“No doubt about it,” Jack said with no contrition at all.
“They still have a base on HellFrozeOver?” Granny asked.
“Yes, and I have the frostbite to prove it,” Jack said.
Granny mulled that over for a few seconds. “But you’re both out here on another Wasp. How’d that happen?” Granny asked.
“It’s a long story involving Musashi children holding bake sales and donating their pennies to buy me a ship, and my not being found guilty of crimes against humanity.”
“But not innocent either,” Jack put in.
Kris went on. “Your darling little Alex, my grandfather Al, seemed hell-bent on sending out a trade fleet to make contact with the aliens and negotiate trade agreements.”
“I guess I did raise a dumb child. In my defense, I will point out, I’ve been on the other side of the galaxy during his formative years and all the rest of them.”
“Anyway, the Wasp managed to intercept and stop that dumb idea. Somehow. Captain Drago ended up back as contract skipper to the new Wasp. I’m back doing the princess thing, handling delicate political issues. Oh, and when the need arises to kill people, I have Nelly lock the crosshairs on the target, and I close the firing circuit.”
She gave Jack a forlorn look. He tried to give her a grin in return, but it was a weak one. “Other than that, I twiddle my thumbs and while away my time.”
“Honey, don’t kid a kidder. I saw the full show about how you had battleships running away from that monster, distracting it while your tiny corvettes got in their superpunches with those, what do you call them, Hellfires?”
“Hellburners,” Jack corrected.
“Ship wreckers,” Granny said.
She took a deep breath. “Okay, nobody asked me for my opinion, but you two are going to get it with both barrels. Captain Drago has the Wasp up there in orbit. I understand he’s going to be sending the crew down in stages to make sure they stay healthy.”
Kris did not ask her granny how she found that out, but said nothing.
“Your crew needs a break. You two need a break. If something goes all tits over ass, you’ll have some warning. I saw you deploying buoys at the jump points. Right?”
“Yes,” Kris agreed.
“The two of you are a couple of million words short of knowing how you feel about each other. Have you ever taken some time for each other?”
“Well, there were a couple of days while we were on the lam from the cops.” Kris coughed with ladylike delicacy. “That would be when we finally got to enjoy each other’s company.”
“You were busy staying one step ahead of the law!” Granny said.
“And planning how to break into the high-security tower your son Alex had built to keep him safe from anything,” Jack added.
“That must have left a lot of time for whispering sweet little nothings in each of your ears.”
Both Kris and Jack shrugged.
“Okay, has your granny got a deal for you,” Granny Rita said. “You two are taking a vacation. A two-week vacation.”
“I can’t do that!” Kris said.
“How come?” Granny shot back.
“I’ve got to get the reports from the boffins on what they find out about the ship. I want to know about the DNA from the one boot they found. It will tell me if this is a new bunch or more of the same that we’ve met before. There’s lots of stuff.”
“I get it,” Granny said dryly. “You’re irreplaceable. Nelly, will you get those reports?”
“Yes, Granny.”
“And will you be able to show them to Kris?”
“You bet I can. I do it all the time.”
“And how long would it take you to get a message from Captain Drago?”
“We’ve deployed the communication satellites in synchronous orbit. Delay can’t be more than two seconds,” Nelly tattled.
“Kris, there is no reason why you and Jack can’t take some time for yourselves . . . other than that you’re afraid of what you might find out,” Granny said. “Sometimes the human heart is the most terrifying thing in the world to face. I know. I’ve blown up ships and sent others to die in my place, and the three scariest times in my life were when I faced, really faced the men in my life that I loved.”
She paused for a second. “Did how I persuaded Ray Longknife to marry me make it into the history books?”
Kris thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“Ray had been to the war, and I’d personally flown the transport that held, long after the recall, so they could drag his sorry ass aboard. His back was broken. Some said he’d never walk. Some said he was dead from the waist down. The man who had loved me told me to walk away. Get out of his life.”
“What did you do?” Kris whispered.
“It was in the back gardens at Nuu House. Do they still have gardens there?”
“The most lovely,” Kris said.
“Do you know that there are no security cameras in one section?”
Kris shook her head; it was news to her.
“I paid off the guy who installed the security system to make sure I had one place I could take a boyfriend and not worry about being watched. I took Ray there one afternoon when the docs said he was healing, or should have been healing, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t letting himself heal. He didn’t believe he could. My war hero was afraid to try and fail.”
Granny was watching the wind in the trees again, far across the galaxy and years.
“I stood over him. Then slowly took my dress off and showed him that he wasn’t dead below the waist. I won, but dear God was I scared the whole time. Likely, little Alex was conceived that day. I was scared. So scared. I still don’t know how I did it.”
Granny paused, took a deep breath, and seemed to come back to her body.
“Okay. Now you know more about your family tree than you ever wanted to know. But I ask you again. There’s this little beach resort. I know the owner. I’m sure I can get the two of you a place for two weeks. He offers candlelit dinners and a small dance floor. The beach is sandy and white, and the water is so clear, you can go snorkeling and see the bottom twenty meters down. Oh, and it’s small, only twenty cottages. If I say the word, I can guarantee you that there won’t be anyone else from the Wasp staying there while you are.”
“Granny Rita, you’re a tyrant.”
“And I have the signed certificates on my wall to prove it. Some in blood. So, do I win this one?”
Kris looked at Jack. He gave her a tight little smile in return, but there was also a slight nod to his head, a lowering of his eyelids.
“Make the call, Granny. We’ll stay for two weeks or until Captain Drago announces all hell’s broken loose, whichever comes first.”
“Good girl!” Granny said with joy in her voice. Then she sobered. “And good luck to the both of you. I know. You’ll need it.”
10
Kris sat on the bed. It wasn’t too soft or too firm. From the feel of it and the pillow, it must be made out of down. Apparently there were prey birds; she’d caught glimpses of a few flying birds on the drive out.
The owner himself was showing her and Jack the room. It was spacious. There were no glass windows. Instead, most of the room was open to a softly blowing breeze. The owner showed them how to shutter them if the weather changed. “But you won’t likely need to do it when the duty shower comes over about three o’clock.”
He was too young to be one of the original crew but likely the son of one. His language was sprinkled every once in a while with Navy. “There are two closets, one for him and one for her. Feel free to use any of the clothes there. We’ve washed them since the last couple used them.” He listed the times for meals but promised if they missed chow, there was usually someone to slap together a sandwich for anyone hungry. “And we have snorkel gear and boats for anyone who wants them. Sailboats. Rowboats. Maybe now that you’re here, we can get back into the powerboat business. Haven’t seen a powerboat since I was knee high. Anyway, I’m glad I could do Granny Rita a favor, and I want to personally thank you for what you did, saving all our necks.”