“With the authority invested unto me as captain of the Galaxy Explorer, I now pronounce you bound in matrimony,” Captain Nyad announced. “You may now seal your bonds with a kiss.”
Lance Corporal Hellen O’Day, Perseus Union Marine Corps, and Var Jiminez, one of the civilian equipment techs, leaned in to kiss each other as the crowd cheered.
For someone who hadn’t been in favor of public displays of affection, much less marriage, the CO seemed to be enjoying his ability to marry couples. And it was happening more and more lately. This was the third marriage alone since the last mission, and the twenty-ninth since the voyage began. That didn’t take into consideration the thirty or forty relationships that hadn’t tied a legal knot.
Tomiko and Rima said it was because the fact that they were on a one-way mission was finally sinking in, and people were scrambling to find partners. It made sense.
The sudden surge in marriages had a downside, though. The Galaxy Explorer was huge, but it had a relative paucity of living spaces, and the Genesians had half of those. Rev and Tomiko had his stateroom, but there weren’t enough staterooms to provide for each new couple.
Command Master Chief Umman and Lieutenant Commander Norton had addressed that by creating a “Honeymoon Row,” where they converted a workspace into a series of conjugal suites. With only nine of them, the traffic was heavy, and the suites had to be reserved ahead of time.
That rather took away from the spontaneity of passion, but it was a big ship, and people could find some nook or cranny when the urge hit.
Rev put his arm around Tomiko and pulled her in. “I’m glad we’re not stuck with Honeymoon Row,” he whispered in her ear.
She scowled, punched his arm, and said, “With the girls in with us? You wish you could snag one of the suites.”
Rev kept the leer on his face, but she had a point. Back when they were first together . . . well, the girls were somewhat of an obstacle. Not that he regretted them.
But still . . .
“Let’s go congratulate the newlyweds,” Tomiko said.
They got into the receiving line. Kurt Six joined right behind them.
“How come we never hear about weddings from your side of the ship?” Rev asked him. “Do you guys even get married?”
Kurt slanted his head, which Rev knew by now was their equivalent to rolling their eyes. “Yes, we get married. Bonded, we call it. But it’s a private ceremony, with only the two or more involved.”
“Or more?” Tomiko asked.
“Why should a bond be limited to two?” Kurt asked.
Rev was about to answer but then held back. He had no idea what the Genesians considered a “bond.” It could be a Knock-On foursome, for all he knew.
“Too bad about Seventy-three,” Tomiko told Kurt. “You guys thought it might be it, I know.”
“It had possibilities, but there’s no reason to settle,” the Genesian said. “We’ll find the right place.”
FP4173 was the system they’d just left, and the Genesians had been cautiously optimistic that it could be their new home. Rev didn’t know why they’d ended up turning it down, but evidently, it didn’t fit the bill.
It had been an open but unspoken secret that the Genesians had joined the expedition to find someplace to settle. After EFP-07, though, there was no pussyfooting around. That task became a major factor in decision-making. FP4173, in fact, had been a diversion from another objective.
Rev had quietly disagreed with that, but he knew he was in the minority and would have been outvoted if it came to it, so he’d just shut up and went along with it.
The expedition was woefully small, and that created a huge security issue. If they came into conflict with another race, be they BGs or someone else, there really wasn’t much they could do about it other than run, and the Galaxy Explorer was hardly the perfect platform for that.
They’d already run up against the BGs twice, and they’d found the empty world of another race. There’d be more, even out here in the galactic hinterlands. Because of that, and despite bouts of wishing they would just hurry up and leave, Rev wanted to keep the Genesians, who made up the bulk of the remaining fighters, aboard as long as possible. He understood their desires, and he wasn’t going to get in their way. But why try to speed up the house hunting?
Except there was a faction that was trying to do just that. There were more folks than just Umman who distrusted the Genesians and considered them a threat. For those folks, getting rid of them had become a priority.
“That’s right,” Rev said. “Don’t settle. You won’t be able to change your mind once you’ve been left behind.”
“That’s true. And that’s why we’re being careful.” The receiving line moved forward, and then he added, “EFP-07 was almost perfect.”
“Well, except for the minor BG issue,” Rev said.
“Minor. I’m sure we could have handled that,” Kurt said, then made his buzzing laugh.
“Easy-peasy,” Rev said at the same moment that his wristcomp alerted.
He gave it a quick glance.
“What is it?” Tomiko asked.
“Nyad,” Rev said, looking around the hangar deck, but the CO had already left. “He wants me in his stateroom.”
Then he noticed that both Tata Eleven and Lieutenant Commander Norton started to leave.
“Did you get the message, too?” he asked her.
“Negatory. Do you want me to come with you?”
No one else seemed to be concerned.
“I don’t think so. Stay in the line and give our respects to the newlyweds. Then maybe you can go rescue Kat.”
They’d intended on bringing the girls, but Aspen had been melting down over not being able to find a specific purple dinosaur—Rev was amazed how even aboard a ship, the girls could lose things—so instead of causing a scene, Kat had volunteered to stay with them back in the nursery.
“Got it. Let me know if something’s up.”
“Stay purple,” Rev told Kurt as he slapped him on the back.
Kurt gave him the middle finger.
The two had fallen into a truce, but Rev liked to remind his friend that he’d had the last laugh. It was probably a dumb thing to do. No, not probably. Certainly. He was goading Kurt on, but in the rules of warfare, Rev couldn’t hit Kurt again until Kurt hit him. And he had some great ideas . . .
Rev reached Nyad’s stateroom at the same time as Tata Eleven. Nyad was busy poring over a readout. He didn’t look up but motioned for them to sit.
The captain’s stateroom had become the de facto meeting room for the senior leadership. Rev didn’t understand it. Nyad’s unmade bed was just steps away from the conference table, and a crumpled t-shirt was on the deck beside it.
It didn’t make any difference, really, but for Rev, his family’s stateroom was his refuge from everything. The last thing he wanted was to bring the expedition into it. But Nyad didn’t seem to mind.
Several others of the ship’s principal staff entered and took seats, as did Hyung and Teo from the civilian side. Rev couldn’t help noticing that he was the only Marine. Once again, they were getting the short shrift for a supposed equal part of the expedition.
He was tempted to call Top and Tomiko and tell them to join him, but that would be too obvious, and Rev wasn’t going to let Nyad know he was bothered.
The captain read on for a few moments, leaving the rest to cool their jets, then turned over his pad face down on the table and looked up. The expression on his face was not good, and Rev forgot about the slight as apprehension set in.
Nyad took a couple of deep breaths, then said, “We’ve seen this coming. But now it’s official. Humanity is back at war.”
There was an immediate rumble, and Nyad raised a hand to quiet everyone down.
“Who?” Dr. Njuguna asked.
“The Mad Dogs. Who do you think?” he said with a scowl.
“Who’s with them?” Rev asked.
“According to the message, no human government yet. Everyone’s scrambling.”
Rev wasn’t the only one who caught the “human” in his statement.
“Alien?” Norton asked.
“Uauii.”
“Fucking clickers,” Norton snarled.
“Looks like technical aid so far. No sign of troops. This says there is more to come,” Nyad said, tapping the pad on the table. “But of course, we lost comms before that arrived.”
“It’s not the troops who’re troubling. They can’t fight worth shit. But the tech and supplies . . . that’s bad,” Rev said.
“What about the other aliens?” Norton asked, pressing the issue.
Nyad shook his head. “It says that Intel thinks the Scorps might side with them, but we’re hoping we can get Breel support.”
Rev liked the Breel, and he’d fought with them. The Niklith were bad news, though. The scorpion-like race were fierce fighters.
The stateroom went silent. There was only one alien who could destroy entire planets.
Nyad continued. “No mention of the Sia.”
If they got involved, it better be on their side, or things were going to get bad.
“That’s about all there is in the message. So far, though, only Titan as a whole and the Union and Heg have formally declared war. The rest will fall into place on one side or the other soon enough, I expect.”
Nyad slowly and dramatically turned to Tata Eleven. “We’ve got personnel from eighteen governments aboard this ship, and then there’s you. I’d like to know where you stand.”
“There are fewer than eighteen hundred of us, Captain. We’re not even a speck of dust in this storm. As such, we’re neutral.”
Rev expected that. So did Nyad, evidently, from the way he nodded.
“What now?” Norton asked. “Do we return home?”
The thought hadn’t occurred to Rev, and for a moment, his heart skipped a beat.
Home?
Rev might be angry at being exiled, and he’d cursed those who made that decision more than once. But just the potential to go back home, to see Safe Harbor again, was extremely alluring.
And it might make sense. There might only be a handful of IBHUs left, but they could be useful in a war.
“That’s covered in the message, too. This is straight from the counsel general. Our mission hasn’t changed. We’re to continue as we are.”
That quashes that.
Rev knew better than to get his hopes up.
“What about the Mad Dogs?” Command Master Chief Umman asked.
“What about them?”
“With all due respect, sir, they’re the enemy now. And you know them, with all their arrogance and pride. They’ll want to take action.”
Nyad obviously hadn’t considered the situation yet. Neither had Rev, for that matter.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Rev said. “They’ve been exiled, just like us IBHUs. They’re not exactly in love with their government.”
Umman gave Rev a measured stare, then asked, “Just like you IBHUs? Are you ‘not in love’ with New Mars, as you put it.”
Shit. He’s quick for an asshole.
“We’re as loyal to the Union as anyone—to the people—but that doesn’t mean we’ve got to love the decision-makers who kicked us to the curb. And I don’t appreciate anyone who implies something different.”
Umman raised a hand, palm out as if to ward Rev away. “Nothing personal, Pelletier. I was just asking.”
“No one’s questioning anyone’s loyalty to their home government. But this is coming from Titan, and it says there’s to be no action taken against our Mad Dogs or anyone else whose home governments join them. Like I said, it’s business as usual.”
Umman didn’t seem to be satisfied with that answer, and Rev made a mental note to keep an eye on the man.
Titan had spoken, and for the moment, that was enough. But in reality, Titan was only nominally in charge here. For all intents and purposes, there were two factions on the ship who ran the show. The Union had the most organic human personnel, at least with the Navy and Marines. The Genesians had more overall power. All of the rest, including the civilian contingent, were really at the mercy of the other two. And if the Genesians decided to do something, or if the Perseus Union issued orders to their personnel that countered those issued by the Council of Humanity, then what?
Rev just hoped it wouldn’t get to that.
The discussion continued for another fifteen minutes, but nothing much was accomplished. When the 1MC announced that they were one hour from bubble space, Nyad brought the meeting to a close.
“We’ll be in blackout soon, so let’s keep this news close to the vest for now. I don’t want anything leaking. As soon as we drop back into real space, let’s see if we can get comms up and get an update. Who knows what will happen in the meantime? Maybe it’ll all have blown over by then.”
And maybe it’ll be Armageddon.
But Rev wasn’t going to argue. For all that he was sticking up for the MDS soldiers a moment ago, he was worrying about how those soldiers were going to take it. Umman was right about that.
And they weren’t called Mad Dogs for nothing.