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.“Be quick about it.” Kirez banged on the door again.“Tinar wants you on the bridge.There’s a problem with the Array.”They listened in silence as heavy footsteps moved away from the door and out into the corridor.They had to hurry or Kirez would be suspicious.Charley switched on the water collector, and as they dried off, she told Pete quickly of Marc’s plan to take over the ship while the Vashtar went hunting.“Charley, even if we do succeed in getting the Pegasus back, the weapons systems have never been tested in combat.”Combat.The reality of their situation suddenly hit her.While Pete and the techies were fighting the Vashtar, she would have to battle against another ship.All of their lives would depend on her.“Hey, don’t think about it now, Charley.I was sick as a dog before my first battle.My legs froze and I couldn’t move a muscle.”“What did you do?”“My friends Jake and Strom each grabbed an arm and hauled me along with them.I realized that I wasn’t fighting against the enemy—I was fighting for my friends.After that I was okay.”Pete’s hands cupped her face, teasing her with one last lingering embrace.“I promise you that we’ll make it through this.You and I have a date when we get back to Earth, and next time, there will be no interruptions.”Earth.If they made it home, their own lives would take over again.She would be back at the Academy, and after that, she would have to leave Earth for good.What a mess.Someone’s heart was going to get broken into a thousand tiny pieces and she knew that it was going to be hers.“Hey, what’s up?”“Nothing,” she lied as she pulled on a dry uniform tunic.“I’m just thinking about Marc.”“I’m not sure if I like the idea of my girl thinking about other men.”His girl.She was never going to be Pete’s girl.What would he do if he found out who she really was and what she had done? This thing with Pete had to finish before they got back to Earth, before she made a complete fool of herself and told him that she loved him.It was better to end this now.“Pete, I can’t be your girl.There can be no us when we get home.”His face paled, he looked as if someone had punched him.Charley pressed on, stumbling over her words.“I’m graduating in June and I don’t want to settle on Earth.I want to travel, see other planets.So it’s better if we don’t get involved.”Charley turned away before he could respond.It was over.She had to get out of here.As she hurried along the corridors, Charley was conscious of the lights flickering overhead.It was impossible for a system to have that many faults on a single circuit.She remembered the problem with the water dispensers earlier.Marc must be trying to take control of the automated systems.Tinar was pacing the bridge impatiently when she arrived.Charley averted her eyes from his face and slid quickly into the com chair.If they were to get out of this alive, she had to get the weapons and aeronautics systems on-line.“There have been problems with a number of systems today.” Tinar grumbled.Liston nodded his head, anxious to placate him.“It’s a prototype ship on its first voyage.That is to be expected.”“Fix them.” He glared warningly at Charley.“And I want an audio link back to the bridge.”Charley pulled the visor over her face.“I’ll see what I can do, Sir.”* * * * *She was back at the beach house.A wood fire burned steadily in the grate.Through a tall window, she could see the stormy sky.Rain lashed against the veranda, making the wind chimes rattle loudly.There was no welcoming smile from Marc.“My father spoke to me today.When we reach Tarsus Four, one of the Vashtar is to become my new interface.”Charley’s heart raced, pounding like a drum.What would happen when the Vashtar no longer needed them? They would trade her, and she didn’t want to think about what they would do to Pete and the others.Outside, the storm grew wild.Lightning erupted in the sky, slashing through the leaden clouds with crackling flashes.Out on the ocean, the waves grew monstrous, racing toward the shore and crashing loudly against the sands.Marc was doing this.Marc was making the storm.If he could make a lightning storm here, what could he do on the ship? She had to calm him down.“Marc, please don’t.We’ll get through this.”“What if we don’t?” he said bitterly.“Every time I’m with you, Charley, I change.You make me feel things that I should not be able to experience.I cannot let them hurt you.”Before she had a chance to react, Marc swooped in for a kiss.Not a gentle press of his lips on her cheek this time, but a slow, masterful glide of his mouth against hers.She was too stunned to stop him.His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her against him, kissing her hungrily.This was no longer her shy virtual friend.Marc was very much a man, with all a man’s wants and needs.Outside the storm calmed and the rain petered out.Marc pulled away, running his tongue lightly across his lips.“You taste good, Charley, but we have much to do before we can go home again.”Throughout the rest of the evening, Charley tried to concentrate on learning to control the weapons systems, desperately trying to forget Marc’s tender kiss.Breaking up with Pete was bad enough, but a close encounter with a starship that had a crush on you wasn’t something that was covered in Fleet Academy training manuals.Pete might be happy at the prospect of cracking a few Vashtar heads to get the Pegasus back, but while he was doing that, she would have to control the laser cannon and plasma gun array.Fighting on a simulated ship back at the Academy was going to be a whole lot different than battling against an enemy for real.Charley stretched her arms.She couldn’t concentrate any longer.That was enough practice for this evening.She was bone tired, but she couldn’t face Pete yet.She had hurt him and guilt clawed at her insides.She shrugged the pain away.There was no time for that now.Her final task was to upload Marc’s aeronautic systems [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]