by Merry Farmer
Danny’s pulse raced as possible consequences unraveled around him. Imprisonment like Kutrosky would be the least of his worries. He had no rank to take from him like McKinnon, but without access to the Project’s computer systems, he would lose connection with everything he’d been working for months to put into place. He would lose Grace.
“I’m giving you a new job,” King went on. “Both of you. You may not be part of the Project anymore, Danny, but you’re a damn smart man. Let’s see if you’re smart enough to teach this idiot how a computer system really works. You’ll be training him for his next position. Private, Dr. Thorne may be the biggest genius you’ll ever meet, but I don’t trust him as far as I can see him. You will guard him twenty-four seven to ensure that he has no further contact with any Project personnel. Once we reach Terra you will both remain on the ship. When we’ve all disembarked you will be returned to Earth with the rest of the unessential personnel.”
“Is there any way I can appeal this decision, sir?” Danny fought to remain calm and emotionless. The soldier bristled beside him.
“No, there is not.” King strode back to his desk to pick up a handheld. “The governing council doesn’t want another publicity nightmare like Kutrosky. We’ve already decided against an appeal.”
“Sir,” Danny started to object.
“Now, I’m feeling generous,” King rode over him, “so I’m giving you both until tomorrow at nine am to pack up your personal belongings and move them to the new quarters that have been assigned to you.”
“I’m being evicted from my cabin?” Danny’s face flushed with outrage.
“Yes,” King said with finality. “We’re asking you to remain in those quarters voluntarily with no contact with any members of The Terra Project, just the two of you. You do this and it will be a nice, if quiet, year for you before you get back to Earth. If you make any sort of a fuss or a scene, if either of you breathe a word about anything that was said in here,” he pinned both Danny and Kinn with his scowl, “well, Kutrosky isn’t using that room next to the engine anymore.”
“Understood, sir,” Danny replied with icy calm.
“Yes, sir,” McKinnon grumbled.
“May I go now?” Danny asked.
“Yes. I don’t want to see or hear a peep from either of you for the rest of this journey. Get the hell out of my office.” He turned his back on them.
Danny pivoted to leave the room, McKinnon on his heels. He caught the barest sliver of space at the edge of the closet door. Great. A horny teenager and one of Grace’s team members had witnessed his humiliation. His jaw clamped tight as he and McKinnon strode through the entry room and out through the swishing doorway to the hall. The guard who had brought him in didn’t follow, remaining on duty instead. He and McKinnon walked to the elevator and stepped inside in silence.
As soon as the elevator door clicked shut, McKinnon growled, “If you ever tell anybody what happened in there, I’ll fuck you up so hard you won’t know what hit you.”
Danny stared at him with incredulous fury. “Who the hell am I going to tell, Private?”
McKinnon bristled. “One word, ass-wipe, and I’ll tell everyone I come across that you’re as big a criminal as Kutrosky.”
“Everyone you’re going to come across is me,” he murmured as the elevator door swished open. At least it would be if he didn’t do something about it. Fast.
McKinnon stormed out into the hall. Danny stepped off the elevator and took a deep breath. It did nothing to steady the pounding of his heart. Disgraced soldiers were the least of his problems. He had until nine o’clock tomorrow morning to find a way out of the mess or risk losing Grace for good.
He thrust his hands into his pockets and walked down the hall in the opposite direction from the soldier. When he was alone in a dim corner, he pulled out his cell and typed in a number.
“Hello?” the voice came from the other end.
“Carrie,” he clipped. “How quickly do you think you can set your plan in motion?”
The deeper they journeyed into the forest on the other side of the river, the more fiercely Danny’s heart pounded. There had been no guards at the bridge, and they saw no one as they picked their way through the trees within sight of a cleared path. It was as if the forest held its breath, dripping with melt, watching their progress.
They moved in fits and starts, traveling along what Heather said was her path and stopping every few minutes to hunker together in silence, searching for any signs of human life. Danny was concerned that Stacey’s long skis would slow them down in spots where the trees bunched closer together, but she found a way to work with the mobility she had. The last long rays of dawn were giving way to morning by the time Heather motioned that the settlement was ahead, but the trees provided threads of shadows they could use for camouflage.
They passed a point where the formal path branched off toward storage caves. Grace had described the deep caverns packed with supplies gathered by the soldiers after her first visit. Around a corner and down the next slope, Danny had his first glimpse of the sight that had brought Grace to tears when she reported it to him.
In the bowl of a valley cleared of trees, there was a village. Not a sturdy cluster of cabins radiating out from a crude pavilion, like they constructed, but a genuine settlement. Rows of cabins lined several wide, crisscrossing streets. Smoke rose from their chimneys, lending the smell of prosperity to the air. From his vantage-point on the hill, Danny could see a long building in the village’s center square. It was like their own pavilion, but larger and covered with molded bark shingles, like an ancient longhouse. The area to the far right of the town had been cleared as if waiting for gardens or more cabins, and patches of brown where snow had been cleared were visible along the streets.
“Well shit,” Stacey muttered at Danny’s side. “I was kinda hoping the twerp was lying about how much nicer than our place this one is.”
“It’s twice as big,” Heather spoke in an awed whisper.
“Yeah, don’t rub it in.”
“No, I mean it’s twice as big as when I left. Like they put a cabin in between each of the cabins that was there before. And that big house at the end wasn’t there before.”
“What big house?” Stacey craned her neck to look.
“That one there.” Heather pointed. “With the porch around it. It’s two stories.”
“Shh, keep quiet.” Danny frowned at the women, but followed where Heather indicated.
One house at the far end of the central road was larger than the rest. It was indeed two stories, with a slanted, thatched roof and chimneys at the front and back. Its windows were shuttered like the other cabins so he couldn’t tell if it was a residence or some sort of meeting hall. He leaned toward the latter since there was a large deck out front with broad stairs leading up to it. He was more concerned with the smoke that drifted up from the chimneys. Smoke meant people.
They continued to wait and watch and sure enough, a few figures in thick coats not unlike their own stepped out of their cabins and rushed along the streets toward the central longhouse. Even from a distance, they seemed wary and watchful.
“What do we do next, Boss?” Stacey whispered and leaned against him.
He scanned the cabins, the handful of people they could see, searching for a hint of flame-red hair. Grace. She was there. He would see her any moment.
“Boss, I really think we should move. I got a bad feeling.”
Which cabin was hers? Kinn wouldn’t keep her with the rank and file. He would set himself apart, keep Grace apart. A few of the cabins were not part of the neat rows and streets of the village. Here and there they stuck out like afterthoughts, or maybe forethoughts before they came up with a plan. He studied those, eyes narrowed behind his glasses.
The door of a cabin halfway up the slope of the hill opposite theirs opened. A woman stumbled out. She skittered a few feet down the path then stopped, straightening, looking around. Danny thought he heard a deep voic
e issuing an order to her from inside the cabin. The woman reached up slowly and pushed her hood back.
“Grace.” His voice cracked as her hair stood out, golden-red against the white snow. He stood, heart hammering, arms twitching with the need to signal her, to let her know he was there, to hold her.
There was no need. As soon as he stood she spotted him. She raised a hand.
A dozen clicks rang out in the silence. Soldiers stepped out from behind trees and buildings, crossbows trained on them. Somebody shouted, “We’ve got them!”
“Goddammit!” Stacey spat. She stood and held out her hands to show she was unarmed.
Danny’s heart sank into his twisting gut. They’d used Grace as bait to get him to break cover. It had worked. He would have kicked himself for his stupidity, but not a shred of it mattered. Grace started to rush down her path toward them.
An instant later, a hulking form that could only be Kinn lunged out of the house after her. He grabbed her arm, yanking her back. Danny’s throat constricted in fury. He jumped toward her.
“Danny, watch out!” Stacey shouted behind him.
He waved her off, pushing forward. His whole focus was on Grace as she shook away from Kinn. He could barely make out the tones of her voice as she told Kinn off and continued down the path.
A heartbeat later, Danny froze. Something in the way Grace moved wasn’t right. She was slow, swaying. Like a pregnant woman. The blood drained from his face, grief mixing with anger, with jealousy, with longing.
“I said put your hands on your head!” The shout violated his thoughts, snapping him back to attention. He twisted to see what his impulsiveness had done.
Stacey, Heather, and Jonah had been shuffled to the nearest path and stood with their hands on their heads, a trio of soldiers aiming crossbows at them. Two more had the vicious-looking weapons aimed at him. Danny swallowed and put his hands on his head as well, rushing to follow the soldier’s orders. Who cared if they’d been caught, the soldiers were taking them to the place Grace was.
As he reached the path one of them pushed him against another who took his backpack and held him up while the first one tore his snowshoes off. It would be harder to get away, but at that point the last place he wanted to be was anywhere else.
Danny bristled with anticipation as they were marched down the path and into the village to the central longhouse. There were more people out and watching them than he liked. Grace had reported that Kinn had roughly one hundred people with him. He had taken well over three dozen of Kutrosky’s women in his raid. It still wasn’t much, but compared to the thirty-eight of them, it felt like a crowd.
“Keep your hands where we can see them and your mouths shut,” one of the soldiers escorting them ordered.
Danny caught Heather nodding to Jonah with inexplicable confidence as they were pushed into the longhouse through a wide door.
The area inside the longhouse was warmer than he thought it would be and many of the people whispering in groups around half a dozen small fire pits and long tables weren’t wearing parkas. When he saw the huge communal oven both Grace and Heather had talked about, he knew why. The well was only a few feet away from it. He knew this place from the despairing description Grace had given of it. The longhouse must have been built around it.
“What did you find?” Kinn’s voice boomed across the crowded space. He pushed with absolute authority through the curious onlookers to reach them. “More of Kutrosky’s troublemakers?”
“No!” Heather squeaked in offence at the suggestion. She pushed back her hood and pulled the scarf off of her face. Danny’s pounding heart shot to his throat at her foolish bravery.
Kinn blinked in surprise, planting his hands on his hips. “Troublemakers,” he shook his head, unable to hide a cold smile. His stance relaxed and the tension around them lessened. “What are you doing here?”
“We came to check up on Grace.” Stacey risked taking her hands off her head to reveal herself. She took her cue from Heather and rested her weight on one hip as though Kinn were an oaf to treat them the way he was.
“What’s going on here?” Grace pushed forward through the onlookers. She’d shed her coat and wore a thick wool dress with leggings that did little to hide the fact that she was very pregnant. Her hair was much longer than the last time Danny had seen her, plaited and swinging down her back. She’d gained weight from pregnancy, rounding out her face, but it looked good on her. Her skin was starkly pale, freckles faded. A sharp frown cut her features.
When she saw Stacey that frown exploded into joy. “Stacey!” She ignored everyone else and rushed to embrace her friend. They hugged and laughed with cries that no man could ever hope to reproduce or understand.
“God, Grace.” Stacey held her at arm’s length. “You’re huge!”
“I know.” She sniffled, laughing and weeping freely. She leaned closer and said in a tight, quiet voice, “You have no idea how happy I am to see you. It’s been so long.”
Danny’s throat constricted. There was more to her tears than joy. Something tight and wary underscored the lines of her face. Hands shaking, he pushed back the hood of his parka.
“How is….” Grace hesitated, wiping her face with the back of her hand and darting her eyes to the side to check on Kinn. “How is Danny?”
He drew his scarf down from the lower half of his face. Stacey cleared her throat and jerked her head in his direction.
Grace’s soft mouth dropped open as she saw him. She stared, emotion filling her eyes. His heart stopped. The edges of his vision went black except for her. She was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It hurt to look at her. Her mouth formed an ‘oh,’ then closed in a tight line. She squinted, face pinched as she tumbled into tears.
She threw herself into his arms with a wrenching moan. His heart hammered to life again, his soul crashed back into his body after months in limbo. He squeezed her close, unable to speak, never wanting to let her go. Her weight was heavy against him, her arms around him, he was holding her up, but his own knees threatened to give out. He pressed his face against her hair and breathed in her scent. Grace.
She drew in a long breath, righted herself, took a step back, and slapped him across the face with all the strength she had. The force of her blow whipped his head to the side, sending his glasses flying. He struggled for balance as the area erupted in a blur of movements and shouts.
“You bastard,” Grace shouted, striking out once more.
“Whoa,” Kinn bellowed. He jumped forward to pull Grace away. A handful of his men clicked their crossbows to ready, pointing them at Danny. A few others grabbed Stacey, Heather, and Jonah, wrenching their hands behind their backs as if they were a threat. Without his glasses, Danny had to squint to make sense of it all.
Grace kicked and struggled to break free of Kinn, her face contorted in rage and streaming with tears. “Let go of me!” her shout was shrill and primal. “Let go! Get your hands off me, Joe!”
“Christ, Grace. What the hell is the matter with you?” Kinn answered.
She stomped on his foot and tried to lunge toward Danny again, fists clenched and raised, teeth bared. Kinn grabbed her around the middle and lifted her off her feet as she flailed.
Danny was too shocked to move. Grace swam as a wild, indistinct shape in front of him. Too many emotions assailed him at once to feel any of them. As Grace stopped struggling Kinn stared at him, recognition hardening his expression.
“Dr. Daniel Thorne.” He pushed Grace aside and stepped close enough that Danny’s eyes adjusted to see him clearly. Hatred bit hard at his gut as he met the bastard glare for glare. “You’re under arrest.”
Like lightning, the soldiers encircling them jumped into action. Danny was pushed to his knees. He fell forward, hands hitting the dirt floor for a moment only before he was wrenched up as someone grabbed his parka. It was yanked over his head, pulled off and tossed aside.
“He’s got a gun!” one of the soldiers yelled. Gasps
echoed around him as the civilian onlookers stepped back.
He was kicked forward again, face smashing in the dirt as a soldier planted a foot on his back and another tore the gun from his belt.
“Hey!” Stacey yelled behind him.
He twisted to try to see the ensuing scuffle, but something struck the back of his head hard. He saw stars, a wave of nausea meeting pain. The scuffling around him intensified. He heard punches being thrown. Grace shouted. Stacey thumped to the ground beside him.
“Stop! Stop this!” Grace’s familiar cry split the air above him.
Danny’s mittens were ripped off and he felt some sort of cord tying his hands behind his back before he was wrenched up into a kneeling position. The soldier behind him yanked away his scarf and pulled off his boots as Kinn stepped in front of him, holding the gun.
“You’re lucky it’s not loaded.” He smirked, turning the gun over for inspection. “Because if it was….”
With a sick smirk, he pointed the gun between Danny’s eyes, inches from his face and pulled the trigger. It clicked in impotent stillness. Grace screamed, but was quick to silence herself. Kinn chuckled and handed the gun over his shoulder to one of his men.
“I did not give you orders to hurt him,” Grace shouted.
“So?” Kinn barked. “I don’t need orders from you.”
Pale, sweating, and panting, Danny searched for Grace. Without his glasses, he could only make out the blur of her hair and dress as she stood off to the side, leaning toward Kinn. He could see splashes of color on her cheeks, tell that she was shaking. Beyond that, she was as far away as if he’d never left his cabin the morning before.
“So why carry around a stupid gun?” Kinn stepped into focus, crossed his arms and stared down at Danny with a sneer. “When’d you run out of bullets?”
“Six months ago,” Stacey answered for him.
She was close enough to Danny’s side that he could see her clearly. She’d been stripped of her parka, scarf, gloves, and boots but still managed to look every bit as fierce as the soldiers.