Blue Galaxy (9 page)

“Olympia Philou. I wouldn’t tell her I loved her.”

“So she tortured you?”

“Yes, but I still wouldn’t tell her.” He looked into her eyes. “I love you, Sola.”

She gasped and turned away. “Don’t say that!”

“And you love me too.”

She whirled around to face him. “I do not!”

“Yes, you do. You say it over and over again when we make love.”

“That doesn’t count!”

She was terrified, and he almost felt sorry for her. “Oh, poor Sola. All that training, all that pain and suffering. Haven’t you realized anything since you’ve been on this ship?”

She shook her head.

Now he really did feel sorry for her. “You’ve been happy. You’ve been free. You’ve been having fun. And I’m afraid you’ve gone and fallen in love with me.”

“No. You’re wrong. I admire you, yes. I want you.” She swallowed. “But I do not love you, Javan Rhodes!”

Her hands were trembling. She’d forgotten she was holding the strap that held him immobile. He lunged for her and tore it from her hands, then enveloped her in a bear hug before quickly kissing her. “Just tell me one thing.”

She looked up at him with glistening eyes.

“Were you telling the truth? Are we having a baby?” She winced but stayed silent. “Talk to me, Sola. Trust me.”

Her expression slowly went blank.

“Please,” he whispered, and the agonized expression again leaped into her eyes. He moved his hands to her shoulders and shook her gently. “I love you. Just tell me the truth.”

She whimpered. “Leave me alone, Javan, or I’ll…I’ll…”

“Kill me? Kill the man you love? The father of your child?”

Wild-eyed, she finally said, “I had to get pregnant. If I were just married, my father would have ordered a divorce. Being pregnant… Well, you know the rules. It’s a stupid tradition, not being able to divorce if there are children, but everyone obeys it. Except for my father.”

“So you’re really pregnant?”

She looked so unhappy, so…innocent. So miserable. “Yes. I am.”

He released her and held his hands over his head once again. “Go on, tighten the straps.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m trusting you. I know you’re not too familiar with the concept. To tell you the truth, I’m not too familiar with it myself.”

“You trust me?”

He nodded. “I trust you and I love you.”

“You’re insane,” she whispered.

“And you’re a psychopath. We’ll make wonderful parents.”

The tension broken, she laughed. “You bastard!” She gave him a swift slap on the ass. “Go take your shower before I change my mind. I could have killed you, you know.”

Javan allowed her to see his broad grin as he strolled nonchalantly to the shower. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re not capable of such a soul-destroying act.” He got into the cubicle, his wrists still tied. He sneaked a glance at Sola and turned on the pressure shower. She looked lost, somehow bereft, but at least she hadn’t killed him. Not this time, anyway.

“No, absolutely not.”

“Pastorale is a delightful planet, Javan.”

“That’s not the point. You’ve never entered atmo before…”

“I’ve studied the files.”

“It’s not something you can learn from files. I know you’re brilliant and all that, but trust me, this is far too dangerous. And once you dump me on Pastorale, how are you going to get off the planet?”

“The same way you do. I’ll slingshot.”

“Let me guess—you’ve studied the files.”

She nodded.

“This is crazy. It’s far more of an art than a science—”

“It looked easy enough—”

“Until something goes wrong. No, I won’t allow it.”

She glanced at his bound hands and raised an eyebrow. “You won’t allow it?”

“Obey your husband, wife!”

Sola exploded into infectious giggles, and Javan joined in. She collapsed into his lap, shaking with laughter, and he kissed her neck. She untied the bindings around his wrists.

“I’m serious, Sola. I’ve watched too many people die at launch and reentry. It’s the most dangerous part of space travel. I’d be happy to teach you, but it takes time and lots of practice.”

“Then I’ll drop you off at the nearest space station and buy you passage to Pastorale.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I won’t…”

Suddenly Sola was hurled off his lap and onto the floor while Javan desperately gripped the chair. The ship rocked from side to side. Javan forced his way to the controls and tapped desperately.

Sola picked herself up. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure. Are you okay?”

“Yes, I think so.”

He checked the puter terminal. “We were just fired upon. A warning shot, I’d say. We have an incoming message.”

They both looked to the viewscan, where a flickering image filled the screen. It was a young man dressed in the robes of a Blue.

“Who the hell is that?”

“One of my brothers, I’m afraid. Put in some jump coordinates while I talk to him.”

“I won’t have time to check the coordinates. We won’t have time to strap in.”

“We’ll have to take our chances.”

Javan linked the sound circuit and crossed to the jump terminal.

“Sola, big sister, you are to return to Earth by order of the dictator.”

Sola sat in the command chair. “Now why should I do that, Ramon?”

The man on-screen smiled unpleasantly. “An alliance has been arranged for you. You either return, or I’m authorized to destroy this ship.”

“An alliance? I’m no longer in the running for heir?”

“Not after this misadventure. You’ve proved how flighty you are, just like we always said.”

“You must be very relieved right now, brother. Less competition.”

Ramon let out a laugh. “Not at all, Sola. I’m disappointed. I was looking forward to killing you. But now…you’re to be used as alliance fodder.” He clapped his hands in childish glee. “I can hardly wait for you to meet the one you’ve been promised to. He has such lovely plans to declaw you, dear sister. Of course, you could always refuse. It would be nice to kill you.”

“Yes, I can imagine. After trying and failing so many times before, right, brother?”

“Well, I did take the edge off my appetite by killing your friends. I can’t believe they thought I wouldn’t find out who had assisted with smuggling you off Earth.”

Javan glanced up at Sola. Her expression was blank. “So like your father.”

“I know you’re entering coordinates. It makes no difference. I have a tracking device on the ship. I had it placed on Artemis. I’ll just keep following you. But on our next encounter I won’t be offering you the chance to return to Earth. I’ll just blow you out of the universe. It would be my pleasure.”

Sola rose and went to the viewscan, then touched his face. “Don’t you remember when we were children? I was the closest thing you had to a mother. Remember?”

Ramon stopped smiling. “No, I don’t remember that at all.”

Javan tapped at his terminal, hoping he was doing the right thing and grateful he’d spent the credits for military-grade hardware. The ship rocked as the missile launched, and he immediately returned to entering the coordinates, the only ones he knew from memory.

“We’re jumping now!” He hit the jump key and hurled himself across the cockpit to push Sola into the chair. She shrugged him off, shoved him backward and threw herself on top of him.

They jumped.

He came through it better than she did. Sola had a death grip on the command chair, her fingernails clawed into the leather, and she was unconscious. He was trapped beneath her, but he was alive. They both were.

Javan wriggled from underneath her. It took several long minutes to prize her nails from the chair. He picked her up, carried her to his cabin and gently laid her on the bunk. Her eyelids fluttered; her head rocked from side to side.

“Sola?” He kissed her.

She opened her eyes and said distantly, “He was a very sweet boy before they sent him away for his training. He cried and cried when they came to take him.”

“I…I’m sorry. I had to do something…”

“You did the right thing, Javan. That little boy died long ago. Only a monster was left.”

Javan lowered his eyes in relief and kissed her forehead. “How do you feel?”

“Tired. So tired. I don’t understand why. My recovery systems are usually much better than this.” Her eyelids drooped.

Javan laughed. “You’re
pregnant,
my love. Get some rest. We’re safe. For now at least.”

She blinked her eyes open. “You did it again!”

“What?”

“You risked your life to save mine. You did it back on Valhalla too. What’s wrong with you?”

Javan threw his hands up. “I
love
you, Sola. I don’t have a choice.”

She stared at him.

“And you love me too. All this nonsense about dumping me on Pastorale? You just saved
my
life. Because you love me.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I need to sleep. I’m so tired.” She turned her back to him. He rubbed her shoulders, bent and kissed her hair, then turned on the vitalight. He watched her for hours before slowly turning and walking away.

For hours he sat in the command chair, staring out the viewscan at the place he’d returned to time and time again. He had never known why—until now.

Sola joined him. “What’s that?”

“It’s one of the most amazing things in the universe. It’s a blue galaxy. It’s just been born. It’s young and starting to grow.”

Sola slid into his lap. “It’s beautiful,” she said, leaning her head against his.

“It has so much life ahead of it. Billions of years if all goes well. Our lives seem very puny in comparison, don’t they?”

She nodded. Deep in their separate thoughts, they stayed that way for a few moments, gazing at the young galaxy.

“You win, Javan. Wherever we go, we’ll go together.”

“All three of us?

“Yes, all three of us.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why the change of heart?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just tired of trying to control everything. Maybe I’m just tired.” She rested her head on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off and forced her to look him in the eyes.

“The truth. For once tell me the damn truth.”

She tried to avoid his gaze. “I just like being around you. That’s all.”

“Dammit, Sola!”

“Okay! I love you! Okay? I love you and I want to be with you and I want my child to have a father. A good one! That’s what I want. I never want my child to turn into a Ramon. He could have been good. He wanted to be good!”

Javan put his arm around her and pulled her close. “That’s more like it, my lady. You love me. You love our child.”

“I
do
love you, Javan.”

“I know you do. I love you too. Since the moment you pulled that hood back and smiled at me.”

“Where shall we go, Javan?”

“I don’t know. Any ideas?”

“To Destin Grady?”

He laughed. “Are you crazy? Oh…right. You are, aren’t you?”

“He’s my ally.”

“I don’t think—”

“You’re my husband.”

“I don’t think I can stand having him look at you.”

“Idiot.” She kissed him. “He admires you.”

“Me? Why?”

“For having the guts to say no. For standing up to them. He said you’re a braver man than he will ever be. He’s no threat to you.”

Together, they took a last look at the infant galaxy. Javan keyed in the coordinates; they strapped in.

And jumped.

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