fanfic_name = A Hunter by Any Other Name
author = aragonvaar
Rating = AP
Type = Angst
fanfic = [This is the result of a certain amount of random speculation by me about the upcoming Shadow Force project. It does not tie in w/ any existing canon or fanon so far as I know, including my other stories or Jack McKinney’s Sentinels novels. Nor is it the result of any “inside knowledge” on my part relating to Shadow Force.]
Bloodlines
Admiral Lisa Hunter sat behind the desk in her ready-room aboard the SDF-4. Oh Rick, she thought with a sigh, I hope you’re all right, wherever you are. And then-dammit-I wish I’d been with you on your ship At least we’d be together then. No, that’s a selfish wish, I wouldn’t be able to help you there, whereas I can here. Maybe. Then she pulled herself together, remembering that, after all, she was here to debrief some of the more promising volunteers about her plan to search for the SDF-3. She glanced down at her list…and nearly dropped it. She knew that name. She’d thought the young man who used it was dead, one of the thousands of REF lives squandered in the campaign to retake earth. Calm down, Lisa, she told herself, it could be an imposter. The door chimed.
“Come in, please,” she said, a little more sternly than she’d intended.
The young man came in and walked slowly up to the desk, carriage erect but eyes downcast. If he was an imposter, he was a pretty incompetent one-any self-respecting con artist would’ve rushed up to her crying “Mom!” at the top of his lungs, anxious to claim the relationship. Then again, he did seem to limp slightly. The man stopped a couple of feet from the desk-a respectful distance-and saluted. Then he stood still, staring at his feet.
“Well, Soldier,” said Lisa briskly, “Your records say that you saw a lot of guerilla action on earth in the last war. Tell me about it.”
She was too busy studying him to pay much attention to his stiff account of anti-Invid tactics. She had last seen her son as a clumsy teenager, a short fellow with the pudginess that often comes just before a growth spurt. This young officer was lean and graceful, but he had Rick’s deep blue eyes, just as her son had. And the sharp, willful chin that Rick had always compared to hers. His voice was deeper than she would’ve expected, but the rhythm and pattern of his speech was familiar. A chance turn of phrase as he spoke clinched it.
“Alright, Scott,” she said with a sigh. “You can stop pretending that you don’t know me.”
Scott Bernard opened his mouth, shut it again, and settled into parade rest. “I’m sorry, Mom,” he said. “I wasn’t sure whether you would acknowledge me…after what happened.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” She retorted. Lisa knew she was losing her temper but she couldn’t help it. “As I recall, you were the one who ran off without a word of explanation and enrolled at the Academy under a false name.”
“Um, yeah. And obviously you’re still mad about it.”
“Because it was a stupid thing to do. And insulting to your father and me.”
“I’m sorry,” he said in a small voice. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Why, Scott? Why did you do something like that? Did you honestly think we would try to stop you from joining the military? Your father and I, of all people?”
“No.” Scott lifted his head again at that, and Lisa was suddenly reminded of Rick again. Specifically, Rick as he looked when Breetai to convinced him to kiss her in front of Reno. “No, you wouldn’t. And you wouldn’t have pulled any strings either. But I would’ve had it easy…because I was your son, and his. They would’ve cut me too much slack, slid me through the Academy too easily, and given me a nice cushy desk job somewhere far from danger. So, I took a new name.”
“A sound plan. But you didn’t need to keep us in the dark for it to work.”
“Not for that part of it, no. But, well, I also wanted to protect the family name.”
“The family name,” Lisa repeated incredulously.
“You and Dad are heroes. It’s not like I could live up to your reputations. And if I screwed up badly enough…your enemies would make sure it reflected on you. I didn’t want that to happen.”
Lisa smiled, sadly. “That was very noble of you, Scott. And very, very stupid.”
“I know. I’m sorry. And now, if I admit to who I am…I just cause more gossip for you.”
The Admiral walked around the desk and shook her regal head. “I’m not going to tell you which name to use. You’ve grown into a man, a fine man, and I’d be equally proud to have Scott Hunter serving with me, or Scott Bernard.” She hugged him, and he returned the embrace with almost his father’s strength. “And by the way, I am accepting you as a combat pilot on the SDF-3 rescue expedition.”
“Don’t worry, Mom,” he murmured into her ear. “We’ll find him. Together.”
Her instincts told her that he was right, and that Rick was alive out there somewhere. Don’t worry, Rick, I’m coming, she thought. And I have a little surprise for you…
State = Fin/The End
feedback = Sí/Yes
email = aragonvaarAThotmail.com