TheFSS Marciacame alongside them in the early hours of SST, also known as Standard Space Time. The warship was too big to enter the freighter’s docking space; it was about one-third the size of theHendrix II, and it packed a mean artillery of high-energy pulse weapons.
Arin watched the main docking bay through the vid-feed. “They’ll send ordinary transports to ferry people from the freighter. It’s going to take some time, though. What’s the capacity of one of those things again, Captain?”
“A standard military-grade PTV?” Captain Tadao swiveled in his chair, scratching his salt-and-pepper beard. “About a hundred-odd souls, depending on the model.” He laughed, a dry, bitter sound, revealing teeth stained red from years of smokingJuvi. “It’s going to take a while to get all these people off, Sergeant. I, for one, can’t wait to get my ass on sweet Earth soil again.”
“I hear you, Captain.” Arin leaned back, surveying the navigation room. She’d managed to track down the rest of the peacekeepers, including the leaders of the other squads. Once the word had gone around that a retrieval was happening,people had miraculously sobered up and pulled their shit together. “Stand by, I think they’re about to make contact.”
The few peacekeepers on the freighter were currently directing people down to the docks in an orderly fashion. Rykal had been as good as his word, and some silent, scary-looking Kordolian warriors had ghosted through the main elevators, giving the all-clear before they disappeared again.
“You sure the Kordolians aren’t going to slaughter us like pigs as we leave the dock?” Sergeant Brosa maneuvered his large bulk around so he could get a better view of the holoscreen.
“Nothing’s certain in the Universe,” Arin replied sagely, concealing her amusement as a mild look of alarm crossed Brosa’s face. “I don’t think so, though. We’re not their main priority right now.”
Rykal would never hurt her. She was sure of it now—as sure as day came after night. Her heart beat a little faster as she remembered their encounter in the corridor, after he’d rescued them from the poison gas in the stairwell. She’d woken up in a confused daze, thinking death had come for her in the form of a beautiful reaper.
She’d mumbled some stupid shit, and Rykal had grinned like an idiot, but his gaze had been so damn tender.
Arin prayed he was safe. On paper, he might be considered the enemy, but beneath that intimidatingly beautiful exterior of his, there were some good intentions, at least when it came to her.
“Sergeant Varga?”
Arin blinked as the captain finally got her attention. “What’s happening, Tadao?”
“Stand by,” he said softly. “TheMarcia’scalling.” The holoscreen flashed red, alerting them to an incoming comm.
“Superfreighter Hendrix II, this is theFSS Marcia.” General Alison Varga appeared on the holoscreen. She was inher full battle regalia, with various medals pinned to her breast. They glinted against the dark backdrop of her navy blue military jacket. “We are attending in response to your distress call.”
If she noticed Arin, she didn’t show it. The general didn’t even make eye contact with her daughter. That was the way it had always been. In the military, family ties were relinquished, and you learned quick-smart that you had only one master, the Federation.
Of course, it wasn’t that simple in real life, but it was the reason her mother never acknowledged her when she was working in an official capacity. Arin didn’t mind. Not many peacekeepers knew they were actually related, and she preferred to keep it that way.
“Uh,” Tadao looked around, waiting for someone to take the lead. Arin waved him on. As captain of the Superfreighter, it was his responsibility to maintain communications with other vessels, even if he was a civilian who was out of his depth. “Yeah. We need a goddamn retrieval, and we appreciate the fact that you’ve finally shown up in these quarters, General.” It wasn’t just Arin’s imagination; there was a hard edge to his voice, as if he was pissed off.
Actually, they all had a right to be pissed off. The Federation had put their lives at risk by sitting on its hands and taking its sweet time to decide whether it could accept Kordolians on Earth.
They’d turned a simple situation into a complicated one, as they always did, and shown that they really didn’t give a fuck about ordinary citizens.
Jupiter help them if they ever had to fight a real war.
“Just tell me what to do, Ma’am.” Tadao was rolling aJuvistick around in his red-stained fingers. “Tell me where you want to go, what you want to do, where you want to park, and I’ll pull all the strings to make sure it happens. You just make sure you get all these people off my ship before we all turninto cockroach food or victims of the agents of fucking darkness.”
To Arin’s relief, her mother didn’t reprimand the man. Instead, she pinned him with a cold grey stare. “Then let’s get on with it, Captain. Just remember that if anyone from Earth Command gives you shit about breaking protocol or disobeying orders, you were acting undermyorders. As for the distress call, well, westilldon’t know the origin of that, do we?” Her eyes flicked towards Arin for the briefest moment. Arin understood, and in that moment, all she thought she knew about her mother began to unravel, because unlike the last time, this time her mother had decided toprotecther. “I’m sure you get my drift. Now let’s get on with it. I’m officially assuming command of your ship, Captain Tadao. Let’s evacuate these poor bastards. We’ll deal with the aftermath later.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Arin watched from the walkway as the second military transport took off, ferrying another load of people towards theFSS Marcia. The thrusters of the grey transport roared as it lifted off from the floor of Docking Bay One, heading towards the airlock. The crowd of people waiting to be evacuated had thinned out considerably, and with every successful drop-off, Arin’s anxiety eased just a little bit more.
They were doing it. They were actually getting people off the ship, saving them from this terrible precarious limbo, where shit could go down at any moment, without warning.
As the airlock closed, one of the navigators appeared at Arin’s side. “Uh, Sergeant Varga?”
“What is it?”
He peered down at his datapad, a frown creasing his forehead. “We’ve registered everyone onboard except for seven.”
“Show me.” Arin looked at the list and realized the seven missing were the men from her squad, the ones Rykal had beaten up and locked in one of the lower cargo holds.
“Shit.” With everything that had happened, she’d forgotten all about them.
