Notes: OMIGOD I'M FINALLY STARTING IT! We're moving on with the Liminal Space universe, at last, and with none other than Robbie and Wyl (and Kyle and Isidore and other assorted characters). It's been so long, but this woman's just started her staycation and is raring to go, creatively speaking.

I'll try to post weekly, not sure exactly which day yet, but we'll figure it out.

ENJOOOOOY! 

Title: The Beyond: Chapter One

***

The Beyond

Chapter One

Photo by Mark Sendra Martorell 

The first thing Wyl did when he woke up wasmake sure his husband was still breathing.

The coolness of his skin was almostunnoticeable at this point. All of them were cool verging on cold this far outin the Beyond, nothing between them and space except their heavily rad-shieldedship, its aesthetic becoming more Drifter style every time they pulled into a stationfor repairs. Cold meant they were saving money for other things, which was allright.

The stillness was even easier to understand—thiswas Robbie, after all. A former Marine, station security chief, and child ofMars, Robbie had grown up without ever having the space to really spread himselfaround. He’d been the sole member of his family to survive the cryosleep fromthe Home System to the New System more than five decades ago, and he’d chosenthe military because it came with built-in orders and a decent income. No,expanding hadn’t been something Robbie indulged in until he and Wyl gottogether, and even then Wyl was willing to admit that he’d taken up more than hisfair share of their space.

The breathing, though…the first time Wyl hadwoken up next to Robbie and found his husband cold and unmoving, no breathsmoving inside his chest, he’d freaked out. Literally lost his mind—fierce andimmediate horror had overcome all the expensive Regen treatments he got on theregular for his mental health, and he’d screamed and shaken Robbie’s shouldersuntil the man had woken up and brought his crisis to an abrupt and confusingend.

That had been three years ago. Wyl didn’tlose it like that anymore, but he couldn’t stop himself from checking. Movingslowly, because he didn’t want to wake Robbie up before he had to, he reachedover to the bedside table and grabbed the miniature tab he kept there. Hechecked it was on the right settings, then held it within an inch of Robbie’smouth. Keeping that same distance, he went all the way down to the center ofhis chest before accessing the readings with his implant.

Blood Pressure: 75/34

Temperature: 34 C

SpO2: 100%

Heart Rate: 30 bpm

Respiratory Rate: 2 breaths per minute

On anyone else, it would have indicated a coma.On Robbie, this was one of his livelier mornings lately.

Robbie shivered. If he hadn’t been lookingat him so closely, Wyl would have missed it. As it was, he saw the minutetremor wobble across his chest and abdomen and had to forcibly resist the urgeto shake Robbie awake. Whatever state the parasite inside of him was cyclingthrough at this point, it was worse to interrupt it. Another lesson learned thehard way.

The cycles were lasting longer these days.

Still, he should come up in the next ten minutesor so. Watching Robbie wake up was like watching a resurrection, and it was somethingRobbie preferred to go through on his own.

“You don’t have to monitor me every singletime,” he’d said a few years back when this was all still much more new andscarier. “I know you don’t like to watch it.”

“Who would?” Wyl had snapped. “That doesn’tmean I should leave you alone for it.”

Robbie had sighed and kissed his forehead. “Baby,”he’d said tiredly. “I’m not alone, and it’s not going to let anything badhappen to me.”

Wyl hadn’t believed that back then. It hadtaken several near-misses and one genuine miracle for him to see that Robbiewas right. As long as he carried the parasite he’d gotten from Rory MacAllister,he had a built-in layer of protection that none of the rest of them did.

Wyl blinked, getting his mind back on track.He set the blanket to slowly warm up, because he might not like watching but hedidn’t want Robbie shivering into consciousness either; it hit too close towaking up surrounded by dead people after his cryogenic mishap. He tucked it inclose around Robbie’s shoulders, kissed him soft on the cheek, and frowned whenhe felt stubble on the skin. Robbie depilated regularly; even with a productionboost from Regen, he shouldn’t be showing this much hair growth on his face sosoon.

It was going to be time for a full check-upwhen they got to Cloverleaf Station. For all of them, but for Robbie most ofall. They were lucky the place had such a discreet doctor. Gania had poured alot of money into that station over the past few years, ever since LifeShipIndustries had taken administrative control of it. It was a good place to restand recharge, and this time around, Pence was waiting for them there.

Had it already been twelve standard monthssince he’d left? Shit, time flew.

Wyl stopped staring creepily at his husbandand got out of bed. The floor wasn’t cold—he wore socks constantly, he wasnever going to have cold feet again, damn it—but the air was, and by the timehe grabbed his clothes and got in the shower, he was the one freezinghis ass off.

The cleansing unit cleansed…efficiently, wasabout the best he could say for it. They’d kept the ship they stole duringtheir escape from Redstone, one that was made to house between six and tenpeople. With five of them, it had been comfortable; with four it was downrightluxurious, everyone having the option of a room to themselves if they wantedit. Wyl used his for the projects that wouldn’t fit on the table in the mess.

He dressed quickly in a pair of dull graypants and a thick, luxurious black wool sweater that had been a gift fromGarrett for his last birthday. Then he pulled his hair back into a short tail,slipped on his untied boots, and headed out to go find breakfast.

Kyle was in the mess already, getting a cupof coffee from the machine. He glanced over and smiled as Wyl stepped into theroom. “Hi.”

“Hey.” It was hard not to smile back atKyle; Wyl didn’t even try to stop himself anymore. He had that impossible Alexandercharm, just like his father had. It didn’t hurt that he had golden-brown hairin need of a trim, bright blue eyes, and a face that looked like it had beendesigned in a lab…because it had, but that wasn’t Kyle’s fault. The sort ofgenetic manipulation Kyle had undergone at the hands of his sociopathic brotherwas incredibly illegal, but not many things were actually illegal to theformer president of the Alliance. Rot in hell, Raymond. “You’re upearly.”

Kyle laughed, the way Wyl had intended. Honestly,there was no such thing as early in the Beyond; their circadian rhythms werewholly fucked out here apart from the time they kept on the ship, and thatdepended a lot on the kind of work they were doing. Mining paid well butrequired intense focus, so regular shifts of waking and sleep were essential.

The other work they did out here…that was waymore variable, and way more important as far as Wyl was concerned, but they hadto pay for it somehow. That meant mining for rare minerals, which was a hell ofa lot easier with Robbie’s passenger telling them where to find the biggesthauls.

Wyl didn’t like to think too closely aboutthat.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I ran inventory,” Kylesaid as he put a new cup under the coffee machine and set it for Wyl’s standardorder, which had three times the caffeine of everyone else’s. Then he headedover to the food prep area, where a pot had been unfolded, a random meal added—knowingKyle, some sort of breakfast grain with added gritty, chalk-like powders forprotein and vitamins—and the timer set to cook. It looked like it would be donesoon, judging from the steam that escaped from the edges of the lid.

“How’re we looking?”

“Flush. We’ve got almost two tons ofplatinum-group metals, plus a decent amount of cobalt and nickel. Some prettypallasite too, for the collectors.” He sipped from his mug, plain white thathad been savaged with a brush so often parts of it had gone gray, and watchedWyl go through the motions of adding a teaspoon of thick, sweet syrup to his concoctionand stirring it with a condenser until he finally sat down with him.

“Where’s Isidore?” Wyl asked. Isidore Cain,the fourth member of their crew, bunked in the room next to Kyle’s. He didn’talways join them for breakfast, but he had steadily regained his ability to socializeover the past few years, to the point where he didn’t wear any deadly mods intheir presence. Going undercover at Redstone had done a number on the guy, but atleast his time in exile was coming to an end.

“He was reading when I saw him.”

“New message from Pence?”

Kyle shrugged. “Or Garrett, or GeneralCaractacus. He’s got a lot of friends.”

So do you. Only most of them didn’tknow that Kyle was alive. Very few people left in the Central System had theclearance for that.

Two, specifically. And only one of them eversent messages. The other had to be contacted directly from Cloverleaf Station.

“It’s going to be weird here without him,”Wyl offered in an effort to get Kyle to open up. Screw everyone who said he hadno emotional intelligence, he knew a bid for connection when he saw one.

Kyle knew what Wyl was doing, of course, buthe went with it. “It is. It was weird when Pence left, but it’ll be evenstranger without Isidore.”

It really would. Pence, or rather PenstemmonGaraval III, and no wonder the poor fucker had shortened his name as soon as he’dgotten the chance, had only stayed in the Beyond with them for a year before hewas able to negotiate a return to Central System space. He wasn’t welcome onany of the major planets, but he wouldn’t be arrested for hanging out in the Fringe,which he preferred anyhow. Wyl had kind of never expected to hear from the guyagain, but apparently the friends with benefits situation he and Isidore hadstarted up had more depth than he’d expected. Pence had done a lot of thelegwork behind getting Isidore’s name cleared and his permissions to live andwork within the Alliance reinstated—with Garrett’s help, of course. Once theygot to Cloverleaf Station, Pence would meet them there with a ship, ready towhisk Isidore off to a whole new life.

And he deserved it. He did, but Wyl wasgoing to miss him. Isidore, apart from being a good guy and a gifted engineer,was a stabilizing influence on Robbie. Wyl had his…moods, and Kyle wasn’texactly a shining example of perfect mental health after everything that hadhappened to him, but Isidore had been surprisingly well regulated. He’d met Robbiebeat for beat and maintained a sense of calm that Wyl could only admire fromafar, and once he was gone…well, things were going to get a lot more complicated.

But we can handle it. We’re close to findingthe answer we need. Just a few more forays into the Beyond, and hopefullythey’d have found a way to free Robbie from the parasite that was riding him sodiligently. Wyl wanted to hate it, and yet…

“We’ll be okay.”

Wyl looked over at Kyle, who had an understandinglook on his smooth, handsome face. “Hmm?”

“You’re worried. I know it’s bad when youget that line.”

“What line?”

Kyle rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. “Thatone. But it’s going to be okay, Wyl. We’ll manage. You guys won’t be out hereforever, I’m sure of it.”

But I might be went unsaid but heard.Wyl’s heart ached for the situation Kyle had found himself in, through no faultof his own.

“We won’t leave you behind,” he promised.

Kyle nodded. “I know you won’t.” The potclicked, indicating it was done cooking. Kyle got up to dish it out into bowlsjust as Isidore came in from the hall.

Wyl took one look at him and laughed outloud. “Someone’s excited!” Isidore had dressed up in his nicest outfit, thefabrics soft and colorful, draping across his body in the suggestive style ofSolaydor without actually giving anything away. His long, dark hair wasbraided, and the tips of his nails were painted silver, to match his eyes. “Youlook so nice. Dressing up for your beau?”

He blushed. It was precious. “Maybe.” Hetook the bowl Kyle offered him, then frowned. “Speaking of, where’s yours?”

That…was a good question. Robbie ought to havejoined them by now. “I’ll go check on him,” Wyl said, standing up just as Kyleset his food down. “Keep it warm for me, I’ll just be a sec.” He walked backinto their bedroom, the closest to the mess, and was surprised to see Robbiewas still in bed. The air was warmer, blanket doing its job, but he was asstill now as he’d been when Wyl woke up.

“Baby?” Wyl came over and sat on the edge ofthe bed next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” He couldsee Robbie’s chest moving now, at least. “Robbie?” A prickle of unease began inhis fingertips and sped up his arms, penetrating his chest like tiny bolts oflightning. “Robbie. Wake up.” He was prepared to get louder, butjust them Robbie’s eyelids fluttered. Wyl heaved a sigh of relief and leaneddown to kiss him—

Then jerked back as he looked into eyes thathad gone completely black except for the thin circle of brown iris within them.