by Ann Williams
“No.”
“No?”
“No. I work with them. They keep to their place and I keep to mine.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. Was male chauvinism alive even in the twenty-fourth century?
“But surely you’ve noticed the differences between yourself and a woman.”
Sammell stiffened. He’d noticed the differences between himself and the woman flattened against his chest.
“Relax,” Marina whispered drawing away. “This is supposed to be enjoyable—we’re having a conversation.”
“And that is good?”
“If you want to learn more about my world, it’s not only good, it’s necessary. Friends talk to each other.”
“I want to be your friend, and I would very much like to know more about your world.”
“Then do as I said. Relax.” Marina smoothed her hands down his chest, telling herself to heed her own advice. She was using him shamelessly, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself.
“Do friends stand like this—with their arms around each other?” Sammell asked.
“Yes,” she whispered, “and more.”
Moonlight had turned his hair into a silver halo around his head and made his eyes two dark pools of mystery. Her eyes moved to his mouth and she licked suddenly dry lips.
“What more?” Sammell asked huskily, his senses throbbing with the strength and feel and scent of her.
Marina felt him tremble against her, and it sent fire through every nerve in her body. There was a hunger in him that he wasn’t even aware of, and it made her heart thud like a drum. She liked the curve of his mouth, the gentleness in his eyes, the graceful strength of his hands at her waist, the feel of his growing hardness against her thigh. Suddenly becoming dizzy, she lost her footing.
Sammell jerked her tighter against him to keep her from falling. But now the strange new sensations were too much for him. Propelling her from him, steadying her while she regained her balance, he dropped his hands and climbed from the water, hastening to put on his boots and socks.
Marina stood in the water feeling embarrassed. What was the matter with her? She’d practically forced him to kiss her and now she’d driven him away.
“Hurry,” Sammell whispered tautly, crouching toward her, “there’s a patrol in the woods.”
Marina was out of the water in a flash, grabbing her shoes in one hand and reaching for Sammell’s hand with the other. Monday scampered into the clearing and Marina hesitated, torn with the thought of leaving him behind, but without the heart to take him back to the lab.
“Sam, can we leave Monday here? He belongs in these trees, not locked up in the lab. I think he’d be just as happy here as he was in Arizona. In fact, he’s probably better off here. Are there hunters here?”
“Hunters?” he asked, listening with one ear for sounds of the patrol.
“Men with guns who shoot animals for sport,” she explained.
“No,” he answered in shock. “The animals are all protected. No one is allowed to harm them.”
“Good. Then this is definitely the place for him.”
On her knees, she held out her hands and Monday ran into them. Holding him close, she explained what she was planning to do and told him a quick goodbye. Then she set him on the ground and hurried to where Sammell was waiting, holding the heavy tree branch that helped hide the small clearing from view.
“I am doing the right thing, aren’t I?”
“Yes,” Sammell assured her, “your little friend is better off here.”
Sammell led them out of the woods and along the winding path toward his cell. After a few minutes, when they had left the patrol behind, he noticed Marina was being very quiet.
“You are already missing your friend.”
“Yes. He’s all I had of home.”
“I am sorry.”
Several times in the short period it took to return to his cell, Sammell glanced curiously at Marina. To display so much feeling for another creature, and especially one not of her own kind, amazed him.
The new and strange sensations he’d been experiencing since her arrival confused and frightened him. Would a time ever come when he could give in to those feelings without guilt or misgiving?
Just for a moment, he wondered what it would be like to have Marina feel about him the way she felt about Monday. Such thoughts caused a churning in his middle, and Sammell quickly put them out of his mind.
Once safely inside his cell, they leaned against the closed door, breathing heavily. Their glances touched, tangled and parted. Both were very much aware that something had changed between them, but neither was ready to put a name to it.
“It is late.” Sammell took a quick breath and swallowed. “I am certain you are tired. I know I am. Tomorrow, after work, I will repair MDAT for your journey home.”
Marina nodded silently. Yes, it was time she went home. Before the feelings churning inside got way out of hand.
When they were inside the lab and Sammell was preparing to switch on the energy shield, he hesitated. An impossible idea had taken root in his mind and refused to be put aside. It was beyond all reason, but with Marina looking at him with those big blue eyes, he couldn’t let it go without mentioning it.
“Your world is very different from mine.”
“Yes, it is,” Marina agreed.
“But, someday, my world will be free like yours.”
“I hope for your sake that it is.”
“When that happens…do you suppose we might meet again?”
A warmth spread through Marina. “I’d like that.”
“You would?”
“Yes, very much.”
“Yes,” Sammell whispered huskily, “so would I.”
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
Sammell was in the process of changing for sleep when a soft whirring sound floated to his ears. He froze. It was the sound of a hand-held teleporter in use.
Then he remembered that he’d forgotten to turn on the Telebloc, a device that prevented teleportation directly into one’s life cell without a warning. Marina—no, he breathed a sigh of relief, she was safely concealed behind the energy shield.
“Sammell? Sammell—where are you?”
In amazement, Sammell recognized Larkin’s voice coming from the viewing room. What was he doing out at this time of night?
Exiting the room, Sammell hurried down the hall. “Larkin? What are you doing here? It is well past curfew.”
“I know, but I had to speak with you, and we never seem able to find the time at work. Besides, it is safer here, without Bartell’s guards lurking about.”
“What is so important that you chanced arrest to come here?”
“I must know what you think about the new formula I worked out for the plasma jet. Am I close to the correct answer?”
Sammell nearly fell into the trap baited by the man’s words. It was the studied glance Larkin gave him that warned him to consider his answer very carefully.
“Until we put it to the test, I cannot answer that with any degree of certainty.” He disciplined his voice to remain neutral, but Larkin was an intelligent man—very little slipped by him. “It does look good, and it’s obvious that you have worked very hard.”
“Yes,” Larkin agreed impatiently.
“Please be seated,” Sammell offered.
“No, thank you, I will stand.” Larkin moved around the room, stopping before the door to Sammell’s lab. “This is where you work at home.” It was a statement, not a question.
Sammell nodded. To his knowledge Larkin had never been in his cell. How did he know where the lab was located?
“May I have a look inside?”
Sammell hesitated. He didn’t want the other man inside the lab with Marina there, but if he refused it would look odd. Hoping Marina wasn’t asleep and would hear both their voices and remain quiet, he opened the door and preceded the other man inside.
“I see you h
ave a model of MDAT,” Larkin commented.
Sammell nodded, watching as Larkin examined the equipment.
“Of course this one has no mother board,” Larkin mused, studying the computer. “Sammell, are you satisfied with your life? Are you content to be squeezed beneath the iron fist of our government? A government that cares little about us or our real needs?”
Sammell stiffened. This was sedition. Even to discuss the government between themselves would mean termination if word of it reached Bartell’s ears.
“What do you mean?” Sammell asked.
“Come—” the other man whirled to face him “—I know you are aware of the secret drug.”
Sammell felt as though the breath had been knocked out of him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the whole population has been emasculated for nearly four hundred years. When Wyndom took over the world, he made robots of us all.”
“How do you come by such knowledge?” Sammell asked guardedly.
“The archives. Surely you know that the world archives are preserved at Government House.”
“How have you seen them? No one is allowed access to them.”
Larkin smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I am tired of doing the bidding of others. I want to live free.” He stared at Sammell through narrowed eyes. “What about you? Are you ready to be a free man?”
“Your words confuse me. Why have you come here tonight?”
“I came to warn you that Gissel and Darryn are watching you. Remember, you asked if I had seen anyone around your desk? Well, yesterday, just before I left, I caught them going through your notes. I could not tell you this at work because they listen to everything said.”
“Thank you for the warning, but I have nothing to hide.”
“No?” Larkin quirked a heavy eyebrow.
“No.”
“I know of a group who would very much like to get their hands on a working model of MDAT.”
“Who?”
“Freedom fighters. Some are descendants of those who were not exposed to the drug. Some have discovered the drug on their own. They are gathering in the hills outside the city. They work toward a common goal—freedom for all. Do you not want to be a part of that?”
“How do they plan to achieve it?” Sammell asked, ignoring the question.
Larkin drew himself up straight, his eyes darting nervously toward MDAT. “I cannot say. Not this time. Another time we will discuss more important matters. I must go now, before the patrols become concentrated near my cell.”
“Wait! What about Bartell? He expects a trial run by the end of the week. If you continue working along the same lines at work, I am certain you must hit on the right formula. How does that tie in with your desire for freedom?”
“I do not want to arouse suspicion. I must appear loyal. Just as you must appear loyal,” he added suggestively.
A moment later he was gone. Sammell stared with furrowed brow at the spot where he’d stood. What had been the purpose of his visit? Had he come to warn him about Gissel and Darryn? Or had he come to ferret out what Sammell had in his laboratory?
“Sam?”
He heard Marina call his name and hurried toward the Recep. “Is something wrong?”
“I heard voices. Did you have a visitor?”
“Yes. It was Larkin, the man I told you about from the lab.”
“The man you trust.”
“The man I would like to trust—yes.”
“What did he want?”
“I am not certain,” Sammell replied thoughtfully.
“Is he gone?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to bed now?”
“In a few minutes. First I am going to give you a device with which to call me if you need me—without having to bang anything on the floor,” he added ironically.
“That would be nice.”
He could hear the smile in her voice and knew he was smiling, too. He touched his lips with his fingers, remembering the kiss Marina had given him near the stream. Like the kiss, it felt good. A few moments later, he turned off the energy shield and handed her a small round disk. “Attach it to your clothing like this,” he said and proceeded to press it against the shoulder of her blouse. “All you have to do is rub your finger over it to speak to me, then tap it once so you can hear my reply.”
“Thank you. How far will it reach?”
“Only within the cell.”
“How did your friend get here?” she asked abruptly, curious about the man. She would have liked to be introduced to him. “Did he dodge the Gestapo the way we did?”
“Gestapo?”
“Nasty police soldiers from my past who liked to hurt people,” she explained concisely.
“Oh. No, he did not walk. He used a teleporter.”
“Teleporter?”
“Yes. It is possible to teleport anywhere within the city.”
“You don’t mean it?” she asked in amazement. “You mean in a blink of an eye you’re anywhere you want to be?”
“Yes. Would you like to try it sometime?”
“No,” she answered instantly. “Traveling through time was enough for me. Besides,” she reminded him, “I doubt I’ll be around long enough to use it. Where would I go? You said I would be arrested if anyone saw me.”
“Yes, that is correct.” But he didn’t like being reminded that she would soon be gone from his life. “It was a foolish suggestion. And now, I think I will go to bed. Tomorrow will be very busy, both at work and here in the lab.”
“Good night, Sam.”
“Good night…Marina.”
“Sam! Sam, are you there?” Marina pulled the shoulder of her blouse up against her cheek so she could speak directly into the small communication device attached to it.
“Wake up!” she whispered urgently. She was terrified. Someone must have learned about MDAT and was trying to steal it, because someone was trying to get into the lab.
How would she get home if the machine was stolen? And what had the bastard done to Sammell?
“Why don’t you answer?” she said desperately. “Someone is trying to get into the lab. Oh, God, I can hear them right outside!”
Sammell lifted an eyelid and sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Marina? Are you in distress?”
“Oh, thank God,” she cried in relief. “I was so afraid you’d been injured. Someone is trying to get into the lab!”
He was instantly alert. “I’ll be right there. Remember, you are safe from detection—”
“It isn’t me I’m worried about,” she interrupted him. “It’s MDAT…and you. Don’t do anything foolish and get yourself killed.”
Sammell paused at the side of the bed. “You would be sorry if I died?”
“Yes, of course I would. How would I get home without you?”
“Oh.”
Marina heard the disappointment in his voice and wished she had given a little more thought to her answer. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you in any case,” she amended. “We’re friends, remember?”
“Yes,” he answered gravely, “we are friends. Do not worry, I will be all right and you are safe as long as you remain quiet. Remember, no matter what happens, stay quiet.”
Marina sat on her knees, wishing she could help him. She shouldn’t have made him think she was only worried about herself. It’s just that she’d been so frightened that she didn’t know what she was saying.
The furtive sounds at the door intensified. Whoever wanted to get inside was beginning to sound desperate. They must be after MDAT. Her fear grew. What would happen to her if the time machine was stolen or destroyed? Sammell had said that if she was missing from her own time for too long, time would knit a new strand, leaving her out.
What would happen to her then? Would she belong nowhere?
Somewhere outside the room, she heard a loud clatter and the sounds at the door abruptly ceased. Where was the intruder? Where was Sammell?
/> “Sam, are you all right? Sam? Sam—answer me!” She was on her feet, considering how best to tear a hole in the wall of her prison and go to his aid.
“I am here,” Sammell answered breathlessly, righting the table he’d stumbled into.
“What happened? Did you see the intruder? Did you catch him? Are you hurt?”
“There was only one and he got away. I saw only his back as he was leaving. I am not injured, and he took nothing with him.”
Inside the lab he switched off the energy shield, and Marina rushed into his arms. They closed around her, pulling her tight against him. He could feel the rapid beat of her heart and hear the rasp of her uneven breathing and his own responded in kind.
Hugging him to her, Marina whispered against his chest, “I was so frightened for you—I thought you’d been hurt!”
“It would have mattered so much to you if I had been injured?” he asked, an odd note in his voice.
Leaning back in his arms, Marina stared into his eyes and what she saw there made her heart skip a beat. It made no sense at all, but she wanted him to go on holding her—no, she wanted him to kiss her more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.
She had wanted other men to kiss her, and they had, but… She couldn’t explain it even to herself. This man was a stranger. Yet in a sense she felt as though she’d known him all her life—no, longer than that—forever.
It was evident that he, too, was disturbed by their closeness. Evident in the twitch of an eyebrow, the sudden tightening of his jaw and the way he kept his lips pressed firmly together. Did he want to know the touch of her lips as badly as she wanted to know the touch of his?
Heeding an instinct older than time itself, Sammell’s head dipped toward hers. Marina lifted her face and closed her eyes. It was the lightest of kisses, a mere meeting of lips, but the flood of sensation it caused sent shock waves throughout her body.
She had wanted to know his kiss and now she knew. But the knowledge was more than she had bargained for. Wrenching herself from his arms, she turned away.
“I’m very tired,” she said with an edge to her voice. “I’m glad you’re unharmed and nothing was taken. Now I think I’ll say good-night.”
