his chest and leaned back in his chair. She felt the divide between them but didn’t know how to conquer it. When they were together, alone, kissing and touching, she experienced their deep connection. In those moments, there was clarity. In the seconds after that clarity left her, and she felt emptier than before.
Duty. That is what she needed to remember.
Dev did not love her. They were on opposite sides of the blood oath she’d sworn to her dead father. Wishing to change that fact would do no good and only made the ache inside her chest worse. He was close, right there within touching distance, and yet she could not have him, not all of him as she wanted. The sorrow that filled her made her want to cry out, but she held the emotion in.
Family first. Duty second. Then everything else.
She glanced around the metal common area. The ship was larger and much nicer than hers. It looked like an older model decommissioned by the Federation.
“Got it,” Rick stated, strolling into the room with an old holo-box. She wasn’t sure what to make of the pilot. He seemed careless and light, but she had a feeling his jokes were a mask hiding something much deeper. There were fleeting moments as they walked back to the ship that his guard had fell when he thought no one watched to reveal sadness in his eyes. Seeing her looking at him now, he questioned, “How’s it going…Velvet Violette?”
“No,” Violette stated in response to the new name.
“Vengeful Violette?”
“No,” she repeated.
“Ah, no worries.” Rick winked. “I’ll keep working on your pirate name, starbeam.”
Dev stiffened and grabbed the holo-box from Rick. “I will launch you into deep space.”
“Message received, mission command.” Rick loosely saluted Dev and then plopped down on a chair several feet away.
“The captain’s wife found this hidden in the ducts of the ship.” Dev set the box down. “I thought you might like to see it.”
Violette had a feeling she already knew who was on the holo-box. She reached forward and activated it. The miniature image of her father appeared in his shiny white uniform. He looked younger than when he’d recorded the first holo-box she’d found of him. The holograph caused an unexpected flood of emotion. Tears burned her nose and threatened her eyes. She held them back.
“Top secret. Prisoner two, two, five release order number six, nine, twelve. This is General Stephans of the New Earth Settlement on Florencia’s Fifth Moon.” The holographic image paused before stating, “This is General Stephans of what was formerly the Earth Settlement on Florencia’s Fifth Moon and this is an official order of release authorized by my superiors and hereby given to the commanding warden in Ice Complex Five, Authorization code H forty-seven, fifty-one. When the ice storms came nearly forty years ago, many of my men were killed. It was too cold to stay and finish our work releasing certain political prisoners and we abandoned post on supreme orders. However, there are a few who remain that should not, as they have been pardoned for their crimes. Attached is a list of prisoners set for immediate release. They will be hostile and should be escorted and left on the Rifflen base in the V Quadrant. No provisions beyond those orders are necessary.”
Violette waited as the holographic image faded. She missed that voice. She missed knowing he was out there in the universe.
“The general commanded that Josselyn be freed. She should not have been imprisoned to begin with, but you can, at least, see that she was pardoned.” Dev hesitated before reaching across the table to take her hand. “She’s not a criminal.”
“All this proves is that my father ordered her released.” Violette studied the red fingers against hers.
“It proves he had her locked on Ice Complex Five,” Rick stated, oddly serious. “Though if you saw the complex, you’d know what that place really is. Just a fancy name for—”
“Florencia’s Fifth Moon,” Violette supplied, not wanting to hear whatever nickname Rick came up with for the Ice Complex. “I know. My mother was from there. They were part of a human culture preservation project of Old Earth living history—a place for humanoid schoolchildren and bored tourist to go on vacation. Medieval period or something they called the Fifth Moon. The project went defunct. The settlement was abandoned, and the Federation used the location for an ice prison.”
“Defunct?” Rick snorted. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“It stopped earning money, and they abandoned it. I