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+ | Failure is mandatory. | ||
+ | IX | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | “Ooorah, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Director Malcolm McDonnell wondered again at the vagaries of the American language, but that wonder was quickly eclipsed by every surviving starship of his fleet responding with a single “Hooyah.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Fram, fram” the Aesiran warships echoed over and over, which Malcolm took to mean something like the same thing. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm leaned back in his seat and looked up towards where Dawn sat atop the console. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Her action figure-sized holoform smiled back at him with a proud look. “You’ve collected good people for this.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That I have,” he whispered back and shook his head. “I just wish...” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Me too,” she answered as the sensor plot showed the Shang continuing to accelerate towards them. They were three minutes away if their acceleration held steady. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Their formations tightened up, and every ship began to transmit the same word over and over again across every channel to make certain the Shang heard it as drive after drive came to life. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Fram, fram.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Even Malcolm began chanting in time as the time-to-target dropped under one minute and continued to fall. It felt good to go into battle like that. A single word declaring to everyone within hearing that they would not go quietly into the night. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Weapons fire begins in...three, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm frowned and looked at the displays in confusion. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Two,” Smith continued his countdown. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Mister Smith?” Malcolm asked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “One,” Smith uttered one last time. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then hyperspace opened and eight hammerheaded destroyers crackled into existence with gravitic cannons, lasers, and missiles dispensing death and destruction ahead of them. They accelerated straight through the Shang formation atop plumes of blue fusion flame and chaos reigned in their wakes. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Hello boys,” a voice said from one of his displays and Malcolm turned to see Caroline Murphy smiling at him. “Did you miss me?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Every day of my life,” Malcolm said with his very best smile as relief flowed through him. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Liar,” Caroline whispered and bestowed a far softer smile on him in return. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Another display flashed to show him three of the new Shang raiders drifting out of formation with wreckage spewing out of their wounded flanks. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I thought we went over this before,” Malcolm returned as a different display flashed for his attention. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline shook her head and the destroyers lit off their drives once more. Then Hellcat starfighters began launching from their broadside hangar bays with a metronome rhythm that promised far more destruction to come. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You’re going to make me blush,” she said with an impish smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Always, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Sounds promising.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’ve always loved a good party,” Malcolm said and turned to the display with Olivia Wyatt’s face on it. “Captain? | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia smiled at him. “I’m already coordinating with her captains, Director.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm sighed and looked towards Erik Torson’s display. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Professionals, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm nodded in agreement and turned back to Olivia. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yes, Director, | ||
+ | |||
+ | She paused, looked at Malcolm for a moment, and then sighed as the entire formation began accelerating towards the Shang fleet. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That would be the Shang for clarification. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “At this time?” Caroline asked with an upraised eyebrow. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Olivia answered the unspoken challenge with a steady gaze. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline turned to Malcolm and smiled once more. “She really is a professional, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I trust her with my life,” Malcolm said. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline nodded. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You still can,” Malcolm said. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I know,” Caroline said and her face broke into a radiant smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I thought you were here to secure Wolfenheim for our not-so-mutual Family interests? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That’s the orders I sailed under,” Caroline said with a corrective shake of her head. Then she sighed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “The Family could teach Machiavelli a thing or two, couldn’t they?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Come on, Malcolm,” Caroline said with another shake of her head. “You know the score as well as I. Machiavelli was one of us.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm laughed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline cocked her head to the side and gave him a wry look. “And I don’t want to fight you.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm let out a long breath that he hoped didn’t look too much like relief. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Do you...promise? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “With all my heart,” Malcolm answered and placed his hand over the referenced organ. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline’s smile took on a radiant aura once more and she opened her mouth to reply. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Missile after missile boiled out of the Shang starships and streaked towards the converging defending fleets in wave after wave of oncoming destruction. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “All ships, hold offensive fire,” Olivia ordered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Are you sure about this?” Caroline asked with a doubtful look. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Those are too many missiles for just our point defenses to handle,” Olivia returned. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline looked at her for a moment before nodding. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yes,” Olivia said. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline nodded again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm frowned and glanced at Dawn, wondering if he was hearing what he thought he was. It sounded like she was saying something for the record to defend an action she thought her superiors would disagree with. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I will direct my ships to follow your lead for the duration of this battle,” Caroline continued with a formal nod. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I have directed my captains to do the same,” Erik added from his display. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Thank you,” Olivia said, and a light blush just might have colored her cheeks. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm’s Blackhawk vibrated with the constant fire of point defense missiles from his launchers, and they struck out with allied lasers and even gravitic cannons to lay down a wall of death in front of the Shang missile swarm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm watched his capacitors and fuel levels drop as even the Peloran-upgraded fusion generator labored to keep up with the energy demands of constant fire this far beyond the rated maximum fire rate. He glanced up to where Dawn sat atop the console and winced. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn nodded in agreement to his unspoken comment and shifted her head to the side. The display she pointed out showed their ammunition levels falling well below operational minimums for everything except the purely anti-ship warheads. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm cleared his throat and smiled. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn shrugged in recognition of their shared understanding. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm returned his focus to the mass holocaust of Shang missiles as the combined fleet pushed them further and further back towards the attackers. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm glanced at the display showing their combined effective closing rates and shook his head. It was going to be a fast knife fight and their gravitic cannons would only have time for one shot. That just meant they were going to have to make it count. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “All ships, prepare for offensive fire,” Caroline ordered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | One of the destroyers flashed on his displays, and Malcolm nodded towards Dawn. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Two...” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn smiled and the Blackhawk’s capacitors dumped power into the gravitic cannon. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “One...” | ||
+ | |||
+ | The gravitic cannon’s display blinked to show it was at maximum power. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Execute.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | The gravitic cannon unleashed its full fury and reached out to rip at their target. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Missiles rippled out of his Blackhawks’ flank launchers and the remains of his fighter squadron filled space with wildly accelerating miniature guided weapons that all had a single goal. Death by mutual extinction with their target. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Only a few of the first missiles made it through the wave of point defense, most of them horribly blinded by the destruction of their fellows. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The first missiles to make attack range ripped the already destabilized deflection grid apart, leaving the destroyer temporarily vulnerable to the next phase of his attack. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The saucer-shaped Shang destroyer spun like a top, keeping the lasers from melting the same armor for more than a second or so, but more missiles poured into the vulnerable destroyer. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then Rouen joined the assault and two ship-killer lasers pinned the Shang destroyer like an annoying fly. Four anti-ship missiles followed the lasers in, trying to penetrate the enemy starship’s point defense. | ||
+ | |||
+ | It winked out of existence and left behind no evidence that it had ever existed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm swung his head around to scan the rest of the fleets as they came together and slashed through each other on directly opposing vectors and speeds as missiles exploded all around. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Rouen bucked as a concentrated salvo of missiles and lasers made it through her defenses. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm’s jaw dropped as one of his remaining Blackhawks ate a missile clawing its way towards him and came apart. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The surviving twenty or thirty Shang starships accelerated away from the American and Aesiran ships, flinging missiles back at the defenders. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm knew what those missiles were going to do to the command ships’ flanks and swung his controls around without thinking. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He turned to the side and one Hellcat pilot met his gaze to share a second of good-natured humor. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then the point defense networks of every single remaining starfighter synced up with each other and the Shang missiles entered their terminal attack phase. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The one thing he knew for certain was that they stopped most of the missiles with that wall of point defense. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Most. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The ragged survivors streaked through the exploding debris of their compatriots and dove out of the flames towards the wounded starships they’d come to kill. | ||
+ | |||
+ | One exploded as it hit a Blackhawk instead. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He didn’t know how many fighters died in that last split second, and he was far too busy slewing his fighter to count them as every instinct he’d learned to listen to screamed at him to get out of where he was right now. Three missiles clawed towards him in a triangular formation he almost avoided with a last ditch twist of the stick to get an extra gee of sideways acceleration out of the maneuvering thrusters. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The fighter swung her tail away from two of the missiles and nailed them with a last-second volley of point defense lasers. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The third missile exploded just off his starboard side and whips of gravity clawed out for him. His deflection grids held for a split second before coming apart, and the missile’s gravitic generators tore at his starfighter. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then a piece of wreckage smashed into his canopy and it simply exploded around him. Crystalline slivers of the transparent canopy slashed out and Malcolm felt a sharp pain in his cheek as one of them drew blood. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He would have sucked in a deep breath of relief if he wasn’t in sudden vacuum. | ||
+ | |||
+ | That put a dampener on things like breathing. | ||
+ | |||
+ | It was not an enjoyable experience. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then his flight suit’s seals engaged and a force field bubble swung up and around from behind his head to link up with his chest. | ||
+ | |||
+ | They popped hard enough to hurt in fact. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A hand waved to catch his attention and Malcolm focused on Dawn as she sat atop her console with hair waving outward in the vacuum of space. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Are you all right?” she asked from his earbuds. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yeah,” he croaked from very unhappy vocal cords. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She raised one eyebrow at the voice that sounded anything but good. Then she pointed upward and he followed her finger to see a Hellcat drifting upside down mere meters from his cockpit. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The starfighter pilot looked directly at him through her clear cockpit and her lips moved. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “How are you?” her words came through his earbuds. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’ll live,” he said in a voice that sounded at least a little bit more lively than his first words. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Good,” the pilot said with a smile that Malcolm felt he should remember from somewhere. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Well then,” he croaked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That’s the spirit,” the other pilot said with another of those ironic smiles. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then another voice cut through the channels and John Smith’s face took over the fighter’s central display. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “This is Captain John Smith of Phantom Squadron, Marine Fighter Attack Wing One Twelve, The Cowboys, to all Shang vessels. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm glanced at a secondary displays to see the last of the Shang ships running back over the Red Line in a full-fledged retreat. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He’d survived. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then hyperspace opened up and swallowed the fleeing Shang starships. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You know they’re just going to come back, right?” Caroline asked from another of the surviving displays. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Of course they are.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline shook her head in amazement. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “They already did.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline turned to aim a disbelieving look at Malcolm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm shrugged and smiled. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You people scare me,” Caroline whispered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’m sorry.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “It’s your fight,” Caroline said to him. “But it’s not mine.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I know you haven’t signed up,” John Smith said with a nod. “I just need you to realize that I have. This is for all the marbles. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline nodded slowly and looked back towards Malcolm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm spread his arms out wide and tried to inject a lighter tone into the conversation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Murphy returned his smile with interest. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’m all ears,” Malcolm said and made a profound attempt to waggle his ears at her. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline laughed and shook her head. “You always were.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm let out a long breath and leaned forward. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline nodded and sobered once more. “Yes, you did.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “So why don’t we go on down to the planet and discuss all of this over a nice view of a shiny new colony?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline pursed her lips and aimed a speculative gaze at him. “You aren’t trying to lure me into a compromising position are you?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I could be.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline nodded very slowly at him. “We have spent the last few thousand lightyears aboard ship, haven’t we?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We have.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That sounds...promising, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm nodded at her. “We find ourselves in promising times, I think.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “In more ways than one,” Caroline whispered once more. Then she sighed and nodded. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’ll be waiting for you.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline’s display cut out and Malcolm turned to Dawn with a questioning look. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We can land, can’t we?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Oh yes, we can certainly land,” Dawn said with a smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm frowned at that. “Why do I sense a ‘but’ in there?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Lifting off again is going to be the trick.” Dawn chuckled at Malcolm’s expression. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Don’t promise me a good time,” Malcolm whispered and tried to relax again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “When have I ever failed to deliver on a promise?” Dawn returned with a wink and their Blackhawk rotated on a burst of maneuvering jets. The three remaining engines powered up and began gently accelerating towards the planet. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Um...is that going to be a problem?” Malcolm asked in a worried tone. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Don’t worry,” Dawn said. “She’s just feeling a little cranky.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | She gave him stunning smile and the engine kept power as they dropped out of formation with the remaining defense fleet. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I take it back. This isn’t anything like a good time,” Malcolm said and held on tight as they fell towards the ground like a meteor. | ||
+ | |||
+ | And that was when engine three coughed one more time and died. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Dawn?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Don’t worry. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Dawn?” Malcolm asked in a more insistent tone and latched onto the pilot’s chair with a white knuckled grip. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn just smiled as they plummeted towards the ground. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Are you certain?” Malcolm asked with a glance as the altimeter screeched a warning and more displays began flashing for his attention. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Absolutely, | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Blackhawk slowed to a stop and touched down on her landing skids with one shuddering motion. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The force field bubble over his head rolled back into his suit and fresh wind touched his face, taking away the stale smell of his suit air. It wasn’t a bad smell. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’m not certain I can say that was a good ride,” Malcolm whispered with a false calm and popped his five-point harness to stand up. “But it sure was memorable.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yeah, well you may want to shimmy yourself on down to the ground before I turn all the gravitics off.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That bad?” Malcolm asked and swung his legs out over the edge of the cockpit to find the ladder. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Don’t make me start counting the seconds,” Dawn said in a careful tone. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Got it,” Malcolm said and his feet failed to find the ladder. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Not enough for a proper Cowboy dismount, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Shiny, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Possibly even worth it, depending on how the footage looked. | ||
+ | |||
+ | With that important thought in mind he came to his feet and turned to Park and Clark with a confident smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Looks like you barely made it out alive, kid,” Clark muttered with a glance towards the damaged starfighter. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Oh, I was never in any real danger,” Malcolm returned with airy confidence. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Then he heard metal tearing and clattering behind him and saw Park’s and Clark’s eyes open wide in surprise. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Dawn?” Malcolm asked and her holoform stepped forward into his field of vision. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Dawn made a show of turning to look behind them before smiling at him. “That’s not our starfighter that fell apart behind us.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Dawn?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | She met his gaze with wide-eyed innocence. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Are you lying to me?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | She aimed a sunny smile at him. “Absolutely.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | That was when a sonic boom washed over them and he turned his eyes up to see a shuttle dropping towards them. Thrusters flared, wings extended, and it banked around to land next to the remains of his starfighter. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’m shocked...shocked that you would mislead me so remorselessly, | ||
+ | |||
+ | The side of the shuttle opened to reveal a long and lanky blonde he did not know. She walked to the bottom of the ramp and gave Malcolm a long look. She turned her gaze to Park and Clark for a moment, and then came about to examine the remains of his starfighter. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm frowned as a familiar feeling filled him. He couldn’t remember her, but the back of his mind told him he’d met her before. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Are any of you armed?” the woman asked and scanned the welcoming party with a narrowed gaze. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Park opened his suit wide and spun in place to show he hid nothing to hide. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Clark pulled a pistol out of his belt and laid it on the ground. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She sighed and aimed her final examination at Malcolm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’m just armed with my wits,” he said and raised his hands as well. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She nodded very slowly and turned her back on him to face the shuttle. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You’re in no danger here,” the woman announced. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm frowned and tried to decide if he’d just been insulted. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I already knew that, Kris,” Commodore Caroline Murphy said as she walked down the ramp. “In fact, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I told you that.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Kris remained admirably silent as she stepped to the side to let her commander pass. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline reached the end of the ramp and gave him a wry smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Consider me well and truly caught,” Malcolm answered and held his hand out to her. She placed hers in his and he raised it to his lips in a fluid and gallant motion. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She looked around at Park, Clark, and the weapons at the older man’s feet. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You’ve assembled quite the rogues’ gallery here, I see.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Only the very best,” Malcolm returned. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Yes. | ||
+ | |||
+ | His cheeks burned even more at her touch than it had to the touch of naked vacuum. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “There was a lot more blood the first time you saved me, you know,” she whispered into his chest. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm licked his lips and tried to tell his heart to slow down a beat or two. It ignored his command with blithe abandon. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I do hope it belonged to the other guy,” he finally managed to say. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Guys,” she corrected quickly. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She leaned back and looked up into his eyes with a hard stare. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Did I win?” Malcolm asked with a wry grin. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “No,” she whispered and shook her head again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm followed her gaze and Kris nodded slowly. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “God damn you, Malcolm!” she screamed. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm froze and tried to think of something to say. But nothing came to mind and he just stared back at her in confusion. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I’m supposed to arrest you! Don’t you understand that?” she shouted in desperation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Because I’ve been arrested before. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She stared at him for a shocked second and then shook her head. “I’m supposed to take you home! Home, Malcolm! | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Then take me home,” Malcolm said with a genuine smile and knew he meant every word of it. Every word and more. “I won’t fight you. I’ll go wherever you want me.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline shook her head again turned to look at the colony. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “And leave behind all the money and resources spent on a Class One Colonization Package?” she said in a helpless tone. “The Family would never forgive me for just leaving it out here.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Then don’t leave,” Malcolm said in that same calm tone. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “What ?” Caroline stopped and peered up at him in confusion. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm sighed and smiled one more time. “The Family funded this expedition. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Her mouth hung open in utter shock at the insane idea and he just smiled at her. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We’re all here, Caroline. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline shook her head and looked out at the colony again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I know that.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline’s gaze snapped back to him and her eyes glittered. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We live in dangerous times, Caroline. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Her fingers squeezed his in reflex and his smile broadened. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Work with me, Caroline. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She shook her head with a wry smile. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Nothing great ever built was achieved by stopping.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Caroline shook her head again and pulled away from him. “You don’t even remember me, Malcolm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I may not remember you,” Malcolm said with a smile and felt the calm continue to seep into his bones. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That’s just your hormones talking,” Caroline said with a snort. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “No,” Malcolm corrected and smiled at her. “I’ve known plenty of pretty ladies I wouldn’t risk a minute of my time for. Let alone my life. You’re not like them. I know that. I don’t remember you, but I most certainly know you.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | Her face softened as she saw the truth in his words, but she shook her head. “Fine. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You’re wrong,” Malcolm said in a calm voice. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “How can you know?” Caroline asked with haunted eyes. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Because I’m Ageless,” Malcolm said in his most confident tone. “Don’t you know we can see the future?” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “No you can’t,” Caroline snorted at him and shook her head in amusement. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Then trust that feeling,” Malcolm said and met her gaze with all his attention. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She froze and stared at him for a long moment. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The words came out hard and bitter and his calm shuddered for a split second. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You won’t fail because you won’t want to disappoint yourself. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Her eyes opened wide and he held his hand out to her again. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “I got better. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She laughed at that and turned to look at Kris. Malcolm followed her gaze in time to see the woman nod back at her. Caroline pulled in a deep breath, bit her lower lip, and returned her gaze to his. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Okay, Malcolm,” she said and took his hand. “I guess I’ll do that thing you want.” | ||
+ | |||
+ | “That sounds promising, | ||
+ | |||
+ | “We live in promising times,” she returned and brought one hand up to pat his chest with an electric touch. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “It’s exactly what I wanted,” Malcolm whispered and followed her gaze. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Exactly? | ||
+ | |||
+ | “Well. | ||
+ | |||
+ | “You never did know when to stop,” Caroline whispered in a wry tone. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Malcolm answered by wrapping an arm around her waist. | ||
+ | |||
+ | She leaned against him again and everything felt right as they scanned their new colony. |