Enemy One (Epic Book 5) (72 page)

Eyeing her coyly, the hair on Jayden’s arms stood on end. When the scout slowly dropped to one knee, that same eye opened wide.

“I do not know much about true love,” Esther said, “but I know I want to learn about it with you. Before the world ends, before we are the next recipients of our comrades’ eulogies…” Ever so faintly, Esther’s eyes shimmered. “…might you accept me as your wife?”

“Whoa…”

No more words. With her chest heaving, and her glistening eyes on the Texan, Esther quietly waited for his reply. She did not have to wait long. “Are you serious?”

“I’m on sodding bended knee, Jay. Yes, I’m serious!”

“You’re
serious
?”

The scout looked utterly panicked. Her mocha skin paling a shade, she stared up at the Texan like someone waiting to hear their own verdict. At long last, the verdict was read.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Jayden looked at her and said, “Man, why the hell not?”

Esther’s eyes widened suddenly. “Is that a yes?”

“That’s a yes.”

“Is that a bloody
yes
?”

Jayden laughed and nodded his head. “That’s a bloody yes!”

Hopping up to her feet, Esther bolted across the Texan’s room. He wrapped her up in his arms. “I will make you so incredibly happy!” she spouted out as they kissed. “I will be
everything
you ever imagined. I will make you mustard sandwiches every sodding morning!”

“Whoa, now,” he said, laughing as they kissed again. “I might have to rethink this.”

“Not on your bloody life,” she said, grinning.

Putting her at arm’s length briefly, Jayden said quizzically, “But hang on. How in the world are we gonna get married here? Don’t we need, like, a priest?”

“Lukin,” she said, still grinning from ear-to-ear. “The keeper. He was a chaplain.”

Jayden blinked. “That guy was a
chaplain
?”

“Yes. He’ll do it—
trust
me.”

“How do you know?”

Looking away briefly, the scout hesitated before her eyes turned back on him. “I actually have a bit of a card to play.”

“What the hell kind of card do you have to play against
Lukin
?”

Esther’s head tilted downward, though she kept her gaze steadfast on him. “One that I should probably tell you about. Jay…you might have to sit down.”

*
      
*
      
*

Rubbing his closed eyes with his thumb and pointer finger, Valentin released a long, resigned sigh as he sunk into his couch. In a voice as defeatist as could have ever been imagined coming out of his mouth, he said, “If that is what you deem necessary, that is what you will have.”

Scott stared almost bug-eyed. “Really?”

“Yes,” answered the keeper without looking. “Assign her to one of your crew. I will prepare a statement for the staff here, requesting they please not shoot the alien in the halls. Make whatever arrangements you and your operatives need to house the Ithini. I will have her release set for Saturday. This will give the staff at the base time to…ready themselves.”

Not knowing what to say, Scott only stared down at the solemnly silent fulcrum as he remained still on his couch. To say this was not what Scott had expected was the understatement of their whole stay at
Northern Forge
. Upon making his trek up to Valentin’s suite, Scott was mentally preparing to dodge a thrown violin. But for Valentin to approve the release of Ju`bajai without so much as a question? It was more than clear that this was not what the man wanted. He looked downright ill. For Scott, that only meant one thing. Almost with a tinge of pity, he asked, “Antipov got to you, didn’t he?”

Inhaling a breath through his nostrils that seemed to take forever to fill his lungs, the keeper released it just as slowly before answering. “I sent him an encrypted message this morning regarding the release of Natalie Rockwell. He sent a response that informed me that, should your mission fail and I did not provide you with all the assistance you required, I will be held personally responsible.”

It was confirmed. The keeper had been neutered. “And that scares you even when Antipov is all the way over in Chernobyl?”

Though Valentin’s jaw stiffened, he said nothing.

Scott wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say—he honestly hadn’t expected the question of releasing Ju`bajai to be entertained, let alone granted. He almost felt the need to apologize for the ease of it all. In less than a week, Valentin had seen all of his influence over
Northern Forge
stripped away. Scott might as well move into the suite, himself—at least until the train heist was finished. Sliding his hands into his pockets, the only gesture that felt natural, Scott said, “Look, man, for what it’s worth, I get what it is you’re going through.”

“You have no concept of what I am going through,” Valentin said quietly, fingers still pressed down over his eyes.

There was so much brewing under the surface of the man. He emanated tense energy. Scott almost expected him to snap. “Well, I know this may not come as the most welcomed offer, but if you want to talk about anything…” He left the statement hanging for Valentin to pick up, should he have chosen to. He didn’t. Sighing quietly, Scott took a step back and raised his hand lazily to wave. “Then I’ll see you around.”
The message! Ask him about Lilan’s video message.
“Oh, one more thing, before I forget. Have you heard if Lilan’s message got to anyone, yet?”

For several seconds, Valentin said nothing, until at long last, he shook his head. “No. I have not heard.”

Well, that was…disappointing. Upon realizing that the keeper wasn’t going to say anything more on it, Scott turned to make his way for the door.

After their confrontation in the medical bay—the one in which Scott went toe-to-toe with Valentin over the killing of workers at
Hami Station
—Scott had come to view Valentin as his antithesis at the base. But the sheer despondency that permeated the air around the keeper was starting to alter Scott’s perception. Not his perception toward what had happened at
Hami Station
. That would never change. But seeing Valentin in this powerless state was actually hurting
Scott
. He almost wanted to call Gavriil to have the keeper put on suicide watch.

As Scott passed the picture frames that adorned Valentin’s walls, he once again found himself momentarily captivated by their shocking normalcy. Before he realized it, he was standing still in front of them, staring at them again as if Valentin wasn’t even in the room with him. There was just something about the pictures that was so hard to believe. At long last, his curiosity won. Turning his head in Valentin’s direction, Scott asked the question that’d been on his mind since he’d first seen the keeper’s suite. “What happened to them?”
What happened to you?
He didn’t care if the question threatened to make things awkward. Things were awkward as it was.

It was as subdued a silence as Scott could ever recall experiencing. There was no thickening of the air, no sense that his question was pushing Valentin off whatever ledge he was clinging to. There was just…silence. At long last, Scott received an answer. “If you are smart,” the keeper said distantly, “you will run when you have the chance.”

That was it. No explanation. No context. Only the unsettling response of a man whose story was as ambiguous as his mental state. Perhaps more frightening than anything, it was a response that sounded more genuine than anything the keeper had told him at
Northern Forge
thus far. It chilled Scott to the bone.

A whirring emerged behind Scott that he recognized as the camera on the other side of the suite door, in the short hall that led from the elevator. It must have detected motion. Along with a distinct dinging sound, the massive wall of screens flashed, the many displays replaced by a single, humongous image from the camera. When he saw who was approaching, Scott raised a curious eyebrow. It was Jayden and Esther. Looking up for the first time since he’d sat down, Valentin observed the couple as they knocked. “Unlock,” he said quietly. A
click
came from the door, as the blown-up image of Jayden and Esther was replaced by the many camera views.

A voice-activated room. That was how he must have unlocked the door when I came that first time.
The keeper hadn’t been in the living room then. He must have simply anticipated that it’d be Scott who was coming to visit.
Hell of a gamble for the keeper to take.
Not that he was in any way threatened by anyone there, anyway.

When Jayden knocked on the door, Valentin said, “You may open it.”

What in the world were Jayden and Esther doing there? They must have been looking for him, for some reason. Approaching Valentin’s door, Scott pulled it open. When the hand-in-hand couple laid eyes on him, they blinked in surprise.

“Oh,” said Esther.

Scott looked at her oddly. “Oh?”

“I don’t think we expected you to be here.” The scout looked at Jayden, almost as if for approval to say the words.

They didn’t expect him to be there? Who in the world had they gone up there to see, the keeper?

Jayden poked his head in as Scott stepped out of the way. “We were actually lookin’ for the keeper.”

Well, that answered that.

As soon as he was indicated, Valentin turned to face the new arrivals, looking as perplexed as Scott did. Much as Esther had just looked at Jayden, Valentin looked at Scott as if to determine whether or not this was some kind of event Scott had ordained. Upon clearly seeing that it wasn’t, he narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the Texan. “Can I help you?”

Still holding hands, Jayden and Esther slipped past Scott into the room, a tad timidly, Scott thought. They were looking at each other—looking at
him
—as if neither of them were sure how to proceed with something. What in the world was going on?

“Mister Keeper, sir,” said Jayden in as reverent a voice as the Texan sounded like he could muster, “we know you were…” Jayden’s good eye caught the row of pictures, where his focus suddenly shifted. Seeming to hover over one picture in particular, he finished the thought, returning his singular gaze to Valentin, across the room. “We know you’re a chaplain, sir.”

Valentin shook his head. “I am not a chaplain.”

“You’re ordained,” said Esther, glancing at Jayden briefly. “That’s all that matters to us.”

Right then, a lump emerged in Scott’s throat. There was only one reason Scott could think of for Jayden and Esther to be searching for someone in the priesthood together.
No way…
Angling his head suspiciously, he waited to hear what would be said next.

“We were, uhh…” Jayden looked at Esther, then Scott, then Valentin again. “We were wonderin’ if you might marry us, sir.”

And that was the reason. Though Scott’s ears heard the words, his mind scarcely registered them. Jayden was wondering if…
what
?

Before the equally caught-off-guard keeper could scrounge for a response, Esther addressed him. “We don’t need anything fancy. We don’t want to be inconvenient. We just…” Her brown eyes settled on Jayden, who offered the faintest of affirming smiles. “We just want you to say the words.” She looked at Valentin again. “We want it to be real.”

“Hang on a minute.” Stepping to them, Scott stared at the pair dumbfounded. “Are you guys serious?” They gave every indication that they were. “Do you really think
now
is the time to—”

“Yeah,” Jayden said, cutting Scott off. “We do. And yeah, we know we’ve only dated for a little while.”

This was insane. “A little while? Jay, you can count the days on one hand! This isn’t how you go about this.”

“With all due respect, and you know I respect you immensely,” Esther said, “if we went about it the way you did, we might never live to see a wedding.”

That stung.

“Scott, man.” The Texan frowned almost sympathetically. “There ain’t nothin’ you can tell us that we don’t already know, and that we ain’t already talked about. No one gets married after a couple of days. But Esther and I have known each other for a lot more than a couple of days.”

“Yeah, but—”

Jayden went on. “We know enough to know we’re the best things that ever happened to each other. And we know that, on any given day from here on out, a bullet could take that away.” He sighed. “We ain’t fooled, man. This ain’t how it’s done. But look at where we are, look at what we’re doin’.” The earnestness in his voice was impossible to ignore. “It ain’t like I’m gonna take her to the movies anytime soon. Ain’t gonna go skinny dippin’ in the creek. This is it, man,” he said, holding out his hands as if to reveal to Scott the very room he stood in. “I want to love someone before I die, and she does, too. We each want that person to be each other.”

“But…” Scott couldn’t find the right words. He just had nothing.

“There ain’t no ‘but,’ man. If we’re still alive ten years from now, we can all talk about how stupid this was. But as it stands now, we might not make it to next Wednesday.” His resolve was unbendable. Looking at Esther again, the Texan squeezed her hand tighter. “We’re doin’ this. You can either support it or you can’t.”

What was Scott even supposed to say? Turning to the keeper, he looked for someone else to insert common sense that was desperately lacking. What he found, instead, was yet another surprise.

Nodding his head thoughtfully, Valentin said, “I will do it.”

Oh, come on!

“Did you want to do it now? Here?” Valentin asked.

Her smile brightening, Esther answered, “We were actually hoping we could do it in the medical bay. We know that’s a little strange, but many of our friends are there. We would hate for any of them to miss it.”

This was happening. This was actually happening. Scott’s sniper was about to marry his scout. Scott’s blood was boiling. This was like a bad dream. Jayden and Esther were out of their minds. Support them? How could he possibly support them? How could he support this ill-thought-out foolishness? He was so mad at them for even thinking it up. He was practically livid. He was…

…he was so incredibly jealous.