Captain Cosette (23 page)

Rasora’s
gold
rings
are
in
my
bag
.

She remembered Rasora’s rings, the ones she helped remove from his ears when his brother died. 
With her layers of knowledge sorted out, she remembered everything.

And
I’ll
die
if
I
stand
here
like
a
fool
.

She clambered into the pilot’s seat, hearing the soldiers outside the maintenance bay firing their weapons at the locked door. 

If
they
don’t
use
the
escape
pods
,
it’s
not
my
responsibility
. 
I
gave
everyone
fair
and
honest
warning
.

You are honorable, the voice whispered.  Do not die the deaths of your enemies when you have offered them life.

She fired up the engines and strapped herself in, conscious that a little over a minute remained before the huge missiles in the cruiser next to them would explode.  She lifted the fighter off the pad and sent the signal that would open the sturdy bay doors.  Warning lights began flashing overhead.

The doors slid open, showing the distant stars through the shimmer of the air shield, the field that prevented
station atmosphere from leaking into space.  Before she could send the signal to allow her fighter to pass through the air shield, the bay doors closed again.

“
Command center is trying to stop you from leaving,” said Dyson.

“
Those idiots!  They should be saving their own lives!”

“
Now what?”

“
We do it the hard way.  Hang on!” 

Normally, ships would gently ease their way out of the maintenance bays using maneuvering thrusters.  This time she was going to blast her way out.  She didn’t
bother looking to see if the soldiers had forced open the entrance to the bay.  If they had, it was their own doom.

She backed the fighter as far away from the bay doors as she could and fired a full-strength EMF pulse from her nose cannon, followed by a pair of tactical missiles.

The EMF pulse fried the electronics of the air shield, and the missiles shattered the doors into fragments.

The bay decompressed, blowing the door fragments out into space.  Cosette made sure there were no pieces of metal in their way and then gunned the fighter’s engines, not caring about the damage to the
walls behind them.  The station would be nothing but debris in sixty seconds anyway. 

They roared out of the bay at full acceleration.

“Yeeeehah!” shouted Dyson.  “That’s the way to do it!”  He checked his screens.  “Okay, I see escape pods all over the place, spreading out.  Looks like a lot of people followed your warning.”

“
Thank goodness some will survive.  There are only seconds until those missiles I armed….”  Their engines died. 

“
What happened?” asked Dyson.

Cosette banged on her controls. 
“They’re using the override again.”

“
They’re going to steer us back to the station?”

She pointed to her screen where the space station was visible. 
“They won’t get the chance.  Watch.”

For a moment the Union space station stood
against the background of stars, a gleaming bastion of military might, a fortress city orbiting proudly around the planet Aquataine.

Then
it blossomed into a flare of fire and fragments as the five blockbuster missiles went off simultaneously, creating an incandescent inferno of destruction.

Cosette regained control of the fighter as the override signal cut off.  She opened the engines to maximum, racing to escape the spinning debris. 
“Why didn’t they escape?” she said.  “Everyone else was leaving the station.”  She clenched her hands to keep them from trembling and to control the sickness in her stomach.  “Why did they stay behind and try to stop us?”

“
They thought you were bluffing,” said Dyson.  “They didn’t believe that you could set off those missiles.  We were prisoners.  The missiles had fail-safes.  I can understand their reasoning.”

“
I can’t.”  She pointed the fighter’s nose towards the planet’s surface and tried to make her body relax.  The battle that had begun in Garale’s room was over.  “The right tactic for them would have been to evacuate.  If it had been a bluff, the station would still be there.  They could have returned.”

“
Military pride.  They didn’t want to look foolish.”

“
Well, now they look…they look…I don’t want to think about it.  I warned them!  If they hadn’t planned on killing those villagers, and those innocent children, I might have found some other way…”

“
You did what you had to,” said Rasora.  “You didn’t start this war.  Why are we going back down to Aquataine?”

Cosette wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. 
“I need to drop off some trash.”  She twisted in her seat so she could see Rasora.  “And
you
!  You dragged me away from home and stuck me in the military!  I didn’t volunteer at all!”

“
Your memory’s back!”  Rasora grinned.  “You also remember that I hung around to take care of you?  Right?”

“
Only after you stripped yourself naked and borrowed my underclothes!”

“
What?” Dyson asked.  He reached back and poked Rasora on the knee. “You wore what?” 

“
I…it was…”  Rasora stuttered and spread his hands.  “It’s too complicated.  It was men’s underclothes, anyway.”

Dyson
nodded.  “Sure it was.”  He turned back to his screens.  “I don’t see any pursuit, and the battleships aren’t in sight.  When those ships do get to where the station used to be, they’ll be picking up escape pods for hours, anyway.  They won’t have time to bother with us.”

“
That was part of the plan.”

“
So,” said Dyson, “what did you mean by ‘Drop off some trash?’”

She gestured with her thumb. 
“Lieutenant Garale.  I couldn’t leave him in the bay to die, but I’m not going to haul him around with us.”

Rasora harrumphed. 
“I say we drop him off here and let him learn to fly.”  Garale pressed fresh tissues against his nose and said nothing.

Cosette chose a continent and plotted her descent. 

“I want to know,” said Dyson, “what made you get your memory back?  And how you managed to get out of your cell, how you got a gun, and what happened to Garale’s face?”

She double-checked their path and leaned back in her seat.  She pressed her palms against her eyes, remembering. 
“Well, nothing would have happened if he hadn’t opened my cell.  You and I would still be prisoners and Rasora would still be washing dishes.”

“
I wasn’t washing dishes,” said Rasora.  “I was cooking.  They believed me when I said I was an innocent bystander.”

Dyson nodded solemnly. 
“Probably those women’s underclothes you were wearing.”

“
I wasn’t wearing any women’s underclothes!”

“
Just ignore him, Rasora.  Anyway, Garale opened my cell, and…”  By the time she recounted how she had managed to free Dyson, they were skimming the treetops.

“
Where are we now?” Dyson asked.  “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“
An uninhabited continent in the northern hemisphere.  Garale will have to build a boat to make it down to the fishing villages.”

“
What?” said Garale, breaking his silence.

Cosette slowed the fighter and settled down near a brook running through a high meadow.  Forested mountains rimmed the clearing, and in the distance the ocean showed as a pale blue mist.

Cosette opened the hatch and looked at Garale.  “Get out.”

“
But…but…”  Garale lost his bravado and began to whine.  “You can’t just drop me off here without weapons!  I’ll die!”

She drew the ion disruptor and aimed it at him. 
“Get out, or I’ll have the men throw you out.”  Garale struggled out of the ship and half-fell onto the meadow, crushing some yellow flowers.  “Throw him a survival pack,” she said to Rasora.  “They’re under the back seats.”  Rasora extracted a small sealed package and tossed it down to the ground. 

Cosette pointed to the pack at Garale’s feet. 
“There’s everything you need to survive, if you use your head.”  She reached up and grabbed the handle of the hatch door.

Garale spread his hands pleadingly towards Cosette, fear glistening on his round face, dried blood on his upper lip. 
“But…but, please…what will I do?  Where will I go?”

“
Frankly, my dear Garale, I don’t give a damn.” 

She slammed the hatch shut and headed the fighter back towards space.

Chapter Sixteen

Cosette eased back on the engines and guided the fighter along the flight path towards the Alliance military base, her emotions torn in two directions.

Yes, she had successfully gone through folded space to the headquarters of the Alliance, where she was about to deliver Major Dyson back to his own military.  He would be free, and she and Rasora would no longer be threatened by the Union, now that they were away from Sorine and Aquataine.

On the other hand, the memories of her family had returned, the memories of her home life with the torment and the whippings.  Though it had been only a few weeks since she had been taken away, it felt like years had passed and that her childhood had happened to someone else.  Had her memories of home been implanted into her brain also? 
Of course not.  Why would anyone put memories of sweat and abuse into her mind?  But her home life felt faded and dim.

Major Dyson, however, was alert and excited after his months of captivity.  He grinned at her often, his eyes twinkling.  She actually blushed at his enthusiastic praise of how she had engineered their escape. 
“Losing that station was a major blow to the Union,” he said, his hands expressive.  “It supported a lot of fighting ships.  We’ve got an opening now, and if we take advantage of it, we might stop the Union’s strategy of taking the minor planets from us.”

Rasora sat in the back, quiet and introspective. 
Cosette knew that the loss of his brother weighed heavily on him.  He had only interrupted his grieving to watch over her, as he had promised her stepfather.

He’s
a
good
man
to
honor
his
promise
,
when
my
stepfather
had
simply
been
faking
his
concern
about
me
. 
Auguste
would
be
happy
if
he
learned
that
I
had
been
killed
in
action
. 
Then
the
family
farm
really
would
be
his
.

Unless
they’re
just
implanted
memories
. 
I
was
probably
a
princess
somewhere
,
and
my
jealous
sister
,
knowing
I
was
more
beautiful
than
she
,
arranged
to
have
me
…

The capital city appeared below them as they descended through the cloud layers, a city that stretched as far as she could see.  She marveled at the high towers, the broad streets, and the green spaces with lakes and trees.  If she were ever to travel to Old Earth, she hoped it would look like this.

When they had come out of folded space, Major Dyson had contacted the military base, identified himself, and requested permission to land.  Now a pair of jet fighters climbed to meet them, escorting them along the flight path over the city. 

“
Welcome home, Major,” radioed one of the pilots.  “The top brass never did come up with a plan to rescue you, so I’m glad you made it out on your own.”

“
I had some help.”  Dyson glanced at Cosette.  She tried desperately not to blush, and concentrated on maintaining an even course.  “I’ve got some new recruits for the Alliance with me.  I hope you’ll have rooms, hot showers and a good meal ready when we land.”

“
Already set up.  VIP treatment.”  The pilot brought his jet closer.  “You’ve got scrapes on your front armor there.  Did you see some action?”

“
Collateral damage, nothing head-to-head.  I do have some stories to tell, though.”

“
We’ll spring for the drinks.  Wait a minute, scratch that.  You’re an officer and you’ve got back pay coming.  You can spring for the drinks.  We’ll listen.”

Dyson laughed. 
“Done.  See you on the ground.”

The pilot saluted, and the two jets peeled away.  Cosette banked the fighter into the flight path leading to the military landing field.

Dyson twisted in his seat so that he faced Cosette.  “You really ought to stay here, you know.  There’s paperwork and swearing-in to do, but after that there would be lots of work for you.  We can use all that knowledge in your head.”

“
Thank you.”  She hesitated.  “But I need to go back to Sorine, if I can.  It’s hard to explain, but I feel like I’m only partly here.”  She looked at him, which was a mistake, because his pale blue eyes distracted her.  “I…I don’t think there are any more unsettled layers from the teaching machine left in my brain, but somehow it feels like my personal memories aren’t my own either.”  She looked back to her navigation screen.  “I need, I know it sounds silly, but I need to reaffirm who I am.  I need to go home before I can decide what to do with myself.”

“
I think I understand.  I’ll see what I can do to arrange it, once we get settled.”

“
Will you be happy to see your family again?”  She watched his reaction out of the corner of her eye.

He shrugged. 
“I don’t have a family.”

She had to know, so she dared to ask one further question. 
“Your wife, then?”

He smiled without humor. 
“I don’t have a wife, I don’t have a girlfriend.  What I do…”  He rubbed his jaw.  “What I do is dangerous.  I’ve had some lady friends, but I’ve never felt that I could ask a woman to pair up with me and….remember, I just spent half a year in prison, and if it weren’t for you I’d still be there.  And I’ll probably head right back into the thick of things, like a madman.  Maybe when I get older, if I get older, I’ll find someone to settle down with, but I’m still young and irresponsible.  It just wouldn’t be fair.”

She nodded. 

Rasora
,
who
owns
nothing
,
will
go
wherever
his
new
life
takes
him
. 
And
Major
Dyson
will
go
back
to
spying
and
things
.

But
what
will
I
do
? 

If her memories were true, home offered nothing for her.  She couldn’t possibly resume pruning vines and harvesting fruit, not after everything that had happened to her. 

Maybe after the Alliance reviewed what was in her brain, she could get a job assembling field rifles. 

I’ll
grow
old
and
wrinkled
,
making
rifles
and
repairing
ships
,
and
men
will
pass
by
and
never
know
the
love
that
they
missed
. 

She almost managed to make her eyes shiny before she gave up that line of thought.  She had read too many Renée Chevalier novels.  Besides, the military base was drawing near.

She lifted the nose of the fighter, and slowed until they hovered over the field near the enormous hangar.  A flashing light sunk level with the pavement guided her in, and she lowered the landing gear and settled the fighter down precisely on the spot.

Look
what
I
just
did
. 
A
few
weeks
ago
I
could
only
operate
a
cooking
stove
,
and
now
I
can
fly
this
lovely
machine
. 
I
could
be
a
pilot
.

I
am
a
pilot
.

She ran her fingers over the panels of the fighter in a caress, powering it down and unlocking the hatch.

Major Dyson climbed out and offered her his hand.  “Welcome to the Alliance, Captain Cosette.”

She took his hand – it felt warm – and climbed down, followed by Rasora.  Only when her feet landed on the pavement did she become aware that vehicles were closing in on all sides.  Men and women piled out and suddenly she was in the midst of a crowd of cheering soldiers who
were pounding Major Dyson on the back and shaking his hand.  People shook her hand also, but it was obvious that they had no idea who she was.  Major Dyson kept hold of her arm to make sure they weren’t separated as they were bustled along to an open van.

A deep voice whispered in her head that b
rave and patriotic men are better than gold.

I
know
. 

They climbed in, and the van whined its way towards a large administrative building. 
“I didn’t know you were so popular,” Cosette shouted over the noise.

Dyson shook his head. 
“It’s not me.  Getting prisoners back, having a victory, it doesn’t happen often.  Just enjoy it while it lasts.”

But
it
is
you
. 
Even
without
that
yellow
prison
outfit
,
you
would
stand
out
in
the
crowd
,
and
everyone
is
looking
at
you
,
not
me
.

Except
for
a
few
of
the
women
. 
They
were
checking
me
out
. 
Tongues
are
probably
wagging
already
.

Let
them
wag
. 
If
I
can’t
have
him
,
at
least
I’ll
take
the
rumors
.

Then she shook her head.  She really was being ridiculous.  He was a war hero, and she was just a recruit from a fruit farm, and she needed to start being sensible.

*

“
There you go,” said the barber.  “How’s that?”

Cosette turned her head to each side, looking at her blonde hair in the mirror.  The barber had shampooed and professionally trimmed her hair, and then conditioned and curled it to enhance its natural waviness.  She was pleased – she remembered cutting her own hair with scissors, and looking in a faded mirror as she tried to comb it into a semblance of order. 

She was actually pretty. 

“
Very nice!  Thank you.”  She stepped out of the barber’s chair and patted her new uniform, turning sideways to see her profile.  The neat dark pants and the khaki shirt were of excellent fabric, much better quality than the Union dress uniform she had been given.  A touch of silver trim gave it a military air, and the Captain’s insignia was not only on her shirt pocket but on the silver buttons of her open collar.  Shiny work shoes and a black web belt completed the outfit.

After a whirlwind of greetings the night before, a sumptuous feast, and a quick debriefing, she had been led to her temporary quarters and allowed to shower and sleep.  The next morning she had been sworn in, had her personal history recorded – what there was of it – and then been given a set of instantly tailored uniforms to replace her yellow prison outfit.  At the insistence of Major Dyson, she was assigned the rank of Captain because she was already a combat veteran and an experienced pilot.