“It’s okay,” a woman said. She wore a warm, genuine smile, and was probably only a few years older than me.
“Hey Julie,” Valerie said, smiling. “How’s it going?”
Julie gave her a small wave. “Good. New blood?”
Valerie nodded. “Julie, meet Chelsea, our new archaeologist. Chelsea, this is Julie. She’s a chemist who works with Dr. Gordon.”
Julie tapped her files back into order and extended a hand.
I shook it with a smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. If you’re working with Helen, we’ll probably see each other a lot. Holler if you need anything.”
The Lift crawled to a stop, and a bell dinged.
“Well, this is me,” Julie said.
“Want to come with us?” Valerie asked.
Julie thumbed out the door. “I was on my way to lunch. Can I meet you after?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m sure this is going to take a while, anyway.” I really wanted to unpack. So, it was awesome she declined, at least for now. One needed friends to survive in a new place, and I’d be stupid to admit this wasn’t a mostly new environment. Not that I’d been grand at the whole friend thing lately.
“Sounds good,” Julie said, stepping toward the door. “Later, then.”
“She’s cool,” Valerie said as Julie left. “She’ll show you the ropes on your first day in the lab.”
“Hope so.” Science labs were not my thing.
We rode the Lift for a little longer before finally getting off. Valerie led me to her—our—room. She had her stuff placed neatly on her side of some invisible line. The room looked like it belonged in a 90’s sitcom about roomies or siblings; picture frames lined her walls, a throw rug on the floor, nothing passing an invisible line down the middle.
“I figured you could unpack and then we could get rid of the line in the sand, so to speak,” she said.
“Right.” My bags and guitar waited for me on my bed. I caressed the guitar case. Would I be able to play with Valerie around?
Valerie stepped in beside a dresser and touched each drawer in succession. “Uniforms. The bottom drawers are for your personal items. If you end up needing something else, let me know.” She turned a half-step and faced a door on her side of the room. “You can change in the bathroom if you want.”
“Mind if I unpack first?” As much as the prospect of a moment alone called to me like chocolate after a no-sweets Lent season, I needed something I could control to fight all the new things coming at me. Unpacking would do that.
“Go for it.” She kicked back on her bed and took off her shoes. “I’ve got some reports to read. I’m off duty until Captain Marks is free to speak with you.”
I unzipped my duffle bags. My clothes went into the bottom drawers of my dresser, and I stacked some books on my desk. I sat on my bed, guitar across my lap and read through lyrics in my notebook. The few I wrote before diving into Pac Man doodles were obviously about Trevor; my face warmed reading them. Something twitched in my chest, anxiety laced with a feeling I couldn’t identify. Longing?
“Hey, Valerie?” I asked.
She lifted her head. “Yeah?”
“Um…” There was no way to ask this without sounding annoying, but I needed to know. “Trevor said he’d be there to get me today. I’m not saying I’m not grateful for you—”
She tossed her hand. “No worries. He’s busy. Something went haywire in Engineering.”
“Haywire?” That seemed to happen an awful lot. Maybe he really just didn’t want to make good on his promise, two weeks being enough to kill whatever we had going, and didn’t want to say it to my face.
“That’s all I caught of the story,” Valerie said. “I’m sure he’ll be free after you talk to Captain Marks. Trevor is excited to see you.”
Was he now? I looked at my notebook. Maybe being upset was stupid after all. I shoved the journal aside and pulled out a uniform from my dresser. “Any special rules I need to know for dress codes?”
“Uniform while working, appropriate civilian clothes while not. But they basically would like to see everyone in a uniform whenever possible.”
Which might not have been bad if mine wasn’t pale yellow. I suppressed a cringe and made my way into the bathroom. The jumpsuit sort of fit. I was shorter than the intended victim, so the fabric hung loose in weird places. Whatever. It worked.
Valerie waited for me on the other side of the door. “Off to the Captain’s Quarters, if you’re ready.”
“This look presentable?”
“Well, you look better in the uniform than Trevor does, so there’s something.” She winked then nodded at the door, leaving me more confused than ever.
The Captain’s quarters were larger than I expected. A desk and two chairs claimed the main area. Two doors led off the main room, and I assumed they led to a bedroom and bathroom. A half-empty bookshelf lined one wall, home to two dozen books of varying genres. The floor was plain tile or plastic, save for a circular, navy blue rug beneath a desk and chairs. The same light grey walls that lined the rest of the station dulled the room here, too. It settled my nerves, only because the paint was depressing. Maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about writing only love songs after all.
Captain Marks sat behind his desk but stood when Valerie and I entered. He smiled and extended a hand. I shook it.
“Welcome aboard,” he said.
“Thanks for having me,” I replied.
He nodded at Valerie, and I watched her go. Would she wait for me?
The Captain gestured to a chair facing his desk. “Please, have a seat.” When I did, he continued, “I know Dr. Gordon is excited to have you here.”
“Yeah, we’re already making progress.”
“Excellent.” He rested his arms on the top of his desk, fingers interlocked. “You’ll begin working with her immediately. We don’t have much in the way of archaeological work for you to do at the moment. We sent out the artifacts from the last find we came upon prior to your appearance two weeks ago.”
Appearance. Interesting word choice. “That’s okay.”
“Until we have more, Dr. Gordon will have tasks for you in addition to working with her regarding your abilities. Before I release you for your first day, I’d like to give you this.” He opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a white plastic card. “This keycard is programmed to open the doors you’ll need. If they don’t, you are not supposed to be in there.”
I nodded and accepted the card. “Understood.”
He stood and stepped away from his desk. “One last thing: I want to introduce you to our Communications Officer. You’ll be working with her, too.”
“Sounds good.”
Captain Marks led me out of his quarters and up a level to the Bridge. He swiped his card at the reader and the blast doors opened. The Bridge itself stood fifty feet wide, longer in length. Most stations rested at ground level, but one in each section sat higher than the rest. Each workspace had two monitors with data moving too fast to read. Officers moved around the space in fluid motion, like a practiced dance.
Three huge screens in the center of the far wall mesmerized me. One held a view of what, I presumed, was in front of us in the ocean. The other two showed status updates and a diagram of the station, which currently resided in a horizontal orientation. A platform with a chair and a console took up the middle of the area. Probably the command post, if movies counted as a reference point.
A tall, sun-tanned man stood there. He looked like he’d come off three months of tropical shore leave after applying a chain store’s entire supply of tanning oil. “Captain on the Bridge,” he announced.
Fifteen people stood to attention. Captain Marks set them at ease.
“This way,” Captain Marks said. I followed him to a station near the front. “Lieutenant Commander,” the Captain addressed a tall woman with long blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun beneath a blue headset.
She stood. “Capt
ain.”
“This is our new archaeology intern, Chelsea Danning. Chelsea, Lieutenant Commander Christa Jackson, my Communications Officer.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” the Lieutenant Commander said. “I can’t wait to work together. We haven’t had a real archaeologist aboard before. It’s made things interesting when we come across wrecks.”
I shook her hand. “I could see why.” Having to fly someone in every time probably got tiring.
“Captain, could I speak with you for a moment?” the man standing on the command platform asked. His uniform bore a name patch reading CMDR DEVINS.
Captain Marks nodded at him. “I’ll leave you two to get acquainted. Could you escort Ms. Danning to Dr. Gordon’s office afterwards, Lieutenant Commander?”
“Aye, Captain.”
“Thank you. Enjoy your first day, Ms. Danning.”
After he left, the Lieutenant Commander said pulled a second chair over and told me to sit. “What’s your area of expertise?”
“I do folklore, though I have done field school. It’s a weird combination.”
She shrugged. “So are the languages in my repertoire, but hey. Weird is cool.”
What languages did she know that she classified as weird? “Which do you know?”
She ticked them off on her fingers as if it helped her remember how many she actually knew. “Spanish, French, Russian, Latin, Mandarin, and some Greek. Sometimes cuneiform for fun. I’m working on a few others.”
“Cuneiform. For fun,” I echoed. I’d kill to know cuneiform. “Maybe you could teach me some while I’m here?”
She tapped a finger against her lips. “Yeah, we could make that work.”
A grin spread wide across my face. “Awesome. Thank you Lieut—”
“Nope. If we’re working together, call me Christa. No ranks, all right?”
I nodded. I’d call her whatever she wanted if she taught me cuneiform. “Then no ‘Ms. Danning.’”
Christa held out her hand. “Deal.”
My grin grew wider. Cuneiform, here I come. Maybe this internship wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Christa’s smile grew into a grin, and her eyes focused in on something over my shoulder. “Hey, Trevor.”
My toes curled, and my face flushed. Trevor. I turned and, sure enough, there he stood.
“Hi,” he said back to her, but his eyes were on me. The sight of him was as warm water on a cold winter morning, refreshing and necessary to every fiber of my being. I drank in his presence like Christa wasn’t there at all.
His eyes never left mine, but his fingers twitched, like he wanted to reach out and take my hand or touch me, but couldn’t because of where we were. “Sorry I wasn’t there this morning,” he said instead.
“It’s okay,” I told him. And it was. Because he was here now, and that was all that mattered.
“Trevor,” Christa said, “Captain Marks wanted me to escort Chelsea from the Bridge, but I can’t leave just yet. Would you mind?”
Was that a wink she flashed him? I fought the laugh that wanted to bubble over. Was our attraction to each other that obvious?
“Of course,” he said, waving toward the door.
“Thanks again,” I said to Christa before Trevor and I wandered off the Bridge.
Trevor
t’d been a week since Chelsea had been back—and I’d never smiled so much in my life, even despite the Engineering hiccup that’d made me unable to meet her when she’d docked. As I was, somehow, the beacon to which Chelsea teleported, Helen had incorporated me into Chelsea’s daily practice. I didn’t ask about the other pieces of Helen’s methods because I knew a lot of Chelsea’s control came from dealing with personal things that I didn’t want to invade on, but however Helen had instructed Chelsea to focus on teleporting, it was working. In the last week since she’d boarded, Chelsea had made incredible headway with her ability.
I bounded down the inner staircases of the science decks, winded but still moving. Chelsea’s countdown sounded over the radio. “Five, four, three.”
“Need a bit longer. Not stopping in a hallway,” I returned.
I swore I heard the smile in her voice when she said, “Four, four and a half, three, three and a half…”
Launching off the staircase with a snort of amusement, I slipped down the corridor and into Helen’s office. I sat in Helen’s chair. She roosted in the security office (to Lieutenant Weyland’s amusement I’m sure) so she could watch Chelsea’s progress. My chest heaved, trying to catch enough oxygen to breathe properly.
I depressed the TALK button on my radio. “Ready when you are.”
“Olly olly oxen free, then,” Chelsea returned.
It took a few moments, but, sure enough, a magnificent cascade of lights like shimmering blue stars filled the room. It looked like a lighted waterfall, tumbling down out of nowhere. Chelsea materialized in front of the desk, hands on her hips and grinning from ear to ear.
“Yes!” she said, fist-bumping the air. “Two for two, baby!”
Seeing her confident and happy again made my chest swell with emotion—pride for her, for what she was becoming: a powerful Atlantean.
“Good job,” I said, smiling. I didn’t mind getting to see her all day, or the smile on her face when she succeeded. Those brief moments had become the best part of every day for the last week. “Should we go again?”
She nodded. “Absolutely. I’m on a freaking roll, for once. We’re not stopping now.”
I couldn’t stop grinning. I ran a hand through my hair and glanced at my watch. “Well, you’ve got me for another hour or so. You call the shots.”
“Scoot,” she said, brushing me away. “Go find another hiding spot, then. You don’t mind staying a bit longer?”
“Absolutely not. You’re getting really good at this.”
She grinned, chin up. “Thanks. I don’t even have to get mad anymore. I just… go. Poof. Right in front of you.”
Please let that never change.
“All right. I’ll make it harder this time.” Maybe I’d disappear to somewhere she’s never been before. Somewhere like a supply closet on an engineering deck, tucked away in a corner.
“Sounds good. How long do you need?”
“I’ll radio you when I get there. Did you catch that, Dr. Gordon?”
“Yes,” Helen said. “Good work so far today, you two.”
“See, even she’s impressed,” I said to Chelsea. “Okay. Give me… at least ten minutes, maybe more.”
“Jeeze, where are you going?” she asked, eyebrows furrowed. “A shuttle outside the station?”
“No, but that’s a good idea. I’m going somewhere that requires the Lift to behave,” I said, walking out the door. “Ten minutes at least. I’ll radio you when I’m ready.”
I ducked down the corridor and jumped on the Lift. Ten people had boarded before me, all headed up instead of down. Dammit. I waited out their rides until the Lift finally descended toward Engineering. I radioed Chelsea the moment my feet hit the deck. “Gonna need a few more minutes.”
“Lift didn’t behave?” she asked.
“Never does.” At least Valerie hadn’t interfered this time.
Scurrying down the hall, I dodged my staff, lest they get the idea I was available for questions or concerns. Not right now, guys. At the end of the main corridor, off into an alcove, was a rarely used supply closet barely big enough for the computers it stored. I slipped inside and leaned back against a wall, lungs gasping.
“Okay. Come get me,” I radioed.
“Anytime,” she said, and my heart nearly leapt from my chest.
Not a second later, her lights brightened the room, and, for the first time since being in here, I sensed the tightness of the space in the darkness. My shoulders bumped shelves, my feet kicked computer parts, and if Chelsea didn’t land correctly, she’d materialize within one herself. This was a bad idea.
“Chelsea,” I said into the radio, but I was too late. The waterfal
l crested, a body underneath. Chelsea’s body. Not in a wall, but inches from my own. With her lights gone, I couldn’t see her because I’d forgotten to turn the lights on first. But I felt her presence, like electricity zipped between us, outlining her body for me, keeping us bound together. Her breath warmed my neck and smelled like peppermint.
“Hey,” she said. “Oh, damn. Why’s it dark? Trevor?”
“I’m here,” I said, reaching out for her. I meant to grab her arm but brushed against her breasts by accident. My face shot up with warmth, surprising since all other blood surged south in a mighty roar. “Shit, sorry.”
She laughed and ran her hands up my arms until her palms rested on my chest. “It’s fine. Where’s the light?”
I explored the wall behind me with my free hand until I flipped the switch. Light gushed through the room. I slammed my eyes shut. “Crap.”
“Damn,” Chelsea said. “Okay. Maybe dark was better.”
“We’ll adjust,” I said. I didn’t want the lights out again, or to touch something else by accident.
Oh, who the fuck was I kidding? I’d give anything to touch more of her, to see more of her.
“If you say so,” she said.
We stood there, our eyes shut and adjusting for long moments. I held up my radio and told Helen the good news. Three for three today.
“Good work,” Helen echoed again.
I dropped the radio into my pocket and peeled open my eyes. Chelsea’s face was inches away from mine, her lips twisted in a smile and her cheeks flushed.
“You’re getting good at teleporting,” I said. My heartbeat raced. I swallowed, my mouth drying. She was so close; I needed to feel her lips on mine.
“Thanks,” she said, chin tipped up. “It’s because of you, though.”
“Me?”
She finally opened her eyes, the green flecks in her irises arresting my breath. Gold encircled the edges, something I hadn’t ever been close enough to appreciate before. God, I could get lost in her gaze for eternity.
“Yeah, you,” she said. “I don’t know how to describe it, but you’re like a lighthouse on the coast. I can feel you, your presence, from everywhere on the ship if I concentrate. It’s… weird.”
Gyre (Atlas Link Series Book 1) Page 12
