Free Starlight(Pact Arcanum 4) by Arshad Ahsanuddin Page A

laughed aloud. “It’s good to see you again, Tony.”
    Antonio’s mood sobered, a note of seriousness threading into his voice. “It’s good to see you, too. If it didn’t require so much power to maintain a real-time videolink at this distance, maybe we could do this more often.”
    Layla sat beside him on the bench. “It’s your calling, son. We understand the limitations of your ship’s systems. Thank you for taking the time to write every month. And we’ll be able to see you in person next year.”
    Nick nodded. “Any idea how long you’ll be staying this time?”
    “At least four months for refit of critical systems, and then I’ll have to interview new key crew members once the upgraded systems are in place.” Antonio hesitated. “I’ll be there for your anniversaries.”
    Nick squeezed Layla’s shoulder. “Thank you, Antonio,” he said softly. “We both appreciate that.”
    The three of them were silent for a time, lost in their memories.
    “Almost a century,” she said eventually. “I still miss him.”
    “Both of them,” said Nick. He sighed. “At least I had a lifetime with Jeremy.”
    Layla turned her head to look into the shifting hues of her son’s eyes. “There is much of Tobias in you, Antonio. You have the same sincerity, the same honest joy in living. I wish we could spend more time together. It makes the world seem less empty when I hear your voice.”
    Antonio swallowed nervously, as he reached up to stroke the filigreed, gold cross at his throat. “Mother, we’ve been through this.”
    She looked away. “I know, and I apologize. I would never ask you to sacrifice your dreams for the sake of mine. That would only serve to hurt both of us. It doesn’t stop me from missing you during your flights, however.”
    “I’ll call you as soon as I make it dirtside, Mother. I promise. I’ll need to bring the ship to Hephaestus Station to offload passengers before the refit. We can meet then.”
    “We look forward to it,” Nick said. He glanced at the antique, mechanical watch on his wrist. “We’re going to have to cut this short, Tony.”
    Antonio blinked. “What? We still have another couple of minutes before the comm array needs to power down.”
    Layla stood from the bench. “It was lovely to speak to you again, son. We just wanted to make a little time for a friend.”
    Nick and Layla walked away as Antonio watched in confusion.
    “Hello, Tony.”
    Antonio jerked his head to the side, his eyes shifting color to a vivid blue as he saw the other speaker, a tall man with Spanish features, dressed in a green flight suit. He looked like he had just walked out of the cockpit and, all things considered, he probably had. “Raf!”
    Rafael smiled as he stepped off the teleport gateway. “It’s been a long time since we were able to talk face-to-face. Your mother has been pleased with my service—it seems, to yield to me the last minute of her time.”
    Antonio stood and walked closer. “It’s good to see you again.” He grinned widely. “What have you been up to?”
    Rafael shrugged. “The usual. My duties as Primogenitor Curallorn keep me busy. What little free time I have is taken up with teaching. There are always new cadets at the Academy who couldn’t get a feel for flying if they jumped off one of the towers. The other instructors like to send me their problem students. I always enjoy a challenge.”
    “Like with me?” Antonio laughed. “I remember the first time you let me take the controls of the Starlight , after I was promoted to Third-Stage Cadet. Ten minutes and you declared you would have to start all over again just to break my bad habits.”
    Rafael grinned. “You had the science down, Tony. I just had to teach you the art.”
    “So…” said Antonio, staring at his mentor speculatively. “Still single?”
    Rafael groaned. “Oh no, don’t start this again. You can’t seriously try to fix me up from half a light year away.”
    Antonio looked at