by Annalise
They’d only taken four steps down when the sounds of heavy boots filled the concrete shaft, echoing around them. From below. Coming up.
Double shit.
Link pulled her back to the landing.
They faced two choices: up, or a large, waist-high, sliding panel in the wall. She chose the panel.
“This way,” she said, hooking Miller’s arm as her eyes went wide and her head began a negative, fear-filled shake.
Link, good soldier, just followed her to the panel she indicated. He slid it open to reveal a chute. She grinned. As she had hoped, they now had a shortcut to their destination.
Without having to say a word or ask a question, Link gave a nod. Together, they heaved Miller into the chute. Her yelp echoed as she disappeared.
Evans followed, feet first. Link came sliding after her. His greater mass propelled him into her. They skidded along together, buffeting from side to side in the close quarters, slimy stuff speeding their progress, slicking their hands and bodies. Evil odors gagged her.
Their limbs entangled and they fell from the chute into a huge bin, landing like lovers locked in an embrace. Miller squealed and thrashed beneath them.
The thunder of the compacters hammered inside her head. She couldn’t change the volume on her headset. It must have been damaged in the wild ride down. She yanked the mesh helmet off and discarded it as Link tossed Miller up and out of the bin.
Then he sagged against the side of the bin. Evans felt as if she was running in a low-grav trainer as she struggled to reach him through the thigh-deep refuse.
“Out,” he ordered.
It was clear to her his strength was gone. If he tossed her over the high side, he’d never make it out himself. The thunder of the compacter grew louder. Their bin jerked forward on the unseen track, spilling them both back onto debris she refused to think about.
“Out,” he ordered again.
“I outrank you. Get your fabulous hard-ass over. Now.”
He shook his head. “You first.” He linked his fingers and held out his hands for her to step on. They trembled so hard, the shakes ran up his arms to his shoulders.
“No. You’ll never make it,” she shouted. “Now, get over the side, soldier.”
They stood a moment, the crash of the compacting hammering closer.
“The wall.” The compacter was so loud she only saw the words form on his lips.
They turned and attacked the side of the bin as they might have the famous climbing wall in basic training. She felt every muscle in her upper body scream in protest.
She dragged herself up, hooked a foot over the edge and teetered on the lip. Every muscle in Link’s arms bulged and quivered as he fought to make it. She reached over and grabbed the neck of his ill-fitting uniform. His weight strained the fabric. It tore, just as they both heaved and he gained the lip.
They fell out together. Miller cowered on the slick poly floor, cradling her wrist.
“Move,” Link shouted over the din.
They stumbled into the bright sunlight, Evans first, her dart gun once more locked and loaded. The sudden silence was like a blow.
She dragged Miller along as if she was still a hostage. Link slid along the wall on the other side of the alley.
When they reached the street, she saw why it had been all so easy.
Standing in full UV gear, armed, were a half-dozen Palace guards. They stood grouped in the middle of the street, ready to pick them off.
One guard stepped forward. Her dark full visor concealed her face but not her voice.
“We’re only armed with tranq,” she said. “There’s no reason to make a scene.”
Indeed, Evans could see some faces pressed against the glass windows of the building across the street. Several PFs buzzed lower for a look.
The woman raised her weapon and sighted on Link. “He’s wanted back. Step away from him and I’ll take him down easy.”
Evans stepped in front of Link.
Chapter 24
“Shit,” Link said and tried to shove her aside.
Thank God his strength is close to done, Evans thought with half her brain. The other half focused on the guard’s hands.
“I’m not moving,” she said.
“So I’ll tranq you first,” the guard countered.
Evans looked up as one of a growing number of flyers on the block buzzed a little lower. She had time to register the black insignia of a guest shuttle before it rose again.
“You’ll have to,” she said. “I’m not giving him up.”
Link lifted her bodily and set her to one side. “Let the women go.”
“Not likely.”
The guards raised their weapons.
One of the buzzing PFs swooped straight down, sweeping its jet wash over the guards. The sudden deep shadow and swirl of air scattered the men like dust from a probe’s landing gear.
“Anything I can do to help?” Brad flung the door to Link’s PF wide open, the skids hovering an inch from the pavement.
The guards scrambled to their feet as he leapt down.
“Just in time to save your ass. Nice view of it, too, buddy,” Brad said to Link as he helped the injured Miller aboard.
“Right on schedule, lieutenant,” Evans said with a grin. Link’s uniform was split right down the back from collar to inseam. She patted his bare ass as they climbed in behind Brad.
Brad slid into the pilot’s seat and began tapping the controls. The flyer rose into the air. She saw the guards running for The Palace entrance. A roller of local police pulled up.
“Go! Go! Go!” Link urged as Brad boosted the flyer.
She settled into Link’s embrace, slipping a hand behind him and into the ripped back of his uniform, placing her palm flat against the heat of his skin.
* * * * *
Link didn’t quite make it on his own from the PF to the base med center where Brad flew them. They carried him away on a stretcher—just to preserve his dignity, Brad teased, though Evans could read the concern in his eyes as they walked by Link’s side.
The Secretary’s physician gave her a harassed look when he arrived, but soon returned to reassure her.
“He’ll be in lousy shape for a few days. Another strange reading. Looks like the old W54, but also like Q10. Very weird. I suggest you people choose your parties with a little more care. Make sure you always know your host and the other guests, and be careful of what you eat and drink,” he advised before he bustled away.
She took a deep breath and had a sudden qualm that she must look like shit, but she eased through the door to Link’s room anyway.
He was covered to the chin with a snow-white heat sheet, but his eyes opened when she touched his shoulder.
“You know what the first thing is we’re going to do when I get the hell out of here?” he said.
“Make love?” She searched under warm sheet for his hand. His skin was cold. He had dark smudges around his eyes.
“No. We’re getting you enrolled in a fucking electronics course. I can’t believe you made lieutenant colonel without knowing how to re-route a simple signal. Or patch in a visual—”
“Shut up,” she said and covered his mouth with hers.
Chapter 25
Link went through a painful withdrawal from the paralysis drug. He suffered from spasms of cramps in his arms and legs throughout the night.
Evans had upgraded him to a general’s level of accommodation back at the headquarters hotel and charged it to Homeland Security. They’d both choked with laughter when she said the word “upgrade” to the hotel receptionist.
But now, she sat beside him as he lolled in the deep pool of steaming water, currents massaging his aching muscles, worried at his continued weakness.
She stripped and put one toe into the hot water. Sweat beaded his face and ran down his chest. The tiled chamber was fragrant with the healing oil the Secretary’s physician had supplied.
“This is a bit too hot for me.” She sat on
the cold tile near his head, her legs in the water.
He leaned over and kissed the mole on her inner thigh. “I won’t be long. Just sit here by me.”
“Sure. We need you hale and hearty.”
“Why? So your boss and mine can ream us out? You’ll get lambasted for disobeying a direct order and brandishing—not to mention discharging—a military weapon in civilian territory, and I’ll get knocked a rank for blowing a mission for another service.”
She stroked the damp hair from his brow. “Do you mind terribly?”
He grinned up at her. “How could I? You saved my life. What’s a rank or two?”
“But Mars, Link. You love Mars. Losing a rank might ground you. You’d hate being dirtbound.”
He threaded his fingers through hers, turned and rose from the water. He brought her fingers to his lips. “I know only one place I want to be. With you. No matter where that is. I love you enough to follow you wherever you go.”
She kissed him. “You’re not well enough to go anywhere.”
“I think I can get as far as that bureau where they do those old-fashioned life partnership, marriage things. I know I can, if you’ll help me along.”
“Oh, Link.” She slid into the water, into his embrace, oblivious now to the heat of the water.
He kissed the top of her head. “I have to have you tied to me. Officially. Forever. Like the next seventy or eighty years. Maybe longer, if the fates are good to us.”
Her breath felt tight in her chest. Tears filled her eyes. She dashed them away. “Must be the steam,” she said.
He lifted her chin. “I’m hoping it’s tears. Maybe something I’ve said touched you? Got through the tough woman who broke me out of that hell-hole.”
She kissed him hard, tears running down her cheeks. “That was some mind-fuck.”
Water beaded his body. One drop hung on his nipple and she touched her tongue to it. It was salty. She buried her face against his chest. “I love you, Link.”
He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed, heedless of their wet skin or the fine linens. She lay back and reached up to encircle his neck with her arms. She kissed him, dueling his tongue, feasting on his breath.
“I love you, too, Sara,” he whispered, tracing her nose and cheeks with his fingertips. “And you have to marry me. What if I’m cast out into the cruel world and have to find love in all the wrong places? What if I accidentally date one of my offspring created in that place? You have to save me from such a fate.”
She nuzzled his fingertips. “I’ll be happy to save you. But only if you promise to save me.”
He shifted his hips against her and she felt his penis, hard and impatient. She spread her legs open and wrapped them around his hips.
A long sigh escaped him as he slid into her. “I’m feeling almost stellar right now.”
She smiled and kissed his mouth. He slid his penis deeper and she lifted to him, tightened her inner muscles on him. He groaned.
“Make me come,” she whispered.
He increased the tempo of his movements, moaning with each plunge.
“Now. Now. Now. Oh, Sweet Sol,” she cried as a rush of sensation sped through her. Then she could not speak as wave after wave of pleasure stole her breath.
She lay back like a limp washrag. The trickle of his come reminded her of why The Palace doctor had wanted him. She touched her fingertips to the slick evidence he was a rarity—a potent man—and touched it to his lips.
He licked her fingers, then gave it back to her with his tongue on hers.
They made love until cramps in his legs stopped them. She then contented herself by giving him a massage.
“I wanted to tear those women apart when I saw them on you,” she admitted. “I almost did shoot Princess Big Boobs.”
“Don’t think about it. And I thought of her as Silver Girl.”
His muscles tensed beneath her fingers when she moved her hands from his back to his ass.
“Stop that. You’re getting me hard again.” He rolled abruptly to his back and wrapped her up in his arms. “What am I supposed to save you from?” he asked.
“From the pain I remember when you left me ten years ago. I couldn’t bear to feel that way again. I felt as if someone tore my heart out of my chest. I would wake up every day and scan the Mars reports looking for your name. Then I stopped doing it. It only made it worse.”
“Sara.” He cupped her face. “Let’s just go on from here.”
She kissed his lips.
“How did you know I was in that room?” he asked. He ran his hands up and down her back, cupped her bottom.
“You know, it was so strange. I was in the corridor, looking at a slew of blank doors, going insane, sure I’d have to leave without you, and suddenly, I just knew you were close. Remember what you said, about the leash that binds us together? I sensed it. I sensed you. Then a door opened and there was Miller. She knew where you were.”
“Good old Miller. Brad’s taken quite a liking to her.”
Link didn’t cramp up the next time she guided his cock into her.
“Make it last, Sara. Move slowly with me.”
Her body knew his so well. Each shift of his body, the fullness inside her. His scent, his taste. She licked his throat, followed it with kisses, caressed his nipples, and finally reached down between them and caressed his testicles as he stroked in and out of her.
Then she could do nothing but hold him. She buried her face against his neck and hung on for the ride. Her climax came from deep within her. It came from the soles of her feet, from the palms of her hands, from a burn in her belly and a sudden slam of her heart in her chest.
Her cry of ecstasy was lost in his. He came deep inside her, his body flowing in rhythm with hers.
Epilogue
Brad slapped Link on the back. “I’m glad to see you again.”
Link smiled at his friend. Two years at an earthside desk job—the fallout from The Palace incident—hadn’t been as bad as he’d expected. It was very different from his other assignments but it kept them together. Sara had left field work for a teaching position at the Academy but planned to retire soon.
“So this is the little guy?” Brad took Link, Jr. from Sara.
“That’s him,” Link said, trying but failing to conceal a shit-eating grin. He wrapped his arms around Sara and kissed her short, spiky hair.
“You guys did good. Can I steal him tomorrow?”
“Not a chance,” Sara said.
“No way.” Link plucked his son from Brad’s hands and put him back into her arms. She cradled their child close to her breast.
“No,” Brad said, laughing. “I mean can I steal Big Link? We need his approval on the architect’s plans for the new partner quarters on the Mars station.”
“That’s fabulous, Link. That means they passed the new orders. You can take us along.” Her smile was brighter than a supernova.
Link grinned. Mars and Sara. Life didn’t get any better. “I wouldn’t go anywhere without you. Wait up for me?”
Sara grinned back and waggled her eyebrows. “Only if you’ll be up for me.”
Brad’s cheeks flushed. “You two are a pain in the ass. Don’t you get tired of each other?”
“Never,” Sara said, moving into Link’s embrace.
They headed for the PF. Link smiled and asked, “How’s Miller? Are you tired of her yet?”
“Shut up. I know what you’re thinking.” Brad hunched his shoulders and thrust his hands deeper into his pockets. “I’m a fine one to call you a pain in the ass about Sara. Janet’s great. She’s relieved that her testimony helped shut down the illegal aspects of The Palace. It seems the corporation didn’t know what was going on. There was a rogue doctor running his own show out of the back room. Drug development and testing, sperm sales and even illegal organ transplants.
“Councilor Kennedy’s been extremely helpful, even suggesting they establish an Attendant’s Board to oversee infractions
and punishments, to keep them within reason. Who’d have thought a guy like him, coming from generations of untold wealth, would give a star’s twinkle about the little people?”
Who indeed, Link thought. He didn’t mention the conversation he’d overheard not long after Sara broke him out, when she finally got Kennedy himself on the comm. She’d been in full dress uniform and when the Councilor first saw Colonel Evans, Link would swear to his dying day that he heard Kennedy’s very improved jaw hit the floor.
“So your Janet did a lot of good, besides getting us out of there in one piece,” he prompted his friend.
“Oh, yeah. I’m proud of her.” Brad didn’t have to say the words. Link could hear the bragging in his voice. “She’s finishing up her remedial training, to get her up to speed on what she missed while she was in that place. The civilian arm of the corps jumped at the chance to sign her on. Last night, she got orders posting her to the Mars medlab.”
Link snorted, barely controlling his laughter at the pleasure in Brad’s voice. Sara caught his eye and they both grinned. He’d bet his wife that Brad would talk Janet into a life partnership, and it looked like he’d win. He smiled as he remembered the stakes. They’d both win.
Overhead, the sky was midnight black, no worries about UV rays. One bright star drew his eye.
Not a star. A planet. Venus.
He and Sara made a point of looking for it, of making love as it rose in the sky.
He walked more quickly, imaging the evening alone in their quarters, a few candles lit, the curtains open, maybe a few pillows on the floor so they could make love in view of her. Or… they’d try to, as long as Link Jr. kept a lid on his hunger.
As they headed toward the tall building housing the Mars Commission, Link asked Brad, “Do you remember walking along here, two years ago?”
“Sure. You went in some old shop.”
“So, you do remember.”
