It seemed he wasn’t the only one in love with the new day.
Sure, a morning on a military base was what it was. However, laughter and good humor filled the mess hall. He looked around for Mike and didn’t see him. His disappointment ended when he noted that the command table was also empty.
Apparently, they’d had some shit to do and had dragged Mike along.
Really? They couldn’t let a guy have breakfast with his new lover? He reminded himself that his lover was the first sergeant.
He’d probably need to get used to the moments when Mike was called away by the higher echelon.
The note from Mike rested against his left ass cheek, the ass Mike had well used the night before. It reassured with its very existence. It represented a constant reminder of Mike’s claim on him, as well as Liam’s claim on Mike.
* * *
The morning’s breakfast eaten, Liam’s team rode the assigned infantry carrier vehicles to the Alvord Desert, where the tunneling tanks conducted their trials. Except Alvord wasn’t a desert as much as it was a dry lakebed. Also, the infantry vehicles that carried them there weren’t so much an M2116 Striker as they were alien helicopters, minus the blades.
Liam couldn’t help but notice the relaxation of the troops around him. It was as though the Urilqii had been released from unpleasant bonds and allowed to be themselves. Warm bands of energy stretched between couples that he hadn’t realized were a unit.
Smiles of acceptance and affection showed up throughout the cabal with breathtaking naturalness. What he witnessed now—the quick kiss, a brush of a hand on a cheek or neck, affectionate teasing between squad members—were testament to the efforts these people had taken to make their guests feel comfortable. The need for restraint no longer existed.
The volunteers who qualified and had chosen to stay, all fifteen of them, had found and bonded with a Urilqii soldier. They could be seen engaging in some of the public displays of affection.
When he climbed into the ship and strapped into the seat, he caught sight of a playful hip bump between two Urilqiis who’d followed him aboard. Liam tugged on his helmet and buckled the chinstrap while watching one of them climb inside. The morning’s light brightened the portside windows.
The guy strapped into the nearest empty seat, which happened to be beside the door, and tugged his own helmet over his head.
Liam recognized him as Ed, one of the tank mechanics. His partner, who Liam didn’t know, gave a wave before he slammed closed the door. That dude was briefly visible in the window as he headed away from the launch pad and toward his own duty station.
The sound of the engines increased in pitch and the ship rose into the sky. The craft banked to the southeast and headed away from Portland. Liam knew six other identical ships were on the same path toward Fields, Oregon.
“His name on this planet is Adam,” said Ed, smiling at Liam.
“He’s a mechanic, like me.”
Jeez, am I that obvious? Well, duh, the guy had probably heard his thoughts due to that mind-link thing. Liam decided he didn’t mind and smiled back.
“Command won’t let you two on the same team?” he joked.
“Good sex too much of a temptation?”
Ed’s laughter was a cheerful rumble.
“Too right, but no,” he said. “I volunteered for this section. The idea of modifying your tanks to fight beneath your planet’s crust was too interesting to pass by.”
“Adam didn’t volunteer?”
“The thought of going underground gives him the sweats.”
Everyone inside the cabin laughed, including Liam.
The ride wasn’t a long one due to the technology in use, and soon enough the ships began a careful circle of the landing area before they began a vertical drop. Liam saw a herd of pronghorns dart away in a mob of browns, russets, and sparkling white rumps.
The ships came to rest amid clouds of dust, erasing any view other than shades of biscuit and gray. The engine sounds diminished to an idle, which was the cue to exit. He pulled off the helmet, hung it by its straps on an armrest, and disengaged the buckles on the seat.
When the side door opened, allowing the dust storm of their landing into the cabin, he stood and headed for the exit. His boots hit the ground and he let out a relieved breath. He understood Adam’s unease with belowground. After all, he wasn’t all that comfortable with his boots unattached to the ground, so who was he to judge?
“Fall in,” somebody bellowed, probably Sergeant Dylan.
Yeah, that was something he’d better handle first thing. Best not to let an emotional injury like that fester, especially not since he had to work with the guy.
Liam joined his squad and jogged to the group of M-series Höcker Rapid Deployment buildings. Like the rest of the platoon, Liam entered the hangar that housed the six M1A2 modified tanks and “fell in” as ordered. Sergeant Dylan passed the orders handed to him by command, answered the odd question or two, then dismissed them to get to work.
“Alright, you’ve got your orders, so get moving,” the sergeant ordered. “Assholes and elbows, people.”
Everyone broke for his assigned areas except Liam. Dylan was headed for another part of the building. Maybe later or handle it now?
“Uh, Sergeant Dylan?” He called before too much distance spread between them and before he lost his nerve.
At the summons, Dylan stopped and turned. He wasn’t pleased to see Liam’s hesitation in the face of the orders he’d just given. A frown flicked across his face before his expression smoothed into one of Politely Concerned.
“Yes, Mr. Sinclair?”
Liam caught himself before he shifted on his feet like a schoolboy who’d forgotten his homework. He forced steel into his spine. “Permission to speak freely?”
Dylan reversed his path and closed the distance between them, an act that offered privacy and,
