Higher Ground (7 page)

“Yes. I’m sorry. But I had to stay at work. I had to design some new tests, triple-check them. They’re running now, and they’ll tell me how long we have.” He stumbled and grabbed at Adam, who steadied him. Adam wanted to ask more details of how long they had until what, but Zach looked on the point of collapse.

“Zach, listen to me. You need rest. You’re not thinking straight. You try to tell Phillips or Morrison anything, and they’ll think you’re raving.” Maybe he
was
raving, and he could rave as much as he liked to Adam. But if he raved to his bosses, he could ruin his standing here. They might send him back to Earth early. And Adam didn’t want him to go. He started to steer Zach toward the bedroom, Zach stumbling along beside him.

“Where’m I going?” Zach asked, voice starting to slur. Adam took a quick sniff of his breath. No drink, just pure exhaustion. And a lot of coffee. Ineffective coffee.

“My bed. You’re going to sleep, and in the morning, you’re going to see Phillips looking like a sane and rational scientist, not a mad one.”

“Bed,” Zach sighed out, his voice full of the anticipation Adam had been trying to build in him for a week. But this time simply for the bed itself, not for having Adam in it. He was crashing hard, Adam realized. Like he’d used the last of his strength getting here and it had finally given out, the last few days catching up with him.

In the bedroom, Zach crumpled onto the bed, facedown, on top of the covers. If there had been rose petals on there, he’d have inhaled one before he noticed it. Adam shook his head, looking down at the sprawled-out man on his bed.

“This
should
have been the start of a night of fun and frolics.”

Zach began to snore.

“Oh, for crying out loud.” Why the hell had he let Zach in? Why couldn’t he have stayed mad and slammed the door on him? Let him go wake up Morrison or Johnson, raise the whole town and make them all think he was a lunatic. Why the hell should Adam care?

No reason. Except he wasn’t done with Zach yet. He sat down on the bed and took off Zach’s shoes.

Chapter Six

An alarm woke Zach. He looked around in confusion, not recognizing the room or the alarm. Not his room, not his alarm.

“Alarm off!” The muffled voice came from the other side of the bed, where someone lay buried under the covers. The alarm turned off.

“Adam?”

Adam’s tousled head emerged. “Who else were you expecting?” He rubbed his eyes. “Oh God, it can’t be seven already.” He pulled the covers back over his head.

Zach looked down at himself. He lay on top of the bed covers with a blanket over him, all of his clothes still on. His shoes were missing, though. Hazy memories of the night before came back to him, riding through the darkness on his bike, half-asleep already but needing to find Adam, needing to make sure he’d be safe. And wanting him, wanting him so much. Fearing they’d never have another chance.

But when he’d arrived, he’d been barely coherent, and the memories became even hazier, as if he’d been drunk, though he didn’t think he had been. Whatever happened after that it hadn’t included sex—that much he knew.

“Adam, I’m sorry about last night.”

Adam emerged from under the covers. “Sorry for standing me up? Or sorry for having the nerve to show up here? Or sorry for collapsing onto my bed like a dead weight?”

“Um, all of those.”

“I tried to undress you and get you under the covers, but it was like trying to move a sack of potatoes.”

“Sorry,” Zach said again. He should leave, get to the lab, check the results of the tests he’d left running overnight. But maybe he had a few minutes. Desire stirred in him as he looked down at Adam, all warm and tousled from sleep. Adam’s eyes were open all the way now. Light stubble covered his chin and neck. Cautiously, expecting to have his hand slapped away, Zach reached out to stroke gently along Adam’s jaw, feeling the rasp of the night’s beard growth. Adam didn’t bat the hand away. His eyes locked with Zach’s. He must have had plans the night before—plans Zach had ruined. Maybe they could fulfill those plans this morning. He grew hotter at the thought of it, his skin flushing. His clothes felt suddenly tight, and he longed to be out of them.

He leaned closer, whispered Adam’s name, and “Sorry” again. He
was
sorry, for the loss of the time they could have had. This morning, they could have been waking up in this bed naked, both under the same covers, bodies entwined. But the past could never be reclaimed. Useless to worry about it. He had to think of the future. If they had a future. If his prediction came true and it all happened too quickly for them to escape, then he might never have another chance to be with Adam.

Adam allowed the kiss, only barely responding at first, but then abruptly relaxing into it, opening his mouth to Zach. He ran a hand through Zach’s hair—which felt as if it must be standing out from his head like a cartoon of a man suffering a fright—then pulled him closer, turning onto his back. Zach’s cock was already hard, and desire flared in his belly, heat flushing through him, sweat breaking out. He dragged at his collar as his breathing began to speed up.
So hot
. He decided then. He had to take this opportunity. If they died, then he wouldn’t have missed his chance. He’d have the memory of Adam, the last man he made love to. He pawed at the covers over Adam, pulled them away clumsily. Adam wore only a pair of boxer shorts. His torso gleamed with the light sweat of sleep, bringing out his golden tan. Freckles dusted his shoulders and chest, and some soft dark blond hair covered his chest and trailed down his belly.

Zach followed this treasure trail, marveling at the beauty of Adam’s body, running his fingers down the middle of Adam’s chest, down to his flat and taut belly, swirling around his navel and making Adam shiver. His skin roughened with goose bumps, and as if they were contagious, they rose on Zach’s skin too, sweeping up his arm and down his back. That such a man should want him made Zach shake his head in wonder. He reached the waistband of the shorts and paused. Adam was responding to the kisses, but would it be presumptuous for Zach to slip his hand into the shorts? He couldn’t be sure Adam had forgiven him for last night yet or had given Zach permission to touch him so intimately.

So he compromised. Instead of slipping his hand inside, he rested it on the outside, cupping it around the stiffening cock, feeling it shifting and growing through the fabric.

“Zach,” Adam sighed out. He pulled away from the kiss and pushed Zach’s shoulder, moving his head down. Zach didn’t resist, kissed his way down Adam’s neck and onto his chest. He flicked each nipple in turn with his tongue, and Adam groaned and shifted his hips, pushing up against Zach’s hand.

That felt like permission. And he’d gladly have taken Adam up on the permission but he heard his Link. A message. The sound he’d specified for notifications about his tests being completed. He pulled away from Adam with a gasp.

What the hell was he doing? He should be halfway to his lab, ready to analyze the results, not fooling around in Adam’s bed. An understandable desire, to take what might be the only chance he had to do this, but inexcusable all the same. The whole colony was in danger, and he was too
busy
to do the work to confirm how long they had to escape.

Adam tried to draw him close again, but Zach pulled out of his arms.

“I have to go.”

“What?” Adam leaned up on his elbows, disbelief on his face. “What are you talking about?”

“I have the final test results to analyze.” He scrambled to his feet. His shoes lay on the floor at the bottom of the bed. He didn’t dare sit on the bed to put them on, in case Adam put his arms around him to bring him back, because he didn’t know if he could resist. His cock throbbed in his pants, demanding immediate attention. His whole body felt as if it was screaming in protest at the abrupt end to activities.

“Are you kidding? What the hell is wrong with you, Zach? You wind me up and then just bail out? Are you trying to piss me off?”

“No. I’m sorry.” He looked down at Adam’s perfect and near-naked body. His shorts were tented by the erection Zach feared he’d never get another chance to touch. “Believe me, I’m so very sorry. But I have to go.”

Knowing he’d weaken if he stayed a moment longer, he strode out of the bedroom. As he closed the door, a thump from the other side told him Adam had tossed what Zach guessed was a shoe at the door.

* * * *

Zach sat at his desk, putting a mug of coffee he’d snatched on his way through the building down beside him, and started to analyze the results waiting for him. They’d been ready for thirty minutes, and he berated himself again for fooling around with Adam when he should have been here, working on them.

An hour later, the still-full mug of coffee retained only the tiny amount of warmth that would keep someone from declaring it “stone cold.” Zach sat up, barely noticing the pain in his back from hunching in his chair or the stinging of his eyes. The analyses came out the same every time, but he still held out a tiny hope he’d made a mistake interpreting them. He set to work double-checking his analysis. He’d never before in his life hoped so hard he’d got it wrong.

Two hours and two more analyses later, he knew he hadn’t.

He pulled out his Link and started a voice call to Phillips’s office. A voice that must be Phillips’s secretary came on the line.

“Professor Phillips’s office. How can I…?”

“I need to speak to the professor right away. It’s Dr. Benesh.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Benesh, the professor is in a meeting.”

“You need to interrupt him. I’m coming over now.”

“The meeting is with the senior staff,” the secretary said, his voice chilly, clearly not appreciating Zach’s demanding tone.

Which meant it wasn’t happening in Phillips’s office. Zach ended the call and brought up the Institute’s calendar. He quickly found where the senior scientists and managers were holding their weekly staff meeting. All the senior staff in one place—an intimidating thought to a junior staffer like Zach. But it might also be a perfect opportunity.

THE DOOR TO the largest conference room in the Institute’s Admin building had a DO NOT DISTURB sign on it, but in his current frame of mind, it didn’t even slow Zach down. He knocked once on the door and walked in without waiting for a reply. Dr. Morrison, the head of the Terraforming Institute looked up, perhaps expecting a delivery of fresh coffee, and frowned at the sight of Zach. The other men and women around the table looked startled and annoyed at the interruption.

“Dr. Benesh?” Morrison said. “We’re busy here.”

“Sir, I need to speak to all of you. It’s very urgent.”

“Benesh,” Phillips snapped. “What are you doing, man? Get out of here. I’ll see you after the meeting.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” Zach nodded briefly at Phillips but turned back to Morrison. “I’ve been running scans on the divide between the upper and lower magma chambers of the supervolcano. A breakthrough is imminent and will result in the upper chamber emptying fast enough to cause catastrophic subsidence of the caldera and inundation by the sea, possibly even complete submergence.”

Most of them stared at him as if he’d started speaking in a foreign language. Zach realized he might have been too technical for those who weren’t geologists. He took a deep breath and made it plain.

“Zahara Island is going to sink into the ocean, and it’s going to happen now.”

The table erupted, everyone arguing at once. Phillips jumped to his feet. “Have you gone mad? What is this nonsense?”

“Sir, I’ve cross-checked the data, I’ve run the analysis three times. There’s a fault in the divide between the chambers, and all the data indicates it’s about to give way.”

“You said the island is going to sink?” Morrison said.

“Yes. It’s been sinking slowly for hundreds of thousands of years as the magma in the upper chamber drains away slowly into the lower. But this will be catastrophic. It may only take days.”

“Roy, ignore him,” Phillips said. “He’s wrong in the head; I thought it from the day he arrived.”

“I have the data right here,” Zach snapped, waving his Link. “Dr. Phillips, you must look at the results. You’ll see I’m right.”

“I’ve been studying this planet’s geology since before you were born, young man.”

Zach raked a hand through his hair. What the hell did Phillips think that proved? “Of…of course, sir,” he managed diplomatically. “But you must listen to me.”

“Benesh,” Morrison snapped. “Calm down. Give me the data.” He gestured at the Link, and Zach at once sent the data into the conference room’s computer system. His numbers began to show up on screen. He took a breath to steady himself.

“I’ve been investigating the earthquake that happened a few months ago,” Zach explained. “Just for personal interest. I believe that event created a new fault line, and the pressures have built to breaking point.”

Morrison turned from the results scrolling up on screen. Results he probably couldn’t understand, since he was a climatologist, not a geologist.

“Dr. Benesh, I appreciate you’re excited and alarmed by your results, but I suggest you go back to your lab while we examine the data ourselves.”

“There’s no time. I’ve run multiple scans and analyzed the results multiple ways; there’s simply no doubt.”

“But you haven’t had a colleague review the results yet.”

“I’ve tried! I’ve asked all of them, including Professor Phillips, but everyone is too busy with their damn quarterly reports!” His voice rose, and he took a breath, trying to regain control. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. The results are definitely correct.” This caused another stir around the table. Someone muttered the words “arrogant young pup,” and others murmured in agreement. They had a point. The ink had barely dried yet on Zach’s doctorate. Phillips
had
been studying the island while Zach was in diapers. Still, it didn’t matter. He knew the results were right. Every way he ran the analysis, it came out the same.

“The results are correct,” he repeated. “We have to go to the colony council.”