She got up and double-checked the locks, then brushed her teeth. She went back into her bedroom and laid back down, but didn’t have the heart to turn off the TV … just in case. After flicking through the channels for a few more minutes, she heard the beeping of her phone. She reached over and looked at the screen.
You still awake?
She smiled like a teenage schoolgirl and typed in her reply: Maybe. Who is this?
Your doctor. Should I make a house call?
She smiled again, as a wave of excitement raced through her body, waking it up instantly. I think you’d better. Just in case.
Very well. I’ll be there in …
Just then, she heard her front door buzz. Startled, she got up and made her way to it. It couldn’t be, could it? She flicked on the monitor beside the door and smiled. It was Doc. She opened the door and stuck her head around.
“That was quick,” she smiled.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he smiled back.
She pulled the door back and he stepped inside and looked around.
“Welcome,” she said closing the door.
He glanced around the room then turned back to her, stopping when he saw what she was wearing. “You always answer the door like that?”
Carrie looked down at the flimsy white singlet and cotton underwear she was wearing and looked back at him. “Only when I’m expecting my doctor.”
A smile spread across his face. “I see …”
He took a step toward her and slid one hand over her hip, while the other brushed her hair behind her ear. She slid her hands up along his arms and he very slowly leaned in and kissed her. Carrie brought her arms up around his neck and pressed her body against his.
“Shall I give you the tour?” she asked, when they came up for air.
“Mm-hmm,” he nodded, heading back in for another kiss.
She led him, kissing all the while, through her apartment to her bedroom. “That’s … the rest of my apartment …” she managed in between kisses, “and this … is my bedroom.”
“Mm-hmm,” he replied, his face never leaving hers.
She pulled him over to her bed and they climbed on. She could taste both beer and scotch on his tongue, yet he didn’t seem to be drunk.
“How come you’re still sober?” Her curiosity gave way.
“Well, I’m a little happy … but for the most part I cheated,” he smiled as he slid his hand underneath her singlet.
“Cheated? How?” she asked, curling her leg over his.
“I offered to buy the drinks,” he said, in between kisses as he found her breast with his wandering hand. “So I ordered Harris doubles while I had straight coke.”
“Oh,” she breathed, partly because of his stroking hand, “you’re sneaky, lieutenant. I hope the captain doesn’t find out!”
Doc laughed quietly. “So do I!”
Carrie slid her hand up the back of his shirt, pressing her body even more tightly against him.
“So, do I get to kick you out tonight?” she purred in his ear.
“Mm-hmm,” he agreed as he ran his mouth along her neck, “but we’ve got plenty of time to kill first.”
They were done with talking then, as Doc swiftly removed his shirt and she curled her legs around him.
*
Afterwards, Doc and Carrie lay there staring at each other again. She curled one hand around his upper arm, while the other interlocked her fingers with his. She kissed his shoulder, and he reached over with his other hand and caressed the bruised side of her face.
“Here we are again, lieutenant,” she said softly.
He nodded in reply, and they lay in silence for a few minutes more, before Doc broke it.
“I hear Harris has offered you a permanent spot on the Aurora?”
Carrie felt a guilty look shoot across her face, then nodded. “He just asked me today.”
Doc nodded slowly then dropped his hand to his chest. “So, what are you thinking?”
“I don’t know.” Carrie rolled onto her back, continuing to hold his hand. “But you know what? I’ve got eight weeks to think about it.” She looked back at him, and saw that he was rolling something around within his mind’s confines. She moved onto her side and slid her free hand along his torso. “Penny for your thoughts, lieutenant?” she asked quietly.
He looked down at her. “Have you been having more of those dreams you were having in the hospital on the ship?”
Carrie was a little taken aback by the change in conversation. “Er … I’ve been okay,” she lied.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, why?” She propped herself up on her elbow.
“Harris just mentioned something in his drunken state about giving you his number and the counseling number. Did you ask for it?”
“No,” Carrie gave him a reassuring smile, “that was Harris doing his job.”
Doc nodded, his thoughts drifting him off into space again.
“What?” she asked.
“It’s just, you were having some pretty decent nightmares in the hospital. If you’re still getting them … those numbers really can help.”
She laughed and rolled onto her back and let go of his hands. “Jesus, what are you trying to say? This mission’s sent me crazy? If I’m crazy, then what does that say about you being with me?”
He rolled over on his side and put a reassuring arm over her. “I’m not saying you’re crazy … although Harris may call you crazy if he ever finds out about us.”
“How’s he ever going to find out?”
“I don’t know, but if you decide to come back onto the Aurora, it will certainly be interesting.”
Carrie sighed. “I don’t want to think about that right now. I just want to think about this …” She ran her hand along his arm and they looked at each other for a moment, before he leaned in and kissed her again. She traced her hand along his cheek, losing herself in those brown eyes and that beautiful smile.
“Let’s talk about something else,” she smiled. “Why don’t you tell me all about Colorado, Snowflake?”
*
Harris lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was drunk, but not nearly as drunk as most nights at The Vicar left him. He thought that Brown and Packham looked pretty happy, but that Doc hadn’t been his usual self. He made out like he was with us, but his mind was somewhere else. There was something about him that was reserved tonight, holding back. Why? Had Harris spooked him with talk of the UNF’s potential leverage over them?
He yawned and stretched his body out. A pain shot across his ribs, and he paused for a second, but it slowly dissipated. He glanced over at the napkin on his bedside table and grabbed it and read it again:
Jazz Club Woman
994 3000 451
He smiled to himself, holding it against his chest. He glanced over at the clock: 22:01, then stared back at the ceiling. He’d never felt so glad to be back on Earth. He focused on the softness of his bed, the stillness of the room, the calmness of the Earth. Time to heal, Saul, he told himself. Time to fix that brain of yours. No more crazy dreams, alright? He promised himself he was going to sleep for as long as his body would allow. He was so tired he was confident he wouldn’t even be able to dream.
“Lights!” he called, and his room slowly plunged into complete blackness. Blackness, stillness, calmness. The Jazz Club Woman appeared in his mind, smiling and dancing, but only briefly. She soon morphed into visions of Taya: smiling, dancing and laughing. It sent a warm smile across his face, and he promised himself he would call her first thing in the morning. His shoulders and ribs eased off as he continued to watch Taya in his mind, slowly making his way toward her, as the sleep began to envelop him.
But suddenly he noticed something that made him pause …
Standing in the background of his mind were Sibbie and Etta, holding that phone, eyes fixed on him with desperate, haunting stares like did.
H
is eyes flashed open. His heart was thumping.
And suddenly, he was wide awake again.
Epilogue
Captain Saul Harris sat in an empty room at the UNF Command Center on Fort Centralis. He looked at his watch. 15:23. He’d been waiting there since 1500. His mind was ticking over at a fast pace, his curiosity mounting. Finally, he heard someone punching the keypad on the other side of the door. It opened, and he recognized the broad, ash-blond man who entered. He quickly stood and saluted him.
“Colonel Marchant,” he greeted him.
“Captain Harris,” he nodded, holding out his hand to shake, which Harris did. They both took a seat and Marchant placed an e-file on the table in front of them.
Harris eyed him carefully. “So, is the UNF getting some kick out of pulling me off my leave, colonel? Or are we experiencing a shortage of soldiers in the UNF?”
Marchant looked back at him. “Well, you got six and a half of your eight weeks, captain. Unfortunately, we had to call you up because you’re the only one qualified to do this mission.”
Harris’s interest was definitely piqued, but he stayed silent, waiting.
Marchant watched him and then looked down at his e-file, chose one of the pre-loaded folders, and opened it. He turned it around and pushed it in front of Harris. He looked at the photo displayed in front of him and recognized the man in it instantly. It did not leave him with a good feeling. He knew the white-gray hair, the dark eyes, the long face, and angular nose, very well. It was Professor Ray Sharley, the man behind the chaos that was the Darwin mission. The man ultimately responsible for the loss of four of Harris’s soldiers.
“Why are you showing me this?” His face turned steely.
Marchant pulled the e-file back and closed the folder. He took a second, staring back at Harris. “There’s no easy way to say this, captain, so I’m just going to say it. Sharley is not in the custody of the UNF. The fact is, he hasn’t been for some time now.”
“What?” Harris’s face turned to stone and his eyes froze on Marchant’s. “I kept calling Command for updates. They kept telling me that he was in custody and that I would be advised of any outcomes once they were cleared to do so.”
“Command instructed the relevant parties that that was the case until we sorted out this mess. We were in damage control. It turns out there was an unsavory element within the UNF who were on Sharley’s payroll. It appears a back door was left open on the Darwin and he walked right out of there.”
Harris’s eyebrows jumped to the top of his forehead. “He walked right out of there? Just like that? And Logan?”
“He walked right out of there with him. We have no idea where they are.”
“Fuck!” Harris said, sitting back in his chair, as though winded. “Professor Martin. Right?”
“Possibly. Both he and Officer Dale, who ran the Darwin debriefs, have gone awol.”
“Officer Dale? You’re kidding?”
Marchant shook his head somewhat embarrassed. “Professor Martin had us initially convinced that Sharley had begun to stray from the UNF, that he was doing his own thing and that he, Martin, had been unable to control him. He assured his CO that he was going to the Darwin to rein him in. Now both Sharley and Martin are missing. I’ve been handling the case ever since. We’ve been investigating the whole scenario, trying to trace everyone involved, and more importantly, trying to track down Sharley and Logan themselves. We’ve uncovered minimal information. They’ve hidden themselves very well. I guess this is where you come in, and why we need you.”
“Why do you need me?” Harris folded his arms defensively.
“We need you, because you and your team are the only ones who, a) have seen and dealt with Sharley recently, and b) know what his Jumbos are capable of.”
“Jumbos? Logan’s the only one left, isn’t he? Or are there more out there?”
Marchant looked down at the e-file and scratched the back of his head in thought. “We don’t know for sure, but it’s always a possibility he’s created more. We think it would be foolish to assume otherwise. We are certain of one thing, however,” he looked back up at Harris, “and that is, that Chet’s body was never recovered.”
Harris felt a strange feeling crawl down his spine. “I shot Chet. He went down.”
“Yes, you did, but I read the transcripts from the Darwin debriefs. Neither you nor Corporal Welles could confirm unequivocally that he was, in fact, killed. You said you shot him, he went down, and then you left him on the second floor.”
Harris felt the blood slowly running down his body to his feet.
“After this whole thing went down,” Marchant continued, “I went and personally inspected the bodies of the other Jumbos. All their bodies were accounted for, except Chet’s. Why would they take his and leave the others? If he was dead, why would they take him?”
Harris took a moment, trying to block out the feeling crawling up his spine, and subtly catch his breath. “So, you think he’s still alive?”
“We don’t know, captain. All we know is that his body is missing.”
Harris exhaled regretfully and rubbed the back of his neck.
“So, this means, captain,” Marchant continued, “that Sharley and at least one Jumbo, if not two, or maybe even more, are out there somewhere on the loose. We need to stop them. We need to contain them. We need to bring them in.”
“You need to destroy them!” Harris said firmly, shooting the colonel a hard look.
“That order has not been given as yet, captain. My orders are strict. They are to be captured and brought in alive. That is what I want you and your men to do.”
Harris took a moment, then stood from the table and walked over to the coffee station in the corner of the room. He poured himself a straight black, then sipped it, keeping his back to Marchant while his mind ticked over. He suddenly remembered Sharley’s last words to him: “I may be submitting to you now, but the next time I see you, it will be you who submits to me.”
“I believe you’ve been searching the database for soldiers to replace the crew you lost?” Marchant asked, pulling him from his thoughts.
Harris turned back around and nodded. He knew the UNF tracked all searches in the UNF Portal, especially those involving personnel.
Marchant gave him a nod back and continued. “I see Second Lieutenant McKinley has made excellent progress recovering from his broken leg. I hear he’s been working very hard and is back to full fitness. And First Sergeant Hunter’s almost there as well.”
“I believe so,” Harris nodded.
“And Brown and Walker were uninjured, so they’re ready to go?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I also see that one of the women has already signed on for a permanent placement on the Aurora?” He pulled up another folder on the e-file. “Sergeant Packham. She’s going to be your co-pilot?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And the other women?”
“Corporal Colt contacted me last week to decline my offer. She wanted to get in first before I called her.”
“And Corporal Welles?”
“I’ve not spoken with her yet.”
Marchant nodded. “You should do that asap, Harris. We need to get the Aurora out there looking for them. And we want you to persuade Welles to join up. It would be very useful to have her back on board.”
“Why’s that?”
“We’ve had some of our best UNF psychologists go over Sharley’s profile. They tell me that he’s a control freak, which means he does not like to lose. Technically, he lost against the Aurora team. So, our psychologists think that Sharley may just take up the chance for revenge, should it be offered to him … or should I say, should she be offered to him.”
“She?” Harris arched his eyebrow, as that crawling feeling moved down his spine again.
“Yes. Corporal Welles. Packham’s your co-pilot, we can’t offer her up. Besides, Sharley almost had Welles and wanted you to
leave her behind. There’s a greater connection that we can play on.” Marchant pushed the e-file pane over to Harris’s side of the desk. “All the info is in here. Take a read of this tonight and we’ll meet back here at 0600 tomorrow.”
Harris eyed the pane and then Marchant, as the colonel stood and stepped closer to him.
“You’re the only one with the experience and the inside knowledge to do this Harris. The UNF is counting on you. I’m counting on you to get these fuckers before they kill anyone else.” Marchant shook his hand, grasping it tightly and eyeing him firmly. “You left them unattended on that station, Harris. You have to right this wrong.” The colonel dropped his hand, then turned and left the room.
Harris’s eyes fell back to the e-file, lying like a quiet little bomb on the table before him. He stared at it for a moment, feeling his heartbeat banging within his throat. He moved over to the table and sat down, placing his coffee cup next to him, and flicked his fingers across the e-file pane, to open it.
Jesus fuckin’ Christ. This shit cannot be happening. Can it?
If you enjoyed reading Aurora: Darwin, the author would really appreciate a rating or review at the online retailer where you purchased this book. Thank you!
Also by Amanda Bridgeman
Aurora Series
#1 Aurora: Darwin
#2 Aurora: Pegasus
#3 Aurora: Meridian
#4 Aurora: Centralis
#5 Aurora: Eden
#6 Aurora: Decima
#7 Aurora: (coming 2018)
#8 Aurora: (coming soon)
Other Titles
The Time of the Stripes
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To find out more, visit Amanda’s website: www.amandabridgeman.com.au
Darwin Page 59
