The Marine's Queen (39 page)

* * * *

Jak finished his daily report, his lips pressed into a grim line.

“
What do you think it means?” Callie rubbed her eyes, not trying to hide her fatigue from her captain. How long since she’d slept through an entire night? The last night she and Joe had shared here on Giroux?

“
Hadrason is on the planet,” Jak answered bluntly. “Why else would the miners slink away? He’s called them to join him. Many of those miners never lifted a tool. They were here as his spies. I suspect most of them are mercenaries hired to help him take over Giroux. Even though his first plan was foiled, he still has his men in place to try again.”

“
Why does he think he’ll get away with a new attempt?”

Jak shook his head. “I should have paid more attention to those men and run them off.”

“
Don’t blame yourself, Jak. Our people sold their mineral rights to Hadrason against my advice. The choice was theirs, though I also feel I should have seen through the situation.”

“
Well, we can’t sit here mourning our past mistakes. We need to send out more scout teams and put all our flying assets in the air. We must find Hadrason and his army before they strike at us.”

“
Take care of it.” Callie thought Jak looked thinner and tired. Losing Joe had hit him hard. Her captain wasn’t a young man and in a short time had come to depend on Joe’s expertise. Jak bowed and left.

Where was Joe now? On his way to prison or the front lines of a battle on some nameless distant world?

A thin film of sweat rose on Callie’s brow, signaling the arrival of the nausea she experienced every day around mid morning. She dropped her hand to her abdomen. How would the world look upon her child? As a freak of nature? As a danger?

She didn’t cry and allowed no fear to intrude. No confusion muddled her determination. Her child would grow and live as any other citizen of humanity. Someday she would tell this child of his father. A man beyond other men. And somehow she would explain how she’d failed him in the end. How she let him go so she could keep their baby safe.

* * * *

“
General Drant ordered me not to leave you alone with the queen.” Edow flew the small landing craft himself. Only the two of them were going on planet.

Joe pulled his thoughts away from images of Callie. Drant’s parting words had stayed with him. “I understand.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t feel sorry for me. I’ve lived longer than many of my … kind. Most of them never spoke with a civilian. Never saw a baby. Never ate a meal not prepared with a minimum of attention. They never slept in a bed covered with silk.” Thickness tightened Joe’s throat. “Never experienced the glory of a woman’s love and trust.”

Edow nodded and then looked away. But the emotion in the captain’s eyes was one Joe found himself becoming familiar with. Pity.

* * * *

Callie sat back while Jak and Edow discussed Hadrason’s men and the possible location of the mine owner. Joe added small comments here and there. She tried not to stare at him but found herself doing so anyway. Was the set of his mouth grimmer, his eyes colder?

“
I should like to see your planetary imagery room, Captain Sontu,” Edow said. “I’ll see if we can link my ship’s sensors to yours so you can get a complete view of the entire planet.”

“
That would really help.” Jak led Edow from the receiving room.

Joe finally looked at her. “The women and children?”

“
Staying out of sight. Emer Mast and Dania Cresbol have gone missing.”

“
I think you’re safe here. They probably fled when they found out how things went with Hadrason.”

Callie stepped toward Joe, but he retreated from her. “Joe?”

“
I’m to go with Captain Edow into deep space.” Joe turned his back to her. “We won’t see each other again.”

Callie’s insides squeezed as if to remind her of the tiny life growing there. When Joe had arrived, she’d silently rehearsed how she would break the news to him. How would Joe react? Awe? Shock? Surely joy. “You’re my marine.”

“
General Drant gave orders that I wasn’t to be alone with you, but Captain Edow has given me this opportunity to say goodbye and to thank you.”

Fury exploded through Callie. “How dare the general….”

“
Callie.” Joe came to her now, placing his warm hands on her shoulders. “He’s my commanding officer. He can tell me anything he wants.”

“
He can’t tell me,” she sputtered, but the burning anger died.

Joe released her shoulders and stroked her cheek with his rough hand. “Thank you for giving me this time in the real world. Thank you for treating me like a man, a man of your kind, for a little while.” He dropped his hand.

“
I should be thanking you. You saved my life.”

Joe shook his head. “That’s my job just like the engineer who builds your ships. Your acceptance of me was beyond the expected.”

“
I have given you nothing, Joe, only took from you. I abandoned you twice, but I won’t now.”Callie had thought she would never see him again, but now that he was here, she would keep him.

“
I’m leaving with Edow. Please let me go. I don’t belong here.”

How could he say that? Jak and her soldiers accepted him, respected him. “You belong here, at my side, as my Sentinel.”

Joe ran his hand down across his face. When he looked at her again, it was as if he’d wiped all emotion from his expression with the out of character gesture. “I want to return to what I know, your highness. Life among civilians is too confusing. Goodbye.” He put a fist over his heart and then saluted. He turned smartly and strode from the room.

Tears welled and then rolled unchecked down Callie’s face. Why had she assumed Joe would want to stay with her? Why hadn’t she considered he yearned to return to his military life and what he knew? Why had she thought he returned her love?

Though disappointment choked her, she couldn’t send him away with angry thoughts. “The Spirit Father watch over you and protect you, my marine.”

* * * *

Joe pressed his fist against his chest and leaned against the wall for support. His heart felt like it might burst from his ribs and crack to pieces like a grenade. It would have been easier to never see her again. He looked at the hand that had touched her face. He clinched his fist again as if he could hold the sensation of her smooth, glowing skin forever.

He straightened from against the wall when he heard footsteps approaching.

Sontu spoke. “We’d like to keep him here.”

“
Who wouldn’t,” Edow said, his voice carrying easily to Joe though the men were nowhere in sight. “He’s worth a full squad all by himself.”

“
It’s not only that.” Sontu lowered his voice. “My queen has a special interest in him.”

“
Hold your thoughts, sir,” Edow said sternly. “Such rumors can only hurt your queen. The marine goes with me as soon as we solve your little problem here.”

Joe stepped around the corner so the approaching men could see him.

“
There you are, Joe,” Edow greeted him. “We’ve set up a relay so Captain Sontu can make use of our ship’s sensors along with his own.”

“
Are you guarding the tunnel system?” Joe stopped rubbing his chest, but the pain might remain forever.

“
Yes, but we’re spread thin.”

“
I’ll provide some troops to supplement your ranks,” Edow offered.

“
I accept. I have a number of things to see to, and I believe the queen expects you to join her for the evening meal.”

Joe led the way to the small dining room, dreading and anticipating sitting beside her.

“
Do you think Hadrason will come after her even knowing we’re expecting him?” Edow asked.

“
He will.” Joe had meant it when he told Callie she was safe but only if he was at her side. So he would suffer this time with Callie.

Joe pushed the door open. Callie already sat at the head of the table. One other place setting waited to her right. She looked right through him. “Captain Edow, please join me for the evening meal.”

Joe stopped, searching through his experiences for direction of what to do. He found nothing and took a step back, bumping into Edow.

“
My pleasure, your highness.” Edow gave Joe one of those looks filled with pity.

Joe took another step back. “I’ll check with Sontu on the placement of the reinforcements.” He escaped through the door.

This was as he wanted. He didn’t belong here. He repeated the litany to himself as he wandered the halls that had been his home for a few short days.

* * * *

“
You’ve not touched your applenut pastry, your highness. It may be the most delicious dish I’ve had in the past year.”

Callie attempted a smile for the captain. He’d been so gentle and kind during the horrid meal. What had prompted her to embarrass Joe like that? Childish pique? Self protection? “I’m quite full, captain.”

“
Don’t worry about Hadrason. The planet is only so big. If he’s here, we’ll have him soon.”

“
I have complete confidence.” Callie poked the pastry, remembering a night in the desert when Joe had brought some of the sweet fruit as a treat.

“
He can’t stay, your highness. It will only bring you problems and disaster for him. Already the rest of his men are being flown here to join us on our mission to deep space.”

It didn’t surprise Callie that Edow knew the real reason for her mood. She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. “The world is advanced enough to create him, but not to accept what they’ve made.”

“
This isn’t his world. Let him go for both your sakes. And make it as painless as possible.”

“
I know not including him this evening may appear childish, but I couldn’t sit with him here tonight.”

“
I imagine it would have been equally uncomfortable for him.”

Callie gathered the tatters of her pride. “I appreciate your help, captain. The sooner we catch Hadrason, the sooner we can all go on with our lives.”

* * * *

Had she dozed off? Callie rolled onto her back, knowing sleep would not come to her again. Joe consumed her thoughts. The way he moved, the way he concentrated on her every word as if she spoke in an alien tongue. The way he made her feel like the center of the universe.

How much of the confidence she’d gained as a ruler resulted from Joe’s presence in her life? She’d faced death with him more than once, and they’d triumphed.

A small sound startled her out of her reverie. Her heart slammed against her ribs and she held her breath. Nothing. Sparse moonlight filtered in through her laced-covered windows. Her armoire threw a large black shadow toward the door. Too large. It shifted. Her chest burned with the need to exhale, but terror paralyzed her.

The sound came again, cloth against cloth.

Callie tried to let her breath out slowly but the shadow moved toward her, carrying a light odor of human sweat. Her mind found only one solution. She screamed.

* * * *

Joe slammed his shoulder into the steel door. It didn’t budge. Callie screamed again. He pulled one of his knives and used the point to work on the electronic lock. He popped open the faceplate and destroyed the circuits inside. Alarms blared, drowning out Callie’s screams.

The door slid open a crack. Joe gripped it with his fingertips. His sinews stretched and pulled until he thought his muscles might split. The door gave way far enough.

Joe slipped into the dark outer room, finding the door to Callie’s bedroom closed also. Her screams had stopped, but Joe heard the shuffling sounds of a struggle. She lived still.

The bedroom door wasn’t locked. If only he’d slept in the room with her like he used to do. The alarms quieted, replaced by the hushed approach of men. He didn’t wait. Easing the door open, Joe glided across the threshold. He spotted them near the bed.