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18:05
“Mac,
you ready to go?”
She
looked up at her occupied doorway. Harm, cover tucked under
one arm and briefcase in hand, looked ready for take off to ... where she
wasn’t sure. As far as she knew, they didn’t have plans for the evening.
“Yea, almost. I’ve just got
to finish off this report,” she answered with a questioning look.
“Take
your time, I’ll just wait,” he gestured at her chair.
“Sure¯”
he’d
already settled into the seat. When he didn’t offer anything more, she frowned,
shrugged, and returned to her files. During the next twenty minutes that it
took to finalise her work for the day, she couldn’t
help but steal occasional glances at Harm. A small smile or a mildly heated
gaze was always waiting for her.
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.
The guard saluted them as they exited
the front entrance of JAG HQ. His mysteriousness was rotating her curiosity
radar into overdrive. “What’s up Harm?”
“I
want you to come somewhere with me.”
“Okay,
where to?”
“You’ll
find out soon.”
Mac
halted mid-stride, exceedingly puzzled at his attitude.
He
nudged her briefcase with his own. “Go on, drop your stuff off and we’ll take
my car.”
Southeast of
The
music was on loud, the windows were down and the breeze fanning gently through
their hair. Harm’s fiery red corvette was swiftly leaving behind the jagged
structures of the hectic cityscape. Although all this secrecy was nagging at
her, Mac was simultaneously enjoying the spontaneity of this impromptu road
trip. Harm had let loose into a jovial mood, bobbing comically to the dancing
beats. Occasions like this were gradually becoming more common. In the past few
months after their Paraguayan adventure, they’d somewhat incredulously moved
naturally into an even closer relationship. One where fun was had on recurrent
dates, affections were shown freely and even more frequently. In the ninth
year, it was slow advance, but utter bliss. They were cruising on the
relationship highway of their lives; final destination as yet unknown.
Mac
turned down the volume. “Harm, can’t you just give me a hint,” she cajoled.
“You know how I hate being kept in the dark.”
He
glanced at her amusingly and then nodded upwards at the sky. “I’m taking you to
see Mars.”
Presuming
it to be a joke, she took it in stride. Mac tilted her head back and laughed.
“Sarah’s going to fly us there?”
“If you can Sarah. I didn’t know
your alter ego was wonder woman.” Harm tossed back good-naturedly.
She
responded in kind, saying light-heartedly, “Well, I do fight for truth and
justice, and I protect the world from harm, don’t I?”
Harm
blinked in surprise at the uncanny truth in her reply.
Mac
waited expectantly for another more valid hint. It didn’t come. “You’re serious
aren’t you? Where exactly are we going, some kinda
new scientific exhibition?”
"Not
quite, but we do have ‘ringside’ seats,” he emphasised
enthusiastically. “Last night, I got one of those forwards emails from Bud.
Seems like Mars mania is taking place around the world. I checked it out, apparently Mars will be in its closest distance to
Earth in sixty-thousand years."
“And
we’re going to partake in this phenomenon, how?” Mac retorted, her tone rose with scepticism.
“Come
on Mac, you're the one who talks about rifts in the time-space continuum and
you’ve got this unidentified internal clock going on."
“Yea,
but what’ll we see, it’s probably just another dot in the sky Harm.”
Uncertainty
crept into his plans. “I just, thought you might enjoy this,” Harm said
subdued.
He
looked like a vulnerable little boy, who had just for the first time voiced his
dreams and aspirations. Mac was dreadfully chastised. She covered his hand that
rested on his thigh. “I’m sorry Harm, I’m just being difficult.”
He
returned a forgiving smile, turning his hand over to lace their fingers
together.
A While Later
They’d
arrived at the terrains of a national park. Harm led them on about a fifteen
minutes hike up a relatively steep cliff. They emerged from the uphill climb at
the peak, to a spectacular panorama of the natural world. The sun was retiring
for the day behind the horizon, slipping low and illuminating the stretch of
sea into thousands of glistening sparkles. They stood for long minutes, Harm
with his arm wrapped around Mac’s shoulder, enjoying the beauty of the
moment.
“They
say the best time to view Mars is in the dark of night, so we’ll have a light
dinner and wait for nightfall,” he said. He’d prepared for them salads, pasta
and sandwiches.
“So
the aliens have finally gotten to you huh,” Mac teased. “I knew they would
eventually.”
Harm
answered her with a toss of his scrunched up food wrapper.
By the
time the food had been consumed, only silver threads of moonlight and the
shining stars was lighting their way. Harm walked to the telescope that he’d
placed a good three metres away from the cliff edge.
He bent down and began adjusting and tuning the instrument.
“Hey I
see it!” he exclaimed suddenly. He whistled in appreciation and then tugged on
Mac’s arm to stand her in his place. “Here, take a look.”
Mac
peered in and gasped with unexpected surprise. Her entire field of vision had
been transformed into the backdrop of the universe. In one corner dotted with
stars was the crescent moon and in the other, was the large round orange planet
of Mars. “This is amazing Harm,” she breathed out in awe.
He
lowered his head next to her ear. “See that wisp of white cloud on the southern
tip?”
“Uh
huh, what is it?”
“That’s
the polar cap.”
Mac
shook her head in amazement. “I’m impressed Commander,” she turned smiling and
found herself nose to nose with Harm.
The
casual atmosphere subtly shifted to one of sexual tension.
“You
know how they described this event Mac? I quote, ‘As if executing a cosmic air
kiss, Earth and Mars will come as close as they desire in the wee hours of
Wednesday.’"
Mac
stared, regaining her breath. “How close do you think they desire to be?”
“However
close they chose Mac,” he drawled out the words leisurely. “We’ve got proof,”
he paused, to point at the sky. “The universe’s the limit.”
The
kiss that unfolded was definitely getting much too close and rapidly spinning
out of control. Mac pulled away breathlessly.
Harm
understood her actions and took a few steps back to decelerate his racing
pulse. It didn’t help when Mac gave him another yearning stare through half
hooded eyes. She returned with effort, to the telescope.
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.
"Wow,
we'll be able to tell our kids we're the first humans to see Mars in sixty
thousand years." When she received no response, she turned back to look at
Harm, unawares of her slip up. She was startled at the change in his demeanour. She could almost feel him radiating with energy
amidst the silent intensity.
“Harm?”
"Say
that again,” he requested softly.
"What?”
Mac asked, confused.
“What
you just said.”
“I
just said we’ll be able to tell our … kids …” She licked her lips nervously.
She’d had no intention of stepping into that boundary, but in lure of the
night’s events, she decided to play daringly. “That’s, if the father wants to.”
His
eyes widened and subsequently crinkled with a brilliant smile. “Oh, he most
definitely will. It’d be a great tale to tell.”
Like
the planets that have for thousands of years orbited slowly and inexorably
closer and closer, their lives had weaved a similar path. Their friendship
which had for so long been running mutually parallel, intertwined, transitioned
and without fuss clicked rightly into place.
Harm’s
lips curled up into a mischievous grin. “Mac, I’m really starting to believe
that there must be some kinda cosmic forces at work.
Many things happen just once in a lifetime and this has got to be one of them.
I think after nine long years, me and you are finally on the same wave-length.”
Mac’s
eyes glinted with equal cheekiness. “Nah, there’s a much simpler explanation.”
“Yea,
what’s that?”
“Men
are from Mars,” she explained simply.
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.