Running Toward Home

by M B Panichi

Morgan considered this for a few moments. “You’re accustomed to working outside the system, aren’t you? Outside the rules. You just do what you want and assume that the law can’t get to you.”

  Shaine licked her lips. “I’ve been doing this for most of my adult life, Morg. It’s second nature.”

  “It should scare the piss out of me, Shaine, but, honestly, it doesn’t.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Sometimes I think it bothers you, though.”

  Shaine sighed. “Sometimes it does. A lot of why I was trying to get out of it.” She took Morgan’s hand and pulled her to sit beside her on the bed. “Seems like old habits die hard, huh?”

  Morgan reached up, tracing the taut line of Shaine’s jaw. “It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, hon. I mean, it’s all for a good reason.” Shaine made no comment, sitting quiet and still. Morgan cocked her head. “What are you thinking?”

  “Everything. Nothing. You’re honestly okay with this? With me?”

  Morgan gently turned Shaine’s face toward her, cupping her cheek with one hand. “Shaine, I love you. Whether you’re under the radar or not. I love that you’re brave enough to do what’s right, like what we did tonight. I love that you care. I love that you love me and trust me enough to include me in your plans.”

  Shaine turned her head, kissing Morgan’s palm, and then pulled her into a tight hug. “God, I love you.”

  Morgan leaned up and captured Shaine’s lips in a kiss that quickly turned passionate. She reveled in the taste and feel of Shaine’s tongue twisting against her own. The pulse of desire radiated down to her groin. She moaned against Shaine’s mouth and pulled her closer. Shaine’s hands slid under Morgan’s T-shirt and chills ran up and down Morgan’s spine.

  “I want you so much,” Shaine breathed.

  Morgan pushed Shaine back on the bed and crawled on top of her, sucking hard on the pulse-point at her neck. Suddenly desperate with need, she pulled at Shaine’s clothes, wanting them off, now.

  Shaine arched against her, hands at Morgan’s waist, fumbling at the buttons on her pants, pushing them impatiently down and out of the way. Morgan wriggled to get free, doing the same for Shaine, finally giving up and just sliding her hand into Shaine’s pants, between hot skin and the soft, dampened fabric of her silk boxers. She sighed as her fingers slid into warm, slick folds.

  Shaine choked on a cry as Morgan entered her, her hips jerking up for more contact. Morgan was more than happy to oblige. Shaine’s fingers found Morgan’s center in turn and she gasped. Panting, they fell into a rhythm, straining against each other, trading open-mouthed kisses, climbing frantically toward climax until they came together, collapsing against each other, gasping for air.

  Morgan dropped her head onto Shaine’s chest, feeling Shaine’s long arms wrap around her tightly. “Damn,” she whispered.

  Shaine kissed her hair. “Yeah.”

  They lay like that for a few minutes, until Morgan sighed. “They’re probably wondering what happened to us.”

  Shaine chuckled lowly. “Yeah, probably not, Morg. Probably not.”

  Morgan shook her head with a groan and rolled off Shaine, sitting up on the bed. Shaine got her own self up. They got themselves sorted and respectable. Morgan caught sight of them in the mirror on the back of the door. Both their faces remained flushed with exertion. Yeah, she thought. They won’t have to guess too hard to figure out what we were doing.

  * * *

  Grey and Mia slipped out of town early the next morning after grabbing a couple hours of sleep in the guest bedroom and a quick breakfast courtesy of Jeannette. Shaine and Morgan headed back upstairs after they left, wanting to nap a while longer before facing the day. They’d all been up watching the news until nearly dawn.

  Morgan woke some hours later, content and comfortable, wrapped in Shaine’s arms. It was a wonderful feeling, waking with Shaine curled around her. When she slept alone, she wrapped herself in her quilt like a mummy, curled on her side. When she’d been with her ex-girlfriend, Gina, her sleeping habits had been a serious point of contention between them. Gina hated Morgan’s tendency to steal all the covers, wrapping herself in blankets instead of wrapping herself up in her companion. Gina resented the separation. Morgan tried, but couldn’t change, and always woke up having cloaked herself in isolation.

  Sleeping with Shaine, she never woke wrapped alone in the quilts. For better or worse, Shaine had become her security blanket. She felt protected, but not smothered. Safe.

  She wriggled a little closer into Shaine’s warmth. Shaine’s arm tightened around her waist and Morgan felt a sigh of warm breath on the back of her neck. The skin-on-skin contact made her feel so wonderfully content, on the edge of arousal, as though they shared one skin. She wished she could remain right where she was, not caring to move, for the rest of her days. She smiled to herself, closed her fingers over Shaine’s and closed her eyes again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next evening Shaine got a call on her comp pad after dinner. Morgan was sprawled on the sofa in the entertainment room while Shaine stretched out on the floor with a pillow. She leaned over to look at Shaine’s pad to see who’d called.

  Shaine frowned at the com code and shrugged. Morgan watched, wondering who it might be.

  They were both surprised when the screen cleared to show Morgan’s older brother, Garren Maruchek, smiling at them from behind a desk. He leaned back in what looked like a very comfortable conform chair. He was a tall man, built like his father. His long black hair was pulled into a neat ponytail at the nape of his neck. He had his father’s piercing blue eyes and strong, aquiline features. His deep voice came clearly over the pad’s speaker. “Hey, how are you two doing?”

  Morgan grinned from her position leaning over Shaine. “Hey, Garren, what’s going on?”

  Garren shrugged. “Just working. I’ve been putting together the details of Father’s latest big project. We’ve gotten the go-ahead to start mining on Mars. Earth Assembly decided Mann-Maru was the lesser evil fighting for mining rights, so I’m working to get the project off the ground.”

  “Sounds pretty intense,” Morgan commented.

  Shaine said, “Actually, Rogan mentioned it too. I wondered when they’d finally give into Maruchek on that.”

  “I stay out of the politics,” Garren admitted. “That’s not my forte. I’m an organizer, not a lobbyist. Father is much better suited to that role.” He grimaced. “Actually, the organizing is kind of the reason I’m calling.”

  Morgan frowned, suddenly suspicious. “What do you mean?”

  “Actually, I’m hoping that the two of you might help me.”

  “I’m not sure we want to know what you’re about to ask,” Shaine commented dryly.

  Garren managed an embarrassed smile. “Well, I’m only calling you before Rogan does. He’ll ask the same thing, I’m hoping you might actually listen to me.”

  Morgan frowned. “Hell, Garr. Better you than Rogan any day. But what in the universe can we do for you?”

  He smiled. “You can drag Shaine’s ass to Mars with you. I need a head of security on the project and I want to bring in my own people and have them report to me directly rather than deal with Rogan as a middleman, second-guessing me all the way.”

  Shaine cleared her throat. “Very direct of you, Garren. But I’m not in the security business anymore.”

  He raised a brow. Morgan thought he looked just like their father. He said, “Could have fooled me. Nice demolition project, by the way.”

  Shaine snorted. “Been talking to Kyle lately?”

  Garren grinned at her. “Actually, he and I have had a couple of very enlightening conversations.”

  Morgan’s hackles went up. “I don’t appreciate you spying on either me or Shaine, and if that’s what you’re about, this conversation is over.”

  “No, wait, Morgan, I wasn’t spying!” He pushed anxiously to his feet in front of the screen. “That came out wrong. Please, hear me out.”
>
  Morgan glared angrily at him. “Say your piece, but it better be good.”

  Garren nodded. “I knew that Kyle was an ally of Shaine’s. I went to him in the hope that he might be able to suggest someone who would be best suited to run security on the Mars project. We got to talking and he said that I should talk to you and Morgan. He said that you’d probably want to stay out of the limelight and this would be a great way to do it.”

  Shaine sighed.

  Morgan asked, “What did he tell you about what’s going on here?”

  Garren held up his hands. “Nothing, really. I had a couple of ’bots out keeping me apprised of news of both of you. So I heard about Shaine stopping the shootings in her hometown. Then, yesterday I got a blurb in my inbox about someone blowing up an empty nuclear power plant near Shaine’s home. I put two and two together.” He grinned. “Did I get four? Or have I miscalculated?”

  Shaine chuckled. “You got four. You were never stupid, Garren.”

  “So, would you consider it?” he asked. “I really would love to have you guys on board here. I think you’ve got the brains and the experience for the job, Shaine, and I would truly rather not have to deal with Rogan on a regular basis.”

  Shaine looked to Morgan questioningly. Morgan shrugged. “If you want to go, I’m there with you,” she said.

  Shaine turned a serious expression on Garren. “If I accepted, would I have complete control over the security department?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Give us a day to talk about it,” Shaine said.

  Garren nodded. “You know where to find me.”

  Morgan said, “We’ll call tomorrow.”

  “Thanks.”

  Garren signed off. Morgan and Shaine turned to each other and said at the same time, “What do you think?” They broke into giggles.

  “Well?” Shaine asked.

  Morgan cocked her head thoughtfully. “We did talk about needing to get out of here. I suppose Mars is as good a place as any to hide out. But, really, the question goes to you. Do you want to be Garren’s head of security?”

  Shaine frowned. “Honestly, I don’t know.” She ran a hand through her hair. “On the upside, it wouldn’t be undercover work. I’d be as much an administrator as anything. I’m not big on administration, but I could keep my force small and be more hands on.”

  “You’re good at this, Shaine, and you know it. You’re better at security than you are a mechanic.” She grinned.

  Shaine stuck her tongue out. “Yeah. I know. But what about you? I don’t want to drag you halfway around the solar system if it isn’t what you want.”

  Morgan wrapped her arms around Shaine’s shoulders. “I don’t know what I want at this point. I know I can’t go back to my old life, but I don’t know what the possibilities are. I’m sure I can find something to do while we’re there. As long as we’re together, it’ll work out.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Shaine smiled. “We’ll talk to Garren tomorrow, then.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Morgan was sad to leave the farm. She’d started to think of it as home. She liked working in the garden and the greenhouse, and treasured the walks she took with Shaine. It had been so wonderful to have so much time just for themselves.

  Shaine’s family made her feel so comfortable. Jeannette was almost like having her own mom back again. When she’d slipped and called her “Mom,” Jeannette had smiled brilliantly and told her to keep calling her that. “You’re family here, Morgan,” she’d said. They had a final meal with Leese, her husband and Toby.

  Morgan tried hard not to cry as they were getting in the air car, but ended up swiping away tears anyway. Jeannette hugged her hard and kissed her cheek and told her she was always welcome, and she was very glad that Shaine had found such a wonderful partner. Morgan sniffled until the farm had long disappeared from the rearview vid screen, and Shaine had shifted into the upper sky lanes.

  So much had happened while they’d been at the farm—a lifetime of experiences and excitement in a couple short weeks. She wanted to return to find out what winter was like and to see Toby graduate from the university. Shaine promised they’d return when they could, maybe for Winter Solstice the following year.

  In the end, the furor around the nuclear plant ended reasonably favorably. The destruction at the plant site remained under investigation. Local authorities had no suspects and no traceable evidence. Because of the damage, GGS had to forfeit the option to reopen the plant. Toby was ecstatic. Shaine and Morgan didn’t tell him about their involvement. He, like the media, speculated that GGS had decided it wasn’t worth their while to go through with the deal and sabotaged it themselves to save face.

  Shaine and Morgan’s plan was to leave the air car at the Mann-Maru space terminal in New York City and catch a shuttle back to Moon Base. Both women had loose ends to tie up there and plans to make before they headed to Mars. Morgan wanted to spend a bit of quiet time with her dad and see Charri. Even though they’d talked via their net avatars or emailed nearly every day, it wasn’t the same as being with her best friend in person.

  Fifteen hours later Morgan and Shaine reached Moon Base and disembarked from the Mann-Maru shuttle. Morgan trudged down the short ramp with her duffel bag on her shoulder. Shaine carried an oversized backpack and had arranged for the equipment bag with her guns to be delivered to her apartment by a courier from Mann-Maru Security.

  A black-uniformed Mann-Maru Security guard met them at the bottom of the shuttle’s ramp and escorted them to the landing bay airlock, which he opened with a key-code. Once Shaine and Morgan were inside, he nodded to them and sealed the small compartment. A couple minutes later, the door at the back of the airlock opened to the inner part of the private corporate terminal.

  The Mann-Maru terminal was virtually empty. A couple of employees staffed the main desk, but the seating area and the coffee station were empty of travelers. Both employees nodded politely to Shaine and Morgan as they walked through.

  The smoky glass door to the main spaceport slid open as they approached. Shaine and Morgan stepped into the bustling dome of the Moon Base spaceport. Travelers moved between the many terminals attached all the way around the dome. Announcements boomed over loudspeakers, accenting the general hubbub of noise and voices. Music and enticing aromas drifted from the various bars and restaurants. Everywhere she looked, Morgan saw small air carts darting about between pedestrians, moving luggage or carrying people to and from the different terminals and seating areas scattered through the spaceport.

  Shaine said, “Let’s head to the tram.” She slid an arm around Morgan’s waist, and they ambled toward the tram station across the dome. The trams ran every twenty minutes or so between the spaceport and the Moon Base dome almost forty kilometers away.

  The two women hadn’t gone more than ten meters from the Mann-Maru terminal when a group of about twelve reporters rushed them, shoving recording devices in their faces and yelling out questions.

  “Come on, Ms. Rahn, just a simple statement! Will you be working for Mann-Maru? What does Tarm Maruchek think of having found his daughter? Do you speak with him often? How does your adopted family feel about your birth father?

  “Ms. Wendt, that was a courageous thing you did in your hometown! What possessed you to get involved against gunmen? Is it true you were in Special Operations in the EG?”

  Shaine glowered at the reporters, caught Morgan by the arm and shouldered roughly through the small group. Morgan ducked her head and followed Shaine’s lead. The reporters followed them through the terminal to the tram station.

  When they reached the ticketing kiosk, Shaine slid her credit chit through the reader, requested two rides, then jammed her laser cutter through the chit reader. She and Morgan rushed through the turnstile and jumped on the tram a half-second before the door slammed shut, leaving behind frustrated, shouting reporters. Morgan sighed and leaned against her partner. “You a
re the best,” she murmured.

  Shaine hugged her one-armed while she hung on to the overhead bar with her other hand. “Only for you, love.”

  “So, my place first, or yours?”

  Shaine shrugged. “Mine first? I can grab some clothes. We can stay at your place and you can call your dad. Hell, tell him to come over. We’ll order out dinner.”

  Morgan grinned. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

  * * *

  Vinn Rahn, Morgan and Shaine sat around the small table in Morgan’s apartment, sharing the noodle and meat stew they’d had delivered. Morgan was glad her dad agreed to join them.

  His careworn face held a content smile. Vinn Rahn wasn’t much older than Tarm Maruchek, but life had been much harder on his aging body. He was paying for all the years he worked in null or near-null gravity in the Asteroid Belt mines, without the time, energy or facilities to do workouts in full gravity to keep his muscles and bone structure built up. Morgan hated to see him more hunched over every year. His hazel eyes had faded and arthritis gnarled his fingers. He used a cane now, and she worried about him getting around.

  Vinn pointed a fork at his daughter. “So you’re leaving again, then?”

  Morgan said, “In a few days, yeah. Shaine needs to organize her security team before we can go, and I want to tie up some loose ends too. There isn’t a transport going out until next week anyway.”

  Vinn frowned as he stabbed at a piece of vegetable. “I had hoped you’d stay around a while. I’ve missed you. How long will you be gone?”

  Shaine answered, “It’s hard to say. Initially, I’d guess we’ll be on Mars for a few months, though I’m sure we can get back for visits from time to time.”

  “It won’t be forever, Dad.”

  He put on a brave smile. “I know it won’t,” he said. “I’ve been spoiled, having you around as long as I have. Most parents aren’t that lucky.”

  Morgan felt her heart breaking, tightening uncomfortably in her chest, and looked down at her dinner, no longer hungry. She blinked back hot tears and fought to get control of her emotions.