Page 14 of Bradi

Chapter Five

Marisa opened her heavy eyelids slowly and looked up to find Bradi staring out the window. “Great, so it wasn’t a dream, was it?” Sitting up, she adjusted herself. Her clothes were wrinkled and she noticed that her boots were off. Glancing at Bradi to ask him about it, she saw the look of shock on his face. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m so sorry, Doc. I thought you were awake. I did not know… I wouldn’t have…”

Marisa blinked a few times in an attempt to clear her head. “Of course I was awake. I don’t run around a ship that’s blowing up with my eyes closed.”

“Right, you were talking about the ship exploding and being a smartass before. I knew that.” The tension in Bradi’s body seemed to leave him. It was a shame. She really enjoyed watching the muscles in his thick neck move.

Surprised by her own lustful thoughts, Marisa stood quickly, her body feeling totally and completely rejuvenated. She hadn’t felt this good in years. As her gaze went to the arm with the knife wound, she paused, lifting her tattered uniform shirt and seeing only smooth skin.

She gasped. She’d healed herself? Had Bradi seen it happen?

She watched him, looking for a sign that he’d seen her do the impossible. None came.

“Shouldn’t we have landed on Margaidia by now? We weren’t that far from it and the PODs were set to make—” She stopped talking when she noticed the forlorn look upon his face. “Lieutenant Commander?”

His blue gaze found her and she drew in a breath under the weight of them. “Buckle up, sweetie. We’re about to enter Sargaidia’s atmosphere. And you can call me Bradi, Doc. I think you’ve earned it.”

Earned it?

“You mean Margaidia, right?”

He grabbed hold of her waist and set her down in the POD seat. Ignoring her protests, he buckled her in anyway. “Janelle? What’s going on?”

He climbed into the control seat and buckled himself in as well. The POD thumped hard against an unseen force and she screamed out. Bradi’s eyebrows went up as if to say, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Another scream caught in her throat as he lifted the protective visor, allowing her a full view of what was before them.

Shades of red, green and blue were everywhere. Although Marisa had only been off Earth a few times in her life, she knew enough about landings to know that something wasn’t right. “Bradi, aren’t we going a bit fast?”

“You can say that again.”

“W-What?”

“Nothing. Umm, the POD’s controls froze for a bit. I barely got them up and running before we got trapped in the planet’s atmosphere.” He pulled hard on the steering shift as the POD began its rapid descent.

Marisa’s stomach lurched as the bottom seemed to drop out from under them. The speed at which they were traveling would most definitely kill them upon landing. She said a silent prayer under her breath and reached out for comfort. Finding Bradi’s arm, she settled and held tight. Something about the man made her feel safer.

*

Bradi risked a quick glance at Marisa and saw her reaching out for him. He thought it was to punch him, and was surprised when she not only laid her hand on him, but gave him a gentle squeeze too. His loins burned again to be buried in her and he shifted awkwardly in the seat.

You’re about to die here, buddy, he thought to himself, stealing a glance down toward his cock. Do you think you could get your head in the game and off her for a moment?

The red sea that bordered the jungle came into focus and Bradi cursed himself for not figuring out a way to land the POD sooner. He’d misjudged and thought that if he waited another hour, they’d be closer to the inhabited compounds of the planet and closer to help. He’d been wrong.

“Janelle, tell me it’s going to be okay again,” Marisa said, squeezing his arm more and breaking his heart in the process. “Please tell me that. I need to hear you say it. I trust you and need to—”

Against his better judgment, Bradi gave in to what she needed to hear, all the while wishing she’d call him by his first name. “It’ll be okay, baby. I promise.”

Marisa’s grip on him tightened and he looked into her green eyes just as the sea greeted them.

*

Marisa lifted her head slowly, unsure if she was alive or dead. By the nasty crick in her neck, she was guessing alive. A deep cough caught her attention and she looked over to find that she and Bradi were still strapped into the POD. Blood-red water surrounded the POD.

“Janelle, how bad are you hurt?” He didn’t answer. She unfastened her seatbelt and willed her stiff body to move to him. She couldn’t get a good angle and ended up partially on him. Placing her hand on her head, she activated her embedded chip. “Diagnostics scan.”

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