Suns (LGBT - Sci-fi - Romance)

Chapter 19

Chapter 19 

Stefan turned and walked out without a word. He would go straight back to Liam Connell and ask him for the truth. He no longer trusted Viktor to give it to him. 

The two Connells were just finishing an early dinner together in Liam's hotel room, when Captain Rice's ID flashed outside the door. Liam had been very happy with his afternoon with Stefan but a return visit this soon didn't bode well. 

He exchanged a concerned glance with Nick who shook his head. He didn't know any more than Liam. 

Liam Connell opened the door, his smile of welcome vanishing as he saw the distressed state his visitor was in.  

"I need to speak to you!" Stefan burst out. Then he saw the dinner table and Nick rising to his feet and made a huge effort to remember his manners. "Sorry for interrupting, but I really need to speak to you." His eyes were fixed on Liam's. 

"Of course, come in," offered Liam immediately. What on Earth had happened? He had just been congratulating himself on his restraint that afternoon, he had kept his stories about Mars light and entertaining, simply trying to show Stefan a more positive side of the man he had been brought up to despise, certain he had said nothing that would cause any real trouble. It never occurred to him that Viktor would betray himself. 

Without being asked, Nick went to the door. "I'll let you talk in private. I'll be down in the bar having a drink Dad." He looked meaningfully at his father. He didn't really want a drink but he didn't want to go home to his small apartment yet. He was going to stay close at hand, he wasn't going to let Stefan walk home alone, not in the state he was in. 

"What's the matter? Would you like to sit down?" Liam gestured to the two armchairs again.  

Stefan was too agitated to sit down. "How did my father die?" he asked urgently. Liam wondered if he realised it was the first time he had called Mars 'father'. 

"I'll tell you, but have a seat," Liam suggested calmly, drawing two glasses of chilled water from the refreshment unit and handing one to Stefan. Stefan looked blankly at the glass in his hand for a minute then sat down on the edge of the chair, leaning forward, his forearms resting on the tops of his thighs, clutching the glass. 

Liam sat down opposite. It was hard to know exactly where to start. "I don't know if you've heard this story but Nick hijacked the shuttle I was operating and took me as a supposed hostage." He still found himself smiling wryly after all these years as he remembered. 

He met Stefan's startled gaze. 

"He wanted to see me," he explained dryly. "Nick and I hadn't seen each other for over a year and he wanted to see me. Any other man would have sent me a message, arranged a meeting, but not Mars! He hijacked my ship and sent men in to stun my passengers and kidnap me." He could see Stefan leaning ever so slightly back into his chair, distracted from his anguish by the sheer outrageousness of the story as he had hoped. "Of course I had no idea who was behind this until I came to my senses and found him bending over me with an apologetic smile. I was rather annoyed as you can imagine!" 

That even brought a fleeting smile. 

"Anyway, we had our reunion, and then Nick found he was faced with the difficulty of getting me back home. The entire patrol was after him by that stage but we thought a shuttle might be able to slip through and drop me near one of the resorts on Isis." Liam took a sip of water himself. It still hurt to remember. "We all knew it was risky but one of the crew, Sanders, volunteered to pilot us down." 

He saw Stefan twitch as he mentioned the name. "You know him?" 

Stefan nodded, things were falling into place. He knew he took after Mars not Viktor, that was how Sanders had recognised him of course, it had been Mars who had saved the pirate's life. 

"He saved my life. I'll tell you the story another time." 

"Well, we landed easily enough but as I said, the Patrol was everywhere. A young private caught up with us as we were saying our farewells, held us at gun point. I distracted him so Mars and Sanders could take off, but then Major Rice arrived. From the Patrol's point of view of course we were three criminals about to escape." Liam took another sip of water. "Anyway, the Major threatened to kill me if Mars didn't return and surrender. If he'd surrendered, Mars would have been facing the rest of his life in prison, he couldn't have borne that. They were about a hundred metres up at that point, they could have kept going and, in all likelihood, escaped. But Mars didn't." 

He looked into Stefan's wide eyes, saw that he already half guessed what was coming. 

"He chose to take his own life instead, to save me. He stepped straight out of the shuttle." 

For a moment Stefan couldn't speak. He cleared his throat, he had to ask. "Viktor said ... he said he was only bluffing, that he wasn't going to kill you." 

Liam shrugged lightly. "Maybe." He drained his glass of water. 

"But you don't think so," said Stefan decisively. 

"Honestly? No, I thought he was going to kill me. More importantly, so did Mars." 

XXX 

Nick was watching the door from his seat at the bar when he saw Stefan cross the hotel reception foyer. He looked miserable and angry but less agitated than when he had arrived. Nevertheless, Nick went after him. 

"I'll walk back with you," he said, catching up. "Are you going back to your apartment?" 

"Actually I feel like going to a cheap bar and getting drunk!" Stefan replied bitterly.

"Ah." Nick continued to keep pace with him but held his tongue, he didn't think Stefan was in the mood for any wise advice. 

They had almost reached the corner of the next block when Stefan realised someone was following them. He was pretty sure who it was. He was just about to turn and confront him when he had a better idea. 

Before he could have second thoughts, he grabbed hold of Nick and pushed him up against the wall. He took his face between both hands and crashed his lips down on the other man's mouth, already open in surprise. For a moment Nick froze in complete shock. What the- ? Stefan's tongue was thrusting between his teeth, halfway down his throat.  

Nick put both hands up to push Stefan away, had the idiot forgotten that although Nick was in civvies, he was still in uniform? But Stefan's lips had unaccountably softened against his own. He was breathing hard, his tongue now exploring rather than invading. His tongue was licking around the inside of his mouth, pausing every so often so his teeth could take small nips of his bottom lip. Nick groaned and put his arms around Stefan's neck instead, holding him closer. God how he had longed for this, dreamt about it. 

The harsh sound of indrawn breath only a few feet away brought him painfully to his senses. He pulled back and found himself staring into the white, shocked face of Viktor Rice. Rice spun on his heel and strode off without another sound. The crush of disillusion was so fierce that Nick couldn't breathe for a moment. He thrust Stefan away with a violent shove of both hands. He was trembling. 

"Don't you dare use me like that! If you want to test your sexuality that's one thing, but to use me in a pissing contest with your father is just ... just cruel." 

Stefan was staring at him with a stunned look in his eyes. For a moment he had totally forgotten that he had only started kissing Nick to hit back at his father.  

"I wasn't ... I didn't..." he protested weakly. But he had. "I'm so sorry Nick, I-" 

But Nick wasn't listening, "Just stay away from me!" He strode off in the opposite direction to the Colonel.