Chapter 41: Life, is a Gift

  Present day…

  Megalodon City, Tundra, Year 404 After Founding

  “I want to come with you.” Alanna repeated for the hundredth time.

  “No.”

  “How about this. If I can’t convince you to bring me over the days it will take to get there, I’ll stay on the ship. Just bring me onto the ship. It’s what you wanted! You wanted me to serve on the Black Hawk. To join up and defend my home. I’m volunteering!”

  “No.”

  “But you said!”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “What if I take a pregnancy test and it’s negative? I’m not nauseous.”

  “Still no.”

  “What if the aliens are real?” Alanna asked.

  “Then you still can’t come.” James responded without pause.

  “Can I come with you to the spaceport?” Alanna tried.

  “You want to drive over with me?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right.”

  She watched him place another perfectly pressed uniform into his bag. Watched him get dressed until the silver captain’s stripes gleamed in the dawn of the new day. And she didn’t care. Didn’t care that he was Tundran. Didn’t care what he was going to do to Saraya. Didn’t care why his existence was inexplicable. Alanna was so in love with James that it terrified her more than the aliens, Madame President Lorelai Achly, and President Hawk combined.

  “Do you have time for breakfast?” She asked.

  “Yes. Come on, I’ll feed you.”

  Alanna shook her head. “I can do it. I want to.”

  They had eggs, bacon and toast again, sitting in front of the fire with the news on softly in the background. Reading between the lines of the words spoken by a familiar Sarayan reporter, Alanna knew that martial law on Saraya was causing unrest. The conscription efforts were being couched in the most patriotic of terms, but people would not be happy. And James would use the unrest to his advantage. And maybe that meant he was more likely to return.

  “Do you want one of the boxes?” James offered, taking the two boxes his mother had left earlier out of the fridge.

  “Is this the desert she makes you for your missions? Like the apple pie?”

  “Yes, but she made two boxes, so there’s enough for you.”

  “What is it?”

  James hesitated. “It’s fudge.” He said.

  “Does that mean something?”

  “It lasts longer.”

  “For the long missions.” Alanna swallowed, the fear nearly suffocating.

  “Yes.”

  “Take both boxes. Clara and Henry might want some.”

  It was a short drive over to the space port. Alanna closed her eyes, leaning against him as he drove as the strains of a familiar song filled the car, the volume barely high enough to hear. “Wait a minute.” Alanna sat up. “That’s my song.”

  “I know. It was on your playlist. I took all your music.”

  “You dug through my computer.”

  “It was reasonable when you were a POW.”

  “But somewhat creepy now that I’m your fiancée.”

  “No comment.” James grinned over at her. “I thought the transition went rather well, all things considered.” He pulled her back, until her side was pressed against his.

  “James.” Alanna swallowed, took a breath. “If you need help, go to Jonno.”

  “You think Jonno the pimp will…”

  “Don’t call him that!”

  “You think he’d help me?”

  “Of course he will. You’re family.”

  They sat together in a brief, companionable silence, as James thought about how much closer Saraya suddenly seemed, with Alanna sitting by his side. And then they were there. Alanna followed him out of the car, putting her arms around his shoulders for one last, long kiss before she watched him walk away. Whatever words she may have said stuck in her throat. Nothing would have been right. Nothing would have been enough. So she just watched.

  ---

  An interminable time later, Alanna looked down blankly at the car keys James placed into her hands. “Oh shit.” She said out loud. She didn’t know how to drive.

  After another long moment of indecision, she got into the driver’s seat and stared blankly at the dashboard. Was there a start button somewhere?

  She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a sharp rap on the passenger car window. Samantha Hawk’s cool gray eyes looked back at her.

  “I don’t know how to…” She finally found the button that unlocked the passenger side door.

  “Do you know how to drive this car?” Samantha Hawk asked, putting on her seatbelt as she slid into the passenger seat.

  “Um. No.” Alanna admitted.

  “Tactically, you really need to work on your exit strategies.” Samantha observed.

  “Yes ma’am.” Alanna agreed, for lack of a better response.

  “The gas pedal is on your right. Start the car.”

  “But where’s the break?” Alanna asked, trying to keep the edge of panic out of her voice.

  “To the left of the gas pedal.” Samantha Hawk said patiently.

  “Are you driving back with me?”

  “Yes.”

  “But where’s your car?”

  “Jim has it.”

  “He was here?”

  “Yes.” For a brief moment, Samantha Hawk looked away, her eyes distant. “We both were. Now, you need to press down on the break before you turn on the car. And put it in reverse.”

  “Ma’am? I really don’t want to crash the car with you in it.”

  “Then don’t crash the car. That means put it in reverse first, Alanna.”

  Five tense minutes later, they were back on the main road, Alanna holding the steering wheel in a white knuckled death grip as she tried not to think about the other cars whizzing by on both sides.

  “Where would you like to go?” Samantha Hawk asked, appearing perfectly calm as Alanna did her best to stay between the lines marking her lane.

  “I need to go to the hospital.” Alanna said, gripping the steering wheel harder.

  “Are you feeling ill?”

  “No. I need to visit Danil. He’s alone. He’s been alone this whole time.”

  “Who is Danil?” Samantha Hawk asked, somewhat sharply.

  “He’s…” Alanna hesitated.

  “Alanna, I assure you, my security clearance is far higher than yours.”

  “He’s the Sarayan that helped us take the Sarayan station on Titan. He was shot fighting with us. Fighting with Tony and me. I don’t want him to be alone.”

  “I will find out what hospital he’s in and give you directions. One moment. Turn right here. Actually never mind, you won’t make it and best not to try. Take the next exit and I’ll show you how to turn around.”

  Changing lanes was not easy but fifteen very tense minutes later, Alanna turned into the parking garage of the hospital, carefully pulling into an open spot and following instructions to turn off the car before collapsing into her seat, hands shaking. “I’m going to need a minute.” She said, not even caring if Samantha Hawk saw her weakness.

  “Well done.” Samantha Hawk said, waiting patiently.

  Alanna slanted a glance in the woman’s general direction. “Are you coming with me to the hospital?”

  “I am. It’s for the best.”

  ---

  None of it would have happened without Samantha Hawk, Alanna realized. The woman took charge from the moment they entered the hospital, speaking quietly to the administrator who was giving Alanna a highly dubious look followed by “but she’s not family” and soon thereafter “yes ma’am. I’ll let them know.”

  Alanna followed Samantha up to the elevator and towards one of the small rooms lining the corridor. They found Danil inside one of the small rooms, the bunk next to his empty but clearly still occupied, the sheets and blankest crumpled from use. Danil looked pale, the dark circles under his eyes signifying he had not been sleeping well, if at all. When he saw Alanna, his face lit up. “Lieutenant! Commander.” He added, shooting a surreptitious glance towards Samantha Hawk. “And ah, ma’am. Hello.”

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  “Hello.” Samantha Hawk responded, sitting down in one of the guest chairs. “Who’s the other occupant?” She asked, turning towards the second bunk.

  “That would be lieutenant commander Gregory Gurin. He’s getting a checkup right now.” Danil turned towards Alanna. “He may get released today.” He tried to keep his face blank. It wasn’t that he was exactly friends with Gregory. But Gregory was familiar. After Gregory left, Danil would be completely alone.

  “Are you considering suicide?” Samantha Hawk asked bluntly.

  Alanna’s jaw dropped. She had often been faulted for her honesty, but Samantha Hawk was on a whole other level.

  “Ah. That’s personal, ma’am.” Danil said.

  “Not entirely. Lieutenant commander Summers has made the effort to rescue you. And now, she was seen visiting your bedside. If you kill yourself, it will reflect negatively on her efforts. Am I making myself perfectly clear?”

  Danil cleared his throat, eyes wide. “Who are you?

  “I’m Samantha Hawk. Alanna Summers is my future daughter in law. And her reputation, is of great concern to the Hawk family, and to Tundra. So I ask again, are you considering suicide?”

  “Ah well, not so much at the moment.”

  “What will you do?” Samantha Hawk asked.

  “Sorry?”

  “Upon your release from the hospital.” She explained patiently. “What will you do?”

  “I have a plan.” Alanna offered. “I don’t know if it will work, but I thought I might ask Dev. He was a guard at the prison where I ah…”

  “The prison where you were a POW until your successful asylum interview.” Samantha Hawk supplied.

  “Successful is not how I would have described it.” Alanna muttered under her breath.

  “But it is how you will describe it.”

  “Yes ma’am.” Alanna agreed.

  “Now call Dev.” Samantha recrossed her legs, waiting.

  “Right. I will… yes. I will do that.” Alanna looked over at her wrist comm, intensely relieved that Dev was one of the contacts James had included for her. She dialed. Dev did not pick up. “He doesn’t know it’s me.” She explained. “I’ll text first.” And hope to god that Dev actually responds, Alanna thought silently. Samantha Hawk made her incredibly nervous. Dev, it’s Alanna. Please pick up. She typed out the words, and waited, glancing over at the first lady of the planet, sitting patiently in the chair across from her.

  “Where are the secret service agents?” Alanna asked suddenly.

  “Car behind us.” Samantha Hawk answered. “And outside the door.”

  “Are they going to report back to the president on my driving skills?”

  “Yes.”

  Alanna nodded, glancing down somewhat glumly at the sound of a buzz from her wrist comm and reading the words. What do you want? An auspicious start. Noting that Samantha Hawk had started tapping her foot, Alanna called.

  “Yeah?” Dev’s puzzled voice came over the speaker.

  “Samantha Hawk is here.” Alanna said as soon as he picked up, getting the most important information out first.

  There was a long silence on the other end.

  “Dev?” Alanna said uncertainly.

  “Yes.”

  There was more silence, other than the sound of Samantha Hawk’s foot, tapping against the floor.

  Alanna took a breath. “There’s a Sarayan defector that I would like to recommend for a job. He’s um, he’s kind of a war hero.”

  There was more silence. “Is Samantha Hawk recommending him?” Dev finally asked.

  “I don’t know him.” Samantha Hawk replied, her voice coming through clearly.

  “A war hero on which side?” Dev asked.

  “On the Tundran side. He helped us. And now he’s here.”

  “And needs a job.”

  “Right. Because Simon’s gone.”

  “I’ll have to ask the warden. And it won’t be on the Sarayan floor.”

  “I don’t think anyone wants it to be on the Sarayan floor.” Alanna agreed.

  “No one wants that.” Samantha Hawk echoed.

  “Typically, there would be a resume.” Dev said. “Does your Sarayan traitor friend have a resume?”

  “Are you going to call his references?” Alanna couldn’t resist asking. “Long distance?”

  “You’re his reference.” Dev pointed out. “Anyone else?”

  “I can ask Gregory.” Danil said.

  “And I’ll ask Tony.” Alanna offered.

  “Let’s start with Gregory.” Danil suggested, thinking of his first meeting with Tony. In his experience, people didn’t like having guns pointed at them. He sure as hell didn’t.

  “All right.” Dev said. “Pull together what you can and I’ll pass it on to the warden. Actually wait, I have something for you, too.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll drop it off tonight, send me the address.”

  Alanna opened her mouth to respond when Gregory floated in, still in his antigrav wheelchair. He looked from Alanna to Samantha Hawk. “Oh no.” He shook his head, backed out at top speed, and was gone.

  “What was that?” Samantha Hawk asked.

  “He can’t laugh.” Danil explained.

  “Stomach wound?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well then, time for us to go.” Samantha Hawk got up, looking over at Alanna pointedly.

  Alanna stood up as well. Walking to the door she paused, glancing back at Danil. “Life” she said unexpectedly “is a gift. I’ll come again soon. I promise.”

  “Where to next?” Samantha asked, smiling slightly. She recognized her own words. And she liked knowing that her son had remembered the lesson well enough to pass it on.

  Alanna hesitated. “I wanted to go to the plant store.” She finally said. It was true, she had planned to go the plant store. She had not necessarily planned on bringing Samantha Hawk with her.

  “An excellent choice. Let’s go. And then we should stop somewhere to eat. You must be hungry.”

  “I just ate.”

  “Eat again.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Two hours later, with her head stuffed with newfound knowledge about Tundran gardening, Alanna slid into a private booth of a small restaurant tucked inside the plant store. Unlike James, Samantha scanned for listening devices before she sat down, sliding in on her side of the booth only once the scan was complete. Alanna shot a mental salute in the woman’s general direction. Samantha Hawk, did not cut corners. The service was fast, and a few minutes later, Alanna found herself dutifully eating a plate of chicken with rice and vegetables, a cup of some sort of herbal tea sitting by her right hand. Self consciously, she placed a hand on her stomach. Samantha Hawk said nothing on the subject of children, yet her views could not have been more clear. The woman was team baby, all the way. “James told me you were shot.” Alanna said suddenly.

  “As were you.”

  “Yes, he said if it was just a few inches over…” Alanna paused.

  “Yes.” Samantha Hawk agreed.

  Alanna hesitated again, seeing a momentarily flash of pain in the other woman’s eyes. “I’m sorry.” She said. “Do you ever talk about it?”

  “Of course.” Samantha Hawk responded, all traces of pain gone as if they had never been there. Samantha Hawk, would not show weakness. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I would like to hear the story.” Alanna said. Because bad data, made for bad decisions. And Alanna desperately needed better data.

  “I would be happy to tell it. Because this is not just the story of how I got shot. This is also the story, of how I killed President Thornhill.”

  “The man who ordered the attack on Dragon City.”

  “Yes.” Samantha Hawk agreed. “Oh, yes. The operation took well over a year. His cabinet was already gone, every one of them dead. He was the last one left alive. And he knew we were coming. I wanted him to know. Unfortunately, it made my job difficult.”

  “I don’t understand. How can planning a single assassination take over a year?”

  “Details” Samantha Hawk said “matter. The man was nearly impossible to reach. And his health was starting to fail. The last thing I wanted, was for him to die of natural causes. That, was unacceptable. He had a personal physician, but not everything could be handled by a private physician, on site. And of course, William Thornhill would have the best.”

  “Phoenix General Hospital.” Alanna said, remembering. Because she knew where the assassination of the Sarayan president took place. Everyone did. Every history book on Saraya covered the event. It was an odd feeling, sitting here listening to a first hand account of a story taught to every school child on Saraya. This, was history.

  “I managed to get a job as a nurse at the hospital. In theory, all I had to do was be there, and wait. But my luck on Saraya, it seemed, was running out. The first time President Thornhill came to the hospital, I wasn’t on shift. Just missed him. Simple as that. A year of listening in on all the gossip, making all the right contacts, all so that I missed him because I was home, asleep. He was visiting an oncologist. Once I knew who he was seeing, I made sure the oncologist had every reason to choose me as his nurse. And then, within the month, William Thornhill came a second time. And I had to take him out. It was his second visit to an oncologist. My time was running out.”

  Samantha paused, staring out for a second, clearly seeing something other than the plant store laid out before them. It had been a true nightmare, that mission. “They cleared out the space when he came to visit, but as the oncologist’s nurse, I had a legitimate reason to be there. It wasn’t easy.” She said suddenly, with her typically brutal honesty “getting into that room, into that hospital. And the people who had helped me were getting nervous, suspicious. They could have talked at any time. And then there was Jim. It was the first time he ran for president, and he was winning. He hated what I did and he wanted me back home.” Samantha Hawk laughed suddenly. “It may be arrogant, but sometimes I wonder if he ran just so he could make damn sure he could forbid me from ever going on another mission again. After all, he was in the military and I was in the ISS.”

  “You weren’t in his chain of command.”

  “No. But everyone is in the president’s chain of command. Time, as I said, was of the essence. So, when I saw President Thornhill alone with the oncologist, with only one guard at the door, it seemed perfect. There were supposed to be two guards. But there was only one. I saw what I wanted to see. An opportunity. I made my move.”

  “But.” Alanna frowned, as vague memories of old history lessons came back to her. “President Thornhill wasn’t shot.”

  “No. The hospital was a top destination for high ranking politicians. Their security scans were thorough and comprehensive. There was no way to get the gun in, and even if I could, there was nowhere to hide it on the inside. Their security was too tight. I had to do the entire operation with a surgical scalpel. It was the only weapon readily available inside the hospital.”

  “You killed the oncologist.”

  “Yes. First the guard, then President Thornhill, and then the oncologist. Foreseeably enough, President Thornhill was permitted to have a gun. Naturally, he had the connections to make it happen. I had to take him out first, before he shot me dead. And the oncologist would have sounded the alarm.”

  “With a surgical scalpel.” Alanna repeated, her eyes wide. It had been madness, the operation Samantha Hawk was describing. One woman with a surgical scalpel against three people, at least two of them armed. Sheer, utter madness.

  “Yes.” Samantha Hawk replied, the long, delicate fingers of her hand wrapping around her teacup as she took another sip. “President Thornhill’s personal guards have fingerprint locks on their guns. Although I had killed the guard, I could not use his gun. I had to continue to rely on the scalpel. And as you can imagine, by the time it was done, I was drenched in blood. Absolutely drenched. I had extra lab coats in my locker for just such an eventuality, but the locker was in an entirely different location. And that wasn’t even the worst of it.”

  “What was the worst of it?” Alanna asked. This was beyond the mystery of James’s inexplicable birth. This was history, in the making.

  “The worst, was when the other guard returned. You see, it wasn’t good luck that left only one guard at the door. It was terrible luck. Apparently, the other bastard stepped away. God knows where. The bathroom? To visit a friend? I’ll never know. But what I do know, is that he stepped away.”

  “And then he came back.”

  “Oh yes. Came back and saw me standing over President Thornhill’s dead body, drenched in blood.”

  “That’s when you got shot.”

  “Yes. I dropped down, but not in time. He only got in one shot. I went in low and attacked from the ground, slicing the femoral artery in his thigh and wrestling the gun from him as he went down. But by then, I had already been shot.”

  “At point blank range.” Allanna said, replaying the scene in her mind.

  “Yes.”

  “But you walked.”

  “Yes. The killing round went in clean. My bones were mostly intact, no arteries were hit.”

  Alanna tried to imagine it. Being alone, shot, covered in blood in a public space where every man, woman, and child would be looking for you the moment they realized their president had been assassinated. “What did you do?” She asked.

  “Garbage disposal.” Samantha Hawk said, wincing at the memory. She had been conscious when her battered body hit the trash below, although she had passed out soon after.

  “How many floors up?”

  “Four. But I needed to get out, it was my only chance. I had no backup inside the hospital. Their security was state of the art. Getting myself in was a nightmare. There was no chance of getting anyone else inside. Once I was out, my backup was waiting. I was barely conscious by then. He got me out, got me first aid, and finally, much later, he got me home.” She smiled slightly, the smile warming her cool gray eyes. “Until that mission, I had always worked alone. I hated having backup, but Jim insisted. He saved my life.” Samantha Hawk paused, looking into the distance. “Many times.” She said. “He has saved my life, many times. There was no better ally. Not for me.”

  “How did you meet?” Alanna asked.

  “Jim was nine and I was seven, when we became the orphans of Dragon City. I barely remember it, but Jim tells me that at first, there was an outpouring of support for the newly founded orphanage. We had food, toys, volunteers coming to play with us. But people forget. Soon enough, we became an orphanage like any other.” Samantha Hawk looked over at Alanna. “And we both know what that means. Jim has saved my life. Many times.”

  Alanna stared, shock on her face. “You were orphans?”

  “Of course. We both came from Dragon City. There were very few survivors. Did James not tell you?”

  “No.” Alanna shook her head, looking out over the plants all around them. So much life. And so much death. “Did you expect to get injured?” She asked. “Did you take precautions?”

  Samantha Hawk laughed. “Of course not. I was so young. I thought I was unstoppable. I try to remind women, the ones who serve, to think ahead. But no one ever listens. Too young, and too arrogant.”

  Alanna looked up, meeting Samantha Hawk’s steely gray gaze. “If I lose the child, will I still have your support?”

  “Yes. As long as you’re my son’s choice, you will have my support. James has earned the right to make up his own mind.”

  “And your husband?”

  “You have his support now, Alanna. Whatever his personal views, you are a member of this family. My son has chosen to extend his protection to you. And not even Jim Hawk can change that. You should know, my husband promised James that he would protect you as he protects me. You have his support.”

  “Whatever his personal views.” Alanna repeated. “And what are his personal views, exactly?”

  “Oh, he still hates you.”