Page 24 of Star Cruise Captain's Story

“Once Maeve explained the situation we were completely on board to help out, sir,” Theo added, joining them.

Gil shook hands with Jayna, who added a quick hug, which surprised him but he appreciated the gesture of comfort and solidarity. He and Theo shook hands as well and then Gil left the bridge to continue his trip through the ship.

His next stop was sickbay where Dr. Shane and Jake were in the small office, Emily sitting on her husband’s lap as the couple ate off one plate and shared the unappetizing rations.

“Don’t let me interrupt,” Gil said hastily as they both rose as soon as he entered the area. “I’m doing my nightly rounds, checking the status of the ship and crew. Feels damn good, actually, to be back in a version of routine after all the time spent in the Main gang as a thug for hire.”

“Are you sure you’re not going to miss being a hard core, cutthroat mercenary?” Jake asked with a wicked grin. “Our normal cruising is going to seem tame to you now, sir.”

Remembering lowlights of the awful things he’d seen and done while undercover, Gil couldn’t repress a shudder. “Give me normal any day of the week.” He directed his gaze to Emily. “I appreciate everyone on the team having come to help my brother and me out, but I know it must have been especially hard for you to return to a combat situation. I’m grateful and I owe you a debt I can never repay.”

Emily, known as the Angel of Fantalar for her actions saving the lives of countless soldiers during the grisly battle, which had gone on for months, had shadows under her eyes tonight and looked exhausted. “I won’t lie, the PTSD was intense, but I was needed. We had no idea what condition your brother or you would be in and my combat medical skills are top notch to this day, if I do say so myself. No one gets left behind and no one else dies on my watch, sir, and especially not you. We need you.”

“She compartmentalized,” Jake explained. “I’ll be honest—I in in no way wanted her to be here but Maeve threatened to bypass me, which I’m still mad about, by the way. Once Emily heard the story about your brother, she made her own decision and I honored it.”

“Maeve, as we all know from previous experience, is quite a force of nature.” Gil wasn’t pleased Dr. Shane had beenpressured to be here but he knew if she’d refused, Jake would have made sure she wasn’t aboard theValkyrie Revenge, no matter what Maeve wanted. The man was a fierce protector by nature and his wife was his top priority.

“I’m pretty sure Tyrelle insisted on coming primarily to be here for me,” Emily said. “Her empathic abilities were incredibly helpful when the memories would rise up and threaten to overwhelm me.”

“I did wonder why she’d been made a part of the team with her lack of military experience but I can certainly see the value added,” Gil replied. “She worked miracles earlier calming the ex-hostages while we were getting them settled.”

“Yeah, Owen’s not a happy man about his wife having been along for this wild ride,” Jake said. “But fortunately the outcome is all good.”

As he had on the bridge a few minutes ago, Gil stuck his hand out. “You took command of this ragtag bunch and ran an exemplary search and extract mission, Jake. The height of professionalism and while I’d expect no less from you, I’m grateful to have been the objective of the effort.” They shook hands and then he repeated the gesture with the doctor and left the sickbay after checking briefly on both of the patients. The injured men were doing well under Emily’s care and he proceeded to his next stop considerably less worried about losing any of the ex-hostages before they could be transferred to the Sectors authorities for repatriation.

Owen and Tyrelle were relaxing in their small cabin when he arrived, with Midorri curled up on the bed. “I won’t stay long,” Gil promised, having the distinct impression he’d interrupted something. “I wanted to thank you both for your part in rescuing my brother and assisting me.” He nodded to the watching pet. “And my gratitude to you too, Midorri, of course.”

“Yeah, she’s a smart one,” Owen agreed. “She understood right where to place the explosives. I wish we knew more about her but at least we’ve given her a good home.”

Midorri weighed in with a loud chirrup and waddled to the end of the bunk so Gil could stroke her fur a few times and scratch her eyebrow ridges.

“It was my honor to help,” Tyrelle said. “You and your crew saved me from the Amarotu Combine when the mob had me enslaved and made me a stowaway and I finally feel as if I’ve repaid the debt.”

“There was no debt,” Gil hastened to assure her. “We were proud to help although Owen deserves 99% of the credit.”

“You supported him,” she said. Changing the subject, she added, “Your brother is doing quite well, all things considered. His aura is quite peaceful at the moment. I expect he’ll have his episodes of PTSD in days to come but I think confronting and killing Baxtir at the end gave him necessary immediate closure on his ordeal.” A smile came over her face and Gil thought she was blushing a bit, although with the green tint of her skin it was hard to tell. “Daveed is also quite intrigued with Sofillia, the youngest woman hostage. I believe the interest is mutual.”

“I may not be an empath with your powers of observation,” Gil said with a laugh, “But I did pick up on that.” He headed for the door. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

He had one last stop to make, knocking at the portal to the cabin Red and Gil’s brother were sharing. The two men were playing a card game, with bottles of feelgood at their elbows, and laid down the cards when Gil entered. “Doing my rounds,” he said. “And letting the team know how much I appreciate their help rescuing us. Red, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure this excursion doesn’t affect your transition to head of security on the new cruise liner.”

“I’d be grateful, captain. Maeve said the Mellureans would speak to the CLC Line too but it didn’t matter what the cost was, Meg and I agreed it was my duty to sign up and ride out on this job. Not going to leave you behind, sir, nor your brother.” Red looked at Daveed. “You got a raw deal, brother, and that’s a fact. We all wanted to rectify the situation.” He folded his cards and rose. “I’m due to relieve Theo on the bridge soon, not much to do with Maeve running the ship, but someone should be there. I’ll leave you two alone—I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.” He shook hands with Gil before leaving the cabin.

“You have a great team there,” Daveed said. “Loyal to you. Lucky for me.”

Gil pulled his brother into a hug and they pounded each other’s backs a few times before moving apart. “You doing okay?” Gil asked.

Daveed went to the stasis keeper and pulled out an unopened feelgood, which he offered to Gil. “It’s a bit unreal right now, honestly. Don’t get me wrong, I’m intensely grateful for all you did and what your people did, but it sucks to know my own government, my own military brothers and sisters left me to be tortured and killed. Yeah, I knew what I signed up for and was proud to do my duty for the Sectors but especially once the negotiations for my release broke off, I nearly lost it. I was in a scary dark place, I won’t lie.”

Gil didn’t sense his brother wanted comments so he held his tongue and drank a deep swallow of the feelgood, which slid down his throat in a cool wave.

“Then the terrorists brought Sofillia and her colleagues in. She gave me incentive to live although I raged at being helpless to protect her from the things they did to her and the others. Their cages were next to mine for a while and we’d talk at night, try to keep our minds off the hell we were in. She’s a good woman.”

“She was impressive,” Gil agreed, remembering how she’d fought for medical care for her older companion on the transport ship. “Are you going to pursue the connection now you’re all free?”

“I don’t know. After being a prisoner for so long I can’t get my mind to concentrate on planning anything.” Daveed’s voice was full of frustration. “Focus is eluding me right now.”

“Give it time,” was Gil’s advice, thinking of how long he and Maeve had been waiting for their love to be given a path to existing in the real world. "If you two are right for each other, it’ll work out.”

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