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than be
here.”
    Diller chuckled as they started making their way through the
jungle to the rendezvous point. “I hear ya. This is starting to feel like a
disciplinary mission if ever I’ve been on one.”
    Julian took a moment to study Diller’s olive complexion and
trim physique. Coupled with his suave personality, Diller had the tools to get
into all the best kinds of trouble. “And I’m guessing you’ve been on a couple.”
    Diller laughed. “Maybe just a few more than a couple. Ever
wonder who you pissed off to get the assignment?”
    “Nah. If this is a punishment, I know who put me here.” But
most likely his father had put him on the roster out of some misguided sense of
pride. It was why, as much as he disliked his father, he could never truly hate
the man. He seemed to think he was doing these things as a fatherly duty.
    “Me too. Some women get seriously pissed when you don’t
call. Just because you have to obey their orders during the day doesn’t mean
you should be subjected to them at night though.”
    Julian groaned in commiseration. “Screwing a superior
officer is always trouble.”
    “But they sound so lovely when they’re screaming your name.”
    He nearly moaned and his cock got hard at the thought of
Gates calling out Julian’s name during climax. “That they do.”
    Diller laughed and slapped Julian’s shoulder playfully.
“Damn straight.”
    They fell into a companionable silence as they hiked through
the terrain. The planet was no safer than when they’d woken up that morning but
it also wasn’t any more dangerous. He had to take comfort in that knowledge. If
the Coalition were here, their mission would be infinitely more difficult.
    They reached the rendezvous point ahead of schedule but
Gates’ team had still beaten them there. The camp had been set up and some men
were already eating rations. “Thanks for waiting for us,” Julian said
sarcastically as he dug his tent out of his backpack. When he managed to get
the shelter up he put his backpack into it and then joined the rest of the men
near the fire. “Any idea where Gates is?”
    Gates hadn’t wandered off since that first night. But maybe
since they’d had a couple quiet days he’d decided solitary hikes were safe
again.
    “Over here, rookie.” Gates stepped out of a tent on the east
side of camp.
    Julian clenched his jaw with irritation but then forced the
muscle to relax. Ever since the night of the spider encounter, Gates refused to
call him anything other than rookie. “Great. I figured you’d want a report as
soon as possible.”
    Gates nodded and then motioned Julian to join him near the
edge of the camp. “What’d you find?”
    As Julian made his way over to him, though, Gates started to
walk into the jungle. Of all the things Julian didn’t need after the stress and
exhaustion of the day, being alone with Gates topped the list. Still, it wasn’t
as if he could just stand there and watch Gates leave. He obviously planned on
Julian following him. When Gates finally stopped walking several yards into the
dense underbrush, Julian answered. “We found a military shuttle and the remains
of eight of her crew. I recovered their readers. They’re in my tent.”
    “Good job. Any trouble?”
    “Nope. The jungle was quiet today.”
    “Good to hear.”
    That was all that really needed to be said. But Julian found
that as much as he hadn’t wanted to be alone with Gates, he wasn’t ready to go
back to camp. Not yet at least. “What are we dealing with here, sir?”
    “I’m sorry?” Gates’ voice held more challenge than apology
however.
    “We’ve come up against some weird shit on this planet.
Still, what could take out an entire group of enhanced soldiers?” He looked
around them into the jungle as he spoke. “It looked as if three of them died in
the landing. Okay. I get it. Sometimes transport is dangerous. But Diller found
five of them dead just forty yards away. They were the best of the best