ExtremeCircumstances (3 page)

But then, long before he could feel any sense of closure, it
was over. Langster’s body had returned to ash and there was nothing left to
keep them tied to the spot. Gates couldn’t seem to make himself move though.
None of them could. They all stayed staring at that spot until the sun started
to set and shadows began to swallow the camp around them.

When night was finally on them Gates turned to his men. “I
expect everyone here to eat. An empty stomach tomorrow isn’t going to help
Langster’s memory. It’ll only slow you down and make you more at risk for
illness and injury.”

The men started to wander off but they meandered around the
camp as if lost. He nodded to Julian to get the man’s attention. “Make sure
they eat. And, for the love of light, make sure they all have their nettings
tonight.”

“Yes sir.” The man strode off toward the supplies and Gates
was left alone. He’d never felt so isolated in all his years of service. Two
men in two days and two more were holding on by a thread. Once those spiders
started hatching they’d be building more pyres.

He sank down to his knees and braced his head in his hands.
Did his superiors know what they’d sent them into? Surely not. They would’ve
warned them had they known. Right?

At one point in his service he wouldn’t have questioned it.
But that was many, many missions ago. Now it seemed as if all he ever did was
question. He growled to relieve some of his frustration and guilt. What the
fuck was he supposed to do now? A hand on his shoulder pulled him from the
thought.

“Commander.”

Gates looked up to see Julian standing above him, holding a
plate of food. He hadn’t planned on eating himself. One of the few perks of
being the person in charge was he didn’t have to follow orders. Besides, with
his men working on autopilot he figured none of them would even notice. He’d
been wrong.

“You need to keep up your strength as well, Commander.”
Julian held the food out to him again.

Gates looked at the plate but didn’t make a move to take it.
“And where’s your food?”

Julian’s face pinched as if he were about to be sick but
then the expression faded. “I’ll get it as soon as I make sure you’ve eaten.”

Gates snorted at the obvious lie. “Sure you will. Look, you
probably figured out that I had no intentions of eating. And I’m guessing your
stomach isn’t exactly clamoring for food right now.”

Julian looked away from him, confirming Gates’ suspicions.
“Sit down, Julian.” Gates fell back on his ass as he gave the order. “We’ll
share. That way you won’t have to worry about me and I won’t have to worry
about you.”

Julian sat down close enough that Gates could smell the
cedar and mint that seemed to define Julian. Anytime he’d been around Julian
the scent had been present. “So.” Gates grabbed a spork and took a bite of the
cold rations. He wasn’t even sure what he was eating. It could be beans. It
could be processed meat. He only knew it tasted like salt and felt like
gelatinous goo on his tongue. “What made you sign up for the modified soldier
program?” Now seemed as good a time to ask as any. Besides, if he didn’t make
idle chitchat he might actually start talking about the questions that weighed
heavily on his mind. That wouldn’t be good for morale.

Julian laughed harshly. “My father.”

Gates took another bite and then realized Julian hadn’t
eaten anything. “Eat.”

“Only one spork, sir.”

“Then use your damn fingers. I’m not the queen and this
isn’t a tea party.”

Julian sighed but then nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Your father, huh?”

“The illustrious Colonel Black.” Julian’s voice held so much
disdain that even Gates could hear it. “He would’ve signed up for the program
himself but he was too old. When I came of age he gave me a nudge.”

“A nudge?”

“Yep. Along with a threat or two just to make sure I was
onboard with his plan.” Julian shook his head and he tore off a chunk of the
dry bread before he dipped it in the bean-meat goo and then plopped it into his
mouth.

“I saw he was your father when I read through your file. I
thought maybe you used Daddy dearest’s connections to get the assignment.”

“I have no doubt my father is behind me getting the
assignment but it wasn’t at my request.” Julian took another bite. “I’d rather
soak in a bath of lemon juice while covered in a thousand paper cuts than ask
that man for anything.”

Gates smiled. He couldn’t help himself. “That’s some pretty
medieval imagery you’ve got going on there.”

Julian laughed at the comment and Gates couldn’t breathe for
a moment. The man had the most wonderful laugh. It was warm and inviting but
with just enough of an edge to hint at pain. Warm and damaged was one of Gates’
favorite combinations when it came to men. Gates’ heart stopped at the
realization. He refused to be attracted to one of his subordinates.

“Medieval torture is preferable to owing my father for
anything.” Julian sucked a finger into his mouth to get some trace of food off
it and Gates immediately went hard. It had to be the emotional stress of the
day. Nothing more.

“Are you okay, sir?” Julian studied him for a moment. “You
don’t look very good all of a sudden. Should I go get the medic?”

Yeah, he bet he didn’t look great right now. He didn’t feel
all that fabulous either. Not with his cock hard with desire and his gut
clenching with guilt. Those were two emotions that didn’t mix well. Not that he
could let Julian know. “No. Sorry. I’m okay. Just a long day.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, rookie. Besides,” he wiggled his fingers, “Homer
is a busy man right now and I’ve got all my appendages.”

One of Julian’s eyebrows rose in question at the nickname
but he let it go without argument. Instead he dropped his gaze down to the
plate and ran his fingertips in what was left of the gravy. When he brought his
fingers to his mouth to lick them clean, Gates nearly moaned. Yeah, he was in
trouble.

Two bursts of weapon fire buzzed through the camp and cooled
his desire though. Gates jumped up and pulled his gun from his holster but
Homer’s appearance made him still.

“They committed suicide?” Julian asked. He had apparently
stood when Gates had and now the man was close enough that Gates could feel the
heat radiating from him.

Homer nodded. “I did everything I could. I even managed to
extract a couple of the spiders to experiment on. But then the men started to
feel the bugs moving under their skin. They decided they’d rather die from
their own hand than the way Langster did.”

“Go tell the men. They’ll want to build the pyres.” A deep
coldness took root in Gates and he worried that he’d never be able to feel
again.

“Yes sir.” Homer went off to the tents and Gates was left
behind with Julian once again.

He turned toward the man only to find his empty desperation
echoed in Julian’s eyes. “It’ll be okay.” It could be a lie as easily as it
could be the truth and even Gates didn’t know which it was. He needed Julian to
believe in him though.

“I think they made the right decision. If anything like that
happens to me—”

Gates felt a kick to his gut as he replaced Langster with
Julian in his mind. Wanting the image to stop, needing to reassure himself that
Julian was still alive, he pulled the man to him in a tight embrace. “You’re
strong enough to handle whatever this planet throws at you.” He said the words
over Julian’s shoulder into the night. “You’ll make it through this. That’s an
order.”

“Yes sir.”

Julian dropped his forehead to Gates’ shoulder and wrapped his
arms around Gates’ waist. He was a soldier taking comfort from his commander.
But in that moment Gates felt the cold that entombed him melt into a smoldering
heat. It was a sensation a commander should never feel with a subordinate. But
damn did it feel good. Everything was still fucked-up. Somehow being in
Julian’s arms made it seem better though.

Yeah, even if he somehow managed to get them off this planet
in one piece, Gates was never going to be okay. He’d killed one of his men and
led three others to their deaths in just two days. And the only thing that made
him feel better was a man he refused to indulge in.

He took a step away from Julian as he tried to bring his
emotions under control. He’d have to be careful around Julian from now on. He
couldn’t allow his attraction to develop into anything deeper. Julian needed
him to be his commander right now, nothing more. And as his commander, Gates
needed to help set up two more pyres tonight.

There were only sixteen of them left.

Three days passed in a relative blur of normalcy after the
spider incident. Not that Julian really hoped trekking through a jungle with
fifteen men would become his new normal. But he took it as a good sign that no
one else had died. And since the medic’s experiments had discovered that a
local plant’s oil was toxic to the arachnids, the deaths of Jones and Brown
hadn’t been in vain. Now the men smeared the oil all over their bodies before
they went to sleep. One bite and the spiders died before they could burrow
under their skins and lay eggs. They still used netting, of course. But it was
an added layer of protection and that helped them sleep at night. And as it
turned out, a good night’s sleep was important. Not that Julian would know much
about that. He couldn’t stop fantasizing about Gates long enough to get more
than a couple hours of shuteye.

“Look sharp, men.” Gates’ voice drifted back to him and
Julian’s cock immediately started to harden. “Something is throwing a glint
about ten klicks due north.” Gates put down his binoculars and then turned to
face the group.

Julian swept the jungle landscape around them before asking,
“Are we expecting hostiles?”

“No. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.”

He did have a point. They hadn’t been expecting reptile men
or spiders that laid eggs under the skin but they’d run into both so far. Who
the hell knew what else was out there?

“Julian, you and Diller are going to scout the area and find
out what that is.” Gates grabbed his reader out of his pocket and then turned
it on and brought up the map. “We’re around here.” He circled an area with his
fingertip. “The object is here.” He pointed to an area to the north. “And the
rest of the team is going to go this way.” He trailed his fingertip from their
current location to the north but slightly to the west. “We’ll rendezvous
here,” he said, pointing out the spot. “Where you’ll give me a full report.”

Julian studied the map for a second longer and then nodded.
“Got it, sir.” Relief made his muscles relax and his spirit light as he
realized the mission would allow him some precious alone time. Maybe if he
wasn’t surrounded by Gates’ presence he wouldn’t obsess about him. At least for
a couple of hours.

Gates nodded and then turned to the other soldier. “Diller?”

“Got it, sir.”

“Safe scouting, men.”

“Thanks, Commander.” Julian adjusted his backpack and then
he and Diller set off to the north. They stayed silent as they made their way
across the jungle floor. Of course there were noises they couldn’t avoid.
Occasionally one of them would step on a twig or walk too closely to a plant
and their clothes would brush against it. But those were noises that fit with
the jungle around them. They wouldn’t speak to each other though. Instead they
used hand signals when communication became necessary.

It was the respite Julian expected but he didn’t find the
peace he’d hoped for when setting off. The silence and monotony of the day led
his mind to wander. He should stay focused. His brief time on the planet had
taught him that. But he just couldn’t. He found himself thinking about Gates’
muscled body more and more often as the day passed. When he caught himself
remembering the feel of Gates’ shirt against his face for the third time in
what could only be a fifteen-minute span, he nearly cursed.

Damn. It. To. Hell. Why had Gates comforted him that night?
Life would be so much easier if he hadn’t. Sure, Julian would still be
tormented by images of the man jacking off. But that was attraction. Lust.
Nothing more. By letting Julian lean on him, Gates had made the attraction more
complex. He’d given it a depth.

Julian was so wrapped up in the troubling thoughts that he
almost didn’t notice Diller’s abrupt stop. As it was, Julian barely stopped in
time to prevent stepping on the man. He couldn’t believe he’d been daydreaming
for the better part of the scouting trip. He’d have to get his head on straight
if he had any hope of surviving this mission.

Diller pointed to himself then to the east before pointing
to Julian and gesturing to the west. They were going to encircle the object.
Sounded like a reasonable plan to Julian. He nodded and then made his way to
the west. When he glimpsed the first view of the shuttle he crouched down low
to the ground and crept closer.

The vines and foliage that encroached on the vehicle told
him that the ship had been here for some time but he still approached it with
caution. He had his weapon raised and ready to be fired at any sign of trouble.
The gray-and-blue insignia painted on its side was the first real evidence that
they weren’t the only military force on the planet. And since the Coalition
occasionally appropriated military property during raids, he needed to
establish which side the crew fought on. A team of genetically modified rebels
running around would be something Gates would definitely need to know about.

The cockpit looked as if it’d been abandoned for a couple of
months. Long weeds grew through the cracks in the glass and metal of the
structure and crept in through the open door to blanket the floor without any
sign of being disturbed. Still, he kept his weapon trained in front of him as
he made his way into the cabin of the vessel. As soon as he stepped through the
small hatch he had to clench his jaw in order to keep from gagging. Three
skeletons in full uniform remained locked in their seats. Their flesh had been
scavenged by local wildlife at some point. Staring at them, he found himself
hoping there’d been a crash and these poor unfortunate souls had died upon
impact. To be locked in restraints while animals picked at your body. He
shuddered at the thought.

He took a moment to push the image out of his head before
approaching the remains. After he’d holstered his weapon he pulled his reader
out of a pocket and then used the device to scan the tags on the men’s
uniforms. He wasn’t shocked when each scan came back with a name, rank and
missing-in-action status. He took a picture of each of the corpses and filed
them in the database. These men deserved the dignity of closed files and their
families deserved their military death benefits. He couldn’t give them much but
he could give them that.

After Julian pulled the men’s readers out of their uniforms
and stowed them in his backpack he did one last visual sweep of the shuttle
before leaving it. He needed to find Diller so they could get to the rendezvous
point. He didn’t want to be alone and unprepared when night fell in the jungle.

He made his way to the east as he kept his attention focused
on the landscape around him. His hand rested on the gun’s grip but he wasn’t
just keeping an eye out for hostile life forms. He also made sure to watch for
any trace of Diller. The man should’ve found him by now. Julian had only gone
twenty yards farther when he discovered the nature of Diller’s delay. The man was
squatting close to the ground as he examined the remains of five men.

“I found their shuttle about thirty yards west of here. The
hull was reflecting sunlight. That’s what Gates saw.” Now that the threat had
been identified they didn’t need to remain silent. Actually a little chatter
might even help keep some of the smaller local wildlife at a distance.

Diller looked up at Julian and nodded before returning his
attention to the bodies. They were picked clean like the men in the shuttle but
vines and weeds had started growing over what was left of their bones. “Were
there any men in the shuttle?”

“Three. They’d been scavenged. I scanned their tags and
filed their identities in the database.”

“Eight soldiers. Either they had a small team or there are
more of them yet to be discovered.”

Julian leaned over and grabbed the soldiers’ readers out of
their pockets and then put them in his backpack with the others. After being
exposed to the elements for god only knew how long, chances were they didn’t
work. Still, he’d hate to leave any evidence behind based on an assumption.

“What are you planning on doing with those?” Diller looked
up at him as Julian closed his backpack.

“Hand them over to Gates. Figure there might be some helpful
information on them.”

The man stared at him for a moment longer as if weighing the
truthfulness of his answer before nodding. “That’s a good idea.”

“Thanks.” Julian took a deep breath and forced himself to
relax. This was one of those times being a super-soldier wasn’t so super. When
Diller had openly challenged him, Julian’s body had flooded with adrenaline. He
wanted to fight. Now he had to keep himself in check until his endorphins were
regulated again.

“Should’ve thought of it myself.” Diller shook his head and
then took out his reader to scan and catalog the remains. “I swear. Being on
this planet has me so on edge that I’m not even thinking straight anymore.”

“You and everyone else, man.” Julian put his backpack on
again before offering the man a hand up. “As far as first missions go, I think
I got screwed. I’d rather take the damn shot for the rest of my life than be
here.”

Diller chuckled as they started making their way through the
jungle to the rendezvous point. “I hear ya. This is starting to feel like a
disciplinary mission if ever I’ve been on one.”

Julian took a moment to study Diller’s olive complexion and
trim physique. Coupled with his suave personality, Diller had the tools to get
into all the best kinds of trouble. “And I’m guessing you’ve been on a couple.”

Diller laughed. “Maybe just a few more than a couple. Ever
wonder who you pissed off to get the assignment?”

“Nah. If this is a punishment, I know who put me here.” But
most likely his father had put him on the roster out of some misguided sense of
pride. It was why, as much as he disliked his father, he could never truly hate
the man. He seemed to think he was doing these things as a fatherly duty.

“Me too. Some women get seriously pissed when you don’t
call. Just because you have to obey their orders during the day doesn’t mean
you should be subjected to them at night though.”

Julian groaned in commiseration. “Screwing a superior
officer is always trouble.”

“But they sound so lovely when they’re screaming your name.”

He nearly moaned and his cock got hard at the thought of
Gates calling out Julian’s name during climax. “That they do.”

Diller laughed and slapped Julian’s shoulder playfully.
“Damn straight.”

They fell into a companionable silence as they hiked through
the terrain. The planet was no safer than when they’d woken up that morning but
it also wasn’t any more dangerous. He had to take comfort in that knowledge. If
the Coalition were here, their mission would be infinitely more difficult.

They reached the rendezvous point ahead of schedule but
Gates’ team had still beaten them there. The camp had been set up and some men
were already eating rations. “Thanks for waiting for us,” Julian said
sarcastically as he dug his tent out of his backpack. When he managed to get
the shelter up he put his backpack into it and then joined the rest of the men
near the fire. “Any idea where Gates is?”

Gates hadn’t wandered off since that first night. But maybe
since they’d had a couple quiet days he’d decided solitary hikes were safe
again.

“Over here, rookie.” Gates stepped out of a tent on the east
side of camp.

Julian clenched his jaw with irritation but then forced the
muscle to relax. Ever since the night of the spider encounter, Gates refused to
call him anything other than rookie. “Great. I figured you’d want a report as
soon as possible.”

Gates nodded and then motioned Julian to join him near the
edge of the camp. “What’d you find?”

As Julian made his way over to him, though, Gates started to
walk into the jungle. Of all the things Julian didn’t need after the stress and
exhaustion of the day, being alone with Gates topped the list. Still, it wasn’t
as if he could just stand there and watch Gates leave. He obviously planned on
Julian following him. When Gates finally stopped walking several yards into the
dense underbrush, Julian answered. “We found a military shuttle and the remains
of eight of her crew. I recovered their readers. They’re in my tent.”

“Good job. Any trouble?”

“Nope. The jungle was quiet today.”

“Good to hear.”

That was all that really needed to be said. But Julian found
that as much as he hadn’t wanted to be alone with Gates, he wasn’t ready to go
back to camp. Not yet at least. “What are we dealing with here, sir?”

“I’m sorry?” Gates’ voice held more challenge than apology
however.

“We’ve come up against some weird shit on this planet.
Still, what could take out an entire group of enhanced soldiers?” He looked
around them into the jungle as he spoke. “It looked as if three of them died in
the landing. Okay. I get it. Sometimes transport is dangerous. But Diller found
five of them dead just forty yards away. They were the best of the best and
they barely made it off their shuttle.”

“My best guess is that the military chose a poor landing
site and underestimated the manpower needed for their mission. Looks as though
both flaws were corrected with us.”

“No, there’s more going on here. I can feel it. What are we
dealing with, sir?” he pressed again.

Gates ran his fingers through his hair in apparent
frustration. “I don’t have the answers you’re looking for. I got the same file
the rest of you did.”

“And you’re okay with that?” He realized that Gates didn’t
have the luxury of being okay with any of this. They were soldiers with orders.
But he couldn’t stop the question. “Chances are, some team is going to be identifying
my corpse in a couple months time. I’d like to know what I’m walking into my
own death for. What merits the sacrifice of two enhanced teams?”