Higher Ground (2 page)

“Okay.” Zach looked a little glum, though. Did he think Adam was blowing him off? With his scientist’s analytical mind, he’d extrapolate meaning from every tiny bit of data, even when there was no meaning to be had.

Adam couldn’t ditch his friends—it was a birthday party. Should he explain that? Or would it sound like an excuse for ditching Zach instead? He was definitely interested in—he grinned—pursuing a romantic relationship with Zach. Words might not convince him, but perhaps actions would.

“See you around.” Adam leaned in and kissed him. Zach was taken by surprise only for a second or two, and then he opened his mouth and thrust his tongue between Adam’s lips. He raised a hand and pulled Adam closer, fingers threading through his hair, grip firm. His intensity rocked Adam back. When Zach broke the kiss a moment later, Adam had to gasp for his next breath.

Zach had lost his awkward and wary expression. The sun had started to dip below the surrounding mountains, and the slanting light shadowed Zach’s eyes deeply. His mouth curved into a satisfied smile.

“See you around, Adam.” He rose and walked away.

“Yes, right.” Adam could only sit and watch Zach leave, afraid his knees would give way if he surrendered to the urge to trail Zach like a puppy. Job done, then—clearly he’d reassured Zach of his interest. After that kiss, he might have to forget about playing hard to get and show up at Zach’s place tonight to offer himself on a plate.

Except he didn’t know where Zach’s place was. The contact details didn’t include his address. He probably lived in the accommodation block in the other one of the two domes which had once been the entire colony and had become the center of the gradually expanding town of Arius. Most shorter-stay people like Zach lived in apartments in the dome. Longer-term people like Adam got a small house, or a larger one if they had a family.

He pulled himself together. He could find Zach’s address if he wanted to, but no, he’d wait. No reason to rush. Adam loved to dance a bit. They had plenty of time.

Chapter Two

Zach arrived in his lab at 07:30 the next morning. He’d taken the long way around again in the hope of seeing Adam in the test fields, but there’d been so sign of him. Probably much too early. Maybe he’d be out there later and they could go eat lunch together in the Institute cafeteria. Or sit outside with sandwiches, just the two of them. Having Adam to himself even for a few minutes the previous evening had been very pleasant.

He got coffee and sat at his desk to check up on the test results he’d left running overnight. He’d run two sets of tests. The ones he was being paid to work on, the analysis of mineral surveys for the Institute’s quarterly reports, and ones he’d confess to finding a little more interesting—a personal project. With a sigh, he opened the mineral survey results first.

He sipped his coffee, winced, and went back to add the sugar he’d forgotten. As he spooned it in, he smiled. He was a little distracted, he couldn’t deny it, thinking of Adam and their kiss. Hoping the kiss meant Adam hadn’t been put off by Zach’s clumsy attempts at flirting. However hard he tried to be smooth and charming, he always made a great big idiot of himself. He sighed. But Adam
had
kissed him, so he couldn’t have been too turned off by Zach’s awkwardness.

He went back to the desk and tried to concentrate on his work. He had plenty of it to do. His personal project had been taking a little too much time lately, leaving him behind schedule on the mineral survey analysis. Hence his early arrival that morning—though he’d also woken early anyway, mind full of Adam. As if his brain was telling him to wake up and go find Adam right away.

How he wished he could. Was Adam at work yet? Nearly 08:00. He might be on his way. Or he might still be at home eating breakfast, or in the shower. Zach swallowed too big a gulp of hot coffee and coughed, eyes watering. He shifted in his seat. Frowning, he tried to dismiss the image of Adam in the shower from his mind. The Institute didn’t pay him to sit in his lab indulging in sexual fantasies.

It didn’t pay him to analyze minor earthquakes either, but the notification of the completion of the latest tests about the quake teased him from his message in-box. It had happened only a few days after he’d arrived at the colony. Zach had never been in an actual earthquake before—despite the number of vacations in California he’d persuaded his parents to take him on as a teenager—and he’d found it quite fascinating and a fortuitous start to his stay. After he’d come back to Arius following his mineral surveys, he’d begun to study the quake to find the cause. Earthquakes were rare on the island; it would be a good challenge to see what he could find out about this one.

As he glanced at the message about the tests, trying to resist it, another notification popped in the list. Message from Adam Gray. Zach grabbed the Link.

Hi, Zach. There’s a concert in the B dome tonight. Want to go with me and get a bite afterward? Adam.

Zach hit the reply at once.

Love to.

He stopped, erased it and started over, trying to at least attempt not to appear so needy.

I’d like that
. He didn’t ask anything silly, like what kind of concert it might be. As if he would say no if it wasn’t to his taste!
What time and place to meet?

Adam’s reply came back a couple of minutes later.

19:00 in the Dome Bar. See you later. Adam.

There was a lowercase
x
under his name. A kiss. Zach didn’t get many messages with those on, except from his mother. He grinned. One from Adam meant something different than the ones from his mother. Both precious.

He put the Link down with the message still open on the screen, enjoying glancing down to see that little
x
as he worked on his survey results for the quarterlies. He drank his coffee; he worked; he kept glancing at the Link. Silly of him. They’d arranged their date. Adam had no reason to send him another message. But every time it chimed with another notification, he hoped it might be Adam, with another
x
after his name. Every time he saw that
x
, he thought again of the kiss last night.

Would there be more of those tonight? And perhaps… Well, he should try not to expect too much or rush into anything. People were always telling him not to be so eager, so impatient. But surely any sane person would be both eager and impatient to take Adam Gray to bed.

The morning wore on too slowly for Zach, who was desperate for the day to be over. Every time he glanced at the clock, he recalculated in his head how long it was until 19:00 and chided himself for acting like a schoolgirl. What next? Would he start doodling hearts with both their names inside them? Lunchtime approached, and he thought of going to the cafeteria and “running into” Adam, but he decided to stay here in the lab. Adam probably ate with a group of friends or colleagues. Anyway, the test results about the earthquake called to him. Since they were a personal project, he shouldn’t use any more department time to work on them. He’d eat at his desk and check them.

By the time his lunch break ended, he was scowling at the screen, absently polishing off the last of a candy bar. These results couldn’t be right. Zach glanced at the clock. He should go back to work on the reports. But he left them to one side and kept working on the earthquake project. He just had to double-check the results. He’d obviously made a mistake.

An hour later, he hadn’t found a mistake—which didn’t mean he hadn’t made one. But he needed to get on with the reports. Professor Phillips would have his ass—and not in a good way—if they weren’t ready to send with the Institute’s quarterly reports for the Terraforming Authority. The Authority had to make plans to guide the development of the planet going forward. Right now, Arius was the only town, and a few dozen people lived at two tiny outposts elsewhere on Ethris, but the planet was close to being ready for mass colonization, and the Institute had to report back to the Terraforming Authority where to start developing for the first wave of settlers. Zach’s work would feed into that decision, and he had to finish it.

But the results from the earthquake project worried him. They were probably nothing. Errors. But if they weren’t… He started a message to a colleague only a little senior to himself, who’d been quite friendly since he arrived.

Dr. Palmer, I know you’re busy, but can you take a look at the attached results when you have time? I’m sure I’ve made an error somewhere.

He stopped, hating writing that. He didn’t make many errors, and when he did, he always spotted them quickly when checking his results. The fact he hadn’t found one this time worried him. Maybe he was distracted from not getting enough sleep and from imagining kissing every one of Adam’s freckles. He smiled. That was a possibility.

If you could review them and see if you can spot what I’ve done wrong, I’d be very grateful.

He attached the work and sent it. Her answer came back a few minutes later.

I’ll try to check them out as soon as I’ve got a minute.

Zach sent her a thanks and turned back to the quarterly reports while mentally calculating the time to 19:00.

* * * *

Adam arrived at the bar at 19:10, finding Zach sitting at a corner table. He slid onto the bench beside him and placed two beers on the table.

“Sorry I’m late. Got talking to someone.”

“That’s fine.” Though the look of intense relief Adam had seen when he arrived suggested Zach wasn’t as cool about it as he tried to appear. “I haven’t been here long.” The beer glass he had sitting in front of him when Adam arrived was almost empty, but maybe he’d been thirsty and drunk it quick.

“Nice and warm today,” Adam said. “Funny to think it’s winter back home.”

“It’s definitely odd to have no real seasons here. I’m from Boston; I think I’ll miss fall and winter.”

“California boy, myself, so we don’t have much of a winter. But yes, it’s strange even for me. The constant climate makes agriculture much easier, though.” He shook himself. “But hey, that sounds like work talk, and it’s against the rules.”

“Rules?”

“My rules. No work talk on a date.”

Zach smiled. He clearly liked the confirmation that they were on a date. Unless he thought it silly. Adam had met guys who thought dating was what you did with women and considered it a waste of valuable sex time. He didn’t agree. He loved dating. He intended to date the hell out of Zach Benesh.

“All right, no work talk,” Zach said. “So, what about this concert? I was going to check up about it, but I got too busy.”

“Quarterly reports, huh?” Adam knew the answer from the pained look on Zach’s face. It would do him good to forget about them for a few hours. “Okay, no work talk. Right, the concert. It’s more of a recital, really. Kids from the school.” Zach’s false expression of enthusiasm amused him. “I know, it will probably be awful, but it gets me out of the house.”

“I don’t see you as being someone who has a problem there. You seem very social.”

“Too social.” Adam would have his doctorate already if he’d been a bit less social over the last few years. “But we have to meet people. They keep us human, don’t they?”

“I…I guess.”

He sounded unsure. Adam guessed he was more the solitary type. An ivory tower academic who’d grow long fingernails and a beard down to his knees if left to his own devices. A born hermit. But Adam wouldn’t allow it. If Zach needed a little push out into the world, Adam could give it to him, whatever other directions their relationship went in.

“Let’s go,” Adam said. “Finish your drink.”

“Already? It doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes, and there are plenty of seats.”

“I know. But I’m going to show you the best seats in the house.”

They finished their beers, and Adam led Zach past the banks of chairs arranged in front of the stage. Some were occupied already. There was little entertainment to be had in Arius, so any event, no matter how prosaic, brought people out. Even the candidate’s campaign speeches for the council elections drew sizeable audiences—sometimes armed with elderly eggs and vegetables to increase the entertainment value of the event.

Adam led Zach to a flight of steps behind the stage, dodging past the bustling crowd of kids and teachers and parents. The steps led them to the first of several catwalks ringing the walls of the dome. Plants had long ago taken over the catwalks and steps, some of which had become almost fully enclosed green tunnels. From others, the plants hung in great curtains of foliage.

“Are we going all the way to the top?” Zach asked, cautious on the steps, holding tight to the handrail as they climbed up to the next level.

“You aren’t afraid of heights, are you?”

“No.” He sounded unsure.

“The acoustics up there are amazing. And it gets the most light and least disturbance, so it’s like a jungle! Come on, two more flights.”

The sounds of voices, squeaks, and groans from instruments warming up and a snatch of melody here and there floated up as they climbed. At last they reached the highest catwalk, the smallest circle of all, close to the top of the dome.

“Now round the other side so we’re facing the stage,” Adam said. “Careful where you step. There are tendrils and branches on the floor.” He picked his way around carefully by the light of the soft lamps, some almost hidden by foliage. Behind him, Zach muttered a curse or two as they walked. “Okay back there?”

“Just wishing I’d remembered to bring my machete.”

“Hey! No chopping plants except for the purposes of pruning, please. You wouldn’t like me coming along and smashing your rocks, would you?”

“I do have a collection of interesting rocks, actually.”

Adam laughed, glancing back to see Zach cringe, perhaps reading the laugh as mockery. It wasn’t. Interesting rocks might be an oxymoron to Adam, but what could he say about it?

“Maybe one day we can introduce your collection of interesting rocks to my collection of interesting seeds.”

Zach looked both relieved and sheepish. “My rocks are back on Earth. At my parents’ house.”