“I’m sorry I distracted you. I could’ve really hurt you.” Jim’s voice was gentle as she turned to face him.
“Forget it. Accidents happen. I shouldn’t have been so easy to distract. My dad would have my head for such a stupid mistake.” She offered him a small smile, which he returned.
“Nice try, but it was my fault. Things are…unsettled between you and Grady right now. I shouldn’t have mentioned him during our bout. It was petty and potentially dangerous.”
“So why did you?” She looked up at him challengingly.
Jim met her gaze though he seemed uncomfortable. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve got some jealousy issues of my own.”
Chapter Sixteen
A man tended the garden. Everyone else was probably preparing for or eating dinner at this point in the early evening, but Jim couldn’t be around people. Not yet. The lone gardener had given him a curious look when he first entered, but went about his tasks, leaving Jim to his thoughts.
It didn’t do much good. Jim’s thoughts were racing a mile a minute and for the first time in a long time, he didn’t know what to do. He’d made an ass out of himself in the gym. He owed Grady an apology for that, at least, but couldn’t bring himself to seek out the damned alien and make things right. Jim despised himself for the pettiness of his emotions. He hated the way love screwed with his control. He didn’t want it, but he had no choice. He was in love with Gina and he’d do anything to keep her.
After about an hour, the gardener finished his work and headed toward Jim. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, but he was the trespasser here. The gardens were some of the most sensitive areas of the installation since any sabotage here could ruin the food supply. He understood vigilance and knew he should be going, but he also valued the peace of the open space filled with green, growing things.
“I guess our little operation can’t really compare with what I hear you’ve got going down south,” the man observed as he sidled up to a position a few yards from Jim’s bench. Both men faced outward, perusing the rows and rows of vegetation.
Jim appreciated the man’s oblique approach. He seemed a nice enough sort, and Jim didn’t mind talking about the gardens in his home facility with someone who was truly interested.
“We’ve had the hydroponics sections up and running since just after the cataclysm. We also have a few of the scientists who designed the whole thing in residence. They’ve been able to work wonders.”
“I bet. We’re learning as we go here. Bill and I found some old written manuals and BURTIN helped us locate information in his memory banks, but neither of us were farmers before. The O’Haras have given us some pointers, but they aren’t real familiar with this kind of farming either.”
“I bet.” Jim looked around, finally settling his gaze on the man. He looked fully human, yet his words indicated a familiarity with the Alvian hybrid. “You work with Bill?”
“Son of a bitch saved my life,” came the surprising answer, given with a smile. “I wanted to hate him at first. I escaped from the city and was on the run when he found me—delirious with pneumonia and burning alive in my lean-to. I was so sick, I let my campfire get out of control and nearly paid with my life. Bill found me and brought me to the O’Haras. He and Doc Mick nursed me back to health.”
“When did you figure out he was an alien?”
“Not for some time.” The man sent him a sideways look. “I was sick as a dog for the first few weeks. When it came time to consider moving on, the O’Haras suggested Bill and I move along together. We both had mountaineering skills and were both on the run. It was a good idea, even though I had to get used to the idea that my companion was a goddamned alien. Then Jaci came along, and we both realized we had to protect her. That’s why we decided to come to this cave complex, though neither of us knew the full extent of the facility until we actually got here. We thought it was an old mine. Then Mike and Dave showed up, and we had the beginnings of a little community. A few weeks later other people began to arrive, and we’ve been taking in strays ever since.”
“You’ve got a thriving community now from what I can see.”
“Yeah, I reckon we do. But I’ve got to tell you, without our alien friends it would be a lot more primitive. Jaci is a wiz with technical stuff and has figured ways to use the crystals the O’Haras smuggle up to us from Davin. She’s mostly responsible for restoring full power to this entire facility. Then the cousins set Bill up as the Farmer in the Dell, and he took to it though he’d never even seen a seed before in his life. He and I run the hydroponics area together for the most part now. It’s too big for just him alone and we’ve got work crews to help us out as it gets bigger. The gardens are good for him. They bring him peace, which to my mind, he richly deserves.”
“What makes you say that?”
The man shifted and settled back against the table he’d been leaning against, seeking a more comfortable position.
“He was the Council’s top assassin, and the geniuses over there decided to use him for their very first guinea pig. He’s lucky he’s not completely insane. You train a man to kill people all his life, then give him emotions. They were playing with fire, though they didn’t even realize it. He could’ve become a complete psycho. Or he could be wracked with guilt over the lives he’s taken. Lucky for us—not so much for him—it’s the latter. That man has a lot of demons that haunt him. More than anything, he deserves our compassion and sympathy, or we’re no better than those who made him what he was.”
Jim could tell this man felt strongly about his words, and Jim even understood why. He’d heard about the inhuman experiments the Alvians routinely perpetrated. He wasn’t too surprised to find out they’d done the same thing to their own people.
“You were a prisoner?”
The man nodded. “As far as I know, I’m the only one to ever escape that city and it cost me dearly. I’ve got a baby daughter I’ve never seen.”
“I’m sorry. My name is Jim, by the way.” Jim extended a hand in friendship, which was taken.
“I’m Sam.” They shook hands, and Sam moved back to his leaning position some feet away. “It’s not all bad though. We’re free here, and I know my daughter is as safe as she can be in Davin’s engineering facility. He’s another alien who’s got a heart. He took Ruth and my daughter in and they live in relative comfort while learning about the aliens’ crystals. It’s both a blessing and a curse. They were moved there because of Ruth’s special gift for working with crystal, but for the same reason, Davin can’t let her go like he did Mike and Dave. Officially, they’re dead. Davin was able to arrange an accident for them so they’d be free to live here with their mate, Jaci. But Ruth’s gift is something special. As a result, the Council has taken a special interest in her. It would be hard for Davin to devise a way to smuggle her out and impossible for me to go there. I killed an Alvian solder to escape and have taken out a few since.” Cold sorrow entered the man’s eyes as he looked out at his garden. “I’m a wanted man as far as the Alvians go. For now, I have to stay under the radar.”
“I hear that. Some of my people are in a similar situation, having taken out Alvian patrols and the like.”
“It’s not easy living with a price on your head, but it does make you realize what’s important. My advice to you, whether you want it or not, is to grab onto your gal with both hands and don’t let go.” Jim looked up at him as Sam smiled. “Oh, I heard a bit about what’s going on with you, Gina and Grady. If she’s willing—and if you think he’ll be good to her—then you should probably consider making it a threesome. Better to be with her. Take it from someone who misses his woman every day.”