“Don’t you Longknifes always?”
Kris quickly filled him in on what she’d found on Alwa. “Wow, so we weren’t just fighting for a bunch of weird bird folks, huh?”
“Nope, my own granny and two shipfuls of survivors and their kids and grandkids.”
“So, what’s the situation now?”
“We’ve got a potential alien attack marshaling somewhere out there. They could hit us anytime. My problem is that I want to hang on to every asset I’ve got. My second problem is that if ever survivors deserved home leave, you and your crew do. If I send a ship back for you, I may have a whole lot of people hitching a ride along with you.”
“I see,” Phil said. His head sank deeper into the pillow. Was moving him tiring him out, or was it the heavy load she’d just dumped on him? Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything. After all, if she got hit with a full-fledged mutiny, or if a couple of those frigates had orders already to escort the merchants back, this might all be for nothing.
If so, she would do whatever she had to do.
“We’re here, Kris. That’s all that matters. Do with us what you will,” Phil said, then seemed to collapse into his gurney.
She left Phil as a flock of people in white coats began to gather around him. Kris found herself in a situation she was all too familiar with. It was that time before battle, when she’d done everything she could and now had to wait to see if it had been enough.
She hunted up Jack, and they had a quiet lunch. He listened as she recounted her morning, nodding support, asking a few questions that helped clarify her thoughts. Yes, she was prepared to countermand orders given back in human space.
What came here, stayed here.
Would she force the crew of the Hornet to sit out the coming attack in hospital beds? That stumped her. She needed ships. She needed crews. Certainly she owed the Hornet. She and the Wasp’s crew would likely have been stuck there with them if Phil hadn’t gone one way and let her go the other.
“I think I’m starting to understand how Grampa Ray got to be such a bastard,” Kris finally muttered.
Kris returned to her desk; reports were piling up. Professor Labao wanted to know if Kris was going to do anything about the possible alien home planet. If so, a lot of boffins that Kris would have credited with good sense wanted in on the mission. Ada had already started making plans to extend the colonial farmlands. Her question was where the labor would come from and did Kris think any of the newly pacified forestland could be made available to the colonials.
Ada hadn’t yet contacted the Alwan elders about that hot potato. It looked like she wanted Kris to handle it.
The planetary survey was not quite done. They’d found some rare earths and other minerals needed for lasers and Smart MetalTM, but they were not in places easy to get to. As far away as the asteroids were, it was likely that they could be exploited faster. There was something about biological research that seemed to offer hope of a spectacular breakthrough, but the report was very vague. Like everyone in human space, Kris had heard about potential world-changing science, only to find it vanish down the “no, not really” tubes with as little fanfare as possible.
Kris read on. About suppertime, Jack came to dig her out.
“I’ve got something special for you.”
“Want to show it to me?” Kris purred.
“You have a one-track mind.”
“I’ve had a very bad day.”
The surprise was a new restaurant, The Burger Carnival. The proprietor had painted it up like an ancient traveling circus, complete with clowns and old Earth animals.
“Remind you of any place?” Jack said.
Kris wondered if she blushed, but apparently admirals were too shameless for such things. “The place where I decided to draft you,” Kris admitted.
“I thought so,” Jack said.
“Can you forgive me?” Kris asked.
“For starting us on the road to here? What’s to forgive?”
They ordered hamburgers and fries. Cheese apparently was not available for love nor money. Jack led Kris to a table in the back of the restaurant, which was actually the front of the station. They had a spectacular view of Alwa as it revolved below them. Kris tried not to look for anything she’d read about in her reports.
I’m having dinner with my husband. Right!
“Do you know what’s special about today?” Jack said, reaching across the table for her hands.
“Besides the cavalry arriving to either rescue us or go down in our defeat?”
“Forget the job,” Jack growled. “Today is our second anniversary. It’s been two months since we let Granny Rita talk us into taking the plunge. Do you regret it?”
“Never,” Kris said, squeezing Jack’s hand. “Two months. I totally forgot about it. I can hardly keep track of the time. How’d you do it?”
“I had Sal do it for me.”
“Nelly, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know it mattered to you. I know it’s a very romantic thing for you humans. I just didn’t know if it would include you, Kris.”
“Yes, I’m human, and, yes, I’m romantic, at least for Jack, and Jack, why are you doing all the girl things and me doing all the stupid boy stuff?”
“You’re the admiral,” he said with a shrug.
Kris let out a sigh. “I don’t like that, Jack.”
“But you have to. That’s what Longknifes do. They do what they have to do.”
“Well, I want to do more. Stuff I want to do as well as what I have to do.”
Dinner arrived, brought by a moonlighting Marine. The haircut gave him away. “Just what you ordered, Colonel, two burgers with all the trimmings and two orders of fries.”
Kris took a breath, and was transported back in time. Then she frowned.
“Onions, tomatoes, real potatoes. How’d you do it, Jack?” A quick glance around showed other diners making do with produce from the native Alwan fields.
“These are from your Granny Rita’s garden. Don’t look too closely at the meat, though. It’s from the deep forest. But I promise, it’s off one of the more delectable vegetarians, rather than a tough type that still thinks Marine might taste good.”
Jack awarded a grin to their waiter. He blushed at his superior’s attention.
“You amaze me, Jack. You remember our anniversary and do it enough ahead of time to talk my granny out of the fruits of her garden.”
“Oh, I didn’t talk her out of anything, it was pure horse-trading. My Marines will deliver a truckload of fish offal to her and all her neighbors’ gardens. Nobody gets anything free from your granny.”
“Which leads me wondering if she’s all that different from Ray,” Kris said, taking a bite.
“I will do my best to stay different enough to save you from the Longknife curse,” Jack said as he began to enjoy his own dinner. They ate in quiet ease, content to bask in each other’s company.
Maybe I can become a comfortable old married woman, Kris thought with as much hope as doubt.
They were almost done when their view window suddenly lost its view.
“What the . . . ?” Jack said, standing.
Kris was on her feet almost as fast. A huge cylinder slowly moved between them and the planet below. On its side was KAGU MARU in Standard and Kanji. There was also the Mitsubishi Heavy Space Industry logo. It was easily as big around as Canopus Station. Maybe longer. Once it was fully in view, it began to edge slowly into formation ahead of the station. When it covered the entire front, the thing began to take on spin, first slowly, then faster, until it was matching the rotation of Canopus Station.
Then it began to creep back.
“Somebody’s awfully confident they aren’t going to rupture a hull,” Kris said.