Lost Era 05_ Deny thy Father - Jeff Mariotte [29]
When he caught up with her, she had crossed Jones and was heading back up Sacramento, toward him. “Felicia,” he said. “I’m glad I caught you.”
She smiled, her big brown eyes seeming to twinkle at him. ” ‘Caught’ me?” she echoed. “I was coming to you.”
“So you saw us?” he asked.
“In your oh-so-secret doorway hideout? Of course. Did you think I was going to dash across the street straight to you? We’re supposed to be exercising some discretion, right?”
He turned around so they were both walking the right direction, back toward Estresor Fil. “Well, yes,” he said. “Which you did, very nicely.”
She looked sideways at him, her rich black hair falling across her cheek. Seeing her like this, in civilian clothes, acting the part of a casual San Franciscan instead of the frequently harried cadet she really was, Will decided he had never quite realized just how lovely she was. “Thank you,” she said, and her voice was as clear and pure as a ringing bell.
By the time they got back to Estresor Fil’s alcove, Boon had arrived and was lounging against the wall as if he didn’t have the strength to stand up. This was just Boon’s typical posture, though, except when he was in uniform and required to stand straight and tall. After a while, most cadets learned to hold their correct posture all the time, but for Boon it was only an obligation of service and would apparently never be a habit.
“I didn’t see you when I passed by,” Felicia said to him.
“Just got here.”
“Where did you beam in?” Will asked him.
“Up to my ankles in the Pacific Ocean,” Boon complained. “Anyone else get wet?”
“I didn’t,” Estresor Fil said.
“I wasn’t too far away at all, as it turned out,” Felicia said. “So I took a walk around the neighborhood, familiarizing myself with the local landmarks.”
“So it’s just me. It’s always me,” Boon said morosely.
“Your life is so hard,” Felicia sighed.
“But we don’t know where Dennis is,” Will pointed out. “For all we know, he has it worse than you.”
“Fat chance,” Boon opined.
They waited another hour, and then some. Finally, Estresor Fil spotted Dennis on his way, and eight minutes later he reached them. After an overly long explanation of his plight and his solution to it, he produced what they’d all been waiting for-the first clue of their project.
They all looked at the document blankly. “Twins?” Boon asked. “What twins?”
Chapter 8
“That’s kind of the point, isn’t it?” Felicia responded. “We’re supposed to figure the clues out. If it was easy, it wouldn’t really be a challenge, now would it?”
Boon looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “I don’t know about you, but I’m already tired of this,” he said. “It’s nonsense. Running all over the place when it’d be so much easier to use transporters. Figuring out clues. I think my feet are still pruney from the water, and they hurt.”
“I would suggest you quit, Boon,” Estresor Fil told him. “Except that we’re a squadron, and your failure would affect all of us. So perhaps you should just take it in stride and shut up.”
The Coridanian looked stricken then. Will, always curious about Estresor Fil’s ways and motivations, wondered if she was really just being blunt, or if she had intentionally tried to wound him, hoping, perhaps, that it would inspire him to greater effort. And less whining, he thought, that would be good too. Boon fancied himself a great leader and a starship captain in the making, but Will figured that any captain who bitched and moaned as much as Boon did would be begging for mutiny, probably within the first few days of his command.
He had to admit that while the complaining was annoying, Boon really did have a lot of good qualities-he was smart, made decisions fast and well, could think on his feet, and could inspire the loyalty of those around him. Until the sour attitude took over, and then all that loyalty was gone. Perhaps if Boon had been chosen as the leader of this final project, he’d