Virtues of War (26 page)

He poked her playfully. “Maybe one day you and I could set up a fine wine bar in Freetown—enlighten the masses.”

She laughed, caught off-guard by his sudden return to good humor, and thrilled at his hint of a future together. In her mind, she would have pictured them embarking on a project to improve water coverage for the region—her as a senator, and him the devoted expert. But a wine bar sounded a great deal more fun. Maybe they could do it before she went into politics.

“I would absolutely love that.”

He took another sip, glancing past her toward the dining table.

“Perhaps with some real French cooking to match?”

“I might be able to whip up a few dishes from time to time.” She curled her legs up underneath her, enjoying the cozy feeling of just being with her man. “But don’t be hasty. You haven’t tried it yet.”

He rubbed her arm. “Breeze, I haven’t yet discovered anything that you don’t do perfectly. So many people we meet are all talk, but you have such substance behind you.”

Again she had to wrestle the threatening grin down to a smirk. She was thankful for the dim lighting, as it would hide the flush in her cheeks. Normally she’d respond with some self-deprecating remark, but his words were so sincere, and she so wanted to revel in his praise.

“Thank you,” she said simply.

Over these past few months, she’d come to the same conclusion about Kit. He was so perfect. Blessed with excellent genes, he hadn’t wasted them on gluttony and sloth, or on artificial augmentations. His vigor was refreshingly natural. His confidence and strength of character, likewise, were born of overcoming hardship, as opposed to prep-school training and privilege. Other men were mere caricatures next to him.

He was everything an ambitious Terran woman could want.

More than that, she really
felt
something for this man. He wasn’t just a tool for her to use. She genuinely wanted to be with him. Breeze sipped her wine and let her eyes drift over his beautiful form, looking forward anew to how she intended to conclude the evening.

Six more months in the Astral Force before retiring as a senior officer and decorated veteran. It would be the perfect time to take a break and create a new life. With his media connections, she could probably skip her foray into business and go straight into journalism, building a public image for herself before making the dive into politics.

The wine bar might need to wait.

She took another sip, feeling her heart flutter again. She couldn’t tell by his easy expression if Kit knew it, but this evening was the start of something amazing.

It was amazing how just getting off a ship gave him new energy. Jack used to hate the long elevator descent from Astral Base One to Longreach, but lately it had become one of his favorite things. It meant time away from the Terran Research Vessel
Neil Armstrong
.

It meant freedom.

“You want a beer?” he asked on a whim.

Amanda looked over at him. “Seriously?”

He shrugged. “Sure. They have a bar on this thing, you know.”

“Really, where?” Looking around at the mostly full passenger deck, she pursed her lips in confusion. “And why haven’t you told me about it before?”

He pulled her out of her seat. “It’s on the bottom deck, where the best view is—but you have to pay to get in and the drinks aren’t cheap. Just now I’m just feeling really pumped about escaping Helena’s Hell Hole, and I want to celebrate.”

“Bring it on, flyboy.” She kept hold of his hand and strode for the stairs.

Three flights down and an extortionate entry fee later, Jack led Amanda into the dimly lit chamber with downward-curving polyglass walls and transparent furniture. A circular bar ran around the central pillar, behind which the space elevator whisked along the seemingly endless cable. Earth was looming large in all the windows, but Jack figured they had time for one celebratory drink before landing. He ordered a beer for himself, and a cider for Amanda. She accepted it with an expression of surprised delight.

“You know my drink.”

It wasn’t rocket science, but if it made her happy, it made the trip go quicker. She was fun when she was happy, and he’d decided to keep hanging out with her, no matter what Lieutenant Commander Kane said about her supposed feelings for him.

Maybe it was just the uniforms that were unflattering to her figure, he decided. In civvies she didn’t look quite so tubby, and with her hair done she was actually kind of cute. Not that she was Jack’s style, of course—and anyway he had someone he was looking forward to seeing in Longreach.

She seemed to notice that he’d taken some care with his wardrobe too. She touched his chest lightly and gasped in her best imitation of Helena.

“Oh, Admiral, I love your new shirt.”

He stuck out his belly and chuckled. “Oh, why thank you, Helena. Perhaps I should give you a medal.”

She pulled back her cheeks and gave her best coy expression. “They say a man is like fine wine, and gets better with age.”

He chortled again, sounding more like Santa Claus than Admiral Bush. “Have another medal, and I’ll promote you again, as soon as you finish polishing my sword.”

Amanda looked startled for a second. “Okay, Admiral,” she said. “You know how much I like it…” She began to make the universal hand gesture, pushing her tongue against one cheek.

It was Jack’s turn to be surprised, and he leaned back. She laughed, punching him in the knee before reaching for her drink.

“I thought you were a pilot, Jack,” she said, giggling. “Don’t you know how to handle a lady?”

He laughed at that, and felt himself relax. She really
was
a firecracker, and she’d make some guy happy, for sure. He took another swig of beer and looked down at the rugged coastline of Australia, stretching off to the east.

The land at the north end was dark green and forbidding, but the red plains of the interior stretched away in every other direction. As he leaned forward to look down along the impossibly straight elevator cable, he saw the sparkling oasis of Longreach. Green forests, blue lakes, and silver towers, it was really starting to become a home away from home.

Though that wasn’t going to stop him from visiting his real home, and soon. Nothing could match the beauty of the land where the mountains touched the sea. On an impulse he tapped Amanda’s arm.

“Hey, what’re you doing after Longreach?”

“I didn’t know there was an ‘after Longreach,’” she replied. “Are you going somewhere else?”

“Yeah, I’m only in town for a few days,” he explained. “I wanted to go see my folks in Vancouver. You want to come?”

“Really?” She stared at him for a moment, surprise turning quickly to a smile. “Uhh, sure. I’d love to meet your folks.”

“Cool. Have you ever been skating?”

This evoked a stranger expression. “No…”

He laughed. “Then maybe I’ll finally be able to teach you something you don’t know.” He raised his glass. “Excellent.”

They chatted with new animation as the sky slowly turned blue around them. For some reason she really seemed excited at the idea of going to Vancouver. It probably wasn’t any more exciting than her home town on Mars, but maybe he’d arrange for a boat ride or something. Every Martian he’d ever met seemed to love the ocean.

* * *

They arrived in Longreach uneventfully, found their individual quarters at the officers’ residence, and quickly regrouped out on the street. A line of cabs stood waiting to take military personnel into the city. As they climbed into one, Jack thought he noticed a hint of perfume. It was nice.

“So who are we meeting tonight?” she asked.

“An old friend of mine, who I served with on the last deployment. We had a few adventures.”

She smiled. “I can’t wait to hear about them. For all your blathering on, you don’t talk about the war much.”

He shrugged. “Maybe I don’t want to brag.”

She gave him a long look. “From you, I don’t think it would be bragging.”

Was she looking at his face? He rubbed a hand across it and stared out at the evening sky. She’d wanted to come along—he just hoped she wouldn’t be a third wheel.

They quickly arrived at their destination, a long boardwalk next to the largest artificial lake in the center of the city, the fabled Lake Sapphire. It was a beautiful warm night, and he breathed in the mixed scents of desert air, purified water, and deep-fried food. Amanda pressed her arm against his.

“Great choice, Jack,” she said. “This is such an awesome place. Now, where’s this buddy of yours?”

Jack scanned the crowd of pedestrians. The sun had just disappeared below the horizon, but the ambient glow made searching easy. The last of the families were leaving, and he noticed the first of the bums shuffling out of their make-shift shelters. Some youngsters were starting to mingle in small groups, not yet making trouble.

He still didn’t see who he was looking for. He did notice, however, a stunning blonde strolling near the water. A tight, black party dress hugged her lean figure, shapely legs shown off from mid-thigh right down to the pointed toes of her high heels. Her blonde hair bobbed at her shoulder as she walked, one hand on her purse and the other manipulating what looked like one of those new Baryons.

Jack’s own device suddenly buzzed. He pulled it out and read the message.

“Holy crap.”

“What is it?”

Jack started walking toward the blonde bombshell. As he approached he got a better sense of scale, and realized that she was actually quite short, even with the heels. She noticed his approach and turned to look at him, revealing her face for the first time. His heart skipped a beat.

She smiled and waved, turning to approach him.

“Hey, you’re Jack. And you’re a pilot.”

He had thought Katja looked pretty at Thomas’s party, but to see her this evening, wearing such an elegant dress and—could it be?—make-up. He was speechless. He jogged up to her and wrapped his arms around her. Her body was firm against his, and as her muscular arms wrapped around him he felt the power within them.

She released him a little sooner than he’d have liked, but she was smiling broadly as she looked him up and down.

“You look good,” she commented. “Did a girl pick your clothes for you?”

He glanced down at his outfit. In fact, his sister had picked it out for him on his last visit home, but no one needed to know that.

“The clothes picked me. I am a pilot, after all.”

She shook her head. “Oh, subbie…”

“Okay,” he held up a finger, “point of protocol. I don’t think we have to use ranks when you have long hair.”

“Fair enough, Jack.” She looked past him and nodded. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

He turned in surprise, suddenly realizing that Amanda had walked up behind him. She was standing with her arms folded, scowling at him.

“Oh, sorry,” he said quickly. “This is my friend Amanda, from my new ship.” He put a hand on Katja’s bare shoulder. “Amanda, this is my buddy Katja. You didn’t get to meet her at the XO’s party.”

“Nice to meet you.” Katja stepped out of his grasp to offer her hand to Amanda. “Has Jack told you he’s a pilot yet?”

Amanda took her hand. “He’s said a lot of things, actually,” she replied. “What exactly did you two do together?”

Katja stepped sideways slightly to face both of them. She gave Jack a long, pondering look.

“Well, I saved his life. And then he saved mine, and then we worked to piece together a mystery. Then he crashed another Hawk, I wound up in hospital, we had a few laughs, we nearly got killed again…” She shrugged. “You know, ordinary stuff.”

Jack couldn’t help but grin at her summary. She was so nonchalant about the whole thing. She wasn’t bragging, but she made it sound pretty cool. He’d have to get her to teach him how to deal with non-veterans so well.

“Wow,” Amanda said. “Sounds like you two went through hell together.”

Jack put on his best, casual stroll. He moved behind Katja to stand between the two ladies, draping an arm across each of their shoulders. Katja’s were taut, smooth, and bare, while Amanda’s were soft and round under her top.

“Well, we try not to make a big deal about it,” he said. “Tonight it’s all just about enjoying the freedom we protected.”

Amanda gave him her most scornful gaze. Katja looked a little puzzled. Both girls stepped out of his gentle embrace.

That hadn’t played out quite as he’d hoped.

He turned his attention to one of the nearby food carts. “Right now, what I’m most looking forward to is a deep-fried corn dog. Who’s with me?”

Katja put a hand to her flat stomach. “I don’t think I could handle one, Jack. Maybe I’ll just have an ice cream.”

“That sounds good to me,” Amanda agreed.

He shrugged. “Okay, two ice creams and one stick of greasy goodness.”

Suddenly shouts erupted down the boardwalk. He looked over and saw a scuffle in the dim light. Other pedestrians veered wide to avoid the conflict.

“We’d better keep moving,” he said. “We don’t want to be here when the police show up.”

“
If
they show up,” Amanda muttered as she pressed him forward into a walk.

* * *

Jack’s corn dog was too hot to eat when he finally got it, but he savored the greasy aroma with anticipation. The ladies were quickly kitted out with ice creams, and he looked down the boardwalk anew.

“I think that fight’s over. It should be okay now.”

“Why do you want to stay out here?” Katja asked. She nodded down the lakeshore to where the paid section of the boardwalk started. It was well-lit and mostly empty, quite unlike the dim crowds where they stood. It did look inviting, but until that moment it had never occurred to him to even consider it. Not that money was really an object, so soon after returning from deployment.

“I guess we could splash out for one night,” he said.

She looked at him strangely. “Jack, we’re veterans,” she said. “It’s free.”

That had never occurred to him. It was shocking to think that he was now a veteran, with all the rights and privileges that came with the status.

“Free for some of us,” Amanda said.