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"Broken Loyalties" by Lady Rainbow
Rating: PG-13 Who’s the “guest”? And what’s going on?? German: "Es freut mich sehr, dass ich Dir noch einmal sehen, Herr Mueller.” (Lit. “It makes me very happy, that I see you again, Mr. Mueller.” I’m happy to see you.”) Mein Gott im Himmel (My Gods in Heaven) Na, scheisse. (Oh, s—t.) Nine Travis and Bernhard followed Sandosh through the Vhrum’s corridors. Bernhard gave Travis a look of wary suspicion, but Travis only shrugged. He knew about as much as Bernhard did. Apparently, there had been some power-grabbing within the ranks of Starfleet as well. Again, Travis cursed Section 31 and their schemes. Someday, I’ll pry the story from Malcolm of how he got involved in that group in the first place. I know he’d said he was ‘young and stupid’, but I didn’t know he was that stupid. Travis winced and reproached himself, You don’t know the whole story, so don’t judge him yet. They turned a bend in the corridor and Sandosh stepped aside with a grace that belied his massive bulk. Travis stopped so abruptly that Bernhard nearly ran into him. A bright grin spread over Travis’s face as he recognized the man standing at the end of the hall. “Philippe!” Travis exclaimed. He crossed the gap between them and grasped Philippe Trieste’s hands. “I didn’t know you were coming here!” The new head of Estelle de Montclaire Limited gave him a wry smile. “It’s a secret, mon ami. I was a stowaway, along with Malcolm Reed. No one else knows I’m aboard.” “If you’re here, who’s minding the store back at Alpha Centauri?” “My new second-in-command, Eloise du Pres. I’ll introduce you to her sometime.” Travis noticed the tone of his voice as he said the woman’s name, but decided to save his questions for later. “Forgive all the subterfuge, Travis, but it was all necessary to draw the fox out of her den.” He glanced at Bernhard. “Es freut mich sehr, dass ich Dir noch einmal sehen, Herr Mueller.” “And you, sir,” Bernhard replied. “Travis, brace yourself,” Philippe warned him, “for what you’ll be seeing.” “Sounds ominous,” Travis joked, but the humor fell flat as Philippe touched the door plate next to him. He stepped inside, Bernhard right behind him, and again, stopped suddenly. This time, Bernhard was prepared and didn’t run into him. “Mein Gott in Himmel!” Bernhard sputtered. Sitting up in bed was Paul Mayweather, and his right hand scratched a self-satisfied Oneko. Travis stared at his brother. He’s alive, he thought numbly. He’s alive. I don’t believe this. “Hey, Big Brother,” Paul said, both abashed and happy at the same time. “I never thought I’d live to see you speechless, Travis.” He launched himself at his brother’s side and gripped Paul’s forearms. The reassuring solidness convinced him this wasn’t some kind of trick, that Paul was actually here. Oneko purred loudly, sounding like a chainsaw stuck on high. Travis stared at Paul, then they both burst out in laughter. There was something in Paul’s eyes, something that had replaced the petty bitterness and anger, and Travis knew what it was. Gratitude for being alive. “I saw the wreckage, Paul. How the hell did you survive that?” Travis burst out. “And why did you let us believe you were dead? Mom was more than upset...she was so pissed that she chewed Tanaka out in front of everyone and...God, we held a Boomer wake and everything...” Paul winced and glanced at the corner of the room. Another familiar voice said, “We had to make it convincing, lad. If you or your mother knew Paul was still alive, Tanaka would have suspected otherwise, and we wouldn’t have been able to flush her out.” A tall form stepped out of the shadows. “Admiral Reed!” Travis and Bernhard burst out at the same time. Stuart Reed’s gray eyes twinkled in grim humor and a corner of his mouth went up in a slight smirk. Travis thought, All right, now I know where Malcolm got that from. Travis nearly fell off the edge of the bed, but Philippe saved him by bringing a chair for him. He settled in the chair, making sure it was solidly on the deck and said, “All right, I’m completely confused. Will someone please tell me what’s going on? And from the beginning? Being out of loop is starting to become really annoying.” “You can blame me for that,” Stuart said, with a hint of embarrassment. “Maximilian Forrest was right in one thing...all eyes were on you, Travis. I hate to admit it to you, but you were an effective decoy.” “Oh, for God’s sake!” Travis burst out. “Let me finish.” Stuart regarded him with a steely look that, again, reminded Travis of Malcolm. “I had a few words with our dear friend Harris. Apparently, he doesn’t have as much control over his people than he wants us to believe. Some of his operatives decided to side with Tanaka and try to derail the trade negotiations. They wanted to get to you through the one thing that meant the most to you.” “My family.” “Indeed.” Stuart’s mouth tightened, but not at Travis’s interruption. “They planted a bomb on your brother’s shuttle. Malcolm found out and gave Paul and his pilot those—“ he pointed at Travis’s transporter enhancer, which was still on Travis’s arm—“and Captain Sandosh beamed them out of there in the nick of time.” Sandosh rumbled, “Still, it was pretty close. I almost didn’t get them out. In any case, both Paul’s and the pilot’s DNA were still in the shuttle—they had been in there, after all, and Tanaka’s investigators thought they’d died in the explosion.” “Yeah, and I’ve been here ever since,” Paul said, his tone dark. “I couldn’t risk contacting you and Mom or it would’ve blown the entire thing. Tanaka knew that eventually someone would realize it had been sabotage and that it’d be traced back to her consortium. So she acted to protect her assets.” Travis shook his head as he felt Paul’s grip on his arm tighten. This all upset Paul more than he let on; Travis tried to imagine being in his place, alive, but unable to tell anyone. He’d be just as unhappy about it. “And I assure you, Travis, that the saboteurs have been well dealt with,” Stuart said, his face set in stern lines. “With Harris’s blessings. I still don’t trust the man, and I won’t forgive him for what he did to my son, but there are times when he has the slimmest glimmer of honor.” Travis visibly gulped. He was forever grateful that he wasn’t on Stuart Reed’s black list. Malcolm was dangerous enough; Travis didn’t want to think about what the elder Reed was capable of. “So now Tanaka’s barricaded herself on Vega and cut off all communication with Starfleet, the Boomers and the Consortiums,” Philippe said. “Not to mention she’s got one of my Stewards imprisoned down there. That’s reason enough for me to get involved.” “So what are you planning to do, sir?” Bernhard asked. “Stage an assault?” Silence fell after Bernhard’s question. Both Reed and Philippe glanced at each other with a significant look. Oneko stopped purring and straightened under Paul’s hand like a soldier coming to attention. Travis, Paul and Bernhard suddenly knew what the answer was. “Na, scheisse,” Bernhard muttered. He immediately looked abashed. “Ah, sorry, sir, I didn’t mean—“ Reed’s smile reached his eyes. “Don’t think anything of it, Ensign. I would much rather avoid conflict, but I see no other way to resolve this situation. Tanaka has proven that she will accept no compromise. Ensign, I understand you have some knowledge of tactics—“ “Thanks to your son, sir. He’s more skilled at that than I am—“ “Still, I would appreciate your assistance.” Reed objected. “And we could use the Boomers assistance as well—“ “Leave that to us,” Paul said confidently. “We’ll figure out something.” Philippe nodded. “And EdML and the Centaurian Security Force are with you too,” he said. “Considering I brought a small squad with me that’s really upset that their de facto leader is in trouble.” “Has there anything that you all haven’t thought about?” Bernhard groused. “Yeah,” Philippe said. “Just how we’re gonna convince Tanaka to open her gates.” Travis thought for a moment, then smiled. “I think you can leave that to us, Philippe.” |
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