Chapter 2 - Harry
Harry cupped his hands around
Maeve’s shoulders. In her sandals she was the perfect height to rest his chin
on her head, but he resisted the urge tonight in front of her parents. She
might get annoyed if he messed up her glossy hairdo, after claiming how long
she’d had to sit for the woman who tried to make it curl. He liked it silky,
flowing through his fingers.
Heat through the thin fabric
of the green thing she wore soaked into his palms. So beautiful in anything
he’d seen her wear. So independent, so giving. He loved watching her with the kids
in the family, separated through crazy circumstances by a generation. They were
all fiercely loyal to each other. And so, he respected Maeve’s need to be sure
before committing to him, to the institution of marriage and their foreverness,
like Werner and his bride. Harry had spent two years of watching, then wondering,
and now waiting for her. He’d even met privately with Gervas and Rachel to ask
their blessing. Gervas had understood and appreciated Harry’s challenging
personal and professional dilemma. Maeve was the only holdup.
He hadn’t meant to love her.
The least he could do while he
waited and watched was be her wall to lean on. He squeezed gently and let her
go. He loved her enough to be there, yet not there, as he’d been the past two years
while he finished his commitment to Uncle Sam. Twelve years for school and
active duty. If that didn’t prove he was able to commit, nothing else could.
Not even the secrets they’d shared of her past alternate lifestyle and his
daughter bound them yet. Once he was able to share his biggest secret, the
truth behind the future, would she run to or from him?
Harry watched Gervas kiss
Katrine, convulsively, but gently, clutching her hands, face working to dam
tears behind his lids. Werner told him Katrine’s dad wasn’t crazy over letting Katrine
with her delicate health out of his sight again for long, especially not moving
from base to base around the world.
Werner was a lifer, career
German military. Harry’s adjusted career path led him into the even wilder
beyond and he was eager for Maeve to join him and his new life.
What did Gervas think about
how far away Harry planned to take Maeve?
The old man had been called to
consult on the project, of course, although Dr. Professor Gervas Friedemann,
world-renown socio-economic expert, only knew part of the scope. They’d just have
to deal with the distance factor when they got to it.
Harry rubbed his chin over the
top of Maeve’s head and twirled her to face him. If he and Maeve couldn’t talk
to each other about the immediate future in this time and place, at least they could
dance. He pulled her back out on the floor and held on as if he meant it.
<>
In the morning Harry stood on
the balcony outside his hotel room overlooking Lake Mendota, gripping the wrought-
iron railing with both fists, cooling down after his run. Since the company was
picking up the tab, he simply soaked in the luxury he was not used to after his
years as a tramp flyboy.
His accommodations on training
missions all over, and above, the world had not been this spacious. Neither was
his current apartment at the compound. At least they’d get to transition to family
quarters after the wedding.
His phone rang with Roarke’s
triple burr, then silence.
Harry hunched his shoulders
and took one last deep longing look at the lake before answering his immediate
supervisor’s newest demand.
“Yes.”
“Whoa-ho! I thought Midwest
weddings were tame affairs, my man. What—it’s practically noon in Wisconsin.”
Roarke was just as scared
inside as the rest of them about what they were doing. If he let his humor get
out of control once in a while, Harry could handle him.
“It’s only eight thirty,”
Harry said, squinting back into the room at his bedside clock. “On a Sunday
morning,” he added for good measure.
“Ouch, yeah. So, we’re all set
for tomorrow?”
“So I said. It’s not like you
to be so jittery, Roarke. What’s up? Tarlig asking for more genetically
modified milk?”
Harry pictured Roarke shaking
himself.
“Brrr. It sounds especially
sinister when you say it.” Roarke’s voice dropped, as if he didn’t want anyone
to overhear him. “News came earlier.”
An elephant walked over
Harry’s grave. Clouds shrouded the sun. Goose flesh. Harry held his breath.
“Your number,” Roarke muttered
in his raspy voice, as if the words were so foul not even he would utter them.
“It came up. So far Johnsrud has stalled, but…you’re up, Sundog. It’s official.
Uncle Sam is recalling a lot of personnel, even you.”
Harry slumped on the very firm
hotel mattress and rubbed his brow with his free hand. “I bet not even the
president knew this was happening before three a.m.,” was the first thing out
of his mouth.
“He’s not your boss, not right
now anyway, so you’re entitled to pique,” Roarke responded. “And I’m not
tattling. Though if I did, he may change his mind about you.”
“I really wanted more time,
you know.” Harry flopped back on the bed and flung his arm over his eyes, even
though they couldn’t afford wasting even these few minutes shooting the breeze.
“She’s close. She should come of her own free will. So far, the Earthers have
kept their distance. They know we’re watching her.”
“Well, now, they might call
themselves by a name, but they’re just a bunch of disorganized radicals. You
can take ’em. And you’ve had a year, two if you count the accidental meeting a
year before that, to convince her. I can always step in if you aren’t up to
completing the mission.”
“No way. Not fair. I was
hardly able to spend any time with her, and not much of it quality.” Harry
laughed.
“Huh. You, Hunkster Harry? Who
charms even the nitrox mix and gravity itself to remain stable?”
“That was an accident.”
“Tarlig didn’t think so. He’s
still working on his council presentation—”
“Okay, got it, Roarke. Maeve
and I will be there.”
“Get a different vehicle.
Leave yours in the lot. And don’t forget those juicy genes of hers.”
“It’s not like we can leave
them behind. Bye now.” Harry snapped the screen off and tossed the device on
the other bed.
The game was no longer “just
in case” things got worse for the planet. Plan C was a go. Roarke didn’t want
to believe that time was counting down. The Earthers were more organized every month,
according to their media. It wouldn’t be long before their threats became
action.
Maeve was a priority, but she
couldn’t know why until she agreed to join them. He sent a text. “1 Hour.
Bringing donuts & coffee.” Then he hit the shower.
<>
She was on the phone when he
arrived. She let him in and gave that weak smile that meant she was stalling
him. Harry was all right with that, and shut the door behind them. He plunked the
donuts on her kitchen table and took the lids off their coffees.
He’d gotten her favorite food,
little glazed blueberry bites and a raspberry-filled Persian. The morning brew
was a hearty roast, tall. He raided her cupboard and poured their go juice into
mugs. To their drinks he splashed a dash of unpasteurized cinnamon cream she
got from a natural foods store. She donated change, so it wasn’t technically an
illegal sale.
Yes…the love of his life.
Little rebel in all things. He handed her a cup and made himself at home on her
sofa to observe her gesture and twirl with her phone glued to the side of her
face.
“What?” Her voice rose in
affront. “Does too.”
Harry crossed his feet and
watched Maeve in action, pacing. Someone got her dander up that early on a
Sunday morning. He toasted her with his mug when she faced him briefly, then whirled
away.
“There’s an enormous amount of
math and science in advertising—PR work. Algorithms, biology, a freakin’ amount
of sociology, not to mention all that space tech…” She grinned at him briefly
over her shoulder as she continued to respond to her caller. “Yeah, I know. I’m
good at it. I get that. I love it. The agency adores me and my mind games. Yes,
yes, see you on Wednesday.”
Probably not, but Harry wasn’t
going to drop that bomb yet. She set the phone on her coffee table, placed her
cup beside his and then curled up against him to nuzzle his jaw. Harry flexed
his shoulder muscles in an attempt to retain control of himself. Not easy when
she was in this playful, testing mood. It was almost as if she wanted him to
break the agreement to wait they’d made over a year ago when things got
serious.
He finally pulled back.
“Maeve.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She sighed and
leaned forward to grab her cup. She curled her leg under and sat back, ogling
him over the rim. “I can’t help it if you flyboys are so irresistible.”
“Us flyboys? How many of us
are there?”
“Squadrons,” she purred. “And
I’m going to meet them…”
“Oh?”
“Aren’t you taking me there
tomorrow?”
“Nope.” His turn to leer over
the ceramic mug. “Just the university. We’re using the soc department lab.”
“So I got this new test-taking
outfit for nothing?”
Sometimes he loved her little
act; other times not so much.
She winced at the irritation
he flashed at her and changed tactics. “That was Barry, from the tutoring
center,” Maeve said, nodding at her phone. “He wondered if I could handle more students
and subjects.” She went still, staring at him. “Seems a lot of the tutors are
leaving for…shall we say, government duty. The public school shutdown that’s
been in the news is now a real possibility. They’re going to rely on private
tutors and internet monitored education, maybe even starting in the fall.”
Harry swallowed rising nausea
and sat forward, leaning his elbows on his knees.
“I’m pretty smart, Harry.”
“Yes. Yes, you are, my love.”
“Something you want to tell
me?”
They needed to talk, but not
like this. Sweat pooled at the base of Harry’s spine.
“Aren’t they going to want you
back?” Maeve prodded.
“It will happen, unless my
current status works in my favor.” Harry lifted his torso and looked in her
eyes.
“Grad school, you mean?”
“I won’t lie, but there are
always things I can’t share with you, or can’t share exactly when you want to
know.” He reached for her narrow, cool hands and rubbed her knuckles with his thumbs.
“Eventually…”
“The trust thing. I get it.”
Her sparkle returned and grew gamine. “I know! I’ll enlist. Some of my buds—”
“Are you kidding?” All the
rush of sheer thrill and terror of his first space training mission combined
with the day he met Tarlig formed a knot of horror behind his eyes. “You won’t.
Will you? Did you?” She’d do something like that, then tell him later.
That was one of the things he
appreciated about her, that dratted sense of independence and stubbornness,
tinged with rebellion.
“What if I did?”
Good—she wouldn’t ask if she’d
already done it. He hauled her into his arms and leaned back.
“So…I didn’t want to mention
this in case you thought I was nuts, but…”
“What?” he prompted against
her cheek.
“I…well, I probably am just
paranoid, but I’m pretty sure someone was following me when I went down to the
co-op this morning.”
He swallowed. “In a…a car?”
“Yes. A clunker, you know,
with student stickers on it. I didn’t think much about it until the guy pulled
up next to me on the curb to park.”
Harry let out a breath and
waited.
“I thought maybe he just
wanted directions, but…I got a funny feeling, ya know? So I backed away, went
into the drug store until he left. Maybe it was nothing.”
“That’s the last you saw? What
did he look like?”
“I’m sure it was a
coincidence. I thought for a second it might have been one of Chandra’s
friends, but he was wearing sunnies and a cap, and I didn’t want to get that
close.”
“Good,” he murmured, thinking
furiously. Time was up. They were figuring out how to move in on Maeve. He
couldn’t keep her safe the way things were going.
“You’re shaking,” Maeve
mumbled into his chest. “What’s going on?”
Harry didn’t trust his voice
and could only clear his throat.
“Hey,” she said softly. “Look
at me.” She put her fingers to his jaw and turned his face toward hers. “I
wouldn’t do something totally crazy. Talk to strangers. Enlist. I mean, we even
talked about your discharge last year, and we were barely serious as a couple.”
“Um…yeah.”
“You have to trust me too. I’m
mostly kidding. Mostly. But…if…when you have to…go back into the service…now…when
things are so scary, then I…well, I don’t want to be alone. I’ll go with you.
To the end of the earth.”
She was closer to the truth
than she realized. “We’ll figure it out.” Harry found his voice and screwed up
his courage. “Just don’t do anything…crazy. Please?”
“Who me?”
“Says the woman who saved her
sister’s life.”
At her silence he pulled back.
Her little cat smile grew one of his own.
“That sounds pretty heroic of
me,” she said, “when it was just basically lying there.”
“I believe there was some
pretty serious blood testing and type matching, not to mention painful bone
marrow harvesting going on.”
“I’m not only smart, I’m
tough. Speaking of tests…”
