Chapter 11 

They managed a slow halting progress through the narrow passage, the going becoming easier when they emerged into the larger tunnel.  

Rice was concentrating on putting one foot before the other. His injured knee had swollen to the size of a balloon but he was pretty sure he hadn't actually broken anything. Connell was busy with his own thoughts, wondering frantically if he should apologise for his outburst, trying to ignore the enticing scent of gorgeous sweaty male clamped against his side, his cheek so close he could have kissed it if he turned his head, trying super hard to make sure his arm around the Captain's body was absolutely and totally impersonal.  

He sought desperately for a distraction. "What happened? Can you remember?" 

"Three of them took us by surprise as we were packing up the last few items. I should have posted a sentry but I thought we'd got them all." Rice was angry with his own poor judgement. "I remember being hit, then nothing until I woke up down here." 

Both men halted at the foot of the pile of rubble which still blocked their path. They could hear sounds of movement now from the other side. 

"We're here. I've got the Captain," Connell called out, "but he's injured. How much longer do you think it will be before it's clear?" 

"It's taking longer than we thought, Lieutenant, Captain," replied Sergeant Forrester's voice from the other side, "but Ser Flannery has arranged with the nearest mine to send over a piece of equipment which might help. Called a rockeater of all things but it should make short work of the rest of the job. It's small but efficient, built especially for clearing paths like this underground." Muffled sounds came through to the two men, then Forrester spoke again, "Here it is now. Can you move back? Allow about three or four metres while we clear the tunnel?" 

"Okay, just give us a minute," Connell answered for both of them. They turned around and went back the way they had come, Connell grateful that he didn't have to try and get the injured Rice through the space he had only just managed to squeeze through earlier.  

"This should do, how are you holding up?" he asked Rice when they had retreated about five metres. 

Rice was panting a little. "Not too bad. Do you have any more painkiller?" 

"Sit down for a minute and I'll get some for you," Connell helped lower the Captain to the ground. When he had administered the medicine, he sat down next to him. "Shouldn't be long now," he encouraged. 

There was a slightly awkward silence. 

"I'm sorry about the way I've treated you," Rice blurted out. "I was trying to keep you at arm's length because of our familes' history, and I over did it." 

"Uh," Connell couldn't think what to say.  

"I know there's bad blood between our fathers, but do you think it's possible we could get past that? That you and I could become ... friends?" Rice was watching him hopefully, waiting for his reaction to that tentative olive branch. 

"Your father threatened to kill mine," said Connell abruptly, seeking to put some distance back between them. How on Earth was he going to cope with this attraction if Stefan started being nice to him? 

"I gathered that," Rice admitted. "I know he was responsible for your father leaving the service too." 

"Did you know he tried to get me barred from entering the Academy?" Connell still felt angry when he thought about it. There was a small pause. 

"No, I didn't know that," the other man's voice was quiet.  

"I think it's best if we keep our relationship purely professional," stated Connell firmly after another uncomfortable pause. "I'm sure your father wouldn't stand for anything else." God he sounded like a pompous prig. 

"If you think so," Rice replied, seemingly indifferent. He closed his eyes and leant back against the wall, ending the conversation. He felt like Connell had shut a door in his face. He had made two attempts now to bridge the gap between them and Connell had slapped him down each time. There wouldn't be a third. No one could say he couldn't take a hint when he was hit over the head with it. 

Either Connell really didn't like him or he knew more about his father than he had realised.  

Luckily the sound of the rockeater munching away on the other side made further conversation impossible. Eventually they could see its faint outline through the dust and shortly after that, the tunnel was clear enough for passage. Sergeant Forrester was first through, closely followed by Singh.  

"Are you alright sir?" they asked, going immediately to the Captain. 

"I'm fine, just a little bruised," he reassured them with a smile. He was quick to accept their offer of help and Connell trailed behind, watching his two companions carry Rice out between them. Rice hadn't even looked at him again. It looked like his short detente with the Captain was over. 

He told himself it was for the best. Stefan was straight. He wasn't. Their fathers hated each other, a friendship was never going to work out between them. 

XXX 

Rice stopped when he saw the three bodies laid out in the cave. Each had been wrapped in a square rug that Ser Flannery kept in his hovercar for his guests to use at picnics. The brightly checked material looked incongruous considering the sombre purpose it was being used for.  

Rice looked enquiringly at Forrester. "They were caught under the rockfall sir," explained the sergeant. "Two of them fought over possession of the laser gun and brought the roof down, literally." 

Rice waited for Forrester to draw the material back from their faces. He feared the man who had saved him was among the dead but he had to be sure. Sure enough, he recognised his face immediately. He took a closer look, he must have been around fifty years old maybe even nearer to sixty but he was as certain as he could be that he'd never seen him before today. 

"I'm pretty sure he saved my life," Rice murmured. "He gave me a knife so I could cut myself free then gave me directions to get out. I don't know if I'd be here now without his help." 

Connell came up to stand at his shoulder looking down at the dead man. "Did you know him, sir?" 

Rice shook his head. "No, but he said my father saved his life. He was repaying the debt." 

Connell bit his tongue before he could say anything inappropriate, he couldn't imagine Colonel Rice saving anyone's life, but he admitted he was biased. He was probably a wonderful human being under the right circumstances.  

"Ser Flannery, you were on Bast for over twenty years, do you know any of these men?" asked Rice. 

The ex patrol man joined them, looking carefully at each of the faces, all of them bruised and marked by the accident.  

"I know him, Pieter Sven," he pointed to the man who had been the boss. "We picked him up a couple of times for extortion but could never make the charges stick. That one, I don't know, but him ... he looks familiar," Flannery frowned as he gazed down on the man who had aided the Captain. "Let me think a moment ... Sanders, that's it, Bryn Sanders."