Megalodon City Penitentiary, Tundra, Standard Year 403 after founding

  “Dinner.” James said firmly, finally forcing himself to get up and pull away from holding Alanna close by his side. “I promised you dinner and I still haven’t made it. I don’t know how you’re letting me get away with this.”

  Alanna shrugged. It wasn’t that she minded James getting up, leaving her cold and alone on the bed. It was just… it was just the cold. She pulled the blanket closer around herself.

  “Come sit closer to the fire while I do this.” James offered. “It’ll keep you warmer. How much of the fuel have you used up?”

  “None.”

  James looked over in surprise. “Not even to make tea? It’ll warm you up.”

  “Um. With sink water?” Alanna asked doubtfully.

  “You’re not on Saraya. The water is safe.”

  Alanna shook her head. “I don’t think I can do it.”

  “Consider this” James said, removing the strainer with used up tea leaves and holding out a cup of freshly brewed tea “your first step on the path to going native. Drink.”

  Cautiously, she reached out and picked up the cup, letting it warm her hands. “Is my future doing whatever James Hawk says?” She asked somewhat doubtfully, looking down into the murky depths of the tea.

  James shrugged. “How’s it working out for you so far?”

  Carefully, she took another small sip of the tea. And then a bigger one. There was a hint of something like coffee, caffeinated and dark, mixed with the taste of flowers and summer. She liked it very much.

  “Do you like it?”

  “I think it’s a convenient way to get rid of me now that you’re getting bored.” Alanna said glumly.

  James laughed. Boredom was not how he would have described his current predicament.

  “Why is the water safe to drink?” Alanna asked.

  “You mean why hasn’t Saraya successfully poisoned it yet?”

  “No I-” Alanna flinched. It was obvious the minute he said it. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry.” James rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. “This has nothing to do with you. Angerona, the bacteria that poisons Sarayan water, does not survive well on Tundra. Trace amounts have been introduced but it has not successfully reached critical mass here.”

  Alanna nodded, feeling the guilt settle on her shoulders. Angerona poisoning was the top cause of death on Saraya. And while he wasn’t pressing the matter, James had quietly implied Saraya attempted to bring it here, to poison an entire world. It was monstrous. And to the question of whether she thought they would do it – of course they would. Then again, Tundrans were ready to nuke Saraya, civilian population centers and all. No one’s hands were clean. Certainly not her own. She blinked sleepily, watching James pull out the rest of the food he had brought: bread, cheese, butter, a knife. Alanna’s eyes widened slightly, focusing on the knife. “Really?” She asked.

  “What? How else was I going to make a sandwich?”

  “That’s not a kitchen knife.” Her eyes followed the thick, double-edged blade, curved slightly at the tip. It was a beautiful blade, and she could easily imagine her fingers wrapping around that thick, textured hilt.

  “That’s the only knife I have.” James watched her eyes as they followed the knife. Had she looked at him that way? He rather liked to think so. “Do you know how to use this?”

  Alanna hesitated, her eyes still focused on the blade. She was quite good with a knife. And oh yes, she wanted it. Carefully, she pressed her hand into a fist, resisting temptation. “I can make a sandwich.” She said carefully.

  James looked down at her, sitting by his side, her hip touching his as she drew close to the fire. He hadn’t given it much thought before bringing the knife. Based on her record, she was good with a gun and abysmal at hand-to-hand combat. No other weapons training had been mentioned. And yet, her focus on the knife was undeniably intense. In typical Alanna fashion, she hadn’t bothered to hide it. With only the briefest hesitation, James held out the knife to her, hilt first. “You can have it.” He said. “Do you know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich?”

  “You’re going to grill cheese?” Alanna asked dubiously.

  “Are you questioning my methodology?”

  “Um. Maybe I’ll just watch you do the first one.”

  “Prudent.” James agreed, cutting off a generous slice of butter and melting it on one of the metal plates. There were no frying pans, but the metal plates on top of a burner did about as well, as long as enough butter was used. “We don’t just grill cheese.” He explained patiently, lowering the flame to keep the bread from burning. “It goes between the bread.” A few minutes later, he handed her the sandwich, buttered bread gold and crispy, gooey melted cheese in the middle.

  Alanna bit into the sandwich, eyes widening. “This is good. This is really good. Can I have another one?”

  James laughed. “Yes, you can. Now open the second champagne bottle. These things go together.” He handed her the bottle and began pulling together ingredients for the next sandwich.

  Hands still greasy from the sandwich that had by then disappeared altogether, Alanna picked up the bottle and tried to get a grip on the cork, her hand slipping.

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  Distracted, James looked over, watching her tug at the cork.

  “Are you going to help?” Alanna asked in exasperation.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe try your teeth?” James asked as a slow, lazy smile spread across his face.

  “It’s the higher gravity.” She explained defensively. “I’m still adjusting.”

  With one smooth movement, James took the bottle from her and pulled out the cork, seemingly effortless. “Do you still want the knife?” He asked companionably, handing her back the bottle.

  “I don’t need it.” She said. “Really. I – I’ll go wash out the plate before you make another sandwich.” She got up, trying to be as nonchalant as James was, even as the ice of the concrete floors hit her feet. It was fine, and it definitely did not feel like icy fire against the soles of her feet. Calmly, she walked to the sink and rinsed off the plate before walking back, with slightly more haste, to dive back under the blanket and curl her feet underneath.

  James held the knife back out, waiting.

  “There’s no point, really.” Alanna said. “I won’t attack you and you won’t let me keep it.”

  “Hard to take that seriously, just now.” James said with a smile. But then, he couldn’t help thinking, death by arrogance was an ugly way to go. And it was too late now. He would have to trust her to sleep with him here, with the knife within arm’s reach.

  “Will you trust me to make you a sandwich? I don’t want the knife just – I want to try grilling the cheese.”

  “The bread, Alanna. You grill the bread.”

  “I will not question your methodology, Captain.” She added a sketchy salute at the end, eyes sparkling.

  Damn. James sighed, looking at her in the flickering light of the flame. He really did want her to make him that sandwich. He wanted a lot of things. Carefully, he reached out and lowered the flame. “You’re an amateur. You’ll burn it all if you’re not careful.” He watched patiently as Alanna buttered the plate and the bread.

  “Is it too much?”

  “Never too much butter.” He sat back, watching her cook until she handed him the first sandwich, green eyes looking at him uncertainly. “It’s perfect.” James said reassuringly, ignoring the mostly un-melted cheese in the middle.

  Alanna nodded, moving on to make her own, a slight frown of concentration on her face. Carefully placing the second slice of bread on top, she reached out to flip the sandwich when James put a hand on her arm.

  “Maybe give it another minute.” He suggested.

  Alanna’s eyes narrowed immediately, turning back on him. “I didn’t wait for your sandwich and… it’s not perfect, is it?”

  Right. She tended to notice these minor discrepancies. “Alanna, about medical school,” he hesitated “the thing is, it takes a while.”

  “I know.”

  “And while you’re attending school, the only other useful skill you have is…”

  “Killing people.” She interrupted. “Yes, I know.”

  “It’s not a bad plan. It’s just…”

  “It’s a laughably terrible plan.” Alanna said.

  “No.” James said sharply. “It’s not. It’s a good plan. It is perhaps – not entirely complete.” James sighed. Details were important. “If you thought it was such a terrible plan, why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I was being agreeable because I figured I wouldn’t live long enough to see it fall apart.” Alanna responded easily.

  “Dammit, Alanna!”

  She flinched, taken aback by the sharp anger in his voice. “I’m sorry! I was just being agreeable. I would have studied the stupid books.”

  “I need you to try. All right? To really try.”

  “I thought I was!”

  “You were not.” James said, real anger simmering under the surface.

  “No one is going to let me study for years to be a doctor! All right? You want me to try, fine. It’s a stupid plan and it won’t work. And I sure as hell don’t have a better plan. What do you want me to do?”

  James shifted on the bed, frustration evident. He wanted to protect Alanna. Really protect her, to leave Tundra knowing he would return and find her home, safe. It was a desire entirely removed from the reality of their situation. They were at war. “There might be another option, careerwise.”

  “What’s that? And do you want me to put your sandwich back on so it’s done?”

  “No, it’s fine. The thing is – I don’t like it.”

  Alanna looked up. “How mysterious.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Are you going to leave it at that? And leave the knife out? And here you accuse me of having a death wish.” She shook her head with a grin. “Rude.”

  “It’s dangerous. And I don’t particularly want you doing it.”

  James had left the knife down on the bench, next to his clothes. Her reach was shorter than his, so she had to get up, her toes braving the icy stone floors once again. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but saw no movement that would suggest an intent to stop her. Knife in hand, she sat back down on the bed, twirling the knife easily with one hand. It was a heavy, well balanced blade.

  James listened to the sound of the knife slicing through the air, faster and faster. Until suddenly it stopped and the blade was across the cell, sitting in the exact center of the remaining loaf of bread. It was a nice trick, to go from spinning to aiming in a fraction of a second. But then, she had trained as a sniper. James remained relaxed, raising an eyebrow lazily as he looked at the knife resting in the defenseless loaf of bread. “Well all right, but now the bread will dry faster.”

  “I was making a point.”

  “What’s that, then?”

  “It’s a bit boring.”

  “Being a doctor?”

  “Yes.”

  “In time you’ll get to cut people up. You might like that.”

  “In a long time. And until then, it’s Alanna the traitor. The stupid traitor who’s going to school with teenagers.”

  “And if I tell you to do it?”

  “I will. I- I am alive by your word. I’m not in a position to complain about being bored.” She picked up her sandwich, somewhat guiltily. What the hell was she even doing?

  “How bored, exactly?”

  “What?”

  “How bored would you be?”

  “Going back to college to study to be a doctor? How long does that even take?”

  “At least three standard years, depending on how many of your credits transfer.”

  Alanna snickered under her breath at the thought of Tundra accepting Sarayan college credits. “I would need a year or so to prepare for the entrance exams, right?”

  “You could do it faster. Let’s say six months.”

  “If you tell me to do it, I will.” Alanna repeated.

  James noted that he was grinding his teeth and forced himself to stop. “If I tell you this other thing you can do, that is less boring, swear to me you will only do it when I agree. And if I tell you to stop, you will stop.”

  “Why?” Alanna asked, puzzled.

  “Because you might die.”

  “So? I can wait a few weeks or however long it takes you to get this” she waved at herself vaguely “out of your system. Once that’s done, why are you so worried? If I die doing what other Tundrans do, no one will blame you.”

  “Just swear.” James said, with what patience he could muster.

  “Fine, I swear. Tell me about the non-boring job.”

  “You’re a diver, aren’t you?

  “Of course.”

  “Probably to see all the rocks.”

  “All geology majors on Saraya are certified master divers.” She waited.

  James stared at the hilt of his knife and the loaf of bread underneath. “Cave diving is a job on Tundra.” He said slowly. “Both for exploration and search and rescue, after floods. We have drones and probes, of course. But wireless signals are unreliable in caves, especially underwater caves. For delicate or time sensitive tasks, humans are often sent. It’s not your planet, Alanna. It’s not your gravity. You are not a master diver on Tundra.”

  “But I could become one, couldn’t I? And not in five years.”

  “You will do as I say.” James said sharply.

  “Yes.”

  “This is not an either or. You will study to be a doctor unless you come up with something better that you can live with. Cave diving can be – call it a hobby, or a part time job. You can go on specific missions, sometimes. With my approval. Is that clear?”

  “Yes.”

  James got up to put away the remains of their meal before laying back down, suddenly exhausted. “Let’s get some sleep.” He offered.

  “You’re really staying?”

  “Yes.”

  “In a prison cell?” Alanna said pointedly.

  “Do you want me to go?”

  “No.” Alanna admitted. “But it really seems like you should.”

  “I’m staying.”

  For lack of any better ideas, Alanna lay back down by his side, soaking in the warmth and comfort that came with it.