Lost Words: The Unauthorized Biography of Liam Munson
Luke fingered his padand considered pulling up the message and reading it again, but he knew he had the address right. He’d checked it often enough. But this meeting... talking to someone about Lieutenant Liam Munson the “War Hero” felt like betraying his family. He didn’t want to let go of his anger, no matter what Dana said or his mother would have said. His mother had always seen Liam as some sort of fucking saint. All the way to the end, she would never hear a word against her precious golden boy. Sometimes Luke wondered if that wasn’t because she had loved his father more than her next two husbands. He tried to avoid that sort of thinking because it would drive him insane. Then she’d died, all the kids had been scattered to the wind since their mother had lost all three husbands to Earth’s idiotic war.
Dana’s folks had taken him in, but they hadn’t had the money to support the younger children, so Luke had watched social workers come and pack one small sack with a few clothes and one toy per child and then cart off the rest of the Munson children. Where had the sainted Liam Munson been then? Where had he been when Luke had cried himself to sleep at their mother’s hospital bed? Where had he been at the funeral?
He’d been off the planet by then, but he’d been gone long before that. Luke had been really young—six or seven—when Liam had started spending weeks at a time away from the house. He’d pick Luke up after school and walk him home, only to vanish after. Or he’d be home for a few days before he vanished again.
Luke remembered a few fights and nights when their mother tried to hide her tears after Liam left—abandoned them again.
But Dana was right. Money was money, and if Luke wanted to finish school quickly and get on his financial feet well enough to take care of his younger brother and sisters when they timed out of state care, he needed every dime he could make. Now that he had an actual hope of keeping them all out of the draft, he had to take it.
He wouldn’t count on this latest peace holding, not when the Ribelians were insane zealots with a bad habit of bombing civilians.
“Luke Munson?” someone called.
Luke’s stomach dropped. The speaker was a middle-aged man in a uniform standing in the open door to the café. After all these years, the thought of talking to someone about Liam still made Luke feel unbalanced. He plastered on his best smile and stepped closer. “Lieutenant Spooner?”
The man held out his hand. “Thank you for meeting me.”
“You’re paying.” Luke’s discomfort grew as they walked into the social café together. Dozens of links waited for customers to plug in a computer and jump on the socnet, and on another day, Luke would’ve loved some free access. Today? Today, not so much. The café was largely empty, Luke felt exposed sitting next to this military man with his starched uniform. He chose a seat at a large table. That would ensure a little distance from Spooner. “You wanted to talk about my brother?”
“I do. Would you like a drink?”
Luke ignored the peace offering. His headset had already beeped to announce a credit deposit, so Spooner had paid for Luke’s time. This wasn’t a social visit. “You said you served with Liam.” Luke was proud of how calm he sounded.
“For years,” Lieutenant Spooner took a seat across the table. “Tap in your order. My treat.”
Luke hesitated. If this guy wanted to pay, Luke could get coffee. Real coffee. There was no way he could justify that cost, but he didn’t mind taking advantage of someone who had the gall to drag up his memories of Liam. The lieutenant tapped his card on Luke’s display without a word about the cost, and that was enough to push Luke off the fence. He ordered the damn coffee with real sweeteners and organic cream. Officers had the easy life. Luke resented the hell out of the military for sucking up so many of Earth’s resources. He resented the damn colonies even more for assuming they could take and take and never repay one cent. They were all assholes.
“Are you asking about Liam for the military?” Luke figured the higher-ups had to be worried about whether Liam would abandon the service and give human secrets to the Rownt. But Luke didn’t know anything about Liam’s loyalties. He didn’t know his brother at all.
“No. I’m on leave. I’m about to get a promotion to captain, and I’m taking a couple of months off before my new posting. I haven’t had a break in several years.”
“Then why do you want to talk?” The top of the table flashed and then the recessed area opened to allow two drinks to rise. Luke took his and savored the smell.
“I’m writing a biography.”
Weird, and not where Luke thought this conversation would lead. “Of Liam?”
