by Susan Kelley
“Did you see where they went?”
“No, sir. Sergeant Rivers sent me and three others to reinforce our men here when the alarms went off.”
“Stay there and hold that position. We’re bringing a casualty to you shortly.” Edow looked at Mak, a question in his eyes.
“After I go in the tunnel, close it behind me. Station at least three men here with guns on full auto.”
“You just told me not to send my men in there after them. Shouldn’t we be looking for where they’ll emerge?”
“You’re not sending your men. You’re sending me. And call your pilots. Get your ships in the air or they might try to take one.”
Edow cursed and shouted into his radio. Mak went to the tunnel, wishing for quiet but not likely to get it. Loren barked orders at men to get a gurney. Mak tried to put Molly’s condition out of his mind but the taste of her cold lips remained with him. And the cold lit a fire inside him. Never in the midst of the fiercest battle that he’d ever fought in had he experienced a killing fever. But it raged through him now.
Mak sniffed the air. The odor of burned metal from weapons’ fire lingered. The tunnel ran straight for about twenty feet before it became a down staircase. The walls and floor were bare, gray metal lit by the faint glow of a light strip running along the middle of the ceiling.
He stepped over the threshold, seeing no controls on this side of the door. Unless it worked by remote they had needed Shear to open it from her side. She’d planned well. Likely her useless flight from Edow’s men had been a ruse for her additional giants to hide and prepare to free her. They’d never had a proper idea of how many giants she had, only assuming they’d all fled with her. Shear might even had suggested the conference room for her questioning.
“Take care, marine.” Edow hit the knob and the door slid shut behind Mak.
Silence filled the narrow hallway. Mak made for the stairs, glancing at each step before he put his foot down on it. Hopefully Shear and her men had fled too quickly to leave traps behind. A long straight hallway stretched from the bottom of the stairs into a dim distance. He heard nothing.
Jogging now, Mak passed two more sets of stairs. If he judged correctly, one led to the infirmary and the other possibly to the training room. Ahead of him the hall ended at another set of steps. It should take him into the hangar not far from the visible entrance. He paused at the bottom. Steps made good places for traps. He found it on the third step from the bottom. A flat pressure charge, the same color as the metal. A man in a hurry wouldn’t notice it.
Careful examination revealed only the one. A small landing at the top of the stairs held a tall ladder built into the wall. It lead up to a trapdoor. Damn. A difficult exit if guarded. The weapon belt he’d borrowed held three grenades, one a sensory shock shell. Taking the grenade in one hand and tucking his pistol away, Mak climbed the ladder. At the top he braced his knees against the sides of the ladder and eased the door open. He flipped the activating switch on the grenade and rolled it out, closing the door to protect himself from the light and sound attack. The door rattled, and Mak shot through it before it settled.
Nobody waited for him. The remnants of the ships Mak had destroyed still filled the hangar though most of it had been gathered into towering piles of twisted metal. He found two of Edow’s soldiers near the normal entrance door, both dead. Broken necks. They hadn’t stood a chance against the giants and neither would Mak if they got their hands on him. He unslung the rifle and jogged toward the front of the hangar.
Transports and hovercraft sat there in ordered readiness. He glided between them, using them as cover. He heard voices behind him as more of Edow’s men exited the lab and came up the main steps. They cursed when they stumbled upon the bodies of their comrades.
Mak moved into the open so they could see him. He gave them hand signals for silence and motioned them forward to fall in behind him. He didn’t want them going off on their own and stumbling into Shear and her men. Together they moved out of the hangar and into the grass.
A large area of the plains had been trampled by Edow’s men and flattened by the captain’s ships. Ships once again aloft and hovering over the area. It took a lot of fuel to keep a big ship like the carrier airborne in low atmosphere.
Shear and her four men stood out in the plains below the ships. One of the giants aimed an engine disrupter shoulder cannon at the carrier. Incredibly bold or simply dumb to try and capture such a large armed vessel. The giant with the weapon moved a few steps to the right in search of a better firing position.
Mak motioned for the six men with him to take cover behind the ship scraps along the hangar opening. He lifted his borrowed rifle and knelt on one knee to aim. The four hundred yard distance didn’t challenge him but the first shot had to count. The whine of the supersonic round pierced the quiet and hung in the air until the bullet hit the electronic power unit of the cannon. It exploded, shredding the weapon and the man holding it. Shrapnel sliced into the other enemies but only the first one fell.
Shear shouted something to her remaining three men. The giants lifted their rifles. Mak dove and rolled. Bullets tore into the turf where he’d knelt moments before.
Edow’s men returned fire. One of them called out to Mak. “Are we shooting to kill, sir?”
Mak didn’t know Edow’s orders about that but he knew what he wanted. “Yes.”
It took a lot of bullets to put the big men down. A ricochet slightly wounded one of Edow’s men during the loud exchange. But within three minutes of the first shot all the giants sprawled on the turf.
“Circle them, even spacing.” The men followed Mak’s orders, spreading out and approaching from all directions. Mak motioned for them to hold at ten yards distance from the enemy. “Weapons ready.”
Mak approached the slaughter alone. The giants had used their bodies to protect Shear. She huddled behind their massive form, clutching her bleeding thigh.
“I guess you think you’ve won, marine,” she spat at Mak. “But once people read my research and understand what I’ve accomplished they’ll demand that the military allows me to continue.”
Mak looked at the dead men, their thick bodies riddled by multiple wounds. Their thick slabs of muscle barely looked human. He could see scarring on their skulls where this crazy woman had invaded the sanctity of their minds and redesigned their beings. He checked the giants for life before waving the soldiers to join them. “Two of you take charge of Dr. Shear. We’ll take her to a holding cell and then scour the entire facility. Someone radio the captain and tell him what’s happened. I advise him to keep his ships in the air until we’re done.”
It took five hours to clear the entire area to Mak’s satisfaction. They used hand held heat detectors inside the underground parts while the star cruisers scanned outside and the surrounding one hundred miles. The entire time, half of Mak’s thoughts remained with Molly undergoing emergency surgery. Maybe more than half his thoughts.
Mak led the exploration of the tunnels beneath the lab after removing the trap on the steps. They found a room below holding various armament and food to last for months. Mak ordered the men not to touch anything until bomb and chemical sniffers checked for traps.
After they finished Mak had nothing to occupy his mind except his fear for Molly. He waited in the hall outside the infirmary with Captain Edow keeping him company. A half hour of pacing felt like walking forty miles before Dr. Loren emerged.
Loren smiled. “She’ll be fine. Between the supplies on the ship and what they had here I had everything needed. I fixed up the internal injuries and expect no complications. Recovery will be complete though it might take a few weeks.”
Mak felt light-headed for a moment. His words tangled his tongue. “May I see her?”
“She’s still asleep, but there’s no reason why you can’t sit with her. I don’t expect her to wake for a few hours yet.” Loren led Mak to a curtained alcove in the back of the infirmary and left him there.
&nbs
p; Molly’s face looked less pale though it might have been the dim lighting. Mak pulled a chair close to her bedside and took her hand, so small and fragile, in his. For a long time he just watched her breathe. He counted the time between exhalations. It took five minutes of observation before he convinced himself she was doing all right. Then he put his forehead on the blanket beside her arm and finally let his tension go.
Relaxing the hold on his fears broke apart a barrier that had never been breached. He didn’t understand the burning behind his eyes until the wetness overflowed and dripped into the blankets.
Chapter Twenty-One
Molly moved stiffly around her quarters, stowing away her work clothing. Even six weeks later any quick movement tugged at the scar tissue she couldn’t see inside her body. Her energy levels had returned to normal. She needed every bit of it as she’d spent every waking moment immersed in all the data they’d compiled from the mission. It might take years to organize it into something readable by anyone other than the most brilliant scientific minds. Some parts would never be clear unless Helen cooperated and filled in the blanks.
The dreaded face-to-face meeting with Helen dominated the schedule later in the day. Molly and her father had arrived on Mossy seven hours earlier along with a select group of politicians and military leaders. They’d been ushered to quarters prepared for them by Captain Edow.
Edow remained in charge of securing the lab facility and overseeing the prisoner, Helen Shear. The last time Molly had seen the captain, he’d had his wounded arm in a sling and appeared distraught at Molly’s more serious injuries.
Molly had awakened from her surgery to find herself already half a day from Mossy in a star cruiser flown by Box and Pender on her way back to civilization. Hector had accompanied her and fussed over her night and day. She appreciated his care but it didn’t make up for what was missing. Who was missing. Mak had stayed behind to help Edow on Mossy, and he hadn’t been present to greet her return.
Some women might have doubted him but Molly didn’t. She knew he’d been ordered to assist Edow, and she also trusted he wouldn’t have if he’d thought her still in danger. She just missed him. It’d been too long since he’d held her in his arms. She didn’t want to see him for the first time in front of the investigative committee and her father.
“Are you ready?” Hector asked from the open door. “They’re gathered in the conference room.”
She shivered. “The same conference room. I take it there will be adequate guards about?”
Hector led the way down the hallway. “Mak will be there. It would take a brigade to get by him and at you.”
Molly’s reluctance to enter the room vanished at the thought of finally seeing Mak again. Hector opened the door and allowed her to enter first. And there he stood.
Mak had his back to the secret panel, his stare focused on her. Everything she’d hoped and dreamed of seeing in his eyes shone at her. He’d said he loved her and his gaze proved it. His stare swept her from head to toe, warming her further with the lingering concern.
“Sit here, Dr. Drant.” Captain Edow gestured at a chair on her father’s right hand.
Molly tore her gaze from Mak though she sensed his still on her. Not even the attention of all the important people gathered in the room could dilute the warmth of Mak’s presence on her.
Her father cleared his throat. “I’ve explained the reasons behind our secrecy on your mission. Before you entered, we’d just agreed that your team will continue their work here while we handle the information on our end. Dr. Shear will remain here until you finish interviewing her. Then she’ll return to face trial as a traitor and likely multiple other felony counts.” Her father looked troubled as he glanced at others around the table. “I’m not even sure we have laws to cover some of the heinous experiments she’s supervised.”
Relieved her father had taken care of all the negotiating duties before she arrived, Molly spent the next hours answering questions by the investigative team members after Edow’s men escorted a sullen Helen out of the room. Before leaving, many of the investigators came up to her one by one, asking about her health, thanking her for her service and wishing her luck in the vast endeavor of making order of the mess.
After all the members left, Molly’s father nodded at Dane Edow. “Could you leave me alone with my daughter, captain? You stay, marine.”
“Yes, sir.” Edow closed the door after he left, giving Molly a small smile.
“Mak, join us at the table. I’m sure my daughter would like to sit down and rest.”
“I’m fine, Father.” Molly saw the wariness in Mak’s eyes though he probably appeared unemotional to her father.
“This mission started in a room very much like this one with the three of us sitting around a table.” Her father, looking very much the general in his field uniform, glared at Mak. “At that time, lieutenant, I gave you some specific orders. One of them I’m sure you failed to follow and I suspect you blatantly disobeyed another one.”
“Father,” Molly started, but her father raised his hand to stop her.
“This is between me and my subordinate officer. Now answer me, lieutenant, before I decide what charges I should press against you.”
“Yes, sir.” Mak met the general’s stare with a calm one of his own. Few men could manage such a feat. “I failed to keep your daughter safe as you ordered me. I have no excuse, sir.”
“Agreed,” her father growled back.
“As to your other order, sir, to keep my hands off your daughter, I did disobey that.” Mak leaned a bit toward the general, a daring move. “As you are well aware, sir, such an order is not lawful. Your daughter is an independent adult citizen. You have no authority to order me away from her person.”
“I have the authority of being her father.” The glare became darker still.
Mak sat back. “I don’t understand the full rights and responsibilities of fatherhood, sir, but the best thing you can do for your daughter is to not stand between us.”
Molly’s surprise didn’t quite match her father’s shock.
“What the hell do you mean?” her father blurted.
“Molly is the most intelligent woman I’ve ever met. She might be the smartest person in the universe. Only an intelligent man can keep her happy. I’m not the equal of her intelligence quotient, but I’m close enough that I won’t have trouble conversing with her or understanding her work. She’s also one of the bravest people I’ve ever worked with combined with a determined nature to explore and discover every scientific secret still out there. She needs a companion who can protect her and enjoys the travel and adventure as much as she does.”
Her father stared at Mak like he saw a deformed alien. He looked more bemused than angry. “Well, that’s more words than I’ve ever heard a Recon Marine speak at one time. I can tell you put a lot of thought into that little speech. But you really don’t understand fatherhood since you didn’t include the words I need to hear.”
Mak didn’t hesitate. “I love her and will never leave her as long as I breathe.”
The general stared at him for a long moment and then turned to Molly. “What do you have to say about this man’s vows, Molly?”
“I love him and always will, father. And I like him. He’s smart and doesn’t feel intimidated by my intelligence or my independent spirit.” She put her hand on top of her father’s. “And he’s so very brave and not intimidated by my father either. Think of the grandchildren you’ll have.”
Her father blinked, his dear eyes moist. Then he took a deep breath and picked up Molly’s hand. He tugged it across the table and set it on Mak’s hand. “Then by the power given by my position, I pronounce you wedded under military law. When you’re finished on Mossy, you will report to my wife and arrange a civil ceremony and all the sparkling celebrations that includes.”
Now Mak looked amazed. “We’re married?”
Molly’s father stood up and offered Mak his hand. “Welcome to the family
, son.”
Mak rose, his manner now hesitant after his earlier courage. “Thank you, sir. I….”
“You didn’t expect this?”
“No, sir. I expected more of a battle.”
“I need a moment alone with my daughter, lieutenant. I have some private words for her.”
Mak gave Molly a look that told her he didn’t want to leave her, but he nodded at the general and left.
Molly waited until the door closed behind Mak before hugging her father. “Thank you. You’ve made me very happy.”
He returned the hug, being careful of her injury. “You should thank me. I know you have an exceptional mind, girl, but your father is pretty clever also.”
Molly stepped back and caught the big grin on her father’s face. “Are you saying you were playing matchmaker?”
“Well, I do want those grandchildren. Your mother and I despaired at you finding a man who you didn’t tire of after two dates. I wasn’t sure there was a man strong enough and intelligent enough to satisfy you. When Joe Adell suggested Mak assist with this mission, it seemed like fate.”
Molly laughed. “I won’t tell anyone. What if your officers found out what a hopeless romantic you are?”
“Not a romantic, dear. I’m like you. This was the most sensible, pragmatic solution to my concerns.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Be happy, sweetheart.”
****
Mak waited in Molly’s room, still reeling from her father’s surprising actions. She was his wife, real and legally. They would be together, always.
He heard her footsteps in the hallway and then she was there. She walked into his arms without hesitation.
“I’ve missed you, husband.”
Mak couldn’t speak so he kissed her. The first taste of her lips relieved all the stress of the past weeks. All the sleepless hours worrying about her. The cold bed without her warm body beside his. The cold, cruelty of the illegal lab without her understanding presence soothing his distress.
