Love in Retrograde (8 page)

Kelly stared out the glass door, his eyes widening at the huge nanotech cage they rolled in. They were going to lock Mars up like some rabid animal.

“There’s no way in hell I’m going to let them take you.”

“I’m so sorry, Kelly. I got you into this, and now….” Mars pulled him close, their heads resting against each other’s.

“Hey, I got myself into this. It was my decision, and I’m glad I made it.”

“I promised I wouldn’t let them hurt you. I’ll get you out of this alive.” Mars put his hand to Kelly’s cheek. “Everything will be all right. Trust me.”

His kiss was brief, but it took Kelly’s breath away.

“Having your heart is more than I could ever have hoped for.”

“Mars?”

Mars’s eyes glowed blue, and he spoke, his voice booming loud and clear through the building’s speaker system. “This is Mars. I request to speak with Director General Preston.”

General Preston emerged from behind a line of soldiers. “I’m listening.”

Mars rounded his shoulders and stepped up to the glass door, his eyes narrowed. “I will go willingly if you agree to not harm Dr. Sutton.”

“What? Mars, you can’t do this!”

Kelly reached out, but he wasn’t quick enough. Mars held a gun to his own head. Where the hell had he—
the guards
.

Mars’s grave expression was unfaltering. “If anything happens to Dr. Sutton, I will pull this trigger. All your research will die with me. You’ll have nothing.”

“Mars, please.” Why wouldn’t Mars listen to him? He couldn’t let him do this.

“Agreed.” Preston held a hand up in promise. “Dr. Sutton will be safe.”

Mars gave him a nod, the gun barrel still pressed against his temple. “I’ll remain in the office until I know he’s safe. If I see or hear of anyone laying a hand on him or if anything happens to him, I won’t hesitate.”

Kelly took hold of Mars’s hand and pleaded. “You can’t do this. You can’t trust them. We’ll find another way.” They’d come this far; they could find another way. Kelly couldn’t leave him.

“There is no other way.” Mars pulled Kelly into his embrace and kissed him, a kiss that shook Kelly down to his very soul. Then Mars opened the glass door and pushed him out. The door sealed shut, and Kelly slammed his fist against it,

“No! Mars, don’t do this!” Kelly pounded against the solid nanoglass door, but his pleas were denied. Mars placed a hand to the glass, his words quiet.

“Dr. Skye. Please escort Dr. Sutton out of the building and get him to safety.”

Jordan and Lucius soon appeared beside Kelly, their reluctance evident as they pulled him away.

“Look after him, Jordan.” Mars smiled at Jordan, a tear escaping and rolling down his cheek. “I would like him to lead a happy, fulfilled life.”

No. It couldn’t end this way. Kelly couldn’t let them….

Lucius and Jordan took hold of his arms, Jordan’s words whispered in his ear. “Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain. You’ve given him more than any other man could.”

Kelly allowed Jordan and Lucius to escort him to the car waiting by the curb. Numbly, he climbed in the back. The screen on the back of the driver’s seat flickered to life, and Kelly was stunned to see footage of the inside of the society.

“I hacked into the security feed,” Lucius declared as he climbed in behind the wheel and got them moving.

“You’re a hacker now?”

Lucius smiled at him through the rearview mirror. “I dabble.” His expression became somber before he turned his attention back to the road. “I’m sorry, Kelly.” As Lucius drove away from the chaos, Kelly and Jordan watched Mars step out from the security office. Kelly couldn’t believe Mars was turning himself over to them for him.

Soldiers cautiously approached, apprehending him the moment Mars placed his hands up in surrender. They led him to the cage, his prison cell until they did who knew what to him. Preston approached Mars, along with the other two government officials. It was clear Preston was calling the shots. Kelly wished he’d been able to plant one in the smug bastard’s face. He’d have punched the screen if he weren’t afraid of losing the feed. Preston smiled, his voice heard through the car’s speakers as he addressed Mars, unaware that someone was listening in.

“That was a very noble thing you did, but in the end, you are nothing but a weapon, a piece of biomachinery. Uncooperative citizens like Dr. Sutton and his friends will learn their place in the grand scheme of things. The world is set to change yet again.” Preston leaned into Mars, his words quiet but loud enough to send a chill through Kelly. “My men are positioned across Tower Bridge, waiting for your friend. As soon as the car he’s in is spotted, it will be eliminated. An accident due to misinformation.”

“Lucius,” Jordan cried out as they neared Tower Bridge.

“I heard him!” Lucius spun the wheel, and the tires screeched as they were flung in a different direction. The sound of bullets
pinged
against the car from every direction, and the engine roared as Lucius tried to get them away from the gunfire.

“Go, go, go!”

“I’m bloody trying, darling! This is New London, remember?”

The lights throughout the city began to flicker, and Kelly put his hand to the screen. “Jordan, why is Mars glowing?” Had he done that before? Other than his eyes, Kelly had never seen Mars radiate the bluish white glow that was coming from him.

Jordan ignored the screams of civilians launching themselves out of Lucius’s path of destructive driving to look at the screen.

“Bloody hell. He’s initiated his defense sequence.”

“For what?” Kelly watched as Preston, the others, and the soldiers retreated slowly, their stunned gazes fixed on Mars.

Jordan shook his head. “I fear something very unpleasant is about to occur.”

A thundering boom brought everyone and everything to a standstill, silence blanketing the city. Kelly pushed the door open and climbed out. The nanoparticles in the sky shattered, their nanocrystals raining down like silver confetti all over the city. Kelly didn’t know what Mars was doing, but he couldn’t stand idly by. As if sensing his thoughts, Jordan grabbed a hold of his arm, his eyes pleading.

“I’m sorry. He needs me.”

Kelly gave Jordan’s shoulder a squeeze before breaking into a run toward St. James’s Park. He pushed himself, running as fast as his legs could go, dodging panicked pedestrians, busses, and strollers. When he stopped to catch his breath by the lake, he spotted Pepper. She ran into his arms and hugged him.

“What happened?” he asked her.

“Some of the men managed to escape before the blast went off. The rest were knocked out. Oh my God, Kelly.” She pulled back and looked up at him, her big eyes filled with worry. “Lucius told me everything. I can’t believe all this time…. Mars is human.”

“And he’s in trouble. I have to find him. Have you seen him? Is he still inside?”

“I think so. Someone would have noticed him come out. It’s possible he could have been caught in his own outburst if he didn’t initialize his protective protocol.”

Kelly thanked her and promised to be careful before sneaking toward the society. Pepper had been right. Fallen soldiers and military personnel littered the ground outside and inside the society. Inside, Kelly spotted Mars attempting to push himself to his feet. It appeared that the blast had weakened him. Kelly traversed the sea of bodies until he reached Mars. He threw his arms around his waist, and together they made their way out the side of the building.

“What are you doing here?” Mars asked hoarsely. He shook his head and inhaled deeply before straightening to his full height, his expression once again stern. “You need to go.”

“You’d never leave me. So what makes you think I would leave you?”

Mars looked as if he was about to protest, but Kelly was having none of it. He kissed Mars, hoping to make him understand, to feel Kelly’s conviction. They didn’t have time, but he had to make Mars understand that he wasn’t about to back out of this fight.

Mars took his hand and led him around the back of the building and behind the shrubbery, using the abandoned cars scattered across the road to get to the park.

“If we can make it across the park, maybe we can get lost in the city.”

With the majority of the grid down in the area, with chaos and confusion, they might be able to find a place to hide and lay low for a while until they could find a way out of the city. Kelly came to a halt.

“What’s that sound?”

Mars jerked Kelly behind him, his body engulfed in a blue light that knocked them both off their feet.

“Mars!” Kelly crawled over to Mars, drawing him into his arms. Mars’s whole body trembled, whether from fear or whatever he’d been hit by, Kelly had no idea. Maybe it was a bit of both. Up ahead, a nanolight cannon approached, coming to a stop several yards away. This was it. Kelly closed his eyes and hugged Mars close. “It was worth it.
You
were worth it.”

The whirring sound of the nanolight cannon starting up sent an icy chill through Kelly, but he wouldn’t leave Mars. A low groan caught his ear, and Kelly opened his eyes as Mars pushed himself to his feet. A blue glow engulfed him, and the sound of screeching tires, shattering glass, and crushing steel resonated for miles around them. The nanolight cannon went off, hitting Mars, who screamed as he fought against its force.

“We have to do something!” Jordan arrived with Lucius in tow. They helped Kelly to his feet before Jordan turned to Lucius in a panic. “They’re going to kill him! He’s never been tested like this. There’s no telling how much he can withstand.”

Lucius looked from Jordan to Kelly and back. He gave Jordan a brief but passionate kiss, then took off, ignoring Jordan calling him back. Where the hell was he going? Kelly and Jordan stood speechless, watching as Lucius climbed the tanklike cannon. The cannon’s driver was too busy trying to take Mars down. By the time he saw Lucius it was too late, and Lucius landed a punch across the guy’s face. Kelly ran to Mars, catching him when the light stopped and he collapsed. He looked up at Lucius with a smile of thanks.

Lucius tapped away at the cannon’s controls, and he was soon joined by Jordan, who appeared to override the cannon’s latch, keeping the soldiers from climbing out, while Lucius put his “dabbling” to use. Kelly turned his attention back to Mars, soothing him, asking him to let him help. He might not be a supersoldier, but he could be strong enough for the both of them.

“You just hold on. You hear me? I’ll take care of you. We’ll go somewhere safe, just the two of us. I need you to stay alive so you can enjoy it.” He kissed Mars, smiling when Mars returned his kiss. Mars opened his eyes, the amber eyes glowing blue. A smile crept onto Mars’s handsome face, and he put his fingers to Kelly’s cheek. A shot rang out, and Kelly gasped, fire burning through his side. He wheezed and struggled for air. He could taste the tang of metal on his tongue.

“Kelly!” Jordan cried out somewhere behind him. His voice was joined by more shouting, including a voice he recognized and despised.

“Arrest them! Seize the weapon.”

Kelly crumpled into Mars’s arms. He couldn’t breathe, and it hurt so damned much. “Mars,” Kelly gasped.

Mars threw his head back, releasing a roar that shook the trees around them. The nanolight cannon burst like a popcorn kernel, along with any vehicle within range. Sparks flew, and anything connected to a network within radius exploded. Kelly gritted his teeth against the pain and held on to Mars. The city was enveloped in darkness, and within minutes, so was Kelly.

THE OCEAN.
He could hear the ocean.

Kelly opened his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the light. His skin was caressed by soft cotton and a warm breeze. Blue skies? He stared out at the bluest sky he’d ever seen. It was warm and sunny. Definitely not New London. He sat up, sucking in his breath at the pull on his side. Lifting the white cotton shirt, he found a white bandage. Underneath he felt stitches. Stitches? It all came back to him with exceptional clarity. That asshole Preston had shot him!

Carefully, Kelly slipped off the large bed, moving the billowy white curtains to reveal some kind of cabin. What surprised him most were the sounds, or lack thereof. No honking car horns or noisy advertisements. No chatter or buzzing. Only… water. He could smell the ocean.

Following the sound of crashing waves, Kelly left the airy cabin and stepped outside onto the porch. In the near distance, waves crashed against the shore, the pristine sandy white beach seeming to stretch out with no end in sight. There was nothing but tropical palms and flowers for miles. It was beautiful.

And then a more stunning vision caught his eye.

Mars sat in the sand, a smile on his face as he watched the ocean. He was dressed in a loose white linen shirt and khaki shorts. There were sandals on his feet and sunglasses perched on his nose. Was this real? How was it possible?

Jordan stepped up beside Kelly with a smile. “We’re in the Pacific. One of many uncharted islands. No one will find us here. It’s inhabited by people who don’t wish to be found. We’re off the grid.” Jordan turned and placed his hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “Sometimes it’s the smallest things which make the biggest difference.”

“What happened?” Kelly’s hand instinctively went to his side. “I remember getting shot, then nothing.”

“You passed out. Mars patched you up. He got us out.”

“What about Preston and the others?” Surely Preston hadn’t just let them walk away.

Jordan shook his head. “There was no stopping Mars. Once Preston was… stopped, the others retreated.”

Stopped. Kelly swallowed hard. He didn’t need to ask what that meant. He turned his attention back to Mars. “He looks so happy. Won’t they be able to find him?”

“The cannon short-circuited a good deal of Mars’s programming. He’s off-line and keeping himself that way.”

Lucius joined them. He wrapped his arms around Jordan from behind. “And now we’re getting out of your hair.” He nodded toward Mars.

“So you two are okay?”

Jordan gave Lucius a prod in his belly, making him laugh. “Yes. This muppet intended to drug me.”