by Lynn Rae
“My home module? What about my datpad?” Automatically tapping her wrist for the device, Lia discovered her personal data manager was nowhere to be found.
“There was a lot of debris. We couldn’t find it anywhere.” Colan gave her a commiserating squeeze.
“Well, you did say I was too attached to it.”
His sober gaze warmed at her feeble joke, and he smiled, a dimple creasing the stubbled and grimy skin of his cheek. Lia wanted to touch him.
After the doctor tapped a few more panels, Lia’s pain lessened, and she breathed easier. Placing her hands on the soft surface of the bed, she shifted and began to push herself up, tightening her stomach, pushing with her arms. She felt a warm hand on her back helping her, and she leaned against it, grateful for the assistance.
“We’ve done this before,” she croaked, and Deval chuckled. Colan was silent, and she wondered how he was. Had he been hurt as well? He watched her intently as he helped adjust her gown as her legs moved. A medical gown?
“Where are my clothes?”
“Destroyed by the blast.”
Inappropriate embarrassment filled her. This was hardly the time or circumstance for modesty, but the idea that Colan had seen her naked while she was unconscious and battered bothered her terribly. Trying to think of something else, she realized she didn’t really know what had happened.
“Was it the little boys again?”
“No.” Colan’s answer was quick, and Deval quirked her eyebrow.
“We don’t know who set the explosion, but it was much larger than the ones before.”
“How much larger?” Lia watched them share a glance, and dread tightened in her. “You said there was a lot of debris. What happened? I was just going into the new barracks module, I think.”
“We don’t know exactly. Zashi is investigating now. One of the new settlers has some experience in munitions and is assisting.” Deval shrugged her shoulders as if the details were uninteresting.
“Was anyone else hurt? I didn’t see anyone around when it happened.” At least she didn’t think she had. All her memories just before the wall shattered in front of her were indistinct.
“You weren’t at the center of the blast,” Colan told her as she stretched her legs to hang over the side of the bed. The pain had lessened, and she didn’t feel as if her head spun any more. His words sunk in, and she squinted at him.
“Where was at the center of it?”
“We think the explosives were somewhere close to the main doors. Maybe under the reception desk. Near the building systems.” Colan took a breath and straightened his shoulders as he finally met her gaze. His eyes were dark and distant, and the shadows underneath made him look tired. Lia reached out and gripped his forearm to keep his attention.
“Who was hurt?”
“Moca, three new settlers, and some of their elected representatives are here in medical with various injuries.” Colan paused, and Lia squeezed his arm again. “Two died. The leader of the settlers and Tully.”
His words hit her like another blow, and she sucked in a breath, shaking her head in denial. Not Tully. He was so sweet natured, so kind. How could he be dead?
Lia started to cry again, and Colan didn’t care that the doctor had decided it was a normal reaction. She’d just found out her friend was dead in a horrible way. Without thought, he gathered her up and carefully wrapped his arms around her, glancing at the doctor as she took a step back.
“I’ll be back in a moment,” Deval Polin informed him, and then she left him, no doubt already thinking ahead to the next person she needed to help. Which meant he would be helping Lia. The thought sat well with him.
“Lia. I’m sorry.” She moved her head against his chest, and he gingerly stroked her hair. There was grit from the explosion in it, and he decided she needed a chance to clean up and a quiet place to rest and adjust to what had happened. She made a wordless little moan and shivered. Just a few hours ago she was bright and shining and kissing him. Now here they were, everything around them altered in a terrible way. “I’m going to help you. Tonight.”
She sniffed and mumbled something into his shirt. He was as covered with dust and smears as she had been until they’d cut off her clothes and tossed them away. “Why did this happen, Colan?”
“I don’t know. Zashi is trying to figure that out. But I’m going to help you get home and get cleaned up.”
She shifted away and looked up at him, her brown eyes reddened and careworn. “Then you’ll help him? He’s short-staffed, and he needs help.”
Colan nodded, not sure he could but wanting to agree to whatever she asked.
Lia woke up to aches, pain, and sadness. Her bedroom was dim since the windows were shaded, so she had no idea of the time of day. Not that she’d quite adjusted to the sunlight here on Gamaliel. Not that Tully ever would. Remembering her lost friend speared grief into her soul, and she sucked in a shaky breath just before the tears started to fall again. And Moca was badly injured. And the poor folks she’d never even met yet. It was horrible and incomprehensible. After a few minutes of crying, Lia sniffed to a stop and decided she had to get up and out of bed, no matter how much it hurt.
She slid the covers back and felt her pajamas shift against her bruises. Pajamas. Colan had helped her last night, and she’d told him to retrieve these. Because the idea of wearing her usual sleep attire, which was nothing, in front of him made her uncomfortable, no matter how unusual the circumstances were. He’d helped her shower, comb her hair, dress, and he’d given her food and drink all before she asked him to leave the previous evening. He’d seemed as if he was going to argue when she said she’d be all right on her own, but then he’d simply nodded after giving her an assessing look. He’d helped her to the bed, pulled the covers up, got a glass of water, and then he’d left without a word.
Pushing herself to her feet, she tottered and placed a sore hand against the wall to steady herself. She needed to get ready to face the day. There was an unimaginable amount of work to do and so few people now to do it. Thoughts of Tully and his happy face intruded, and Lia stood still until they receded. Guilt filled her, and she sniffled back more tears. Tully wouldn’t have even been on this planet if it wasn’t for her. She’d encouraged him to apply for the posting, claiming they would finally have a mutual assignment and wouldn’t that be fun? What were they going to do about his body? And where were the new settlers staying now that the barracks had been damaged?
Her door chime interrupted her rampaging thoughts, and she shuffled toward it. The distance between her bedroom and the door incredibly far today when every step sent aches up and down her legs. Checking her monitor, she saw a determined Zashi, and she opened the door for him.
“Doc says you’re on the mend.” The security officer walked past her and scanned the room as was his habit. He was lean, tense, and well-groomed. One would never guess he had probably been up all night working. He then gave her quick once over, and Lia was glad she had on pajamas. Not that Zashi would ever behave inappropriately, but she wouldn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “Take a seat while I give you an update. Oh, I brought you a new datpad too. We might find yours today, but until then…”
Lia accepted the new device and powered it up, automatically loading her information while wondering who had formatted it since Tully was gone. Tears pricked her eyes yet again, but she shook her head, needing to work, needing to help.
Sinking to a seat next to her on the sofa, Zashi started his report. “Chemical composition was nearly identical to the previous blasts, some proportions of compounds were different, but that would easily be attributable to human error. It was placed inside a shipping container and left somewhere in the lobby, near the doors. There was a simple timer attached, something easily constructed from supplies accessible to anyone here. No trace DNA on anything, which isn’t surprising considering how new everything in the vicinity was.
“Moca is still unconscious, but Doc says she’s stronger
. We have the settlers doubled up in undamaged rooms, and some of the more hardy folk camped out in the half-finished rooms. Welti is starting demolition now, and he has a few volunteers helping him. I contacted the station, and they are relaying information and requests for personnel and supplies. Our first ship should arrive by lunch today.”
Lia nodded. All the information flying at her was overwhelming, but she needed to know what happened so she could work. And work was going to keep her from coming apart. “Right. When does Welti think he’ll be able to put the building to rights?”
Zashi sighed and cocked his head. “I forgot you haven’t seen it. It’ll take weeks, Lia. Half of the front is simply gone.”
Unbelievable. She couldn’t imagine the damage. Zashi gave her a considering glance. “Do you want to see images or not?”
Swallowing with a suddenly tight throat, Lia nodded. He shifted his datpad over and activated the display screen. And there it was; a big cream rectangle with a gaping hole in the middle. That was the barracks? That was all that was left? She took a shaky breath and leaned even closer toward the view, uncomfortably fascinated by the twisted and torn remains. There were crumpled bits of unidentifiable things everywhere in the common area.
“Where was I?”
Zashi flicked a pad on the display, and a pinkish blob appeared at the edge of the debris.
“I don’t want to see any more.” Lia’s stomach rolled over, and every residual ache throbbed for a few seconds as she realized the extent of the destruction. Zashi pulled his device back and powered down the display after he quickly reviewed his updates. She wasn’t sure what to do next, considering she was only alive by luck or chance. What did you do when you were given a new future?
The door chimed, and Zashi rose to answer it. She heard him speak in low tones to someone, and when he returned, Colan followed in his wake, carrying a bulky box. He seemed ill at ease but less tired and disheveled than when he’d left the previous evening. She hoped she appeared equally improved.
“I don’t want to interrupt. Thought you could use some breakfast.”
Lia rose stiffly and smoothed her robe, again reminded he’d seen her naked under very unattractive circumstances. “That’s very kind. Thank you.”
Colan watched her for a second and then moved forward and sat the box on her table, backing away and rubbing his hands together. “You look well. I’ll be getting back to work cleaning up.”
“No, stay, please. Zashi, could we go over things with Colan?”
Zashi nodded and took his seat as Colan lowered himself to a chair far from the sofa, removed a pair of gloves from his pocket, and then tapped them along his thigh as he waited. Lia watched him and wondered if he was going to say anything, but with a shake of her head, she remembered this was silent monolith Colan Nestor. So instead, she opened the box and withdrew containers and eating accessories, her arms stretching and aching with every movement. She had to get active today and work out some of the soreness, or she’d be bedridden.
He’d brought her a wide assortment of foods, all clearly made by him and not picked up at the dining hall on his way over; biscuits, a small jar of some purplish jelly, a frittata sliced into wedges and filled with herbs and mushrooms, a jug of hot tea, and a bowl of sliced fruit. Her stomach growled at the thought of the bounty, and she passed the enclosed plates to the two men, anxious to serve herself and start to eat. She couldn’t remember her last meal.
“So, what caused it?” Colan asked as he accepted a plate loaded with food. She tried to catch his eye and smile, to show her appreciation for all he’d done, but he kept his gaze on Zashi.
“Same chemical compound as the last two. In the storage closet in a container that could have been there for some time. The building was wide open because of all the last-minute construction. Easy for someone to wander in and place it. We’re just lucky there was no shrapnel included.”
“Who?”
Zashi shrugged his shoulders and ate a bite of egg. Lia focused on her own plate at that point, everything in her craving nourishment as quickly as possible. She needed fuel if she was going to recover and contribute.
“Not the boys. I don’t believe they had anything to do with the earlier blast either.” The security officer poured himself some tea and took a slow sip, watching Colan and waiting for a reaction.
“Someone else wants to sabotage the settlement. They just used the same compound, and it diverted suspicion for a time,” Colan concluded, and Lia put down the biscuit she slathered with spicy scented jelly without taking a bite.
“You think a Pearlite deliberately tried to hurt us?” she blurted out, her voice higher pitched than usual.
Colan finally looked at her and nodded, and Lia went cold. She’d assumed these had been diversionary actions, pranks gone wrong, but the idea someone had deliberately set out to harm was chilling.
“That’s my conclusion as well.” Zashi ate another bite of breakfast, his appetite apparently undeterred by mayhem and murder. “I’m going to question Gina Healy’s boys this morning and find out who they might have spoken with about their explosive. Do you have any information on who might have wanted to cause this? Specific grievances against the new settlers?”
Colan sighed and leaned back in his chair as if he wished he were somewhere else. Of course he did; Lia felt the same. She wanted to be on a shuttle heading away from Gamaliel and the unknown person who wanted her dead.
“A few. But I can’t believe—” He visibly stopped himself and glanced at Lia. “I don’t want to believe anyone I’ve known here would be capable of this sort of thing.”
“Someone had to do it. Would you like to come with me to talk with the boys? They’ll be more comfortable with you there. How about you meet me there in half an hour?” Zashi placed his empty plate down on the table and looked ready to start out immediately. Colan tapped his gloves again and studied the carpet.
With a nod, Zashi rose, politely carrying his debris to Lia’s kitchen before leaving with a wave and assurances he’d keep her updated. This left Lia alone with Colan, and she waited—waited for him to say something to her that wasn’t related to injury or sabotage or work that needed to be done. Even though those were perfectly good distractions which she intended to use as soon as possible.
“How are you?”
“Sore. Sad.” Lia sucked in a breath, and her stomach hurt. “Thank you for your help yesterday.”
Colan stood and shoved his gloves back in his pocket, ready to leave her. “Right. You’re welcome. What are you going to do today?”
“Start rescheduling. Check in on Moca. Meet with Cordon and see what he needs.” Lia took a breath as another realization hit her. “I want to see Tully, before he’s gone. And I’ll pack up his things to return to his family.”
Colan shook his head at her recitation, his eyebrows lowering. “That’s too much. You should rest.”
“I need to work. We need everyone on this now. People are depending—”
“No. You should rest. I’m checking with the doctor.” Colan reached for his datpad, which shocked her almost as much as his personal demands. She couldn’t recall when she’d ever seen him use the thing.
“No. You aren’t. My health is my business.” Anger twisted inside. She knew she was feeling grief and rage at what had happened and the impulse not to take it out on the man in front of her did exist, she just didn’t have strength to resist it at the moment.
“No. It’s my business too since I pulled you out from under that mess and saw you lying there, not moving—”
Colan stared at her, his mouth tight. Lia’s outrage ebbed when she saw how upset he was. She’d had no idea he’d seen her in the rubble; she’d assumed he’d found her later in the clinic and had stayed to check on her.
“I’m hardly going to strain myself by coordinating information and talking with people.” She tried to soften her tone.
“You will if you pack boxes and lift them.” Colan stopped messing with
the coil of his datpad as he stared at her. “I don’t want you coming to the blast site either. It’s still a mess, and you could get hurt.”
“You can’t tell me where to go or what to do.” Lia wanted to fight back, but the idea of doing more than making her way to the clinic to see the magistrate and filing some reports was overwhelming. But there was no need to let Colan think she had acquiesced so easily.
“Eat your breakfast. I’m going.” He propped his hands on his hips. Lia took in his worn and torn clothes, the fresh scrapes on his face and knuckles, and another piece of her heart broke off. What this man was going out to face, what Zashi and so many other were going to have to do today, made her want to weep anew.
“Good. I have work to do.”
“I’m checking on you later.” He walked toward her door, evidently sure his point had been made and she would be obedient. Lia hardly felt obedient, but she was sore, shaky, and the last interchange with him had worn out her bravado for the day. Or maybe the week. Fine, Colan Nestor got his way today. Tomorrow she’d be stronger, and he’d lose.
Chapter 9
Lia waited in the medical room next to Tully’s swathed body. The other victim, Aline Yao, a woman from Freton who’d been elected group leader, waited on another gurney. She’d only been on planet a few hours when she’d been killed, all her hopes for the future destroyed like the front of the barracks. Lia placed a hand on Citizen Yao’s gurney, wishing she’d met the woman at least once so she could say goodbye properly.
Once the passengers disembarked on the shuttle that had just arrived outside, Lia would accompany her friend to the ship and say her final farewell. Tully had been such a happy and good man, so excited to join her on this expedition to explore a new planet and do some good. Now, his body was going back to his grieving family, and Lia was left wondering if she’d made the right decisions.
She shifted in her seat, soreness creeping into her injured muscles. She’d first visited Moca when she’d arrived in medical. The magistrate was improved and busy with her datpad, requesting additional security and safety personnel as soon as possible. Lia apprised her of the scheduling she’d done, and then she left to hold her vigil at Tully’s side. She didn’t want him to spend these final minutes on Gamaliel alone. She’d double-checked the shipping routes just to make sure Tully and Aline would find their ways home through the galaxy with no delays.