"It's 2153, James. Getting a new arm is like getting a crown for your tooth." She rose to her feet. "We still have a handful of shuttles, yes? I'll catch the next one back to my ship." She swayed and placed a hand on the wall. "I'll rest on our way to the Galactic Alliance headquarters."
Petty sighed. "You are a force of nature, Einav Ben-Ari."
She nodded. "Like a hurricane. Or black hole."
He stared into her eyes. "Bring us back hope, Einav."
"I always do." She saluted.
Lips tight, he returned her salute. "Godspeed, Captain Einav Ben-Ari."
She grabbed the flowers. "I'm taking these with me. Now if you really want to win me over, will you grab me some chocolates from the shop?"
* * * * *
Through the window of her shuttle, Ben-Ari gazed at her. Her ship. Her pride. Her home.
The ESS Lodestar had seen better days. Her hull was still cracked and punched full of holes. Her figurehead was dented. Her paint had burned off. But her engines were still humming, the exhaust pipes glowing blue. The Lodestar was shaped like an old sailing vessel, the kind Captain Cook would have used to explore the world, for she sailed the cosmic ocean, seeking new lands. And new hope.
Engineering crews were bustling across the hull, soldering, painting, making Ben-Ari's ship whole again.
As I am whole again, Ben-Ari thought.
She moved her new arm and flexed her new fingers. Some amputees chose showy prosthetics—claws, hooks, or elaborate steampunk limbs filled with brass gears. Ben-Ari had chosen a prosthetic that looked like a regular arm and hand, the right size and proportions. But instead of coating it with artificial skin, she left the metal bare. Her new arm was slick and silvery, stronger than her old arm had ever been. With this prosthetic, she could beat a champion arm-wrestler. A control panel on the forearm let her bring up a holographic monitor, which she could use for work or recreation—check stats, communicate with her crew, view maps, or access a library of books and movies.
I don't need to hide my handicap, she thought. I'm proud of my sacrifice. I'm more whole than ever. She smiled wryly. And my old arm couldn't load up holographic operas.
The arm contained a hidden compartment too, which she could open with her thoughts. She opened it now. Inside rested an old derringer. The small pistol was dear to her. Her old Bat Mitzvah present from her grandfather. The grizzled old man, a retired general who had fought in the Cataclysm, had died shortly after her twelfth birthday. The gun was her memento from him. Ben-Ari had never fired the derringer in battle. It was small and not very powerful. But she had held onto it. It was her first weapon. It was precious. She closed her arm's compartment, sealing the gun inside.
When she stepped into the Lodestar, her bridge crew was waiting in the corridor. They all applauded.
"Crikey, she's turned into a bloody cyborg!" Fish said.
Ben-Ari frowned at the Australian. "Lieutenant Commander Fishburne, put on your uniform. I told you not to wear shorts on my ship. And cut your hair and get rid of that shark-tooth necklace."
The Alien Hunter grinned. "Oh, I was worried for nothing. She's still a full robot." He pulled her into his arms. "Good to have you back, sheila."
She sighed but couldn't stifle her smile. "It's good to be home, Fish."
She walked farther down the corridor to where Aurora stood. Well, stood was perhaps the wrong word; the mollusk crawled across the floor, wriggled upward, and extended one of her eight tentacles. Colors flashed across the pilot's body. Her translating device, held in another tentacle, emitted the English.
"Welcome back, mistress of dark waters. The ocean was cold and dark without your guiding light."
Ben-Ari shook the extended tentacle. "And the ocean would be impossible to navigate without you adjusting my sails."
She walked past other officers and crewmen—engineers, navigators, biologists, geologists, maintenance workers, security guards, chemists, and technicians. After twelve years in the military, Ben-Ari was used to her subordinates standing at attention and saluting. It still felt a little strange, even after a while in HOPE, that they shook her hand and smiled.
But that's why HOPE exists, she thought. To shake hands.
At the end of the corridor stood Professor Noah Isaac. He frowned at her, arms crossed.
She stood before him. "Professor."
He glowered. "You opened a wormhole on Earth, despite my warnings."
She nodded.
"You nearly died," he said.
She nodded again.
"And now, after all your recklessness, you come here to relieve me of my command."
She nodded a third time.
The professor's eyes softened, and he pulled her into his embrace. "Thank you. Thank you. For everything—thank you."
She laid her head against Isaac's shoulder. "Are you ready to go exploring?"
He held her close. "Always. Just . . . promise you won't try to destroy the universe."
She grinned. "Maybe only a few solar systems."
He sighed. "That's the best I could hope for, I suppose."
They stepped onto the bridge. It was still mostly shattered. Many of the viewports were missing. Crews were at work, fixing the cracked walls, installing new monitors. In time, the bridge would resemble a planetarium again, offering a full view of space all around them, even beneath their feet.
Yet one large viewport was still functional. Through it, she could see the stars. It was only a monitor displaying a feed from a camera mounted on the hull, but it seemed so real, as if Ben-Ari could just reach out and grab those stars. And they were beautiful. Despite everything, they were beautiful.
Aurora slithered into the pilot's seat, and her tentacles reached out to her eight control panels. The professor manned the science station. Ben-Ari settled into her captain's seat, and an ensign brought her a cup of tea. Chamomile. Perfect.
"Are you ready, Aurora?" Ben-Ari asked.
The mollusk turned toward her. "Where shall we swim in the cosmic ocean, mistress of dark waters?"
"To find hope," Ben-Ari said. "To prove our worth. To shake hands."
And when the enemy strikes again, she thought, may many hands rise against it.
She flexed her new, metal hand. And she thought of how Kemi had lost her hand too. She thought about how Kemi had fallen, how so many millions had died, how millions still lived. Still depended on her.
Ben-Ari closed her metal fist.
I will not let you down. I reach out one hand in friendship. The other will remain a fist.
The Lodestar's warp engines rumbled. They blasted out toward the stars.
The story continues in Earth Eternal (Earthrise, Book 9).
Click here to read the next book in the series:
DanielArenson.com/EarthEternal
AFTERWORD
Thank you for reading Earth Honor. I hope you enjoyed the novel.
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Daniel
NOVELS BY DANIEL ARENSON
Earth Alone
Earth Lost
Earth Rising
Earth Fire
Earth Shadows
Earth Valor
Earth Reborn
Earth Honor
Earth Eternal
THE MOTH SAGA
Moth
Empires o
f Moth
Secrets of Moth
Daughter of Moth
Shadows of Moth
Legacy of Moth
REQUIEM
Dawn of Dragons Requiem's Song
Requiem's Hope
Requiem's Prayer
The Complete Trilogy
Song of Dragons Blood of Requiem
Tears of Requiem
Light of Requiem
The Complete Trilogy
Dragonlore A Dawn of Dragonfire
A Day of Dragon Blood
A Night of Dragon Wings
The Complete Trilogy
The Dragon War A Legacy of Light
A Memory of Fire
The Complete Trilogy
Requiem for Dragons Dragons Lost
Dragons Reborn
Dragons Rising
The Complete Trilogy
Flame of Requiem Forged in Dragonfire
Crown of Dragonfire
Pillars of Dragonfire
The Complete Trilogy
ALIEN HUNTERS
Alien Hunters
Alien Sky
Alien Shadows
OTHER WORLDS
Eye of the Wizard
Wand of the Witch
Firefly Island
The Gods of Dream
Flaming Dove
KEEP IN TOUCH
www.DanielArenson.com
Daniel@DanielArenson.com
Facebook.com/DanielArenson
Twitter.com/DanielArenson