through a slot to reveal a short hallway beyond. “First room on your left should be unlocked,” she told Jack and I as we made our way to her. “Another brew for you, Jack?” She looked at me. “Anything for you?”
“Coffee’s fine,” I said. “Black, whatever’s local.”
She nodded. “Just be a minute and then I’ll leave you to business.”
Something about the way she said ‘business’ told me she knew exactly what Jack was about—and further still, that she didn’t exactly mind that either. I cast a sidelong glance at Jack and limped into the room, finding my way to a chair at a small, round table in the corner. Jack let the door close behind him and joined me, easing slowly down into his chair, watching me struggle to get comfortable.
So much for assurances, I thought ruefully. “Didn’t expect to find you here, Jack.”
“Why the hell not? This is where your partner sent us.”
There was that sick feeling again. I swallowed bile as the girl from behind the bar brought in Jack’s beer and my coffee. She smiled as she set down my mug in front of me. I managed to smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. And if you call me ma’am again, I’ll beat you with that cane. It’s Kallyn. Got it?”
My smile began to feel a little more real, at least for a few seconds. I think I could like her. “Got it. Thank you, Kallyn.”
She nodded firmly, then turned to Jack. “Poke your head out if you need something.”
“Sure thing, Kal. Thanks.” He watched her go, then looked back at me. “Where is Flannery, anyhow? I want to thank her.”
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “Caren never made it off Carmiline. No body found, so the Alliance is thinking captured.” My eyes stung and breathing was suddenly hard. I swallowed again, willing the lump in my throat to disappear. It seemed disinclined to obey.
Jack stared at me, jaw agape and pale eyes wide. “Lieutenant, I…”
I shook my head. “She was doing what she always did, Jack. There’s nothing left to be said or done. Just…just the waiting and the hoping.” I wrapped my hands tightly around the ceramic of the mug, letting the warmth bleed into my fingers as I stared into the black. “Thanks anyway, though.”
He nodded slowly, closing his mouth and similarly cradling his glass with one hand. “So why are you here? Flying solo? Left the service?”
For half a heartbeat, I considered lying to him. He wouldn’t believe me if I told him I’d left EAF, though. If Caren was dead, yeah…but not if she’s just MIA. “Flying solo,” I said quietly. I took a sip of coffee, hoping it would burn through the lump in my throat. “They sent me to help the resistance.” I swirled my coffee around in the mug. “Basically, to join it.”
“As who? Not Dr. Merrit.”
“No, not Dr. Merrit.” That had been my identity on Carmiline.
“Then what? As Lieutenant Aaron Taylor, disgusted and repulsed by the loss of his partner?”
I winced, leaning back hard. My ribs twinged, eyes stung. I shook my head. “No. As Wil Terrel, whose wife died on Carmiline.” I watched him as the words sunk in, then added, “I could use your help, Jack.”
“Anything you need, Lieutenant. Wil.”
My throat swelled to match the lump, so I just nodded, looking down into the swirling dark of my coffee. What now?
“How close to the truth are you treading?” His voice was quiet, he was leaning across the table toward me, his glass cradled in both hands. He hadn’t drunk a drop since we’d sat down.
“I never saw a body,” I mumbled. “The house…nothing but ashes. She was supposed to be there, but I never saw a body.” I closed my eyes. “Truth is, I remember leaving that last safehouse with her and heading out into the preserve. I don’t remember much after that until they had me drugged up to my eyeballs on the transport out. She wasn’t there. They said they waited, but she never came and they had to go.” My fingers tightened around the mug. “I should have been able to make her stay there with me.” Jack squeezed my arm. I didn’t look up at him right away, knowing that I’d see as much guilt in his eyes as I was feeling down in the deepest levels of my guts.
“It was cruel of General Hunter to send you out here, to make this call.”
Big assumption to make. General Hunter probably didn’t make the call. I shook my head. They had no other choice. I had no other choice. “I had her and the job, Jack. There’s nothing left for me in the universe except for this job.” This job is the only shot I’ve got at stopping him. At making things right. At…at finding her again.
He was silent for a long moment. “I didn’t know.”
“Most people don’t know. I don’t advertise it.” I rubbed my eyes. “My mother died while I was at the Academy. I was an only child.”
“And your father?”
I winced, shaking my head. “Don’t ask.” He’d left when I was eight. I could remember he and my mother talking all night the night before he left. In the morning he was gone.
Ten years later, I was at the Academy, learning that he’d been just like his father after all—a loyal soldier for the Imperium. Some people made the connection between me and Daniel Taylor. It mattered to some of them. To others, I was the only thing that mattered, me, my actions and my choices. Those people knew where my loyalties lay and never questioned them.
Either Jack didn’t know ir didn’t care who my father was. Either way, I already knew that I had his trust, if only because Caren had known and trusted me, and he’d known and trusted her. He spread his hands. “All right. I won’t.” He patted my arm again. “If it makes you feel any better…we all got off Carmiline. My whole cell and then some.”
At least it wasn’t for nothing. I took a deep breath, nodding. “It helps a little. It does.” I looked down into the mug again then took a deep draught of my coffee, pushing myself to my feet by sheer force of will. “We should go out there.”
He nodded. “Establish your street cred?”
I chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, that.”
He threw an arm around my shoulders. “I think I can help with that.”
Epsilon: Broken Stars is available where books are sold.
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This excerpt ©2011 Erin M. Klitzke. All rights are reserved.
About the Author
Erin M. Klitzke has been writing since she was an adolescent, though most of those early works will never see the light of day. She got her BA in history and anthropology from Grand Valley State University and her MA in history from Oakland University, and much to her mother’s occasional dismay, what she does with those degrees is write fiction.
She lives in Detroit’s northern suburbs and enjoys reading, sewing, gaming, and renaissance festivals when she’s not creating her own worlds. You can find her on the web at www.embklitzke.com, e-mail her at doc (at) embklitzke (dot) com, and follow her on Twitter at @EMBKDoc.
Books by Erin M. Klitzke
Awakenings Universe
Awakenings: Book One
Awakenings: War Drums
Awakenings: Omens and Echoes *
Epsilon
Falling Stars
Broken Stars
Redeemer *
Lost Angel Chronicles
What Angels Fear
When All’s Said and Done *
UNSETIC Files
Bering Songs and Silence
Between Fang and Claw
The Measure of Dreams
Truth Will Set You Free *
Legacies of the Lost Earth
The Last Colony *
Non-fiction
Intersection with the Once and Future King: Edward I, Edward III, and King Arthur
Self-Taught Self-Publishing: A beginner’s guide to the brave new world of publishing
*Forthcoming
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