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Fiera grinned at her siblings as they watered the soil. Two days earlier they’d helped spread the mixture Lanre had sent her over her fields and now it was almost time to plant. “Uncle Lanre says give it two days and then start plantin’,” Herry said, looking over at his sister. “If you want the best yield.”

“He told me the same thing when he called me the other day,” Fiera said. “It’s been two days since we mixed it in with the soil. We should be good to start tomorrow.”

“It’ll be nice gettin’ a proper harvest in,” Keoni said.

“I don’t think I know what those are,” Herry said.

“Yeah, you were still really young when they bombarded us,” Fiera said. “At least I think you were.”

“I was only a couple years older than Morrigan and Morgana,” Herry said. “So yeah, I was pretty young.”

“If this works out like we hope you’re going to see a harvest like you’ve never seen before from both farms,” Fiera said.

“The greenhouse is certainly going strong,” Kuen said.

“The starts are bigger than they’ve ever been,” Joanna said. She grinned. “Ma’s real pleased with that one. She reckons we’re goin’ t’get double, maybe triple, what we normally get this year.”

“That’s the hope,” Fiera said.

The soil was watered, and Fiera invited her siblings into the house for dinner. They ate and after a few rounds of cards with some good-natured insults flying back and forth, they retreated to the makeshift bunks set up in one of the outbuildings. It was pointless sending the Rezouac siblings home when they’d just have to show back up the next day to do more work, so beds were provided for them for spring planting.

Work had already been started on the additional room for Daniel, and he was out there in the fields with them working. He was making do without the suit, having been on planet now for almost four months, and he was struggling. Fiera let him take some extra rest breaks and he was managing. It would be better for him if he could move to a lower gravity world, yet with the CAF hunting for him it was safer on their farm.

Daniel was sprawled on the couch, exhausted and barely acknowledging anyone when Fiera finished cleaning the kitchen. “Daniel, if you need a break put the slagging suit back on,” Kuen said. “No one here will fault you if you need a few minutes.”

“A few hours would be better,” Daniel groaned. “We’re trained to handle high gravity worlds, and I am surviving. However, I’m also working harder than I ever did while on deployment without the suit and it’s starting to wear me down worse than I thought it would.”

“When my father shows up, we’ll ask him to take you with him if he can,” Gaspare said. “It might not be as safe as our farm, but it will be easier on you.”

Daniel managed to get the suit on, and Fiera heard his breathing ease as soon as the field powered up. She frowned. “Daniel, I know it’s hard to get the parts to repair the slagging thing, but I think you should be wearing the suit more often than you do. Your breathing has cleared up drastically since you put it on.”

“I probably should be, but I keep thinking that I’ll never learn to adapt if I keep putting it back on,” Daniel said.

“You also won’t survive if you can’t breathe and your organs fail,” Fiera said. “Kuen and Gaspare had far different training than you did and were in the CAF from the time they were children. You were brought in as an adult. This is why they adapted so well to living on a high grav world even though they didn’t have the suits.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Gaspare said. “She’s right. Kuen, you and I were dumped into the CAF as children at the Academy, you younger than me. We trained from an even earlier age than most and were what, ten, maybe twelve, when we did our first attempts at high grav training?”

“I was ten. I don’t know about you,” Kuen admitted. “We spent most of our lives conditioning our bodies to accept high grav worlds, not to mention I sparred with Fiera which gave me even more of an edge on movement and stamina.”

“Daniel, wear the suit as much as you need to. We’ll figure out a way to get it repaired if it comes to that,” Fiera said.

“Are you sure?” Daniel asked.

“Yes,” Fiera said.

“Okay. I admit it’ll be easier on me if I can breathe easier in the fields,” Daniel said.

“Good,” Fiera said. “I know Nev was a little worried about how you were wheezing out there.”

Daniel grimaced. “Him and Teigue both. Teigue at least came over to check on me and told me to take rest breaks more often.”

“Well, tomorrow’s going to be even busier so let’s get some sleep,” Gaspare said. “The littles are already in bed.” The adults all headed upstairs.

The next day Fiera stationed herself in the greenhouse. Any time someone came to her for plants she told them where they needed to be planted based on the map that was set up for her to reference. She had Daniel helping her to give him a break from the fields.

Once all the plants were taken to their respective zones, Fiera and Daniel joined the others and began planting. She let Kuen show Daniel how to handle the delicate seedlings and just focused on her work. Plant a row, go back get another flat of seedlings, plant the next row.

On and on it went until the back fields were done. They’d be planting the front fields the next day. Food and bed were all Fiera wanted to see, not the blinking light on the comm that meant that Thea hadn’t answered the call. Fiera groaned and pressed the playback key.

“Gaspare, our vapor brained father wasn’t joking. He apparently left for Sorus ten weeks ago without telling me,” Emele said with some exasperation. “I give it another five weeks, if I know my darkspace calculations correctly, and he should be there. I hope you’re done planting by then. He’s bringing mother, Honore, and Honore’s wife with him so he’s not traveling alone. You don’t have to worry about him being too much of a slaghead. Mother’s been doing a much better job of dealing with him lately, and Honore and her wife are adorable. I think you’ll like Nia. Anyway, good luck with the planting. Call me when you get the chance.”

“Sounds like my father,” Gaspare said with a grimace. Then the rest of the message seemed to register. “He’s bringing Honore and her wife? He’s unbent enough to let that happen and to be okay with traveling with them?” He rubbed the back of his head. “I’m going to take a shower. I need a sluice and a minute.”

“Go ahead,” Fiera said. “But you’ll have to race Daniel.”

“He’ll win,” Daniel said with a groan. “Even with the suit on I’m hurting.”

“Then you go first, Daniel. I can wait the five minutes for you to rinse off,” Gaspare said.

“Thanks Gaspare,” Daniel said, limping up the stairs.

“He’s in good shape,” Muirne said, watching him go with some appreciation. She had already politely declined General Athalos’ advances, and he’d moved on to another Colony woman who was far more appreciative of his charms – whatever they were – than Muirne had been. Fiera snickered at the thought of her sister with the general and then realized that Muirne was still eyeing where Daniel had gone.

“He’s a featherweight, Minnie. Soon as he can clear off Sorus he’s going to be gone,” Fiera warned her. “He’s got the suit back on because it was killing him not to wear it.”

“Who says I can’t leave Sorus?” Muirne asked, startling everyone. “Assumin’ he’d be interested in me, of course.” She noticed their stares. “What, you think I actually want to stay here? After Nial and Hela’s deaths the only thing keepin’ me on planet was ma needin’ me. Rhiannon is almost old enough t’travel, and if they get rid of that rule against Rezouacs travelin’ – and he’s willin’ t’consider a marriage contract – I’d go with him to a featherweight world.”

“I’d tell him that,” Kuen said. “Daniel is wonderfully observant in many things. His own personal life is not one of them.”

Muirne snickered. “Rock head fer his own life but a busybody fer everyone else’s?” she asked. Kuen grinned and nodded. “I think I’ll have a private word with him then.”

“After dinner,” Fiera chided her. “Let the poor man eat first.”

“Nah Fury, I want him havin’ all his wits about him when I drop this on his head,” Muirne said. “I’m not goin’ t’make him miss a meal fer it.”

They all laughed and once Daniel rejoined them, Gaspare went up. Slowly the Rezouac siblings and the rest of the household took their showers while Fiera and Phelix cooked dinner. It didn’t take much. Food had been put on to cook in the morning by the twins, and Thea had just stirred the pot during the day to keep it from burning. Now all it took was a quick flatbread recipe and some fruit and a hearty meal was served.

After dinner, true to her word, Muirne took Daniel out to the greenhouse for a private conversation. “He’s in fer a rough time of it,” Teigue said with a grin. “My twin’s got a twist in her tail and she’s not goin’ t’let him off the hook that easily.”

“Daniel’s no fool,” Kuen said. “He’ll let her speak her piece. Besides, she’s fairly pretty in her own way. He may decide to see where the idea of a relationship might go.”

“Or he might break her heart,” Gaspare said. “He’s career, like we were. He hasn’t found something to change that mindset like we did.”

“He can’t be career anymore and he knows it,” Fiera said. “Maybe he’s just looking for that one thing he needs to make civilian life worthwhile.”

“True,” Gaspare said. “But look how long it took us to adapt to civilian life.”

“You never really did,” Fiera said with a sigh. “I still see the CAF training in how both of you react to certain situations and nothing will ever change that.”

“Yes, but something you’re both forgetting,” Kuen said. Fiera and Gaspare looked at him. “Daniel started life out as a civilian. We never really did.”

“Fair point,” Gaspare said.

A short while later Muirne came back in with a huge grin on her face, hand in hand with Daniel. He wore an expression of stunned bemusement, though his eyes sparkled and there was a definite spring to his step that hadn’t been there before. Fiera knew that look. Daniel had found something to fight for again.

She sighed inwardly. A soldier needed something to fight for and while Daniel was now a civilian and probably would be for the rest of his life, the need for a purpose never went away. Featherweight or not, Muirne had just found herself and Rhiannon a new protector.

Then again, she didn’t know many people for whom a purpose in life wasn’t a requirement. She certainly floundered a lot when she thought she’d lost her reason for living. She smiled at her siblings. Her family was at the core of everything she did, and keeping them safe and happy would always be a priority for her. Knowing her father was taking care of her twins and would be bringing them back soon was enough for her. At least right now.

Kuen came and put an arm around her shoulders. “Are you thinking of the twins?” he asked softly.

“Da said he’d bring them back around spring planting. That’ll be going on here on Sorus for another month at least, with some of the bigger farms taking up to two months. Smaller farms can get their crops in earlier but that’s because we have to grow extra to reach our obligations,” Fiera said. “So he might bring them back at any point between now and then.”

“He may wait until after spring planting too, when everyone is taking a breather, and just slip in while people are a bit more lax in their security,” Kuen said.

“I know Daniel has said he might have the Arpathi do it, but I’ve said it before. The Arpathi won’t do it for him. They’ll see it as a point of honor for him to do it himself,” Fiera said. “So would da, actually. He made the promise so it’s up to him to keep it.”

“We’re closer to getting them back than we were during the winter. I am excited by the prospect of seeing them again,” Kuen said.

“I am too, but I won’t let my hope build because if da can’t get them back as he promised I don’t want to be disappointed,” Fiera said. “I might decide not to get out of bed at that point and no one needs to see me like that.”

“Da will never break his word to you, even if it costs him his life,” Phelix said, joining them. “You know that, twint. He might be a mass murderer and a skybrained slaghead at times, but he has never broken his word to you. Or to any of us.” He smiled thinly. “When we all thought you were dead after the Lusitania exploded, he promised us that you’d come home one day. He was right. You did.”

“No thanks to him,” she muttered, still haunted by the nightmares of that senseless tragedy. “Then again, he only told me he’d put me where I needed to go. Not how I was going to get there. In a way he didn’t lie to me about that one either.”

“I don’t think he’s ever lied or broken his promises to you,” Phelix said. “He might not have told you the whole truth, but you were always da’s favorite and he couldn’t bring himself to do much that could get you hurt. You should’ve seen him after the mess on the Lusitania. He was beside himself with worry. It was only after he got a hold of the list of those being sold to the ISRS that he calmed down and told us you’d be back home quick as you could even though we thought you were dead since your name wasn’t on it.”

“You didn’t know that Fiera Molohaney was me,” Fiera said.

Phelix shook his head. “Da didn’t tell us that. Ma didn’t even know until you told her when you came back to Sorus.”

“Da was always very good at keeping secrets,” Fiera grumbled.

“Yes he was, which is why I know he’ll be the best one to bring the girls home,” Phelix said. “Now, let’s go watch a holo with the others and call it a night.”

“Okay,” Fiera said, grinning at her twin and her husband.

The next day was just as busy, this time planting the fields closer to the house with the plants that would restore nutrients to the soil even as they grew the crops.  Daniel stayed close to Muirne that day and the two talked as they worked. Fiera didn’t mind. It was obvious they had a lot to discuss, and she left them alone to work things out.

That night everyone celebrated because the last of the crops were in the ground. What would have taken Fiera and her immediate family almost three weeks to do on their own took only two days with most of the Rezouac siblings there to help. The only ones missing were Siobhan and Marc, who both had responsibilities of their own during the season. Alena came over and cooked for the tired group instead of making Fiera and Phelix cook again. “Mathilde and a couple of the others can manage for one night without me,” she told them when she arrived. “You’ve worked hard enough today. You deserve the rest.”

Fiera still ended up helping her mother cook, much to everyone’s amusement. “Doesn’t she know how to stop moving?” Daniel asked with some amusement.

Muirne was the one who answered. “The only time I’ve ever seen Fury stop moving was when she was so sick she was dying. She’s always in the middle of things. That’s just her way.”

“Fury, I appreciate the help, but you could be restin’ with the others,” Alena said.

“Don’t worry about me, Ma,” Fiera said. “I’ll rest later. I’ll probably sleep in tomorrow, if the littles let me.”

Kuen snorted behind her. “I’ll believe that when I see it,” he teased her.

“It does happen,” she said without looking at him. “Not all that often but I do oversleep.”

Alena laughed. “Yer as bad as I was at yer age. Where’s yer spices at?”

“Above your head, Ma. To the right,” Fiera said.

“Nice selection,” Alena said.

“You’ve given most of them to me,” Fiera said, laughing.

“That’s how I know it’s good,” Alena said with perfect logic.

Fiera laughed again. “I love you, Ma,” she said.

“Love you too, my phoenix girl,” Alena said fondly.

They fixed a hearty meal with a few extra treats for the group and sat down together to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Fiera ignored the vague sense that things were going too well and something was likely to go wrong at any moment and just enjoyed the time with her family. The rest of the Rezouac children left with their mother. Fiera and the rest of her household went to bed.

The time after spring planting was rather anticlimactic. Fiera obsessively watched the plants as they were growing but none of them showed the signs of depredation that they had before. The soil treatments were working. Weeds were pulled, children were tended to, and life went on. Fiera counted down the days to the end of spring planting on Sorus and feared that this time her father would break his word to her.

One morning, as they were deciding who to send out to the fields, their comm went off. Kuen answered it. It was Lt. Coltrin. She had a peculiar look on her face. “Kuen, I know you usually go out to your fields now, but you might want to wait. You have some…interesting…guests coming out to your farm. I put it at about an hour, maybe a little longer, before they get there. They just got a couple of skimmers out that way. It’s a fairly large party and you’re going to want to greet them,” she said with a smile.

“Would one of them be Fabrice Benoit?” Kuen asked with a sigh.

“Yes,” Lt. Coltrin said. “I take it you’ve been expecting him?”

“He’s a bit later than we were anticipating. He left the Core eighteen weeks ago and it usually only takes fifteen in darkspace to get here,” Kuen said.

“He probably made a few stops along the way,” Lt. Coltrin said. “Just trust me, Kuen. Don’t go into your fields.”

“All right, Mouse,” Kuen said, grinning as she laughed at her nickname. “We’ll stay home until they get here.”

“Oh, and can you pass on word to Darkling for me, should you hear from him?” Lt. Coltrin asked with a wicked grin on her face.

“I can’t promise I’ll be able to, but I’ll do my best,” Kuen said with a wink, as Daniel crept up to listen just out of sight of the comm.

“The official team to assassinate High Admiral Aceves was just caught. Captain Daniel Drake has been cleared of all charges, though he will not be reinstated into the Intelligence division as per High Admiral Leone,” Lt. Coltrin said. “If he wants to resume his commission in the CAF, High Admiral Seaton will take him into her division. If not, he needs to contact her to get his name off the ‘shoot me on sight’ list and then he can go civilian with his full pension and honors. I’ll send you a copy of the orders that came from the full High Command this morning regarding him, so you can pass it on to him should you speak with him.”

“Thank you, Lt. Coltrin. If I hear from Darkling, I’ll pass all this on,” Kuen said. She nodded, winked, and ended the comm. A moment later the official orders came through.

“Well,” Daniel said. “This certainly puts a new spin on things. Move, Kuen. I’m calling Seaton.”

“By all means,” Kuen said.

Fiera watched as Daniel put in his comm code to reach High Admiral Seaton without having to go through the official CAF base. She answered immediately. “Ah, Captain Drake,” she said. Then her eyes widened. “So that’s where that old space dog sent you. I wondered.”

“Yes, and the Rezouacs have been very kind, but I would like to find a planet with gravity more friendly to a featherweight like me to settle down on, though I’m staying in the Colonies,” Daniel said.

“I thought you might,” High Admiral Seaton said with a smile. “Since I know where you are now, I’ll transmit a copy to General Athalos and one to the private comm you’re at. You have a full honorable discharge at the rank of Captain, so you’ve got quite the pension. Not to mention in the time you’ve been gone you’ve drawn a captain’s pay packet without spending any of it so that’s something of a decent starting point for you.”

“High Admiral, I plan on taking a Rezouac with me off Sorus when I leave,” Daniel said. “Well, technically two since she has a daughter I’m considering adopting if the two of us decide we want to make our partnership a permanent one.”

“Form a marriage contract with her and she can take your name. That way she doesn’t have to use the name Rezouac and you can get past that pesky law,” High Admiral Seaton said. “You’ll have two years to decide if you want to make the partnership permanent or not.”

“That’s what she was suggesting,” Daniel said. “So that’s what I’ll do. Thank you, High Admiral.”

“You’re quite welcome, Mr. Drake,” High Admiral Seaton said. “Enjoy your retirement and may you and the young lady have long and happy lives together.” She ended the call and a moment later the comm beeped again with another transmission. This one they printed out and Daniel had his discharge paperwork and a full accounting of how much money he had.

“I think you’d better call Minnie,” Fiera said, laughing. “She’s going to want to know about this too.”

“You’re right,” Daniel said. He had the comm code for the main Rezouac farm memorized, of course. He called it every night to talk to Muirne since they couldn’t really see each other in person without borrowing a skimmer from someone.

Fiera turned away from that conversation. “Did Mouse say how many people were coming? I missed that part of the conversation,” she said, looking at Kuen.

“Well, we know it’s Fabrice Benoit, his wife, and his daughter and her wife,” Kuen said. “I got the impression someone else was with them though, and that was why they were delayed. I’d say factor another three to five people and fix food for that many.”

Fiera grinned. “You know me very well,” she said with a laugh.

“Aunt Fury?” Elian asked. “Who’s coming?”

“Your grandfather, grandmother, another aunt, her wife, and maybe some other people,” Fiera said. “I’m going to be adding more to breakfast. Would you like to help?”

“Can I?” Elian asked, a big grin on her face.

“Me too!” Eli chirped. Pascal and Gael both chimed in as well.

“Kuen, you go talk to Gaspare,” Phelix said. “He headed out to the greenhouse as soon as he heard his father was on the way. I’ll help Fury and the littles make up one massive breakfast feast for everyone.”

“Factor Esmerie, Honore, and Honore’s wife are going to be wearing the suits like Daniel,” Kuen said heading for the door. “Fabrice might be too. I don’t know for sure with him.” “Okay,” Fiera said. She set to work cooking, with Phelix and the children helping.