*Chapter 20*
Rea crawled out from under the dark-haired beauty sleeping next to him. She was curled around his body like a well-fed kitten.
Rising, he placed his feet on the floor expecting the rush of cold from the cement. Instead of chilly concrete, his toes dug into soft fibers. Karma had put a runner of thick carpet from his side of the bed all the way to the bathroom door.
He adjusted the blankets over Karma and stopped himself from laughing out loud. This was the kind of thoughtfulness and understanding that made Karma unique. She always did things to make his life better, and she never thought anything of it. He kissed her forehead and went to the kitchen still naked.
"What's going on, handsome?" she murmured groggily. "What time is it?"
"It's 1:05 a.m. Nothing's going on. I'm getting a drink of water. Go back to sleep. I'll be back in a minute. We don't have to be up for training for hours yet."
Karma sank back into her pillow.
He liked that she was so worn out. He loved that he could sap her energy by making love to her. For a second, that thought hit him like a frying pan over his head. Making love was exactly what it was. There was a difference between fucking and making love. Even when he was rough with Karma, and she was screaming his name loud enough for everyone on the base to hear, it was still making love compared to what he had in the past.
Karma was all kinds of fantastic. At this point, he made up his mind. He would ask her to stay. He had to plan the right moment and figure out the right words, but he was going to ask her. She wanted to build trust between them, and he was starting to believe that was possible.
Rea grabbed a forgotten plastic cup on the side of the kitchen sink and turned on the water. Once he had a quick drink, he was going to climb back into bed. He had to admit that even though it was fun to zap her energy, she did it right back to him. He was tired. Rea couldn't wait to get under the warm covers.
Before Rea could fill his cup, a loud knock sliced through the silence of the room. The sound was so unexpected that for a moment Rea didn't move. From behind him, Karma sat straight up in bed.
"Something's wrong. I feel it." Karma grabbed his blanket and pulled the cloth over her naked chest. She bent down and grabbed his pants off the floor. She tossed them to him with a flick of her wrist.
"Me too." Rea's eyes followed her movements as she slipped on a shirt. Something didn't feel right about this disruption at one in the morning. He didn't know what it was, but it was special that Karma could feel the disruption as well. He tugged on his pants.
Rea checked the cameras. Gears stood in the hallway. His friend's head was tucked above a series of coats, and he was playing with his glasses.
"It's just Gears," he told Karma as another knock sounded.
"At 1:05 in the morning?"
"Gears has no sense of time."
Rea unlocked his door while behind him Karma loaded one of his pistols. He was going to tell her not to, but a piece of him said to let her be. In fact, her getting armed was a comforting sensation. She probably thought she needed to protect him. She was always saying things like that.
After a quick glance to check that she was dressed, Rea opened the door.
Gears stepped into his bedroom and gave an awkward smile at Karma before looking at Rea's bare chest.
"I'm sorry to wake you, or not wake you if you were..." He looked down at his coat and touched one of the buttons. "I forgot that you could be doing..." Gears stopped again. Rea exhaled with frustration. For a man who was considered a genius, Gears wasn't good with simple things, like talking.
"We were sleeping, Gears. What'd you want?" Rea closed the door.
"The power is out in my room."
Rea reached over and flipped the light switch. No light in their room either.
Karma rose from the bed and went to the bathroom. He heard the click of the switch, but nothing illumined. Frowning, he pointed to the camera on his computer.
"That's working. I can read the time, and I can see the hall—" The word died on his lips as the computer screen went dark. The last of the light in the room had disappeared. The room was thrown into complete blackness.
A sinking feeling settled into his gut. Fletcher was here. There was no question.
Rea took a deep breath as he tried to quell his frustration. He should've been ready, but here he was, half-dressed and in the dark.
"Don't panic." Karma's voice was soft next to him.
He gritted his teeth. "I'm not going to panic. I'm pissed. I should've known he was here. Where the hell is Ken and all the men? Damn it, I should've been ready for this." When Rea paused, Karma cut in.
"You can't know everything and always be working. You have a life, Rea. We have a life," she ended softly. "And I was telling Gears not to panic, not you," she added.
Karma grabbed his hand in the dark. He felt the familiar shape of his Glock pressed into his palm.
Rea nodded. That's what he wanted. A life. He wanted a life where the men did their job, and he was able to do a different job on the base. He wanted a life with Karma in it—him and her cuddling in bed and building a home.
Was something as simple as that out of his reach?
No.
He wanted her and he would figure out a way to keep her. He was going to trust her, and after Fletcher was no longer a threat, Rea would convince her to stay. He would ask her to give up her freedom for him.
"How did you know that the power was out, Gears? Did someone tell you?" Better to ask Gears about the power so he didn't pour his heart out. There was no way he was going to bare his soul while they were in the dark waiting for an assassin to show himself.
"I was sleeping, but I knew the power went out when the incubator lights turned off. I was worried about my lizard babies, so I came here to talk to you about it."
"Why do you have lizard babies?" Karma asked.
"Don't ask Gears about his projects. It'll only make you want to rip out your hair," Rea quickly muttered before Gears could answer. He then tucked his gun into the waistband of his pants as he gestured to where he thought the bed might be. "Karma, under my bed is a flashlight. I also need a shirt."
Rea's flashlight cast a yellow glow in the room, and he could once again see Karma, Gears, and the furniture.
"You won't need to rip your hair out. If you keep rubbing it like you do, you'll be bald in no time." Gears picked up a shirt off the floor. He handed the top to him. Rea pulled the garment over his head.
Rea glared at Gears after his comment and ran his fingers through his hair. "We need to get to the electrical panel and get the lights back on. Some of the security is hooked to the panel. We have to check that first. If it's not damaged, then we'll have to check where the main power comes in from the surface of the planet. There are battery terminals that are hooked to the wind generators."
"I know Fletcher." Karma shook her head. "This is what he does when he's desperate. He shoots out electrical panels and then goes on a killing spree. It's what he always does when he can't have his way. It's a child's tantrum."
"Some child," Gears whispered.
"The emergency lights are working in the halls. That means there's still some battery power," Rea opened the door a crack. After his eyes adjusted to the red lights in the hall, he listened for gunfire. No killing spree yet.
"We need the camera to see where Fletcher is on the base. Otherwise, we'll just be guessing," Karma suggested.
Rea found it hard to believe Fletcher would attack a water base alone. His men weren't great, but they were all armed.
"We sent the electrician on to the next base that's planned to be built. And I'm not an electrician." Gears nervously pushed up his glasses. "Maybe it's not Fletcher. Maybe it's nothing."
It wasn't anything, but Rea couldn't explain why he knew that. Instead, he looked at the pistol in Karma's hand.
"We're going to the panel, and we'll check it out. And we'll go expecting Fletcher."
Karma nodded, and when she noted where his eyes had traveled, she held the gun out for him to take.
"I know, I know, unarmed."
Rea could hear the defeat in her voice. He didn't like the tone. If he was going to trust her, he might as well throw himself all the way into it.
"We can be a we." He took the Beretta from her outstretched hand and pressed the gun into Gears' chest. After Gears fumbled with the weapon for a moment, he then regarded Karma.
"Karma." Her eyes went from Gears' hands to his face. "Under the bed are my assault rifle and your MP5. Grab all the ammo and I'll wait until you get your bodysuit on."
"You mean it?" Karma's eyes lit up like twinkling holiday lights. "A real we?"
"Are you as good a shot in the dark as you are with the lights on?"
A smile lit up her face. "Better."
"Then get dressed and we can protect Gears while we head to the electrical room."
Karma dashed to the bathroom. He heard the rustle of her clothes. After he hunted for a couple of bulletproof vests, he grabbed his radio. So far there hadn't been any chatter about the base, but he expected that to change.
"You're arming your trigger-happy girlfriend. Are you sure this is a good idea?" Gears asked as Rea laced up his boots.
"Don't worry about my girlfriend." Rea tossed his friend a body armor vest and the radio. "She just wants to help," he put on the other vest. He didn't add that he loved her. It was probably not the right time for that.
Karma appeared out of the bathroom dressed to kill. She immediately retrieved his M4. She filled hidden pockets with ammo and pulled her hair into a ponytail.
"I'm ready." She smiled.
"I'm not." Gears frowned.
Rea picked up the flashlight and slung the MP5 over his shoulder. He adjusted the weapon on his chest. All they had to do was make it to the panel, fix it, and then find Fletcher and kill him. After that, he could tell Karma he wanted her to stay. Rea would tell her he had faith in the two of them to make their relationship work. He hoped she would be willing to stay after everything that had happened between them. He'd told her to leave so many times. He couldn't undo that.
Rea opened the door and looked out as Gears hung back.
"You called me your girlfriend," she whispered as she scanned the hall. Karma brushed against his side.
"Yes, I did."
***
I always loved that Gears choose to help even though he's scared. In his book, Grinding My Gears, you get to see his perspective on the world. I didn't plan to write a story for him when I first created this book, but now, I'm glad I did. Cheers! C.M.~