by Susan Kelley
“Yes, he did.” Callie held his gaze. “He also fought those who wanted to destroy the results of those scientists. He believed just as it was wrong to artificially create life it would be as wrong to take the life from those innocent creations.”
“You remember this?”
“I was only a child during the trials, but the controversy over what to do with you raged on into my teen years.”
“Did your father agree with the final solution?” Joe wanted to know if she agreed, but he feared her answer.
“He thought it best if you were all killed serving the Galactic Military. He pushed to have you sterilized so you couldn’t reproduce more unnatural beings.”
“Unnatural?” Joe turned the cruel word over his mind, wondering at its exact meaning.
“Not created by nature is what he meant. He believed only the Spirit Father should give life.”
Joe stared at the boarks gallivanting in the shallows of the pool. Vicious beasts, but more natural than he was. Soon the animals would burrow in the sand to shelter from the frigid night temperatures.
Callie rose and put her hand on his chest. He met her gaze, seeing the warm emotions in her eyes. Was it sadness or pity? She lifted her hand to touch his cheek. “Those were my father’s views, Joe, not mine.”
“What are your views, Lady Callie?” Joe stood frozen, afraid to even breathe for fear she would stop touching him. Touching him and connecting him to something real and good.
“I’m reserving the right to make up my own mind. My father never met you, but he feared your existence. He warned them to beware of their creation.”
“Do you fear me?” He dreaded the answer but had to know.
“You startle me at times,” she answered after a moment. “I can’t say it’s always comfortable being near you, but my heart doesn’t pound in fear either.”
Joe moved a step closer, noticing the pulse at the base of her throat speed up. “What does make your heart pound?”
Callie stared up at him with her mouth open slightly in surprise. He covered it with his own.
* * * *
Callie could have backed away. Only Joe’s lips touched her. Only his wonderfully talented lips. Instead, she moaned and pressed her mouth harder against his. Slipping one hand behind his head, she pulled him closer and rose on her toes.
His mouth moved on hers, and she opened hers. His tongue flicked across the inside of her lips. Liquid heat flowed down her neck, rolling over her nipples and sinking to her private place between her legs.
She touched her tongue to his, and he retreated. When he tried to pull his mouth away, she followed. Her chest rubbed against his, and her hips bumped into his … erection! She let him go.
Joe stared at her with eyes wide and a bit wild. His chest rose and fell as if he couldn’t catch his breath. She ran her gaze down his body, snaring on the bulge in the front of his pants.
“I’m sorry, Lady Callie,” Joe rasped, backing away. He spoke so rapidly, she had trouble following his words. “I had no right. Forgive me.”
“No, I’m sorry.” Callie reached out her hand toward him.
Joe shook his head and strode away. He avoided the cave and struck out for the rugged terrain beyond the pool.
Callie stared after him, her lips and other parts of her body still tingling from his kiss. She regretted her lack of control. She lusted after a man she wouldn’t give her trust to and who could have no future in her world.
Unless this world became her world. Then what? Wouldn’t they need to make the best of things? Create a world for their children? Their children?
Callie watched Joe until he was out of sight. She walked slowly back to the cave, confused about the direction of her thoughts.
The doctor was organizing the sleeping arrangements with the newly arrived supplies. It would be the coziest sleeping since the crash.
“Where’s Joe?” Webb asked when he noticed her.
Callie felt heat rising in her face. “I don’t know where he went.”
“I want Roz to sleep with us, Momma,” Glory whined, as her mother smoothed out their sleeping sack.
“She’s a tough little girl. Lots of grown men wouldn’t have survived that desert crossing,” Webb observed as Glory continued her complaints. “Some very tough marines didn’t make that crossing.”
“Yes, she is,” Callie agreed, glad to turn the conversation away from Joe.
“She’s taken a big liking to Roz,” Webb said with a sly look in his eyes. “Sometimes small children are blessed with a clearer vision of things while adults let their minds become clouded with rumors and silly beliefs.”
Webb walked away, clearly not expecting a response, and joined Mak and Kam by the entrance. Callie wondered if the doctor would prove to be as clever with words as the marines were awkward. Where had Joe gone?
Roz entered the cave, giving Callie a glimpse of the deepening twilight before the covering dropped back into place.
“Roz!” Glory slipped away from her mother and ran to the marine. “They won’t let me sleep with you.”
Glory folded her arms across her chest and stood before Roz. She swung a glare at the rest of them and waited for the marine to fix things to her liking.
Roz looked at Grace, and then swept his wide-eyed gaze around the cave.
Webb snickered, but the other soldiers looked almost as horrified as poor Roz. Another rush of cold air swept into the cave, heralding Joe’s arrival. His sapphire eyes glinted with reflected firelight.
“What’s wrong?” Joe’s commanding tone shattered the frozen tableau.
“Nothing, sir.” Roz snapped to attention.
Glory didn’t agree. She walked to Joe and tugged on his pant leg. “Sir Joe, I want Roz to sleep with Momma and me. You tell them!”
Joe’s sharp gaze took in the sleeping sacks spread in a rough circle around the fire. He knelt down to Glory’s level. “I brought something for you.”
Callie noticed for the first time that Joe carried a bag in his left hand. He dumped the contents on the sandy floor.
Glory gasped and dropped to her knees beside Joe. Acacia laughed and clapped her hands with delight. All the women started talking at once.
Callie edged closer and peered over Yalo’s shoulder. She gasped when she saw the bounty spread on the floor. Ten of the fattest, ripe applenuts she’d ever seen.
“I didn’t know they grew so large.” Riba lifted one of the head-sized fruits.
“Let’s cut them up and feast,” Webb crowed.
The women took charge, cutting the fruit into long, thin wedges. The marines ate as eagerly as Glory who settled herself beside Roz. The taciturn soldier pulled out his own wicked knife and cut the little girl’s slice into smaller pieces.
Callie munched on a sweet slice while watching Joe and the doctor as they retreated to the back of the cave. Kam carried a small lantern to where they stood with their backs to the others.
Callie worked her way over, finding the cave much smaller with all of them inside.
The doctor spoke to Joe in a scolding tone. “It’s not like you to be so foolish, Joe.”
Joe didn’t answer.
Callie pushed in between Kam and Webb. She almost dropped her applenut. Joe’s hand and forearm were covered with red welts and blisters. “What happened?”
Webb dabbed a fragrant ointment on Joe’s injuries. “I guess you don’t know how you harvest applenuts.”
“They grow on cacti in desert regions.” Callie pushed Joe’s sleeve out of the way as Webb continued his ministrations up the soldier’s arm.
Webb frowned as he treated a particularly nasty welt. “They’re carnivorous cacti and use the fruit to attract prey. They capture their food with long, stinging tentacles.”
Callie could see Joe’s other hand had nearly as much damage. “Why did you risk that?”
Joe looked beyond her.
Callie followed the direction of his stoic gaze.
Glory’s pout wa
s gone, replaced by giggles and a sticky grin. The other women smiled and talked quietly. They looked content.
All the troubles that waited for her on Giroux seemed so far away. The marines hung back a little, their postures not quite relaxed. They remained on guard.
Callie turned back to Joe. “Thank you. Not just for the fruit, but for the haven.”
* * * *
“Where are they going?” Callie asked Webb as the marines loaded the boarks. She gestured toward Vin and Tar who were putting nothing but water sacks and their compact insulated bedrolls on their mounts.
“Ask Joe. I’ve been with these guys for over two years, but that doesn’t mean they tell me their plans.”
Callie wondered about the irony she detected in Webb’s tone, but he smiled and walked away to speak with Riba. Unlike the soldiers, the doctor loved being around the baby.
Joe gave Callie a wary glance as she approached. She’d missed his warmth during the night, but the presence of the newcomers made her reluctant to seek him out for some reason.
“Where are Vin and Tar going?” Callie asked.
“To get the things you left behind.” Joe kept working on the straps and buckles forming the boark’s harness.
“Oh.” Callie watched him, trying to think of another question to justify her presence.
“Queen Adell.” Yalo loped over to join them. “I’m going with them.”
Joe turned from his task at her words. “Why?”
Callie watched his face, recognizing the minute change in his expression as a frown.
Yalo shrugged. “We left in a hurry. I can make sure they get everything we need.”
Callie pulled Yalo aside. “What are you up to?”
Yalo looked over her shoulder and led Callie a few steps further from Joe. “I want to keep an eye on them. They’ve been too helpful. And I want to make sure they don’t disable our beacon.”
“I don’t like you being out there alone.”
“And I don’t like you being with them without my protection, but someone should go with them.”
Joe walked over to speak with Vin and Tar. They stood close together and sent serious glances toward the women.
“Go with them, Yalo. I agree they’re up to something. Be careful.”
* * * *
Having enough well-rested boarks made the last part of the trip to Camp Haven a quick journey. Joe turned from his lead position and surveyed his caravan. Roz had gone ahead, taking forward scout position though there was little chance of trouble. Kam rode rear guard.
The women looked around as they rode. The sea of green drew one’s eyes after days in the white emptiness of the desert. The trees provided enough shade so they could even ride during the hot time. The natural lake where they’d made their camp was spring fed from deep sources in the planet’s heart.
They traveled another two hours before arriving at their living quarters. Joe and his men led the boarks to their pens while Webb showed the women and children into the barracks.
Again, an uncomfortable stab of possessive emotion hit Joe as Webb held the door open for Callie. Joe had avoided her since he’d kissed her. What fashing stupidity had inspired him to give in to his impulse?
“Are we all going to sleep in the barracks, sir?” Kam asked as he turned the last boark into the corral.
“We’ll have to until we build something else.”
“So they’re staying?”
“Where can they go, Kam?”
Kam nodded, staring at the closed barrack’s door with the same consternation Joe figured they all felt.
“I sent Vin and Tar to see if we can scavenge parts from their cruiser to repair ours.”
“You think we can leave here, sir?”
“Don’t know. Don’t know where we would go if we could, Kam. But the women might want to leave.”
Kam nodded again. “What if they want to stay here with us?”
Joe’s insides tightened. What if they did? What if they were all stranded here forever?
* * * *
Callie found Joe behind the boark’s pens. Various lethal looking knives were spread out around him while he worked on one with a whetstone.
“Lady Callie,” he greeted her without looking up from his work.
“Joe, I think we need to talk.”
“About?”
Callie had figured out the shorter Joe’s answers, the more reluctant he was to converse. “About the future.”
Joe stopped and glanced at her before turning his head to stare at the lush grassland. After a few moments, he returned to his work but at a slower pace. His words came slow and hesitant. “We’ve only thought of survival since we crashed here. The future consisted of the next meal, the next storm, the next cold night….”
His voice trailed off. Though his hands continued to move the blade over the stone, he seemed far away. “Before that, the future was the next battle, the next planet … the next one of us to die.”
Callie bit her lip, keeping her silence. That he offered this glimpse into his life astounded her.
Joe put down the knife and turned fully to face her. “I don’t know how to plan a future for myself or my men.” He said it without apology or hope.
A swell of pity filled Callie. “Was there never anything you looked forward to, a goal you intended to achieve? Surely you didn’t think you would be soldiers forever?”
“We never thought about forever at all. There was only our duty.”
“And now?” Callie asked softly.
Joe looked away from her. “Now our duty is no more. We have … nothing.”
“If we’re rescued, you can resume your duty.”
Joe’s mouth tightened. His stare seared into hers. “We can’t return. We’ve been convicted of being traitors to the Galactic Alliance. We were on our way to the Nye Moon when we crashed here. We await no rescue.”
Callie couldn’t stop her gasp. The Nye Moon was the most brutal prison available and took only those considered extremely dangerous. Few men survived more than a year in its deep mine. “Why?”
Joe gathered up his knives without answering. A few went behind his belt and another in his boot. He slipped them away so quickly and smoothly, Callie wasn’t sure where they all were stowed.
“Why doesn’t matter any longer,” Joe finally answered. “We’re all stuck here together. When you’ve figured out a future for your people, let me know. I promise we’ll help you as much as we can.”
* * * *
“I assume all your people are updated on vaccines.” Webb said as he passed a platter of baked tubers across the makeshift table.
Joe cautiously took a bite of the seasoned flat bread one of the women had baked in the new oven.
Mak and Roz had been busy constructing all types of things under the direction of the women. Kam and Joe spent the daylight hours working on a new barracks, large and more comfortable than the current one. Webb helped the women cook.
“We all had the proper meds before we started our journey,” Callie answered Webb.
Joe took another bite of the bread. The wild herbs added a distinct flavor. Until the women started cooking, he hadn’t known food ingredients could vary so much. Nobody wasted time making soldiers’ food interesting. Meals only needed to nourish.
The meat, scrub deer, melted on Joe’s tongue. The juices filled his mouth as he savored the treat. Did civilians always eat like this? The women didn’t act like the food was anything special, but the other marines were taking slow, careful bites the same as he was.
“Do you like it?” Callie said from Joe’s right. She’d insisted he sit at the head of the table they’d constructed from newly felled trees cut with their laser saw.
“It’s very … good. Different from what I’m used to eating.” Joe hadn’t spoken with Callie alone since they’d discussed the future two days ago.
“What are you used to?”
Joe wondered how to describe the frugal conditions they’d always
lived in. These barracks were the largest living area they’d ever called their own. “Our food was plain with no herbs added.” He floundered, inadequate to compare this delicious meal to his previous life.
“Not anymore. From now on your food will all be like this. Acacia has discovered many edible grains and spices. She found a tasty root we can make tea with.”
Joe nodded, savoring more of the meat.
“We baked that with nuts from those trees that resemble oak trees,” Callie continued. “The stone oven Mak built works wonderfully.”
Joe ate and listened, noticing the other women jabbered to his men much as Callie did to him. As soldiers, mealtimes were silent refueling stops. It should have been irritating to have the laughter and multiple conversations going on around him. It wasn’t.
He looked forward to the time spent around the table. Webb had told him that civilian families always ate in this chaotic fashion. Joe decided he would think of their group as a family. At least for a little while.
* * * *
He was bathing.
Callie stood in the shadows of one of the large trees that surrounded the pool of water. The sun heated the water to a comfortable temperature at this time of day.
Joe dove under again, staying down long enough to make her nervous. Callie stepped into the open just as he surfaced. His sharp gaze found her immediately.
The water came as high as his waist, though its crystal quality hid little from her view. “Did you need me?”
Callie forced her gaze to stay on his face while she considered his question. Did she need him? On a material level she did. Her people wouldn’t have survived without Joe’s help. Did she need him on an emotional level?
“Can we talk?” Callie turned her back as Joe waded out of the water. She heard the soft whisper of clothing sliding over wet skin and waited another moment before turning back toward him.
Joe watched her with his familiar wary expression. His wet clothing clung to the muscles of his thighs and his groin.
Callie dragged her stare away from his body. “Can we sit in the shade?”
Joe followed her to a spot beneath a large tree. She sat on a log worn smooth by weather and time. He sat on the ground and pulled on his boots.
“I’m worried about Roz and Grace,” Callie began.
