SharedObjectives (4 page)

As soon as he arrived at the designated spot, he squatted
down so he could remove the camouflaged covering that hid the access hatch. He
pressed his hand to the biometric scanner and relief filled him as he heard the
gears in the mechanism move. It was nice when everything went according to plan
during a drill but it still wasn’t a guarantee. He always expected there to be
some sort of mechanical error during an emergency. Anything could go wrong out
here. And it usually did.

He waited for the lock to release the hatch and then slipped
through the narrow opening. He carefully reset the camouflage and the hatch
before climbing down the steep staircase. The underground bunker was large
enough that it felt more like an office building than a tomb. Still, thinking
about all the tons of soil resting above his head made him a little uneasy.

He took a deep breath and then released it slowly before he
started walking down the long corridor. He flipped switches as he went to turn
on the lights and the environmental systems to the different segments of the
walkway. The passage branched ahead of him. Left would take him to the living
quarters but he needed to go right. That corridor led to the operational hub
for the hideout. From there he could access the backup systems and wipe the
main networks clean. If the military had come to them looking for sensitive
information about the Coalition, they were going to be disappointed.

By the time he’d made sure all the data swaps were complete
other people were starting to filter into the bunker. He could hear their heavy
footsteps in the passageways. He kept his firearm aimed in front of him and
cocked as he walked out of the room. Odds were they were other Coalition
members who’d evacuated the base but he wasn’t in the mood to play the odds
tonight.

“At ease.” Commander Wallace stood in the corridor on the
other side of the door. “The bunker is still secure.”

Ben let out a weary breath before he lowered the weapon.
“Good to see a familiar face, sir,” he said as he looked around. “Is Dixie here
yet?”

“He went after the scientist and the kid.” Wallace looked
down at the antiquated timepiece he wore on his wrist. Ben had never seen
another like it. And its rarity was most likely why it was Wallace’s most cherished
possession. The running joke was that you couldn’t meet the commander without
meeting his watch. “He should be here soon, though.”

Ben had to clench his teeth to keep from mumbling a string
of obscenities. Of course Dixie had gone for Lisa. He got to be Lisa’s hero for
the second time in less than twelve hours. If she didn’t want to sleep with him
before, she probably did now.

And it wasn’t any of Ben’s business. He knew that on an
intellectual level. His gut had no desire to be reasonable, though. The woman
had only been back in his life for a couple of hours and she was already
driving him crazy. He didn’t want her to like Dixie more than him. Which made
absolutely no sense because he didn’t really want her to like him at all. Or,
at least, he didn’t think he did.

The hatch opened and he looked over just in time to see Lisa
climb down the stairs. Immediately the ball of tension in the pit of his
stomach loosened just a bit. He might be confused as hell where she was
concerned and irritated that Dixie had been the one to go after her, but he was
relieved that someone had. Dixie came down the stairs next, holding the small
child in his arms. Lisa’s attention was so focused on the other man that she
didn’t even seem to notice Ben staring at her.

As soon as Dixie made it down the stairs, Lisa took the boy
from him and gave the child a sprinkling of kisses. Ben’s chest hurt while
watching her. She must have gotten pregnant just shortly after they’d broken it
off. Just after he’d chased her away, he corrected.

Damn it! Dixie had gotten to him.

“Ben?” Her voice pulled him out of the thought.

“Lisa.” His had to clear his throat before he could talk to
her. “I’m glad you made it to the bunker.”

Her brow scrunched as she studied him. “You are?”

“Yeah.” He sighed heavily. He thought about apologizing for
being such an ass to her but with Dixie staring at him, it just didn’t seem
like a good idea. “Why don’t I show you to the living area? It’s not exactly
swanky, but we do have most of the comforts of home.” Ben looked up at Dixie in
time to see the man glance between Lisa and Ben before quirking an eyebrow at
him in question. “I’ve switched over operations and I’ve done a remote cleanse
of the files on the base. I’d be happy to meet with you in the control room as
soon as I’ve gotten her settled.”

“Fine by me if it’s okay with her.” Dixie looked down at
Lisa in question.

“Sure. As long as there’s a bed, Nate and I should be good.”

Nate snuggled into Lisa’s arms and snored softly as Ben
guided them through the maze of hallways. He pointed out the mess hall and the
break room on the way to the dorms. He’d probably have to bribe someone in
order to get her a private room but he figured that was the least he could do.
She’d had a pretty rough night and he hadn’t done anything to make it better up
to now. “Most of the soldiers stay in group dormitories but, for Nate’s sake, I
think we should be able to get you a private room.”

She stopped suddenly in the hall. “I don’t want to kick
someone out of their room, though.”

He laughed for a second but then froze as he saw the
sincerity on her face. Her concern for another’s comfort appeared honest.
“Don’t worry. No one’s going to be upset about it.” If it came down to it, he
could probably give her his room. He didn’t mind sleeping with a bunch of
soldiers. Before joining the Coalition, they’d been forced to share just about
everything. The experience had left an ironclad bond. They were his brothers.

“I don’t want this to sound as if I’m complaining or
anything, but why are you suddenly being so nice to me?” She looked over his
shoulder as she spoke as if she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. “Not
knowing is kind of making me nervous.”

He should apologize to her now. They were alone. Dixie would
never know. But the words left a sour taste in his mouth. The idea of being
wrong where Lisa was concerned was too new for him to actually give it voice.
“We’re going to be working together,” he said with a shrug. “I figured we’d
benefit by treating this as a new start.”

She nodded. “Thank you. A new start would be nice. I really
want us to find a way to get along.”

Don’t sleep with Dixie.
He clenched his jaw to keep
the words silent. When he trusted himself enough to speak, he said, “Donell
handles the room assignments. Let’s go see what we can do about getting you and
Nate a bed.”

“Wait. Before we do that…” She stopped and turned around to
see if anyone was following them. All the Coalition would be in the mess hall
waiting for a debriefing so he didn’t even have to look to know they were
definitely alone at the moment. She took a deep breath. “I’m certifiable for
doing this,” she muttered under her breath. “Okay, here goes. There’s something
I have to tell you. I don’t lie and I don’t keep secrets. That’s just not who I
am.”

“Okay.” He had no idea why she was freaking out about a room
assignment.

“And I would’ve told you if I knew how to get a hold of you
or if I thought you would’ve believed me.”

She was stalling. Even he could see that. He’d begun to
suspect that whatever she needed to tell him had nothing to do with her
sleeping arrangements.

“But now that we’re kind of starting over. We are kind of
starting over again, aren’t we?” She waited for his nod before continuing.
“Okay. Good. So now that we’re starting over, I really want to get off on the
right foot.”

“Now you’re making me nervous, Lisa.”

“I’m sorry. That’s not my intent.”

“Then just tell me whatever it is you need to tell me.”

“Okay.” She took another deep breath. “Nate is yours. You’re
his father.”

He glanced down at the bundle in her arms and then back up
to her. Suddenly he couldn’t remember how to breathe. It’d been so simple a
second ago. But if he didn’t remember soon, he would be in danger of passing
out. “I’m sorry. Could you repeat that?” He braced himself against the wall.

“Nate is your son.”

“My son?” The words sounded foreign coming from him. “I’m
Nate’s father.” It couldn’t be true.

“He’s eleven months old.”

Ben quickly added the months in his head. Nate was his. His
first instinct was to be angry with her for keeping his child from him. But her
words were playing through his head like a broken data strip. She couldn’t find
him even if she wanted. And, really, why would she have wanted to? He’d told
her in no uncertain terms that he didn’t want anything to do with her. That he
never wanted to see her ever again. He’d called her unthinkable names. Accused
her of unthinkable acts.

“I can test him if you like.” She appeared fragile as she
stared up at him. “I understand if you don’t want to take my word for it. Not that
I expect support or anything,” she added hastily. She waited for a beat and
then laughed nervously into the silence. “Could you imagine the look on the
judge’s face if I did take you to court?” As the words left her mouth, she
paled. “Not that I would. I wouldn’t do that. Could you please just say
something? Even yelling and calling me names would be better than this.”

His heart raced and his stomach cramped with regret and
several other emotions he’d rather not identify at the moment. “You don’t need
to test him. I believe you.” Her eyes sparkled as if she were about to start
crying. He couldn’t handle that. Yeah, he’d probably made her cry several times
over the years, but he couldn’t watch it.

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

Her gratitude was the final blow. She shouldn’t be grateful
to him. What had he done to earn that gratitude? He hadn’t even been
particularly kind. No, she was thankful that he hadn’t called her names and
screamed obscenities at her. It’s what she’d expected. And he couldn’t blame
her. That’s what he’d taught her about himself. He needed to start fixing the
damage he’d caused in their past before it defined their future. “We have a lot
we need to discuss.” He ran his hand over his forehead as he searched for the
words to say. But there were too many and they were blurring together in a
confusing rush of ideas. He needed to sort himself out before he tried to talk
to her. “But now really isn’t the time or place to get into it.”

She looked behind her again as she adjusted Nate in her
arms. “It’s okay. Really. We don’t have to discuss anything. I just wanted you
to know. And now you do.”

“At least let me tell you I’m sorry.” Sorry for so much that
he couldn’t put the depth of his remorse into words at that moment.

“No need. We’re starting over. Remember?” Her smile was
shaky but he still clung to the hope it housed. “And I understand if learning
about Nate is a shock. Why don’t I get him settled and when you’re ready, you
can come by and see him. Or not,” she added quickly. “It’s completely up to
you.”

“Okay.” He had every intention of coming to see Nate. His
son. The idea shook him to his core. But she didn’t seem to be doing much
better. He didn’t want to push her over the edge. “Let’s get you two settled,
then.”

It turned out they couldn’t actually do much about the room
assignments. Donell refused to budge on the issue. The man didn’t feel like
getting his ass chewed out just to make Ben happy. Or, at least, that’s what
Donell had told them. If Lisa and Nate were going to get a private room, it was
going to have to be Ben’s. And that arrangement didn’t make Lisa overly happy.
Even after Ben assured her that he wouldn’t be staying there with her and Nate,
she still seemed to think it would be inappropriate. She finally relented when he
reminded her that her only other option would be to bunk with a couple dozen
soldiers. By the time he left her in his quarters and made his way to the
control room, Ben needed a stiff drink. Unfortunately the night was just
beginning for him.

“Lisa and Nate are settled.” Ben walked to stand next to
Dixie in front of a row of surveillance monitors.

“That’s good. Were you nice?” he asked without looking up
from one of the screens.

“Yes.” Ben studied the images in front of them so he
wouldn’t have to look at Dixie. He should probably tell the man about Nate’s
paternity but he just couldn’t. Not yet. “I do listen to you—occasionally.”

“Good.” Dixie pointed to one screen. “What do you see here?”

Apparently they’d moved on. “The lab.” Ben leaned in to look
closer. “Which seems to be overrun with soldiers right now.”

“And here, here and here?” Dixie asked, pointing to several
other screens.

“Nothing.” Those screens were of different living quarters.
“They aren’t looking for people.” There went his theory they were after Lisa.
“But what do they want with our lab?” Theirs might be a state-of-the-art
facility but it still couldn’t compete with a military lab.

“Not sure.” They watched together as the soldiers brought in
large stasis chambers. “But that doesn’t look good.”

“Those look like the chambers they put us in when they were
manipulating our genetics.” Ben couldn’t hold back the shudder of combined
disgust and fear at the sight.

“They do.”

Ben leaned forward as if the two inches he gained would
somehow allow him to see what was inside the chambers. “Do you think there are
more soldiers in there?”

“I have no idea.” Dixie leaned forward as well. “But I know
someone who might.”

“Lisa?”

Dixie nodded. “This is her area of expertise.”

Ben tingled with nervous energy at the thought. He wasn’t
really ready to talk to her about Nate or about their past, but talking to her
about this seemed safe. He’d be able to be near her without having to deal with
their baggage. “I’ll go get her.”