ExtremeCircumstances (9 page)

“Doesn’t mean we can’t pick up where we left off once we
reach the bunker.”

Did Gates just put the ball back in his court? He was fairly
certain Gates had. He could string Gates along and tell him he’d think about
it. Make the man sweat just a little. Suddenly, though, he wasn’t as interested
in playing games. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Gates leaned in to kiss him. This one was more possessive
and less dominant than his kisses had been in the past. Still, Julian liked it.
Being possessed by Gates was every bit as pleasurable as being dominated by
him. “Then I suggest you get that fine ass of yours up and moving.”

“Is that an order?”

“Better believe it.”

They got a couple pointed stares as they went about their
morning chores but Julian wasn’t about to let that ruin his afterglow. He’d had
sex with Gates and it’d been amazing. The only thought he allowed himself to
dwell on was that they were going to be doing it again that evening. All they
had to do was make it to the bunker.

The hike that day proved to be challenging and the men were
starting to grumble about the prospect of turning around and hiking back to the
shuttle but it took every ounce of willpower for Julian not to spend the day
smiling stupidly. If they were worried about the return trip it just meant they
were almost halfway done.

When the bunker came into view in front of them, Julian
almost laughed with relief. There’d been so much stress over the last week and
a half. So many challenges. To see that building was to see their victory. The
only thing that stood between them and their objective was a security field.

“Kam, bring that damn field down.” Gates smiled as he gave
the order.

“Yes sir.” Kam took his reader out of his fatigue pants and
plugged the access box into it. It only took a few minutes but then the field
flickered and died.

“Let’s go see what kind of moving operation is worth an
entire team of manipulated soldiers, boys and girls.”

The air in the bunker was humid and stale as they entered.
They didn’t let the apparent lack of life lull them into a false sense of
security though. It was dark in the building, so they had to wear their
night-vision visors as they swept the facility and every soldier kept his
weapon aimed in front of him with a finger on the trigger at all times. They
didn’t let down their guard until every room had been cleared.

When they were finished with the sweep, they followed Gates
back to the main lab. “Let’s get some lights turned on and see what we’re
dealing with.”

Kam moved to a computer console and soon the room was
flooded with light. He hadn’t been in many labs but even with his limited
experience, this one looked pretty state-of-the-art to Julian. Not horribly
surprising, given the last occupant’s profession.

Gates crossed the room to stand in front of a panel on the
back wall. After he punched a code into the keypad, the wall moved and a room
filled with row after row of stasis chambers came into view. “What do you think
is in them?” Haddisher asked as he came up behind Julian.

“No idea.” They moved forward as a group. There were
hundreds of chambers crowded into the space. Each had a number on one end of
the container and a person asleep inside it but there were no other clues as to
who these people were. “But it’s going to take forever to move them all.”

“I’m betting we can get it done in three days,” Gates
announced.

Twelve walked into the room trailed by the other two
hostages and their guards. “Looks like an army.”

“Maybe a squadron, but there aren’t enough of them to be an
army. And look, there are females.” Kam pointed to one of the chambers that
housed a woman. Females had been excluded from the genetic manipulation because
of the possible adverse effects to their offspring. All modified soldiers were
males and supposedly sterile males at that. Recent rumors about a manipulated
soldier having a child made Julian wonder about that last part however.

“Don’t underestimate them because they are few in number,”
Twelve said. “Your people risked your lives just to move them.”

Julian could see the wisdom in risking twenty people in the
hopes of saving two hundred. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was
something behind Twelve’s words. They weren’t the first group the government
had sent after these chambers and, if they failed, they wouldn’t be the last.

But they wouldn’t fail. How could they? There were still
fifteen of them left and they were almost done with this mission.

Three days was what he’d said and damn if they weren’t going
to make that timeline. It was the close of the third day and only a handful of
the stasis chambers remained. Of course it helped that he and Twelve had
reached an agreement. Gates had freed the hostages from their restraints and
they’d assisted in the move. Which had been a very good thing. The chambers had
to be moved into a vault-like room in the basement of the facility. It took a
good half an hour just to move one. And since each chamber took two soldiers to
carry, that meant they could only do about seven per trip. But the three extra
men meant they could carry nine. With breaks and time to sleep they ended up
needing those three men to make the deadline—self-imposed as it was.

“One more trip and we can call in this mission as a
success.” The men cheered at Gates’ words but Twelve didn’t seem as excited.
He’d been happy enough when Gates had released him but as the days progressed
he’d become more and more agitated. “Come on, Twelve. One last trip and we can
set up the diplomatic meeting you were wanting.”

Twelve nodded but didn’t seem any happier. “Let’s get this
done.”

He couldn’t imagine why Twelve was being so moody. The last
couple of days had gone smoothly. It was hard work to carry the chambers but
with the security field back up they didn’t have to worry about crazy-ass
mutants or the egg-burying spiders. Gates considered that a mini victory in and
of itself. But the success of the days didn’t compare to the erotic nights. It
was pretty common knowledge that he and Julian were together but, just as he
suspected, no one said anything. Yeah, everything was finally going right with
this mission.

He and Twelve picked up the last container and started to
walk down the long corridors. “These people should be safe. Not even Death will
reach them in their new location.”

That was an odd observation. “That’s kind of the whole point
of the stasis chambers.”

“Not that death.”

“Right. The other one.” So that was what had Twelve so
upset. “The military has no plans on bombing the planet’s surface.” Though he
had to admit, there were only a handful of reasons other than surface warfare
that would make the military decide to move the chambers. He shook his head at
the thought. Twelve’s conspiracies were getting to him.

“Not bomb,” the man growled at him.

Gates decided ignoring him would probably be the best course
of action. They’d had this conversation too many times to count over the last
four days. There was always the threat of some death but never the death Gates
guessed. Until he knew what Twelve was worried about there was no way for him
to reassure the man. The best thing for everyone was for them to finish this
mission and then schedule that diplomatic meeting. As soon as Twelve realized
his people would be safe he’d calm down.

They put the chamber in its spot at the end of the line and
then Gates took a moment to stretch and look around. Whoever these people were,
they were now in the exact same layout only two floors down. He’d completed his
mission. “That’s everyone. We should probably go grab some dinner and get
things cleaned up around here. Tomorrow we start our hike back to the shuttle.”

He thought he heard a couple of groans but chose to ignore
them. No one understood his men’s displeasure more than he. The idea of a
week-and-a-half hike back through the hostile jungle wasn’t his idea of a good
time either. But it had to be done.

Once back on the main floor he pulled his reader out and
signed in to the secure message service. In no time his commander knew the
chambers had all been moved and he’d set up a visitor’s visa so the reptiles
could send an ambassador to speak to the government about diplomatic relations.
It’d been a very successful communication. Twelve didn’t seem any happier when
he told him though.

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Twenty-Four said as she sat down
next to Gates.

“He’s cranky and you like cranky, I know.” He took a bite of
his food and then grimaced. He was getting cranky too. He needed real food. And
more than fifteen minutes alone with Julian before they both passed out from
exhaustion. He couldn’t wait to be back on the base.

But what then?

The question made his stomach cramp and suddenly his rations
were even less tempting. He hadn’t given it much thought but when they were
back on base they’d be given new missions. Missions that might send them to
opposite ends of the universe.

“You look sick.”

“Sorry.” He shook his head. “It’s nothing. You were defending
Twelve’s cranky ass.”

Twenty-Four giggled softly. “He worries about the Death.”

“I know. He’s talked to me about it extensively. But I can’t
for the life of me figure out what death specifically he’s concerned about.
Maybe if I could, I could reassure him that the military has no plans of using
it on this planet.”

“The last shuttle had many containers of it. We found it by
accident when we were examining the remains.”

“Containers?”

“Big shiny ones.” She held her arms out in a circle in front
of her to give a description of the size. “Two of our men opened them. They
died instantly.”

It sounded like some sort of chemical weapon. There were too
many for Gates to recognize any particular one just by her description however.
Maybe if he and his men could see it and run some tests he’d be able to figure
it out. And they had a week-and-a-half hike ahead of them. If it wasn’t too far
off their course they could stop and take a look. “What did you do with it?”

“We sent five of our best men to take it to the mountains of
sand.”

He’d seen the massive desert on the maps. They weren’t too
far away from the shuttle. It was maybe a three-day hike. But he didn’t envy a
trip into the scorching-hot environment.

“None of them returned,” she continued softly.

“Did you learn anything else about this Death before the men
left with it?”

“Everything that comes into contact with it dies. It is as
cool as the air around it but it burns to the touch. And even after you wash it
off it continues to suck the life out of you like the hunting moss.”

“It does sound pretty nasty.” And it sounded like something
he would have to investigate. If these people were going to have any success in
their petition for a diplomatic relationship they’d need to have all the facts
at their disposal. They might have gotten off to a horrible start but at some
point over the last couple of days Gates had started caring about the future of
this life form. They’d become part of his team. “If your men have any idea
where the Death is I’d be happy to run some tests on it.”

She shook her head. “We have no idea. And no one wants to
search. To find it is to die.”

“I understand.”

“We only want to know why they would bring this to our
home.”

“I don’t know. I guess your people can ask that when you
meet with the government. My best guess is they didn’t know this planet was
inhabited.” Which presented a whole new group of possibilities. “Maybe it isn’t
a weapon at all. They might have been looking for a place to store chemical
waste.”

Twenty-Four’s back went ramrod straight. “We are not a trash
pile.”

“I agree.” He really liked Twenty-four. She had spunk. “You
should go with the group of delegates. Help them present your side of the
case.”

She blushed. “They don’t need me.”

“Sure they do. They might benefit from having someone less
cranky in the group.”

She laughed again and this time she put a dainty hand on his
arm. He instantly pulled away from her but one glance over at Twelve told him
that the man hadn’t even noticed. Probably had something to do with Gates’ relationship
with Julian. Ever since Twelve saw him coming out of Julian’s tent that first
morning he’d stopped growling and snapping every time Gates or Julian got close
to Twenty-Four. It had made talking to the woman a lot easier.

As soon as they were done eating they cleaned up their mess
and packed up their stuff. They’d be leaving first thing in the morning. That
meant only one more night with a real roof over their heads and a bed under
them. “Get a good night’s sleep.” He directed the order to the men sitting
around him. “This might very well be your last until we get back to the
shuttle.”

Gates waited for everyone else to shuffle off before he made
his way to his temporary quarters. When he opened the door he smiled at
Julian’s body sprawled out under a military-grade blanket on the cot. His lover
had apparently gotten sleepy while waiting for him. It would’ve irritated some
men but it actually warmed Gates’ heart to see him asleep like that. He could
almost pretend that this was his life and that they were just like any other
couple.

Gates stripped down and took a quick shower before
approaching Julian. One peek under the blanket told Gates that Julian was every
bit as naked as he was. He definitely liked coming home to that.

He carefully pulled the blanket back and then knelt on the
foot of the bed. When he leaned forward and supported his weight on his hands
he was in the perfect position to take Julian’s cock into his mouth. Julian
moaned deep in his throat as his eyes opened slowly. Gates released his cock
and smiled. “Did you get bored waiting for me?” He lowered his head so he could
swirl his tongue against the tip of Julian’s dick.

“Of course not. But I’ve got this hard-ass boss who’s a real
taskmaster. Sometimes I think he works me harder than the others just because
he likes to see my body glistening with sweat.”

Gates couldn’t stop the laugh that burst out of him. “You do
look damn good when you glisten. Can’t say I blame him.”

He sucked Julian’s cock back into his mouth and moaned. He
tasted like soap and musk. Gates’ favorite.

“Dear god!” Julian’s fingers scraped along Gates’ scalp as
he buried his hands in Gates’ short hair. “That’s some wakeup call.”

He probably should come up with some quick retort but his
mouth was currently full. And that was exactly the way he wanted it. He slid
his knees forward so he could balance his weight on them and then cupped
Julian’s balls. Julian’s hips bucked, pushing his cock farther into Gates’
mouth. Julian was so hard against his tongue that he suspected it wouldn’t be
long before he was coming down Gates’ throat. He moved his fingers from
Julian’s balls back along his perineum in a slow caress.

Surrounded by Julian’s smell and taste as he was, his own
cock was so hard it was painful. He wanted release as well but first he wanted
to bring Julian to a screaming climax. He continued rubbing his fingers against
Julian’s skin until he’d made it back to the man’s anus. He slid the tip of one
of his fingers into the tight bundle of muscles and that was enough to push
Julian over. The other man’s essence spilled onto his tongue and filled his
mouth. He swallowed and then ran his tongue along the length of Julian’s dick
before he released it.

As he sat up he couldn’t help but smile at Julian. “He may
work you hard, but I’m sure there are perks.”

Julian pulled Gates down on top of him and then kissed him
deeply. He could still taste Julian in his mouth even as he teased Julian’s
tongue with his own. He was immersed in the man’s scent and touch. Even more so
when Julian rolled him over so Gates lay under his strong body. Julian finished
the languid kiss before lifting himself off Gates. “Roll over.”

That was an interesting change of roles. One that intrigued
him. Without argument or question he followed Julian’s order. Lying on his
stomach, he closed his eyes and relaxed into the sensation of Julian’s hands
and mouth exploring his body. Julian started at Gates’ shoulders and worked his
way down until his teeth gently grazed one of the globes of Gates’ ass. Gates
jerked at the sharp wave of pleasure that swept through his body and made his
pulse race. He would turn and ask Julian what his plan was but, just at that
moment, the firm tip of Julian’s tongue ran through the cleft of his ass.

He fisted the thin sheets as he clenched his teeth to keep
from moaning. Julian had a very talented tongue. And when that tongue rimmed
his anus he nearly lost it. “Damn, man.” A shiver of desire ran up his spine,
and his balls tightened at the touch. “I’m going to come.”

Julian pulled back just an inch and chuckled softly. “That’s
kind of the idea.”

He slid a hand under Gates and wrapped a hand around his
cock as he moved back to run his tongue against Gates’ ass. With Julian
stroking his cock and licking his ass it didn’t take long for the climax
building inside Gates to grow to a solid knot in the pit of his stomach. When
he finally came it was with a shout of contentment. Everything was perfect in
that moment. He was perfect.

Julian hummed softly and then worked his way up Gates’ body,
leaving kisses along his back as he went. Gates wanted to say something. He
should say something. But he was having a hard time catching his breath. Even
if he wasn’t, he didn’t know what he should say.

“Sleepy?” Julian nuzzled his ear before stretching out next
to him.

“Content.” Gates yawned despite himself. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

Gates rolled over so he could spoon Julian. He wanted to
stay in this lethargic moment for an eternity but already the reality of their
situation was returning to him. “When we return to base…” He let the sentence
die off as Julian’s body stiffened in his arms.

“Yes?”

Gates’ heart beat so fast it was almost painful and his
stomach now knotted with anxiety. He shouldn’t have said anything. He hadn’t
planned to. He didn’t know why he had. But now that he’d started he had to say
something. He took a deep breath and tried to force his body to calm down. “I’d
like to continue seeing you.” There. It was out in the open. There was no
taking it back now.