by Leslie Chase
He wasn't about to get in the way of Amanda's goodbye to her sister, though. The two humans threw their arms around each other, and some of the other humans smiled at the spectacle. None of them had anyone to see them off, he noticed. It wasn't that surprising, given how new Marsport was. A lot of the humans here hadn't settled in yet, and a salvage team spent months at a time out in the wilds of Mars. It wasn't any big surprise that they didn't have family here yet.
"Alright, come on," Mr. Dieter said eventually. His tone was amused rather than annoyed, but his words were enough to part the two women. "We've got to get out of here, the Outrider is stocked and RyaTech isn't paying us to hang around here."
He looked meaningfully up at the spaceship beside the Outrider, and Markath could see a tall thin human watching from the ship's airlock. There was something about that man that made him want to reach for a weapon. It wasn't just that the man had the bearing of a warrior, though he did. Beyond that there was the cold way he watched the group. It reminded him of a hunter sizing up his prey, and that wasn't a feeling he liked.
His first instinct was to go and face down the human. The man was an interloper on this planet, after all, and Markath wasn't the type to back down from a challenge. But he had other, more important business, and the man's spaceship was preparing for launch. Markath settled for glaring at him from a distance. After a moment, the human nodded and turned away, stepping through the airlock into his ship.
In those seconds, the humans around him had picked up their bags and started to board the Outrider. Hannah and Amanda shared one last hug and then Hannah bounded up the ramp onto the skyship. One of the other humans had to catch her at the top, as she misjudged the gravity and nearly launched herself over the far side of the ship by accident.
Amanda stood beside Markath, waving her sister off, and he didn't want to intrude. There would be time for them to talk when the ship was over the horizon.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Amanda asked, glowering at Markath as they turned away from the horizon the Outrider had vanished over. He'd stood quietly by as the ship flew out of the protective shield surrounding Marsport and off to whatever site they were going to scavenge.
Now that they were alone, Amanda didn't waste any time talking to him. She shot her question at Markath as she stalked off in the direction of the clinic, and Markath turned to walk with her. The glare she shot him wasn't welcoming.
He had to admit that this wasn't the start he'd hoped for.
"We must speak, Amanda," he said. "You know that there are things we need to discuss."
"I know nothing of the sort," she retorted. He was close enough to her now to smell her over the overwhelming smells of the human city, and she was intoxicating. It took an effort of will for Markath not to sweep her into his arms then and there. Her words, though, gave him pause. She was feeling the same pull he was, he knew that. He could see it in her eyes, in her posture, though she covered it well.
But she denied it, and that made no sense. How could someone deny this feeling, the fire that burned inside him when he looked at her? Markath tried not to think about the fact that he'd denied it until Verikan had talked him around.
Taking a deep breath, Markath tried again.
"Very well, Amanda. I would like to speak with you," he said, pausing before adding a final word. "Please."
Her body language softened a little and she relented. "Okay. Fine. We can talk, as long as no patients come in."
Saying that, she stepped through the doorway of her clinic and Markath followed her inside. He had to duck and fold his wings in tight to get through the doorway, and the walls looked flimsy enough that he didn't want to risk touching them. They looked as though he could bring them down by accident, and he frowned at the thought that his mate would be working in such a poorly defended place.
Another human gawped at him from behind a desk, half-rising as though to challenge him. Markath snarled, a hint of his frustration escaping him, and the human sat back down, face pale.
"It's alright, Kevin," Amanda said, shooting Markath a disapproving look. "He's with me, and we've got something to talk about. Hold any calls you can, okay?"
"Okay," the human male replied dubiously. He seemed about to say something more, but shut up when both Markath and Amanda glared at him.
Following Amanda out of the reception area and into her office, Markath looked at the primitive technology on display. A medic of the Dragon Empire would have so much more and better equipment. Seeing what Amanda had to make do with, Markath found himself admiring the work she did with the level of technology available. In that regard, he had to admit, humans were impressive.
The thought of what his people had lost hurt, though. He turned his attention back to her, and their future.
Amanda quite deliberately put her desk between them, leaning against the wall behind it and watching him. There was a tension to her, and he wanted nothing more than to go to her, to put an arm around her and shelter her from anything that might do her harm
Unfortunately, the threat she was worried about was him. And how could he shield her from that?
"Well?" she asked as the silence stretched. "You came looking for me, remember?"
Markath nodded. She was right, of course, but the words he'd prepared had fled his mind. In his own language, there were speeches for this, poetry written by ancient masters. In English, he'd just have to do his best. "Amanda, when I saw you first I didn't recognize what I felt for you, and for that, I apologize. Still, I know that you feel as I do — our hearts are bound together by fate, and our bodies call to each other."
Her cheeks reddened as he spoke, and she looked away. Her arms crossed defensively, and he could see the effort her discipline took.
"Pretty words," she said after a moment, a note of longing under the hard tone. "But Markath, it doesn't matter. I won't pretend I'm not attracted to you, my god I am. That doesn't change the fact that I'm going home soon. I've nearly saved up enough for a ticket back to Earth, and I'm sick of Mars. I don't want to start anything new before I go."
That struck him like a hammer. It had been hard enough being across the city from his mate. Being separated by interplanetary distances was simply impossible to imagine. Markath felt his wings flutter and wondered if Amanda could read the distress he felt.
"You can't go," he told her. "Stay, and together we can build this world into what you want it to be."
Amanda's laugh had little humor in it. "No we won't. We can't. This place is wrong for me, Markath. The gravity's too low, the horizon's too close, and I've had too many bad experiences here. None of that's going to change, and anyway you dragons are going to try to make this more like your world, not like Earth."
Markath couldn't argue with that. But it didn't change anything, either. Fate had put them together for a reason, he believed that with all his heart, so there had to be a way. He just needed to find it.
And then Amanda looked up at him, and he saw the spark in her eyes. She was hoping he could find a way too. That gave Markath hope: together they could overcome any difficulty.
"I am your mate," he said. "I will do everything in my power to make you happy and comfortable. Try it, and we will be happy together. You will be safe."
She turned away, and he could see the tension in her shoulders. "Markath. I believe you mean that, but God, I hate this planet. I don't want to be here. I've nearly died here, and I want to go home. There's nothing you can do to keep me safe from that."
Markath stepped around the desk and put his arm around her shoulder. Amanda tensed but didn't pull away, and a moment later she was holding onto him tight. How can I protect her from this? What am I supposed to do?
"I will keep you safe from harm," he said, "and that doesn't just mean physical harm, Amanda. You are safe in my arms."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Amanda said, and Markath could hear that she was fighting back tears. "Maybe I'll feel safe with you, but you won't be there all the time.
And this is a dangerous planet now, with pirates and warriors and god knows what else to come for me. I have to go home."
Holding Amanda tight, Markath snarled at the world and its dangers. If he could fight them all he would, keep them away from his mate and settle her mind. But she was right, he admitted. His duties would take him elsewhere, and as long as Amanda feared Mars itself, how could he make her feel safe?
Is Earth truly any safer? He knew better than to ask that question, at least here and now. Frightening Amanda into staying would not make her happier here. But Earth, from what little he knew of that world, wasn't doing well. The latest wars between the human corporations had been fought with powerfully destructive weapons, and left ruins dotting the planet. That doesn't matter, though, he realized. Amanda doesn't need Earth, she just wants to leave Mars.
And I don't want her to go.
Lifting her chin gently, Markath looked down into Amanda's eyes. They shimmered with tears, and her expression hardened as she tried to hide her pain. It didn't work, not really.
Meeting her gaze steadily, he spoke with his full conviction. "I will keep you safe, Amanda. That's what a warrior does for his mate, and it's what I will do for you."
She put her hand on his chest and pushed him back, shaking her head sadly. "I wish I could accept that, Markath. I really do. But I can't. I'll never feel safe here on Mars, I have to go home. And I'll finally get to go in a month's time, maybe less. I can't start a relationship now."
Stepping out of his embrace, she took a deep breath. He could see the warring emotions beneath the surface, intense enough that he could almost feel them himself. The fear and the need and the desire, with anger mixed in — a confusing mess that he wished he knew how to straighten out.
"Come with me?" she said at last, letting the question out in a quick burst of words. Markath blinked. He hadn't expected that. Before he could answer, she spoke again, words spilling out in a rush. "Come back to Earth, and we can make this work. I won't have to be on this stupid planet anymore and you will be a celebrity."
The hope in her voice cut like no knife could, and now it was his turn to back away. "Amanda, I can't. I have duties here, my oath is to serve the emperor and the Dragon Empire, and my people need me. There are so few of us now, I can't abandon them."
"Not even for me?"
"No," he said, feeling as though he was tearing out his own heart with the words. "I cannot break my oath."
"Then I can't be with you," Amanda said, turning away again as her face fell. She wasn't quite fast enough to hide the tears. "So get out, because being this close to you hurts."
He opened his mouth and then shut it again. The urge to go to her, to comfort her in his arms, was strong, but what could he say to that? It was his presence that was distressing her. Before he could think of a response, Amanda's intercom chimed.
"Doctor?" Kevin's voice was nervous but determined as he interrupted. "Um, there are patients out here waiting on you."
Amanda looked at him, and he held up his hands in surrender. This battle would not be won here, and keeping her from the patients that needed her skills would only make matters worse.
"I will go," he told her. "But I will not go far. We are mates, you and I, and I will find a way to make this work for you, to keep you safe and happy and with me. I promise you that."
Markath couldn't bear the pain in her eyes any longer, so he turned and pushed his way through the door. It was the first battle in his life that he'd retreated from, but it was the campaign that mattered.
Humans stared at him as he stalked through the waiting room, but he ignored them and stalked out, trying to think of a way to make this right.
6
Amanda
At least she was busy. That was all that Amanda had to comfort herself with in the days that followed Markath storming out of the clinic. It had saved her right away, in fact — if Kevin hadn't had a few injured people to send her way, she'd have collapsed in the corner and cried her eyes out.
It was hard, being brought face to face with the fact that she wanted something that she couldn't have. But Amanda had spent the past year trying to put together the money to book a flight back to Earth. Now that the dream was nearly in reach she wasn't going to give up on it just because a man asked her to.
No matter how much she wanted to be with him.
It's just a crush, she told herself over and over again. What else can it be? I hardly know him, and what I do know...
Markath was arrogant and demanding and didn't think much of humans. And she knew practically nothing else about him. Apart from the fact that he was gorgeous, a treacherous part of her mind reminded her. It wasn't as though she needed reminding, the memory of his body came to her every time she had a moment to herself, and she found her mind wandering to the possibilities endlessly. Thinking about his body, his voice, his alien eyes staring into her soul.
It was infuriating.
The one good thing, she thought, was that when she dreamed of him she wasn't dreaming of falling. Of being dashed against the red rocks of Mars like some discarded doll. When Markath was in her mind, she felt safe and protected. Or perhaps just distracted; it was hard to worry about her safety when she was thinking about him, about his touch and what his kisses would feel like.
Even that had a downside, as she woke up after those dreams frustrated and aching, longing for Markath's touch. She felt like she'd hardly gotten any sleep since she'd turned him away, and that was taking its toll.
The intercom chimed and Amanda realized that she'd been staring into space for goodness knew how long. Fumbling at the button, she managed not to snap at Kevin when she answered it. None of this was his fault.
"Doctor, I've got a call from your sister, want me to put it through?" Kevin asked.
"God yes," Amanda answered, glad of the interruption.
That, finally, brightened Amanda's day. The calls from her sister had been great for distracting her from her own troubles, even if they were by necessity short. The only way to get a signal out to the Hellas Planitia was by relaying it off a spaceship in orbit — the deals for putting up communications satellites around Mars hadn't been finalized yet.
And that meant that the two sisters could only talk when a RyaTech ship was in the right part of the sky to make the connection, which never lasted long.
Hopefully she can tell me what they've found, Amanda thought as her desktop screen flickered to life. In her last call Hannah had said that they'd reached their destination, though she was still vague about where exactly that was. It had taken days of searching to find the right place, though, and Amanda hoped it would turn out to be worth the trip.
The screen blurred as the call connected, and straight away Amanda knew that something was wrong. The image had never been clear, but now it was shaking wildly, bursts of static flickering through it as she watched. There was no sound, and she couldn't make out what was happening.
"Hannah? Hannah, are you okay?" Amanda's heart raced, and she leaned forward to try and get a better look. It was no use. The picture moved too fast for her to make out much beyond the red of Mars rock, and the fact that the camera was being carried at a dead run. "Hannah, say something!"
A burst of noise came from the speakers, loud enough to make Amanda wince. Then Hannah's voice came, faintly, almost impossible to make out through the static.
"—nk God, Amanda —srk— what we've found," Hannah said. More was lost to the static, and Amanda fumbled at the controls trying to get a better signal. It was no use.
"What's happening?" she asked, desperate and frightened for her sister.
"—cave in, and —skrk— no way out." Hannah's voice was raw, frightened, she was panting. And then the connection cut.
Amanda stared at the screen for a moment, horrified. The signal hadn't vanished completely, but she was left staring at a RyaTech logo gently rotating above an error message.
"No, no, no," she whispered, trying to reestablish the call. It
was no good. Mars had taken her sister, just like she'd feared it would kill her.
No. I won't let that happen, she told herself. I can't just give up on her. I won't.
Taking a deep and ragged breath, she centered herself. Trying the call again, and still getting the spinning corporate logo, she then tried to call the ship itself.
That answer came almost instantly, and she found herself looking into the icy blue eyes of a man who watched her without apparent emotion. He wore a suit that Amanda recognized, one of the men who'd watched the departure of the Outrider. The man in charge, she thought. If he was taking this call personally, that had to mean something was badly wrong.
"I'm trying to get through to the crew of the Outrider," Amanda told him without waiting for an introduction. "There's been an—"
"An accident, Dr. Cain, yes," the man said. "I am sorry but we can't re-establish communications at this time."
"What happened? Is Hannah alright?" Amanda demanded, feeling the color drain from her cheeks. Hearing this man say it out loud made it all too real. "Tell me she's alright."
"RyaTech will be sending appropriate support to the site." The man's voice was anything but reassuring, and without saying what would be 'appropriate' that could mean anything.
"I'm a doctor," Amanda told him, refusing to give up so easily. "I can help. Let me go with the rescue party."
"There is no need," he replied, leaning forward and looking at her seriously. "Your services will not be required, and the dig is a proprietary RyaTech site. Please do not attempt to interfere, you might get in the way of our own rescue operations."
If they ever bothered to send anyone. RyaTech, like most other corporations, cared a lot more about the bottom line than their contractors. Getting someone out there in time to save anyone could be expensive. On the other hand, if the team had found something of value, the corporation wouldn't have to pay the contractors if they were dead.