Megalodon City Penitentiary, Tundra, Standard Year 403 after founding

  Watching Dev’s retreating back for a minute, Alanna went back to her bed, curling up under the covers. She eyed the sink doubtfully before shaking her head. To turn on that faucet and drink the water was unthinkable. She could not overcome a lifetime of fear on Dev’s word alone. Which left her thirsty and entirely alone with nothing but her own thoughts for company. The words ‘I, Lieutenant Alanna Summers’ echoed in her head.

  Alanna closed her eyes, thinking of the cold, alien planet beneath her feet. Tom, James, Henry, Dev, had all told her the same thing: move on, survive. And James was waiting. But probably not forever. She looked up, listening to the faint sound of footsteps echoing down the hall. Someone had not bothered to remove their shoes. She got up slowly, and sat on one of the concrete benches, where she would be more visible. She looked up at the sound of a key in the lock, the tumbler dropping as the lock opened. James stood in his perfectly tailored uniform, outlined in the light of the hallway. The Tundran silver glint of his captain’s stripes was clearly visible on both sleeves. The enemy.

  “Hi.” He walked in, closing the cell door behind him and dropping the bag on one of the benches.

  “Hi.” She replied uncertainly. “What’s in the bag?”

  “Food.” James said with a slight smile.

  “You already brought food.” Alanna reminded him.

  “This is better food. I’ll make you grilled cheese sandwiches and I brought champagne.”

  “Does… does the cheese need to be grilled?” Alanna asked uncertainly. Tundran food was weird.

  “The bread, you grill the… well I’ll show you.” He took off his shoes and uniform jacket, sitting down to face her on top of the makeshift bed. Alanna looked back at him, wide green eyes as serious as ever. The bruising along the side of her face had improved slightly, which meant someone had given her medication. Without medication, it would have looked worse on the second day, not better. But the bruise was still there. James sighed. “Are you ok?” He asked.

  Alanna spread her hands, completely at a loss on how to respond. She hadn’t actually been ok in a very long time.

  “Uniform’s gone.” James tried. He had noticed the way she looked at the officers stripes on his sleeves earlier.

  “You’re still wearing the pants.” Alanna pointed out.

  “Do you want me to take them off?”

  Alanna shrugged uncertainly. She really wasn’t at all good at this.

  “Your hair is wet.” James said suddenly, reaching out to touch a strand.

  “I know.” Alanna nodded.

  “You washed it.”

  “Yeah.” Alanna nodded again.

  James reached out touching her still damp hair with both hands before moving them down along her shoulders. “Do you want to sit closer?” He offered.

  Alanna nodded again, moving close enough that their shoulders touched. She studied his face in the dim light, her eyes as serious as before. “Now?” She asked.

  “Uh.” James paused, completely uncharacteristically at a loss for words. Her leg was bare next to his, he noticed. He was fairly certain that the sweater was all she was wearing. James took another breath, about to speak, and paused again. “How about a date?” He said finally.

  “A date?” Alanna said, doubt heavy in her voice.

  “Yes.”

  “Now?”

  “Sure. Since we’re both here.”

  “James what the hell?” Alanna said with some frustration, pulling back. “What are you even doing right now?”

  “I’m… I’m trying to do the right thing.”

  “You’re in a prison cell with a POW.”

  “No.” James shook his head. “That’s not… give me a minute. That’s not the date.”

  “No?”

  “No. It lacks ambience.”

  “It lacks ambience.”

  “Yes.”

  “All right. What is the ambience for this date.?”

  “Are we going on a date?”

  “You just said that’s what we’re doing.”

  “You have to agree to it.”

  “I have to agree to the date?”

  “I am quite certain that’s how this works.”

  “Do I have to volunteer for the date?”

  “No Alanna, you volunteer for military missions. Usually the really bad ones. For a date you just say ‘yes, that sounds great’.”

  Alanna stared at him for a long minute in the dim light of the single overhead lamp. “I have to know where we’re going on this date.” She said finally. “Before I can make an informed decision. You want me to make an informed decision, right?”

  “Sure.” James shifted slightly, pulling her bare legs over his. “That’s definitely what I want.”

  “So where are we going?”

  James considered his options. “Hiking.” He said finally.

  “Hiking?”

  “Yes. Because…” James waved his hand around the prison cell, encompassing the sleeping bags and the rest of the camping equipment he had brought earlier.

  “Because you already brought all the equipment.” Alanna supplied helpfully.

  “Yes. I’m very thoughtful.”

  “Are you going to carry all the equipment?”

  “Of course I am.” James replied immediately, sounding offended that she had even asked.

  “All the way up the uh… where are we going?”

  “So we are going?”

  “Well I don’t know if I’m a hiking on a first date kind of girl but…”

  “Since I already brought all the equipment.” James reminded her.

  “You’ve convinced me.”

  “Then I will carry all the equipment, all the way up the mountain.”

  “So there’s a mountain.”

  “Of course there’s a mountain Alanna. Otherwise what’s the point of the hike? As I was saying, I will carry all the equipment, all the way up the mountain. All you have to do is keep up. Until you’ve adjusted to the Tundran gravity.”

  “What’s at the top of the mountain?”

  “It’s a nice view. You can see the ocean. And at night you can see the stars. Sarayan humidity won’t let you see the night sky the way we see it here on Tundra. Atmosphere is crystal clear. You can see the entire edge of the milky way.”

  “It sounds beautiful.” Alanna said, finally leaning her head against his shoulder.

  James smiled slightly, putting his arm around her and drawing her closer. “This seems like a good place to stop.” He whispered into her ear.

  “But I don’t see the stars.” Alanna murmured, looking up at the ever dimming bulb and the gray concrete ceiling over their heads.

  “Cloudy night.” James said, pulling her down until they were both lying down on the sleeping bag, staring up at the ceiling over their heads. “Might be a better view from this angle.” He added.

  “I don’t like games.” Alanna said, rising up on one elbow until she was looking down at him. She didn’t understand what James was doing. He could have had whatever he wanted, at any time. Hell, he could have had the guards hold her down if he didn’t want to be inconvenienced. And the game was making her uncomfortable. Her skin felt heated and over sensitized and the sweater she wore suddenly felt scratchy, as if every tiny little sensation was more intense than it should be. She touched the side of her face that wasn’t bruised, wondering if her skin was as hot as it felt.

  “This isn’t a game.” James said.

  “Then what is it?”

  “It’s a date.”

  “Why don’t you just…”

  James just looked at her.

  “Fine.” Alanna lay back down at his side. “Fine. What are we doing next?”

  “Next.” James smiled over at her. “Next we have to light a fire. Obviously. Haven’t you ever been hiking before?”

  Alanna laughed. She couldn’t help it. It was the second time James had made her laugh, in spite of the realities of her situation. There’s a kind of magic to that, she thought as she watched him take out the propane burner he had brought earlier, and light it. He really was going to make a fire.

  “Dinner?” He asked, lying back down and turning towards her.

  “James I…” Alanna began, unsure how to politely say what she wanted to say.

  “What?”

  “I already volunteered.” She tried.

  James looked over at her in the dim light of the cell. “Let me get you a glass of champagne.” He said after a moment, getting back up. He pulled out one of the metal hiking mugs he had brought earlier, and filled it to the top before handing it over to her.

  “After I drink can we…” Alanna began.

  “Get it over with?” James finished for her.

  “I… that’s… not what I was going to say.”

  “Was it what you meant?”

  Alanna bit her lower lip, considering her next words very carefully. “The first time always hurts, right? So no matter how you look at it… just…” She shrugged, clearly having run out of words.

  “I actually don’t know.” James admitted after a moment. “That is… theoretically I’ve heard but… I don’t really know.”

  “You’ve never…”

  “Been someone’s first? No. Never.”

  Alanna gave him a look he couldn’t quite read.

  “I’ve done other things.” James offered.

  “Yeah I got that.”

  “Do you want dinner?”

  Alanna spread her hands in frustration. “James just do it.”

  James smiled slightly. “I’ve done some things.” He continued. “And I know some things.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like I know that sometimes” he pulled her closer, until her body was pressed all the way against his, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes “it’s better to wait. There’s no rush. We have all night.”

  Alanna shifted against him, the uncomfortable feeling of her skin being too hot and too tight all over her body was getting worse. She didn’t want to wait. She wanted to get it over with. She wanted… she shifted her legs against his restlessly. “How long are you waiting?” She asked, trying to keep the tension out of her voice.

  “A while.” James answered. He used one of his fingers to trace a line lightly along her thigh, up towards her hip. “I’m not in any rush at all. Are you?”

  Alanna swallowed. “No.” She said firmly. Because she definitely wasn’t.

  “About dinner…”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Hmm.” James moved up to three fingers, tracing his way back down. “I thought you were. On account of all the starvation.”

  “I had… I had ration bars.” Alanna breathed.

  “No replacement for real food.” James pointed out.

  Alanna gritted her teeth, pushing his hand away as she sat up. She was feeling…. frustrated. Very frustrated.

  James raised an eyebrow, nothing but bemusement in his eyes. “What?” He asked.

  “You’re still wearing your uniform.” Alanna said, crossing her arms.

  James paused momentarily. “You mean the pants?” He asked.

  “Tundran uniform pants.”

  “But we’re hiking.” He said mildly. “I usually have pants for that.”

  “Yeah well, it’s just us up on the mountain, right?”

  “Sure. Fair point.”

  “So?”

  James smiled just a little bit wider. “No uniform.” He agreed. “Just like I promised.” He watched her watch him take off the pants, holding her gaze for a long moment before lying back down, pulling her back against his body. “Well this won’t do.” He murmured into her ear, his hands stroking her arms through the thick sweater. “Since we’re all alone up here, you don’t need the sweater, do you?”

  “But it’s cold.” Alanna whispered.

  “Did you know… well you’re from someplace warm so maybe you didn’t, but actually skin to skin is the best way to keep warm.”

  “You made that up.” Alanna shook her head in denial.

  “Swear to god. Completely true. If you’re ever caught out in a storm, you’re supposed to get into the tent, combine sleeping bags and lie skin to skin, just as close” he pulled her a little closer “as you can possibly get. Maximizes your chances of survival.”

  “It’s not that cold here.” Alanna pointed out.

  “Yes but just look at the sky.” James gestured towards the gray concrete ceiling. “Storm coming. Looks like a bad one.” He added smugly.

  “Seriously?” Alanna hissed.

  “Dead serious.” James nodded earnestly.

  Alanna lay in his arms, the naked skin of their legs now touching completely. James continued to hold her, but made no move to take off the sweater. “You’re going to make me do it?” She said finally into the silence.

  “I’m not making you do anything. I’m just pointing out that the storm is coming.”

  He didn’t touch her bare leg this time, his hands staying firmly over the fabric of the sweater as he stroked her arms, all the way down her hip, stopping just before they hit any bare skin. Alanna shifted against him, feeling restless. Was it even possible that she would be warmer without the sweater? That was obviously made up.

  “Look!” James said suddenly, pointing towards one corner of the cell.

  “What?” Alanna asked, sitting up as she pulled the sleeping bag over her chest protectively.

  “Penguin.” James said with a grin.

  “Oh. You mean the penguin that lives on top of the mountain.” Alanna said. And then she started laughing. James made her laugh again. She really couldn’t understand how he managed to do that.

  “Of course. Sometimes they’re attracted to fire. Especially with a storm coming.” James added pointedly.

  “Is it coming this way?” Alanna whispered, green eyes sparkling with laughter as she looked at him.

  “Coming right for us.”

  “You take it off.” She said, sitting back down next to him.

  And just for a moment, something that was neither relaxed or laughter stirred in James’s icy gray eyes. “All right.” He agreed, pulling her closer and pulling the sweater over her head.

  “Now?” Alanna asked somewhat breathlessly, lying back down next to him.

  James shook his head, pulling her completely naked body against him. “No rush.” He whispered, letting his hands roam from the side of her breast all the way down her thighs.

  And that was all he did. A few minutes later, Alanna dug her fingernails into the side of his arm in frustration. “Tell me what do next.” She said. And waited. For a long moment, his hands stopped touching her entirely, leaving her practically seething with frustration. Only this time, James listened. She wasn’t quite sure how it happened, only that it happened very, very fast. Suddenly, she was sitting across his thighs, facing him as his hands caged the sides of her face and pulled her closer.

  “Wait.” Alanna said suddenly, pushing against his chest.

  James stopped. “What?” He asked.

  “I don’t…” Alanna swallowed nervously. “I don’t know how.” She admitted.

  “We’re just kissing.” James pointed out, trying to hold on to his patience, which was getting somewhat strained by then.

  “I know but… I don’t know how.” Alanna repeated.

  “You don’t know how to kiss?”

  She shook her head, green eyes very wide and earnest as she looked back at him.

  “What the hell happened to you?” James asked before he could quite stop himself.

  “Not now.” Alanna said. “Now would not be the time. Just… just know that I don’t know how.”

  “Noted.” James said, a certain amount of tension creeping into his voice.

  And then he kissed her, and none of it seemed to matter. Much later, it occurred to Alanna that she probably didn’t need to overshare. Probably. No way to know for sure. Maybe it was obvious she didn’t know what she was doing? “Are we still waiting?” She asked breathlessly as her arms wrapped around him.

  She wasn’t sure how much longer it was, before James lay her down on top of the sleeping bag and his body covered hers. The position left her completely trapped, helpless. But it didn’t seem to matter by then.

  ---

  Alanna stared at the gray concrete wall in front of her face. James lay on the outside of the makeshift bed, leaving her between him and the wall. It was the more defensible position, leaving him between her and any danger that might come through the door. She assumed he did it automatically, without ever thinking about the implications. Of course, if James was the danger, then she was trapped. But he wasn’t. Not exactly. And he was still there. He hadn’t left. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Did it hurt?” James asked, pulling her closer towards him.

  “I… I’m not sure.” Alanna said.

  James frowned, a certain edge of annoyance creeping into his voice. “How can you not be sure?”

  “It… it was nothing that was relevant.” Alanna said. Because that was the truth.

  “Did you like it?” James asked.

  Of course he would ask that, Alanna thought regretfully.

  “Did you not?”

  Alanna sighed, feeling guilt and confusion piling on top of her already existing giant pile of guilt and confusion. Because James sounded genuinely concerned. Dammit all to hell.

  James turned around, framing her face with his hands and turning her towards him until she had no choice but to look him in the eye. Which was the last thing Alanna wanted to do.

  “Ah.” James said, releasing her face and finally letting her avoid his gaze.

  “What?”

  “You liked it but you didn’t want to like it.”

  “You win, James. You definitely win.”

  “Didn’t we both win?”

  Alanna turned away, looking back at the wall across from her nose. “I hate myself quite a bit just now.”

  James sighed. This was always going to be complicated, he reminded himself. And he made the decision to do it anyway. It was a decision he wasn’t ready to regret. He got Alanna the sweater without being asked, helping her put it back on. She didn’t fight him. James smiled slightly when she leaned into his hands. And when he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, Alanna didn’t fight him.

  “I know this place seems alien.” James said, pulling the top sleeping bag up over both of them, making sure she was warm. “It's a different planet, after all. But this will be your home, Alanna. You have a place here. And forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but Saraya didn’t seem all that great for you. Even before they left you stranded to starve to death, which we both know they did. I’ve seen the numbers. I know how many rations you had left. You would not have survived the year. And what happened before, what you refuse to talk about? Saraya wasn’t a good place for you. This will be better. This will be your home. And I’m going to help you.”

  ---

  Megalodon City Penitentiary, Tundra, Standard Year 403 after founding

  “I should start dinner. Can’t have a proper date without dinner.” James stirred but didn’t quite get up. Alanna curled up tighter against his side. “I’m so glad you came.” He said formally. “Tell me about yourself, Alanna Summers.”

  “We’re continuing the date?”

  “Of course.”

  “I kind of thought it would be over. Since you already… well you know.”

  “The date is not over.” James said firmly.

  “Are we at the top of the mountain yet?” Alanna asked sleepily.

  “Definitely.”

  “And you carried the equipment all this way.” She murmured.

  “Yes. I’m a hero.” She laughed again, and James relaxed slightly.

  “I’m lost.” She said, staring up towards the ceiling. “I am lost and I have no idea what I’m doing. I used to be a soldier. And now I’m a terrible date.”

  “I don’t think you’re a terrible date.” James said with a slight smile. “What would you like to do?”

  As if that had ever been relevant. “What do you think I should do, James?” She asked instead.

  “The obvious?”

  “You mean join up and kill Sarayans?”

  James shrugged. “I would have said join up and defend your home.” He said mildly. “Because if you don’t, you may not have one. If you want a place on my ship, you have it. It is the obvious choice, even if you don’t want to hear it.”

  “No.” Alanna said flatly.

  “You never make things easy. It’ll take me years to live down going from no negotiating to letting you avoid disclosing classified military information. I barely justified it by explaining we needed to take the station intact to see how the morse code transmission was made.”

  “I didn’t realize… you did say you wouldn’t negotiate.” She swallowed. She remembered that moment with perfect clarity, the countdown as the Black Hawk was coming for them, her heart beating in her ears as she switched to the cherry pie channel. She had already given up by the time his voice came through, accepting her terms. It had been that close. “Thank you for negotiating.” She said quietly.

  “It wasn’t worth your life.” James said.

  “Can you live with it if I don’t enlist?” She asked.

  “I can.” James sighed, turning her to face her in the dim light. “Alanna, I can’t force you to do things my way. If I’m honest, I’d probably like to. But I know my limitations. It is your choice. But every time you choose not to take my advice, you’re putting yourself in greater danger. The limitation on classified military information – it’s the reason you have to worry about being questioned now. If you agreed to my terms, as you should have, you would be bound by your word to answer the questions asked but you would not be hurt. If you join now, voluntarily, you can choose your ship. We both know it would be easier with my people. I can live with it if you want to try a different path. But it is a more dangerous path. We are at war. You don’t have to enlist but you may yet be conscripted. You cannot remain neutral. Even I cannot protect you on that path.”

  “I don’t want to complicate your life. But I can only do what I can live with. Even in return for my life, to ask for more is too much to ask.” She paused. “I shouldn’t be alive.”

  “But you are.”

  Alanna nodded. Maybe she was best off in prison. At least this way, she didn’t have to choose. “What would you do if you didn’t get the gold?” She asked suddenly.

  “What?”

  “No buckets of gold. Requisition denied. What then?”

  James considered, reaching out with the palm of his hand to cradle the back of her head and winding his fingers through her hair. “Still need to draw the crew away from Avalon Station. The station is nuclear powered. Reactor leak? Distress call? Would have to fake someone important enough to draw out the crew...” His eyes lit up. “An alien artifact? I bet we could create a terrific alien artifact.”

  “There aren’t any aliens artifacts here. Old earth history is riddled with alien sightings and mysterious events. We got nothing.”

  “Clearly, our aliens are better hidden.” James said without missing a beat.

  “What if you lost your crew?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “How did I lose my crew?”

  “Asteroid strike.”

  “On my ship?”

  “Yes, on your ship.”

  “Hell of a coincidence.” James said mildly.

  “You have terrible luck.”

  “But I’m not dead?”

  “No, you got out in a shuttle. Only survivor. So, it’s just you and the shuttle. And your mission objective, I believe, is to take Avalon Station.”

  “Ah. I think I see. Destruction of Avalon Station was an acceptable outcome if it could not be taken. I would go with a nuclear reactor leak.”

  “Do you know how to trigger a nuclear reactor leak?”

  James smiled. “I’ve had an excellent education.”

  “Without getting radiation poisoning?”

  “My shuttle is equipped with drones and vacuum gear, with excellent radiation shielding.”

  “How did the drones get on your shuttle?”

  “Salvaged from the asteroid strike.”

  “Fine.” Alanna threw up her hands. “You triggered a reactor leak and blew up the station. Everyone is dead. You’re stuck on your shuttle, running out of fuel and oxygen. What then?”

  “Blow? Sarayan nuclear reactors don’t have enough juice to blow. They melt, slowly.” James stretched under the blanket with some satisfaction, pulling her closer to his side. “What I would do is this. Bring the camouflaged shuttle in dead, can’t use the fuel or the trace signature will be detected. They’re expecting a ship, not one guy in a space suit. So, I would walk in quietly with my little drone friends, get to the reactor and destroy all cooling elements beyond repair. Once the reactor starts melting, which it will do very slowly, take as much fuel and oxygen as will fit inside the shuttle. Wait no, the shuttle can tow more, no need to fit it all inside. Then I’m going to head out and leave them to melt down or freeze to death once the power goes out, whichever happens first. Again, the reactors melt very slowly. Sarayans have no transport on station. They’re grounded unless someone mounts a rescue. Then I’ll send a distress signal until someone picks me up. And then,” he reached out and traced the fading bruise along the side of her face “I will tell them about the rotten luck I had with the asteroid striking my ship.”

  “That… that’s ridiculous!”

  James raised an eyebrow. “Is it? Tell me the critical flaw in my plan.”

  “The critical flaw is that you didn’t turn around and go home! You can’t take Avalon Station alone with one shuttle.”

  “But I just told you how I would.”

  “You don’t know how to give up!”

  “Many consider it one of my charms. Do you want to give up?”

  “For some time now.” Alanna admitted.

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No.” James said firmly. “Do better.”

  “I…” she paused. “I’m not sure I know how.”

  “But you want to?”

  “Yes all right, maybe I want to.”

  “Why did you join?”

  “The navy, you mean?”

  “That is what I mean. You weren’t a conscript, you joined before conscription went into effect. Why?”

  Alanna laughed. “I’ll tell you but you’ll be disappointed.”

  “Try me.”

  “College tuition. The navy pays for four years of college in return for two years of service. My funds were limited.”

  “It’s not free?”

  “College? No, it’s not free. It is very far from free. I couldn’t afford it without two full time jobs, and that wouldn’t leave me much time for classes.”

  “So you, Alanna Summers, joined the navy for… college money?” He started laughing, the sound echoing in the tiny space. “College money.” He repeated, and the laughter started all over again.

  “Ha ha.” Alanna said flatly.

  “You are…” he paused, trying to get his laughter under control. “You are, hands down, the best Sarayan officer I have ever gone up against. College money…”

  “You never actually went up against me.”

  “I did. In negotiations, I did. I read your battle plans, talked to your people, the civilians you trained. I know what you did on Titan. College money…” He was laughing again.

  “I’m also a pretty decent geologist.” Alanna said, somewhat defensively.

  “Fine, yes all right. Tell me about the rocks.” James said, making a heroic effort to stifle his laughter.

  “Rocks are the reason Tundra has uranium and Saraya doesn’t have weapons grade nuclear materials.” Alanna said. Rocks were interesting.

  James raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. Alanna was going to make rocks interesting. “All right then, tell me about the plutonium.”

  “Planetary evolution is tricky. Different planets evolve at different rates. Saraya is smaller, and stable. Three large continents, minimal tectonic movement, no earthquakes to date. Uranium and plutonium are some of the heaviest known metals in the universe. When a planet forms, gravity will pull the heaviest elements down into the core. Over time, with minimal tectonic movement, they remain deep within the planet’s core, out of reach. Of course, Saraya has plutonium and uranium, every terrestrial planet does. But only trace amounts can be found near the surface. To turn it into weapons grade material is prohibitively costly. Short of drilling down to the planet’s core and looking around, we’re not likely to find much more than the trace amounts. Tundra, on the other hand, is a giant ball of tectonic movement. I could see it from the first moment I glimpsed the planet. Island chains, all likely formed by volcanic activity. Not a single continent, although perhaps one of the poles has one? Hard to tell with all the ice and snow.”

  “There are no large landmasses on Tundra, only islands and ice.” James said.

  “Right. So you have earthquakes, massive tectonic activity, and mostly water. If you need to find something closer to the planet’s core, you don’t need to drill, you just need to dive. That’s easier. Everything is still getting stirred up and coming to the surface. That’s why you have weapons grade plutonium. And tsunamis. You do have tsunamis, don’t you?”

  “Yes, we have tsunamis.”

  “We don’t have any. I only know the word because I watch old earth movies. But then…” Alanna frowned, puzzled. “I don’t understand why you built your cities the way you did. Coastal cities filled with tall buildings, all clustered together. That’s a terrible idea in tsunami land. Unless…” she paused.

  “Unless what?”

  “Unless nothing.” Alanna said, suddenly self-conscious. Her analysis had led her to a conclusion that was slightly beyond geology 101.

  “Is it unless classified Sarayan military information?” James asked.

  “Well probably not Sarayan, no.”

  “Do you believe you just deduced classified Tundran military information?”

  Alanna sighed. “That might have happened.”

  “Because rocks?”

  “Rocks are very interesting.”

  “You weren’t talking about rocks, you were talking about plutonium.”

  “But the way you find the plutonium is by knowing where it is among all the rocks!”

  James shook his head. “Unless what, Alanna?”

  “Unless you shielded the city.” She admitted, with some reluctance. The presence of shields on Tundra, if indeed her conjecture had been correct, was unknown to Saraya. Or at the very least, it was unknown to anyone on her level. But to build the city she saw, a coastal city where many of the buildings had an unobstructed view of the ocean, in a land of massive tectonic movement and tsunamis, would be madness. Unless they had shields.

  “You could be using excellent construction materials.” She added, trying to mask the doubt in her voice.

  “I see.”

  “Sorry.” She added uncertainly. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was apologizing for, but the situation seemed to call for it.

  “Maybe.” James considered. “Maybe you have skills other than military command. Would you want to help Tundra, if it didn’t mean killing Sarayans?”

  “Yes.” Alanna said without hesitation. “Very much.”

  “I don’t really know what geologists do.” James admitted. “Based on what you’re saying, on Tundra they’re probably the guys looking for all the plutonium. Is that something you want to do?”

  “James, the thing I, Alanna Summers will be most known for, forever, is being a traitor. They wouldn’t even trust me to look for plutonium. Every time I don’t find it people will suspect I’m hiding mountains of plutonium to support the Sarayan invasion of Tundra.”

  Privately, James thought it would be an easy enough theory to disprove, if she performed her job well. But he let it be, thinking back to the record Saraya provided. “You could be a doctor, I suppose.” He said without much enthusiasm. “In time, even if you were conscripted it would be to provide medical aid rather than kill people.”

  Alanna laughed. “Could I? That tends to be a competitive field. But sure, why not?”

  James narrowed his eyes, staring up at the shadowed ceiling. It was important for Alanna to have a plan. There were things she would need to say and do that would not be especially palatable. Without an achievable goal before her, the risk of missteps increased and the optics were not ideal. He did not want Alanna to misstep. “If you dedicated yourself to becoming a doctor, it would be achievable.” He said carefully. “And when, in the course of your asylum hearing, you are asked what you want to do, it would be an acceptable answer.”

  “How does one pay for this medical school?”

  “It’s free.”

  “And yet, there must be some way they choose who gets this amazing free education. And being a Sarayan traitor probably isn’t a top qualification.”

  “It might be, on Tundra. The optics of this are… not terrible. And your test scores were high. If you studied, I believe you could qualify.”

  “I…Is that what you think I should do?”

  James considered. “I don’t see a better path at the moment.” He admitted.

  “Ok.”

  James shifted, his hand tracing the line of her hip as she lay against his side. “And you can stay with me while you study.” He murmured. “Years and years of studying.” She was, after all, rather bright. It was quite likely she could become a doctor if she dedicated herself to it. She could also deduce the existence of shields by looking at the planet’s surface from an approaching shuttle. A tragic waste of talent. His hand paused, tracing the sharpness of her hip bone under stretched flesh. “But I’m getting distracted. I brought food. And we have more champagne. That is the lady’s favorite, is it not?”

  Alanna smiled, and decided to go with it. Because she was suddenly and wildly unexpectedly… happy. Life was short, and she wanted to have dinner and champagne in bed with James. The plan was, of course, utterly preposterous. They were at war and no one was going to allow her to quietly study for years in preparation for becoming a doctor. But James was like a force of nature, and she was tired of fighting him. It was much easier to happily go along with things until it all fell apart, or until James got bored with the entire project, whichever came first. “It is my favorite.” She said with a smile, green eyes meeting his in the darkened cell.

  ---

  Megalodon City Penitentiary, Tundra, Standard Year 403 after founding

  “Dinner.” James said firmly, finally forcing himself to get up and pull away from holding Alanna close by his side. “I promised you dinner and I still haven’t made it. I don’t know how you’re letting me get away with this.”

  Alanna shrugged. It wasn’t that she minded James getting up, leaving her cold and alone on the bed. It was just… it was just the cold. She pulled the blanket closer around herself.

  “Come sit closer to the fire while I do this.” James offered. “It’ll keep you warmer. How much of the fuel have you used up?”

  “None.”

  James looked over in surprise. “Not even to make tea? It’ll warm you up.”

  “Um. With sink water?” Alanna asked doubtfully.

  “You’re not on Saraya. The water is safe.”

  Alanna shook her head. “I don’t think I can do it.”

  “Consider this” James said, removing the strainer with used up tea leaves and holding out a cup of freshly brewed tea “your first step on the path to going native. Drink.”

  Cautiously, she reached out and picked up the cup, letting it warm her hands. “Is my future doing whatever James Hawk says?” She asked somewhat doubtfully, looking down into the murky depths of the tea.

  James shrugged. “How’s it working out for you so far?”

  Carefully, she took another small sip of the tea. And then a bigger one. There was a hint of something like coffee, caffeinated and dark, mixed with the taste of flowers and summer. She liked it very much.

  “Do you like it?”

  “I think it’s a convenient way to get rid of me now that you’re getting bored.” Alanna said glumly.

  James laughed. Boredom was not how he would have described his current predicament.

  “Why is the water safe to drink?” Alanna asked.

  “You mean why hasn’t Saraya successfully poisoned it yet?”

  “No I-” Alanna flinched. It was obvious the minute he said it. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry.” James rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. “This has nothing to do with you. Angerona, the bacteria that poisons Sarayan water, does not survive well on Tundra. Trace amounts have been introduced but it has not successfully reached critical mass here.”

  Alanna nodded, feeling the guilt settle on her shoulders. Angerona poisoning was the top cause of death on Saraya. And while he wasn’t pressing the matter, James had quietly implied Saraya attempted to bring it here, to poison an entire world. It was monstrous. And to the question of whether she thought they would do it – of course they would. Then again, Tundrans were ready to nuke Saraya, civilian population centers and all. No one’s hands were clean. Certainly not her own. She blinked sleepily, watching James pull out the rest of the food he had brought: bread, cheese, butter, a knife. Alanna’s eyes widened slightly, focusing on the knife. “Really?” She asked.

  “What? How else was I going to make a sandwich?”

  “That’s not a kitchen knife.” Her eyes followed the thick, double-edged blade, curved slightly at the tip. It was a beautiful blade, and she could easily imagine her fingers wrapping around that thick, textured hilt.

  “That’s the only knife I have.” James watched her eyes as they followed the knife. Had she looked at him that way? He rather liked to think so. “Do you know how to use this?”

  Alanna hesitated, her eyes still focused on the blade. She was quite good with a knife. And oh yes, she wanted it. Carefully, she pressed her hand into a fist, resisting temptation. “I can make a sandwich.” She said carefully.

  James looked down at her, sitting by his side, her hip touching his as she drew close to the fire. He hadn’t given it much thought before bringing the knife. Based on her record, she was good with a gun and abysmal at hand-to-hand combat. No other weapons training had been mentioned. And yet, her focus on the knife was undeniably intense. In typical Alanna fashion, she hadn’t bothered to hide it. With only the briefest hesitation, James held out the knife to her, hilt first. “You can have it.” He said. “Do you know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich?”

  “You’re going to grill cheese?” Alanna asked dubiously.

  “Are you questioning my methodology?”

  “Um. Maybe I’ll just watch you do the first one.”

  “Prudent.” James agreed, cutting off a generous slice of butter and melting it on one of the metal plates. There were no frying pans, but the metal plates on top of a burner did about as well, as long as enough butter was used. “We don’t just grill cheese.” He explained patiently, lowering the flame to keep the bread from burning. “It goes between the bread.” A few minutes later, he handed her the sandwich, buttered bread gold and crispy, gooey melted cheese in the middle.

  Alanna bit into the sandwich, eyes widening. “This is good. This is really good. Can I have another one?”

  James laughed. “Yes, you can. Now open the second champagne bottle. These things go together.” He handed her the bottle and began pulling together ingredients for the next sandwich.

  Hands still greasy from the sandwich that had by then disappeared altogether, Alanna picked up the bottle and tried to get a grip on the cork, her hand slipping.

  Distracted, James looked over, watching her tug at the cork.

  “Are you going to help?” Alanna asked in exasperation.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe try your teeth?” James asked as a slow, lazy smile spread across his face.

  “It’s the higher gravity.” She explained defensively. “I’m still adjusting.”

  With one smooth movement, James took the bottle from her and pulled out the cork, seemingly effortless. “Do you still want the knife?” He asked companionably, handing her back the bottle.

  “I don’t need it.” She said. “Really. I – I’ll go wash out the plate before you make another sandwich.” She got up, trying to be as nonchalant as James was, even as the ice of the concrete floors hit her feet. It was fine, and it definitely did not feel like icy fire against the soles of her feet. Calmly, she walked to the sink and rinsed off the plate before walking back, with slightly more haste, to dive back under the blanket and curl her feet underneath.

  James held the knife back out, waiting.

  “There’s no point, really.” Alanna said. “I won’t attack you and you won’t let me keep it.”

  “Hard to take that seriously, just now.” James said with a smile. But then, he couldn’t help thinking, death by arrogance was an ugly way to go. And it was too late now. He would have to trust her to sleep with him here, with the knife within arm’s reach.

  “Will you trust me to make you a sandwich? I don’t want the knife just – I want to try grilling the cheese.”

  “The bread, Alanna. You grill the bread.”

  “I will not question your methodology, Captain.” She added a sketchy salute at the end, eyes sparkling.

  Damn. James sighed, looking at her in the flickering light of the flame. He really did want her to make him that sandwich. He wanted a lot of things. Carefully, he reached out and lowered the flame. “You’re an amateur. You’ll burn it all if you’re not careful.” He watched patiently as Alanna buttered the plate and the bread.

  “Is it too much?”

  “Never too much butter.” He sat back, watching her cook until she handed him the first sandwich, green eyes looking at him uncertainly. “It’s perfect.” James said reassuringly, ignoring the mostly un-melted cheese in the middle.

  Alanna nodded, moving on to make her own, a slight frown of concentration on her face. Carefully placing the second slice of bread on top, she reached out to flip the sandwich when James put a hand on her arm.

  “Maybe give it another minute.” He suggested.

  Alanna’s eyes narrowed immediately, turning back on him. “I didn’t wait for your sandwich and… it’s not perfect, is it?”

  Right. She tended to notice these minor discrepancies. “Alanna, about medical school,” he hesitated “the thing is, it takes a while.”

  “I know.”

  “And while you’re attending school, the only other useful skill you have is…”

  “Killing people.” She interrupted. “Yes, I know.”

  “It’s not a bad plan. It’s just…”

  “It’s a laughably terrible plan.” Alanna said.

  “No.” James said sharply. “It’s not. It’s a good plan. It is perhaps – not entirely complete.” James sighed. Details were important. “If you thought it was such a terrible plan, why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I was being agreeable because I figured I wouldn’t live long enough to see it fall apart.” Alanna responded easily.

  “Dammit, Alanna!”

  She flinched, taken aback by the sharp anger in his voice. “I’m sorry! I was just being agreeable. I would have studied the stupid books.”

  “I need you to try. All right? To really try.”

  “I thought I was!”

  “You were not.” James said, real anger simmering under the surface.

  “No one is going to let me study for years to be a doctor! All right? You want me to try, fine. It’s a stupid plan and it won’t work. And I sure as hell don’t have a better plan. What do you want me to do?”

  James shifted on the bed, frustration evident. He wanted to protect Alanna. Really protect her, to leave Tundra knowing he would return and find her home, safe. It was a desire entirely removed from the reality of their situation. They were at war. “There might be another option, careerwise.”

  “What’s that? And do you want me to put your sandwich back on so it’s done?”

  “No, it’s fine. The thing is – I don’t like it.”

  Alanna looked up. “How mysterious.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Are you going to leave it at that? And leave the knife out? And here you accuse me of having a death wish.” She shook her head with a grin. “Rude.”

  “It’s dangerous. And I don’t particularly want you doing it.”

  James had left the knife down on the bench, next to his clothes. Her reach was shorter than his, so she had to get up, her toes braving the icy stone floors once again. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but saw no movement that would suggest an intent to stop her. Knife in hand, she sat back down on the bed, twirling the knife easily with one hand. It was a heavy, well balanced blade.

  James listened to the sound of the knife slicing through the air, faster and faster. Until suddenly it stopped and the blade was across the cell, sitting in the exact center of the remaining loaf of bread. It was a nice trick, to go from spinning to aiming in a fraction of a second. But then, she had trained as a sniper. James remained relaxed, raising an eyebrow lazily as he looked at the knife resting in the defenseless loaf of bread. “Well all right, but now the bread will dry faster.”

  “I was making a point.”

  “What’s that, then?”

  “It’s a bit boring.”

  “Being a doctor?”

  “Yes.”

  “In time you’ll get to cut people up. You might like that.”

  “In a long time. And until then, it’s Alanna the traitor. The stupid traitor who’s going to school with teenagers.”

  “And if I tell you to do it?”

  “I will. I- I am alive by your word. I’m not in a position to complain about being bored.” She picked up her sandwich, somewhat guiltily. What the hell was she even doing?

  “How bored, exactly?”

  “What?”

  “How bored would you be?”

  “Going back to college to study to be a doctor? How long does that even take?”

  “At least three standard years, depending on how many of your credits transfer.”

  Alanna snickered under her breath at the thought of Tundra accepting Sarayan college credits. “I would need a year or so to prepare for the entrance exams, right?”

  “You could do it faster. Let’s say six months.”

  “If you tell me to do it, I will.” Alanna repeated.

  James noted that he was grinding his teeth and forced himself to stop. “If I tell you this other thing you can do, that is less boring, swear to me you will only do it when I agree. And if I tell you to stop, you will stop.”

  “Why?” Alanna asked, puzzled.

  “Because you might die.”

  “So? I can wait a few weeks or however long it takes you to get this” she waved at herself vaguely “out of your system. Once that’s done, why are you so worried? If I die doing what other Tundrans do, no one will blame you.”

  “Just swear.” James said, with what patience he could muster.

  “Fine, I swear. Tell me about the non-boring job.”

  “You’re a diver, aren’t you?

  “Of course.”

  “Probably to see all the rocks.”

  “All geology majors on Saraya are certified master divers.” She waited.

  James stared at the hilt of his knife and the loaf of bread underneath. “Cave diving is a job on Tundra.” He said slowly. “Both for exploration and search and rescue, after floods. We have drones and probes, of course. But wireless signals are unreliable in caves, especially underwater caves. For delicate or time sensitive tasks, humans are often sent. It’s not your planet, Alanna. It’s not your gravity. You are not a master diver on Tundra.”

  “But I could become one, couldn’t I? And not in five years.”

  “You will do as I say.” James said sharply.

  “Yes.”

  “This is not an either or. You will study to be a doctor unless you come up with something better that you can live with. Cave diving can be – call it a hobby, or a part time job. You can go on specific missions, sometimes. With my approval. Is that clear?”

  “Yes.”

  James got up to put away the remains of their meal before laying back down, suddenly exhausted. “Let’s get some sleep.” He offered.

  “You’re really staying?”

  “Yes.”

  “In a prison cell?” Alanna said pointedly.

  “Do you want me to go?”

  “No.” Alanna admitted. “But it really seems like you should.”

  “I’m staying.”

  For lack of any better ideas, Alanna lay back down by his side, soaking in the warmth and comfort that came with it.