{"id":68,"date":"2012-01-15T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2012-01-15T05:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=68"},"modified":"2012-01-15T09:23:56","modified_gmt":"2012-01-15T14:23:56","slug":"chapter-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/?p=68","title":{"rendered":"Chapter Three"},"content":{"rendered":"

The only thing harder than being a psychic is loving one.<\/p>\n

— attributed to Ryland LeSarte, circa 4853 PD<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

5 Octem, 5249 PD
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let go.\u00a0 Please, don\u2019t let go.\u201d\u00a0 Her face was half buried against his chest, eyes squeezed shut.\u00a0 She was shaking from head to foot.\u00a0 It took a moment and what few shreds of awareness he still had to realize that he was the only thing keeping her upright.<\/em><\/p>\n

He\u2019d swallowed hard and held her tighter.\u00a0 He\u2019d looked directly at Rachel.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re leaving.\u00a0 Now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t argued.\u00a0 She\u2019d nodded, in fact, giving tacit approval.\u00a0 No one had argued.\u00a0 Who would have wanted to?\u00a0 No one, especially after Alana had come in and seen what was going on.\u00a0 The cold rage contorting her expression had been enough to still any tongue.<\/em><\/p>\n

He sat Lindsay down on the bed, crouched to take off her shoes.\u00a0 Lindsay sat there with the heels of her hands pressed against her eyes, shoulders shaking silently.\u00a0 The visions had stopped, but the memories of them hadn\u2019t faded.\u00a0 She\u2019d be having flashes of them for days, now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want someone to have a look at you,\u201d Brendan murmured, setting her shoes down near the bedside table.\u00a0 He straightened and took her hands gently, pulling them away from her eyes.\u00a0 They were bloodshot, red from crying silent tears.<\/p>\n

Lindsay shook her head slowly, swallowing hard.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m fine, Brendan.\u00a0 There\u2019s\u2026there\u2019s nothing anyone can do for any of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He frowned and started to gently ease her back toward the pillows. \u00a0She offered no resistance, slowly starting to curl into a ball the closer she got to horizontal.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t believe me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 He drew the covers up over her, leaning down and kissing her temple gently.\u00a0 His fingers lifted some hair away from her face.\u00a0 \u201cBut I\u2019m not going to fight with you about it tonight.\u00a0 Get some sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not coming to bed?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSoon,\u201d he soothed, running his fingers through her hair.\u00a0 \u201cYour aunt wants to talk to me, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay bit her lip.\u00a0 \u201cTell her I\u2019m sorry?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she already knows.\u201d\u00a0 Brendan kissed her again and turned out the light.\u00a0 \u201cSweet dreams, Lin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope so,\u201d she whispered, tugging the blanket closer and closing her eyes.\u00a0 Brendan lingered a few minutes, until her breathing evened out and she dropped off to sleep.\u00a0 He sighed, watching her for a moment, then turned and made his way back into the living room.<\/p>\n

Rachel Farragut eased back into the house from outside as Brendan sank down on the couch that faced the cold fireplace.\u00a0 Scrap composite logs stood stacked on the grate, ready for the first chill that would stimulate the need for burning them.\u00a0 Brendan stared at them for a long moment, then looked up toward Rachel.<\/p>\n

Rachel smiled weakly at him.\u00a0 \u201cIs she sleeping, then?\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded and waved for her to sit, glancing toward the window that dominated the front wall.\u00a0 Alana was outside, hands shoved into the pockets of a thick sweater she\u2019d gotten out of the skimmer, wandering across the front yard, down the gravel drive to the tree line and then back up again.\u00a0 He tried not to sigh.\u00a0 \u201cIs she going to stay out there all night?\u201d\u00a0 He wondered aloud, watching as she passed in front of the window on one peregrination.<\/p>\n

Settling into an easy chair with her back to a corner, Rachel shrugged slightly. \u00a0\u201cUnless I can talk her into going home, more than likely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish she wouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s worried, Brendan.\u00a0 Can you blame her?\u201d<\/p>\n

He tried not to sigh, slumping back against the cushions.\u00a0 \u201cI guess not.\u00a0 There\u2019s no reason to stay, though.\u00a0 She can\u2019t help.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t an external attack.\u00a0 This\u2026this was something that Lin\u2019s abilities did to her.\u00a0 Not something Alana can protect her from.\u201d\u00a0 He frowned.\u00a0 \u201cThere hasn\u2019t been an attack on Lindsay ever.\u00a0 Why does she hang around so much?\u201d<\/p>\n

For a moment, Rachel looked uncomfortable, then stood abruptly.\u00a0 \u201cDo you have any tea?\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendan blinked.\u00a0 That was random.\u00a0 Or just a hint I\u2019m being a bad host and that she taught me better than that?<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cYeah, we traded the Potters some tomatoes for some of Madeline\u2019s black mix.\u00a0 Did you want some?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded a little and waved for her to sit back down, moving toward the kitchen to put some water on.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes I wish Lindsay could figure out how Madeline mixes it up.\u00a0 Be nice to not have to rely on them to have extra.\u00a0 We drink it more than water during the cold seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could always put up more cider.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendan made a face.\u00a0 \u201cGoes hard too fast, and when it goes hard we can\u2019t drink it.\u201d\u00a0 Trade it, sure, but not drink it, and if we\u2019re putting it up like that, we\u2019re meaning to drink it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rachel had followed him into the kitchen.\u00a0 She leaned in the doorway, watching him to take down the ceramic mugs from their hooks near the stove.\u00a0 \u201cYou seem to handle mulled wine all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t drink that every night, either.\u201d\u00a0 He scrubbed a hand over his face.\u00a0 \u201cLin was going to try to put together a new blend, but she\u2019s been so exhausted lately, I haven\u2019t asked how it was coming.\u00a0 I guess the increase in my patrols hasn\u2019t helped that at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou feel guilty for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I do,\u201d he sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI should be here more.\u00a0 To help.\u201d\u00a0 To do a lot of things.\u00a0 But we\u2019re shorthanded in flight operations, and if her visions are real and something\u2019s coming, we need to be vigilant.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rachel shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cBrendan, you do your service to the colony the same as everybody else.\u00a0 You two are entitled to more than what you take.\u201d\u00a0 She smiled at his surprised look.\u00a0 \u201cYou think I don\u2019t keep track of these things?\u00a0 Someone\u2019s got to, Brendan, and oft times it\u2019s me.\u201d\u00a0 She took the small teapot down from the shelf next to the refrigeration unit, the teapot she\u2019d given them because it was Lindsay\u2019s favorite growing up.\u00a0 \u201cI know that you two don\u2019t go hungry or anything, I\u2019m just saying that you\u2019re allowed to take more than you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shook his head a little, spooning some of the herbal tea mixture into a metal basket, latching it closed and dropping it into the pot, waiting for the water on the stove to come to a boil.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t feel right doing it, Rachel.\u00a0 Don\u2019t ask me why, I just\u2026don\u2019t.\u00a0 I\u2019ve already been given so much just by being able to live, and to live here.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t feel right to take more than what\u2019s already given.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel smiled wryly, shaking her head again.\u00a0 \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we usually have so much left at the end of the season every year.\u201d\u00a0 She tousled his hair, the smile growing into a grin.\u00a0 \u201cIf you don\u2019t do it for you, do it for my niece.\u201d<\/p>\n

He made a face.\u00a0 \u201cShe feels the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the more reason for you to do it and not tell her that you\u2019ve done it, Brendan.\u201d<\/p>\n

His jaw fell open and he just stared at her a moment before snapping his mouth shut.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t do that, Rachel.\u00a0 I can\u2019t lie to her like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLearn,\u201d Rachel suggested.<\/p>\n

The kettle began to whistle on the stove.\u00a0 She reached past him to turn off the heat.<\/p>\n

Brendan stared at her.\u00a0 \u201cYou want me to learn to lie to your niece?\u00a0 To my wife?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds counter-intuitive, I know.\u201d\u00a0 She smiled wryly.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes, we all need to be lied to, Brendan.\u00a0 That\u2019s why she\u2019ll never tell the Council what she saw today.\u00a0 By not telling them, she avoids lying to them, and a lie will be what they need, at least for a little while.\u00a0 They can\u2019t handle the truth, not yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe not ever, not the whole truth.\u00a0 <\/em>A shiver worked its way down his spine.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019ll tell you and I, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think she\u2019ll tell me all of it.\u00a0 The worst of them she\u2019ll hold inside, or she\u2019ll tell you about and no one else.\u00a0 Or she\u2019ll bury them and try to forget, but she\u2019ll never be able to.\u00a0 That\u2019s how these things work, you know.\u201d\u00a0 Rachel picked up the kettle and started to fill the teapot.\u00a0 \u201cShe won\u2019t tell me what she saw, but you will.\u201d<\/p>\n

His stomach dropped.\u00a0 It was like coming down out of the sky without inertial dampening.\u00a0 He felt sick.\u00a0 \u201cH-how did you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I was watching your eyes.\u00a0 You got this look when you grabbed her, and I knew.\u00a0 She had that same look her first time.\u00a0 She\u2019d never shared them with you before, had she?\u201d<\/p>\n

He swallowed, mouth suddenly dry.\u00a0 \u201cNot like that,\u201d he murmured, leaning heavily against the countertop.\u00a0 \u201cAfter the fact, yes\u2014images and snippets she\u2019d managed to freeze in her mind.\u00a0 I\u2019d be able to see them if I looked, but it was hard.\u00a0 It was never\u2026never like this.\u00a0 I just\u2026I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I guess I figured her defenses were down and it was like\u2026like touching a stripped cable.\u00a0 All the energy\u2014all the images and sounds and feelings\u2014just flooded into me.\u201d\u00a0 He stared at Rachel.\u00a0 \u201cWho else knows?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one.\u00a0 No one else was looking at you.\u00a0 They were all looking at her.\u00a0 I was the only one watching you<\/em>, Brendan.\u00a0 Watching your face, your eyes.\u00a0 You and I are the only<\/em> ones who know you saw what she saw in those last few minutes before she snapped out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendan shuddered, groping blindly for a mug.\u00a0 \u201cIt was awful<\/em>,\u201d he whispered, staring at the floor without seeing it.\u00a0 He kept seeing flickers of Lindsay\u2019s visions instead\u2014fire and pain and destruction.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know how she does it.\u00a0 How she handles it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy having you,\u201d Rachel said softly, picking up the teapot and her own mug.\u00a0 She started to move back into the living room.\u00a0 Brendan followed more slowly, almost in a daze, falling onto the cushions of their wooden couch, cradling his empty mug in both hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want me to tell you what she\u2014what I\u2014saw, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel smiled wryly, setting the teapot down on a folded towel on the table between them.\u00a0 \u201cThat was the idea, Brendan.\u00a0 You tell me what you saw when you touched her so it\u2019s not a burden that you two are shouldering alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He managed to laugh, the sound tinged with bitterness as he leaned forward, setting his mug down on the table and resting his elbows on his knees.\u00a0 \u201cIt wasn\u2019t pleasant.\u00a0 Death was\u2026well.\u00a0 Rampant.\u201d\u00a0 He could see the steel-colored sky in his mind\u2019s eye, the burning wastes, the streaks of fire raining down from the sky.\u00a0 And then the scene switched as abruptly as it had in Lindsay\u2019s mind, like swapping from one video feed to another.\u00a0 It was some sort of medical facility, all shadows and clean and chrome\u2026with blood, and pain.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what it all means,\u201d he admitted quietly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m still trying to make sense of the jumble.\u00a0 Things kept switching so fast.\u00a0 Hard to keep track of what\u2019s what.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWould it be easier to write it all down?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 The thought of writing it down turned his stomach.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I couldn\u2019t<\/em> do that if I wanted to, which I don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced toward their bedroom, where Lindsay was sleeping, and exhaled through his teeth.\u00a0 \u201cI need to be with her tonight, Rachel.\u00a0 She\u2019s going to need me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d the older woman said softly.\u00a0 For a moment, the lines around her eyes deepened in the shadows and she seemed tired, indeterminably old. \u00a0She turned on a lamp, finally, rather than leaving both of them in the gathering dark.\u00a0 Outside, still pacing, Alana seemed unphased by the setting sun, though it was now sinking below the mountains behind the house.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you see, Brendan?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw war,\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 \u201cWar\u2019s coming.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if we can stop it this time.\u201d\u00a0 He licked his lips.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know if we can win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel filled his mug, eyes on him.\u00a0 \u201cBrendan.\u201d\u00a0 Her voice was quiet, but at the same time commanding\u2014the same tone he\u2019d heard time and again as a teenager adjusting to a new life on a new world, the tone that brooked no disrespect, no refusal.\u00a0 He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t need to say more to get him to talk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard.\u201d\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t meet her gaze.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s hard to describe it.\u00a0 All I\u2026all I want is to stop seeing<\/em> it.\u00a0 The sky was gray, like raw iron just out of the asteroids.\u00a0 It felt\u2026dead.\u00a0 The wind burned even though you couldn\u2019t see the sun.\u00a0 Anything green was covered in ash.\u00a0 I could see fire raining down in the sky in the distance, like a meteor shower, but closer.\u00a0 Bigger.\u00a0 There must have been a city where I was standing, but there was nothing left.\u00a0 Flayed earth.\u00a0 Wreckage.\u00a0 Rubble.\u00a0 Hot and cold all at the same time.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m rambling.<\/em>\u00a0 He scrubbed a hand roughly over his face and took a long swallow of tea, letting the liquid sear his throat and momentarily distract him from the images he\u2019d seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re trying to spare me the worst of it.\u201d\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a question.\u00a0 He just nodded.\u00a0 Rachel shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t, Brendan.\u00a0 You should know by now I\u2019ve seen a lot worse things in forty years than whatever you and Lindsay saw.\u00a0 I was there when Mimir fell, remember?\u00a0 When the genocide began.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shuddered.\u00a0 That wasn\u2019t something he wanted to think about, either.\u00a0 The pride in the voices of his brothers and sisters at arms during that time had been bad enough.\u00a0 Somewhere, deep down, even though the Corp had taught him that it was all right to hate the Psychean Guard\u2014they were different, they were dangerous, they were too powerful to be allowed to live and congregate as they did\u2014he\u2019d always known what he was being taught was wrong.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know how<\/em> he knew, just that he\u2019d known.\u00a0 At least he\u2019d been clever enough to hide it.<\/p>\n

She patted his knee gently.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t try to spare me, Brendan.\u00a0 Just tell me what you saw.\u00a0 Was it here?\u201d<\/p>\n

His mouth was dry.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t tell, really.\u00a0 If it was, it wasn\u2019t Nova Spexi\u2026probably Danse Point, if it was here.\u201d\u00a0 Danse Point stood on a promontory that faced the eastern shore of Oceania, two thousand miles and then some away across the water from Nova Spexi.\u00a0 It overlooked a massive natural harbor where most of the seagoing ships on E-557 were built.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think it was here,\u201d he admitted quietly.\u00a0 \u201cI think it was New Earth.\u00a0 Maybe Yurvicov.\u00a0 Was hard to tell.\u00a0 Everything was just\u2026gone.\u201d\u00a0 He swallowed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve seen what radiation does to people.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the bodies looked like.\u00a0 And others\u2026like melted glass.\u201d\u00a0 He shivered, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing them, hard.\u00a0 \u201cOne was more than half-cybered.\u00a0 The cybernetic parts\u2026they were still trying to move.\u00a0 Whatever happened hadn\u2019t fried the circuits completely.\u00a0 It\u2026didn\u2019t realize the rest of it was dead.\u00a0 Or maybe it wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 I just\u2026I don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 He smiled weakly at Rachel.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know how she could stomach it.\u00a0 I wanted to puke.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel matched his smile, though hers was more sad than his.\u00a0 \u201cShe saw too much before I got her here.\u00a0 She\u2019s not as innocent as most people seem to think she is, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendan stared at her for a long moment, then looked away, back toward the window.\u00a0 \u201cI saw a return of the Cullings, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The temperature in the room felt like it dropped a few degrees.\u00a0 While they were called the Cullings, the movement of centuries past was so much more than that.\u00a0 The attack on Mimir had been considered a prelude to more Cullings\u2014when psychics would be killed, or captured and then subjected to experimentation by scientists from various congloms, experimentation that even animals wouldn\u2019t be subjected to.\u00a0 But a second round of the Cullings hadn\u2019t come.\u00a0 Not yet.\u00a0 Not yet<\/em>, but they were still coming, based on the vision Lindsay and Brendan had shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has to be something we can do,\u201d he said quietly, watching Alana outside.\u00a0 She was standing in the middle of the yard, staring up at the rising moon.\u00a0 Abel, they called it.\u00a0 Brendan had asked why, once, and been told a story from one of the Books.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t made much sense, but then again, some of the Old Earth religions just didn\u2019t\u2014not to him, anyway.\u00a0 It had occurred to him, though, that some of the congloms back at New Earth could stand to read some of the so-called morality tales that came out of the Books.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas there anything else?\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendan shook his head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cI caught\u2026I caught the end of something when I first grabbed her.\u00a0 Landers splashing down off the coast, I think.\u00a0 But I couldn\u2019t tell when it was happening.\u00a0 But it was off the coast here<\/em>.\u00a0 That much I\u2019m certain of.\u00a0 On Cape Royale, in the shallows.\u00a0 But that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing to tell you what season it might have been, then?\u201d<\/p>\n

He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNothing.\u00a0 It could be tomorrow.\u00a0 It could be ten months or ten years from now.\u00a0 I just\u2026don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Maybe she saw more than I did, but I\u2026\u201d\u00a0 His voice trailed away.\u00a0 He gulped down some more tea.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t ask her, Rachel.\u00a0 We can\u2019t ask her.\u00a0 Not yet.\u00a0 Not so soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel\u2019s expression hardened, though there was pain in her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cShe knows that\u2019s her lot in life, Brendan.\u00a0 It\u2019s the fate that chose her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGive it a few days, Rachel.\u00a0 Please?\u201d\u00a0 He looked at her with a pleading gaze, pressing his lips together.\u00a0 \u201cLet her get a night\u2019s rest without a nightmare about it.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be bad tonight.\u00a0 I already know it\u2019s going to be bad.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to take a lot out of both of us to get through it.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced back toward the window.\u00a0 \u201cShe doesn\u2019t need Alana hanging around tonight, either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other.\u00a0 \u201cThat was abrupt.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you mean that you<\/em> don\u2019t need Alana hanging around tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Alana\u2019s mad at me\u2014and she is tonight, and we both know that\u2014she seethes.\u00a0 Lin can\u2019t tune out her seething for some reason.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have any explanations for it, either.\u00a0 For someone who keeps her thoughts held in so tightly, she sure feels<\/em> loudly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMm.\u201d\u00a0 Rachel glanced toward the window.\u00a0 Alana was moving again, walking another slow circle of the yard.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll talk to her.\u201d\u00a0 She grinned a little.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll tell her that I<\/em> don\u2019t want to be alone tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendan snorted.\u00a0 \u201cShe won\u2019t buy it, Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know, Brendan.\u201d\u00a0 Rachel took a sip of tea, watching the moonrise.\u00a0 She was quiet for a few moments, clearly thinking, mulling over something.\u00a0 \u201cYou need to teach those kids like the war starts tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy students?\u201d\u00a0 He frowned, leaning back.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019ll wonder why I\u2019ve suddenly become such a bastard.\u201d\u00a0 They\u2019re not ready for a war.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if any of them could ever be ready for a war.\u00a0 That\u2019s\u2026that\u2019s never been what we\u2019ve expected here.\u00a0 We thought that the congloms would leave us alone.\u00a0 All these kids ever needed to know how to do was chase off a lander or two.<\/em>\u00a0 He thought of Tomasi, so much more serious about her job than her fellows.\u00a0 They needed more like her, but he suspected there just weren\u2019t enough on-planet, not like her.\u00a0 I\u2019d give a lot to have a half dozen like her.\u00a0 I wonder how many kids couldn\u2019t take the stress of waiting to find out if they could handle an implant walked away instead of sticking it out, living with the nerves for a few weeks.\u00a0 <\/em>Maybe more of them would\u2019ve been like the girl by the end of the ordeal.\u00a0 \u201cMarshal Windsor will ask questions.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure I could come up with a good answer and not<\/em> get Lindsay hauled back to the Council chambers for a repeat of today.\u201d\u00a0 He set his jaw.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not going to let a repeat of today happen, Rachel.\u00a0 And neither are you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t argue, just took a sip of tea.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll deal with Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did she just call Field Marshal Windsor <\/em>Adam?<\/em>\u00a0 Never in his career had Brendan ever heardWindsor referred to by his given name.\u00a0 The man was his uniform, and you couldn\u2019t call him anything but \u2018sir\u2019 or \u2018Marshal\u2019 when he was in that uniform.\u00a0 It took a moment for him to get his bearings again, to work through the shock.\u00a0 \u201cHow?\u201d\u00a0 He blurted.<\/p>\n

She smiled wistfully, tilting her head toward Brendan.\u00a0 \u201cThirty years of friendship creates a bond, Brendan.\u00a0 I\u2019ll deal with him the way only I can deal with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thirty years.\u00a0 That means\u2026<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cYou knew him on Mimir.\u201d\u00a0 Rachel had grown up on Mimir, the now-dead home of the Psychean Guard.\u00a0 He\u2019d known that Marshal Windsor had been from the world as well, but he\u2019d never dreamed that they\u2019d known each other.\u00a0 He\u2019d never seen any sign of friendship, any warmth pass between them.<\/p>\n

But the man is the uniform.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s all image.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t want anyone to see the softer parts, if they actually exist.\u00a0 The vulnerable parts.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI did.\u201d\u00a0 Rachel drew one knee up against her chest, smiling wryly at Brendan.\u00a0 \u201cYou didn\u2019t think that a nineteen year old girl escaped from that hell alone, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Brendan just stared at her.\u00a0 He knew which hell she was talking about\u2014he\u2019d heard stories, seen pictures of what the bombings on Mimir had been like.\u00a0 He knew Rachel had been there when it happened.\u00a0 \u201cIs that why he ended up here, instead of staying in N-E space?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel smiled sadly.\u00a0 \u201cCan\u2019t a girl keep a few secrets, Brendan?\u201d<\/p>\n

He blushed, looking down into his mug.\u00a0 \u201cSorry, Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right.\u201d\u00a0 She swallowed the last of her tea and set the mug down on the table, standing.\u00a0 She tousled his short-cropped black hair as she passed.\u00a0 \u201cTry to get some sleep tonight, all right?\u00a0 Tomorrow you start teaching those kids about war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 \u201cG\u2019night, Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood night, Brendan.\u201d<\/p>\n

He watched her through the window, from the couch, as she walked outside and threw her arm around Alana\u2019s shoulders.\u00a0 She started to draw the other woman down the drive, toward the trees and the winding roadway that led toward Rachel\u2019s cottage and Alana\u2019s bungalow.\u00a0 He watched them until they disappeared into the trees, then cleaned up, rinsed the teapot and the mugs and racked them.\u00a0 He checked to make sure everything was locked up and went to bed, finding Lindsay mercifully in the same position he left her in, fast asleep.<\/p>\n

No dreams.\u00a0 Not yet.\u00a0 He got undressed and slid into bed with her, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her against his chest. She sighed in her sleep, relaxing a fraction more. He smiled and kissed her gently, then settled in.\u00a0 He had no confidence that they\u2019d sleep through the night.\u00a0 After she had visions, they almost never did.\u00a0 At the same time, he still would never have chosen a different life.\u00a0 Not for a minute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The only thing harder than being a psychic is loving one. — attributed to Ryland LeSarte, circa 4853 PD   5 Octem, 5249 PD \u201cDon\u2019t let go.\u00a0 Please, don\u2019t let go.\u201d\u00a0 Her face was half buried against his chest, eyes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-last-colony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p25yjF-16","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions\/98"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.embklitzke.com\/e557\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}