Chapter 2

Straker spent most of the next day topside at the studio.  He wasn’t avoiding the colonel – exactly.  He just needed some distance to get his thoughts back into some kind of order.  Whatever had happened in his office last night had obviously not meant what he had thought it meant.  He knew that for certain this morning when the security detail gave him their report.  Col. Lake was fine, her home had checked out and was fine, and nothing at all had threatened her during the night.  He felt more foolish than anything else.  Rushing to her side like some damned cowboy in a bad western.  He was lucky she hadn’t called security – on him! 

What had that visitation meant?  Had it been Craig – or something else altogether?  Had he only dreamt it?  Or should he be worried about a similar occurrence in the future?  He’d already heard from the security team who’d taken apart his HQ office this morning.  He’d told them nothing – except to do it.  Their report an hour ago gave him the all-clear that there had been no tampering with anything in his office.  It should have relieved him to know that at least that possibility had been ruled out.  Instead, it made him nervous.

He couldn’t quite shake the twitch he kept feeling between his shoulder blades.

Eventually he made his way past the back lots to where a small secluded park hid among the trees.  He’d included it in the original specs of the studio grounds when they began building fifteen years ago, thinking it might come in handy to have a place to unwind when he couldn’t quite get away from things.  But even he had not realized how much he would use that small oasis of quiet over the years as the demands of his job became more and more difficult.

He came out of the surrounding trees and approached the stream, walking onto the wooden bridge that spanned it and leaning on the rail.  Here he could think – could get past the pressures of his position and the demands for his time.  And here he might be able to get the image of Craig’s distraught face out of his mind long enough to figure out what it all meant.  Craig had once been one of his closest friends, going way back to when they both had been in the astronaut training program.  He’d never really gotten over the loss of that friendship after his friend had come back after being shot down by a UFO.  Craig had been changed by the aliens into a terrible machine with one goal: to kill his old friend.  Even knowing the truth of it, even seeing the emptiness in those eyes as they’d fought thousands of miles above the planet in the silent void of space, Straker still had times when he wondered if he’d done the right thing when he’d ended Craig’s life for good.

He ran a weary hand over his face and sighed, knowing that today was not the day to bring all that back to mind.  Today he had to find out why Craig had contacted him.  If it had been Craig and not just some bizarre twisted dream.  He’d looked like his old self in the office, dressed casually as he used to do – in spite of regulations sometimes.  But Craig had always been a laid back kind of guy.  Not everyone’s cup of tea, especially those like Col. Grey who did everything by the book.  But Straker had always enjoyed Craig’s casual approach to life, often wishing he himself could be that carefree.  The only thing out of place last night had been his expression, which was what had alarmed the commander most.  Craig rarely ever got agitated about anything.  But when he’d appeared to Straker last night, he’d been worried – distressed even.  And that uncharacteristic emotion in his face had made his friend react instinctively to help in any way he could. 

But Virginia had been fine.  And in no danger either then or later in her own home.  So if she wasn’t who Craig had been referring to, then there must be someone else.  Someone he thought his old buddy Ed might know about.  Someone his commander might be able to help, since Craig no longer could.  Straker rubbed his eyes to ease the headache that sat right there behind them. Hell if he knew who his old friend had meant! 

“Damn it, Craig!” he whispered fiercely.  “Give me a clue – something to go on!  I can’t help if I don’t know where to look, can I?”

Suddenly he stiffened, certain that he was no longer alone in the park.  Since no one ever came here, he had no idea who it might be.  He turned swiftly from where he stood leaning against the railing –

and saw Col. Lake watching him quietly from the pathway.  He stared at her for a long moment in complete shock, unsure if she was really there or his mind was seeing things again.  Then she spoke.

“Am I interrupting?”

Straker realized that she must have heard him talking to someone who wasn’t there.  He flushed slightly, but managed to say with a semblance of his normal calm, “Not at all.  Was there something you wanted?”

She took her courage in both hands and came forward to stand near him on the bridge.  He looked haggard close up, as if he hadn’t slept well.  Virginia sighed.  Well, that made two of them.  “I was thinking about what you said last night – about Craig.”

He shook his head.  “I’m sorry for bothering you.  I had no intention of hurting you by bringing up the past.  I misunderstood what he was telling me.  If he was telling me anything.  If I was even awake.”

He sounded so discouraged that she almost let the matter drop.  But then she remembered how upset he’d been when he’d burst into her office, and she said, “When I woke this morning and realized that he couldn’t have meant that he was worried about me – because obviously I’m okay – then I thought that perhaps he might have meant another person.  Did he mention me by name?”

His blue eyes searched her grey ones a long time before he spoke.  “Tell me something.  Do you really believe that I saw Craig Collins in my office last night?”

She kept her eyes on his as she answered.  “I believe that you believe you did.  And that’s enough for me.”

His eyes dropped away from hers as he sighed.  “No, he didn’t mention you by name.  I just assumed that he was talking about you.”

“Why was that?”

He could hardly tell her that he’d been dreaming before Craig had intruded, so his mind had been on her.  “Because you were the last woman who was close to him before . . . before he died.”

“Is it possible that he could have meant a different woman?  What about his ex-wife?  Did you contact her to see if she was alright?”

He stared at her.  “What?  Craig was married?”

“Yes,” she said, frowning slightly.  “I guess I thought you knew.”

“No.  He never mentioned it.  I wonder why?”

“Well, you met him in astronaut training, right?”

“Yes.”

She nodded as if that explained everything.  “His wife left him just before he entered the program.  She told him that he loved outer space more than he loved her.  It’s one of the reasons why he never got close to anyone after that.  He didn’t want them to come between him and his work again.”

“Until you,” he said quietly.  “What made you different?”

Virginia shrugged.  “I guess because I didn’t threaten his work.  And he could talk to me.  Just like I could talk to him.”

He would have liked very much to pursue that line of conversation, but more important questions intruded.  “Do you know her name?”

“No.  He always called her Sissy, which I’m assuming was his pet name for her.  But I’m sure it’s in his records.  Shall I look it up for you?”

“Will that be a problem for you?”

She stared at him for a moment before she realized what he meant.  He wasn’t asking if she didn’t want to be bothered to check Craig’s records.  He was asking if it would hurt her to check them.  Her heart ached anew at his instinctive concern for her feelings.  Those who thought him a cold man had no idea just how wrong they were.  But the women at SHADO knew the truth.  Their commander was a giant among men.

“No, sir,” she answered once she’d swallowed the lump in her throat.  “I don’t mind.”

“Very well,” he said, suddenly very brisk.  “See if you can find out where she is these days.”  He frowned for a moment, then said, “It’s doubtful that she ever moved out of the States, so it may be necessary for me to go there to check on her.  Would you be willing, Colonel . . . to accompany me?”

His blue eyes were bland when she met them, but she knew he was hiding some deep emotion behind that careful mask.  She answered without hesitation.  “Of course, sir.  I’ll let you know as soon as I find out anything.”

As she turned to leave the park, he said, “Thank you.”

And she knew he meant it for more than just the records.

Chapter 4

“Sheep,” he said disdainfully.

Virginia choked back a laugh at his tone and turned to look at him as he drove past the field.  “Well, this is the Midwest,” she said.  “At least they’re not cows.”

His only response was a grunt, which she supposed meant that he agreed that it was some consolation.  She continued, “One fourth of the population of Ohio live in rural areas.  That’s a lot of farms.”

“I’m trying to imagine Craig associating with a farmer,” he said with a wry smile.

She burst out laughing before she caught herself.  Her cheeks were slightly pink when she answered him.  “I doubt that he did.  He was from the South, not Ohio.”

His blue eyes met hers for a moment.  “There are farms in the South too,” he said, as though he was referring to a plague.

She grinned.  “They’re called plantations below the Mason-Dixon line, you know.  More civilized.”

He gave a small grunt at that, then blandly said with a sidelong glance, “Of course, I suppose I should be glad we’re not in the mountains.”

Since she had been raised in the Appalachians herself, she knew he was laughing at her.  And she did something she never would have considered doing in her life.  She stuck her tongue out at him. 

She was immediately appalled at herself for behaving so childishly in front of her commanding officer, but he merely chuckled, obviously enjoying himself immensely.  She forgave him for baiting her only because it was so rare to see him this relaxed.  “Well, what would a New Englander know about farming anyway?” she sniffed in pretended haughtiness.  “They’re all fishermen there.”

He chuckled again, sending his fascinating smile her way.  “Lobsta, ma’am,” he said with a strong New England accent, tipping an imaginary cap at her.  “Mebbe even crab.  Not fish.”

She often forgot what an incredible actor he was.  But then, she was rarely in the studio.  Her work kept her in HQ for the most part.  “If I didn’t know better,” she said in mock-scorn, hiding her grin.  “I’d think you were raised on a lobster boat.”

He laughed at that, his blue eyes sparkling.  “If I had my way, I would have been,” he said unexpectedly.  “I was constantly running off as a kid to join the lobster boats as they hauled in their catch.  My mother despaired of me.”

She tried to imagine it – and failed.  “Don’t they go out very early?  What would you be doing up at that hour?”

“Are you kidding?” he asked.  “We’re talking adventure here!  The ocean!  The catch!  The spice of life!”  He gave a luxurious sigh.  “The wonder is that I got any sleep at all.”

She gave him a long look.  “My condolences to your mother,” she said drily. 

He grinned.

“What did your father have to say about it?” she asked, curious to hear these tidbits from his childhood.

“He preferred to ignore the entire situation,” he said, his smile fading.  “Such goings-on were beneath a Straker’s dignity, after all.”

She was sorry to see him lose the sparkle in his eyes.  “Well,” she said.  “At least your
father had some dignity.  I don’t think my father has even worn a tie in his entire life!”

He supposed it was perverse of him, but he adored it when she was exasperated.  He grinned at her and said, “It’s a wonder either of us turned out civilized, isn’t it?”

She flashed a grin back at him before sobering.  “Civilized behavior cannot be overrated,” she told him sternly.  But her expressive grey eyes twinkled.

“So, is this address a farm or a house?” he asked as they entered a tiny village composed of a gas station, a bar, and a mercantile all crowded around a corner.

She checked her sheet.  “It’s a house – in the next town, I think.  Some of these places aren’t on the map.”

“I’m not surprised,” he said sarcastically, glancing disparagingly at the city limit sign as they passed.

Her grin flashed once more.  “It’s hard to believe some people actually prefer to live way out here in the middle of nowhere.”

“It is,” he agreed.  “It really is.”

* * *
Virginia noticed after a while that the commander’s mood had changed.  His eyes still watched the road, but their gaze was distant, as if he were looking inward rather than outward.  His lips had firmed to a narrow line, which told her his thoughts were probably not exactly pleasant, and his hands – at all times his most telling feature – had tightened on the wheel.

“Worried?” she asked quietly.

He stirred and glanced her way.  “Not at all,” he assured her confidently, settling into leadership mode automatically.

She wanted to smack him.  She much preferred the vulnerable man she’d glimpsed on the jet, or even the ornery one she’d spoken to earlier.  When he put on his hero mask, he became untouchable.  She firmed her lips and tried again.  “Then nothing’s bothering you?”

He met her determined gaze, then looked back out the windshield.  His hands tightened momentarily on the steering wheel, then he sighed.  “Two things,” he said tersely.

“Alright,” she said, hiding her relief that he could still be reached.  “Number one?”

His fingers flexed again.  “I’m unsure how to approach her.  We can’t just announce ourselves as friends of Craig.  She divorced him, after all.  If she’s anything like most divorcees, she hates his guts and certainly won’t be disposed to talk to us.”

She realized he was speaking from personal experience more by his tone than anything else.  He never spoke about his ex-wife, and she had always assumed by his complete silence on the subject that his divorce had left a bitter taste in his mouth.  Apparently with reason, if his ex-wife was anything like what he was describing.  “We’ll have to play it by ear,” she said.  “Was she notified when he died?”

He frowned.  “No.  I don’t think so.  It certainly wasn’t mentioned in any of the reports I read.  I’d have contacted her myself if I’d known about her.”

“Then we can simply say that it’s taken this long to track her down.  It’s not that unusual, you know.  Especially since they’ve been divorced for so many years.”

He considered it.  “That may work,” he finally said, and gave her a glance of approval.

“And number two?” she asked briskly to cover her slight blush.

He sighed.  “How are we going to find out if she’s in any trouble?  She’s definitely not going to open up to a couple of strangers about anything that might be bothering her.”

She frowned in thought.  “Well, most worries are financial, aren’t they?  Can we offer her some assistance?  A check from his life insurance or something, then see how relieved she looks?”

He lifted a shoulder irritably.  “I already planned on doing that,” he muttered.

She almost smiled at his annoyance.  He hated to have his generosity noticed.  She wondered for a moment just how large a check he planned on giving Craig’s ex-wife?

Straker shook his head.  “I don’t think it’s going to be something as mundane as finances.  When Craig came to me, he was distraught.  Completely upset.  You knew him, so you have to be aware that he was never like that.  So whatever the problem is, it’s going to be something big.  And I just don’t see how we’re going to be able to find out what it is.”  His mouth tightened.  “Unless we’re too late, of course.”

* * *
But the house they pulled up to twenty minutes later looked amazingly normal.  Boring even.  It was a small ranch-style home sided in a nondescript grey with a tiny overhang over the front stoop.  The surrounding houses lining the street all appeared to be stamped out of the same mold, and the look Virginia exchanged with her commander as they got out of the car showed how completely they were in accord with their feelings.  It was so banal here it was almost surreal.  Even the row of tulips under the front window added to the unreality rather than detracting from it.

He knocked purposefully at the front door, and she was glad suddenly that she wasn’t the one in charge of this mission.  It had been odd enough to come all this way to help a ghost – even the ghost of a friend.  But she definitely felt out of her element in this small town neighborhood, and had to forcibly hold herself back from scooting closer to his calm strength.

But when the door opened, all thoughts on the oddness of the situation fled, replaced by shock.  The woman who stood there so insolently sure of herself was far too young to have ever been Craig’s wife, and her ripped jeans and faded concert t-shirt – not to mention the small ring in one nostril – were not the garb of anyone Craig would ever have associated with.  Virginia swiftly rechecked the house number, certain they had gone to the wrong house by mistake.  But next to her, the commander suddenly stiffened, and she looked closer at the girl to see what he’d noticed that she hadn’t.

Then she saw it.  Beneath untidy bangs dyed a flat black stared a pair of blue eyes the exact shade of Craig’s.   

Chapter 6

When she knocked on the connecting door of their suite, he answered it absently.  He let her in without a word, then returned to the side of the bed where he’d obviously been working on something, because he sat down and picked up the notepad lying next to him and immediately went back to whatever he’d started as if she wasn’t there.  Virginia knew that abstracted look well, so she wasn’t offended by his lack of attention.  He was thinking.

And when the commander thought, incredible things happened.

She wandered over to the windows and looked outside at the surrounding town.  She would have preferred to look her fill at her superior officer, who had shed his Nehru jacket, leaving him lean and sexy in just a turtleneck and slacks.  But she had trained herself over the past several years not to stare at him, so she contented herself with the view outside.

It wasn’t a bad town.  In many ways, it might actually be considered pretty.  But she couldn’t imagine growing up here in such stifling suburbia.  Margaret had done well, she thought, in staying true to herself in spite of such a restrictive environment.  Her appearance might be slightly outlandish, but it was certainly uniquely her – which was the whole point of the matter, after all.  Virginia thought that Craig would have been very proud of his daughter.  It wasn’t fair that he’d never gotten the chance to know her.

She felt him near before she saw him, turning slightly as he came up beside her at the window.  “You okay?” he asked her quietly, concern darkening his eyes.

His solicitude always undid her, so she nodded instead of answering, trying to swallow the sudden lump in her throat.

He sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets.  “It wasn’t quite what we were expecting, was it?”

“No.  But in a way, it was actually better.  I liked her.  Did you?”

“Yes.  Very much.  She’s definitely her father’s daughter.”

She smiled.  “I was just thinking how proud he would have been of her.”

“It was so kind of you to give her your picture of him.”

She shrugged, trying not to be moved that he mentioned it.  “She needs it more than I do.”

He admired her profile a moment in the late afternoon sun.  “Will you tell me what’s bothering you?”

She met his eyes in surprise.  “I – I guess all of this has made me rethink some things.”

“In what way?” he asked quietly.

“Well, for one thing, I’ve never believed in ghosts.  I mean, I’m a scientist.  Dead is dead, right?  But now I’m forced to realize that I was short-sighted to see it like that.  Craig never met his daughter – wasn’t even told that she existed.  But he came to you to get help for her.  There’s little doubt that it was her he meant, is there?”

“No doubt at all,” he said firmly.

“Well, then.   You see?”

“Accepting that ghosts might actually be real isn’t what’s upsetting you.  What is?”

She pressed her lips together, then said, “It’s just that – my mother died when I was very young.  My memories of her are pretty vague: the smell of her perfume, the feel of her hand through my hair.  Little things like that.  Sometimes . . . sometimes over the years, when things have been particularly awful, or even when they’ve been especially wonderful, I could sense her with me.  Smell her perfume or feel her hand on my shoulder.  I always shrugged it off, discounted it – assumed it was just my overactive imagination running away from me.”

She lifted tear-drenched eyes to his.  “And now . . . now I’m realizing that maybe she was really there.  All those times I needed her – she was actually there.  And I pushed her away!”

He took her into his arms as she broke, comforting her as she sobbed against his shirt.  When she quieted, he released her and brought her a handkerchief from his luggage.

She chuckled as she took it and wiped her eyes.  “You’re going to run out of these at this rate.”

He grinned at her.  Trust Virginia to bounce back quickly.  “I have extra.”

“I’m sorry,” she said with a sigh, sitting on a chair at the small table nearby.  “I seem to have turned into a watering pot during this mission.”

“Well,” he said calmly as he sat across from her.  “It’s not been an easy one for either of us.”

She glanced at him in surprise.  “Really?”

He looked away out the window for a moment before meeting her eyes once more.  “I do understand how you feel.  My mother died when I was twelve.  But there have been many times since then when I’ve felt her presence nearby.  I’ve never been able to explain it.  I certainly never told anyone about it.  At times, I suppose I even wondered if I was going crazy.  But even then, I never wanted it to stop happening.”

She laid her hand over his on the table.  “No.  It would be worse than anything if it stopped.”

After a while, she withdrew her hand and said, “I wonder if Margaret has felt her father’s presence this past year?”

“It may have alarmed her before she realized who it must have been.”

“She strikes me as pretty quick.  I don’t think it would have frightened her for long.”

“I hope you’re right,” he said.  “She certainly seems to have more of Craig than just his looks.”

“I know,” she said, turning to meet his eyes.  “Did you see that gizmo she has?  Pretty advanced tinkering, if you ask me.”

His wry smile appeared, catching at her heart.  “It’s what he did best.  And it seems as if she’s taken after him.  Those equations of hers!”

Virginia nodded.  “I know.  I only got a glimpse of them, but they looked way out there.  Theoretical physics was my strong point, but they seemed even beyond me from the little I saw.”

He went to the bed and returned with the notepad.  “Here.  Take a closer look.”

She accepted the pad and glanced at it.  Then at him.  “Are these right?”

One eyebrow rose sardonically.  “I’m known for my photographic memory.”

She pointed to one of the equations.  “This one.  How in the hell did she reach that conclusion?  And this one here.”  She tapped another one.  “I’ve never seen anything like this.  What on Earth is she designing?”

Straker leaned back in the chair contemplatively.  “It looked to me like some kind of communication device.”

“Yes.  It did to me, as well.  But – this!”  She gestured to the notepad.

He sat forward suddenly and said, “It would be interesting to find out who she’s trying to communicate with.”

Virginia grimaced.  “Well, I doubt very much if she’ll tell us.  She seems just a bit paranoid about it.”

“You noticed that too?”  He rubbed his chin for a brief moment, then met her eyes squarely.  “Maybe you should try talking to her friend.  He’d probably tell you his life story, if you give him the chance.”

She bit back a grin, pleased that he appreciated a few of her not-quite-respectable talents.  But then, he was known to be rather ruthless himself upon occasion.  “I don’t think that would work well in the long run, however.  She’s bound to find out that he talked.”

“Right.”  He stood up and stretched.  “Well.  There’s always Plan B.”

She was trying hard not to drool.  “Oh?  And what’s Plan B?”

He flashed her a grin.  “I’ll tell you at dinner.  I’m famished!”  He went to the bedside table and got a menu. “Hungry?”

“I could eat.”

He started to hand her the menu, but she waved it away.  “I’ll just have whatever you’re having,” she said.  In truth, being constantly in his presence was making her very hungry – but not for food.  She heard him speak to the concierge on the phone, ordering their dinner, but she didn’t pay attention to the words.  His voice had a richness to it that made her knees weak, and it would have shamed her if she wasn’t fully aware that nearly every other female he worked with reacted the same way.  She glanced back through the equations he’d written down, trying to focus once more on important things – things that wouldn’t get her into trouble.

After a few minutes, she grabbed his pen and began making notes.

Straker hung up the phone, but didn’t go back to the table.  Instead, he simply sat on the edge of the bed and watched her for a while.  He loved the intent look she got when she was working.  He often wondered what it would be like if she ever focused all that brilliance on him? 

Devastating, he supposed.  It would be absolutely devastating.

She glanced up just then and caught him watching.  Those goddess eyes of hers snared him without any difficulty at all, and he found it impossible to look away. 

She often equated the color of his eyes with the crystal clear skies of her childhood, high in the mountains where nothing could taint that blue.  She lost herself for a time in his gaze, but eventually came back to Earth when she got dizzy from holding her breath.  She blinked and looked down at the notepad, blushing and achingly aware of the silence in the room.  Why didn’t he say something?  Anything?

Then he did.

“I’ve been curious about something for some time now,” he said meditatively.

His voice was like a caress against her heated skin, and she had to swallow before she could respond.  “Oh?  What is that?”

He leaned forward, resting his hands on the coverlet.  “Would you have married him?  If none of what happened had happened – if everything had been fine – would you have?”

She shook her head.  “No.  Of course not.”

He frowned.  “Why not?”

She watched her fingers idly twirl his pen.  “Well, for many reasons.  First of all, he wouldn’t have asked me.”

He was so surprised by her answer that his jaw dropped.  “That’s – nonsense!  Of course, he would have!”

She met his eyes fleetingly, then looked back at the pen in her hands.  “No.  I don’t think so.  Maybe, if things had gone on the way they were heading, we might have become lovers.  But marriage?  I’m pretty sure the thought never crossed his mind.  It certainly didn’t cross mine.”

“I thought you were lovers.”

She grimaced.  “I think everyone assumed that.  After all, he was a known flirt, and I was a known ice queen.  If we were together, it had to be about sex, didn’t it?”

He leaned back against the headboard, his mind reeling.  “Then what was it about?”

She sighed.  “I told you.  He made me laugh.  And often, he made me think.  He had quite a keen mind behind that dashing face of his.  We used to argue higher planes of existence for hours.”

He found himself smiling.  “It was his favorite topic.”

She met his eyes and smiled sadly.  “Yes, it was.”

“What other reasons?”

“What?”

He sat up.  “You said there were other reasons why you wouldn’t have gotten married.”

“Oh.”  She sighed and put down the pen, running a hand through her hair in a gesture so weary it made his throat close.  “See, I realized something today.  When Margaret told us when her mother died, I suddenly knew why Craig asked me out that first time.  I’d always wondered.  I mean, we’d worked together for years.  Why then and not before?  What made that day so special?”

“You think he knew that Cecilia had died?”

“Yes.  I think it wasn’t until he knew she was beyond his reach forever, beyond any hope of a reconciliation, that he even considered moving on.  And even then, he wasn’t ready yet for anything other than being friends.  He never stopped loving her.  I should have realized it, I suppose.  Men are usually all too ready to tell you about their exes.  More than you ever want to hear, in fact.  But Craig rarely said anything.  It was a dead giveaway, and I should have seen it.”

“Not necessarily,” he said quietly.

She frowned at him.  “Not necessarily what?”

He grimaced.  “Sometimes they don’t speak, because their marriage was such an unmitigated disaster that there really isn’t anything to say.  It might have been that way with him.”

Her heart skipped a beat.  Was he saying what it sounded like he was saying?  Was he finally – and for the first time ever – telling her something about his marriage?  “I – I guess so,” she said.  “There’s no way to know for certain now.”

“I suppose not,” he agreed, getting off the bed.  “But I’ll tell you what I do know.”

“What’s that?” she asked as he came over to where she sat.

“That for all his genius and charm, he was an utter fool.”

She gasped.  “Why – ?”

He leaned over her chair.  “Because he should have taken every moment he was with you to tell  you how special you were!  How much it meant to him just to have you around.  Your smiles.  Your laughter.  Your brilliant mind.  Instead, he wasted his time!  All of it!”  He ran his hands across her cheeks and into her hair, bringing her to her feet and up against his hard body.  His eyes burned like blue fire, searing all the way to her soul.  “He was a fool!” he muttered fiercely.

And kissed her.

She couldn’t have moved if her life depended on it.  She felt as if a lightning bolt had struck, blasting her apart at an atomic level and leaving only a shimmering awareness where she’d been.  Then the kiss deepened, and she moaned, finding out that she could move after all.  Her hands gripped his strong shoulders for support, then plunged into his luxurious hair.  Her body molded to his as though it had been made for it.  And all the while, he devoured her with his lips while his hands caressed her scalp.

When he finally drew back and looked at her, she slowly opened her eyes and smiled.  “Ed,” she sighed.

His breath – uneven to begin with – caught in his throat.  He nipped at her lips.  “Say that again,” he urged.

“What?” she asked, bombarded by a torrent of wild kisses.

“My name,” he murmured, racing his lips along her jawline.  “Say my name.”

“Ed,” she said obediently, somewhat bewildered. 

He groaned and attacked her throat.  “Again!”

“I’ve said it before,” she told him breathlessly, drowning in sensation.

“No,” he argued, giving in to the need to bite her earlobe.  “Not to me.”

“Oh!” she sighed, too dizzy to care.  “Well, maybe you’re right.”

“I know I am.”  His wicked grin flashed just before he took her mouth again.  This time his hands raced down her body, molding it to him even closer than before.  He groaned again, certain that if he didn’t get her naked soon, he would explode into fragments so small that they would never be found.

There was a knock at the door, then a voice calling, “Room service.”  Straker stared at her for an endless moment, torn between the demands of the moment and the demands of the outside world.  Then the knock came again, and he sighed, letting her go.  He went to the door, but had to stop and run a shaky hand through his hair before answering.

The waiter’s practiced smile slipped some when he entered the room.  It wouldn’t have taken a very high IQ to tell that he’d interrupted something, the tension was so thick.  He turned red and quickly took the covers off the trays on his cart, then backed out of the room, barely glancing at his tip before the door was shut in his face.

Straker stood at the door and met her grey eyes over the cart of food.  In their depths he glimpsed whirling storms of emotion.  She’d barely moved the entire time the boy had been in the room, and was still standing across the room next to the table. She hadn’t even smoothed her hair.  He thought she looked glorious, like some elemental creature far more powerful than any mere mortal could handle.  And he knew – because after all these years working with her, he was aware of every change of her moods – that the moment for action had passed.  With a soft sigh for what might have been, he lifted a tray for her inspection.

“Shall we?” he said.

Chapter 8

“I hated you on sight, you know,” she said softly as he ran his fingers through her hair.

Those fingers stopped moving for a moment, then went back to caressing her.  “I’m glad you changed your mind,” he said blandly.

She grinned as she played with the hair on his chest, but didn’t say anything.

After a moment, he said in an entirely different tone, “You did change your mind, didn’t you?”

Virginia chuckled, meeting his concerned eyes.  “Maybe,” she said saucily.

A relieved grin crossed his face.  “Because I asked so many questions?”

“No.  That only cemented what I was already feeling.”

He frowned.  “What did I do?”

She grinned.  “Nothing.  It wasn’t what you did; it was who you were.”

He looked perplexed.  “The commander?”

Virginia snickered.  “No.  Mr. Perfect.”

“Oh, come on!”

“Seriously.  You looked like a god.  Powerful.  Perfect.  Beautiful.”  She thought a minute, then said, “I’d never met a beautiful man before.  Men are handsome or ugly, rugged or cute.  They’re not usually so beautiful that you almost drool.”

He shifted slightly on the bed in embarrassment.  “You’ve been reading my press releases.”

She shook her head, still grinning.  It intrigued her to see him put out of countenance by a compliment.  “It took me months before I’d admit that what I really hated about you was that you were never going to look at someone like me.  You were too far out of my league for that.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

She raised her brows.  “Is it?”

“Well – !” he said, then stopped.  After a moment he said, running his finger from her shoulder to her elbow, “Actually, that’s pretty much how I thought of you that first day.  Like a goddess on a pedestal, so far out of my reach that I had absolutely no chance.  You intimidated the hell out of me.”

She leaned forward and kissed him.  Who was she to argue with his interpretation of events?  “Do I still?” she asked with a sly smile.

He grinned, pulling her close for another kiss.  “Sometimes.”

“Good.”

She was looking far too smug, so he swiftly reversed their positions and rested on his elbows to look into her eyes.  “Do I still intimidate you?”

Her lips spread into a warm smile.  “Upon occasion.”

“You know I’m not a god now.  If you hadn’t already figured it out these past years, you have to know it now.  I’ve surely fallen off that pedestal after today.”

“Not necessarily.”

One arrogant brow rose.  “Weren’t you paying attention?  I think I’ve proven that I’m just a man.”

“Ed,” she sighed.  “You could never be just a man.  You’re certainly more man than any I’ve ever known.  No one’s ever treated me like you do.  So I wouldn’t throw away that pedestal yet if I were you.  Godhood’s still in the running.”

“Well,” he said, nipping lightly at her chin.  “If it comes to that, you’ve definitely proven your goddess standing.  I saw stars.” 

She was surprised into a laugh.  “Well, then,” she said, putting her arms around his neck.  “Recognize any of them?”

“I’m not sure,” he answered, a wicked light in his eyes.  “Maybe I should check again.”

He swallowed her chuckle with his kiss, and was just pressing her closer when his phone rang.  He sat up with a sigh and reached for it on the nightstand, but said before he answered it, “We do seem to have some problems with our timing.”

He looked so melancholy that she had to muffle her laughter with her hand.  A moment later, all thought of laughter vanished as she realized who was on the other end.  His eyes met hers while he listened to the voice on the phone, and she read the message clearly.  Hopping out of his bed, she gathered her scattered clothes and ran to the bathroom in her room to freshen up and get dressed.

Minutes later, when she returned to his room, he was slipping on his jacket.  “Trouble?” she asked, fairly sure of the answer.

“Is there any doubt?” he said, his lips a thin line.  “We lost track of a UFO after it shot down one of the skyjets.”

“Is the pilot – ?”

He nodded, picking up his keys from the nightstand.  “Yes.  Waterman was able to eject.  He’s fine.  That’s not the problem.  Alec says that Lew managed to hit it, but I doubt very much if that was enough to stop it.  Guess where it was headed?”

She whitened.  “Margaret!  Dear God!”

“Let’s go,” he said and led the way out of the room.

* * *
“That device of hers,” Virginia said, holding onto the handle of the car door as he took a corner without slowing.  “What was she thinking to court such disaster?”

“It wouldn’t have taken thought,” he said grimly.  “All it would take is curiosity, and she wouldn’t be Craig’s daughter without her fair share of that.”

They had to slow once they got to the street where Margaret lived.  There were too many people in the road to navigate past them.  Straker pulled over and parked, and they got out.  It looked like a war zone.  People in various stages of undress wandered the area, having come outside to see what was going on.  Debris was everywhere, scattered on several lawns and rooftops, and smoke filled the air.  But closer to, they could see clearly enough to tell that the UFO had done its job well.  It must have decided that weapons fire was not enough to do what it wanted, because it had done a kamikaze run into the house itself. 

The explosion must have been quite powerful, because nothing remained at the point of contact – certainly not enough debris to tell that this had been a UFO attack.  There was only a scarred foundation covered with grey dust and a few spewing water pipes.  As they stood there, too dismayed to speak, emergency vehicles pulled up and got the crowd to move back.

He took her arm and walked back to the car, leaving the scene as unobtrusively as they could.  He didn’t say anything until they were back at the hotel, for which she was grateful.  From the expression on his face during the drive, she was pretty sure anything that would have come out of his mouth would have seared the air.

She brewed fresh coffee while he spoke to Alec, setting a cup in front of him where he sat at the small table, his head practically in his hands.  He met her eyes for a brief moment with a silent thank you, then went back to his instructions over the phone.

“Right.  I don’t think we’ll have too much trouble with the gas main story, but the clean-up crews will want to make sure all the larger pieces of debris are recovered, just in case.”  He drank the coffee in one gulp, and Virginia refilled his cup before he had the chance to ask her.  She poured a cup for herself, then sat across from him at the table and stared out the window at the night sky while he finished up his call.  She knew from long experience working with him that taking care of the details in the aftermath of such destruction was his way of establishing some sense of order in a situation full of chaos and death.  She wished she could cry.  Maybe this horrid numbness would fade if she could shed some tears for Craig’s daughter and her quirky boyfriend.  But her throat was locked shut, and nothing would come.

“Virginia.”

She realized he was talking to her and turned to meet his eyes.  He reached over and took her hand in his.  “I’m sorry.  I’m so very sorry.  I should have known what that device was for.  Should have realized the kind of danger she was in.”

“No, Ed!”  Her fingers gripped his tightly.  “You couldn’t have known.  Neither of us could have seen what she was doing.  The equations were just too complex.  We just couldn’t tell.  And we didn’t have enough time to establish the trust needed to get her to open up to us.”

He shook his head, utter weariness apparent in his face.  “I let him down.  He came to me to save her, and I didn’t.”

“You tried!”  She couldn’t bear to see him taking all the burden on his shoulders like this.  “You did an incredible job even figuring out what he wanted!  Ed, most men would have set it aside and figured they’d just had a strange dream.  They wouldn’t have come all this way, taking the time and resources necessary to follow it through.  You did what you could.  More than most people would.  Craig knows that.  He won’t blame you for doing everything you could.”

The eyes that met hers were tortured.  “But I couldn’t save her.  I was too late.  Somehow I’m always too late.”  His voice cracked on the last word, and he did something Virginia would have never imagined he would do.  He laid his head on his arms and wept.

She kept hold of his hand, aware on a subliminal level that only that contact was keeping him grounded.  And finally, the tears were released from her own eyes, silently tracking down her cheeks as she shared his grief.  She wasn’t sure if she was crying for him, for Margaret, or for all the useless pain in the world.  But she knew one thing: it felt good to let it out.

When the phone rang, she almost ignored it.  Then she realized that it wasn’t his cell phone.  It was the room phone.  His head raised, and he met her eyes in surprise.  And hurriedly she pushed back her chair and ran to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Uh, hi,” a shaky voice said.  “You might not remember me, but I met you at Mags’ house today.  I’m Corky.”

Virginia turned to meet the commander’s eyes, hope shining in hers.  “I remember you , Corky.  How can we help you?”

He gave a huge sigh that came clearly through the phone line.  “Well, something’s happened, and I think we’re in a lot of trouble.  Is Mr. Straker still willing to help Mags?”

“Yes!” she said, gripping the phone tighter.  “Is she okay?  Is she with you?”

“Yeah,” he replied, and Virginia grabbed Straker’s hand as he came over to her, smiling through her tears.  Corky continued in her ear.  “But it’s really bogus, because some nasty dudes crashed into her house.”

Epilogue

It was mid-morning the next day before Col. Lake entered his HQ office to turn in her report on the mission.  The commander accepted it from her with a brief thanks, then sat back in his chair and said, “And how are SHADO’s newest recruits making out?”

She grinned.  “I think they’ll do quite well actually.  Before handing them over to Dr. Jackson, I gave them a tour of our Research and Development labs.”

He had to admire her methods.  “And how did that go over?”

“Well, Corky was certain that he could endure the torments of hell if it meant he ended up with his own lab.  Margaret was not quite as confident, but she definitely looked excited at the prospect of working with R & D.”

“Good.  I’ve already spoken to Jackson about the need to rush them through as quickly as possible.  The sooner we get her device rebuilt and working again, the sooner we can turn things around for our side in this war.”

“It’s odd,” she said softly.  “If Craig hadn’t been so worried about his daughter that he overcame the barrier of death itself in an effort to get her the protection she needed, we never would have known about that device.”

“You’re probably right.”

Her grey eyes met his for a moment, and he saw the sheen of tears in them.  “I just wonder if he knew.  If he somehow was aware that by sending you to help her, we’d finally be able to fight back against our enemy with the hope of actually winning.”

“We have no way of knowing for certain, Colonel.  Perhaps if Margaret someday does find a way to communicate with those on a higher plane of existence, we can ask him about it.  Until then, I like to think this was his way of getting a little revenge on the aliens for all they stole from him.”

She smiled, blinking back her tears.  “I like the sound of that.”  After a moment, she said, “Well, I’d better get to work.  I wonder what they’ve done to the computers while I was gone?  They’re probably a mess.”

As she turned to leave, he said quietly, “Virginia.  Would you have dinner with me tonight?”

She looked at him – her commander, her hero, her lover, her friend – and said, “Yes, Ed.  I’d love to.”