All My Sins Remembered Read Free Page B

first thing.”  Hawke promised.  Spears nodded once, satisfied with Hawke's reply, and then sighed as he saw his empty glass, and held it up.
    “Well, I suppose I should go get a refill.  Congratulations again!” Spears said.
    “Thank you.” Hawke said.  Extricating himself, Commander Spears made his exit, and Nathan gave his customary snort.
    “Sycophant.” Nathan grunted.  Hawke could not disagree.  As much as he liked Spears, he was very much motivated by his own ambitions, a fact which had gotten the Talons into more than one scrape with poor intel, not enough men or ships, and often lower than usual pay.  Those were usually the times Hawke and Spears went head to head afterwards, and Hawke found he had to help Nathan write letters to the next of kin of way too many dead Talons.  Hawke sighed, and glanced distastefully at his scotch.
    “I wonder what he wants.” Hawke said before gulping down the remainder of his glass.
    “I wouldn’t trust him.  We’re too close to being done with him.”  Nathan cautioned.   Hawke nodded absently in acknowledgement as he stared out the window.
    “I know, but you know me.”  Hawke said.  “I don’t like to burn too many bridges unless I have to.”
    “This is one bridge you can afford to burn.” Nathan remarked.  He never thought too much of Commander Spears, yet he knew Hawke was right.  It would not be professional not to show up in the morning.  Plus, Commander Spears could still cause them no small amount of difficulty so long as the Heaven’s Gaze remained in her berth at the nearby shipyard.
    “Well my friend, shall we?” Hawke said, giving Nathan a hearty slap on his shoulder.  Nathan nodded, and motioned for his friend to lead the way back to the party.
    ***
    Hawke rubbed the heel of his palm into aching eyes, as he tried to ignore an aching head.  It was 09:00 standard time, and he found himself wishing he would have just rolled over and gone back to sleep.  If it weren’t for his promise to visit Spears this morning, he would have.  He still considered it, even going so far as to hit the snooze button twice, which was a very rare occurrence for him, but then his sense of responsibility kicked in as he grudgingly forced himself out of bed and into the shower.  After twenty minutes and a short ride on train, Hawke was stepping into the Naval Contracts Office once again.  The Naval officer sitting behind the desk made brief eye contact with Hawke and held up a finger, indicating she would only be a moment as she talked to someone on a vidcam, which was blurred out to protect the identity of the person on the other end, a routine practice for anyone actively in the field working intel, Hawke noted.  He also noted that the background told him that the person was on a ship.  Ending her conversation, the woman behind the desk took note of a bleary-eyed Hawke standing before her.  Oddly, it was the same woman he had seen the day before.  He idly wondered if she ever was not talking to someone.
    “He’s expecting you, S ir.  Go on in.” She said as she pressed a button on her console.  With an audible click, the magnetic locks to the Commander’s office disengaged, letting Hawke in.  The office was well appointed, with a dark navy blue carpet complimented by walnut-paneled walls.  The use of wood was a rarity in space, where most things were made of naked steel, or other more durable metals.  Spears sat behind a massive desk with the Gadari Republic flag standing in the right corner of the room, and a flag with the Gadari Navy emblem on it sitting in the left corner of the room.
    The meeting began well enough.  Commander Spears was even cordial as he smiled and waved Hawke to a seat across the desk from him, but after a few minutes of exchanging pleasantries, Hawke finally fell silent as he suddenly realized what was going on.  This had an all too familiar feel to it, and he didn’t like where this meeting seemed to be