Chapter 6 Fly Me To The Moon #2
“I understand what’s at stake, High Councillor.
I was aboard that Hive.” His smile died altogether.
That gray heaviness that he’d felt before after the last Khul ship had been sent to destruction fell upon his shoulders again.
Being with Khoth and being silly with junk food had helped.
But it hadn’t been enough. “I had to kill people I have known and cared for all of my life today because of the Khul.”
He did not use euphemistic language to describe what he had done and he saw his parents flinch at those words. But he had killed people, to end their suffering, yes, but it had still meant killing them.
“Humans have limitations. We will work within those,” High Councillor Nova Voor stated.
Jace almost laughed, because it was so like Khoth’s “superior” comment, but he had a feeling that Khoth’s mom wasn’t often laughed at and it might come out wrong.
“I’m going to help with the Khul,” Jace assured her. “But we need an understanding and then we need a plan. Those two things don’t necessarily come quickly.”
She blinked slowly. “I can agree with that.”
Jace saw Khoth’s eyes widened fractionally. He was surprised that his mother appeared–and maybe “appeared” was the operative word here–reasonable.
“Good. So, it’s been a really long day probably for all of us. I need to get familiar with my ship and sleep,” Jace added.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. There wasn’t yet the feeling of sand in his eyes, but he was tired.
He should be more exhausted after what he experienced, but his super-charged body was taking care of that.
But he needed to recover before he could face the Illumen Alliance and humanity and hold firm to the idea he had.
Humans are limited, after all, he thought mirthlessly.
“What do you suggest?” High Councillor Nova Voor asked.
“That we all convene tomorrow,” Jace told her. “After everybody’s had a chance to talk amongst themselves and rest.”
High Councillor Nova Voor nodded after a moment. “I do need to speak with my son.”
Jace’s eyes flickered to Khoth and panic beat in his chest. He really wanted Khoth with him when they checked out the Osiris.
Though, like he had said, sleep was necessary so how much checking out would there be?
Not much. And did Jace expect Khoth to sleep with him?
Cuddled up on an alien bed in the Osiris?
That was absurd! And yet, Jace felt an internal quiver.
Khoth’s steady presence was allowing him to process things better.
Now Khoth had to go with his mother. Would she let him return after all the decisions he’d made that she might think compromised the Alliance?
“I’ll return him to you,” High Councillor Nova Voor said with another of those faint smiles.
Jace blinked rapidly as he realized that she read in his expression his need for Khoth’s presence. For a race that seemed to have little love for emotions, they certainly understood them.
“Yes, that would be good. But only if Khoth wants to, of course,” Jace said.
You made him Commander of the Osiris! Gehenna cried, clearly liking Khoth’s presence too. She can’t keep him from us!
That was sort of a joke–
No, it wasn’t! You meant it! He’s part of the crew! Gehenna wasn’t taking any of his excuses.
Khoth has to make that decision. He’s part of the Alliance. She’s his mom. If he wants to be with us then he will, Jace was telling her that as much as he was telling himself.
Jace met Khoth’s blue-on-blue gaze.
“I will meet you aboard the Osiris before your sleep period,” Khoth stated.
Jace swallowed. “Good. That’s good.”
“Would you like accommodations on the ground or will you remain on your ships?” his mother asked High Councillor Nova Voor.
“I would request accommodation aboard the Osiris,” High Councillor Nova Voor stated simply.
“That won’t be possible at this time,” General Intoshkin interceded smoothly.
Though Jace wanted to tell the General that wasn’t his call, he didn’t want to open up any possibility of High Councillor Nova Voor being on the Osiris. Though he was certain the Osiris could corral her and her people, it just didn’t feel like a good idea to have her in his territory.
“Then we will return to our vessels.” High Councillor Nova Voor’s gaze swung over the destroyed Area 67 base.
Jace knew that no one had been harmed. The Osiris had cleared everyone out of the area before it had launched into orbit. But there was quite a bit of damage to the base. He saw that his mother was regarding it with a little bit of exhaustion as well.
“Jace, I think that you should just take your father up to the Osiris for now,” she said. “I need to get the cleanup managed.”
He saw General Intoshkin open his mouth to, undoubtedly, say that he wished to accompany Jace and his father. But then, he appeared to have a change of heart, and said, “Would you have Thammah pick me up, Jace. You and your father should have a good time flying together.”
“Of course, General.” Jace gave the man probably the first genuine smile he had since he met him. He touched his suit’s forearm comm. “Thammah, you will have a passenger. General Intoshkin would like a ride to the Osiris.”
“Will do! I’ll be right there, General!” Thammah then proceeded to do another loop.
The General watched her flight maneuvers with a little bit of trepidation. “I do hope she’ll fly me directly there.”
“No chance, General,” his father said with a grin.
The General touched his stomach and looked a little green. Jace just shook his head.
“We should return to the Ashaton, my son, to discuss things,” High Councillor Nova Voor said to Khoth.
Khoth straightened and crossed one arm over his chest and bowed his head. “Of course, High Councillor.”
Jace felt more than a trace of sympathy for Khoth then. He couldn’t imagine calling his mother by her rank. He wondered if he’d have to at some point. Somehow calling out “Mom!” in the middle of proceedings with the Illumen Alliance didn’t exactly scream professionalism.
But Jace’s feelings were even more mixed as with a bob of her head at him, High Councillor Nova Voor started towards her ship and Khoth followed after her. That yawning sense of instability opened in Jace’s chest. He nearly reached for the Thaf’ell Commander.
With quiet strength, Khoth said to him, “I will return.”
“Right. You better. You’re the Commander of the Osiris,” Jace’s voice sounded surprisingly weak.
Khoth hesitated a moment. For a second, Jace thought he might hug him again.
That would have felt amazing, but, of course, Khoth did not.
He just nodded once more and turned on his heel.
Jace watched him go and tried to tell himself it was not for the last time.
Khoth would return. He would insist on it.
“Ready to go, champ?” his father’s voice was studiously neutral.
Are you all right, Jace? Gehenna asked, her pincers coming up to touch in front of her.
I’m fine. It’s just…
He’s been there for all of it, Gehenna stated. Since the very beginning really. Now you feel alone in this. But you aren’t!
No, I’m not. And he’s coming back, Jace said as he watched Khoth enter his mother’s Paladin-class ship.
“You did incredibly well, Jace,” his mother said as the gangway closed and Khoth was lost from view.
“Did I? I don’t really know,” Jace answered her, his chest feeling tight as the Paladin-class ship’s engines ignited the same blue color as Khoth’s eyes.
“You controlled the rules of engagement,” General Intoshkin told him with a bright smile. “Set her back on her heels! First time I’ve ever seen her concede anything at all.”
“I highly doubt she thinks she’s conceded anything,” his mother replied dryly. “She’s biding her time. But you have given her pause. You behaved admirably.”
The ships from the Ashaton were all rising above the ground. There was the hot, dry smell of their exhaust that reminded him of heat lightning. Then they were all shooting towards the sky.
“We do need to discuss our strategy regarding what we want from the Alliance,” General Intoshkin stated.
“Protection for Earth,” Jace guessed.
“Of course, but that’s just for starters.” The General rubbed his hands together. “We want a seat at the table. We want to be a part of the Alliance. Not just a part, but a deciding part.”
“But humanity doesn’t even know aliens exist yet,” Jace protested with a furrowed brow. “Don’t we have to sort that out first?”
“That is going to take time, Jace. Time we don’t have,” his mother admitted slowly. “We have people who do know who are suited for diplomacy.”
“Like?” Jace asked.
Her lips twitched. “Me, actually.”
He blinked. “Oh. Oh!”
A blush heated his mother’s cheeks. “I’ve been playing that role in a small way with all representatives from the Alliance. Now, I can play a larger role and represent humanity to the Council and beyond.”
Jace had no doubts that his mother would be brilliant at it. “Yeah, well, yeah, I see that. You’d be perfect.”
“I’m glad you think so, because your word is going to have a lot of weight,” she told him carefully.
At that moment, Thammah landed. The gangway practically popped open and her voice came from inside, “Woo hoo, General! Time to get on board the Thammah train!”
The General snorted. “It’s hard to believe that she’s the same species as the others.”
“I think she was exiled for that reason,” Jace replied. “But I like her.”
Another member of the crew! Gehenna cried.
Yeah, I think so, Jace agreed.
“I’ll see you in the Osiris,” the General told them and headed to the Kryptoria II with a half dozen soldiers following after him.
As soon as the gangway closed, Jace said to his parents, “I’ve got some ideas that I want to run by you both. About being independent.”
“I thought you might go that route. If you aren’t under the US Military’s command, you’ll have more room to maneuver,” his mother agreed.
“Yeah. I have humanity’s best interests at heart. And I want us to be part of all of this,” he told her. “But General Intoshkin can’t be calling the shots. Not even you guys can be.”
He was surprised when both his parents exchanged a glance that seemed to indicate this wasn’t a surprise to them.
“You’re a natural at this, Jace,” his father said with admiration, but a little sadness too. “You were chosen as the Pilot for a reason.”
“I just know what I want right now,” Jace said, his heart feeling heavy in his chest as he looked for Khoth, but didn’t see him standing there like always.
“You need to be careful showing her how much you like Khoth,” his mother broke in.
His head jerked towards her. “I… he’s a friend!”
His mother’s eyebrows rose. It was almost a Khoth-like rise. “Of course, he is.”
“He is!” Jace sounded a little shrill. “He’s just been there. For all of this. And he’s handy with weapons!”
And he gives really good hugs.
“He has a lot of competing interests, Jace,” his father said in a relatively neutral way. “Just remember that.”
Jace wanted to protest. But neither of his parents was truly saying anything that wasn’t true. Yet Khoth mattered to him. Really mattered. And he couldn’t deny that either.
“I’ll remember,” Jace said finally.
“I’ll see you both later. I need to go and take care of things here,” his mother said.
Both of them hugged her. She actually turned and patted one of Gehenna’s tentacles as she passed, going towards the soldiers and a Jeep that awaited her, which had Gehenna practically floating twelve feet into the air. Her crush had noticed her! Jace bit down on his snickering.
Then with a renewed sense of purpose, he asked, “Ready to fly, Dad? Maybe to the Moon and back?”
His father’s eyes widened and a grin fixed itself on his face. “You can even fly me to Jupiter and Mars.”
Jace grinned. “That’s just the start.”