SotU Chpt 25

=Chapter 25=
==State of the Union==
Nadir Jump Point, Galax
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
7 July 3063
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There had been hundreds of partings on Galax as the Heavy Guards embarked, leaving dependents behind them with only a limited guard of planetary militia. Daniel hadn't realized the poignancy of this until his shuttle docked with the Bifrost and he found his mother and sisters waiting.
"This is it then?" he asked.
His mother gave him a sad smile and pushed the girls forward, each giving him a hug before they entered the shuttle. They carried bags that couldn't possibly contain all the possessions of their lifetimes.
Daniel waited until they'd entered before he confessed, "I don't know if I shouldn't join them. I'm sorry, I'm not as brave as father."
Karla cupped his cheek with one hand. "Your father has learned to hide his fears. Don't believe that he doesn't have them."
He took a deep breath, searched for words and then exhaled when he couldn't find them.
She drew him into a hug. "There is little I wouldn't give to go with you. Not because I love the prince's cause, but because I hate to see you and your father in danger without being there for you. But someone must care for the girls and if I asked it of you, you'd always blame yourself for anything that happened to us while you weren't there."
"Jumpships are usually safe." he offered.
"Usually. But nuclear weapons are rarely used and the Archon's troops used them at Delavan." Her arms tightened around him. "Be brave, my son. But also, be wary."
"I'll be careful." Daniel told her quietly.
She made a sound that was half-laugh and half-sob. "We are past that point, I think."
His mother released him and after one last look at him she entered the shuttle and closed the airlock. Daniel waited and watched as the small craft detached from the Bifrost and as its drive kicked it away on the trip to the jump point's recharge station. The station's ability to recharge jumpships had been disabled by an as yet unidentified saboteur after the Heavy Guards declared themselves against Katrina, but it still served a purpose in other support roles. His mother would refuel the shuttle there before taking the girls with her to Galax itself.
Forcing himself not to watch the shuttle diminish further, Daniel turned away from the viewport and caught hold of the rail along the axial passage, pulling himself through the zero gravity with instinctive ease.
Clarent was gone now, loaded with tanks of the Heavy Guards, but Glowworm had docked once more carrying a battalion of the Fifth Royal Guards and thousands of tons of consumables for them. The other two collars now held Overlord-class dropships commandeered from repair docks on Galax to carry the other Royal Guards battalions.
Even with the addition of the two massive cruisers, each carrying five dropships, it had been necessary to commandeer four civilian jumpships to ferry the Heavy Guards. The owners had been paid as much in promises as in cash, with an unspoken threat to take the jumpships and man them with military crews if they resisted. If the jumpships were lost and if Prince Peter won anyway, they'd be indemnified. If the latter wasn't true, Daniel doubted that Katrina Steiner-Davion would honor her brother's promises.
Just short of the habitation decks, Daniel saw someone drifting in mid-corridor. It wasn't so wide that they couldn't have reached out and pushed themselves to the rail but they were making no effort to do so.
Brow furrowed he pulled himself closer and recognized the blonde hair pinned up behind her head. Catherine's eyes were closed and her breath was even.
"Seriously?" Daniel said out loud
She jerked at the sound of his voice, eyes blinking open. "Wha... Oh, Daniel?"
"Were you asleep?" he asked bluntly.
"I just closed my eyes for a moment." She paused. "I think." Pulling back her sleeve she consulted her watch and flushed. "Uh... twenty minutes ago, I think."
He shook his head and politely offered his hand to help her reach the rail. "Shouldn't you be adjusting to New Avalon's clock? It's the middle of the night in Avalon City."
"We were trying to trace the fault with Oh-Six-Nine's comm suite," Catherine said sheepishly. "..it took longer than I thought it would."
Daniel shook his head. "Well you should probably get some sleep. Did you find the fault in the end?"
She nodded and Daniel pulled out his noteputer and updated his list of problems with the Fifth Guards' 'Mechs. The list had shrunk more than he'd thought possible, although it was still longer than he liked. At least now most of the worst cases were in fully equipped 'Mech bays and they had some support from technical crews on loan from the Heavy Guards.
He looked up and saw Catherine yawning.
"I said go to bed." he advised, a grin crossing his face as he did so. He couldn't help it. "You can't work properly if you're exhausted. I'll tell your brother that you're to sleep in as well."
''
"Tyrant." she muttered with a certain fondness of her own. She was probably older than Daniel but sometimes she behaved far too much like his sisters.
Plugging his noteputer into the wall, Daniel typed a quick message to the prince as he watched her leave and then a second, to his father. Turning he headed back towards the docking collars. Mackie Oh-Three-Seven still had that problem with the left knee actuator sticking, with a bit of luck he could get that sorted out before they jumped.
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