Our headlights extended over the dusty flats, a dry, cracked plain where even shrubbery refused to grow. A soft breeze filled the car as he stopped the engine and rolled down the windows. Darkness poured into the cabin as the air settled around us, the desert quickly forgetting our intrusion. “Do you have any more questions?” he asked. I ran …
The day was waning by the time I reached the cabin in the woods, about a mile’s hike from where the trees got too thick to drive any farther. I’d come prepared, climbing the hill and trekking down around the lip of the valley with my trusty worn boots and my pack bundled high on my back. The effort got …
The buzz of Ilana’s drink hit her as she activated her suit’s open space features, leaving her helmet off for last. She could’ve taken an anti-intoxicant to sober up but she had nothing to lose at this point. Might as well try something she hadn’t tried before. She stood with Gabriel next to the airlock at what she assumed was …
Gabriel stared at the widest crisis pocket he’d engineered yet, a round bubble currently held stable at four points with extra technological rigging. The most elegant piece of tech he’d ever handled, standing only by the grace of rudimentary biotech scaffolding. The Admiral had requested a larger model for Frontier missions as protection for Alliance citizens and ships. Gabriel and …
Ilana shut the door to her room on Frontier One. She leaned back and closed her eyes, soaking in the afterglow of the last several hours. But first things first. She activated her mailbox from her smart contact’s menu on the inside of her wrist, pulled up the Admiral’s message, and dictated an acceptance to her job offer. She was …
Gabriel was having a hard time reading Ilana. Even after the passionate embrace they’d shared downstairs, she’d become aloof since the group arrived at Maisha’s private quarters. Now, as Maisha led them to her spa, Ilana stood slightly apart. Maisha offered her a private changing room and bathing suit, but Ilana showed no hesitation in joining them in the nude …
When Gabriel invited Ilana up to where the Admiral was finishing up dinner with Maisha, she appreciated that he gave her an out. But she wasn’t one to hide because a room made her uncomfortable. She might as well learn more about her potential employer while she was here. So she joined Gabriel up an elevator to the top deck. …
“You really come prepared,” he said as I stabbed a tent stake into the sand. He loitered in his flip-flops, looking unsure of what to do with himself despite nailing the beach day look. Over his trunks, he wore a crisp white shirt that fluttered in the wind, allowing peekaboo glimpses of his skin, glistening with a hint of sweat …
Gabriel couldn’t keep his eyes off Ilana. Looking at her was like drinking a long cool glass of water at the end of a long, hot day. He resisted the wild urge to crowd her into a dark corner and slide his hands up that tight little dress until she squirmed against him. He had to clear his throat to …
Ilana rarely wavered as much as she did that night. On everything. What to wear. How to make up her face and hair. Whether she should splurge on a fabulous little black dress from the replicator. If she should even go. Nearly her entire life – since the first star she saw through her father’s telescope – she’d always had …