Marcus by Anna Hackett Page B

she focused on
what she had learned. The aliens called themselves the
Gizzida.
    And this wasn’t the first time they’d
invaded a planet, destroyed its leadership, and then taken
everything they wanted.
    If her translations were correct, they were
from the Alphard star system, part of the Hydra constellation. She
sank back in her chair. It was appropriate since Hydra was a snake.
Even the research on Alphard, an orange giant star, showed an
uncanny link to the aliens—the Arabs had called it “backbone of the
serpent.” To the Chinese it was “red bird” and one famous European
astronomer had called it “heart of the snake.” She tapped in a
command and sent her latest report through to General Holmes.
    It was all very interesting but it didn’t
help find the hub.
    She reached for the mug of coffee Noah had
brought her before he’d headed off…somewhere. She took a swig and
nearly spat it everywhere. It was stone cold.
    “Ugh.” She pushed it aside and stared at the
screen again.
    She eyed the notes she’d made on her tablet.
She’d translated a few words but these next symbols had her
stuck.
    Scribbling on the tablet, she tried a few
word combinations but nothing made sense. She sighed and rubbed her
blurry eyes. She had to find the location of that comms hub.
She straightened her shoulders and stared again at the screen.
    Suddenly it went blank.
    She shot to the edge of her chair. “What the
hell?”
    “Time for a break.” Marcus stepped into view
holding up an unplugged cable.
    “Marcus, you can’t do that! I’m getting
close but I still have a bunch of words I need to decipher. Every
time I think I have it, they seem to change—”
    “No. Break .”
    She stood and faced off with him. “This from
the man who I know usually spends all his free time monitoring
drone feed, assessing raptor strategy and planning missions. We
need to find that hub—”
    “You won’t find it if you work yourself into
the ground. You’ve been here for eight hours straight and you
worked through lunch.”
    “Eight hours?” Oh . Where had the time
gone?
    “Food. Rest. Relaxation.” His tone was the
same one he used to order his team around.
    She bristled. “I’m not one of your
soldiers.”
    He leaned down, his mouth hovering over
hers. “No, I’m the man who had his cock inside you last night. The
man who wants to take care of you and the man who’d like to hold
you in his arms again for a little while.”
    The air rushed out of her lungs and a warm
glow filled her chest. “What did you have in mind?”
    “A sunset picnic.”
    As he tugged her from the computer lab, Elle
tried to process what he’d just said. Sunset picnics and rugged
Marcus Steele did not go together. Ever. Not even in her wildest
fantasies.
    He led her through various tunnels and into
a less-used part the base. Most of the rooms here were used for
storage of supplies. Eventually, he stopped at a ladder that led up
to the surface.
    “Up you go.” He gripped her waist and lifted
her onto the second rung.
    It wasn’t a long climb. At the top was a
round metal hatch. Marcus moved up behind her on the ladder and
with one arm, opened the hatch and shoved it upward. It opened with
a muted groan of metal.
    Elle climbed out onto a flat part of roof
made to look like rock that was edged with trees. She turned in a
small circle, taking in her surroundings. The brilliant green of
the trees caught her eyes. When she took a closer look, she
realized the “trees” were actually disguised solar power arrays.
Each of the leaves on the trees was a tiny photovoltaic cell used
to generate power for the base.
    Then she noticed what was set up over in one
sheltered corner of the space.
    A dark-blue picnic blanket was laid out, and
sitting on top of it was a wicker basket.
    He led her over to it.
    She couldn’t seem to close her mouth. “Where
did you find a picnic basket?”
    A small smile. “I can’t give away all my
secrets.”
    Once they were