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Authors: Paul B Kohler
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now.”
“So you can run away … from all the world’s trouble on your shoulders … to stick your head in the sand?” she asked.
“Partly. I don’t know …” Jaxon paused, contemplating how much he should tell her. “I don’t want to put you and Celeste in any danger. The less you know, the better your life will be. Besides, I’m not really going to kill myself.”
“Oh, sorry. I had no idea that you were going to be deceitful about killing yourself. That makes everything so much better,” Lily said, her words dripping with sarcasm.
“Trust me, Lily. This is the best scenario. You know they’ll never let me just quit, and I’m tired of being their in-house mercenary. I always thought that joining the GSA meant so much more.”
“Have you even tried to talk to Perry about leaving? I was able to get out, or did you forget about that?” she asked.
Jaxon did remember her leaving the GSA shortly after the Academy. The situation was quite different. She was pregnant with his child, and she had not gone covert yet. Of course, the company let her out.
“I talked with him. Well, not in a straight up, ‘Hey man, I want to quit’ approach, but we’ve talked around the subject a few times.”
“You see? That’s why you’re never going to amount to much in life. You’re too much of a coward to confront what’s important to you. That’s why Celeste will never know who her father was.” Lily wiped a fleeting tear from her cheek. “So. When is this masquerade going to happen? Does anyone else know?”
“Gillette knows. We’ve got a couple opportunities to pull it off in the coming weeks, but nothing is for certain yet.”
“And Gillette’s okay with this? Of all people, I thought he’d be the one to talk some sense into you,” Lily said.
“It was his idea. He’s … going with me. He’s just as tired of being the company’s assassin.”
Lily winced at hearing Jaxon’s true profession. In all the years that she’d known him, he never actually told her what he did, but she knew how nefarious his profession could be. Actually, she was quite relieved all those years ago when she had gotten pregnant. Just a few years in the Academy was long enough for her to realize how dishonest the Global Security Agency really was.
“I’m sure there is going to be a big investigation after the event, and you have to promise me that no matter what happens, you have to protect Celeste. You cannot let on that you knew about any of this. For your safety and hers.”
“You actually think they’d come after us?” Lily asked.
Jaxon shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know. I can only trust a handful of people in the company, and it just depends whose desk the news crosses first.”
“Then why tell me at all?” she asked.
“Like I said. Because of Celeste.”
Concern spread across Lily’s face as she looked at their daughter. She envied her carefree outlook on life.
Lily placed her hand on Jaxon’s arm, soothingly. “You have my word. I don’t agree with your decision, but I understand why you’re doing this. After you’re … gone, I will tell Celeste all about you.”
Warmth and relief filled Jaxon. Thankful for his worry to be put to rest, he placed his hand atop Lily’s. “Thank you.”
Suddenly, warning alarms blared inside the compact pod, pulling Jaxon back to the present. He blinked away the hazy fog and focused on the control screen in front of him. It was a navigational sensor alarm indicating that he’d continued to tumble, randomly, through space and was nearing the point of no return unless he took immediate action.
12
Jaxon muted the alarm then accessed the external sensors. Despite being frustrated at the lack of detail on the miniature display, he zoomed out as far as he could. Rotating the directional vector array in various aspects, he searched for any approaching ships.
None were visible.
Glancing at the clock, he saw that he’d been dozing for nearly
“So you can run away … from all the world’s trouble on your shoulders … to stick your head in the sand?” she asked.
“Partly. I don’t know …” Jaxon paused, contemplating how much he should tell her. “I don’t want to put you and Celeste in any danger. The less you know, the better your life will be. Besides, I’m not really going to kill myself.”
“Oh, sorry. I had no idea that you were going to be deceitful about killing yourself. That makes everything so much better,” Lily said, her words dripping with sarcasm.
“Trust me, Lily. This is the best scenario. You know they’ll never let me just quit, and I’m tired of being their in-house mercenary. I always thought that joining the GSA meant so much more.”
“Have you even tried to talk to Perry about leaving? I was able to get out, or did you forget about that?” she asked.
Jaxon did remember her leaving the GSA shortly after the Academy. The situation was quite different. She was pregnant with his child, and she had not gone covert yet. Of course, the company let her out.
“I talked with him. Well, not in a straight up, ‘Hey man, I want to quit’ approach, but we’ve talked around the subject a few times.”
“You see? That’s why you’re never going to amount to much in life. You’re too much of a coward to confront what’s important to you. That’s why Celeste will never know who her father was.” Lily wiped a fleeting tear from her cheek. “So. When is this masquerade going to happen? Does anyone else know?”
“Gillette knows. We’ve got a couple opportunities to pull it off in the coming weeks, but nothing is for certain yet.”
“And Gillette’s okay with this? Of all people, I thought he’d be the one to talk some sense into you,” Lily said.
“It was his idea. He’s … going with me. He’s just as tired of being the company’s assassin.”
Lily winced at hearing Jaxon’s true profession. In all the years that she’d known him, he never actually told her what he did, but she knew how nefarious his profession could be. Actually, she was quite relieved all those years ago when she had gotten pregnant. Just a few years in the Academy was long enough for her to realize how dishonest the Global Security Agency really was.
“I’m sure there is going to be a big investigation after the event, and you have to promise me that no matter what happens, you have to protect Celeste. You cannot let on that you knew about any of this. For your safety and hers.”
“You actually think they’d come after us?” Lily asked.
Jaxon shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know. I can only trust a handful of people in the company, and it just depends whose desk the news crosses first.”
“Then why tell me at all?” she asked.
“Like I said. Because of Celeste.”
Concern spread across Lily’s face as she looked at their daughter. She envied her carefree outlook on life.
Lily placed her hand on Jaxon’s arm, soothingly. “You have my word. I don’t agree with your decision, but I understand why you’re doing this. After you’re … gone, I will tell Celeste all about you.”
Warmth and relief filled Jaxon. Thankful for his worry to be put to rest, he placed his hand atop Lily’s. “Thank you.”
Suddenly, warning alarms blared inside the compact pod, pulling Jaxon back to the present. He blinked away the hazy fog and focused on the control screen in front of him. It was a navigational sensor alarm indicating that he’d continued to tumble, randomly, through space and was nearing the point of no return unless he took immediate action.
12
Jaxon muted the alarm then accessed the external sensors. Despite being frustrated at the lack of detail on the miniature display, he zoomed out as far as he could. Rotating the directional vector array in various aspects, he searched for any approaching ships.
None were visible.
Glancing at the clock, he saw that he’d been dozing for nearly
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