By the time Emi and Aaron reached the colony, Dr. Martinez had finished operating on Taber and had him stabilized in their hospital ICU. A group of armed men met Emi and Aaron at the lander to escort them to the hospital, where others stood guard.
“He’s still loose?” Aaron asked.
The guard in charge grimly nodded. “I get a chance at that fucker, he’s dead.”
“Get in line,” Aaron said, pulling Emi closer.
Inside the hospital, Emi was relieved to find Taber stable, albeit still unconscious.
“He’ll pull through,” Martinez assured them.
“And the antidote?” she asked.
“It works.” He smiled. “I can eat cinnamon bread again!”
She gave Aaron a dose and tested him by letting him eat some of the bread. Sure enough, no reaction.
Deep relief washed through her.
Donna had already synthesized the antidote in the Kendall Kant lab and dosed Rob. Now all that was left was to take Eckhart back into custody.
“That’s going to take a while,” Ilse admitted. “He took one of the horses and headed out to the hill country north of here. The horse returned to its corral a couple of hours ago. With the iron ore concentrations in those rocks, scanners are practically useless.”
Aaron coordinated the unmanned lander cargo drops from the three orbiting ships. They’d have to make another trip to Mars to replenish before their next mission, not that any of them minded that option.
By the end of the day, Eckhart hadn’t been located despite the large number of searchers in the hills north of the colony complex. Taber’s condition had rapidly improved, and Sam was on his way back to the colony with the Petrovis Skye.
Three days later, Eckhart still remained at large. They’d heard from the captain of the Forrester Cross, the DSMC medical vessel, when it emerged from its jump. Most of the crew of the Petrovis Skye had traveled to the surface to help with the search.
Ilse was happy to perform the K-2 crew’s wedding. The Braynow Gaston crew, with the help of the Petrovis Skye, manned the other two ships, allowing everyone to be able to attend the ceremony on the surface. Donna carried a bouquet of Aroykin wildflowers. Emi spent most of the short ceremony trying not to cry.
After, Donna and her men gave everyone a quick round of hugs and handshakes before hurrying to their lander to return to the K-2.
Emi didn’t expect to hear much from them over the next few days. The K-2 had completed all their cargo drops and was now waiting on the other two crews.
As the days seemed to drag, Emi longed to be off Aroykin. Not that the planet wasn’t nice, because she found it beautiful. Unfortunately, knowing a homicidal lunatic lurked somewhere beyond the safe boundaries of the colony borders made her long for the security of the Tamora Bight.
Home.
After her parents died, “home” had been memories of Montana and whatever dorm room she happened to occupy. The surrounding cities she’d lived in, boarding schools first in Bozeman, and then later in New Phoenix and Tempe for college, were an afterthought. The only times she traveled were for symposiums relating to her studies. Twice to New York, once to Cambridge, and once to Los Angeles. All she’d seen of those cities were the airports, hotels, and conference centers.
Under the watchful eye of an armed guard from the Petrovis Skye, she sat on a bench in the shade outside Ilse’s house. No traffic noise, and only the faintest sounds from the food processing center on the far side of the compound area. The colony had been established to not only thrive, but to coexist with its surroundings, hopefully avoiding environmental mistakes made on Earth for hundreds of years.
Peaceful. Relaxing.
But not home.
Aaron emerged from the medical center and walked across the compound. Ford and Caph had already returned to the Tamora Bight, running the cargo drop from that end. Aaron sat on the bench next to her and draped his arm around her. “Just heard from the Forrester Cross. Their transport’s on the way. They offered to give us a ride back up if we want.”
Emi let out a relieved sigh. “Yeah. Please.”
He kissed her. “Go pack for us. I’ll go talk to John and Alex and see if they’re ready to leave, too.” One of the cadets from the Petrovis Skye was helping Jules Green run the cargo operation on the Braynow Gaston while the other two men helped out on the surface.
By the time Emi returned with their things, she heard the landing pad warning tone sound on loudspeakers, making sure everyone stayed clear. The lander was much larger than the one they had on the Bight, and ten crew emerged from its side as the large back cargo hatch also opened. Ilse walked over to greet the newcomers. When she spotted Emi, she waved her over.
Emi hoped for a quick departure, but Ilse invited her, Aaron, John, and Alex to join them all for one last lunch together.
One of the female medical officers, Dr. Sophie Vanderlin, seemed to catch John and Alex’s attention. They spent the entire meal talking with her.
At one point, Aaron nudged her. She leaned in so he could whisper in her ear, “I think they just found their med officer.”
“Really?”
He nodded toward the men. “I’d bet money on it.”
It turned out Dr. Vanderlin, a Beta-ranked healer, was actually between official assignments and eligible to leave the DSMC if she wanted, her contractual obligation completed. She’d planned on staying at the colony for six months, until the next resupply mission arrived, to work there as well as rest, since she had no husband or kids to return to. Five years older than Emi, she wore her curly brown hair loose. Her blue eyes sparkled with good humor, and her laugh could frequently be heard over the din of the others at the tables as John and Alex kept her in stitches.
Emi and Aaron bid good-bye to Ilse and Sascha and started loading their gear into the lander. That’s when John ran over to the lander and stuck his head inside.
“Uh, Emi, can I ask you a favor?”
She didn’t miss Aaron’s playful wink. “Sure.”
John blushed. “Since you’re a commissioned fleet med officer, you’ve got official capacity to um…sync someone. The chips. Right?”
Emi grinned. “Yeah? Your point?”
“I checked the regs. We didn’t go through pairing, but there’s nothing in there prohibiting us from finding a suitable fourth on our own.”
“Aaaannnnd?”
He blushed even more deeply. “She said she wouldn’t mind hitching a ride back to Mars with us. At least on a trial basis.”
“She hasn’t met Jules yet.”
“Ilse let us borrow her private com panel, and she got to talk to him.”
“Hmm. Let me think about it.”
“Oh, quit busting his balls, Em,” Aaron teased. “Yes, of course she’ll sync you guys.”
Emi laughed and hugged John. “Maybe you’ll be ready for a wedding of your own by the time we get to Mars.”
“Well, from what Rob and Aaron told me about the sim sessions, I’d much rather find someone on our own than have to go through that bullshit.”
“Can’t blame you there. We’ll have them stop at the Braynow Gaston before they drop us off. I can sync you all at once there with your ship’s chip kit.”
His face brightened. “Thanks, Emi! I’ll go tell them.” He raced off.
Aaron pulled her into his lap. “You’re an evil woman, teasing him like that. No wonder I love you so much.” He deeply kissed her. “How’d we manage to beat them out, anyway?”