Page 32 of Leveling

Chapter 20

When Beckett wokeup Luna was standing naked at the railing facing east and the sun.

Beckett strode up behind her and wrapped her in the quilt, kissing the back of her neck. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, it’s six am. What time does your helicopter come?”

“Ten a.m. When do you think your family will return?”

“Any time now, but if I leave first, I’ll mark the building. They’ll catch up before I’m too far out.”

Luna turned for a long lingering kiss. When her arms went up around the back of his head the quilt dropped to the ground and the two stood naked, completely exposed on an Outpost in the middle of the ocean.

Beckett chuckled into Luna’s ear, “What if your family showed up and saw us like this?”

Luna considered two responses, before she joked, “They’d be surprised by the full moon—get it?”

Beckett chuckled more. “I get it, silly. I wish we could go back to bed, but we have so much to do—”

“So you’re still using we, even in the light of day?”

Beckett pulled back to arm’s length and peered into her eyes. “Yes, we. I mean it. Do you still mean it?”

Luna nodded and threw her arms around him, hugging her head to his chest.

Beckett hugged the back of her head, encircling her in his strong arms. “So what we have to do is be sensible. We have to pack up. We have to say goodbye. I have to go to work. I have to convince my superiors that I am sensible and unemotional and detached, and that I should be transferred to the settlements. Then I have to find you.”

Luna pulled away and watched him nodding. “And I have to paddle east to the mainland with due haste.”

“And when you get there, you go to the settlements. Get your name on as many lists as possible. I’ll be looking for you, but the settlements are big, and there are a lot of people there. Find people in charge and ask for Beckett Stanford. Tell everyone your name and ask everyone for me.”

“Beckett Stanford. I can’t believe I didn’t know your last name.”

“Stanford. You’ll remember it?”

Luna nodded

Beckett kissed her brow.

* * *

Luna and Beckett dressed and then packed up the last boxes and crates, stacking a pile in the middle of the roof beside the helicopter landing port. After a couple of hours Luna said, “It’s almost nine, I ought to go get Steve and Boosy ready for my trip.”

“I’ll bring one of the packs down, give me about ten minutes.”

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