CHAPTER 28
"Ms. Adair!" Jackie called out in surprise as Devon stormed out of the conference room.
Devon couldn't muster a polite facade, although she knew Jackie didn't deserve to bear the brunt of her anger.
Devon hurried down the long corridor, but hesitated before leaving the building. It was really coming down now. She shook in anger and disappointment. At her friends. At Yale. At John. Last night. And this damn rain. Luckily, the weather was keeping the colonists indoors, otherwise she'd no doubt have an audience right now. She started to cry in frustration, which just made her angrier. How in the world could she repair the damage that had been done? Could she just live with the lies that Eden Advance had been doling out these past years? Those were just the big ones. Certainly there were bound to be smaller ones they'd employed in daily operations. At what point did the good of the colony outweigh the importance of transparency and truth?
"Ms. Adair! Devon!" Jackie called, hurrying down the hallway. "You forgot this!" Jackie finally caught up to her, catching her breath and holding out Devon's poncho.
Devon cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "Thanks, Jackie," she said, taking the bright yellow poncho and placing it over her head weakly.
Jackie looked like she might cry herself just from seeing Devon's face. "Oh my gosh, are you ok? What happened in there? What did they do to you?"
Devon sighed. All she needed was for this to get around New Pacifica. Devon Adair crying in the rain in a poncho.
"You're sweet, Jackie. I'm ok. It's just that four years is a long, long time."
Jackie smiled in pity. Devon forced a smile in return before stepping into the rain and heading out to wander aimlessly through the pathways of New Pacifica.
888
John should've just said no when Lyle and the guys invited him out for drinks after work. He had a big day ahead of him, and he'd been avoiding home enough as it was these past few evenings. But he really appreciated the work they'd been doing keeping the town running smoothly, and they were a good group. It was a relief to hang out with just regular guys without worrying about politics, approval ratings, or the state of the whole damn planet. And not a single one of them had uttered Devon's name, which was about the most respectful thing they could have done.
As he walked home, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Poor True. She was really getting the short end of the stick lately. He'd spent plenty of time with her since returning to New Pacifica with Uly, but he'd barely seen her since the Harvest Party a few days before. She seemed upset with him, and he didn't even have the guts to figure out why since he assumed it had something to do with how things seemed to have crashed and burned with Devon. He'd tried to be more honest with True about things like that now that she was older, but this time he could barely face it himself, let alone try to explain the situation to her.
And Uly… After four years of looking after him, John hoped Uly didn't feel like he'd dropped him like a hot potato once Devon was back on the scene. But what was he supposed to do? Especially now that Devon was barely speaking to him?
But he should've tried harder to talk to True and Uly these past couple of days considering there was no way of knowing what would happen the following day. John was dreading Devon's visit to Hunter's camp. He would be staying out of sight since he knew his presence would make Hunter even more reluctant to open his gates. But there was still a pretty big chance something might go wrong, even if Hunter agreed to meet with her. He should've been spending tonight with the kids, not out with the guys trying to drown his sorrows. Devon Adair wasn't worth it.
He'd had a hard enough time trying to placate Jackie lately, who had threatened to quit at least once a day since Devon had run out of the conference room. He thought back to the morning after the Harvest Party when he'd enjoyed a particularly pleasant walk to work. He knew the broad smiles and cheerful greetings had everything to do with his dance with Devon which Morgan had made sure was playing on repeat through the news chips. He'd been a bit uncomfortable with it, but he wasn't going to complain. His stock had fallen considerably by that evening, however, presumably after Jackie had had an opportunity to tell the world his business. Normally she was dependably tight-lipped when it came to the goings-on in his office. But Jackie, like most New Pacificans, made it clear you do not mess with Devon Adair.
A chill wind led John to stuff a hand in the pocket of his old flight jacket. It was worn and frayed, but on evenings like this when he wasn't up to official business, he found it comforting. His poncho hung on a hooked finger at his shoulder. He was sick of carrying the damn thing around. Why was he wasting his time thinking about Devon when there were real problems to try to suss out? The Aquans' strange powers, the Terrians' silence, heck, even Uly's terrible vision… And on top of all that, there was no way to predict how the visit to Hunter's camp would go. And anyway, he'd tried to talk to her, he even tried apologizing. And all he got was the ice queen routine. He might have expected that when he first met her, but he knew her well enough to expect much more from her. Devon wasn't the type to dole out the silent treatment. She's the one he would've expected to talk his ear off trying to fix everything between them. But instead, she was pulling the same act on Yale and the rest of Eden Advance, too.
Well, he got fed up yesterday after trying to get her talking. She'd looked at him with complete detachment, and he couldn't take it anymore. "Would you come down off your shankin' high horse for five minutes and talk to me?" She had replied that unless he wanted to talk about the trip to visit Hunter, she had other things to do. John shook his head at the memory and huffed in disgust. Who the hell does she think she is? Had she really changed that much?
Suddenly he had a flash from the other night. Devon above him, her head tipped back in pleasure. Great. No. Absolutely do not think about that.
No, really, he had so many other things to worry about. But it kept coming back to her, didn't it? As always.
"Hey, Danz, you're out late," Walman said in greeting. John had been so distracted, he hadn't even noticed he was about to pass his friend on the path.
Walman put down his hood as the steady rain was finally turning into a drizzle. "Trouble at home?" he chuckled.
John rolled his eyes. He'd been hoping to get home uninterrupted. "You're out late yourself."
"Just wrapping up sentry duty. Heading back to the old bachelor pad."
"Sounds like a sweet deal right about now," John sighed longingly.
Walman laughed, falling into step by his side. "Sorry, man."
"You ready for tomorrow?"
Walman pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "I was just chatting with Magus and Baines about it. Still can't believe we're doing this. I hope Devon's right."
John snorted. "She seems to think she is."
"As usual, right?"
"Yeah," John replied, unable to keep from smiling at the thought.
"Sure is weird having her back, though," Walman commented. "Is it strange that it's nice to have, like, a mission again? You know what I mean? Getting out there and actually doing something?"
"Sure, I can see what you mean," John said. "Getting the old gang back together and all."
Walman laughed. "Not that I like getting shot at."
"No one's getting shot at, Walman," John said, raising a brow.
Walman regarded him skeptically. "You can't promise that."
"You'll have Devon with you. No way are they shooting at Devon Adair," John declared.
Walman shook his head. "She's not magic, Danziger. We're going in there unarmed, if they do let us in."
"You and Baines and Magus are scrappy. Not to mention Yale and Devon can kick some butt when necessary."
Walman turned to John, eyes wide. "Damn, Danziger, you think we're gonna have to resort to shankin' hand-to-hand combat?"
"Just sayin' is all," John stated simply. "This has to get done."
"Yeah, I know. It's been weighing on my mind. You know, what might be going on behind those walls."
John glanced at his friend. "But if you think you can't handle it, I'm sure Mazatl could take it."
Walman scoffed. "I can shankin' handle it, Danziger."
"I know it," John smiled.
"Anyway, Mazatl hits like a girl."
"I'll be sure to let True know you said that."
"Please don't. I like my face the way it is," Walman stated, stroking his chin.
They reached a fork in the path, and they stopped before parting ways.
"You ok, man?" Walman asked. "You've had a crazy month. All that stuff with Uly and now Devon's here busting your chops. Can't believe she got so high and mighty about everything."
"I think we've all got much bigger problems to worry about than that," John answered, wiggling his finger and shaking his poncho to emphasize the strange weather. He knew what he said was true, but he also knew damn well he was not ok. "But Devon's got every right," John answered. "We should've done this a long time ago."
"I don't have to remind you that we did try this a long time ago, and you almost got shot. But good ol' Devon Adair is the missing piece of the puzzle, right?"
John nodded in agreement, but couldn't keep a frown from taking over his face.
Walman laid a hand on John's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "We'll take care of Devon and Yale. We won't let anything happen to them. We'll get this over with, and everything will be fine. We'll wonder why were so worried all this time."
John let out a soft laugh. "Sure, Walman. Wow, I must look pretty awful to get a pep talk from you."
Walman let go of John's shoulder and gave it a sharp punch. "That better?"
John grunted and rubbed what was certain to become a new bruise. "Yeah, thanks."
Walman smiled and gave John a quick salute. "No problem, Mr. Mayor. See you tomorrow."
