Jack of Harts

I fought with Kathleen Reynolds all the way to War’s End. And yes, that does include the Hyades Heart. She was there at the end of it all, when we found out what we had fought the better part of two decades for. She was at my side that day, just as she had been at so many others before. And so many after as well. I swear she has a nose for trouble, and she jumps in with both feet when it comes. Again and again and again, if you compiled a list of all the greatest hits of the Hyades Campaign, you would find her name there again and again and again. And the picture next to her name would have the smile of the head cheerleader who kissed the quarterback on prom night. Fearless. Brassy. Victorious. Flippant. Sexy. Crazy. She was all that and a box of chocolates.

We Cowboys were working with the aliens when Kathleen Reynolds joined the Cowboys. I was happy to work with them because they were helping us take the fight to our enemies. Katy wanted to work with them because she had always wanted to meet them. She had spent most of her adult life getting into places where she could meet them. All those parties? The decades of time in the Space Force on the outer reaches of human space? She wanted to meet aliens. And when given the chance, she jumped at the opportunity to join a fighter squadron that was actively working with them. There are so many layers to that girl. I absolutely love her. And I have never regretted fighting at her side. Well. Almost never. I mean… there’s been some crazy times. And Katy sure does love her some good crazy times. But I guess I do too.

Girls are complicated. I know that, but Kathleen Reynolds took complications to a whole extra level. There was always the bouncing cheerleader in her. And there was the hard-bitten starfighter pilot and squadron commander as well. But there was something else she buried real deep and it was the real reason she joined us at Alpha Centauri. She didn’t tell me for years, but when she did it brought so much of her into sense. She had a dark secret, you see, one that had haunted her childhood until she buried it deep in a closet for no one to see. Looking back on it, it explains why we got along together so well, right from the start. I guess she felt safe with me. She thought I would accept her for who she really was. I guess I did, and when she told me, I found out why. We were interested in the same things, you see, even if our reasons were different.