Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Rylando stood at the top of the shuttle’s ramp, watching the sturdy maple trees and admiring the red half-moon-shaped seed pods.
Their distinctive leaves danced in the hot summer afternoon breeze and cast dappled shadows.
It had been more than a decade since he’d even been stationed on a planet, much less on a base with natural greenery.
The unpredictable air currents that tickled the bare skin of his bare chest reminded him how much he’d gone without over the years.
The usual adrenaline drop-off effect at the end of a rescue he could handle. He didn’t know how to handle the end of friendships. Of partnerships. Maybe of his career.
He had zero doubts that the CPS would be willing to sacrifice the entire GSAR branch to keep the galactic peace.
Or more likely, to keep their budget from bleeding out.
But he couldn’t imagine what other use the regular CPS Minder Corps had for trained and experienced rescuers, much less a mid-level animal-affinity minder with a knack for training animals and their human handlers.
Moyo pushed her big head into his hand and drooled on his shorts.
Which reminded him that if GSAR dissolved, he’d have to do something about his team.
GSAR rules would no longer protect them from being separated.
The regular military hated animals on their bases, stations, and ships.
He rubbed Moyo’s ears and raised his talent to check on the well fed, sleepy animals who were resting in their nest or surface of choice. Even Shen dozed. “We’ll manage.”
“Manage what?” asked Taz.
He turned around to look at her. The first thing they’d done when Hatya sent them to wait in the shuttle was grab quick water-based showers from the shuttle’s full tank.
Her sleeveless top and exercise pants highlighted her sexy curves and muscular strength.
With a colorful towel wrapped around her head and piled high, she looked like a pre-flight Egyptian queen.
“Just wondering about the future.” He patted Moyo’s rump and gave her permission to investigate the interesting smells under the trees. She gleefully bounded down the ramp like a puppy.
“Me, too,” she said. “Any predictions?”
He sighed. “The CPS won’t know what to do with any of us, but they won’t let us go, either.
” Shen’s brindle-coated form caught his eye.
“We’re kind of like her. The controller gives her enhanced abilities to work with humans, but it’s wasted on owners who just want a pet.
” He looked back at Taz. “Were you able to connect with her using the codes I sent?”
“No.” Her lips tightened. “I didn’t want to form a bond with her, then be forced to abandon her a few days later. It seems bloody unlikely that we’ll be assigned to the same unit again. I’m going to miss your team a lot.”
“They’ll miss you, too.” He’d wasted so much time pushing her away instead of inviting her closer. And now it was too late to change that.
Her gaze dropped to her toes. “If it’s none of my business, just say so, but do you have an emergency-shelter plan for your team?
In case the CPS forces you to retire them?
” She rocked back and forward on her heels and gave him a sideways look.
“I don’t have much in savings, but I’d help you pay for long-term boarding. They saved a lot of lives today.”
The usual evasions stuck in his throat. She deserved to know the truth. “I know a place. All I have to do is get them there. It’s a charity for animals that GSAR thinks are missing in action.”
“Oh?” Her eyes widened in dawning comprehension. “Oh.” The corners of her mouth tilted upward. “Very clever. Much better than letting GSAR bureaucrats decide what to do with ‘retired’ animals.”
Before he lost his courage, he added, “It’s my life-after-GSAR plan, too. They’re a privately funded sanctuary on a donated chunk of land. They can use my talents. Maybe you could come visit, after we both term out.”
She stilled, then studied his face, her expression serious. “Do you like me? I mean, not just professionally?”
“Yes.” He tightened his fists in his pockets. “To be honest, I’m crazy about you. I dream about you. Very nonprofessional, nova-hot dreams.” The air froze in his chest as he waited for her reaction.
“Oh.” She blew out a loud breath. “I dream about you, too. Especially when you’re gone. You make me laugh. You make me feel safe.” She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped herself and shook her head. “And don’t we have the lousiest damn timing in the universe?”
A rueful chuckle escaped him. “Yeah, we do.”
She put her fists on her hips and looked down.
“In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m no prize.
I have a history of epically bad choices in lovers.
The last one set me up as the scapegoat for a massive heist. It made me so mad that I put in for a transfer to Unit 1051, then sent the damning evidence to everyone in his command structure right before the ship went transit.
When he finally gets out of military detention, he might want to settle the score. ” She ended with a forceful sigh.
Since she’d been so candid, he could be no less.
“I’m no prize, either. I nearly killed a previous teammate when I discovered he’d been torturing Moyo for weeks.
Hatya had to pull me off him. The only reason I’m not in long-term military detention with your ex is because I gave the asshole a concussion that erased his memory of that afternoon.
He had a long record of instigating violence, and Hatya swore on her oath that I’d acted in self-defense.
” He wasn’t proud of what he’d done, but knew he’d do it again in a nanosecond.
“Sounds like we both have a temper when provoked. I knew there was a reason I liked you right from the start.” She held out her hands to him. “When does your contract terminate?”
He took her hands and stepped closer. “Three years, two days. What about yours?” She edged closer, only centimeters away.
Her warm breath on his chest raised goosebumps. “Almost the same. A little under three years.”
“That seems like forever right now.” She looked up at him with her gorgeous emerald green eyes. “In the meantime, would you be interested in a kiss?”
“Hell, yes.” He slowly lowered his mouth to hers, savoring the anticipation.
A loud series of tones sounded in the shuttle. “Damnit, Silver Team, would one of you put on your damn earwire? I’m at the edge of the grove. I’ll be peeved if one of you shoots me.”
Taz pulled back from him with a laugh. “See what I mean about the lousiest timing ever?” She fished in her pocket. “Maybe we can revisit this later.”
“I’d like that.” He kept his smile, but he could already feel her slipping away. Crossing to the worktable where he’d left his clothes, he put on his earwire, then pulled on his pants over his shorts. Pain hollowed his chest and made the air seem too thin to breathe.
A minute later, Hatya walked up the ramp, still wearing the ship-loader assist frame. Her hair was back to its more normal top braids. Moyo followed her into the shuttle and headed toward the back.
Hatya gave them a weary smile as she stepped out of the frame, then lifted it like it weighed one kilo instead of fifty and pushed it into the shuttle’s holdfasts. “I’m planting my ass in the pilot seat. We need to talk.”
Taz followed Hatya up front. Unease tightened his shoulders. He grabbed his boots and tunic, then joined them.
“I’ll cut to the core. Your orders from Bhayrip are to get to the space station.
Regular pilot orders are to make sure you get there by any means necessary.
After you all transit out to the reassignment base, Jumpers have secret orders to secure or space any GSAR equipment left behind.
Which tells me GSAR is being zeroed.” She pulled a water pouch from the floor bin and took a long draught.
The ice of adrenaline seeped into Rylando’s lungs, stealing his breath. He’d thought he’d have more time to make arrangements for his team.
“This debacle is a colossal cluster, so I have a proposition for you. I take you and the animals to this continent’s commercial spaceport.
I’ll use my Jumper credentials to arrange commercial transport for my family, since military ships won’t let you bring your menagerie of household pets.
You pick the destination. You’re on your own after that.
The town gets what’s left of your gear. Yanoshi gets your airsled for his farm and the chance to screw the CPS by confirming my story that you died when more of the CAC’s first floor collapsed.
Which it did, by the way. Oh, and seeing as how it houses a previously unsuspected galactic node that you miraculously saved with your last brave act, the town will probably build a memorial to GSAR.
If Bhayrip gives me shit about any of this, I’ll remind him he sent two humans and a few animals on a high-profile rescue instead of the full team he promised. But he won’t have time to investigate.”
The possibilities intrigued Rylando, but he saw multiple problems to solve. “How much trouble will you be in for doing this?”
“Little to none. Bhayrip’s world is crashing. My nearest chain of command is five transit days away and has no idea what I do. Besides, with GSAR zeroed, I’m out of a job. I’m retiring.”
Taz cleared her throat. “Not to be ungrateful or anything, but why are you doing this?”
“Told ya, this is a cluster.” Her chin jutted out pugnaciously.
Taz raised a skeptical eyebrow as she met and held Hatya’s gaze.
Hatya fought it for a second, then made a sour face. “Okay, fine. Bhayrip is going to force Unit 1051 to leave all the animals behind as one final ‘fuck you’ to Rylando. No way am I destroying good and loyal dogs because the CPS wants a clean slate.”
Taz shook her head in shocked disgust, then looked away, blinking fast. “Damnit.” The word sounded watery.
Rylando wished he could say Bhayrip’s revenge and the CPS’s orders surprised him, but he’d spent too many years in Unit 1051. “We’ll need funds. If you declare us dead, they’ll freeze our accounts. My family doesn’t need the money, so my estate and the on-duty death payout are willed to charity.”
“Mine, too,” said Taz. “I don’t have much cash, but GSAR will owe my estate for two thousand-plus hours’ worth of leave along with the death payout. It all goes to a search-and-rescue charity. My family refuses to admit to having any minders in their gene pool, so they don’t need my money, either.”
An idea bubbled up into Rylando’s thoughts.
“I remember a story where the character embezzled from herself by creating bogus certified debts. If we make backdated debts to Hatya for buying something, or maybe losing a bet, she could file claims against our estates and send us the proceeds.” He looked to Hatya.
“That is, if you’re willing. It’ll probably be a bureaucratic pain in the ass. ”
“Sure, why not? Retirees have all the time in the galaxy on their hands. Better make a few of those debts to my brother, though. Wouldn’t want a CPS payout officer getting any sharp ideas.
You’ll have to keep in touch and tell me where you each end up.
” She cast glances at them both. “So, are we doing this?”
“Yes,” said Taz. Her jaw tightened.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.” Hatya made shooing motions with her hands.
“Go arrange your pets for a fast trip to the spaceport. Pack everything from the shuttle you think you’ll need or could sell.
If Bhayrip asks, I’ll tell him I got a head start on decommissioning GSAR equipment.
” She turned away to trigger the controls to retract the ramp.
Taz tilted her head in tacit invitation. He nodded and followed her to the back of the shuttle. In the confines of the storage area, she reeled him in for a long embrace that he hadn’t known he’d needed. Their bodies fit together like perfect puzzle pieces. He longed to melt into her warmth.
She loosened her hold to look up at him with a serious expression. “That place you invited me to visit. Can they take you now? Would they want someone like me?”
“Yes, and yes,” he said. “They don’t know it yet, but they desperately need a telekinetic tech genius.”
“Good to know.” Her head drifted back to his shoulder. “This is all… a lot to take in.”
He nuzzled his nose into her hair and took in the intriguing scent of her. “Second thoughts?”
“No. Naughty thoughts, though. And again, my timing is lousy. Would it scare you if I told you I love you?”
“No. Do you?”
“Yes. I fought it from practically the first day I met you, but your animal magnetism was just too much for me.” She lifted her head to give him an impish grin. “Field Co-Commander, sir.”
He palmed the side of her face. “I love you, too, Field Co-Commander. Shocking breach of protocol, I know.”
“Kiss me again, and I’ll forgive you.”
He did just that, with a hopeful promise of a lot more to come.