Chapter 8

The breakfast wasn't that bad ― you have to really try to screw up pre-packaged meals ― but I couldn't say the same for the atmosphere around the place. I won't say Keelin went out of her way to make nicey-nice with Eve but I did overhear her telling Eve she was sorry. She didn't say she hadn't meant it, but she did say she was sorry she'd said it.

The next big shocker came ― believe me there were a whole lot of shockers coming our way over the next few weeks ― when Eve dropped by my office. She'd been avoiding me like she had everybody else and while it made for tense times I was happy to let it go as it was. Anyway when she showed up it surprised me.

"Mr. Nelson," she said knocking on the doorframe, "are you busy?"

"Not really," I said blanking the screen and swiveling around to face her. "What can I do for you, Eve?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about the other day." Eve Delgado apologizing twice in one year? A sign of the Apocalypse?

"That's all right, Eve. I understand why you would think what you did. But you should really be apologizing to Keelin, not me."

"I will." Another shock to my system. "You really understand?"

"Heck, yeah," I said. Hell yes I understood. "Here I am, a man almost twice your age, in total control of your lives and after what you went through at that damn processing center you find me in bed with your friend. Crap, it bothers me all the time. Did I take advantage of her? I keep telling myself I didn't, but can I really be sure? I was there after she'd been through one hell of a traumatic experience, but shit, I don't need to tell you that. Was I just there and she fixated on me and will she regret it when she finally gets over it? Hell, I think about it at least a dozen times a day."

"She's sleeping with you now," she stated and I could only nod. "Do you love her?"

"Yes, I think I do," I sighed.

"So you really meant it when you said she can stay?"

"As long as she wants," was all I could say.

"She's lucky, then." Must be my day for getting shocks. Then she continued before I could say anything, "She was right about me, you know. I wasn't a very good friend, maybe not a friend at all."

"It's never too late, Eve. I'm sure Keelin would still be your friend, if you let her."

"I've hurt her badly," she said sadly.

"Friends do that sometimes. Friends forgive and get over it."

"Did you mean what you said about me?" she asked. "About the people you knew during the war?" Who told her about that? As if reading my thoughts she added, "I was listening. I left my door open and listened to all of you. Thank you for saying what you did, by the way."

"Eve, you don't have to thank me," I shook my head. "I don't know what kind of person you are on the inside. I'm not sure you really know what kind of person you are. I can't pretend to understand the life you've led; it's nothing like mine when I grew up. I know it looks perfect from the outside but from the inside ... Well a golden cage is still a cage."

"That's exactly what it feels like sometimes," she said sadly.

"Eve, there are two people out there who really care about you. No matter what's been said between you, they still care. Talk to them. If anybody would, they will understand what you're going through."

"Do you care about me?" she asked.

"Yes, Eve, I do," I sighed again. "I know you think I did this for the money and you'd be right. But now that I've got to know all of you I just want to get you back to where you want to be ... where you belong. The money isn't all that important to me now. Not unwelcome, mind you," I grinned up at her. "But not as important."

"You are a good man, Toliver," she said as she turned to leave. "Thank you." And then she was gone.

Like I said that wasn't the only shock I got that day, not even the biggest one for that matter. Later that evening I walked out into the common area and all three girls were sitting around. I guess Eve had taken my advice and they were patching things up. Well that couldn't be bad. Unfortunately that wasn't the problem. As soon as I entered Keelin jumped up and ran over to grab me.

"Toliver, we're still dead!" she blubbered and buried her head in my chest.

"Pretty nice looking corpses if you are." I am such a wit sometime, well, half the time.

"No, Tol, she means it, we're still dead," Terry said. She wasn't joking this time; that got my attention.

"What do you mean?"

It appeared that Keelin had tried to do what she said she was going to do: transfer money from her personal account back on Earth into my account here on Mars. Banking is nothing but numbers and electrons so it isn't that difficult. However, when she tried the bank back on Earth refused her access saying the owner was deceased. Shit, that was troubling.

"Sharon," I said immediately.

"Yes, Toliver."

"Please review Earth's news back to the day we contacted Stackman. Look for any report on the girls, especially any concerning their being found alive."

"Working, Toliver. Toliver, I have found many references to Miss Dubois', Miss Delgado's and Miss Tiernay's deaths but no reference to their subsequent survival."

"Oh, fuck," I muttered. Shit, shit and more shit! Why hadn't I done this before? What an idiot.

"They didn't report it," Terry stated the obvious. The happy-go-lucky look was completely absent from her face; in its place was a hard, cold calculating one. If that look had been aimed at me I'd have been scared to death. What am I saying? I was scared to death. This was looking very ungood.

I sat down in a chair heavily and Keelin quickly sat down right in my lap. Turns out Keelin was a bit of a lap-scavenger; if there was an open lap ― mine, more precisely ― she felt duty-bound to fill it.

"Okay, they didn't report this to the authorities. Why?" Terry started to say something but I held my hand up to stop her. I didn't have her brain power but right now my wheels were turning and I didn't want to derail them. We sat there in silence for a few minutes. I didn't like what I'd come up with.

"All of you are only-children aren't you?" They nodded. "Terry, when was your father killed?"

"Three years ago."

"Eve, your mother?"

"Just about three years ago; boating accident."

"Kee?"

She nodded. "Three years; aircar malfunction."

"And each of you is the sole heir?"

"By Jove, Watson, I think he's got it," Terry said dryly. Of course she'd figured it out even if she did mix quotes.

"Each one of them was by an accident? And then your surviving parents remarried within a couple of years, right?"

"So if anything were to happen to them everything would go to the surviving spouse?" Terry nodded.

"Fuck." It was the best I could do.

"Fuck, indeed," she said.

"Why? What are you trying to say, Toliver?" Keelin asked.

"You have got to be kidding," Eve scoffed. I think she got the gist of it. "That's ridiculous!"

"Outrageous, incredible and despicable, but not ridiculous, Eve," Terry sighed. "If we're officially dead then if anything happens to our birth parents, our stepparents would inherit."

"I don't believe it," Eve stated. "My mother may not have been the nicest person around but Dad would never have her killed." So that's where she learned it.

"We're not saying he did, Eve, hon. Unless I miss my guess, Sir Galahad here thinks it's our stepparents. That's quite a conspiracy theory there, lover-boy."

"Yeah," I said rubbing my chin. "But to tell the truth, I think it gets worse. There's no way the three of your stepparents could have pulled this off alone for about a hundred reasons I can think of right off the top of my head. My god, it's even touched you here on Mars, and I don't mean just the shuttle accident which is beginning to look like no accident at all. Somebody here, in Mars-gov, has to be in on it or you wouldn't be here with me right now. That's not easy to do; not that Marsmen are any better then terrapors, mind you, but the penalties here are a real bitch."

"Why? What happens if they get caught, Toliver?" I was beginning to really like the way my little redhead said my name.

"They take a walk, honey."

"That doesn't sound too awful," she said wrinkling her nose in puzzlement.

"They take it outside, on the surface."

"So?"

"They don't let them take their p-suit."

"Oh."

"I don't know if there is any pleasant way to die but that ain't one of them."

"So we have murder, conspiracy, fraud and a host of others, everything except jaywalking," Terry summed up. "It doesn't look good for the home team. So what ya going to do, Sir Galahad, to save the fair maidens?"

"Fair you certainly are," I snorted. "But you couldn't find a maiden in this joint with a search warrant." Terry laughed out loud, Keelin blushed and even Eve giggled. Maybe there was hope for her yet, if we lived.

"You should know, old dragon slayer; you took care of the last one yourself," Terry cackled.

"Sure did, damn happy about that too," I nodded solemnly. I suppose I do get things right every once in a while because when I said that Keelin's blush got even deeper but she did her best to crawl into my shirt with me.

"Tell you what," I said after Keelin released my lips. "That's not a bad idea, though. I'm no dragon slayer but I know an old dragon that loves to tilt at windmills. If she's interested ― and I get the feeling she will be ― then she'll find out if there's anything to this and if there is ... Well, it won't stay hidden long."

"Scoot out of view, baby, I don't want Lizzy to see you just yet," I gently pushed a whining Keelin off my lap.

"What's the matter, lover-boy? Don't want your ex-girlfriend to see your new one?"