PlanetFall

by Cheri Lasota

  Table of Contents

  PlanetFall

  Evie in Paradise

  Frankie Takes a Ride

  The Vanguard

  Operation PlanetFall

  Isle of Ffynnons

  Castali

  A Word from the Author

  Copyright

  PLANETFALL

  A Paradisi Chronicles Universe

  Short Story

  by Cheri Lasota

  Evie in Paradise

  Approach to the planet New Eden

  2095

  WHEN TAVIAN HUNT STRODE INTO THE DESERTED PARADISE BAR, he only had eyes for Evie Maddox. But Evie, as usual, wasn’t having it. She pulled the dish rag from her shoulder and made quick work of the spilled brandy on the bar top.

  Her attitude didn’t faze Tavian in the slightest. He was used to it. He kept on trucking, right toward her and the whisky she knew he’d ask for. Evie made a point of avoiding eye contact, though keeping him out of her mind’s eye was challenging. He had the look of those old pictures she’d seen in magazines of blond surfers in California before it collapsed into the sea. Though his hair was close cropped for the space voyage, she always suspected he’d worn it long and wavy before joining Commander Solomon Reach’s Corp crew.

  The problem for the ship’s female population was Tavian’s supreme confidence in his effect on them. The problem for Evie Maddox in particular was knowing that his confidence was just a front for a far deeper trauma he hid away. She was one of the few who knew he’d witnessed the killing of his girlfriend by a gang of terrorists roaming the streets of his old city. Injured himself and bleeding out on the pavement, he’d been unable to save her. She knew Tavian’s body may have healed, but he, like so many other veterans and victims of the terrorist wars on Earth, still carried the physical and emotional scars of that night.

  “Evie,” Tavian said, with a nod and a touch to his aviator-style uniform cap. He looked good in his uniform, she had to admit, a standout among the crew of the SS Challenge on its voyage to the planet New Eden. “You’re looking particularly‌—‌” He hesitated at her glare, then finished with “‌—‌pensive.”

  “The usual?” she asked tartly.

  “The usual.”

  She poured his drink with too much gusto, spilling some as her irritation at his nearness grew. Was she annoyed with herself or Tavian? He was what her mother would have called a big ole piece of double trouble.

  Evie was used to his type. These men would all look at her big, poufy hair, bright red lipstick and lithe body and want a piece of that action. But Tavian Hunt, bless him, didn’t have a clue that he was the last man aboard the SS Challenge she should be with right now. She’d had quite enough of the wounded type. She was still stopping up the holes in her heart from the last guy. She didn’t need a womanizer opening them up again.

  Too bad her crewmate and roomie, Reina McKennet, had a thing for him. Attempting to avoid the man was next to impossible when he came to the Paradise for a drink nearly every night. Despite the better judgment of her mind, her heart couldn’t decide if she wanted to kiss him or kick him.

  “Where is everyone?” she asked to divert her own dangerous thoughts. “It’s dead in here today.”

  “Didn’t you hear?”

  “Hear what?”

  Tavian frowned. “You’re a Reacher. You should have gotten the Corp-wide directive.”

  An alarm beeped from the UiComm on his wrist.

  It reminded Evie she was still missing hers, lost recently. No wonder she hadn’t heard the directive. One glance at Tavian’s expression told her something was up, and it wasn’t good.

  “What is it? Am I needed in the Med Bay?”

  “Why would you be?” Tavian asked.

  Damn. She usually didn’t let it slip about her work several days a week with Dr. Ando in the ship’s Med Bay. It wasn’t a big secret, but on the SS Challenge, they didn’t have much need for physical therapy, so to qualify for the trip, she’d taken a second crew position at the Paradise to make herself useful. But she wanted to keep both sides of her life separate. The drunkards at the bar only needed to know how fast she could pour their shots.

  “It’s nothing. I do PT there during the week.”

  Tavian’s eyebrows rose. “You what? You never told me‌—‌”

  “Well, it’s not like we’re best buddies, Tavian‌—‌unlike you and Reina.”

  He seemed hurt by that. Maybe it was the final jab about Reina at the end. It was true, though. When Evie turned him down the first time a couple of years ago, he’d gone straight after her roommate instead.

  “Aren’t you going to check your message?” she asked, attempting to change the subject.

  Tavian glanced down at his UiComm. His pained expression slowly morphed into frustration.

  “What? What is it?” When he didn’t respond, she grabbed his wrist and read the tiny screen for herself.

  OPERATION PLANETFALL IS A GO. PROCEED TO SHUTTLE DECK FOR EVAC ASAP.

  Tavian glanced behind him as two Founder crew members lumbered toward the bar.

  “What the hell is Operation‌—‌” Evie started to ask, then was shocked to find Tavian’s lips on hers. No, shocked didn’t quite cover it. She wanted to pull away and slap him but settled for breaking the kiss with a glare. She tried to ignore the delicious whisky taste he’d left on her tongue.

  But Tavian wasn’t finished yet. He leapt from his stool and pulled her into his arms before she could formulate a proper expletive-laced tirade.

  She struggled in his grasp until he hissed into her ear. “Operation PlanetFall is Reacher only. No Founder crew can know.” He leaned back, casting his eyes toward the men now staring at them. “Follow my lead. You can’t say a word, or you’ll get us all killed.”

  Still reeling from his kiss, Evie saw he was dead serious.

  Tavian flashed the men his megawatt smile and laughed. “Gentlemen, I do believe the Paradise is closed for the rest of the night. I’ve finally asked Evie Maddox to marry me!” Evie gasped, staring at this insane man who’d just slipped his hand around her waist as if they were a couple. While the barflies gawked, he kissed her temple. “And can you believe it? She said yes!”

  One of the men, short with heavy-lidded eyes and hawkish features, broke into a wide smile. “Congratulations! You both get on, then. Lots of plans to make. Maybe yours will be the first Reacher wedding on the new planet. We’ll find another bar.” He punched his companion in the arm. The man didn’t look pleased at the delay in getting his next drink.

  “Thank you, gentlemen. Sorry for the inconvenience,” she called after them as they retreated to the exit.

  As the last customers cleared out, Evie flipped the Closed switch behind the bar and turned to Tavian.

  “What was all that BS?”

  “Sorry, Evie. It was the only thing I could think of. Couldn’t let you say it out loud, could I?” His roguish smile didn’t quite match the gravitas behind his explanation.

  “Oh, yeah?” Despite herself and all she knew was good for her, Evie had enjoyed the kiss, too. But she certainly wasn’t going to let him know that. “I distinctly recall rejecting you rather matter-of-factly the last time you asked me for a date. And now we’re getting married?”

  “Look, it was just a ruse to get them out of here. No harm done. We can break up tomorrow. But first, I need a favor.”

  She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to one side. “You’ve got to be joking, Tavian.”

  “I wouldn’t be asking if‌—‌well, you know how Reina is‌—‌but as you can see, there are much bigger things to worry about.”

  “What does my roommate have to do with anything? You’re making zero sense.”

  He sighed like the weight of the
new world had just left his lungs, then took a deep breath.

  “Shit’s going down between the Founder crew aboard, the ten Founding Families on-planet, and the Reachers. Sounds like the Founders on the ground are just as corrupt as the ones aboard this ship, so Commander Reach is going to get us all out of here. We’ve been ordered to board the Vanguard shuttles immediately, so we’re mustering on the Shuttle Deck. But my dog, Frankie, is still locked up on the Lab Deck. I’m required to accompany the commander, but he refuses to let me board her on his shuttle.”

  “Wow … ” was all she could think to say. A whisky-fired kiss, a secret that could get them both killed, and an early closing of the Paradise, which wouldn’t sit well with her boss. And now they were talking about Tavian’s dog?

  She eyed the exit door, wary of running into any Founder crew. Despite their divided loyalties, the different crews got along for the most part, even after the multiple mutiny attempts early in the journey. But now, ever since the Reach Corp had discovered the Founders aboard had tried to kick them off the ship, relations between Founders and Reachers had begun a long, slow spiral downward.

  Evie’s eyes found Tavian again as his hands gripped her arms. He leaned in, and she thought he was trying for another kiss. She wasn’t sure she wanted to fight that if it happened.

  “Look,” he said, “can you try to smuggle her onto another Vanguard?”

  “They would never let me board her, Tavian,” she said, trying to focus on his request and not his nearness. “You know the quarantine rules, and the worries over introducing alien bacteria into the new world.” She’d only seen Frankie once, when she’d visited her roommate in the Astro Lab, where Reina monitored some of the live animals aboard. Reina had let Frankie out to run around and get some exercise, and Evie had found the salt-and-pepper miniature schnauzer to be a sweet and boisterous little thing. Cute and fiery, a bundle of energy.

  “Just hide her, I mean,” Tavian said. His voice was almost pleading. “Aboard whatever Vanguard shuttle you take. Put her in a transport cage. Maybe put a blanket over her? No one will notice in all the commotion.”

  “You’re out of your mind.”

  “Please.” Concern etched into his forehead, in the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. “I have no one else to ask, Evie.”

  “You have Reina! Isn’t that what lovers do? Favors for one another?” Evie hated how jealous she sounded. She had no claim on this man. She wanted no claim on this man. Did she? “She’s told me all about your little liaisons in the back room of the lab. How you….” Evie couldn’t even say the words. It sounded so juvenile, even to her own ears. And thinking it hurt her heart.

  “You know how Reina is.”

  “What? Shallow? Self-absorbed? Selfish?”

  “Yes.” Despite his immediate agreement, Tavian seemed embarrassed by her frank appraisal. “Besides, she’s on the Founder crew. I have no guarantee she’ll continue to take care of Frankie after this all goes down.”

  “She could get hurt in a cage on the descent if she’s not strapped in.”

  “Reina promised she’d find a way to secure her inside the cage.”

  “Then Reina knows about PlanetFall?”

  “No, she thinks I meant one of those official Founder-controlled space ferries heading down to the camps on the opposite side of the planet. You’ve just got to get Frankie aboard a Reacher shuttle. At least then I’d know she was safe. Or safer, anyway. The Founders on-planet would likely kill her. Frankie’s all I’ve got left, Evie. Please.”

  The way he said please gutted her. All his usual defenses were down. He wasn’t trying to get in her pants, for once. He was trying to save his dog’s life.

  “What if something happens on-planet, Tav? How will I even get Frankie to you if we don’t land on the same continent? There are a few to choose from with an awful lot of ocean in between.”

  “I honestly don’t know. Once Solomon learned that the Founder processing camps were really prison camps, he had to improvise a Reacher escape. It’s going to be chaos, at first, but I just need her to survive. I’ll find you, okay?”

  Evie thought a moment. If she had the guts to put her own fear of discovery aside, she could at least save his dog. And Frankie needed her.

  “All right,” she said. “I’ll try. If they discover her and won’t let her board.… But I’ll do my best.”

  The smile that lit up Tavian’s face made Evie weak in the knees. And when he pulled her close and kissed her, she fell against him willingly. His mouth, warm and still tasting of whisky, made her lightheaded. She folded against him, and he deepened the kiss until her heart swam in the taste of him.

  “Thank you, Evie,” he said, his breath hot on her face. “This means the world to me. Remember‌—‌Reina can never know about PlanetFall‌—‌for her own safety.”

  She offered him a half-smile, wanting the feel of his lips on hers again, his warm hands on her face. Her earlier reticence toward him was gone, drowned in a sudden swell of emotion she hadn’t even known existed before. At least, not consciously. In fact, the idea of never seeing him again pained her. They could all end up dying on the descent to New Eden. And now, after she’d spent years doing her best to avoid him, he had her wanting more than just a goodbye kiss.

  Damn that man and his trouble.

  Frankie Takes a Ride

  “Reina, give me the damned dog.” Evie tried to open the slider to Astro Lab 10F, where she knew Frankie would be in her usual cage. But the lab was locked.

  “No, I can take care of Frankie.” Reina circled around her workstation, shaking her head so hard her blonde curls bounced. “I’ve been monitoring these animals for years. You’ve never even had a dog, Evie. Plus, if Tavian needs someone to take care of Frankie….” She seemed to hesitate, as if deciding how to phrase the next sentence. “Well, it should be me, you know?”

  It annoyed Evie that Reina was laying claim to Tavian when they had been nothing more to one another than a long-term hookup. Of course, Reina was the sort of woman a man like Tavian Hunt would go for: blonde, high-strung, and willing to jump into bed with any man who looked her way. But Evie knew better than to bring up the obvious, so she tried a different tack.

  “I have too taken care of a dog before. And it’s not hard. Just give me her cage. Tavian said you were going to rig it with a harness to keep her from getting hurt during the descent, right?”

  “Yes, but‌—‌”

  “Reina, Frankie is Tavian’s dog. It’s his choice.”

  “Well, you didn’t have to agree.” Reina stopped performing her lab duties and looked Evie in the eye. “You know how I feel about Tav‌—‌”

  “I need to get Frankie over to processing to see if they will even let her on a New Eden ferry. Look‌—‌I don’t want to call your supervisor, but if I have to‌—‌”

  “You wouldn’t dare!” Reina’s face flushed red. “What the hell has gotten into you?”

  Evie said nothing. Just waited with a steely glare she knew Reina hated.

  Reina sighed. “Some roommate you are. Fine‌—‌but I’m coming with you.”

  “No way! I have too much to do. I’ve got to pack, get Frankie situated, and get through processing. I don’t have time to‌—‌”

  “I’m ready to go. I’ve already set everything in here to auto-run. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  This wasn’t good, Evie realized. Beyond her relationship with Tavian Hunt, Evie had no idea whether Reina supported the Reachers’ agenda or not. Could she trust her roommate with Operation PlanetFall?

  “Look, just help me with Frankie for now. Please?”

  Reina hesitated, then glanced at Frankie in her cage and was abruptly obliging, unlocking the lab’s slider without another word. Caught up in the excitement, Frankie began to bark. She looked up expectantly.

  “Hey there, schnuggers,” Reina said. “Want to go for a ride?”

  Evie approached the cage cautiously, which made the salt-and-pe
pper miniature schnauzer wary of her. She held out her fingers to make friends, and the long-bearded dog sniffed at them. Frankie had warm brown eyes, floppy ears, and a tail that seemed set to auto-wag. After a good, long olfactory assessment of Evie, Frankie bounced around her cage like a ball in an ancient pinball machine until Reina let her out.

  “Come on, precious.” Reina let her down, and she immediately rocketed toward Evie, jumping up and licking her leg. Frankie whined in excitement, her little tail swinging back and forth. While Evie hadn’t been too keen on the idea of dogsitting at first, she had to admit, Tavian’s little girl did seem awfully sweet.

  “Hi, Frankie,” Evie whispered, crouching down to pet her. “Okay if I take care of you for a little while? Tavian asked me to take you down to your new home, okay?”

  Frankie tilted her head quizzically. She was smaller than Evie remembered. Maybe she was the runt of her litter. She scooped her up and stroked her soft ears.

  “Just gonna be you and me, girl,” Evie whispered to her.

  “And me.”

  Evie looked at Reina. Then she remembered she was about to escape from a ship full of Founders who might take issue with her smuggling a dog off-ship and landing on an alien planet filled with God knew what. So she made a snap decision.

  “Okay, you can come. But Reina.…” Remembering Tavian’s warning, Evie hesitated.

  “What?” asked her roommate as she pulled a jury-rigged travel cage out from a storage unit.

  “I know you’ve got a thing for Tavian. But what about the other Reacher crew members? What about me?”

  Reina’s forehead furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

  “I mean … when Challenge Command tried to boot the Reachers off the ship before we left Earth’s orbit.… Did you.… Would you have wanted us off this ship, too?”

  Reina’s frown deepened. “What? No, of course not. Just because I’m not a Reacher doesn’t mean.…” A smirk formed on her face. “Well, Tavian’s a Reacher, so you can’t all be bad, right?”

  “Reina‌—‌”