The Lost Star: The Complete Series, page 14
Hunter’s heart quickened. He could feel it fluttering in his chest like a trapped bird.
His stomach started to sink.
Eventually Harvey looked up, the move sharp, his head even jerking as his chin jutted forward. “I had no say about Ensign Ava coming on board. She was assigned here.”
“Excuse me? By whom?”
“Her own government. She’s only on board because of a diplomatic concession.”
Hunter finally understood the opaque comment his brother had made when he demanded to know if Ava was fit to be on board.
“After the incident in the bar, I made enquiries and tried to get her transferred off the Mandalay. I failed. Her government wants her on board. So I would take the fact she claims she will be extradited with a grain of salt.”
Hunter sat there, his gut a bundle of nerves as cold sweat slicked down his shoulders. His throat was so dry he could barely breathe, but he pushed out a pressured, “What?”
“I shouldn’t have shared that information with you. I’ll trust you’ll be discreet about it. I only told you because I think it’s relevant. I think you made a mistake with Meva, Hunter. I’m sure you still have time to fix it.”
Hunter’s head was spinning.
“Now, I have no idea why the Avixan government would demand that a physically weak and mostly ineffective ensign be stationed aboard the Mandalay. It certainly isn’t for our benefit. The only thing I can think of is if she’s here for one reason.” Harvey looked directly at Hunter and paused. It was clear he was waiting for Hunter to come up with some obvious conclusion.
When Hunter didn’t respond, Harvey shook his head and pressed forward, that same white-knuckled hand spreading, his fingers pushing hard into the desk as he stood up.
“Hunter, there is every possibility Ava is here to spy on the other Avixans.”
“What?”
“Think about it. That accounts for why the other Avixans are so wary around her. It also accounts for… Shera’s anger. And it’s the only reason why Ava would be stationed aboard, considering she has no real power. And you said yourself, Meva told you Ava is from a higher level of society. She said Ava’s kind oppressed the other Avixans and held them in place. So doesn’t it make sense that they would station a spy on the Mandalay, the only ship in the Coalition fleet with four other Avixans?”
Hunter’s mind spun. No, that was an understatement, he couldn’t describe the way his thoughts and feelings shifted and intertwined together, locking him in place like chains around his throat and wrists.
Harvey took a step back from the desk, locked his hands behind his back, and twisted his head to the view.
Space flitted past outside. A dark swathe split here and there with lines of light as they passed stars at far beyond the speed of light.
“Like I said, you can’t breathe a word of this to anyone else. I won’t have dissent amongst the crew.” Harvey didn’t turn, just kept his head angled towards the view, his expression blank.
Hunter couldn’t sit still any longer. He stumbled to his feet, ashamed his body was so undone by his reeling mind.
For the briefest second, he closed his eyes and dragged his stiff fingers down his brow.
As soon as he did – as soon as his lids locked close – he saw Ava again. Crumpled there on the edge of her bed.
Lost.
Completely alone.
… Could it really be an act?
Maybe Harvey could see Hunter in the reflection in the window, because Harvey turned, a stern expression on his face. “Don’t be loyal to the wrong person, Hunter. That’s got you in trouble before. Think. Be smart.”
That reprimand sent a flare of anger arcing through Hunter’s gut. It was enough to see him curl his hands into tight fists, enough to gain a moment of clarity from his spinning, freefalling thoughts. “Aren’t you just guessing, Harvey?”
That smooth, calm control Harvey always got when he was playing the competent captain cracked.
Hunter saw his opportunity and took a sharp step forward, boots squeaking across the polished floor. “Bottom line,” his voice bottomed out low, reverberating hard through his chest and down deep into his legs, “we know nothing about the Avixan people. Nothing. Not a thing,” his voice arced up higher and higher until it filled the room.
Maybe it was the intensity behind Hunter’s expression or the force of his words, but Harvey swallowed, his once direct gaze becoming momentarily confused.
“This morning, neither you nor I knew that those armlets Ava wears can kill her. We found that out the hard way. Because you know what, Harvey? We don’t know a thing,” Hunter repeated, voice punching out with so much power his words were like shots from a cannon. “Do you really want to keep finding out the truth about the Avixans the hard way? Maybe you’re right about Ava. Maybe she’s a spy,” he couldn’t control his voice, and it twisted with uncertainty and fear. “Maybe you’re wrong. But are you really arrogant enough to base a command decision on nothing more than a guess?”
It was the word arrogant that got Harvey’s attention.
His brow flattened, his cheeks becoming sallow and slack. “This isn’t your call, Hunter,” he spoke through clenched teeth, every movement of every muscle in his cheeks, jaw, and neck visible like twanging springs.
“You’re right this isn’t my call. It’s your call. So for the love of god, make sure it’s the right one. You realize what could happen if you’re wrong, right?”
Harvey’s jaw twitched again, this time the move more violent, more erratic, as if that spring holding his anger in check was about to snap. “What are you talking about?”
“That the terrified ensign sitting in her quarters is about to be extradited because you forced her to share information she knew she shouldn’t. You happy to live with that, Harv? You didn’t see her. I did,” Hunter’s words became slow, snapped as his teeth locked together like magnets. “Maybe you think she’s acting, but maybe she’s not. Are you really going to just stand there when you have the power to find out?”
“What the hell are you suggesting I do?”
“Your damn job. Innocent until proven guilty, Harvey. One of your crew members has come to you with a request for help. You can either condemn her based on an assumption, or act like a man. Act like a captain.” Again Hunter drove his teeth together so hard it was a surprise he didn’t crack them. In his current mood, he would have torn his beating heart from his chest and slapped it on the floor in front of Harvey if it would only get his brother’s attention.
Harvey opened his mouth, the move stiff like a stone door cracking open, but he didn’t get the chance to speak.
There was a beep over the intercom.
“Sir,” Commander Hastings said in a clipped, quick tone, “you are receiving a priority one call from Coalition Control. Patching it through now.”
Harvey stiffened, his body becoming so rigid as he stood by the window, he resembled one of the struts holding the wall in place.
He cleared his throat. “Captain McClane here. I should warn you – I have a junior member of staff in my office with me now. Is this message intended to be classified?”
“Even if we wanted it to be, it wouldn’t be for long. You need to change your course and pick up Diplomat Tarka.”
“Who? Why?”
“The official Aide of the Ambassador of Avixa. As for why? Diplomatic concession.”
“With all due respect, what does that mean, sir?” Harvey asked.
“It means,” the admiral snorted, “that the Avixans have called, and we’re jumping. Get used to it if we want to keep them in the Coalition. And, Captain, we have to keep them in the Coalition. I shouldn’t need to remind you how trying times are getting. The Milky Way simply isn’t what it was 10 years ago.”
“Admiral, the Mandalay has been plagued with problems. I can’t advise this.”
“We are fully aware of your current condition. We advised the Avixans of this, but they don’t seem to care. They want to get on the Mandalay to access their people on board. Before you point it out, I already know how much of an ask this is. That’s why it’s not an ask: it’s an order. Our relationship with the Avixans is already on shaky grounds. We need to please them. If rerouting and picking up one of their diplomats is what they want, then it’s a small price to pay for their help.”
“Shaky grounds?” Hunter asked before he could stop himself.
“Who just spoke?” the admiral demanded.
Harvey shot Hunter the kind of look that told him he’d crossed the line.
Too late now.
So Hunter cleared his throat. “Lieutenant Hunter McClane, sir. Sorry for interrupting. However, you mentioned that our relationship with the Avixans is currently on shaky ground. The last I heard it was stable. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s changed? The only reason I ask is we have quite a few Avixans on board.”
Harvey cracked his stiff lips open and mouthed, “Shut up. Don’t waste his time.”
Again, it was too late.
“You have a point, son. The short answer is we don’t know. The long answer is intelligence around Avixan sectors suggests they may be heading into a period of civil instability. It’s hard to tell, of course, because they’re the most secretive race we’ve ever met.”
“Civil instability?” Harvey and Hunter said at once, their tones displaying almost the exact same note of tension.
“Like I said, it’s a guess. But something sure is happening behind their borders. We can only assume that the reason this Diplomat Tarka is coming on board is to address the concerns of the Avixans of the Mandalay.”
“… When do we pick up this Tarka?” Harvey asked after a long, cautious pause.
“I’ve sent the coordinates. You’ll rendezvous in the Harkan Sector tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Isn’t that a little quick?” Harvey asked, surprise slackening his features.
“Whatever this is, apparently it can’t wait. Make the proper arrangements,” the admiral ordered.
“Aye,” Harvey answered, his features still crumpled with concern. “But, Admiral, send through everything you have on this civil instability. I want to know everything. We’ve got too many Avixans on board for me to ignore this.”
“I’ll send it through. Keep a close eye on your Avixans. We don’t want the civil disturbance on their homeworld to spill out onto the Mandalay.” With that, the admiral signed off.
Harvey stood there for several seconds, head turned to the floor, eyes hooded by shadow.
Slowly he lifted his head and craned it towards Hunter. “There’s your answer, Hunter.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Civil disturbance. You want to know why the other Avixans can’t stand Ensign Ava – there’s your answer. She’s obviously from a different social stratum. Maybe the others are finally rising up.”
“… Listen to what you’re saying. You want a civil war on your ship?”
Harvey stopped.
“Harv, bottom line – we know nothing.” Hunter walked forward, footsteps resounding through the room. “Not a thing. We have no idea what will happen next.”
9
Ava
She’d been confined to her quarters.
The order had come through from the captain.
Nema had even been reassigned to a new room.
No one had explained a thing.
Worse. Hunter, after promising to fix everything – after staring her right in the eye and giving her hope – hadn’t come to see her again.
It had been over 24 hours now.
She’d never felt so alone. Even in the forever-dark tunnels of the Avixan temples, she hadn’t felt this way.
Because now she knew what it felt like to be free.
She sat in the corner of her room, back pressed up against the wall, left arm locked around her knees as she considered her right armlet with a morose expression.
… She shouldn’t have come here.
As another pang of guilt and sorrow crossed through her gut, she moved to push a hand over her eyes.
She stopped.
Her hand tensed, her fingers curling in together tightly and stabbing hard into her palms.
She wasn’t meant to be weak; she was a priestess of Avixa.
She shouldn’t be pressed against the wall in her quarters, dejectedly staring at her hands.
But what could she do?
Try to break out of her room, and she’d be sent to the brig.
All she could do was sit here and wait.
For what, she didn’t know.
…
Lieutenant Hunter McClane
Diplomat Tarka was seconds from arrival.
He stood nervously just outside of the arrival hatch.
He paced, boots practically skidding across the floor as he switched direction and paced the other way once more.
It was a testament to Harvey’s trust in his brother that he’d allow Hunter this important role.
That, or right now Hunter was the only person Harvey could trust with this – the only person who knew just how screwed this Avixan problem had become.
A light above the hatch flashed blue, and a sonorous beep echoed through the corridor.
He found himself gulping, swallowing for air, fighting against his dried and constricted throat.
He stood back just as the door opened.
Out walked an Avixan male.
It was the first Hunter had seen. All the other Avixans of the Coalition were female.
The man was tall, handsome, even by human standards. He had broad shoulders, a muscled chest, and the kind of body that bristled with power.
Unlike Avixan females, he didn’t appear to have any hair. Just a smooth bald skull tattooed with intricate black lines that ran all the way down the back of his neck and disappeared behind his stiff, dark blue collar.
He was wearing a pin affixed on the left breast of his tunic.
He suddenly flattened a hand over it, locked one foot in front of the other, and bowed low.
“It’s good to meet you, Diplomat Tarka,” Hunter began.
“I must correct you. I am not Diplomat Tarka. She could not make it. I am Aide Phar.”
Hunter tried to keep the surprise from his face. “We weren’t informed of this change.”
“No. You weren’t. Because it is irrelevant. Now, where is your captain?”
The man was direct and officious, but he also looked nervous, his moves pressured and quick.
Hunter’s stomach sank. After hearing about the possibility of civil disturbance on Avixa, he’d hoped the intel had been wrong.
Everything with Ava and Meva aside, Hunter knew just how important Avixa was to the Coalition.
Especially now.
It wasn’t just the rebuilder incident several years ago, or the recent Axira incident. It was the general mood of the Milky Way.
It felt as if events were quickening somehow, arcing up, building towards some calamity.
He stifled the thought as soon as it struck him, pushing it away as he offered the aide a low nod. “I will lead you to the captain.”
“Incorrect. You will lead the captain to me.” With that, the aide turned sharply on his barefoot and began walking down the corridor.
Hunter balked, pushing off and jogging up to him. “Sir, I’m here to direct you through the ship.”
“I already know where I’m going.”
“Excuse me?”
“I am only here for one purpose. I will fulfill that and return to my people. We cannot be away at a time like this,” he added in a low, distracted tone.
Hunter kept pace beside the man, even though he walked so quickly and with such a large stride Hunter practically had to jog to keep up. “Where are you going?”
“I believe you know her as Ensign Ava,” the aide replied as he kept marching forward, the stiff flaps of his tunic jerking hard around his legs.
Hunter’s stomach sank as a quick flighty feeling pulsed through his heart. “Ava? Why?”
“I cannot discuss that. However, you will have your captain meet me there.”
“Why?”
“Because Ensign Ava is no longer a member of the Coalition. She will return with me to Avixa.”
Hunter’s heart constricted. “She hasn’t done anything wrong,” he blurted before he knew what he was saying.
Though the aide had been largely ignoring him before, now the man stiffly swung his neck to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Of what do you speak?”
Hunter’s heart quickened, his fingers growing sweaty as he clenched them into fists behind his back.
He should just keep his mouth shut. One wrong word, and he could condemn Ava. Yet he couldn’t just ignore this.
It was so wrong.
… If, indeed, this aide was here to extradite Ava for her so-called crime. Perhaps Harvey was right, and she was just a spy who was being recalled due to the instability on her homeworld.
Hunter had to make a decision – didn’t he?
Who to trust?
His brother - his captain - or an ensign he’d met barely a few days ago.
His body seemed to make his mind up for him as his heart beat harder and harder and his breath became shorter and shorter.
The aide slowed down his frantic pace and arched his neck to the side, locking Hunter in his full attention. “Has Ava shared information with you?”
Hunter recoiled. “No,” he snapped immediately, “it’s nothing like that. I barely know her,” he lied. Or maybe it was true, he couldn’t quite tell. Sure, it had only been a couple of days, but the intensity of their handful of experiences was enough to trick his mind into thinking he’d known her forever. His heart too. “She hasn’t told me anything. I just… assumed from your actions.”
The man held his gaze but said nothing. Then he pushed into a purposeful march once more.
“You can go and get your captain. I have already familiarized myself with the route.”
Hunter ground his teeth together. “With all due respect, sir, no.”
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