Fringe Attack, page 3
part #2 of Delta Fringe Series
I look back at the Master Sergeant. “When do I leave?” I feel Derek shift toward me.
“Tonight. We’ll keep the pirate vessel locked down while you board the hospital ship and leave. The hospital ship was already logged in to head toward the mining colony to help. So there will be no suspicion that you’ve left with her.”
“What about the drive this pirate says this girl still has?” The gruff voice of the galactic commander startles me, and I jump. Derek steadies me as we turn to face the rigid commander.
“You’re going off the words of a pirate that someone paid to steal and lie.” Master Sergeant Abuchi answers calmly from next to me.
I want to faint; my heart is beating so hard. I force myself to relax under the commander’s scrutiny. He says nothing, just stares between Abuchi and me.
I grab Derek’s hand and step away from the galactic commander. I need Derek to keep me from falling down. “Your galactic security already searched the morgue and our private quarters and the entire station. If you trust your troops then you know they didn’t find anything.” I edge past the commander, holding onto Derek tightly. His warmth and quiet strength keeps me going. “If you’ll excuse us, I need to pack so I can be ready to leave on the hospital ship tonight.”
I glance back at the Master Sergeant, who is locking eyes with the galactic commander as Derek and I hurry out of the room. We don’t talk or slow down until we reach the morgue, and I key in through the side door. The corridor is empty since the morgue techs are probably still in the autopsy room.
I drop Derek’s hand and slide down the wall to sit hard on the floor. I wrap my arms tightly around my legs and pull them to my chest. Derek sits down next to me, shoulder to shoulder.
“Tonight, huh?” Derek finally breaks the silence.
I look over at him and see sadness on his handsome face. I turn so I can sink into his embrace. “And things were just getting back to normal.” I joke as I lay my head on his shoulder. “Seems we can’t catch a break.”
He pulls away to look into my eyes. “I’m going to miss you so much. It’s not fair that we finally don’t hate each other, and now they’re shipping you off station.” He laughs tightly, his perfect smile showing a single dimple.
I grin. “I’ll miss you too. I’m sure this won’t take long. A hospital cruiser was already there. I just have to deal with the dead.”
Derek’s smile fades.
“Sorry. Morgue humor.”
He shakes his head. “No, it’s not that.” A small grin plays at the corner of his lips. “I’m starting to get used to your dark humor. And why you need it.”
I turn into him and pin him up against the wall and kiss him just because I’m happy he understands me. I’ve never had many friends because of the type of work my dad and I do. And before Mom died, she was a medical examiner and coroner on Mars as well. So I’ve grown up with death and dark humor my whole life.
“Then what is it? What’s the matter?”
“I think we both know the Master Sergeant isn’t sending you to that colony to only help with the dead.”
His dark eyes pierce me with clarity and understanding.
I settle against Derek’s chest, enjoying the warmth. “He thinks I can unravel this mystery like I did with the Tempest.”
4
Bait
Derek helps me up, and we walk past my dad’s dark office. “I wonder where my dad is. He should’ve reported here during the alarm.”
“They canceled the alarm once I reported with you to the command center and they had the pirate ship under control. He’s probably in the autopsy room or at the hospital putting in long hours like you do.” Derek bumps my shoulder.
I grin. “Yes we don’t like to just sit still and do nothing. You know if I can solve the secret behind who’s behind all this data research and why pirates are involved, maybe they’ll put me on the list for the Carina mission again.”
Derek reaches out a hand and stops me. “Wait. Now I’m worried for your safety. Do you think the Master Sergeant thinks you’ll find all those answers at this asteroid?”
I shrug. “I can’t read him well enough yet. He disguises his emotions and what’s going through his mind almost as good as the commander. But there are other coroners out in that sector who could’ve taken care of the dead on the asteroid, so there must be some other reason he’s sending me.” And why he didn’t admit I have the copy of the data.
“But why would he send you into such danger? If the answers are there, the pirates and whoever else is responsible for the death of the Tempest’s crew and the destruction of our station might also be there.” His brows furrow as he pulls me close to him. “I don’t like it at all.”
Derek’s body is warm up against mine, and for a moment, I think about changing the subject to something less professional. I sigh and wrap my arms around him. “I understand you’re worried about me, but I’ll be fine. I’ll be with the crew of the hospital ship. They have hundreds of people on board, including security.”
He gives me a clipped nod, but he doesn’t relax any.
I narrow my eyes. “Are you worried about my safety or what will happen to us if I get onto the 2080 Carina Mission? It would mean years without seeing each other.”
Now that I’ve said it out loud something inside me cringes at the thought of leaving Derek and everyone on Delta station. A tingle of doubt shoots through me like lightening. I’m not sure I still even want that mission. I’ve trained hard on Mars and here at Delta for it, but now, I don’t want to lose Derek.
His frown turns into a tiny smirk, but he says nothing.
I tilt my head and scrutinize him. His dark eyes are intense but they don’t give anything away. Still in his warm embrace, I don’t feel him shifting or leaning away. Only the smirk makes me question his silence. I narrow my eyes at him. “Have you applied for the 2080 mission as well?” Since moving to Delta, I lost my chance to apply to the mission until this fall. But I had to sign up for the application process a few months back. Back before I knew Derek this intimately.
His smirk turns into a frown again. “Would you be all right if I did?”
“Of course I would!” I pull him into a hug. Relief floods through my body, and I breathe easier.
Derek holds me back at arm’s length. “Are you sure? I didn’t know how you would feel about it. How you feel about me. You know, in the future.” He looks away and drops his arms. The loss of the warm contact makes me shiver. “I know it all sounds stupid.”
I gently place both my hands on either side of his face and kiss him, like he did with me for our very first time. He’s hesitant at first, but then he wraps his arms around me and kisses back with intensity.
We break apart and lean our foreheads together as we wait for our ragged breathing to subside. He’s grinning, and the sparkle is back in his eyes. “Thank you. I didn’t want you to think I was just following you like a creeper. I want you to know I really want to be with you.”
“A creeper, huh? Like when you and your friends put live worms on my chair in science class?”
He tries to look ashamed, but he’s grinning too much to pull it off. “That was before. You know I’m sorry how I treated you back then.”
I pull back and lean against the corridor wall admiring how good he looks in his security uniform. “I know you are. I’m just teasing.” I hold up a finger. “But I would like to know if you actually want to be part of the 2080 mission or are you just doing it because you know it’s my dream to go?”
He imitates me and leans against the opposite wall. “You know I’ve been questioning my job in security and how I’ve been taking electrical lessons on the side.”
I nod. “Yes, you were training to be an electrical engineer before you got to Delta and lost your apprenticeship when our lead engineer left. That’s how you were able to keep up with me when I discovered the electrical problem on the Valiant.” I grin back at him. That had been the first time we had treated each other as equals; him not calling me muerta, and me actually letting my defenses down to trust him.
“Well I think the 2080 mission is the best way for me to get out of security. I’ve applied as an electrical apprentice with security background. They appreciate multiple roles on long range missions.”
“That’s amazing. But I thought the cutoff for applying was months ago. You didn’t start thinking about your desire to get back into electrical until we started being friends.”
Derek pushes off from the wall to stand in front of me. He pushes his hands into his front pockets. “I have a friend who did me a favor. Got my name on the list before it reached Sol command.”
I widen my eyes and go for my most innocent look. “I didn’t realize you had any other friends who could read and write.” Derek’s friends here on Delta aren’t what you’d consider the most motivated bunch or even all that smart. In fact I’m sure in twenty years most of them will still be on Delta station apprenticing.
He shakes his head laughing at me. “What you don’t like my friends here?”
“It’s not that I don’t like them — in fact now that they don’t drop hateful messages in my school account anymore I can actually handle hanging out with them. But you’ve got to admit they’re not the sharpest scalpels in the drawer.”
“Speaking of which, we need to go pack your med stuff.” He takes my arm, and we walk toward the morgue. He looks sideways at me. “It was a friend from my past, one I had sporadically been keeping contact with. We were in a few foster homes together. He’s a good guy, but still bounces around from job to job. Right now he’s in communications on one of the galactic cruisers. He was able to use their advanced comm system to add my application to the others.”
The air is starting to get colder as we near the morgue. I’m not sure if it’s my imagination or if the walls around the morgue weren’t built for the cold necessary to run a morgue.
“That’s great, Derek. I hope we both get accepted. It would be amazing to be on that mission with you.” I stop to kiss him before we enter the morgue.
The door swings open, and my grin fades as I see my dad there. An explosion of bandages, instruments, boxes, rolls of tape, and med kits surrounds him. My mouth hangs open as I examine the usually pristine and organized exam room.
“Hey Bren. Derek.” Dad’s six-foot seven-inch frame is folded cross-legged on the floor as he pokes through boxes.
“Dad. What in the world are you doing?”
“I’m going through our stuff to help you pack for your trip tonight.” He looks up at me with an expression somewhere between pride and sorrow.
Dad’s eyes are even darker than mine, as well as his skin. He’s wearing a white smock, clean thankfully, but the contrast between him and the smock and all the white bandages surrounding him makes me smile. “Dad, you look like you’ve been caught in a snowstorm.”
He blinks and looks around and starts laughing. He’s got a deep booming laugh that I love to hear and I can’t help but join in. Once we calm ourselves, I wade amongst the bandages and lower myself next to him.
“So you know? Did they ask your permission to send me?” I’m super relived that I don’t have to be the one to tell him about this mission.
“Of course they did. I am your dad. And your boss.” He smiles at me, and my heart constricts. Ever since Mom died, Dad and I have done almost every investigative mission together. He would take me to the ships and colonies that needed his services, and we learned to work well together.
“I’m going to miss you.” My lip trembles so I push on. “Do you think the Master Sergeant has a hidden agenda with sending me instead of letting the locals do the cleanup?”
He glances briefly up at Derek and then returns his gaze to me.
I nod. “Derek knows everything. Now.” I twist so I can see Derek. “He just found out during the meeting with all the officers that I kept the copy of the drive.”
Derek folds his arms. “I suspected you’d be thorough, like you are here with your patients, clients, and records.” He looks at my dad. “But I am worried for her safety. If the Master Sergeant thinks there are answers there on the asteroid for everything that’s been going on, then Bren is in danger. It seems like this whole stolen tech problem might go farther up the food chain than we suspect.” He grinds his jaw, the muscles tightening.
I’m thankful Derek’s forgiven me about not telling him about the drive. I wanted to tell him, but I wanted even more for him to heal from his wounds without having to worry about my safety. And besides the Master Sergeant is kind of scary and had forbidden me from telling him. Until today, apparently. Now it’s all out in the open and instead of feeling relieved, I feel like I have a target on my back.
I look at Dad to see how he’ll react to this news. He doesn’t seem surprised. “You agreed to me going even knowing all this?” My voice is louder than normal. “I mean, if you even had a choice in the matter,” I say a bit quieter.
Dad unfolds himself and stands up. I quickly do the same, being careful not to knock over the stacks of medical supplies surrounding us. “I have complete confidence if anyone can figure out what is going on out there with all these asteroid mines and who’s behind it, you can.”
I hold up my hand. “Wait, you said mines, plural. There’ve been more than this one attacked? I just thought from the news vids there was some labor squabbles on several of the asteroids.”
Dad looks to Derek who has the good sense to look sheepishly away.
“You both knew there were more attacks? And didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t think they’d send you into the middle of all this,” says Derek as he turns back toward me. The concern on his face is heartbreaking, and it melts the anger spreading inside me. “I tried to get myself assigned to go with you on the hospital ship. They said I needed to stay here in case we were attacked again. And we were, so it is possible there might be more coming.”
“Not after I leave there shouldn’t be. Right? As long as I’m here on the station with the data drive there’ll be other pirates coming.” I cross my arms, suddenly angry again. “I’m sure the Master Sergeant intends for me to take the drive with us. Then Delta will at least be safe and reconstruction can continue.” I look at my dad for confirmation. The strong square set jaw is rigid, telling me I’m right.
“I’m the bait,” I say simply.
“It’s not like that Bren.” Derek steps forward and places his warm hands on my arms. “He really believes you can help solve this.”
I push Derek away. “But you looked just as shocked as I was up there on the bridge. You led me to believe you didn’t know they were going to ship me off.”
“Bren, I was truly shocked. I didn’t think they were going to actually send you. I thought they’d give our security team more time to work on the problem.” His eyes are desperate, wanting me to believe him.
I look away blinking back hot tears.
“Bren, you know neither one of us wants you to be in this position. I too tried to get on that mission with you. But they wouldn’t let me either. But there is some good news to all this.”
I turn to face my dad. “What would that be?”
“They have already cleared the asteroid of all pirates, and the galactic ships will remain there to protect you and the others on the hospital ship. It should be just a routine investigative and body recovery mission. I don’t think the Master Sergeant would send you knowing you were in danger.”
“But if he thinks there’s answers there…”
“That’s only speculation. We need to be thorough.”
“Then why send me to this asteroid and not to the others that have been hit?” I look between Dad and Derek.
They just look at each other. Great. “Very helpful, guys.”
“My guess is that this is the most recent attack. And some of the dead are pirates from the attacking vessel,” says Dad as he continues to sort piles on the counters behind us.
I think about that. What am I worrying about? Isn’t this what I want, to be the one sent out in the field? I throw up my hands. “You’re right. It’s just another investigation, and I’m just all worked up. I think it was the galactic commander’s evil face that got my nerves tied up in knots.”
Derek laughs. “All right, now that we’ve worked through all that, let’s get you packed up so you can go figure this out and come back home.”
I smile at him thankful once again that he’s in my life. Dad, Derek, and I work for the next few hours packing several med bags for me to take. Even though I’m sure the hospital ship has everything I might need, I like having my own supplies. Once we’ve figured out the best options for anything I might encounter in an asteroid environment, Derek and I head to my room to pack my personal items.
5
Leaving Delta
Derek stretches out on my narrow bed. I shake my head as I take my pack off. It reminds me of our close call with the security crew that sided with Scott. I had to hide an injured Derek right here in my room while I tried to find a way out without being seen.
“Comfortable?” I ask.
“Of course. Anytime I’m with you I’m comfortable.” His grin fades. “I sure am going to miss you.”
I bend down and kiss him, taking care to keep out of his reach. I need to finish packing. “I’m going to miss you too. Now let me pack, while you tell me what else you know about this mission.”
Derek folds his hands behind his head and grins up at me. Warmth blossoms in my belly as I gaze on the muscles bulging under his fitted uniform shirt. I blush and turn away to start packing.
“I saw that,” he teases.
