“I can’t say any more right now.” Fleming set his mug aside and it was plain the meeting was over. Trevor scrambled to his feet as the captain stood. “Once we’re in orbit around Brumel Three, Maeve will let you know. You may use my personal flyer to commute to the planet and collect Ms. Nadenoft and her luggage. And the service animal. We won’t be staying here long as it’s not a regular stop for us and there’s probably no cargo of interest but I’ve allotted two days. I’ve been advised she may not be quite ready to leave and you may have to remain on the planet overnight. Questions?”
“No, sir, I think you’ve made the situation clear.” He had hundreds of them buzzing around in his brain but he could tell the meeting was over and he did have enough to go on for right now.
“My mutual friends very much wish for the lady to make this trip and attend this wedding.” Fleming rose and headed for the door, pausing before he got there. “You may contact me directly at any time if there’s a problem with this assignment.”
With that astonishing remark, the captain left the room, even as Trevor was saluting. He made a beeline to Deck Thirteen and his boss’s office, finding Jake sitting there looking over security bulletins and not at all surprised to see him arrive.
“What do you know about this assignment?” he asked his boss after refusing another cup of coffee.
“Not much. Special VIP passenger and we’re pulling out all the stops to make her feel safe and welcome.” Jake raised his eyebrows and asked, “You’ve done personal protection before, is there a problem?”
He trusted Jake. Leaning in, he said, “The captain said she might spike a PTSD incident or two if the voyage or the ship calls up bad memories. Thinks I’ll be able to handle it better than anyone else because of my own experiences.”
“You’re doing great handling your flashback situation,” Jake said in calm agreement. “No complaints from me.”
Speaking around the tightness in his chest Trevor focused on his clenched fists on the desk’s surface and forced himself to voice his greatest fear. “What if her PTSD sets off mine?”
Jake allowed the silence to stretch for a moment or two, showing he was giving the question proper consideration, not blowing Trevor’s concerns off. Then he spoke with confidence. “Hers is specific to the Nebula Dream and being a little kid watching her mother and a lot of other people die. Yours is combat related.”
“From what I recall about the wreck story, she was also a prisoner of the Shemdylann pirates,” Trevor said, swallowing hard, wishing he could stop overanalyzing the potential problems and simply accept Jake’s reassurance. “You know the pirates are the ones who captured me, sold me to that fucking prison camp.”
Jake didn’t hesitate now. “Listen, I can’t read the captain’s mind here. I see your point but I also believe there’s more going on with this woman’s trip aboard our ship than he’s telling us. If he thinks you’re the right man for the job, I say go with it. If you start having problems, come to me and I’ll talk to Fleming myself about reassigning you. Deal?”
He’d known Jake would have his six. And knowing there was an out if the situation became intolerable would give him peace of mind. Trevor blew out a sigh of relief and the knot in his chest loosened. “I can work with those parameters. Thanks.”
“Of course. You’ve got a few more hours before we’re stable in orbit and you can head planetside. Might want to do a bit of research on the whole Nebula Dream episode, see if there are details you’ve forgotten. Or maybe about the lady herself, although from what I was told, she’s been publicity shy her whole life.” Jake grinned. “Knowledge is power. Good intel never hurt when facing a difficult mission. Of any type.”
An action plan was exactly what he needed, to keep himself from dwelling on what-ifs. “Good ideas. I’ll do both of those things.” He rose, deciding it would be less stressful to do his research in the privacy of his own cabin, versus the general security office. “Maeve can connect me with the right databases. Permission to work in my quarters?”
“Granted. This detail takes priority over everything else, per the captain. Keep me posted. And if you need anything for our passenger while she’s on board, don’t hesitate to ask. She’s got the run of the entire ship and permission to ask for special favors, from the orders I was given.” Jake picked up his handheld and prepared to resume his interrupted duties. “At the very least this should be interesting.”
A few hours later, fortified with the research he’d done, including access to some data Maeve provided without commenting where it came from, which meant it was probably highly classified, his head was whirling as he piloted the captain’s personal ship out of the Nebula Zephyr’s vast hangar deck and headed for the spaceport below. These people went through hell on that damn ship. Lucky to be alive. If he hadn’t known it was a real life tragedy, he would have said it was the plot of an over the top trideo extravaganza. In fact he was mildly surprised no one had ever made it into a trideo, as much interest as there was in the subject. He supposed the central figures—Nick, Mara, Twilka, Khevan, Paolo and Gianna herself— had never agreed to be depicted and they were the people the public was hungry to see.
Brumel Three wasn’t a busy tourist or commerce hub, so he was able to land fairly quickly and check out a groundcar from the local CLC affiliate office. The autopilot conveyed him through the streets of a pleasant city and into the less urban countryside beyond. His special passenger lived in a high rent district with few neighbors, it seemed. The goundcar stopped at a pair of ornate gates, which masked a top of the line force barrier, such as he’d only seen on military basses. The lady didn’t want any uninvited visitors.
Trevor got out of the car and went to the com unit attached to the gates. Pressing the transmit key, he said, “Lt. Hanson of the Nebula Zephyr, here to see Ms. Nadenoft. I’m expected.”
There was no answer for at least two minutes. He pondered what he’d do if he never got an answer. If she’d changed her mind about travelling couldn’t she have notified the local shipping office before he had to come all the way out here? Increasingly irritated and uncomfortable in the warm sun beating down on the road, he took this delay as a bad omen for the success of the voyage. If she agreed to fly with them. As he was debating whether to get in the ground car and go back to the spaceport, there was a ping and the gate opened.
Not thrilled by all the mystery, he re-entered the groundcar and accelerated, following the ill kept road away from the gates. After about five minutes, he reached an area where the grounds had been well maintained, with extensive gardens and then he arrived at the huge house. He was no architecture buff but his guess was the structure must be several centuries old, probably a family ancestral home. One thing his research had made clear was how wealthy her family was. The security vids and other surveillance and self-defense installations hidden along the house’s façade might have escaped the attention of someone less experienced than he was but his curiosity was piqued. This was a lot of heavy duty protection for a civilian home, even one among the rich upper echelons.