SharedObjectives (10 page)

When he stepped into the room, everyone turned to look at
him and then became silent as Michael bumped into his back. “Lisa, this is my
friend, Michael. He’s going to find Ahnal Lee for us.”

“I’m going to try to find him. Maybe. If your story checks
out.” Michael stepped around Ben as he held his hand out to Lisa. “And it’s a
pleasure to meet you, Dr. Colt. The work you’ve done in genetic remodeling has
been groundbreaking.”

Lisa stood and threw a glance at Ben before taking Michael’s
hand. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry to impose on you during your dinnertime, but I
did want to talk to you before I officially took on this fool’s errand.”

“No imposition. Any friend of Ben’s is a friend of ours.”

“Ours?” Michael’s eyes widened as Dixie stood up. The poor
journalist looked as if he might pass out. Sometimes Ben forgot how truly
intimidating Dixie was when he wanted to be. And apparently Dixie wanted to be
right now.

“Ours.” Dixie walked over to them and then held his hand out
in greeting.

This was the first time their little group had introduced
itself to anyone as a tri. Everybody who served with them had probably figured
it out. They were, after all, living together full-time. But no one had come
out and asked.

Michael gaped at him for a minute but then finally took
Dixie’s hand in greeting. “Sorry, I’m usually more articulate. I’m a journalist
after all.” The poor man had finally snapped. He’d slipped into complete
babble. “Articulate and succinct. That’s what sells the stories.”

Dixie cleared his throat and the noise seemed to make
Michael aware of the fact he was still holding Dixie’s hand. “Oh! Sorry.” He
dropped Dixie’s hand and then took a step back.

“Really, Michael? One would think you’d never seen a tri
relationship.” Ben’s voice held a note of rebuke in it but Michael deserved it.
He should know better than most how to react to a tri.

Michael turned bright red with the sting of the comment.
“I’m sorry. Again. I seem to be off my game today.” He cleared his throat and
then held out his hand to Lisa. “Can we start again, please?”

Lisa had the grace and dignity to smile warmly and nod. “Of
course.” She took his hand again and shook it briefly. “It’s a pleasure to meet
you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” He then turned to Dixie and
shook Dixie’s hand once again. “Thank you for having me in your home.”

Dixie smiled broadly at Michael’s attempt to smooth over any
ruffled feathers. “Any friend of Ben’s…” Dixie let the sentence die unfinished
and the good-natured comment finally eased the tension of the moment.

The light mood lasted through dinner and most of coffee. It
wasn’t until Michael started asking his questions that everyone allowed the
serious nature of their discovery to fill the small room. “So, Dr. Colt, Ben
tells me that you were being held in a level-one security facility.”

Lisa swallowed and then put her coffee cup down on the table
before answering. “Call me Lisa, please. And yes. That’s where they found me.”

“Why were they holding you?”

“I’m not really sure. I had nothing to do with classified
research so it’s not as if I was a threat to them.”

“What project were you working on right before you were
detained?”

Lisa was silent for a moment before shaking her head. “There
were several. Most had to do with gene replacement procedures. Nothing that
should’ve landed me behind bars, though.”

“Okay. Well, were there any projects you’d just finished?
Think hard. Anything that required forms to be filed or that you told your
superiors about?”

She appeared to be thinking through her work for a couple of
minutes and then she gasped. She looked at Ben and then Dixie before saying,
“The cure. I’d just had my first successful operation and filed procedural
paperwork detailing the steps the day before.”

“What cure?” Michael asked.

Dixie and Ben didn’t have to ask though. “The cure to the
NB-7 dependency in super-soldiers.” Dixie’s voice was flat and his expression
blank as he delivered the answer.

“Yes. I’d discovered the nature of the flaw almost six
months ago but it took months of research and testing to find a fix.”

Michael sat his cup of coffee down on the table slowly
before glancing at Ben and Dixie. “You can end the NB-7 dependency?”

“Yes. Not only have I already successfully performed the
operation on most of the super-soldiers here, I’ve also trained ten other
Coalition surgeons on the procedure. The flaw should be corrected in the entire
population within a six-month time period.”

Michael’s face drained of color as he focused on Ben. “You
told me that you will keep her hidden so well that no one would ever be able to
find her,” he said directly to Ben.

“Yes.” Ben’s heart raced with fear as Michael started
putting the pieces together.

“Squadrons of super-soldiers will be coming after her with
one mission. And they won’t stop until they find her.”

Lisa shook her head. “I’m one woman, an unimportant woman at
that. So I found their flaw. Everybody knew it was there.”

Michael turned his attention back to Lisa. “It wasn’t a
flaw. It was a fail-safe. And you, my dear woman, are the most important person
in the galaxy at this moment.”

“You’re not making any sense.” Lisa stood up and took a step
away from the table. “All I did was find a cure for a defect. It’s what I do.
Or, what I did.”

“You handed the keys of freedom to a group of slaves.”
Michael stood as he spoke. “And once the modified soldiers still under the
military’s command find out, they’re going to want it too. When the government
refuses, there’s going to be an all-out coup. They won’t be able to keep their
own super-soldiers. Which means they’re going to need soldiers able to beat the
ones who are going to rise up against them.”

“No.” She picked Nate up out of his seat and held him
tightly to her. “You’re wrong. This isn’t my fault. They didn’t create those
life forms because of me.”

“No. Not because of you, sweetheart.” Dixie stood and then
stepped behind her. “They would’ve done it eventually anyway. But your work
probably pushed up their timeline.”

Lisa gasped as she shook her head more emphatically. “You’re
wrong. I researched the flaw for months. My superiors were kept abreast of my
findings every step of the way. If what you’re saying is true, they would’ve
said something. They would’ve stopped me.”

“And tip their hand? They needed to know if there was a way
to end the dependency. And if there was, how hard it would be. They were using
your research to judge how much time they had to develop new soldiers.” It made
so much sense that even Ben felt the eerie sureness of Dixie’s logic as the
piece slid into place. “Fortunately for us, you were even quicker than they
anticipated. Now that we know what they had in mind, we can stop them.” Dixie
had started moving his hand in circles on her back, trying to calm her. Ben
wanted to help in that endeavor as well, but the table was between them and he
was afraid she would bolt if anyone made any sudden moves.

“Fortunately for us, but not for the life forms. They’re
living beings. They have consciousness—on some level. And they’re never even
going to be able to leave those chambers. All because I had to find a cure.”
She sank back into her seat but still clung tightly to Nate. “What have I
done?”

“The right thing,” Michael answered.

Her lip was starting to quiver the way it always did right
before she started to cry and Ben’s heart broke a little watching it. “You
didn’t create them. The military did. But you could find their cure. You could
fix them. Like you fixed us.”

“I don’t even know if it’s possible, especially with the
military breathing down my neck. I got into this mess for Nate. I won’t let him
grow up without his mother.”

“They’re not going to find you. Dixie and I won’t let that
happen.” Ben leaned forward as he made the promise. “And it’s not as if you’d
be taking anything away from the experiments by trying. Anything you give them
would be an improvement to the life they’re living now.”

She was quiet for a moment as if she was thinking it
through. “You do have a point. And now that I’ve taught others how to do the
procedure, I should be safer. Right?”

“Have you kept any notes that contain the names of those
you’ve trained?” Michael asked.

“No. If they have the medical training to perform the
operation successfully, I train them and then send them back to wherever they
came from. No questions asked and no documents filed.”

“Then, yes, there is a measure of safety there. As long as
the military knows you’re no longer the only one with the knowledge.”

She nodded. “I’m betting we can come up with a way to get
the word out.”

“If not,” Michael said with a smile, “I’m sure Ahnal Lee can
come up with a way.”

“So you’ll do it? You’ll help us?” Lisa’s eyes shone with
happiness as she asked. Her feelings were always so apparent. It was one of the
things Ben loved the most about her.

“I’m not making any guarantees, but I might know someone who
knows someone who knows Ahnal Lee. I’ll see what I can do.”

Michael smiled as Lisa’s unfiltered joy filled the room.
Ben’s plan had worked. At least, it had so far. Now he just had to make sure
the rest of the pieces fell into place.

“Thank you.” She handed Nate off to Dixie, who beamed at
finally being allowed to do something in her presence, and then stood up and
leaned over the table to hug Michael. “You’re a very brave man.”

“Or a very stupid one,” Michael teased. “The jury is still
out.”

Lisa still wore a smile as she stepped away from him.
“However it works out, I’m glad I had the chance to meet you.”

“And I’m glad Ben had the chance to meet you.” The moment
changed to serious with his words. “You’re good for him.” Michael glanced up at
Dixie. “You both are.”

Dixie nodded as he stood with Nate in his arms. “Thank you.
I’d like to think we’re good for each other.”

“Guess I owe Commander Wallace an apology for the evil
thoughts I had about him that first night,” Ben said with a smile. “But really,
how could I’ve known that keeping an eye on Lisa would be so much fun?”

“I wouldn’t bring it up with him, though. What he doesn’t
know can’t hurt you,” Dixie teased.

“When the man’s right, he’s right.” Ben slapped Dixie across
the back in good humor. And with that, Ben knew it was time for Michael to
leave. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us.”

“No thanks needed. This is the story of a lifetime.” They
followed him as he made his way to the door. After he opened it, he turned to
them once more and said, “Keep me posted about the life forms and I’ll keep you
posted on Ahnal Lee. Hopefully we’ll be able to pull this off.”

“It’s a deal.”

There was an armed guard posted at their door to see Michael
off the base so Ben wouldn’t have to. Ben guessed it was Dixie’s doing. And, as
the door closed, shielding them from the outside world for a little longer, Ben
couldn’t be more thankful for the gesture.

“I’m going to go start cleaning up.” Lisa took a step toward
the kitchen but Ben grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“Why don’t you go put Nate to bed? He looked pretty sleepy.
Dixie and I can clean up the kitchen.”

Dixie gave him a questioning look but kept his silence.

And Dixie didn’t seem to be the only one to question the
idea. “Are you sure?” Lisa asked. “It’s a pretty big mess in there.”

“I’m sure. You cooked a great meal for us. We’ll clean up
the mess. Won’t we, buddy?” He elbowed Dixie to try to get him to agree.

“Sure. Go put Nate to bed. Ben and I have this.”

She took Nate from Dixie’s arms and smiled. “Thanks. You two
are the best.”

As she walked away from them Ben smiled. Her evening was
only going to get better.

“Want to tell me what you’ve got up your sleeve?” Dixie
asked as they walked to the kitchen.

“She’s had a hard day. I thought it’d be nice for us to pick
up the slack a little.”

They loaded the dishes into the dishwasher and wiped off the
countertops. “I’m all for giving the woman a hand whenever possible. But
something tells me there’s more to this than giving Lisa a break.”

Ben’s stomach churned as he thought through the words he had
to say. “How do you feel about Lisa?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“It’s obvious that you get hard anytime she’s around.” He
tried to elbow Dixie again but Dixie danced out of the way.

“Stop that. It hurts.”

“Big baby. Fine, what I need to know is, do you just want to
fuck her or is there more?”

“Seriously? You have to ask?”

“Yes. I need you to actually say it.” If his plan was going
to work, he and Dixie needed to be a united front.

“Okay. But I need to hear you say it first. How do you feel
about her?”

He ground his teeth together and took a deep breath but then
answered. “I love her.”

“And how do you feel about me?”

Damn. He should’ve seen this one coming. “Really?”

“If this conversation is going where I think it’s going,
we’re going to need to lay all our cards on the table.”

That they needed to have the conversation didn’t mean Ben
had to enjoy being put on the spot though. “You’ve been a role model since I
joined the Coalition. I respect you highly.” But that wasn’t enough. He’d have
to tell him everything. “And you’re family. You, Lisa and Nate, you’re all I
have. It feels right. We belong together.”

“Is that feeling strong enough to share her with me?” Dixie
sat down at the table. “On a more permanent basis?”

“I’m an Ontesysian. This is normal for me—or, at least, more
normal. The real question is, how would you feel about sharing her with me on a
more permanent basis?”

“I wouldn’t have started something I didn’t plan on
following through with.”