Deadly Betrayal (22 page)

“You also promised you'd never leave me again.”

I couldn’t resist his lips on mine and returned his kiss until my brain finally regained control of my body.

“I think I’m going to go sleep in bed. In our room. Alone.”

“Alex, please don’t go.”

If he said anything more, the closing door cut it off.

I hadn’t realized how soon Adam and Blake wanted to leave on the impossible quest. John banged on my door the next morning, saying it was time to go.

I said, “I’m not happy with this.”

He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching me amble around the room, collecting my things. “It’s a very
Adam
plan. I guess we can at least fly them there.”

“I don’t want to. I think we should go home.”

I didn’t have a role in all this, not even a small one. John’s devotion to family would prevent him from humoring me, because Adam needed the ship. This left me with only two choices: go along with Adam’s plan or stay behind with Eli, Ima, and Jia’Lyn. If I left, I would at least have John close by.

He said, “C’mon honey, let’s get this over with.”

I hugged Eli tight before we left. “I am so proud of you and I love you very much.”

My android brother whispered, “Take care, sister, and watch over the others. I wish to see you soon again.”

This was the first time since we met we weren’t all together. Leaving without him gave me a bout of separation anxiety.

I wasn’t the only one. Blake didn’t look particularly happy about leaving Ima, but he tried to cover it as duty. “Are you sure about staying? There will be people who need you on the ship.”

“And there’s someone who needs me here. She’s not strong enough to travel, she barely knows where she is. If you succeed, John can pick us up.”

Blake tried to say something more and she hissed at him, grabbed Eli’s hand, and pulled him back towards the room with Jia’Lyn.

I always assumed she wanted whatever he did since she also was a Confederacy officer and they worked under the same modus operandi, but her people lived for family, and she certainly did not seem happy. Blake’s job was dangerous on the best of days and right now her mood matched mine.

Following John into the shuttle, I pushed their problems out of my mind. I had enough of problems of my own. Adam clearly waited for me to sit next to him, so I plopped down beside Debana and Samuel.

As soon as we left the station, Debana stared out the window at John’s ship. “It’s weird. I’ve seen that ship in the bay on the Bell so many times and it looked tiny. Out here it’s enormous. Does it have a name?”

John glanced back. “I never got around to it.”

“How long have you had it?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. A long time. Depends on how you count, I guess.”

The station already looked tiny behind us.

Debana asked what I never got around to. “What kind of work did you do? It doesn’t seem like a logical place for you.”

A smile lit up John’s face. “Medical innovations. It’s hard to believe now, but once upon a time Cheryl and I worked for the people who make all these artificial hearts and lungs and stuff. We did really well and started our own research center out here.”

Everyone stared at him, including me. I said, “You’re still full of surprises.”

John shrugged. “You know I like to tinker.”

*****

Once we entered hyperspace everyone disappeared off to their own projects, constructing gadgets and making plans. I stayed with John on the bridge.

He sighed and dug his fingers into his neck. I brushed his hand away and massaged his shoulders.

“You are so tense, that’s not like you.” He was usually as inclined for stress as the average slab of rock.

“I don’t like this. Any of it.”

“It’s too big for us to take on, isn’t it? And I hate their plan.”

Someone who didn’t know English would still be able to tell how much I hated it from my tone of voice.

“Oh yes, we’re in way over our heads. And you know what will happen if we succeed.”

“I do. Off to save the rest of the world.”

“We have been very lucky, but it won’t last forever.”

I patted his shoulders and sat down in the chair next to him. The more I thought of Adam’s plan the more I hated it. Not to mention his attitude. Just thinking about it made me angry again.

“Do you think we should run away again?”

He looked surprised, but flashed a smile. “Yes. You, me, a ship, and the stars. I really liked that.”

“I did too.”

“Well, I can make that happen. Just let me know when you’re ready. Until then I’m thinking of going downstairs and getting drunk. Want to come?”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Why not? The ship is filled with people able to fly. Right now you and I are decoration. We’re useful because we happen to
have
a ship to bring their dumb asses from point A to point B.”

He got to his feet. “Coming?”

“I’ll catch up with you. I need to do something, but it won’t take long.”

*****

I found the others in the workshop. Adam, Blake, and Samuel all stared at a silver cylinder as if it held the answer to every mystery in life. None of them even glanced back when the door opened for me.

“Adam, I’m thinking of running away with John. Do you want to come with us?”

Blake said, “So, we connect these to the air filtering systems?”

Samuel nodded. “Yes, and it is a scalable solution that can fit for any size vessel, even an entire station.”

Adam didn’t take his eyes away from the cylinder. “Sure, sweetheart. Not right now.”

Debana met my eyes and I mouthed, “Men.”

She nodded.

I said, “We might be gone for a while.”

Adam poked a control. “This is a clever solution.”

That was my cue to give up. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later. I love you.”

I don’t think any of them heard me. I stopped right inside the door and tried one last time.

“Adam!”

He was still talking about the cylinder. “This valve can be adjusted for the size of the system.”

I shook my head and left, heading downstairs into the bowels of the ship.

Standing alone in the lift made me second-guess my decision. He was being impossible, but
leaving
might be overreacting.

On the other hand, he planned to leave me. This entire journey had one purpose: for him to leave me. I had a chance to to take the initiative, and being the one left behind might be good for him.

My eyes weren't paying attention to logic. They leaked and I dabbed them with my sleeve.

Downstairs, John waited in his secret room. “I didn’t think you’d show.”

I huffed. “There’s no competing with a starship or the fate of the world.”

He offered his bottle and even a careful sip made me cough. “How do you drink this? It smells like kerosene. I haven’t actually tasted kerosene, but I’m pretty sure it would be like this.”

My reaction seemed to amuse him. “Practice. There’s beer in the fridge.”

I got two and handed one to him. He teased, “Maybe I like kerosene.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if you did, but you might need something to help rinse it down.”

He smiled and I curled up in the next chair, pulling my feet up.

“So, this running away thing, what did you have in mind?”

I was the one who brought it up first, but he wouldn’t hold little details like that against me.

“The boys can have this ship, we don’t need all this room anyway. We could go look at a nebula, they’re pretty spectacular. See if they miss us.”

“They’ll miss us eventually, when they need something. It will take them a while to reclaim the fleet, and Earth, and all the other planets. Isn’t a shuttle a bit small for a great escape?”

His eyes glittered. “You know me better than
that.
Come.”

He led the way to the back of the room, pressed a rivet, and a part of the metal wall swung to the side.

“Ladies first.”

There was a small ledge and a ladder leading down. I wasn’t good with ladders, but this one was pretty short and I was still filled with adrenaline, so I climbed down just fine. It stopped by a circular hatch with another ladder, and the arrangement made me think of a submarine.

The space was dimly lit, and as soon as John came down, he flipped some switches, making the light dazzle.

“This is the Captain’s cruiser. A few rooms in the back, storage and pantry here in the middle, and bridge that way.”

“You have another ship under the ship.”

He grinned. “Our secret, Hon. It’s so well camouflaged I don’t think even Adam has spotted it. Look around.”

The vessel was fantastic. Comfortable, cozy, large enough to be roomy yet small enough to be manageable. No endless echoing corridors or risk of getting lost.

“I love it.”

“Wanna take her for a spin?”

“Yes, but we’re in hyperspace. Isn’t that impossible?”

He looked like I just promoted him to Santa Claus. “Normally not advisable. But you know how I…”

I interrupted him. “You like to work on mechanics too complicated for a normal person to comprehend while pretending to be a drunken smuggler.”

“The one who understands me.”

He led the way to the small bridge. I recognized many of the controls, but instead of a vast room there was just two comfortable captain’s chairs and enough space for the two of us to move around.

I rested my hands on the back of a chair.

“Let’s go somewhere.”

“Sure. Whenever you want.”

“I was thinking right now, but we should probably tell him.”

John smirked. “Yeah, once he figures out he misplaced you he’ll tear the ship apart looking.”

I got a sting of bad conscience, but enough was enough. I was
not
sitting on my butt waiting for weeks or months to see if the altered crew found Adam in the Bell’s innards.

There was a keypad by the door. John said, “The code is 921672.”

He entered it and all the consoles around us lit up. “Sit down, Hon. I’ll go make sure the hatches are closed.”

It took less than two minutes for him to return.

“Are you sure about this?”

I wasn't, but I still nodded.

John turned on the radio. “Adam?”

“What is it, John? A little busy here.”

Hearing his voice almost made me change my mind, until he reached the busy part. It reminded me of the way he said, “Yes, I know they may be docked for a long time, but I’ll just stay hidden and wait.”

John’s voice shook me out of it. “Alex and I are going for a ride. We’ll catch up with you at GA7 when you’re done crawling around in the Bell.”

That finally spurred a reaction. “What? We’re in hyperspace. And where are you going?”

I heard Debana in the background. “I told you to listen. If your wife is polite enough to come tell you she’s running away and asks if you want to come, you could at least turn around and look at her.”

He said, “Alex…”

“No. I’m tired of waiting to see if you’ll live through another stupid and death-defying stunt. I’ve watched you die once, and that was enough. You go do whatever you feel you have to do, we’ll meet you later if you’re still alive.”

“Alex, if you don’t want me to go you should have said so.”

“Oh yes, like when I said, ‘Adam, I really don’t want you to do this’ several times and you ignored it? You have perfect memory, I’m sure you can recall it.”

Debana muttered, “Ouch” and Samuel said, “I won’t do that. I promise I’ll never do that.”

“Can we talk about this?” He sounded weary. At least I managed to catch his attention long enough for him to understand we were leaving.

“Will talking make a difference? Can anything I say or do change your decision?”

The long silence that followed answered for him. He would do what he deemed necessary no matter the cost.

John said, “Well, take care, son. Stay alive and we’ll see you in a few weeks.”

He had been working on the computer as we talked and flipped the radio off just as Adam re-found his voice to ask, “Where are you?”

John glanced over towards me. “You okay?”

I was surprised to find I was.

“Yes. I’m so over this.”

I imitated Adam’s manner of speaking. “From now on I will value your input and let you decide. Until I feel the need to sit in a service corridor in a battleship for weeks. If I come out of that alive and not a zombie, I’ll just pop over and battle the governing force of this vast and troubled galaxy, uniting it in peace. By myself. After that I’ll stop. Just kidding, now there’s an emergency in the Andromeda galaxy. Going there will take a few years, but I’ll be back.” I closed my mouth so hard my teeth rattled to cut off the rant.

John chuckled. “He would too. Press that button before he finds us and tries to break in here.”