Changing Tides (13 page)

“Name,” Brett ordered.

“Sergeant Aaron Michael Davis, Fourth Artillery, Aelland Security Force. D-1791432A,” Aaron Davis said, his shoulders and back straight, his gaze shifting between Brett and Orion before settling on Orion.

“What is so urgent that you demanded to see us?” Brett asked.

“Sir, General Landry has pushed through legislation that sets harsher punishments for more offenses. Everything now has to be approved by the government.”

“What do you mean everything?” Brett demanded, aware of Orion tensing beside him.

“There are life sentences for minor things, like breaking curfew. Just that, Sir, everything. Rules about the food people are allowed to grow and sell. What clothes can be made, worn and sold. Who can buy what. Every business license is being pulled and reviewed. Anyone denied a business license will have their inventory seized and will be taxed accordingly,” Aaron replied. “All military personnel are being ordered onto the bases along with their immediate families. Government officials will be moved into approved housing complexes. Curfews will be in effect for everyone, and no one will be allowed out of their respective compounds for any reason.”

“They’re going to criminalize everyone,” Carter said flatly.

Aaron nodded. “Yes, ma’am. It gets worse.”

“Worse how?” Brett asked, stepping forward. Orion laid a staying hand on his arm.

“Anyone found to have a family member who’s guilty of crimes against the government will receive the same punishment.”

“A family member? Immediate or—”

“It’s general,” Aaron said, hesitating before continuing. “So it could be immediate or distant. It could be anyone in the family.”

“That’s insane!” The room erupted into noise as everyone started talking at once.

“Silence!” Orion shouted. “You’re sure of this?”

“You…you talk?” Aaron gasped. “Yes.”

“Do you have proof?” Brett asked.

“Of most of it. I kept copies of the memos that came down,” Aaron answered. “They came down over the last couple of days. I ran as soon as I could. I have the memos—everything I could get—in my backpack.”

“Why didn’t you leave the base earlier?” Brett asked as Thompson spoke to another guard. “When your fiancé did.”

“We’d been arguing, he thought we should leave and I wanted to stay. I dropped him off. He said goodbye and that he’d see me when he’d see me. I knew he was leaving that night. Our engagement paperwork had never been turned in, so I wasn’t connected to him until the day I left. I overheard a couple of people talking about me, so I snuck away.”

“Alter our plans so the protesters are supported in any way that we can. Find out everything we can. We need to be able to tell people the truth,” Orion said firmly. A guard returned with a battered brown backpack and set in on the table.

“You talk. How—” Aaron said stumbling over the words.

“Which is something no one else can know,” Brett said, his hand slipping to his side arm.

“I understand.” Aaron nodded. “The notes are in the front pocket. Can I see Jonah now, please?”

“Yes. Thompson, have someone take him to see Corporal Miller, please,” Orion ordered while Brett dug the papers out.

“Yes, Sir.”

Brett waited until Aaron left the room, before he and Orion turned back to the table along with everyone else. He sat down next to Orion and reached for his hand. The government’s moves would legalize severe penalties for any reason. The new laws would prevent other nations from intervening in anything that happened to Aelland’s own citizens.

“What else do we know?” Orion asked.

“The borders were closed this afternoon until further notice, and all foreign personnel have been ordered out of the country,” Paul answered. “It appears Landry is trying to completely close off the country from the rest of the world.”

“I agree,” Orion said, leaning back in the chair. “She’s trying to control everything and everyone. I’m not sure if she’s paranoid, or if she is trying for world domination. Either way, it’s dangerous.”

“Knowing her motivation isn’t going to change anything,” Brett said flatly.

“No, it won’t.” Orion shook his head, leaned forward and placed his arms on the table. “I heard a story once, years ago. At the time, it sounded too fantastic to be real, but now, I’m not so sure. At one time, this country was the leader in science and medicine, and it was the home to a multitude of religions. We were the wealthiest country in the world and fought tyranny and oppression. I think the proof is in on the base, along with information about what went wrong.”

“There’s no way the government would keep something like that around.”

“Probably not, but if they did, it would be under some of the tightest security in the world,” Orion answered.

Brett stared at Orion, wondering what the other man knew. He took a deep breath then let it out slowly while he tried to make sense of everything he knew about his lover. Special Staff Member to General Reynolds. The only surviving son of a national hero. An illiterate mute. Hairless. Purposely seen as stupid. Deference from others. Lieutenant Colonel Janice Hellman, national hero. The Hellman family had been an influential military family for generations. Orion was the last member of that family after a series of accidents, illnesses and deaths within a few short years. The one person Brett knew who had questioned it had been found dead in a river several miles from the Presidential Palace in the capitol.

Brett inhaled sharply and turned toward Orion as he realized one of the most influential families in the country had formed the Citizens for a Free Aelland. Did that mean Orion was a willing participant, or was he a pawn? What did that mean for him and Orion? For their future? If Orion’s life had been designed with one purpose in mind, was there any room in it for Brett? For a family?

Chapter Nine

Brett rubbed the back of his neck and sat down in the hard-back chair next to Orion. In the two days since he’d received the video, they’d watched the number of protesters who’d filed into the capitol and every major city grow exponentially. Yesterday, news of a third raid targeting those families who had demanded to see institutionalized loved ones had sparked unparalleled anger as people were arrested, found guilty of treason and executed. Paul had informed them that international community appeared to be watching and trying to pressure the Aelland government. The members of the Citizens For A Free Aelland that he’d met seemed to be taking it as a sign that their mission would succeed.

Their attack would begin tomorrow. They’d spent the last few hours finalizing last minute details. They would go after Fort Tottenham the base that had been Brett’s home and where he’d served for the majority of his time in the military. From there, about half of their remaining force would move two hours south and join the attack on the capitol.

“Remind the detail that secures the archives not to destroy anything. The same goes for the possessions in General Reynolds’ office, if at all possible,” Orion said before taking a drink from his water bottle then setting it down on the table. Orion had informed them yesterday morning about the archive building on base. Brett had been shocked. The place had been listed as a memorabilia center on all of the documentation he’d seen, but with the level of security Orion had described and lack of visible artifacts, Brett had to agree with his lover’s assessment. Anything needing a high level of security could be placed there. There was an artillery unit and an elite forces unit stationed at that base.

“Yes, Sir,” several people chorused.

Brett looked around the table at the eleven other people sitting there. He knew all of them by face and either their first or last names. In the time he’d been there, he seen the distrust begin to slip away. Conversations were still stopped when he approached, and he knew his statements were still verified as much as possible. It didn’t surprise him and bothered him less than he would have thought it would. No group with this much secrecy and this much at stake would trust him just because he’d sworn allegiance and was dating their leader. The men and women Orion trusted believed completely in their mission and its success. Brett was proud of the changes that seemed to overtake his lover. His voice had grown stronger, and confidence radiated off him in a way it never had before. Every word he spoke or wrote was believed. Brett had yet to hear a negative word said about Orion from anybody.

He took a deep breath then let it out slowly. He helped when and where he could. Most of the time he acted as Orion’s assistant. A job he relished. Thompson and Jackson had both agreed to be Orion’s personal bodyguards. Initially, there had been some anger from Thompson toward Brett, since Thompson had been the one to help Orion before Brett had shown up. Orion’s trust had helped ease the tension between them.

Orion along with the ten other people who made up the leadership of the group were hands on, getting know people, listening to suggestions and concerns, giving credit where it was due and asking questions and opinions. Few people outside the small group knew Orion could talk, but it didn’t seem to matter to the people who would be fighting with them and for them.

Orion’s newfound confidence still hadn’t transitioned into the bedroom, however, though they’d enjoyed mutual blowjobs several times. Orion preferred to snuggle when they were together, and Brett didn’t want pressure the man he was quickly falling for.

Last night, they’d been in bed for only a couple hours before Orion had been summoned back to the situation room. He’d returned to the room for a few more hours of sleep before they were both needed. While Brett appreciated Orion letting him sleep, he worried about the toll the long hours, lack of sleep and little food had on his lover.

“Double check the perimeter security and make sure everyone stays in a communication blackout. The last thing we need is for someone to know what we’re up to,” Orion said quietly.

“Yes, Sir. I’ll double check security and will remind section leaders about the communication blackout,” Carter said, standing.

Brett and Orion stood with everyone else. The room cleared as everyone left to ensure final preparations.

“Can I make a suggestion?” Brett asked, whispering in Orion’s ear.

The shorter man nodded.

“Food and rest. If we’re moving tonight, it’s essential that everyone, especially you, is a hundred percent,” Brett said. Orion was exhausted. Brett could see it in the other man’s eyes and read it in his body language. Orion nodded but didn’t say anything.

Brett stood and followed Orion out of the room and toward their quarters, with Thompson and Jackson on their heels. Brett tensed then forced himself to relax. He missed the weight of a weapon. Everyone around him armed, but he wasn’t. He’d voluntarily returned Orion’s side arm after the supply run. Too many people still didn’t trust him. He understood. Trusting few had kept them off the government’s radar and out of prison for years.

“We’ll wait outside for you,” Thompson said as they approached the quarters, pulling Brett from his thoughts and reminding him they weren’t alone. Jackson went inside and searched, before letting them inside.

“Thank you.” Orion smiled and walked into the room.

“You need to sleep. You haven’t slept a full night in a week,” Brett said the door closing behind them.

“How…?”

“I always miss you when you leave the bed,” Brett said, pulling Orion into his arms.

“I didn’t—”

“If I was worried about me, I’d have said something. I’m not. You have responsibilities. Ones that come before everything else,” Brett said, interrupting him. Rubbing his hands up and down Orion’s arms, he bent and brushed his lips against Orion’s, gently asking to be let in. Relief flooded him as Orion opened for him, allowing him to deepen and control the kiss as he tasted and explored. He loved the way Orion felt in his arms. The way he fit perfectly with Brett. Reluctantly, Brett pulled back and laid his forehead against Orion’s.

“Rest now. Food later,” Brett said, breathing heavily.

“I’m too wired to rest.”

“Allow me to help you then.” Brett smiled, scooped Orion up and carried him into the bedroom.

“Don’t drop me!” Orion wrapped his arms around Brett’s neck.

“I won’t.”

“Sex isn’t the answer to everything you know.”

“No, I know. It is a good stress reliever though when it’s done right.”

“Is that what I need?” Orion asked as Brett deposited him carefully onto the bed.

“It is.” Brett kissed him, crawling onto the bed after him, until he was kneeling over the other man. “For a little while at least, you need to relax, so you can refocus and lead this group to victory. For now though, just feel.”

Orion bit his lip and nodded.

“If I do anything that scares you, makes you wig out, brings back any sort of bad memories, I want to you say stop.”

“Stop?”

Brett nodded. It was important to get Orion to relax, but it was just as important that the man enjoy what they did together and to know Brett could be trusted. “Yes. If you tell me to stop, I will.”

“Like with the wrist?”

“Yes.”

“You won’t get mad?”

“No, sweetheart, I won’t get mad,” Brett said, looking Orion in the eyes. He wanted the other man to see the truth of his words.

Biting his lip once again, Orion nodded. Brett smiled and lowered himself to his elbows. Stretching his body out, he kept the majority of his weight off the younger man. He bent his head forward and kissed Orion, tongue pushing in as soon Orion opened for him. Releasing Orion’s mouth, he kissed a trail along Orion’s jaw line and down his neck. He kept his movements slow and gentle, letting Orion know how much he appreciated Orion’s trust and how much the man turned him on. Pushing himself up, Brett returned to kissing Orion as he unbuttoned Orion’s shirt then slid it off his shoulders. Orion shrugged out of it and moved to pull up his T-shirt.

“Let me,” Brett said, stopping Orion’s hands.

Orion frowned but nodded.