GUNS OF WAR - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

         Braddock followed Daniel up the stairs his thoughts on the recent attack.  He had listened to the details concerning the attack, and he had done a flyover the star before he had come to his mother’s.  He didn’t tell his mother or Alaina just how bad the air attack had been.  With the fact Vega had won the battle had been luck mostly.  Oh, there was skill.  Vega had a top-notch militia.  They often came through a skirmish in good order.  Today’s attack left a lot of wounded, lost ships, and casualties all over Vega.  What his mother told him only confirmed what he knew.  Sheliak had gone on the offensive to take out as much as they could with the failed peace negotiations.

         He worried about Alaina.  He knew her fears and the reasons behind them.  He was happy his mother had been able to focus those fears away from the attack for the most part.

         “Hey Brad, snap out of it, we’ve got to see to your joining, and about high time too,” said Daniel.

         Braddock looked over at him as he opened the door to the room he used when he came home.  “I was just thinking about everything.”

         “I can see that.  So tell me what you haven’t told mother.  I know you spent a lot of time on the phone with her a few nights ago, she told me, but wouldn’t say what it was about.”

         “You did a background check on her, I take it.  Don’t ever tell her you did.  She is hyper sensitive about anybody looking into her background, though she does know people do it.  She did not do one on me.”

         Daniel looked at him his eyebrows raised.  “Really, so how did she find you?”

         “Do you remember that dare way back in my college days to put my bio on the matrimony site?”

         “I thought you took that off there long ago.”

         “I forgot all about it, and since my picture or name weren’t on the site, no one knew it was me, Alaina certainly didn’t.  She didn’t know who I was until her friend told her.”

         “Her friend, Lynneayia, right?  She’s sharp as a tack.  I can see it all over her.”

         “Yes, though I haven’t met her yet other than the few minutes downstairs.  What I do know is they served in the militia together, and went to college together.  From what I’ve gleaned from Alaina, they’re inseparable.”

         “So you met through a matrimony site.  I know you, Brad.  You never answered those before, why now?”

         Braddock rubbed the back of his neck.  “I don’t know.  Just something about her intrigued me.  I broke the first date and asked her to go to Calypso instead of breaking the second.”

         “So tell me about Calypso.”

         “Totaled.  We have to completely rebuild.  Lost the entire first shift.”

         “What about Simon Gallagher?”

         “Worked second shift, was sleeping at the time of the attack.”

         “That’s a relief, though I could name a dozen others.”

         “So could I.  There aren’t many left, and the ones that are will need all the help they can get when we’re up and running.  In fact we could start now to get some qualified people there.  I’ve made Miss Reilly the second shift supervisor.”

         “She’s that qualified?”

         “She’s that qualified.  When you have the time take a look at her background.  She’s also better informed than Alaina is.”

         “And you’re joining someone who isn’t well informed?  That is seriously not like you.”

         “I have my reasons, and I can tell you they weren’t unfounded.  Her background is just the surface of what she can do for our company.  I watched her work this past week.  She knows her stuff.  When she says she wants to sink her hands in the dirt on our honeymoon, she means it.”

         “Work on your honeymoon?”

         Braddock laughed.  “She’s a rare woman, a bit impulsive, and something else I just can’t put my finger on.”

         “Well, we better not stand around.  Your gray tux is in the closet.  Minister Lindwood will be here soon.”

         Braddock didn’t want to think about how uncharacteristic the past several days had been.  He had never to his reckoning felt the need to join with any of the other women he had gone out with and yet, before he could stop himself, he proposed.  He grabbed the tux from the closet and turned to Daniel.  “I was proposing to her before I knew what I was doing.  It was as though my mouth was saying things my brain hadn’t thought of yet, and you know the laws.  Once the proposal is accepted there’s no backing out.”

         “I am well aware of our laws, so is mother, and if we don’t hurry, you’ll be late for your joining.”

         Braddock’s thoughts continued as he readied for the next big step in his life, though only part of him really paid attention to what he did.  His thoughts were consumed with the past week.  They had been since he had lain eyes on her the first time at her apartment complex.  She had the right to fear the government by going on the website for off world work, if she had pursued an application she would no doubt be in a work camp right then.  It was her good fortune she didn’t and thought about the matrimony site instead, and therein lay his problem.  She was nice enough, pretty, her work was excellent, he couldn’t fault her there, but she seemed a little impulsive, and he never went for the impulsive types.  They had a self-thing going and he never wanted to get involved in self-centered people.  He had to admit she was open and honest about everything.  Her clear green eyes were very expressive and showed all her emotions.  He knew she was scared of the attack the moment the sirens went off.  He also knew that if the government found out about her reasons to leave Vega, they would execute her as a traitor.  He could only hope he could protect her as he had told her.

         He had talked long with his mother the night he proposed to Alaina.  She reminded him he had never acted with such haste in the past, and wondered why he did so now.  He rubbed the back of his neck.  Normally a cautious man, he had been uncharacteristically hasty about everything where Alaina Magarain was concerned.

         “You’re rubbing your neck a lot big brother.  Headache bothering you again?”

         “No just a twinge of pain, nothing serious.”

         “You should have that looked at.  It seems to be bothering you more than before.”

         “Don’t I know it?  They seemed to escalate the moment I met Alaina, yet, I don’t know.  Let’s just finish getting ready.  My thoughts from this past week are eating me alive.”

         “I’m sure they are.  You look pensive, not like the happy bridegroom you should be.”

         When Braddock was ready, Daniel stepped back and took a last look at him.  “Just need the boutonnière and I know mother will have that ready for you.  She never overlooks a single detail.”

         Braddock smiled for the first time.  “No, she never has.  I’m not at all surprised she wanted to talk to Alaina before the joining.”

         “So what did you talk to mother about when you told everyone about your engagement and knocked me into next year with that announcement?”

         “I basically told her I was engaged and the little bit I was able to discern about her in the few hours we had been together.”

         “You know she and father talked about nothing else for the past week.  Father was really looking forward to meeting her.  It’s a shame we had this attack before your joining.”

         “I know, but it isn’t up to us to decide the course of events.”

         “No, but sometimes I would like to have a go at it.”

         “You know both of us would fail at something of that magnitude.”  Braddock looked in the mirror and nodded.  “Okay, we’re ready, better get down to the chapel.”

         They went down to find Mary, Lindsey, and Adreanna in the living room along with their families.  “So how did your talk go with Alaina?” said Braddock.

         “Very well.  She’s a bit naïve, but she’s also a quick study.  Her mind is always moving, even if you can’t see it.”

         “I told her you would like her.  So you approve?”

         “Oh yes.  If nothing else about her, she’s open and honest.  I know she seems impulsive, but time will take care of that once you start having a family.”

         He gave her a bit of a grin.  “Yes, she did say she wanted children, the one thing she went to the matrimony site about besides the off world work site.”

         “She went to the government off world site before she visited the matrimony site?” said Daniel.

         Braddock looked at his brother and sister.  “Did mom fill you in with the details of my joining?”

         “Not really.  Mind you, you start at the beginning.  You left out that little detail upstairs.  I was shocked to learn you were to be joined to someone I had never heard about before,” said Daniel.

         Braddock told them about his first contact with Alaina through the matrimony website and his subsequent trip to Calypso with her along.  “And now you know the whole story.”

         “You know this is not like you, don’t you?” said Lindsey.

         Braddock rubbed his neck.  “I’m well aware of that fact, but there is nothing I can do now, except go through with my promise to join with her and my promise to keep her safe.”

         “Well, if anything I have to say bears any weight, she’s a wonderful woman and will do this family proud, so will her friend you’ve hired for second shift supervisor on Calypso once the new factory is built,” said Mary.

         “What you have to say will always bear weight, mother.  Okay, is Minister Lindwood here?”

         “Yes.  He’s waiting in the chapel.”

         “Then we better head that way,” said Braddock with a look at Daniel.

“I talked to him about the memorial service.  I still need to notify both plants about the loss of your father and when the memorial would be.  We decided to do the memorial service later this afternoon.  That way it won’t be quite so hectic, and maybe we can get a little sleep before then.”

         “You do look exhausted mother,” said Braddock.

         “I’m fine, or I will be when everything is taken care of.  Now go join Minister Lindwood.  I need to see that your bride is ready.  Alaina was insistent it would only be family, and I respect hers and your wishes in the matter, but the law also states the memorial must be within twenty-four hours.”

         Braddock looked haggard at the thought of what was about to take place in so short a time.  He gave his mother and Danny a weak smile.  “We’ll get through this.”