Tundra 37 (23 page)

“It’s not that easy, Metsy. It means being connected to the ship. Living as one until the
Expedition
reaches Paradise 18 in hundreds of years. Can you do that?”

“Of course I can, if it keeps my sister safe.”

“Good.” He pulled away from her and moved toward the steps. “I’ll get you that appointment.”

Mestasis called after him. “Wait!”

He whipped around, his face set in expectation.

“I’ll negotiate to get you on there as well. After all you’ve done for me, I’m not going to leave you behind.”

James turned to the hovercrafts whizzing by them. Her heart dropped as he ripped his gaze away. “I’m needed here. The Radioactive Hand of Justice’s work will never be done. Conditions worsen every day. There’s talk of war between the United Federation and the Foreign Union, besides civil unrest. You must have heard about the Mississippi drying up?”

Mestasis nodded and he continued. “Well, there’s not enough water to go around. Rioters make their way here even now. Soon they’ll break through the city walls.”

“All the more reason why you should come with me.” She took his hand. “Please let me argue on your behalf.”

James sighed and his face closed up, “I’m not leaving my people behind.”

Mestasis stepped toward him. With her and Abysme’s powers, she had the ultimate bargaining chip. Why not try? “How many people are you talking about?”

He scanned the balcony as if he could see to the lower levels where people scrounged while they stood underneath the sun. “Obviously, I’d like to save everyone in the city, and every other city for that matter. But if I had to pick a number.” He ran his hand over his long hair and pursed his lips. She’d asked him to play God, and she knew that wasn’t easy.

Squeezing his hand, she gazed into his eyes and pleaded. “Just give me something I can work with.”

James gazed down her cheek to her hand as it grasped his. She brought her head closer, her face tilted just beyond his lips. He bowed down and almost closed the distance. His breath warmed her mouth. “I’d say about three hundred.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Mestasis rose up on her toes and closed the distance, pushing her lips into his in a fierce kiss. When she pulled back from him, he pulled her back in. They stood there wanting one another, deaf to the tick of time.

When she did part from him, her voice hardened. “Set up a meeting with Mr. Legacy. I’ll do my best.”

§

Ah Mr. Legacy…

If only Mestasis had known the Legacys would be the bane of their existence for the next three hundred years. She hadn’t wanted to appoint Luna to the exploratory team, but as part of the contract she’d signed with Thadious Legacy, she had to favor his descendants over the rest of the crew. She only hoped the extraordinary talents of the other members outweighed Luna’s propensity for greed.

Brentwood shook as someone woke him, ripping him away from the blissful fog that had claimed his mind and his heart. Luna stared at him with eyes decorated in teal shadows, looking like a galactic sorceress come to steal his soul.

“Lieutenant?”

“What is it?” He never snapped, but this came pretty close.

She took her hand off his arm as if he’d slapped it and cushioned it against her chest. “Tech says there’s a massive weather front on the radar.”

“What?” He shot up in his seat and the restraining strap pulled tight against his chest. “Holy Quasars.” He unclasped the lock at his waist and pushed his head forward to the front seat. Gemme slept soundly, the sight of her freckled cheeks making his neck tingle with heat. Hadn’t she been in his dream?

“Lieutenant, lookie here.” Tech waved his chubby finger in the air to catch his attention. A fluorescent green and blue clump claimed the radar. “Sorry to wake you, sir, but we need to change course and look for shelter.”

“How bad is it?” Judging for the growing plume of color, he already knew the answer.

“It’s a full-fledged blizzard. The snowfall alone could smother this landrover in over four meters. Not to mention the wind.”

Brentwood’s chest tightened as adrenaline shot through his limbs. He’d gone from heaven to an icy hell in seconds. “Where should we go?”

“Those mountains are our best bet.” Tech pointed out the sight panel at a string of ridges on the right. Even if we can’t find a cave, we could blast a hole into the ice.”

“All right. Let’s switch seats and I’ll drive. I know how to gun it and keep the vehicle in control. We’ll outrun the storm and wait it out against the mountain range.”

“Yes, sir.” Tech ground the wheels to a halt and they pushed by each other, switching seats. Brentwood regained his composure as he secured the belt across his chest. He pushed the foot pedal and the vehicle gained speed. Where had that dream come from? He couldn’t remember and he didn’t have time to think back. Flurries blinded the main sight panel. The storm darkened the sky above them as it pressed in.

He watched the speedometer, fixated above a tiny symbol of the
Expedition
to the moving arrow. Seventy kilometers per hour, seventy-five. He could go up to one hundred without losing traction, but beyond that, they’d be gliding helpless on the ice. “Strap yourself in, Tech,” he called over his shoulder. “Ms. Legacy, secure your seat restraint as well.”

“Already done.” Luna called back to him, but he ignored her. Casting a sideways glance, he saw Gemme leaning out of her seat restraint, the strap hanging loose.

“Ms. Reiner. Ms. Reiner, wake up!”

She didn’t move. One look at the speedometer told him they’d accelerated to maximum performance speed. The snowflakes had grown larger, falling in clumps and collecting on the corners. He had to keep going.

“Damn!”

With one hand one the wheel and one foot pressing the pedal to the floor, he leaned over and nudged her up, exposing the seat lock in her lap. Heat traveled from his neck to his cheeks as his fingers grazed her legs. If she woke up in that instant, it’d look like he groped her.

Please don’t wake up right now.

He grabbed the lock and pulled it toward him, clicking it in place. She shifted as the straps tightened, but her eyes stayed closed. Relief flowed through him until he settled back into his seat and watched the blob on the radar move in.

Snow whipped around the vehicle, blurring into streaks. Visibility lessened with each minute until the entire sight panel filled with white. Calming himself, Brentwood turned to his controls. The topography charts reported the mountain range approaching in twenty kilometers on the right. They’d driven a half a kilometer off course. He turned slightly and the tires skidded, pitching the landrover sideways. The mining equipment pulled them the opposite way, straining the metal lock hitching the platform to the vehicle. Luna screamed as the tires screeched under the pressure.

Brentwood gripped the wheel and spun it until the vehicle pointed back on course. “We’ll make it!” he shouted, wondering if he reassured himself more than the others.

Gemme stirred in the seat next to him. “What’s going on?”

“Blizzard.” He gave her the most comforting smile he could produce. “Hold on tight.”

The mountain range popped up out of nowhere and Brentwood careened alongside it, searching for an outcropping. A slab of sheer, unbroken ice sprawled for miles beside them. Brentwood watched as the arrow on the speedometer moved from sixty to fifty, then twenty as the tires sunk and stuck in the newly fallen snow. The engines roared in protest as the vehicle stopped, lodging itself against a drift.

“That’s as far as we can go.” Brentwood pressed the panel for the hatch. “Get out your lasers, we’re blasting a hole.”

“We’re going out in the blizzard?” Luna shouted as the hatch opened and the howling wind barreled in, stripping them of warmth in seconds.

“Yup.” Tech pushed past her and whipped out his laser, checking the charge on the energy cell. “Ready when you are, chief.” His enthusiasm didn’t surprise Brentwood. Tech had come up with the idea of blasting a hole in the first place.

Brentwood looked back to check on Gemme. She had her hood up, angora hair covering half her face in an adorable, yet sexy way. In her hand she held her laser, poised and ready to fire. He had a sudden urge to comfort her, to hold her close and feel the angora hair tickling his skin.

Shaking his head, he signaled to Gemme with a wave of his hand.

By the Guide, pay attention!

She gave him a nod and he turned back to the rest of the team, screaming over the raging winds. “Set your lasers to maximum subsonic pulse. Third click down. Focus on my stream.”

He fired, the white light penetrating the outer layer of ice. Each member of the team joined in, and together their lasers reinforced and steadied his stream. Steam rose from the ice as the white shafts of light burned a hole. The wind carried the steam away, revealing more and more layers of ice.

“There’s no rock, it’s just giant glaciers of ice.” Tech shouted, face drawn as if he’d opened a present and found it empty.

“That’s why it doesn’t show up on the mining grid.” Gemme shouted back at him. “No minerals to mine.”

“I’ll say.”

“It will make it easier to carve out a shelter.” Brentwood tried to reassure them. “Rock is harder to cut through.”

They stood while the wind whipped around them, pulling at each strand of hair on his head and numbing his cheeks. Brentwood worried a strong enough gale might whip one of them away. Luna’s laser dipped, slashing the bottom of the mountain with white light.

“Keep your arms up,” Brentwood shouted to her. Why couldn’t she follow one order correctly? Just one?

Luna collapsed on her knees. “I can’t do it any longer. I’m freezing to death.”

“Go back to the vehicle,” Brentwood ordered. “We’ll do the rest.”

Luna scrambled away with tears in her eyes. Pity trickled through him. Lieutenanthood wasn’t cut out for some people, but that didn’t mean they weren’t as important. He wished he could find a way to tell her and ease the burden of her family’s expectations.

It took twenty minutes to melt a hole large enough to fit the vehicle, the mining equipment, and themselves. Brentwood’s arms ached from holding the laser steady. Tech’s cheeks were red as apples, and ice coated the tips of Gemme’s hair. Yet, besides Luna, they held their ground. Pride surged inside him.

“Good work, Alpha Blue. Now help me dig out the landrover. We’re going in.”

A thick layer of snow had covered the vehicle in the time it took for them to melt a hole in the mountain. He plunged into the snow, digging out the tires with his gloved hands and cursing all their inexperience. They’d brought skin regenerators, high protein and electrolyte bars, miniscreens with a databank of information. But no one had thought to bring a shovel. His fingers throbbed, but he kept digging until he cleared the ruts of each tire.

He stood, brushing fluffy snow off the hatch. “Come on!”

Eager to get out of the cold, they piled in and he revved up the engines, gaining force to dislodge from the bank of snow. He pressed the gas and the tires skidded, lurching forward three centimeters and then falling back.

“Do you want me to get out and push?” Tech offered.

“No, that’s not necessary.” Flicking his hands over the control panels he selected a lower gear and tried again. The tires squealed, and he pressed harder until they found traction. The vehicle rolled forward, freed from the drift. A chorus of hollers and hoots erupted behind him as they drove into their shelter.

He glanced over at Gemme and she mouthed the words, “Good job.”

Her support made him burn inside out. Even though he was a lieutenant, he couldn’t ignore his feelings any longer. He wished he could get a chance to talk with her alone. How much control did she have over the pairings? The more time he spent with her, the more he realized she embodied everything he’d ever sought, and he ached to ask her if she felt the same draw toward him. If only Luna hadn’t continually pushed herself in the way.

The landrover inched into cave. Headlights illuminated a glossy ceiling where the laser fire had melted layers away. It looked like they traveled through an ocean hung in suspension, water all around them but not a drop touching the hood. Brentwood marveled, feeling like a little boy in the aqua-tank room back on the
Expedition
. These walls of slick ice were galactically more stunning.

They parked at the back of the cave where the wall curved in seamlessly to the floor. Tech helped Brentwood peg up a thermal nylon tarp to block the entrance while Gemme and Luna unloaded their tents and other supplies. Although ice surrounded them, the inside of the cave was several degrees warmer than the blizzard outside. With the thermal energy cells, it would be a toasty bath.

Anchoring the last peg of the tarp into the ice wall, Tech grumbled, “Had enough snow for one day. I’m going to sleep in the vehicle tonight. You can have the tent.”

“Okay, Tech.” Brentwood patted him on the back. He’d driven the landrover for hours, and he deserved to get some peaceful rest. “Thanks for helping.”

“No problem, chief.”

As Tech snuggled in the backseat and the hatch closed, Brentwood turned to the ladies. They’d already constructed the remaining three tents while he and Tech put up the tarp. Although Luna held the last peg of her own tent in her hand, he suspected Gemme had done most of the work.

The nylon of Gemme’s tent twitched as she moved around inside. Eagerness stirred inside him. Fumbling with words in his head, he walked over to speak with her. He wanted to tell her what an amazing job she’d done that day, but most of all, he wanted to ask her about the pairings, and how she chose each couple. If she felt as strongly as he did, he wanted his pairing to be with her.

Luna intercepted, placing her body between him and the tent.

“I need to talk to you.”

Brentwood stifled his impatience. He didn’t want to snap at her the way he did when she woke him. “Again?”

“Uh-huh. Concerning Beta Prime.”

It seemed as though fate kept twisting his path away from Gemme. Or was it just Luna? “Right now?”