Honor: Home World Book Two An Epic Space Opera by Bonnie Milani

Author:Bonnie Milani [Milani, Bonnie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-21T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Pearl City had been a busy town once, back before the Schism. Up here the wind off the ocean carried the faint booms of Pearl Harbor’s port equipment along with the sweet scent of the oleander bushes lining the hillside below. The jungle had pretty much reclaimed the remains of the apartment buildings the ancients had stacked up the hillside. Wasn’t much of them left now except empty windows in skeleton walls held together by wisteria vines and ivy. One or two green walls still sported curly glass tubes that Grandfather said used to be happy colored neon signs. All that was left now were glass tubes all broken and bleached to gray. Still, must have been a fancy area once: even down here at ground level the hillside offered a heart-stopper view clear out to Pearl Harbor.

Keiko reminded herself to keep calm while Strongarm picked his way across the broken tarmac of an ancient parking lot. He and Grandfather both wanted a meeting, so everybody would be happy once Grandfather showed up. More importantly, Grandfather would be happy with her. Happy enough, she hoped, to ease up on Kameh when she asked.

Strongarm had stopped just shy of the low concrete wall marking the edge of the cliff. He folded his arms and braced his feet apart to stare out toward Pearl Harbor like some modern king surveying his realm with the ocean wind whipping his mane into silver waves.

Keiko worked her way past the wedges of old tarmac to join him. “You’re still looking for the Arizona.”

“Been looking for it all my life.” He uhfed softly. “Should have known…”

“It’s still there, you know. Can’t see it from way up here, but the battleship’s still there.”

“I’m surprised you know. Most onlie histories cover only the Unity Wars.”

“Oh, I know all about that old attack on Pearl Harbor. Story of my life: my father’s people dropped the bombs and my mother’s ran for cover.” Keiko snorted in disgust, not all of it due to the Admiral’s brass-assed teaching; the wind was doing its damnedest to flap her sarong open. She inched closer to Strongarm, hoping she could put him between herself and the wind without getting caught. “The place is still sacred to the people. Legend says she went down with a thousand of her crew.”

“It’s not legend.”

“Really?” Suspicion set in. “How’d you know? LupanType didn’t even exist back then.”

“Because I’m human, too, in case you forgot.” He turned those amber eyes her way, lifted an ear the way Jezekiah Van Buren would an eyebrow. “It so happens one of the men entombed there was named Worth Lightfoot.” His chin came down, challenging her. “He was my many times great-grandfather.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

A snoopy seagull snuck down to see if Strongarm’s ears were edible. Strongarm clipped fingers against its beak without looking. Insulted, the gull backed wings and flapped off.

Strongarm watched the bird retreat thoughtfully. “We have no birds on Den Lupus. I think I shall have to import some.” He grinned down at her, looking mischievous.

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