Chapter 16
Wayne disembarked from the shuttle and found himself looking at the station administrator Michael Liebenow. He’d been the one to approve the name change of the station to Steeple, as well as approving all the upgrades for security for himself and Josephine.
Last he’d seen of the man he was a bit heavy in the middle but looked well enough over all.
Right now the man who was almost as tall as Wayne looked wrung out and tired. As if he’d been battling through endless bureaucracy and company mergers.
His dark hair was limp and uncombed and his tired brown eyes had dark circles under them.
“Lord Cavalier, welcome home,” Michael said with a warm smile. “It’s a pleasure to be able to greet you.”
“I dunno, you look like me living on Steeple has caused you endless sleepless nights,” Wayne said and walked up the man. He extended his hand to him and shook it firmly.
“Oh… well… certainly many sleepless nights but I don’t regret it,” offered Michael with a chuckle, shook Wayne’s hand, and released it. “It forced me to realize I was capable of more than what I was doing.
“As well as-well-that I deserved more. That I was allowed to want more. So now I’ve been doing that. Seems like everyone is pretty happy with my efforts so far.
“My dear station has been expanded repeatedly and is now four times the volume that it was when you first arrived. I have transports, imports, exports, AI, mercenaries, Royals, dignitaries, warships, all passing through.
“It’s everything you could wish for and fear in the same breath. But I’m happy. I’m happy I’m pushing myself.”
“Glad to hear it. I take it Josie isn’t on board?” Wayne asked.
“Oh she is. As is Tink and Miriam,” countered Michael. “They’re waiting in the garages for you. Which… which we modified.
“Your living quarters were detatched and placed adjacent to your once again expanded garage space. It was easier to do this considering how many living spaces the princess wanted to add. She paid for all of it and added more on the other side to compensate the loss.
“Other noble houses have attached living quarters as well to the other side and… we’re a very busy station now. Very busy.”
“Then I’ll leave you to it. Thank you for greeting me, Michael,” Wayne said honestly with a grin.
Leaving the station administrator to what sounded like a minor noble houses’ problems he mentally made a note to ask Josie about getting Michael a title.
Cara, Barbie, and Wendy followed him as they started off to the far door.
“Ah, one of the reasons I’m here, Lord Cavalier, is you now have a docking space on your garage,” Michael offered up with a warm laugh. “Josie paid for that as well. I used that money to expand the station again. You’ll need to disembark from here and move to the far side of the station.
“You can just use the station’s Dock AI and it’ll handle it if you want, or manually handle it.”
Wayne had known Josie was changing things, but this was a surprise.
“I’ll walk,” Wayne countered and kept going with a wave of his hand. “Have the AI move the ship. It’ll be quicker if I just hit the elevator rather than trying to go through all that protocol again.”
“Wayne, this is why you’re a problem for intelligence officers,” Wendy complained with a laugh from behind him. Followed by a light pat on his lower back.
Since he’d started sharing a bed with her, Wendy had become very ‘touchy-feely’. Often laying her hand to him in one way or another.
“He’s always a damn problem,” grumbled Barbie. Her morning sickness had come in full after she missed her second time of the month. She was well and truly pregnant. According to her she felt like she had the flu all day every day.
It sounded miserable to him.
“You chose him,” Cara argued. “You stole every night you could from Wendy or me that you could.”
“I did. I did all that. I chose him. I’d choose him again. I’ll let him put as many kids in me as he wants,” agreed Barbie. “He’s still a damn problem. My problem. But a problem.”
Pausing for only a second, Wayne took Barbie’s left arm in his right, moved into the arrival lobby and moved through it without stopping.
There were a great many people here, as well as employees, and more than half all turned to look at him as he went by.
Clearly people knew who he was and people were already whispering about it.
Spreading faster than Wayne was walking.
“Shouldn’t be holding my arm,” Barbie said quietly. “I should be ready to defend you.”
“You’re right,” Wayne confirmed, but held to her arm. He felt strange about Barbie. About everything, really. She was pregnant with his child and as far as he knew, the only one pregnant. She was going to give him his first child and it made him feel sweaty and nervous thinking about it. “I’ll take the risk. Just like you did.”
“I mean, fair. You put a shrimp on my barbie and roasted my chestnut,” admitted Barbie with a soft laugh as they started moving down hallways. “I took a risk. My own damn disregard for the possibility got me exactly that.
“Though my parents are excited. Really excited. I’m their only girl so this’ll be their first where it’s their daughter rather than daughter-in-laws.”
“I liked your parents,” Wayne said with a grin and glanced at the white-haired special forces soldier turned Walker pilot. Then looked at Cara. “Yours, too. Your sister was funny.”
Cara gave him an odd smile and wrinkled her nose. As if she wasn’t quite sure what to say.
Turning his gaze to Wendy he stared at her.
He always walked a bit slower than he normally would whenever Wendy was with him.
The injury she’d taken and the damage it caused hadn’t fully been repaired. Nerves were delicate things and despite the medical advancements the Confed had made, there were still things that weren’t a guarantee.
Like repairing nerve damage.
Her walk speed had been impaired and she had a slight limp, neither of which were an issue if Wayne slowed down fractionally.
“I have to talk to Josie and Miri first,” Wendy admitted with a wide cheshire like grin. “I made sure to notify them even while we were in Blood space of my change in designation.
“After that, you’ll probably get to meet my parents. Until then I still have to play the rules as an outsider.
“Though I do think myself and Barbie are perfect for you. We can help with the Hesh side of things in both Mirkil and Confed territories while Josie deals with Mirkil heirs.”
No one mentioned Tink.
Last I heard from her, she didn’t want children at all.
As she put it, ‘an aunt and nothing more’.
It was a shame to Wayne but he wasn’t going to fault her for it. It was her choice after all.
Taking a turn here, and a turn there, they made good time and reached the garage quickly. Though it did take some time to clear security.
There were surprisingly two security checkpoints and a bio-scan to make sure he was indeed who he said he was, along with one for Wendy, Cara, and Barbie.
Despite that, they still made it to the garage faster than the ship did.
Josephine, Miriam, Tink, and a number of people were all waiting near what was obviously an airlock. Watching it for what was likely Wayne’s arrival.
There was a significant distance between where they’d entered and where they were though. Michael hadn’t been kidding when he’d said the garage had expanded.
There was room for multiple ships, Titan sized Walkers, and even a fighter spacecraft or two as well as land-vehicles.
“Oh? Oh. I can earn brownie points,” Wendy hissed and jerked her phone out of her pocket. She quickly tapped at it then stuck it to her ear.
Josephine twitched from where she stood amongst the group and then pulled her phone out of her own pocket. Then held it up to her ear.
“We just entered from the hallway entrance,” Wendy ratted Wayne out. “Do you want me to force Wayne to walk to you, or pull him off to the side?”
Josephine said something, stuck her phone in her pocket, and visibly turned toward where Wayne and the others were.
She began walking toward him at a measured pace with Miriam on her right, and Tink on her left.
Josephine looked every part the royal princess that she was in this moment.
Wearing a full Mirkil Defense uniform at an officer’s rank. Her modest figure definitely filled it out well enough.
She was letting her hair grow out longer and longer it seemed. It was now past her shoulders and moving down further.
She was looking less ‘officer’ and more ‘royal officer’ every time he saw her. It was styled and put together fashionably.
As ever, she had a beautiful look to her that was more than ‘pretty’ that demanded attention to not just her striking brown eyes, but the whole of her.
Miriam was a study in contrast to Josephine in many ways.
Her short wavy brown hair was matched to Mirkil standards as well as her uniform.
Though it did a very poor job of hiding away Miriam’s flattering and appealing assets. She had a figure and way of carrying herself that made it seemed like she belonged more in movies or in ad-work, than the military.
Even at this distance he could see her pale blue eyes were glued to him and hanging off of him. As if she could close the distance with a look alone.
He couldn’t deny that it was a bit odd looking at her, as the slight ‘older than me’ feeling she’d had previously was gone now. The recent treatments had indeed smoothed that out.
Miriam looked very much like a woman his age, rather than three or four years older.
Tink broke away at a quick walk, that immediately became a run.
Then a full on sprint.
“Tink!” Josephine called after her, only to laugh.
“Ah shit,” Wayne murmured and took a few steps to the side. He didn’t want to end up getting slammed into the others.
“Huh?” Barbie murmured, looking at Tink.
Who was staring at Wayne with a wide-eyed look, breathing heavily through her mouth, and running with all the speed her non-runner built body could put on.
You know… I do love her.
But there are times where I think she’s just a bit crazy.
Standing there, grinning, Wayne waited.
Tink didn’t disappoint.
Last time she’d thankfully stopped right in front of him.
Someone had almost certainly talked to her about not slamming bodily into people.
Standing there, he waited for her.
In the last second he realized she wasn’t slowing down.
At all.
Truth of the matter was, there was a red line coming out of her like she was an incoming rocket. One that would collide with him dead-center.
Fuck.
The moment she connected with him, Wayne did his best to throw himself backward to let her carry him off his feet.
Much as he had done in the past.
Otherwise she’d just bounce right off him and get hurt.
On hitting the ground, Tink kissed him hungrily. Both of her hands holding to his face and not releasing him. She squirmed around on him briefly until she got comfortable, all the while kissing him.
Knowing that this was going to be a long one, Wayne got comfortable, kissed her back, and just laid there on the floor of the garage. Trying to fight her off wouldn’t accomplish anything other than hurting her feelings.
Several minutes passed before he heard people starting to gather around him.
“Tink hon, you said you wanted me to tell you when it was probably about time to get up,” murmured Miriam from above him somewhere. “You’ve had your tongue in his mouth for about five minutes and it’s… you’re grinding your hips into him, dear.”
Tink went still atop him, her body freezing up.
She ended the kiss, but rather than move away from him, she curled in closer to Wayne. Pressing her face into his neck. Her hands were now pressed between them and her shoulders hunched up.
“It’s fine,” Josephine said with a laugh while peering down at Wayne. She seemed entirely unbothered. “I know you missed him just as much as I did if not more in your own way, Tink.
“I don’t blame you in the least. Though, can you get up, hon? I want to hug and kiss him, too.”
Are they all calling Tink, Hon?
That’s kinda interesting.
Tink nodded her head against Wayne but didn’t move.
For ten seconds she just remained there before she finally got off the top of him. Only to pull him upright with those incredibly strong fingers and arms.
Looking around, Tink clearly got more nervous and just stood there, looking down at the ground, but not moving away from Wayne’s side.
“Welcome home,” Josephine murmured then hugged Wayne tightly and kissed him. Squeezing him just as tightly as Tink had done.
Thankfully it was only fifteen or so seconds of being kissed by the princess before she released him.
Only for Miriam to take her place and kiss Wayne as well, hugging him and pulling him up against herself.
She was kind about it and let him go after much less time than either Tink or Josie, but then caught his hand and didn’t release it.
“Nat is working with the squad leaders,” Miriam answered one of his many unspoken questions. He hadn’t seen her with the group earlier. “She’s blossoming into a very good secondary leader and the others respect her.”
“Glad to hear it,” remarked Wayne and meant it. He looked around and found everyone around him was everyone he’d want here, minus Natalie.
She felt like a kid sister he never had now.
“Well, I have news,” Wayne started, not really sure of how to get this whole thing explained to them.
To which Barbie made an ‘urk’ noise, turned, and threw up onto the ground without any preamble or warning.
Followed by the platinum blonde groaning and remaining hunched over at the waist.
“I’m well aware Barbie is pregnant,” dryly pointed out Josephine as Miriam and Wendy went to either side of Barbie and started tending to her. “I’m annoyed that I’m not pregnant, but I’m glad that I won’t have to populate two households with heirs by myself and need only focus on Mirkil.”
“Ah, no, not that,” Wayne put in quickly. He wanted to go to Barbie’s side but Miriam and Wendy were already taking her away.
Not wanting to stand next to Barbie’s thrown up lunch Wayne led Cara, Tink, and Josephine away from the puddle.
A person in a maintenance uniform came over quickly with a mop and pail.
“Sorry about that, she’s just a bit sick,” Wayne apologized as the maintenance person went by, who only nodded their head. Wayne turned back to the three women. “The Blood have this thing called ‘the enemy’. It’s why the Blood exists, in fact, and why they dislike the Confed.”
This was probably the most likely spot to start this story.
Because without the backstory, nothing else would add up.
***
“— pledged the army I wanted and are calling up another one,” Wayne finished.
“Just as Tadhg warned you,” Wendy mused. “You mentioned that last time you explained it but I don’t think I gave it as much importance as I should have.”
“You were still trying to crack data so you were mentally elsewhere,” Barbie said from where she was sitting on the couch. Her head tilted back and staring up at the ceiling of Josephine’s personal apartment.
Though calling it an apartment was a bit of an undersell.
It was the size of six normal apartments on the station. With multiple bedrooms, a study, living room, dinning room, kitchen, entry, and armory.
Along with a servants quarters attached to it for four to attend to Josephine.
“We saw the Dashi forces coming our way with you at the head of them,” Josephine admitted, turning to look at Wayne who was seated right next to her. “We were assuming it was either some extreme type of honor guard or you’d caused an incident. Your preliminary report helped ease our worries.”
“Yeah. They’re here to serve for me as my army,” confirmed Wayne. “For Mirkil as Lord Cavalier Warrior Hesh. It’s not the reason I went out there but I’m more than happy to come back with it as I did. Gives us a lot more flexibility.”
“I’d agree. Especially with how things have changed while you were away,” Miriam added with a click of her tongue. She was sat down next to Barbie and playing nurse maid. “Before we talk about that though, this ‘enemy’ is horrifyingly interesting and… scary at the same time.
“I never would’ve guessed at so much happening when everything started here. I mean, you’ve got tales of the Sovereign period and the artifacts that’ve made it here from that age.
“But in the same breath it’s almost as if it never existed. That it was never… real.”
“I felt the same way,” concurred Wendy. “I was digging through a lot of the data on the way here though. I’ve got leads on people in the Confed and other Blood that are likely the augmentatus. Or working with them directly.
“It’s just as the Pureblood of Dashi said. There’s a lot of communications and things happening that don’t make any sense.
“A lot of it was confirmed when Arsenic took that facility over and kept the data intact. They’d managed to delete some things, I have no idea how, but a large swathe of it was still there.
“It’s… extensive. There’s a lot of trails that don’t lead to anything definitivie but I think we can track it back and get an idea of where things are. This is an extensive network of things.”
“I-I-In other words,” Tink got out from the other side of Wayne. “Ha-Hawke isn’t the problem. It n-never was. It’s this group. These p-people. They’re the problem.
“They’re the reason the Dashi invaded and why all the other stuff is happening. Is that it?”
“Yes,” Wendy confirmed with a nod of her head. She shifted her weight on the bar-stool she sat and moved her legs around. “I dislike the reason ‘why’ they’re doing it even more than all that though.
“Because the only reason you’d go in for trying to get everyone to fight one another, would be to weaken them so you could invade yourself at a later time.”
“And that… that all those ships that never came back that went into the Abyss didn’t vanish after all,” Miriam added, sounding thoughtful and nervous. “No matter how we’ve approached it, the Abyss was never charted and never explained.”
The Abyss.
I always thought it was just kinda one of those ‘space is weird’ things.
That’d make sense though.
But… also not.
The Blood would’ve been wary of that.
Wouldn’t they?
Or did it miss their own analysis because nothing ever actually came of it. Things just vanished and that was it.
Could be a red herring.
“Could be nothing,” Miriam added almost in sync with Wayne’s thought.
“Well, we do have the data Wendy brought with her and… well… there’s that new AI in my head,” Wayne suggested. “Maybe Dinne can take a look.”
Everyone agreed with nodding heads.
“Yes!” Tink put in, no longer bothered by the situation. She was ever eager to test things with AI or Walkers. “Yes. I’ll call Diane over. I upgraded her Exo-suit and gave her a bigger relay inside of it. She can be anywhere in the station now! She’s even a recognized citizen, too.
“She does work for Michael when there’s AI problems and even earns a salary!”