Chapter Fifteen
No one made it through navigation school without viewing pictures of the planets and their moons over and over again, but nothing on paper or on screen compared to Jupiter and its moons. Annalina’s heart raced. Jupiter—still a day away—filled the windows of the ship. They couldn’t get any closer without risking a gravity-related accident, but no one could make her stop looking at the fifth planet in their solar system.
“Cool, right?” Shields rested his chin on her shoulder. The casual affection was so easy now that they both had admitted how much they enjoyed the other. In the five days since acknowledging her pregnancy, they’d progressed to where their seven months together should have put them. “I was here five years ago when we considered the moon for habitation. I spent hours watching Jupiter. The gasses are out of this world.”
“Yeah. It’s amazing. I feel like I’m seeing Earth for the first time. Only…yeah, so cool. Did you and Aaron agree on a game plan for tomorrow?” She stepped out of his arms, more comfortable talking business when they stood to face.
“We did. The winds are high, but we can navigate them. We’ll drop our cargo, and then Aaron and I will go out first to secure it. After, we’ll re-board. You and Ellen will do the secondary testing.”
Annalina wanted to argue, and the way Shields crossed his arms told her he expected it. He was right, too—she wanted to be first on the Jup moon, not stuck running numbers on the ship. Logic was against her, though—bright, shiny logic. Maybe her pride and desire wanted to refute, but she tried her best not to act on either.
“All right. Sounds fun. Will we be in place to line up tonight?” She turned to watch Jupiter.
“You’re not mad? I promise, you’re going. I’m not going to order you stay in the ship because you’re pregnant. Its standard procedure—”
“I know. I’m not mad. I went to school, and I understand the chain of command. You know better than to try to make me feel barefoot and pregnant.”
“Though I love your feet, so barefoot would be awesome.”
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Shields. Sometimes…I’m fine. Do I wish I could be the first? Of course I do, but I’m not unreasonable. I’ll make my walk with Ellen, and we’ll have a blast. And we’ll talk smack about our captains while they’re out on their walk.”
“I’m not worried.” He kissed her head again. “Word on the street is, I’m an excellent lover.”
She elbowed him. “Such a loser sometimes. Okay. We line up, and you deploy to secure tomorrow. Are Aaron and Ellen coming here or are we going to them?”
“They’re coming here. I have the main payload. I’ll launch it then we’ll be good to go.”
She couldn’t wait. She tore her gaze away from Jupiter and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders. Since they’d acknowledged mutual affection, his bird lips had become more attractive. They did good work. Didn’t performance score more points than appearance?
“What’s that look for?” he asked.
“Can’t I think you’re handsome?”
“Even with the bird lips, busted nose, and what did you call them? Dim eyes?”
“Jeez, are we even sure that cranky bitch was getting laid?” She kissed his nose. “To be fair, this is one busted nose. And, yes, these lips are awful small. However, your eyes have always been beautiful.”
“I bet you say that to all the captains who fly you to Jupiter and knock you up along the way.”
She smacked his shoulder. “Way to ruin the moment. I’m going to check the cargo drop. When should I expect Ship One’s personnel?”
“Two hours. We’re hoping to get an early start, so they’ll stay here tonight.”
She paused mid-step. “Come again?”
“You know I would if I—”
She whacked him again. “Be serious. Where are they going to sleep?”
“In the common area. We have air mattresses, and they’re bringing their gear. Don’t worry. You can still have your dirty way with me in the privacy of our own rooms.”
“Our first company. We can’t mention the, um, you know.” Why putting her pregnancy into words was so difficult she didn’t know, and didn’t foresee it getting any easier.
“Right. And we’ll have chicken and ginger rice. Sounds amazing, right?” He smacked her butt. “Go to work.”
“Such an ass,” she muttered and headed to the cargo bay.
Chapter Sixteen
Annalina didn’t remember Captain Aaron being quite so flamboyant and robust. Maybe nearly a year with Captain Ellen—sweet, quiet, reserved Ellen—led to a bit of excitability.
“We’ll be the first ones to set foot on the Jup moon. First actual feet.” Aaron waved his fork, but at least it was empty this time. “It’s historic, and we’re going to do it, Shields. I feel like this occasion deserves champagne.”
Shields raised his glass. “Well, if we used straws, we could blow some bubbles in the water. That would be about as close as we could get. But I’ll take a rain check for when we’re on Earth.”
“Or Mars,” Ellen added, clinking her cup to Shields’. “I look forward to visiting the colony on the return trip.”
“Me, too,” Aaron said. “I’ve been before, but it is an experience. We should plan dinner one night.”
“Champagne included.” Annalina happily joined the planning, but wouldn’t be drinking and by then there would be no hiding her pregnancy. But maybe she’d be able to enjoy a good meal. She’d slipped Shields her chicken and managed to eat half her rice. If she could last to the end of dinner, Shields had promised to cover for her so she could get to bed. She wanted to be at the top of her game for the moonwalk. That meant stacking the deck with extra sleep.
“So, the payload is ready to go,” Aaron said. “Tomorrow will be a long day of details. As much as I’m enjoying your company, I feel like we need to call it an early night.”
Ellen smiled. “I tried to tell him we may be a bit older, but we’re not quite geriatrics. We don’t need as much sleep as we used to, but unfortunately, I didn’t say it loudly enough.”
Annalina snorted, leaving the laughter to Shields. She liked the older woman and enjoyed her company. They’d work well together as the boys did their walk.
“Once you’re in a routine, it is hard to break it.” Aaron gathered his dishes and Ellen’s.
Annalina offered hers to Shields who jumped up to help. Ellen turned to her. “It’s nice to have them trained. It took so long. Aaron had been a bachelor for years—too many years. You’d think at some point, he would have developed the ability to care for himself. But he hadn’t. It took him about two months to figure out I wasn’t going to be his maid.”
She could have dished about Shields. It was right there on the tip of her tongue. He’d presented her with challenges…yet, gossiping or even teasing didn’t come.
Annalina caught Shields’ eye. “I think we’ve all had some major growing to do this year. I’m grateful to be here.”
“That’s nice to hear.” Ellen yawned. “How embarrassing is it I’ve gotten used to such silly hours? I’m going to set up our beds in the common area. Can I help with anything else before we turn in? Dishes? Maintenance?”
“We should be set. We’ll see you bright and early,” Shields said.
Aaron rubbed his palms together. “It’ll be a good day. Sweet dreams, all.”
The two visiting captains exited the dining area, leaving the space quiet. Annalina helped Shields finish the dishes and washed down the table. They’d eat breakfast bars as a group in the morning and share a few more meals before they started the trek for home. All the flying to spend five days on the Jup moon, but they were laying the groundwork for longer trips.
“Have you decided our landing spot?” Annalina asked.
“Yes. Aaron likes one location. I like a different one. We’re going to hit right between them on a nice flat. It’ll be good. 0500 hours sound like fun?”
She’d gotten up at 5:00 a
.m. for the last three days, to get her body ready for the big event. It wasn’t ideal. Her body craved more sleep, and with Ellen and Aaron on ship, it was hard to sneak away. A few days, she could manage, though. Then she’d sleep for a week.
“Annalina? You doing all right?” Shields’ hands settled on her shoulders. “You zoned out a little bit. It kind of freaks me out.”
“Sorry.” Her cheeks burned. She hated her distracted mind. “I should head to bed. I’ll be up and ready by five.”
“Am I staying in my room until the other team is gone?” Shields frowned through his words. “That pisses me off even asking.”
“Yeah, sorry. I don’t… Apart tonight. Then we’ll see?”
“I know. You’re right. Sucks, though.”
She offered her lips. “Tell me goodnight, and then go to work. You have a busy day tomorrow.”
His tiny peck was dry, quick, and not teasing at all. “Busy. Right. Go to sleep.”
She wanted more, but couldn’t have it. She was on a spaceship next to a giant moon beside Jupiter. Why was she disappointed?
***
The payload hit perfectly. The outline they’d drawn with lasers couldn’t have been more accurate. Jupiter moon eight-five-eight—no longer untouched. All around them, the moons and natural satellites heeded Jupiter’s gravitational call. The light changed constantly, thanks to all the movement. Nothing in his life had prepared Shields for a moment like this. He’d have moon dust on his boots soon enough. Captain Aaron rubbed his palms.
“It’s down. I’m ready to suit up. You, Shields?” Aaron slammed his ham hand to his shoulder so hard, Shields fought to hide his wince. “This is a good day.”
“I’m ready. Annalina? You and Ellen set?”
She smiled. “We’re set, Shields. You two get suited up and set out in the pod. We’ll hold down the fort.”
The surface of the moon was chalky—the ultra-fine sand hiding an unknown surface Shields and Aaron would drill into as one of their first tasks. The exploration pod drifted by the camera feed she and Ellen would stare at the next few hours. The tiny capsule’s giant window—designed to allow its crew to see everything—also gave Ellen and Annalina an inside look. Shields and Aaron waved like crazy kids as they passed the ship. Ellen waved back.
“This is amazing,” the older woman said. “Like, unbelievable. The last year hasn’t always been fun, but I feel like all the awkward dinners and lonely nights have been worth it. Just for this.”
“Wow, then what is us walking down there going to make up for?”
“I’ll hold those memories tight for the journey home.” Ellen winked. “And share them with my kids and grandkids.”
The podling growing inside Annalina would have a hell of a story one day. Walking on a Jup moon—in utero. The light from the exploration pod hit the sandy surface of the moon. Annalina snapped a picture and blew it up on screen.
“What the hell?” She leaned closer. “What am I seeing, Ellen?”
“Oh jeez, those look like…oh no.”
Annalina slammed her hand on the com link. “Do not land. I repeat, do not land. Shields, someone else has been here before us. You’re landing coordinates have something on them.”
“What are you talking about?” Shields asked. “We’re two minutes from landing. We’ll check it out.”
“Negative. Do not land. I repeat. Do not land.”
Ellen refocused the picture. “It’s a mine pattern.”
Annalina’s heart stuttered. “Shields, it’s a classic mine pattern. Do not land.”
“Fuck.” The small aircraft surged away from the moon, but the thrust kicked up soil.
Annalina held her breath. They could be wrong. She wanted to be wrong.
Explosions erupted, throwing the pod toward them at terrifying speed.
“Shields? Shields!”
Chapter Seventeen
What the hell was in front of him? Shields stared at the screen shot of the moon’s surface. By some grace, the payload had landed outside the minefield. If they’d dropped it where Shields had first recommended, it would have blown and killed them all. A single mine had been enough to send the pod hurtling toward the ship. At the last minute, he’d been able to pull them out of the spin. But it had been close. Way closer than Shields liked.
Aaron’s footfalls—so much heavier and slower than Annalina’s—brought Shields out of his thoughts.
“So,” the older captain said. “Who was here?”
The hell if Shields knew. And yet…something nagged at him.
“The layout of those mines is old school,” Aaron continued. “The only place that uses those any longer…”
“Mars. Fuck.” Shields slammed his fist against the table. “Fucking James. This is the mining venture. What the hell were they thinking? They mined it and then left bombs. Who the hell does that?”
“Someone who found what they wanted and doesn’t want others to know.” Aaron dropped into a seat. “Son, I don’t know what trouble you’re running with—”
“It’s not my trouble, but it does involve distant relatives. I thought we’d finished this.”
“Interesting. What could they have been looking for?”
It all came back. The late night meetings, the speculation—what Shields had assumed was wishful thinking—but now saw was legit. And illegal.
“I don’t know how much deeper you want to go with this, Aaron. I think this is going to be a giant Mars Colony clusterfuck before it finishes. And even then, I don’t think it’s going to be happily ever after.”
Aaron nodded. Ellen and Annalina were working together on Aaron’s ship, taking detailed pictures of the surface of the moon from all angles. He needed to have a game plan before Annalina returned. She’d have questions…and he wanted to have answers that wouldn’t cause her anxiety.
“May I point something out to you, son? It occurs to me that you’re wanting to take this one alone. Well, you’re not alone. You’re part of Earth’s military. You come with the authority and power of that entity. They’ve been known to take on the Mars mob and get results.”
Shields hadn't mentioned the mob, but everyone knew Mars was teeming with corruption and goons.
“Earth’s military has also been known to go crooked or overlook an issue if it suits them,” Aaron continued. “Beyond that, you have a nice first mate…and one who will be a target if you go alone. The way I figure it, we’ve got a four-month journey to Mars. We’ve been approved to use our mega thrusters and we’re both a few tons lighter. We’ll make better time. We’ll have months to get a game plan together. Considering everything though…about Anderson shooting at you early in the trip. Makes me wonder…who didn’t want you to get this far, and what are they going to do for damage control at this point?”
Shit. He wasn’t good at this. Annalina had probably already connected the dots. She’d been the one to hypothesize about a plot in connection with Anderson, when Shields chalked it up to emotion. What if Annalina had been right all along? What if there was more? If Aaron’s observations were true…Shields was a target. Could Annalina be one as well?
“We have dropped our payload, and Annalina and Ellen will have the moon done in pictorial graphics before midnight. Why don’t you take a few days and figure out what you want to do?” Aaron pushed to his feet. “But you’re not alone in this business. I’m betting isolating you is what they want. It’s easier to take out one guy than one guy with support. I’m going to check on the first mates.”
Shields sat at the computer, watching the pictures come in. Whoever had been on the moon had been there for quite some time but left it untouched to the naked eye. Only on a second glance did the patterns emerge. They’d used big equipment and ripped away a major strip of the top soil. What had they taken? The mines bugged him the most. Why set the next arrival up for destruction? If every spot pinging on camera was an explosive like the one they set off, the whole moon would go up in smoke. For what?
He
rubbed his forehead. Spy shit made him crazy. He was a simple captain who’d been hired to man an exploration vessel. The com from Earth beeped. He’d sent the first wave of data to them hours earlier. The time difference and distance made communication harder. The time of face-to-face conversations had passed. The text across the screen demanded more information. He’d send it, when he had it. But he wasn’t going to send conjecture or clandestine possibilities.
As Aaron said, he had seven months—maybe a little less—to figure out what to do. Today he’d focus on the facts. Tomorrow…hell.
Communications dwindled toward midnight Earth time. Shields had long sent Annalina to bed and the others had returned to their ship. His lack of savvy had never bothered him before. He followed orders, got his job done, and did it well. Minding his own business had never led him astray in the past. He headed his for his room, his feet tired—whole body tired after all the stress. A few hours of sleep and he’d be beeped from Earth again. He hoped he would have something to tell them.
He hit his door button and stepped inside, stripping on his way. He needed a shower, but needed to sleep more.
The reading light above his bed glowed, just as it did every night, but this time it illuminated Annalina. She’d said his room got too warm, and indeed her cheeks were pink and wore only an undershirt and panties. She held a sketchpad, the pencil abandoned on the pillow.
He eased the pad from her grasp. The picture was the Jup moon before the explosion. Even without color, the untouched beauty shone. But it wasn’t untouched. Scars, deep and cruel marred every surface of the celestial giant. Whoever set those explosions dented a gentle giant.
Shields set the pad and pencil aside and slid in beside Annalina before anger took over. In his bed, there was no room for both of them to stretch out comfortably. With her already sleeping, inches remained of the mattress. Shields shifted onto his side and relaxed against the quarter of a pillow remaining. He didn’t care about the tight fit. He’d take inches beside her over feet away from her.
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