Tundra 37 (24 page)

“It’s time sensitive information. Yes.”

It took all his energy to suppress his frustration. But he was a lieutenant, and the mission had to come first. He motioned for her to join him in his tent. “Okay. If it’s important.”

“More important than anything else in this ice cave.”

He opened the tent flap and she smiled as she slid in underneath his arm.

The thought of being alone with Luna made him squirm like he put on a shirt two sizes too small. His tent closed in on them, narrow and too intimate, yet he couldn’t discuss the secret mission in the presence of the others, and the cave echoed every word. Not wanting to give Luna the wrong idea, or anyone else for that matter, he got right down to business. “What’s this about?”

“While you were sleeping, I accessed the
Expedition’s
database, and using the code word Beta Prime, found hundreds of secret files on the orb. It seems the scientists studying it experienced strange hallucinations and dreams, not only of memories in their past, but of times before they were born, maybe even previous lives on Old Earth.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The energy from the orb stimulates parts of the cerebral cortex, and from there, energy travels to association tracts consisting of connector neurons thought to be associated with reasoning, learning, and memory.”

“Hold on, are you saying that orb activates long-lost memories?”

Luna stepped closer. “Could be. There is no one part of the brain that stores memory; therefore the findings are hypothetical at best. What drew my attention was the scientists exposed to the orb reported mostly happy memories. Some said they could actually control which memories they had, bringing back the ones they wanted to relive again and again. Some found it so blissful they didn’t want to leave the orb, becoming more and more reclusive. One man grew so addicted he wouldn’t leave the lab. They had to stop the experiments altogether and lock it up with the Seers.”

Brentwood leaned down in order for her to hear his whisper, “The question is, why? Why would an alien species design such a device? What purpose does it have?”

Luna shrugged. “I’m a biologist, not a philosopher. It may stimulate other things for the alien species, and that’s just the effect it has on us. Or, they really liked their memories.”

She laughed, the sound resonating a little too loud in his tent. “I’m not about to hypothesize on one of the greatest finds of mankind.” She pointed at him, her finger resting on his chest. “I’ll leave that to you.”

He wrapped his fingers around her hand to gently nudge her away, but she brought up her other hand and caught him, gripping his hand firmly in both of hers. “That’s not all.”

Brentwood resisted the urge to pull away. Luna had him intrigued. Any more information concerning this secretive mission would help. Afraid to break her chain of thought, he let her hold on to hear out next words. “Yes?”

“The orb is only big enough to hold someone’s mind, not their body. So the scientists could only delve so far into their memories, always leaving a part of themselves behind. This beacon that the orb points to is much larger, large enough to submerge an entire body. You could potentially immerse yourself and remain lost in it forever.”

“Wow, this is all so strange to me.” Brentwood felt like he floated in the belly of a giant jellyfish as the tent swam around him. Alien artifacts, old memories, temptations. His dreams came back to him, dreams of Gemme and the past. Could it be connected?

“Me, too.” Luna steadied him with both her hands on his chest. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Are you okay?”

He blinked, feeling dizzy. “I’m fine. I just need some time alone to think about this.”

“Wait.” Luna’s grip on his shoulders remained firm. “There’s something else I want to talk about.”

He stared her down. “What now?”

“You know about the pairing machine being ruined, don’t you?”

The change in subject startled him. “What do you mean?”

She smiled as if he’d just made her day. “You don’t know, do you? You haven’t read the reports on decks eighty-seven on up?”

He grew defensive. Even though he was a lieutenant, it didn’t mean he was all knowing. “I read the survivor reports. My mission was to save the people on those decks, not the programs. Besides, I’ve been swamped preparing for Alpha Blue. Hull damage didn’t fall under my jurisdiction.”

“Well, it’s gone. The pairing machine and every program that went with it. Ms. Matchmaker is out of a job. That’s why she’s with us, you know. The Seers had to put her somewhere.”

Gemme. She was talking about Gemme. And the fact the pairing system was gone. Brentwood’s head reeled with this new information. Could they choose their partners for themselves? Could he choose Gemme?

“I see what you’re thinking, Lieutenant, and I’m thinking the same thing.” Luna leaned in so close he could feel her body heat against him. Did she know of his feelings for Gemme? Had she talked to her?

His voice came out wispy with hope. “What am I thinking?”

Instead of answering, Luna pushed her face into his. Her lips crushed his in a firm and aggressive kiss, thrusting her tongue into his mouth. Brentwood froze in shock, jolted by the feeling of how completely wrong this whole meeting was. Light filtered in, illuminating them pressed together as the tent flap parted and Gemme peeked through.

“Lieutenant, I need to talk—”

How could he let this get so out of control? Angry and embarrassed, he pushed Luna back, ripping her lips from his as their combined spittle flew across the tent. But it was too late. Gemme had already seen their indecent kiss and her delicate features crumpled into a mask of disgust. She disappeared, tent flap flipping down.

“Ms. Reiner, wait!” Brentwood pushed past Luna, scrambling through the opening. He emerged just as she slid under the tarp into the blizzard. “No!”

Brentwood followed her, slipping across the floor of ice. He yanked the peg out and threw himself into the raging winds.

“Gemme!” He shouted as the snow stung his face. “Gemme, come back!”

Night had fallen, and he couldn’t see anything in the pitch-black. He ducked under the tarp, grabbed a beacon light from the back of the landrover, and flung himself out into the frigid night.

Snow smothered the light in a thousand white, darting shafts, like swarms of moths in the biodome, blinding him to everything farther than a meter ahead. Brentwood ran along the mouth of the cave, the wind pushing him sideways into a snowdrift. “Gemme!”

How could he possibly prove Luna had pounced on him? He failed her both as a person and as a lieutenant. How could she ever respect him again?

Before the comet shower he had had his world completely under control. He hadn’t realized what a small world it was, and how an infinite universe engulfed his perfect bubble. He never thought he’d have to face it until the
Expedition
crashed, revealing a world vaster than his own.

What had happened to the youngest appointed lieutenant, the man who’d graduated first in his class to so confidently lead the congregation at every meeting? Although his horizons had broadened, he was still the same man. No smaller, no weaker.

Brentwood forced himself up. He had an entire population to save, starting with Gemme.

Gemme collapsed into the snow, wondering why in the all the universe she’d just run headfirst into a blizzard. The winds tore at her thermal coat as the cold settled into the marrow of her bones, but she didn’t care. The memory of Brentwood passionately kissing Luna was enough to keep her out in the dark all night. Her head felt like someone had shaken it with a molecule vibrator, and she had to get away to sort out her misplaced feelings.

To think: she’d gone in to discuss her own feelings for him. Thank goodness she’d witnessed their kiss before embarrassing herself by spewing out the indecent feelings in her heart.

Thank goodness she’d stopped her pairing with Brentwood. How could she ever marry a man attracted to someone else? Her initial instinct to touch the delete panel had been correct. All the other feelings that had come after it were obscenely wrong, and she struggled to come to terms with that fact. Now she knew why the matched parings worked so effectively. Organic romance was too messy, hurting the people involved.

“Gemme!”

Did she hear her name, or did the howling wind play tricks in her throbbing ears? She tightened her arms around her shoulders, trying to hold in her dwindling body heat. She knew she had to go back, but she couldn’t face Brentwood and Luna. Not yet. She’d rather lose fingers and toes to frostbite then see them together.

“Gemme!”

There was no mistaking his voice this time. Brentwood had come out to look for her. A sudden rush of hope sparked in her heart and she squashed it. As a lieutenant, he couldn’t have a member of his team die of hypothermia, whether he had feelings for her or not. He needed her to complete the mission. And so did the rest of the
Expedition
, including her parent and Ferris. Gemme knew her actions were reckless and selfish, yet she couldn’t bring her legs to work. Had they frozen in the snow?

Dizziness washed over her and a heavy weariness seeped in. She realized her hands and feet had stopped throbbing. Numbness trickled through her, spreading to her face. Her eyelids felt like heavy thermal blankets.

I’ll just lie down for a minute before I go back to camp.

A faint golden light caught her attention. Brentwood. Her stomach panged like a laser shot through it. Besides her gut, her sore heart was the only part of her body that hadn’t gone numb. But if she slept…

No.
She forced herself up. Her mind would only take her back to the field and the engagement party. She shook her head to keep herself awake. No more dreams of Brentwood. Gemme felt caught between two worlds, the harsh reality before her, and the blissful fabrication of her dreams. If she fell asleep, she’d be living a lie. She decided she’d rather have harsh truth instead.

Forcing her legs up, Gemme walked toward the light. Every part of her body shook as she struggled to wade through snow up to her thighs. “Over here.”

The golden light grew stronger and Brentwood crested the hill with relief splashed in his face. Sliding down, he caught her in his arms. “Gemme, I’m sorry. Thank the Guide I found you. Are you okay?”

Besides a bleeding heart, a sickened stomach, and the beginnings of hypothermia? Gemme nodded. “Fine.”

“Come on, let me take you back to camp. I have a lot of explaining to do.”

Gemme followed him, stumbling over her own feet. She hated the fact that she had to grab his arm to stay upright. She’d never put herself in such a helpless, vulnerable position again, both physically and emotionally.

They walked in silence to the cave. It didn’t make sense to fight the howling wind, and Gemme had nothing she wanted to say. All she could think to do was finish the damned mission and get on with her life. Brentwood pulled back the tarp and she pushed her way through. The warm air of the cave surrounded her in a bath. Luna sat on a supply container by the lighted energy cell.

“Well, that was stupid, running out in a blizzard. I’d already told you he was mine.”

“Luna, that’s enough.” Brentwood came in behind her. He turned to Gemme and pointed to the supply container next to Luna. “Please, sit down.”

Did she have to? Luna was the last person she wanted to sit next to right now. Wondering if she could disobey a direct order, Gemme slumped down beside Luna. She felt like they were both kids in a time out, and she hadn’t even done anything wrong.
Besides run into a blizzard.

She watched as Brentwood walked over to the landrover and opened the hatch. “Tech, get up. We have a lot to talk about.”

Tech poked his head out, curly black hair standing up on end. “Did I miss something?”

Brentwood’s voice growled. “I’ve called an impromptu meeting. Attendance mandatory.”

Tech’s eyes widened, “Sure thing, chief.” He stumbled out in his thermal fleece pajama pants. Gemme shifted away from Luna making room for him. Yawning, he plopped down in between them.

Brentwood stood in front of the trio. His hands shook, but Gemme had no sympathy.

“I’m going to go against the direct orders of the Seers. I may lose my position when we get back because of it, but there’s no other way to do this and I hate keeping information from my team.”

Tech scooted forward on the container, rubbing his forehead. “What’s this about?”

Brentwood opened his mouth, but Luna stood, holding up a finger. “They’re not supposed to know.”

Gemme intervened. “Know about what?”

Brentwood gave Luna a stern look. “We should have never kept it from them in the first place.”

“You’re going against the Seers’ orders.” Luna’s face turned red.

“Let them fire me for all I care.” Brentwood turned back to address Gemme and Tech. “The Seers assigned Ms. Legacy and I to a secret alternate mission. We’re supposed to find an alien device matching an orb the
Expedition
picked up in space hundreds of years ago. The orb is thought to have qualities that bring out someone’s memories, allowing them to relive the happiest ones again and again, addicting people to its energy. Because of the danger of this news becoming a widespread panic, the Seers wanted this mission kept top secret. Ms. Legacy and I were the only ones with clearance.”

The new information tickled the hairs on the back of Gemme’s neck. Here it was: proof they weren’t alone in this galaxy, and yet her stomach still churned with bitterness. The secret mission explained a lot of Brentwood and Luna’s private conversations, yet it didn’t explain anything about the kiss she’d just witnessed.

She glared at him as he continued. His words faltered when he looked at her. “My relationship with Ms. Legacy is purely professional. There’s nothing going on between us, despite some of the things you may have heard or seen us do.”

Gemme couldn’t contain her hostility. She’d thought Brentwood was valiant and noble, and instead he snuck a kiss on the most important mission the
Expedition
offered him, and lied about it afterward. Why couldn’t he just come clean? Tell them he had feelings for Luna? He was as bad as the politicians from Old Earth. “Pfft. You don’t see me kissing Tech.”