Alliances by Karen Miller

Author:Karen Miller [Miller, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781905586004
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2006-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

“You don’t have to tiptoe,” said Carter’s voice in the bedroom’s dense darkness. “I’m still awake.”

He pushed the door till the latch clicked shut. “There’s no lamp in here?”

“Couldn’t find the matches.”

Inching his way forward till he bumped the bed, he sat down on its very edge. “It’s all right, Carter. I’ll take the floor. Just chuck me a pillow and a blanket.”

“And if Boaz decides to look in on us at some point?” she said. “I wouldn’t put it past him, he’s obsessed with making babies. And I don’t think he was kidding about Hol’c, sir. Do you?”

He heaved a heavy sigh. “No.”

There came the sound of blankets being pulled back. “Come on. There’s no point delaying the inevitable. You’re just going to get cold, sitting there.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I suppose I am.” He kicked off his shoes, slid beneath the covers and let his head drop onto the pillow. It felt strange, lying next to a woman after so long. Huh. How long had it been, anyway? Not since Kinthea… or Antarctica. That had been Carter, too.

God. Don’t think about Antarctica, or Kinthea. Don’t think, full stop.

“What’s that?” she whispered.

He listened. “The front door,” he whispered back. “Boaz. And Mikah.”

She made a small sound in her throat. “Pity we don’t have a headboard,” she muttered. “We could bang it, suggestively. That’d keep him happy.”

“We could bounce, instead,” he muttered back.

“And moan,” she replied, then rolled over to muffle a giggle in her own pillow.

He swatted the nearest bit of her he could reach. “Shhh! Shhh!”

Paralysed with silent hysterics, they listened to Boaz and Mikah retire to their own rooms.

“Oh, God,” she said, when it was safe to speak. “I knew I should’ve stayed at the Pentagon.”

He snorted. “I should’ve stayed retired.”

“Huh,” she said, and shifted a little away from him. “Coulda, woulda, shoulda.”

He tried not to care that her hip no longer touched his. The darkness was absolute, pressing him flat to the mattress like an enormous velvet hand.

“You know,” she said, after a little while. “This could be worse.”

He rolled his head on the pillow, even though he couldn’t see her. “You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not joking.”

“Carter, how could this possibly be worse?”

He felt her shrug. “There could be ice.”

Again, the danger of hysterics. “There could be Daniel.”

“And Teal’c.”

“There were four in the bed,” he warbled softly, “and the colonel said—”

She dug her elbow in his side, shaking with repressed laughter. “Stop it! Stop it!”

“I’ve stopped! I’ve stopped!” He dropped a forearm over his face. “Okay. That’s it. Serious now. We need to sleep.” He took a deep breath. Let it out. “Good night… Serena.”

“Good night, Joseph.”

On cue, together: “Good night, John Boy.”

More muffled laughter. A slow sinking into quiet. Then:

“God, Jack,” she said, her voice small and lost in the darkness. “All the poor babies…”

He wanted to hold her hand. He didn’t dare.

“I know, Sam,” he whispered. “But we’ll save them. Somehow, we’ll save them.”

Silence. And finally, sleep.

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