Stolen Flyght – Chapter 10

“You have got to be kidding me.”

I stare at the photo Yan sent me and sigh. It’s me, but it’s not the me I’m used to. The Vivian in this photo has dark black, pixie short hair and charcoal blackened eyes. Pretty much the opposite of how I usually look. I don’t think I’ve ever worn the amount of eyeliner shown in this photo. I may not even own enough eye makeup to pull this off.

I run my fingers through my thinning hair, and I want to cry. I’ve never been a fan of my hair, but it looked fabulous after Marcelo got ahold of it. After that fateful spa day on Palo Alto, I would stare at it in the mirror and marvel over how my side-swept bangs made my face more heart-shaped and how the silky straight strands glowed in the sun.

I close my eyes and rest my forehead against the wall in Mat’s room on his ship. We only have a day before we’re due at Customs, and I need to make the changes to my appearance now. Jinzo’s hair is all gone again. He shaved it off this morning. Lia is the same since she’s never been in the news. I haven’t seen Gloria. She probably doesn’t give a shit about disguises.

Wish I could say the same.

“I can cut it,” Mat signs, accessing the same photo on his datapad. “I’m good with my hands.”

“You can say that again,” I purr, raising my eyebrows. He smiles, and his chest shakes with laughter. “Fine. You can cut it. I’m just… Please just ignore me if I cry.”

I love that he doesn’t say stupid things like ‘It’s just hair’ or ‘It’ll grow back.’ I’m not sure if he’s a ‘quiet’ man because he’s mute or he would be like this anyway if he had his voice. These are the things I think about and keep to myself. I never want to make Mat just about his disability.

He searches through the drawers of his cabin’s bathroom until he finds a pair of shears and drapes a towel around my neck.

I close my eyes until he’s done. Watching my hair disappear is too much for me right now. I’d like to bring out Sad or Depressed Vivian, but I locked them both away. Captain Vivian wouldn’t fret over hair, though, so I keep her in my thoughts.

Instead, with each snip of the scissors, I concentrate on the mission to come and my new identity I have to carry with me. I am Terri Parsons. I’ve been a mid-level botanist with the military for the last three years. I’ll be on Neve to do research on winter-hardy vegetation. This gives me access to most of the restricted areas. Jinzo is the same, but he’s one of my subordinates, which makes me chuckle. I’m sure Jinzo has never grown a plant ever in his life. Everything else, I can make up as I go along. I can try to be a ‘good liar,’ though I’m far from.

I can feel Mat is almost done by the lack of weight on my head. A few more minutes, Vivian.

It’s a long time in the dark with my own thoughts, wondering what we’ll find on Neve. Is it sinister? Or will it change humanity for the good? What if it’s nothing, and Renata Dellis has been wrong about the threat the military poses? What if we get there, and it’s like ten men sitting around knitting and having a nosh on some cookies?

That one actually makes me smile.

Will I make it back to Ossun in time for the auction? Will I make it out alive?

That question has been a favorite lately. I thought my life was at the edge of a cliff several times and still lived. Maybe I’m invincible?

Perhaps I shouldn’t push it too far, huh?

Mat taps on my shoulder, and I open my eyes to a totally new me. This is a person I don’t even recognize… and I don’t hate her.

“Good job not crying,” Mat signs, and it takes a moment to process his mirrored hands. I’ve never had to translate from a mirror. “I left it a little longer than the photo, so it looks like it’s growing out naturally.”

I turn my head side to side, grab the scissors and snip off pieces here and there that look out of place. “Thanks. Now I won’t have to spend five years growing my hair back. Maybe only three.”

“That’s an improvement.” His smirk is enough to light up a room.

I turn around to face him. “You can still say no. You can back out now. I can’t, but you can. Don’t take this opportunity for granted. I’ll find us some other way to get to Neve.”

“Please, Vivian. I committed to this path that first day we walked through the vineyards together. I knew right away.”

He trusted fate, even if I did not.

I should think it’s sweet that he was into me, even when I was unsure about him. I was doubtful he’d be a suitable fit, yet I still tried my hardest to bring us together for the sake of the farm. What was supposed to be a business arrangement turned into a lot more. The relationship will be better, too, if we can just spend time together when our lives or livelihoods aren’t on the line.

Mat’s door rings, and he answers it. Jinzo, Ken, and Gus are all in the hallway.

“It’s time to go over our plans before…” Jinzo’s voice trails off as he sees me.

“Oh no,” Ken says, sliding into the room and approaching me. He touches a few strands of hair and sighs. “Marcelo will not be happy about this.”

I smack his hand away. “No one is happy about this.”

“You look cute, Vivi.” Gus tilts his head to the side. “It’ll work for now.”

Mat waves them all in.

“I want to be the first to say goodbye.” Gus comes forward, wraps his arms around me and squeezes, cradling my head against his chest. “I’ll put you in cryofreeze, and then Ken and I will transfer back to his ship at the gate.”

Then he’ll return to the Lee home ship, where we’ll rendezvous later, and Ken will stick with his lawyers. We’re not sure of the military’s next move with the Amagi, so he’ll need to be ready at a moment’s notice.

I nod my head into Gus’s embrace. The plans are lodged in my memory. I’m glad Gus will be someplace far from the military. I don’t want them getting their filthy hands on him again.

“Are you ready?” he asks, grasping my wrist to find my pulse. “When did you last eat?”

“Ages ago.”

“Dinner last night,” Jinzo fills in. “Same here.”

“And you’ve been hydrating?”

“Yes.”

As Gus explained, a well-hydrated body tolerates the cold better than a dehydrated one.

“Okay, then. Let’s go to the cargo bay and get ready.”

I feel like I’m marching to my own funeral. The closer we get to the cargo bay, the more nervous I become. Nausea swishes through my belly, and I have to tamp down the desire to pee.

The two cryocontainers are open and ready for us, and my blood chills looking at them. Jinzo and I will be in one, and Gloria and Lia will be in the other.

I remember being relieved that I would never have to see Gai Reis or his cryocontainers again. But they keep coming and coming, like a mold that infects my crops over and over. I want to throw explosives into them and blow them to kingdom come.

Taking a deep breath, I release my anger and return to myself.

“Okay,” I say, turning to Mat. “You have the goods to make the switch?”

He nods. “There are five-thousand-credits worth of high-quality frozen steaks in the outer hull.”

“Put them there myself,” Jinzo says.

When ships go through a military checkpoint, they scan them for heat signatures and then conduct a search. With us in the cryocontainers and Mat being the only heat signature onboard, they won’t come looking for anyone else.

Once we land, Mat will have an hour or two before unloading in which to make the switch.

“And you’re sure you’ll have enough time to get us out and get the steaks in once you land?”

“It’ll be fine, Vivian. I have never entered the unloading queue with less than an hour of wait time.” His hands are confident, as is his smile.

Well, I suppose if I were to put on a list of twenty things that could go wrong on this mission, ranked from ‘worst ever’ to ‘not so bad,’ this would be at the bottom of the list. Mat has flown to Neve over two dozen times now, and he seems to know what he’s in for. I should trust him. I do trust him.

I look into his serious brown eyes, and I know right away he will give me my first child. These men will give me the children we need to carry on through this impending mess. The crowds outside of the Sakata City Town Hall come back to me, the shouts and chants of unhappy men. We’ll need more like-minded and tolerant people to fix the problems in our society. Understanding and helpful people, just like Mat.

Taking a step forward, I bring my hand to his cheek and pull him to me for a kiss. I let everything else around us fade out and concentrate on his lips, his breath, and his body. His arms wrap around me, and we fall into this kiss like it’s the last of a lifetime, but the first of many.

When our lips part, I sigh and hug him. “Thank you,” I whisper into his ear.

He lets me drift away from him and signs ‘thank you’ back. I have given him a second lease on life when other women rejected him.

Ken reaches for my hand. “Vivi, I’ve lost you once. Don’t make me go through it again. Please.”

Ken deserves a long goodbye of his own, but time is short now. I fold into his embrace and lose the shy behavior that tells me to hide this kiss away from the other guys. Ken was my first everything, and we started our relationship when I thought he was the only one for me. But now we’re part of a team.

His kiss is familiar but new, with an urgency that trumps all other feelings. He’ll be the farthest from me during this adventure, and I can tell that the thought bothers him. He’s excellent at making me forget my worries, even if his own problems are apparent in every breath he takes.

He’s the first to disengage. His lips hover over mine for a moment before he reins his emotions in and lets me go.

“I’ll be fine,” I say with a confidence that’s wholly faked. “Really, guys.” I look at Mat, Gus, Ken, and Jinzo. “We’re going to be fine. And we’ll all be together again in a few days.”

I reach for Jinzo at the same time he reaches for me, and I have a powerful urge to coast my fingers over his head. His hair is gone, and I miss it already, but I love the feel of his stubbled head. I could run my fingers over it all day.

“Ready?” he asks, looking as nervous as I feel. “Shall we get this part over with?”

I nod, my throat so closed up, it can’t produce sound anymore.

Before we get in, Gus has injections for us both. “This will help you fall asleep faster. But it’ll make you groggy when you’re thawed out.”

“Great,” I mutter.

“It’ll be like a really rough hangover.” Gus finds a vein and pricks my skin, pushing the plunger down on the syringe. “Sorry. But I think we should mitigate the trauma of freezing.”

I wish he hadn’t used the word ‘trauma.’ I wince as he removes the needle. He grabs a second syringe from his bag and moves onto Jinzo.

Jinzo and I both strip down naked and hand our clothes over to Ken while Gus gives us all the warnings again.

Don’t touch each other as we lose consciousness. Breathe slow and deep. Close our eyes to protect them against the frost. When we come to on the other side, try not to move too quickly. Be as still as possible until the warming drugs take ahold. This may take thirty minutes to an hour.

I find it funny and comforting at the same time that Gus, Ken, and Mat give Jinzo his space as he climbs into the cryocontainer. I’m sure if things were different, they’d all be naked at the hot springs like most men. But this is one of the few times they’ve all been together in the same room.

Why, universe? Why can’t my life be normal?

Jinzo shivers as he reaches for my hand to help me in, and I do not find that inviting whatsoever. Have I mentioned that I don’t care for the cold? I’m more of a summer sun, sand, and beach girl myself. My body shrinks in on itself as I step over the ledge to get in next to Jinzo.

The space inside is a lot tighter than I thought it would be. The last time I looked inside a cryocontainer, two little boys took up the available space. Not two adults. Jinzo and I hiss as we sit next to each other but facing in opposite directions so his feet are near my butt and vice versa.

“Do you want to lie down?” he asks, his teeth already chattering.

I nod and shake my head. “Yes, but no room.” My teeth chatter too, and the cargo bay above us twists, my head swimming with sedative.

“Okay. We’re closing it up,” Gus says, leaning over the edge. “Remember. Don’t panic. Deep breaths. The supplementary drugs are being added to the air mixture now.” He looks at us both, and his slight smile wavers through the drugs entering my system. “I love you both.”

Jinzo rests his head on his knees, curled in on himself to keep warm. I mirror him, keeping my eyes on him while the top closes over us.

Don’t panic? Was Gus kidding?

My heart races as the light dims and each centimeter of the ceiling disappears above me.

“Jin…” My voice cracks behind my chattering teeth.

“Vivi.” He takes my hand in his, even though we’re not supposed to touch.

The top of the cryocontainer groans as it shuts, taking the last of the light with it. The inside is pitch black, worse than the darkness of space.

“Jin!” Even though I’m breathing deeply, my lungs won’t fill with air. I’m suffocating!

“Vivi. Be… calm.” His icy fingers squeeze mine. “You’re… hyperventilating. Probably… pass out… soon.”

His words come slowly, haltingly. I wish I could see him.

“Oh, God. Oh, God.” My body shakes now, and my head spins. “Why did… did we…”

“Do this?”

“Hm.” I can’t even say words anymore.

“Love,” Jin says, releasing my fingers. “Love you. Love… the farm. Love Ken… Gus… Everyone.” He pauses for a long moment, and I think he’s passed out. “Love is worth it.”

The rush of sadness is so powerful, my body seizes in the cold, but I can’t even sob. That makes it worse.

“Love you, Jin… Don’t want…”

To die.

I let my body go.