braced one hand against the frame of the car, learning to breathe again as he pulled my bag and cane out. Haley stood nearby, shaking her head.
“He’s right, they should have kept you. You going to be okay?”
I smiled humorlessly. “I’ll be fine.” John handed me my cane and I straightened slowly, grunting as my back slowly aligned itself again. The garage area was fairly non-descript and I raised an eyebrow at them. “What’s this?”
“Building where your fifth-floor apartment is. We’re a few blocks from the spaceport—you’d walk between them, if you could manage more than a hobble, I’m sure.” Haley smiled a little. “Come on. We’ll get you upstairs, and then we’ll come pick you up for dinner.”
“And if I need you before that?”
She shook her head slightly, squeezing my arm before letting go. “Call.”
• • •
A shower helped with the aches and the funk I didn’t realize I’d picked up while switching between commercial transports somewhere between here, Carmiline orbit, and Varice. I hadn’t been able to catch a nap, though—Haley and John had failed to mention that the apartment Melissa had gotten for me was in a particularly loud one. I hadn’t heard so many stampeding footsteps in the halls since the last readiness drill at Collins-Ross.
Flipping channels on the vid didn’t do me much good, either, though it got me the local weather report for the next four days, which I supposed was of some use. I ended up laying on the couch and staring at bare walls for two hours, trying to sleep instead of thinking, before someone rescued me by pushing the call button at my door.
I pushed myself up slightly against my elbows, craning my neck to see the door as I shoved my hand down between couch cushions for my service weapon. It was probably unnecessary.
“It’s open,” I called, forcing all caution out of my voice. Caldin was supposed to be a safe planet, quiet, neighborly. The kind of place you could leave your doors open at night and not think twice.
No one knew I was here. No one but my colleagues and commanders, and most of them were far away. I was being paranoid and blending in all at once. It felt strange.
Haley entered, grinning at me. “Going native already? Surprised you didn’t lock up.” The door clicked shut behind her.
I shrugged with one shoulder, sitting up slowly. “Something like that. Figured no one but you guys and the landlord know I’m here.” It was a lame excuse, but she seemed to buy it. “Is it time?”
She nodded. “Ready to go?”
Whether I was or not really didn’t matter. I nodded a little, slowly sitting up and reaching for my cane. “Let me grab my jacket, then we can go.”
“This one?” She moved away from the doorway and picked up the battered leather jacket from where I’d left it, across the back of a chair in the kitchenette. She tossed it at me when I nodded.
Clatter. Ting, ting, ting.
“What’s this?”
Oh no. I clawed the jacket from my face and started to limp quickly toward the source of the sound. “It’s nothing.” I thought I’d packed it away.
Haley had crossed the floor and picked up the small box that had popped open when it dropped out of the jacket’s pocket. She picked up the simple ring that had bounced free and slipped it back into the slot in the box, holding it up for me to take when I reached her.
A bare shadow of my own pain reflected in her eyes as I took the box. “For her?”
The lump in my throat was trying to choke me. I nodded, closing the box and setting it slowly on the edge of the countertop. “Yeah,” I managed, shaking my head a little. Don’t lose control. Don’t let go. Don’t let go. I took a deep breath and struggled to exhale it slowly. “I should have left it on Varice.”
“With who? With Marc? With your stuff in storage? Maybe.” Haley stared at the box and shook her head slightly. “When were you going to ask her?”
I shrugged a little, following her gaze. “When I stopped being terrified she was going to say no.”
She looked at me and sighed. “Put your coat on. Let’s go.”
I licked my lips and nodded, tearing my eyes away from the box and pulling on my jacket. Thanks for not saying what everyone else kept saying, Haley. I know she wouldn’t have said no. That didn’t make it easier to ask. I swept the box into a drawer, so I wouldn’t have to look at it as soon as I came back to the apartment. I talked so I wouldn’t have to think. “So you’re going by the Trey Connelly ID, right?”
“Still,” she said, opening the door. “And the friendship between you and Harm and I goes back to before colonization.”
I snorted softly and limped out into the corridor, letting her lock the door behind us. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Nearly six local. Feel up to walking? It’s not far.”
“Within half a block?” She nodded and so did I. “All right. Lead on.”
We took the lift down to the street level and started down, past several buildings like the one that they’d gotten me set up in and toward an area where the buildings weren’t as tall. Haley walked slowly, strolling almost, taking her time and not forcing me to move faster than was comfortable, which I was silently grateful for. Walking still hurt more than I cared to admit, but being upright and limping was a vast improvement over being flat on my back or rolling around in a wheelchair.
“So the others will be there?”
“Tabs and Kyle? They’ll be there. Harm’s probably already there, waiting.” Tabitha Lane and Kyle Rezek were the cover identities for two other Alliance SpecOps operating off of Caldin, Melissa Cordare and Matthew Lawless. We’d come up through training together. I nodded slightly.
“We’re sure there’s no one else going to be there that’s going to know me?”
“I already told you that one. There’s someone I want you to meet, though. You’ll probably see a bit of him before you’ve healed up all the way.” She shifted her shoulder bag, grinning at me. “He’s one of the doctors at the local ER.” She leaned in closer and whispered in my ear. “Best as we’ve been able to figure, he’s also the head of the local cell, maybe even more than just the local cell.” She gave me a meaningful look as she straightened again, body swaying away from me for a moment. “His name is Lucas. You’ll meet him. I think you’ll like him. Seems like you two have a few things in common.”
I gave her a questioning look then shook my head. Let it go. You’ll find out soon enough. “We’ll see, I guess. He’ll be there?”
“Usually is, after he gets off shift at the hospital. He’s one of the good guys, Wil. You’ll have to give him the benefit of the doubt.” She tilted her head. “Are you allowed to drink?”
“Nothing alcoholic,” I told her. As nice as oblivion might be…breathing is probably something I need to keep doing.
“Right. Should’ve guessed.” She threw her arm around my shoulders and hugged me briefly. “We’ll look out for you.”
“Thanks, Trey.” I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to settle into my new skin. There hadn’t been much opportunity for me to develop this personality, just a month’s worth of time coming up with his background, the quirks. But actually being Wil Terrel…that wasn’t something I’d had time to practice. This could either go really, really well, or really, really badly.
She led me to where the roadway from the spaceport ended at a cross-street in a T-intersection. Just to the left of the intersection point stood a two-storey building of brick what looked to be local stone. The wood-framed windows were narrow and treated with a coating that left the doings of whomever was inside hidden from the casual observer. The sign above the door said the place was Gamgee’s Bar and Grill.
“This is it?”
She nodded. “Local hangout, probably the best food in town. Come on.” She smiled at me, pushing open the heavy front door and holding it for me.
I barely got a look at gu
nmetal walls and wooden tables before I was deafened and engulfed in a bear hug by someone who clearly knew me even if I was having trouble processing how I knew him. I blinked, struggling to breathe, staring at a shaven head and an upper body that could bench press two of me. It only took a moment or two more to click, by which time I was starting to be in desperate need of breath.
“Jack,” I gasped, “air.”
The ex-Alliance Marine blinked, rearing back, and set me on my feet again quickly. I stumbled back, into Haley, who thrust my dropped cane back into my open hand, murmuring a question.
“You two going to need a room?”
I swallowed, nodding as I caught my breath.
“Friend of yours, Jack?” called the woman behind the bar as she wiped up a spill—probably Jack’s drink, I realized, knocked over when he’d bumrushed the door to greet me.
He nodded vigorously as I straightened up slowly. “Was with us on Carmiline.”
The woman behind the bar grinned. “No wonder you’re so happy to see him.”
“So happy they should get a room,” Haley piped up from behind me. “You’ve got those, right, Kal? Let the boys catch up in peace.” She ducked past me, smirking, and made her way over to where John was holding up a wall.
I shook my head a little, limping forward. “Preferably one with chairs, ma’am?”
The woman grinned, nodding. “Can probably be arranged.” She left her rag and moved to the wall to one side of the bar, swiping a keycard