Diell Breaker (LGBT- Sci-Fi - Romance)

Chapter 14

Chapter 14 

Rhys was surprised but happy to get the call from Jake, asking to meet him in half an hour behind the Three Suns again. At first he was rather annoyed that Jake hadn't given him time to change before their date but the relief of hearing from him soon overrode that. For a moment there he had been starting to fear that Jake was avoiding him, ha ha! He did his best to make sure his hair was artfully arranged and his clothes as neat as they could be, then slipped discreetly out of the Three Suns. It was very unlike him to be early but he was too impatient to hang around in the bar any longer. His heart was actually beating faster in anticipation. 

He stood against the wall in the shadows, waiting for Jake. He looked at his wristcom. Damn, Alexei was still blocking his calls. He really needed to talk to him, he thought he had seen someone he knew in the town, someone who had disappeared from sight as soon as they had seen him staring. He was pretty sure it was one of his ex-lovers, one where things had ended even worse than usual. He still thought immediately of Alexei when he wanted help and although Alexei was angry with him at the moment, he was sure he wouldn't refuse, not if it was something serious, like a potential stalker. 

For a brief moment he considered mentioning the incident to Jake but he quickly discarded the idea. He didn't want to jinx their budding relationship by talking about an ex-lover. It was probably nothing anyway, he was just being paranoid. 

A few minutes later and all thoughts of his ex-lover flew out of his head. He stared wide eyed at Jake. "I don't understand, what do you mean?" 

"I mean," Jake repeated, trying to be patient, "I can't see you anymore. I shouldn't really have started this affair in the first place, Fayruz is too small a place to keep something secret." 

Rhys continued to stare in shocked disbelief. Impatiently, he flicked the hair back out of his eyes, he couldn't remember the last time someone had left him first. It hurt, a lot, which was one of the chief reasons he always made sure he was the one to break things off, to move on, before he was dumped. It wasn't just his ego here either, he thought, he really felt something for Jake.  

He summoned up a shaky smile. "You're just teasing, right? You know I'll do anything you want me to, anything. Just tell me how you like it." 

Jake was tempted for a split second, but he knew it wouldn't be fair, on either of them. He didn't really want Rhys as a person, just his rather hot body and even then, chances were he would be fantasising about somebody else, somebody who would remain nameless. 

"I'm sorry," he said with genuine regret. "I can't." 

"You can't just walk away from me like this, or you will be sorry!" Rhys threatened a little wildly. 

In an instant, Jake was towering over him, all traces of the lover, even an ex-lover, replaced by a hard, cold stranger. He didn't like being threatened. "Don't do anything stupid Rhys. It will hurt you more than it will hurt me, I guarantee it!"  

Rhys swallowed, frightened. "I didn't mean anything, I'm sorry." 

"Just keep your mouth shut and you'll be fine." Farrell stared menacingly at Rhys for another minute until he was certain he had his submission, then strode off, leaving him alone in the shadows. 

Rhys stood there a few minutes, trying to get control of himself. He felt really shaky, he thought his hands were actually trembling. Surely Jake hadn't truly been going to hurt him? He heard a rustle in the garden nearby. Was Jake coming back to make sure he was properly cowed? He made a huge effort to pull himself together, this wasn't funny. Sudden anger boosted his courage. "Jake! Stop that at once! ... Jake? Is that you?"  

XXX 

It was well into the next day before Petrov found out Rhys was missing. Lieutenant Cheung called him on his wrist com. 

"Sorry to bother you Lieutenant, but do you happen to know where Rhys Owen is? He was due back on the Voyager at 8:00 this morning, but he hasn't returned." 

"Rhys? No, I haven't seen him since yesterday." Petrov was ashamed to admit his first thought was that Rhys had stayed overnight with a new friend and was having too much fun. It certainly hadn't taken him long to find someone else he thought crossly. 

"When did you last see him? If you wouldn't mind." 

"Yesterday morning, at the space port. I was just coming out of the shower block, after collecting those leaves for you and we had a brief chat. I don't know where he went after that. I went into town and had a coffee with Lieutenant Shehu and then I came back up here." He cleared his throat. "It's quite possible he's with someone, for the night I mean." 

"Yes, I admit I thought of that but he's been very reliable so far. It's not like him not to report back."  

Rhys? Reliable? Maybe it was possible for him to change. 

Cheung hadn't finished. "Do you have any idea who he might be with? I wouldn't normally ask you that but he's three hours overdue. I'll need to instigate a search soon if I don't hear from him, which could be embarrassing if he is with someone." 

"I'll try him on his wristcom, if you like," Petrov offered, making the call even as he spoke. He also made another, surreptitious check, confirming that the Captain was safely on board the Diell. 

"Thank you, he's not answering to me." 

"He's not answering to me either," Petrov replied after a few moments. "Can you hold on a moment? It looks like he tried to call me yesterday evening, I, um, didn't want to talk to him so I had his calls blocked. I'll just check if he left a message." 

What the-? Rhys had tried to call him six times yesterday, after they had spoken. He had left a message at about the fourth attempt. "Alexei, please call me, it's not personal, I promise it's not about us or Jake. I think I saw ... oh I can't talk now, just call me okay?" 

Petrov repeated the message to Cheung, all except the part about Jake. "He sent that at 18:05 and made the last attempt to call me at 21:20. Nothing since."  

"Any idea what he was talking about?" 

"No, sorry." Petrov was beginning to feel a twinge of anxiety. He hoped Rhys was alright. Had Rhys had an accident somewhere? Was he injured, unconscious so that he couldn't use his wristcom? Much as he wished that Rhys would get pay back for the pain he had caused him, he never wanted anything really bad to happen to him. He had thought more in terms of having someone cheat on him, give him a dose of his own medicine, rather than having an accident.  

"I don't think I have a choice, I'll ask Harrison to locate him," Cheung decided. If Rhys had been a patrol officer, someone would have been sent to track him down thirty minutes after failing to return, but as a civilian, Rhys had been allowed more leeway. Cheung could only hope it hadn't been a costly mistake. 

It took Corporal Harrison five minutes to find Rhys, or rather his wristcom, lying under a table in the courtyard behind the Three Suns. A personal wristcom was a like a body part of its owner. There was no way Rhys would have taken it off and left it there. No way he would have lost it and not returned for it within two minutes. Harrison reported immediately to Cheung, it appeared they had a kidnapping on their hands, if not worse. Harrison began a careful search of the grounds.