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Beneath her fingertip, his mouth spread into a wide grin.
Mack couldn t remember ever feeling like this before. His good mood was
totally unshakable. Not Hebbs s narrowed-eyed glare at 0700 in ops, not
Magefather Rigo s righteous blustering in his office twenty minutes later, not
three short and unproductive conversations with the senator an hour after that
caused the smile on his face to waver one inch.
She hadn t said no. Well, truth be told, she hadn t said yes either. But she
had kissed him. Gods, how she d kissed him! And said they had time.
That s all he wanted right now. A chance. His proposal had surprised him
almost as much as it had surprised her. He d been troubled for days, knowing
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she would leave, not knowing how to make her stay. He didn t want to have to
rush a relationship or cram it into two weeks. His deadline in getting Fifth
Fleet operational so the Rim Gate Project could launch was tough enough. But
that he knew how to do, knew what shortcuts would work, what patches would
hold for now.
He didn t want things to be that way with Gillie. He didn t want this to be
just another brief affair, a lover left behind in a spaceport. He d had those
and found them uniquely unsatisfying.
And he knew with Gillie a short affair would be more than just unsatisfying.
It would leave him wanting her for the rest of his life.
His in-box icon flashed. He tabbed up the report from theVedritor he d been
waiting for, glancing at the time stamp on his screen. Two hours to lunch. Two
hours until he d see Gillie. Officers mess, he d told her, in a brief
conversation from his apartment this morning before he headed to ops. He still
had no vidlink with her ship s comm pack, something he d have to work on. He
wanted to see her smile, see the sparkle in her eyes.
For now, that would have to wait until lunch. He turned his attention, not
without a small twinge of reluctance, to Adler s report.
Temporary personnel reassignments had gone smoothly. The analysis of the
crystal section was completed, and a report had been forwarded to HQ on
Traakhalus. That would get the senator off his back for a while. Mack knew his
science team that is,Adler s science team was very thorough.
He snagged a copy of the report, downloaded it to his personal datapad. He d
give that to Tobias when they met later this afternoon.
His office door pinged. The ID strip overhead showed his CMO waiting on the
other side. He tabbed off the lock. Still no word on those supplies, he said
as Janek stepped inside. His CMO s lab coat looked somewhat threadbare. Mack
could see that the medalytics scanner in Janek s coat pocket was wrapped in
tape.
He motioned to a chair in front of his desk. The only thing I can offer you
right now is coffee.
Janek sat, grinning, then crossed his long legs as the door slid shut behind
him. I hear one of our most impregnable defense grids has been breached.
Mack immediately stiffened, shot a glance at his deskscreen for any red-coded
advisory. Nothing flashed. No alarms wailed. He frowned. What?
Not what. Who.
Who?
Janek s grin broadened. It s all over station that Make It Right Makarian
was involved in a pretty heavy make-out session on the dance
Oh, shit. Mack leaned back in his chair, wiped his hand across his face.
But he was still smiling when he sat forward again. My goal was the officers
club. We were sort of sidetracked before we got there.
You re usually not so indiscreet.
Mack heard the undercurrents of disapproval in Janek s voice. They d known
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each other for a long time. Janek had also pegged Hebbs s parasitical nature
before Mack had, had warned him, week one on Cirrus. It hadn t been until week
three that Mack had seen the truth in his friend s words. Cirrus One was under
Johnna Hebbs s control, and the stationmaster would do anything including
seducing the newly assigned admiral of the Fifth Fleet to make sure it stayed
that way. It s not like that.
Janek s arched eyebrow signaled his unspoken question.
Last night wasn t indiscretion. It was . . . He thought for a moment. Of
course it had been an indiscretion. A Fleet officer s private life was meant
to be private. And a Fleet officer s flings were encouraged to be as invisible
as possible. Except this wasn t a fling. It wasn t an indiscretion, he
repeated. It was an announcement.
Of?
I asked Gillie to marry me.
Janek stared at him. His mouth hung open, then closed quickly. He uncrossed
his legs, leaned forward, elbows on his knees. You re serious. This is
serious.
Yes.
You just met
I know. He waved his hand as if to brush away Janek s objection. And if I
didn t do something, she d be gone in two weeks when her ship s repaired.
So you re marrying her to keep her here?
She didn t say yes. But I don t think she ll be leaving right away either.
That ship of hers belongs to her cousin s transport firm. I think they d
want it back.
Mack shrugged. I might be able to get someone to tow it. Or maybe they ll
send someone to ferry it. Hell, considering the shape it s in, it might just
be better to junk it and sell it as scrap.
She s agreed to this?
We haven t discussed it. But I doubt it d be a problem.
Janek shook his head slightly. After all these years, I never thought we d
be having this conversation. You, serious over a woman. He pointed one finger
at Mack. I repeat, you ve known her only a short time. Are you sure her
affection toward you isn t based on her need for dock space for her ship?
She s not another Hebbs. Believe me, Gillie is exactly what she appears to
be. A warm, intelligent, vivacious young woman. A hardworking, honest
freighter captain. Nothing more. Nothing less.
And you re in love with her.
Doc, it s almost like she s the answer to my prayers. She couldn t be any
more perfect for me than if the Lady had sent Gillie to me herself.
That was, Mack thought as he hurried down the corridor to the officers mess,
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