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Chapter Twenty-Two

brIAR

This day has been so much fun that I can’t believe Lacie missed it.

After helping Kira and Carla clean up, I head toward the last dropship, only to stop and look around.

For most of the day off and on, I’ve had this feeling that something was wrong, but I just pushed it off as feeling guilty because I was given this chance to laugh and enjoy when so many others had perished.

BuK quietly walks next to me as he always escorts me back and forth to the dropships.

“ Briar , what are you looking for?”

“ Oh nothing, just a funny feeling, is all. I enjoyed our day together tremendously.” He leans down, and I kiss his cheek affectionately; this has become the norm for our evenings. I would love to take a few more liberties, but he seems hesitant, and I’m not going to push him.

“ I’ll see ya in the morning.”

“ Next rising, I will be here waiting for you.” He steps away, and I wave bye just as the ramp is rising.

Finding a seat, I close my eyes, concentrating on anything but what is happening right this second as I hate this up-and-down part.

Reliving the laughter of today, I can’t help but smile when the ship finally docks.

Skipping off the ramp, I head toward mine and Lacie’s room.

I’m anxious for her to tell me all about what happened between Eric and MeK this morning.

The door slides open, and I quickly see she isn’t in the main room.

Proceeding to the bathroom, I find she isn’t there either.

I stand there for a minute wondering what is keeping her, but she has to be on the ship somewhere.

Instead of waiting, I decide to fix us a snack so that we can veg out on my bunk later while we’re gossiping about today.

While the replicator is doing its thing, I step into the miracle ionizer before changing into something more comfortable.

When I get out a few minutes later, she still isn’t here, and now I’m getting impatient.

“ Hey ANDI , my love. Can you tell Miss Lacie to get her ass home? We have things to talk about.”

“ I would gladly do that for you, Mistress Briar , but it appears she is not on board.”

“ Are you sure?”

“ Yes , I have scanned every level twice.”

Pacing the floor, now I know something’s not right. “ Ok , I hate to ask you to do this, but can you contact Kira for me?”

“ Let me see if she is available.”

Moments later, Kira’s face appears on the main holo screen in our room. “ Briar dear, did you forget something?”

“ Yeah , I think it was Lacie . Did you see her again after MeK packed her off?”

“ No , I simply assumed she was with him.”

“ Well , she’s not here, and I have this horrible feeling.

Do you think the Commander could contact MeK and see if she’s there with him?

Me checking up on her like this will probably embarrass her to death, but I can’t go to sleep until I know she’s ok.

It’s not like her not to leave me a message or something, and I’ve tried to comm her several times. ”

“ Give me a second, dear. DaR is outside talking to KyT .”

Still pacing the floor, I wait for her to come back on the screen.

The Commander is the one who appears next. “ Briar , I need this holo module to contact MeK since he has returned to his main ship in orbit. So , give us a little bit to get back to you.”

“ Ok , but please don’t leave me hanging here.”

“ I will have ANDI notify you the moment we know something.” The screen goes blank.

“ ANDI , I need to get back down there.”

“ I will prepare a ship as soon as the Commander responds.”

Why do I have a feeling that it’s going to be too late?