More Questions than Answers: Chapter 4

[Ethan Talon]

The roan snorted as Ethan leaned over the chute. Measuring out the proper length for his bronc reign. He pulled out a tuft of mane from the horse's neck and tied it around the rein where he had measured.

In a flurry is chaps, and jungle of spurs Ethan straddled the chute with his left boot on the gate. Settling down into the saddle he slipped his feet into the stirrups.

"Up next we got a cowboy hailing from Terra Alpha," the announcer said over the public address system. "You know him as the president. You may have even voted for him. Ethan Talon."

Ethan made last minute adjustments, pushed is hat down lower on his head and nodded his head, and the horse bailed out of the chute.

It had been far too long since he rode a bronc and he was rusty, but he managed to stay on the eight seconds and bailed off onto the back of the pickup rider's horse and slid to the gound. He waved his hat to the small clapping crowd and climbed the fence to be met by the Secret Service.

"Mr. President we have news from Empress Stormtalon."

Ethan wiped the swear from his face, "What does the Empress want?"

His chief of security shook his head,"She said that this was something best said personally, and not second hand."

Ethan nodded, "Tom, can you grab ky saddle and gear bag?"

One of the suited agents nodded, "Yes, Mr. President."

"You're a good man Tom. I'll make a cowboy out of you yet."


"Yes sir."

Ethan, with a group of Secret Service agents including his chief of security walked to the runabout. Ethan entered while the agents stood outside respectfully.

Sitting down in the pilot's seat he entered commands into the communications panel. "Hey, Lilith. What's up?"

The Narlin frowned and shifted uncomfortably, "It's about Kim."

"What about her?"

"So was murdered tonight."

Ethan's mouth dropped, "Why?"

Lilith shook her head, "I don't know. We don't even know who attacked her. We tried to capture them alive and they killed themselves rather than be held prisoner. It may have something to do with the new girl from Earth."

Ethan nodded, "I'm on my way."

"I'll see you when you get here," Lilith said. "In the meantime I'm going to Byron to see if we can get some information on the ship they came in on."

"Good idea. Ethan out."

[Trinity Talon]

"Did I hear all that correctly?" Trinity said as she walked over and removed her earpiece. "Kim's... dead?" she shook her head. "I'll go with you." pulling off the scarf she had around her neck she used it to wipe the dust off his pants. "Eight seconds? Better than Grandpa NIck's time of five point eight seconds. Anyway... I'm cancelling the interview I had scheduled, this is more important. Besides.. this is family business."

[Ethan Talon]

He glaced over at her as started the pre-flight sequence, "How long have we've been married? Eight seconds is all I'm required to ride. It wasn't a very good ride. I felt sloppy and rusty. I'm surprised I marked that horse out."

Pressing the comm he spoke to his Secret Service detail, "If you folks want a ride back to Terra Alpha, you best get on board." He sat back in his seat and sighed, "Does it make me a bad person, that I am happy I don't have to do that infernal interview? I should have never accepted the nomination."

[Trinity Talon]

"Part of the job dear." Trinity said with a smile. "And the interview was more for me than you anyway... that women's ranch project I've been starting." she put her hand on his thigh. "I still can't believe it though... Kim always seemed so strong, so stubborn."

[Ethan Talon]

"We'll know more once we get back to Terra Alpha," Ethan assured. "But, if I know her she gave her attacker a hell of a time."

[Trinity Talon]

"Yeah... " Trinity said with a nod of her head. "Good thing Trini and E are on their way back from their trip. They grew up with Kim. It''s still weird watching younger versions of ourselves grow up with people we never knew in our era." she a looked at the console and sighed. "Your mom is going to be on the warpath."

[Ethan Talon]

"Hard to say," Ethan said with a shrug. " She's been doing that zen stuff since she left the order." He glanced over his shoulder, "Everyone on board?"

"Sir, we can fly this if you want."

"Thanks for the offer, but I ain't special. I hate it when everyone treats me like the King of England. I ain't. I'm just some dumb country hick."

He returned his attention to the flight control panel, entered commands and the runabout lifted off the desert surface and climbed skyward.

[Trinity Talon]

"Ethan, you are anything but a dumb country hick." Trinity said and playfully slapped his arm. "You're just the next in a line of Presidents that actually work for a living. Secret Service always hated my grandfather. Course when your charge can throw fireballs and has more lives than a cat..." she chuckled lightly and she pulled off the jacket she had on and draped it over the back of her seat. "I'll help with the investigation, if Di and the others can't get access, I usually can. Either by pulling rank or simply being First Lady, no one says no to me. Upside, everyone is used to the First Lady being more than just someone pretty to look at. It's almost expected that I do something." she pulled out her padd and started looking at the news reports. "Clearly they came from Earth, which means that'll have to be addressed sooner than later, you think after we saved that planet from being cracked open like an egg... "

[Ethan Talon]

Ethan cleared his throat and pulled his black Stetson off his head and set it crown down on the console before him. Turning to Trinity he let out a long sigh, "It's obvious that we... that I made an error in judgement ignoring them. But why Kim? She's a sweet girl and all, but she wasn't exactly strategically important. She was just a waitress for crying out loud."

[Trinity Talon]

"Wrong place wrong time?" Trinity said with a shrug of her shoulders. "And I wouldn't blame you for ignoring Earth, the Alliance Council voted to leave them be, they're barely warp capable anymore, any non Terran sets foot on Earth they're assaulted. Other than the refugees from when they first took power, it's rare for anyone to come from Earth for years now. Hey, I've offered to get boots on the ground there more than once. I'd even come out of semi-retirement for it and we've got the Huntington almost battle worthy. All those years of bouncing around under phase cloak really did a number on her non drive, shield and cloak systems. Although I did wonder what happened to those boots I was looking for, they grew an eco system on that ship. Three new forms of sentient life were found." she said with a slight chuckle, trying to ease the tension. Since it was clear he was already deep in blaming himself.