Original Work Terra Novae Spes - Epic 2

CHAPTER 35



“Ryan’s on his way back,” said Kendrick as the vacation was coming to an end and the groups were gathering on the beach. “He’s bringing in a shuttle with some cargo, so we have a bit of work to do before leaving.”

“That’s fine,” said Tasha evenly. She had packed up as early as possible, ready to put this place far behind her that reminded her of her failed relationships in life. At the moment, she really didn’t care if she ever set foot on the island again. The shuttle landed at the newly created area by the pavilion as Ryan brought it in for a pinpoint landing. The doors opened up as Zoe Kent and Kate Barnes were seen departing.

“Bunch of supplies on board,” said Zoe to the crowd. “Can we get some help over here?”

“Zoe, we can get that if you and Kate want to get packed,” said Angeline.

“Thank you,” said Zoe as the pair headed out while Ryan continued to shut down the systems. It didn’t take long for him to get to his quarters finding Chuck had already packed for him.

“Hey, man,” said Ryan as he swept into the quarters.

“I think it’s a crime sending you back only to leave again,” said Chuck.

“That’s what they pay me the big bucks for,” said Ryan. “Thanks for packing me up.”

“No problem,” said Chuck.

“So…” asked Ryan.

“So?” asked Chuck.

“Was your last night memorable?” asked Ryan.

“It was,” said Chuck.

“Do I suspect to find blond hair on your pillow?” asked Ryan with a grin.

“You don’t kiss and tell and neither do I,” laughed Chuck.

“That’s normally because you see them in the kitchen the next morning,” laughed Ryan.

“Truth?” asked Chuck. “Something isn’t right with me.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ryan. Chuck briefly explained the situation both last night and the morning as Ryan nodded briefly.

“I think a trip to the clinic needs to happen when we arrive,” said Ryan.

“I was thinking the same thing,” said Chuck. “I didn’t even realize it was happening until it happened and I certainly couldn’t stop.”

“Abby?” asked Ryan. “Or Nancy?”

“Neither in here,” said Chuck. “It was Vanessa that stayed the night.”

“Wow,” said Ryan. “Of all the women that have been chased by the guys in the colony.”

“She came back from the beach and we picked up where we left off,” said Chuck. “I really didn’t think there was anything to pick up from, but apparently I was wrong.”

“You certain something else was at work?” asked Ryan. “I mean, Vanessa could have that kind of effect on any man.”

“I didn’t feel like myself,” said Chuck. “Still don’t, really.”

“Well, I’m not swinging that way,” grinned Ryan. “You can call ahead if you like.”

“No, I’ll wait until we arrive,” said Chuck.

“Okay, let’s see if they are unpacked yet,” said Ryan. “You talked to her this morning?”

“We did a little more than talk,” said Chuck as his face blushed a bit.

“I see,” said Ryan with a grin. “Well, you are officially on my envy list.”

“Yeah, about that,” said Chuck with a laugh. “I’ve got a lot of catching up to do if that’s the case.”

“Does Tasha know?” asked Ryan.

“No,” said Chuck.

“I’d leave it that way,” said Ryan. “You two were about to start talking last night.”

“Yeah, until the medical emergency,” said Chuck. “She disappeared and Vanessa came back to the bar area. What I mean by not feeling like myself was I planned to wait for Tasha.”

“And Vanessa gave you another option?” asked Ryan.

“More like I suggested that option,” said Chuck.

“Well, let’s see what the doctors say,” said Ryan.

“How do I explain that to Vanessa?” asked Chuck.

“Tell her the truth,” said Ryan. “She’s a straightforward kind of gal.”

“That she is,” said Chuck. They collected the baggage and headed out, finding the shuttle Ryan had flown down was empty and the last of the items were being stowed until the next rotation. Chuck made his way back to the shuttle he came on and saw Tasha in the distance. He shied away from speaking to her that morning as the groups boarded the shuttles and departed for the trip back to the colony. Stories were told and small groups chatted the entire way as the excitement of the vacation still hadn’t worn off. Upon arrival, Chuck headed to his townhouse and deposited his bag before changing to head to the hospital. He was on his way out the door when a voice behind him stopped him.

“I was just coming to talk,” said Vanessa with a smile as she came from the next house over.

“Vanessa,” he said quietly as she walked up and gave him a quick kiss. However, he didn’t reciprocate the gesture and she pulled back slightly.

“Just a vacation thing?” she asked.

“Not exactly,” said Chuck. He explained what the problem was and what he thought might have happened. As soon as he finished, she nodded her head towards the hospital.

“Let’s get you tested,” she stated. “Are they still there?”

“Is what still there?” he asked.

“The urges?” she asked.

“I’d say so,” said Chuck. Vanessa checked him out and determined, yes, he was still having those feelings as they walked the short distance to the hospital. When they checked in, Vanessa immediately requested to speak to Mary and put Chuck in an exam room. Mary eventually came from checking on the few patients in the hospital and smiled as she approached Vanessa.

“You look very refreshed,” said Mary with a smile.

“It was good for me,” said Vanessa with a smile. “As it will be good for you.”

“Eventually,” said Mary. “Doctor Chambless said you needed to see me?”

“Remember that inventory discrepancy I told you about after the outbreak?” asked Vanessa.

“Of course,” said Mary. “Wait… the Retivive-3?”

“Yes, I believe I found some of it,” said Vanessa.

“When you say you found…?” asked Mary. “You didn’t get dosed, did you?”

“I was, shall we say, a third party involved,” said Vanessa. “On the receiving end of the effects.”

“Oh,” said Mary. “And I would assume you found the gentleman in question?”

“He’s in the exam room waiting for you,” said Vanessa. Mary headed inside and wasn’t expecting to find Chuck waiting on the exam table looking very embarrassed about the situation. Mary immediately took a sample of his blood as well as telling him to provide a urine sample. Chuck did as requested and brought back the sample container in short order.

“Okay, let’s do a scan otherwise,” said Mary as she sent the samples to the lab and put a biomed reader on his wrist. “Off with your shirt, please.”

Chuck did as requested as she read his blood pressure as well as giving him an old fashioned listen to his breathing with a stethoscope. She had him breathe in several times as she moved the instrument around his back.

“Looks like you’re almost entirely cleared from the virus,” said Mary. “And you got a nice tan while you were gone.”

“I worked with my shirt off and kept up with my physical therapy,” said Chuck as she accidentally brushed against him and it triggered a response in his mind.

“You still having sexual urges?” asked Mary as she finished up and made a couple of notes in the paper file she had for him. “Doctor-patient confidentiality is in effect.”

“They are there,” said Chuck evasively.

“Can you be more specific?” asked Mary. “I can get a male doctor if you aren’t comfortable.”

“No, I’m… I’m okay,” said Chuck.

“So?” asked Mary.

“It’s like the really strong urges come and go, but they are always there in the background,” said Chuck. “I think I’m okay at the moment.”

“Initial scan looks like it was a decent sized dose,” said Mary as she checked the results of the analysis on the sample. “About five times what we normally give for stasis blindness.”

“Dose of?” asked Chuck.

“Retivive-3,” said Mary. “Some on Earth called it ‘Truedream’ on the illegal drug market.”

“It created some powerful urges last night,” said Chuck.

“When did it first come up?” asked Mary.

“Before dinner maybe?” he said. “That’s when I think it started hitting.”

“How could you tell?” asked Mary.

“I was a bit more… forward with someone than usual,” said Chuck.

“In a physical way?” asked Mary.

“No, but the desire was there,” said Chuck.

“Honestly, the best counter I can offer is time and a lot of water to help flush it from your system,” said Mary. “I’d say at least a day or two is more likely before the effects go away.”

“It certainly has an effect,” said Chuck as he blushed up.

“I heard,” said Mary evenly. “And they are going to continue for a little while longer.”

“It’s embarrassing,” said Chuck as he blushed up.

“Look, you can deal with the increased… urges one of two ways,” said Mary as she saw he was uncomfortable talking about it. “Ignore them or take care of them. If you do plan to ‘take care of them’ I would advise you not to overdo it since there could be complications. However, you’re young enough that I doubt that would be a problem.”

“By taking care of them, you mean?” he asked.

“As in taking care of the urges…” said Mary. “You need an explanation and some pictures?”

“Ah, no,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure I had the proper medical procedures down.”

“There are several methods for taking care of your problems,” said Mary.

“You willing to help with one in particular?” he blurted out without thinking. After a moment, his eyes grew wide open as his mouth dropped open and he turned beet red.

“I’m going to pretend that comment didn’t just happen,” said Mary with a stern look.

“I have no idea where that came from,” he stammered.

“I know exactly where it came from,” said Mary as she glanced down and saw the effects were coming back on. “But I also know this isn’t you talking.”

“I am so sorry, Doctor,” he stammered as the blush continued on his face.

“Look, I know what you are feeling right now and I’m flattered you thought of me,” said Mary.

“It’s just… never mind,” said Chuck.

“Just what?” she asked. “Can’t be any worse than what you said already.”

“You’re an attractive woman and the urges overrode my brain,” said Chuck. “I spoke before thinking since… never mind.”

“You thought you could get away with it?” asked Mary.

“More like I was hoping maybe you would have gone with it,” said Chuck as he blushed again. “Huge mistake on my part and I apologize. You’re being professional and I’m being a pig.”

“Apology accepted,” said Mary with a nod. “And one thing about it, Doctor Dawson, you’ve always been professional with me before. So, this one time slip isn’t going to diminish your status with me.”

“I shouldn’t have said it,” said Chuck.

“Again, one time isn’t a big deal,” said Mary. “But just this once.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Chuck even though his brain was telling him something entirely different as he quickly scanned Mary up and down in her chair.

“Look, this will wear off, but you might have a few challenging days ahead of you. Do try to be on your best behavior,” said Mary kindly as she annotated his file and she missed him looking her over.

“I think I’ll lock myself in my room,” he stated with a chuckle and brought his eyes back to her head as she looked at him.

“Probably not a bad idea,” said Mary with a smile. “I’ll swing by later on and check on you.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” admitted Chuck.

“I’m sure I can handle you,” said Mary. “And don’t take that the wrong way.”

“Yes, Doctor,” said Chuck as his mind already raced in that direction.

“Water and sleep are your best allies,” said Mary. “Look, I’ll write you a bed rest slip for another day just to make sure. You can play hooky from work tomorrow. We’ll see about the day after next.”

“It might last longer?” he asked.

“Maybe,” said Mary.

“I think that’d be a good idea,” said Chuck. “I couldn’t imagine being around some of the women I work with in this condition.”

“I’ll let Javier know you are needed for some additional testing from the virus,” said Mary.

“Thank you, Mary,” he stated sincerely. “For being understanding as well.”

Mary nodded and gave him a smile. She finished annotating the file and turned back to him.

“Now, onto another subject,” said Mary. “We’ve been missing a vial of that drug since our last complete inventory. It appears you might have found some.”

“I didn’t take it!” he exclaimed.

“No, we think it disappeared during the outbreak,” said Mary. “Obviously, you’re off our suspect list for the moment. Regardless, if and when we start an investigation, we might need a statement from you.”

“Of what happened?” he asked.

“That and who you had contact with before you noticed the effects,” said Mary. “If someone still has that vial, we need to know who before they can use it again.”

“Yes, of course,” said Chuck. “This could cause problems with others, I’d imagine.”

“Which is why we need to figure it out,” said Mary. “Obviously, we’ll contact you later about it when we know more.”

“I’ll help however I can,” said Chuck.

“Okay, I’ll let your chaperone know you’re ready,” said Mary.

“My chaperone?” asked Chuck.

“Vanessa,” said Mary. “Anyway, I’ll be by after dinner for a quick check.”

“Okay, see you then,” said Chuck as he departed and heard Mary telling her to “take Chuck home and make him rest.” The pair headed back to their townhouse block as Vanessa followed him inside.

“You seriously going to make me go to bed?” he chuckled.

“I think we need to have a talk,” she stated directly as she crossed her arms.

“I’m in trouble,” he said. “I can feel it.”

“No, but I need to know how much this drug was at work,” said Vanessa. “Look, I’m your friend first and last night you were far more direct then you’ve ever been. I need to know if you have feelings for me or it was this drug.”

“I honestly almost had no control over what I was saying last night,” he admitted. “Even less control over my body.”

“So, it was the drug at work?” she asked.

“I… I’m not sure,” he stated. “Look, you’re intelligent, sassy and downright gorgeous. I think we’ve become good friends since being here.”

“But nothing more?” she asked.

“I would prefer to have this conversation when I’m level headed,” he stated. “I’m not sure I won’t say something that wrecks our friendship.”

“No, that’s what I want to tell you,” she said with a sigh. “Honestly, you have been a great friend and truth be told, I could see us dating. But…”

“But you don’t think it would last” he stated.

“No, I don’t,” she said with another sigh. “You’re handsome and make me laugh, but I think we are better friends than lovers.”

“Again, I’m not sure I want to make any decisions right now,” he stated.

“Plus, you’ve got Tasha Hayden on the brain when you’re not drugged up,” she said as she crossed her arms again.

“I’ll admit, I was trying to work my way back to being her friend,” he said with raised hands.

“I’d say a little more than friends,” stated Vanessa with a scoff.

“I don’t know if that’s even possible,” said Chuck. “Look, you want honesty, here it is.”

“It is appreciated,” said Vanessa. “Even though last night was last night.”

“I think I’m skating on thin ice here,” said Chuck.

“No, I’m telling you last night was last night,” said Vanessa.

“Oh,” said Chuck.

“Again, you were very charming last night even if very blunt,” said Vanessa. “I know it was the chemicals at work and we had a good time. Let’s leave it at that.”

“I don’t know if that’s the case,” said Chuck.

“Would you have done that otherwise?” she asked.

“Done? Maybe. Said the things I said, probably not,” said Chuck.

“Then there it is,” said Vanessa. “Look, friends sometimes do what we did last night. I think we can still be friends as long as you can accept that.”

“I’ve never had a friend that did the things we did last night,” he chuckled.

“Well, now you do,” she chuckled. “Again, friends.”

“Friends,” he said as they shook hands.

“Now, friend,” she stated as she kept hold of his hand. “Let’s see about getting you some treatment for your current problem.”

“I’m sorry?” he asked as she tugged him towards the upstairs.

“I’m going to help take care of you as a friend,” she stated and took his other hand and pulled him gently towards the upstairs. “As in your current problem.”

It didn’t take much convincing on his part as the drug was still interacting with his brain. Following her upstairs, he was a bit confused at the moment, but went with the flow.

********************
​

Ryan could hear tiptoeing down the stairs as he was in the kitchen making up something simple for dinner. Even with the carpet, he could see the female feet of someone and wisps of hair falling down as someone was trying to peek around the corner at him.

“You can come on down, Vanessa,” he said softly. “I’m decent.”

“How could you tell it was me?” she asked in a whisper as she came down dressed in a bathrobe.

“The rose tattoo on your ankle,” he stated with a nod. “Is he asleep?”

“He has been for a while,” she stated.

“Want something to drink?” he asked.

“That’s why I came downstairs,” said Vanessa. Ryan filled a glass of water and handed it over to her as he continued to prepare his food.

“Should I wake him for dinner or no?” asked Ryan after several minutes of uncomfortable silence came over the two.

“No, he needs rest to let…” she started to say and caught herself.

“To let the Truedream work its way out of his system?” asked Ryan.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“He thought something was off and his sudden increase in sexual urges,” said Ryan. “I can put two and two together.”

“Yes, food, water and sleep are his best allies,” she stated. “Since he is sleeping, let’s have that work to our advantage.”

“I’m sure you helped as well,” said Ryan with a grin.

“Friends help in other ways,” she said with a scowl.

“Friends don’t help then come downstairs wearing nothing more than a bathrobe,” chuckled Ryan. “It’s all good though. Anything for my boy.”

“We are just friends,” protested Vanessa.

“Okay,” said Ryan. “I’m not arguing that point.”

“Honestly, I don’t think it would ever work between us,” said Vanessa.

“Because of a certain blond female?” asked Ryan.

“Yes,” said Vanessa. “It’s like a tragedy with those two.”

“How so?” asked Ryan.

“Because he was waiting for her,” said Vanessa with a sigh. “Had I known that; I would have never given into his… charms.”

“Speaking of,” said Ryan. “You’ve had every single male in this colony chasing you since we got here. How does Chuck end up talking to you for a half an hour and this happens?”

“Look, cabrón, you can flit from girl to girl to girl and nobody says a word,” said Vanessa with an edge in her voice. “But I can’t be with one guy without being considered some puta?!”

“Well, I’d hope you aren’t flitting from girl to girl,” said Ryan in a serious tone but she saw a playful look cross his eyes.

“The point stands,” said Vanessa as she folded her arms.

“Look, as far as I know you haven’t given any guy here the time of day,” said Ryan. “So, why all the sudden did Chuck get the first class treatment?”

“Are you jealous?” she asked directly.

“Hell, kinda,” said Ryan. “I want to copy his game since he made a nice catch.”

“Are you judging me?!” she growled.

“I’m not judging you,” said Ryan in a quieter voice. “What has gotten into you?”

“You judging me for taking care of a friend in need,” she stated with anger. “I just know how this might look and I’m not going to allow you to judge me.”

“You realize you aren’t the first woman that came out of Chuck’s room to the kitchen?” he asked.

“Oh, now I’m Anna?!” asked Vanessa as her eyes flashed in anger.

“How did this escalate to hostile so quickly?” asked Ryan incredulously.

“You brought it to that level!” stated Vanessa.

“You know what, out,” said Ryan as he pointed at the door with the knife in his hand. “Bring back my robe later, knowing you it’ll be shredded, but get out of my house right now.”

“You can’t be serious!” she stated in a hushed tone as she remembered Chuck was asleep.

“As a heart attack,” said Ryan with an uncharacteristic frown. “Get out.”

Vanessa sat defiantly for a moment as she saw Ryan was serious. He merely shook his head and pointed again at the door before turning back to the cutting board.

“Ryan, I’m sorry,” she stated.

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it,” said Ryan. “I want you to leave.”

“Ryan, I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on Chuck,” she stated.

“Yet, you’re sitting in my kitchen going off on me for God only knows what reason,” he said with another frown. “So, either you tell me why I’m suddenly the target of your anger of get the hell out of my house.”

“You sure seem like you’re judging me because of what happened,” she spat and her eyes flashed with anger. “As well as being jealous of Chuck.”

“You understand I really don’t care and I’m joking? Furthermore, who you and who you don’t sleep with is of no concern to me. Who he sleeps with is of no concern to me,” said Ryan with an edge in his voice as he set down the knife he was using to cut up some vegetables. “To be honest, hermana, the only thing I care about it making sure you don’t leave this house with my robe.”

“This is your robe?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said with a scoff. “It was hanging in the bathroom and frankly, you’re going to have to fight Larissa for it anyway.”

“I thought it was Chuck’s,” said Vanessa.

“Regardless, nobody thinks you’re a whore for what happened with Chuck,” said Ryan. “And the question still stands.”

“Which question was that,” said Vanessa cooling off somewhat.

“Why Chuck,” said Ryan.

“He was very direct with me,” said Vanessa. “Told me what he wanted and wanted it right then. Of course, I know it was the Truedream talking.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” said Ryan. “Plenty of guys would tell you the same things.”

“Not like that,” she said as she pursed her lips. “Certainly not as forward as he was.”

“Maybe they sugar coat it?” asked Ryan.

“Yet, they haven’t,” she stated. “Truth, Chuck is the first guy I’ve been with since we got here.”

“Is he going to be okay?” he asked.

“The effects are always temporary,” said Vanessa. “A day or two and he should be back to normal.”

“So, we get good Cuban cooking for the next couple of days?” he asked with a grin.

“No,” said Vanessa. “Tonight will be the last night with him and I.”

“You sure?” asked Ryan.

“I’ve never settled for being the rebound girl,” said Vanessa. “He’s still on the rebound from Anna to an extent. More so from Tasha.”

“Yeah, that never works out,” said Ryan.

“I’m sure I will find an appropriate match,” said Vanessa. “Speaking of, you need to make peace with my girl.”

“Peace?” asked Ryan.

“Making up with Larissa for what you did to her,” she spat.

“You know? There’s been this underlying anger with me since we started talking,” said Ryan. “Actually, you’ve been giving me dirty looks since we before we got to the island. Now, I have no idea how I’ve wronged you, but an explanation would go a long way to solving this.”

“I’m angry at you for the way you treated my best friend,” said Vanessa. “For breaking up with her right before you went to the island so you could bed down as many women as possible.”

“Do you understand Larissa put me on the time out before we left?” asked Ryan. “That was her choice, not mine.”

“Because she was afraid you would cheat on her while you were gone!” exclaimed Vanessa in a low voice.

“I would never do that to her or hurt her that way,” growled Ryan. “Did she tell you that?”

“No, but she knows what kind of man you are,” said Vanessa.

“Not that kind,” said Ryan as a dark expression came over his face. “If I commit to a woman, I don’t fool around, period. I saw my father do that to my mom practically my whole life and it killed her from the inside. Oh, sure, they said it was Ocasio Syndrome that killed her, but I know better. She gave up the will to live because of the way she was treated by my so called father.”

“So, don’t you dare sit there and lecture me about being faithful when I’ve never been anything but faithful to her the short times we’ve been together. Don’t you dare pass advanced judgment on me either without knowing all the facts,” said Ryan as his eyes flashed with anger.

The silence in the kitchen was deafening as the only sounds were the slicing of the vegetables and the knife hitting the cutting board.

“Ryan, I’m sorry,” said Vanessa finally. “I didn’t know.”

“You never thought to ask either, did you?” he frowned.

“Larissa has become my best friend and I don’t want to see her get hurt,” she said softly.

“I could never hurt that woman,” said Ryan with a sigh. “She’s smart as they come and hands down the best pilot I’ve ever met in my life. She’s beautiful inside and out with a fighting spirit that makes her even more beautiful. She is special in ways that can’t even be described.”

“Do you love her?” asked Vanessa.

“There could have been eventually,” said Ryan with a sigh. “But every time I peeled back a layer and got a little closer to her, she shoved me away.”

“She didn’t want to get hurt herself,” said Vanessa.

“I’m not the one that would hurt her,” he said and dumped the vegetables into a pot. “I treated that woman like a queen each and every time we’ve been together. But, again, when I try to get close, she pushes me away.”

“I know you’ve treated her well,” said Vanessa quietly. “And yes, she does have problems opening up where others are concerned.”

“So, talk to her about it,” said Ryan.

“I am trying,” said Vanessa. “I just…”

“Don’t want to see her with the man whore?” asked Ryan with a frown.

“You have gotten that reputation,” said Vanessa. “And don’t act like it isn’t deserved.”

“You’re right,” said Ryan with a sigh. “But when I’m with her, I’m focused on her.”

“Like you were with Katy?” asked Vanessa.

“How did you know about that?” asked Ryan.

“Katy and I talked,” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “We roomed together when we got here and she felt like you might have been the one for her.”

“She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever met,” said Ryan.

“And you feel like Larissa is a proper match?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” said Ryan with a sigh. “Like I said, I try to get close, she shuts me out.”

“Maybe I will talk to her,” said Vanessa as Ryan’s communicator buzzed.

“Kingston,” he answered.

“Hey, Ryan,” said Charity. “We’ve got a problem. I know you just got back, but Pyro is down sick tonight and we need someone to cover her alert shift.”

“Okay,” said Ryan. “Give me like half an hour and I’ll be there.”

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” said Charity.

“No worries,” said Ryan. “Let them know I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Thanks,” said Charity as she ended the call. Ryan put the meal he was preparing into the fridge and started to head upstairs.

“You’re welcome to wait around if you like,” he said as he reached the staircase.

“I probably need to get home and unpack,” she stated.

“Okay, regardless, can I have my bathrobe back before I shower?” he chuckled.

“Oh, right,” she said. “I can at least get dressed first?”

“We’re not that open about our friendship yet,” he chuckled.

“Are we friends, Ryan?” she asked as she passed him on the stairs.

“We aren’t enemies,” he said with shrugged shoulders. “Given time, I think you will find I’m not this bastard you’ve built in your mind.”

“Maybe not,” she stated as he followed her up. She headed into Chuck’s room and handed the bathrobe around the door. He headed into his bedroom and quickly undressed to grab a shower and shave. Heading back out, he noticed the bathrobe smelled of her body spray.

“Can you do me a favor?” he asked in a low voice as Vanessa came out dressed.

“Maybe,” she said.

“Let Larissa borrow this body spray,” he smiled. “It’s awesome.”

“I’ll trade it for your bath robe and you can give it to her,” she grinned.

“I’m not sure if that’s a fair trade. That’s a really nice robe,” he stated with a grin as he headed into the bathroom. “See you later.”

“Bye,” she said as she tiptoed down the staircase. After showering up, Ryan changed into his flight suit and headed for the SIT pads and wondered what meals would be brought out for the alert crews that evening.

Eventually, Chuck woke up to find an empty bed and furthermore, an empty house. He texted Ryan and found he was on alert at the SIT hangers and his text to Vanessa went unanswered for the moment. Heading into the kitchen, he started rummaging in the fridge and pantry looking for something to eat, finally deciding on a bowl of soup. He also remembered what Mary mentioned and drank down a full glass of water to start before refilling it and quickly eating while looking over the emails he had ignored while on vacation. It wasn’t long before the doorbell rang and he headed through the house seeing Mary in the camera.

“Doctor,” said Chuck with a warm smile as he opened the door.

“Doctor,” she replied with a grin and took his hand. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“No, I more of less just woke up and finished eating,” he said as he held her hand for what seemed like the proper amount of time and released it. “You?”

“Just came from the dining hall,” said Mary as she waited for him to invite her in.

“No hug?” he asked with a charming grin.

“Really?” she asked with a laugh.

“I know it’s a medically proven fact that hugs help cure like 97% of the ailments out there,” he said with the same grin.

“Oh, do they now?” she asked with an amused smile.

“Yep, read it in a medical journal,” he said in a serious tone, but his eyes told a different story.

“Which one?” she asked with a laugh.

“I…those are details that aren’t important,” he grinned.

“Fine,” she said with a smile and took him in a hug and thought it’s okay for friends to hug.

After releasing his neck, she noticed his hands lingered on the top of her hips for a little longer and she thought she felt his thumbs rubbing gently before he dropped his hands. Giving her another grin, she returned a smile and stepped inside after being motioned in.

“I have to say, you look very different tonight,” he said with a smile. Mary had taken the time to change after work and actually made herself up for a change while wearing a sundress and heels.

“I’m sorry?” she asked.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you except in your uniform or scrubs,” he stated. “You look nice.”

“I just felt like something summer was appropriate,” she stated as she smoothed the front of the dress. “This is my favorite dress.”

“Well, you look very nice,” he stated.

“Just nice?” she asked.

“I… hadn’t planned on anything further than that,” he said. “I am trying to behave.”

“No, that’s kind of what I was wondering,” said Mary.

“Okay, you dress up very pretty and it’s a good color on you,” he said.

“I’ll take that,” she said with a smile. “You okay for testing?”

“I, uh…” he stated. “You okay with not doing it at the hospital?”

“Why would I not be okay?” she asked.

“You’re a single, beautiful female, I’m a single male, you’ve dressed yourself up nice and pretty, we’re in the house alone…” he said with shrugged shoulders. “I know how that might look and people love to talk.”

“Who cares what they say?” she asked. “Nobody saw me walking in and regardless, I don’t think I’ll be here that long anyway.”

“Of course,” he said. “I just didn’t want to put you into a compromising position.”

“I’m a grown woman and can do what I like,” she stated. “Besides, this is a professional visit.”

“Right,” he said as he waved his hand at the couch. “Okay, make yourself at home then.”

“I do thank you for considering that possibility,” said Mary with a smile as she walked into the living room and set down her small bag.

“Trying to be a considerate pig at the moment,” he grinned as he refilled his water cup. “You want something to drink?”

“Um, sure,” she said as she looked at him in the kitchen.

“Anything in particular?” he asked. “Water, soda, alcoholic?”

“Is that wine?” she asked as a bottle caught her attention.

“It is,” he said as he saw one of the unopened bottles she was staring at. “Part of the Ryan Kingston collection.”

“Oh, it’s his?” asked Mary.

“What’s his is mine and I doubt he’d object,” said Chuck with shrugged shoulders.

“It isn’t chilled, though,” said Mary.

“Yeah, because we don’t have a quick chiller in here or anything,” he laughed.

“I haven’t had wine in so long,” she remarked. “You know what? I’m going to break loose a bit tonight and have a glass of Ryan’s wine.”

“One glass of house white, coming up,” said Chuck as he quickly chilled the bottle and brought it along with a wine glass into the living room. After popping the cork, he filled the glass with a little more than what she considered “a glass.”

“That’s like two glasses,” she laughed.

“I wouldn’t want you to think of us as bad hosts,” he grinned.

“Okay, but just this one,” she said as she sipped at it and he put the cork back in and returned the bottle to the fridge. “It’s good.”

“I honestly don’t know my wines,” he said. “I mean, other than white, blush or red. Ryan on the other hand is like one of those connoisseurs.”

“Probably a good talent for the women he dates,” chuckled Mary. “Speaking of, where is he?”

“At work,” said Chuck. “Hence why I asked if you were okay being in a house alone with me.”

“I think I’m safe,” she stated as she took another sip of the wine and fired up her tablet. “Okay, have a seat on the couch for me.”

“Any position you’d like me in?” he asked with a charming grin.

“Sitting up is fine for the moment,” she said as she readied the devices and put the first on his upper arm. It went to work reading his biometric data as she looked over the results on her tablet. It took several minutes before it as complete and she stood up to remove the device.

“Okay, these things have to go,” she said as she kicked off the heels.

“As I said, make yourself at home,” he stated as she removed the device and reattached it to his lower leg before starting the scan again.

“Two times?’ he asked.

“We’ll actually do three,” she stated as the results started coming in. “One typically is okay, two is better and three gives a very good picture.”

“Okay,” he said as they continued the small talk as the test completed. She leaned over to remove the device from his leg and he got a good glance down her dress and her ample bosom. Which in turn gave rise to the feelings he was trying to suppress and made them harder to go away as well as causing a physical reaction.

“Okay, last time, but I need it on your chest,” she said as she had another drink of the wine. “Off with the shirt.”

“As the doctor orders,” he said as he pulled the t-shirt off and tossed it on the couch beside him. “It’s a good thing I showered before you came over.”

“You do smell proper,” she smiled as she placed the device on his chest and saw him briefly inhale at the device as well as noticing the physical reaction she was having. “You still having those urges?”

“Why do you ask?” he asked.

“Because your… reaction to looking down my dress is distracting,” she stated as she faced him.

“I didn’t…” he started to say and his voice trailed off.

“Yeah, you did,” she said as she looked him directly in the eyes. “I put myself into that position so, I had it coming.”

“The urges are there,” he stated. “I am trying to control them.”

“Not as much as you think,” she said as the device went to work again.

“How can you tell?” he asked.

“Well, you’ve got a bit of a distraction going,” she stated as she nodded.

“Oh, I am sorry, Mary!” he exclaimed as he looked down.

“Don’t get excited,” she stated. “I need you calm for the test.”

“Let me… adjust,” he said as he started to stand up.

“No, it’s okay,” she said. “It’s not that big of a distraction.”

“Well, that’s certainly a blow to a man’s ego,” he laughed.

“I… didn’t think that one through,” she laughed and blushed slightly.

“No, probably not,” he laughed.

“Okay, it appears to be a nice distraction,” she said and immediately closed her eyes and bit her lower lip while slowly inhaling through her nose and letting out a long sigh.

“Probably didn’t think that one through either?” he asked with a grin.

“No, not really,” she said as she blushed up. “I…”

“So, I’m to behave myself when you tee up something like that?” he asked with a chuckle.

“I am so sorry,” she stammered.

“I promised to behave,” he said. “It’s not easy, but I am trying to behave.”

“I think you earned the right to a comment due to what I just said,” she stated as the readings started coming through and sure enough, his heart rate was elevated slightly.

“I’ll try to hold out for the prime opportunity to strike,” he grinned.

“Thank you,” she said as the remains of blush showed on her face for several moments. They sat in silence as she let the test go a little longer to try to get a better baseline.

“I think the wine is hitting me already,” she said as a halfhearted excuse after the silence was more than she could handle.

“That certainly was direct,” he chuckled. “I am sorry about peeking.”

“I shouldn’t have leaned over like that knowing I was wearing this dress,” she said. “That was my fault for putting myself in that position to begin with.”

“I won’t make a big deal comment that’s open to a witty retort from you,” he grinned.

“Thank you,” she laughed as the test finished up and she removed the device. “Though I’m not sure any of my retorts have been witty yet.”

“Well, certainly have been enough to get a rise out of me,” he grinned.

“I noticed,” she said evenly as she finished off the glass of wine.

“Refill?” he asked.

“No, thank you though,” she said evenly.

“Okay,” he said though she detected a bit of a question rather than a comment.

“I’d prefer not to have myself in a chemically influenced state while you are in a chemically influenced state tonight,” she said as she finally looked at him.

“You don’t trust me?” he asked.

“I don’t trust myself,” she answered with a sigh. “Maybe you were right and this was a bad idea. We probably should have done it at the clinic or I should have worn a uniform.”

“Hey, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” he said sincerely.

“Well, you haven’t really,” she said with a sigh. “I made myself that way.”

“Oh?” he asked.

“Because, quite frankly, you’re a really good looking guy and have this charm about you tonight,” she stated directly as she looked him in the eyes. “And your directness and the double entendre you keep using are appealing to me on a personal level.”

“Maybe that’s what I intended,” he said. “If we’re being honest with each other.”

“I had this feeling,” she said with a brief sigh. “Let’s get this blood test done first.”

“So, no refill?” he grinned.

“No,” she chuckled. “As much as I’d probably love to finish that bottle, that giant cup was plenty enough to make me say things I shouldn’t.”

“Well, I’m not objecting,” he grinned charmingly.

“I wouldn’t expect so in your condition,” said Mary with a slight chuckle.

“Well, where do we go from here?” he asked.

“Let’s get this blood test done and go from there,” she said as she placed the device on his finger and it withdrew a small amount of blood before starting to analyze it.

“More testing?” he asked.

“We’ll try to figure out how to help with your problems tonight,” she said as she checked the device and saw it was working and had about 20 minutes before it was done.

“You realize that’s an open ended answer?” he grinned.

“It was meant as a direct, single meaning answer,” she stated as she looked him in the eyes.

“Of course, help has many connotations,” he grinned.

“I have this feeling there’s not a lot I can say tonight that you won’t find a way of turning it around on me,” she stated.

“Am I being too forward?” he asked.

“As stated earlier, I can handle you,” she said. “Again, don’t take that the wrong way.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he grinned.

“Let’s get the test done,” she stated as she saw the device start to work. “Then maybe I do something that will help you with your problem.”

“Something?” he asked.

“I think I have just what you need,” said Mary as she looked at him directly in the eyes again.

********************
​

He was right, she thought as she tried to locate her clothing in the dim light of the bedroom. This was not a good idea.

She looked through the clothing on the floor next to the bed and managed to locate half her clothing in the dim lights of the LEDs from the various electronics in the room. However, before she was able to search more, the lamp next to the bed came on illuminating the room and the occupant of said bed.

“Hey,” he said sleepily as he wasn’t expecting her departure. “You leaving?”

“Yeah, I need to get going,” she replied as she used the light to find the other articles of her clothing and start dressing.

“If you’re worried about the roommate, he’s on duty until tomorrow morning,” he stated.

“No, it’s not that…” she replied as she started slipping on her clothing. “I… I just need to go.”

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked since she wouldn’t face him.

“No, it’s not you,” she said and turned to him. “It’s me.”

“Normally when a woman says that the guy did something wrong,” he chuckled though no smile was evident on his face.

“No, this time it’s actually accurate,” she stated. “I just…”

“Just?” he asked.

“I’m here for all the wrong reasons,” said Tasha Hayden as she looked at him directly. Nothing else was said as she pulled on her underwear and retrieved her bra. Slipping them on, she found her sandals before sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I’ve never seen it where revenge sex doesn’t turn into remorse,” said Greg MacDonald with Agriculture after several moments of watching Tasha dress and seeing the signals plain as day in retrospect. “This is quicker than most.”

“You knew?” asked Tasha.

“I had this feeling after we got going,” said Greg. “Unless you always look angry or about to cry during sex.”

“No, I’m generally pretty happy,” she sighed.

“Just not tonight,” he stated.

“I didn’t say that,” she said as she pulled on her t-shirt. “I tried not to let it show.”

“It showed,” he stated as he put his hand on her arm. “I didn’t want to make you unhappy.”

“I made myself unhappy,” she sighed as she placed her hand on top of his and squeezed. “Look, you were perfectly fine tonight. This is all on me.”

“So… want to talk about it tomorrow?” he asked.

“I’ve… look, honest truth is I’ve got a lot of crap in my head right now I need to get sorted out. I thought this was a good idea and it really wasn’t,” she sighed. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but again, it just wasn’t for the right reasons.”

“I understand,” he said with a sigh. “Look, you gotta take care of you first. When you get it figured out, maybe there’s something there for us?”

“I don’t want to make that promise,” said Tasha as she strapped her sandals. “Look, you’re cute and funny and smart. But I’ve got to get my head straight.”

“You do you,” he said with a shake of his head.

“I will say thank you for this evening,” she stated as she gave him a kiss on his forehead.

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Thank you too.”

“One favor though?” she asked.

“Our little secret,” he stated as he took her hand and kissed at it.

“Thank you, Greg,” she smiled at him. Out on instinct, she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss goodbye. Heading out the door, she passed by Chuck’s townhouse and felt even more guilty about what she had done that evening for all the wrong reasons. Upon arriving at her home, she collapsed in her bed and buried her face in the pillow before crying herself to sleep.

 

Ooooh someone roofied him!

 

Bet it was Marcy the little hussy and I don't think Tasha has shoe laces on her sandals maybe?

 

Nice catch.

 

Thanks Grand sometimes it's the little things in life.

 

CHAPTER 36



“So, overall, it was a good trip with a lot accomplished while we were there,” said Angeline as she finished up the briefing. She had been requested by Tasha that morning to deliver the status of the construction and agreed to it even though Tasha hadn’t explained why. Ben hadn’t questioned it either as they finished up.

“And the orchards?” asked Ben as he turned to Kurt.

“We did a lot of planning as well as some moving of the smaller trees,” said Kurt. “It’s a little more difficult with hand tools than I originally though, but we made good progress in getting some of the younger trees transplanted towards the coast.”

“Would a digger help?” asked Grady.

“I was going to ask for one or two of your portable versions,” said Kurt. “We also would like a grader eventually so we could clear a place for a nursery.”

“That’s a lot of equipment for a small fruit operation,” said Ben.

“Maybe,” said Kurt. “But it’ll be very productive when we finish.”

“I’m not complaining about the outcome,” said Ben. “Speaking of, how is the trooper with the allergic reaction?”

“Doing well and will be discharged today,” said Mary. “He slipped through the cracks when it came to testing along with about ten others. We’re bringing them all in today to get tested.”

“Have they been there already?” asked Ben.

“No, scheduled for the next trip or the one after,” said Mary.

“And then we’ll be at 100 percent?” asked Ben.

“Yes, sir,” said Mary.

“Easy enough,” said Ben. “Okay, so Allen is heading down along with Cyrus and Anton Sokolov from Security as the leadership function. That is, unless Tasha bumps him from the rotation to go back.”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye with a half a grin expecting her to make a comment. He was unprepared for her response.

“I have no idea why I would do that,” she said evenly.

“You wouldn’t want another trip?” asked Ben.

“I guess I will when it’s my turn to have to go again,” said Tasha evenly, though Ben saw her eyes speak volumes. Unspoken communication between them happened in a split second and she gave him just enough of a shake of her head to know it wasn’t to be discussed right then.

“And the next trip?” asked Rachelle as she sensed the conversation needed to move on.

“Well, you’re on it along with Mary and Drew Collins from the Engineers,” said Ben.

“It does seem there is someone missing from the Rachelle Island rotation,” said Allen.

“Oh?” asked Ben.

“You know for certain there is,” said Rachelle.

“Who?” asked Ben.

“You, dear leader,” said Charity. “Seems your name kept slipping off the list.”

“Did it?” asked Ben. “I didn’t realize that.”

“As in, someone has been taking your name off the list,” said Rachelle pointedly and stared at him. “Each and every time it came up.”

“Oh?” asked Ben.

“Oh, don’t play dumb,” said Rachelle. “We know better.”

“There’s colony business I’ve had to take care of,” said Ben.

“And nothing I can’t handle?” asked Allen.

“Or any of your department heads for that matter?” asked Grady. Ben looked around the room and saw they had likely discussed the matter prior to the meeting and were forming a bloc against him. However, he knew they were right and he could use some time away as well just to relax and catch up on his rest. He put up his hands in mock surrender and shook his head.

“I just wanted to make sure everyone else had a vacation before I took a seat,” said Ben.

“Yeah, because the copilot’s seat is always full when we head down,” said Charity.

“Why do I sense there is a mutiny forming against me?” asked Ben.

“Probably because you need the time off,” said Kurt. “Just like everyone else.”

“Okay, I’ll go,” said Ben.

“Now, see how nice we can be when you agree to go on the last rotation?” asked Javier as it seemed everyone on the command team was involved in forcing him to go.

“Point taken, guys,” said Ben. “I just know the hard work each and every one of your sections has done since we’ve been here and the leader is always last to take a vacation.”

“Well, it does seem like everyone else has been or is scheduled to go except you,” said Mary.

“You haven’t gone yet either,” said Ben.

“I’m scheduled to go as well,” said Mary.

“You guys ganging up on me?” asked Ben with a smile.

“If you aren’t on that next shuttle going down, I’ll have my security team put a biolock on you and toss you in there myself,” said Tasha.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Ben with a chuckle as he knew Tasha was halfway serious.

“We mean it, boss,” said Cyrus. “Everyone needs a break, including you.”

“I promise I’ll be on the shuttle,” said Ben. “Everyone else has been?”

“You and Mary are the last team leads,” said Rachelle.

“You’ve been yourself?” asked Ben.

“Actually, this will be my third trip,” said Rachelle. “Not that I won’t enjoy it, but there are some programming issues I need to tend to with power distribution.”

“Obviously, you know why I changed my date,” said Mary. “But this one is all mine now.”

“Again, how can you give me grief when you haven’t gone?” asked Ben.

“Because we purposely scheduled ourselves that way,” said Mary. “And Charity noticed you took your name off the list last night.”

“I… might have been checking the list and accidentally deleted it,” said Ben.

“Except it got deleted like four times prior to that as well,” said Rachelle.

“I’m not a good typist,” said Ben

“Or something,” said Rachelle.

“Or something,” said Ben with a chuckle. “Okay, I’ll go.”

“Just to make sure,” said Rachelle as she brought up the list. She selected Ben’s name and locked it in and put in a password in order to remove it.

“That’s a little extreme, isn’t it?” he asked.

“No more than you sneaking around and deleting it after hours,” said Rachelle as she saved the change and closed the file. “Now you can’t remove your name.”

“I promise to go,” said Ben.

“You’d better,” said Grady. “Who else is going to keep Drew Collins out of trouble?”

“Sounds more like a job for the Director in charge of him,” grinned Ben.

“Ah, no,” said Cyrus.

“I’m not arguing about it,” said Ben as he held up his hands. “Okay, anything else?”

“One thing I’d like to bring up for approval from the Engineers and SIT,” said Mary.

“Sure,” said Ben.

“The other day when they brought in that case from Rachelle Island, the landing area from SIT to us covers considerable distance,” said Mary. “It’d be nice to have a landing pad closer to the hospital for cases being brought in by air.”

“Where?” asked Grady as Rachelle brought up the overhead view of the colony.

“I’d say on the west side between here and the Control Center,” said Mary as she pointed at the picture. “That door is a straight shot into the ER.”

“That is tight for a shuttle,” said Charity as she looked it over.

“The next groups are bringing in the smaller shuttles, correct?” asked Ben.

“Yes, they are scheduled to,” said Charity. “But until then, it’s marginal for a shuttle. A gunship should be okay though.”

“So, until we get the smaller shuttles in, we’d have to rely on the combat aircraft for medevac?” asked Ben. “I’m not sure about that.”

“Why not here?” asked Grady as he pointed. “That is right next to your ER.”

“No door,” said Mary.

“You say that like it’s a problem,” said Cyrus with a chuckle.

“You’d put in a new door for me?” asked Mary.

“One thing about a hospital is when you need emergency medical care, you tend to need it pretty badly,” said Grady. “That and the work you folks did during the outbreak tends to pretty much get whatever’s on your wish list approved and quickly built.”

“So, if I asked for an ice cream machine?” grinned Mary.

“You’d need to talk with Rachelle about that,” laughed Grady.

“Draw up some plans,” said Ben. “This wouldn’t interfere with the main landing area construction, would it?”

“I think this one should be a priority over those,” said Grady. “We’ve got gravel in the others to keep the mud down when it rains, but the hard surface here is absolutely necessary.”

“Okay, I’m sold. Get the plans drawn up,” said Ben. “Anything else?”

The group was silent as they had covered all the topics of the meeting. Ben set the meeting date and time for the next week and dismissed the group. Mary made a beeline for Tasha just as she was leaving.

“Tasha?” she asked as she caught up to her.

“Yes?” asked Tasha as she stopped and turned.

“Is everything okay?” asked Mary.

“Everything’s fine,” said Tasha evenly.

“You didn’t say much in there,” said Mary. “You feeling well?”

“I’m in good health,” said Tasha as she wanted to talk about what happened over the previous week with someone, but shied away at the moment.

“I’m here to talk to as a friend if you need,” said Mary. Tasha looked at her as her eyes turned sad and she bit her lower lip. Mary saw the onset of an emotional situation and led her into a nearby office that was empty at the moment. Closing the door behind them, Mary saw Tasha wipe a tear away from her eye.

“Tasha, talk to me,” said Mary as she went over to Tasha.

“I…” started Tasha as her eyes watered up. “The last week has been the most horrible of my adult life.”

“You just came off vacation,” said Mary, knowing full well what was causing the problem.

“Oh, yeah, supposedly rest and relaxation,” said Tasha as she sniffed. “Well, that wasn’t exactly the case.”

“Not all vacations are restful,” said Mary.

“I mean, I was having a great time and I thought I’d finally made a breakthrough with one certain individual,” said Tasha.

“Chuck?” asked Mary.

“We were getting along really well and he was acting as sweet to me as any time he ever has. But I decided to screw it up by pushing it too far and playing games. Now I’ve lost him for certain since I was stupid,” said Tasha as tears rolled from her eyes.

“Tasha,” said Mary. “There is… are things that I can’t talk about regarding Chuck.”

“Oh, God, did he get Anna pregnant?” asked Tasha.

“What?!” exclaimed Mary. "No!"

“What then?” asked Tasha. “Because he surely wasn’t going to wait for me the last night when we could have had something special!”

“Tasha, again, there are things I can’t talk about, but you really need to talk to him,” said Mary.

“He’s avoiding me!” she stated. “I saw him this morning and he made a beeline directly away from me!”

“It’s probably not on purpose,” said Mary.

“He knows I know he was fooling around with another woman there!” exclaimed Tasha in a hushed voice since the door wasn’t that thick in the office. “He’s got guilt written all over that pig face of his!”

“Again, you really should talk with him about it,” said Mary. “Trust me on this.”

“Yeah, right, so he can stomp on my feelings all over again?” asked Tasha as tears rolled out of her eyes again.

“I honestly can’t say anything else about it,” said Mary. “But there’s something else bothering you as well.”

“I’m a whore,” said Tasha. “That’s what’s bothering me.”

“You are not a whore!” protested Mary. “What ever gave you this silly idea?!”

“Ever have revenge sex because you thought it was the right thing to do?” asked Tasha.

“I think everyone has at some point,” said Mary.

“Ever know of it having a happy ending?” asked Tasha as additional tears rolled down her cheeks and she bit her lower lip.

“No, it never ends well,” said Mary softly. “When?”

“Last night,” said Tasha. “I tried on the island with Ryan, but he shot me down and told me it would be a mistake. Well, he was right.”

“And now you’re beating yourself up over it?” asked Mary.

“I thought it was a good idea,” said Tasha as she sniffed. “Getting back in some little way and freeing myself of the feelings for him. Turns out I was dead wrong.”

“Who was it?” asked Mary.

“Greg MacDonald,” said Tasha as she wiped her face. “He’s a good guy too and I probably hurt him as well with my selfishness.”

“So, where do you go from here?” asked Mary.

“I give up on even trying to have a relationship until I can handle myself emotionally,” said Tasha with a sniff as she took the offered tissue from Mary.

“Yeah, because being cold to the world always works better,” said Mary. “Look, as one of my best friends, you need to talk this through with Chuck.”

“You think a guy I liked is going to understand why I slept with another guy to get back at him?” asked Tasha.

“I didn’t mean that,” said Mary. “I meant the trip. There is an explanation for it.”

“Oh, there surely is!” exclaimed Tasha. “She’s a beautiful Cuban girl that used that hourglass figure of hers to seduce him into the bed!”

“I’m… look, I can’t say it any more than I already have,” said Mary. “But there are things you don’t know about what happened that you should know. But only if the discussion happens between you and Chuck.”

“I’m not sure I want to discuss anything with him,” said Tasha as she blew her nose. “I can’t believe I’m crying like some teenage girl who just had the star football player turn her down for prom.”

“That makes you a human and a woman,” said Mary softly.

“I’m an emotional wreck,” said Tasha. “And I’m caught between balling my eyes out if I talked to him or beating him senseless.”

“That seems like a perfectly normal reaction as well,” chuckled Mary.

“I need some time to think over what is going on,” said Tasha. “Get my head straight and see what my path is. Maybe it’s better for me if I don’t get involved with him. Or anyone right now for that matter.”

“Don’t close yourself up entirely,” said Mary. “You’ve got a good heart and I’d hate to see it closed off to the world.”

“Like I said, I’ve got some thinking to do,” said Tasha.

“If you need anything, you come by any time or call me or send a carrier pigeon,” said Mary. “No matter the method, I’m here to talk to if you need it.”

“Thank you,” said Tasha as she took Mary in a hug and additional tears ran down her face. Mary left her to compose herself and closed the door behind her. Ben was patiently waiting in the hallway for the two to finish.

“Is she okay?” he asked, having seen the signs before, but not for a long time.

“She’s got some thinking to do,” said Mary. “Her words, not mine.”

“Anything I can do to help?” asked Ben.

“Be there for her to open up to if she decides to do it,” said Mary with shrugged shoulders. “Otherwise, time is the great healer.”

“Let me guess, guy problems?” he asked.

“That’s the normal cause of most adult women’s pain and suffering,” said Mary.

“I’m not sure if I’m qualified to help in that arena,” said Ben.

“Maybe, maybe not,” said Mary. “You’re her closest friend and mentor here. Maybe she needs to hear it from you.”

“I’ll give her a few days to think about it,” said Ben. “Chuck Dawson is at the center of it?”

“The one and only,” said Mary.

“I have half a mind to lock those two in a room together and make them work it out,” said Ben.

“Right now, only one would come out alive,” chuckled Mary.

“That’s the Tasha I know and love,” he chuckled.

“It would be best to give her some time for reflection,” said Mary. “Otherwise, are you going to try to escape your trip again?”

“No, I think you all have ganged up on me enough that I will go,” he said and saw an expression on her face he recognized as thoughtful. “Anything else you need to talk about?”

“Not at the moment,” she stated.

“Care to give me a hint as to what you’re thinking about?” he asked.

“Not until I know more,” said Mary. “I just need to make sure my information is correct before bringing it to you.”

“Fair enough,” said Ben. “I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

“Okay, see you later,” said Mary as she departed and headed back to the clinic. Once she arrived, she checked the duty schedules and found who she was looking for.

“Doctor Griggs to Doctor Blevin’s office please,” said Mary on the intercom. “Doctor Griggs to Doctor Blevin’s office.”

Mary waited patiently and checked over the research into other infectious diseases until Charlotte appeared in her doorway and knocked politely.

“Charlotte, please come in,” said Mary as she closed the files. “And close the door.”

“Everything okay?” asked Charlotte.

“Not really,” said Mary. “Have a seat.”

Charlotte did as requested and leaned forward slightly preparing her tablet for notes.

“You aren’t going to need notes for this,” said Mary.

“Okay,” said Charlotte as she closed the cover and set the tablet off to the side.

“Sometime between the last complete inventory and the one conducted about a week ago, a bottle of Retivive-3 came up missing. We thought it might have been an oversight or was used during the outbreak, but it just turned back up at Rachelle Island,” said Mary as a start.

“By turned back up you mean?” asked Charlotte.

“Used on an unsuspecting party,” said Mary.

“Who?” asked Charlotte.

“Chuck Dawson,” said Mary. “So, while we originally thought it might have been misplaced or used, that obviously isn’t the case.”

“Do we have any idea who took it?” asked Charlotte.

“Not in the least,” said Mary. “Which is what I’m about to charge you with…”

“I want you to conduct an in depth investigation into who might have taken that drug,” said Mary. “There are full time video surveillance logs that you will need to go through to figure out who might have taken it. Obviously, nobody is above suspicion here.”

“Including me?” asked Charlotte.

“Including you,” stated Mary with a nod. “Including me even. Which is why I’m also assigning additional personnel to the case independent of each other to check and recheck the work. However, you were picked because of two reasons: one because I trust you and two, because you weren’t at the island the last trip.”

“I understand,” said Nate Delgado, one of the med techs assigned to the hospital as Mary completed the same conversation for him after she finished with Charlotte. “Who are they?”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Mary. “You report to me and me only on this. No other doctor, tech or section head needs to know. If they have questions about what you are doing, you send them to me, period.”

“I will,” said Nate.

“Nobody else needs to know about this until we’re complete,” said Mary. “No boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, significant others, friends or family. This stays between you and I and nobody else.”

“I will tell no one else,” said Isabella Lopez as Mary completed her third speech regarding the matter. “Even my fiancé.”

“You have to understand how delicate this can be,” said Mary. “It’s been used once and probably will be used again. So, we need to work fast to discover the thief.”

“Of course, Doctor,” said Izzy.

“I don’t expect daily progress reports, but I would like you to let me know how your search is going every so often,” said Mary. “I know it’s a huge task, but it has to be done.”

“There are a lot of hours to search through especially during the outbreak,” said Izzy. “But it will be done.”

“Thank you,” said Mary. “You can head back to whatever you were doing.”

Mary thought about what had happened and how it had already affected at least three lives so far. She was bound and determined to find who the culprit was who stole the drug, but more importantly, who was using it.

********************
​

Tasha finally finished her workday and headed home, breathing a sigh of relief since she had spent nearly the whole day trying to put on her positive face to everyone she encountered. She knew once she got home, she would be able to shed her emotions without having to worry about anyone asking her if something was wrong… again. Heading onto her porch, she opened the glass door to her house and saw a large manilla envelope fall to the ground at her feet. She picked it up and saw her name printed on the outside and stared at it curiously.

Opening the door, she dropped her pack and weapons by the door and walked around to take a seat on her couch. She saw the envelope was sealed and pulled her small pocketknife to cut open the top, making sure she didn’t cut into any of the papers inside. She dumped the pages into her hands and saw the top one had one single printed line.

Just thought you should know

Setting it in front of her on the coffee table, she saw the next pages were printed pictures and saw the two people specifically captured in the moment in time. A deep scowl came over her face as she went through them one by one and her eyes narrowed.

“You backstabbing bitch,” muttered Tasha as she tossed the photos on the table and slammed herself back on the couch. Anger rose through her entire body as she involuntarily clenched her fists and started breathing deeper and deeper as she hadn’t felt this betrayed in a long time.

While she sat thinking, the pictures of Mary at Chuck’s door the night he returned from the island could still be seen out of the bottom of her eyes and increased her rage that much more.

 

Dang Grand I am not a big Fan of Cliff but this story gets better every chapter.
Thanks again, Chuck

 

CHAPTER 37



Three days had passed and Ben decided he had finally had enough. He sent a message to Tasha requesting she come to his office where he would get to the bottom of whatever happened that had her in such a mood since she returned from her vacation. It didn’t take long for her to appear in his doorway and he could see her face hadn’t changed.

“You needed to see me?” she asked.

“Yeah, come in and grab a seat,” he stated. “Close the door, please.”

She did as requested and had a seat across from him. He could tell the wheels were turning in her head as he moved to the chair across from her and sat down, looking her in the eyes.

“So, what’s going on?” he asked.

“I’ve done my daily report as required,” she stated in a confused tone. “Nothing to report that needs to be reported that wasn’t in there.”

“Okay, now what’s going on that isn’t in the daily report,” he stated as an order rather than a question.

“I have no idea what you’re asking,” she said as she averted her eyes.

“You’ve been moping around here since you got back from the island. Each and every person that’s gone down there has come back refreshed and happy. You are the only person who’s come back depressed with an underlying anger,” said Ben. “Hence, you don’t get to move from that chair until you can explain what’s going on.”

“Has my duty performance slipped?” she countered.

“It has not,” he nodded.

“Then nothing to worry about,” she said as she averted her eyes once again.

“And you can’t even tell me that without looking me in the eyes,” he said softly. “Tasha, this is me you’re talking to. I’m here to help.”

He saw her expression change slightly as her eyes became distant and a sad expression came over her face. She still wouldn’t look him in the eyes, but he could see the dam beginning to break in her mind as they sat silently across from each other. Eventually, he saw a tear escape from her left eye as she quickly wiped it hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“I’m an idiot,” she said. “A stupid naïve girl and a whore.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re any of those,” he said softly. “Want to run it from the top as to why you decided on those three things?”

“I… just didn’t have a good time, that’s all,” she said as a last minute dodge.

“As stated, everyone has a good time there,” he said. “Except you.”

“I…” she started to say as another tear escaped and she pulled her handkerchief out to wipe at her face and sniffed slightly. “I ruined the chance I had at happiness. And set myself up to get hurt as well.”

“Go on,” he said, yanking the emotions out of her.

“You know Chuck went down on the trip, right?” she asked.

“And I figured that would have been the prime opportunity for you two to finally get together,” he said. “It wasn’t planned that way, but I’d have hoped it would have giving you both the opportunity to see if something was there.”

“Oh, something was there, all right,” she said and sniffed. “But I ruined it by being stupid.”

“I’m here to talk to,” he said softly.

“Remember when he called me by an ex-girlfriend’s name?” she asked.

“Yes, to which you got really angry,” he stated. “He paid for that mistake?”

“Well, the first day we were there, he brought me a really nice bouquet of flowers that grow wild on the island. I mean, even before then he had been extremely nice to me and was trying as hard as he could to win back my favor,” she said as she sniffed. “The flowers were really sweet and I should have just let it end there, but I just couldn’t stop being stupid.”

“I mean, he didn’t have to do such a thing, but he went to practically every one of my friends to find out how to earn his way back. And really, I was thrilled at what he had done and he seemed so sincere in his efforts to want to make up,” she said as she sniffed again. “But me, being me of course, just couldn’t let it go.”

“I had to push it just a little further than I should have and demanded he bring me flowers every morning. All different flowers even. I thought since I had been slighted I needed to exact as much out of him as I should have. I mean, a normal guy would have told me to piss off, but he… cared for me enough to do it without question. So, every day we were there, I got a new bouquet of flowers either in person or waiting on my doorstep every morning,” she said as another tear dropped down her face.

“So, on the last day I finally felt like I had played enough games and this was the time to make that leap of faith into seeing what was there. We spent time around each other all day and I made up my mind after dinner I was going to come clean with how much I liked him. He was really sweet before dinner too, bringing me a special flower that matched my outfit to put over my ear. But during dinner, he changed,” she sniffed. “I don’t know what or why, but immediately after, he started chatting up every other girl he could find. I know I should have been better, but I got jealous of the attention he was showing the others.”

“That’s when I decided to be a whore,” she said as another tear escaped. “I tried to proposition Ryan Kingston and… get back at him. Force him to see I had other options as well.”

“Ryan?” asked Ben.

“Yeah, that didn’t work since Ryan shot me down and told me it would be a bad idea,” she said as she bit her lower lip. “Couldn’t even do that right.”

“Ryan turned you down?” asked Ben softly.

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Told me he couldn’t hurt Chuck like that! When Chuck was off flirting it up with three other girls! Ryan told me I needed to go over right then and stake my claim on him! That Chuck was far more interested in me than I knew.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen,” she scoffed. “Just as I got up the nerve to go over and talk to him and see what was there, the medical emergency happened. Of course, you know I’m going to see to my troops and I followed them down to the beach where the shuttles were parked. I forgot my communicator on the bar when I went down and decided to use the set on the shuttle instead after Ryan took off. I didn’t want to take the chance of them calling while I was walking back to the bar, so, I waited at the shuttle for an hour.”

“I mean, it’s only a five minute walk back to the camp area, but I didn’t move. Eventually, I got word my trooper was going to be okay and I headed back. I didn’t see Chuck and the party had mainly broken up by then, but maybe he headed to bed early? So, I went to his quarters and was just about to knock when I heard…” she said as more tears came down her face.

“Heard?” asked Ben after a moment.

“He had company,” she sniffed as she relived that moment.

“Are you sure?” asked Ben.

“The sounds coming from there are pretty unmistakable,” she said angrily. “I mean, he couldn’t even wait for me to come back?! He had to jump into the sack with whatever piece of tail crossed his path in that hour?! Of course, some of the blame goes right back at me since I decided to play games the whole time and didn’t go after him sooner like I should have! But to flirt around with me for the whole trip and in the last hour hook up with someone else?!”

“I’ll be damned if anyone’s going to treat me that way,” she spat. “But it hurt. God, it hurt like someone kicking me in the guts to hear what was going on knowing full well I blew the chance I had with him. Of course, he’s to blame as well for not waiting and picking up the first girl that threw her legs open for him.”

“It hurt so bad,” she said as she started crying again. “I’ve never had betrayal like that since my first marriage. But even then it didn’t hurt as bad as this. And of course when we got back he continued being the man whore he is and well, he just didn’t stop…”

“But that’s not it, is it?” asked Ben softly after she had a moment to compose herself.

“No,” she said as she started crying again. “Once we got back, I was so angry with him I could barely see straight. And I did something I’ve never done before. I headed over to the bar, found a guy and let him know what I wanted. And we went back to his place and… thought I was getting revenge on Chuck by doing what we did. I just threw off my clothes and… I wasn’t even thinking…”

“But it hurt,” she said as the tears streamed constantly down her face. “Oh, God it hurt me to know how low I had stooped getting to where I was. I mean, sex is supposed to make you feel better, right? But all I could think about was where I was and what I was doing and it made me feel even worse! The truth is, he’s a nice guy as well and I probably hurt him even more by leaving abruptly when we finished! He didn’t do anything to deserve that! I hurt him and I hurt myself by being selfish and stupid and making bad decisions.”

“I mean, Greg never questioned why I went after him. You know, Major Ice Queen? The woman who never gave another guy the time of day? The woman who hasn’t slept with anyone since being here. The woman whose heart was set for another…” she stated in a wail as she cried. “But there I was, thinking I was getting back at Chuck in some small way. But I never felt so low in my life! I tried to keep on a good face while I was there, but Greg figured it out. He even told me as much. I managed to make it home before balling my eyes out. I fell into bed crying more than I remember in my life. I cried and cried and cried and eventually passed out from sheer exhaustion.”

“I thought a good night’s sleep might help, but I still hurt the next morning. The pain over what I did was there and the more I thought about it, the worse I felt inside. I just can’t understand why he didn’t wait for me! I can’t understand why I didn’t open myself up sooner! Why didn’t I just go back and grab my communicator! I had him in my hands and I let it go by being stupid!” she exclaimed.

“You’re not stupid,” said Ben. “And you certainly aren’t a whore.”

“Yes, I am!” she exclaimed. “The chance was there! The opportunity to make him mine!”

“And he couldn’t have waited?” asked Ben softly.

“Apparently not when some busty gal flashed those eyes of hers at him,” she said angrily.

“And that makes it right?” asked Ben.

“Absolutely not!” she exclaimed.

“So, there is it,” said Ben with shrugged shoulders. “He’s an asshole.”

“No…” said Tasha as more tears came out.

“Yeah, he should have waited,” said Ben.

“You’re right,” she said through sniffs after a moment of reflection. “He should have.”

“Tasha, you are a special woman that any man should wait for,” said Ben. “He decided differently and you are better for it because it would have been worse down the road.”

“Yeah,” she said as more tears escaped her eyes. “I just thought we had something.”

“Maybe you did, but it certainly is better to find out now,” said Ben.

“You’re right,” she said.

“Look, I don’t have all the answers, but I think you are a beautiful, intelligent and classy woman who deserves the best,” said Ben. “You are special in ways he’ll never understand or know. You deserve better.”

“I do,” said Tasha as she sniffed back more tears.

“You’ve always been like the daughter I never had; did you know that?” he asked.

“I’m pretty sure if I was your daughter, you’d be lopping off his prized body parts by now,” she said in a crying laugh.

“Maybe so,” he chuckled. “Regardless, I’ve always wanted the best for you and I think you need to put the brakes on for a bit.”

“You’re always right,” she said as she sniffed again.

“So, I want you to take the rest of the day off and get your head cleared enough to come back,” said Ben. “I want you to remember you’re better than what you think right now.”

“I am,” she said convincingly.

“Good,” said Ben as he retrieved a spare bandana from his desk and handed it over. “Now, take some time today and get the emotions out, okay?”

“I will,” she said as she blew her nose and wiped at her eyes before trying to hand it back to him.

“You think you could wash it first?” he chuckled.

“Oh, right,” she said with a light laugh and stuffed it in her pocket.

“I’ll let Anton know you’re taking the day for personal reasons,” he said. “I don’t think you’re in any shape to be calling anyone right now.”

“No, most certainly not,” she said as she sniffed again.

“Let’s talk again tomorrow, okay?” he asked.

“Yes, I’ll come see you,” said Tasha as she took him into yet another fatherly hug. She squeezed his neck tight before releasing the embrace and heading towards her home. Ben made the quick call to Anton and let him know she wouldn’t be back that day and for notifications, he could call Ben direct. After ending the call, his stomach growled even though he really wasn’t in the mood to eat since he was angry at the situation. But he knew fuel was what his body needed and headed towards the dining hall and grabbed a quick lunch before sitting away from everyone else and eating silently while he thought of the situation.

“That look typically means a mood,” said Mary as she came up to Ben at his table.

“Yes,” he answered indirectly.

“So… not in the mood for company?” she asked.

“Sorry,” he said as he motioned towards a chair opposite of him. “Just some things going on that I’m having to deal with.at the moment.”

“I know the feeling,” said Mary as she sat and got her salad ready.

“I mean, you think you know someone and they completely surprise you,” said Ben.

“I would have thought they would have been more selective with some of the personnel chosen,” said Mary. “There had to be indicators in the past of certain types of behavior.”

“Very much so,” said Ben. “But to go out of your way to hurt someone, that doesn’t compute.”

“How did you know?” asked Mary.

“She told me,” said Ben. “I know you two talked, but I had to yank it out of her.”

“Tasha knows?” asked Mary.

“Of course, she knows,” said Ben angrily and dialed it back immediately. “I’m sorry, she means the world to me and I don’t like seeing her hurt.”

“She could be a bit more understanding about it,” said Mary.

“The guy went after three other girls allegedly,” said Ben. “I’m not sure understanding is in her vocabulary right now.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” asked Mary.

“Chuck is taking after Ryan,” said Ben. “Going after anything wearing a skirt.”

“I…” said Mary and cut herself off.

“There’s more to this, isn’t there?” he asked as he saw Mary stopped talking.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to judge if I were you,” said Mary.

“There is more there,” said Ben. “You know something else?”

“I’d rather have more information before I talk to you about it,” said Mary.

“Give me the Cliff Notes,” said Ben.

“Okay, but this stays between you and I until I know who took it,” said Mary.

“Took what?” he asked.

“Sometime between the last inventory and the one we just did, a bottle of Retivive-3 went missing,” said Mary. “We did a complete inventory after the outbreak and one of my techs reported it to me.”

“Okay, and?” asked Ben. “That’s the thing I had on the ship for my stasis blindness, right?”

“The very same,” said Mary. “It was used this past week on the island.”

“On Chuck Dawson?” asked Ben.

“Yes,” said Mary.

“Okay, I was able to control myself,” said Ben. “I would think he could too.”

“He had five times the recommended dosage when he hit the hospital when he got back,” said Mary. “So, it’s likely he had more the night before.”

“Oh,” said Ben. “So, it was equal to my… reaction?”

“Way worse,” said Mary. “Basically, the larger doses cause the urges to go up exponentially. Obviously, there isn’t an equation for that, but overall, he had very little control over what he was doing the night he got drugged.”

“You think…” Ben started to say.

“He took it on purpose?” asked Mary. “Doubtful. The only time he’s been in the hospital was during the outbreak. Now, that’s obviously not clearing him, but I don’t know why he would have given himself a dose of it and reported it later.”

“So, he could deny responsibility and do it again later?” asked Ben.

“Let’s not get crazy here,” said Mary. “Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know,” said Ben. “Again, you think you know some people and they turn out different.”

“Tasha needs to talk to him about this,” said Mary. “Look, he’s a victim here until proven otherwise. He had zero control over what he was doing or who he was doing it with.”

“Still not making me… un-angry,” said Ben.

“I understand they were about to hook up?” asked Mary.

“Yeah, until he started bed hopping,” said Ben with a scoff.

“Okay, that’s a little too judgmental for my tastes,” said Mary as she dropped her fork and started to leave.

“Wait, Mary, I’m sorry,” said Ben. “I… you know I think the world of Tasha and I don’t like seeing her hurt like that.”

“Ben, I’m telling you right now if you had that in your system in the amounts we’re talking about, you would have acted the same,” said Mary as she looked him directly in the eyes. “So, you can get off your high horse right now and understand I’m telling you this without knowing who took it, why they gave it to him or if they have more.”

“Tasha is my friend too and I hated seeing her cry,” said Mary. “But I damn well couldn’t tell her exactly why it happened since that is privileged medical knowledge. But I did tell her she needed to speak with him about it and hopefully he would open up to her.”

“I… jumped to conclusions,” said Ben softly.

“Damn right you did,” said Mary as her eyes flashed anger. “Now, both Chuck and Tasha are my friends and I don’t like seeing what happened to them any more than they did. Those two were destined to get together and this just may have ruined it. You know what? I’m going to find out who took that bottle, I’m going to bring you the evidence and I want you to lay the hammer to them. Because if you don’t, I will.”

“You bring me a suspect and I’m going to… we don’t have laws for that,” said Ben.

“How about a moral code?” asked Mary. “Drugging someone against their will isn’t a violation of their rights?”

“It is,” said Ben. “Look, I’ll talk to the lawyer about it.”

“You better,” said Mary.

“I will, okay?” he said testily. “Now, you want to finish your lunch?”

“Yes,” said Mary as she sat back down and finished in silence.

“Mary?” he asked as he finished.

“Yes?” she asked in a tone.

“I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions,” he said softly.

“Ben, that was my hospital that drug was stolen out of. It was my friend it was used on and he was not in any way, shape or form himself afterwards. It was another dear friend that is beating herself up thinking she missed the chance at happiness,” said Mary. “That made it personal.”

“For you and me both,” said Ben. “Look, just get me the name of who did this. I’ll handle business from there.”

“I’d appreciate it if you did,” said Mary. “I’m not sorry for being agitated with you right now.”

“I’ve known Tasha a long time and I’ve never seen her in that bad of an emotional state before,” said Ben. “It’s really shocking for a woman that’s been through what she has to see her like that. That really shook me.”

“I obviously haven’t known her as long as you have, but she did seem to be in a real bad state when I talked to her,” said Mary.

“I certainly don’t like seeing her that way,” said Ben. “I’ll keep my ears open as well in case I hear something. Okay?”

“Thank you,” said Mary as Ben headed back to his office. However, he rerouted himself towards the Engineering complex where he found Cyrus at work in his office and Grady nowhere to be found.

“Hey Cy,” said Ben as he knocked on the door.

“Hey, Ben,” said Cyrus. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, I was looking for Mark Bennett,” said Ben. “You know where he’s working today?”

“Day off actually,” said Cyrus. “So, I’d imagine at his place or Charity’s.”

“They coming along okay?” asked Ben.

“Well enough I suppose,” said Cyrus. “You need something engineering wise?”

“His legal expertise,” said Ben.

“I can call him,” said Cyrus as he picked up his communicator.

“Nah, Moses will go to the Mountain this time,” said Ben. He spoke for a couple of minutes with Cyrus over the progress towards the coastal colony planning and politely excuses himself to head out and track down Mark. Ben headed first for Charity’s house since it was closest and was rewarded with finding Charity and the Bennett family behind grilling out in the warm day.

“Knock, knock,” said Ben from the privacy fence he had partially opened.

“Hey, Ben, come in,” said Charity as Mary flipped the burgers on the grill.

“That smells awesome,” said Ben.

“We can make you up a burger if you want,” said Charity. “No problem at all.”

“Unfortunately, I already ate lunch,” said Ben. “Thanks though.”

“You needed something?” asked Charity.

“Actually, I needed Mark, but I can come back later,” said Ben.

“Well, these are about done,” said Mark as he poked at the burger with his spatula. “Give us like twenty minutes?”

“That’ll work,” said Ben as Charity brought him a glass of lemonade. “Thanks. This looked to be an outstanding idea.”

“Beautiful weather today and I kept promising Nicole I’d do it,” said Mark.

“Perfect day for a backyard barbeque,” agreed Ben. “And how is Miss Nicole doing?”

“Good, Mister Nash,” she said with a smile from the table, looking very eager to eat.

“Fresh veggies as well?” asked Ben as he saw the lettuce, tomatoes and onions cut up on a larger plate on the table.

“What good is a burger cooked on a grill if it isn’t accompanied by fresh veggies?” asked Charity. “No pickles though.”

“I wondered if Kurt was going to try something like that,” said Ben. “That onion is strong.”

“Dad made me cut it,” said Nicole as her nose wrinkled. “I’m pretty sure that’s child abuse making me cry like that.”

“I’d say,” said Ben with a laugh. Eventually, the burgers were served and the four continued their small talk through lunch as Ben found the diversion good for clearing his mind.

“And how is school?” asked Ben.

“School is okay, but I’m still torn on what I want to do,” said Nicole.

“Do?” asked Ben.

“Claire Smith has put the training program into full effect we talked about some time back,” said Charity. “Basically, Nicole is torn between being a doctor or a pilot.”

“Both are very good professions,” said Ben. “And you have an outstanding teacher on the pilot side of things.”

“Charlotte Griggs took her under her wing for the doctor side of the house,” said Charity.

“She’s really cool,” said Nicole. “I mean, not that you aren’t cool, Charity.”

“Charlotte is a very cool chick,” said Charity.

“Ever think of being a doctor-pilot?” asked Ben.

“How would that work?” asked Nicole.

“Well, you could be a doctor and get your pilot certification as well,” said Ben. “People on Earth used to do that all the time.”

“Could I do something like that?” asked Nicole.

“She wants to be a gunship pilot,” said Charity.

“I honestly haven’t thought that far down the road yet,” said Ben. “I was wondering if in the future we might have some sort of amateur pilot certification for when they bring in the smaller shuttles. It would ease the burden on your section having to scrape up a pilot any time a team wanted to head back to a location and change batteries or something.”

“I saw the advanced equipment listing and they are there,” said Charity. “It might not be a bad idea all things considered.”

“Put some thought into that when you get the chance,” said Ben. “I mean, if they can fly one of the main shuttles, they should have no problems with the smaller ones.”

“True,” said Charity. “Nicole actually piloted one just the other day, didn’t you?”

“Oh?” asked Ben.

“Routine recon flight around the colony and Pyro let her have the stick for a couple of minutes,” explained Charity. “Someone had a grin ear to ear afterwards.”

“It was so cool!” exclaimed Nicole.

“I’d bet it was,” said Ben. “Put some thought into that when you get the chance.”

“I certainly will,” said Charity seeing the idea had merit.

“Okay, Ben, let me shower and change right quick,” said Mark as he finished up.

“Did you inhale that?” asked Charity.

“I’m a quick eater,” he said as he pushed in his chair. “You know this.”

“You certainly are,” said Charity as he headed into the house. Ben glanced at him walking in and was curious how the relationship was going between the two. Apparently, his face gave him away as Charity answered the question.

“Split between the two if I think you’re thinking of what I think you’re thinking of,” said Charity. “Half here, half there.”

“Things are going well?” asked Ben.

“Well enough for sure,” said Charity with a smile. “It’s also nice having a handyman around to fix things when they break or add other items.”

“I’d bet it is,” said Ben with a chuckle. The small talk continued until Mark reappeared having showered and changed into regular clothing.

“Want to walk for a bit?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure,” said Ben. “Charity, you don’t mind me stealing him for a bit?”

“Go for it,” she replied. “It’ll give me a chance to go over Nicole’s trig work.”

“I hate that stuff,” said Nicole with a sigh.

“Trigonometry?” asked Ben. “That’s an important subject for a pilot or a doctor.”

“I know,” said Nicole with another sigh. “It’s not easy though.”

“Things worth doing in life never are,” said Ben as Mark went to collect a kiss from Charity before departing. It was a brief affair as he came back with his nose scrunched and a sour look on his face.

“What?” she asked.

“Onions,” he said with a scrunched nose.

“Oh, don’t you start now,” said Charity with a frown. “That day you put extra garlic in the lasagna wasn’t exactly pleasant.”

“Minor mistake,” he said with a chuckle. “See you in a bit?”

“We’ll be right here,” said Charity. Ben and Mark headed out walking through the ever growing colony as they headed for the interior and the walking paths that had been established for both recreational use and for transit between buildings.

“So, what’s on your mind, Ben?” asked Mark.

“I need some legal advice,” said Ben.

“I’m to expect this a lot?” asked Mark.

“Just when I’m stumped,” said Ben. “This is one of those moments.”

“We haven’t really established a set of laws so to speak,” said Mark. “Haven’t really needed it either, so it’s not been a front burner issue.”

“You still working on what I sent you?” asked Ben.

“In my spare time,” said Mark. “But today is something not covered there.”

“How can you tell?” asked Ben.

“Because you had a good thing going already and covered most of the high points,” said Mark.

“I’m curious about the property situation here,” said Ben. “Like the quarters and whatnot.”

“As in the line between company owned and privately held?” asked Mark.

“Pretty much,” said Ben. “I mean, on Earth, the rules were somewhat clear with things like that. Searching company and government property was far easier because the company owned it. Until they got to something private where the lines got a bit more unclear.”

“Truth be told, everything out here is company property except what people brought with them,” said Mark. “I mean, we could adapt the old rules to the rules here.”

“But we are building a new society and even though Novus funded and built this colonization effort, it’s not like they are around to enforce who owns what,” said Ben.

“Well, in truth, they are,” said Mark. “You and Allen Smith are the duly appointed representatives of the Novus Group on this planet and could make a determination for a search and seizure if it came down to it.”

“Something I’m not comfortable with,” said Ben. “Let’s face it, too many government and private corporations hid behind those rules on Earth when the conduct was questionable.”

“They surely did,” said Mark. “So, you think something might be missing and we might need to go searching for it?”

“Something is missing and we’re going to need to search for it,” said Ben.

“And you’re torn between the legality of what Novus technically owns out here and what we’ve ‘given’ to the colonists for lack of a better term?” asked Mark.

“Pretty much,” said Ben. “I don’t want to go barging into someone’s quarters looking for something just because the rules say I can.”

“You could form a grand jury type of thing,” suggested Mark. “One representative from each of the sections with a tie-breaker vote of a randomly selected individual from any of the sections.”

“And?” asked Ben.

“Present the evidence to them and they vote in the authority to search the location you need,” said Mark. “Make it an all or nothing affair if you want.”

“That actually doesn’t sound bad,” said Ben.

“I mean, that makes it fair, right?” asked Mark. “The authority is voted on by your peers. The evidence has to be compelling enough for them to agree to it. That should prevent any abuse of the system in the long run.”

“I like it,” said Ben.

“Obviously, there’s some technical details I’d include as to who can’t be picked,” said Mark. “Section heads as an example or anyone directly involved in the incident.”

“Write them down,” said Ben. “I’d like something soon though.”

“I’ll do it,” said Mark as they rounded the path and started heading back towards Charity’s house. “I can have something in a couple of days.”

“Not complicated, please,” said Ben.

“As stated before, I like uncomplicated,” said Mark. “Law should be an easy yes or no affair, not conditional for the most part.”

“I wholeheartedly agree,” said Ben. “How are things going with Charity?”

“Very well overall,” said Mark. “Getting back into the dating game has been fun and she’s a great gal. Nicole positively loves her.”

“I’d assume that’s a big factor in any woman you might pursue,” said Ben.

“To an extent,” said Mark. “I mean, that’s a huge added bonus, but Nicole put it plainly when she said she won’t be in the house forever and I need to be happy.”

“Still, having your daughter pass approval probably was a good thing,” said Ben.

“Yeah, it didn’t hurt in the least,” said Mark. “She needed a good female role model in her life and Charity stepped into that position without me even asking. Charlotte has been good for that as well.”

“She and Charlotte are closer in age,” said Ben. “That probably helps.”

“There are plenty of role models around here for Nicole to look up to,” said Mark. “We’ve got some great people on this Expedition.”

“We certainly do,” said Ben as he thought about what was currently going on and whether or not that rang true for everyone. They continued talking until arriving at Charity’s house and Ben shaking Mark’s hand and thanking him for his time.

“I’ll get you what I feel might be best in a couple of days,” said Mark.

“I’d appreciate it,” said Ben. “Enjoy the rest of your day off.”

Ben headed towards his office thinking of other legal items he might have overlooked. It wasn’t easy building a society from the ground up, but he was determined to try to cover every angle before the next Expedition arrived.

 

CHAPTER 38


“Everything set?” asked Ben as Allen and his family were about to board the shuttles.

“Oh, yes,” said Allen. “I think Claire packed and repacked a dozen times.”

“And made good use of the clothing printer,” said Claire as she walked up.

“And made good use of the clothing printer,” repeated Allen with a chuckle.

“I’m glad,” said Ben. “You deserve a break.”

“And so do you,” said Allen.

“Next week,” said Ben. “I made a promise not to try and get out of it.”

“Better not,” said Allen as the pilots were rounding up everyone for the trip and shooing them towards the shuttles which were going to be over capacity again. “See you in six days.”

“Relax and enjoy yourself,” said Ben as he shook Allen’s hand and they boarded. Like most of the trips before them, other waited until they left like the passenger ships of old. They would wave them off as if they might never see them again. Ben waited for the shuttles to depart and headed over to Tasha.

“Hey,” she said as she watched until the ships were out of sight.

“Just came to check on you,” said Ben.

“I’m doing better,” she said with a brief sigh. “I mean, it’s going to take a while, but I’ll get there eventually.”

“Have you seen him since we spoke yesterday?” asked Ben as they wandered away from the landing pads and in the general direction of the headquarters.

“No,” said Tasha. “In fact, I didn’t leave my house yesterday after we got done talking.”

“Maybe you should find the time to talk to him,” suggested Ben. Tasha stopped and turned to look at him strangely. He looked at her as well. “What?”

She did little more than give him the strange look again while shaking her head slowly and didn’t say a word.

“I mean, it might be better for you to work this out,” he suggested.

“Hold on a minute,” she said. “How did we go from ‘he’s an asshole and you deserve better’ yesterday to ‘maybe you should talk to him’ today?”

“I’ve had some time to think about it,” he said with shrugged shoulders. “I mean, I think it might go a long way if you two talked this out.”

“You know something,” said Tasha as she looked at him suspiciously.

“I’m just being objective about it,” said Ben.

“Objective,” she scoffed. “No. There’s my answer.”

“Now, you shouldn’t be stubborn,” he said.

“Don’t you dare patronize me,” she growled. “You saw me yesterday in a bad way. I haven’t been like that in a long time. You saw what a complete mess I was and truthfully, still am today. I’m just learning to hide it and dealing with it one day at a time.”

“You sit there, trying to be the objective one when you know how I was hurt,” she said in a growl. “You know me, you know I don’t show my emotions that easily and you damn well saw me in the worst shape you’ve ever seen me. So, don’t you dare try to play this reasonable father figure to me in light of what happened.”

“Tasha, I-” he started to say as she interrupted him.

“The short and long answer is no,” said Tasha as her voice broke slightly. “I’m hurting; the emotional pain I went through hasn’t turned to anger yet. But it did make me sick. Last night I made myself physically sick thinking over what happened.”

“And this morning, I woke up thinking this is a new day. I want to put this behind me and begin to get back to where I was. Well, I can tell you for a fact that facing him right now is not going to help at all,” said Tasha with a frown.

“I think there might be some things he could talk over with you as well,” said Ben. “Mary said-”

“Oh, I’d be really careful about bringing Mary into it now,” said Tasha with a scoff. “You have no idea how far the betrayal with Chuck goes. I do.”

“What are you even talking about?” he asked. “Mary suggested you two should talk as well.”

“You just think you know Mary,” said Tasha through gritted teeth. “Well, you don’t know her as well as you think you do.”

“Tasha, I don’t know what you’re going on about,” said Ben.

“Oh, you didn’t hear?” asked Tasha as her eyes flashed with anger. “Mary was seen heading into Chuck’s apartment the night we got back. All dressed up and pretty, hair done up, makeup, the whole nine yards. And carrying an overnight bag so the walk of shame the next morning wouldn’t be as bad.”

“How…?” he asked as his voice trailed off.

“People see things and they talk, Ben,” spat Tasha. “Now, obviously, they are two single, consenting adults and what they do behind closed doors is none of my damn business. But it surely seems like she wasn’t going to wait for you to make up your damn mind about asking her out since she didn’t even wait for Chuck’s bed to cool off before warming it back up!”

“There…” started Ben as he was shocked.

“Not only that, but the very next day she tried consoling me about the whole thing,” said Tasha. “Said there were things I should talk over with him just like you just did.”

“I don’t even…” said Ben.

“Yeah, play the consoling friend with me, jump into the sack with someone I thought I had feelings for while my back was turned,” said Tasha.

“Might have been something else,” said Ben in denial.

“Chuck was the only one home that night,” said Tasha with a frown. “Ryan went in and took the place of the alert pilot. So, yeah, the betrayal isn’t limited to Chuck on this one. She even had the nerve to face me the next day and try to console me.”

“I…” said Ben. “Maybe…”

“You think you know people and you think you have a good thing going with them,” said Tasha as her voice broke again. “I mean, friends you trusted as well. You think you know what they are all about and they don’t hesitate to stab you in the back because they find out someone’s back on the market. Well, I’m not dealing with that.”

“There…” he started to say.

“May be another explanation?” asked Tasha with a scoff. “A woman doesn’t get all dressed up for a random visit to someone’s house, Ben. She betrayed us both. She didn’t even wait a full day after he got back to go after him.”

“So, don’t even try to be objective here,” said Tasha in a growl. “I’m not ready to talk to… him today and I won’t be tomorrow. I’m going to have to take this one day at a time. Maybe in a week, maybe in a month, maybe never, I really don’t know. But do not sit there and lecture me on ‘needing to work things out’ because Mary made mention of that after she stabbed us both in the back.”

Without even a goodbye, Tasha spun and departed, leaving a shocked Ben in her wake. He knew how forward the drug Chuck received made a person and most women considered him a good looking guy. Mary dressing up and going into his house after hours could mean a lot of different things, but only one was sticking out in his mind right then.

********************
​

Ben had spent the remainder of the morning in his office trying to concentrate on the various reports that needed to be reviewed and signed off. However, the thoughts of what Tasha told him continued to run through his head like an old freight train at full speed. And with each outcome he played out in his head, it was like two trains meeting head on in cataclysmic fashion. Eventually, he sighed as his communicator rang and he saw it was Allen calling.

“I see you made it there safe,” said Ben as he saw the beach in the background.

“It’s paradise,” said Allen. “I wish I hadn’t waited this long to come here.”

“I’ll bet,” said Ben as Allen saw some deep thoughts from the other end of the connection.

“Something wrong?” asked Allen.

“No, just… you know this paperwork is a bear,” said Ben.

“I try to take it off your hands when I can,” said Allen. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop coming in even if I think I’m caught up.”

“It does not,” said Ben. “Everyone settled in?”

“For the most part,” said Allen. “We went slightly over the numbers so about a half dozen are in the tents this trip.”

“We went over on the numbers?” asked Ben irately.

“We discussed it last week,” said Allen calmly. “We accepted the risks.”

“Yeah, sorry,” said Ben. “I forgot.”

“But anyway, we start work tomorrow as planned and hopefully get some finishing work done before you get here next week,” said Allen.

“I’m curious how much progress you make,” said Ben. “I’m sure in your daily calls I’ll find out.”

“Well, I hadn’t exactly planned on calling in daily,” said Allen with confusion.

“We’ve had each of the trips call in daily,” said Ben.

“Which haven’t had your Deputy on them either,” said Allen as a slight frown came over his face. “I think I can handle things here if they come up.”

“It’s just been standard,” said Ben.

“Again, neither one of us have been here,” said Allen as the frown increased. “I don’t expect you to report into me next week just like I felt like you wouldn’t expect me to report in this trip.”

Ben sighed as he saw Allen getting a little frustrated. “I…”

“You do trust me to take care of things down here if they come up, right?” asked Allen.

“Yeah, sorry,” said Ben. “I… I’m just a bit frustrated right now.”

“I think you need this vacation more than I do,” said Allen.

“I need something,” said Ben. “I’m just not sure what.”

“Maybe a private dinner with a certain doctor that’s making the trip next week?” asked Allen as he saw the mood on Ben’s face change in an instant. “That was probably too forward.”

“Just a bit,” said Ben. “Look, I’m sorry about the calling in thing. I know you’ll be fine and, yes, I trust you to take care of business there without having to report in to Dad every day.”

“I only planned on calling you for the big problems like medical emergencies and whatnot,” said Allen. “I don’t want it to be a point of contention with us.”

“No, it’s not,” sighed Ben. “I was wrong to think you should be calling in.”

“Tell you what, I’ll send a daily weather update and surf report,” said Allen. “Fair enough?”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” said Ben as a half a smile came over his face. “Or not if you don’t think it’s necessary. I’ll leave that up to you.”

“Or send you pictures?” asked Allen.

“Which will make me more jealous,” said Ben with a slight chuckle. “Either way, I hope you have a good time while you’re there.”

“It’ll be nice relaxing and not worrying about that paperwork piling up on my desk while I’m gone since you’ll be there to take care of it,” said Allen with a grin.

“I may just leave it,” said Ben with a slight laugh.

“Except I told the Directors to send it to you,” said Allen with a laugh.

“Oh, thanks,” said Ben sarcastically. “Well, I won’t keep you. I’m glad you made it there safe and I look forward to the weather reports.”

“Okay, you take it easy,” said Allen as he ended the call. He was slightly confused over Ben’s behavior right then and chalked it up to the stress of the job and the fact he’d been going non-stop since they got there. But he was still puzzled as to why he thought the reports would continue to come in while he was there. And the more he thought of it, the more it didn’t make sense to him.

“First time he’s ever not trusted me,” muttered Allen.

“He’s a former military man that has a routine that’s worked so far,” said Claire. “You get the same way from time to time.”

“I know, I just…I didn’t think anything of calling in since we’ve pretty much been equals since we got here,” said Allen.

“You didn’t recognize the signs?” asked Claire.

“Stress? Yeah, he seems off kilter at the moment,” said Allen.

“Not that, silly,” said Claire. “I saw it plain as day.”

“Well, the suspense is building,” said Allen patiently.

“He’s having woman troubles,” said Claire. “I thought that was evident when you mentioned him and Mary having a dinner together.”

“I didn’t really see it at the time,” said Allen. “Do you think that’s what it is?”

“I doubt it’s anything else,” said Claire. “He’s handled the stress of being here very well so far and the only thing that could cause him to be off kilter is women troubles. I should know since I have a bit of experience in that field.”

“You’ve never caused me that much trouble,” said Allen.

“Oh, yes I have,” she chuckled. “But we got through it just like Ben will get through this.”

“I hope he does,” said Allen. “He’s what’s held us together since we’ve been here.”

“I feel like a vacation and seeing Mary in a more social setting will be what puts him back in balance,” said Claire. “Of course, I might have to prod him and her a bit.”

“I’m not sure prodding is what I’d call what you do,” chuckled Allen.

“I’m trying to be gentle,” she chuckled. “Now, let’s see what this place has to offer for lunch.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said as they headed back to the living area hand in hand. It was the perfect anniversary present for her even though the kids were along. But teenage boys being teenage boys, they would find ways of keeping themselves occupied while their parents spent a little quality time with each other in a complete paradise.

Back in the colony Ben was doing much the same thing even though he didn’t have much of an appetite at the moment. He thought about skipping the meal, but it might help him to refocus on his thoughts as he mindlessly grabbed a sandwich and chips before taking a seat away from the others in the dining facility. He really wasn’t in the frame of mind at the moment to deal with anyone else as he bit into the sandwich and thought about everything going on. It was merely a pattern of shoving food into his mouth, chewing, swallowing and repeating the process all the way through lunch as he continued his thoughts. Finishing up, he folded his hands and placed his elbows on the table, leaning in on them as he continued thinking.

“You okay?” asked Mary as she came up to him having finished her own lunch and watching him from across the room. He seemed like he wasn’t in the mood for company when she saw him and felt whatever he was thinking of might be better solved alone.

“Yeah,” he said evenly. “I’m good.”

“You just look like you’re thinking a lot,” said Mary. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Oh, nothing at all,” said Ben as he collected his items and walked past her without another word. She was slightly shocked at his behavior as this was a side of Ben she had never seen before. She knew something was wrong and followed him out of the dining hall and towards the headquarters building before finally catching up with him.

“Ben, please stop,” she said as she managed to get close enough to him. She saw him stop and inhale deeply before turning around and looking at her.

“Yes, Doctor?” he asked.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, perfectly fine,” he said as he crossed his arms.

“I’m going to say no on that,” she said. “What’s bothering you?”

“A few things,” he said and didn’t elaborate.

“Well, you’ve opened up to me before,” she said. “I don’t know why this time it would be different.”

“How’s Chuck?” asked Ben.

“98% of the drug is out of his system and the rest should be out by the end of today,” she said. “He’s in perfect shape otherwise.”

“Is he now,” said Ben.

“Yes, he’s rebounded well and no physical problems were noted,” she said. “Why?”

“I was wondering,” said Ben. “I didn’t know you were making personal house calls these days.”

“Someone saw me,” she said with a sigh. “I knew it wasn’t a good idea and I thought I was being careful. Apparently not because you found out somehow.”

“People do love to talk here,” said Ben.

“It was a mistake,” said Mary as she let out another long sigh. “I should have known better.”

“Well, it’s done,” said Ben.

“I know it’s not proper, but I felt sorry for him and that was the only way I could think of to help him,” said Mary.

“Oh, you felt sorry for him,” said Ben without emotion.

“I just… he had those problems and I thought it best to take care of it at his house,” said Mary. “I didn’t think anyone would see me going in.”

“Well, someone did,” said Ben.

“I know it’s against the rules, but it was all I could think of,” said Mary.

“I don’t know who’s rules you speak of,” said Ben. “I never made up such a rule about it.”

“My rules,” said Mary. “And I got caught breaking my own rules.”

“Well, it happened,” said Ben.

“He felt nervous and embarrassed going to the hospital,” said Mary. “I just thought it would be considerate of me to do the next one at his house.”

“I’d hope the hospital isn’t being used for that too much,” said Ben.

“Wait, what?” asked Mary.

“You ‘helping’ him,” said Ben.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “I went over to do some additional tests.”

“Since when would you get all dressed up for tests?” asked Ben.

“Wait a minute…” she said as the expression on her face changed. “You think something happened between Chuck and me that night.”

“It’s not exactly a stretch of the imagination,” said Ben with a frown. “But, two consenting adults can do what they like.”

“Hold on right there, mister,” she said as her voice became angry. “I went over there because he was embarrassed about bringing his problem back to the hospital. I can understand why since he was in there for how long after the virus? So, I made the snap decision to go to his place that evening and do a second set of tests.”

“Oh?” asked Ben. “Dressed up nice from what I hear.”

“Listen to me very closely. How I dress and where I go and who I see after hours are no damn business of yours. Understand me?” she asked in a growl as she poked his chest with her finger after each of the last seven words. “You don’t get to make that determination since we are two consenting adults and what we do or don’t do is of no concern to you. If I want to go in there and drink another couple of glasses of wine and decide to get it on afterwards, I surely will. Because that’s my choice to do so.”

“So, don’t you dare pass judgment on me thinking I did anything wrong that night,” she said through gritted teeth. “But for the record, nothing happened. Not because of him, but because I decided it would be best for it not to happen. He had been drugged, I had been drinking, he was making all sorts of comments that, quite frankly, tempted me to almost go there with him. But I knew for a fact it wasn’t him talking and if something like that was to happen, I’d rather us both be clear headed for it.”

“Maybe I should have gone through with it since I’m going to be accused of it anyway. Without proof, either, mind you,” she said as her eyes turned to ice. “I should have gone ahead with his thinly veiled suggestions because it was a very attractive option. I mean, it was getting harder to resist when he is a good looking guy and funny and charming. But I also knew I couldn’t hurt Tasha that way either. She’s a friend and I damn well wouldn’t hurt her like that. I couldn’t hurt Chuck that way either so I gave him a sedative at the end of the visit to help him sleep it off.”

“But no matter what, that was my choice to go there,” she growled as she pointed her finger in his face. “I had a patient, I checked on my patient and nothing more happened. How dare you pass judgment on me without knowing all the facts in the matter or even asking me straight up if it happened. I’ve never lied to you and I’m not going to start now. But I’m not sure I want to talk to you again for a while since you obviously aren’t the man I thought you were.”

“So, please pardon me for interrupting you, Mister Nash,” she said as cold as she could. “I hope you have a good day.”

Mary spun off and walked away as Ben stood there open mouthed. He heard footsteps behind him and slowly turned to find Rachelle walking up.

“Hey, is everything okay with you two?” she asked as she saw Mary’s retreating form.

“Mind you own business, Rachelle,” snapped Ben. “It doesn’t concern you.”

Had Ben backhanded her across the face, he couldn’t have generated a more painful look on Rachelle’s face.

“Oh, don’t act that way,” said Ben with a shake of his head. “Not everything needs your direct personal involvement.”

“Wow,” she said softly after a moment to digest what just happened. A tear formed in her eye as she backed off slowly. “I’m sorry for intruding.”

“Wait, Rachelle,” he said, angry at himself for snapping.

“No, it’s okay,” she said as he saw the tear run down her face as she turned to leave. “I won’t bother you again.”

Ben let out a long sigh as he closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the sky. He had no idea what was happening that day, what he was doing and most importantly, how everything seemed to be falling apart around him.

********************
​

“I need a can of .45 and a can of 6.5,” said Ben as he went into the armory at the Security Forces compound.

“Um, sure, sir,” said the younger Specialist as he saw a dark expression on Ben’s face. However, he was the Commander and even though he wasn’t on a list of approved personnel to draw ammo, he didn’t want to argue that point right then.

“Full cans,” said Ben. The Specialist brought back the cans as specified and handed them through the window. Ben grabbed both before turning to leave.

“Sir, you have to sign for those,” said the Specialist meekly.

“Yes, of course,” said Ben. “I’m not going to get upset at you doing your job.”

“Line 7, sir,” said the Specialist as he pointed at the proper line. Ben scribbled his signature quickly and departed, putting the cans in the back of the MPMV he appropriated for the trip. Heading through the colony, he arrived at the West Gate where the soldiers on duty stopped him.

“Can I help you, sir?” asked the Sergeant.

“Yes, please open the gate,” said Ben. “I’m heading out.”

“Um, sir, regulations state that only fire teams or better are allowed outside the gates,” said the Sergeant. “Are you just going right outside?”

“Whose regulations are those?” asked Ben.

“Major Hayden’s I believe,” said the Sergeant.

“And who happens to be her boss?” asked Ben as he looked directly at the solider.

“You, sir,” said the Sergeant.

“You like being a Sergeant?” asked Ben directly.

“I do, sir,” said the Sergeant.

“Then open the gate,” said Ben evenly. The Sergeant hesitated for a moment before giving the signal for the gates to be open. Ben drove out without another word and headed for the firing range approximately three kilometers to the southwest of the colony. Luckily, he was the only one there as he stopped right at the firing line and withdrew the pistol he had picked up at his quarters. He didn’t feel like firing the polymer of the Mk. 81 issue pistol that day and wanted some heft in his hands as he loaded up the magazines for the 1911 pistol he brought. He only had ten of them available, but that gave him 80 rounds to start with along with the 250 rounds of rifle ammo already loaded into the magazines.

After hanging targets, he went back to the line and donned his eye and ear protection before starting to fire at the human sized silhouettes making hits with the rounds. It had been a long time since he fired the pistol and his groups were a little larger than the ones he typically made. But, for a pistol that was 130 years old, each of the shots he sent downrange would have been fatal had they hit a person. After running through the initial pistol magazines, he switched over to the carbine and continued to shred the targets’ center mass and head area until all the ammo had been expended from the magazines. He took his time reloading them while deep in thought and hung additional targets before repeating the firing and reloading process another two times.

Ben had just finished loading the pistol magazines and went back to the firing line where he started sending lead and copper downrange once again. He had a feeling he wasn’t alone right then which was confirmed by a voice from his side.

“Close up your stance a bit,” said Kendrick Whitaker. “Heavier pistol.”

Ben shifted his feet slightly and continued as Kendrick joined him sending rounds out of his own pistol towards a target Ben hadn’t engaged. They both emptied their magazines before clearing the weapons and going back to the loading table.

“Tasha send you to fetch me?” asked Ben.

“Nope, Gale did,” said Kendrick.

“How’d you know I was here?” asked Ben.

“Well, funny thing,” said Kendrick. “I was visiting Gale at SIT when Rachelle comes in balling her eyes out. Of course, Gale wants to know what’s going on and eventually gets it out of Rachelle that you went off on her. Now, that doesn’t sound like the Ben Nash I know, so Gale and I head over to see the other person that knows you better than most to see if she knows what’s bothering you.”

“Now Tasha? Oh, she’s fit to be tied where you’re concerned,” said Kendrick. “Confides in Gale that you’re acting all kinds of peculiar today and maybe we ought to figure out what’s going on in that brain of yours. Well, she wasn’t nice about it, but anyway, figured we’d maybe get a friend to talk to you as well. You know? Strength in numbers? So, we go see Mary. Now, I’ve seen some cold receptions in my time, but that was downright absolute zero. Apparently, Mary tells Gale that you’re being, well, I won’t repeat the words she used, but she isn’t that happy with you right now for some reason.”

“Now, strange thing is, I get a call from the armory that one Commander Ben Nash just signed out a couple of cans of ammo. He isn’t on the list, but better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? So, I mosey on over to the Control Center where I figure I’d best track you down and low and behold, the sentries on duty at the gate called in that they got threatened with demotion by one Commander Ben Nash if they didn’t let him out the gate. Said they tried to explain to you that you couldn’t come out on your own, but you were not going to be deterred and they let you out. So, I figured there is only one place you’re bringing ammo out on the southwest side and that’s here.”

“I see the sentries let you out by your lonesome as well,” said Ben.

“Actually, the fire team I brought with me is still in the vehicle behind the berm,” said Kendrick. “You see, I play by the rules when it comes to things like that.”

“Since when,” scoffed Ben as he sat down the magazine he was loading and let out a deep sigh.

“You want to talk?” asked Kendrick.

“I’m not even sure what to say,” said Ben with another sigh.

“Want to do some more shooting?” asked Kendrick.

“Not helping much,” said Ben as he looked at his hands. “It’s been a while since I plugged that many rounds out of a steel pistol without modern recoil mitigation.”

“Well, it’s not exactly made for sustained firing either,” said Kendrick. “You got something on your mind right now.”

“It seems like I’m pissing off everyone I come into contact with today,” said Ben. “I even aggravated Allen earlier.”

“I’m not sure how since he’s on vacation,” said Kendrick. “But never mind that.”

“I mean, Allen, Tasha, Mary and Rachelle in one day,” said Ben. “I might as well swing by Ag on my way in and piss off Kurt and drop by the engineers to… I’ve got a better idea; I’ll just call a staff meeting and get everyone together so I can anger them all at once.”

“You feel better now?” asked Kendrick.

“Not really,” said Ben with another sigh.

“Hey, I at least gave you a couple hundred rounds before I walked up,” said Kendrick.

“How long have you been sitting back there?” asked Ben.

“About a half hour or so,” said Kendrick as he reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of scotch. “Put your pistol and carbine up.”

“I ain’t in the mood for drinking,” said Ben.

“You damn well will have a swig with me,” said Kendrick. “You see, I’ve put up with your shit for 25 years so there is little you’re going to say today that I probably haven’t heard already. You can’t threaten me more than you have already. You can’t order me around because you know I won’t listen. So, you sit your ass on that bench and have a drink with me.”

“Kendrick, today’s not the day for this,” warned Ben.

“I said it is,” said Kendrick in a stern voice. “Now sit your ass down before I sit your ass down.”

Ben sat down with a huff and a gave Kendrick a dirty look.

“Now drink,” said Kendrick as he handed the bottle over. Ben took a mouthful of the liquor and coughed as it headed down his throat. Kendrick took a small drink and passed the bottle back over to Ben.

“Talk,” said Kendrick in the same stern voice as Ben took another small drink. He recounted his day as well as the previous few days and what led to the situations he had gotten himself into earlier. It took nearly a half hour of talking as Ben had several more large drinks from the bottle.

“So, Chuck got dosed with Truedream?” asked Kendrick.

“Pretty big dose from what I was told,” said Ben. “I mean, I had the stuff coming out of stasis and it made me pretty forward. I couldn’t imagine having five times the normal dose.”

“And?” asked Kendrick. “It upset you he was talking sweet to your girl?”

“No… I mean, not really,” said Ben. “Yeah, Chuck’s a good looking guy and younger than me. I can see why women respond to him. I was more upset with myself for maybe not making a move sooner on Mary. She told me she was intrigued by his comments.”

“So, you took out your own frustrations on her for not doing something you should have done months ago?” asked Kendrick.

“Yeah, I think I did,” said Ben with a sigh.

“I’d say you’ve had worse days,” said Kendrick as he took another sip from the bottle. “Can’t recall them right now, but I’d bet you have.”

“I’ve certainly not been in my prime today,” admitted Ben as he had another drink.

“You really made a mess of some stuff,” said Kendrick with a nod.

“I surely did,” said Ben with a sigh and took another drink. “That Rachelle thing was so petty I can’t even fathom why I did it.”

“Well, that apology will be easy,” said Kendrick. “She’s a good kid with a big heart that will probably forgive you easy enough if you’re sincere. Now, Tasha… that might take a couple of days for her to calm down. You know how she gets when she’s upset.”

“That used to be the best time to send her on missions,” chuckled Ben. “I’d make sure she went out when she was angry.”

“Oh, I know,” said Kendrick with a chuckle. “Nothing but explosions and carnage following.”

“Yep,” chuckled Ben.

“Now Mary? That’s going to be all on you,” said Kendrick. “I honestly don’t know her well enough to say, but I’d tend to think you got yourself in a pickle there.”

“I did get myself in a pickle,” said Ben with a sigh.

“Because you are jealous?” asked Kendrick.

“Of Chuck?” asked Ben. “A little. But mainly pissed at myself.”

“So? What do you do?” asked Kendrick.

“What I always do,” said Ben as he took another drink. “Talk and hopefully work my way back into her good graces.”

“You think it’ll be easy?” asked Kendrick.

“Oh, I’d say I’ll likely be paying for that one for a while,” said Ben.

“Except Mary likes you a lot as well,” said Kendrick. “Blind man could even see that. You’ll have to give her flowers and pretty things and say all sorts of nice things, but I think her forgiving you and seeing you just aren’t yourself today can be accomplished in short order.”

“I really am not myself today,” said Ben with a sigh. “For want of a reset button.”

“That’s the nice thing about this planet,” said Kendrick. “We’ve got a reset button each and every day we wake up.”

“That we do,” said Ben as he took another drink. “I just realized something.”

“What’s that?” asked Kendrick.

“You’re trying to get me drunk,” said Ben. “I’ve drank nearly two-thirds of this bottle while sitting here.”

“You’re just now figuring that out?” asked Kendrick.

“You planned it that way?” asked Ben as the scotch was already hitting him. However, he had another drink just because he knew Kendrick would force it into him otherwise.

“When’s the last time you tied one on?” asked Kendrick.

“On Earth,” said Ben. “No, wait. Mars one night.”

“So, it’s been a while,” said Kendrick.

“Oh, yeah,” said Ben.

“Now, we’re going to finish that bottle and we’re going to take you home where you will commence to passing out in your bed. Tomorrow morning, not very bright or early, I’m going to come banging on your door, make your hungover ass shower, shave, put on your nicest uniform and you start apologizing,” said Kendrick as he took a sip as well.

“I don’t get a choice here?” asked Ben.

“If not, I’ll let Gale have at you,” said Kendrick. “You certainly aren’t her favorite right now.”

“No, I think your plan has a lot of upside to it,” said Ben. “So, we finishing this here?”

“Might as well,” said Kendrick as he took another swig and handed it back to Ben who continued drinking. It took another ten minutes before the bottle was empty and tossed into the range bag. Ben was really feeling the effects of the alcohol by then as Kendrick helped him into the back seat of the MPMV. He grabbed one of the other troopers from the fire team that had patiently waited and had them drive them back and into the colony.

When they arrived at his house, the trooper and Kendrick helped carry Ben inside as he was almost to the point of passing out. They managed to get him inside and poured into bed before removing his boots and shirt and leaving him passed out.

“The old man knows how to party,” said the younger troop.

“Hell, you should have seen us in our younger years,” chuckled Kendrick. “We’d put you young cats to shame.”

“So, I’ve heard,” said the trooper. “He’s going to be okay here alone, right?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” said Kendrick as they departed. The trooper promised to return the unused ammo back to the armory after dropping Kendrick off at his townhouse. Heading inside, he found Gale in the kitchen making supper and glanced at him as he came over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Didn’t get too drunk, I see,” she commented.

“Nope,” said Kendrick. “Ben had the lion’s share of the bottle though.”

“Well?” she asked.

“He’ll be okay,” said Kendrick. “Everyone has good days; everyone has bad days. He was due for a bad day since he’s only had good ones since being here.”

“You figure out what’s bothering him?” asked Gale.

“Woman troubles,” said Kendrick. “Stress, loneliness of command, not being forthcoming with his feelings, just a whole hoop of things that just added up to today.”

“It certainly didn’t sound like the Ben I’ve known for… Lordy, how long?” she asked.

“25 years,” said Kendrick. “He’s allowed a mistake or two.”

“Pretty big mistakes today,” said Gale.

“He’ll overcome them like he always does,” said Kendrick.

“I’ll admit, I was not happy when he made Rachelle cry,” said Gale.

“He’s going to apologize tomorrow,” said Kendrick. “He knows what he did was wrong and will make things as right as he can.”

“To everyone?” asked Gale.

“That’s the plan,” he replied. “Rachelle, Tasha, Mary, the young trooper at the gate and Allen.”

“He really did do himself proud today,” said Gale with a scoff.

“When it rains, it pours,” said Kendrick with a sigh.

“Go wash up, supper will be in about fifteen minutes,” said Gale.

Kendrick headed into his bathroom where he washed up, thinking of what happened that day. He knew Ben had made some pretty big mistakes, but he also knew Ben was smart enough to realize that and to be able to work through them as he always did. Kendrick looked back on the 25 years they had known each other and remembered this wasn’t the first time he’d dropped Ben off in his bed stone cold drunk. Hopefully, it would be the last though as he wanted nothing but great days ahead for his lifelong friend.

 

With even a goodbye, Tasha spun and departed, (without)
found a small one Grand

 

CHAPTER 39



“Rachelle?” asked Ben softly outside her office.

“Commander,” she said evenly as he saw the hurt in her eyes still and it practically made him sick to his stomach.

“Got a minute to talk?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure,” she said evenly and waved him in. He went in front of her desk and remained standing as he took in a deep breath and thought of the words to say.

“Please sit,” she stated. “You make me nervous standing over me like that.”

“Sorry,” he said and sat in the chair. “I want to apologize for yesterday. I mean, sincerely apologize. I had… Mary and I just had an argument and I was frustrated at myself more than anything you were doing. You didn’t deserve me snapping at you like that.”

“You’ve been a true jewel since being here, keeping me on my toes with your humor and wits and positive attitude. You have become a true friend of mine since being here and I took that friendship for granted yesterday by reacting before thinking. I know you were only trying to help like you always do and I reacted really stupidly. I was wrong to do that and I sincerely apologize to you for being so rude and snapping at you like I did,” he said as he hung his head.

“Ben,” she said as he looked at her and she was smiling. “I can’t stay mad at you.”

“No, you have every right to be mad at me,” said Ben. “I’m here to ask for your forgiveness.”

“Well, I’m not mad,” she said. “Disappointed a bit, but I’m not mad.”

“Will these help?” he asked as he gave her an assortment of chocolates and candies the kitchen staff had prepared for him.

“Working your way right back into my heart,” she said as she looked the box over and sniffed at a couple of the treats inside as a grin formed on her face. “Another two or three boxes of this and my disappointment level will start diminishing.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said with a smile. “You deserve anything you demand.”

“How about a hug?” she asked.

“Hug from who?” asked Ben.

“From you to me, silly,” she grinned. “Come here.”

“Hug it is,” said Ben as he came around the desk and took her into a hug and squeezed her a little tighter than most. She squeezed back as they released and looked at each other.

“Ben, everyone has their moments when they’ve snapped when they shouldn’t have. You haven’t until yesterday. I’m just glad it was with me instead of someone more important,” said Rachelle. “I forgive you.”

“You are extremely important,” said Ben. “Don’t ever say you aren’t.”

“Not as important as you when you’re on your game,” said Rachelle.

“I’ll at least bring you another box of candy or something,” said Ben. “I promise.”

“How about flowers when we’re on the island next week?” she asked.

“Deal,” he said and she gave him another hug.

“Now, the other apologies you need to make won’t be as easy,” said Rachelle.

“Oh, I know,” said Ben with a sigh. “I figured I’d get the leader I insulted last out of the way first this time.”

“Well, I thought you were going to say I was easy,” said Rachelle.

“I’d never say that to a lady,” he said with a smile.

“Okay, that was smooth,” she laughed. “Points added to your cool side.”

“I’ll take all the cool points I can get,” he laughed. “I’m going to need them.”

“Who are you talking to next?” asked Rachelle.

“Nosey,” said Ben. “But probably Allen.”

“You pissed him off too?!” she exclaimed.

“Rachelle…” he said in the normal tone he used with her.

“Now, you’re on your apology tour,” she chided him. “I get a little latitude.”

“Okay, you have a little latitude,” he chuckled.

“Is Mary on your list?” asked Rachelle. “She’s pretty angry with you.”

“She is on my list,” said Ben.

“Flowers,” said Rachelle. “All kinds of colors except yellow.”

“I’ll see what I can come up with,” said Ben. As he was departing his communicator indicated he had an incoming picture. Opening it up, it was from Allen and drawn like an old style postcard with the beach in the background and “Wish you were here” as the caption. Below was the temperature report as well as the surf conditions which he smiled at.

Ben immediately called Allen since there was no better time than the present for his second apology today. Allen answered after several moments as Ben saw he was with a work crew somewhere on the island.

“Got your postcard,” said Ben with a smile.

“I thought you’d like it,” said Allen. “It was either that or a Rachelle Rat.”

“I liked the one you sent,” said Ben with a chuckle. “Allen, I called for a different reason to talk to you specifically.”

“Oh?” he asked as he stepped away from the group. “Okay, I’m out of earshot.”

“I want to apologize for yesterday,” said Ben. “In trying to argue about you reporting in, that was very petty of me and I know it must have made you feel like I didn’t trust your judgment or leadership abilities. For that I truly am sorry and I really wasn’t feeling like myself yesterday.”

“You’ve been a valuable member of this Expedition and in every realm you’re my equal if not my better in some regards. I wholeheartedly trust you as a partner, not as a deputy. You have been a trusted advisor, a loyal coworker and most importantly, a true friend since we arrived here. I know the colony will be in perfect hands when I go there next week,” said Ben.

“I’ll admit, I was a little upset,” said Allen. “But no worries. I figure you just need some time off like we all do and it’s part of my job to catch heat from you from time to time.”

“It’s not your job,” said Ben. “I was wrong to do it.”

“I’m not sweating it,” said Allen. “Look, we all have those moments where we say things we later look back at and ask ourselves W-T-F. I’ve said my fair share of them and I figure you probably have too. So, water under the bridge and it’s a new day.”

“That it is,” said Ben. “Well, I won’t hold you back any longer. But I felt like I needed to apologize to you over what happened.”

“We’re clearing the future landing pad area,” said Allen. “Please, hold me back longer.”

“No, I’d like a shorter walk myself,” laughed Ben. “Enjoy the rest of your time down there and happy anniversary. Give Claire my regards.”

“Will do,” said Allen. “Later.”

“Well?” asked Kendrick after Ben finished and came back to him. “Who’s next?”

“The young trooper at the gate,” said Ben.

“Sergeant Brandt Malone,” said Kendrick. “Just so happens he’s on duty in the Control Center today.”

“Let’s go see him,” said Ben as he set out and headed to the Control Center. After entering, the other individual on duty, Specialist Sue Peters, saw him coming and gave him a smile.

“Commander,” she smiled as they had become closer than most during the outbreak. Both the individuals had stood, but he waved them both back into their seats.

“Sue, how’s everything going?” he asked as he went to her. He noticed the Sergeant glance at him out of the corner of his eye and tried not to react to the Commander being in the same place again after their run in the day before.

“Kicking and punching,” she smiled as she rubbed her pregnant belly. “Can I help you with something?”

“Yeah, take a ten minute break or so,” said Ben.

“I just had a break,” she stated.

“Well, take another one,” he said. “Give me the room for a minute and go visit the Sergeant Major. He’s lonely.”

“Yes, sir,” she stated as she rose and headed out of the room where Kendrick was waiting outside. Ben went to the seat opposite of the Sergeant and pulled it closer to him.

“Sergeant Malone?” asked Ben.

“Yes, sir?” asked Malone as he turned to Ben. He wasn’t comfortable being in the room alone with the Commander especially after their run in, but couldn’t escape right then.

“I came in to apologize to you for being so rough with you yesterday,” said Ben. “You were doing your job and doing exactly what we put you on this planet to do. I wasn’t really having a good day yesterday and you caught hell for trying to take charge of your post and enforce the orders you are instructed to enforce. For that I apologize and want to let you know it was nothing personal.”

“You need to keep doing a great job out there and don’t let anyone stop you. Especially a grumpy old bastard that threatens your rank because he’s just not in a good mood,” said Ben.

“I… don’t know what to say, sir,” said Malone.

“You don’t have to accept my apology,” said Ben. “I understand it might take a while to regain your trust. But I will do it.”

“No, I mean, I’m just not used to getting an apology from someone of your stature,” said Malone. “I accept your apology. We all have bad days, sir.”

“It’s not your job to deal with me on a bad day though,” said Ben. “Have you been to Rachelle Island yet?”

“Yes, sir,” said Malone. “A couple of weeks ago.”

“Well, you’re going again,” said Ben as he withdrew a letter he had written and signed. Handing it over, Malone quickly scanned the document and saw Ben authorized him a five day pass and a trip date of his choice to Rachelle Island.

“Now, if they can’t find a replacement for you to go when you want, you let me know and I’ll come out and stand your post for you while you’re gone,” said Ben. “I can flat guarantee some cranky bastard won’t be able to pull rank on me.”

“No, sir, I’d imagine not,” said Malone as a smile came over his face.

“I’d tend to think you wouldn’t mind picking the rotation with Mackenzie Worthington?” asked Ben. “I figure she’ll be back on the list soon.”

“How did you…” started Malone.

“Oh, son, you’d be shocked at how much I know about,” said Ben with a chuckle. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. She thinks you’re cute too.”

“Really?” asked Malone.

“You might want to have a drink with her,” suggested Ben. “I think you have a good chance.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Commander,” said Malone with a grin.

“Well, I’ve got to continue my worldwide apology tour, but you keep up the good work,” said Ben.

“Thank you, sir,” said Malone. “That thing that happened yesterday? It’s nothing really.”

“It was something,” said Ben. “This is my way of bribing you to forget it.”

“Consider it forgotten,” said Malone as Ben went to the door and waved Sue Peters back in.

“You taking it easy?” asked Ben as he saw Sue.

“One day at a time,” she said. “I’m pretty much ready for this thing to be over.”

“You’ll be happy to know we have finalized the marriage methods,” said Ben. “Unless you want a religious wedding which we’re still trying to figure out.”

“I’ll talk it over with him,” said Sue. “I’ve got to get back to my console. Sergeant Malone will make a mess of my system if I’m not there to supervise.”

“Okay, we’ll see you around,” said Ben as he departed. As he walked out the door and it was closing behind him, he heard Malone exclaim “I’ve got a five day pass and a trip to the island!” as he collected the Sergeant Major.

“I’d say that’s a bit extreme for making a command decision,” said Kendrick.

“Well, the big boss can afford to go to a little extreme when he wants,” said Ben. “Prerogative of command and all.”

“So, who’s next?” asked Kendrick.

“A really tough one,” said Ben as he patted his pocket to make sure the object was still there. The trip through the security building didn’t take long as they arrived at Tasha’s office where she was reviewing reports and signing off on them as she sat behind her desk. She saw Ben and Kendrick out of the top of her eyes, but didn’t acknowledge him as was customary.

“Major Hayden?” asked Ben softly from the door of her office as he knocked softly as well.

“Commander Nash?” she asked without looking up.

“May I have a moment to speak to you?” he asked politely.

“Professionally or personal?” she asked.

“Personal,” he stated.

“No,” she said with a shake of her head and still wouldn’t look at him. “Maybe later.”

“That’s fine,” said Ben. He paused before leaving and walked to her desk. She looked up as he set an item on the desk and sat back in her chair as he patted it.

“Please return that to me when I earn it back,” he said softly as he turned and departed. She picked up the item in a small cloth pouch and presentation box fell into her hands. Opening it up, she saw a gold plated North American Credit as well as a screen printing on the inner side of the box. She didn’t need to read the words as she remembered them just as clear as she did when she gave him the object over 15 years ago.

For the trust you gave me
For the honor you taught me to have
For the integrity you instilled
For the guidance you’ve always provided
I will always salute you

From Cadet Tasha Anne Hayden to Major Benjamin Mark Nash

Tasha knew Ben wasn’t a man to keep a great number of sentimental items as he had the memories burned into his head of a lifetime of service he preferred to trinkets. The vast majority of the items he collected tended to get tossed into a box and forgotten to time, gathering dust in his basement or attic. But to see the presentation coin she had “sold” him for her first salute out of the Academy still in pristine condition after all those years meant it was something he truly cherished. And she remembered the man she pledged her loyalty to all those years ago as well.

She sat looking at the coin for several moments thinking about the words she read and the man who just walked out of her office. She closed the box and darted out into the hallway where he and Kendrick Whitaker were almost out of the building at the end of the hallway.

“Commander!” she stated as he stopped and turned to her.

“You left this,” she said as she handed back the box and her voice cracked. “You don’t need to re-earn that because you’ve done nothing to lose it.”

“Tasha, I said some things yesterday I shouldn’t have,” he started to apologize.

“We both said things we shouldn’t have yesterday,” she said as she put the box into his hands and held them. “But I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose my mentor in the worst week of my adult life to being stupid.”

“I’ve not been myself lately,” he said as Kendrick shooed them into a side office since people were taking notice of the conversation. “Tasha, the last thing in the world I needed to do yesterday was upset you. It wasn’t right, I wasn’t right and I am sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry for saying the things I said,” she said as her voice cracked again. “It was wrong of me to throw that in your face like I did and I knew when I did it, it was out of line.”

“We both were probably guilty of saying things we shouldn’t have,” said Ben.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she hugged him. “You’ve always been there for me and you always have looked out for my best interests. This is no different.”

“I should have been more understanding,” said Ben as he returned the hug.

“We’re both guilty of being dumb,” she said as they released the embrace. “But I’m smart enough to know I still need you around and needed a night to put it into perspective.”

“As I can’t afford to lose you to something so trivial,” said Ben as he pocketed the box. “You do whatever you feel you need to do. I’ll support it.”

“Drown him in his bathtub?” she asked as he saw a bit of life coming back into her eyes.

“Let’s not go overboard just yet” he chuckled.

“Accidentally toss him into a pit filled with a pack of madgers?” she asked as a hint of a grin came over her lips.

He smiled and shook his head as he looked at her.

“It’s going to take time,” said Tasha. “I do think we can achieve a peace between us.”

“There always is another side to the stories,” said Ben. “Lesson ends for the day.”

“You talked to Mary, didn’t you?” asked Tasha.

“I did,” said Ben with a sigh. “The visit she made to him wasn’t quite what I thought it was.”

“She could be lying,” said Mary. “Saving face.”

“I don’t think she was lying,” said Ben. “You aren’t the only one who can read people.”

“So, just a pit with one madger?” she asked.

“How are you going to catch one?” he asked.

“They recognize their own kind,” she said. “I’d be their queen if they got to know me.”

“You certainly are a queen,” said Ben with a laugh as he was glad to see her regaining her sense of humor. “Look, this is a trying time for us all. I’m going to make peace on my end on all the fronts I managed to aggravate yesterday. You do what you feel is right.”

“That typically is the same thing that you do,” she stated. “Look, I’ll eventually talk it through with him. But just not today.”

“Don’t wait too long,” said Ben. “I know he cared for you deeply and there are always other sides to the stories. There are reasons everything happens and it’s not always for the obvious reasons we see on the surface.”

“You still won’t tell me, will you?” she asked with a sigh.

“I can’t,” he stated with a shake of his head. “Look, you know me and if I could say I would. But there are some things even I won’t disclose and it has to come from the person itself.”

“I’ll be mindful of that,” she said as she knew he was being sincere and perhaps he did have a point she should talk it over with Chuck. But as she stated, not that day.

“I’ve got one more stop to make on the apology tour,” he stated.

“Mary?” she asked.

“That’s one’s the tricky one,” said Ben.

“I’m going to leave it all up to you,” said Tasha.

“One more thing, if Sergeant Brandt Malone brings you a letter stating he has an official five day pass and additional trip to Rachelle Island, it’s valid,” said Ben.

“You really are going overboard with the apologies,” she stated.

“You knew about that?” he asked.

“It happened in my section just like you checking out two cans of ammo,” said Tasha. “I was going to come out there myself, but when I heard the Sergeant Major and Gale were on the case, I felt they would be best to find out what was going on.”

“Well, the Sergeant Major used a time honored, tried and true method,” said Ben.

“He got you drunk,” said Tasha with a grin.

“I don’t remember even getting home,” laughed Ben.

“Used that bottle of scotch he was saving I’d imagine,” said Tasha.

“It went to a good purpose,” said Ben. “Okay, I need to get this last stop done. I’m going to apologize one last time for what I did yesterday.”

“I’m apologizing too,” she said as she quickly hugged him one last time. They departed the office where the Sergeant Major was patiently waiting on them both.

“Sergeant Major, I believe I can handle the last visit on my own,” said Ben. “I’d dare say the Major has some work for you to do.”

“She’s going to make me review reports,” said Kendrick. “I’d prefer you ordered me to go with you or something.”

“I’m not getting you out of it,” laughed Ben.

“So much for our friendship,” scoffed Kendrick though a brief smile came over his face.

“I want to thank you as well,” said Ben as he shook his hand. “You forced me to come to terms with what I had done last night even though I think you wasted a perfectly good bottle of scotch on me. But you did make me start thinking about it and push me towards what I’ve done today.”

“You’re my brother, Ben,” said Kendrick. “It’s what family does. They kick you in the ass when you need it and console you the other times.”

“Getting me drunk falls into which category?” asked Ben.

“A little of both, I think,” said Kendrick with a grin. “It was a good scotch.”

“Shame the bottle was wasted,” said Ben.

“It truly wasn’t wasted if it brings you back into form,” said Kendrick. “Besides, I have another two bottles of the same year.”

“Those can come in handy,” said Ben. “Okay, let Gale know I’ve managed to save myself so she’s not so pushy next time I see her.”

“She’ll find something else to be pushy about,” laughed Kendrick. “But I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks,” said Ben as he made one final stop at Engineering on his way to the hospital. After talking with Grady and Drew Collins, they assured Ben his request would be filled and they knew exactly the people to get on the task. Drew immediately headed for the leadership housing as Ben left to start surveys and get the work underway that afternoon.

 

Ben made one last stop before going to see Mary. After entering the commissary, he found Rachelle had already helped grease the skids by having floral arrangements ready to be picked out. He picked a nice bouquet of flowers and placed them in a paper wrapper before going over to the hospital and making a beeline for Mary’s office. She was at work with Charlotte Griggs modeling something on a 3D system and saw him approach and knock politely on her door.

“I’m a bit busy,” said Mary as she glanced at him and he saw the anger still in her eyes.

“We could use a break, Doctor,” said Charlotte as she knew Ben needed to make the apology to her mentor and friend privately. “I need to use the bathroom anyway.”

“I think I need to use it too,” said Mary as they both rose.

“Doctor, please,” said Ben as he held his hands. “Just a minute of your time.”

Mary let out a long sigh and looked at him with a frown on her face before sitting back in her chair and waving her hand at him to proceed. He walked in and stood politely in front of her desk before taking in a deep breath.

“Mary, I was completely out of line yesterday in the things I said and did,” he said very bluntly as he looked her in the eyes. “I was…”

“An asshole,” she stated, completing his thought for him.

“I was an asshole,” he sighed and nodded his head. “I didn’t…”

“Think things though before opening your mouth?” she asked.

“Not in the least,” he agreed. “I should have…”

“Thought that maybe I have a bit more self control than you gave me credit for? Thought that maybe I’m not as promiscuous as you had created in your mind? Allowed me to do my job where one of my patients is concerned and not believed the rumor mill?” she stated.

“Each and every one of those things,” he said with a deep sigh. “I was wrong, I went about it wrong, I should have talked it over with you reasonably and objectively, but I let emotions get the better of me and for that, I came to apologize and beg for your forgiveness.”

“Forgiving you for the things you believed me to do won’t be easy, Ben,” she stated. “I’m not some simple street hussy hopping from bed to bed here.”

“No, absolutely not,” he agreed. “It’s just…”

“Just what?” she asked and allowed him to continue his thoughts for a change.

“I have feelings for you, okay?” he stated. “And I let emotion get the better of me and anger took over.”

“Seems like jealousy too,” said Mary.

“I’d say there’s probably a helping of that as well,” said Ben as he hung his head. “I shouldn’t have…well, I should have been up front with you a long time ago.”

“Well, I’m not sure I care for the man who has those kinds of thoughts,” she stated. “You are right; you could have simply told me you had feelings up front.”

“I know,” he sighed. “I should have.”

“I might have had those same feelings at one point,” said Mary. “But I’m not sure I am willing to take a chance on a man that can’t be open and honest with me. Nor one that believes the rumors he hears instead of going directly to the source.”

“I truly am sorry, Mary,” he said as he looked her in the eyes. “I know I screwed up and I want to earn your trust back on both a professional level and on a personal level.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” she stated. “You destroyed a lot of trust yesterday.”

“I know,” he said. “But it’s not because I have to, but because I want to.”

“I’ll consider it,” she stated evenly. “But it’s going to take time.”

“I understand,” he said. “I will do whatever I need to. If that includes some time for you to think, I accept the punishment for that.”

“Punishment?” she asked.

“You’ve become a valuable friend since being here, my feelings beside the point,” said Ben. “There’s not many people I’ve opened up to, but you’re one of the few. Not being able to talk to you and open up will punish myself for making a foolish choice.”

“It was a foolish choice,” she agreed. “But I’m always here to open up to on a professional level as well.”

“But the personal friendship is what made it easy,” said Ben. “I mean, throughout my career, I had doctors and chaplains and counselors and whatnot that were always there to open up to. But it’s not always easy opening up to strangers. Friends are better in that regard.”

“I don’t think a one time mistake will ruin the friendship we created,” she said. “Though it will take a while for me to trust you on a personal level again.”

“I made the mistake and I pay the price,” said Ben with a nod.

“Then we start fresh moving forward,” she stated with a nod, but still had an expressionless look on her face. “Today you start proving you aren’t the man you were yesterday.”

“Mary, I am truly sorry,” he said. “I just wasn’t myself yesterday.”

“Well, that could have been the true you and I just learned about a side of you that I may not care for at all,” she stated. “You’re going to have to prove to me it was a one time slip and it will never happen again if we are to regain any friendship we might have had.”

“Again, I’m going to prove it because I want to, not because I need to,” he stated.

“Fine,” she stated evenly. “Anything else?”

“I wanted to give you something as a token of my appreciation for the friend you’ve been since we started this voyage,” he said as he retrieved the flowers from the bag and handed them over.

“Ben,” she said with a shake of her head.

“A small token of appreciation for you as a person and a symbol of my willingness to work to get you back as a friend,” he said as he handed them over. “Please.”

“We’ll see if it holds up,” said Mary as she took the flowers and set them to the side. “Now, Doctor Griggs and I need to get back to what we were doing.”

“Thank you for allowing me to say what I needed to say,” said Ben as he nodded politely and exited the door. After Mary saw he was gone, she sighed deeply and looked at the flowers sitting to her side. She was still angry over what happened yesterday and his simple gift wasn’t really appealing to her right then. She took the bouquet and dropped it into the compost bin before bringing back up the computer simulation they were running.

“We ready?” asked Charlotte as she had returned and had a vase in her hands. “Now, those don’t belong in there.”

She retrieved the flowers from the compost bin and put them into the vase before fluffing them out from where they had been in the bag.

“I put them there for a reason,” said Mary with a tone.

“I’m sure you did,” said Charlotte. “But there’s no water there for them to keep.”

“As in they don’t need to be decorating my office,” said Mary.

“So, I’ll take them with me when I leave since it’s a very pretty bouquet,” said Charlotte as she finished and set the flowers on the corner of Mary’s desk out of the way. “I mean, unless you change your mind about keeping them.”

“Unlikely,” said Mary as she brought back up the simulations they were running. “Can you close the door so we don’t get interrupted again?”

Charlotte pushed the door closed and resumed her seat, looking over the information as she picked up her tablet to continue.

“Have I ever told you that Nick and I almost got divorced while I was still in med school?” asked Charlotte as she prepared her tablet.

“No,” said Mary. “What does that have to do with this simulation?”

“Nothing really,” said Charlotte. “I mean, you and I don’t know each other as well as we might should. So, I thought I’d mention it in passing.”

Silence came over the two as Mary started running the simulation again and looked at Charlotte for some follow up to the comment. However, she was checking the data on her tablet with a look Mary just couldn’t identify.

“Okay, and?” asked Mary after the silence had gone on long enough.

“Well, I was in my last year of medical school and he was going for his Masters,” said Charlotte. “Obviously, that’s a busy time for us both. Nick, love his heart, isn’t the best student in the world. He’s intelligent, certainly, but just doesn’t grasp the book side of learning that well. Anyway, I tried to help as much as I could, but you know how crazy the last year of medical school is. So, he hired a tutor to help him along.”

“I mean, I thought it was an outstanding idea at first,” said Charlotte. “I met her and she seemed pleasant enough. Beautiful woman though. Dark skin the color of hot cocoa, almond shaped eyes, dazzling figure. Just the total package. Me? I packed on a few extra kilos in medical school; I mean, who doesn’t right? But she was just as trim and fit and pretty as she could be.”

“Well, Nick and I weren’t spending a lot of time together at the moment, schoolwork keeping us both apart as well as his active duty commitments. He was also spending a lot of time with his tutor and claiming to be ‘held over’ at his job on other times. He was trying to balance his studies, his career in the Army and everything else. But I felt like he was spending maybe a little too much time with her. And I got it in my head he was cheating on me with her. Again, I lost that figure I had while in college and didn’t feel very pretty right then. Of course, he was dashing and handsome on top of her being so pretty. I convinced myself he was having an affair and nothing was going to change my mind about it.”

“This went on for about a month before I finally blew up on him,” said Charlotte. “I mean, sky high blowing up for the ages. He told me it wasn’t what I thought and he loved me and I was the only one, blah, blah, blah. Of course, that’s what all men say when they get caught, right? He promised he would never do something like that to hurt me, but I knew! I just knew he was sleeping with her during those ‘held over at work’ times or the late evening tutoring sessions. He told me to talk to her and she could explain everything. But why would I want to talk to a little homewrecker stealing my man?”

“So, he slept on the couch, I slept in the bedroom, we barely talked in passing for about a week. But I thought, why am I going to let this woman come between me and my man? There is no way I’m going to let him go without a fight. Because I loved him. God help me, I still was madly in love with him.”

“So, I found her and confronted her about it in public. I told her exactly what was on my mind and how dare she think she was going to steal my husband away from me and she’d be in for a serious fight if she continued the affair,” said Charlotte and ended the story. Again, silence came over the two as Mary looked at her to finish. Charlotte recorded some data and proceeded to another phase of the simulation.

“Well, what happened?” asked Mary who knew Charlotte was about to make an important point.

“Come to find out, apparently she was more interested in me on a physical level than him,” said Charlotte. “Here I was, out in public railing on about her stealing my man when her girlfriend shows up surprising us both.”

“Oh, no,” said Mary.

“Yeah, I was just slightly embarrassed about it,” said Charlotte with a brief chuckle. “Okay, I turned beet red and went right back into my shell. She told me while he was a good looking guy, she certainly wasn’t interested in him on a physical level and maybe he should find another tutor, a male tutor that wouldn’t cause such problems. Lord, I was so embarrassed over the situation I didn’t even know how to react. I apologized profusely to her and swallowed my pride and apologized to him. He forgave me, of course, but I learned a huge lesson that day.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions?” asked Mary.

“Well, that and go directly to the source when you start to think there is something there,” said Charlotte. “I mean, I could have avoided publicly embarrassing myself by going to her from the start. I would have found out she didn’t like men and would have been okay going forward.”

“You realize you’re the Ben in your little analogy?” asked Mary.

“And you’re the Nick,” said Charlotte. “He realized how much I cared for him at that moment and knew how protective I was of our love.”

“Ben and I aren’t in love,” said Mary. “I’m certainly angry with him right now.”

“But the mutual feelings are there,” said Charlotte. “I was wrong to judge Nick just like Ben was wrong to judge you without knowing all the facts. It took a really stupid blow up on my part to realize that little lesson of life.”

“You think I should talk to Ben,” said Mary. “Do you remember what he accused me of?”

“Sleeping around,” said Charlotte. “Well, with Chuck as a minimum. You made that much clear yesterday. But that’s not specifically who I was thinking you should talk to.”

“Chuck?” asked Mary.

“I was thinking Tasha,” said Charlotte. “Who do you think put the idea in Ben’s head?”

“She could have come to me!” exclaimed Mary and lowered her voice. “I could have smashed this whole thing from the start had she only talked to me instead of telling Ben!”

“She thinks the world of Ben,” said Charlotte. “I used to think there was something there, puppy crush maybe? But I figured out she made him her father figure a long time ago. It’s natural for her to want to protect him like he probably did to her in her past.”

“Doesn’t excuse her not speaking to me about it before blabbing to others!” said Mary.

“She likes Chuck,” said Charlotte. “Way more than she lets on. The feelings are mutual too. Regardless, when faced with a choice between a newfound friend she felt stabbed her in the back and a lifelong loyalty, which choice do you think she makes?”

“She picks the man she was loyal to before she got here,” said Mary as she saw Charlotte was far wiser than her youth indicated. “The question doesn’t change though. Why not come to me and confront me?”

“Do you know how hard it is for a woman to go up to someone they believe has defiled their marriage and confront her?” asked Charlotte. “This isn’t the movies where the strong willed woman goes up and kicks the ass of the girl after her man. It hurts seeing the woman who you think bested you for the affection of the man you pledged yourself to.”

“Are you saying Tasha isn’t that brave?” asked Mary.

“No, but she is the kind of woman who will choose her battleground carefully,” said Charlotte. “Take away that option by going to her first.”

“We already talked,” said Mary.

“About this situation in particular, right?” asked Charlotte.

“Well, that was before this all came out,” said Mary. “I mean, I can’t tell her about Chuck’s… medical problem. That’s unethical.”

“No, but you should talk to her,” said Charlotte. “Too much happened at once for this to be a coincidence.”

“How do you know?” asked Mary.

“I don’t,” admitted Charlotte. “But I just have this feeling she got involved, possibly involuntarily, and you two should compare stories. Again, everything fell apart at the same time between the four of you.”

“You think she’s instigating it?” asked Mary.

“Are you saying she gave Chuck Retivie-3 so he sleeps with her, but she goes on a revenge tirade when someone else caught his eye first?” asked Charlotte. “Doubtful because all she had to do was bat her eyes at him and he would have jumped at the chance without any drugs. Plus, how would she have accessed the pharmacy?”

“She’s a skilled professional soldier that has training in breaking into places,” said Mary.

“We think it was taken during the outbreak,” said Charlotte. “She was in one of the wards during that time.”

“Which gave her the opportunity to do such a thing,” said Mary.

“Or we go on the original theory it’s someone else manipulating things behind the scenes and starting trouble,” said Charlotte.

“Why would someone do that?” asked Mary.

“I don’t know, but I’d bet between you and Tasha, you can start to find out,” said Charlotte. “Look, you’ve become a valuable mentor and friend to me here. You got hurt, Chuck got hurt, Tasha got hurt and Ben got hurt. That’s too many people tangled up in this together too quickly for this to be a mere coincidence.”

“You thinking someone’s out to get us?” asked Mary.

“Maybe,” said Charlotte. “I mean, human nature is still unpredictable in the best of times.”

“That it is…” said Mary. “Again, I’m very angry with him right now.”

“And you still have feelings for him that aren’t going away any time soon,” said Charlotte. “Plus, I saw the look in your eyes yesterday you were considering something rash.”

“I wasn’t thinking of doing anything yesterday!” stated Mary. Charlotte looked at her with knowing eyes and Mary averted her gaze. Charlotte let out a small scoff and half a smile.

“Am I that transparent?” asked Mary as she wondered how Charlotte knew.

“Not at all, but I recognized the look,” said Charlotte. “Honestly, the same thoughts crossed my mind when Nick and I were having troubles. But I never went through with them fully and it’s a good thing because I found out he wasn’t doing what I thought he was doing.”

“Truth be told, I considered finding a guy and just having a good time last night. Didn’t have to be anything sexual,” said Mary with a sigh. “But if something happened, I’d be okay with it.”

“You didn’t go through with it though,” said Charlotte.

“Self control in the end,” said Mary with a sigh. “Never even made it out of my door.”

“More like self respect,” said Charlotte.

“That too,” said Mary.

“Any guy in particular you picked out?” asked Charlotte with half a smile. “For reference on the hotness chart.”

“No, but I doubt it would have taken long to find someone just to at least have a drink with and a nice conversation,” said Mary in a half chuckle.

“I’m glad you didn’t say Chuck,” said Charlotte. “I mean, he is a hot guy.”

“Truth? It was tempting the night I was over there,” said Mary. “Of course, you know how forward that drug makes people and I had a couple of glasses of wine.”

“You never mentioned you’d been drinking,” said Charlotte.

“As we went along, I kept getting a voice in the back of my head saying it wasn’t right. And I knew I couldn’t hurt him or Tasha that way,” said Mary. “Or myself for that matter.”

“Do you like Ben?” asked Charlotte.

“Like right now or overall?” asked Mary.

“Either,” chuckled Charlotte.

“I think he’s one of the best men I’ve ever met,” said Mary. “He pulled a dumb yesterday, but he admitted it and apologized right off the bat. That means a lot even though I didn’t tell him that today.”

“Well, I’d say you both need some time to cool off,” said Charlotte. “Plus, you could keep getting lovely flowers from him for a few days.”

“That’s what caused Tasha’s problem,” chuckled Mary.

“No, the Truedream dose caused her problems,” said Charlotte.

“How is that search going?” asked Mary.

“I’ve been through the recordings twice,” said Charlotte with a sigh. “And no Tasha in the videos either or I would have seen that. Unless she stole a bio-suit and did it.”

“Possibly,” said Mary.

“Highly unlikely,” said Charlotte. “For the reasons I said before. Let’s focus on the probable right now and not the possible. It’s far more probable I just haven’t found who took it.”

“You’re right,” said Mary. “Regardless, this needs to be found.”

“I’ll keep at it,” said Charlotte. “But I do think you should talk to her.”

“I’ll consider it,” said Mary. They continued the simulation for another hour before Charlotte headed out to enter the data into the main computers and continue running the more in depth permutations to the theory. Mary watched from a distance and saw it likely would be running all night and it was late enough in the afternoon to call it a day. Heading back to her office, she saw the flowers on the corner of the desk, left there on purpose by Charlotte. Mary looked around and gave them a sniff before a wisp of a smile came across her face and she headed home to cook an early dinner and relax.

After eating, she took the time to look over her case load the next day for the few patients she had and decided to pop in an older movie, one set in the Russian-American War where some American ex-pat was helping smuggle refugees out of the conflicts areas and ended up falling in love with the wife of one of the resistance leaders. She only got about halfway through before turning it off and starting to read up on some older medical manuals instead.

However, she still had the lingering thoughts from what Charlotte had told her that day and sighed deeply thinking over what Ben had done as she looked at the flowers that now decorated the bar in her kitchen. While she certainly wasn’t happy with him at the moment, she felt like it probably was a one time slip of his in a time he was fairly stressed. She briefly considered talking it over with him that evening and letting him know in no uncertain terms she might forgive him this once, but any additional acts of the same nature in the future would be met with extreme retribution on her part.

But each time she almost got up the nerve to go to his house, she stopped herself and justified it to herself that it was too soon for that. She felt like he needed to wait for at least another day before she would even consider speaking with him over the matter. How she ended up outside, she had no idea, but decided it was past time to take active measures. Heading to the door of the nearby house, she rang the doorbell and waited patiently for the door to open.

“Can we talk?” asked Mary after a confused looking Tasha answered her door.

 

CHAPTER 40



“Uh, yeah,” said Tasha with a confused look as she opened the door a little wider and allowed Mary inside. Once she got in, she saw Rachelle sitting on the couch in the living area looking at her strangely as well.

“I do have clothes on?” asked Mary as she looked down.

“No, actually we were just talking about going over and talking to you,” said Rachelle.

“Well, what a coincidence,” said Mary.

“You, uh, want anything to drink?” asked Tasha, trying to be polite, but had all sorts of pointed questions she wanted to ask Mary. However, Rachelle had already talked her out of the first instinct of confrontation and hopefully calmed her enough to be rational.

“No, thank you,” said Mary.

“Did you two want some privacy?” asked Rachelle.

“Uh, no,” said Mary. “I just think… I wanted to clear the air with you, Tasha. It’s okay if Rachelle hears what I say.”

“By all means,” said Tasha as she waved towards the couch with Rachelle as she collected her glass of ice water and sat on the love seat across from them.

“First, I’d like to apologize for not being more forthcoming about my insistence you speak with Chuck the last time we talked,” said Mary. “I honestly just can’t go into it with the doctor-patient privilege and he would have to be the one to tell you.”

“You’ve bent the rules before,” said Tasha. “Why is this different?”

“It goes way beyond a bruised shoulder and whether he could perform a mission, Tasha,” said Mary. “The situation he got himself into is far worse and he needs to be the one opening up about it with you. I just can’t say.”

“I’m not sure when that will be,” said Tasha with a sigh. “Look, I understand you have your rules and code of ethics and whatnot. But that man hurt me with what he did.”

“I understand,” said Mary. “I honestly do and as a friend I wish I could tell you.”

“Are you a friend?” asked Tasha.

“I’d tend to think the past week has certainly made us all fall into bad habits,” said Mary. “But that’s why I’m here tonight. Because I consider you a friend and we need to get through this.”

“I mean, if you were to tell me everything has been a big mistake and he wasn’t doing what I heard him doing or something, I’d run over there right now,” said Tasha.

“I honestly can’t speak to that as I wasn’t there,” said Mary. “I do know something happened, but again, I can’t say what.”

“Well, not really clearing much up,” said Tasha with a sigh as she shook her head. “And there certainly are other questions I have to ask you. Pointed ones in fact.”

“I do want to tell you, I did not sleep with him,” said Mary as she knew exactly where Tasha was going with her comments. “I went over there to do some follow up tests. In hindsight, it really wasn’t a good idea to do it at his house, but I wanted to protect his privacy during that time.”

“You were awfully dressed up for a house call,” said Tasha.

“I was,” said Mary as she was slightly agitated over the insinuation, but held her temper for the moment. “I had other reasons for dressing up.”

“Lord, I hope it wasn’t for Ryan,” said Rachelle as the other two looked at her. “Sorry, this is between you two.”

“No, it wasn’t for Ryan,” chuckled Mary. “I mean, he’s a very hot guy, but I’m not sure I’m ready or willing for that kind of one night thing.”

“Well, you don’t need a specific reason for dressing up,” said Tasha. “I just found it suspicious.”

“No, I felt like dressing up to impress that night,” said Mary with a sigh. “Maybe hoping to catch Ben’s eye at dinner. Little did I know he was being hosted at Javier’s that evening.”

“Maybe you should have just crashed the party,” said Tasha with a hint of a grin. “A whole lot of problems could have been averted that way.”

“I’m glad your sense of humor is coming back,” said Mary with a smile. “Either way, I had no intention of trying to impress or seduce Chuck Dawson. You’ve become one of my closest friends since being here and I could never hurt you that way, Tasha. Chuck has also become a friend and I couldn’t think of him that way especially with you in the picture.”

“I… might have overreacted when I found out about you going over there,” said Tasha. “I’m sorry about that.”

“I am curious how you knew I was there,” said Mary. “I did try to be careful going in when nobody else was around. Not because I was embarrassed, but because I was trying to protect his privacy in the matter and not get caught doing house calls when I forbade them.”

Tasha and Rachelle looked at each other as Mary looked at each of them.

“Show her,” said Rachelle with a wave of her hand. Tasha pulled a folder from the papers on the coffee table and handed it over to Mary. Opening it, Mary saw several pictures of her standing outside Chuck’s door. The first was him wearing his charming grin for her and the next one was when they were shaking hands. She didn’t recall him having both his hands on hers, but it didn’t feel inappropriate to her when it was happening. However, the smile on her face made it seem more inappropriate than it actually was. The additional smile and playful eyes she gave him after discussing the hug situation, again, made the situation look far more sensual than it truly had been.

The next photo was when they were hugging and had partially released the embrace as she was looking in his eyes. His hands were a little lower on her hips than she remembered, but again, she thought she might have been imagining it at the time. However, the smile he was giving her would be very damning if she didn’t know better. Of course, she was smiling as well, so it looked even worse. The last photo was when she was walking in and she saw Chuck was staring at her backside as she entered the house.

“He obviously was either interested in checking out your backside or you dropped something,” said Tasha. “That look speaks volumes.”

“I honestly didn’t know he was doing that,” said Mary as she blushed slightly.

“Well, your back was turned,” said Tasha. “How would you?”

“Security camera?” asked Mary trying to move the conversation along.

“Communicator on zoom,” said Rachelle. “The security cameras aren’t up yet in that block.”

“What’s with the bag?” asked Tasha. “I’ve never seen you carry something like that.”

“Medical devices,” said Mary. “In fact, it’s still at my house if you want to see.”

“You were doing follow up tests?” asked Tasha.

“Yes,” said Mary. “You’re more than welcome to check the data at the hospital if you like. Obviously, I can’t tell you what tests were being done, but you can verify the time stamps on the tests against the times on these photos.”

“You understand why I thought there was something else going on?” asked Tasha, starting to come around that things weren’t as they appeared.

“From the looks of it, of course,” said Mary. “Here I am all dressed up, going into a single man’s house when he’s alone, I’ve got what appears to be an overnight bag, he’s checking me out and has that charming smile of his. Of course, my smiles and grins at his silly jokes aren’t helping make it look better than it looks. Yes, I understand completely and I would have thought the same thing had I seen these.”

Tasha took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “I…”

“Look, even if I wanted to go after him, I’m not going to create an elaborate story just to throw at you hoping you’d believe it. I’ve never lied to you, Tasha, and I’m not going to start now. If anything happened between us that night, I’d be mature enough to tell you and accept the consequences whatever they were. Yes, I did have a glass of wine while doing the tests, but nothing else happened. I swear on my parent’s grave I would never hurt you like that. I’m not going to let myself have what would probably be a one night stand destroy a friendship with one of my best friends here,” said Mary.

“It just looks…” said Tasha.

“Really bad, I know,” said Mary with a sigh. “Truth be told, it wasn’t a comfortable situation to be in myself.”

“Oh?” asked Tasha.

“Doctor-patient,” said Mary. “But he was very… charming that night.”

“Well, that doesn’t help matters,” said Tasha as she threw up her hands. “Almost sets us back to square one with the whole thing.”

“Charming, yes, but nothing happened,” said Mary as she held up her hands. “Because I respect you, Chuck and myself enough not to go through with something like that.”

“And Ben?” asked Tasha pointedly.

“Yes,” said Mary with a sigh. “Until he went off on me about this yesterday.”

“I…” said Tasha.

“I know you were the one that told him,” said Mary. “You’re loyal to that man to a fault and I might do the same thing if I felt like I was protecting him.”

Tasha sat deep in thought for almost a full minute playing everything in her head. She felt like Mary was telling the truth and such an elaborate story wouldn’t be easy to fabricate. Plus, she didn’t know how Mary knew she was the one that told Ben, but she hit the nail on the head that she told him to help protect him. Looking at both Mary and Rachelle, Tasha continued to think it over plus what she and Rachelle had talked about prior to that evening.

“Mary, I believe you,” said Tasha as she sighed. “I’m…”

“Without knowing the full story, I might have done the same thing,” said Mary.

“God, I’m really sorry,” said Tasha as she hung her head in shame. “I really should have come to you as soon as I got these.”

“Tasha, you did what any normal woman would do,” said Mary as she crossed over to the love seat and put her arm around Tasha’s shoulders.

“It’s just, I mean, I wasn’t thinking straight,” said Tasha.

“You’re my girl,” said Mary. “You’re allowed.”

“I’m sorry, Mary,” said Tasha as she gave Mary a hug as they got a little closer to full reconciliation over the incident. They held each other for about 30 seconds when Rachelle brought them back.

“Much as I’m so happy you two have made up, we do have more to go through,” said Rachelle.

“Yeah,” said Tasha as she released the embrace and forgave her friend.

“So, how did you get those pictures?” asked Mary.

“Slipped inside my glass door while I was at work,” said Tasha with a knowing smile. “No fingerprints, no DNA traces, no way of tracking them down.”

“Suspicious,” said Mary.

“Very,” said Tasha. “I’m really sorry for jumping to conclusions.”

“Again, I might have done the same,” said Mary. “Context matters though.”

“Yes, it does,” said Tasha.

“Is there any way of tracking down when or where they were printed?” asked Mary.

“No,” said Rachelle. “We print over a hundred pictures daily. Science alone probably does at least a hundred a day and it would be impossible to track down.”

“Even though it came from a communicator?” asked Mary.

“The Science Team tends to use their communicators for smaller items,” said Rachelle. “I already looked into that and it would be impossible to track down.”

“Well, it’s fairly obvious someone wanted you to get these pictures and, again, without context,” said Mary. “But there is a glaring question here.”

“Yeah, why,” said Tasha. “I originally thought it might have been Anna Cortez trying to work her way back in to Chuck.”

“But it’s not?” asked Mary.

“Oh, no,” said Rachelle. “She is seriously not a fan of Chuck right now.”

“You know this for a fact?” asked Mary.

“Oh, you could say I got an earful when I mentioned his name to her,” said Rachelle. “I hear she’s moving on looking for someone else too. But make no mistake, she probably has a voodoo doll of him punching holes in it right now.”

“Think she has a spare I could borrow for a bit?” asked Tasha.

“That’s horrible,” chuckled Mary. “You two were so good together.”

“Yeah, let’s skip that discussion tonight,” said Tasha. “Anyway, I doubt it’s Anna.”

“So, who else?” asked Mary.

“Who has it in for you?” asked Tasha. “We were discussing that before you got here.”

“I don’t understand,” said Mary.

“Okay, so someone has it in for me,” said Tasha. “They create a rift between Chuck and I… of course, half of that is his doing, but anyway. We aren’t on speaking terms right now, so mission accomplished. But they knew if I had those pictures, I’d seriously overreact and assume the worst. I might assume they knew I’d talk to Ben about it and let him know what I found.”

“Ben, being male and having feelings for you, would overreact as well and go off on you since you were all dolled up heading in there after hours. Again, assuming the worst for the trip you made to Chuck’s house,” said Tasha. “So, that begs the question, who exactly has it in for you that would go to the extents to take photos of you to make Ben go off?”

“I… I really don’t know,” said Mary. “I mean, I know Ben is considered handsome and plenty of women wouldn’t mind seeing him socially. But we weren’t really an item, so I have no idea why they would try to discredit me.”

“It was pretty obvious you had his attention,” said Tasha. “Someone felt threatened by you enough to stalk you to Chuck’s house.”

“I don’t recall anyone following me,” said Mary. “Of course, I wasn’t really looking behind me either, so someone might have been there.”

“Angles are wrong for someone following you,” said Rachelle as she was thinking about the situation as a whole as she often did. “The oblique angle means they were at the block in front of Chuck’s at the opposite end.”

“Who lives there?” asked Mary.

“16 people,” said Rachelle. “Varied sections, varied males and females. It’s an 8 block of apartments, so quite a few people.”

“Anyone stick out when you looked at the names?” asked Mary.

“Honestly, no,” said Rachelle. “Here’s the list.”

Mary looked through it and didn’t see anyone who might have a vendetta against her or Tasha or Chuck or even Ben. She recognized most of the names but still didn’t see anyone that would go to the extents that were happening.

“Best guess is someone just used that block to snap the pictures,” said Rachelle. “Just because it got taken from there doesn’t mean it was someone who lived there.”

“Ground level too,” said Tasha. “Angles are wrong for a balcony shot.”

“I honestly can’t think of anyone I’ve upset enough to do such a thing,” said Mary.

“Can you think of anyone you might not have upset that still holds a grudge?” asked Tasha.

“I can’t think of a soul,” said Mary. “I try to be friendly to everyone here.”

“Anyone flirting with you lately?” asked Tasha. “Little comments, casually ask you to dinner or a drink at the tavern?”

“Nobody I can think of,” said Mary. “Apparently, I’m not very flirt worthy.”

“I know of one that flirts you up,” said Rachelle.

“Oh?” asked Mary as she didn’t know if Rachelle knew about Chuck’s overt behavior from that night. It never ceased to amaze how Rachelle could find out certain things in the colony when it came to the grapevine.

“But there’s no reason for Ben to do something like this to get mad at you,” said Rachelle. “He had plenty of opportunities to drop you before now or go after another woman.”

“So, no jealous guy vying for your attention?” asked Tasha.

“I honestly can’t think of anyone,” said Mary. “Most of my interaction with people is either business or pretty casual. I haven’t noticed anyone flirting with me.”

“Sometimes it’s the ones you don’t notice that are the worst,” said Tasha. “Something to think about over the next couple of days if someone suddenly gets the urge to ask you out.”

“I’ll certainly keep that in mind,” said Mary.

“Guys, it’s not Mary,” said Rachelle suddenly.

“Okay?” asked Tasha.

“Who are your best friends?” asked Rachelle.

“You, Tasha, Angeline, I mean, the whole command group I consider besties,” said Mary. “Add in Charlotte Griggs to that list and maybe Doctor Chambless. But that’s the limit of who I consider best friends. I am friendly with everyone though.”

“Tasha? Who are your best friends?” asked Rachelle.

“Pretty much the same list as Mary minus Charlotte,” said Tasha. “Add in the Whitakers. You say it isn’t Mary, who is it then?”

“It’s Ben,” said Rachelle in surprise. The trio sat in silence for several moments as they thought about what Rachelle had just said.

“Okay, justify that,” said Tasha.

“Who are Ben’s friends?” asked Rachelle.

“I’d say my list for certain,” said Tasha. “He and Allen have gotten closer since we’ve been here, so there’s another good friend of his.”

“Okay, follow me on this,” said Rachelle. “Chuck did, well, what Chuck did. No escaping that. Tasha got pissed, rightfully so, and now she’s in turmoil because she liked him.”

“I didn’t like him!” protested Tasha.

“Don’t even deny it, sister,” said Rachelle. “Anyway… suddenly, Tasha gets pictures of Mary and Chuck allegedly having a fling. Who is it natural for Tasha to open up to in that situation?” asked Rachelle.

“You know I’m going to tell Ben,” said Tasha quietly. “Especially if he still has feelings for Mary. I wouldn’t want him finding out the hard way he’s second fiddle.”

“And if Ben hears about that, does it hurt Mary or him more?” asked Rachelle.

“Both probably,” said Tasha. “But Ben was pretty upset about it.”

“Someone’s trying to tear apart Ben’s world,” said Rachelle. “Tasha, maybe you were just a bystander that was used to hurt him?”

“But he wasn’t hurt by Chuck,” said Tasha. “I mean, yeah, he didn’t like seeing me get hurt, but he was more angry at Chuck and saddened by how I hurt.”

“Chuck was drugged on the island,” blurted out Mary.

“Do what?” asked Tasha.

“Chuck had his drink spiked with Retivive-3,” said Mary. “I can’t believe I just told you two that, but everything fits if they are going after Tasha and Ben.”

“Truedream?” asked Rachelle.

“Yeah, potent stuff,” said Mary. “I’m sorry, Tasha. I wished you’d talked to him about it.”

“He never said anything,” she said softly.

“He had about five times the normal dose,” said Mary. “I can flat guarantee you he was not thinking straight.”

“No, I’m aware of the thoughts or lack thereof with that stuff,” said Tasha. “I had it done to me a few years ago on Earth.”

“I didn’t know that,” said Mary.

“Well, luckily we were on a three day pass and I had a man immediately available,” said Tasha. “But Mary is right, you really don’t think straight with that in your system.”

“Try to act surprised if he tells you,” said Mary. “I just violated my oath to tell you that.”

“Why didn’t he just say something?!” demanded Tasha. “When?”

“Last night on the island,” said Mary. “Which doesn’t excuse what he did obviously. But if he had Vanessa Perez chatting him up, that’s a lot of temptation in one place.”

“I wish I’d drug his ass down to the beach with me,” growled Tasha.

“You would have put on a show for anyone passing by,” grinned Rachelle. “Especially knowing he had Truedream in his system.”

“This just…” said Tasha with a sigh. “I can’t be mad, well, as much, but I’m so angry he didn’t trust me enough to say something afterwards!”

“That drug hits fast and it hits hard,” said Mary. “Most people don’t even realize what’s happening until it’s happening.”

“Still, if he was feeling the same urges I was when I had it, I was right there!” stated Tasha forcefully. “All he had to do was say something!”

“You had it in your system before, were you thinking straight?” asked Mary.

“I pretty much made it known to every man in that bar what I had on my mind,” said Tasha with a sigh and a shake of her head. “I would have protected him though!”

“Well, maybe you can talk it over with him now?” asked Rachelle.

“No,” said Tasha. “I mean, not yet. I’m angry all over again with his lack of trust.”

“Tasha,” said Rachelle.

“No,” said Tasha. “Not yet. Let’s talk about this later and figure out why someone would want to hurt Ben or me.”

“Well, like Rachelle said, maybe you were a bystander that just happened to get in the path of the bullet meant for Ben,” said Mary. “Target of opportunity?”

“Maybe Tasha and Ben are both central to this,” said Rachelle. “She hurts, it hurts Ben. Ben hurts, it hurts Tasha. Maybe there is a link here.”

“I’ve made a couple of people angry since being here,” admitted Tasha. “But I don’t know why they would go to the extents of breaking up a relationship I just had forming.”

“Because people are petty and vindictive,” said Mary. “Same reason they sent you those pictures knowing full well you’d tell Ben about them.”

“Which brings me back to the point that Ben is centric here as well,” said Rachelle. “But why him? He’s been great since we’ve been here and everyone thinks the world of him. He’s earned the respect of everyone on this planet.”

“Do people need a good reason to destroy someone else’s life?” asked Mary. “Ben is in a position of authority. Maybe it’s jealousy and trying to make him fail so they move up?”

“The only two people that would apply to would be Allen or Grady,” said Tasha.

“I hate to say it, but we have to consider all possibilities,” said Mary.

“Ben and Allen have never had a public disagreement that I know of,” said Rachelle. “Private is a different matter entirely, but if they did, they hid it really well.”

“And Grady?” asked Mary.

“The same,” said Rachelle. “But even if Ben was to fall from power, Grady’s not in line to take over anyway. That would fall on Allen most likely.”

“Unless the colony voted on it,” said Tasha quietly. “Let’s face it, the Engineers would have a pretty solid voting bloc if that was the case.”

“But it doesn’t make sense!” exclaimed Rachelle.

“Since when do people make sense?” asked Mary quietly.

“Can’t be either one of them,” said Tasha. “If Chuck was drugged, how would they have gotten access to it? Speaking of, how did that happen anyway?”

“It was stolen from my pharmacy supply,” said Mary. “I’ve got people working on identifying who took it and was going to bring it to you, Ben and Allen when we found out.”

“Still doesn’t explain how either Grady or Allen would have access to the pharmacy,” said Tasha. “Right?”

“They have access,” said Mary quietly. “Ben, Allen and Grady all have unrestricted access. Ben and Allen because of their respective positions, Grady because he’s the Chief Engineer.”

“Again, why bring Chuck into this?” asked Tasha.

“Because during an argument, who would Ben most likely side with?” asked Rachelle.

“He wouldn’t always take my side,” said Tasha. “Especially if I was wrong.”

“But in a personal relationship matter where emotional opinions count more than facts, Ben very well might be more protective of you,” said Rachelle.

“He certainly would,” said Tasha quietly.

“Still, why Grady? Why Allen?” asked Mary.

“Power play?” asked Rachelle. “Maybe they don’t like the direction things are headed.”

“Again, no public disagreements over things like that,” said Mary. “You sit through the same staff meetings I do and we’ve never seen anything like that.”

“Ben would tell someone if he had a serious disagreement behind closed doors with someone like Allen?” asked Rachelle.

“No,” said Tasha. “One thing I learned about him over the course of my career, if he had beef with someone, he kept it behind closed doors and never let it slip.”

“We need to figure this out,” said Mary. “Fast.”

“I’m going to put myself back on the island rotation next week,” said Rachelle. “I was originally going to skip it, but I think it’s wise for one of us to be there.”

“I’ll be there as well,” said Mary. “Even if I’m aggravated at him right now, Ben still means a lot to me and he’s the leader we need in this colony.”

“Of course, I’ll continue to dig from here,” said Tasha. And so, the three continued planning and preparing that evening, making sure each and every item was covered in the hopes they could discover who wanted to destroy the balance of power currently in the colony. They felt like it wouldn’t be easy, but they resolved themselves to do what was necessary to protect Ben.

 

EPIC 2 EPILOGUE


Two and a half weeks later


“So, we are in agreeance?” asked Allen.

“I’m not convinced of this,” said Rachelle.

“The claim was made and we have to properly investigate,” said Allen softly. “You know this as much as anyone.”

“We’ll investigate then!” protested Tasha. “But you and I both know he’s not the kind of man that would do such a thing!”

“There have been other reports of activity outside the realm of his normal behavior,” said Grady. “When this happened, it didn’t seem like it to me either.”

“But we have an allegation and it needs to be followed up on,” said Allen. “It’s temporary and not permanent until a trial is held.”

“I don’t agree with it either,” said Angeline. “But you know as well as I do this is the course of action we have to take right now.”

“I know,” said Tasha with a sigh.

“A voice vote for the record will be necessary,” said Allen. “Engineering?”

“Aye,” said Grady.

“Medical?” asked Allen.

“Aye,” said Mary softly after a moment to think about it.

“Agriculture?” asked Allen.

“Aye,” said Kurt who didn’t look happy about it.

“Security?” asked Allen.

“Aye,” said Tasha with a sigh.

“SIT?” asked Allen.

“Nay,” said Rachelle. “We can’t do this!”

“Rachelle, this is the only way and we can’t allow him to continue while this allegation is out there,” said Allen. “Are you positive?”

“Maybe we haven’t talked about it enough!” protested Rachelle.

“Rachelle, this is the only way,” said Mary.

“You and I both know why this is wrong!” protested Rachelle.

“And I know this is the first step in making it right,” said Mary.

“I change my vote,” said Rachelle after thinking about it. “I’ll vote yes to fix this wrong.”

“Confirm for the record you are giving an aye vote without any coercion or inducement please,” said Allen.

“SIT votes aye,” said Rachelle dejectedly. “Nobody is forcing me to vote this way.”

“Science Director Doctor Javier Santiago has recused himself for obvious reasons,” said Allen for the recording device. “Assistant Director Angeline Weber will make the vote for the section in his place.”

“Science votes aye,” said Angeline.

“Vice Commander votes aye,” said Allen. “The vote is seven to zero in favor of temporarily removing Commander Benjamin Mark Nash from his position as Commander of Expedition 1. As of this evening, I assume duties as Acting Commander, Expedition 1.”

 

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