November 04, 2361 AIA

P67

Jane watched as the Golondrina aligned itself to landed on the hotel’s private port. She held up a hand up to block out some of the light from the engines and cut down the fierce wind that was ripping past her eyes.

It was the damn wind was making her eyes sting with water. She was sure of it. She wasn’t crying.

But she couldn’t explain why her heart had leapt as soon as she’d recognized the ship’s profile.

God, she was tired. That was it—she wasn’t emotional, she was tired.

Tate noticed her fidgeting as the ship’s ramp lowered. He smiled.

“Jane!” Ciro, unwilling to wait for the ramp to touch ground, jumped the last three feet to the asphalt.

The moment Dr. Jane Bonumomnes saw his bright, exaggerated smile, she forgot everything else. Including her dignity.

“My puppy!” Jane yelled back.

They ran toward each other, folded their arms around each other, and squeezed. Ciro managed to pull Jane off the ground by a few inches. When he put her down again, he didn’t let her go.

“I missed you!” Even though the engines were cut, Ciro still yelled. At his current level of excitement, he would’ve yelled in a funeral home.

“What? Your brother didn’t make fun of you enough?”

“He’s not as beautiful as you are. I love you!”

“I know you do, you dork.”

“Marry me?”

“I don’t think so.”

Ciro let out an enormous sigh. Jane laughed.

“Will you hurt me if I kiss you?” he asked.

“Yes.” A moment later, she said, “Hey, Wonder Boy, are you ever going to let me go?”

“Hold on. I’m trying to decide if it’d be worth it.”

When she laughed again, Ciro decided she was in a good enough mood he could risk kissing her cheek. That done, he left one hand on her shoulder and dropped the other, stepping aside so she could see the rest of the people who’d followed him down after the ramp had finished lowering.

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Reyer was first. She stopped a few feet away from Jane and stood there with her arms folded. She was trying not to smile.

They stared at each other without speaking.

It was Alix who broke the silence. “I’m not sorry, Jane.”

“No. You wouldn’t be, would you?” Jane closed the distance between them and hugged her friend. She tucked her head over Reyer’s shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Thank you.”

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

When they pulled away from each other, Jane nodded to the figure behind Alix. “Captain.”

“Dr. Jane.” Vas put out his hand to shake. “You’re all right?”

“I am. Thank you.”

Joseph walked up to them. “I kept her safe for you,” he said to Reyer.

“You did a good job,” Reyer said. “Are you still going by Tate?”

“Are you still going by anything other than Sarge?”

They gave each other a brief hug, then Tate exchanged greetings with Ciro and Adan. When that was done, he looked back at Reyer.

In a quiet voice, she said, “Report.”

Vas stepped closer to hear Tate’s hushed reply.

“It was a human-xeno, female, short, blond, called herself Lia Wauters. She said she wanted to talk to Dr. Jane alone. She knew how to fight—definitely trained—but she wouldn’t use her weapon when she should have—”

“She was armed?”

“E-pistol. But like I said, she didn’t seem to want to use it.”

“Were there any others?” Vas asked.

“We don’t know,” Tate said. “She wouldn’t say. I killed her with a straight head shot. Took out most of the skull. No one was in the area but me, and she was motionless after.”

Alix nodded with approval.

“I blew the lab as instructed.” He said to Ciro, “And I used the wipe program on the network and computers.”

Now Ciro nodded.

“Do we know for sure that all the non-human xenos are dead?” Reyer asked.

“Ode went back to confirm it,” Tate said. “Everything was destroyed.”

“Any other activity?”

“No. And Ode’s been watching.”

Alix took a deep breath and nodded again. She said to the doctor, “You lost everything. I’m sorry, Jane.”

The biologist’s cheek pulled back in a tight smile. “I didn’t lose everything, Alix. Do you think I’m stupid?” She jerked her thumb behind her, pointing to two hard-side cases, still sitting where she’d left them. An older man was standing beside them, watching them through rimless glasses.

“Your journals?” Reyer said.

“I know I didn’t bother getting myself a special-forces trained bodyguard or anything, but I always keep the important things safe. Teo let me use his vaults to store the hard copies.”

“Good.” Reyer glanced behind Jane once more. “And the other gentleman? He doesn’t look like a valet.”

“Oh! No. He’s a friend. He was helping me in the lab when everything happened.” Jane motioned for the man to come and join them.

As he drew near, Tate stepped back to give the newcomer room for introductions.

Jane said, “This is Doctor—”

“Moric Sipos,” a voice boomed behind them.

Gardner had made it to the bottom of the ramp. He stared at the white-haired figure in front of him.

“Of all the damn luck,” Sipos grumbled. He raised his head and shouted, “Imagine meeting you here, General.”

Gardner crossed over to the group. “Imagine meeting you here? I should have foreseen it!”

“You know each other?” Jane asked.

“You could say that,” Moric muttered.

“Captain,” Gardner said, not taking his eyes off Sipos, “Do you have any security cuffs? Preferably several. Better yet, a taser and some chains?”

“I—I don’t understand.” Jane’s eyes darted around the group, taking in the various dark looks on her friends’ faces.

“General, I think you’re overreacting,” Sipos said.

“I don’t! This man is a monster! And I’ll see you dead before I let you escape again.”

Tate’s quiet laugh wasn’t loud enough to cover the click of the e-pistol’s safety being switched off. He held his arm out at full extension, touching the muzzle of his gun against the back of Moric Sipos’s head.

“I don’t know who you are, sir,” Tate said to Gardner, “but you’re my new best friend.”