Page 3 of Searching the Skies
Geneva rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. “Thanks anyway.”
Eventually, only the team leaders were left on the surface. “I’m ready to leave this hellhole,” Ash said. “What do you say?”
“Let’s go.”
Though they stood beside each other, they each entered their location into the devices on their wrists to be transported back to the ship. The captivating sparkle of Ash’s turquoise eyes beneath his helmet was the last thing Geneva saw before everything around her collapsed into darkness.
Chapter Two
When Geneva could see clearly again, she found herself in a room on board the spaceship with the rest of the soldiers who had been dispatched to Ophari. Like most of the others, the first thing she did was remove her helmet. Though grateful for the protection it offered, she was glad to be free of it. Only half of her caramel-colored hair remained in the bun she had twisted on top of her head before suiting up, the rest floating down to her shoulders in messy waves.
“Don’t get too comfortable.” A familiar voice resonated near her ear again. “They’re dismissing us until tomorrow morning. Then we get to sit in meetings all day to talk about how wonderful we are, but how much better we could have done.”
She turned toward Ash, whose lack of helmet revealed the short reddish fuzz atop his head and gave her a full view of his jovial expression. “Did you really get here so much faster than me? Stupid technology,” she said, smiling.
“Nah, word travels quickly. Especially when it’s nearly midnight by our clocks, and they’re actually letting us sleep for a few hours.” He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “We did good work out there today. I—”
One of their superior officers called the room to attention, interrupting their conversation. Geneva half listened to the confirmation of the rumor that discussion of the day’s events wouldn’t take place until the following morning, and she waited to be dismissed. As the soldiers streamed out of the room, she nodded brief farewells to her team, offering several congratulatory words here and there before turning back to Ash.
“As much as I’d love to stay here and chat—and believe me, I would—there’s a hot shower in my bunk calling my name, so I think I’m going to follow those guys out,” he said, flashing his trademark grin. “Have a good night, Geneva. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After he left, she stood in the empty room, debating whether she wanted to grab a bite to eat or return to her quarters until morning. The promise of a hot showerdidsound like a good idea, so she headed away from the public areas of the ship and proceeded to the hallway leading to the accommodations for the higher-ranked officers. A small suite comprised of a bedroom and bathroom had been assigned to her for her private use. She had never bothered to personalize it in any way, but the bare walls and utilitarian furniture still provided her with a cozy sense of security. Upon entering, she remembered how being an officer did have its perks. Instead of planning for a quick shower, she turned on the faucet and began filling the tub taking up most of the space in her tiny bathroom.
Her body armor was the first to go. Created from a lightweight, metallic composite, it conformed to her curves and made them less of an impediment than she would have expected. Though it easily moved with her, she was glad to get it off and hang it in its proper place. After unlacing her black leather boots and setting them aside, she shed her thin camouflage clothing and nondescript undergarments and stuffed them down the laundry chute. Shivering in the cool, sterile air of the ship, she pinned up the wayward pieces of hair that had fallen down, tested the temperature of the water in the full tub, and climbed in.
The hot water attacked her weary muscles in a combination of relaxation and pain as she sank down, letting it cover her shoulders as she tilted her head back. For a few moments, her mind cleared and she focused on the calming bath, but it didn’t take long for her thoughts to wander back to the events on Ophari. She replayed the events of the day in her head, as if watching a film from afar, and took some mental notes as to what went well, what could have gone better, and what had been simple luck.
Ash’s scenes featured prominently in her personal movie. If she’d had to run into another commander out in the field, she was glad it was him, as his friendly nature, reliability, and determination in battle made him so easy to work with. She took comfort in knowing he’d had her back when she was out tearing the enemy to shreds, and he’d provided pleasant company in the aftermath.
The memory of Ash on top of her outside the demolished base made her face grow hot with embarrassment, even though there was no one around to see her blush or read her mind. She hated to admit it, even to herself, but it had been so long since she’d been so physically close to someone, all sorts of newly awakened thoughts spun through her head. There had been a few furtive encounters at the Academy, none particularly noteworthy, but they’d occurred years ago. Following graduation, she had been so focused on her career, members of the opposite sex rarely registered on her radar.
She groaned and buried her eyes in her dampened washcloth. A series of insignificant touches from a reasonably attractive man causing her to start fantasizing like a starry-eyed schoolgirl seemed ridiculous to the more rational part of her brain. Ash was nothing more than an amiable acquaintance, a professional colleague. Though he had always treated her with kindness, he did the same for everyone else in the unit. However, the thought of being pinned underneath him, his face right next to hers, caused something to stir within her, something she hadn’t felt in so long…
Geneva shook her head as if it would dispel the provocative images her imagination conjured and hit the lever to drain the tub. She dried off and threw on an old T-shirt before collapsing on the bed, expecting to fall asleep quickly after her exhausting day. Sleep eluded her as she tossed and turned, trying to forget the pair of piercing blue eyes still haunting her.
***
The repetitive beeping of her alarm clock came as a surprise, as she didn’t remember falling asleep. She dragged herself out of bed with a yawn and winced when her bare feet hit the cold floor. Although she had bathed the night before, she knew she needed the hot water to fully wake up, and she stepped back into the tub for a brief shower. The time it took to blow dry her hair gave her an opportunity to grumble to herself about the early start of the day’s meeting. As soon as she finished, she changed into her black uniform and headed down the hallway in search of something to eat.
She didn’t bother sitting at a table to scarf down the cold breakfast in the officers’ dining hall, as she never wanted to be the last one to report to the conference room. Arriving there before half her colleagues, she selected a seat near the middle of the room and waited as the others involved with planning the previous day’s mission reported for the one-sided discussion scheduled to take the entire morning and then some. Though she’d grown accustomed to sleeping shortened, irregular hours, drowsiness tugged at the edges of her mind. Her tired gaze lingered at the bare front wall, but someone plopping into the chair next to her jolted her out of her semi-conscious state.
“Morning, Geneva. Sorry you have to deal with seeing my face so early in the day.”
She smiled at Ash beside her then immediately blushed upon recalling one of the reasonswhyshe was so tired. “Better you than somebody else!”
“That’s the spirit!” He laughed. “Sleep well?”
“Yes,” she lied. “And you?”
“Out cold as soon as my head hit the pillow.”
Row by row, the people in front of them rose from their seats as Admiral Joachim Walker entered the room. Geneva liked the man, and she knew he had always been impressed by both her intelligence and her leadership abilities. However, her respect for him didn’t mean she was in the mood to listen to him blather on about the happenings on Ophari. At his command, they took their seats, and he approached the podium set up in the front of the room.
Ophari still held nothing of interest for her, and only snippets of the admiral’s report made their way to her ears as her mind wandered. She snuck a sideways glance at Ash, whose attention appeared focused on the bald man delivering the report. Not wanting to seem anything less than fully enamored by the admiral’s words, she turned her head back to the front and tried to examine Ash out of the corner of her eye.
“Base completely destroyed, along with a discovered stockpile of weapons…”
He was much taller than her average height, and when added to his sturdy build, she felt as if he were towering over her from the adjacent chair. She had always been terrible at estimating ages, but based on his rank and appearance, she guessed he was a few years older than her, maybe around thirty or so. From where she sat, she could study the dark fabric of his jacket clinging to his thick arms, buttoned over his broad chest…