The Price of Paradise by C. S. Johnson

Author:C. S. Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: pirates, armor, solider, inspirational romance, clean and wholesome, military science fiction, Dystopian, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic, science fiction romance, teen and young adult
Publisher: C. S. Johnson
Published: 2017-12-19T16:00:00+00:00

♦16♦

It had been many hours since the sunlight gracing Petra’s landscape slipped under the horizon when Exton headed into the main hangar.

He sighed and put his comm device in his pocket, but not before he fought off the urge to throw it away. It had been too many times that he’d tried to get a hold of Aerie, only to get a bunch of half-muttered excuses or blatant ignorance. Even his own crewmembers were too curious as to why they needed to help him get ahold of his wife.

Exton looked down from his position on the walkway over Petra’s hangar. He considered powering up his shuttle and flying to the Perdition just to find her and demand they finish their earlier argument before they moved onto a new one about communication etiquette.

Exton was just imagining the look on Aerie’s face when he heard footsteps behind him.

“What’s wrong? Missing your sweetheart?” Tyler asked, as he came up beside him.

“Shut up.”

Tyler gave him a wicked grin. “Oh, I guess I’m right.”

“I said shut up about it.”

The smile fell away from his face. “I guess I was wrong,” Tyler said. “You’re not missing her. You’re upset with her.”

“More myself, but yes, I’m upset with her.” Exton glared at him from over the railing. The two of them were on the second level of Petra’s hangar, looking down at the small array of fighters and shuttles, as any NETech was getting disabled. The ships would then be refitted with frequency scramblers and monitors, just to make sure that they would never face another Panama situation.

“What did you do?” Tyler asked.

“Why are you assuming it’s my fault?”

“Because Aerie’s still in that honeymoon phase, and you’ve been forced out of it,” Tyler replied. When Exton gave him a quizzical look, he explained, “When I see or hear about her, she’s always trying to help you, or to keep you from getting upset. She wants you to be happy that you married her.”

“I am happy that I married her,” Exton growled.

“But you’re both stuck in an international conflict. It’s bound to get in the way of some things.”

Exton snorted. “You have a point.”

“So it’s more than likely your fault. After she’s tried to be so appeasing, you likely pushed her too hard and she pushed back.”

“That’s about right,” Exton agreed, thinking of Aerie’s harsh words about her father, and how she was quick to compare her mother’s actions with his father’s. There was still a soreness he felt when he thought about that. He tried to call her earlier to see if they could work things out in a more civilized way, but he had to commend her on her wisdom in turning his messages away. He was still ready to fight.

“I imagine it’s hard on her, too,” Tyler said. “She’s upset about her mother and her family.”

“At least know I called it right, way back at the beginning. She wants her family’s acceptance still, even if she has our affections.”

“Who doesn’t want both of those things?” Tyler laughed.

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