Jack of Harts 2.5: Wolfenheim Rising (16 page)

A shiver ran down Malcolm’s spine, and he turned to Dawn in a wordless question.  She cocked her head to the side, signaling that she was running through her databases.  Finally she shrugged, obviously coming up blank.  “I don’t know,” Malcolm returned to Olivia.

“Right,” the captain returned with a sigh.  “If it’s one thing you two didn’t break into, you had to choose the military personnel databases.”

Malcolm opened his mouth to protest that it wasn’t the only thing they’d declined to break into, but stopped at a warning look from Dawn.  She was right.  It wouldn’t help him at the moment.

The byplay was not lost on Olivia though, and she looked back and forth between the two like they were guilty children.  “Do you have a picture of her?” she finally asked.

Malcolm nodded towards Dawn and she smiled.  One of Dana’s holos from his high school yearbook hovered into being in the air, and Olivia’s eyes narrowed.

“Damn it,” she swore and shook her head.  After a few seconds, she let out a long breath and gave him a look that demanded an answer.  “What happened between you two?”

“I don’t know,” Malcolm repeated with complete sincerity.  “I would tell you if I did, but I just don’t remember,” he finished with a shrug.

Olivia pursed her lips, her eyes boring into his again.  After several seconds, she sucked in a long breath and nodded firmly.  “Well, I think we can assume that she
does
remember.  Now she’s an admiral, and I’ll give you one guess who sent her sister on this little mission,” she finished in a pointed tone.

Malcolm shook his head, wondering if she was right.  No, she probably
was
right.  This wasn’t just about money.  It was personal, and this fleet was in danger now because of that.  “I’m sorry.”  It was all he could think to say to her.

Olivia nodded in acceptance.  “I’ll release all the information I have on them to you.  You study up on everything you have on her family.  And you get ready to talk your way out of her gun sights the next time we meet, because we
will
meet again.”

Malcolm licked his lips in worry.  “And if I can’t?”

Olivia’s jaw set, and he saw the starship captain in her staring at the displays.  “I don’t want to fight anyone with the courage to charge a Shang task force like that.”  She met his gaze, her eyes pleading.  “Please talk yourself out of her gun sights again.”

Malcolm felt a lump in his throat and cleared it.  “I’ll do my best,” he promised.

“Thank you,” she whispered, leaned back against the bulkhead again, and watched the bridge flow around them.  Her shoulders shifted with her new attention, and he smiled at the sight of his senior captain surveying the world she commanded.  A minute later, her shoulders shifted again and she leaned in close to him.  “You know, a part of me always thought you were doing this because you like to thumb your nose at authority.”

Malcolm shrugged and gave her a jaunty smile, doing his best to lighten the mood.  “Well, maybe I do.”

Olivia eyed him carefully.  “Do you truly believe what you told her about this mission?  About the aliens?  Are we just some…random colony?  Or is this really something bigger to you?”

He met her gaze, wondering what she would think.  Would she think him crazy if he admitted the truth?  Would she agree with him?  The uncertainty warred within him for what felt like an eternity, as he considered how to answer.  He could crack a joke about things said in the heat of the moment.  He could say that no mere colony mission could ever meet such grand ideals.  He was the guy that found the little things people wanted.  A random colony in the far reaches of space was the best he could expect.  But Charles wanted something more.  Malcolm did too, and she deserved to know that.  He smiled and met her gaze.  “I told her the God’s honest truth.  Scout’s honor.”

Olivia turned back to her displays.  “Good,” she said with a smile.  “I can live with that.”

Malcolm let out a long, relieved breath and remained next to Olivia as
Normandy
and her charges accelerated away from Bosphorus.  The lights of the Pleiades Cluster filled the sky ahead of them, pulsing with the promise of new vistas.  New stars.  New worlds, far beyond The War that waged throughout the stars they’d left behind.  Malcolm licked his lips, wondering if he truly had what it took to lead everyone into the unknown like that.

He glanced over at Dawn to see her smiling at him.  The cyber gave him a knowing look followed by the slightest of nods.

Malcolm pulled in a long breath, reassured by that small motion, and glanced at Olivia again.  He’d found good people for this mission.  Olivia turned a questioning look at him, and he answered with a simple nod.  He had no doubt in her ability to keep them moving.  She seemed to read that faith in his action and turned back to the Pleiades Cluster, her shoulders set.

In that moment, Malcolm McDonnell, scion of an ancient and powerful family, realized that this place was the one place he wanted to be.  Earth was no longer his home.  New Earth never had been, but for a time he’d thought it could be.  Now he knew he’d been wrong.  This was his home. 
Normandy
.  The Wolfenheim Project.  He belonged here.

He was still standing there when the mass of colorful stars making up the Pleiades Cluster disappeared.  A moment later, hyperspace surrounded the fleet, churned into a giant whirlpool of energy by the sucking gravities of over one thousand stars.  A river of energy flowed into the maelstrom from the giant star behind them, and the fleet began to slide down into the rabbit hole it represented.  They had a very important date on the other side of the Pleiades Cluster, and he could not wait to get there.

Malcolm smiled.