Higher Ground (6 page)

Meanwhile, he headed out. The sun shone brightly that afternoon, the sky a light violet, clouds scudding over it. Being out in that, gossiping and chatting to the farmers, it should have been close to a perfect day, but his mind kept wandering between what Zach had said and his plans for later. If something bad was going on, then the perfect evening he had planned might not be so perfect after all.

Zach could be crazy, of course. The really smart ones often were, in Adam’s experience. God, he hoped not. As he drove back toward town after the last of the visits—he had just enough time to run to the store to buy some things for tonight and still get the truck back by 17:00—he considered the last few days. Zach had become increasingly distracted by his quarterly reports and his mysterious personal project. But despite that, Adam liked him. Liked him more every day. He wanted to see where this relationship could go. It would be a terrible shame if Zach turned out to be crazy.

He shook his head at himself as he got out at the store. Zach wasn’t crazy. Not
crazy
crazy. A little odd, maybe. Obsessive. But academics got bees in their bonnets about some new result all the time. Adam’s own bonnet had housed enough bees to know this from firsthand experience. Zach might be rather high-maintenance, though, even if not crazy, something which had made Adam break up with too-demanding boyfriends in the past. But he might be worth the maintenance.

He came back out of the store a few minutes later and loaded the bag into the passenger seat.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Gray.”

Adam started guiltily, wondering if Wilson was actively tracking the vehicle and had caught him in the middle of another personal errand. But when he turned, he saw only an old man on a bench by the store, leaning on a cane, chin resting on his hands.

“Dr. Johnson,” Adam said, with a respectful nod. “Nice day, sir.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Adam wondered for a second if the old man had misheard him, but maybe not. Dr. Johnson wasn’t just a founder, he was
the
founder. The head of mission for the first stage of the colony forty years ago. Dome dwellers, starting the terraforming and atmosphere processing. He’d raised a family here, and his daughter, Colleen Johnson, was currently head of the Colony Council. So he had every right to take credit for the nice day. Adam smiled and went over to sit on the bench beside him.

“Busy at the Institute, then, lad?”

“I’ve just been out gathering data from the test farms for the quarterly reports.”

“Those damn quarterly reports,” Johnson said, shaking his head. “They were the bane of my life for thirty years. I still wake up from nightmares about forgetting to send them.”

“Some things never change, eh?”

“Well, at least you’ve got the relays to transmit them straight back to Earth. We used to have to put ours into a communications pod and blast it off to Saira and hope it didn’t get swallowed by a black hole on the way.”

Adam chuckled at that. “Sounds like using carrier pigeons.”

“Only less reliable. At least one a year failed to make it. But somehow, we muddled through anyway.” He smiled around at the view, the town, and the distant countryside around it.

“You did better than muddle through,” Adam said in all sincerity. “Zahara is beautiful.”

“Yes, I think we made a pretty neat job of it.”

They sat in silence for a while, old colonist and new. If Adam could call himself a colonist. He was here on a fixed contract. He hadn’t come to settle. Had he?

“Sir, can I ask why you stayed after you retired?” Many of the founders had gone back to Earth after retiring. The Terraforming Authority encouraged that, at least in these relatively early days of a colony. Like children, the retirees consumed resources but didn’t work.

“I never even thought of going back. I’ve nobody to go back to Earth for. My daughter and my grandchildren are here. My wife is buried here, and I will be one day too. This is home now. Not Earth.” He looked at Adam. “Maybe you’ll feel the same way eventually.”

“So it’s people that keep you here? Your family and friends?”

Johnson shook his head slowly, looking thoughtful. “Not only them. There’s a tie to the land too. It’s like if you ever built a house with your own hands, it would mean more to you than one you just inherited, wouldn’t it? Something you made.”

“Yes, of course.” Adam looked around. Eventually, he’d face the choice—stay or go. But he did have people to go home to on Earth—his parents, his sisters, and their children. But by then, might he have someone here who he didn’t want to leave? Zach? He smiled. Getting well ahead of himself there. But looking closer into the immediate future, he had to do some preparation for Zach coming around, and time kept marching on.

“I’d better go. Nice talking to you, sir.”

“And you, Adam. Good luck with your reports. And…” He smiled. “Well, anything else you might need luck with.”

Was that a wink from the old man? Did everyone in town know about him and Zach? Almost certainly. Dr. Johnson might look like an old man sleepily watching the world hurry by, but he missed nothing, and people often did what Adam had just done—came to sit with him and tell him things. He knew everything that was going on around here.

Maybe Adam should ask him if he knew what the hell was going on with Zach.

* * * *

Adam arrived back in the lab fifteen minutes late to find Wilson was waiting there, fuming.

“I said seventeen hundred, Mr. Gray. I’m quite sure of that. I checked with Ms. Simpson here.” He gestured at Jan, head down at the grafting bench, working hard. “And she’s sure that’s what I said too.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” Adam said. “I was talking to Dr. Johnson.”

“Oh right.” It took the wind out of Wilson’s sails. “He’s well?”

“Hale and hearty.” And with his finger right on the pulse as usual. “I’ll just collate the data from this afternoon,” he went on, hoping he’d distract Wilson from thinking about the fact that talking to Dr. Johnson meant Adam must have stopped in town, where he had no business being.

“Good. Have it on my desk before you leave.” Wilson walked out, a little deflated looking, having apparently worked up a head of steam to blow his top at Adam.

“You know he could check that,” Jan said as Adam sat beside her and brought up the data he’d already transmitted to the Institute’s computers.

“And he’ll find out that’s exactly what I was doing,” Adam said. “Though I’d hope he doesn’t realize I was coming out of the grocery store at the time.”

She shook her head. “You are in trouble.”

“Yeah, I’m a bad boy, I admit.”

It all took on a ludicrous air. Being told off for taking the truck, the deadline for these reports. Somehow what Zach had told him gave everything a feeling of being pointless. Adam shook that away. Even Zach wasn’t sure he was right about whatever he was talking about anyway. No use basing his choices on something Zach might turn around and say he was mistaken about; just forget it. Adam went to work with an eye on the clock. He’d be out of here by 18:00, and Zach should arrive at 20:00. He had some staging to do.

Chapter Five

Would rose petals on the bed be too much? Probably. Also, Adam had no rose petals. But after all the teasing and anticipation he wanted tonight to be as close to perfect as he could make it.

He’d changed the bedclothes, putting on some freshly laundered and pressed white sheets, enjoying the fresh scent as he shook them out and let them float down. He’d plumped up the pillows, also in fresh cases. All this done, he examined the results with a critical eye. Everything looked good, the white sheets and pillows contrasting with a blue-green eiderdown. As a final touch, he turned down the covers at one corner, creating a wordless invitation and welcome.

He swept various bits and pieces from the nightstand into a drawer and sprayed some room deodorant around, banishing the last lingering evidence of the dirty socks he’d evicted from under the bed earlier. And he grinned at himself for the great big fool he was, treating the room like a bridal chamber. It would serve him right if they ended up getting carried away and having a quickie on the couch.

But they’d use the bed eventually; he knew it. He’d give Zach a night he’d never forget in this bed. Shame it wasn’t bigger than a double. Adam liked a big canvas to express himself on. More comfortable for afterward too, assuming Zach stayed. He probably would; he seemed like the staying-the-night sort. Waking up with him tomorrow would be almost as delightful as going to sleep with him tonight.

He checked his reflection once more before he left the room. His hair was just the right degree of sexily mussed up. His white button-down shirt showed an intriguing vee of skin at the base of his throat. Its sleeves were long, covering up more than usual, because he wanted to give Zach plenty to peel off him. A quick look at the rear view confirmed his black pants snugly outlined his ass, making it look especially grabbable.

Perfect.

He went back to the kitchen, where he was actually cooking. Nothing fancy, just some roast chicken, but he rarely cooked. His cupboards were full of snacks and breakfast foods. After making sure the chicken looked okay, he glanced at the clock. It showed 19:50. Would Zach be on time? Probably not. Especially if he forgot to charge his bike up again. Adam probably should have waited until Zach arrived before cooking the chicken. He wasn’t too good at these logistics, bringing dates home usually being a more casual affair. But he wanted to make this special for Zach. Zach needed it. He’d been working too hard and getting himself quite stressed out, and a relaxing evening would do him good. Adam started putting a green salad together. The desserts were already in the refrigerator, along with the wine, chilling nicely. Even if Zach was a little late, this would still be perfect.

At 20:25, he started to worry. He tried to call Zach but got no answer. He left a message, waited for a reply. A reply came back at 20:45.

Sorry. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Z

Well what the hell did that mean? At least he knew Zach wasn’t dead in a ditch, but he was close to an hour late. Adam fired off a curt message.

Where are you? What are you doing?

The reply answered both questions with one word.

Work.

Adam threw the Link down on the sofa and stalked into the kitchen. The chicken had been staying warm on a low heat for a while and had started to shrivel up. Well, that was gone to hell, then. He could just eat it himself, but he felt no more inclined to do that than take a bite out of one of the plates. In fact, less so. The way his jaw was clenching, he could have chewed through the kitchen worktops. He took a bottle of beer back to the living room and flopped on the couch, uncaring about creasing his shirt.

Damn. So much for perfection. Zach had seemed so determined earlier to see Adam tonight, but then he just stood him up like this? The fact Adam had to contact him first implied he’d entirely forgotten about their date. Maybe Zach wasn’t as keen as Adam had thought. He’d been so distracted the last few days, which he claimed to be about work, but could that be an excuse? Had he lost interest in Adam already?

Adam began to wonder if he’d miscalculated. He’d thought he was bringing Zach to a boil with his flirting and teasing, but Zach either thought Adam wasn’t really interested or that he was too much of a tease. Dammit, he
was
too much of a tease! Usually it worked fine. He danced with a guy, building the anticipation. Most of them went along with it until he had them panting like dogs for him. But Zach was too smart to let his cock lead him. Adam had screwed it up with him. But Zach could have called him on it, if he thought Adam was leading him on, said he didn’t like it. And he could have called to cancel tonight. Not bothering was just selfish. Just being an asshole.

If Zach had the nerve to show his damn face here tonight, Adam would slam the door right in that face.

* * * *

Adam woke on the couch when he heard the door chime. The room was dark—he’d sat brooding for a while as the light faded and then fallen asleep after a second beer. Damn lightweight, he thought. What the hell time was it anyway? The door chimed again, and he sat up. Just after midnight, according to the wall clock. Who called at midnight? Surely Zach wouldn’t have the nerve to come now?

On the third chime, he got off the couch, moving stiffly, calling out, “Okay, okay, I’m coming.” He groaned and stretched as he reached the door, then shook himself and opened it.

Zach.

“You have to be kidding me.”

Zach didn’t even look sheepish like a man four hours late for a date ought to. He looked wide-eyed and crazier than usual. His bike lay on its side on the path as if he’d just dropped it there. Adam moved to close the door, but Zach jumped forward and put a hand on it.

“Please, I just have to know, did you pack?”

Adam’s head throbbed. What the hell? Maybe he was still asleep and dreaming this.

“Did I what?”

“Pack your things. So you can leave quickly. I know, I’ve no right to come here now, but I have to tell you…if I’m right…” He ran a hand through his hair, and Adam frowned. God, he looked worse than ever. Cracking up. When had he last slept? Or had a proper meal?

“Zach, what’s this about? Your results, what have you found?”

“The colony is in danger. The whole island. I’m sure now. I’m sure, but nobody will listen to me! I just called Phillips, and he said he’ll look at the results in the morning, but—”

“You called your professor at midnight?”

“I had to. Maybe I should call Dr. Morrison. Or Ms. Johnson.”

“The head of the council? Now?” Okay, Adam had to do something before Zach got himself locked away in the colony hospital’s rubber room. “Come in, Zach, please, don’t go rushing off without thinking this through.”

“I’ve been thinking about nothing else for a week!” Zach flushed as he said it. “Ah, except for you. I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Kind of forgot about me tonight, didn’t you?” A little bit of anger remained, despite his concern. He closed the door as Zach came inside.