by Lynn Rae
More mutters from the crowd, and Lia blinked at the floor, desperate to leave but not sure how to escape the suddenly hot room without drawing everyone’s attention. She’d seem like a guilty party, slinking off in shame. Maybe she was.
Her eyes burned with the start of tears, and she swallowed again rather than make another sob. People shifted around her, and she noticed a pair of shiny black shoes near hers. Looking up, Lia recognized the stern, unemotional face of Zashi. He held his hand out to her, and she took it and rose, balancing herself in the crowded row as best she could. He held out a datpad flashing nonsense for her to hold and act as an excuse for her exit. The woman next to her looked between them and smiled at Zashi as if she’d gladly take his other hand, but instead, the security officer led her out of the clot of chairs and people. She didn’t let her gaze stray to the front of the room; she didn’t want to see Colan or his outraged expression.
“Where is she?”
“Her suite. It seemed like the most private place.”
Colan wanted to rush back out the door and go to her, but he paused and gave Zashi a nod of thanks. The calm security officer nodded back and returned to his inventory of a locker of weapons.
As he left the security station, Colan increased his pace toward the admin complex. As soon as he’d been dismissed from the witness stand, he’d burst through the holding area and asked where Zashi had gone. When he’d seen Lia escorted from the room, his stress level had gone down dramatically. He hadn’t felt like assaulting Riva’s sneaky little advocate anymore, so that was a major improvement in his ability to behave in a way that wouldn’t end up with him arrested or held in contempt.
Cutting across the common area at a jog, Colan blinked in the sunlight and then made his way to the door of the residential unit. The door was locked, and he pressed on the alert, temper spiking again because he hadn’t thought to ask the security chief for the code.
The display buzzed at him, and Zashi’s face suddenly appeared on the monitor, all sorts of weapons hanging in the locker filled the background.
“You got there faster than I expected.” Zashi glanced at something out of view of the lens, and the door lock clicked. Colan pulled it open and walked through the lobby and into Lia’s corridor, wondering when the security officer had decided to facilitate his co-worker’s personal life. He was glad; without Zashi’s subtle encouragements, it was possible circumstances might never have come together to bring him into Lia’s life. Not that he’d be welcome there any longer. Finding out her lover’s last fling had been with the woman who’d nearly killed her would certainly put a damper on their new relationship.
Colan reached her door without giving himself time to contemplate his use of the word relationship, even if it was only in his head. He pressed the alert, took a breath, and pressed it again. Trying to fight back the nervousness threatening to overtake him, Colan stared at the monitor, willing Lia to appear. Another few moments of silence and he pressed the alert once more, already worried she was avoiding him, picturing her standing on the other side of the door shaking her head and determined not to admit him. She had to be upset, she was probably angry with him for not saying anything. The soft sound of the door lock disengaging stopped his thoughts, and his mind went blank when Lia appeared. She was red-eyed and pale, her hair hanging in little strands from a disarranged braid, and she took his breath away.
“Lia, I…” Faltering to a halt, he wasn’t sure what to say next. I’m sorry? I wish I’d never met her? Which utterly true admission would express the regret he felt, the fear he would lose her, had already lost her in that awful time in the courtroom?
“Riva Estep?” Lia’s voice cracked, and her mouth trembled as she swung the door wide. He stepped inside, and she swung it closed behind them. At least she’d let him in, although it might be because she wanted privacy for an impending argument.
“Lia, I—”
“She’s still in jail, isn’t she?” Lia interrupted him with a frown as she re-engaged the door lock and checked her monitor observing the hallway. “Zashi would have sent me a ping if she was loose, but she wasn’t pardoned, was she?”
Colan tried to regroup. “Yes, she’s still incarcerated. Moca ruled she was to be tried as incompetent but a danger to the public, so she’s back in the lockup until the next shuttle.” Lia had been fearful of Riva getting loose, and what, tracking her down?
She let out a breath and double-checked the monitor. Just as Colan relaxed into the notion Lia wasn’t upset about the news of his involvement with Riva, she turned back to him, her frown even more pronounced. She pushed out her hand and gave him a shove to the chest. He took a step back as he overbalanced and bumped his back into the hallway wall. She was strong.
“Riva Estep? You were involved with that unbalanced woman?” Lia turned and strode into her quarters. Colan followed, keeping a safe distance.
“I was. Very briefly, a long time ago.”
“Huh.” Lia halted in front of her seating area and stared at him. “How long ago and how briefly?”
“A year and a half ago. For a couple of months. Until I went off to set up survey links in the highlands.”
“Oh, so you took off on her too?”
“But I never came back to her.” Colan tried to smile but knew his mouth wasn’t working correctly. He was numb with worry.
“Not funny, Colan.” With her lips tight and eyes narrowed, Lia looked ready to battle. She had to have felt awful hearing about it while sitting in the middle of a crowd of strangers. He’d caught glimpses of her watching him from behind several large people and had initially been comforted by her presence. But as soon as the advocate started in with the personal questions, Colan knew she was blindsided. He should have told her something about it before, but he hadn’t wanted to talk about subjects that might make her see him in a worse light. Things were too new and tentative between them.
“I know. I’m sorry I didn’t say something earlier.”
“You sort of did, now that I think back, I just didn’t realize that in Colan-ese, ‘close’ meant sex partner. I understand. You’re a very private person.” Lia shook her head and rubbed at her temple as if she was getting a headache. “It must have been difficult for you when he started asking those questions.”
Colan shrugged. His main concern had been her at the time. As soon as Zashi had arrived and escorted her out he’d been much less worried about himself. Only about her. He owed the safety chief a drink or two. And a quart of gin.
“So, do you still care about her?”
“No more than I would for a fellow human being. Probably less now since she killed people.”
Lia shook her head, a tiny smile creasing her lips. Colan’s heart started to beat in his chest, and he took a breath. Better now.
“See, that was funny. Morbid and twisted, but funny.” She took a step his way, and his body warmed a few degrees. “I should confess something to you too.”
“Do you need to be under oath?”
“Funny again.” Now she was only half a meter away, and he couldn’t look away from her chocolate eyes. “There is someone on planet I had a relationship with. I don’t any more, but in the interest of disclosure, you should know.”
“Stev.”
Her eyes widened, and she took in a deep breath. “How did you know?”
“I put together all sorts of little clues and hints.” And Zashi told me. It had been in a roundabout and subtle way, but Colan had gotten the picture. And maybe he owed Stev a drink for behaving in whatever irredeemable way that allowed Lia to not care about him anymore and yet still be receptive to Colan when she arrived on Gamaliel.
“I’m surprised. I thought you only paid attention to mountain ranges and river courses.”
“That’s not all I notice.” He studied her; her careful posture, unwavering gaze, rapid breathing. Maybe he could touch her now and not have it go awry.
“What do you see?”
“I see you.” Taking a
breath and a risk, he reached out for her hand, and she rushed to him, feet quick as she pressed herself against him. There she was with her warmth and softness, smelling like home. He curled his arms around her and held her tight, so grateful for another chance with her. She leaned up and kissed his neck, and he ran his fingers into her hair, tugging at her loose braid, inhaling her scent, shaky with relief and desire.
“Do we need to tell each other any more about past lovers?” Her breath tickled his skin.
“No.”
“We probably should have gone over our sexual involvements earlier than this.”
“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, just keep doing that.”
She chuckled as she leaned up to get a hold of his mouth with hers. Her fingers clenched in the muscles of his shoulders as she pulled him down or pulled herself up. It didn’t matter. She managed to kiss him properly once he scooped her close.
“I’m not currently seeing anyone, other than you.”
“Same here.”
“I’m not interested in doing this sort of thing with anyone other than you.”
“Same here.”
“And I’d like to keep doing this sort of thing with you in the future.”
“Same here.”
She drew away from him then, quirking a smile at him as she regarded him skeptically. “Man of few words?”
“I used up my daily quota in the hearing.”
Chapter 14
“Lia!”
Moca’s voice echoed down the corridor, and Lia stopped her forward momentum. She’d been working hard all afternoon after coming in fifteen minutes late that morning thanks to Colan’s insistence on taking his time in the shower. They were lucky he had installed an extra solar panel on his roof considering how much hot water they were using up every morning. But that didn’t excuse her tardiness, and she’d put in extra effort to compensate.
“What can I do for you, Magistrate?” Lia joked with the title as she entered Moca’s office. Although it wasn’t really a joke; with all the new settlers, the staff had started to revert to more formality in their relationships. They’d all been through a lot the first weeks here on Gamaliel, but now that things were returning to a somewhat normal pace, they could act as an actual congressional organization again.
Moca smiled, all her bruises from the explosion healed, and gestured for Lia to take a seat across from her desk. “I’m glad I caught you. It seems like I hardly see you anymore.”
Lia hadn’t told anyone about her new involvement with Colan, at least not anyone directly. She was sure Zashi knew; he’d probably known before she and Colan had, but it seemed Ermil’s gossip hadn’t spread very far in the hallways of the administration center.
“I’ve been busy getting all those new claims coordinated with the monitoring satellites and Myklos’s system. So far, everything seems to be working in real-time. We’ll find out for sure when we start doing live data drops.”
“Great. Anything else?” Moca raised an eyebrow, and Lia wondered if she was asking a personal question. Before she could come up with a reasonable answer, Moca continued, “I ask because it seems like you have most everything scheduled out pretty far in advance, and everything and everyone hit their targets pretty consistently for the last week or so.”
“True, but you never know what sort of disaster will pop up and throw everything into a ruckus.” The scheduler’s creed and one her time here on Gamaliel had taught her to believe in even more.
“You’ve done marvelous work here, and under non-optimal conditions, so I want to thank you for that. You really helped hold us together while I recuperated.”
“Everyone contributed.”
Moca made a noncommittal noise and glanced at a datpad on her desk. “In any case, I have some news for you. You’ve been requested to take on scheduling duties at Herald Complex. They need you immediately and requested I forward your acceptance and travel arrangements as soon as possible.”
Lia’s mind went blank. Herald Complex scheduler? That was the assignment she’d requested a year ago, had placed as her priority as soon as she’d heard funding had been approved. But the job had gone to Judit Feelin, a woman with more political connections than Lia could ever hope to match.
“What about Citizen Feelin? She has the assignment.” There was no way Lia was willing to work as that woman’s second, no matter how wonderful the project.
“Seems Cit. Feelin has not performed up to specifications. Construction is nearly at a standstill and marks are leaking from every aspect of the project, which makes the representatives very agitated. You know there’s nothing they hate more than having wastefulness exposed or the delay of well-publicized pet project. The designer contacted me a few days ago to quiz me about you, and I didn’t have to exaggerate to get him to pay attention.”
Moca smiled as if she’d scored Lia an incredible victory, which she had, but all Lia could think about was that she would be leaving Colan, when things had become so good between them. Her stomach clenched, and her fingernails dug stinging divots into her palms as she tried to process the terrible news.
“So, it’s a sure thing?”
“Absolutely. I want to keep you for at least one more day, so you can set up things for your replacement.”
One day? Only one more day with him and she’d have to leave? Lia tried to take a deep breath and only managed to suck in a shallow gasp as dizziness crept in around her consciousness.
“Replacement?” How could she replace him? She wouldn’t even be able to try. Her chest tightened into a horrible ache and with a great burst of embarrassment, Lia realized she was crying. Moca noticed it too and rose from her seat and came to crouch next to Lia.
“Not that we could replace you. But we will need a scheduler when you’re gone. A poor substitute.” Moca tried to be cheerful as she patted Lia’s shoulder.
Wiping her fingers against her cheeks, Lia tried to gather her thoughts. All she wanted to do was run from the magistrate’s office and find Colan. If she only had a few hours, she wanted every moment she could with the man.
“Of course. I’ll prep the schedule and create as many alternate paths as I can.” Lia answered automatically, her mind bouncing around the fact she didn’t want to leave. She’d be several million light years away from him in mere hours. “They really want me?”
“Of course, the contract is right there on my display, I wanted to tell you in person before I forwarded it. You were still listed as available for transfer.” Moca paused. Lia wished she could stop crying and look happy instead of as heartbroken.
“Lia, you’re unhappy about this, aren’t you? You wanted the Herald Park assignment. You were very upfront about that when you signed on with me for Gamaliel. It’s a big step up for you.”
Lia nodded. Everything the magistrate said was true.
“So what’s making you so upset?” Moca leaned down to peer in Lia’s watery eyes.
“It’s just a shock. And I was just getting used to it here.” Lia lied a little, and Moca, a very astute judge of people, shook her head once and grabbed Lia’s hand.
“No, it’s something else. Are you involved with someone here? Stev? Zashi?” She sounded disbelieving as she mentioned her security chief, and Lia let out a little huff of overwrought amusement at the idea.
“No, it’s not Stev. Or Zashi. Stars, I can’t even imagine that.”
“Me neither, the man in unassailable. So it’s someone else. Who?”
Lia licked her lips and swallowed as she stared at the carpet. “It’s not. He isn’t.”
She closed her eyes and felt the tears leaking past her lashes. Why couldn’t Judit Feelin have done her job? Then, none of this would be happening now. Lia would be finishing up her work for the day and anticipating seeing Colan again and enjoying whatever meal he’d conjured up. They’d have some disagreements and then end up playing in bed for a few hours before sleeping the night away. Then she’d get up and do it all over again. She grown
to like it—no, love it—over the past few weeks, and now it was being torn from her with a few words and an official transmission.
“Lia, I’m sorry. You need to talk with him. Maybe you can work something out if he’s Civil Service. Get him a transfer later, I don’t know. Go on. Tell him and message me later.”
Lia huffed an unamused laugh. Right, talk with Colan about it. He’d go silent and angry within the first two words, they’d fight and she’d never see him again. He’d disappear into the cocker forest until her shuttle departed. He’d never answer one of her messages, send a vid, come for a visit. She was losing him at this very moment.
“It won’t matter. He’ll shut down as soon as I say something.”
“Oh, it’s Colan Nestor.” Moca realized with a satisfied nod. “I had a suspicion. I’m a little surprised he managed it. He strikes me as being too solitary and argumentative, but that can be quite stimulating when you know how to make up with each other. I assume you’ve reached that stage in your relationship?”
Lia stared at the magistrate, managing to nod her head once. It was so bizarre having Moca speculating about Colan’s temperament, let alone giving romantic advice.
“Are the two of you casual about this or is it meaningful?”
“Meaningful. At least to me. I’m not sure about him.” Lia wondered. Meaningful in a painfully bone-deep way she hadn’t appreciated until now. They’d spent every night together since he’d returned from the new settlement, committed to monogamy, but it wasn’t as if there were lots of pulls on either of them, no family here, no temptations, nothing but each other in this very small bubble of Pearl and Gamaliel. Easy to be wrapped up in each other when there was nothing to draw them apart. Like her imminent departure. Stars, her heart was hurting so much now. She was as disoriented as she’d been after the explosion.
“Then go find out.” Moca rose from her seat and rubbed her hands together, another problem solved. The magistrate nodded her head and started to shift small displays on her desktop. “It’s your career, so you need to decide what direction you want to go. And if Colan Nestor is going to go with you.”
