Embrace the Romance

by S. E. Smith

  “I gave her something to counteract the overdose of headclear and whatever she’d been consuming in her drinks all night. She’s breathing better, no need to go to sickbay at this time.” The doctor walked over to Jake and he put his arm around her waist. She smiled at him, ruffling his hair a bit with one hand. “Middle of the night house calls are no fun. Hazards of being married to a doctor.”

  “He called me first, if you remember,” Jake said.

  “I was still blissfully asleep at that point.” She turned to Grant. “This may be awkward for you but she needs to be watched tonight, to be sure the respiratory distress doesn’t manifest again. I suspect she may have an underlying, previously undiagnosed condition aggravated by whatever she took. Probably mild until the overdose stressed her system. But I can’t discuss it further with you two. I did give her a recommendation to seek out her own doctor when she reaches Calillia. So can you watch her, Grant? Here?”

  “Is that what she wants? Rather than us getting her back to her own cabin?” Jake asked.

  We’ll watch.

  Grant was startled by the firm comment in his head from Valkyr.

  “Yes. She feels safe with your choice of bodyguard,” Emily said to her husband, Grant’s boss. “But if you’re not willing to do this, Grant, I totally understand and we’ll come up with another way to monitor her outside sickbay for a few hours.”

  “She came to me for help so I feel I need to see it through.”

  Emily gave him a few notes on complications to watch out for and then the couple left. Grant could tell Jake wasn’t happy about the situation but he was relieved his boss hadn’t overridden Karissa’s request. He went back to the bedroom, quietly peeking in. Slender hand pillowing her cheek, the singer was peacefully asleep. He could hear her soft breathing and was reassured at how regular it was. The color in her cheeks was better as well. Quietly he drew a chair to the bedside and took up watch, allowing himself to sink into the semi sleep of a warrior, resting but alert.

  For the most part she slept soundly but at one point he realized she was weeping in her sleep, so he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Hey, it’s okay, I’m here and Valkyr’s here and we won’t let anything bother you, my word on it. No bad dreams allowed.” She seemed to relax at the sound of his voice, turning toward him without waking up but to his relief the tears stopped. Grant took her hand and leaned back in his chair.

  Around eight in the morning, ship’s time, Jake pinged him. “How’s the patient?”

  “Still sleeping, no problems.”

  “I want you to skip the morning briefing, stay with her. Emily’s going to stop by and check on her and bring some of her own clothes for Karissa to change into. We’ll have to try to create the impression she went out early, somewhere on the ship, and is going back to her cabin, no big deal. But I’m afraid she’ll still get press. Use the crew passageways as much as you can. I’m surprised her entourage hasn’t reported her missing.”

  “After the party last night her staff probably thinks she’s sleeping in.”

  “Will she still be doing the trideo shoot this afternoon, on the beach deck? We moved mountains to get it closed off for four hours, just for her.” Jake sounded annoyed.

  “Knowing her, she’ll insist on it,” Grant replied. “As soon as I get a reading on the situation, I’ll report back.”

  “Keep me posted.” Jake signed off.

  Karissa stretched and yawned, opening her eyes. “So it wasn’t a dream? I did come to you?”

  “Yes, thank goodness. Do you remember the doctor coming to see you?”

  “She was nice.” Sitting up, Karissa scooted to the center of the bed and started rearranging the pillows to support her back. ”She thinks I have mild asthma but I haven’t noticed trouble breathing before.” She gave him a shy smile. ”Thank you for coping with me.”

  He was at a loss for what to say. “I’m glad you didn’t wait too long. Listen, I only have limited capability to cook in my quarters but I can make you some coffee? Or I could rustle up some toast maybe.”

  She put a hand on her stomach and made a face. “Coffee, yes, I need the energy. Then maybe I’ll try the toast.”

  “Dr. Shane will be stopping by soon with some of her clothes for you. I think the idea is for us to get you back to your suite with the least amount of notice and comment,” he said over his shoulder as he left the room.

  She followed him. “Do I embarrass you?”

  “Of course not. I’m glad you came to me. But you yourself said the press was on board and hungry for any hint of gossip. You in a nightgown and robe, casually strolling through the corridors will create talk.”

  “True.” She paused at Valkyr’s perch and held out her hand to the bird.

  “He’s not a dog, he doesn’t sniff you to make friends,” Grant said with amusement. “He already gave you a feather.”

  The bird shifted on his perch and eyed her for a moment before lifting his crest and making a soft noise deep in his throat. Karissa slowly extended her fingertips to brush the shiny feathers. “So soft. Did you ask him if he was willing to be in the trideo today?”

  “Indeed I did and he was pleased. He relished the idea of access to the beach, although I told him there won’t be fish.”

  “Does he eat fish?”

  “Valkyr is a top predator – he eats whatever he chooses. If you want to offer him a treat, I have special cakes in a box on the desk.”

  When he re-entered the room with two cups of steaming coffee, she was holding one of the bird snacks crumbled in her palm and Valkyr was delicately picking up parts with his beak. Brushing her hands off as the bird completed his meal, she joined Grant and accepted her coffee. They sat on his small couch.

  “Are you going to press charges?”

  “Against Ted?” She seemed surprised. “No, there’d be no proof, my word against his and I’m the one who’s been to rehab twice. The rock star. Who’d believe me?”

  “I do.”

  She rewarded him with a genuine smile. “And I appreciate your trust. No, I just have to get through this coming week, the concert series on Calillia, and then he and I are through. I’ll be free. That’s all I want—my freedom after ten years.” She leaned forward. “Do you know what it’s worth to be my manager? To handle all my affairs?”

  “Millions of credits, I imagine.”

  She nodded. “And power in the industry. Standing. Respect. The ability to make magic happen for other people too, or so they hope. He’s been trading on my efforts for too long. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful because I wouldn’t have gotten where I wanted to be without him, but after the first few years I realized I was his indentured servant and the contract I’d signed was all in his favor. I’m quite poor actually, comparatively speaking. He owns the whole Karissa image, the music, the clever souvenirs, all of it.”

  “Sounds like you need a lawyer.”

  “Oh I have one, a damn good one, which Ted has no idea about. As soon as the contract is done there’s going to be a forensic audit the likes of which the Sectors has never seen. It’ll be a cold day in all seven hells before I sign another contract with anyone to manage me, because I can manage myself.” Rising, she paced the length of the room. “Besides, I’m fucking tired. You have no idea how stressful it is to have hundreds of people dependent on me, on my voice. To perform whether I’m sick or sad or I’ve broken my leg in a stupid accident and have to hobble.” She paused, her expression so distressed he set his cup down and instinctively went to her, catching her in his arms and making soothing noises as he stroked her hair.

  “I’m sure it must be a huge responsibility,” he said.

  “I just wanted to make music, to write songs and share them,” she murmured as she put her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. “And somewhere along the way it became this giant circus. You’ll see, when I do the shows on Calillia.”

  “Am I invited?” he said. “I’ve gotten quite fond of your songs after
the show yesterday.”

  “Special backstage access for you,” she said with a smile.

  There was a ping at the door and regretfully Grant walked away from her. “That’ll be Dr. Shane, no doubt.”

  Emily swept in, organized and crisp. She’d brought a backpack full of clothes and she and Karissa retired to the bedroom so the singer could change. After satisfying herself Karissa was healthy enough to be on her own this morning, Dr. Shane left and Grant got dressed in his CLC Line uniform.

  “See you this afternoon, Valkyr,” Karissa said to the bird with a final stroke down the beautiful feathers on his back.

  There were a few people in the corridor, which Grant regretted but there was nothing he could do about it. He just had to hope his shipmates wouldn’t jump to conclusions or gossip. Karissa immediately began chatting about the mechanics of the trideo and what part Valkyr could play. They took the crew passageways and emerged into the corridor to her cabin, to find a small crowd of her people waiting outside her door.

  “Oh, didn’t I tell you I was going for a tour of the engine room this morning?” she said brightly. “Sorry.”

  Ted pushed his way to the front of the group and stood with his fisted hands on his hips. “Why would you want to see the engines?” he asked, his gaze flickering over Grant suspiciously.

  “Why not?” she asked dreamily. “I might write a song about them.” She turned to Grant with a smile. “Thanks for escorting me but for the next few hours I’ll be safe in my suite, getting ready for the trideo. You can meet us on the beach deck at one in the afternoon.” Karissa swaggered toward the door. “I’m starved, someone order up the breakfast buffet.”

  Grant was livid with the manager for trying to get Karissa hooked on pernicious drugs and possibly causing her an overdose, but he choked back the hot words rising in his throat. She hadn’t asked him to intervene and she seemed to have a plan for handling Ted for the critical next few days. As he walked away, he had to remind himself he’d just met these people and they had complex relationships going back a decade. He was merely the security officer assigned to her on this ship. Sure, he felt like there was a connection between the singer and himself but when would he ever be able to act upon it? Karissa Dawnstar wasn’t an ordinary woman you could just ask out on a date.

  Or could you?

  When he and Valkyr reported to the beach deck a few minutes early, and made it past the security cordon, he was astounded at how much activity and how many people were required to make a simple music trideo. Two Zephyr lifeguards stood by and a small group of passengers who’d won a lottery to be extras were corralled by an assistant director at one end of the beach.

  He launched Valkyr into the air. If she’s serious about doing a scene with you, I’ll let you know but in the meantime, enjoy the afternoon.

  He heard gasps as the eagle spread his magnificent wings and arrowed out to ‘sea’, eager to explore his newfound playground. Grant had no trouble finding Karissa herself, in the center of all the activity. She beckoned him over and pirouetted, hand on her hip. “What do you think? Best outfit yet?”

  “I’d think you were fishing for compliments, if I didn’t know you better,” he said, giving the tight, old fashioned bathing suit a cursory glance and studying her face, trying to see how healthy she was under all the makeup and glitz.

  Laughing, she leaned closer to speak privately. “I’m fine, don’t look so worried. I’m tough. We film these trideos in bits and pieces so there won’t be any sustained dances or songs to perform. Besides, the music is already recorded. After today I have a couple of days off, until the rehearsal down on Calillia.”

  He took a deep breath. “About those days off—”

  An officious director pushed past him. “Miss Dawnstar, we need you at the water’s edge now, with the children. The kids can only be on set for so long and we still have to set up the dream sequence.”

  “Hold that thought,” she told Grant. ”Pick a good spot to do your security surveillance thing and enjoy the chaos. We’ll have a chance to chat later. I’m not needed in every shot.”

  “Valkyr is here,” he called after her. “If you still need him.”

  She waved to signify she’d heard and kept going as the director chattered in her ear.

  Grant never realized the making of a trideo was so complicated and painstaking. Maybe it wasn’t unless a major star like Karissa was involved as the centerpiece. Mostly he tried to stay out of the way, while keeping an eye on the extras for anyone who might be a threat. The lifeguards had to rescue a child extra who slipped, fell in the gentle waves and panicked. At one point he had to ask Valkyr to fly over a different part of the beach, as he was distracting the crew.

  True to her word, Karissa managed to extricate herself after about two hours and came to meet him. “The assistant director’s doing a sequence with the dancers now and I’m not involved. Sit with me while I have a snack?”

  “Of course.”

  He grabbed an assortment of tempting food from the catering table for them both and she snagged two bottles of her favorite juice. “Sealed tight,” she said with a wry tone in her voice, holding the containers high. “I’m not taking any more chances of imbibing extra ingredients.”

  He followed her to a ring of chairs off to the side, all of which were empty. As she sat in the one with her name inscribed on the back in glittery pink lettering he saw her shiver. Maeve maintained balmy breezes on this deck to heighten the authenticity, but concerned Karissa might be getting a chill, he tracked down Desdusan and obtained a robe for the star.

  “Is this going well so far?” he asked as she bit into her sandwich after he draped the robe over her shoulders. “You said it was going to be chaos and I believe you now.”

  “Organized chaos though.” She grinned. “I think all parties involved will be satisfied when the end product is released.” She studied him as she took a long drink of the juice. “Didn’t you have something you wanted to say to me about my days off?”

  “Are you actually from Calillia? Or was that a publicity thing?”

  “Ooh, been studying up on my dossier, have you?” Her tone was teasing. “Yeah, as it happens, Ted was on Calillia for a big gig, heard the choir from my orphanage perform and me perform a solo, and offered me a contract. I was about to age out of the government care system and terrified what I’d do, where I’d go, so I was only too happy to sign on with him. The press loves the fact I’m such a big name in music now and I come from the planet known grandiosely as the Musical Center of the Galaxy. Ted probably would have invented my origin story if it wasn’t true.”

  “You’re my current assignment,” he said with dignity. “So of course I had to do the proper in-depth research.”

  “You make me feel like a mission objective,” she said teasingly. “Maybe I’d like that. You’re probably quite single minded and intense.”

  He took a deep breath at her comment but stuck with his subject, tempting though it might be to flirt more openly. Flirting wasn’t one of his skills. “And you’ve never been back until now?”

  She shook her head. “No good reason to visit. I was a foundling left on the proverbial doorstep in a basket, so no close ties here. I probably would have auditioned for one of the Thousand Year Choirs but there was no guarantee I’d be accepted into a good one and a girl like me wasn’t likely to ever rise to soloist. I have no patience for singing the solemn notes. I like to write my own stuff.”

  “I was wondering if you’d like to go down to Calillia tomorrow for the day with me and Valkyr, just the three of us, like anonymous tourists? “

  Mouth open in surprise, she stared at him. “Are you serious?”

  “Why not? You said yourself you don’t have any rehearsals or commitments.”

  “Valkyr is hardly anonymous.”

  “Yeah, I’ll admit he’ll attract attention but if you don’t wear all the Karissa stuff—”

  Laughing as if she might fall from the chair, she gaspe
d out, “The ‘Karissa stuff’? My costume designer and the makeup artists will be highly offended. I’ll have you know this effect is extremely challenging to create. And expensive.”

  “I’ll take your word for it. And I’ve seen how effective it is on stage. But I’ve also seen the real Karissa underneath. I like her,” he said simply. “And I’d like to take that girl for a day exploring the city, have some good local food for lunch, see the sights, let my eagle have some flight time in the nature preserve at the edge of the city. Spacers with exotic pets are a commonplace sight in a port city. No one’ll look twice—well they won’t look more than twice—at Valkyr. If anyone recognizes you, we can say you’re her stand-in or stunt double or something. Don’t sing and we can pull it off. I promise.”

  Eyes narrowed, Karissa stared at him for a long moment. He hoped he hadn’t seriously overstepped his bounds. “You honestly think we can manage a day of privacy?”

  “My word as a soldier,” he said. “I wouldn’t ask otherwise. I’m not taking you into any kind of dangerous situation. But you can’t tell anyone ahead of time either.”

  “All right, I’ll do it. I can’t even remember the last time I got to do something as delightfully mundane as being a simple tourist. Pick me up right after breakfast.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Ted and the director came up to them. “We should finish the mermaid sequence now.”

  “Coming. Thank you, Officer Barton,” she said with formality, handing him her plate and giving him a saucy wink at the same time.

  The final scene of the day was just Karissa, standing on the beach facing the ocean. Maeve had been requested to change the lighting of the holographic ‘sky’ to a pearlescent sunset. As Karissa sang lyrics about dreams and hopes, Valkyr swept in over the water, making a tremendous display of his wings, and landed on her outstretched fist, sheathed by Grant’s special glove. He was amazed she could bear the eagle’s weight without staggering but Valkyr assured him he’d made the landing as lightly as possible. As soon as the director yelled “Cut,” Grant stepped in to take his warbird and remove him from a crowd of people who wanted to pet and admire him, heedless of the beak and talons. He had to leave the deck to take Valkyr back to his cabin, so Red covered for him with Karissa. By the time Grant re-entered the beach deck, the shoot was over, trideo techs were packing the gear and the singer had gone to her cabin, Red accompanying her.