“No it’s not, but it’s what people I like call me.”
“Alright then, Brix.”
“That, and,” his features turned dark and he cracked his fingers, “if I hear you called me Dour Face one more time, I might just have to use your face to make my next picture. Understand, Davie?”
I swallowed. “We’re on the same page, friend.”
Liberty raised a hand to get everyone’s attention. “Hello, crew. Thank you for gathering. Goddard, are we back on track?”
“We are, captain.”
“Very well, master engineer.” She turned to face the audience, her back to the main display, hands clutched together in front. “With the help of our talented XO, I have devised a plan which will give us the best chance of success. We are, as we speak, making navigational corrections to put Mars in our path until we reach orbit. This will cut off the Razor’s chance to eliminate us en route. It will also give us a period of time, about two months, to rest and recuperate. All restrictions will be lifted on communications to loved ones back on Mars. Say whatever you must, spend whatever time you can with them by proxy. I wish to see you home so you can be with your families in person, but can make no promises.
“This mission, as any combat detail, is a risky one. We have about a fifty fifty chance of success. What I can say, however, is that it has been a pleasure to serve with each of you. When I came aboard this ship I was looking for something, something I thought I’d lost. I have found it in all of you. The Axis might be our enemy for today, but who knows what tomorrow will bring? My father’s desire to end the lives of those living on Europa are not mine, and I will not see them through. XO stands with me. We must find a diplomatic solution in the near future, or our species will be blind, reaching into the dark and finding nothing but more emptiness. This is humanity’s finest hour. The one where we decide, where we say, no more. If we can destroy the Razor and survive, we can broker a peace. They will be in a position more apt to accept diplomacy with no standing military. But before that lofty future can be realized we must survive. Live your life. You have two months assured. See us to our final showdown breathing.”
The majority of the crew began to cheer, waving fists in the air and slapping bulkheads. Kelly loomed at one of the doorways, a mixed expression on his face. Griffin waved him over, smiling, and gave him a massive bear hug. He looked just as uneasy as I’d been. I gave him a wink.
“Finish your shifts,” Liberty said, the room going silent. “Then return to your quarters for a surprise. Dismissed.”
Everyone dispersed, idly chatting with one another as they left, leaving only the bridge crew and myself behind. Liberty whispered something in XO’s ear and he snapped to attention and saluted. She immediately came to me, back straight in her role as Captain. She was wearing a new coat with a new set of rank on her chest and shoulders. She was beautiful, like cold steel sharpened to a razor’s edge placed in the hands of a master.
“Goddard,” she said.
“Captain.”
“There are a few matters I’d like to speak of in private.”
Rosaleigh Head cleared her throat and nudged Smith with her foot. Smith raised an eyebrow while tonguing the edge of her lip ring, suppressing a chuckle.
“Of course.” I sidestepped and swept a hand through the air. “Lead the way, ma’am.”
Liberty took us to her new quarters. She closed the hatch and leaned against it, hands behind her back. She plodded across the room, taking a whole five steps to reach the other side. There was so much space in here it was almost nauseating.
I waited for her, standing at attention. “Quite the upgrade, ma’am.”
“Isn’t it?” She ran her fingers over the desk and military ornamentation, the small, wall mounted bookshelf with one book missing, and the shadow box filled with trophies. Her open palm froze in front of a silver trophy, a skimmer mounted on top, the number one engraved on its base. She let her hand fall, coming to rest at her side. “Mmm. No matter. Drink?”
“I’d love one.”
“Then you’re in luck.” She leaned over without bending her knees, her pressed uniform pants taking on the wondrous curve of her backside as she reached under the bed. After giving me the chance to visually map her shape and commit them to memory once more, she produce two square bottom bottles of honey brown liquid and set them on the table beside me. “At ease, Davie.”
Might not have been gin, but that’s okay.
I chuckled and put my ass on the edge of the bed. “But what about the rules? No alcohol on board? Hot damn, I knew he had some stashed away, but this much?”
“There’s a hell of a lot more where this came from.” She fell back on the bed beside me, arms outstretched, body sinking into memory foam. “Ahhh, that’s lovely. Found crates in the Cargo Bay locked up with Father’s code. They were full of all kinds of great things.”
I took up one of the bottles and flipped it over. “Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select. This isn’t Martian whiskey, it’s from Tennessee.”
“And it’s old, real old. The note said these were made in the 60s.”
I twisted the cork free and sniffed, the aroma sizzling and yet tickling my olfactory senses with a creamy hint of caramel intermarried with vanilla. “Feels wrong not to drink it out of a glass.” But the cups were just too far away, ten feet away on the other side of a desk.
“Everything is wrong nowadays.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” I tossed the bottle back and took a small sip, then a swallow. “Ahh yeah, that’s the stuff.”
Liberty sat up and began unbuttoning her coat. “We’ve got some time to burn. Have all you like. Shit, get a hangover if you want.”
And so I did, taking another deep swallow. I slid back on the bed till my spine rested against the headboard, heels not touching the end, and watched as she shrugged out of her coat down to a sports bra. As each arm slid free I could see more of her, and not just in the physical sense. That coat was like body armor. It was a symbol of strength and domination, of forced control and security. She wore it to protect herself from the words and thoughts of others, even her own. Surrounded by threads spun of rank and achievement the result of cold discipline, she was near invincible to all emotional harm, yet also impervious to joy. But here with me, alone, she was making herself vulnerable to pain, vulnerable to yet another man who could let her down. Then again, I guess the stakes weren’t too high. Chances were we’d be dead in a couple months and none of it would matter anyways. Might as well get what joy you can while you’re still breathing.
She tossed the coat onto a chair and took a drag off her vape pen. A cloud of smoke oozed from her wolfish grin. “Don’t get too excited, Davie. It’s just nicotine.”
“That’s alright, Lib, I’ve had enough smelly socks for a while.”
She puffed again and passed me the tube, then uncorked her bottle of Jack and took a long swallow. “Not bad.”
“So,” I said through a pillar of smoke, “what’s the crew’s big surprise?” I held the tube in front of me, rubbing the built in stunner’s safety switch with my thumb.
“Found all kinds of junk food like chips and Hershey’s bars and frozen steaks alongside the whiskey. Father was holding back, make no doubt.”
“Why? Wouldn’t it have been good for morale to up our rations of luxury items?”
“Maybe. I’d like to think he was holding out just in case the mission ran longer than we expected. Somehow, though, I know that’s not the truth. It’s like he just wanted to create dissention in the ranks. He never held back in giving us officers what we wanted, besides alcohol. When’s the last time you ate chocolate?”