She didn’t even flinch when Sara pressed the needle into her arm.
“Sleep and we’ll talk in the morning. Okay?”
The injection had already begun to take hold, preventing an answer. Haylie tried to form an image of Kamran in her mind. The color of his skin, his eyes and hair were there, but nothing else. His features blurred together and she lost the image as she drifted into sleep.
She could tell the instant she was dreaming. The walls surrounding her were too bright. The corridors were too straight. Her ears were humming.
Haylie had to concentrate to move her head so that she could see above her. The straight lines of the vent cover were blurred, as if her mind didn’t want her to see too clearly what was beyond the protective barrier.
Using her arms as a lever, she pushed herself away from the wall and walked slowly down the hall. She recognized that she was close to the med bay where Kamran was resting. She had to mentally force step by painful step to get to him.
When she reached the door, it was already open. Poking her head through, she was able to see Kamran lying on a steel medical bed, a crisp white sheet draped over him in straight lines.
In a blink, she was standing beside him. His olive skin seemed amplified against the whiteness. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow. But, as in reality, Haylie knew that Kamran was alive.
She wasn’t sure how long she was standing in her dream. Time had no meaning. When she looked up from her post, she realized she wasn’t alone. Donaldson stood diagonally across from her.
She got goose bumps at the sight of him.
“What do you want?”
He smiled at her, displaying a perfect set of teeth. “Everything.”
“Did you do this to him?” Haylie registered somewhere that she was much calmer in her dream that she was in reality.
“What does it matter to you if I did or not?”
Donaldson didn’t move, but the distance between them disappeared. Kamran’s bed was suddenly off to the side of the room. Haylie wanted to run, but her body didn’t respond.
Don’t tell him the truth. Her mind was screaming at her.
Donaldson took a half step toward her and bent down to whisper in her ear. “Don’t tell me the truth about what?”
In her dream, Haylie could see the shock on her face, her half gaping mouth snap shut.
She realized she couldn’t think, only react. “The truth that I am attracted to the ambassador. And that I am also attracted to you.”
That seemed to please him and he licked the length of her neck up to her ear. Somehow she managed not to shudder.
When he pulled away to look Haylie in the face, he didn’t even attempt to hide his smugness. “I think you will like me more in the end.”
“Why’s that?”
The med bay vanished and they were standing on the surface of the planet. Haylie didn’t recognize the location, but a mountain range close by hugged around them. The flat area where they stood was protected from the high winds.
Just as quickly, they were back in the bay. This time Donaldson was standing behind Haylie.
“Because the ambassador has no real power.”
“But you do?”
His grip tightened around her biceps, “You’ll soon see.”
Haylie sat up in her bed, gasping. Her sweat-drenched hair was slick against her cheek and neck. She fumbled out of bed, barely making it to the toilet in time.
Sara woke quickly after the first of Haylie’s retching.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so. The meds must not be agreeing with me.”
Haylie managed to pick herself up and make her way to the sink. The thin trickle of water actually felt good against her face. After a few minutes, she felt able to make it back to bed.
“Computer, time?” Haylie asked before gingerly slipping back between her sheets.
She couldn’t quite remember the details of her dream. It slipped away much faster than normal.
“Time is oh-nine-hundred hours.”
Haylie sat up, her head pounded from the action. That wasn’t possible. She got back out of bed and made her way over to the computer. Light from the hallway blinded her for a moment as Sara made her way through the door.
“I never want another night like that again.”
“What the hell? I just went to sleep.” Haylie tried to shake the fog from her brain.
“It’s been three hours. I only gave you a light sedative. You shouldn’t be feeling any effects. Maybe you should call in sick today? No one would blame you. “
Sara lightly took Haylie’s arm to help her back to bed. Pain shot instantly through her, causing Haylie to cry out.
“What the—”
Cautiously, Haylie pulled her uniform down allowing Sara to inspect the skin. “Computer, full lights.”
They both gasped when they saw the dark bruising that had already begun to rise around the biceps.
“Are these finger marks?” Sara took a closer look at the damaged area. “Who did this to you?”
Everything from her dream came flooding back. Kamran, Donaldson, even the strange valley. “I…” But she couldn’t answer.
Sara released her arm and sat on the edge of the bed. “Sweetie, you have to let someone in. You can’t go through life keeping things bottled up.”
“I’m not bottling things up. There isn’t anything to tell.”
“I think you forget who you’re talking to. Are you a coward?”
If anyone but Sara had said that to her, Haylie would have brushed them off. She wasn’t easily goaded. Instead, she looked at her friend, took a deep breath and explained everything. Not leaving out a single detail she talked for a solid fifteen minutes before her story was done. By the time she had finished, Sara simply sat there, unmoving.
Haylie stared back. “Well, say something.”
“Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that you have found your cosmic soul mate. Who is now in the hospital because someone wanted to blow him up?”
“Yes.”
“You are being stalked by Donaldson, who seems to have the hots for you, in your dreams.”
“Correct.”
“You have an alien bodyguard, but you don’t know where his loyalties lie.”
“No, Taber will do anything to keep Kamran safe. I just don’t think he trusts me.”
Sara stood and began to move quickly around the room, “And to top it all off, you say there is someone trying to sabotage the colony by hiring, then killing, a hacker to tamper with documents that don’t really seem to cause any harm?”
“The really stupid thing is, I can’t believe I let myself…I mean, I never thought I’d do this.” Her feelings sounded stupid whenever she tried to express them.
“You’re not your mother, Haylie.”
She glared at Sara. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means that you’re not a bad person for finding someone you care for. It also means you’re not going to abandon who you are to follow a romantic whim.”
Both women stared at each other. Sara was crazy. Of course she wasn’t anything like her mother. She’d spent her entire life in pursuit of everything that was opposite to that woman. Sara damn well knew that. Haylie wanted to yell. Her jaw refused to cooperate by opening.
“I know how hard it was on you and your dad when your mom took off. She said it was fate that she met that guy.”
“There’s no such thing as fate.” The words slipped out.
“No, there isn’t. Everything happens for a reason of someone’s choosing. That is more painful than fate.”
“Kamran wants me to believe that our relationship was preordained or something. Why can’t I find a nice, normal guy who happens to like me?” Haylie’s throat tightened.
“Who’s to say your ambassador isn’t that guy? What if we’re wrong and you two are meant to be together? Would that be a bad thing?”
Gone was the light-hearted docto
r. Haylie really looked at her friend for the first time in a long time. They had both come so far in their lives, changing without really noticing.
“You look older,” Haylie said, and smiled.
“I was arm deep in body parts for six hours before coming home to my friend who’s being assaulted by her dreams. With experience comes age.” Despite her words, Sara smiled too.
“Doctor, I think you need your rest.”
“I would suggest the same for you. As long as you promise no more crazy dreams.”
“I wish I could.” Haylie touched her arm and pushed down the panic that threatened to rise. “I think I might stay up. I need to figure out why someone wanted to bomb that meeting.”
“Okay. But wake me if you find anything. You can come with me to med bay to see Kamran later.”
Haylie moved over and sat at her computer to see if she could crack the mystery hidden in lines of code once more. She tried to be as quiet as possible and it only took a few minutes for Sara to drift back to sleep. Haylie wished she could sleep too, but she’d rather have something to take her mind off Kamran. As the numbers scrolled past her, her mind drifted to the edge of sleep. She should go to bed. It was then Haylie noticed something she hadn’t before, an out-of-place directory.
“What are you doing there?”
Her fingers tapped quickly against the keys, increasing their tempo as her adrenaline began to flow. There was no protection, so it only took her a moment to access the single file buried within.
The same repeating words began to fill her screen, taking her breath away.
The ambassador will die. The ambassador will die. The ambassador will die.
Chapter Ten
The med bay was a torrent of noise when Haylie walked through the doors later that day. The room had the same industrial feel as the rest of the human section of the colony. Instead of gray, the walls were a faded white. There were no windows to the outside so everything was cast in an artificial glow. She noticed a few plants had made their way into the waiting area, mostly shoved into the corner. She detected Sara’s handiwork when she noticed some of the leaves were browning.
People were lined up, filling every chair in the waiting room and standing along the edges. Haylie couldn’t believe the array of injuries, everything from lacerations and burns to broken bones. A frazzled-looking orderly tried to push past her, but she caught him gently by the arm.
“Excuse me. I’m here to interview Ambassador Kamran.”
“Who the hell are you?” He gave her a critical once over.
“Haylie Bond, Security Chief. I need to interview the ambassador as a part of my investigation into the bombing last night.” She returned his stare with a look that would have made a hardened criminal squirm.
He made a half snort, half sigh noise. “Ah. Well, I’ll have to run it by the boss. Wait here.” With a half-step around her, he slipped past and into the chaos.
Great. Haylie waited ten minutes for the man to return. When he didn’t, she ground her teeth together and went in search of him.
She began to wander around nodding to the people as she passed. An assortment of people, miners, scientists mostly, smiled and gave her words of encouragement and thanks of her handling of the bombing. She finally came to an injured security officer who tried to stand when she approached.
“No, no, no, don’t get up. What happened? Curtis, isn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m not sure to be honest. I was on patrol earlier this morning when I started getting a pain in my leg. When I looked down, there was a huge cut down my calf. But I don’t remember injuring it on anything.”
She could see that the man was confused and worried. She gave his shoulder a light squeeze. “No worries. My friend is the best doctor in the sector. She’ll have you up and running in no time.”
“Thanks, Chief. Are you hurt?” he said.
Haylie’s arm twitched, revitalizing the dull ache that had been with her since the dream. “No, I was hoping to speak with the ambassador. An orderly was checking to see if it’s okay, but I think he may have forgotten.”
“You mean Mr. Sunshine and Roses? He probably ditched you and went on a rest break. I’d like to throw him into a shuttle and kick him out the air lock once we get to deep space. You may want to tell your friend about that jerk.”
Haylie tried not to smile but couldn’t quite hold it back. “I’ll be sure to do that.”
“If it’s any help, I saw a Briel doctor going back and forth to that back room earlier this morning.” He pointed to an area that was separated by a large set of double doors. “I haven’t seen him since my arrival, so I’d assume they’re keeping the ambassador back there. Probably to get him away from all this noise and craziness.”
“Thanks, Curtis. Don’t rush back to your shift. If you need the day to recover, make sure you take it.”
“Are you kidding? And miss all the crazy shit that’s going on around here? I’ll be back at it as soon as I get the all clear, Chief.”
“Glad to hear it.”
She nodded, took her leave and made her way toward the doors. No one tried to stop her and there were no guards posted on either side. She was going to have to hire more personnel. The more she thought about it, the more determined she was to enlist some of the miners into active duty. When she pulled the door closed behind her, a blissful silence descended over her. She assumed this was where they kept the critically injured patients. A series of curtains partitioned the room into private areas. Not wanting to disturb any other patients, Haylie quietly peeked behind each one. After a minute of searching, she finally found Kamran in the last cubicle on the left.
Haylie stepped behind the curtain and sucked in a breath when she saw him. She couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or drugged. The rise and fall of his chest was steady, his skin seemed to be back to its normal hue. His eyes fluttered slightly and she saw his hand twitch.
“Kamran?” she whispered.
He frowned and slowly opened his eyes.
“Haylie?”
“It’s me. Are you okay?” She slid her hand down along his arm and entwined her fingers in his.
He turned his head to fully face her, disbelief clear on his face.
“Are you real?”
She felt his words like a physical blow. Are you real? She could only guess he’d been having the dreams too. She bit her bottom lip when she remembered hers. Kamran had been in the room with Donaldson when she’d arrived. What had he been doing to Kamran?
“Yes, I’m real. How are you feeling? Do you still hurt?” Questions about the dreams could wait for a moment.
Instinctively, she reached out and brushed his hair. There were still chunks of dried blood crusted to his scalp. She wanted to cry but instead she stroked his forehead and cheek, careful to avoid the stitches. She was going to find whoever did this and make them pay.
“Haylie—” Kamran tried to move, but winced at the effort.
“Hey now, take it easy. Sara will kill me if I hurt one of her patients.”
He fumbled for her hand. “One moment. I need a moment.”
So they sat that way, hands entwined on the hospital gurney, in silence. She surveyed his injuries, trying to keep her fear at almost losing him squashed. He didn’t need that right now. He needed her strength to get through this mess. She continued to let her fingers wander over his body, taking note of every cut and scrape. There was a large bump poking from his mass of black hair. There was a large black bruise that resembled a metal bar and rivet on his cheek, along with other various cuts and scrapes. She was surprised at the relief as the weight lifted now that she could actually see him, talk to him. He was going to be all right.
Her diagnosis was succinct. “You’ll live.”
Kamran winced. “That’s reassuring. I have to say, getting blown up isn’t pleasant.”
She didn’t mean to laugh. But she did it anyway. “I’m sorry. You always sound like a diplomat.”
He cocked a
n eyebrow at her, lightly stretching a nearby cut on his forehead. “What would you like me to say? I’m still getting accustomed to human emotional states and as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t always get it right.”
“Hmm…let me think. How about something like, ‘Holy shit, I hurt’. No, that’s not you. Maybe, ‘Someone shoot me’,” she said smiling.
“Someone shoot me.” His own voice lacked humor.
Haylie laughed again. “That’s better.”
Down the hall, Haylie heard the seal of the door suck open. She leaned close beside him. “I bet that’s Sara. Probably wondering where I am.”
“Haylie?”
“How well you know your friend.” He managed a weak smile of his own.
Haylie removed her hand from Kamran’s. “I’m here.”
Sara pulled the curtain back with a single jerk. She planted her hands on her hips. “What do you think you’re doing? Disturbing my patient when he needs his rest?”
“I would never dream of it, Doc.”
“How are you feeling, Ambassador? Our overzealous security chief isn’t bothering you, is she?”
“Not at all, Dr. Fergus. I believe the chief was going to ask me if I remembered anything about the explosion.” He rolled his head to the side and winked at Haylie.
“Do you?” She really shouldn’t push him, but he seemed better than even a few minutes ago. Their investigation would be so much easier if they had even a small clue to go on.
“Not really. Though…” he hesitated, his mouth hanging open for a second before he closed it.
Sara made her way over to the bed and checked his vitals. “Don’t try too hard, Ambassador. You took a nasty blow to your head. Things will probably be a bit foggy until things have a chance to heal.”
“How long do you think that could take? We could really use the ambassador’s help in finding the people responsible.” Her irritation flared. She didn’t want Sara that close to him, touching Kamran in such a personal manner. She pushed the feeling aside and cursed herself. While she wasn’t experiencing any of the overpowering lust of earlier, the possessiveness hadn’t disappeared. She was going to have to keep herself under tight rein.
The Bond That Ties Us Page 14