by Susan Kelley
“Maybe.” But his compliment warmed her. “The real factor in saving his life was how quickly you brought him to us. He could have bled to death in a short time.”
“We weren’t that far away.” Mak hesitated and then lowered his voice though Molly was sure no one could hear them. “Is Pender healthy enough to continue with us?”
“I think so, but we should listen to what the surgeon says. I could have missed a ligament or something that will require additional surgeries.”
“If he needs more treatment, we’ll have to ask your father for another man.”
“We have Andy.”
Mak’s expression hardened, the difference so small she was surprised that she noticed it. “We need someone we can trust to think before he shoots. I need someone I know will follow orders. We also must have a second pilot.”
Molly hadn’t thought of the pilot issue. No wonder they hadn’t seen Mak. With Pender down, there was only him to fly the ship. “Have you slept at all since Kory was hurt?”
“An hour here and there. But our next trip will take more than five days. I can’t continue my current schedule for a long period of time.”
“Can’t Andy take over for a few hours?”
“He’s been watching the autopilot to give me breaks.” Mak held up the shake. “But he’s untrained in even simple evasive maneuvers should we encounter an unexpected asteroid or meteor. Most of space in this sector is only generally mapped.”
Molly hated the idea of bringing another stranger onto her ship. Though it surprised her that she no longer thought of Mak as a stranger or an impediment to her control over her team or their mission. Then she thought of him running down five flights of steps after ordering Kory to hold on. An amazing feat but now dark circles of exhaustion nearly matched the color of his eyes. “Let’s wait and see what the surgeon says about Kory. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait for a replacement.”
Mak nodded and started for the bridge again.
“Mak.” But when he stopped, Molly didn’t know what she wanted to say to him, only that she wanted to spend a little more time with him. “After we get Kory to the surgeon, would you have dinner with me?” She wondered if a Recon Marine understood what having dinner meant.
He again looked at the shake in his hand. “At a real restaurant?”
He did know. Molly fought a grin. “With real food. It’s a date.”
****
Mak left Pender under the surgeon’s care. The doctor praised Molly’s work but intended to do some scans to make sure the repairs looked as good inside as outside. The best news was that Pender would be fit for light duty such as being Mak’s copilot.
Box had escorted the doctors on the resupplying chores. All of them were to meet at an inn near the spaceport. Mak experienced only mild discomfort walking through the streets of the small town. His months on Giroux with Acacia had given him lots of practice being out in public. Civilians moved with aimless ease from place to place, sometimes lingering to look at an oddity or stopping in the middle of a walking area to speak with one another. Even the useless items in shop windows didn’t distract him. Shiny baubles and fanciful clothing for men and women. Nothing of use. Not to a man like him.
Except what kind of man was he? A lab creation like those poor bastards on Julian? The Recon Marines had convinced themselves they had souls like other human beings, but seeing the experiments that had been the predecessors to the marine program or an attempt to emulate it gave Mak doubts. Was he any better than those animals struggling and starving on Julian? He’d overheard the doctors talking. The blood on the space station had been from humans with some of their DNA altered. Like his genetic makeup had been constructed to make him different. He wished his brothers were with him to assure him of his humanity.
The inn with its fancy eatery took up an entire block of the town. Box and the doctors sat at one table together. The kind of team dinner he’d avoided so far. But Molly stood up and walked to meet him.
“I have a small table for the two of us over here.” The little round table sat near the front windows, allowing the last rays of this world’s sun to sneak in through the windows.
Mak used the manners he’d learned on Giroux and pulled her chair out for her. An order taker hurried over as Mak took his own seat.
Molly ordered a glass of wine and then looked to Mak. He’d eaten in such a place a few times but Acacia had always ordered for him. “Water, please.”
Molly waited until the young woman walked away. “Don’t you like wine?”
“I only tried it once. It doesn’t taste like fresh juice.”
She laughed. “No, I guess it doesn’t.” She tapped a small screen set into the wall beside the table. A list of meal options filled the screen.
Mak leaned in to look at it at the same time as she did so they bumped heads. Heat rose from his chest and climbed his neck. Molly patted his hand as if comforting a child. Mak had seen mothers treat their young the same way. Yet it still eased his embarrassment.
The foods had complicated names and the short descriptions left much to mystery. Molly pointed at one. “The Venus sampler sounds delicious.”
Mak relaxed. He would say whatever she did. He could eat almost anything. The order taker returned and set a fancy stemmed glass in front of Molly and a tall, moisture-dripping mug in front of Mak. Molly told the girl what she wanted, describing the dishes she wanted to accompany the main food. When the girl turned to Mak, he simply said he wanted the same.
Molly laughed quietly as the girl took her leave. “Do you have any idea what you just ordered?”
“It seems more like asking than ordering.” Mak noticed Corporal Box staring at him with narrowed eyes. Now why?
“Well, I guess it’s something in between.” Molly laughed again, the last rays of the sun making her hazel eyes appear lighter than usual. On the ship she always fixed her hair in a fat knot on top of her head but tonight it hung around her shoulders like it had the first day that he’d seen her. Waves, none of them quite curls, made it look even thicker than he suspected it was. Light shimmered through it when she looked over her shoulder at someone entering the café. She wasn’t an exceptionally thin woman, but the line of her neck and the delicate tilt of her chin gave her a fragile appearance. She looked at home here in the frilly restaurant even though she wore the same military-style shirt and pants as she did in the field.
“Why do you go out in the field?” With the general’s influence, she could probably do anything she wanted. Mak’s time on Giroux had educated him on politics and the way a name could open jobs for people. He’d gone on a few exploration trips with Acacia before she’d decided she wanted to teach at a university. Fieldwork was dirty, dangerous, difficult and often fruitless.
“Why do you want to know everything there is to know?” Molly leaned across the table as if she needed to see deeper into his eyes.
“Shouldn’t you answer my question first?”
“Are you lecturing me on manners, Mak?” She smiled when she said it. “I love the field, making new discoveries and seeing new planets. Hector and I have two fungi and three herbal extracts being tested in the best medical labs already.”
“Why take on this mission?”
“My father asked me to lead the investigation. He said I could keep anything I learned about immunity from whatever we found. Hector and I are screening all the blood samples we’ve collected so far. We’ll look for antibodies, natural and added.” She learned even closer. “We know that the Recon Marines have the best immune system among the population. Have you ever been sick?”
Mak hadn’t expected such a personal question but he saw no reason to not answer. “No, I haven’t.”
“It might have been in these preliminary experiments where that immunity was perfected. I hope we find their notes or records or anything that may lead us to the treatment of many devastating diseases.”
“This trip has already proven dangerous. It could get more so.”
“I know. My father trusts me to keep the army’s secrets, but he also knew how important this research could be to modern medicine. He trusts me to only use the information that deals with my field of study and destroy anything that might lead to more unethical experiments being inspired by what we find.”
The order taker brought their food, a large plate of steaming meat with a scoop of green vegetables for each of them. She set a platter of bread and cups of broth in the middle of table. The scents filled the space between them.
Molly grinned at him and then dug into her meal. They didn’t talk for long minutes while they enjoyed the savory feast. Mak had learned to love food on Giroux where he’d also discovered that whom one shared the meal with improved the experience.
“Mak,” Molly said after folding her napkin beside her plate. “I understand your need to learn, but I can’t understand why you agreed to reactivate your officer’s commission.” She reached across the table and put her hand on top of his. “Seeing those horrible labs affected you, maybe more than any of us. Why put yourself through this?”
“Your father asked me to.”
“You could have said no.”
Mak stood up. “I need to check on Pender. Thank you for sharing dinner with me.” He didn’t give her a chance to reply. He paused at a counter near the door and entered his credit ID to pay for their food. Thanks to the discovery of crystallized iron that he and the other Recon Marines had made, he had no shortage of funds.
He walked around the town, the streets mostly empty as the sky turned to purple. Thanks to two bright moons, New Venus never experienced a truly dark time. The gloomy light matched Mak’s mood. He’d thought he’d hidden the emotional blow the labs had dealt him, but Molly had noticed. The back of his hand remembered the feel of her touch. Even with Acacia, Mak didn’t think he’d ever felt a touch filled with such compassion. Molly had understood at least part of what he’d felt. He wanted her to understand it all.
****
Molly took a long hot bath, something unavailable on the science vessel. Then she wrapped herself in the thick robe the luxurious inn provided. She used her AI device to pull up a news feed and snuggled into a corner of the sofa. But her thoughts turned back to Mak and his reaction to her questions. She shouldn’t have pushed him. He wasn’t anything like she expected a Recon Marine to be.
During her years traveling around to different military posts with her father, she’d met lots of career soldiers. Many of them maintained a more stoic demeanor than Mak. When she’d first met him, she’d found him standoffish as many officers were, but if not for his uncanny physical perfection, he seemed as any other soldier. A very intelligent, efficient, multi-talented soldier. It wasn’t easy for a military man to impress her. Or to arouse sympathy in her. She wondered if Mak even knew why seeing the labs bothered him. What kind of psychological issues burdened a Recon Marine? Endless.
They’d been working so well together. She hoped she hadn’t ruined the growing ease between them. A firm knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. She nearly groaned as she stood. She’d hoped Helen and Hector wouldn’t bother her with work for this one night. They had long days on the ship to their next destination according to Mak when they could discuss and speculate on their findings. But when she opened her door Mak stood there.
His dark gaze swept over her and he took a step back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were already abed.”
“I’m not.” Molly stepped back from the door and waved him in. The room shrank when he stepped across the threshold. “I was catching up on some news.”
She led him over to the sofa. He waited until she sat down before sitting on the other end as far from her as he could be. Though he sat very still she sensed the tension in him. “Is something wrong, Mak? Is Pender all right?”
His eyebrow went up. “Pender is resting in a room down the hall.”
“Good.”
“I didn’t want to answer your questions earlier. That’s why I left our dinner so abruptly.”
“Really.” Molly bit her lip to hold back her smile.
“I will answer it for you, Dr. Molly Drant. I accepted this mission for a few reasons. The Recon Marines owe your father. Though he doesn’t speak loudly in our defense, he has worked faithfully in the legal tangles of military justice to make sure we remain free men. I was the best situated to go.”
“Situated?” Molly scooted closer to him on the sofa. Drawn to the open vulnerability on his face as much as the strength in his deep voice.
“My brothers are all involved…all newly married. I’m alone.”
He probably had no idea how those words sounded to Molly. She was close enough now to take his hand. His long strong fingers were callused against her own work-roughened hand. “That isn’t the only reason you came along.”
Mak looked at their hands, his fingers tightening on hers. “I guess I had to know where we came from. The Recon Marines figured out we were considered expendable long before we chose to disobey unlawful orders. Human life is precious to most people. But the people who created us wanted a living, thinking weapon. Our lives were not to be mourned as those of a human soldier.”
“Only a few people thought that way.”
“Only a few people knew of our existence and nearly all of them thought that way.” Mak lifted his gaze to hers. The artificial light didn’t bring out the blue in his eyes as much as sunlight did, only offering hints of color in the dark intense depths. “We weren’t human in their eyes just like those creatures we saw on Julian. We were considered as disposable but more useful. The experiments preceding ours were thrown away like broken instruments.”
“Mak, anyone who meets you knows that you are human.” Molly couldn’t imagine the emotional pain the Recon Marines could never entirely escape.
“I am a motherless, fatherless, lab-born being.” Mak looked down at their hands again, hiding whatever was in his eyes. “I have to know what my creators were thinking as they conducted their cruel experiments. Were we the epitome of their work? Were Nemon and his ilk the ultimate weapon?”
“My father believes those that created Nemon were a rogue branch of the military science division that diverged from those who worked on the Recon Marine program years before you were born.”
“And these rogues are the people we’re following?”
“Yes. We believe so.”
“And I shall find my answers.”
“Mak, I don’t think these awful, unethical people were like your creators.”
“I think they were exactly like them. Filled with arrogance as they manipulated the natural order.”
Molly didn’t think Mak would find the answers he wanted. And if he found them, they likely wouldn’t give him the closure or comfort he sought. She put her hand on his cheek and turned his gaze back to hers. “I think all people seek to find their place in the universe, their fated path.”
His eyebrow rose. “You believe in fate? I wouldn’t expect someone raised at General Drant’s side to have such fanciful notions.”
“I do believe there is a higher purpose directing our lives, guiding the choices we make.”
“Even after what we saw on Julian? Do you believe the fate of those men was determined at their birth? To be turned into nearly mindless creatures and to suffer endlessly until death catches up with them?”
“Some choice they made led them there. Perhaps they volunteered, greedy to experience superior abilities. Or they might have been condemned men who lost their personal rights and liberties because of their evil acts.”
“I can’t agree with your logic, doctor, though I also don’t know how to counter your arguments.” His eyebrow was up again, making him more handsome.
“Thank you for telling me this, Mak.” Molly ran her hand down his cheek and then around the back of his neck. She tugged his head toward her, smiling as his eyes widened.
He dropped his gaze to her lips and then she didn’t have to pull on him anymor
e. He leaned in, touching his lips to hers, light and hesitant. She stretched to meet him, pressing her lips into his. It had been a while since she’d kissed anyone, and she didn’t remember it being so…nice. Her father’s position or her intellect fended off most men. Perhaps a fearless marine was what she needed.
He ran his hand through her hair and rested it behind her head. His lips moved on hers as he held her in place. Then he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“You shouldn’t have?” Molly pulled back so he had to let go of her. “I believe we did that. You weren’t alone in that kiss.”
He blinked a few times. “Of course I wasn’t alone.”
“You don’t have to worry about my father.”
“Why would I worry about your father?”
“Because you kissed me. I won’t let him cause trouble for you.”
“Trouble for me?” Mak touched his fingers to his lips. “I thought it was a good kiss, didn’t you?”
“I enjoyed it quite a bit.”
“How is the kiss related to trouble with your father?”
Molly wanted to kiss him again. Kiss him a lot. Though he didn’t understand the reasons, the kiss was a bad idea. They had miles and miles to fly yet on their mission together. She’d never become physically involved with a member of her team before. It could interfere if she did that now, even if Mak was irresistible. Even if they were having the oddest, cutest conversation she’d ever had with a man. “I’ll explain later. Maybe when we’re done working together.”
She stood up and Mak did too. His tight uniform didn’t hide his body’s reaction to their kiss. A shiver of arousal warmed her. But now wasn’t the time though the temptation of the big soft bed sat only steps away. “I should get some sleep while we’re in port. And you need to catch up on your rest too.”
Mak looked mystified as she guided him to the door. He paused before stepping out into the hall. “I know I sometimes miss the subtleties of human conversation, but did you like kissing me or not?”
She pushed him out into the hallway. “I liked it. Way too much.” Then she closed the door in his face.
