.

So he walked forward into the lift.

…

Lieutenant Hunter
McClane

His
heart battled around in his chest. He could honestly feel
it as it beat against every tensed muscle.

Aide Phar walked quicker and quicker, his
movements jerky, snapped, almost frantic.

What the hell was happening here?

They reached B Block.

The closer they came to Ava’s quarters, the
more Hunter’s mind rang.

Finally they arrived.

Phar let out a visible breath, his tensed
chest sucking in. “Lieutenant, open this door,” he
demanded.

“We need to ask Ava’s permission to
enter.”

“
Open the door, lieutenant,” his voice
arced with tension.

Hunter’s fingers drew into a fist. Knowing
he wouldn’t win this, he leaned past Phar and typed the override
code into the panel next to the door.