Lindsay straightened and Brendan glanced toward the door at the sound of knuckles against the wood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019ll be them,\u201d Brendan murmured, then leaned back in his chair with a quiet but heartfelt sigh.\u00a0 Lindsay smiled down at him and kissed his cheek.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d\u00a0 She headed for the door as he reached for his tolerably hot mug of tea.\u00a0 She swung the red wood door open and let the pair inside with a wry smile.<\/p>\n
Ezra glanced between them with a brow arched quizzically.\u00a0 \u201cWere we interrupting?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly a little,\u201d Lindsay said.\u00a0 \u201cCome in.\u00a0 How\u2019s your arm, Alana?\u201d<\/p>\n
The former soldier gave her cousin a narrow-eyed look, glancing down at her sling and then back to Lindsay.\u00a0 \u201cA mess, but getting better,\u201d Alana said after a moment.\u00a0 \u201cRachel was right, I should have had it done a long time ago.\u00a0 The waiting only made everything worse.\u201d\u00a0 She slumped into an empty chair at the table, wincing slightly as her arm bumped against the edge of the table.\u00a0 Brendan lifted a brow slightly at the way Ezra\u2019s hand grazed Alana\u2019s upper back as he passed on his way to the kettle.<\/p>\n
Guess you don\u2019t actually believe something\u2019s happening until you see it for yourself.<\/i>\u00a0 He glanced at Ezra, his gaze still holding a question.<\/p>\n
Ezra just looked back at him, snorted softly, then poured two mugs of tea.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisbelief doesn\u2019t become you, Cho,\u201d Alana said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not disbelief.\u00a0 It\u2019s wonderment.\u201d\u00a0 Brendan turned to her, cradling his mug between his palms.\u00a0 \u201cWhen did this happen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy arm?\u00a0 Almost as soon as we got back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsay let out an exasperated sigh.\u00a0 \u201cBrendan!\u201d<\/p>\n
Alana snorted.\u00a0 \u201cLet him be, Lindsay.\u00a0 I know what he\u2019s asking and the answer\u2019s the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople know?\u201d\u00a0 Alana smiled a tiny, faint smile. \u201cOnly the families.\u00a0 No one else quite gives a damn, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that\u2019s not true,\u201d Ezra said as he brought the mugs over to the table, setting one down in front of her.\u00a0 \u201cFolks care.\u201d<\/p>\n
She made a soft noise.\u00a0 \u201cD\u2019Arcy Morguase doesn\u2019t count.\u00a0 He\u2019ll just use us against each other.\u00a0 All the women in the Commonwealth who were hoping to somehow land the brightest doctor of the age don\u2019t count, either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ezra chuckled at that and leaned down to kiss her.\u00a0 Brendan just sat and stared.<\/p>\n
No wonder he talked about her the way he did on the run\u2026how long ago did this actually start?\u00a0 When\u2026no.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Down that path lies madness anyway.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAnything I can help with, Lindsay?\u201d\u00a0 Ezra asked as he straightened again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could come stir this,\u201d she said, pointing to a pot of sauce she\u2019d gotten started on the stove.\u00a0 She grinned at the surprised look he shot her.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t ask me if you can help if you don\u2019t want to be put to work, Ezra.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight, right.\u201d\u00a0 He joined her at the stove, smiling ruefully.\u00a0 \u201cI should know better, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely.\u201d\u00a0 Lindsay\u2019s gaze drifted to the pair at the table for a moment and she smiled before she turned back to the stove.<\/p>\n
Brendan shook his head slightly and winced at the pain that shot through the back of his skull.\u00a0 Alana\u2019s eyes were on him as she lifted her mug to her lips and sipped the tea slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust trying to figure out how to say what needs saying,\u201d Alana said quietly, eyes momentarily distant.<\/p>\n
He frowned.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve never had trouble saying something before.\u00a0 Just spit it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMost things that I say aren\u2019t quite this important.\u201d\u00a0 She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then sat up a little straighter.\u00a0 \u201cChinaisa and the Compact have been saying things,\u201d she said at last.\u00a0 \u201cThat when the Foundation purportedly sent strike teams into their facilities a few weeks ago, they stole materiel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMateriel,\u201d he echoed, stomach sinking as he stared at her.\u00a0 \u201cDid they say\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Absolutely not.\u00a0 But I think they know that we\u2019re more than fully aware of what they\u2019re saying we took and they\u2019re demanding it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was like being plunged into an ice-covered lake.\u00a0 Brendan sucked in a sharp breath and felt Lindsay\u2019s stab of alarm even before he heard the spatula in her hand clatter against the stovetop.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlana\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEzra and I thought we should be the ones to tell you,\u201d Alana said, looking past Brendan and toward Lindsay.\u00a0 \u201cBefore anyone else did.\u00a0 There\u2019s no way to bow to their threats\u2014no way we\u2019re going to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMateriel,\u201d Lindsay whispered hoarsely.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what Ezra said, too.\u201d\u00a0 Alana shook her head. \u201cTo them, we\u2019re cogs in the machine.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure they\u2019d demand your parents back, too, if they thought they could get away with it.\u00a0 They haven\u2019t named what was taken because they\u2019re trying to hide it\u2014but they know we\u2019re well aware of what they\u2019re getting at.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut no one else is,\u201d Ezra said, half turning from the stove.\u00a0 \u201cAt least, that\u2019s what we\u2019re thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes the Council\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey must,\u201d Alana said.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t imagine how they wouldn\u2019t know.\u00a0 The threats are all over the newsnets and the talking heads can\u2019t get enough of all of it.\u00a0 They\u2019re trying to make us out as the aggressors when it comes to the death of the Whispers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we had nothing to do with that,\u201d Lindsay said quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course,\u201d Alana said.\u00a0 \u201cBut that\u2019s not what some people back in NeCom space are going to want to believe.\u00a0 Then there are a whole slew of people who will use that desire to their advantage and suddenly we\u2019ll be the villain of the tale even as the Wanderers and our other supporters scream against the storm that we weren\u2019t responsible.\u00a0 The damage will be done and we\u2019ll have already lost.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t let that\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere won\u2019t be any letting<\/i>, Lindsay.\u201d\u00a0 Alana\u2019s expression was hard, voice cold.\u00a0 \u201cIt will happen.\u00a0 We will be the pariah again, just like the Psychean Guard was the terrifying boogeyman in all the back rooms of government.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like that,\u201d Lindsay said softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might as well have been,\u201d Alana said.\u00a0 \u201cBecause that was the end result in every way that mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lindsay began to say something, stopping as Brendan got up, his chair scraping across the slate floor.\u00a0 He went to her and took her by the hands, led her back over to the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalm down,\u201d he murmured quietly as she sat down and he crouched in front of her.\u00a0 \u201cArguing about it isn\u2019t going to change the reality of the situation\u2014Chinasia and the Compact have thrown down a gauntlet.\u00a0 We have to respond carefully or else the colony could be in a whole lot of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrouble,\u201d she echoed.\u00a0 \u201cWhen haven\u2019t we been facing some kind of trouble?\u00a0 We\u2019ve pretended for so long that there was nothing that could hurt the colony because we were so far away from the bright center of everything, but we were only fooling ourselves, weren\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Marshals have done a fair job of making sure we wouldn\u2019t be caught totally unawares,\u201d Ezra pointed out from his position at the stove.<\/p>\n
Alana nodded in agreement.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s true.\u00a0 We\u2019re far better prepared than most pacifist worlds would be.\u00a0 I imagine that part of the reason our enemies back in New Earth space are restless and casting aspersions\u2014and starting to move\u2014are because they see signs of us getting ready to defend ourselves.\u00a0 They\u2019re hoping they can discourage any and all sympathy and aid that we might be able to call on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll because they want our resources?\u201d\u00a0 Lindsay knuckled her eyes and swore softly under her breath.\u00a0 \u201cBloody\u2026sometimes I think that our species deserves<\/i> to go extinct.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brendan winced.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t say that, Lin.\u00a0 Not everyone\u2019s like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know,\u201d she said with a quiet sigh.\u00a0 \u201cBut sometimes\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
She never finished the thought.\u00a0 The sound of a knock at the door interrupted them.\u00a0 Brendan straightened up from his crouch slowly, wincing again as the world slowly spun around him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou all right, Brendan?\u201d\u00a0 Ezra asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine.\u00a0 Just get a little dizzy, still.\u201d\u00a0 Brendan crossed the kitchen to the back door, swinging it wide to see Rachel standing on the stoop.\u00a0 He grinned.\u00a0 \u201cRachel.\u201d<\/p>\n
She smiled back.\u00a0 \u201cHello, Brendan.\u00a0 You look better.\u00a0 Is Lindsay here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOver here, Aunt Rachel,\u201d she called from behind him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
There was<\/i> a strange look on Rachel\u2019s face, Brendan realized as he studied her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d he asked as he touched her elbow.<\/p>\n
His world went white.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lindsay straightened and Brendan glanced toward the door at the sound of knuckles against the wood. \u201cThat\u2019ll be them,\u201d Brendan murmured, then leaned back in his chair with a quiet but heartfelt sigh.\u00a0 Lindsay smiled down at him and kissed … Continue reading