Tymber Dalton - Bightmares

Apparently, so did her son. At least the mental health issues. Emi wondered if the woman had taken those drugs while pregnant. If so, it would explain a lot about her son. While some of Eckhart’s earlier school counselor reviews seemed questionable, there were no warning signs in his recent mental health screenings to raise red flags that would disqualify him from service.

Talking to him would do no good and only amplify the tension headache Emi now suffered. She returned to the conference room and sent the recorded conversation to the data banks on the Tamora Bight and Kendall Kant to make it part of the incident report.

Ilse walked in with her husband. They studied Eckhart through the observation window. “Emi, why don’t you and Aaron go back to your ship for the night? Relax. You look exhausted.”

She felt exhausted. “What do you think, Aar? Can we leave him here?”

Aaron nodded. “Better here in a brig with the manpower to keep an eye on him than on a ship where there are weapons. We don’t have a brig on the Bight anyway.”

Emi left orders for the drugs she wanted Eckhart to have and followed Aaron to the lander. She must have dozed, because what felt like minutes later, he gently shook her shoulder.

“Wake up, babe. We’re home.” He’d safely docked the lander in the Tamora Bight’s cargo hold.

Caph appeared and scooped her into his arms. “Welcome home, babe!” As tired as she was, she still enjoyed his enthusiastic kiss.

She nestled in his arms. “I missed you, big guy.”

He leaned over and kissed Aaron hello. “I missed both of you. Jesus, it’s great to have you back.”

Aaron detoured to the bridge while Caph carried Emi to their cabin and curled around her in their bed, his large body engulfing hers.

Ford walked in a moment later and knelt on the side of the bed. “Hey, baby. Welcome home.”

She lifted her head and received a sweet kiss from him. “You coming to bed?”

“Naw, I’m taking night watch tonight.” He stroked the hair away from her forehead. “See? I told you you’d figure things out.” He stood. “I just wanted to welcome you back and kiss you goodnight before you went to sleep.”

Emi smiled and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, their cabin was dark and she still lay nestled in Caph’s arms. Aaron lay tightly pressed against her other side, his arm protectively draped over her waist. Both men were sound asleep.

She started to drift back to sleep when she felt Ford’s presence leave the bridge and approach the cabin. By the time he’d reached the door, she’d carefully untangled herself from Aaron and Caph and met him there.

“What’s wrong?”

He smiled. “Your empath senses tingling?”

“Yeah.”

He motioned her out of the cabin and back to the bridge. “John’s on the horn. I’ve got the video com link up. I didn’t want to wake the guys.”

She slid into the command chair while Ford stood behind her. “What do you have for me, John? Give me good news.”

He grinned. “Very good news. I already sent the info down to Sascha to test. I think we have the cure.”

“What’s the culprit?”

“It’s like a type of anaphylactic reaction. It’s a combination of the proteins in that particular version of wheat from the seed stocks cultivated on-planet. Something about the gluten makes the proteins bind to the melanin and testosterone, and in the process, it short-circuits the prefrontal cortex for a few minutes. It feeds itself off adrenaline. When the person is knocked out, their body relaxes, adrenaline production decreases, and the rage ends. Very strange.”

“What caused the mutation?”

“Don’t know. We’re not even sure what the complete reaction is, we’re just guessing. That’s going to take a while. Probably have to work backwards from the solution to figure out the cause. We tested samples of wheat grown from earth stocks on the planet and can’t find any kind of difference. It’s only that newest wheat stock, not the others. We’ll know by morning if the antidote works or not.”

“And we can start unloading supplies for the colony, too.”

“Exactly. That’s all I had, but I knew you’d want to know as soon as I found out.”

“Thanks, John. Tamora Bight out.”

She stood and hugged Ford. He lifted her off her feet and spun her around. “See? I was right.”

“Yes, you were right. Happy?”

He ground his hips against hers. “Once we get away from here and onto our next mission, yeah, then I’ll be happy.”

She returned to their cabin and carefully snuggled between her men without waking them. Even in sleep she felt their contentment, the stress from the past several days gone from their systems.

As she slipped back into sleep, she wondered if Eckhart would ever in his life feel peace and contentment.

She awoke alone in bed the next morning. Something felt wrong.

Pulling on a robe, she hurried out to the galley. Aaron and Ford sat talking at the table. At her appearance, their conversation stopped as they looked at her.

“What’s wrong?”

Aaron spoke. “Eckhart escaped this morning. He stabbed Taber and got loose.”

At least Sam got the trans-light satellite relay up and working again. A backlog of DSMC and ISNC messages awaited them in the memory queue. The first and most important one canceled the order to sterilize the planet, sent by the ISNC after having received Emi’s preliminary report that the pathogen wasn’t communicable. Another update informed them a medical research vessel, sent days after they left, would arrive within a week.

By the time Emi and Aaron reached the colony, Dr. Martinez had finished operating on Taber and had him stabilized in their hospital ICU. A group of armed men met Emi and Aaron at the lander to escort them to the hospital, where others stood guard.

“He’s still loose?” Aaron asked.

The guard in charge grimly nodded. “I get a chance at that fucker, he’s dead.”

“Get in line,” Aaron said, pulling Emi closer.

Inside the hospital, Emi was relieved to find Taber stable, albeit still unconscious.

“He’ll pull through,” Martinez assured them.

“And the antidote?” she asked.

“It works.” He smiled. “I can eat cinnamon bread again!”

She gave Aaron a dose and tested him by letting him eat some of the bread. Sure enough, no reaction.

Deep relief washed through her.

Donna had already synthesized the antidote in the Kendall Kant lab and dosed Rob. Now all that was left was to take Eckhart back into custody.

“That’s going to take a while,” Ilse admitted. “He took one of the horses and headed out to the hill country north of here. The horse returned to its corral a couple of hours ago. With the iron ore concentrations in those rocks, scanners are practically useless.”

Aaron coordinated the unmanned lander cargo drops from the three orbiting ships. They’d have to make another trip to Mars to replenish before their next mission, not that any of them minded that option.

By the end of the day, Eckhart hadn’t been located despite the large number of searchers in the hills north of the colony complex. Taber’s condition had rapidly improved, and Sam was on his way back to the colony with the Petrovis Skye .

Three days later, Eckhart still remained at large. They’d heard from the captain of the Forrester Cross , the DSMC medical vessel, when it emerged from its jump. Most of the crew of the Petrovis Skye had traveled to the surface to help with the search.

Ilse was happy to perform the K-2 crew’s wedding. The Braynow Gaston crew, with the help of the Petrovis Skye , manned the other two ships, allowing everyone to be able to attend the ceremony on the surface. Donna carried a bouquet of Aroykin wildflowers. Emi spent most of the short ceremony trying not to cry.