Chapter 10

Beta Mensae System GNS John Young 01/21/42 NR 1730 Hours

Admiral Aaron Peters, Geneva Naval Service, stood at the boat bay airlock and waited for the Lovell to dock. His official duty station was aboard his flagship, but he was still aboard the fleet repair ship Young until he was well enough to resume his duties. Not that there was anything resembling a navy for him to command, he thought morosely. Three frigates were left from the catastrophic battle in the 10 Ceti System, and only two of them were operational. The repair crews had worked steadily, and the third frigate would be combat ready in two weeks.

The red light illuminated on the airlock’s control panel, and Aaron’s spine straightened. The yellow ‘CYCLING’ light lit up next, and finally, the green light showed. The airlock’s inner door opened, and Aaron grinned widely as he caught sight of Luisa. She stepped though the doorway, and Aaron’s grin faded as he saw the fury in her eyes. He had come alone, and he was suddenly glad he had for an entirely different reason than he envisioned.

Luisa stalked to within half a meter of him. “How dare you not tell me you were alive?” she snarled. “Do you know it nearly killed me? First, I had to watch the whole battle, and I saw the Dyan get blown to bits. Then, I hear you were dead. Then, forty-two days later, I get a message that, oh, you’re not quite dead after all?” Tears formed at the corners of her eyes and streamed down her face. “Damn you, Aaron! How could you do that to me?”

Aaron leaned against the powered exoskeleton he wore, for his right leg was still far too weak to hold him unassisted. Motors whined softly as the robot compensated for the weight shift and kept him upright. “Luisa, I am so sorry. I was out of it for a couple of weeks while they put me back together, and then I didn’t see the dispatch regarding my death until about ten days before you got my message. My entire staff was killed on the Dyan, and my new staff has been busy. After that, we had to be sure we could enter 10 Ceti without being jumped by the Terrans.” Her face crumpled, and he reached out to her with his left am. “I would never deliberately do such a thing to you, my love.”

Luisa enfolded him in a fierce hug, and Aaron returned it, ignoring the spike of pain from his damaged ribs. He broke down, and the two of them held each other and wept.

The admiral’s quarters aboard the Young were palatial compared to what Aaron had occupied aboard the Dyan. The repair ship was in orbit around one of three rocky, airless planets the Beta Mensae system boasted, and it rotated about its short axis to provide gravity for the people aboard.

Luisa stepped into the admiral’s day quarters with Aaron on her heels. His exoskeleton whined, and he walked past her to the other side. The day cabin was almost five meters square, and Luisa whistled in appreciation as she turned in place. “Wow, you do pretty well for yourself.” The cabin featured a table for four, a desk, and a settee; all crafted in exquisitely figured woods.

“I’d rather be somewhere else.” Aaron paused at the desk. “Are you hungry?”

“I can’t remember the last time I ate,” Luisa admitted. “I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.” She held up a hand as he opened his mouth. “I know, you apologized – and I’ve accepted. What I meant was this whole mess we’re in is getting to me.”

“I know.” He pressed the comm panel.

“Good evening, Admiral,” a female voice responded immediately.

“Evening, Margaret. May I trouble you to bring dinner for two to my quarters, please?”

“It’d be my pleasure, Sir. We should be ready in about fifteen minutes.”

“That will be fine, thank you.” He ended the call and turned to Luisa. “I can show you to your cabin if you’d like to freshen up for dinner.”

“Oh, I’ll bet that your shower is much nicer than mine.” She picked up her bag and sauntered up to him. “Mind if I find out?”

Aaron waved at the door to his sleeping quarters. “The bed isn’t made, but feel free.” He looked down at himself; the sterile white exoskeleton a prefect match for the white dressings on his right leg and the stump of his arm. The pale blue hospital scrubs covered more injuries, and Aaron smiled wryly. “I’d love to join you, but...”

“I’m willing to wait,” she purred, her eyes bright.

“I’m happy to hear that.” Aaron leaned down and kissed her. “Now, go and get ready for dinner. Dinner is in fifteen minutes, with or without you.”

“Yes, Sir.” Luisa stepped back, snapped him a parade ground salute, and disappeared through the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Luisa opened he door and stepped out into the day cabin. Aaron had removed the exoskeleton, and was seated at the table. A woman wearing a white apron over her uniform set a covered dish on the table, and turned to pick up another dish from a cart next to the table.

“There you are.” Aaron’s eyes lit up, and Luisa felt her face heat as the woman turned to her with a smile. “Your timing is perfect. Luisa, meet Margaret, my keeper.”

Margaret smiled at Luisa. “Self appointed keeper, mind you. If I didn’t feed him, he’d starve. The man works every minute he isn’t in sick bay. Good to meet you, Commander McDaniel.”

“And you. Thank you for helping Aaron.” Luisa sat down at the table, across from Aaron.

“You’re welcome, but we don’t mind. After all, he’s the only flag officer we have. Besides, he isn’t all that much trouble.” Margaret winked broadly as she turned away to pick up another plate from the cart.

Luisa laughed brightly and grinned at Aaron. “I’m glad to see you’re in good hands.” She broke off as Margaret set out the tableware. “Is that,” she picked up a fork and examined it closely, “gold plated?”

“Actually,” Aaron picked up his own fork and turned it around, “it’s eighteen karat gold alloy. Rita gave me a whole set of it when she shanghaied, er, promoted me to Admiral.”

“Gold?” Luisa’s eyes widened. “You have gold flatware?”

Aaron leaned forward, his face somber. “The first colonists found some twenty tons of gold, platinum and silver in the first ten years after landing on New Geneva. Most of that was mined from the asteroid belt. Since then, we’ve found ten times that much, and there’s probably ten times more across the six star systems we’ve explored.”

Luisa set the fork down. “I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised. Most of Mars’ infrastructure was funded, and built, by what the Mars Company found in Sol’s asteroid belt. But, of course, there are many more people to share in what was found than there are here.”

Margaret finished setting the dishes out and straightened. “If you two need anything, I’m less than a minute away, okay?”

“Thank you so much, this is terrific,” Aaron smiled up at her. Margaret hustled the cart out the door, and Aaron chuckled. “She about smothered me to death the first week I was here.”

“You should thank her, Aaron Peters.”

“Oh I do. Regularly.”

“Good. Now, you were saying?”

Aaron picked up his utensils. “The damned Terrans are taking everything our parents worked so hard for and died for away. You know good and well that things will never be the same.” He sighed and began to eat.

Luisa found that she was hungrier than she first realized, and she applied herself to her meal with gusto despite the thoughts looming in her mind.

“So,” Aaron said after they had finished the contents of their plates. “What has Adam found?” He sat back in his chair with a cup of what the Genevans called coffee in hand. It wasn’t anything like Martian coffee, and Luisa set it aside in favor of her sapphire lemonade.