Leith bent her head over the rope she was braiding and sighed softly. She still craved a chocolate milkshake!

Chapter 11.

"Do you feel it?" J'Qhir whispered and halted the lovely rhythm their joined bodies had achieved.

"Not anymore..." Leith murmured and kissed his tympanum. She wriggled her hips against him impatiently.

"No, Leith. Lisssten!" he hissed and withdrew from her completely. His arms tensed around her. "I hear it now. Do you hear it?"

Leith groaned. Now was not the time for J'Qhir's acute senses to pick up the Paradisian version of an ant tunneling through dirt fifty meters away.

"Sss'h!" he warned sharply.

Leith forced her body to remain motionless although she desperately wanted to resume their course to its natural conclusion. How he could stop at this moment was incomprehensible to her, yet a part of her hazy mind recognized the urgency in his voice. She strained to hear any strange noises over the gentle lapping of the water and the wind soughing through the trees. The sooner she a.s.sured him she could hear nothing, the sooner they could return to what they were doing.

"I don't hear anything," she said and pressed her body against his again. Over the past few weeks, they had made love here in the pool as often as in the cave. She supposed by the time their lives were over, they would have made love over much of the surface of the planet. She nestled her head in the s.p.a.ce between his shoulder and neck and dipped her hand beneath the waterline in an attempt to lure him back.

"Leith! A ssship!"

In one quick motion, he hauled her up and out of the water. She clung to his neck as he ran to the alcove. He slowed as colder air gusted around them, but he reached the fire. He set her down and picked up his clothes.

"We h-have to h-hurry," he said haltingly. "It might b-be an Arreisssan ssship."

Leith dressed quickly, her clothing still damp from laundering. The thought of rescue filled her with a different kind of excitement.

"What if it's a pirate ship?" she asked as she drew on her jacket and raised the hood over wet hair.

"Then we mussst convince them it isss in their bessst interessst to take usss with them."

She helped wrap the beast blanket around him and fasten it in place with the st.u.r.dy twine. Then she spread the solar film over him.

"Leith, you need thisss."

"You need it more. I'l get cold, but I won't shut down." She adjusted the film and secured the magnostrips.

They kicked dirt over the fire and descended the side of the hill. J'Qhir had pinpointed from which direction the sound came. She hoped he hadn't mistaken another horde of flyers or some other native fauna for the engine of a ship.

J'Qhir led them past their cave and through the woods. As they neared a clearing she remembered from her foraging, he motioned for her to be quiet.

Silently, they moved to the edge of the gra.s.sy glade. Pa.s.sion, adrenaline, and steady movement had kept her warm. Now, standing still, the cold crept into the edge of her hood and sleeves. Her fingers were numb from exposure, and she shoved them into her pockets.

"It isss Terran," J'Qhir whispered.

Leith nodded. The Rover cla.s.s ship was larger than the lifecraft, but much smaller than the Catherine McClure.

The door opened and a ladder ejected. A humanoid emerged dressed in a silver thermosuit, complete with hood. He scanned the immediate area then spoke to someone out of their line of vision before descending the ladder.

"Rohm'dh!" J'Qhir exclaimed at the same time Leith recognized him for a Zi. "What isss Rohm'dh doing on a Terran ssship?"

The second humanoid had exited and was halfway down the rungs. When he set his feet on the ground he was taller than the Zi. Long, unruly brown locks were pulled back and fastened at the nape.

"Drew!" Leith pointed. "Drew Garrison!"

Suddenly, Leith found herself running as fast as she could, running toward Drew and rescue. When Drew recognized her, he broke into a run also. When they met in the center of the glade, she threw her arms about him and he swung her up and around. Both were laughing and Leith was crying as he put her down. She held Drew's lovable face in her hands and kissed him soundly.

"Leith, Leith!" Drew grinned widely and hugged her again. "Everyone thinks you're dead."

"Not for lack of Steve trying. Steve Hanc.o.c.k marooned us here."

"We know, Leith. We pieced it together."

A third humanoid had emerged from the Rover. It was Corru, the Paxian who had attended their meeting on Arreis.

"How did you three get together?" Leith asked, but her voice trailed off as J'Qhir joined them. J' Qhir. She slipped from Drew's arms and studied J'Qhir. As usual, his face was expressionless. His eyes flickered once toward the other Zi before shifting back to her.

She understood completely. No open expression of their relationship. Nothing to give away their intimacy. She couldn't tease him or touch him or kiss him. Couldn't make love to him. If she remembered the layout of this cla.s.s ship correctly, all areas on the upper deck except the facilities were open. No privacy. They wouldn't even have a place to talk. If she didn't find a way to have a few minutes alone with J'Qhir before they left, she had no idea when it would be possible.

Rohm'dh could not even suspect there was more to their relationship until J'Qhir was ready to bring it out into the open.

J'Qhir's saurian eyes, slits narrowed to almost nothing, pierced Drew coldly.

"Captain Drew Garrison, a pilot for McClure Shipping and an old friend," Leith introduced him.

"Hey, I'm not that old," Drew teased.

"This is Warrior J'Qhir."

Drew held out his hand, but J'Qhir ignored it. Drew shrugged and put his arm around her again.

"I want to thank you for taking care of Leith-"

"Msss. McClure isss quite capable of taking care of herssself," he said crisply, then turned and limped toward Rohm'dh. They spoke in the low, guttural tones of Zi.

"Not too friendly, is he?" Drew observed. "It must have been a rough six weeks, stuck with him."

Leith smiled at J'Qhir's retreating back. "He doesn't know you, that's all. He's quite...friendly once you break through his reserve." Leith tore her eyes away from J'Qhir. "How's Dad?"

"He's doing good. He still has a few months of recovery, but he's on schedule. No setbacks."

"Oh, I'm so glad. I've been worried about him. And Mom?"

"She's fine, too, but neither of them took your alleged death well. They didn't accept it at first, and they couldn't believe J'Qhir would do what Steve and the media said he'd done. h.e.l.l, I couldn't believe it either, but none of us suspected Steve."

"It came as a shock to me, too. And I don't completely understand why he didn't kill us outright instead of marooning us here. This planet is a paradise. He should have known we had a good chance of surviving."

"Basically, Steve is a coward. I've known that about him for years. If he got caught, you two would still be alive. He wouldn't be charged with murder."

"What about Wiley? Steve hinted he fixed the stolen ship so Wiley wouldn't survive."

Drew shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what was going through his farking mind."

Leith glanced at J'Qhir who was still deep in conversation with the smaller Zi. She looked back to Drew. "Do Mom and Dad know you came looking for me?"

Drew shook his head, dark brown hair coming loose from its fastening. "I couldn't tell them, Leith. Didn't want to get their hopes up. I took a vacation leave and borrowed the Starfire. Before all this came up, Cameron had been urging me to use one of the smaller ships and take some time off. He thought it strange that I chose to do it in the middle of this crisis, but he agreed."

"As soon as we get aboard, I'l put a call through to them on LinkNet," Leith said.

"If you can get through. A transmitter in this sector blew. Calls have to be re-routed, and it's taking a h.e.l.luva lot longer than usual for them to go through." Suddenly, Drew threw his arms around her and hugged her until her feet left the ground. Over Drew's shoulder she saw J'Qhir watching them. "Are you ready to go home?"

Oh, yes, she wanted to go home...but she wanted to stay, too. She wanted more time with J'Qhir. She would never wish they hadn't been rescued, but why couldn't it have been later? They never had a chance to speak of a future off Paradise. Once they left the planet, everything between them would change.

"Leith? You are ready to go home, aren't you?"

"Of course," she answered quickly and slid from Drew's bear hug. "I'm sure Warrior J'Qhir will want to wipe out every trace of our presence on this planet before we leave. Come on. I'l show you where we've been living."

Leith took his hand and tugged. She had to get away from the sight of J'Qhir right then. At the thought of the cave, she suddenly remembered their sleeping arrangements. If Rohm'dh saw it before Leith could rearrange things, he would know they had shared a bed. For J'Qhir's sake, he couldn't see the lone pallet of gra.s.s and leaves.

When Leith and Drew reached the trees, she broke into a run, pulling him faster. When Drew hesitated and didn't move fast enough for her, she let go of his hand and sped faster through the woods.

"What's wrong, Leith?" he shouted after her.

"I'l explain later," Leith called over her shoulder.

Inside the cave, Leith started tearing the bed apart and tossing the leaves and gra.s.s on the fire. She did it methodically, mechanically. If she stopped to think about it, she might cry. She and J'Qhir had shared and discovered so much in this one place. She could hardly bear to destroy it.

Drew entered the cave and walked to her. "G.o.d, Leith, you look like you've lost your best friend."

Leith smiled up at him. "You're my best friend and you're not lost."

"No, but you were." Drew squatted beside her and helped burn the bedding. "We thought you were dead and, I tell you, Leith, something inside of me died too."

"Oh, Drew." She patted his hand. "Hey, now that you know I'm alive, maybe that part of you will resurrect itself."

"Already has," he said with the boyish grin she remembered from childhood. "I felt it come back to life when I saw you run across that clearing."

By the time J'Qhir and Rohm'dh arrived, Leith and Drew had cleared away every trace that she and J'Qhir had shared one bed. J'Qhir stopped short just inside the doorway, and his gaze swept the room, resting briefly on her. She couldn't tell if he was pleased or not, but since no expression crossed his face, she thought she had done well.

Leith cleared her throat. "I've started cleaning up."

J'Qhir nodded. "Corru ha.s.ss returned to the ssship."

Leith looked at Rohm'dh who remained a respectful distance behind J'Qhir. She had a.s.sumed all Zi were as tall and broad as J'Qhir, but Rohm'dh was not much taller than she and not much broader. Leith bit her lip. It was one of a thousand questions she suddenly needed to ask J'Qhir but couldn't. Later, when Rohm'dh wasn't near.

"We need to dessstroy everything," J'Qhir said. "We cannot leave anything behind that could posssibly one day affect the development of thisss planet."

"The quickest, most efficient way would be to burn it. I have a laserlight," Drew offered and pulled one from his pocket.

"We have one, too," Leith said. She stared at the dozen baskets they had spent many tedious hours laboring over. Hers had improved from the first lop-sided attempt to those that were almost as well made as J'Qhir's. She crossed the cave and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the misshapen basket. Patiently, J'Qhir had sat by her side, directing her clumsy fingers.

She surveyed the rest of the baskets which held their supplies and represented weeks of work. She heard Drew change the setting on his laserlight and whirled to face him.

"No, Drew!"

"Thessse thingsss mussst be dessstroyed," J'Qhir said softly.

"I know. I mean-" She broke off and swallowed hard. "Drew, is there a packing skid on the ship?"

He nodded. "The Starfire is equipped with a couple of small ones."

"We worked too hard to just destroy all of this. I want to take it with me. Would you get one of the skids from the ship, please?"

"Sure," Drew said and left the cave.

Leith wished she could think of a way to get rid of the other Zi for a few moments, but he seemed intent on remaining by J'Qhir's side "Wa.s.sste not, want not," J'Qhir commented.

Leith's eyes met his. "What?"

"Another of your human sssayingsss."

"Y-Yes," Leith agreed. "Yes, it seems a shame to waste the food."

But it wasn't the reason she wanted to take it with her. She would freeze-dry the food and save it for later. She imagined preparing a meal with what they had collected and savoring the memories along with the flavors.

Drew returned with the packing skid, and they quickly loaded it. All in all, it was a pitifully small amount, and she wondered how they had ever hoped to survive a winter. As she and Drew packed, J' Qhir spread dirt over the fire and scattered the stones.

J'Qhir remembered the calendar on the wall. He took the laserlight from Drew and burned away the marks. She dared not look at him as the laser pa.s.sed over the circled date some four standard weeks before. She felt foolish for the sentimental feelings that rose within her over scratchings on a cave wall. When all were gone and she looked over the empty cave, she felt as if she had lost something precious.

She felt J'Qhir's eyes on her then, and she glanced at him briefly. She smiled, but he only watched her a moment, his saurian eyes bright, before turning to Drew and handing him the laserlight. The moment was gone before she could react.

The cave was now as J'Qhir had found it, nothing to mark their pa.s.sage. Only memories were left. Leith looked back once as they left the cave for the final time.

Aboard the Starfire, Leith and J'Qhir were outfitted with thermosuits, lightweight jumpsuits with environmental regulators adjustable by the individual. Leith added the blankets to the packing skid, and Drew stored it in the small hold.

Leith surveyed the interior of the ship, dismayed to find that she had been correct. The upper deck -bridge, galley, and sleeping quarters-was one open area. Only the cramped facilities were enclosed for privacy. She and J'Qhir would never have a moment without being under Rohm'dh's scrutiny. And neither of them would have any reason to visit the lower deck, especially at the same time.

"I've put a call through to your parents on LinkNet, as well as a call to the Galactic Police, but I don 't know when they'l go through," Drew told her. "According to the report on ENet, the transmitter station in this sector has malfunctioned. They're trying to re-route communications, but it could be standard days."

Leith sighed. The emergency channel, ENet, could only be used in the case of life-threatening situations. Since nothing threatened them at the moment, in fact, all threats had been removed, they would be heavily penalized if they used the channel.

After a brief discussion, they decided to return to Arreis, where it had all began. The nearest planet was Artilia, but the Artilians did not like off-worlders. Arreis and Artilia were in the same system, yet had little to do with one another. Neutrality was all they had in common. Arreis had become the trading bastion of this sector, where all were welcome and the GP had no authority. The Artilians, on the other hand, discouraged visitors except for a limited number allowed to observe an indigenous phenomenon called the Penelaape Arcs. The privileged tourists paid well for the opportunity.

During a meal of "real" food, Drew prompted Leith. "Tell us what happened."