She hesitated, then nodded and slipped onehand behind his neck, responding carefully to the touch of his lipsto hers, then relaxing as he pulled her closer and began kissingher with a sexy playfulness that made her heart pound.
Finally she pulled away. Then she admitted,“That was more like it.”
Rem gave a frustrated laugh. “More likewhat?”
“Like the dreams I had during suspension.Every time you kissed me, it was just like that.” She bit her lip.“What about you? You said you had dreams about us too. Was it likethis? Or like the kiss at the hospital?”
“I don’t remember the details.”
“Oh really?”
He grinned. “I don’t remember the details ofthe mech battles either, so don’t take it personally. I guess thatshot of adrenaline from the escort chamber chased everything elseout of my brain. Anyway—” His voice lowered a bit. “I like realkisses, not imaginary ones. Especially with you.”
“So do I. Even when I don’t know what theymean.”
Rem winced. “Do they have to meansomething?”
She nodded. “At the hospital, it just meantwe were glad to be alive. And this one just means good night. So .. .” She felt her cheeks start to burn. “Good night, Captain.Thanks for being here.”
“Yeah. Good night.” He walked over to thewall switch and turned off the light. Then he added in a reassuringvoice, “Sweet dreams, Zee. See you in the morning.”
* * * *
When Zia woke up the next morning, Rem wasseated on the cot watching a news vid with the sound muted. Oneglance at the screen told her it was pre-challenge propagandafeaturing battles from past engagements, and from the look on Rem’sface, he was loving it.
“Hey.” She slid out of bed and stretched.“How was that bed? Did you get any sleep at all?”
“It was fine. These Malarans are so huge, acot for them is basically luxurious for us. How about you? Anynightmares?”
She shook her head, then eyed his wrinkledflight suit. “Go ahead and shower first. I can wait.”
“I need you in there with me.”
“Hmmm?”
He laughed. “That’s why I waited. I didn’twant to leave you unguarded. So you’ll have to sit in the bathroomand watch a mini-vid or something. Then you can get ready and we’llhead to the hospital. We can get coffee and something to eatthere.”
She smiled, impressed that he had thought ofeverything. Humber had told them there would be a transportpermanently available to them on the roof of the hotel. The pilotwas Humber’s nephew, so there was virtually no doubt about hispolitics and clearance level. All in all, she felt pretty safeconsidering that armed warriors had attempted to assassinate her sorecently and would probably try again.
She decided to follow Rem’s instructions,even though she felt silly watching a mech vid on a mini-screen ina misty bathroom, especially since there was a much better showgoing on a few feet away. Rem didn’t seem to care about hisprivacy, lathering his lean, naked body as though oblivious to thetransparency of the shower door between them. In contrast, when itwas Zia’s turn, she kicked him out into the bedroom and closed thedoor between them firmly.
By the time they were both clean and dressedin their flight suits, she decided they looked impressive—two Earthpilots on an important mission. To the Malarans at the hotel, theywere also celebrities, and as they walked down the hall and tookthe elevator to the roof, warrior after warrior gave them thefist-chest salute. A few even offered hurried assurances ofloyalty, or apologies for what the Vekzori had done. Zia found itcharming, but noted that Rem didn’t relax. His hand was on hisblaster, his eyes narrowed and observant, until they were safelydelivered to the hospital.
Harada and Jackson were sharing a heavilyguarded room, and while Jackson was groggy, Harada seemed almostchipper, and immediately informed them he expected to resume hisduties in another day or so.
“That way, you can get back to what you dobest. Piloting,” he told Rem.
“We’ll see,” Rem replied evenly.
Zia bit back a smile, enjoying thecompetition. “You need to take it easy,” she informed thelieutenant. “You already put your life in danger once for me.”
“And then you saved it,” Haradamurmured. “That’s not how it’s supposed to work. You have to giveme a chance to redeem myself.”
“What’s he talking about?” Rem asked her.When she shrugged, he turned back to Harada. “Zee saved yourlife? How?”
The lieutenant started to answer, then justmotioned to an overhead screen instead. “Watch. This is thesecurity vid from the hotel suite.”
“Oh, no.” Zia grimaced and turned away. “Ican’t go through that again. Did they really think this was goodviewing for an injured man? Ugh!”
She realized too late that she should havecovered her ears too. Instead, she heard herself scream“No,” and then the air was filled with the sound of blastersblasting and men snarling. She kept her gaze fixed on Rem’s face,and through his expression relived the horror of those terriblemoments.
When he finally turned to her, she saidsadly, “A bloodbath. Just like I said. Right?”
“Yeah, but . . .” He licked his lips. “Thatwas—well, it was really something, what you did.”
“Cowering behind the furniture?” shemurmured. Then Rem told her to watch the vid, and she didso—reluctantly at first, and then in confused amazement. What sheremembered as panic looked like heroism—or at least quick thinking,as she pushed Harada to the floor an instant before a stream offiery gasses shot through the area where his head, and hers, hadbeen. Then she was standing at his side and firing at theMalarans—not wildly and ineffectively, but helping him bring downthe final villain.
“All I remembered was chaos,” she said with asheepish smile. “Isn’t that weird? Maybe I just didn’t want toremember that I killed someone—even a traitor like thatVekzor.”
The concept intrigued her, and her thoughtsflashed to Rem’s father. As strange as it seemed, she wondered ifthis might be a possible explanation for his testimony at thetrial. Aengus didn’t want to remember killing that guard. Hehad never intended to hurt anyone, but the stress of the situation,combined with panic—
“I guess our minds play tricks,” she said,half to herself. Then she noticed that Rem and Harada were staringat her. Even Jackson
