Special thanks to Hittocere for the time review! And thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed the story thus far.
Arthur stared at the television holo-screen. It was turned to the news. A not so exciting topic, but a necessary one to keep up with what the UN was doing. Well, what they were doing which didn't pertain to him or the mine he was assigned as a guard to.
Just great.
Another recapping of the Red Mars Project. Not that this was shocking. There were only a few weeks left until launch.
The images shifted from the broadcaster at the Earth station to the moon one.
Arthur unmuted the tv.
"This week is the last week assignments are going out. The first launch is due from Lunar Base in less than a month's time." The image showed a massive ship, just visible from the window the broadcaster stood behind.
"Stupid," Arthur huffed. Who in their right mind wanted any part of that death trap world? At least Sonya had turned down the offer to go. Heck, if she had gone she would have been third or fourth ranked among the science department. Despite this, it would have gotten in the way of their plans to start to family.
The door opened.
"We'll be coming to you live during the launch ceremony for this historic project."
Of course they would be. What daft reporter would miss it?
Arthur pulled out his cigarettes. He tapped the box against the palm of his hand until one slid out.
"This will be the first the four enhanced humans raised to lead the project have been seen in public."
"Here," Sonya's thick, beautiful voice sounded from beside Arthur. She held out a thick plastic sheet to him. Her eyes narrowed. "I thought you were quitting."
"I was," Arthur said with a small smile at his wife, "very slowly."
"Keep telling yourself that, Arthur Asran," – Sonya's eyes flashed with her, her hands on her hips – "but once our child is born you will have no choice but to quit."
"Of course." Arthur gave a small laugh. He rubbed the back of his head, heart flickering. The nerves vanished in a wave of warmth. A child. He smiled. It would be well worth quitting if it meant they could finally have a child.
He turned his attention to the sheet. His heart froze.
Shit.
There, in the upper corner, was the symbol of the UNASF. New orders meant a reassignment. His heart sank. He'd been at the mine for almost nine years. Ever since he'd been reassigned from Lunar Base security.
"What's this?" he muttered to himself.
He placed his thumb on the reader at the bottom of the sheet. Information spread across the once blank page.
Oh, hell!
He gaped at the information there. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. Why would they want him? He wasn't the best in his field. Heck he'd never raised too far in the military at all. And, honestly, had no desire to.
Ice formed in his gut.
This had to be a hoax, right?
"What's wrong?" Warmth pressed against him as Sonya looked at the sheet. She gasped.
There, in plain writing, was a transfer to the Mars security force under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Abel Nightlord.
The ice spread out from his gut. His skin crawled.
His gaze slid to another screen Sonya was holding.
The ice started to melt as heat raced through him.
The bastards!
The UN had found the one bloody way to get Sonya through him. If she didn't accept the second request, she held they would be separated for three years. Three years! It was longer than the contract they had taken out for a child lasted. It had taken them years to fill out the paperwork to have a child and now they were just going to rip it away from them.
If they lost this one, then they may never get another chance. They would be too old to safely have a healthy kid.
Arthur glared at the screen he held.
Thus, they were bastards.
"We'll both go." Sonya's hand rested on his wrist.
A small breath escaped Arthur. Tension fled his body as he placed his free hand over hers.
"We'll still have a family."
"Mars isn't the place," Arthur whispered.
"Our child will never leave the safety of the dome." Her beautiful, brown eyes grew larger.
He lifted his hand and caressed her forehead. The stroke moved some of her red hair from her face. She was so beautiful. He was the luckiest man in the world.
"If you're sure," he relented. He didn't want to lose their only chance at have a kid. He also didn't want to loss either of them to that forsaken world. Yet, he to leave her behind – he closed his eyes. No. This was their only option.
"I'm sure."
Arthur opened his eyes to be greeted by her soft, loving gaze.
"Now," – she straightened – "we need to get packing. You are, after all, the first military flight to Lunar Base."
"I guess so." He glanced at the sheet again.
His jaw tightened. Damn the UN and their pulling of strings to get what they wanted.
x – Abel – x
This sucked. Why the hell had Abel agree to talk to Lilith and Seth? Well, talking to his dear little sister was fine. But what the hell had possessed him to speak with Lilith over Seth's party?
Abel grumbled under his breath and he moved through the hall towards the girls' room.
Then there was the way Lilith had been after learning their fate. It wasn't like her. She was supposed to yell at him for doing something which could land him in trouble this close to the launch. Not, not look as if she were petrified in terror.
Abel stopped before his sister's and Lilith's room. There had to be something he could do beyond trying to comfort her. Away he could protect all of them, especially Seth – he took a deep breath – and Lilith.
This wasn't at all what he had hoped for today in proving his brother wrong. Now Abel didn't even know what to tell them. Perhaps Lilith had an idea.
He knocked. It was more likely Seth would be there over Lilith. Lilith always had something important going on during the middle of the day. He smiled. He would get to see his sister today at least.
The door opened. Lilith's golden eyes glittered in the light from the hall. Her long, auburn hair framed her narrow features.
A shiver raced through Abel. Had her gaze always appeared to mirror the sun as seen from Lunar Base? Or the heart of a flame surrounded by the flickering embers which was her hair?
He shook his head.
That was stupid. Lilith was just bossy, old Lilith… sort of.
"Abel?" Lilith blinked. Her eyes softened with a smile.
His skin crawled. Where the hell had her normal smile gone? This one, it was wrong. The warmth had been replaced with raw pain.
"I promise I'm fine."
Like hell she was.
"Right?" Abel scoffed. "And the moon suddenly isn't orbiting Earth?"
Lilith's gaze narrowed. The pain melted from her features.
"Better." Abel gave her a small smile. "Can we talk?"
She nodded and stepped aside.
What the… he hadn't meant in her and Seth's room!
"Abel?"
"It's nothing," Abel snapped. His ears burned as he stocked into the room. It hadn't changed any since the last time he'd been there. Not that this was shocking. Even if he had been a child at the time, they didn't really have personal items thus theirr rooms remained the bare minimum.
"Is it about," – Lilith took a deep breath as the door swooshed closed behind her – "earlier?"
"No," Abel stated. "Though, it is something we need to figure out." He shifted. This was just weird. "I'm here to tell you about Seth's birthday party. Cain managed to get the pool from the general for a few hours."
Lilith's eyes widened. "Really? But, with what's going on?"
"The UN doesn't know we know," Abel pointed out. "Besides Seth deserves a party, don't you think?"
A small smile flickered at the corner of her lips. Her eyes glistened. "You mean to keep this from her then?"
Abel nodded. His stomach churned. "And Cain," the words came as a breath. He had originally hacked the system to convince his brother. "He'd just overreact and try to sneak us out before the launch."
Lilith gave a hallow laugh. "This is true. And Seth… no, you're right, it's for the best we don't tell her." She took a deep breath. "We need a plan while we're on Mars."
Finally! The old Lilith was shining through.
"Do you have any ideas?" While not the reason he was there, it was something they should talk about while Seth wasn't here.
Lilith closed her eyes. "Right now, do our jobs and exceed their expectations." She sighed. "Though, this might not even be enough."
"What if we meet those among the colonists who are willing to help us?" Abel suggested. He shivered. This was a stupid idea.
Lilith's eyes snapped open. Her mouth opened a little, eyes wide.
"What?" Abel demanded.
The shock shifted to her warm smile. "Nothing. I just never thought I'd hear you state others could help us." The smile saddened. "Not since Thomas vanished."
Abel scowled. "He abandoned us," Abel snapped.
The door opened. "Who abandoned us?"
Abel stiffened. "No one!" he turned. "No one did, Seth."
Seth frowned, blinking up at him. "If you say so." She shrugged. "Why are you here, dear brother?" A grin swept across her face. "It's great!"
Abel grunted as Seth hugged him.
"Oh, oh, are you here to hear about what the general wants me to do at launch?" Her bright green eyes shimmered as she looked up at him.
"Sure." Abel gave her a small smile. Well, crap. He wasn't about to wreck the surprise
"Yes!" Seth leapt into the air. She twirled as if the clothes she wore was a beautiful gown instead of the plan white UNASF uniform lined in the green of the science field. "All right!" She clapped her hands together. "They want me to meet with my team before the launch and after Cain's speech. Something about getting ready for star gazing." Seth wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue.
Warmth spread through Abel. His precious sister, he would ensure she lived beyond the UN's plan for them. They wouldn't use her in experiments or dissect her or any of their other plans.
"Oh, yeah, and I just got the notice another is joining my team. You'll like this." Seth giggled.
"Would I?" All scientists were evil.
"It's Sonya Asran!"
All right, all of them minus Sonya. But she wasn't really a genetic scientist. "Really? But I thought she had declined several times." Abel frowned. She had. It had been all over the news the leading expect on Mars kept declining the chance to actually go to her choice planet of study.
Weird as that notion was.
Seth pouted. "Oh, come on! You're not the least bit excited. You're the one who's read all her work even in Russian when it first comes out."
"She publishes good papers," Abel defended himself.
"Aren't you excited?"
"More confused than anything else. I wonder what made her change her mind."
"What matters is you get to meet her. The only scientist you can stand!"
"Funny." Abel shook his head.
"Well, the only one since dad left."
Abel stiffened. "He's not our dad," he growled under his breath.
Seth's eyes widened. They glistened with tears.
Oh, shit!
"I didn't mean it like that," Abel reassured her. "I meant he's not related to us." And that bastard had left them to rot. Thomas Hall was as much their father as his bloody younger brother, Kaden was. So what Thomas was the one who made them. He had left.
Seth nodded.
"Look, I need to get going. I wanted to speak with the chef." Abel slipped from the room. His heart sank. Well, shit, he hadn't meant to make Seth cry.
The chef had let Abel use the kitchen and ingredients there to make a cake. "Better than having you steal everything," the chef had muttered before leaving Abel too it with the threat he would know if something not meant for a cake was missing.
Yeah, like Abel would steal the food if it meant never being allowed to make another cake for his dearest little sister.
Abel stirred the batter as the recipe he'd found online instructed, whipping it by hand with the bowl a little tilted. He was careful not to spill any of the precious batter.
The soft sound of another entering the room came to him.
Oh great, someone thinking he wasn't supposed to be there.
"I have permission—"
"I know," a warm voice interrupted him.
Abel sighed. "What is it, Lilith?"
Abel set down the bowl and looked at the recipe.
All right, next ingredient. He added it and started to work on the batter once more.
"You were talking about getting colonists on our side," Lilith started. The shifting of her clothes told him she was leaning against the counter. Her scent lingered close. "How?"
"Do our jobs and do them well. Like you said," Abel grunted.
Abel poured the batter into two cake pans. It was just enough to make a small two layered cake.
Her scent lingered around him. His ears burned as he smoothed the batter.
"It might not be enough. They could have had other commanders who did their jobs well."
"I don't know then!" Abel snapped.
Did she have to be so close to him?
A small sigh fled Lilith. "I wish we knew more about how the UN functioned in other bases."
"We've been in plenty of bases," Abel pointed out.
"Not what I meant, Abel. We only know how this base functions. I've only asked a few how their days have been, and they never tell me much."
"I've never asked. But I've heard people complaining about the general," Able informed her.
"You have?" A short silence followed before Lilith laughed. "I forget your hearing is so good sometimes. Perhaps we can work with our teams, make friends among them."
Abel shifted. He pushed the pans into the oven. Friends? No one would want to be his friend.
"If not friends, then gain their respect."
"I don't know." The idea had really been a stupid one. No one at the base liked Abel outside of his family and, now, he guessed, Lilith.
"You only need to work a little on your temper."
"I," Abel started. It was a good idea. If he dropped his temper, he might be more likable. "I'll try. For keeping all of you safe."
(Author's note: I had to change a lot here given Abel and Lilith didn't sleep together in the first chapter. I am taking it a little slower with their romance this time around.
Funny, I was scrolling through my video history on youtube looking for the current song I am enjoying while working on this… over twenty videos separated the last time I had worked on the story. All of them were watched in less than a day. I am too obsessed with PBS Eons…)