Chapter 5 A Pilot Without A Ship?
A Pilot Without A Ship?
Khoth followed Jace outside with Gehenna trailing behind them.
Despite Jace’s current exhaustion, he had perked up at the arrival of the Thaf’ell squadron headed by his mother’s Colossus-class ship, the Ashaton.
The earlier heat of the day had retreated and the difference between air conditioned house and desert air was less abrupt than it had been when he’d arrived.
Jace stared up at the crystal clear night sky.
“Will we be able to see the squadron?” Jace asked. His eyes glowed a brilliant neon blue and he cried out in delight, “Awesome! I actually have a HUD without the suit’s helmet! And I can–whoa! That’s one big ship!”
Khoth–who did not have a HUD without his helmet–quickly brought his helmet up and the Osiris–he presumed it was the Osiris–showed him what Jace was seeing.
Apparently using a nearby satellite’s feed, they could see the long, rounded-rectangular body of the Ashaton, bristling with weapons.
Alongside it were half a dozen Saber-class warships.
“The other ships look like babies around a big mama,” Jace chuckled.
“That is not altogether untrue,” Khoth replied. “The largest ship is the Ashaton. That is my mother’s ship.”
Jace flashed him a brilliant smile. “Your mom, huh? That’s going to be cool to meet her.”
Khoth could almost hear Thammah saying “cool, as in interesting or exciting, not as in the temperature.” But he could also imagine Thammah adding, “though I imagine the temperature of your mother’s mood will likely be cool as in cold.
” Thammah had teased him about knowing Jace well, but he already felt she had somehow found her way into his mind.
Maybe it was because she was so unlike a Thaf’ell and yet understood a Thaf’ell’s thinking that enabled him to anticipate her thoughts on the after.
“My mother is similar to your mother in ways,” Khoth finally answered. “Very commanding presence. She has the weight of total command upon her shoulders. And things have not been going well against the Khul.”
That last part was something he had come to after thinking about his sister’s journal and recalling recent reports of “strategic retreats” by the Alliance. The pressure on her was far more immense than he had realized. She would be desperate to get Jace and the Osiris on the Alliance’s side.
Jace’s eyebrows rose. The glowing blue eyes–like and unlike a Thaf’ell’s–were disconcerting as they turned towards him.
“You’re worried I won’t like her,” Jace said.
“She is here as High Councillor Nova Voor of the Illumen Alliance, not as my mother,” Khoth explained.
Jace slowly nodded. “So she’s going to do what she thinks is right for the Alliance but not what’s right to do as your mom?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t add to that. There was so much he could have said, but it would have all been excuses. His mother would act for the Alliance, no matter what the cost to him. She wouldn’t break the Rule of Duuskukeh.
“The Ashaton can’t land. We don’t have a facility for it yet,” Jace murmured.
“And those medium-sized ships–Saber-class–could, but it would be tough. She’ll come down in a Paladin-class ship like yours and Thammah’s maybe?
Ah, yeah, I can see some hangar bay doors opening.
Ooooh, she’s sending a dozen craft down. ”
Is it a show of force? Or merely to impress the humans with the seriousness of her visit? Gehenna asked. Is she afraid for her safety?
“She is going to demand Jace and the Osiris be released into Alliance hands,” Khoth stated simply. “Your mother is second-in-command at Area 67 now that General Intoshkin is here.”
“She anticipates a fight.” Jace rubbed his face, looking tired again. He cast a glance back at his house and sighed. “I really wanted to sleep in my own bed tonight. But we better get back to greet her, yeah?”
He’d turned back to Khoth. Khoth was staring at the V-formation of lights that was fast approaching the military base.
“Khoth? Don’t you want to go see your mother?” Jace wheedled.
I think he is as keen to see his mother as you are to see yours, Gehenna remarked.
“Hey, I want to see my mom just not right now. But right now seems like the time allotted to us,” Jace admitted.
Khoth finally dragged his gaze away from the landing ships and gazed back at Jace. “She is the leader of my world, of the Alliance.”
“Okay.” Jace made a gesture with his hand that he should explain further.
“The promise I made to you earlier this evening about making sure you have the time and space you need, I intend to honor,” Khoth stated stiffly.
He could still remember the feeling of Jace in his arms. It had been rewarding in a way that nothing else had ever felt.
“This will put me in direct conflict with both my mother and yours.”
Jace’s eyes widened. The blue glow was gone. “Oh, wow, okay, yeah, I should have guessed you’d do that.”
“But you thought I would not?” Khoth grimaced. “Yes, I can understand why you would doubt me.”
“I don’t doubt you.” Jace brought up both hands and waved them. “It’s just I wondered if it wasn’t a bit much to ask of you to go against your people and your mom to help me.”
“I have already done this by assisting in your connection with Gehenna and the Osiris,” Khoth reminded him.
He was also reminding himself. Even though it was clear that Jace was meant to be the Pilot, his mother would have to be convinced of this.
“Though I believe that our destruction of the Hive in such an unusual manner will convince many that I made the correct decision.”
Jace blinked and then one of those beaming smiles that had Khoth feeling strangely warm crossed the young man’s face. “Well, even if she were to exile you, it wouldn’t matter.”
“Why would it not matter?”
“Because you’re a part of the Osiris’ crew,” Jace told him, still beaming. “And nothing she does can take that away.”
It was Khoth’s turn to blink. “You talk as if the Osiris is a third party in all of this.”
“It is. We’re going to be on no one’s side,” Jace stated simply. “We can’t have allegiances getting in the way of what’s right.”
“But you are going to require protection of Earth in exchange for your help,” Khoth pointed out.
“Yes, I am, because protecting Earth is the right thing to do. Remember, no one left behind. But I’m not going to let humanity override the Alliance simply because I’m human,” Jace assured him.
“We’re going to have to look at things from as objective a view as possible.
I want to hear what everyone has to say. ”
“Everyone is quite a large number,” Khoth replied dryly, but he was pleased with Jace’s answer.
It is because it is something that Daesah wanted to do.
“Okay, not everybody, but a lot more people than us making decisions now,” Jace answered. “Now, we should get back to base and I really don’t want to walk.”
Let’s take the car! Can I drive? Two of Gehenna’s pincers came up in front of her even as she spun the others around her.
Jace gave Khoth a crooked smile as he asked, “Should we chance it?”
“Our lives are in your hands, Gehenna,” Khoth told the AI.
Wee! I’ll be a good and safe driver! The best driver! You’ll see! Gehenna cried as she shot off like a rocket towards the sedan that was parked on the driveway.
“Gehenna, don’t you need the keys?” Jace was pointing towards the house.
No! Keys are for sissies! She yelled. The car’s lights flashed and then the engine roared to life just as Gehenna was opening the driver’s door.
Jace bumped his shoulder against Khoth’s. “You might have been joking about our lives being in Gehenna’s hands–or pincers–but that might actually be true.”
Seeing the many tentacles flying around in evident delight inside of the small vehicle had Khoth remarking dryly, “I do not joke.”
Jace let out a gurgling laugh and then shook his head before saying, “Well, I gotta grab some of our snacks. I’m still hungry and I want to see if the Osiris can replicate this stuff. We could do a taste test!”
“I believe that Thammah might be a better candidate for that than me,” Khoth admitted.
“Hey, you liked some of the stuff!”
Khoth inclined his head. He had.
“I promise that we’ll have some real food, too. I mean…” Jace’s smile faded somewhat as he looked at the faint light signature of the craft by the base. “If we have time for that. We have to make time for that.”
“Yes, if there is time.”
“C’mon. I need your hands for snacks, too.” Jace gestured for Khoth to come with him.
The two of them went back inside. Jace grabbed snacks and put them into bags that he had Khoth hold open. With rather admirable precision, he had most of the unopened snacks packed up into four bags.
“The cleanup will have to wait,” Jace said as he surveyed the dirty dishes and finished soda cans. He quickly tossed a few of the things into a trash can, but it still looked a bit of a mess.
“I think your parents will be happier to see you sooner than have us stay here longer to make things completely presentable,” Khoth stated.
His comm was already vibrating. He knew his mother was contacting him again and again and again even though he would not look to check.
Plausible deniability.
He knew that was ridiculous, but he needed time to marshal his forces to face what was to come.
“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go before Gehenna loses it out there,” Jace laughed as there was a merry series of honks from the vehicle.
The drive to the base started out remarkably safely. Gehenna stopped at every signal even though there were no other cars, let alone pedestrians in Sunrise.
“I think you can go a little faster, Gehenna,” Jace said from the back seat.
He had insisted that Khoth take the front passenger seat because of his taller stature. Still, the inside of the vehicle was very tight, especially with Gehenna’s tentacles that kept flying up to point at things.