Planet of the Apes by Jim Beard

Author:Jim Beard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Titan

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Jim Beard’s “Silenced” weaves a tale that is, in fact, many tales—a rich tapestry with a single thread of fate shining throughout it…

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SILENCED

by

JIM BEARD

A cool breeze off the lapping water around them tickled her nose. Wrapped in her arms, she felt him stiffen as he looked up at the giant figure before them.

She, too, gazed up at it then, not understanding what he saw in it.

“Let go,” he said, freeing himself and stepping away.

He took a few steps, still staring at the figure, his back turned to her. She looked at both, one at a time between the two, uncomprehending.

“How can you be so cold?”

He turned to her, finally. “With you? Easy.”

She took in his face, the lean features, the prominent jaw, the once-warm eyes roaming over not her face, but her body. She saw him take in her tight uniform skirt, her shapely legs, the light blue dress blouse stretched taut over her breasts underneath her service jacket, and her raven-black hair.

Undressing her with his eyes; some things never changed.

“We could…” she said, a warmth flooding her belly despite the cool February air.

“I’m leaving, Nora. Tomorrow morning. Leaving you and the miserable human race behind. Pretty simple.”

The heat in her shifted. She felt her cheeks warming, her anger igniting.

“But not alone, Taylor.”

She saw the instant bemusement on his face at her name for him—never “George,” only “Taylor.”

He hung his head, wagging it from side to side and smiling. “Stewart’s a qualified professional—”

A flash of insight. “You bastard,” she swore, her fingers balling into fists. “You—you made sure of that! You made sure it was her and not me. That bitch.”

“There’s that face,” he said, still smiling. “The face that launched a thousand starships, or maybe just mine. My supernova on two legs…”

She stepped up to him, her face now hot, her lips parting to speak.

He held up a hand to cut her off, began turning away from her. “Save it. It’s done. I’m off to Cape Canaveral tomorrow morning and off this rock six hours later. It was fun, the sex was good—very good—but that’s that, Nora.”

“Was that what you told your wife, too?” It was lame, but it was all that came to her in the moment.

Taylor stopped smiling. His eyes narrowed to slits.

“This is pointless, but if it pleases you, I’ll try to picture you and not my wife when I’m talking to Stewart.”

“Screwing her, you mean,” she spat. “I hope you’ll be very happy with your space princess—which one of you gets her first?”

Silence.

It wasn’t like him not to have an immediate, sharp retort to her gibes. She stared at him, her face still hot, and now her eyes wet. He stared back at her.

Slowly, hesitantly, she reached out with open hands to lay them on his broad chest. He was still hard, hard as a rock, as unmoving as the statue above them, as the little island they stood upon, the meeting spot that used to mean something to them both.

“Taylor,” she said, low and warm.

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