Chapter Eight
Lieutenant Hunter McClane
News had spread.
Not just about Hunter taking his shirt off.
But about the true nature of the accident and the aftermath. Not amongst the crew, amongst the Avixans.
Hunter saw two of them in the corridors as he plowed toward the bridge.
Tough they appeared to be engaged in some kind of work with an open communication panel, they stared at him as he powered past.
They even twisted their heads to watch him as he flew down the corridor, straining their stiff white necks until he was out of sight. He could see how eagerly they watched him as he glanced at one of the reflective panels beside him.
If he needed any more evidence Shera had spread information about the accident, it came sashaying around a corner and latched a hand on his wrist.
Meva.
Her expression, as always, was unreadable. At first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking it was playful, intimate even.
At second glance, he saw the fine wrinkles rumpling the skin around her eyes, the hard edge to her jaw. “Hunter, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”
“I don’t have time,” he snapped as he went to brush past.
She wouldn’t let go of his wrist.
She curled her strong fingers around it like a clamp.
He stopped, arched his neck, and shifted around to look at her pointedly. “Meva, let me go. I’m busy.”
“I need to talk to you.” Her smile stiffened as her crystal blue eyes narrowed. She wasn’t glancing at him – she was watching him, surveying his every microexpression.
Naturally, he stiffened.
He took a step back.
She kept hold of his wrist and stepped with him. Her smile – that crazy, seductive smile that usually drove him wild – made him uneasy as hell.
“Hunter, we need to talk. Now. You’re not on duty, so whatever it is you want to do can wait.”
“Meva,” his tone dropped low in warning, “Let go of my wrist now.”
His voice carried, and as two confused ensigns walked down their section of corridor, Meva finally dropped her grip and took a step back.
Hunter tugged down on his shirt as he fixed her in an angry, pointed stare.
“Fine. Go.” She curled one arm around her middle and gestured dismissively with the other. “But come find me as soon as you can, once you’ve done whatever it is that’s more important than me.”
The confused ensigns hadn’t finished traversing this length of the corridor, and he could tell their attention was transfixed on him.
He didn’t want his relationship with Meva advertised. She apparently didn’t care as she took a step forward and seductively inclined her head to the left, letting her gaze slip up and down his form.
He took a solid step backward, reinstating his personal space. “That’s enough. We’re in public,” he dropped his tone to a harsh whisper.
“So we are.” She gestured with her elegant fingers. Then smiled again.
Once again that smile set him on edge.
He’d never noticed the predatory quality to it before today.
“Anyway, come find me,” she purred, maybe realizing she was likely to catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
He shook his head tersely. “Good luck with that. I’ll be busy the rest of the day.”
She looked down at his feet then slowly slid her gaze upwards as she arched an eyebrow. “I don’t appreciate your tone, lover.”
He cringed. “My tone is the least of your problems. Your behavior here is out of line.”
Her head tilted to the side with all the menace of a snake jerking to follow its prey. “What are you saying?”
He stopped.
What was he saying?
He’d had an emotional couple of days. He’d almost died twice. A rational man would step back, deal with his feelings, and try not to make any important decisions.
“Hunter, what are you saying?” Meva repeated, lips curling hard over her teeth as her eyes flashed.
He brought a hand up and dug his tensed fingers into the back of his neck.
His single moment of indecision was enough to see her smile.
And that smile was all it took.
“I guess I’m breaking up with you,” he realized out loud.
Once the words were out, he couldn’t pull them back.
Meva stiffened. Her face looked as if it had been cast from steel.
Slowly one lip twitched up, then she let out a derisive snort.
His hackles rose.
“I suppose you are. Oh well, better you than me,” she said as she slowly tipped her head to the side and took a step to his left.
She drew up alongside him, hooked her hair gently behind her ear, and slowly flicked her gaze over to him.
He held it.
“This way, with you breaking up with me, you can keep whatever little dignity you have left.”
His jaw locked with tension.
“Oh, little Hunter, you’ll never break out from behind your brother’s shadow, will you? You’ll always be half the man he is. No matter how pathetically you struggle.” She tilted her head and gave a soft, lilting laugh. Then she clenched her teeth and pulled her lips back. “I was always too good for you, Hunter, you know that, don’t you?” She smiled triumphantly. The exact same move, the exact same curl to her lips.
This time he saw it for what it really was.
He took a hard step back, never dropping her gaze. “I hope your next boyfriend realizes how great you are, Meva, because I have a feeling I’m going to forget real fast.” He turned and walked away.
At first, his stomach sank.
It didn’t sink too far.
He couldn’t even begin to feel sorry for himself.
Meva had shown her true colors. Better to find out sooner rather than later.
So, despite his messy breakup, he fixed his mind back on the task of helping Ava.
Realizing he had no time to waste, he made it to the bridge as fast as he could.
Ordinary crew members couldn’t march onto the bridge and demand a meeting with the Captain.
Hunter was hardly ordinary, and nor was he in an ordinary mood.
The more he thought about this situation, the more screwed he realized it was.
Sure, the Coalition needed the Avixans, but they also needed to know who the hell the Avixans really were.
No more lies and half-truths.
When Hunter marched onto the bridge, Harvey swiveled to look at him. Then, in one continuous, smooth move he stood from his seat, motioned toward the discussion room with a flick of his head, and led Hunter forward.
Maybe Harvey had been expecting Hunter to come striding onto the bridge sooner rather than later, because he didn’t ask a single question until the doors to his discussion room closed.
He strode behind his desk, sat down quietly, and looked up.
Hunter’s chest punched out as a swirl of frustration and plain confusion stormed in his heart. “This isn’t right.”
“What isn’t right? The fact you just stormed onto my bridge?”
“Screw that, Harvey. You know what I’m talking about. I can’t stand the fact we don’t know anything about the Avixans. We have no idea what’s going on. We can’t make informed decisions.”
“For once,” Harvey let out a stiff breath, “I agree with you.”
Hunter’s brow crumpled. “Aren’t you going to take another serve at me for marching onto your bridge and snapping at you?” He looked at his brother keenly.
At first, Harvey didn’t make a move, then he let out another plainly frustrated breath. “I probably should. Your behavior has been completely out of line for these past few days.” He trailed off, gaze dropping to his desk. “… But so has mine.”
It was the first time Harvey had actually admitted to doing something wrong.
Hunter didn’t know if he was gratified or relieved. Probabl
y both.
This was the Harvey he knew and loved.
He let out his own relieved sigh, took a step forward, and folded into the seat behind Harvey’s desk. “First thing’s first, I’ve got to tell you Ava’s terrified.”
“Of what? I took your advice… I have instructed Shera to stay away from her.” Harvey’s expression was cold, hard, a touch defeated.
It must have been goddamn hard giving that order to his girlfriend.
Still, it was the right thing to do.
“Ava’s sitting in her quarters. Hasn’t moved for the past eight hours according to her roommate. Keeps mumbling she’s going to be taken off the ship.”
Harvey’s brow crumpled hard. Concern flashed in his gaze.
It gave Hunter immeasurable relief to see it.
It confirmed his brother wasn’t an asshole after all.
“Says her government is going to extradite her. Said she committed a crime when she shared information about her armlets.”
Harvey frowned, cheeks practically sinking off his face and falling on the desk. “She barely told us anything.”
“She says it’s enough. She’s terrified she’s going to get taken away.”
“… Maybe she’s overreacting.”
Hunter leaned forward, hooked his arm on the desk, and stared at his brother seriously. “Yeah, Harv, and maybe she isn’t. We have no goddamn idea what the Avixans will do – because we have no goddamn idea who they really are.”
Harvey didn’t respond. Maybe he didn’t know how. Heck, Hunter didn’t either.
This problem was intractable. Bigger than them both. They didn’t have the power to go against the Coalition top brass and force the Avixans to give them information.
Yet at the same time, they desperately needed to know what was going on.
“What do we do, Harv?” the words were out of Hunter’s mouth before he could stop himself.
As a kid, he’d always looked up to his bigger, stronger, smarter brother.
But when Harvey continued to hesitate, it became clear Hunter had to forge his own path on this one.
“I told Ava I’d come here and ask you – no, beg you,” Hunter leaned forward again until his back was practically bent in half, “Not to include anything about her telling you information on her armlets in your official report. It’s a tiny detail. It would be easy to leave it out. Come on, Harv. It may not be protocol, but if the Avixans find out—”
“It’s too late, Hunter.”
Hunter’s stomach sank so quickly it could have reached light speed. “What?” he asked through a dry, scratchy mouth. “What do you mean it’s too late?”
“I already submitted my report.”
Hunter paled. His cheeks felt colder than deep space, and a nasty prickly sensation rushed down his neck and front. “What did you write in your report—”
“All the relevant facts.” Harvey wouldn’t make eye contact. Then he sighed. “Including the fact Ensign Ava willingly shared information about her armlets, or locks as she called them.”
Hunter winced, closed his eyes, and recoiled, muscles feeling weaker than if he’d run flat out for a day.
He’d failed. “When did you submit the report? Is there time to retract it?”
“Right after the incident.”
Hunter swore, locked a stiff hand on his brow, and practically hid under his hand.
Every time he blinked his eyes closed, he saw an image of Ava crouched on the edge of her bed, defeated, fragile, and alone.
It made his stomach crawl. It was easily the strongest sensation he’d ever felt in his life.
“We don’t know what the Avixans will do,” Harvey tried.
Hunter laughed. “I don’t know, Harv, if they treat Ava anything like the other Avixans onboard do, I’m thinking it won’t be nice. Speaking of which, I thought you were deliberately keeping information on this morning’s incident amongst the crew directly involved?”
“I am. Why?” Harvey’s brow crumpled in a snap.
“Because I’m pretty sure the other Avixans know. You should have seen the way they looked at me.”
“Looks are not evidence, Lieutenant,” Harvey defaulted to using that serious, officious tone once more.
“No, but I’m dead sure Meva knows. She accosted me in the corridor as I headed here.”
“And?”
“And…” Hunter trailed off as he realized Meva had never actually said anything to him about the incident.
“Do you have any actual evidence that she knows what happened?” Harvey demanded.
Hunter winced and shook his head. “No. Just a gut feeling. She was real insistent that I had to talk with her right now.”
“Maybe she was justifiably pissed off that you appeared out of an enclosed tunnel with an ensign and without a shirt.”
Hunter swallowed the insult that punched to the fore of his mind, and he cleared his throat. “You know exactly what happened to my shirt, Harv.”
“Presumably, Meva didn’t. You should cut her some slack. She was probably worried about you.”
Hunter gave a whooping internal laugh at that.
Maybe Harvey could make out Hunter’s incredulity, because he leaned forward. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to you, Hunter. You’ve never made a relationship stick before her.”
Slowly Hunter dropped his head back and looked into his brother’s eyes.
… Harvey was being serious, wasn’t he?
To him, Hunter had finally moved up in the world when he’d scored a girlfriend like Meva.
And now Hunter had gone and lost her, he was back at square one. Maybe that should piss him off more than it did, but right now he was too concerned for Ava, so he tipped his head back and shook it. “I broke up with her, Harv. Pretty sure she’s not the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Harvey looked genuinely shocked. “What?”
“Sorry to ruin your opinion of me, Harv, but I think I’m better off without her.”
“Hunter, don’t tell me you let this situation get to your head? Okay, I get it – you’re pissed off over what happened to Ava. But that’s no reason to break up with Meva,” Harvey looked genuinely exasperated. Heck, he looked like he wanted to get up from his seat, stride over to Hunter, and grasp him by the shoulders.
Hunter just looked at his brother with an even expression. “I guess I realized it’s not a good idea to have a relationship with a member of the crew.”
Hunter recoiled, though you had to know him to pick it up. To anyone else, the Captain’s expression hardened like reinforced steel.
He also pushed back in his seat, his shoulders tensing as they flattened against the backrest.
At first, Hunter thought Harvey would tell him to get out.
That’s not what happened.
Harvey pressed one hand on his polished desk, then the other, his knuckles tensed and white. “I am not letting my relationship with Shera affect my judgment.”
Hunter knew he was going too far. There was only so much he could push his brother before his brother pushed back.
But this needed to be said. “I trust you, Harvey. If you’re telling me Shera hasn’t affected your judgment – that your inability to trust Ensign Ava has nothing to do with the Lieutenant Commander, then okay. But I’m going to admit to you that Meva got to me. I took her side wholeheartedly, didn’t ask Ensign Ava for hers, and I made a grave mistake in doing so.”
Harvey didn’t respond, which threw Hunter.
For just a second, doubt crept into Hunter’s mind.
“And how do you know Meva wasn’t wrong? Why are you so willing to trust Ava?”
“And why aren’t you? What do you know?” Hunter crumpled forward once more and pressed his hands on the edge of his brother’s desk.
Harvey dropped his gaze. It was clear the Captain was trying to figure out whether to share some crucial piece of information.
Hunter’s heart quickened. He could feel it fluttering i
n his chest like a trapped bird.
His stomach started to sink.
Eventually, Harvey looked up, the move sharp, his head even jerking as his chin jutted forward. “I had no say about Ensign Ava coming onboard. She was assigned here.”
“Excuse me? By whom?”
“Her own government. She’s only onboard because of a diplomatic concession.”
Hunter finally understood the opaque comment his brother had made when he demanded to know if Ava was fit to be onboard.
“After the incident in the bar, I made inquiries, tried to get her transferred off the Mandalay. I failed. Her government wants her onboard. So I would take the fact she claims she will be extradited with a grain of salt.”
Hunter sat there, gut a bundle of nerves as cold sweat slicked down his shoulders. His throat was so dry he could barely breathe, but he pushed out a pressured, “What?”
“I shouldn’t have shared that information with you. I’ll trust you’ll be discreet about it. I only told you, because I think it’s relevant. I think you made a mistake with Meva, Hunter. I’m sure you still have time to fix it.”
Hunter’s head was spinning.
“Now, I have no idea why the Avixan government would demand that a physically weak and mostly ineffective ensign be stationed aboard the Mandalay. It certainly isn’t for our benefit. The only thing I can think of is if she’s here for one reason.” Harvey looked directly at Hunter and paused. It was clear he was waiting for Hunter to come up with some obvious conclusion.
When Hunter didn’t respond, Harvey shook his head and pressed forward, that same white-knuckled hand spreading, his fingers pushing hard into the desk as he stood up.
“Hunter, there is every possibility Ava is here to spy on the other Avixans.”
“What?”
“Think about it. That accounts for why the other Avixans are so wary around her. It also accounts for… Shera’s anger. And it’s the only reason why Ava would be stationed aboard considering she has no real power. And you said yourself, Meva told you Ava is from a higher level of society. She said Ava’s kind oppressed the other Avixans and held them in place. So doesn’t it make sense that they would station a spy on the Mandalay, the only ship in the Coalition fleet with four other Avixans?”
Hunter’s mind spun. No, that was an understatement, he couldn’t describe the way his thoughts and feelings shifted and intertwined together, locking him in place like chains around his throat and wrists.
Harvey took a step back from the desk, locked his hands behind his back, and twisted his head to the view.
Space flitted past outside. A dark swathe split here and there with lines of light as they passed stars at far beyond the speed of light.
“Like I said, you can’t breathe a word of this to anyone else. I won’t have dissent amongst the crew.” Harvey didn’t turn, just kept his head angled toward the view, his expression blank.
Hunter couldn’t sit still any longer. He stumbled to his feet, ashamed his body was so undone by his reeling mind.
For the briefest second, he closed his eyes and dragged his stiff fingers down his brow.
As soon as he did – as soon as his lids locked close – he saw Ava again. Crumpled there on the edge of her bed.
Lost.
Completely alone.
… Could it really be an act?
Maybe Harvey could see Hunter in the reflection on the window, because Harvey turned, a stern expression on his face. “Don’t be loyal to the wrong person, Hunter. That’s got you in trouble before. Think. Be smart.”
That reprimand sent a flare of anger arcing through Hunter’s gut. It was enough to see him curl his hands into tight fists, enough to gain a moment of clarity from his spinning, freefalling thoughts. “Aren’t you just guessing, Harvey?”
That smooth, calm control Harvey always got when he was playing the competent captain cracked.
Hunter saw his opportunity and took a sharp step forward, boots squeaking across the polished floor. “Bottom line,” his voice bottomed out low, reverberating hard through his chest and down deep into his legs, “We know nothing about the Avixan people. Nothing. Not a goddamn thing,” his voice arced up higher and higher until it filled the room.
Maybe it was the intensity behind Hunter’s expression or the force of his words, but Harvey swallowed, his once direct gaze becoming momentarily confused.
“This morning, neither you nor I knew that those armlets Ava wears can kill her. We found that out the hard way. Because you know what, Harvey? We don’t know a goddamn thing,” Hunter repeated, voice punching out with so much power his words were like shots from a cannon. “Do you really want to keep finding out the truth about the Avixans the hard way? Maybe you’re right about Ava. Maybe she’s a spy,” he couldn’t control his voice, and it twisted with uncertainty and fear, “Maybe you’re wrong. But are you really arrogant enough to base a command decision on nothing more than a guess?”
It was the word arrogant that got Harvey’s attention.
His brow flattened, cheeks becoming sallow and slack. “This isn’t your call, Hunter,” he spoke through clenched teeth, every movement of every muscle in his cheeks, jaw, and neck visible like twanging springs.
“You’re goddamn right this isn’t my call. It’s your call. So for the love of god make sure it’s the right one. You realize what could happen if you’re wrong, right?”
Harvey’s jaw twitched again, this time the move more violent, more erratic, as if that spring holding his anger in check was about to snap. “What are you talking about?”
“That the terrified Ensign sitting in her quarters is about to be extradited because you forced her to share information she knew she shouldn’t. You happy to live with that, Harv? You didn’t see her. I did,” Hunter’s words became slow, snapped as his teeth locked together like magnets. “Maybe you think she’s acting, but maybe she’s not. You really going to just stand there when you have the power to find out?”
“What the hell are you suggesting I do?”
“Your goddamn job. Innocent until proven guilty, Harvey. One of your crew members has come to you with a request for help. You can either condemn her based on an assumption, or act like a man. Act like a captain.” Again Hunter drove his teeth together so hard it was a surprise he didn’t crack them. In his current mood, he would have torn his beating heart from his chest and slapped it on the floor in front of Harvey if it would only get his brother’s goddamn attention.
Harvey opened his mouth, the move stiff like a stone door cracking open, but he didn’t get the chance to speak.
There was a beep over the intercom.
“Sir,” Commander Hastings said in a clipped, quick tone, “You are receiving a priority one call from Coalition Control. Patching it through now.”
Harvey stiffened, his body becoming so rigid as he stood by the window, he resembled one of the struts holding the wall in place.
He cleared his throat. “Captain McClane here. I should warn you, I have a junior member of staff in my office with me now. Is this message intended to be classified?”
“Even if we wanted it to be, it wouldn’t be for long. You need to change your course and pick up Diplomat Tarka.”
“Who? Why?”
“The official Aide of the Ambassador of Avixa. As for why: diplomatic concession.”
“With all due respect, what the hell does that mean, sir?” Harvey asked.
“It means,” the Admiral snorted, “That the Avixans have called and we’re jumping. Get used to it if we want to keep them in the Coalition. And, Captain, we have to keep them in the Coalition. I shouldn’t need to remind you how trying times are getting. The Milky Way simply isn’t what it was 10 years ago.”
“Admiral, the Mandalay has been plagued with problems. I can’t advise this.”
“We are fully aware of your current condition. We advised the Avixans of this, but they don’t seem to care. They want to get on the Mandalay to access their people onboa
rd. Before you point it out, I already know how much of an ask this is. That’s why it’s not an ask: it’s an order. Our relationship with the Avixans is already on shaky grounds. We need to please them. If rerouting and picking up one of their diplomats is what they want, then it’s a small price to pay for their help.”
“Shaky grounds?” Hunter asked before he could stop himself.
“Who just spoke?” the Admiral demanded.
Harvey shot Hunter the kind of look that told him he’d crossed the line.
Too late now.
So Hunter cleared his throat. “Lieutenant Hunter McClane, sir. Sorry for interrupting. However, you mentioned that our relationship with the Avixans is currently on shaky ground. The last I heard, it was stable. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s changed? The only reason I ask, is we have quite a few Avixans onboard.”
Harvey cracked his stiff lips open and mouthed, “Shut up, don’t waste his time.”
Again, it was too late.
“You have a point, son. The short answer is: we don’t know. The long answer is: intelligence around Avixan sectors suggests they may be heading into a period of civil instability. It’s hard to tell, of course, because they’re the most secretive goddamn race we’ve ever met.”
“Civil instability?” Harvey and Hunter said at once, tones displaying almost the exact same note of tension.
“Like I said, it’s a guess. But something sure is happening behind their borders. We can only assume that the reason this Diplomat Tarka is coming onboard is to address the concerns of the Avixans of the Mandalay.”
“… When do we pick up this Tarka?” Harvey asked after a long, cautious pause.
“I’ve sent the coordinates. You’ll rendezvous in the Harkan Sector tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Isn’t that a little quick?” Harvey asked, surprise slackening his features.
“Whatever this is, apparently it can’t wait. Make the proper arrangements,” the Admiral ordered.
“Aye,” Harvey answered, features still crumpled with concern. “But, Admiral, send through everything you have on this civil instability. I want to know everything. We’ve got too many Avixans onboard for me to ignore this.”
“I’ll send it through. Keep a close eye on your Avixans. We don’t want the civil disturbance on their home world to spill out onto the Mandalay.” With that, the Admiral signed off.
Harvey stood there for several seconds, head turned to the floor, eyes hooded by shadow.
Slowly he lifted his head and craned it toward Hunter. “There’s your answer, Hunter.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Civil disturbance. You want to know why the other Avixans can’t stand Ensign Ava – there’s your answer. She’s obviously from a different social strata. Maybe the others are finally rising up.”
“… Listen to what you’re saying. You want a civil war on your ship?”
Harvey stopped.
“Harv, bottom line: we know nothing.” Hunter walked forward, footsteps resounding through the room. “Not a goddamn thing. We have no idea what will happen next.”