Return to Earth

Chapter 16

Victor had been led to his wife as he tracked down Petrovitch to make certain Lita was included. She would need to be briefed regardless and was easier to have them both together when it happened. Lita wasn't happy with being interrupted during her groups time at the range, but Petrovitch was persuasive in his brief argument that didn't reveal too much.

The three of them entered quarantine and Kierst found a much calmer Tabatha Dempsey than he was expecting. Dune was keeping watch as Victor turned towards them with a slight smile on his face. Petrovitch pointed towards the door and Dune limped out without a word of protest.

Lita walked up to the plastic and made certain she could be heard as she looked at the face beneath the disheveled hair. "If we let you out, are you going to try to hurt us?"

She shook her head with a smile a little wider than Victor's as her voice came through with a pleasant softness Kierst didn't believe she was capable of. "My husband explained to me who you are. You have nothing to fear from me, unless you fear the truth of Solis, which no one should."

Lita turned to Victor for assurance and was met with a nod. She still wasn't convinced as she turned back to face the clear plastic that separated them. The woman who had wanted to kill them all simply stood with the smile on her face and no sign of plotting anything.

Lita's voice was calm as she spoke with certainty. "I'm going to let you out. If you try anything, you'll end up back in this room. We have better things to do than have someone stand guard."

The door hissed open as she remained calm in a disturbing way Kierst couldn't quite place. There was something about her bearing that was off as the woman looked up at the ceiling. Her lips moved, but the whisper couldn't be heard by anyone.

Victor didn't want to risk anything as he spoke for his wife. "Nothing to fear. She's praying to Solis."

Her brown eyes dropped with a clarity that made Kierst uncomfortable, but showed no signs of striking out at anyone. She stepped through without looking around at her surroundings. There was no sense of wonder as there had been in Victor's upon discovering who they were before being gassed. There was no interest in anything other than the three who stood next to Victor. An unpleasant scent hit, but Kierst had grown used to being around Victor and showed no signs of noticing.

Lita was the first to speak as the woman stood there looking at each of them with no sense of malice in her eyes. "A proper introduction is long overdue, but your state made it impossible to do."

A slight blush crossed her cheeks as she stood next to Victor. "My apologies to all of you. I believed you were agents of Luna. I'm not about to risk my soul for anything."

Lita's voice was calm as she spoke for the three of them. "That's in the past. At least I hope it's in the past. We aren't here to dwell on that. My name is Commander Lita." She pointed towards Petrovitch with just a slight delay in her voice. "This is Commander Petrovitch." Her finger moved towards him as she continued with the same calm voice. "This is Kierst."

She nodded slightly as her smile held. "A pleasure to meet you. I am Mrs. Dempsey. Are the others who live here going to be brought here? I do want to meet everyone."