“Still here. Charge on the rover is good. All vitals good. Sample extraction is at ten minutes, twenty seconds and counting.”
“Excellent.” Static buzzed in his ear. “So what did your fiancée think of you coming on this expedition over the holidays?”
Just like Noah to get personal when he had nothing to do but wait and maintain communication. “My ex-fiancée was more than happy to hear I was going to the ends of the earth, although I think she’d be happier if I jumped off it.”
“Ouch.”
“Honestly, I don’t give a shit what she thinks. Breaking it off was a relief. Marriage is a sham, Noah. The only people who want to be married are those who would benefit from the social contract. She wanted the Morris name, both for the publicity and for the money she thought I was worth. Boy, if you could have seen her face when I told her the real story. She couldn’t throw the ring at me fast enough.”
“Wait, wasn’t she an underwear model or something?”
“Yeah, lingerie. She was also a body double for Marie Swiftfleet in that movie Exodus.” Liam fully admitted he was a sucker for feminine beauty.
“Seems like you might have benefited from the social contract as well.” Noah guffawed into his ear.
“I was attracted to her, sure, and she was a nice enough woman, but Victoria wanted my family name and a bank account to match. She wanted to do the domestic thing. You know, two or three kids, home in the evenings for dinner around the table, and then watch li’l Liam’s basketball games.”
“Not for you, huh?”
“Just the thought makes me want to take up drinking. I don’t think she really ever appreciated what I do. She wanted someone like my brother, not me. Nothing she could give me was worth selling my soul for. Why not just buy a Norman Rockwell calendar and call it a day? Plastic people, plastic families, plastic friendships. You know what plastic does? It pollutes. This kind just pollutes society instead of the oceans.”
“I bet you’re fun at parties.” Noah snorted.
Liam hated parties, but he kept that to himself. No need to give Noah any more ammunition. “Relationships and I don’t mix. Maybe someday I’ll get a dog, but I’m done with women.”
“Oh? That still leaves men, Liam. Robert and I have been together eleven years this Wednesday.”
“If only that did it for me,” he muttered.
“You’re not the domestic type. Understood.”
“Nope. I don’t know why I ever considered getting married in the first place. I’ve always been a lone wolf.”
“You did not just call yourself a lone wolf!” Now Noah was cackling.
“I don’t know how else to put it, my friend. I’m not interested in settling down. I mean sure, I’m a red-blooded male who’s as interested in sex as the next guy, but spending a lifetime with just one woman… Where’s the discovery in that? Besides, a regular nine-to-five with a couple brats swinging from my arms is never going to cut it for me.”
“So with Victoria out of the picture, will you be spending the holidays with your family on the estate this year?”
The Morris family estate was no doubt decked out in holiday splendor by now, the staff ready to host the entire clan… but him. An unwelcome ache started in his chest. Why did he even care anymore? The last time he’d seen his mother in person—it had to have been almost a year ago now—she’d been especially cruel, telling him he’d never amount to anything spending his days trying to save the planet. He hadn’t been close to his parents in over a decade, not since he found out about “the secret.” Hadn’t even attended his father’s funeral in August.
It’s why he’d jumped at the chance to perform this field research now. Although they’d be back in time for Christmas, it was close enough to be a viable excuse for nonattendance. Deep down, he didn’t want to deal with his mother or his family anymore. He’d rather be on a block of ice in the darkest part of the world than sitting around a gilded table among a sea of fake smiles and giant egos.
Only, something bothered him about this year. “You know, I’d prefer to beg off, but weirdly enough, my mother called me just before we left Chicago. She says there’s something of dire importance she needs to share with Spencer, Kara, and me.”
“So are you going to go?” Noah asked.
Liam frowned. “Maybe. Mom has never been the overly sentimental type. If she uses the words dire importance, she means them. I’m just not convinced whatever it is will be important enough to me to bother attending.”
“Aww, come on, Liam. She’s your mom and it’s Christmas.”
“Yeah.” He blinked, looking up at the stars. The auger beeped, and he cast his unwanted feelings aside to tend to the gathered sample, swinging it into the receptacle on the rover. Nothing made him happier than concentrating on work, compartmentalizing the family and relationship stuff. None of that mattered in the grand scheme of things, did it? What he was doing here was far more important.
Bright light glared through the side of his helmet, driving out his deep thoughts and engulfing his rover in a warm ecru glow. Confused, he turned to find the source and blinked rapidly against the glare. Had another university sent an expedition? Or was this some billionaire seeking an adrenaline high?
Liam’s eyes finally adjusted, and he saw clearly where the light was coming from. He stopped breathing. The alarm went off in his suit as his heart sprinted into the tachycardic zone.
“Liam, what’s going on? Your heart rate is off the charts!” Noah’s panicked voice barked in his ear.
