by Susan Hayes
“I love you,” she whispered. “Now come for me.”
He grinned. “It’s so damned sexy when you try and tell me what to do.” He let himself get lost in her body, the pleasure of her touch, the sheer wonder of knowing she loved him. Within seconds, he was teetering on the edge, and when she kissed him again, he came hard enough he saw stars.
They stayed that way for a long time, wrapped in each other’s arms, surrounded by water and steam. When he finally set her down on her feet again, he took his time and washed her from head to toe before finally shutting off the water, bundling her into a towel, and carrying her to his bed.
“How do you feel?” he asked as he curled up behind her, spooning her against his big body.
“Better.”
“Good. Then get some rest. As my doctor has pointed out to me repeatedly lately, it’s the fastest way to heal.”
He held her as she drifted off, counting his blessings that despite everything, everyone he cared about was still alive and well. At some point, he fell asleep too, because the next thing he knew they were both being woken up by the annoyingly persistent chirp of his comm.
“Strak here,” he answered it in audio only mode without bothering to check who was calling.
“Audio only? You’re naked again, aren’t you?” Eric’s voice was rife with humor.
“Aren’t you supposed to be busy repairing my ship?” Dante shot back.
“I’ve already got that fixed, sort of. She’s jury-rigged but holding. Your baby is fine.”
“Glad to hear it. Please tell me you didn’t wake Tyra for a status report.”
“Hey, Daisy. Glad you’re back with us. Trust me, you’re both going to be happy to hear what I have to tell you. I got the results of the DNA cross-match you asked me to run on Everest and your mystery man from the surface. Turns out you’re smarter than you look, big guy.”
“They’re related?” Dante asked.
“Weirder than that. They’re identical.”
“How can they be twins?” Dante asked. “The guy on the surface seemed older to me.
“Not twins. The samples show different age markers.”
Tyra sat up and joined the conversation, looking horrified. “Clones? The Grays are making clones?”
“So it would appear. There’s no line these bastards won’t cross,” Eric said angrily.
“Does Rossi know about this?” he asked.
“Not yet. I thought you and the doc would want to know first. Rossi is next on my list, though.”
“Thanks for telling us, Magi,” Tyra said.
“Anything for you, Daisy. You know that.”
Dante growled. “I told you to quit flirting.”
Tyra just laughed and patted his arm. “He knows I’m taken. Don’t you, Magi?”
“I do. But making your boyfriend all growly is my new hobby.”
Dante closed the link and set the communicator aside again.
“Did you just hang up on him?”
“Yep. He’s got work to do, and you’re supposed to be resting, remember?”
She snuggled into his side. “I think we should both get some rest. Tomorrow you can go back to protecting the galaxy.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll go back to work. You’re part of this team now, and no matter what you decide to do next, you always will be.”
“Not sure what comes next for me, but I’m sure that whatever it is, it somehow includes you and a certain little boy with a love of hamburgers.”
He wasn’t sure what the future held for any of them, but he was going to do his best to make sure that they faced it together.
Epilogue
Dante paced the corridors of Astek station’s main docking ring as he waited for Tyra’s transport ship to finalize their arrival and debark. She’d been gone for almost two months, and he was anxious to have her back in his arms again.
It had taken two more weeks to finish the investigation of Bellex Corporation, and more than that to process the evidence and submit all the reports. Bellex stock was already plummeting, and rumors of backstabbing, hostile takeover bids, and even bankruptcy filings were everywhere. Bellex might not have created cobalt, but they’d willingly exposed their workers to the drug, violating a host of laws in the process. Because of their actions, the policy of allowing corporations to transfer debts to family members, especially minors, was coming under scrutiny, too. The wheels of justice moved slowly, but Dante was certain that in the end, Bellex would answer for everything they’d done.
One day, he and the rest of Nova Force would make the Gray Men answer for their actions, too. Downs and Everest weren’t the only ones to die in an explosion that day back in Bellex system. When they finally found the warehouse full of cobalt, they’d found two more bodies nearby, both of them suffering the same catastrophic bomb damage as the others. Evidence in the warehouse led to the discovery of two black site labs on the planet, too. One was a production space for the cobalt, the other was something far, far worse – a research site where cobalt was tested on unwilling subjects. It had to be where Dante’s abductor had intended to bring him, a hellish place full of suffering and death.
The moment it was safe to do so, Boundless had sent more teams to Bellex to help with the rehabilitation of the addicted workers. They’d asked Tyra to lead the mission, but she’d declined and later resigned from the organization despite their pleas for her to reconsider.
Dante was selfish enough to be thankful she hadn’t listened to them. He wanted her with him, not caring for people on a distant world where he couldn’t protect her.
Bellex, in an attempt to curry favor, had done more than simply repair the Malora for them. They’d upgraded her engines, enhanced her weaponry, and added enough bells and whistles to her computer system that Eric hadn’t stopped grinning the whole trip back to Astek Station. While they were gone, their new headquarters was finally completed, including quarters for the entire team. The Drift wasn’t just another stopping point for them anymore. Now, it was home. At least, it would be, once Tyra got here.
Finally, the arrival light turned green, and passengers started leaving from the ship. He didn’t have to wait long. Tyra was one of the first to arrive, and the moment she spotted him, she hurried through the throng as fast as she could.
“Hi,” She dropped her bags and threw herself into his arms with gratifying eagerness. “Miss me?”
“Every second you were gone.” He gathered her close and kissed her, letting the taste of her lips and the warmth of her body fill him until he felt whole again.
“Where’s Nico?” She asked when he finally set her down again.
“In school. He doesn’t know you’re back yet. If he did, he would have never gone to classes today. I thought it could be a surprise. I should warn you though, you might be the one who's surprised. He’s growing so fast I had to buy him new pants again this week.”
They’d used Nico’s status as a witness against Bellex to bring him back to the Drift. Officially, he was under Nova Force protection. Unofficially, Dante had taken Tyra’s suggestion and stepped in as Nico’s guardian. He’d never imagined himself as any kind of father but taking care of the boy wasn’t much different from taking care of the rest of the team. Nico just moved faster and defied orders more often. His fondness for Nico was growing into something that felt a lot more permanent than just being his assigned protector, and he’d already made some inquiries about what the next steps might be.
He kissed Tyra again. She was here, and he wanted to believe that meant she was ready to talk to him about the future. Hers, his, and theirs.
“We’re causing a bit of a scene. Maybe we should continue this back at your place?”
“They’re just jealous.” He set her down and scooped up her bags, tossing them both over one shoulder before taking her hand in his and guiding her through the crowd. “It’s a bit of a walk.”
She only got a few steps before she stopped and tapped his shoulder, right over the new addit
ion to his uniform. “What’s this?”
“You are dating a Master Sergeant, now.” He grinned. “New rank, same job, better pay.”
She squealed and hugged him again. “You didn’t tell me! When did this happen?”
“A couple of days ago. I didn’t even know it was in the works. Dax recommended me and headquarters approved it. I figured I’d be a sergeant for the rest of my career.”
“You earned it.” She bounced on her toes. “I’m so proud of you. We’ll have to do something to celebrate.” She looked around the crowded promenade of Astek Station. “This is a recreational station, right? There’s got to be a good restaurant around here, somewhere.”
“There’s several hundred, actually. But some of the best food on the Drift is at the Nova Club. We’re invited to dinner there tomorrow night. I’ve got some friends who can’t wait to meet you.”
“Is one of them the doctor you told me about? Trip’s sister?”
“One of them is Dr. Alyson Jefferies, yes. She runs a med-clinic here on the station. You’ll like her. She’s the one who found a way to reverse what the corporations did to the female cyborgs so they can have children again. She’s also got an open-door policy, treating anyone, of any race, whether they have the scrip to pay or not.”
“Sounds like my kind of doctor. I don’t suppose she’s hiring? I looked into what it costs to live out here. For a bunch of ancient stations on the edge of nowhere, this place is expensive!”
“As a matter of fact, she is. I’ve told her about you already, and she’s interested. I mean, if that’s what you want to do. I didn’t make her any promises.” He didn’t want Tyra thinking he was committing her to anything. She was considering changing her life so they could be together. How that happened needed to be her choice, not his.
“That’s fantastic! You’ve been busy setting things up, haven’t you? Nico’s going to school. I might have a job. Bellex is up on charges. You have any other good news for me? I could use some. Visiting all those families was the right thing to do, but it was harder than I imagined it would be.”
“You did an amazing thing, going to see everyone.” While he and the rest of Team Three had been finalizing their reports and making sure that the case against Bellex was as tight as they could make it, Tyra had taken on the task of visiting the family of every fallen member of her team. She couldn’t tell them everything, but she shared what she could, offering her condolences and support to the grieving families.
“I did what I needed to. For them, and for me.” She leaned into him. “I’ve never cried so much or hugged so many strangers.”
“If you need to talk about it, you know I’m here for you.”
She smiled up at him. “I’ll take you up on that eventually. Right now, I just want to enjoy being with you.”
He lifted her hand to kiss her fingers. “I do have a little more good news for you, actually. Livvy is starting to recover.”
“Really? That’s wonderful! When you told me they’d found her locked up at that horrific research site you all uncovered, I had such hope, but then you said she was in bad shape and when you never said anything more I thought…”
“She was in rough shape when they found her. She was malnourished to start with, and the dosage of cobalt they hit her with must have been enough to trigger an overdose. She was unconscious and barely breathing when they found her, but she’s a fighter. Most of the others were too far gone to make it, but the Boundless teams have made real progress with treatment options, and Livvy is a tough kid. I got word this morning. It looks like she’s going to pull through.”
“I hate to ask, but…” She looked around and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Any sign of our Gray friends, or more clones?”
“None. Mr. Money pulled a vanishing act. We still don’t know how he got off the surface, but he must have had help to disappear so fast and so completely. Someone scrubbed the records, too. Everest’s entire file was wiped, and the copy Magi lifted for us is totally falsified. His parents, his name, his place of birth—none of it was real. We know what he looks like, though, and facial recognition software has been programmed to look for his face everywhere. It’s the biggest manhunt we’ve ever undertaken, but if someone’s got clones running around…”
She nodded. “That’s a major violation of galactic law. No one’s supposed to be using that technology on sentient species. Not since the cyborgs were freed.”
“The Grays don’t seem too concerned about the law, ethics, or anything that gets in the way of their agenda. We just need to figure out what the hell that agenda is, and how to stop it.”
“You will.” She winked at him. “I’ve been told that’s what Nova Force was created for.” They walked in silence for a bit, as she looked around them with interest. The promenade was a lively place any time of day or night. Food vendors hawked their wares alongside pharma dealers and entertainers, while brightly lit signs advertised a wide variety of shops, pleasure dens, bars, and restaurants. Astek was where the asteroid mining crews, cargo pilots, and more than a few criminals came to spend their money and enjoy their downtime. Anything imaginable was for sale, if the buyer had the scrip and inclination. “So, this is home for you, now?”
“This is home.” He guided her to a bank of mag-lifts. They were headed to one of the upper levels, where things were a little quieter. He led her out into a well-lit corridor that was only ten feet across instead of the vast stretch of space that was the promenade. Astek had made some improvements to this part of the station—the air here was fresher than on the lower levels, the machinery all worked perfectly, and even the walls had been touched up with a fresh coat of pale gray paint.
“It’s quieter here,” she noted.
“Astek leased this entire area to Nova Force. Which means we’re the only ones in this part of the station. The whole place is ours.” It was a rare luxury in a place where every square centimeter had value and privacy was something only the rich could hope to have.
They rounded the last corner and stepped into a courtyard. Ahead of them were the main doors to the newly created Nova Force headquarters, and to the left was another, smaller set of doors that led to what they’d taken to calling the barracks. In actual fact, they were far nicer than any barracks ever designed, with private suites for all personnel, as well as common areas for socializing, fitness and training, and a dining hall with well-stocked food dispensers.
“Do you want the grand tour now, or would you rather head straight to my quarters so you can relax?”
“Your quarters. You and Nico can show me the rest later. He’s due home soon, isn’t he?”
“Two more hours. He’s staying after class right now for some extra help. He’s got a lot of catching up to do. He’s doing great, though. And he likes it, for the most part.”
“It’s a lot to get used to.” She gestured around them. “No sky, no weather. A whole host of rules and expectations, and no need to steal or fight to keep what’s his.”
Dante chuckled. The kid was still getting used to the ‘no fights’ part of the agenda. He’d been involved in more than one fracas, but most of them were either because he was standing up for himself, or for someone else. Dante couldn’t fault him for that. In fact, he was proud of him. They had their good days and bad ones, but overall, Nico was making progress.
They reached the door to his quarters. He pressed his hand to the scanner, and the door slid open. “Welcome home.”
Tyra stepped past him and looked around. “This is nice.”
He had to agree. The furnishings were simple but comfortable, all designed to take up minimal space while still serving their purpose. Monitors on the walls displayed images that made them appear to be windows looking out over a garden, and the lights were designed to mimic sunlight, warm and cheerful without being overly bright.
He followed her inside, setting her bags down near the door. “Do you like it?”
“I do. But you really need to decorate a little
. This is your home, now. But it doesn’t feel very homey. Not yet.”
He stepped in behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist so he could pull her up against him. “I was waiting for you.”
She laughed. “I have no idea how to decorate a home. I haven’t had one in years. I’m a nomad, like you.”
He bowed his head and kissed the crown of her hair. “I know. That’s not what I meant, though. I thought we could pick some things out together. I don’t want this to be just my home, Shortcake. I was hoping you’d stay with me and make it our home.”
She canted her head back to look up at him. “I could stay here? I thought this was military barracks.”
“It is. But soldiers have families, and families live together.” He stared down at her, his heart pounding now. “I’d like you, me, and Nico to be a family.”
Her mouth was open, but no words came out. Then she nodded slightly and spun in his arms, so she was facing him. “We’re going to be the weirdest family on the station.”
“Wait. You jumped ahead a bit there. Is that a yes?”
She beamed. “Yes, it’s a yes. I’m not sure what I’m even agreeing to, but I came here because I wanted to try and make a life with you. We didn’t talk about the future while I was gone, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I just…I wanted to be with you.”
He stroked her cheek, dazzled and humbled by the fact that this incredible woman wanted to be part of his life. “I wanted you to be free to make your own choices. We’d have figured out a way to make this work, even if you were still with Boundless.” He grinned at her. “But I have to admit, this is much easier.”
“It would have been even easier if you had talked about what you were planning.”
“I wanted to ask you in person. That way if you said no, I’d have a chance to change your mind.” He waggled his brows. “I planned on being very persuasive, and if that didn’t work, I was going to sic Nico on you. I was pretty sure you couldn’t say no to him.”
