Page 6 of Derius

“Which none of us thought sounded appealing,” Fern chimed in. “I can snorkel but I’m not going hunting for eels or fish with big teeth.” She shivered. “Not on my vacation.”

“The hotel did say the chef would cook the catch, if there’s enough,” another girl said. “A special dinner for us.” She leaned closer. “I think the guys like the idea of personally providing our food. Sort of cavemanlike but in a good way.”

Everyone laughed, including Leonie. Her mood was more light hearted and she readily agreed to go shopping and have lunch with the group tomorrow. They were a congenial group of women and the idea of another entire day alone in the hotel was depressing.

The guys got a beach volleyball game going and Nikko sat out, insisting Derius had to play since he’d missed the morning game. Leonie couldn’t help watching the lively game even though she pretended to read her book anytime Derius glanced her way. Nikko brought her another drink and sat next to her chair drinking his own feelgood.

“He’s a genuinely good guy, you know,” Nikko said after Derius made a spectacular save in a spray of sand.

Instantly annoyed, she set her drink down with a click. “Did he put you up to this? Because it isn’t going to work, having his friends plead his case.”

“He’d probably take me out and feed me to the fishes if he knew I’d said anything,” Nikko answered, not abashed in the least. “You know we all served together, right?”

“I gathered that.” She was wary, not sure where this conversation was going.

“Our last deployment…didn’t go well. Lost a couple of really good guys. Derius blamed himself but we almost lost him too. He saved my life and got caught in a blast. He coded twice on the med evac shuttle. Spent a year in the military hospital before he finally came back to being himself.” Nikko gave her a look. “He talked about his ‘Lady’ when he was out of his head for most of that year, drugged out and what not. I think he wanted to find you but obviously that was impossible. Now he’s retired on medical disability, managing the King’s fisheries on Ardanna Prime and running a couple of his family’s businesses on the side.” He rose and stared down at her with his face set in stern lines. “Whatever happened between the two of you in the hotel room on Ballenger Two I’d take it as a personal favor if you’d let him apologize, explain himself, and get closure.”

Before she could frame a response, Nikko gave her a chin lift and walked away.

Upset, emotions bouncing between irritated, sad about what Derius had suffered and confusion about what she wanted to happen between them on Resort Planet, she hastily shoved her things in her carryall, got up and left the beach. Nikko’s explanation gave her context for the PTSD episode she’d helped Derius get through the night before and she was glad she’d gone to help him. She could hardly see for the tears as she rushed toward the hotel. Her only thought was to get safely inside her room and shut the door before she had to face Derius.

Footsteps sounded behind her and a big hand caught her above the elbow. She swung around to see Derius. He released her immediately and stepped back a bit. “What did he say to you?” he demanded to know. “I told them not to pester you.”

She shook her head. “It’s all right. He was fine. I have a headache from all the sun on the water. Go back to your game, I’ll take a headclear inject when I get to the room and sleep the headache off. You should go with them to dinner and whatever the plan is for the evening.”

He studied her face with a dubious expression but didn’t make any move to stop her as she walked away.

* * *

Leonie stayed in her room the next morning until Derius left to go on his spearfishing expedition. Then she got dressed, ate what he’d ordered for her from room service and went downstairs to join the other women. They had a fun morning exploring all the many shops. Leonie moved around so much on her various consulting jobs that she didn’t bother keeping a home on any one planet so she was resistant to knickknacks and souvenirs but she did buy a tiny undersea diorama that appealed to her strongly. She could visualize Derius swimming through it, which was embarrassing but she bought it nonetheless and tucked it away in her bag.

The clothing stores were of more interest to her and she bought a couple of items which the store promised to send to her hotel. At the last stop, a trendy store which sold clothes for going clubbing, she found herself trying on a sparkly little black dress. It seemed designed specifically to accentuate her curves and put her in a daring, flirty, outgoing mood.

“You should definitely buy that one,” Kath told her as she hesitated in front of the triple mirrors. “We’re going out tonight in fact so you could wear it.”

“You’ll need shoes to match,” Fern enthused. “I saw a perfect pair over here. I’ll go grab them for you. What size do you wear?”

“I’m not Derius’s date,” Leonie said firmly, although it took a lot of control to say it. “I don’t need a dress. Or shoes.”

“But you’re going to go out with us tonight, aren’t you?” Kath said, raising her eyebrows.

Before Leonie could answer Kath’s com chimed and she read the message and laughed. “Nikko says they’re headed back and they caught the legal limit. Oh my gosh and check out the fish Derius bagged.” She flipped on the holo app and a grinning Derius in miniature appeared in the space between the girls, next to a giant fish. “Nikko says ‘fish dinner is on.’ “

A wave of jealousy struck Leonie because Derius hadn’t commed her to tell her about his trophy catch and then she was irritated at herself. She wasn’t supposed to care what the jerk did or how many giant fish he caught or anything else. She stomped to the dressing room and tore off the dress, careful not to rip it, but left the garment on the chair and once she was in her own clothes, walked out. She joined the others at the register, where they were paying for their selections, ready to snap if anyone gave her grief about the LBD but no one said a thing. Once she’d exited the store in the midst of the happy group, Leonie said, “This was fun—I rarely get a chance to go shopping so thanks for inviting me. I think I’m going back to the hotel now though.”

“Dinner’s at eight, in the main dining room,” Kath told her. “And then like I said, we’re going to check out the clubs. You’re more than welcome to join us.”

“I might but I’ll have to see. I have an interstellar com in the late afternoon about my next job,” she lied. “It may run long.”

The women looked impressed and she walked away feeling disgruntled. Why couldn’t stupid IDA have matched her with someone else, anyone else? Then she could have been enjoying herself and having uncomplicated fun in this huge resort, instead of having to face reopened hurt over what had happened between her and ‘Soldier’ three years ago.

She sat in their suite at the hotel and tried to work on her proposal but her mind refused to concentrate. She set the ocean diorama on the table next to her device and toyed with it while her thoughts were all over the place. Derius arrived in midafternoon and greeted her warily.

“Congratulations on the fish,” she said. “Kath showed us the holo from Nikko.”

“Thanks. The waters here are rich with sea life and we were careful to only take the legal limit.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I need a shower and then we’re meeting on the beach again.”

“I’ll pass. I already took the morning off and I have things to do.”