Darker Space by Lisa Henry

Author:Lisa Henry [Henry, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBT; Science Fiction/fantasy; Space Opera
Publisher: Loose Id LLC
Published: 2015-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Despite the orange armbands on our uniforms that marked us as prisoners, it turned out Cam and I were allowed to leave our room that evening. We had a marine following a few steps behind, but he was easy enough to ignore.

“What is this asshole even doing?” I asked Cam as I bashed the side of a vending machine to try to get a chocolate.

“Probably making sure we’re not going to get into the Core and sabotage the reactor.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” The corners of his mouth tugged up in a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You’d have more luck with that machine if you actually put money in it.”

I bashed the side of it again. “Look, this one’s ready to fall.”

“Brady.” He shook his head slightly and gestured at the glowering marine. “Really?”

I rolled my eyes. “What are they gonna do, LT?”

Cam glanced at the MP.

“I could put you in the fucking brig,” he muttered.

“Right you are, Sergeant.” I showed him my palms. “I’ll behave. LT, can I have a dollar? I’ll make it up to you later.”

Cam sighed and shook his head, but gave me a dollar and I ate my chocolate as we headed to the med bay. We got a few curious looks on our way, and once I thought someone said my name, but when I turned around, I couldn’t pick any face I knew out of the bunch of guys passing.

We split up at the medical bay.

“Don’t leave here without an escort,” the marine said.

“Yes, Sarge.”

Cam flashed me a smile. He was on his way to meet with Commander Leonski and some assholes from intel. And once he told them about Lucy, any small freedoms we were enjoying this afternoon would be severely fucking curtailed.

“Good luck, Cam.”

I watched him leave before I stepped inside. There was a particular smell about the medical bay, one I’d never really got out of my nostrils. Cold air, antiseptic, and stale cigarette smoke.

“Jesus fucking Christ! Brady Garrett!” Doc might have been several stitches into some poor recruit’s gaping laceration, but that didn’t stop him from downing tools and engulfing me in a hug that squeezed the breath right out of me. “I heard a rumor you were on your way here.” He gripped me by the shoulders and held me at arm’s length while he looked me up and down. “I hoped it wasn’t true.”

“That makes two of us, Doc.”

He fixed his narrow stare on me. “I can imagine.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, well. You know the brass. Not happy unless they’re fucking me over somehow.”

Doc barked out a laugh. “Well, you haven’t changed, have you, son? Still a recalcitrant little shit.”

“A bad attitude—”

“Is better than no attitude at all,” he finished for me and cuffed me on the back of the head. “Idiot.”

The recruit on the examination table stared at us owl-eyed, cradling his injured hand in his lap.

I leaned against the wall and watched as Doc stripped his gloves off, pulled on a new pair, and turned back to the kid’s hand.

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