"And here we are," Gareth said cheerfully. "The extinction of the mammoth." He opened the doors to reveal... a tropical island with only a tiny lizard in obvious residence. "Damn," he said under his breath. "Umm, strap back in, and second time is the charm, right?" He smiled tightly.
She sighed heavily in exasperation, opening her mouth to give him the sharp side of her tongue when "Ken" laid a calming hand on her shoulder, speaking up, "Sure thing, bud. We've got all the time in the world, right?" She almost threw up as they both laughed. She didn't want to be here at all.
This time they landed on a small island... called Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean between the Chukchi and Siberian Seas. All they found was a few footprints and a tuft of mammoth-looking fur. Gareth promised to time things better on excursion three. She wasn't very optimistic.
Back in their cabin, "Barbie" paced like a wild beast. "I'm not going on any more of these, Carson. We will catch them. This is my last one. They can't keep stop-lossing me forever." She absent-mindedly brushed at where his hand had touched her shoulder a little while ago, where the skin was still burning. In irritation, she added, "And stop touching me!"
"We're on our "honeymoon", remember, "Barbie", dear? Don't you think our guide will be suspicious if we don't touch at least a little? And don't worry, we're on the right track. They can't keep ahead of us forever. So far, our intel is good. If we stick to it, we can't lose. Now, calm down, and go over what we know one more time." She was glad he couldn't see the goosebumps rising on her skin in the wake of his hand's casual brush down her arm. What was wrong with her? She'd never had these reactions on their previous missions together. He repulsed her. So why was she feeling like she wanted to drag him to bed every time he stood just a little too near her? Something was off, for sure. He interrupted her introspection, "Come on, Barbie. Start. List what we know."
"Stop calling me that!" she snapped. "At least in here. Why did you have to choose those names? I really hate you sometimes, Carson." She gathered her thoughts and sat down in the chair furthest from him. "Right. What we know. We don't know who or how many. All we know is when. Someone is going back and stealing rare items right out of history, mucking up the timeline. On our first two stops, we've missed them. Thank you, Gareth. We still have a few more chances to lie in wait and catch them in the act. When we do, we bring them back and turn them into the Time Council, thereby finally earning enough creds to buy us out of our contracts and into civilian life. Nothing is getting in my way this time. I know we don't always get on, Carson," more like Ever, she thought. "But can we at least tolerate each other and work together this one last time before we go our separate ways for good? Please?"
He looked at her, even through his holoskin, strangely, before moving across the room to stand before her, pulling her up to stand before him and wrapping his arms around her. "What if I don't want to go my own separate way, Lily? What if what I want is you?" Her heart was racing, the traitor. He was lowering his mouth to kiss her, and she knew she was going to let him, when the door chimed.
Gareth's voice came through the comm on the wall beside the door, "Okay, lovebirds, diagnostic is finished! We're all clear," he cleared his throat, "When you're ready, of course. Umm,... take your time? Right. Meet you in the cockpit..." he coughed, "... whenever." She didn't know if she wanted to hug him or kill him. She moved towards the door, not meeting Carson's eyes.
"Ready?" she asked.
Sighing in resignation, "Whatever you say, boss."
She really hoped Gareth could get it together this time. Trained guide my foot, she thought.
