Page 2 of Latham
“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked Latham in a quiet voice as she stepped onto the balcony. “Me either. I think the trip on the spaceship messed with my circadian rhythm.” And now I’m babbling. She hadn’t missed his appreciative glance at what she was wearing. Even in the dark he was good to look at too, clad in nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants. Bare from the waist up he was a marvel of cut muscles and six pack abs.
He did take one of the fruit drinks. “I don’t sleep much.” There was a pause as he took a long drink. “I was in the military, Special Forces. My last deployment didn’t…go well. It’s why I have trouble in crowded, noisy places.” Jaw clenched he added, “Sorry you got the fucked up Ardannan soldier in this deal. You deserve better.”
“Hey, we matched,” she said lightly, heart going out to him. “And we have five whole days. Why didn’t you request a more remote location? Fewer people, less noise. I’m sure I saw other options in their brochure.”
He shrugged. “We get the standard Ardannan package our government paid for, nothing special. I mean sure, there are a few bungalows here at the main resort located out of the way but I wasn’t lucky enough to draw one of them. Word is they were reserved for higher ranking types anyway. And I’d still be dealing with the crowds. I’ll cope—I’m used to controlling my PTSD episodes. Just, if you hear me shouting in my sleep, don’t try to wake me up, okay?”
“You got it.”
He rose. “I’m turning in. Thanks for the drink.”
Helaine watched him go, feeling all kinds of sorry for the man. There had to be something she could do to salvage the week though or else she could see she’d be enjoying the beach and all the other amenities on her own, which wasn’t the point. Eating her snacks, she pondered her choices. Latham appealed to her and his deep voice sent shivers of the best kind up her spine. At home she was known for being tireless in pursuit of solutions so it was time to solve this before the week was over.
* * *
Next morning she knocked on Latham’s bedroom door bright and early. “Breakfast is here and we have an appointment at the admin center when they open at nine.”
After a moment he cracked the door open, regarding her with sleepy eyes, adorably mussed and confused. “I’m sorry—what?”
“I ordered the entire breakfast menu because you look like a big eater and I made an appointment for us to go request a change in our location. There’s not much time if you wanted to get a shower after we eat but the admin center is right behind the hotel here.” She walked away to the small table where the room service robo had deposited the massive meal she’d ordered and sat.
Latham emerged from his room in the gray sweatpants but had added a tight fitting t-shirt emphasizing his bulging biceps and joined her. “This is quite a spread,” he said, surveying the bounty on the table.
She waved her teacup at him. “I figured it takes a lot of calories to keep all those muscles in shape.”
“I work out,” he informed her. “And while patrolling the back country I get a lot of exercise. And all you’re having is what, a bacon sandwich?” He seated himself and loaded his plate with eggs and hash browns, grinding pepper over the whole selection.
“Eight slices of bacon, the way I like it,” she said, not prepared to defend her choice. “How’s your head?”
“Much better, thanks. I got a few hours of good sleep which helped too.”
There was silence for a bit as they both dug into the breakfast but then Latham asked, “What are we going to Admin for exactly?”
“I found a spot in the fine print where guests can ask to be moved to a different location for health reasons,” she said. “So if the staff can give us accommodations in a more remote spot, that’ll help you, right?”
“I appreciate your effort on this but?—”
“No harm in asking,” she said. “I was going over the facilities they have here on Resort Planet, not all of which are fully operational yet, by the way and I found a few I think you’d definitely prefer. By the ocean but not with the masses of other people and no clubs. More rustic. Good for a ranger, yes? And I’m flexible.”
That got her a smile, which Helaine found took her breath away. Latham was handsome all the time but when he smiled and there were crinkles around his eyes and his lips curved up, he was devastating. She wondered again if all the Ardannans were this good looking.
“All right, I’ll tag along to this meeting but don’t get your hopes up. I told you Ardanna only paid for a basic, standard package.”
Chapter Two
Mindy, the IDA functionary who met with them in her tiny, sunlit office, was sympathetic, especially when Helaine emphasized Latham’s status as a veteran and the fact crowds and noise bothered him. He shifted in his chair uncomfortably but didn’t speak up to minimize the concern.
“Stars, I can see this isn’t the best situation,” Mindy said, clicking in and out of files on her desk data unit. “It’s going to be crowded here all week too, with this big contingent of Ardannans and their dates from the Sectors. Let me see if we have anything I can offer.” Her voice trailed off and she studied the readouts in front of her. “Oh this is promising,” she said in a bright voice. “I do have one vacancy at a remote site, Corleon Cove.”
A holo appeared on the desk in front of her and Helaine and Latham leaned closer. There were bungalows on stilts over a shimmering aquamarine ocean, with a white sand beach nearby.
“We’re running other charters this week as well as the Ardannan one,” Mindy said. “Although obviously that one is the biggest and our highest priority. A corporation rented all ten bungalows here at the cove and they’re doing a corporate team building retreat. But a few of their personnel cancelled at the last minute and I do have one bungalow empty. No extra charge. I’m sure the other group wouldn’t bother you—they have a full schedule of activities. Now the cove is isolated but there’s a pretty beach as you can see, diving, snorkeling, fishing, hiking and just plain relaxing. Each bungalow is fully stocked with meals in the stasis keeper for the week. We fly you to the access point, you hike the last little bit and then on the morning of day six a boat will arrive to pick you up and get you back here in time to depart on your spaceship as scheduled.” She sat back in her chair and spread her hands. “What’s not to love? If you want a destination away from the crowds.”
“Sounds perfect,” Helaine said. Maybe too perfect – there had to be a catch. She checked with Latham.
“It’s your decision,” he said. “Although it does sound good.”
“We’ll take it.”
