The Fringe Wars

5.23

New Beginnings

Tulan Port, Playa

Reyne strode into the stationhouse, past his office, and through the Collective wing. He cringed at the bots still working on the odds and ends in the hallway and sidestepped a spider bot busily working on a light switch, giving it a wide berth. He hustled past other bots to reach Hadley's office and jumped inside.

He found Hadley's assistant organizing files. She looked up when he entered. "Oh, hello Stationmaster. What can I do for you?"

"Do you know when Hadley will be back?"

Melody shook her head. "She won't. She's been replaced."

Reyne leaned a hand on the doorway. "She's gone?"

She thought for a moment. "Yes, but her ship might not have left yet. She was going to take today's transport home."

He spun on his heel and hurried through the hallway, oblivious to the bots this time around. As he walked, he contacted dock control through his wrist comm. "Hey, this is Aramis Reyne. Has the Alluvian transport left yet?"

"No, but it's in its launch sequence."

"Hold it," he said. "I'm on my way to it now."

"Sure. Do you need security support?"

"I've got this one."

He went to grab his coat but noticed the tunnel to the dock was now open. He smiled and took off running through it. The tunnel was cold and dark, the surfaces still rough, but the shortcut shaved ten minutes off the outside walk. When he reached the docks, he commandeered a cart and sped to the Collective concourse. It was even colder in there, and he regretted not bringing his coat. Shivering, he drove until he stopped in front of the large transport ship with Collective markings. Its engines were running, sending steam billowing across the walkways. He stood before the ship, connected to Hadley's comm, and sent a message.

* MEET ME ON THE DOCK. VERY IMPORTANT. *

He hugged himself and shook while he waited. Eventually, the door opened, and Hadley walked down the ramp. She approached Reyne with brows furrowed.

"Hi," he said.

She managed a smile. "Hi." After a moment, she spoke again. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, still hugging himself. "We have a date. I plan to take you out to a proper Playan dinner."

She belted out a laugh. "That's why you're here?" She shook her head. "Reyne, that's sweet, but I've lost my job. When I didn't stand up for Simon, evidently that revealed that I'm unbecoming of a Legacy Star executive. I hate it, but we won't be able to work together anymore."

"No problem. I already quit my job."

"What? Why did you do that?"

Reyne made a face. "It wasn't for me."

"So, we're just two people without jobs and standing out in the cold."

He smiled. "Yeah, we make quite the pair, don't you agree?"

She glanced back at the ship before turning back to him. "But I can't stay. I have no job, no money."

"I've been thinking about that resort idea of yours, and I think it's got merit. Though, maybe we start on a smaller scale, more like a bed and breakfast."

She smiled and shivered. "I like the sound of that."

"So you'll stay?"

She nodded. "Yes, I'll stay." Then she held up her hand. "But we're never drinking your tea again. If you want tea, you're coming back to my place."

A smirk climbed Reyne's face. "Your place, huh? I have a sudden hankering for tea."

She laughed again, and he pulled her into his arms. She felt good, and Reyne realized that for the first time in a very long time, he felt pretty damn good, too. 

***END OF THE FRINGE WARS ***

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this story. 

This story grabbed a publisher's interest, and they're publishing at least three books in a new spin-off series that stars Throttle as she leads the colonization mission to a new star system! The series is called Flight of the Javelin, and the first three books are now out on Amazon and Audible (I'm so excited!). The book titles are:

Black Sheep

Free Station 

Rogue Planet

Check them out on Kindle, Audible, and in paperback! 

- Rachel