by RS McCoy
“No. It’s not. We still have to clean up. Do damage control. Dasia said there were cities down all over.” Mable looked at him with pursed lips. She was beautiful even then.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
She tried to turn away but he grabbed her shoulders.
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
“You just performed a marathon of surgeries and saved the world—literally. I think you can—”
“I killed four people.”
Theo pulled her against his chest and wrapped her in his arms, a protective barrier against everything else. “You saved millions,” he reminded her. “And you didn’t kill anyone. The bugs killed them. You tried to save them.”
“What if I killed her?” Mable’s voice was muffled against his body suit.
“You didn’t. She volunteered to be infected. You took the best possible care of her. Even Dr. Arrenstein couldn’t have done it as well.” Theo pulled back and looked her in the eye. “She was lucky to have you.”
Mable hung her head, not arguing, but not believing him either.
Theo squeezed his arms around her tight enough to pick her up and heave her onto the bed. Before she could squirm away, he flipped her over and slid her against him. His lips were less than an inch from her ear when he told her, “You were amazing today. If I ever doubted it before, I’m completely sure now.”
“Sure about what?” she whispered back.
“That I love you.” Theo tipped forward and kissed the top of her ear and smiled when she froze, refusing to answer or acknowledge him.
The great Mable Wilkinson, afraid to be in love. Theo couldn’t help but smile. All her hardness, all her strength, it was nothing more than a defense.
“Is it okay if I don’t love you back?” Her voice was so quiet he could barely hear her.
“Yeah, that’s okay.” He kissed her neck.
Mable flipped over to face him, her eyes searching his features. “Really? You’re okay with that?”
Theo nodded and let his lips turn into a wide smile. “I am really okay with that.”
“Why?” Her eyes searched his face as if the answer might be there.
“Because I think someday you’ll want to be in love again. Someday you’ll remember the good about being in love. It’ll be more important than the pain of losing the people you love. I think someday you’ll be ready again.” He kissed her forehead.
Mable looked at where her hands toyed with the collar of his body suit. “What if I never love you?”
“Then I’ll spend my whole life with the person I love. I think that would be okay.”
“What if I love someone else?”
Theo sighed. “Then I’ll love you and be happy for you. I want to be a part of your life as long as you let me.”
She rested her hand on his cheek and leaned in to kiss him, a small little peck on his lips. “Is it okay if I love you, too?”
Theo couldn’t help but kiss her, not a shy one, but a good one—a good kiss that made his heart nearly burst in his chest. “That’s okay, too,” he told her finally. Theo centered over her and relished the moment. It had taken them a long time. They’d gone from enemies to friends to lovers and everything in between.
Mable pulled away and asked, “What about Dasia?”
“What about her?”
“What if I love her, too?”
“Then it’s like you said. You’re lucky. And you’re worth it.”
SILAS
LRF-AQ
SEPTEMBER 17, 2232
Silas strummed his fingers against the armrest of the metal chair in Filmore’s office.
They’d found Dasia.
Without her tablet, it had been impossible to contact her, to talk to her, but someone had found her and was bringing her back.
“Any news on Dr. Perkins?” Filmore asked. Silas got the idea he was trying to fill the silence.
“Still asleep. Vince is with her. He’ll let us know when she wakes up.”
“We haven’t heard of any other attacks. Hopefully New York will be the last.”
“Hopefully.”
The silence was awkward at the very least. Silas had little to say to the man who had killed his agent, intentional or otherwise. Filmore, on the other hand, resented Silas’s role in using Abby to infiltrate his office.
Between the two, there wasn’t a lot of common ground.
The door opened with a whooshing sound. Two large men entered with Dasia between them. Each held one of her arms like she was a criminal.
“Christ, put her down!” Silas screamed.
When they released her, Dasia lurched forward. Her face was a mess from crying, her hair frizzed from running. Silas couldn’t imagine where she’d gone or what the last two hours had been like for her.
Silas jogged across the room and put an arm around her shoulder. He ushered her to the chair and let her sink into it.
Kneeling beside her, he said, “Dasia, listen. I have something to show you. Right here.”
Dasia continued to stare at the floor.
Silas knew the only way would be to show her. He cued up the comm on his tablet and waited, the notification sounding several times before he appeared.
“Hey, Dr. A. Everything okay on your end?” Osip asked.
Silas watched as Dasia’s head flew up and her eyes landed on the holographic projection. She covered her mouth with both her hands.
“Hey, babe. What happened? What’s wrong?”
Dasia didn’t answer, too in shock to even speak.
Silas filled it in for him. “She heard about New York. I didn’t get the chance to explain—”
Osip smiled. “All those tears for me?”
Dasia rushed out of her chair and leaned over Filmore’s desk, as close to the projection as she could get. “You’re really okay?”
“I’m totally fine, babe. Knox and Jane are here. Some chick Ramona. She’s a riot. You’ll like her. I’m not supposed to tell you where we are, for ‘safety’.” Osip shot Silas a crooked look. “But I promise I’m totally fine, and I wouldn’t have kept this from you if I didn’t have to.”
“When do I see you again?” she asked with a tear-soaked smile.
“As soon as this blows over. Not fast enough, if you ask me.” Osip winked at her. “How’s Mable?”
Dasia shrugged. “I’ve only seen her here and there.”
“Damn, girl. Get on it! Who knows when you’ll see her again.”
She laughed. “I know, it’s been a little busy.”
Silas blinked. They couldn’t possibly be talking about what he thought they were talking about.
“I expect you to take full advantage,” Osip continued. “I don’t want you getting back here and whining about how you missed your chance. Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind?”
“Not at all,” Dasia replied.
Silas shook his head. How long had that been going on under his nose? Maggie was sneakier than he thought.
Their jokes and laughter faded as Osip looked her deep in the eye. “I’ll see you soon, firefly.” He did something with his hands Silas didn’t quite catch.
Rather than answer, Dasia nodded and switched off the comm.
Then she turned on him like a rabid dog. “You knew? You knew all along they weren’t in the city?”
Silas gulped. His life flashed before his eyes. Dasia was going to lay him flat before he could do a thing about it. “I did, but, Dasia, I had to—”
Then she lunged.
He squeezed his eyes shut tight and braced for the impact. He crossed his arms across his gut and turned to the side, protecting the soft parts of him.
But she never struck.
Instead, her body landed against his, her arms around his neck. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she squealed.
In a heartbeat she was down, loping across the room and pausing only long enough to scan her hand before the door opened and released her into the corridor.
“Do I e
ven want to know?” Filmore asked with hands entwined in his lap.
Silas shook his head. “Probably not.”
VINCE
LRF-FIC
SEPTEMBER 17, 2232
He should have known better. Twice was fortunate. Three times was just plain lucky. The fourth time, she was a miracle.
And now, after her fifth bug infection, Aida was still asleep.
Five bugs. Fourteen hours.
Her vitals were those of someone sleeping, low but stable. Only Aida wasn’t waking up.
Vince rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes and stared at her, waiting for something to move. An eyelash. A twitch of the finger.
But there was nothing.
Only the steady rise and fall of her ribs. Her dark hair was swept to the side. Her hands were folded neatly over her torso. She looked the way he’d seen her dozens of times, in the early hours of morning when she had stayed in his apartment.
Each passing moment, each minute or hour her eyes remained shut, another shard of his hope slipped away. It had been too long.
The extraction had clipped something, some important region within the brainstem. Or the bug had left its toxin.
It didn’t really matter.
Silas reappeared sometime after dawn. He was the only one who dared to come by, the only one who would brave the severity of the situation.
“You should get some sleep,” he offered.
Vince shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“I’ll keep you posted.”
“I said I’m fine. I’m not leaving.”
“Yeah, I expected as much. Here.”
For the first time, Vince looked up at his superior. Silas held out a cup of coffee and a plate of orange slices with yogurt. Vince took the coffee but set the food aside. He wasn’t in the mood to eat.
“So what happened with you and Abby?” Silas pulled over a chair and sat beside Vince.
“Nothing happened.”
“Well, something happened. You’re here and she’s not. You two seemed pretty serious about staying together.”
Vince sighed. He knew better than to think Silas would let up on him. “We were serious, but it was hard to see each other. We could barely keep up with the bug checks, much less do dinners or anything. She got caught up with Filmore, and I was busy with work.”
“How’d you get started with Perkins?”
“Do we have to get into this?” Vince dreaded the idea of sharing with Silas just how far off track he’d gotten.
“Might as well.” Silas smiled and pushed a hand through his salt and pepper hair.
“She used to wear this shirt,” Vince began. “It was white with, I don’t know, a poof or a ruffle or something on the shoulder. And she’d wear heels. Every day with those damn heels.” It seemed like a lifetime ago, when he had known her only as a colleague.
“Then Dr. Parr died. No one else batted an eye, but she was crushed. She couldn’t even talk to anyone about it. Her husband didn’t understand. None of them could even comprehend her state of grief. She still hasn’t fully processed it.”
“They say she’s brilliant,” Silas offered.
Vince allowed a small smile. “You wouldn’t believe it. I’ve never known anyone so unbelievably intelligent. And she has no idea. You’d think someone that sharp would be an arrogant ass, but she’s not. She’s shy and humble and she has no idea why everyone has so much faith in her.”
“Did you go look in the drawer like she asked?”
“No.” He hadn’t had the chance. He refused to leave her.
Silas reached into his pocket and pulled out an acrylic cube. He set it on the table with a small clank.
Vince had to slam his eyes shut for fear of letting loose any tears in front of Silas.
“You know what this is?”
Vince nodded and pulled it into his hand. He ran his finger along the smooth edge. Inside, the cerulean center seemed to glow. A precious life.
Silas stood and clamped a hand around Vince’s shoulder so hard it was painful. “You let me know if you need anything. You’re a good man, Vince.”
Vince kept his eyes on Aida, the cool acrylic in his hand, as Silas left and the door closed behind him.
How had his life come to this? Silas had practically raised him. He’d been a lost teen when CPI pulled him in and gave him a new purpose. And now, they’d achieved it. They’d figured out the bugs, how they worked, what they wanted, how to stop them. Vince had contributed to solving the great mystery. He’d earned the respect of a man whose opinion meant everything to him.
In his hand, he held Aida’s child. The child she almost left him for.
If only she would wake up.
MABLE
LRF-PQ-241
SEPTEMBER 17, 2232
Mable and Theo lay entwined when a knock sounded at the door. Mable moved to get up but Theo squeezed her shoulder and said, “I’ll get it.”
She rolled over and sat up to see who was there.
Dasia walked in, her hands clasped before her.
“Hey,” Mable said with a smile. She wanted to rush across the room and scoop her up, but with Theo there, she remained on the bed. Caught between her relationships with Dasia and Theo, she wasn’t sure how to act. She wondered if Theo was really as comfortable with her relationship with Dasia as he said.
“Hey, I came as soon as I saw your ecomm,” Dasia said to Theo. “What’s going on?”
Theo walked back to Mable, but rather than answer, he kissed the top of her head. He swiped behind his ear and planted his audio strip on Mable. Then, he turned to Dasia and gave her the other one.
Dasia’s eyes went wide as slow, sultry music flooded her ear.
“I’ll be at FIC if you need me.” Theo winked as he closed the door behind him.
“Did that just happen?” Dasia asked. Her voice was too loud over the music.
Mable giggled and ran over to her. Closer, she saw the swelling around Dasia’s eyes, the rims of pink from crying. “What happened?”
Dasia laughed and shook her head. “Nothing. Everything’s fine.”
Mable felt the lie like a bubble had appeared between them, growing and pushing them apart. She took a step back.
“I just had a scare,” Dasia explained. She pulled at Mable’s hand until they stood together again. “Filmore told Dr. Arrenstein that New York was gone.”
“But Arrenstein got them out?”
“Yeah. So everything’s fine.” Dasia stepped forward and pressed her face to Mable’s neck. Mable stood against Dasia’s shoulder and breathed in the scent of her.
The room was quiet but for their breaths and the music streaming into their ears. Mable wondered if Theo had planned a playlist for this, or if he was making it up as he went along.
“Theo really asked you here?”
“Yeah, is that okay?”
Mable sank her face against Dasia’s chest and nodded. It was more than okay. It was more amazing than she could even fully process.
Dasia pulled Mable to the bed and sank against the pillows. Mable settled in beside her, grateful for her warmth and closeness. She let her fingertips skirt over the smooth fabric of Dasia’s shirt.
“I can’t believe you came all the way here,” Mable whispered.
“I can’t believe it’s only been a few weeks. I feel like I’ve missed you for years.” Dasia drew circles on Mable’s shoulder.
Mable pushed away from Dasia and sat crossed-legged on the bed. From where she sat a few feet away, Dasia looked stunning. She had a light, a glow that hadn’t always been there.
Things must be going well with Osip.
“You okay?” Dasia stroked her knee.
“I have to tell you something.”
“About Theo?”
Mable shook her head. “No, but I guess I should tell you about that, too.”
“It’s okay. I understand. What were you going to say?” Her brow wrinkled with concern, but she let Mable take her time.
; The words didn’t come out right away. Mable listened to Theo’s upbeat music and tried to think of what to say.
At a loss, she dove for the faded bag in the bottom drawer of her wardrobe. Mable pulled out the blue-striped blanket and handed it to Dasia. “I was sixteen when I had my son,” Mable said. She stared at her hands and twirled her fingers.
“Who was the guy?” Dasia held the blanket as if moving it might unravel it.
Mable opened up her sketchbook and found one of the earliest drawings, a charcoal sketch of a handsome, light-eyed boy. “His name was Nolan.”
“That’s the guy? Yum.” Dasia ogled the drawing that didn’t do him justice. Still, Mable let herself smile.
“Yeah. Totally irresistible. I was fifteen. He had those eyes.” Mable pointed at the drawing.
Dasia sat up and leaned against the headboard. “Did you love him?”
Mable nodded. “Yeah. He was my Cole. Brilliant. Beautiful. In love with me for reasons I’ll never understand.”
“Oh, please.” Dasia rolled her eyes. “So what happened? I thought Scholars couldn’t have kids without approval or something.”
“Some kind of defect.” Mable shrugged. She’d asked herself the same question hundreds of times.
“Doesn’t sound like a defect. It sounds like a good thing. Two people who love each other should be able to have babies. That’s sort of the point of all this, isn’t it?”
Mable laughed. “Well, then we hit a home run.”
“Were your parents pissed?”
“They never knew. I commed Alex to ask him what I should do. He figured out how to get past Arrenstein’s security. Back before Nick put the whole place on lockdown.”
“Alex told you to leave?”
“Yeah. He said I could go to the underground. He had friends from there. He said it would be hard to get settled, but I’d figure it out. So that’s what I did.”
“How did he get to the colony then?” It was the question Mable hoped she wouldn’t ask. She didn’t want to tell Dasia the truth, but she wasn’t about to lie to her.
Her lip quivered as she grappled for the words. “I sent him back to the surface.” Her voice cracked, but she wouldn’t give in. Not now. “I thought I could go back. If no one knew about him, then I could be a Scholar and it would be like it never happened.”