hiding place within an asteroid to throw the robots off their
trail, but they’d done it, and by the time they’d repaired
their ship to flying condition, the base star had been gone.
Overall, not a very successful mission, but they had gotten
a lot of readings on the robots’ ships and weaponry that
would prove helpful to the G.L.E.E. - if they could ever get
back to them.
Three years was a long time. Up had lost a lot of good
men and women, people he respected. Relationships had
been forged among the crew. Funerals – too many funerals
- had been held. But Up had also officiated at three
marriage ceremonies, and just last week the Eagle’s
youngest crewman had been born in the infirmary with pink
cheeks and a healthy set of lungs. This ship was their new
reality, and he knew that many of his crew were more
nervous than they let on now that their goal was within
reach. The G.L.E.E. had surely given up on them by now.
What would be waiting for them on Earth when they
arrived?
Taz’s face flashed unbidden to his mind, and he pushed it
away with more force than was strictly necessary. She
would be finished at the Academy now, or nearly, a real
Starship Ranger like him. He wondered if she’d stayed at
the top of her class, if she’d found someone else to watch
The Karate Kid with, to open up to. He wondered if she still
thought of him, if she knew somehow that he was still alive.
He would know soon.
“Commander,” said the ensign. “It’s time.”
He nodded. “Do it.”
Taz was the perfect picture of military discipline when
the Admiral pinned the pips on her and returned her salute
at the cadets’ graduation ceremony. There was respectable
applause, as everyone there knew her by reputation, but no