The Virtual Man [The Virtual Reality 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (16 page)

Was she making a fool of herself in some way? Perhaps she ought to just shut up.

“Ms. Andrews and I knew each other a long time ago during the war.”

“In the Biblical sense,” Rita clarified once more, soliciting a bout of hysterical laughter out of Tiana and a blush out of the rough-and-tough former military man. Confused as to what was going on, Rita decided for a second time that her best course of action might be to shut up.

“Rita, it’s been fifteen years since I last saw you,” the Captain began. “The Alliance declared you dead. What the hell are you still doing alive, battered, and on my ship?”

“What, the Alliance got something wrong? Well, glory be,” she responded rather tartly.

“Well, that explains it. I feel much better now. I guess I’ll have to read the passenger list more carefully from now on. Damn it, woman, I’ve mourned you for fifteen years! What did you think you were doing in that shoe store, anyway? Couldn’t find your shoe size?”

It was all coming back to her now.

“Jonathan, I saw her.”

“Who? The Easter Bunny? Here I always thought he was a boy bunny!”

“No. I saw Lieutenant Hammonds. That’s who I was chasing. Damn bitch hasn’t aged a day since the war. It’s just not fair, you know.”

* * * *

Captain Maverick shouldn’t have been surprised. In fact, he fully expected the Terrilian agent to be on board, but suspecting and knowing were two different things. Now he knew for sure, and the fact added a deeper dimension to the danger his passengers were in.

“I suspected she might be the one who attempted to kill your buddy here.”

Tiana grimaced as if she expected Rita to be mad at her. “I haven’t had a chance to fill her in on all the details yet. I was getting to it when she ran off.”

“Somebody tried to kill you and you didn’t tell me right away?” Rita raised her blond eyebrows, making them nearly disappear into her hair.

Defensively, Tiana responded, “It’s not like I didn’t have other pressing things to discuss with you first. Besides, what about you? You never told me you were in the military.”

“You never asked. Besides, I was very young. I must have only been three or four at the very most. In doggie years.”

Captain Maverick smiled affectionately at Rita and shook his head. “I’d forgotten how stubborn you became when cornered.”

“What else haven’t you told me about your past?” Tiana pursued, apparently aghast that the Captain knew her best friend better than she did.

“Ladies, let’s all take a deep breath and relax. Rita, you need some rest. You’re in my office and you’ll be safe here. I’ll post a guard outside. The medic said you’ll be fine as long as you rest, so Ms. Weiss and I will leave you alone so you can take a nap.”

“I don’t need a stinkin’ nap! Just who do you think you are, telling me …” Rita began, trying to sit up.

“Rita, while I’m thrilled to have you back from the netherworld I’m also mad enough to throttle you for letting me think you were dead all this time, so it’s either resting here or in the brig!”

“You know, you used to be a lot nicer.”

“That was fifteen years ago. Now I’m a grumpy old fart.”

“You’re not old,” Rita responded, shooting a sexy little smile back at him that he knew would melt him and turn him into a drooling, infatuated idiot if he didn’t immediately leave the room.

“Would you please just heed my simple request and rest, you dadburn female,” Captain Maverick said as he and Tiana left the room.

Nodding to the doctor and confirming his order to the guards that no one was to disturb Ms. Andrews, the Captain shut his office door and escorted Tiana, at her request, to the brig to visit Derek.

Still reeling from the exchange she had just witnessed between the Captain and her dearest friend, Tiana stood in front of Derek’s cell. She could feel the static from the energy field protecting the opening wreak havoc on the small hairs on her arms. If she got too close it would make for a really bad hair day.

“Hi, yourself. As always, you’re a sight for sore eyes, beautiful.”

If he calls me beautiful one more time I will have to get myself arrested, locked up in the brig naked with him and … ARRRGHHHH! If desire burns calories, I’m sure I just lost ten pounds. Deep breaths, Tiana, deep breaths.

Tamping down her desire for Derek, Tiana opted for confident camaraderie and told him, “I’ve got sort of good news for you. I heard back from my Legal-Bot.”

“What did it say?”

“He said you could file an appeal, but that it probably wouldn’t do you any good. It appears everything was done by the book in your case. Your conviction would more than likely not be overturned.”

“I thought you said you had good news.”

“As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, I said sort of good news. Though the appeal looks bad, he did find a way for you to retain your freedom. In perusing his legal knowledgebase, Darius 20 …”

“Don’t keep me in suspense,” snapped Derek.

“You know, I think it’s that darn Y chromosome,” she snapped back.

“I’m sorry? Y chromosome? Tiana, you are not making any sense.”

Crossing her arms and cocking her head to one side, Tiana gave Derek her ‘I am now removing your testicles with a cheese grater’ look until he quieted down.

“I think it is that darn Y chromosome that renders all males genetically unable to wait or listen. Now hush and let me finish.”

Taking a deep breath, Tiana pondered for a few seconds how to say it, and then just blurted it out.

“You need to find a single woman residing on a legally classified frontier planet. She needs to marry you and, in return for aiding her in her efforts to forge a life on said planet for two years, your sentence will be commuted. Essentially, in exchange for your freedom, you would be agreeing to voluntary servitude to help in the Galactic Alliance’s efforts to colonize this sector of space.”

Tiana smiled, quite pleased with herself, as Derek stared at her with a confused expression on his handsome mug.

“Frontier woman? Marry? Tiana, sweetie, what are you talking about?”

“Damn Y chromosome! There’s a provision in intergalactic law, which Earth, as I assume you’re well aware of, has recently adopted, that might be of interest to you. If a woman who needs a husband is willing to redeem you, which means she is willing to make herself responsible for you and marry you, then you are allowed to go free so you can help her with the rigors of life on a frontier planet.”

Tiana gathered up all her courage, and fought back all her insecurities.
Okay, here goes nothing
.

“As it happens, with my job transfer, I am considered a registered occupant on the Magellan Outpost, which is classified as a frontier planet by the Galactic Alliance. I would be willing to help you out by redeeming you and marrying you in order to keep you from going to prison.”

“How long would we need to stay married?” he asked abruptly.

Tiana immediately regretted having made herself vulnerable.
No good deed goes unpunished
, she thought. Her heart ached at Derek’s callousness. He was willing to let her help him, but he wanted to make sure he could dump her and move on as quickly as possible. Obviously he didn’t harbor any feelings for her.

“After a period of two years we would, of course, divorce and go our separate ways,” she answered, lifting her little chin up in the haughtiest way she knew how.

“That’s awfully kind of you to offer. Thank you. I suppose I would go on with you to the Magellan Outpost after the wedding?”

“For the two-year period you would need to be working for me. That justifies the Alliance dropping the prison sentence. The law requires that you be involved in improving the planet so as to enhance its habitability and commercial prospects. Constructing a space station qualifies as such.”

“Okay, I accept your offer and at the end of the two years we will go our separate ways. I will work hard for you and uphold my end of the bargain.”

Tiana felt Derek’s words rip her heart right out of her chest.
Of course he’d accept so quickly. Anything with two legs and breasts would suffice. He doesn’t even have to look for a bride. What was I thinking?

“As my legal residence has already been recorded, we do not need to be on the planet for me to redeem you, therefore, we can get the Captain to marry us immediately and the two-year clock will start ticking.”

As Tiana walked away, her very soul felt so wounded it sent tears to her eyes.

Damn, I should get the prize for being the universe’s biggest idiot
.

She had allowed herself to develop feelings, for someone who clearly did not reciprocate them, and she had now made matters worse by agreeing to a marriage of convenience that was completely for his benefit. There wasn’t even anything in it for her.
Stupid, stupid, stupid
.

Once she was out of Derek’s sight, the weight of her situation came crashing down on her. She broke down with a loud sob and allowed the tears to flow. She sank down, her back to the wall and sat there for what felt like an hour, allowing her grief to wash over her until she had no more tears to shed.

“Are you okay?” she heard a gentle voice say. Tiana looked up to find a pretty woman with grey eyes and shoulder length blond hair squatting down not more than twelve inches in front of her. The woman had a soft, concerned look on her face. It was the one look Tiana would not have ever pictured on the face of Commander Hollinger, the ship’s Security Officer.

“It must be hard to see someone you care for locked up. I’m really sorry.”

“That’s not it. Commander Hollinger, do you ever feel like your heart has a mind of its own and it is bound and determined to engage itself with the wrong guys?”

“Actually, no, Ms. Weiss. The guys I meet typically run the other way when they find out what I do for a living,. It would appear that men don’t like butt-kicking women in a social setting. I have yet to meet a man who doesn’t immediately begin some macho posturing.”

The thought of some poor soul making undesired advances on the Amazon-sized woman did amuse her.

“Please, call me Tiana. You are so pretty. I can’t imagine men not flocking to you.”

“Well, unfortunately, that’s my reality,” Commander Hollinger responded with a sad look in her eyes. “Regarding Mr. Hart, I can’t tell you whether he did what he was convicted of or not, but I can tell you that man would willingly sacrifice his life for you. I saw it in his actions and in his eyes when he thought we were there to kill you.”

“I think you misread the situation, he was just doing the he-man, protect the weaker sex thing. He may be in lust with me, but his intentions toward me are not romantic.”

“I’m afraid I am not qualified to tell you much of anything about romantic attraction, but it’s obvious that he does at least care for you a great deal. I would give my right arm to just once find a man who cared for me enough to want to protect me the way Mr. Hart protects you.”

“You really think so?”

“No, I know so!”

Tiana simply shook her head.
This from a woman men are afraid of. No, the Commander just doesn’t get it
.

What the hell am I doing?

Confused, disconnected and highly emotionally charged thoughts of her impending wedding raced through Tiana’s brain. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been married once before, and she understood she was doing it to help out a man she … liked a lot … even though he did not feel the same way and had no intention of staying married to her past the two-year mark, but deep down, not even understanding why, Tiana, was taking this wedding seriously. She wanted, however short the duration, for this to be a real marriage. She wanted their union to become as important to Derek as it was to her. She knew the risk she was taking in allowing her hopes to soar, but she couldn’t help herself. For some strange reason, she really liked the idea of being his wife.

Rita was the maid of honor and, after much coercion, the Marshall had agreed to serve as Derek’s best man. There wasn’t any of the pomp and circumstance of her first wedding, but she was every bit as giddy as she had been the first time around. The only other person in attendance was John Maverick, who, as captains have done since ancient wooden ships had first set sail thousands of years ago across the oceans back on Earth, would be presiding over the ceremony.

As she followed Rita into the Captain’s private dining room, she looked up at her groom. Derek looked so handsome in the suit they had shopped for together. He had purchased, with her help of course, a dark gray suit that fit his well-toned body like a glove. Underneath the suit, a classic white Martian-cotton shirt, with buttons instead of the more commonly used adhesive seals, highlighted every ripple of her fiancé’s torso. Shoes made of authentic Aurelian rhinoceros leather, not the more commonly used artificially synthesized version, completed the look.

The outside wall of the room was made of Rita’s patented steel tempered-glass alloy, giving them a breathtaking view of space. Derek had somehow managed to talk the schedule-conscious Captain into dropping out of hyperspace for the duration of the wedding, directly in front of a passing comet. Not many girls ever had the opportunity to be married with a blaze of fire as a backdrop.

Her wedding dress was simple. She wore a short, pleated white skirt that fell halfway between her knees and the curve of what Derek had referred to as her ‘sweet cheeks.’ Underneath her skirt a lacy thong — Rita’s suggestion — was waiting for her husband to discover at the proper time. Above the waist she wore a stylish, long-sleeved lacy white blouse. Derek kept looking at it. She figured he was probably trying to determine whether or not she was wearing a bra. He would just have to wait to find out.

Of course, no outfit would be complete without the proper shoes. She wore her favorite pair of white, high-heeled sandals, which she knew highlighted her muscular legs in a way she hoped would clear Derek’s brain of all activity other than her seduction.