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“It all went to shit with the AOE. I mean, things were already going to shit, but with us, it was because of the AOE. Some of my wife’s family entered the Assembly of the Eternal in its beginning. We thought they were insane, but when all their bullshit started, no one knew how outrageous they would get. Her parents joined and gave away their life savings, and unfortunately, ours as well.”
I gasped and pulled my knees to my stomach, wrapping my free arm around my legs.
“Right, I know. She had some joint accounts with them, and they had access to some things. They wiped us out. I had to tell my employer when it happened.”
“Your employer?” I interrupted. “And that is?”
“I was in the Navy for twelve years, got injured, and moved to a desk. I worked in engineering. As time went on, they assigned me to foreign threats. When most threats became domestic, I was on a team to investigate the Assembly of the Eternal. So, my bank accounts being drained by them didn’t look great.”
I nodded, enthralled by every word.
“When they found out, they had a proposition. My wife and I could join the AOE undercover. At first, I thought it was insane, but when I went to tell Cecilia, she wanted to do it. I think there was a mix of wanting to see her family because she missed and loved them, and a strong desire to claw their eyes out for betraying her.”
I chuckled at his comment. Cecilia sounded like a strong woman who had been through some shit. I understood that. I went back and forth between hating and loving my family, so I related to how she must have felt.
“You would have liked her,” Sam muttered, echoing my thoughts. “Anyway, we did it. We didn’t have a lot to lose at that point. The government likes to make you think you have a choice in things, but we knew they would’ve made it an order eventually, at least for me. This way, we could be together. And it would guarantee our safety long term. Things had been going downhill fast on land and there were lots of underground bunkers and paths to safety at sea in process, more than just these ships. We needed a spot somewhere.”
“There are people hiding on land?” I asked.
Sam squinted and looked up at the ceiling. He might have said too much, but I let him continue. “I can’t be sure, but I think so. There were lots of schematics I had access to — places for survivors. I consulted on projects for several ideas. Some of them have to be out there, like Thalassa. Anyway, becoming a part of the AOE gave Cecilia and me protection somewhere. They would’ve given her a spot on the Galene.”
“So, you were supposed to be on that ship from the beginning? What happened?”
“Besides being impaled on my way to find a vehicle,” Sam grinned. He paused a moment, taking in a deep breath. “She was dead by then.” He let out the air from his lungs.
“So that day, what happened that day I found you?”
“The storms came quicker than expected and upped the deploy date. I thought I had more time is all. I wasn’t suicidal. I tried to get to the Galene.”
I lifted my hand to his chin and brought it back down to my gaze. “Okay, so what happened when you were with the AOE?”
He gave me a chaste kiss and continued. “We received the brands early on to prove our loyalty, and they reunited Cecilia with her family. They never apologized for taking the money, and it was clear they never would. Their view was the AOE would save humanity. Our savings account didn’t matter when it came to saving the world. They believed that with every fiber of their being and, with time… Cecilia believed it too.”
I brought my hand to my mouth to prevent any words from escaping. She betrayed him. Whatever happened to her, she had killed herself. Alignment with the AOE ended in death, even when good people with good intentions joined. But I couldn’t say that to him. I couldn’t believe it myself with my sister’s death, so I knew how he felt.
I reached for Sam and he gripped my hand, his fingers wound tightly around mine. I felt the cut on my thumb open. He trembled, but his voice kept steady.
“I was in denial at first. I believed she was in character and would snap out of it. But the truth was I lost her in there. We didn’t train her to be inside an enemy camp. She couldn’t compartmentalize the situation and, to add to the problem, her family was a powerful and comforting force, shifting her views. For the last few months, I was pretending to be in it with her. I still loved her, but I lost her. I didn’t know what to do.”
He shook his head, and I saw the pain in his face. “I’m deceitful. I betrayed you like I did Cecilia by pretending to be someone I’m not. She believed I was obedient until the day I left her.”
“You left her? Then how did she…” I trailed off.
“The swim happened a week after I left the AOE. I had gathered the intel needed, and it was time to leave. The night I fled, I tried to get her to come with me. She sounded an alarm, and I had to knock her out. I almost took her unconscious body with me. I could have easily carried her, but I thought it was too late. I thought she was happier with her family in their ignorance. I didn’t know they would all be dead in a few days.” He slid his fingers out of mine. “You’re bleeding.”
“Oh, I cut my hand on a knife in the kitchen,” I explained.
He attempted to stand, and I pulled him back down, keeping him on the floor with me. “You haven’t lost me, Sam. I’m here, in love with you.”
He pulled me into his lap. His fingers traced my jaw while his thumb pulled my bottom lip down.
“We are still in this together,” he said. His face moved to mine, taking my mouth.
I separated my lips from him to answer, “Yes.” Our foreheads touching, I left kisses on his cheeks and nose. “Is this what you told Lori? Is this why she has a soft spot for you?”
A coy smile crossed his lips.
“She doesn’t know every piece of the story, but she knows enough. She knows I lost my wife to the AOE and my service. I told her I was miserable without you and in love with you. She knows that I stupidly thought I could put everything behind me and start over as your husband, not this broken man who lost everything and had to try again.”
