Hestia 2781

By Janet Edwards

Hestia 2781 is the first of two full-length novels set immediately after the short story Hera 2781.

The year is 2781. Lieutenant Drago Tell Dramis's first mission as a newly qualified fighter pilot ended with him and his team leader saving one of humanity's oldest colony worlds, Hera, from destruction. Now he's discovering that saving a world can be simple compared to living with the consequences.

Both Drago and his team leader and second cousin, Jaxon, are famous now, given rapid field promotions, and are due to be awarded medals. Worryingly, Drago learns Jaxon has a mysterious secret and a past history of erratic behaviour. It's vital that Drago keeps both of them out of trouble and away from nosy reporters until the medal ceremony, because Jaxon could do or say something that deeply embarrasses both the Military and their Betan clan.

The Military is helping by sending their fighter team on a mission somewhere inconspicuously boring until the medal ceremony. That destination definitely won't be Hestia, the perpetual trouble spot of humanity. 
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wallam-Crane Press
• Release date: Jun 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201008536

Janet Edwards

Janet Edwards lives in the Midlands. As a child, she read everything she could get her hands on, which included the works of many of the great names of Science Fiction. She has a husband, a son, a lot of books, and an aversion to housework.

Book preview

Chapter One

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It was two days since I’d been injured in the comet blockade at Hera, but my doctors had kept me under sedation until less than an hour ago. I’d finally awoken to discover I was sharing a medical room with Major Jaxon Tell Galad, my fighter team leader, second cousin, and oldest friend. Jaxon had just finished telling me what had happened while I was unconscious, including the fact that we’d both been promoted and were going to be awarded the Thetis medal. He was now laughing at my plans to avoid both my promotion and my medal.

It’s no use, Drago. The two of us played the leading roles in saving one of humanity’s oldest colony worlds from total destruction. It’s the main story on the newzie channels of every sector of humanity’s space. Whatever I’ve done in the past, and whatever you do right now, we’re officially heroes, and the Military have absolutely no choice about promoting us.

I was about to ask what Jaxon meant by that reference to what he’d done in the past, when the formidable figure of General Dragon Tell Dramis strode into the room. All three of us were closely related members of the same Betan Military clan, and the General was currently based here on the planet Academy, so it would have been reasonable to assume he’d come to the Military Headquarters Medical Centre on an informal family visit. General Tell Dramis was legendary throughout the Military for demanding impossibly high standards of behaviour though, so neither of us wanted to take any risks.

Jaxon jumped up from where he was sitting on the edge of his medical bed, and gave a left-handed salute since he had a bulky regrowth unit on his injured right arm. I couldn’t stand up because both of my legs were encased in even bulkier regrowth units. I settled for adjusting the controls of my medical bed, so I was sitting closer to upright, and then giving an especially snappy right-handed salute.

The General followed protocol by nodding an acknowledgement to Jaxon first, as he was a higher rank than me. Jaxon had gone through a bad patch in his teenage years, which had earned him the General’s lingering displeasure. I’d expected the events at Hera to outweigh past offences, but the General still gazed at Jaxon with the warmth of an iceberg on the permanently frozen specialist world of Winter in Gamma sector.

Commander Jaxon Tell Galad, congratulations on being promoted for your heroic actions saving the Alphan colony world, Hera, from destruction.

Thank you, sir, said Jaxon nervously, but I’ve requested my promotion to be held pending. I’ve only been a fighter team leader for a couple of months, and need to gain more experience before taking on the duties of a Commander.

General Tell Dramis shook his head. Hera Command has overridden that request and approved your promotion effective immediately.

Jaxon’s expression changed from nervous to horrified. But the comet blockade only ended two days ago. My promotion can’t have gone through channels yet.

You were given a field promotion to avoid the normal delays. The General didn’t wait for Jaxon to reply, just turned to nod at me. Major Drago Tell Dramis, congratulations on being promoted for your heroic actions saving the Alphan colony world, Hera, from destruction. I also need to congratulate you on your appointment as Commander Tell Galad’s deputy team leader.

The General had spoken to me with grudging approval only a few weeks ago, when I finished my fighter pilot training with the highest scores of any pilot in the last decade. This time he didn’t just sound approving, but shocked me with the first genuine smile I’d had from him in years.

Thank you, sir, I said, but I’ve only been promoted from Lieutenant to Captain, and I have to decline the deputy team leader appointment due to my complete lack of experience. Hera was my first and only mission since leaving the Military Academy.

You will gain experience while filling the deputy team leader position, decreed the General, and your promotion was most definitely to Major. You would have had an automatic promotion from Lieutenant to Captain at the end of your six-month active service acclimatization period anyway, so Hera Command has given you a field promotion to Major.

I’d been worried enough about being promoted to Captain, but now I was a Major! I was still trying to think of a comment that didn’t include the word nuke or any other swearing when the General continued speaking.

But I’m here as your relative rather than your superior officer.

I made the mental switch between Military and family conversations. Yes, Father, I said gloomily.

We should celebrate your achievements by speaking as proud members of the greatest Betan clan in history, Father continued.

I winced. That comment meant we were about to abandon the standard Language spoken by all of humanity, and have a conversation in the Betan dialect specific to the two hundred and three colony worlds in Beta sector. That was easy for my father, because he’d grown up at our clan hall on Zeus, so could speak Betan dialect fluently. Both Jaxon and I had spent most of our childhoods outside Beta sector though, so we weren’t even confident of the more complex dialect terms for describing family relationships.

I was deeply thankful to hear a melodic voice speak from the doorway. Remember our agreement, Dragon. I never speak Alphan dialect in front of you, and you never speak Betan dialect in front of me.

I smiled at a stunningly lovely woman, who had glossy jet-black hair trailing past the shoulders of her shimmering silver dress. That wasn’t one of Mother’s extravagantly dramatic concert costumes but one of the dresses she wore for interviews. I guessed that she’d come straight here after doing a live link appearance for one of the newzie channels.

Thank you for visiting us, Mother, I said.

Jaxon’s brain was obviously stuck in the transition between Language and Betan dialect, because he turned to my mother and said a word-by-word translation of the appropriate Betan dialect greeting. Felicity and good health, paternal cousin-aunt by duo marriage, Madrigal.

Mother laughed. As my agent constantly says, people should never address me as anything other than the single word, Madrigal.

She swept up to my bed, studied my face for a moment, and then kissed my cheek. My children are naturally the exception to that rule. Drago, I’ve just been speaking to your lead doctor. She tells me that she hasn’t discussed your treatment plan with you yet. Would you like me to get her to talk to you now, or should I just give you a summary myself?

I’d had several minor injuries during my years at the Military Academy, and always hated hearing doctors give coldly clinical descriptions of what was wrong with my body. I’d prefer you to summarize it for me, Mother.

I’ve already messaged Jaxon’s parents in Kappa sector to reassure them that he has a straightforward broken arm, said Mother. The compound fractures of your legs are severe enough that you’d normally have been put into a full body regrowth tank. Unfortunately, all the major Military medical centres in Alpha sector were overloaded with fighter pilot casualties after Hera.

When our fighter team had arrived at Hera, we’d seen a vast formation of fighters heading for the Hera orbital portal, many of them badly damaged. A lot of pilots would have been injured flying through the comet debris field, I said aloud.

Yes, and some of those injuries were potentially life-threatening. Mother spoke with the calmness of someone who’d been coping with my father being wounded in action for over two decades. Those with damage to code red critical body organs had to take priority for the limited number of full body regrowth tanks available. Most officers with straightforward limb injuries were portalled over to civilian hospitals for treatment. You and Jaxon were brought here to the Military Headquarters Medical Centre on Academy, because you needed specialist treatment for the energy flash injuries from your fighter self-destructing.

She waved her hands. Those energy flash injuries have now healed, and Dr Mandanna says that your legs are progressing well in the small regrowth units, but a full body regrowth tank has just become available. Would you like to be transferred into that for the remainder of your treatment?

Two years ago, I’d visited my father after he’d been badly injured on a mission and was being treated in a full body regrowth tank. I’d been unnerved by the sight of someone with such a forceful personality floating unconscious and utterly helpless. I had absolutely no desire to go into a tank myself.

I’d rather continue with these small regrowth units.

Are you sure? asked Mother. You’re clearly in considerable pain, and being in a full body regrowth tank would speed up your recovery.

I shook my head. I haven’t been in any pain at all since I ejected from my fighter and the piece of comet debris hit my legs. I passed out as Jaxon was rescuing me, was kept sedated after that, and whatever pain medication I’ve been given is still working perfectly.

There’s a difference between not being in pain and having your pain blocked by medication, said Mother. I can see that difference in your strained expression. If you change your mind about the full body regrowth tank, then you just need to tell your doctors.

She paused. I decided not to bring your sisters on this visit. I feel they’re too young to understand how and why you and Jaxon were injured.

I nodded my agreement. I’d been born when my father was a mere Colonel, and my mother was just beginning her career as a composer. I had the impression they’d planned to have at least one more child after me, but my father salvaged a disastrous situation on the world that was later named Sobek, my mother composed the famous Thetis March, and their lives and plans changed forever. When I reached the age of ten without having any younger siblings, I’d assumed I’d remain an only child for the rest of my life. When I was seventeen, my head filled with my plans to attend the Military Academy, I’d been shocked to learn that I would soon become an older brother.

I still think that visiting Drago and the other injured officers would have been an excellent learning opportunity for Dracia and Persephone, said Father.

The massive age difference between myself and my sisters meant that I often felt more like their uncle than their older brother. Whether I was brother or uncle though, I would do everything possible to protect Dracia and Persephone from my father’s unreasonable expectations.

Mother is right, I said firmly. Dracia is only three years old, and Persephone barely two. That’s far too young for them to be dragged around a medical centre packed with injured Military officers.

Father spoke in the grandiose manner he used whenever he was lecturing me about my faults. Your sisters are Military Honour Children, born to carry the names and honour of my parents, Draco and Persephone, down through the generations.

My father’s parents had died seven years ago, and I’d only seen them twice during the five years before that. I’d never dared to say this aloud to my father, but the vague memories I had of my grandfather, combined with the stories I’d heard about him, made me feel the whole idea of having an Honour Child to carry his name and questionable honour was a bit strange. In fact, I was faintly surprised that the Military had agreed to it, but I supposed that nobody felt it was worth arguing the point with my father.

Military Honour Children are never too young to begin learning about their responsibilities and the sacrifices they’ll be required to make in their own Military careers, said Father.

I’d noticed Jaxon wince at the first reference to Honour Children. Now it was obvious Father was going to keep discussing the subject. Jaxon took one of the sheets from his medical bed and wound it around himself, Betan toga style, to cover his hospital gown.

Another member of our fighter team, Captain Ramon, is in a room down the corridor, he said. I’ll leave you to talk in peace while I check on his recovery.

I gave Jaxon a sympathetic look as he walked out of the door. I knew that he found references to Honour Children deeply painful because they reminded him of a family tragedy. Nearly ten years ago, Jaxon’s parents had been expecting an Honour Child for his grandmother, my great-aunt Colonel Jarra Tell Morrath. Jaxon’s father was on an emergency Planet First assignment back then, but Jaxon and his younger sister, Gemelle, had been at a Military base in Kappa sector with their mother.

They’d all been joyfully looking forward to the arrival of the new baby, when there was a freak accident. Jaxon’s mother was injured, and baby Jarra died minutes after being born. I’d only been eleven years old back then, but I’d never forget standing in the Tell clan hall on Zeus with my parents, and hearing the head of our clan council announce the news of Jarra’s birth and death.

While civilians normally lived to celebrate their hundredth, Military children grew up knowing the risks of death in action, and I’d attended my first funeral when I was seven years old. The death of not just a child, but a newborn baby, had been different though. It had shocked me deeply, and I understood it having a devastating impact on Jaxon.

My father seemed totally oblivious to the fact he’d driven Jaxon out of the room. I’d said variations of this before without making any difference, but ... Father, it’s tactless to mention Honour Children in front of Jaxon.

Father glowered at me. Are you suggesting the Military should abandon the proud tradition of centuries for Jaxon’s personal convenience?

No, but ...

Father brutally interrupted me. Then Jaxon needs to learn to cope with people mentioning Honour Children.

Mother calmly continued the earlier conversation. Dracia and Persephone may be Military Honour Children, but that doesn’t mean they’ll choose to join the Military themselves.

They’ll obviously choose to join the Military, said Father impatiently. Dracia and Persephone are descendants of humanity’s greatest hero, Tellon Blaze!

Yes, but Tellon Blaze specifically stated in our clan’s founding charter that no clan member should ever be pushed into joining the Military, I said. Anyone choosing a civilian career has to be given every possible support and encouragement.

My father couldn’t criticize rules that had been written by Tellon Blaze, so he just made a grumbling sound.

I haven’t inherited Mother’s musical ability, I added, so I chose to have a Military career. Dracia and Persephone may turn out to be the opposite of me though.

Yes, said Mother, and I will make any sacrifices necessary to help my children follow the path of their heart.

My father was oblivious to the pressures he put on his subordinates and his son, but fully aware that he was staggeringly lucky to be married to one of the most gifted and beautiful women in humanity. I was amused to see him visibly quail at the implied threat in Mother’s words.

Dracia and Persephone will naturally decide their own futures, Father hastily surrendered, and then abruptly changed the subject. Drago, I’ll be leaving for Kappa sector tomorrow. General Hiraga has asked me to review some problems on one of the worlds that entered Colony Ten stage last year.

I grimaced. However thoroughly the Planet First teams worked to make new worlds safe, there were bound to be some unexpected problems during the ten year trial colonization period. The fact that Father was going to review this world’s situation meant it was in especially serious trouble. No world that had entered Colony Ten had officially reverted to Planet First stage since the days of Tellon Blaze and the chimera of Thetis. The Military sometimes used a compromise option of sending in a massive Planet First presence to assist with colonization though.

I’m scheduled to write the planetary anthem for Percival in Epsilon sector over the next month, said Mother. I was going to take the girls there tomorrow, and spend a few days experiencing Percival’s ecology and its people’s lifestyle. I think I should stay here in Alpha sector until you’re fully recovered though, Drago.

I knew the population of Percival would have been waiting at least five years for humanity’s greatest living composer to visit their world and put its essence into music, so I urgently shook my head. There’s no need to change your plans, Mother. You can call me every day when you’re on Percival.

Mother considered that for a moment. Very well, but I’ll return at once if you have any problems.

We’ll both be returning to Alpha sector for the Hera medal ceremony anyway, said Father. The date for that hasn’t been announced yet, but it will obviously be held on Hera itself. Everyone involved in the comet blockade will be presented with commemorative medals, and the climax of the ceremony will be a vid sequence about the heroic actions of you and Jaxon. That will be followed by both of you being presented with the Thetis medal!

Father looked at me with delighted pride. For one deluded moment, I thought he was responding like any normal parent in this situation, but his next words showed he was still the same man who’d criticized me all through my childhood.

Your first mission after completing your fighter pilot training, and you saved a colony world from destruction, earned a promotion to Major, and won the second-highest honour in the Military. Of course you should be getting the Artemis rather than the Thetis medal.

That was typical of Father. Whatever I did, he always demanded more. Jaxon and I had saved an entire world from destruction, and Father had only thrown me a single sentence of praise before complaining that I should have won the Artemis rather than the Thetis. It was time for me to tell him that I was planning to refuse both my promotion and my medal.

If Father had been a different type of parent, I could have at least hinted at the real reason for my decision. The problem was that my father went through life with all the subtlety of a charging Asgard bison. The mere thought of explaining intimate personal secrets to him made me shudder.

I took a deep breath, and said the words that I knew would bring Father’s fury down on my head. I intend to refuse my promotion and the Thetis medal, Father. I don’t deserve any rewards because what happened at Hera wasn’t due to any heroism on my part but pure incompetence. My fighter ship collided with the comet core by total accident.

Father took a second to absorb what I’d just said, then shouted my name in an outraged voice, and advanced on my bed while making a series of blood-curdling threats. I couldn’t run or defend myself with my legs in regrowth units, so there was a second where I was in even greater danger of death than I’d been at Hera, but Mother stepped forward to protect me as I’d known she would.

An instant later, a Military doctor ran into the room, and stared in shock at where the terrifying General Dragon Tell Dramis was looming aggressively over the famous composer, Madrigal.

Major Tell Dramis’s medical monitor just flagged an alarming spike in his vital signs, said the doctor. Is something wrong?

My husband is trying to murder our son, said Mother, but you mustn’t worry about that. It happens all the time.

Chapter Two

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I woke up, yawned, tried to roll over onto my side, but was held in place by the heavy regrowth units on my legs. I turned my head instead, and saw Jaxon was lounging on his bed, and watching a vid on his curved Military lookup. He’d usually wear that around his left forearm, but now had it roughly taped to the regrowth unit on his right arm. I wondered where my own lookup was, decided my doctors must be taking care of it for me, and gave a second, wider yawn.

Jaxon heard that and turned to grin at me. You’re finally awake then. That’ll be a relief to your doctors. They’ve spent the last three hours debating whether they should wake you up to have some food and drink, or let you keep sleeping.

The mention of food and drink made me realize I was dreadfully thirsty. Someone had adjusted the controls of my medical bed to let me lie flat while I was asleep, so now I used them to move me into a sitting position, and reached for the glass of liquid on my bedside table. I gulped down what turned out to be lemon flavoured water, before speaking again.

How long have I been asleep?

Fourteen hours, said Jaxon. I was in Ramon’s room when your father started bellowing like an Asgard bison with indigestion. I guessed that you’d told him you were planning to refuse your promotion and medal, so stayed in hiding until your mother and the doctors managed to persuade your father to leave. When I eventually risked coming back to our room, I discovered that everyone else in the area had been left shaking with fear after your father’s outburst, but you were blissfully asleep.

I gave a bemused shake of my head. My parents had come to visit in the evening, Military Headquarters time. If I’d slept for fourteen hours, then it must now be the following morning.

I don’t understand why I slept for so long when I’d already spent two days under sedation.

I’m not a medical expert, said Jaxon, but you’ve been having a stressful week. Coming to join my fighter team, confessing your past sins to me, having me yell insults at you for days, going on your first genuine mission, doing a suicide run to save one of humanity’s worlds from destruction, being hit by comet debris, and then having surgery on your legs.

When you list everything like that ... Yes, it has been a bit stressful.

I suspect that the encounter with your father overloaded you to the point where you needed some natural sleep rather than just sedation. By the way, my parents called earlier. They asked me to give you their best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Thank you, I said. I mean, please thank them for me when they next call you.

Now I’d better let your doctors know the good news.

Can you ask them for something to eat as well? I asked hopefully. I’m desperately hungry.

Jaxon nodded, tapped clumsily at his lookup with his left hand, and then bent his head forward to speak into it. Good news, Dr Mandanna. Drago’s finally awake, and he says that he’s desperately hungry.

All of Major Tell Dramis’s adoring fans will be delighted to hear that, said a female voice. Major Steadman and I will be with you in a couple of minutes.

Jaxon tapped his lookup to end the call, and I frowned at him. Why was Dr Mandanna talking about my adoring fans?

He laughed. When we arrived here, your youth, good looks, and heroic exploits made a powerful impression on some of the staff. There’s no need to worry though. Dr Mandanna is totally immune to your charms, and has banned anyone likely to swoon at your feet from coming near you.

Jaxon’s comment made me picture Dr Mandanna as being like the fearsome woman who’d trained my Military Academy class in unarmed combat, and had once literally thrown me over her head because I’d arrived thirty seconds late. I was surprised when Dr Mandanna turned out to be in her late twenties, with a classically beautiful dark face, and long black hair casually caught back in a ribbon. She had an older woman in a Major’s uniform with her, and a hover trolley was chasing eagerly after the two of them.

Drago, this is the leader of our medical team, Dr Mandanna, said Jaxon.

Dr Mandanna gave me an infectiously friendly smile, and started waving a scanner over the full length of my body. Your long sleep seems to have done you good, Major Tell Dramis. Your vital signs have significantly improved.

I’m sure that’s not just because of the sleep but because you’ve been taking excellent care of me, I said gratefully.

We’ve been doing our best. Dr Mandanna moved to study the displays on my medical bed.

And this is Major Steadman, who has been bringing us essential supplies, Jaxon completed the introductions.

Major Steadman had an intimidatingly formal appearance, and could have been anywhere between sixty and seventy years old. I didn’t have time to say anything before she spoke with a pronounced, drawling Alphan accent.

Major Tell Dramis, the newzie stories about you and Commander Tell Galad covered the background information released by the Military. According to that, you have dual Alphan and Betan citizenship. You were born here at the Military Headquarters Medical Centre, and your mother is from the Alphan world, Nagual. Like Commander Tell Galad though, you have paternal membership of the Tell clan of Zeus in Beta sector, and have stated you are culturally Betan.

I blinked. The Military doesn’t usually release such detailed background information on its officers to the newzies.

Major Steadman shrugged. Someone must have decided it was better to give information to the newzies, rather than have their reporters nosing around to find out details about you.

She gestured at an array of cartons on the hover trolley. Based on that background information, I’ve brought a range of Alphan and Betan food and drink, including a few of the specialities of both Zeus and Nagual. If none of this is suitable though, you just have to tell me what you’d like, and I’ll call Central Stores to have it sent over.

It’s very good of you to go to so much trouble. Jaxon’s bed and mine had been squeezed into what was normally a single room, so there wasn’t space for the trolley to move beside me, but I could see a familiar-looking carton. Is that chilaquiles in the green and yellow striped carton?

Major Steadman picked up the carton. This is the Nagual version of chilaquiles.

Perfect, I said. I’ll have that and any flavour of frujit that you have.

She picked up an orange carton as well. You’re sure about the chilaquiles? The Nagual native herbs make it particularly highly spiced.

I enjoy eating food spiced with the Nagual native herbs during my visits to my mother’s family, I said.

Major Steadman brought the two cartons across to my bedside table. Do you want anything, Commander Tell Galad?

I’d like some more frujit, please, said Jaxon.

Major Steadman put another frujit carton on Jaxon’s bedside table.

Something was puzzling me, so I asked a cautious question. Is it customary for someone as high ranked as a Major to be bringing around a food trolley?

I’m on food trolley duty because I’m a temporary volunteer helper, said Major Steadman. I don’t have any medical training at all, but I’ve extensive knowledge of different worlds and cultural backgrounds, which is helpful for supplying patients with appropriate food and drink. You can give an injured officer the finest medical care in humanity, but they won’t get better if they aren’t eating because the food is unsuitable for medical, cultural, religious, or other reasons.

I nodded. If you’re a cultural expert, I assume you work for Alpha Sector Command Military Personnel?

She grimaced. At the moment, who I work for is a little debatable. When the problem with the comet approaching Hera was discovered, General Marshal Ezren Tanner ordered Alpha Sector Command to split in two, creating a new Hera Command to concentrate on dealing with the comet problem. I was assigned to Hera Command, and we were frantically busy before and during the comet blockade.

Major Steadman’s voice took on a doubtful note. Now we’re waiting for General Marshal Ezren Tanner to decide whether he wants to merge Hera Command back into Alpha Sector Command.

I’d been hearing that doubtful note in a lot of Military voices when they talked about General Marshal Ezren Tanner. It was less than two months since General Marshal Cara Wade had handed on the role of commander-in-chief of the Military to Ezren Tanner. Everyone kept pointing out that it was hard for anyone to live up to the standards set by the brilliant, charismatic, and decisive Cara Wade, but ...

Well, I obviously wasn’t going to say this aloud to anyone, not even Jaxon, but the warning signs were already showing. Continuity of leadership was reassuring for both the Military and wider humanity, so a General Marshal ideally stayed in the role for at least a decade or two. Sometimes a new General Marshal crumbled under the pressure of the role though, and stepped down from the position during their first year.

Ezren Tanner had announced that a comet was on a collision course with Hera during his Year Day 2781 State of Humanity speech. It had been vitally important for him to project an air of calm confidence during that speech. Instead, he’d allowed his stress to show, and then refused all the urgent requests from the newzies for a follow-up press conference. I thought Ezren Tanner would be one of the General Marshals who stepped down early.

Major Steadman was speaking again. My team doesn’t have much to do right now. When I heard the Military Headquarters Medical Centre was struggling to cope with the Hera casualties, I volunteered to help here.

Jaxon and I very much appreciate that, I said.

It was the very least I could do. Major Steadman took the hover trolley’s controller from her pocket, tapped it to make the trolley start chasing her, and led it off out of the room.

Dr Mandanna had been tapping at her lookup, but now she faced me. Major Tell Dramis, you may well find yourself suffering from some after-effects of your experiences at Hera. Would you like me to arrange a therapy session, either with one of our own psychologists or someone of your choice?

My clan had strict rules against discussing our problems with random psychologists. There wasn’t just the problem that those psychologists might spend the entire session eagerly asking questions about the legendary Tellon Blaze rather than helping their patient. Our clan had secrets that couldn’t be shared with outsiders.

I could ask Dr Mandanna to arrange for one of the Kar clan psychologists to come to talk to me. The Kar clan had been treating all our clan’s mental and physical issues for centuries, so already knew everything except our greatest secrets, and probably had their suspicions about those as well. I didn’t want to call on them to help me now though. However carefully I censored the events at Hera, all the Kar clan psychologists were skilled enough to realize that Jaxon and I had been dealing with a major personal crisis as well as saving a world. They’d want me to talk about that, and I didn’t want or need to tell anyone the shameful story that was only known to Jaxon, his sister Gemelle, and myself.

I must have gone over every detail of my behaviour at the end of the regular Military Academy course a hundred times already. All through the specialist fighter pilot training that followed, I’d obsessed about how I’d shattered the core Betan values of Fidelis. I still didn’t understand how I could have behaved so unspeakably selfishly, destroying Gemelle’s relationship with her boyfriend in an attempt to make her have a relationship with me instead. The situation was crucially different now though. After I’d helped save Hera, Gemelle had given Jaxon a message of forgiveness for me. I was free to put all my crushing burden of guilt behind me and move on with my life.

I don’t need a session with a psychologist, I said firmly. I’m not suffering any after-effects at all from what happened at Hera.

If you change your mind ... Dr Mandanna was interrupted by the Military lookup on her left sleeve chiming for attention, glanced at it, and scowled. I need to go now. Call me if you have any problems.

I watched her leave the room, then picked up my green and yellow carton. When I pulled off the lid, I felt the carton react by heating up its contents. I found the spoon attached to the lid, and blissfully started to eat chilaquiles.

I’ve been thinking, said Jaxon. "When