Transmission Lost (77 page)

******

“Shit,” Jack hissed. He flinched away from the sting of the antiseptic spray.

“Sorry.” Lieutenant Ayalis replaced the spray back in the medical kit on the ground. She reached for an electric wound sealer and began tracing them over the small cuts and burns on Jack's arms.

Jack looked around the gardens. Once the fighting around the palace had ceased, they had become a makeshift triage area for soldiers injured during the battle. Human, Nuretan, and Ailian medics were moving among the flowering bushes and tress, tending to people lying on stretchers, stone benches, and the grass. People were still being brought out of the palace on stretchers, a lot of them servants who had been caught in the crossfire.

Every few seconds, Jack looked over to make sure Brooke was still doing okay. One of the UN medics was looking after her a few feet away from him. She hadn't been injured by gunfire, but the slave girl had been bruised after a few falls inside. She looked overwhelmed by the amount of activity that was going on around her, but she still looked relieved that it was all over.

“Got another coming out!”

He turned his head to see a group of UN Navy corpsmen emerge from the palace, carrying someone on a stretcher. As they approached, he could see that it was a black-furred Ailian wearing the uniform of a Royal Guard. One of the nearest clear spaces was next to Jack, and they made for it. When the stretcher was set down on the ground, he immediately shot to his feet.

“Aria? Aria!”

Lieutenant Ayalis tried to make him sit down again, but he pulled away from her and went over to the stretcher's side. Aria was lying limp on its surface, and she looked like absolute hell. Blood stained her uniform all over and was matting her fur, and she was breathing shallowly and slowly. The left side of her face was almost unrecognizable, but he knew it was her.

Jack pushed one of the corpsmen aside and put a hand on Aria's shoulder. “Aria?”

Several seconds passed, but eventually her right eye opened. The yellow-gold orb took a moment to focus, but when she saw him her hand came up and grabbed the front of his shirt. “Jack...,” she managed to say, her voice a low, strained rumble. She tugged him weakly down, her other arm coming around his back as she hugged him to her blood-soaked breast. “You safe...” He could hear the relief in his voice, but also the pain.

“I knew you were coming for me,” Jack said. He straightened up and looked her over again, as he let one of the corpsmen back him off a bit. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Mother...,” Aria croaked. She coughed, a little blood coming up as she did so. She winced slightly as the corpsmen began cutting off her uniform. “Find her. Fight her. Kill her.” Her tail was hanging limp over the side of the stretcher. Jack couldn't remember seeing her this bad, not since the fight she'd had with the pack of wild beasts soon after they'd first met.

“How bad is it?” Jack asked one of the corpsmen.

The medic looked at Aria, and he shook his head, shrugging. “I don't know Ailian physiology all that well,” he admitted. “But just looking at her...Massive blood loss, a few broken ribs...probably some more broken bones. That eye is probably beyond saving. She's going to need some serious surgery in a real hospital, nothing like what a field hospital can give her. Her people are probably going to need to medevac her after we get her stabilized.”

“Fuck, Aria...,” Jack groaned. He held onto her hand as the medics began to work. Brooke was looking on curiously. She had met Aria before, of course, though they'd never really spoken at any length, but she was familiar with her from her time at the governess' residence on Arbaros. “You'll be okay...You're gonna be okay...”

He looked up at the sounds of clattering equipment. A squad of four Royal Guards was moving their way, and they were escorting two familiar faces. Li'ren, the Empress, was walking side-by-side with Sami, moving around the garden and observing the work of the medics. Jack was a little surprised that she would still be here, but with all the friendly soldiers around she was probably as safe as she had been in days. She was accompanied by a human military officer that Jack hadn't seen up to now.

When she saw Jack and Aria, Sami's eyes went wide and she rushed ahead of the group. The younger Ailian knelt next to Aria's stretcher, looking down at her elder sister with extreme worry on her face. She was clearly distraught, tears welling up in her eyes as she saw how badly her sister was injured. Li'ren came over as well, putting a comforting hand on Sami's shoulder.

“Jack,” Li'ren said, looking down at him. “I am glad to see you made it through this.” She glanced over to where Brooke was seated, and her muzzle widened in a smile. “Little one, you are alive as well...Thank the goddess for that.”

Brooke bowed her head, looking down at the grass. “M'lady.”

Li'ren looked back to where Aria lay, and she squeezed Sami's shoulder. The younger girl's hand came up and laid over hers, her head leaning over and her cheek rubbing against where their hands were joined. “Captain Me'lia's injuries appear very grave, indeed,” she said solemnly. “She has proven herself to be ever the strong fighter, though. I have confidence that she will recover. I do not wish to award more medals posthumously than I must.”

The human officer that was with Li'ren came over to Jack and extended his hand. “You're Jack Squier, right?” he asked. Jack blinked, nodding as he took the officer's hand. “I'm Lieutenant Commander Carswell, SEALs. Empress Amani has been telling me about you and Captain Me'lia here. Interesting story you two have. If you had stuck with the Navy longer than you had, I think you would have done well with us.” He grinned at Jack. “I hear that you did well for yourself in there, anyway.”

“Well as I could, I guess,” Jack allowed. He didn't want to take his eyes off of Aria for longer than he had to. The corpsmen had her uniform cut off to expose her injured areas, and they were checking her over more thoroughly now.

“I have been speaking with the commander,” Li'ren said. “I think that there is great promise for a continuing alliance between the Ascendancy and the United Nations. This is not the end of the war, after all, and the rebels continue to hold large quantities of human and Ailian space.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. He wasn't paying much attention to what Li'ren was saying, preferring to listen to what the medics were saying as they worked to stabilize Aria. “I bet.”

Li'ren didn't seem bothered by it, in fact she seemed to smile as she saw the way that Jack was concerned over Aria. “The first step towards solidifying that alliance will be taking place very soon, in fact. I have requested, and the UN fleet commander has agreed, to begin evacuating humans previously held in slavery on Lirna.”

“What?” This came from Brooke, blurted out before the girl could realize that she was interrupting. Her eyes were wide, and she had stood up without seeming to know it.

“I keep my promises,” Li'ren said firmly. “The UN upheld their side of the bargain, and I must uphold mine. All slaves will be freed, and any humans who wish to leave the Ascendancy will be repatriated.” She met Brooke's eyes. “Starting with you, child.”

Brooke's jaw dropped. “M'lady?”

“You have been a faithful servant ever since Kri'a took you in,” Li'ren told her, smiling warmly at the girl. “Commander Carswell will be leaving with his wounded men in a few hours, returning them to Cerelis for more expert medical treatment, and he has agreed to take the human servants from the palace with him. If you wish to accompany them, you are more than welcome.”

The dark-haired, dark-skinned young girl looked dumbfounded, terrified, and excited all at the same time. For all of her life that she could remember, she had been a slave, and now she was being given the opportunity to leave that life behind and return to be with her own people, to be free. “M'lady...,” she said, her voice wavering. “Th-Thank you...I want to go.” She looked down at the grass, and then she looked up again, staring Li'ren right in the eyes. “Thank you. For treating me like I was a person, and not someone's property. I won't miss Lirna, but...thank you...”

Li'ren smiled at her. Next to her, on the stretcher, there was a lull in the activity of the corpsmen, and in that lull Aria stirred and spoke again.

“Jack...,” she said, her voice a little stronger but still faint. “You go, too...”

For a minute, he wasn't sure that he had heard her correctly. Jack tilted his head to the side. “Say again, Aria?”

“You go...to Cerelis,” Aria said. She tried to sit up, but one of the corpsmen eased her back down, keeping her flat on the stretcher. She bared her teeth and tried, but failed, to growl at him. “Not stay here. Go back...to you people.”

“What?” Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked between the human officer, Li'ren, and Aria, shaking his head. “No, no, I'm staying with you, Aria. I'm not going anywhere. I love you. I'm not leaving.”

“Please.” Aria swallowed, gathering all of the strength that she needed to talk. Jack could see a tear make its way down her cheek. “Not want to. But with me...not safe. Is war. Mother have many allies. Many friends. All angry now, want revenge. Will try kill me...Kill you, too.” She blinked her good eye, and another tear fell. “Much safer for you...if not with me. Please.” She squeezed his hand. “Want you here...But want you safe more...”

Jack could think of a million things he could have said and done. He could have been angry, could have yelled at Aria. He could have screamed that it wasn't fair, to go through everything they had been through together and then be torn apart again. He could have gotten up and walked away from her without saying a word, could have killed her with his silence. He could have asked the Empress to interfere and talk sense into Aria.

But he realized she was right. As long as the rebels were still out there, there would be people who wanted revenge for the death of their leader. Aria had said it herself to him, many times. Ailians had long memories, and an insult or slight against their honor was not easily forgotten. They'd come for Aria, he was sure, and as long as he was around for her to worry about, that would be that much more attention she'd not have to devote to doing her job, keeping herself safe, and fighting this war. So not only was it safer for him to do what she asked of him, it was safer for her as well. As much as he didn't want to say it, that was the truth.

“Alright...,” he said, barely able to hold down the sob that wanted to escape his throat. “I'll go...I'll go back with them.” He rubbed the back of his arm across his eyes, wiping away the tears that were clouding his vision. “I love you, Aria.”

She pulled him back down again, kissing him passionately. He accepted it, blood and tears and all, without hesitation.
“Se le ch'aa ara,”
she whispered to him as the kiss broke. “I never forget...”

******

Back on a UN transport ship, moving steadily away from Lirna, Jack stood near a window in one of the galleys. He was looking back at the planet, leaning against the thick glass panel with his forehead resting against his, staring at the sandy tan orb with unblinking eyes. Lirna was slowly shrinking as the ship moved away from its gravity well, prepping to make the jump to hyperspace and begin the journey to human space. He knew it was too late to go back, but he at least wanted to look at the planet until it disappeared from view.

“Coffee?”

Jack didn't turn, but he recognized the voice of Commander Carswell. “No thanks.”

“You really didn't want to leave,” the SEAL commander said. He made it an observation rather than a question, but Jack responded to him anyway.

“I didn't,” he said. He brushed a hand back through his blonde hair. For the first time in a few days, he realized how exhausted he was, but he knew he wouldn't sleep well tonight or any night for a long time.

“That Brooke girl is settling in well,” Carswell told him. “Thought you'd wanna know. She asked about you. I told her I'd come look for you. I think she'd appreciate having someone she's used to being around, once we reach Cerelis. Lots of records from the old colony worlds were destroyed by the Ascendancy, in the early days of the war. I went ahead and transmitted the request to see if any of her family can be tracked down, but...not much hope of that, I think.”

“Probably not,” Jack agreed. “I'll think about it.”

Carswell slapped him on the shoulder. “Might wanna find someplace to sit down,” he told Jack. “Going to hyperspace before too much longer. Be good to get home.”

“Not home for me,” Jack murmured as the officer walked away. He felt like there was a fist around his heart, constricting it and making his whole chest feel tight. “My home is down there, millions of miles away from where I was born.”

When he would be able to return home, he didn't know. Not for a long time, he was sure. But he had faith. One day, he knew, he would be able to come back. And she would be waiting there for him.

Epilogue

- Signal Received -

“It really is an incredible story, Mr. Squier. What do you say to some of the people who question the authenticity of the details, or those who might say you've betrayed your species?”

Jack shifted in the chair he was seated in, the harsh glare of the stage lights making him slightly uncomfortable. This wasn't his first time in front of a camera, but it was his first time being in front of an audience as large as this one. He knew that this interview was going live across all of human space, and it was probably being picked up and rebroadcast on a delay in parts of the Ascendancy and the Nuretan Empire as well. He resisted the urge to wipe at the fine sheen of sweat that had to be gathering on his forehead on the hot stage. He had thought that he might get asked questions like what the reporter had just put to him, so he did have some answers ready.

“Well, David, I know a lot of the story seems incredible,” he began. “I mean, most of the people who will be watching this can remember the beginning of the war. I definitely can. To some people, it might seem unbelievable that a human and an Ailian can become friends, let alone go through some of the stuff that I experienced.” Jack brushed a hand back through his sandy blonde hair, and he tried not to scratch his face. The caked-on makeup the network staffer had pasted on him for the cameras was really starting to itch. “But it all happened just the way I've said it, and somewhere out there is the paperwork to prove it. I'm sure it's all classified, but hey, it's written down in some Ascendancy database somewhere.

“As far as the second thing goes? You're gonna bleep this out, but fuck those guys. I can see where they're coming from, yeah. I used to be like them. Hell, I think we all were at some point, and sure, we had good reason to think that way. Nobody is arguing that first contact was handled well, on either side.” Jack leaned forward in his seat. “But for the most part, we're all alike, you know? There are terrible humans out there, too. We've seen that these past few years, with some folks that I think we can truly call traitors. But I think the good should outweigh the bad. Our differences are cultural, not moral. As humans, we see slavery as inherently bad, but there was a time on Earth when it was all the rage. That's changing in the Ascendancy, now. Think about that. They're setting aside something that's been a part of their culture for thousands of years because they see the value in letting it go. I think that, as humans, we can set aside a fifteen-year grudge to get something good out of it.” He sat back again, crossing his legs. “So, no, I think if anyone is betraying our race, it's those people who refuse to see reason and acknowledge past errors.”

“So you think our similarities with Ailians should be enough to cancel out the early days of the war? Thousands of colonists were killed or enslaved in those first border conflicts, after all, before we even were sure of what was out there.”

Jack shook his head. “Don't get me wrong. Nothing will ever cancel out the hurt and pain that was experienced when this all started. But again, let's think about what's happened more recently.” He laid a hand out with his palm open as he continued. “We've all been in the same boat. Both of our peoples were attacked from within. We both lost our homeworlds. Okay, yes, Lirna was under rebel control for barely more than a month, and we've only just now been able to retake Earth, but we still have a shared experience. It was shared experience that let me move past my own misgivings and prejudice. I think a lot of humans see it the same way, now. That's what we should get out of this, and it's the best right that can come of so much wrong. Especially when you consider that the whole rebellion was ultimately a proxy war on the part of the Pteryd.” He let himself smile again. “We can't make the pain go away forever, but I think we can, all together, turn it into something productive.”

“I see,” the interviewer said. “Well, you do have a unique perspective on things, certainly. And certainly you've been an outspoken supporter of the alliance since your return to human space. One question that I'm sure is on our viewers' minds right now: The Ailian you spent so much time with during your time in the Ascendancy, Aria. Have you ever spoken with her since leaving, or has she ever tried to contact you?”

That question left Jack quiet for a while. When he finally spoke again, his voice was much softer than before. “Have we spoken? No. Has she ever tried to contact me? I'm not sure. I don't know that any attempt to contact me would have been successful. Communication lines throughout the war have been shaky, at best. Still are. And she is, or at least I assume she is, still in their military, in an elite unit. I've certainly tried to contact her, but finding the means to do so is extremely difficult. I'm certain she's tried to do the same, but I came here because of her wishes for my own safety, because of who she is. I know she wouldn't try to reach me if she thought it would put me in danger. I have to believe that if she hasn't been contacting me, it's because she's looking out for my best interests.” He grimaced. “A lot of us have relatives, friends, or acquaintances in the military. I'm lucky in that I have my sister, who's stationed here on Cerelis now. But not everyone is that lucky. Thousands of families have to go months or even years without hearing from their loved ones. That's the definition of strength right there, isn't it? To be able to withstand the worry and stress of not knowing?”

“Forgive me for saying so, but for all you know, she could be dead. Killed in action.”

Jack resisted the urge to stand up and punch the guy in the face. “I...suppose that's true. I try not to think about that. Some days are harder than others, but I try to stay optimistic. I'm sure there are families all across your viewing audience who are dealing with similar things.”

“Indeed, that's something that we can all understand and appreciate.” The reporter shuffled his stack of notecards. “One final point. With the recent victories on Earth and in the Outer Colonies of the Ascendancy, military and political leaders have announced that the Pteryd appear to have begun their final retreat, and that the war is officially coming to an end, some news that I think everyone has been rejoicing over these last few weeks. They've also announced that human, Ailian, and Nuretan representatives will be coming together on Earth in a few days for a formal ceremony, in a symbolic handing-over of the planet back to humanity, with talks planned that should put in place permanent treaties of alliance.”

Jack nodded. “I'm aware of that. I think it's a great step in the healing process.”

“Rumor has it that you've been offered an invitation to that ceremony, considering that you were the first human to return from the Ascendancy, and also in light of your contributions to public discussion on human-Ailian relations. No pun intended, certainly. Can you comment on that?”

He chuckled politely, even though the joke had been pretty ill-made. “I wouldn't say I was
the
first. More like one of the first.” Jack cleared his throat. “But, uh, yeah. I was invited. I suppose I'll go. I'm as eager to see Earth as anyone else, and it is a real honor to be invited.”

“Well, we hope to see you there. Thank you for your time today, Mr. Squier.” The reporter turned in his seat to face the camera. “And thank you all for joining us this evening. My guest has been retired Lieutenant Jonathan Squier, a former pilot with the United Nations Navy and a former prisoner of war. His new book is
In the Den of the Enemy: My Time in the Ascendancy
, available now in bookstores. Good night, and thanks for watching.”

******

Jack heaved a weary sigh as soon as he walked in the front door of his apartment. He was relieved to be home, since it had been quite the long day for him. He'd been up early in the morning for a meeting with his publisher, and then it had been off to work for a few hours before going in for his television interview. Ever since arriving on Cerelis, he'd gotten back to the kind of work that he knew, though he kept a lot closer to home now than he had before. He was a cargo pilot yet again, though now he restricted himself to planetary shipments only. As much as he still loved space travel, he had learned quite the lesson about what could happen, especially during a time of open war. Luckily for him, he didn't really have to do that kind of work anymore. Since he had never formally been fired by the company he'd previously worked for, he had come home to several months of back pay at the hazardous-duty rate, which had left him with quite a tidy sum of money, enough to buy a handsome apartment in the capital of Cerelis. Along with the money he was now about to receive as the result of completing his memoirs, he was in a comfortable situation, but he wouldn't have felt right about not working, so he still hauled freight every now and then to keep busy.

Though he really desired to be living someplace else, Jack had to admit that Cerelis wasn't bad at all. The planet was basically the same as Earth, as far as size and climate went, though it was much more heavily-populated that it once had been on account of the influx of refugees because of the war. As the headquarters of the United Nations, it was also the most important planet in human space, especially while Earth had been in rebel hands. That made for lots of interesting news and there was always something exciting going on. Since Cerelis was a lot deeper in human space than Earth, the war had fortunately been kept away for the most part, which Jack was just fine with. He'd seen enough of that to last him a lifetime. He liked staying on Cerelis, all things considered.

Another plus of living on Cerelis was that it had allowed him to reconnect with his family, a relationship that he had allowed to lag in the wake of his retirement from the military. Upon getting settled in his new life, he'd made the decision to seek out his parents and siblings. Prior to leaving on that ill-fated cargo run, his mother and father had been living on Earth, his brother on Mars, and his sister had been in the UN Navy. He'd found his sister, Penny, almost immediately. In the aftermath of the loss of Earth and the retreat of their military forces, she'd found her way to an assignment on Cerelis, which was where Jack and she had reunited shortly after his arrival. She'd given him the news that his parents had made it off and were refugees on another planet, and they'd come to Cerelis once they'd heard he was safe there. Bad news had come in the form of being informed that his brother had been killed when the rebels had taken over the rest of the Sol system. He'd been an executive with a mining company on Mars, and hadn't survived the bombardment that rebel forces had subjected that planet to. In all, though, he was glad to have been able to come back together with most of his family. And, for him, that family included another member now.

“I'm home!” he called as he closed the door behind him. Jack walked into the living room of his apartment, looking around. Even after five years, the place still seemed kind of new to him. His Cerelan abode was not at all like where he had lived during his time on Lirna. Instead of sandy stone, the walls were made of clean, white-painted wood, and the floors were short, soft carpet instead of smooth rock.

“Hey!” a voice answered him. Jack looked to a couch in the living room, where the speaker was seated. A smiling face was beaming at him. She was dark-skinned, black-haired, and emerald-eyed, and had been watching television when he came in. In the time that they had been together, his adopted daughter Brooke had grown into just as beautiful a young woman as he had suspected she would when he'd met her. The former slave looked almost nothing like the tired, beaten-down girl that he had first known. She had just turned eighteen, or near enough. They had never been able to figure out what her exact birthday was, but had settled on the day they'd arrived on Cerelis as a satisfactory date to use.

Jack hadn't intended on adopting Brooke at first. He'd told her that once they returned to human space, they'd work together on reuniting her with her real family, or at least finding out where they were for an eventual reunion. But over the months, it became clear that records of where she was born or who her parents were just didn't exist, so after the first year he decided that he was as close to a father as she could ever hope for. That had been fine with her, so he had taken the formal steps of adopting her, and since then had raised her like she was his real daughter.

“Hey,” Jack said, taking a seat on the couch next to her. “How was your day? School go alright?” Needless to say, Brooke had been way behind in formal schooling owing to her early life, but she had proven to be very smart and dedicated, and had caught up faster than he would have thought possible. Now she was on track to graduate high school along with other teens her approximate age. College had been an idea they'd both talked about, but Brooke had expressed a desire to follow in his footsteps and become a pilot. She wanted to join the Navy and fly fighters or helicopters, and Jack was behind her all the way. He wasn't about to tell her what she could and couldn't do. She'd had enough of her life dictated to her already.

“School was fine, daddy,” Brooke said. He still got a little thrill when she called him that. He would have been just fine if she'd continued calling him “Jack” for the rest of his life, but “daddy” had a nice ring to it that he never would have anticipated. “Seems crazy that finals are only a few months away. I never thought I'd ever get to go to school, much less graduate.”

“I know.” Jack reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “I'm proud of you, you know? You've done good. Real good.”

“All thanks to you.” Brooke smiled at him, then looked back to the television. “I was watching your interview on TV, daddy. That reporter was an idiot, asking you all those dumb questions at the end.”