gave a start, and then Up could feel his human half start to
shake. He closed his eyes and put his hands on his knees,
willing himself to stay calm. Breathe in, breathe out.
Taz put a tentative hand on his arm. “I’m – I’m sorry,
Up, I don’t know what I was thinking. I never meant-”
“S’okay,” he managed, straightening, opening his eyes.
“Just – just a sore spot, I guess. That and robots. Still
having trouble getting used to them, too.”
He didn’t know why he was saying it, shouldn’t he be
pretending to be strong? But he’d tried pretending before,
and it had only pushed her away. Maybe she could handle
the truth. She deserved to know the truth, anyhow.
“Taz?” he said, leaning against the wall. Her eyes
reflected the lights of the holodeck panel beside him. “I
don’t know if I’m ready for this mission.”
The look on her face was one he hadn’t seen there
before. For a moment, he wondered if it might be fear. Then
it was replaced with determination, and she seized him.
“You are ready,” she said, a gloved hand on either of his
arms. “They wouldn’t have discharged you if you weren’t,
wouldn’t have given you this command. Your doctors must
have believed in you. The Galactic League believes in
you.” Her eyes were locked on his. “I believe in you.”
A tear escaped his eye, and she saw it, but didn’t say
anything more. She released him. “Besides, you have
nothing to worry about. This is a peaceful mission. No
robots. No battles. No problem.”
“So, this is the rescue squad, huh? Ay, look at you. None
of you have what it takes to serve under Commander Up.”
Taz was fuming. They were idiots. They were all idiots.
The starship had arrived at the alien planet. The idiota
G.L.E.E. Ambassador – as luck would have it, none other
than Space-Claw's son Junior - had sent February down to