She pretended ignorance but felt sympathy.
Jay turned to go.
“What about visitors?” she asked. “I don’t want to lie here with lifeless legs to worry me.” Jennie cocked her head in question, praying he would allow visitors.
“Hmm… maybe one at a time and for no more than ten minutes a piece.”
“I’ll get tired reading out loud for hours on end. Can some of my friends come and help me read?”
Jay paused to think it over. “I could extend the time if they come to read and not to create a commotion.” He gazed at Merek’s still form and sighed. “It might help.”
So, began a parade of kids that came clutching books of all kinds to read them out loud. First, team Hope appeared, but as the word spread, kids from every ship came to sit and share their favorite story or passionate subject with a man who never moved but hopefully listened.
***
“Are you ready yet?” Richard adjusted his headset and squinted at the shuttlebay’s monitor.
From inside the shuttlebay, Jacob eyed the camera and shook his head. “Your guy, Deuce, can really move stuff around. That telekinesis talent is awesome. He straightened beams and braces to shore up the shuttlebay’s integrity so it won’t all fall apart. We’re almost ready.”
“Make sure you don’t throw garbage out the airlock,” Richard warned.
“We need to clear the area. Right now, it’s mangled shuttles and bashed in equipment. Incoming shuttles won’t be able to land.”
“My ships are out there!” Elise cut into the discussion, a mother hen to the Terran ships that orbited the space station.
“Any more debris could be extremely damaging with the speeds those ships are traveling at … so do not allow so much as a paperclip outside,” Richard ordered in a firm voice.
“Exactly.” Elise hunched forward. “Stick all parts in storage.”
Jacob registered a protest. “There’s no air in storage. Damage caused that unit to decompress.”
Elise rolled her eyes at Richard. “Pieces of metal don’t need to breathe,” she responded.
“And maybe Jimbo can find someone to seal up the breach,” he added. “Ask him to get someone on it.”
He swung around to say something, but Elise was already on the comm to Jimbo. Before long, they had the breach mended and were ready to move damaged parts in.
He heard Elise say, “Give me your lineup, Captain Bradley.” There was a pause as she made notes in the computer. “Release the New Frontier’s shuttle first.”
Richard consulted his electronic tablet. Activating his comm, he said, “Jacob, how many stationers does your team have lined up and ready to leave?”
Faintly, he heard, “Quite a few. They have triaged the wounded and sorted them by ship. They’re inside the station waiting for you to authorize opening the doors.”
“You may want some breathable atmosphere to the shuttle in there first.”
“Yeah, would be nice.”
“Mika’s setting the tunnel now.” Richard added, “The station’s Medlab can’t take any more wounded, but the ships have excellent facilities to take care of any injured.”
His comm beeped as Jacob came back online. “We’re as ready as we’re ever going to be.”
He tapped Elise on the arm. “They have the corridor in place now and are ready for the shuttles.”
She nodded. “Captain Bradley, send over your shuttle.”
Richard watched one shuttle erupt from a circling ship and position itself to line up with the station. Against the ship, the craft looked like a minnow swimming alongside a whale.
“Next to him, Elise ordered loudly, “Check your speed. You want to glide in. You’re too low. Bring your nose up two degrees.” There was a pause. “What do you mean you can’t think when I’m shouting at you?”
She ripped off her headset and let out a few choice comments while rubbing her neck. After a beat, she jammed on the headset and grumbled into her comm, but she no longer raised her voice or gave so many instructions.
Richard felt the station jiggle as a shuttle landed. He held his breath and, when nothing happened, he let out a sigh.
Checking the panel, he saw the light for the inside shuttlebay door turn green. “Are they loading, Jacob?”
“Yes, sir. I’m leaving Deuce in charge so I can go check on our prisoners.”
Richard said, “Thanks for your help.” In the background, various moans could be heard. He faced Elise. “They’re loading. Get the next shuttle ready.”
“Just waiting for your go ahead.”
Once the shuttle was full, they closed the craft’s hatch and removed the tube containing breathable oxygen. All space suited personnel cleared the area. The exit opened and the craft roared away to make room for the next one.
Twenty-six shuttles later, Richard was exhausted. He was afraid to look at Elise, much less talk to her, for fear she would bite his head off. She probably felt the same way.
He rubbed his face, hoping to ease the fatigue. “Does everyone want to leave the station?” He could hear the irritation in his voice.
Her shoulders slumped. “No, of course not. But right now, it’s unsafe. They’re scared, Richard. People died.”
He gazed out the viewport to see they only had two more shuttles to fill, and then they would be done.
“Dear Brother, I brought you a present.” At the entry stood Richard’s brother, Braden, wearing a huge grin.
So exhausted that he could barely move, Richard offered a wan smile. “Welcome to the crazy house,” he quipped. “It’s pretty dangerous here.”
Braden stepped aside and pointed at two men and a woman. “They’re up to whatever you can throw at them.”
Briefly, Richard checked a monitor as another ship released a shuttle. “Good to see you, but we’re a little busy.”
Nodding to his left, Braden said, “These fine folks are tower operators from Alysia Station come to help.”
Richard put up a hand, palm out to pause him. He stared down into the monitor. “Shuttle on the way. Clear the area and open the entry doors.”
“Roger that.” The voice from the monitor also sounded fatigued.
He gestured to Braden and his group. “Please, come and sit then. After this, there’s only one more. Right, Elise?”
“Idiot shuttle pilots.” She looked up as she removed her headset. “Oh, what?” She paused, thinking. “Yes, thank God. One more.”
Braden slid into a seat. “I’d like you to meet Arnold Day, Tija Rajan, and Chuck Ellis. Guys, this is my brother, Richard Steele, and Commander Elise Fujeint. As soon as the shuttles are finished, these Alysians will relieve you.”
Richard slumped down in his seat. “Frag, that’s the best present you have ever given me, little brother.”
“You’re welcome.”
Chapter 21
Rebuilding
Exhausted, Elise leaned on Richard, and he held onto her, as they shuffled their way to her quarters. The station appeared almost deserted. Here and there, in small clumps, people worked on repairing the damage, but the population had thinned considerably. The buzz of excited talk, so prevalent earlier, was gone. The bustle of people doing important business, non-existent. Her hopes and dreams of establishing a Terran colony blowing away like smoke in a windstorm.
Breaking the silence, she said, “James told me that the shockwave blast from the bomb pushed the station back into geosynchronous orbit.”
“Mmm. That’s good,” Richard mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. “Not going to fall into Alysia and burn up then.”
“Didn’t promise that.”
“I need a drink.”
“You need to rest.”
His face twisted into a tired grin. “That too.”
She linked with engineering. “Jimbo, you got any free cleaner bots we can use for transportation?”
“Sorry, Commander. Doc’s got them all tied up. As soon as one’s free, I’ll send it to you.”
> At least Jimbo still answered his comm, a good sign, considering everything on his plate. The man must be made of steel. How he kept going amazed her. “Thanks, Jimbo. Never mind.”
A grunt was his reply.
“Oh, you were busy with the shuttles so I didn’t tell you.” Richard stopped and leaned against a nearby wall with a sigh. “Deuce said Angel and Jacob interrogated our bombers. Turns out, one is from the Diechwrathe, one is from D’Ankanque, and one from Islia.”
“Alysians!” She spat the word out.
“Yes, but there’s a ship tie-in somewhere. Whoever the traitor is didn’t mention ship shuttles to the bombers, probably thought it was obvious, but leaked that you were on board The New Found Hope and provided your return schedule so the Alysians could set up that ambush.”
“A ship’s involved?”
“Angel’s usually right about his information.”
“Did they say which ship?”
“At the time, I was too busy to ask. Jacob has them in lockup. He’s interrogated them on basics but expects us to join him at first shift.” Richard swept a hand forward. “Said I should get rest first to do the job properly. He’s right, because if we don’t start moving, I may fall asleep just standing here.”
“Move along, then.” She smiled as she said the words, then thought of Merek and choked back a sob.
“Are you all right?” he asked, worried at her reaction.
“I will be.” She closed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. “Eventually. Given time. But no, not at the moment.”
Talking took too much energy after that, so nothing more was said as they made their way to the habitats.
When they finally reached her entry, she opened it and turned to thank him one last time, but he pushed past her and collapsed onto her bed.
“No. No. You can’t stay here,” she said, pulling at him. “You have to go.”
But he was unconscious, and she couldn’t budge him.
She glared at him. Too tired to move him and overmatched physically, she did manage to shove him over and collapse next to him, muttering choice words that would have burned his ears if he’d been conscious. But he wasn’t.
***
Elise startled out of a deep sleep with the feeling that someone was in her room… on her bed. Half awake, she tapped her urgent button, then remembered Merek wasn’t available. Her hand stole down into a pocket attached to her headboard where she kept an emergency phaser, grabbed it, and swung around to aim it directly into the face of… Richard Steele, who smiled sleepily at her.
Rubbing his face, he said, “I wish all my mornings started like this.” He noticed the phaser pointing in his face. “On second thought…”
Those damn blue eyes twinkled at her as if he were privy to some huge joke. He peered around, trying to get his bearings. His eyes came back to the bed and her. “Did I perform up to expectation?”
What?
She sputtered at the question and threw the phaser onto her night table. “Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.”
The man was unconscionable… unbearable… arrogant...
“Too bad.” He stretched languidly, which displayed his very masculine body, albeit still dressed in yesterday’s very rumpled clothes. “At least, I got into your bed. I count that as a major accomplishment even if it was a bit of a face plant.”
A crooked, arrogant grin bloomed on his face. “You’re just as beautiful in the morning as you are during the day. I always wondered.” He frowned. “Is it morning?” He consulted his comm. “What shift…”
She threw off her covers. “Yes, it’s early, and you have to go.” She noticed how cool the room was compared to the earlier warmth of his body, clothes and all, and almost climbed back in…. except she would pay the consequences if she did and send the wrong message, so she kept moving.
“Wait. Why?” he asked. He sat up “Think of my reputation if anyone sees me slinking out of your room at this hour.”
“It’s first shift.”
“Exactly.” He paused. “Think of your reputation then.” His dark eyebrows lifted.
She rolled her eyes. He was stretching for excuses to stay. “No one in the fleet would dare question what I do with my personal life. Likewise, they couldn’t care a fig who I sleep with.” Once again, he was attempting to take charge and tell her what to do with no idea of what he was talking about.
“A fig?”
“Don’t start with me. Next, he would want a definition and description of the flaming fruit.
He threw back his covers and sat at the edge of the bed. “Well, I care what people think. I have my reputation to consider.” He brushed at a sleeve and peered up at her. “How about this: After I clean up, we’ll find something to eat, and learn what else Angel and Deuce have discovered concerning our bomber buddies.”
His list of activities contained everything that she’d planned to do, but she wasn’t going to comply that easily. She didn’t want him to get used to ordering her around. He appeared to have the tendency, given half the chance. She had to stay ahead of him and think of something else to do. She had it immediately.
Heading to the refresher, she swung around. “I need to check on Merek and see how he’s doing. Then I need to appoint another guard. If you’d been an assassin, I’d be dead by now.”
Shaking his head, he said, “Angel would have protected you.”
She sniffed. “He’s more your associate.”
“No, he’s not. As an Enjelise, his concern is rather neutral when it comes to protecting either you or me.” He bent down to search for a shoe, then looked up. “I suspect if it came down to a choice between us, he’d pick you.”
She took another step and paused again. “I hope there will be no need for that,” she said over her shoulder.
His voice went husky. “If he had to, it’s a choice I would want him to make.”
His dark hair looked adorably rumpled. His strong hands smoothed out her sheets as he slanted a look at her.
Resigned, she opened the bathroom and entered where she stripped off her sweaty and wrinkled uniform. As a mist swirled around her, cleaning away the fatigue and grime from the previous shift’s activities, a slow smile emerged. She gave a luxurious stretch as pleasure rippled over her body at the thought that he was back on the station and sitting in her bed.
It was all wrong, but at the moment, it felt so right.
***
They managed to sneak out of her unit over to his without anyone noticing, or so she hoped, despite her bold assertion that it didn’t matter.
She sat in a chair, and through a half-opened panel to his bathroom, she watched in the mirror’s reflection as he pulled down his top over a smooth, but muscular chest. His hand combed through a head of dark, damp hair. Then, he returned to the sitting area where she waited for him.
She couldn’t help running her gaze over his fit figure. His eyes had an adorable, sleepy expression. The emotional pull he often exerted gave a hard yank.
Those eyes caught hers as if he’d felt it too. Without averting his gaze, he said, “I checked while you were cleaning up, and Merek is still unconscious and in your doc’s capable hands, so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we get something to eat first. I’m starving.”
Elise pursed her lips, feeling defensive. “He’s not ‘my doc’.” After a pause, she thought it best to change the subject. “We didn’t get a chance to grab a bite while working the ships, so I’m hungry too, but I want you to know that Merek’s top priority.”
“After a quick meal?”
She stood and vented a deep sigh. “Oh, okay.”
At that moment, both comms buzzed. She read her message. “Oh, great!” She clapped her hands in delight.
“Oh, great.” Richard’s shoulders slumped.
Caught by the tone of his voice, she glanced up at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Trace Walker and entourage have arrived and are in the shuttlebay.” He rolled his eyes. “He wants
to personally interrogate our bombers.”
She wrinkled her nose, wondering why he didn’t seem happy with the news.
Peering over at her comm, he asked, “So what’s your message? Sounds better than mine.”
“The same shuttle has Carter and a team of specialists in it. They’ve come from the Homestead to help repair the space station.”
“He’s that engineering wizard I keep hearing about.”
She detected a note of jealousy in his voice. Pocketing her comm, she grinned. “Got that right. Carter was our resident fix-it genius. He left to help Elija at the Homestead. Now, he’s back to straighten the station out. Let’s go grab a to-go meal, check on Merek, and welcome our visitors.”
His face fell on the words “to-go meal.”
***
At the sick ward’s entry, she peeked in to see Merek’s still face, looking as if it had been chiseled out of stone. The tea-colored skin, the black arching eyebrows, the straight, wide nose, resembled her guard, but the still body belonged to a stranger. He had never appeared this vulnerable…ever.
“Merek, your captain needs you,” she husked.
Amanda looked up sharply. “Commander!” Books were piled all around her. She put one down and rose from her chair.
Elise raised a hand in acknowledgement, but her attention didn’t stray from her guard’s face.
In her peripheral vision, she saw Jennie and a young boy recognize her, but she remained concentrated on Merek.
“Trajan Merek, report to the bridge,” she barked.
“Elise, I don’t think…”
A graph on the monitor next to Amanda spiked.
Glancing at it, Amanda froze. Her mouth opened in astonishment.
Behind her, Richard choked in surprise.
She strode forward and reached into her bag. At the rebuilt café, she had picked up an extra cup of coffee, a to–go meal of cheese squares and soy bits, and pieces of dried fruit. Tauntingly, she waved the coffee cup past his nose. “I have coffee,” she said. Dipping a finger into the cup, she ran a taste over his lips.
Merek could never resist a good cup of coffee.
Somewhat Alien: The Station (Terran Trilogy Book 2) Page 15