by Laney Cairo
"Stay with me tonight,” Samuel said.
Nick looked wrecked, dark shadows under his eyes spreading like bruises down his hollow cheeks, but he nodded and said, “I was hoping you would ask me to."
Samuel left his room in darkness, dropping the bag with the sapphire to the floor and banging his shins against the cold metal frame of the bed as he lifted the blankets down, then pulling his borrowed clothes off and letting them fall on top of the bag.
The bed frame creaked and settled as Samuel climbed on the mattress, and the sheets were clammy and chilled against his skin.
Nick slid under the blankets beside him a moment later, just as cold.
The sound of Nick letting out a tense breath was loud in the room when Samuel wrapped his arm around Nick's ribs and rested his head on Nick's chest.
The ridges of scar tissue on Nick's chest were easy to trace, dipping over the grooves of Nick's ribs, and Samuel traced each line of scarring carefully, memorizing each one.
When Samuel lifted his head, hoping to read something on Nick's face, even in the gloom, Nick met him halfway. Nick's stubble brushed against Samuel's chapped lips, then they connected, half-open mouths warmer than anything else in the room.
The sheet underneath Samuel crackled when he rolled onto his back, pulling Nick with him, so Nick sprawled across him, all angular hipbones and bony knees.
Nick kissed Samuel, then crawled down the bed, dragging the blankets with him, and Samuel didn't care about the cold air and being exhausted anymore. Nick's tongue was gentle on Samuel's chest scars, and his stubble rubbed the goose bumps on Samuel's skin.
"Don't go to sleep on me,” Nick said, then he slid further down the bed, so his cheek brushed against Samuel's belly.
"I won't,” Samuel said. “Promise."
Nick laughed, low and quiet, then his fingers touched the scar on Samuel's thigh and his mouth pressed against the head of Samuel's cock, a fleeting touch that might have been a kiss.
When Samuel grabbed above his head, looking for something to hang onto, he found cold metal bars for the headboard, and gripping them made the bed creak alarmingly.
Nick was slow and careful, the touch of his mouth on Samuel's cock more flickering licks than anything else, so tentative that Samuel shook the bars of the headboard in frustration.
He couldn't tell if Nick was just being hesitant, or was actually trying to drive Samuel crazy, and it really didn't matter, not once Nick pushed fingers wet with spit across Samuel's ass.
No, not hesitant at all.
The fluttering touch on Samuel's cock stopped for a moment, and Nick asked, “Can we?"
Samuel had to work to speak, because Nick was easing a finger inside him, so damned good.
"Yeah,” Samuel said. “I'd like that."
"Beside the bed, on the floor,” Nick said.
It took long seconds for Samuel to work out that Nick wanted him to pick something up from the floor, and even longer to get his fingers to unlock from around the headboard.
Samuel fumbled around in the darkness, his hand finding Nick's clothes, in a pile, then locating something lumpy in one of the pockets.
"Resourceful,” Samuel said, pulling out what felt like a condom in a packet and a sachet of lube.
Nick lifted his mouth again, long enough to say, “It's a hospital.” Nick moved his finger slowly, dragging and pushing, making Samuel gasp.
Soon, Nick lay back down, half across Samuel, replacing the cold of the night with warm skin. Samuel pushed the packets into Nick's hand, then reached down and curled a palm around Nick's cock, which was nudging against Samuel's thigh.
Nick flinched, and said, “Do you have any idea how cold your hand is?"
"No,” Samuel admitted, and Nick wrapped his own hand around Samuel's, tightening Samuel's grip, and Samuel could feel Nick's cock pulsing faintly, in time with Nick's heart.
With the blankets dragged back up over them, it was almost warm enough, and Nick's fingers were gentle and firm, rolling Samuel onto his side, then rubbing down Samuel's spine, making him flex and stretch.
Nick pressed his mouth against Samuel's neck, his breathing loud in Samuel's ear, and the fingers that pushed against Samuel's ass were slick with lube.
Desperation flared in Samuel, sharp and sudden with regret, and he thought that Nick must have been feeling it, too, knowing that time was slipping away from them.
Samuel curled forward, gripping onto the edge of the bed frame, and Nick hitched himself half over Samuel, tangling their legs together, and pushed in.
The bed squeaked with each rock of Nick's weight, and the heat in Samuel's belly grew, from a spark of warmth, spreading through him, until he felt like he was burning, waves of sparks rolling across his skin.
Nick came, in long, slow gasps, then his hand tightened around Samuel's cock, pad of his thumb circling, and Samuel gave in to the heat and came, too.
Afterward, with Nick's arm draped around his waist and Nick's sleeping breaths slow against his neck, Samuel listened to the wind pick up outside, rattling rain against the window of the hospital room, until his exhausted body fell asleep.
Samuel woke up alone, but the other side of the narrow bed was still warm to touch, and he had a vague memory of Nick talking to him and getting dressed.
Nick came back before Samuel had finished bathing, calling Samuel's name and clattering around the bedroom.
When Samuel opened the bathroom door, letting the warm, damp air out and the cold air in, Nick had dropped a pile of clothes on the bed and was sorting through them.
"Marsia found some warmer clothes for you,” Nick said, holding up a sweater. “Guess you won't have to freeze on the freighter now."
Nick's eyes were sparkling, and Samuel smiled back at him. Nick was wearing a new selection of clothes that almost fitted him as well.
"And?” Samuel asked.
"Talgerit drove back into Albany this morning, with several of the other Noongar clever men. They're in the dining room."
Samuel took the shirt that Nick held out to him and pulled it on, then stepped into a pair of work trousers and tucked the shirt in.
"Talgerit is back?” Samuel asked.
Nick nodded and held out a pair of shoes, worn and shabby. “These look about the right size for you."
The shoes fitted fine, with thick socks to pad them, and Samuel dragged on the sweater and felt adequately dressed for the first time in months.
"Breakfast,” Nick said, holding the door open.
The dining room at the hospital was small, containing half a dozen tables and a buffet table holding steaming platters and an urn.
Two of the tables were surrounded by medical staff eating toast and porridge. Another table was crowded with Noongar men, all with heaped plates of toast and scrambled eggs in front of them, eating enthusiastically.
Talgerit waved at Samuel and Nick, and Nick pushed Samuel toward the buffet.
"You can get food first,” Nick said. “Clever men value breakfast."
Samuel stacked toast on his plate, added a scoop of scrambled eggs that seemed to be genuinely made from eggs, and decided to take a chance on the brown liquid coming out of the urn.
Extra chairs had been added to the table, beside Talgerit, when Samuel walked over carrying his plate and mug, so Samuel sat beside Talgerit, who elbowed him affectionately but didn't interrupt the pace of food consumption.
Clever men did value breakfast, obviously.
Samuel moved his knees so Nick could slide in beside him, and Talgerit chuckled around a mouthful of toast.
"You read minds now, unna?” Nick asked Talgerit, picking up his fork.
"Necks,” Talgerit said, and Samuel could feel the heat radiating from his own cheeks.
After the plates had been emptied, Ed, who Samuel remembered from the forest clearing, drained his mug of the brown liquid that definitely wasn't coffee, and said, “Dr. Nick, Samuel. Talgerit has told us of the journey you have made."
Nick
said, “Samuel and I would like to thank Talgerit, and everyone else, for their help with the journey. Thank you."
"Thank you, Talgerit, and everyone,” Samuel added.
"What's that thing called?” Talgerit asked, turning to look at Samuel.
"Which thing?” Samuel asked, and Talgerit waved his hand, passing it through the table.
"Phase shifting,” Samuel said, poking Talgerit, where he was pressed against Samuel's shoulder, to make sure the rest of Talgerit was substantial.
"Phase shifting,” Talgerit said to the rest of the people at the table. “That's what it's called."
Ed, and the other clever men, nodded and muttered amongst themselves, and Ed said, “Talgerit has shown us how to do this thing."
Nick leaned forward eagerly, one of his elbows in Samuel's plate. “Everyone can phase shift, unna?"
Talgerit said, “It's easy, sort of."
"Talgerit told us about the trains carrying poison,” Ed said. “We've decided to stop them, now we can do this."
Nick wiped his elbow and said, “Samuel will tell the world, all the people, this important thing you are doing."
Samuel said, “You will save many lives, and maybe stop a war from happening."
Talgerit took a stone, covered in painted markings, out of his pocket and handed it to Samuel. “You can travel safely with this, everything will let you past."
Samuel looked at the stone in his hands, and smiled at the memory of his first ride in Nick's van, and Nick using his own stone.
"Thank you, Talgerit. I feel safer already, knowing I have a stone."
Marsia walked over, stethoscope around her neck, and said, “Thank you all so much for visiting, I hope you have enjoyed your breakfast."
The clever men all made pleased noises, and Marsia said, “And while you're here, who would like some free medical care?"
The men all shook their heads, not meeting Marsia's gaze, and Nick said, “Ed needs a kidney x-ray, and Jake needs his feet looked at."
"I'll arrange that,” Marsia said. “And I'm sure lunch will be delicious."
Samuel solemnly shook hands with each of the Noongar men, then Talgerit and Nick stood outside the bedroom door while Samuel packed a spare shirt and a toothbrush in with the sapphire and the drives.
The ride down to the port was made in silence, and Samuel kept his gaze firmly out of the windscreen at the town as they made their way down the hills, past rows of houses, to the town center and the port.
Talgerit parked the truck near the port, where a jetty curved out into the bay, three ocean-going ships moored along its length. Two of the ships looked like fishing vessels, but the closest ship, with extra decks and two masts, had the look of the passenger freighters that Samuel had seen before.
The three of them walked down the jetty, to where the gangway to the freighter rocked in the swell, and the canvas sails slapped in the damp rain, ropes twanging and humming as the crew adjusted the rigging and cleaned the solar panels.
Samuel tightened the jacket Marsia had given him around his chest and hitched his bag holding the sapphire and the drives more securely onto his shoulder.
A crew member, on the upper deck, called down, “Is one of you Samuel Narine?” and Samuel waved back at him.
"Ten minutes,” he called back. “We're finishing loading supplies."
Talgerit leaned over the edge of the dock, the rain spotting on his T-shirt, and inspected the ship.
"How far to your country?” Talgerit asked.
"Other side of the world,” Samuel said. “Several weeks sailing."
Talgerit shrugged. “Or you could stay here."
Seagulls swooped around them, crying in the cold wind blowing up from the Antarctic, and Samuel felt cold, right down to his bones.
"I have to take the stone,” Samuel said.
"Then come back,” Talgerit said.
Nick's shoulders were hunched against the cold, and he was shivering when Samuel hugged him.
"I don't know what to say,” Samuel said, stepping back.
Nick shook his head.
Samuel stepped onto the gangway, grabbing onto the rope to steady himself, the fibers of the rope catching the skin of his palm and stinging, like the cold rain on his face.
"Wait!” Nick said, behind Samuel, and Samuel turned around, the gangway shifting and sliding as he stepped back onto the dock.
"This is ridiculous,” Nick said, and Samuel nodded.
"But I have to go,” Samuel said.
The freighter's boatswain swung down from the foredeck, to where the gangway swayed, and waved at the crewmember pushing a trolley laden with crates of vegetables down the jetty.
"Do you have a ship's doctor?” Nick called out to the boatswain.
"You are joking, right?” she replied in an accent Samuel thought was European, holding the gangway steady for the trolley of food. “Do we look like the Old American Navy?"
"Could a doctor work passage?” Nick asked, and Samuel had to remind himself to breathe.
"Do you have a spare doctor?” the boatswain asked.
"Yes,” Nick said.
"Then get onboard,” the boatswain said.
Nick turned to Talgerit, and said, “Tell Josh I'll be back, but I have to go to South America."
"I already told him,” Talgerit said. “He knows."
Nick followed Samuel across the gangway, onto the ship, and the pair of them turned to wave to Talgerit as the gangway was pulled up on ropes and lashed into place.
When Samuel looked back, at Nick's face, Nick's smile was creasing his cheeks, and Samuel had to smile, too.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Sixteen
Waves of sound washed into the room, and over Nick. People called out in the street, their voices loud through the open window. Music played nearby, perhaps in the bar two buildings away from the room the university had allocated them.
Nick rolled off the bed and put the tablet he was reading from on the shelf. He still wasn't over the thrill of having new books to read again, and he'd only stopped reading then because he hadn't adjusted to his new contact lenses properly yet.
Leaning out of the open window, Nick caught the whisper of the cool breeze blowing up from the ocean, shifting the humidity of the day. He couldn't see the ocean from the house, just rows of buildings covered in shimmering solar collectors, with palm trees crowding the sides of the streets, and creepers and vines sprawling up the walls and fences, encroaching on the solar collectors.
Across the city, the spires and towers of the World Government buildings gleamed in the afternoon sun, and Nick couldn't tell if ultralight gliders or birds were slowly looping around the tallest towers.
He'd been debriefed twice, along with Samuel. The first time had been in a meeting room at the Georgetown University, but Nick suspected the microphone had mostly picked up the clink of wine bottles and the clatter of forks on plates, because the catering had been excellent. The second debriefing had been in a sealed room in a building without a name. The woman who'd interviewed him had been older than Nick, with glossy gray hair, and had spoken English with Received Pronunciation. She hadn't taken her gaze off Nick once, hadn't changed facial expressions when he'd talked about diprotodons, trains carrying uranium, magic or the Wagyl. She'd just listened to him talk for hours.
He'd had a thorough medical examination, and discovered that his PSA levels were elevated. He needed dental work, had nutritional deficiencies, couldn't see adequately, and he was told he had a heart valve noise he already knew about. What he didn't have were detectable radiation contamination levels, despite everything that had happened to him. Samuel's result had been the same, and Nick had been even happier about Samuel's radiation results than his own.
A scooter whizzed through the pedestrians and bikes on the street below, and the rider waved an arm up at Nick, so Nick waved back.
Samuel was home, from the university.
Footsteps clattered up the stairs,
echoing through the building, then the door to the room burst open and Samuel breezed in, tossing his bike helmet on the chair and grinning broadly.
"Good day?” Nick asked, watching Samuel peel his shirt over his hear and toss it into the corner.
"Great day,” Samuel said, reaching for a clean T-shirt, from the pile on the shelf beside the door. “Want to go out for a beer? To celebrate?"
Nick reached for a T-shirt for himself, from the same pile. “Sure. What are we celebrating?"
Samuel waited until Nick had tucked the T-shirt into his shorts, and then slung an arm around Nick's shoulders.
"We've been invited out to the Installation, to be there when the clock is formally transferred to the development team."
"The Installation? Out in the jungle, where they're building the ships?” Nick asked.
Samuel nodded. “Where the elevator is, where everything is happening."
Nick grinned, too. “When do we go?"
"Tomorrow,” Samuel said. “There are seats on the heliships for us."
Nick hugged Samuel. “Beer, and then you can order me food I can't identify, again."
Samuel's grin grew wider. “Eventually I'll find something you won't eat."
Nick thought of roast mutton, plain vegetables and chewy bread, year after year.
"I doubt it,” he said.
* * * *
The heliship swayed unpleasantly, going over the hills behind Georgetown, but Samuel didn't seem to notice, and Nick didn't comment on the buffeting, in case it sounded ungracious. Once the heliship had inflated its helium bladders and risen higher, the rocking stopped, and the urban sprawl beneath them turned to farmland, in deep green squares of crops that clung to valleys and hillsides.
The heliship swung inland, leaving the silver streak of the Atlantic Ocean on the horizon behind, and lifted higher, over hills that were probably mountains, far below.
Samuel, who was pressed up against the same window, said, “We've got a couple of hours, I think. I suppose we should sit down properly."
"Are you kidding?” Nick asked. “When am I ever going to see equatorial rainforest from a heliship again?"
Samuel laughed, over the hum of the rotors. “When we fly back?"