“There’ve been accidents?” Chloe gasped, horrified.
Reuel’s lips thinned. “Mostly minor,” he said soothingly.
She felt her face heat as it abruptly dawned on her that he’d been referring to the ‘reports’ the men had invented to cover the fact that they were still fighting. Really! She just wasn’t at her best that early in the damn morning, especially since she hardly ever got a decent night’s sleep anymore!
She was beginning to get used to having most of her bed taken up by man meat, but if they weren’t sleeping all over her, or taking up most of the bed so that she had to turn in place if she wanted to roll over, they were awake and wanted to fuck!
“I need to get a bigger bed,” she muttered.
Apparently not low enough. When she glanced up as she reached for her glass of juice, she discovered all of the men were looking at her.
Reuel changed the subject abruptly. “We should settle into orbit around Climatius by 1600 Earth Standard Time today. Would you like to accompany me on a final inspection of the ships that will take part in the raid?”
Chloe tensed immediately at the reminder that they’d scheduled the raid to coincide with midnight Climatius time. They’d timed their approach to make certain that the target site would be on the dark side of the planet when they settled into orbit. Theoretically, there would be less personnel on duty and those who were would be more lax.
She didn’t know if they would find that to be the actual case or not but, regardless, she didn’t think the raid Reuel had planned would be a ‘little’ thing. She nodded, hoping it would make her feel better about the business if she could see how well planned out it was.
A flicker of surprise went through her when she glanced at the other men at the table, however. All six of them were staring at Reuel with varying degrees of distrust and anger. She frowned, uncertain of what to make of that, although she could hardly question them about it in front of Reuel if they’d decided they didn’t trust him. Deciding she would find an opportunity sometime during the day before the raid was launched to discuss it with them, she finished her breakfast and returned her tray.
“Their distrust is not of a military nature,” Reuel said dryly when he’d walked her out of the mess hall.
Chloe glanced at him sharply but forbore comment.
“They are concerned that I might have an interest in you,” he continued pensively.
Chloe gaped at him, feeling her face heat and then frowned thoughtfully, wondering it if was true or if he was just guessing.
He uttered a derisive snort of amusement. “You disappoint me. I thought that you would ask if I did.”
She threw him a startled look. “Do you? Never mind! Don’t answer that!”
He frowned but after a moment his brow cleared. “You are right. It will be best not to go there. There are some boundaries it is best not to cross. I only brought it up because I could see you were wondering at the suspicious glares they bent upon me. I could be wrong, but I believe they trust me implicitly in all matters military and also trust that I always have the best interests of our people at heart. They are not quite as trusting in … other matters more personal.”
Chloe felt her heart skip a beat at the suggestion that they had a personal interest in her. She struggled with it, trying to decide whether Reuel had misunderstood or not and realized it was possible he had. She would just have to have that discussion with them, she decided. It wasn’t a bad idea to be sure that it at least wasn’t doubts they’d begun to have about Reuel.
“I begin to foresee problems ahead for us,” he muttered. “But, one thing at the time. No doubt we will face many challenges.”
That was pretty cryptic as far as Chloe was concerned, but then she was, admittedly, a little preoccupied.
The small lander that was little more than an escape pod and the shuttle that belonged to the Salvager had both been transformed. All of the seats had been removed from both except for the pilot seat and a handful of jump seats as well as everything else that wasn’t absolutely essential to flight or navigation. A sniper’s observation turret and a pulse laser had been added to each, both low profile in a way that would make it difficult to spot them until and unless they were needed. The lander had been designated to collect miscellaneous essential.
“This will be primarily, but not limited to, medical supplies. It will be manned by a squad that will include a medic who has been instructed to compile an essentials list,” Reuel explained.
Chloe looked at him in surprise. “But … your nanos heal you, right?”
He studied her for a moment. “You do not have nanos,” he finally said gently and then shrugged. “I am also disturbed by the … difficulty that Salina has had adjusting. I cannot keep her in the brig indefinitely and our medics are not certain that they can come up with a treatment to help her to adjust. I also cannot rule out the possibility of others. The medics will use her to try to develop an effective treatment, but they have expressed a … need to have some sort of drug to aid them.”
Chloe felt as if the bottom had fallen out of her stomach. She nodded, trying not to think about what sort of experimentation they might be doing on the woman or the possibility thatshemight need medical help. She hadn’t thought about that, at all, when she’d considered settling on the new world. “Thank you.”
Reuel lifted his brows questioningly.
“For thinking about me.”
He looked uncomfortable. “I would like to take full credit, but it was Jared and Kane who pointed it out to me.” He shrugged. “I find myself inclined to think of you as one of us.”
Chloe felt her chest swell with a heady pleasure that was probably disproportionate to the compliment and Jared’s and Kane’s thoughtfulness, but it made her happy and helped her to dismiss the shadows that had gathered from the somber discussion of medications and treatments. “Then thank you for that … and I’ll thank Jared and Kane for thinking of me.”
Nodding acknowledgement, he led her out of the lander and to the shuttle. This had been stripped down and equipped as the lander had. A steel cage had been added in the cleared area. “This detail will focus on acquiring whatever weaponry and ammunition is available.”
