Chapter 4: Overboard

Aaron had to admit there was a distinct benefit to being hunted with little possibility of survival. He recalled the Buddhist proverb of the tigers and the strawberry. Here he and Marta were, hanging by the last fiber of a failing vine above a chasm of inevitable destruction. Relentless tigers paced impatiently above, anxious to pounce and devour them at any opportunity. Escape was impossible, death loomed. Yet here they were relishing the unexpected gift of a wild strawberry, made infinitely more sweet by their precarious position. Moved by the sobering reflection, Aaron's mind took control of his consciousness, ending the precious minutes of passionate oblivion.

Marta sensed the change and broke their meld reluctantly, gently sighing. Remorseful, Aaron knelt and rested his forehead against hers, keeping her close while his thoughts launched forward on multiple courses, calculating. They stood together in the dank quarter, bodies still pressed close, but the previous hunger shared was slowly subsiding. It wasn't long before Marta, too, was thinking of their dire situation with a growing desperation to solve it. Her analytical mind probed their recent past for answers while Aaron's mind searched out possible futures.

Aaron pulled back and groaned, "Sorry. I need to check out those maps on deck. We need a plan."

Marta straightened, squaring her shoulders. She looked up at him with a nod, and released him from their embrace to step back slightly. "I was hoping we would be lost for a lot longer than this," she said, a sorrowful smile on bruised lips.

Aaron felt a twinge of anger at having to leave her now. "We'll beat this," he said gripping her arms, his piercing eyes burning. Marta again nodded, staring back at him with obvious trust and tenderness. Amid all the chaos of the last few days, she had wisely followed his directions without question. When he shoved a backpack at her and told her to walk, down the street she went, not knowing why or what would happen next. At the time, it was essential to her survival. She had not hesitated at all, and instinctively relied on him with her life. Aaron felt the weight of responsibility, not as a burden, but an honor. The soldier in him steeled with determination, all he needed was a mission. He pulled her close and kissed her quick, but strong, and with feeling, before walking with purpose out of the room to the steel ladder.

Aaron stopped at two steps up, when Marta stepped through the bulkhead. Bright sunlight filtered down the superstructure, illuminating him as he peered back at her. Marta stood breathless seeing her mighty guardian perched mid-climb, his large blue eyes almost transparent in the light. She suddenly felt inadequate and unworthy of his protection. Under his intense gaze, she began to worry he was drawing a similar conclusion.

Marta was barely distinguishable to Aaron among the shadows of the lower hull. The restored sunlight streaming into his eyes would have blinded normal sight, making it impossible to see her at all. Even with his enhanced sight, all he could make out was her face, arms and legs because of the black shirt she wore. His shirt. Aaron felt an impulse to drop down and take her back deeper into the shadows with him. He wanted to stay with her in the safety of darkness and ignore the fact that there really was no safety for them anywhere.

Marta walked forward blinking, her green eyes adjusting to the light, until they found his. She placed her hand over his which he immediately took up in his grasp. He could see she struggled to speak so he squeezed her hand to reassure her, thinking she doubted they could survive.

"We will beat this," he reiterated. Marta closed her eyes and shook her head.

"You could beat them," she said. "Or, at least escape and live out your life in freedom-if you're free of me."

"No," Aaron shook his head, dismissing the suggestion immediately. "Absolutely not. We're in this together now. I wouldn't have made it this far without you." He shrugged his shoulders, a gesture to underline a plain and simple fact. "And I won't go further without you, either."

Marta's brows furrowed. "But..."

"No," he cut her off. "You should've left me in the hotel room, but you didn't. You refused to leave me when I was vulnerable and I refuse to leave you vulnerable."

"That's exactly it," she countered. "I'll always be vulnerable. I know I'm a great liability for you. You don't need medication-you're locked in. I would endanger you just by being there in your way or, at best, in tow, slowing you down."

She turned away from his gaze. "When it comes to you, my conscience weighs heavy enough already."

Aaron swung to the side of the ladder to face her directly, without the metal rungs between them, but she continued, her eyes downcast. "You've already rescued me and gotten me out of immediate danger. If you felt a sense of duty to see me to safety, you've accomplished that."

Marta hesitated, unable to think of another way to express herself without using the line she was reluctant to use. Giving up, she whispered, "You've done enough for me."

Their intimacy was still so new; Marta couldn't keep from blushing at the reference to their exchange in the hotel room.

"Then we've come full circle; you wouldn't leave me then, and I won't leave you now," Aaron repeated. "We're in this together."

"I will drag you down," she said simply, meeting his gaze.

He didn't deny it. "We'll manage."

"Then I'll be the death of you," Marta said flatly.

Aaron dropped off the ladder and stood in front of her, his hands holding her arms. He peered down at her for a while, conveying his full awareness of the ominous weight in his next statement. "We live through this together, one way or another-or we die together trying to."

Aaron was willing to die for his country, though it betrayed him. Well, he corrected himself, a corrupt part of his beloved America had. Now he was willing to die for this woman who hadn't forsaken him. But he certainly wasn't planning on dying. He wanted to live out a life with her.

Aaron refocused his mind on the multiple options and plans that might work for just that outcome. Before he climbed the ship's ladder to the uncertain future above, he leaned down to Marta's solemnly serene face as if to seal his declaration and his commitment to their survival, with a kiss that lingered.