by Walker Long
She spotted Lieutenant Hardaway before she even saw his face. His build, his posture, even his walk – purposeful, confident, but calm and unhurried – gave him away. She was on her feet in an instant and ran to him with open arms. Then she stopped cold. She was in her male body – two men embracing in public would attract the wrong sort of attention. Her whole body cried out for Hardaway’s touch, but she knew they had to play it cool.
“I missed you,” she said in a voice tangled with emotion.
“Me too,” Hardaway agreed. His big, strong hands curled and stretched, as if he was holding her in his imagination. “It’s good to see you, Q.”
“Yes,” she sighed. “What happened? Jabby and Prince came back. What about you?”
“I’ve resigned,” he said sadly. “JAG agreed to drop the charges against Sergeant Prince and PFC Jabara if I resigned my commission.”
“That’s not fair!” Quantrill exclaimed. “You saved me. They can’t punish you for that!”
“Following orders, Q. It’s the foundation of military discipline. They can’t let that slide,” Hardaway explained calmly. He sighed and ran his fingers through his short hair. “But a lot of people would see it your way. Putting us on trial would be messy. It’s just easier this way. For everyone.”
“Not for me,” Quantrill grumbled. What was she supposed to do now? She loved Hardaway and it hurt like hell to be cut out of his life like that. And on top of that, Hardaway was her leader, her hero. Now she would be on her own. She was barely halfway through a three-year tour. Hardaway was out of the Corps, but she was stuck there for another eighteen months at least.
Quantrill closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Don’t make this all about you, she told herself. Hardaway’s life had just been tossed upside down – all because he saved her ungrateful ass on Angkor. He had his own problems. She needed to think about that, too. “What will you do now?” she asked.
“I’ve talked to my father,” he said casually. “He’s going to get me appointed governor of Lapis Lazuli.”
“That’s a beautiful place,” Quantrill said wistfully. The tropical island was one of the most amazing places Quantrill had ever visited. It was so peaceful and relaxing. Of course, that was mainly because the whole colony was basically abandoned. “But do they really need a governor?”
“All colonies have governors.”
“But nobody lives there,” Quantrill pointed out.
“So it should be an easy job,” Hardaway replied with a shrug and a lopsided grin.
“Are you shitting me?”
“No, this is for real,” Hardaway insisted with a chuckle. “With my military experience and father’s influence it’ll be an automatic confirmation. Besides, nobody else really wants the job.”
“I bet not,” Quantrill said with a frown. “But what about Bugs? Aren’t you worried about another attack?”
“Not particularly. Honestly the Bugs have no use for a planet with that much water. Before we arrived they had colonies all over the Gamma Loop, but never bothered to settle on Lapis Lazuli. They only ended up there the one time by accident,” Hardaway explained.
“That’s a relief,” Quantrill replied. And it was a relief to know Hardaway wouldn’t be in danger out there, but at the same time something bothered her. Something didn’t sit right. She just couldn’t put her finger on it. In school and in Fleet training she’d been lectured on the history of the Formid War over and over. It didn’t feel the same anymore, though. She’s seen the war up close and it wasn’t like what they taught in school at all. “What happened to those Formid colonies?” she asked.
“We happened to them,” Hardaway said with a shrug. “Alliance troops went in to wipe out the Bugs so people could move in.”
“Oh, of course,” she said absently. And those people built mines and factories and a whole industrial empire across the Gamma Loop. The only problem was an occasional Bug invasion killing off a few hundred people every now and then.
“But Lapis Lazuli never had that problem,” Hardaway went on. He was clearly stuck on the Lapis Lazuli thing. That made sense – he was making his new life there. Quantrill, on the other hand, was stuck risking her life in the war. “But the planet is officially in a threatened zone. So according to Alliance policy we are eligible for a permanent Marine detachment. For protection.”
“Right,” Quantrill said with a wry laugh. “That sounds like an Alliance policy, all right. Set up a colony where nobody lives but a platoon of Marines who are only there to protect nobody from a Bug invasion that isn’t going to happen.”
“No. Just one.”
“One what?”
“One Marine,” Hardaway replied. “My father has a lot of influence, but even he couldn’t convince Fleet to send a whole platoon to such a small colony.”
“That sucks,” Quantrill scoffed. “What good is one Marine?”
“Well,” Hardaway said with an intense look, “the Marine I have in mind is good for a lot of things.”
“Oh, really?” Quantrill asked with a wide grin. She could feel the heat rise to her face and knew she must be blushing. The only question on her mind was one she already knew the answer to. “What Marine would that be?” she asked.
Chapter 25
Lapis Lazuli Again
Quantrill finished her run on the beach behind the Hotel Azure. She’d run 5 kilos. That wasn’t much for an active duty Marine – which she still was, officially – but it was quite a workout on the loose sand beaches of the resort island.
She definitely worked up a sweat, anyway. It was a perfect time for a dip. She tugged her form-fitting sport bra up over her bulging breasts then wriggled her arms free. She tossed the bra aside, kicked off her shoes, and waded into the cool, turquoise blue water. When it was up to her waist she dove under. The water was perfect – just cool enough to be refreshing and so crystal clear she could see a hundred meters or more out to sea.
She did a lazy breaststroke and glided over the white, sandy bottom. When she came up for air she turned toward the beach. Someone was coming toward her and waving. It was an older woman, short with a round figure and light brown hair. Quantrill waved back and waded onto dry land.
“Governor Hardaway asked me to bring you a message,” the woman announced and handed over a big, fluffy towel. She was the sort of woman who always thought of everything.
“Mom,” Quantrill chided. “You can call him Bale, you know.”
“Not so long as I work in his office,” she insisted. Quantrill rolled her eyes. The woman was Hardaway’s office. She was the one and only employee of the colonial government of Lapis Lazuli and wasn’t likely to be replaced. Of course, Quantrill couldn’t complain too much. She still accidentally called Bale “Lieutenant Hardaway” from time to time. She also called him “Sir” in certain private moments, but she didn’t plan on stopping that anytime soon.
Besides, her mom enjoyed the professionalism. After years of slaving away at dirty, back-breaking factory work she was thrilled to be in an office every day. Quantrill was thrilled that her mom adapted so well to life on Lapis Lazuli. Adapting to her son becoming her daughter was more of a stretch, but that was coming along.
“Okay, okay,” Quantrill laughed. “What’s the message?”
“Governor Hardaway says the elevator for the observation deck is working now,” the older woman said. There was tall tower built on the crest of the highest hill on the island. Before the Bugs, tourists had used it for BASE jumps, bungee falls, and ziplining. On a clear day you could see the entire island from the observation deck on top.
The tower reminded her of the Iberostar Hotel on New Caledonia – except the tower on Lapis Lazuli wasn’t nearly as tall, so a girl would have to work even harder to get a guy off before the elevator reached the top. When she mentioned that to Bale he laughed and said, “I’d really love to see that.”
“He said you would be interested to know how quickly the elevator reaches the top,” her mother went on. “What�
��s that all about, anyway?”
“No time to explain!” Quantrill exclaimed. Bale fixed the elevator for her, so she had to make it worth his while. And that was going to be fun! She kissed her mother on the cheek and ran up the beach. “Gotta go! Love ya, Mom.”
“I love you, too, sweetie,” the older woman replied with a smile and a shake of her head. “Oh! Wait! You forgot your top!”
“I won’t need it!” Quantrill called back and sprinted up the beach to find her man. She couldn’t change the past, but the future was looking pretty good. And that was a hell of a lot better than nothing.
###
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank Bambi Quim for her extensive editing assistance. Because of her this book will be considerably less embarrassing than any I’ve written before. I’d also like to thank Calum Marsh for writing an insightful article in The Atlantic and Dina Meyer for being hot.
N.S.F.A. (Not Safe For Amazon) Book Cover
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If You Liked This Book
If you liked this book, here’s another you may be able to tolerate. It’s a short novel called The Lesbian, the Bitch, and the Bathrobe. This is a story about a shy, insecure, college girl named Lily who discovers a magical doorway in her closet. This portal leads to a mysterious, fantasy land where sex has been outlawed by a magic spell, drawing a parallel to those in our own world who try to control who is allowed to love and who isn’t.
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If You Didn’t Like This Book
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