Adrift (Dawson's Star Book 1)

by J. P. Larson

  “Can everyone step out now? I want to say goodbye to him before he falls totally asleep.” She ushered everyone out and closed the door, then returned to the bed.

  “They’re gone, so you can open your eyes again. You fake.”

  Alex opened his eyes and looked at her brightly. “I’m losing my touch. Actually, I think I’m going to want a little help falling asleep, if you can do a normal sleep instead of a coma. After we talk.”

  “After we talk. I’ll take care of this for you, Alex.”

  “Pamela, if something is wrong and you can’t communicate with my father, you have to come back and get me. Promise me. I’m pretty sure there are tons of little surprises left. That’s one nasty little program I wrote. And don’t try to fix the ship. Just get everyone out, leave the ship where it is, and we’ll deal with it when I’m healthy. Don’t touch a thing. It’s booby trapped like crazy.”

  “I’ll handle it, Alex. You’re in no shape to travel.”

  “Promise me you won’t touch the ship if you’re not communicating with my father.”

  Pamela just looked sternly at him.

  “Pamela, I have something else I need to ask you, but I won’t ask until I hear that promise. We can sit here all night while you be stubborn.”

  “Alex, I promise I won’t touch the ship without communicating with your father. If I can’t do that, I’ll come back and get you. I’ll get them off, and we’ll come back here.”

  “Thank you, Pamela. I have a request. It’s a big request.”

  “I’m not feeling generous right now. You don’t trust me.”

  “No? Will you hear my request?”

  “Yes, Alex. What do you want?”

  “I know this is supposed to be a marriage of convenience. I know we’re supposed to get it annulled when you get your own ship. But in the meantime, while we’re in DS space, you have some fairly significant responsibilities to me, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Alex. And not just in DS space.”

  Alex smiled. “Good. I think one of your responsibilities should be figuring out a way to make the marriage work like a real marriage. A permanent marriage. Knowing who and what I am.”

  Pamela also started to smile, then leaned down and kissed him. He felt her tickling his mind while she did it. It was a long kiss. When she was done, she pulled away and looked at him.

 

 

  Pamela laughed. “You’re funny. Do you still want to go to sleep now?”

  “If you could. I think your mother intends to start that chat right now. I’m not up for it.”

  Pamela chucked again.

  * * *

 

 

 

  Alex opened his eyes. His mother and his mother-in-law were seated in chairs on either side of his bed. Alex reached up and fingered the necklace around his neck, making sure it was still there.

  “How did you do that?”

  “You have a lot to learn, Alexander. That’s my daughter’s necklace. It’s an effort for me, but not all that difficult.”

  “Any word?”

  “They’ve only been gone about six hours. We won’t hear anything before tomorrow. Probably not until very late.”

  “You’ll tell me, even if you have to wake me? The moment you hear?” Elizabeth nodded assent.

  “We want to talk to you, Alex,” said his mother. “We’re both concerned.”

  “I promise. I’ll eat all my vegetables, even the icky hospital ones.”

  Elizabeth looked at Julie. “Is he always this mouthy and disrespectful?”

  “When he’s not, you know he’s making trouble. Either he’s acting like his father, or else he’s acting like me. The combination is quite scary.”

  “Thank you, Mother, for that kind word.”

  She smiled. “You’re welcome. Now, as I was saying…”

  “Julie,” interrupted Elizabeth. “Alexander seems like a rather blunt person. Perhaps he would prefer if we were blunt in return.” Julie nodded. “Alexander, what are your intentions towards my daughter?”

  Alex looked at the two of them for a moment, then started to giggle. “Ouch. Oh gawd, that hurts. Don’t make me laugh.” He looked at them. “You want to know if I’m going to make an honest women out of her?” He jangled his wrists. “I think I already did that part.”

  “We’re serious, Alex,” said his mother. “We’ve both noticed the way you two look at each other. And Pamela appeared especially dreamy when she left last night.”

  Alex thought for a moment, looking back and forth between them. “I asked her to find a way to make it work. I told her I considered it her responsibility.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She kissed me. Then she said we would figure something out together.”

  “Alexander, you told her this was her responsibility?” Elizabeth looked upset. Alex nodded quietly. “You’ve just ruined her career.”

  Alex thought before he opened his mouth. “Do you think that’s ‘making it work’? Pamela strikes me as being resourceful. And, well…”

  “And you’re obviously very resourceful yourself.” Elizabeth still was upset.

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand,” said Alex’s mother.

  “Pamela wants her own ship,” said Alex. “DS ships don’t have mixed crews. And I can’t live here and play the house husband. And DS husbands definitely don’t go off galavanting around the stars without their wives.”

  “Elizabeth, is command of a ship a stepping stone to politics?”

  “For some. Not for my daughter. She wants a career and advancement. She’s the first officer aboard Jane’s Gift, so the next step is her own ship.”

  Julie smiled. “Would it have to be a DS ship?”

  “That has possibilities, Julie,” said Elizabeth. “Maybe we should go back to my office and discuss this further.”

  “Mother?”

  “You lie still and heal, Alex.”

  “Elizabeth?”

  “You heard your mother, Alexander.”

  “You haven’t fixed the problem.”

  “He’s being mouthy again, Julie. Should I make him go back to sleep?”

  “I’m sure that won’t be necessary. When he’s mouthy, at least he’s not causing mischief.”

  They both looked at him for a moment. “Alex, we haven’t forgotten about you,” Julie assured him. “But tell me, is being captain of your own ship all that important to you? You never complain, but I know the Pride is a bit small for you. And you’ve indicated in the past you don’t want to command a crew; you’ve turned your father down a dozen times on that issue. Has any of this changed?”

  Alex shook his head.

  “Well then, do you think maybe there’s room for you on a ship captained by Pamela?”

  Elizabeth made some suggestions. “Security, tactical, and assistant finance, perhaps?”

  Alex looked at her. “Why ‘assistant’?”

  “You lack some of the obvious advantages Kari Waters has, Alexander.”

  “Ah. If I’m such a bad negotiator, how come I continue to keep so many people hopping around me?” He smiled. “And Pamela and I, it turns out, make a phenomenal negotiating team. Security, tactical and finance.”

  Elizabeth smiled back. “We can talk about it later,” she told him.

  “I’m done negotiating,” Alex said.

  “So this is what you really want?” his mother asked.

  “I think it’s perfect.”

  “There are more details to work out,” said Elizabeth. “My daughter is going to want some of her cousins with her. A mixed crew could be probl
ematic.”

  “I’m sure you two will think of something.”

  “Alex…” said his mother sternly.

  “Please, I would really appreciate it.”

  The two women looked at each other, then turned to Alex and smiled. A terrible thought formed in Alex’s head. “I was just out-negotiated.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, your father wouldn’t even have noticed.” Julie patted his hand.

  “If I had any other solutions, any at all, I could actually be upset about it,” admitted Alex.

  “The best negotiations,” explained Elizabeth, “are ones in which everyone wins.”

  “Well, Prime Minister,” said Alex’s mother, “shall we return to your office and see what other points of interest we can talk about?”

  “Why yes, Prime Minister,” replied Elizabeth. “That sounds like an excellent suggestion.” She rested her hand on the machine wrapped around Alex’s lower half. “I believe we may have some technology you may be interested in licensing.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” said Julie. “I haven’t seen a lot of results yet.”

  Elizabeth looked at Alex. “Alexander, I trust you don’t intend to make my daughter remain married to a cripple.”

  “Oh, that sounded politically correct, Prime Minister,” said Alex.

  Elizabeth looked at Julie. “However, I do believe you’re going to see some very dramatic effects. I believe the patient will be well-motivated to do his therapy.”

  “No one motivates Alex as well as he motivates himself, Elizabeth,” Julie explained. “I think you can count on him wearing through several therapists.”

  * * *

 

 

 

  “Pamela? You’re back?”

 

 

 

 

  The door to his room opened, allowing light from the corridor to flow in. Alex squinted as several figures entered the room.

  “I’m impressed, Son,” said his father.

  “Oh, thank god! And Linda?”

  “You owe me an apology, Alex,” said Linda. “You lied to me.”

  “When?”

  “When you said you were in the reserves. You made it sound like you were some kind of cadet.”

  “Never said I was in the reserves. I said you could think of it as the reserves.”

  “I think you owe me a more complete explanation,” she told him.

  “It’s no big deal. I help train some of the units.” Alex closed his mouth, then looked around.

  “Which units?”

  Alex looked at his father. “Admiral?”

  “He trains the hostage extraction teams, Ms. Dawson.”

  “It’s not a full-time job,” Alex said. “And mother thinks it’s time for me to try something else.”

  Pamela looked at him. “You train the people who rescue hostages? And that means?”

  “That I’m better than the best? It’s no big deal. Keep in shape, shoot straight, run fast. It’s not hard.”

  “So when he told you that you’ve done better than 21 bodies?”

  “He was serious. My old record was 22.”

  “And it looks like it’s going to stand at 22, Alex. You’ll walk again. You might even dance. But your hostage rescue days are over.”

  “But Dad, you didn’t count right. It wasn’t 21. It was 23.”

  “We counted very carefully. There were 21 bodies on board the Avenger, including that woman.”

  “You forgot the two I sent back here on the Pride.”

  “Oh, I don’t think those two count, Son. They weren’t dead.”

  “Two bodies, all locked up nice and tight in the galley, waiting for the authorities? Plus the ship they tried to pirate? I think it counts.”

  Linda and Pamela exchanged looks. “We go with Alex on this one. 23, Admiral.”

  Alex smiled, looking back and forth between his father and Linda. “Heck, I could make an argument for 25.”

  “Don’t push your luck, Alex,” Pamela told him. “They weren’t having a very good time.”

  “Did you have to play with the environmental controls like that?” Linda glared at him. “First it was burning hot. Two minutes later, we’re freezing.”

  “Oh. I had forgotten about that little trick. Well, it’s your own fault. Especially yours, Dad.”

  “How is that?”

  “You climb into a ship you knew, quite dramatically knew that I had booby trapped, and you don’t ask me about it first?” Alex shook his head. “I expect the witches to underestimate me. Heck, I count on it. But you, Dad? For shame.”

  He leaned back in his bed with a smug smile.

 

  Pamela turned to Linda and Arthur. “You two could use a cleanup and some sleep. Linda, can you see the Admiral gets home properly? You know the way to Mom’s.”

  Everyone said their goodbyes, and the room began to empty.

 

 

 

  Pamela moved back to the bed, eyed Alex and all the gear for a minute, then managed to lie down on the bed next to him. It was awkward, and she couldn’t sleep like this, but she could cuddle for a few minutes.

 

 

 

  “Alex, will you wear the necklace and bracelets?”

  “For you.”

  “Forever. Even when we go visit your parents?”

 

 

 

  Pamela laughed. “She doesn’t say the same thing about you.”

  “Is that a problem? I like pushing her buttons.”

  Pamela caressed his arm for a moment before speaking. “Actually? I don’t know. She complains. You shock her terribly. But she might think of you as a challenge. She’s going to work on you, you know.”

  “You tell me if I need to back off, okay?”

  “If you don’t do it in public and don’t embarrass her in front of friends, she’ll probably be amused.”

 

 

  Alex smiled. “You would do that for me? Give up your chance at command?”

  “Yes, Alex.”

 

  Pamela laughed.

 

 

 

  Recuperation

  “Mr. Grey! What are you doing?”

  “Hello, Nurse Anders.”

  “Mr. Grey! Stop that behavior.”

  “But Nurse, I’m just doing my physical therapy. But I tell you, these exercises aren’t very effective. I could use some better ones. Think you could help me on that? I haven’t exactly had a lot of training in flat-on-my-back calisthenics.”

  “Mr. Grey, you are not scheduled for physical therapy, and you’re in no condition to start any on your own. Now stop this beha
vior immediately.”

  Alex leaned back in his bed, breathing deeply. He looked at the nurse. “Nurse, I need exercise. I’m going nuts here, and my body isn’t going to get stronger if I just lay here. I can barely move around, I don’t feel well, my leg really, really hurts, and I need to exercise.”

  The nurse softened her expression. “You don’t have to turn down the pain killers.”

  “They make me groggy, which I hate a lot worse than the pain. If I don’t exercise, it’s going to be that much harder when I finally get this machine off me. Please, get me some weights or something. Anything. Or I’ll make up my own exercises like I’ve been trying. But I bet you know things I can be doing that won’t cause any damage.”

  She stepped up to the bed and puttered for a minute, then looked at him. “If I agree to help you, will you agree to limit yourself to the schedule I set?”

  “No. You’ll make up a few silly exercises that barely get my blood moving. But I’ll agree not to exceed a schedule that we set together.”

  “If you lie still and don’t cause any trouble, I’ll talk to your doctor, then get a physical therapist up here. I’m quite sure the therapist can push you a lot harder than you care to be pushed.”

  Alex thought about it for a moment. “You’ll have someone here this afternoon?”

  “Yes, unless the doctor absolutely forbids it.”

  “If she does, she can explain why to my wife.”

  “Of course. And your wife will explain why to you, and you’ll do what you please.”

  Alex smiled. “I guess we all understand each other.”

  “And I won’t change your sweaty, chilling sheets. Think you could do it yourself?”

  Alex’s smile faded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was causing you more work.”

  “I don’t mind the work, Mr. Grey. I want you to get well so you can get out of my hospital.”

  Alex smiled again. “Well, we have the same goal, then. I’m sure we can come to an agreement. I’ll behave.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Grey. I’ll send someone in to bathe you and change your sheets.”

  “I hate being a baby. Can’t even take a proper shower.”

  She patted his hand. “I know. Be patient.”

  * * *

  “What is all this stuff, Alex?”

  “Welcome to The Barbarian’s Gym, Pamela. Do you like it? Hi, Mom, Mom-in-Law.”