Voyages of the Solar Wind 1: A Fire in Heaven (15 page)

The old General grinned. "About damn time you wised up, densenut!" He laughed.

"Holy Lords!" I walked to the wall and banged my head against it several times.

"Ri, hon. What the fuck is his major malfunction?" Keldor addressed her.

"Everybody but him knew before he did, dad. Nobody clued him in. We've been together now for only six days." She shrugged.

I finally stopped beating sense into myself and turned around. "What she said, sir." I shrugged too. "Everybody knew but me. Yes, I'm dense. I have Extreme Density Disorder or something."

He laughed at that. Shilar and Bidar were looking at me funny, though. Oh hell.

"Ma'am, I want to just say-" I started.

"Dex, shut up." Bidar interrupted me. "I like you, Dex. I know you're not a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy. But I swear to the Gods, if you hurt my daughter in any way, I will personally hunt you down and cut off your fun parts. Clearcut?"

"Diamond, ma'am. Pure diamond." I acknowledged.

"Good. Shilar, go give your new brother a hug while Rilar cleans herself off." She looked pointedly at Ri, who ran to the bathroom.

Shilar hugged me, followed by Bidar. Keldor settled for a handshake.

Shilar was smiling at me. "You really didn't know?"

"Not until I stroked her cheek after patching her up the other day." I shrugged. "She explained it to me, and... yeah. In human culture, it's just a gesture of affection or compassion. It doesn't mean the same thing as in Gurinkan culture." I explained.

"Ahh, that makes sense. But that you feel the same for her..." Keldor left it hanging for me.

"Sir, I've felt the same for her since we first met, but thought she wouldn't be interested. I was happy just to be her best friend, but now I'm overjoyed to have her in my life as my sek'natha." I smiled.

He nodded. "You're a lucky man, son."

"Thanks, dad." I nodded back. "I feel like the luckiest man alive."

He laughed, as did Bidar and Shilar.

We sat and talked for a while on the sofa until Rilar called me from her room. "Dex! I need your help, baby."

"Be right there, sweetheart." I shouted back. "Excuse me, folks. I need to go help my wife." I smiled and excused myself as I ran to her room.

I was glad the whole house was self-cleaning. It was now spotless after the crime scene cops were done with the place and authorized cleaning to go ahead.

I ran in and she wasn't there. Then the door slammed behind me and I turned to see her in the tiniest bikini I'd ever seen! I'm talking 'three-band-aids-and-dental-floss' skimpy!

"Oh my Lords, sweetheart!" I believe my eyes were bugging out of my skull at the sight of her.

"You like, sek'natha?" She winked and smiled her most seductive smile.

"That, my dear, would be an understatement! Rilar, you look stunningly gorgeous!" I was hardening quickly at the sight of her.

"Mmmmmm thank you, baby." She purred as she strutted towards me one gorgeous hip at a time.

"Fuckin' hell, Kitten!" I grinned as she came into my arms and kissed me. She was purring loudly enough that I believe her parents could hear her.

"Ummm, sorry. Ri, Dex, there's a com for you." Shilar was blushing at the sight of us kissing and her sister in a barely there bikini.

I checked my com. "Why not call me on mine?" I asked.

"I left mine out there, love. We'd better go see who it is." We went out like that, and her mom was gaping at Ri's choice of attire.

She picked up her com unit and answered. "This is First Officer Rilar. Who's speaking, please?"

"Ri! Glad I caught you. Is Dex there?" Jeka asked.

"Yeah, I'm here, Jeka. What's going on, and why didn't you call me on my com?" I asked.

"Your com is dead, Dex. You probably forgot to charge the fucking battery again!" She laughed, and I pulled my com out of my pocket. Shit, she was right!

"Shit, you're right, Jeka. Sorry about that. Ok, what's up?" I apologized.

"Just wanted to let you know that the Gurhin City Peacekeepers contacted me with the news of Mr. Nieman's death. Am I reading this right? He had his HEART RIPPED OUT?" Jeka was chuckling incredulously.

"Yeah, Ri said she would do it, and I even gave him a chance to get out of it. He didn't listen, so she took care of business." I shrugged, and Jeka laughed.

"Remind me to never piss off your wife, Dex." She said.

"Never piss off my wife, Jeka. There, you've been reminded. Anything else, or can we start our honeymoon now?" I like Jeka, but she does have a way of calling at the worst times. I think it's a knack.

"Just one more thing, then you two can fuck each other senseless for a week or two. SES has retracted the kill orders on you, so you're in the clear." She explained, and General Keldor laughed.

"Umm, Jeka, my parents and little sister are here." Rilar blushed at Jeka's language.

"Oops! Sorry, Ri. I'll buy you a few dozen beers when you get back. Sooorrrryyyyy!" Jeka was embarrassed enough for all of us. She really is a sweetheart.

"No prob, Jeka. Thanks for the updates. Now, I'm going to go swimming with Dex. Rilar, out." She cut the com and turned to her family, who were, in order: General Keldor was grinning and laughing. Ambassador Bidar was trying to find a hole to crawl into out of embarrassment, and Shilar was looking at me and licking her lips. Oooohhhh NOOOOOOO!

"Shilar, you're my sister, but if you even think about it, I'll tear your limbs off one by one." Ri's the jealous type, so you really don't want to fuck with her.

Shilar stopped ogling me, and I silently thanked the Lords of Haven for Rilar.

"Mom. Dad. Sorry about that. Jeka can get embarrassing sometimes with her language." She blushed.

"I've heard worse, sweety. Don't worry about it. And Dex, show my daughter a honeymoon she'll never forget, will ya, son?" Keldor said.

"Will do, sir." I saluted, and he returned it even better. Generals are like that.

"Honey, we have to go get the bikes and take them back to the ship to get our clothes bags. Then find a hotel so we're not imposing on your family." I smiled.

"Dex, you're family now. You can bunk with Ri in her quarters. Hell, you've earned it." Keldor told me. "Just go get your shit and bring it on back."

"Yes, sir!" Man, how does he do that? Oh, yeah. He's one of the best damn Generals the Confederacy ever had, and he's my father-in-law! That's how.

We left and jogged to where we'd left the hoverbikes. We made great time back to the hangar, and Ri turned a LOT of heads in the little bitty pieces of string she was wearing.

Up the ramp and into our quarters. Grabbed the bags and we were riding again back to her parents' house. That was when my dense mind picked up on the fact that I still needed to call my mom!

When we got in, I plugged in my com to the charger and let it sit for a while. Then I changed into some swim trunks for our jaunt out her backyard to the beach. Yes, the General and his family have a beach house. I love my in-laws!

We ran along the sand and splashed in the water. I pulled her to me and kissed her lovingly in full view of quite a few of her people. Some were smiling, others were glowering, but nobody said shit. They knew who she was and more importantly, who her father was. NOBODY wanted to piss of General Keldor unless they wanted to lose a few limbs in the process.

When we got back inside, we were beat. I checked my com and called my mom. She knew Ri as my partner and best buddy, but now we had some huge news for her.

"This is Stase Relway." I heard mom's voice.

"Hey, mom. It's me. Rilar and I have some news for you!" I grinned.

"Oh, you finally got together? She's in love with you, you know." Mom. Oh hell, mom!

"YOU even knew? Seriously, mom. You could have TOLD ME!" I was banging my head against the wall again.

"Mrs. Relway, are you in a gunfight right now?" Rilar heard it just before I did. The crackzap of PuNCH weapons in the background of mom's com.

"Sort of, yes. I was going after Blood Dog..." She sounded flustered, and I couldn't blame her.

"Mom, where are you?" I asked. "We can help."

"New Haven, Dex. Old Stone Cemetery." Mom replied.

"We're on our way, mom. Hang on!" I shouted as I grabbed the com and Rilar and headed out the door.

Chapter 3: The Last Privateer

My mom, Stase Relway, also known as Grey Scourge, had earned that nickname during the war. She was a privateer that harassed Hegemony shipping lanes and took a lot of plunder in supplies and gold. After the war, she became a merc who makes her living going after pirates. One of those pirates is a man known only as Blood Dog. I'm one of the few people that knows his real name, though.

Blood Dog was born Donal Stephos and started his pirate career early. He hooked up with a young woman and married her, promising to go straight. That had lasted all of two years until she gave birth to their son. Donal, not wanting the responsibilities of being a father, took off for parts unknown to resume his life of piracy.

As far as I know, there's only one other person in the galaxy who isn't a member of Blood Dog's crew that knows his true identity. That would be Stase Relway. My mother. The reason? Donal Stephos, AKA Blood Dog, is the man she married, and my father.

Being born on Helliot II and raised by my mother the Privateer made me tough and smart when it came to battle tactics. It also made me one helluva pilot.

^V^V^V^V^

Rilar shouted a quick "We'll be back later!" to her family as I pulled my bikini clad lovemate out of her house and we jumped on our hoverbikes. There wasn't time for grabbing anything, and we needed to get back to the hangar bay ASAP!

We roared through the streets of Gurhin City toward the spaceport, and I thought of the danger mom was in and we were still half an hour away!

We shot into the spaceport and into hangar bay 23. I hit the remote switch for the hatch and ramp and it barely got down as we rode up into our ship and back to the cargo bay. We stowed our bikes and started for the cockpit.

The SS Solar Wind is a heavily modified Sparrow class light freighter with firepower comparable to a Confed MilSpec cutter.

We sprinted up to the cockpit and did the systems check in record time as I fired up our baby. We set course for New Haven and grabbed sky like my mom's life depended on it, which it probably did!

Blood Dog might be my father, but he has no familial ties to us. He doesn't give a rat's ass about his own flesh and blood, much less the woman who bore his child. That makes him dangerous beyond reason, even to those he said he once loved.

We broke atmo and I got on the com. "SS Blood Oath, this is SS Solar Wind. You there, sweetycakes?" Yeah, we would need some serious backup on this one.

"Harrana here, Dexypoo. What can I do for.... or to you today?" Harrana was always flirting with me. I grinned.

"Gonna need a hand on New Haven, Harrana. Blood Dog is there and has my mom pinned down in Old Stone Cemetery. Can you provide backup?" I was really hoping she could.

"I'm forty-five minutes out, Dex. We're on our way."

"Harrana, you're a life saver, babe! I'm gonna owe you big time for this. Solar Wind, out." I cut the com and engaged slipdrive.

I turned to Rilar. "Let's get ready, baby."

She grinned. "Hell yeah! Let's go Dog hunting!"

We sprinted to our quarters and got loaded for bear. I grabbed my twin Confed Navy PuNCH pistols with dual TacDraw holsters and gunbelt, and a NanoMark King Cobra 7mm Scoped Rail Rifle that would take down a tank if needed. I dressed for battle as well. No leather jacket this time. I put on my old Confederate Navy nano armorweave jacket and leggings. I zipped it up all the way and closed the zipper flap. It would stop a rail shot if necessary, but I would wake up in the middle of next year. I also grabbed my old HUD Goggles that I hadn't needed in forever. I calibrated them to my rifle, so wherever it pointed, I would see when I depressed the trigger halfway. I tested it out, and it worked like a charm.

Rilar likewise grabbed her old nanosuit and readied herself. She calibrated her HUDs to her favorite twin 5mm Railpistols from NanoMark. She looked a helluvalot sexier in hers than I did in mine. It was the first time I'd seen her in this oufit since we pulled Harrana's ass out of the fire a couple years back, and I had to grin.

"Ri, you always made that look good!" I said as I lifted my goggles up to my forehead.

"Mmmmm, thanks, sexy. You're not too bad yourself." She winked at me.

We were still checking the loadouts for our weapons when the five minute BEEP sounded. We made sure we had full magazines and capacitors, and sprinted back to the cockpit.

We dropped from slipstream and I got on the horn immediately.

"New Haven Control, this is SS Solar Wind. Requesting emergency landing clearance at Old Stone Cemetery. Whether you want me to or not, I'm touching down there. This is a rescue and anti-piracy mission. Solar Wind, out." I had already nosed down and plotted a course to Old Stone.

"Solar Wind, this is Control. You are not authorized to land there." Came the idiot's voice over the com.

"Bad copy there, Control. If you tell me one more time that I can't rescue my mom and bring down Blood Dog, I'm going to find you and kill you after this is over. Clearcut?" I've seriously had it with morons who think they're so much better than us space jockeys. I'd like to see HIM run a blockade blindfolded!

"D..Diamond, Solar Wind. Please proceed with your mission. Control, out." At least the dipdunk finally wised up.

I spotted them on the way down, and Rilar sent a few well placed rounds into the SS Dog's Teeth on the first flyby. Blood Dog had landed his ship there, and we strafed it and his men on two flybys. We landed behind the wall behind mom, and sprinted down the ramp before it was even fully lowered. I already had my rifle up and blasted three pirates before they could react. Rilar blasted four more in quick succession, and the pirates' charge at mom's position quickly retreated.

"I clock at least fifty hostiles, Ri. You?" I asked as we slammed our backs into the ferrocrete wall on either side of mom.