Recon Marines III: The Marine's Doctor (35 page)

Her father stared at Mak like he saw a
deformed alien. He looked more bemused than angry. “Well, that’s
more words than I’ve ever heard a Recon Marine speak at one time. I
can tell you put a lot of thought into that little speech. But you
really don’t understand fatherhood since you didn’t include the
words I need to hear.”

Mak didn’t hesitate. “I love her and
will never leave her as long as I breathe.”

The general stared at him for a long
moment and then turned to Molly. “What do you have to say about
this man’s vows, Molly?”

“
I love him and always
will, father. And I like him. He’s smart and doesn’t feel
intimidated by my intelligence or my independent spirit.” She put
her hand on top of her father’s. “And he’s so very brave and not
intimidated by my father either. Think of the grandchildren you’ll
have.”

Her father blinked, his dear eyes
moist. Then he took a deep breath and picked up Molly’s hand. He
tugged it across the table and set it on Mak’s hand. “Then by the
power given by my position, I pronounce you wedded under military
law. When you’re finished on Mossy, you will report to my wife and
arrange a civil ceremony and all the sparkling celebrations that
includes.”

Now Mak looked amazed. “We’re
married?”

Molly’s father stood up and offered
Mak his hand. “Welcome to the family, son.”

Mak rose, his manner now hesitant
after his earlier courage. “Thank you, sir. I….”

“
You didn’t expect
this?”

“
No, sir. I expected more
of a battle.”

“
I need a moment alone
with my daughter, lieutenant. I have some private words for
her.”

Mak gave Molly a look that told her he
didn’t want to leave her, but he nodded at the general and
left.

Molly waited until the door closed
behind Mak before hugging her father. “Thank you. You’ve made me
very happy.”

He returned the hug, being careful of
her injury. “You should thank me. I know you have an exceptional
mind, girl, but your father is pretty clever also.”

Molly stepped back and caught the big
grin on her father’s face. “Are you saying you were playing
matchmaker?”

“
Well, I do want those
grandchildren. Your mother and I despaired at you finding a man who
you didn’t tire of after two dates. I wasn’t sure there was a man
strong enough and intelligent enough to satisfy you. When Joe Adell
suggested Mak assist with this mission, it seemed like
fate.”

Molly laughed. “I won’t tell anyone.
What if your officers found out what a hopeless romantic you
are?”

“
Not a romantic, dear. I’m
like you. This was the most sensible, pragmatic solution to my
concerns.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Be happy,
sweetheart.”

****

Mak waited in Molly’s room, still
reeling from her father’s surprising actions. She was his wife,
real and legally. They would be together, always.

He heard her footsteps in the hallway
and then she was there. She walked into his arms without
hesitation.

“
I’ve missed you,
husband.”

Mak couldn’t speak so he kissed her.
The first taste of her lips relieved all the stress of the past
weeks. All the sleepless hours worrying about her. The cold bed
without her warm body beside his. The cold, cruelty of the illegal
lab without her understanding presence soothing his
distress.

They helped each other undress,
dropping their clothing carelessly to the floor. For once the
untidiness of it didn’t matter to him. The new skin patch over
Molly’s wound still looked pink and tender but it didn’t slow her
eagerness for his body.

For long moments, they kissed and
touched. And looked. Mak undid the untidy knot holding her hair on
top of her head. The thick mass spilled over her shoulders. He
buried his face into her hair for a moment, breathing in the fresh
sunshine scent it always carried. Though thinner than she had been,
all the right places felt soft as he moved between her thighs. They
tried to go slow but too many days apart had passed.

Afterward they lay entangled, too
sated to move far. Mak ran his fingers through her hair, enjoying
the feel of the silky strands sliding over his skin.

Molly curled against his side, her
hand roaming over his chest. “We’ll have to outfit our new science
vessel with a nursery.”

Molly pregnant? An infant in his arms?
His child? The images flashed like a passing comet through Mak’s
thoughts. Beautiful and untouchable. Until now. “You want to raise
our children in space?”

“
We have so many places to
see and things to discover. What better teachers could they have
than us?”

It sounded…perfect. “Because you want
to learn everything.”

“
And so do
you.”

More than anything he wanted to learn
everything about her. And he had forever to do it.

Epilogue

It looked more like a military ball
than a wedding reception. Men and women in military dress uniforms
milled around the banquet hall. The civilians mixed among them fell
into two categories, spouses or scientists.

Even among the fit and lean physiques
of the military people, five men stood out. Not because they stood
taller or looked stronger. Something about their postures and the
look in their intense eyes drew people’s attention. They mingled
reluctantly, their gazes sliding around the room in constant
alertness. They looked dangerous, except for the children
surrounding them.

Two small girls danced around the
biggest of the men. One little girl looked around six years old and
the other a toddler of three. Their mothers clung to the arms of
the tall men, smiling at the antics of their daughters.

The Queen of Giroux held the hand of
her son of a year and a half. Little Taron Giroux had his father’s
clear blue eyes. He tried to follow his father as the leader of the
Recon Marines walked to the head table to speak with the groom.
Nearly every head in the room turned to watch the man stride across
empty dance floor. He nodded at the grey-eyed marine standing with
Emma Brand, the richest woman in the universe and heavily
pregnant.

People speculated on the Recon
Marines, softly arguing their presence in society. But none spoke
too loudly. Rumors abounded about the superior hearing of the
marines. Though the graceful predatory physical presence of the
marines made one uneasy, the power of their wives softened most
people’s criticisms.

The bride and groom, married months
ago in a private ceremony but now celebrating with friends, moved
out onto the dance floor. Everyone knew Dr. Molly Drant, military
and civilian alike. Though still a young woman, she’d made her mark
as the most brilliant scientist of the times. Rumor claimed her
marine husband might be nearly as bright. What kind of children
might they produce?

The couple danced alone for the first
two minutes, a lovely dark-haired couple, moving with the smooth
skill of professional dancers. Then the other marines joined in
with their wives, some of them holding children between
them.

The varied colors of the women’s
dresses and the giggling of happy children soon distracted the eye
from the similarities of the marines to each other. After watching
for a short time all one saw were five men dancing with the women
they loved. More couples joined them on the dance floor. The
differences between the Recon Marines and the other military
officers no longer struck one. They danced as every other man on
the floor. Just men making their way in the world as best as they
could but finding more happiness in each day than they’d ever
dreamed.

The End

Also available through New Concepts
Publishing:

The Marine’s
Queen

by

Susan Kelley

Chapter One

“
We’ll have heat for one
more night.” Yalo swept her gaze across the stark landscape
stretching toward the brightening horizon. “Then we’ll freeze and
die.”

Queen Callie Adell shaded her eyes
against the glare and stared at the wreckage of the military
cruiser sitting nearly a half of a mile from their own crash site.
“Maybe we should have tried to walk out of here.”

“
You made the right choice
to stay, my queen. The heat limits travel to a few hours in the
morning and evening. Once out of the ship, we wouldn’t have
anything to protect us from the heat of day or cold of night. Even
if we did, our water would have run out before we reached the
little speck of greenery I spotted on the scanners before they went
dead.”

The dawn lit the interior of the ship
enough for Callie to see that the cold had roused all the others.
Four year old Grace had cried off and on all night, sobbing
complaints no one could answer. Not even those broke Callie’s heart
as much as the frightening silence from Riba’s infant, Sally. Her
hungry wails had stopped hours ago.

Yalo sat up in her seat. She’d
positioned herself nearest the broken door as if her strength could
keep out the killing temperatures. She stretched her arms over her
head with a great yawn and then the desert rose up behind her and
pulled her out of the hatch. Her startled yelp ended in mid
shriek.

Callie rolled out of her chair, her
legs tangling in the pile of coats and blouses she’d used as
blankets. Screams echoed inside the ship from the other women, but
Callie couldn’t make a sound over her shock.

A tall figure shaped like a man but
covered with sand sprang into the doorway. It moved aside and
another similar but shorter being joined it.

Callie finally found her feet and
pushed the others behind her. Riba and Grace hushed their children
as they could, but Sally’s mews continued. Her weak cries stabbed
through Callie’s terror of the aliens looming a few steps
away.

The first invader called out to
something or someone outside the ship, using a dialect unknown to
Callie but speaking in a human voice.

Human. Callie found she could talk.
“What do you want?”

The first one, she guessed it was the
leader, looked in her direction. The growing light revealed the
material covering its head and the entirety of it body appeared to
be a suit and not sand at all. Its colors swirled sickeningly to
match the sand outside the open hatch and the walls of the ship
with some type of camouflage technology. Protective goggles covered
its eyes.

The leader spoke more strange words,
and the second alien skirted around them. It moved with animal ease
around their belongings and into the guts of their ship. Callie
stood in silence between her people and the leader while the other
one searched their vessel.

Callie’s anger and despair rose above
her fear of the strange interlopers and the odd weapons they held
in their gloved hands. “Who are you, and what gives you the right
to enter my ship?”

“
Are there no men among
you?” the leader asked in the common language of the
Alliance.

Callie hesitated to give her answer to
the fearsome apparition. At least it understood her
words.

“
Does no one guard you?”
it asked.

Callie gestured toward the hatch where
Yalo had disappeared. “That woman is my guard.”

Sally whimpered in the silence, her
tiny voice sounding frail after the deep tones of the stranger. The
first rays of the morning sun edged in the door and brought a
welcome warmth.

“
Tar,” the leader said
over his shoulder. “Bring the woman in.”

A third alien lifted Yalo in the hatch
and then sprang up beside her. It released her immediately and drew
back to the edge of the opening.

“
How did you come to crash
on this planet?” The leader seemed to be speaking to Callie, but
the angle of its head indicated it tried to look behind her at Riba
and Sally.

Callie shifted so she blocked her
cousin and her baby from view. “Tell me who you are before we
answer anymore questions.”

Again its full attention swung to her.
She lifted her chin and glared at it despite her pounding heart.
What type of humanoid might this be? She hadn’t believed any of the
rare creatures lived anywhere in this civilized quadrant of
space.

It swung its weapon around to its back
using a long strap she hadn’t noticed. It pulled off its gloves
revealing long-fingered human hands. The skin appeared sun-darkened
at it tugged off its dark goggles and then its tight head covering.
Eyes bluer than the cloudless sky of the desert planet stared at
her. Short hair, dark as the bottom of a mine, stuck out at odd
angles.

“
Joe.”

“
What?” Callie managed
around her shock. No grotesque being stood before her but a man
with the face of a god. No artist could have created more perfect
lines to his jaw and cheekbones. Intelligence gleamed in his
compelling eyes.

“
My name is Joe.” He
gestured toward the other two men who had also removed their
headgear. “Roz and Tar.”

Callie nodded at the other two men,
each as perfect in his way as Joe. If it weren’t for the heat
already building uncomfortably inside her damaged cruiser she might
have thought she had died and gone to the afterlife. These men
certainly reminded her of the glorious servants of the Spirit
Father as depicted in paintings.