Empire of Bones by Terry Mixon Page A

that is your first mistake. Listen to me very carefully. Forget that man is your half-brother. We are no longer in your domain. Captain Mertz is now God and his Executive Officer is his Prophet. Familiarity is your enemy. If you want to make this assignment work, you need to treat him as a total stranger. Be formal. As far as you are concerned, his first name is now Captain. If it’s a really good day, perhaps ‘sir’ will work.”
    “And if he says ‘run’ I ask how fast?”
    “No. You don’t say a word. You run as fast as you possibly can. Consider this your first challenge as a diplomat of the Empire. If you avoid getting locked up, you’ll be doing pretty well.”
    She pondered that while they waited. The crewmember waved at them and shut the hatch to the cutter. A loud clank announced its departure. A departure that trapped her on a ship with an angry man that didn’t want her anywhere close. She’d best listen to Carlo’s advice and take this very seriously.
    They only waited a few minutes before the lift opened again and three men came out. Their uniforms were subtly different from one another. The man in front had the same blue tunic over black pants that Jared…Captain Mertz had worn.
    The other two men had black tunics over black pants. They also had red strips on their sleeves where the man in front of them had two wide red bars on the shoulders separated by a thin red line. She’d probably best spend some time learning what those meant. The two men in back bowed.
    The man in the blue tunic did not. She couldn’t help noticing he was more than passingly handsome with his cropped blond hair and blue eyes. A hint of deviltry sparkled in his smile. He held his hand out to Vega. “Welcome aboard, Ambassador. I’m Lieutenant Commander Charlie Graves, Athena’s Executive Officer.”
    Vega took his hand and smiled as he shook it. “Thank you, Commander. It’s a pleasure to be here. I’m very sorry for the last minute disruption. I assure you I had my very own version of it a few hours ago when the Secretary of Imperial Affairs woke me up. This is my assistant, Deputy Ambassador Kelsey Bandar.”
    The officer’s expression told Kelsey he knew exactly who she was, but no hint of it made its way to his voice. “Deputy Ambassador Bandar. A pleasure.”
    “For me as well, Commander Graves.”
    “Ratings Welch and Soto will see that your gear is stowed. I’m afraid the cabins don’t have enough space for everything you’ve brought, but all your bags will be readily accessible if you need something from them. Come this way, please.”
    He led them back into the lift leaving the two ratings to handle the baggage. “We’re putting you into separate cabins. They were two person cabins, but I think it best for senior personnel to have some privacy to do their work.”
    Vega nodded. “Excellent, Commander. I like Miss Bandar quite a lot, but not that much. She might snore.”
    Kelsey laughed when Carlo winked at her. “If I might ask, where are the displaced officers going?” she asked.
    “We have some missile tubes offline for repairs. They’re almost big enough for one person each, if they hold their arms over their heads.”
    Kelsey felt herself gape before she remembered that hint of wickedness she’d seen in his eyes. She snapped her mouth closed and shook her head. “You had me for a moment. I’m going to need to keep an eye on you.”
    He grinned, making himself look even more roguish. “I couldn’t resist. We’re adding extra bunks in one of the small conference rooms. They’ll need to go into marine country to use the head, but they’ll have some extra space to make up for the inconvenience.”
    “And why didn’t you put us there?” Vega asked.
    “Because you’d need to go into marine country to use the head.”
    “I’m sure the marines aren’t so bad,” she objected.
    “Of course not, but they are a little rough around the edges. I shudder to think about the diplomatic