Chapter Seven

Kara quickly discovered exactly why Zak hadn't told his brother that she was his superior officer. Lee was obviously was one of those sticklers when it came to regulations.

"What the hell were you two thinking?" he demanded. "Don't you realise you're breaking the frat regs in about every possible way?"

"Really?" Kara's temper sparked. How dare he talk to her like that? He wasn't her brother. "Gee, thanks for pointing that out, Lee. I'd never have noticed."

Her sarcasm simply glanced off him. "Did you even think what the consequences will be if you're found out?"

"We won't be found out. We're very careful-"

"Careful?" Lee laughed derisively. "Zak? Careful? That'll be the day. He doesn't even know the meaning of the word discretion, and from what I've seen I don't think you're much better-"

Kara wasn't sure if he was insulting her or not. Either way, her temper soared.

"And what business is it of yours anyway?" she snapped.

He stared at her incredulously. "Zak's my brother!"

"So? That doesn't mean he needs you interfering in his life."

"He does when he's making a huge mistake."

A mistake? Kara flinched despite herself. He thought she was a huge mistake?

"Maybe Zak doesn't think he's making a mistake," she said fiercely. She wouldn't let him get to her.

"Then he's an idiot," said Lee harshly. "Academy's a hotbed of gossip. The authorities are bound to find out about you two sooner or later, and when they do-"

He was right, but Kara wasn't about to admit it. "We'll deal with that when it happens," she said brusquely.

"And you're just going to bury your head in the sand until then?"

She was. Kara knew as well as he did that it would be disastrous if she and Zak were discovered, but she refused to think about it. Zak made her happy, and she wasn't about to give him up.

"Why not?" she said defiantly. "We're happy together. That's all that matters."

Lee snorted. "Gods, just listen to yourself! You sound like a romantic novel."

"What?" Kara had never been so insulted in her life. "You take that back!"

"No, I won't! You do. Pretending you can just drift along in your rosy bubble, as if the real world doesn't exist. What happens when it bursts?"

"Then we'll deal with the fallout!" They were standing nose to nose now, glaring at each other. "Either way it's our frakking choice, Lee, not yours! This has nothing to do with you and you should just stay out of it!"

"What the hell is going on?"

Kara swung round to find Zak standing beside them, holding three paper cups of soda. She'd been so busy yelling at Lee she hadn't seen him approach.

"Well?" said Zak when neither of them answered immediately. There was a hard note in his voice that Kara had only heard a few times before. "Is one of you going to explain why I could hear the two of you yelling at each other halfway across the room?"

Lee turned to his brother, face hard. "You want an explanation? Fine. I just discovered Kara is your flight instructor."

Zak swore and put down the paper cups.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lee asked. He sounded slightly hurt.

"Why didn't I tell you?" Zak laughed harshly. "This is why, Lee. I knew you'd over-react like this."

"Over-react?" Lee was getting angry again. "I'm not over-reacting, Zak. This is serious. What do you think is going to happen if you get caught?"

"I don't care!" Zak's rare temper was flaring now. "I love Kara and that's all that matters."

"Not you as well!" Lee rolled his eyes. "That's utterly ridiculous."

"No, it's not! Not that I'd expect you to understand anything about love," said Zak cuttingly. "Love's not really your style, is it Lee? Too risky, too messy, too uncontrolled – and gods forbid you should ever lose any of your precious self-control!"

Kara took a few steps back, suddenly uncomfortable. She wasn't sure she should be listening to this. She picked up one of the discarded drinks, and looked down into the cup as she took a sip.

Lee had looked slightly stricken at Zak's last remark, but he rallied quickly enough.

"Well, we're not talking about me. We're talking about you. Have you thought what will happen if they find out, Zak? Really thought about it?"

"Of course I have!" Zak snapped. "So what? Yes, it'll mean a reprimand, a mark on my permanent record, some brig time. Stop fussing, Lee. It's hardly the end of the world."

"Not for you, maybe." Lee's voice was granite hard. "But what about Kara? Have you thought about her?"

Kara's head jerked up at that. It was the last thing she had expected to hear. From the way he had been acting a few minutes ago, she had thought he blamed her for dragging Zak into this mess.

Zak looked equally bewildered. "Kara?"

"Yes, Kara," said Lee impatiently. "Gods, Zak, think for a minute! She's the one they'll come down on hardest, not you. She's the senior officer. She's the instructor. She's the one they'll think should have known better. Yes, you'll probably get off with some brig time, but she won't. She'll certainly lose her instructor's post. She might even be demoted. Probably be assigned to the most dead-end posting they can find."

Kara's hand tightened on the paper cup, her stomach suddenly churning. He wasn't saying anything she didn't already know. That she hadn't accepted was a possibility when she and Zak got together. But it was suddenly a lot more frightening when someone else said it out loud.

Zak was pale with shock. "I hadn't thought…"

"You never do," said Lee wearily. He scrubbed a hand over his face and turned to Kara. "Look, Kara, I'm sorry I shouted at you. You're right, it is none of my business. But Zak's my brother, and I like you. I don't want to see either of you get hurt." He sighed, looking back at Zak. "Look, it's probably best if I head off. I'll see you back at home."

-------------------------

After Lee had gone, Kara took Zak into the snack bar next door and ordered two large coffees. Zak was still looking rather shaken by what Lee had said.

"Thanks," he said as she put the steaming cup down in front of him.

"Yeah, well, you can thank me by telling me the next time you decide to keep secrets from your family," said Kara sharply. She was still rather annoyed with him about that. "If you'd just told me you didn't want Lee to know I was your instructor, we could have avoided that lovely little scene."

"Sorry about that." Zak looked gloomily down at his coffee. "I didn't mean for you to get caught in the crossfire."

Kara shrugged. "I'll live." To be honest, her anger with Lee had been largely wiped out by the concern he had shown for her. She still couldn't quite believe that he had yelled at Zak for not thinking about what might happen to her. It made her feel warm every time she thought about it.

And then he had said he liked her.

People didn't like her, Kara had found. She seemed to inspire extreme reactions in people, so that they either loved her or hated her, with very little in between. It meant she had a busy love life, plenty of enemies, and very few friends.

She thought now that she might just have found another of those rare friends.

"I just – I knew Lee wouldn't approve," Zak said. "That he'd say I was being stupid and start pointing out everything that could go wrong."

He lifted his head to look at her, and Kara caught her breath. She had never seen him look so serious.

"Was he right, Kara? About what would happen to you if we're found out? Would you lose your job? Be demoted?"

Kara nodded. "Probably."

Zak took a deep breath. "Then – then maybe we should think about ending this."

Kara froze.

"What?" This couldn't be happening to her. Not again. "What are you saying? Don't you want me any more?"

Zak reached across the table and grabbed her hand. The warmth of his touch calmed her, made her feel she could breathe again.

"Kara, of course I want you. I love you. I don't want to be apart from you. But I don't want to hurt you, either. I know how much you love the fleet, love flying. If you lost that because of me – I couldn't live with myself."

Kara swore inwardly. She'd known he would react like this if he ever realised just how much she was risking to be with him, which was why she'd taken care never to discuss it. Damn Lee for spelling it out to him. A suspicious part of her wondered if he'd done it on purpose, hoping Zak's guilt would make him dump her and solve the whole problem.

Well, she wasn't going to let it happen.

"Zak, listen to me," she said, forcing him to meet her eyes. "I don't care. Yes, I love flying. I love the fleet. But I love you, too." Something flared in his eyes at that. She'd never said it before when they were both fully awake and sober. "I'm happier with you than I've ever been, and I don't want to give that up."

"Maybe it would be sensible to wait for a while. Just until I graduate-"

"Yes, it probably would," said Kara immediately, making him blink. "But I don't want to wait."

The corners of Zak's mouth began to curve. "You don't?"

"I don't," said Kara firmly. "I'm not sensible, you know that. I don't believe in it."

Zak was definitely smiling now.

"I believe in taking happiness when you find it, because otherwise it might not come again." She was deadly serious now. If her childhood had taught her nothing else, it had taught her that. "I want to be with you, Zak, and if that means taking risks, then I'm willing to take them."

His eyes were shining now, his love for her clear to see. "Good. Because I couldn't bear to lose you, Kara."

She leaned forward to kiss him. "Good. Because I don't want to lose you either."