Operation Georgia
Copyright© 2026 by Prince von Vlox
Chapter 9
Home
“Ready?”
Adana checked her image in the mirror one last time. It must be true what they say, she thought. There’s nothing like a few home-cooked meals to put the weight back on. When she’d left Medina, her uniform had just hung on her. She ate only what she had to, finding no taste in anything they gave her.
That had all changed on Boabdil. Seeing Tybi had helped. She felt better in a way she hadn’t since Vikki. Hearing Tybi describe her life on Boabdil had been something else. But she was over that now. The weight she’d carried since her daughter had been reported missing was gone. She still had an unrepairable hole in her heart, but she knew she always would. But that was another concern.
“I still don’t see why we have to go,” Della said.
Adana smiled, something that was a lot easier since she’d held Tybi. “You don’t turn down a direct invitation from the Eldest.” She handed her sib the card.
Della put it in her pocket. “Well, I don’t see why you had to go and get all naval on me.”
“Just a feeling.”
Della sniffed. “You and those ‘feelings’. You’re as bad as Vikki was.”
Adana let that pass. “The girls are probably wondering what happened to us.”
Della put on her jacket. Adana knew she felt the cold more keenly these days. In many ways, she still hadn’t recovered fully from that afternoon in First Landing. She hadn’t either, but the ache had eased.
Randi was the only one of her daughters who was present. Sandra and Tybi were on Boabdil; her third daughter had stayed home to raise everyone’s kids and now ran a children’s care center in White Beach. Della’s daughters, Chas, Kylla, and Amandra, were at the other end of the room. Chas and Amandra’s kids were still of school age, and Della spent a few minutes fussing over them.
“I got a letter from Tybi,” Randi said quietly. She smiled, but there were tears in her eyes. “I still can’t believe it.”
“I felt the same way.” Adana checked her grandkids. “All set?”
Randi nodded. “What, exactly, are we doing in First Landing?”
Adana shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Not even your aide knows?” Adana shook her head. “I’m shocked. I thought there was nothing an aide couldn’t find out.”
“Apparently, there are limits, but Elisse drew a total blank. Nobody’s saying a thing.”
Randi looked at her daughters and those of her sibs. “Well, as near as I can make them, they’re ready.”
The flight to First Landing was uneventful. The girls were better behaved than the last long flight they’d made, or so Randi assured her. Adana didn’t quite believe her. It took both of them to get the girls strapped in as they made their landing.
Stena Andersen, the Eldest’s Senior Aide, greeted them upon landing. “I have transportation arranged.”
“Where are we going?”
“Government House, at least at first, and then to the naval base.”
Adana looked around. “Can you tell me what’s going on? There are an awful lot of aircars around, more than normal.”
“I can tell you this much,” Stena said. “A transport with a load of the Missing is due here in about two hours.”
Adana nodded. “I assume we’ve been shipping them home from Boabdil on a regular basis. We brought 200 back with us.”
“These don’t come from there. That’s all I can tell you. Now let’s go, my boss is waiting for you.”
Adana resigned herself to an hour or so of standing and smiling. She’d already done that a number of times in the last few tendays. In some ways she envied Corey; she’d have to make time to see Corey’s babies. That girl had a big future ahead of her. Adana wasn’t so sure about herself. Right now spending a year or two on the beach and getting to know her grandkids sounded pretty good.
It used to be you could walk right into Government Center. Now, because of the loss of Vikki, there were security checkpoints ringing the place. They had to prove their identity twice before they got to Government House itself, a modest-looking two-story office building that didn’t look any fancier than the buildings around it.
Eldest Marie Andersen came to greet them personally. She gave Adana a hug and smiled for the inevitable holopics. Adana had been here many times, but this was exciting and new for the kids and grandkids.
“You’re looking better,” Eldest Marie said as she led them into the building.
“I feel a lot better,” she replied. “Tybi was like a breath of fresh air.”
Eldest Marie nodded. “I’ll want your thoughts on that situation, but that meeting can wait until later. We have a couple of things to do, first.”
She turned. “Stena? Why don’t you have someone give everyone the grand tour? Admiral Korina and I will be busy for a few minutes.”
“Aye, Ma’am. By the way, Meeting Room 6.”
“What’s going on?” Adana asked as they took a different turn than the rest of her family. Only Elisse tagged along.
“I didn’t understand the path you took through the Empire until someone from Intelligence explained it to me,” Eldest Marie said. “I could understand the economic and fueling nodes as targets, but there were several times you went in other directions, ones that didn’t make sense, at least at first.”