“Okay. But wake me if you find anything. You can come with me to med bay to see Kamran later.”
Haylie moved over and sat at her computer to see if she could crack the mystery hidden in lines of code once more. She tried to be as quiet as possible and it only took a few minutes for Sara to drift back to sleep. Haylie wished she could sleep too, but she’d rather have something to take her mind off Kamran. As the numbers scrolled past her, her mind drifted to the edge of sleep. She should go to bed. It was then Haylie noticed something she hadn’t before, an out-of-place directory.
“What are you doing there?”
Her fingers tapped quickly against the keys, increasing their tempo as her adrenaline began to flow. There was no protection, so it only took her a moment to access the single file buried within.
The same repeating words began to fill her screen, taking her breath away.
The ambassador will die. The ambassador will die. The ambassador will die.
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The med bay was a torrent of noise when Haylie walked through the doors later that day. The room had the same industrial feel as the rest of the human section of the colony. Instead of gray, the walls were a faded white. There were no windows to the outside so everything was cast in an artificial glow. She noticed a few plants had made their way into the waiting area, mostly shoved into the corner. She detected Sara’s handiwork when she noticed some of the leaves were browning.
People were lined up, filling every chair in the waiting room and standing along the edges. Haylie couldn’t believe the array of injuries, everything from lacerations and burns to broken bones. A frazzled-looking orderly tried to push past her, but she caught him gently by the arm.
“Excuse me. I’m here to interview Ambassador Kamran.”
“Who the hell are you?” He gave her a critical once over.
“Haylie Bond, Security Chief. I need to interview the ambassador as a part of my investigation into the bombing last night.” She returned his stare with a look that would have made a hardened criminal squirm.
He made a half snort, half sigh noise. “Ah. Well, I’ll have to run it by the boss. Wait here.” With a half-step around her, he slipped past and into the chaos.
Great
. Haylie waited ten minutes for the man to return. When he didn’t, she ground her teeth together and went in search of him.
She began to wander around nodding to the people as she passed. An assortment of people, miners, scientists mostly, smiled and gave her words of encouragement and thanks of her handling of the bombing. She finally came to an injured security officer who tried to stand when she approached.
“No, no, no, don’t get up. What happened? Curtis, isn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m not sure to be honest. I was on patrol earlier this morning when I started getting a pain in my leg. When I looked down, there was a huge cut down my calf. But I don’t remember injuring it on anything.”
She could see that the man was confused and worried. She gave his shoulder a light squeeze. “No worries. My friend is the best doctor in the sector. She’ll have you up and running in no time.”
“Thanks, Chief. Are you hurt?” he said.
Haylie’s arm twitched, revitalizing the dull ache that had been with her since the dream. “No, I was hoping to speak with the ambassador. An orderly was checking to see if it’s okay, but I think he may have forgotten.”
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“You mean Mr. Sunshine and Roses? He probably ditched you and went on a rest break. I’d like to throw him into a shuttle and kick him out the air lock once we get to deep space. You may want to tell your friend about that jerk.”
Haylie tried not to smile but couldn’t quite hold it back. “I’ll be sure to do that.”
“If it’s any help, I saw a Briel doctor going back and forth to that back room earlier this morning.” He pointed to an area that was separated by a large set of double doors.
“I haven’t seen him since my arrival, so I’d assume they’re keeping the ambassador back there. Probably to get him away from all this noise and craziness.”
“Thanks, Curtis. Don’t rush back to your shift. If you need the day to recover, make sure you take it.”
“Are you kidding? And miss all the crazy shit that’s going on around here? I’ll be back at it as soon as I get the all clear, Chief.”
“Glad to hear it.”
She nodded, took her leave and made her way toward the doors. No one tried to stop her and there were no guards posted on either side. She was going to have to hire more personnel. The more she thought about it, the more determined she was to enlist some of the miners into active duty. When she pulled the door closed behind her, a blissful silence descended over her. She assumed this was where they kept the critically injured patients. A series of curtains partitioned the room into private areas. Not wanting to disturb any other patients, Haylie quietly peeked behind each one. After a minute of searching, she finally found Kamran in the last cubicle on the left.
Haylie stepped behind the curtain and sucked in a breath when she saw him. She couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or drugged. The rise and fall of his chest was steady, his skin seemed to be back to its normal hue. His eyes fluttered slightly and she saw his hand twitch.
“Kamran?” she whispered.
He frowned and slowly opened his eyes.
“Haylie?”
“It’s me. Are you okay?” She slid her hand down along his arm and entwined her fingers in his.
He turned his head to fully face her, disbelief clear on his face.
“Are you real?”
She felt his words like a physical blow.
Are you real?
She could only guess he’d been having the dreams too. She bit her bottom lip when she remembered hers. Kamran had been in the room with Donaldson when she’d arrived. What had he been doing to Kamran?
“Yes, I’m real. How are you feeling? Do you still hurt?” Questions about the dreams could wait for a moment.
Instinctively, she reached out and brushed his hair. There were still chunks of dried blood crusted to his scalp. She wanted to cry but instead she stroked his forehead and 103
cheek, careful to avoid the stitches. She was going to find whoever did this and make them pay.
“Haylie—” Kamran tried to move, but winced at the effort.
“Hey now, take it easy. Sara will kill me if I hurt one of her patients.”
He fumbled for her hand. “One moment. I need a moment.”
So they sat that way, hands entwined on the hospital gurney, in silence. She surveyed his injuries, trying to keep her fear at almost losing him squashed. He didn’t need that right now. He needed her strength to get through this mess. She continued to let her fingers wander over his body, taking note of every cut and scrape. There was a large bump poking from his mass of black hair. There was a large black bruise that resembled a metal bar and rivet on his cheek, along with other various cuts and scrapes.
She was surprised at the relief as the weight lifted now that she could actually see him, talk to him. He was going to be all right.
Her diagnosis was succinct. “You’ll live.”
Kamran winced. “That’s reassuring. I have to say, getting blown up isn’t pleasant.”
She didn’t mean to laugh. But she did it anyway. “I’m sorry. You always sound like a diplomat.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her, lightly stretching a nearby cut on his forehead. “What would you like me to say? I’m still getting accustomed to human emotional states and as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t always get it right.”
“Hmm…let me think. How about something like, ‘Holy shit, I hurt’. No, that’s not you. Maybe, ‘Someone shoot me’,” she said smiling.
“Someone shoot me.” His own voice lacked humor.
Haylie laughed again. “That’s better.”
Down the hall, Haylie heard the seal of the door suck open. She leaned close beside him. “I bet that’s Sara. Probably wondering where I am.”
“Haylie?”
“How well you know your friend.” He managed a weak smile of his own.
Haylie removed her hand from Kamran’s. “I’m here.”
Sara pulled the curtain back with a single jerk. She planted her hands on her hips.
“What do you think you’re doing? Disturbing my patient when he needs his rest?”
“I would never dream of it, Doc.”
“How are you feeling, Ambassador? Our overzealous security chief isn’t bothering you, is she?”
“Not at all, Dr. Fergus. I believe the chief was going to ask me if I remembered anything about the explosion.” He rolled his head to the side and winked at Haylie.
“Do you?” She really shouldn’t push him, but he seemed better than even a few minutes ago. Their investigation would be so much easier if they had even a small clue to go on.
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“Not really. Though…” he hesitated, his mouth hanging open for a second before he closed it.
Sara made her way over to the bed and checked his vitals. “Don’t try too hard, Ambassador. You took a nasty blow to your head. Things will probably be a bit foggy until things have a chance to heal.”
“How long do you think that could take? We could really use the ambassador’s help in finding the people responsible.” Her irritation flared. She didn’t want Sara that close to him, touching Kamran in such a personal manner. She pushed the feeling aside and cursed herself. While she wasn’t experiencing any of the overpowering lust of earlier, the possessiveness hadn’t disappeared. She was going to have to keep herself under tight rein.
“There’s no way to know. I don’t think the Briel are any better at predicting the outcome of such an injury than we are. Hours? Weeks?”
Haylie pinched the bridge of her nose. “Great.”
“You need to get some sleep. You look like I feel, Chief.”
She looked down at Kamran, his concern clear on his face. She felt him reach out with his mind, but barely. She smiled, not wanting him to know how deeply affected she’d been by everything that had happened.
She shrugged. “I’m tired. But I’ve been having some…strange dreams. Kept me up last night.”
“That reminds me. I want to hook you up to the computer for a bit,” Sara said and beckoned to Haylie with her finger. “Come on.”
Sara disappeared into the next area. Haylie was about to follow when Kamran caught her by the hand.
“Dream?”
“Umm, yeah. Not a very pleasant one. It left a calling card too. A nice bruise on my arm.”
“Donaldson.” His voice barely rose above a whisper.
She shivered.
“Haylie Bond, please.” Sara called her name very formally, a short distance away.
“We’ll talk soon. Once Sara leaves.” She gave his hand a squeeze and left the safety of the cloth room.
When she entered the exam area a short distance from Kamran, Sara was busy adjusting a computer stationed by the gurney.
“Okay, Chief, this will be a full physical. Strip and put on the sexy blue smock. I’ll be right back.” Sara grinned.
Haylie blinked. She was going to kill Sara.
“You’ve got to be kidding. You put me through one of these before we left Earth.”
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“And now you’re spawning spontaneous injuries. I want to make sure there isn’t anything wrong,” Sara said and smiled. “Humor your doctor.”
“I’m going to kick my doctor’s ass.” Despite her protests, Haylie began to undress.
“I’ll give you a few minutes to change. I need to get something, anyway,” she said and left the area.
It took Haylie longer than normal to remove the jumpsuit. Her hands shook as she unfastened the catch that held her clothing in place and pulled the garment off her sore body. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“You need to relax.” Kamran’s voice drifted from the other bed.
“Is that your professional opinion, Ambassador?”
He muttered something she didn’t quite understand.
She heard the metal rungs of the curtain slide. Quickly donning the smock, she poked her head out. “What?”
“Donaldson was in my dream too. You were there too, for a second at least before he took you away.”
She froze. Flashes of the dream surfaced in her mind. The barren landscape, the secluded mountains. His grip was so tight. Her arm began to ache. No, she wasn’t going to do this now. Focus on the present.
“Anything like this happen between Briel couples that you know of?”
“Sharing dreams? No. But who knows what strange things may come as a result of our relationship.”
Haylie straightened. “We don’t have a relationship. Remember?”
He didn’t say anything at first. His eyelids looked heavy, sleep threatening to overtake him. He inhaled deeply and Haylie swore he straightened his posture, looking very much the diplomat. “How would you describe the way in which we’ve…interacted? We’ve been intimate.”
“That’s sex. Not a relationship.”
“Pardon my ignorance of human semantics. What’s the difference?”
She’d upset him. His face was flushed and she could see his hands were balled into fists.
Not a good idea to upset him.
“When you get out of here, I’ll explain it.”
And with that she retreated back inside the safety of her examination area. She slowed her breathing and tried to relax as much as possible. Her blood pressure being through the roof right before a physical wouldn’t be a good idea.
She hated that he was right. They did have a relationship of sorts. But despite Briel laws and biology, it was nothing more than sex at this point. So what if they were reading each other’s minds and popping up in mutual dreams? The concern she’d felt for him at the explosion site was natural considering what they’d been doing an hour prior. It didn’t mean anything more than she’d proved she wasn’t a heartless bitch.
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The seal on the outside door broke again and Haylie heard two sets of feet approaching.
“Are you decent, hon?” Sara asked from outside the curtain.
Haylie quickly sat down on the edge of the gurney. “Come on in.”