STAR BLAZERS, SPACE BATTLESHIP
YAMATO, and all related names and elements
are copyright by Voyager Entertainment and Leiji Matsumoto. Star Blazers is
a registered trademark of Jupiter Films, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Huge shout-out to Annie and Eva,
who gave me the courage to let strangers read my writing!
INTERMEZZO
Chapter 1
March 13, 2202
After a
nearly sleepless night, Carina decided to get up and go for a long walk. The fresh air would make her feel better, and
maybe she would be able to clear her head.
The Star Force had returned to Earth on Tuesday; today was Saturday, and
she hadn’t heard a word from Mark Venture.
She was sure the crew had been busy, and he certainly wasn’t under any
obligation to call her, but she had allowed herself to expect that he would and
now she was paying the price. Sin of hubris, she thought wryly,
remembering her high school literature courses. She headed toward the longest
trail around the park, telling herself to stop acting like a silly
teenager. If she didn’t hear from him
this morning, she would call him herself this afternoon. There was nothing wrong with that… but she
would wait until after lunch just in case.
And if he didn’t seem interested in talking to her, well, she’d cross
that bridge when she came to it.
He had
contacted her once, about a week after the Argo had taken off. She hadn’t expected it and was lounging with
a book when he called, wearing a tank top and flannel pants, a loosely-tied
black satin kimono covering her shoulders.
She’d been so happy to hear from him that it had
taken her several minutes to figure out that the reason he kept blushing and
stammering was that her kimono was hanging open, exposing a scandalous amount
of cleavage. The memory still made her
grin – he was so easily flustered. After
she’d wrapped the robe more tightly he had relaxed and looked her in the eye,
and they had talked for the better part of an hour before one of the cadets,
eager to call his family, had chased Mark from the communication room.
That had been
the last time she’d spoken to Mark – about seven weeks ago. He hadn’t told her what prompted the call, but
in between funny stories of how green the new crew was and Wildstar’s struggles
in learning to be a captain, he had talked a little about how lucky Wildstar and
Nova were to be so close. She’d gotten
the impression that he was lonely and maybe feeling a little left out, with the
two of them engaged to be married. It was
always tough in a friendship when the dynamic changed, and he probably felt
like a third wheel. He had promised to
call her again, but the day after they spoke both Earth Defense and the Argo
had received a message requesting assistance: planet Iscandar was in danger,
and the Commander had ordered the Star Force to its rescue. Communication with Earth had been cut off,
unless it was defense-related.
The Star
Force had been unable to save either planet Iscandar or Queen Starsha, but the
Argo had landed on Earth four days ago carrying Alex Wildstar and the child he
had fathered with the alien queen. Carina
hadn’t been able to meet the ship since she had been on hospital duty, but she
had helped Doctor Sane and Nova with the examination they gave baby Sasha. That was the first and last time she’d had
any indication that the baby even existed – the girl hadn’t been mentioned once
in the press.
That first
night, Carina had hoped for a call from Mark, but didn’t worry when she didn’t
receive one. She had spent Wednesday and
Thursday in nervous anticipation, enough so that the boys in the office teased
her about it; by Friday she had been jumpy and irritable. She tried not to let her nerves affect her,
but the knot in her stomach had been tightening all week. She jumped every time the phone rang or a
message came through on her computer, and every time she was disappointed. It was true she had told him she didn’t think
they should rush into anything romantic when he came home, but they were
friends and she’d thought he would contact her, at least.
*
By the time
she reached the halfway point of her walk she had calmed down a bit, planned
what she would say when she phoned Mark, and was even considering taking a nap
when she got home before calling him. She
drew a deep breath of fresh air and took in the day. The early-morning sun shone brightly between
the still-barren trees, waking the critters that lived in the park, which
chattered and chased each other through the woods. Carina thought back to this time last year;
it seemed to her that there were a lot more small animals living here now than there
had been then. She was smiling at the
thought when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching from around the bend
ahead of her: a jogger, out for an early morning run. Her heart leapt oddly, and she scolded
herself – Mark wasn’t likely to be up this early in the morning, and even if he
was, he wouldn’t be jogging in the park.
Not in the mood to make nice with the approaching runner, she turned
away and stooped to retie her shoe. The
footsteps turned the corner and then stopped.
“Carina?”
It is him. “Mark…
Hi!” The knot in her stomach
tightened again. Her hand automatically
reached to smooth her hair, which she had pulled into a sloppy ponytail this
morning, and she smiled anxiously at him as she stood. He looked charming in a navy-blue EDF sweatshirt
and cap, his own smile awkward as he started to reach toward her but then
dropped his hand. “What are you –“ they both began at once, then broke off.
“I didn’t
think you’d be up so early,” he said after a pause, looking around. “Should you be out here alone?”
“It’s fine –
there are guards posted everywhere. I
couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d get some air and try to relax.” She could hear how quickly she was speaking –
a sure sign that she was nervous.
“Oh. Well… which way are you going? I’ll walk with you.” He started to reach out again, but stopped
himself.
“I don’t want
to interrupt your run.”
“You’re not interrupting.” He chuckled, embarrassed. “Actually, I just came out here to kill time because I figured you were still asleep. I was going to call you when I got home.”
“If you’re sure…”
“Of course I’m sure. Come on,” he said, taking a step back the way she had been headed. She hesitated another moment, then joined him. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner,” he said. She started to tell him that he didn’t owe her an explanation, but he interrupted her. “No, I meant to, really. But they had us in meetings all day every day, and by the time I got home all I wanted to do was sleep. And then last night I had dinner with the family – I thought about inviting you, but you know Mom would never have let it go if I’d brought you with me the first time I saw them after I came home.” He stopped, rubbing the back of his head. “Am I talking a lot?”
It suddenly occurred to her that he was as
nervous about seeing her as she was about seeing him. She felt the corners of
her mouth twitch. “Kind
of.” She looked into his
uncertain brown eyes and impulsively pulled him into a hug, warm and slightly
damp from his run. She flushed with pleasure
and relief when his arms wrapped around her without hesitation. If he had been strong when he left Earth in
January, after two months of full health and active duty his arms and chest
were even more muscular than she remembered.
As her body began to react to his embrace, her words came out softly. “Welcome home, Commander.”
“Thanks,
Lieutenant. It’s good to be back.” He held her tightly for several more seconds
before letting go, clearing his throat.
“So, I was going to call to ask whether you want to have dinner with me
tonight to catch up.”
“Absolutely,”
she smiled. Feeling almost giddy with
relief, she grabbed his arm and pulled him forward playfully. “Tell me about your trip! Did the cadets shape up as you went along?”
Nodding, he
glanced around to confirm that no one would overhear their conversation. “I’ll fill you in on the details later, but
yeah, when push came to shove they pulled it together. I think Kitano has a bright future ahead of
him, and Orion really proved himself once he stopped worrying about being
compared to his father.”
“And you’re
all right? You’re happy?”
“I am. Thanks.”
He looked at her with a shy smile.
“The mission was lonely, though.
How are things with you?”
She ducked
her head so he wouldn’t see the blush that crept into her cheeks. “Also lonely. But it’s been crazy busy, trying to get the
automated fleet up and debugged.
Thankfully it’s just about there.”
She gave him a sidelong glance.
“Are the rumors I’m hearing about you true?”
“About the command of the automated fleet?” He
nodded. “It’s going to be announced on
Monday.”
“That’s great
Mark!” Her heart swelled with pride as
she beamed at him. “It shows how much
they respect you. You know, everyone
kept saying we needed to put the best pilot we have in that position.”
A proud smile
began to spread across his face, too, but he stifled it modestly. “It will be an interesting assignment, that’s
for sure. A lot better
than flying transport.” He raised
his eyebrows. “And if there are any problems,
I understand there’s a cute redhead working the technical side of the project.”
“That is an important side benefit,” she
retorted, blushing again.
They were
approaching the entrance to the barracks, where Carina was dismayed to see a
number of photographers hovering outside the gates. They hadn’t bothered her when she left this
morning, but apparently Star Force members were hot commodities once
again. Even though she and Mark were
walking several feet apart, flashbulbs popped in their faces. Flashing their IDs, they ducked through the
gates as quickly as possible.
Mark looked
over his shoulder as he followed her toward her apartment block. “Carina, I was going to ask you to think
about where you wanted to eat tonight, but it’s likely to be another week
before all of that settles down. We
probably shouldn’t go out.”
Disappointment
flooded her chest. “Oh… Yeah.
That’s OK. If you want to
postpone –“
“What? No – I was going to suggest you come to my
place tonight. It will be more private.” He backtracked. “I mean… we can catch up without worrying
about who might overhear us, and I can guarantee no photographers. Besides, you spent an awful lot of time
feeding me when I was in the hospital – let me cook for you for once.”
She looked at
him dubiously. “Really? You can cook?”
“Hey, I’m
Italian.”
They had
reached her building, and she faced him with a grin. “All right. I’ll bring a bottle of wine, unless you’d
prefer something else.”
“Wine sounds
perfect. Is 1800 OK?”
“1800.” She nodded
as he turned toward home and, after watching him for a few seconds, smiled to herself as she opened the door.
*
Promptly at
1800 hours, she crossed the street separating the female officers’ barracks
from the male officers’ and made her way to Mark’s apartment. It was a warm evening; she had pulled out a
yellow silk wrap blouse with a floral pattern and a flowing black skirt, and
she didn’t need a jacket to walk across the base. She had also taken extra care with her hair
and makeup; noticing that one or two of the younger officers followed her with
their eyes as she walked by helped to calm the butterflies that were fluttering
in her stomach despite the pleasant time she’d had with Mark this morning. Still, by the time she rang his doorbell, the
butterflies had grown into bats. Their
flapping slowed when she saw his warm but nervous smile as he opened the door,
and she gave him a quick hug of greeting.
He was wearing a cable-knit sweater and khakis – it was the first time
she’d seen him in clothes that weren’t issued by Earth Defense, and it wasn’t
lost on her how well the outfit suited him.
The scent of garlic and tomatoes wafted toward her from the
kitchen. “Mmmm.” She inhaled deeply. “Smells wonderful.”
“Thanks. I hope you like meatballs. They’re kind of my specialty.”
“Who doesn’t
love meatballs?” Noticing with a smile
the way his eyes flickered over her when he thought she wasn’t looking, she left her shoes by the door. She allowed her own eyes to wander over him
as she followed him through the apartment, a mirror-image of her own, into the
combination kitchen and dining area. The
walls were the standard off-white color, but he had added a set of blue
curtains with a matching tablecloth which she didn’t remember seeing when she
had been here in the past, before he was released from the hospital. Amused, she asked him, “Did you buy a
tablecloth and curtains because I was coming over?”
“Maybe,” he
blushed. “I had to make my house
presentable, didn’t I?” He stirred the
sauce and offered her the spoon for a taste.
It was
delicious. “You made this from scratch,
really?”
He nodded,
passing her a corkscrew to open the wine.
“I told you – I’m Italian.”
She handed
him a glass and they sat at the small table while they waited for the pasta to
cook. “I’m dying to get your take on
your mission,” she said. “How is Alex
Wildstar handling things? It must have
been hard for him.”
“Yes, it
was. Starsha told him she would come
back to Earth with him, but in the end she stayed behind on Iscandar. She destroyed her planet to defeat the
enemy.” Mark paused for a moment – he
and Alex had something in common. He
shook his head and went on. “I think
Starsha would have allowed Alex to die with her, if it hadn’t been for baby
Sasha. She was the reason our return trip
took so long. Dr. Sane was concerned
about the effect warping might have on a baby, so we cruised home.” His face softened when he talked about the
baby. “You should see her – she’s a
beautiful little girl, and Alex absolutely dotes on her.”
Carina felt a
twinge of unease. Mark knew that she
couldn’t have children; it was the main reason she was reluctant to let their
relationship progress beyond friendship.
She gave him a weak smile. “I saw
her at the hospital. She is beautiful – I’m sure her daddy is smitten. But is there something… odd about her? They’re being
very careful not to mention her to the press.
I only know she exists because I was working a hospital shift when Dr.
Sane examined her after you landed, and he asked me to assist him.”
After a brief
hesitation, Mark nodded and asked, “How old would you say she is?”
Carina
shrugged at the odd question. “Two-and-a-half?
Three?” Come to think of it, Dr.
Sane hadn’t mentioned the girl’s age. And
wait – how long had Alex Wildstar been on Iscandar?
He shook his
head. “She was an infant when we took
them aboard the Argo, Carina. It’s an
Iscandarian trait – they grow to adulthood in their first year, then age at the
normal rate after that. It’s… It was amazing, watching her grow on the trip
back to Earth. I’m not sure what’s going
to happen to her now,” he added. “I hope
they don’t let the Council get its hands on her.”
“Oh, no. That would be…” She cringed at the thought of that sweet
little girl being turned over to the vultures in the Council. “But the Commander is a good man, and he has
the highest respect for Starsha and what she did for Earth. I’m sure he’ll come up with a plan.”
“I hope
so.” He glanced at the clock and stood
to drain the pasta, passing her a loaf of fresh bread from the oven to
slice. So far the evening had felt very…
domestic, she thought, comfortable.
“You know,”
she teased, “Chris Eager is cooking for my friend Jenny tonight. I’ll be comparing notes with her. But no pressure.”
“Great,” he
muttered as they sat. “But good for
Eager. I’m glad he’s found
someone.” They said grace and began to
eat. After the first bite, Carina closed
her eyes and purred happily. “This is
heavenly, Mark. Why didn’t you tell me
you had this hidden talent?”
“It’s not
much of a talent, I’m afraid,” he said, although he looked pleased by the
compliment. “This is about the extent of
my culinary prowess. Other than this,
it’s basically toast and cereal for me.
Maybe some grilled meat if I’m feeling inspired.”
“Well, your
mastery of the sauce makes up for what you lack in variety.” Carina ate heartily and was soon feeling
satisfied, relaxed and slightly bloated.
They moved to
the living room area to sit and talk. Here,
again, he hadn’t done much decorating.
The only items on the mantle were a tiny model of the Argo and two
framed photographs: a family portrait that looked like it must have been taken
right before he took off for Iscandar, and the picture of him with Trelaina
that had been on the cover of the photo album Carina gave him for
Christmas. A couple of extra pillows and
blankets made the stiff beige cushions of the institutional couch a little more
inviting. “Sit down – I picked up some
pastries, too. I’ll bring them in.”
“Ugh – I don’t
think I could eat a thing right now, but maybe in a little while.” Carina sat in one corner, pulling her knees
up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs as Mark put the
half-empty bottle of wine on the coffee table in front of them. She picked up her glass, smiling at how
easily they had resumed their friendship.
She had worried that things would be awkward between them, but their
conversation was free and easy and he was being a perfect gentleman. Which was good, because she
was determined that they would remain friends and nothing more, at least for
now. His obvious infatuation with
baby Sasha strengthened her resolve in that matter. Mark was great with his younger brother, too,
and Carina didn’t want to be the woman who prevented him from fathering a
child. They were at the age where the marriages
of their peers, made in haste during the Gamilon war, were beginning to fail,
and female infertility was the number one reason cited for divorce. She cared about
Mark too much to do something that could potentially destroy their relationship
and leave them bitter toward each other.
“These are
not homemade, unfortunately,” he said, setting a plate of beautifully decorated
pastries on the coffee table and snapping her out of her reverie, “but the
bakery assured me they were fresh.”
“They look
delicious,” she said as he settled opposite her, leaning against the arm of the
sofa with one foot on the floor and the other on the cushion, his knee
bent. They sat in comfortable silence,
sipping their wine, until she spoke again.
“Tell me what happened after we talked that last night. The rumor going around HQ was that the
distress call came in from Leader Desslok?”
He
nodded. “It’s true. Desslok had returned to Gamilon and found a
group of aliens plundering its ore.
There was a battle, and Gamilon was destroyed. Blown up. They finally finished the job we
started.” Mark ran a hand over his face,
and Carina reached over to squeeze his foot.
She knew the destruction of Gamilon was still an unhappy subject for the
Star Force. Even though they’d had no
real choice in the matter, they carried the heavy burden of knowing they’d
destroyed a civilization. “Victory
tastes like ashes,” Wildstar had said to Nova at the time. It had become a popular phrase for the Star
Force to use when describing what happened on the enemy planet.
Mark went
on. “Gamilon and Iscandar were twin
planets. When Gamilon exploded, Iscandar
was thrown from its orbit. The planet
itself began to warp through space, and that’s when Desslok called for our
help. Wildstar assured the Commander that
we could trust him, and the Commander gave us the order to go to Iscandar. He saw it as a chance to repay Starsha for
what she did for Earth.
“By the time
we got there, the enemy that destroyed Gamilon had returned and wiped out most
of Desslok’s fleet. We decimated the
enemy so that all that was left was their mother ship. We suffered some minor damage and a few
casualties, but it was a pretty quick and painless battle for us. We were able to destroy the mother ship when
Iscandar warped again.
“But then
another giant enemy ship appeared out of nowhere – they called it Gorba, a
‘mechanical planet’ from something known as the Dark Empire. The Dark Empire needed the ore from Gamilon
and Iscandar to provide energy for its war machines. We fought on Desslok’s side, and in the end
he wanted us to use the Wave Motion Gun, which would have killed him as well as
destroying Gorba. That was when Starsha
stepped in. She said she would join us
and leave Iscandar to the Dark Empire in order to stop the fighting, but
instead she sent Alex and Sasha aboard the Argo and stayed behind, destroying
Iscandar and the enemy.” He paused
again, tears in his eyes. Starsha was a
heroine to all of Earth, but to the Star Force she was also a friend. “That was it.
That’s when we came home.”
Carina had
listened raptly to his story, as very few of the details had come down from
HQ. “Do you think this ‘Dark Empire’ is
a threat to Earth? We’re not prepared to
go to war again so soon.”
“It’s
possible. We defeated them at Iscandar,
but we know nothing about them. We don’t
know whether there are more of them out there, or whether destroying this
‘Gorba’ eliminated the threat.” Mark
sighed heavily. “Wildstar believes
helping Desslok will work to our advantage, at least. He thinks we’ll be able to call on Desslok at
any time if we need help.”
“But you’re not so sure about Desslok.” It wasn’t a question – she could sense his
discomfort.
He looked at
her sharply, then chuckled and nudged her with his foot. “I can’t hide anything from you, can I? I had almost forgotten what it was like to
share a brain.”
Shrugging,
she squeezed his foot again, leaving her hand to rest on his ankle without
thinking. “Disconcerting, isn’t it?”
“A little,”
he grinned, and then his expression became more serious. “No, I’m not so sure about Desslok. I can accept that he’s our ally,
that he’s on our side, although I still have a hard time with it. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s
responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths, does it? I have trouble seeing him as one of the Good
Guys.”
“I suspect a
lot of people on Earth would agree with you.”
His jaw was
clenched. “I understand that it’s
important for us to stay on Desslok’s good side. He could be a strong defender of Earth if we
ever need him. But the way Wildstar
interacts with him – it’s as if they’re old friends. To me he’s still a fascist dictator. And he told Wildstar before we left that he’s
planning to rebuild his empire. That
doesn’t sound to me like he’s interested in working for peace.”
Carina
considered what he said, running her fingers over his leg absently. “Have you told Wildstar how you feel?”
Mark sighed
again. “We talked about it. I respect his ability to be diplomatic, and
he says he understands my point of view.
But I’m also worried about what it does to my military career. I honestly don’t know if I could control
myself if I were face to face with someone whose attitudes are so antithetical
to mine. That could prevent me from
being assigned my own ship.”
After a
pause, she said, “I’m not sure what to tell you – I’m not really the person to
give advice on diplomacy. I don’t always
have much of a filter between my brain and my mouth.”
Smiling
gently at her, he sat up to reach for the wine bottle. She jerked her hand away when she realized it
was still on his leg. Time
to break that habit. “No need for
advice, love,” he said. “It feels good
just to get it off my chest.” She
blushed at the endearment and adjusted her posture, curling her legs beside
herself. After he topped off her glass
he sat back with both legs on the sofa, his feet propped against hers, and she changed
the subject.
“So is that
what you want? To
captain a ship? I guess I think
of that as more the career path of a combat guy than a navigator.” She didn’t like the idea of him being
permanently assigned to space duty.
“Well,
probably not a battleship – I don’t have the right instincts for that – and working
on a transport ship is incredibly dull, but I would love to captain an
exploratory expedition someday, if we’re ever in that position. If not, I may try to find something a little
more stable, like teaching.” He looked
at her for a long moment, and she felt the old spark between them flare to life. His voice was suddenly soft. “I guess it depends on where life takes
me.” Don’t
get caught up in the moment, she reminded herself, her heart pounding. She struggled to come up with a light, pithy
reply, but was spared the necessity when he broke eye contact with her and
reached for the plate of pastries on the table, clearing his throat. “But what about you? You’ve never had an extended space
assignment, have you?”
“Only brief
trips.” She accepted a cookie
gratefully. “My skills aren’t really a
match for a transport assignment, and it’s almost unheard of for a woman to be
assigned to a warship, or even to a base doing research and construction on
another planet. I’ve never even
experienced a space warp.”
He
laughed. “Don’t lose any sleep over
that. You get used to them, but your
first few warps leave you with motion sickness to a factor of a thousand.”
“So I
hear. Anyway, I’m not really in a
position to think about long-term goals right now.” She paused.
“I think I’ve mentioned to you that my father is starting to get forgetful.
I ignored it when I went home at
Christmastime – he’s really not in bad shape – but my brothers have been
calling me. I think they want me to step
in and do something about Katie. No one
is worried that Dad can’t take care of himself, but they’re concerned about
her.”
“But what do
your brothers expect you to do? They’re
the ones living in the States. Can’t
they do something to help your father and your sister?”
Looking away
from him, she sighed. “Well, Georgie’s
fiancée’s parents are having health problems, too, and Richie’s wife is
pregnant and they can’t take on any more responsibility. And anyway, I’m the oldest girl, so I’m
expected to take care of it.” She felt
her irritation with her brothers rising. “I don’t have a problem with helping my family
– I love my father and my sister. The problem
is that they want me to move back to the
Mark slid
over and took her hand. “Couldn’t you
bring them here? You can keep your job
with Earth Defense as a civilian contractor.”
She nodded. “That’s what I’d like to do, if it comes to
that. It’s just that the boys are
starting to put pressure on me to come home.
They don’t get that this is my home now.” She squeezed his hand and let it go. “I’m sorry.
I don’t mean to unburden myself on you.”
“Hey, I’ve
unburdened myself on you plenty of times.
It’s not fair to you, what they’re asking you to do. You need to think about what’s best for yourself
as well as for your father and sister.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the support.” She grinned.
“It feels good just to get it off my chest.” Mark refilled their wine glasses again, and they
sat back to discuss lighter subjects. Before
Carina knew it, the clock chimed 2330.
“I think I’d better get you home,” Mark said regretfully.
She rolled
her eyes at him. “You don’t need to ‘get
me’ anywhere, Mark. I think I can manage
– it’s only four blocks.”
“Uh-uh.” He shook his head as he stood. “I don’t like this habit you have of
wandering around by yourself. It’s not
as safe out there as you think it is. Especially in the middle of the night.”
It was
obvious that he wasn’t going to let her go without him – he was already
reaching for his pea coat. Well, his
concern was touching. She would accept
it without argument.
As he locked
the door behind them, she leaned against the wall. “Thanks for having me over tonight,
Mark. It was a lot of fun.”
He took her
arm and led her into the night, where the temperature had dropped considerably
since she walked over earlier. “It was
fun, wasn’t it? I have to admit, Carina,
I was a little nervous about seeing you.
I was afraid it might be strange, meeting in the real world outside of
the hospital.”
“I know. I was worried we wouldn’t have anything to
say to each other.” Happily, that fear
had been unfounded. They walked in
silence for a couple of blocks, until a strong gust of wind sent a shiver over
her. She had been trying to ignore the
cold, but the wind was bitter. “Wow,
it’s really gotten chilly.”
He let go of
her arm and took off his pea coat, draping it over her shoulders against her
protests. She had to admit the warm coat
felt wonderful – she pulled at the lapels to wrap it more tightly around
herself. His scent was all over the
fabric, and as she breathed it in a tidal wave of emotion washed over her. All of the feelings she’d held at bay since
he left in January came rushing back, bringing tears to her eyes. Oh, no.
Hold
it together. She took a deep breath
to calm down…
And sniffled gracelessly. He looked at her. “Are you OK?”
“Yeah, I’m
fine,” she said, her voice unsteady. She
cleared her throat to cover it, but he wasn’t fooled. He took her arm and turned her to face him.
“What’s
wrong? Did I do something?” He looked so worried that she couldn’t help
smiling. She put her hand on his cheek.
“No, sweetie, of course not.
It’s just that…” This was one of
those times when she didn’t know how to filter what she wanted to say. “It just struck me how much I’ve missed
you. I’m so happy you’re home, Mark.”
She watched
his expression change from concern to surprise; to happiness; and finally to
something she couldn’t define. Eyes
darkening, he murmured, “I’ve missed you too, love. It was so good to spend time with you
tonight.” He stroked her cheek and took
a step toward her. She held her breath,
forgetting her misgivings, but at that moment a patrol robot that had been
approaching them suddenly shone its light in their faces and asked them for
identification. Carina was secretly
relieved for the interruption as they jumped apart. After submitting to a retinal scan they moved
on, his arm around her shoulders but the moment lost.
When they
reached her building she relinquished his coat to him, straightening the collar
after he slipped his arms into the sleeves.
She slid her hands down the lapels and said softly, “Thanks for the
escort, Commander.”
The look in
his eyes made her heart skip a beat. “Any time, Lieutenant.”
Running his hands down her arms, he spoke sternly. “I mean that – I don’t like you being out
there alone. If you need an exercise
buddy when you go to the park, call me.
If I’m not on duty, I’ll go with you.”
“I’ll keep
that in mind. Thanks. You’re going to Nova’s for brunch tomorrow,
right? Want to pick me up on the way?”
“Sure. I’ll come by a little before noon.”
She didn’t
want to let him go, but it was time.
“Goodnight, Commander.”
“Goodnight,
Lieutenant.” He hesitated another
moment, then leaned in and kissed her forehead tenderly before letting go of
her arms and turning toward home. She
watched him for a few seconds as she had done this morning, sighing this time
as she opened the door. This might not
be so easy after all.
TO BE CONTINUED….