“So, that’s convenient,” Adira said, not even hiding her disdain from the man who had cleared her record.
Mach winced, wishing she would just shut it and not get herself into more crap.
“Just come out with it,” Babcock said. “What was inside Sanchez?”
The president cleared his throat and assumed the straight posture of someone who did not at all seem like he was here to see his so-called friends. “It’s a phane.”
“What?” Tulula said, her eyes growing wide. “How?”
“The scientist back in the mine…” Mach said.
“That’s the theory so far,” Morgan said. “It seems like they injected a mutagen into the symbiosite. It’s changing into something else. We’ll know more in a day’s time, but for now I’m afraid you’re involvement with it is over. It’s officially a top-secret research project now. We need to know as much about it as possible so we can learn more about this new potential enemy. After all, we don’t know how many other non-Salus Sphere planets these things are currently consuming.”
“How did they get it out without killing Sanchez?” Lassea asked. “I thought the death of the symbiosite was what was killing him.”
“It was, but the mutagen changed it. It was no longer in symbiosis with Sanchez. It was eating him from the inside out. I’m afraid he’s going to be out of action for at least six months. He’s had a full complement of synth-organ transplants.”
It was Mach’s turn to be surprised. “On whose bill? You know how much those things cost! More than I’ve ever earned in my lifetime.”
President Morgan turned his back and approached the door. He opened it and stepped halfway out before turning back to regard Mach. “Don’t ever think I’ve forgotten all those times you saved my ass in the war, Carson. Consider this a payback—just don’t tell anyone, will you. It’s not all sunshine and caviar as president. The council will jump on anything to oust me.”
“I guess that puts me in a king-maker position these days,” Mach said.
“I suppose it does. I suggest you don’t abuse that power and consider what I’ve done for you and Sanchez.”
With that, Morgan closed the door and left them all alone.
The cost of a full synth-organ replacement still blew Mach away. That was quite some favor Morgan had pulled for him. And although Mach wanted to believe that Morgan was still his friend and officer from back in the day and did this in honor of that, a part of him couldn’t shake the feeling that Morgan would someday use it as a way of calling in a favor.
Morgan still thought of Mach as ‘Bleach,’ the freelancer who would go in and clean up anything and everything for the right price. Just what had Morgan done that he would need a favor from Bleach?
Mach didn’t have much time to consider it when Sanchez coughed.
Tulula rushed to his side and pulled his hand into hers. “Shhh, don’t try to speak,” she said. “You’ve had a lot of surgery, and you need to rest.”
“I’m alive, then,” Sanchez said, his voice dry and croaking.
Lassea fetched him some water, which he sipped before gulping the rest down and exhaling with satisfaction. “That’s the first clean water I’ve drunk since getting off that damned planet. We need better rations in the fighters.”
“We’re not putting a coffee machine in the fighter drone,” Mach said, smiling.
Sanchez sat up with the help of Tulula. The two hugged for a long moment before each member of the Intrepid told Sanchez how happy they were that he made it back. Babcock was especially grateful for him recovering Squid Two.
Once all the small talk was out of the way, Sanchez looked down at the laser-stitched scar on his abdomen. “Did they…”
“They got it out of you, yeah,” Mach said.
“How? It should have been impossible.”
Mach shared a nervous look with Tulula and the others.
“Come on,” Sanchez said. “Tell me, what’s the deal here? What did they do to me?”
“It was no longer a symbiosite,” Mach said. “It had changed form… into one of the phane’s creatures. Morgan and his scientists took it away for tests. On the upside, sure, you had a disgusting alien devouring you from the inside out, but now you have a full collection of shiny new synth-organs.”
“I’m truly disgusted,” Sanchez said. “That’s fucked up beyond anything I’ve ever heard or done, and I thought the symbiosite was bad enough.”
“On the upside,” Adira said. “You now have the internal organs of an eighteen-year-old, so you’re actually better than you were.”
“How did you afford that?” he asked.
“I took a favor,” Mach said. “But don’t worry about that now. Get some rest, okay? You did good, old friend, real fucking good.”
Mach let Sanchez rest, Tulula deciding to stay behind and keep him company. Lassea and Babcock headed off to get some rest, leaving Mach and Adira standing outside of Sanchez’s room, watching him and Tulula smile at each other.
“It’s quite sweet, really,” Adira said, nodding towards them. “I think they make a good couple. Odd, sure, but good nonetheless.”
“Yeah, I’m happy for him. Happy for them both.”
Mach turned to Adira and led her down the abandoned corridor. It was dark outside now and the hospital became quiet with just a few droids patrolling the wards to ensure everyone was okay. When Mach and Adira exited into the gardened entranceway, Mach sat down on one of the benches overlooking a tall, rectangular water feature made of some exotic marble. The light of the two moons rippled across the surface.
Adira sat next to him, her leg touching his.
They both stared out at the water.
“So,” Adira said, “what now?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? You know you have a position on the Intrepid for as long as you want it.”
“I know. But I’m free now, because of you. I don’t owe anyone. I’m no longer tied to contracts or commissions. I could go and do anything in the Sphere.”
“Yes, you could.” But he didn’t want her to. He wanted her to stay with him, stay on the Intrepid. He wanted to just come out and say it. Though if he did, he would expose himself to the pain of rejection—again.
“Before I leave, I want you to have this.” Adira lifted a key on a chain over her head and placed it in Mach’s hands.
“What is this?”
“A key to my home on Merallis. One of my last contract kills was for the CWDF. They wanted a gunrunner supplying the horans taken out but, naturally, didn’t want it to be a government job in case it got out. Anyways, I did the job, and the payment was a private house on Merallis—that was when it was outside of the Salus Sphere and run by gangsters.”
“Not anymore, though,” Mach said. “A few years ago, the CWDF took it over as an officer’s retreat.”
“Indeed. And my place is still there, on the coast, overlooking the red ocean. It’s really beautiful this time of year.”
“What are you saying?” Mach said, looking her in the eye.
“I’m saying, you big-ass fool, that I want to be with you. I want us to get out of here and go spend some quality time together to make up for all these lost years. I’m free now. I can be with you without worrying that one of my debtors would take their revenge out on you.”
Mach sighed and gripped the key in hand, feeling the graphene-steel surface cold against his skin. He thought of how great it would be to leave, go with Adira, but… “There’s just one thing.”
Adira narrowed her eyes. “There’s always just one thing. What is it? I thought you wanted me?”
“I do… always have done, always will.”
“But?”
“There’s this job… It was sent to me earlier this afternoon.”
“Is it dangerous?” Adira asked, her eyes still narrow with suspicion.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Odds of survival?”
Mach shrugged his shoulders. “Probably fifty-fift
y.”
Now Adira’s eyes widened, her eyebrows lifting a few millimeters. “And the pay?”
“Astronomical.”
Adira stood up and turned her back to Mach. “You’ll have to choose,” she said. “Me or the job.”
Mach thought about it for a split second as he too stood and stepped up behind Adira, placing his hands on her hips. “I choose you,” he said.
She turned in his arms, pressing her body against his so their faces were just inches apart. “Good, because I choose the job, though I want a bigger share now that we’re a couple. I’ll have to keep an even closer eye on you so you don’t get killed. That’s a lot of extra work.”
“My love,” Mach said, “you can have whatever you want.”
“That’s how it’s always been.”
They shared a grin and Mach laughed before kissing her fully, taking her completely in his arms, gripping the key in his hand. He knew that if they got through the next job, they’d spend the rest of their lives together.
If they survived…
About the Author
A.C. Hadfield always wanted to be an astronaut. As a boy he grew up reading science fiction novels and dreaming of the stars. He ended up as an engineer but developed a passion for the world of writing. He lives in the USA in various locations depending on the seasons. He enjoys traveling, stargazing, and dreaming up galactic empires in which to tell his tales.
To be notified of A.C. Hadfield releases, sign-up to the no-spam newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/cgchXv
The Lost Voyager: A Carson March Space Opera Page 22
