Farthest Reaches by Brandon Ellis & Max Wolfe

Author:Brandon Ellis & Max Wolfe [Ellis, Brandon & Wolfe, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2024-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

After a briefing with my staff in a meeting room attached to the bridge, I took the lift to the corridor leading to the shuttle bay along with a few security personnel and Zoe. My envirosuit bore the Space Force logo, something that had taken on a whole new meaning.

In less than an hour, some of us headed planetside, and I’d decided a few Equinox and Melody Systems Corp members would join us.

“Captain Moore,” Zoe said, “I will not interfere with what happens on Kahwin.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.”

Zoe held her hands in front of her. “Before one draws a sword, one must know what to cut lest the act dull the wit.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard that before.”

“You wouldn’t have. It’s a Kahwin saying. Do you know of this man, Friedrich Nietzsche?”

What a strange thing to ask. “A bit.”

“I read about him on one of your tablets. He once said, ‘You say a good cause justifies any war; but I say a good war justifies any cause.’ What does it mean?” Zoe asked.

Good question. “It’s merely a saying.”

“You would rather not explain because you worry I will understand your species better.”

“You’re very perceptive, I’ll give you that.” I wondered how much she’d read and how much it would take to convince her Earth wasn’t what it once was. “Should I be concerned about your interest in warfare?”

I think she might’ve smiled right then. “Should I be concerned about yours?”

“Someday, you’ll stop answering questions with other questions.”

Finally, the lift doors opened, and we filed out. Equinox and Melody Systems personnel stood ready. Ingram wore his white doctor’s jumpsuit under his envirosuit, his pockets crammed with medical devices.

“Captain on deck!” a guard announced.

“As you were.”

We were greeted by faces eager to get planetside, but when they saw Zoe, everyone became still. Like a Western when someone from out-of-town walks into a saloon. I took her to the side, where security stayed with her.

I’d asked those who went with me to the outpost to give their accounts of Zoe, and Erika had helped tidy the stories and knit a version of the events that reflected best on Space Force.

In that report, Erika included the basics, not specifics, about who and what Zoe was. We understood so little about her, but we needed what I felt only she could bring to the table.

Zoe had offered so little to our understanding of our current situation, and her silence and stubbornness caused Ingram to warn me against trusting her under any circumstances. He claimed her responses showed an amount of paranoia normally reserved for wartime, and we postulated on whether or not she’d created the Shapers in the first place.

Ms. Munn waved at me, and we found a private place to speak. She held a tablet, highlighting our contract in yellow. “Captain, who’s that over there?”

“That’s Zoe, the alien mentioned in the report.”

“I see. She’s pretty.”

“Remarkably so.”

“When do you plan on releasing your real report on her?” Munn asked bitterly.

“I like your directness. When we return, I’ll fill you in on the minor details we might’ve omitted for security reasons.

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