The Red Frontier: Wrath of the Vanquished

Chapter 14: A Girl's Dreams

Six hours later, the front door of Kate's apartment beeped as she scanned her fingerprint against the lock. Stepping in, she pulled back the hood of her dress and dropped her briefcase by the door, nonchalantly setting it aside without so much as a look.

She wasn't focusing at all upon her actions. Mainly because, even after a long day of office work, she was still shaken by Raleyan's words.

Kate was only twenty-seven. Most of her life she'd been taking orders from higher-ups within the company, and even now, she was far from a senior official. The most jurisdiction she ever had was over her trusted Nalyr secretary, Ifira.

Her heart almost ruptured from the sheer turmoil of emotions raging inside her. Mr Threlgan was loved and respected by his employees, and even more by Kate. During the Sirthon War, her mother, Leah Michaelson had arrived on Beshun, one of millions fleeing from the Sirthon Republic's brutal path of conquest across the galaxy.

Her mother came to know Igol well, and so did the newborn Kate, with both family members swiftly rising through the ranks of his company... and Kate being brought under this business-Nalyr's personal tutelage.

She dreaded to think about it, but was her friend right? Had Igol been grooming her for a leadership position, CEO or otherwise? She had almost been a daughter to him, and he a father to her. But never in her wildest dreams would she imagine that Igol would want her to be his successor.

It wasn't easy to think about – but the truth never was.

As these thoughts cycled through her head, Kate walked into her apartment. Pulling off her heels and slipping out of her dress, she strode into her bathroom. No sooner had she entered that the sound of pouring water surrounded her, along with plumes of steam as hot crystal liquid ran down her skin. After washing herself clean, she wrapped herself in a gossamer-thin nightrobe and walked back out into the main room. Stepping past her dining table, seating area and kitchenette, the sliding glass door that led to her balcony opening automatically as she approached it.

Stepping out into the cool night air and leaning over the metallic railing, her body was illuminated by the bright glow of holographics, videos and projection screens that advertised hundreds of businesses. Adverts for jetbikes, automatic beverage machines and virtual-reality entertainment systems peppered every visible surface, ingeniously-designed and company-sanctioned snippets of what a thousand different products could offer a person.

But that was not what Kate was looking at. Instead she gazed up at the night sky, seeing the ribbons of solar light slowly drift and slither across the atmosphere, a curtain of colourful gossamer that the stars peered out from behind, glinting teasingly from the great expanse of space beyond the limits of this world.

Ever since she was a girl, Kate had looked to the stars - the glittering diamonds that studded the ebony cloak of night. And amidst all the news of the alien refugees, the Sirthon War and the forming of the Galactic League, a longing had remained within her, burning like one of those stars.

A longing to explore. To wander the stars and see what lay upon all the worlds she had heard of. To experience the galaxy for herself, and to no longer be trapped on Beshun. A place she was always afraid that she'd never leave.

It had been a year since the Sirthon War, that which had first brought her mother to Beshun, had ended. It was a time of recovery and repair across the galaxy.

She didn't want to head the company, but with the wealth and opportunity such a position provided, it might be her best chance to do what she really wanted.

To finally see other worlds and behold all that they offered. The sweeping green plains of Zheann, on the other side of the Federation. The titanic mountains and legendary cathedrals of Ogruca, the capital planet of the Kropen Commongood. The ice-cold taiga forests of Skadi, in the Human Union of Worlds.

And then finally, the world that her mother, father, grandmother and grandfather were born upon. The world from where she descended, as her mother told her constantly.

The planet of Freya.

Kate suddenly felt a few coarse grains of sand swipe across the skin of her cheek as a hot, bone-dry wind swept her long hair across her face. Grimacing slightly, she turned her head to the right to see a huge blue-grey cloud hugging the horizon, growing larger and larger as it loomed over the city like a tsunami over a beach.

A sandstorm.

Acting quickly, Kate pulled the grains from her face and backed into her apartment, sliding the glass door shut behind her as she did so. Fastening it tightly to make sure that her apartment wouldn't become a sandcastle if the city's dispersion shields failed, she made her way to bed.

It was late, and another day of work awaited her tomorrow. She would have to keep her dreams quiet for now...