Free Operation Chimera by Matthew S. Cox, Tony Healey Page B

father and mother both rushed over, consoling the girl.
    Sarah pointed at Emma. “She’s here, she’s standing right there.”
    “Oh, Sarah,” said Mother. “Wishing her back isn’t going to change what happened.”
    Emma shivered, a slow turn brought her around to face the casket. She leaned over the edge to peer at the face of the deceased, but shot bolt upright in her bunk before she could see.

    Aaron jogged down the shuttle boarding ramp, waving at the assembled crowd. Reporters mostly, as well as fans and curiosity seekers, surged against portable barricades as he made his way across the tarmac to a waiting car. No fewer than six women tried to leap the fences just to touch him. At the end of the red carpet, two men in suits greeted him with handshakes and back pats.
    “So you’re Commander Vorys? I expected someone older,” said the man on the left.
    “After a thousand kills, they decided to promote me. They had to, considering how we kicked the Draxx back under their home rock.”
    “Have you considered our offer,” asked the man on the right.
    “Do you really think an episodic series will earn more than a full-length feature?” Aaron fell in step with the two suits.
    “That all depends on how we market it.” The man on the left did some quick mental math. “We could position the pilot episode as a feature-length production and then split it off into its own series.” He moved his hand across the sky as if tracing words. “Wings of Glory – The Aaron Vorys story”
    “That sounds a little hack. How about ‘Hunter Squadron?’ Putting my name in the title seems a bit vain, don’t you think?”
    “Vanity is only a sin for the undeserving, Commander.” Right side winked. “Besides, you’ve earned it and that’s where the money is.”
    Both men stopped at the end of the carpet, gesturing wide as if to welcome him to the limo.
    The driver appeared, a young woman with scraggly blonde hair. She appeared to have been awake for several days straight. Dark spots ringed her eyes, and she sneered at him as she grabbed the door.
    “Welcome home, Aaron.”
    He blinked. “Allison? What are you doing here?”
    She took a small silver inhaler out of the coat pocket of her chauffer’s uniform and waved it at him. “Only job I could get without a pee test.”
    “No, I mean what are you doing on Earth.”
    Allison Vorys scowled. “Oh, you’re just like Mom. I guess I’m not good enough to set foot on the beloved jewel of the alliance, huh? Never was good enough for her, or Dad either.” The device went to her lips, she inhaled hard. The dour frown melted away to a silly intoxicated grin. The fullness of her street-vagrant aroma washed over him as she exhaled. “S’okay, I don’t need any of you. I’m doin’ okay.”
    He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook. “No, Allie, I mean you ran off to a colony. The last I heard, you’d stowed away on a transport bound for who-knows-where. I haven’t seen you in… five years. What the hell happened?”
    “Oh like you give a damn.” She evaporated, leaving him holding an empty maroon jacket.
    Aaron stared at it for a few minutes, glancing back at the adoring crowd still snapping photos of the war hero. He ducked in to the limo where a boy of about twelve pounced on him as soon as he sat down.
    “Sam!” Aaron lifted his scrawny little brother, flipped him over and pinned him to the seat. “Ha ha… I haven’t seen you since you were seven. Damn, you got big. How’s school?”
    They horsed around until the boy was out of breath.
    “You’re home!” said Sam, hanging on, lost to his hero-worship. “Did you kill a lot of aliens? What did they sound like when they exploded? School’s okay, I got finals in two weeks. Dad’s a little upset at the A-Minus I got in Subatomic Physics, but I talked the teacher into letting me take the test over. I argued an ambiguity in the question.”
    “Finals? As in high school? You’re twelve.”
    Sam grinned.