The Glorious Becoming (26 page)

After hesitating, Svetlana asked, “Is something going on with you and Esther?”

The moment she brought up Esther’s name, Scott’s body tensed. “What do you mean?”

“Last night you called her to your room, then she was not in Room 14 this morning. You left to find her, and neither of you came back. I commed you, but you didn’t answer. You
never
do that.”

He rubbed his forehead. “Sveta...”

“Please, Scott,” she said, eyes beginning to brim, “are you sleeping with her?”

The urge to push her away finally won, as he forcefully put her at arm’s length. “Oh my
God
. Are you serious? Did you seriously just ask me that?”

“Scott, I—”

He cut her off coldly. “No, I’m not
sleeping
with Esther. I’m not having
sex
with Esther. Are you
serious
?”

Swallowing, she said, “I am sorry, I just—”

“Are you that freaking paranoid? The moment I’m not at your beck and call, you think I’m
sleeping
with Esther?”

“Scott—!”

It was all coming out now. “I’m so sick of this you-versus-her
crap
. Backbiting each other, hating each other, freaking pieing each other. I never know what it’s going to be, Sveta. It’s like a daily surprise!”

Raising a finger, she said, “Just for the record, Esther never pied me.”

“You
see
?” And that did it. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You two keep score about everything! Who saves aliens, who kills them, who gets shower pranked, who doesn’t, who gets porridge, who got a pie. Who gives a
scat
, Sveta?” He was going off. He couldn’t help it. “You know what I wish you’d do? I wish you’d go to the cafeteria, find the biggest pie you can, and just ask someone to plaster you with it. Then at least in one
vecking
thing, neither of you would have one up on the other. Hell, I’d do the honors myself. It’d be a freakin’ relief!”

Closing her eyes, she pushed up her hair. “Scott...”

“I just want peace. I want
one
day of peace.” He motioned his arms emphatically. “We can’t go one season without life-altering drama!”

She shook her fists in desperation. “Life-altering drama?
What
lifealtering drama?”

Scott bit his lip as he forced himself to look away. He was almost too amped up to think.
Tell her what’s going on. Tell her what happened with Esther. At least give her some context to all this.
“Last night I found out that Esther killed Nijinsky. And that he was the one who murdered Nicole. That’s why I called her to my room.”

Svetlana’s face fell.

“I called her to confront her about it. When I asked her why she did it, she told me it was because she loved me. Because she
loved
me! And I had to tell her that I didn’t love her back.” That single conversation had spawned all of this. He couldn’t help but wonder how things would have gone had he reacted to Esther’s confession better. “At the end of our conversation, she said she was ready to leave the unit if I didn’t want her anymore. That’s why she wasn’t there this morning.” With an intense, yet controlled motion, he pointed at his door. “And this morning, I had to track down that girl I rejected and ask her for her help in
Cairo
. She didn’t respond well.”

Exhaling softly, Svetlana touched his arm. “Oh, Scott.”

“After this mission, I’m going to lose my Type-2 scout. I’m going to lose a comrade, a friend, who’s been with me since I lost Nicole. All because she loved me.” He was settling down. His voice was desperate, yet normal. “So please excuse me if I seem a little stressed. I’ve had a lot put on my shoulders in the past twenty-four hours. I’m looking for a reason to smile, I’m looking for something to feel good about, something to distract me if even for a minute. But there’s nothing, Sveta. I am under so much pressure right now, I’m about to snap. I just want this mission done.”

His comm chirped. Pausing his monologue, he retrieved it from his desktop. It was from the Citadel. Glancing at Svetlana apologetically, he took the call. “This is Remington.”

“Hello Remington. This is Antipov. I would like to meet with you and your team tonight. This is a critical mission—there is much to discuss. Will you be available?”

How he wished he could answer with a
no
. “Yeah. We can meet tonight.”

“I will meet you at your quarters at 2100 hours. Have a good rest of your day.”

“Will do,” Scott answered tiredly. The comm channel closed. Sighing heavily, he tossed the device on his bed.

Touching him again, Svetlana spoke softly. Her eyes were still red, but no moisture was there. “I am sorry about Esther. I am sorry that she—”

Even though she stopped, he knew what she wanted to say. She was sorry Esther did this to him.

“I am sorry that you are losing her.”

Nice save, Sveta.

“What can I do?” she asked. “Please, tell me something. I cannot just watch you like this.”

“I don’t know what you can do. I’m just being honest. I think today’s beyond repair.” He could see the hurt in her. She was hurting for him.
She’s trying for you, Scott. She’s trying to be your friend.
“Look. I’m sorry—I am. I need to be alone today. I’m just dealing with too much. I need to reconcile it by myself. Why don’t...” He held his tongue briefly. “My flight leaves tomorrow at 0715. Why don’t you come by before I go? Just to visit. Just...just to tell me goodbye.” This mission was as much about Svetlana to him as any conspiracy. Maybe more so. Esther had changed the way he perceived her, but that didn’t change who she was. She was still in his heart. “It’d be good to see you.”

For several seconds, Svetlana simply looked at him—those blue eyes of hers searched his for something. He couldn’t tell if she’d found it or not. Finally, she nodded. “I will come at 0630. Is that okay?”

“Yes. 0630’s fine.”

She nodded again.

Reaching forward, he put his arms around her and drew her in for a hug. It felt like the right thing to do.

“I care for you so much,” she whispered, her head against his chest. “So much it hurts sometimes. I am sorry that I get so jealous.”

She was about to tell him she loved him. He just sensed it. Svetlana’s lips remained parted, as if the three words were teetering on the edge of her tongue. She breathed in and out deeply. Her lips slowly closed.

Silence. The three words never came. Scott wasn’t sure if he felt disappointed or that he’d just dodged a bullet. Maybe he felt both.

I don’t know anything anymore, God. But I don’t want to be alone, even though I told Sveta otherwise. I have messed up with You so many times. Please let me know what you want me to do. Please make it clear.

As was often the case, Scott received no answer, only the intangible inclination that at some point, he’d know what to do. That was all he could bank on.

For several minutes, Scott and Svetlana simply held each other. No words were spoken between them—none needed to be. For the first time that day, Esther was gone from his mind.

And so was Nicole.

15

TUESDAY, MARCH 13
^TH
, 0012 NE

2056 HOURS

D
ESPITE THE OBVIOUS
importance of going into the
Cairo
mission prepared, Scott accomplished very little of tangible substance in the hours that passed from the afternoon to his scheduled meeting with Antipov, beyond packing his duffle bag and tidying his quarters for the meeting. His mindset was that any amount of planning he did himself would be dwarfed by whatever Antipov would come up with. Antipov wasn’t just an eidolon, he was
the
eidola. That Scott even knew who he was was a privilege.

Auric and Boris had arrived in Scott’s room together, ten minutes before meeting time. Few words were exchanged between the three men as they waited for Antipov. On a judgment call, and with Esther not yet present, Scott decided to let Auric and Boris in on the events of the previous night, if for nothing else, for situational awareness. They needed to know that things weren’t well between Scott and her. This wasn’t a mission suited for being caught off guard with anything.

With that in mind, he also informed them about the threat against Svetlana’s life, contingent on the success of the mission. The brief explanation went a long way in revealing to them why this mission was so important to Scott as well as why he was in an admittedly short mood.

It was abundantly clear to Scott that no one in this mission was going into it for the right reason, which was to uncover a possible EDEN Command conspiracy with the Ceratopians. For them, this was about Svetlana. Scott almost regretted following the conspiracy rabbit trail at all. Perhaps that wasn’t the right mentality considering a conspiracy would be a huge revelation for the whole human species, but ignorance had a way of being bliss.

It was 2059 when a new knock finally came to his door.
About time
, Scott thought. Rising from the table, he walked across his room and opened the door.
That had better be—

The moment Scott saw the woman standing in the hallway, he froze.
Who the?
She was mocha-skinned, but dressed in a tan, single-breasted, two-button cashmere suit. Dark brown and eyeliner-traced eyes gazed at him through a pair of thin-framed rectangular glasses, as she angled her head just enough to make her inverted bob to glide gracefully along her chin line. Tapping polished maroon nails and licking freshly glossed lips, she said in all-too-familiar British, “Well, captain, can I come in?”

Oh my God. This is Esther!

Her eyes, her hair. Her entire appearance. It was like staring at another person. She looked...stunning. Stepping aside and still slack-jawed, Scott allowed Esther to enter. As soon as Auric and Boris caught sight of her, they stood up as if welcoming in a foreign diplomat. Then they blinked, too.

Before Scott could find any words, Antipov emerged from around the corner into the open doorway. The scruffy-haired eidolon nodded casually. “Good evening, Captain Remington. Allow me to introduce the newest member of your team: Miss Calliope Lee.”

“Calliope Lee?”

Antipov walked inside, motioning for Scott to close the door. “It is a necessary alias. The many variants of Miss Brooking’s real name would undoubtedly be traced. For this mission, we require something original.”

“Why does she look like that?” Scott asked, ogling the scout as she sat cross-legged.

Placing a manila envelope on Scott’s table, Antipov answered, “When I learned that you had indeed selected Brooking for this operation, I sought her out and drove her to the city. As your primary infiltrating agent, it will be important that she look the part of someone who would naturally appear in
Cairo
’s Xenobiology lab.” He crossed his arms. “Let us talk. Please, sit.”

The way Antipov spoke, it was as if Scott was a guest in
his
room. In a way, that might have been true. The eidola ran The Machine. As Scott took a seat with his three comrades, Antipov paced around them. “On the table before you, you will find dossiers for three individuals you will encounter in
Cairo
: Captain Rockwell, Lieutenant Marshall, and Giro Holmes, chief of Xenobiology. Please, take a look and pass the dossiers around.”

Scott’s focus went to the envelope before him. Captain Rockwell. Scott had been wondering who the man was whose unit he was about to violate. Turning the manila envelope upside down, he slid the dossier out, inspecting the topmost individual’s photo attachment.

It was a woman. Chestnut hair, emerald eyes, looked in her latetwenties. Her expression was stern, no-nonsense. Like the CEO of a corporation.

Rockwell, Natalie Christine

Natalie?
This was Captain Rockwell? He hadn’t expected a woman, though for no particular reason other than past experience with COs—Tanneken Brunner the only exception that came to mind. He skimmed down the rest of the page.

Enrollment: 12.1.0008

Station: Atlanta

Scott lowered the paper and stared ahead. A three-year veteran, flying in from
Atlanta
, for a command opportunity in
Cairo
. This had to be her first stab at captainship—her records didn’t even have
Cairo
listed. He skimmed on.

...unrivaled dedication...strong sense of justice...leadership potential...

He read enough to get the gist. She was the military ideal. She’d probably worked her tail off for this opportunity. Holding out Rockwell’s dossier, he handed it to Boris at his right.

“Yomayo!”
Boris exclaimed as he saw the captain’s picture. “She is like goddess!”

Esther snatched the picture away. Inspecting it for a moment, she handed it back. “She’s a regular Venus,” she said flatly.

“Can I keep this?” Boris asked.

“Boris, pass the dumb thing around,” said Scott.

Antipov cleared his throat. “Here is what you need to know about Captain Rockwell. She is an American, formerly a commander in
Atlanta
. This is her first opportunity to be the captain of a unit.” Nodding to the document, he said, “As you can see, she has excellent marks for an officer. To be presented with an opportunity for captainship in three years is impressive.” Briefly, he settled on Scott. “Not everyone leapfrogs the chain of command.”

There was no malice in the way Antipov said it. It was just an observable fact. That Scott had flown up to captain in under a year was not only remarkable, it was brazenly unfair. Such was life under the rule of General Thoor.
I guess it doesn’t matter, since EDEN thinks I’m a lieutenant anyway.

“Rockwell will be your primary focus,” Antipov said, looking at Scott. “Your presence as overseer is necessary in
Cairo
for this operation to succeed. Just the same, you must treat your transfer to the Caracals, her unit, as legitimate.” He propped his hands against the table. “The Caracals are a newly-formed unit. Work with the captain. Help her train her personnel. But all the while, maintain contact with ‘Calliope’ as she draws nearer to H`laar. When the time comes to remove H`laar from
Cairo
, you will guide her in his extraction. She is the primary resource in this operation, but the success of the operation itself is your responsibility.”