Cataclysmic Evolution - 10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

They’d reached Paradise, but things were not the idyllic scene Revi described it as. No one would tell them anything concrete, but everyone knew something was wrong. Barron discovered if he sat quietly in the lounge, people seemed not to see him any more than he could see them.

As if losing his eyesight meant his ears didn’t work anymore either.

Idiots.

“Hey, ready to head back?” Revi entered the lounge where Barron had spent most of the day. He’d been ordered to finish the sorting, but he still came back every meal and got Barron. He put a hand on Barron’s shoulder.

“Shh.” He tugged Revi down onto the bench next to him. “They mentioned something about Paradise. Something about a golden locks or something.”

“A golden lock? That doesn’t make any sense?”

Barron shrugged. “I just overheard it; I didn’t say it.”

“Well it looks like they’re leaving, anyway. Let’s go talk to the guys.” After the first day, Revi had fit in with the rest of Barron’s friends, as if there’d always been a spot for him in the group.

They congregated on Revi and Barron’s bunks. Barron shared what he’d overheard. There were enough people in the room to drown out their conversation, if they kept their voices down. He had to trust the others to keep an eye out for anyone paying too much attention to them.

“Really? Golden locks. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Goldilocks!” Thavin had been lounging on Barron’s bed behind him. He sat up. “That’s why we’re still traveling in-system. It makes sense now.”

“Why don’t you explain it to the rest of us?” Creed huffed.

“The Goldilocks Zone is like ‘just right’. Like the old story? Not too close, not too far, but just right.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I do,” William said. “It’s a story my grandma used to”—everyone groaned—“tell me. Little blond chickie goes into some bears’ house in the woods while they’re gone, and the mom and dad bears’ stuff is always wrong, but the baby’s stuff is just right. What does that mean for a planet, though?”

“Planets in a solar system’s Goldilocks Zone have a moderate temperature and liquid water. Essentially, the shit we need to survive.”

Revi kept tapping his hands on his legs when he was thinking, which he seemed to do a lot. The sound drove Barron nuts. “So, Barron was right. Nothing’s perfect, much less this tropical Paradise they keep telling us will take the place of Earth.”

“An alien planet across the universe? Is that so surprising?” Creed snorted. “How old is the damn data? If this ship is the first one ever built with faster than light speed capabilities that means what they think they know about Paradise was—at best—years old. It could be decades old. Look how fast Earth died. Hundreds of millions of years, and it was ruined in seconds.”

“Maybe the human race is destined to die,” Barron muttered.

No one argued with him.

Tired after a long day, everyone drifted off to their own bunks. Barron hadn’t done shit, so he rolled onto his stomach and fished around under his bunk for his backpack. Reaching inside, he fumbled through the clothes and albums until he felt the sleek cover of his favorite book. He pulled it out.

The letters were raised on the cover. Barron traced them. He’d give his right arm for a distraction. His hand was already useless anyway.

He snorted.

“What?”

“Nothing, just a thought.” Barron opened his book and ruffled the pages, just to hear and feel them.

Revi’s bunk squeaked. “What do you have there?”

“A book.” Barron slid a finger back and forth across a page. Tiny little scratches marred the slick page.

“You mean, a real one? Paper?”

Barron nodded.

“Wow. What is it?”

“A novel by Erink Brogherd.”

“Never heard of him. What’s it about?” He sat on the edge of Barron’s bed.

“Horror. Death, murder, mayhem. The usual gory thriller with a bit of mystery to find out who done it before they do you into the grave.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Revi chuckled. “Is it any good?”

Barron shrugged. “He’s my favorite.”

“Can I read it? I mean here, so you can listen, too?”

Revi wanted to read to him? Horror in a southern accent… that’d be new. “Sure.”

“Scooch over so I can lie down.” Revi pushed on Barron’s shoulder.

He wanted to lie down? On the narrow bed Barron barely fit in? “This’ll be interesting.”

“Well, this way you can hear me, and we won’t bug anyone else,” Revi said. Barron rolled onto his side on the edge of the bed. He stuffed a pillow under his head. “Oh, let me get mine.”

Barron leaned back when Revi crawled onto his bed so he wouldn’t tip forward. He wobbled. “Whoa, be careful.” Revi grabbed his arm and kept him from falling off.

“Thanks.” Barron took a deep breath. He could smell the chemical scent of the shampoo and body wash in the ship shower, plus the scent of Revi’s body underneath. It was just the lightest whiff of sweat and skin.

Good thing his sleep pants were loose. Revi’s shoulder brushed against his chest and their feet tangled as he got comfortable. “Okay. So. No Surrender.”

Barron settled in to listen. Revi’s voice was a smooth drawl, just hard enough to understand he had to listen, but he’d read No Surrender at least five times. He knew it well enough to listen without having to work at it.

“You’re not like the others. You’re special, one of a kind.” The knife point was all he could see as it traced down Kith’s cheek. “So beautiful.” Silver flashed in the light of a single bulb dangling from the ceiling. “Not anymore.” Cackles filled the room as…

Barron blinked. His glasses were gone. He’d fallen asleep listening to Revi read aloud, but he was still on his side, and he wasn’t alone. How long had he slept? Barron couldn’t hear anyone moving around. It felt like night. Was Revi still reading?

Reaching out tentatively, Barron touched Revi’s back.

“Mmm.” The sleepy sound was muffled. Barron flattened his hand, soaking up the warmth of Revi’s body.

He jerked his hand back when Revi shifted. He wiggled around and then slid against Barron, chest to chest. Revi slung an arm over Barron’s side and snuggled against his shoulder. He sighed and went limp.

Holy hells.

There was no way his pants would hide what was going on down there. Thank God everyone was asleep. Barron tried to will his erection away, but with nearly head-to-toe contact between him and Revi… yeah, so wasn’t happening. He grimaced and tried to relax anyway.

Who knew what the next day was going to bring? Probably a lot of shit from the guys, but Barron didn’t really care. If Paradise wasn’t sustainable, they were all going to die anyway.

He’d overheard whispers he hadn’t dared share about the state of the engine when they dropped back to light speed.

There was nothing like global disaster followed by a potential death sentence floating through space to learn life was too damn short to worry about stupid shit. He was going to enjoy something Barron never thought he’d get to have.

He buried his face in Revi’s soft hair and curled his arm around him. When he woke up, neither of them had moved. His arm was numb and his nose itched, but Barron was too happy to move. Faint sounds from the front of the room distracted him. That must’ve been what woke him up.

“…going down in…”

“…civilians last.”

He could only pick up snatches of the conversation, but it looked like they’d arrived at Paradise, a full day later than expected. He wondered how far that was in terms of distance. He was distracted from the conversation when Revi’s breath caught, and he froze.

In his distraction, Barron hadn’t realized he was playing with Revi’s hair until it slid through his fingers. “Hey,” he said. Wow, raspy. He cleared his throat.

“Hey.” Revi still hadn’t moved away. He’d moved his head, but the edges of his curls still twisted around Barron’s fingers. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep here.”

Here was his chance. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Without his sight it was hard to know how Revi was reacting to waking up in his arms, but his voice was calm, and he hadn’t jerked up and out of Barron’s bed like it was on fire. Barron cleared his throat again.

“I didn’t mind. I mean, I liked it.” He closed his fingers around those curls, not tight, but enough Revi had to feel it. He wanted to lean down and kiss him, but how awkward would it be if he kissed his nose or something?

Or worse, if Revi didn’t want to be kissed. Barron licked his lips. Maybe he should ask? But who did that?

“Revi,” he whispered, “Can I—” He started to lean down, and apparently, Revi had the same thought. His forehead hit Revi in the nose.

“Ow!” Revi jerked back, then winced. Barron loosened his hold on Revi’s hair.

“Sorry. Damn it. Just…” Barron clenched his jaw. If he could just see what the hell he was doing! He wanted to growl in frustration. “Sorry. My stupid eyes.”

“I had my eyes closed. It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

Don’t worry about the kiss? Or kissing in general? Was his awkward fumbling a complete turn-off or something—

Those soft pinks lips Barron couldn’t keep out of his dreams landed on his as Revi took control, obliterating Barron’s internal freak-out. Barron’s fingers clenched tight again. He wasn’t holding Revi’s head still, he was holding on for dear life as they pressed together, lips to toes. Revi controlled the pressure, moving his hand to Barron’s cheek and cupping it. He licked at the seam of Barron’s lips and then sank his tongue inside.

No one had ever taken control as they touched him that way. Barron relaxed into the kiss and let Revi lead, touching and tasting, and then he sucked on Revi’s tongue.

Revi pulled away with a gasp. “Damn.”

“Damn what?” Barron asked. His heart raced, and he fought the urge to hold Revi tighter in case he tried to get up.

But no, Revi had kissed him.

“That was amazing.”

Barron’s face warmed. He relaxed. “Yeah.”

“Too bad everyone’s going to get up soon. I don’t want to stop, but I don’t think we should put on a show either. There are little kids in the room.”

His heart sped back up. “Do you… does that mean you want to get up?” He reluctantly slid his hand out of Revi’s hair. After all the snarky comments he made about it, he loved having it wrapped around his fingers.

“No. Not if you want me to stay.”

Barron nodded, unable to speak through the lump of pure relief in his throat.

The last bit of tension went out of Revi’s body, and he rested his face against Barron’s shoulder and neck. Barron smiled. He didn’t have to see to know things were okay between them. He could feel it. His arm was still numb, but the rest of his body was so amped up, Barron didn’t care.

“Well lookie here. The two of them finally quit dancing around each other.”

“Uh-huh. And now they’re doing the dance with no pants.”

Barron growled, woken up by his friends’ idiocy when he’d been having a very good dream. He tried to stretch, but then he remembered.

Not a dream.

“We have pants on,” Revi said. His breath puffed against Barron’s neck.

Barron shivered. His neck was very sensitive. Revi made a small noise and then blew deliberately across his neck and ear.

“Why are you guys… ugh… waking us up?” Holy shit. Barron had not expected this sort of thing from Revi. He was outgoing and funny, but there’d been a distinct space between them until Barron had shoved a piece of metal through his hand. There’d been a lot more touching since then.

It felt really good. Okay. There was no way Barron was standing up.

“There’s an announcement in thirty minutes. We’re supposed to go to the lounges on each level.”

Barron shivered when Revi kissed his neck and then scooted back.

“Oh, my arm. Damn.” His fingers tingled like crazy as the blood finally returned to his arm. Revi grabbed his palm and rubbed it. Barron groaned. “That’s good.”

“Would you two get a room?”

“Your grandparents taught you way too many stupid sayings, William,” Thavin said.

“Whatever.”

Revi snickered.

“If you’re going to get ready and get something to eat, you should get moving. Mr. Hodge wanted us to warn you two.”

“I overheard him, last night. Or maybe early this morning.” Barron remembered waking up and hearing talking. “We must have arrived at Paradise. I heard something about going down and civilians last. Maybe we’re going to land.”

“I bet they use shuttles. That way they can leave the ship in orbit. It takes a lot of fuel to liftoff. And if the planet isn’t viable…”

That was a buzzkill. Barron sat up on the edge of his bed. “Can you hand me my glasses?” he asked Revi. He had no idea where they were.

“Sure.” Revi didn’t hand them to Barron; he slipped them on his face instead.

“Thanks.”

“Wow, zero to one ten in a single night.”

“Guys! Enough commentary. You did what Mr. Hodge asked. Now. Go. Away.” They scattered. When Barron got irritated, they knew better than to stick around. “I’m gonna go get changed. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

They grabbed breakfast and then headed down to the lounge. It was weird, holding hands, but it was a lot easier getting around. He didn’t have to keep count. It was easier to pay attention to their surroundings, because he knew he could trust Revi not to let him smash into a wall or get snicked by a closing door.

The lounge was nearly silent when they got there. Barron sat on the floor and Revi sat beside him. They leaned against the wall near a lot of other teens, while the adults took the furniture. Revi leaned in close. “The little kids aren’t here. That’s probably a bad sign,” he said in a low voice.

“Attention.” The speakers crackled to life before Barron could respond. “This is Captain DeLeon. We have arrived at the planet dubbed Paradise. As rumors have been flying, I’m sure many of you know the mission parameters have changed. Paradise is no longer a green planet within a safe distance to the double suns of this solar system. Some cosmic event has pushed the planet beyond that distance.

“However, we do not have the resources at this time to locate and travel to another viable planet. We are currently scanning, and while temperature averages are far colder than expected, there is a temperate region on each continent surrounding the aquatic regions. These are not frozen, as expected, and life forms have registered on the satellite scans taken over the last twenty-four hours.”

Barron slumped against the wall. Cold, but livable.

Maybe the human race wasn’t doomed after all.