A Man for Halli Read online

A Man For Halli

  by

  Beth Sadler

  Copyright Beth Sadler2012

  This work is written in Australian English

  Cover copyright 2012 Beth Sadler

  Chapter 1

  Callem Radinor lifted his long, strong arms, way above his head, as he stretched his massive six foot six inch frame towards the glorious early morning sun. He felt the heat, salt air, and powdery sand of the Gold Coast beach soothe the tired ache out of his body. After hours spent sitting at the controls of his transporter ship he needed this break before starting his new work day. Dropping off his crew to their assignments around the world, had taken most of the night to complete. He intended to enjoy this first morning on Earth.

  Gazing out to sea he speared his fingers through his short, jet black hair and walked steadily forward until he could dive under the first wave. Easily powering through the surf he happily contemplated the way life had of throwing surprises in his path.

  Callem was a happy man right at this moment. This was his second visit to the planet Earth however, this time he was the one in charge. He was now the Executon of the Interplanetary Research Pod, Seeker 5. He had worked hard for sixteen years to win this honour. Luckily, his last Executon on Seeker 4 had been impressed enough with his work to give him an excellent evaluation and promotion had quickly followed.

  As Callem thought of Callianta Anderon, his last Executon, his smile broadened into a huge grin. Callianta had planned and worked her whole adult life to get to Earth where she was convinced her life-mate waited for her. Callem laughed out loud then, when he remembered how the whole crew had been shocked into silence when their boss had turned up, on the last day of their tour of duty, with a brand new Earth life-mate; a mate who was ready and eager to take off with them to their home planet of Teeron. Daniel Smith was a six foot eight inch golden haired human, who was totally, madly in love with his Teeronite mate; they were now eagerly awaiting the birth of their first child. Luckily Teeronites and Humans shared the same physiology, so, there was no problem having offspring.

  Daniel owned the block of units on the beach where Callem now swam. The units were under the management of one of Dan’s fellow carpenter friends, Joe Grant; a friend who believed that Daniel was off surfing around the world and could only be contacted by email.

  The units had proven to be a blessing for previous Teeron expeditions to Earth. Dan had kept a ground floor unit for himself that was always available to the frequent Teeronite visitors. Dan’s friend Joe only knew that Dan was making a lot of new friends in his travels and was making his unit available to them for short stays. If he wondered why they were all physically similar, being well over six feet tall, black haired and blue eyed, he hadn’t commented on it yet.

  Callem rolled onto his back and squinted up at the fast rising sun, it was time to get back to work if he was to complete his own assignment. The Co-Op was worried about the vast amount of mining that was taking place in Mongolia. Huge dust clouds were being produced and it was Callem’s job to see if the resulting mess posed a threat to the upper stratosphere surrounding the planet. Too much dust cloud, and global cooling could be the result.

  Teeron took the job of monitoring its neighbouring planet’s health seriously. If there were a real problem, Teeron would have to decide whether to let its presence be known. If help were needed then, they would have to decide how help could best be delivered.

  Callem strode out of the shower, towelling off his newly tanned, healthy body. A body that was capable of exerting more strength than was obvious at first glance. A second look might see the long muscles under his skin that were taught and toned, able to deliver incredible speed and strength to his body when needed. In fact Teeronites could run faster, lift heavier weights and live many years longer than humans. It was a matter of conjecture as to whether the lack of pollution on Teeron was the reason that they were physically superior. All other variants had been considered and rejected, hence the intense monitoring of Earth’s atmosphere. Teeronites didn’t want to make the same mistake as the people of Earth; they enjoyed their health and life-span too much to risk it.

  Quickly dressing Callem grabbed the keys to his rental car and headed out the door, letting the screen door slam behind him. Whistling happily he looked forward to a busy day doing all the things he loved. Two hours in the transporter would place him in Mongolia, where it would be midnight and 40 degrees below freezing, but nothing could dampen his enthusiasm for his work. He asked no more of life than to keep on doing this important research forever.

  Chapter 2

  Twelve hours later Callem opened the door to the unit, and dripping red dust from every inch of his clothing, he headed straight for the shower. Not even bothering to strip, he stood under the shower rose and let the water rinse the dust from his clothes, as well as his hair and face. Callem had never thought that a man could be this dusty and still be able to breathe. He now had the utmost respect for the miners in Mongolia. Callem was oblivious to the large lumps of red clay dropping off his pants and washing down the shower drain, he only knew that hot water was better than a beer on a hot day.

  Callem’s previous research on earth had been as a translator in Europe and that hadn’t involved red dust and sub-zero temperatures. He thought that nothing could prepare a man for these conditions. Callem would complete his assignment without complaint because this was the work he loved but, Hail Hera, he wouldn’t be sorry when this phase of the job was finished. Today, (or night, as it had been on the other side of the world,) he’d stealthily worked in the mines, carefully hiding from the other workers. Even wearing his protective clothing Callem had been freezing, and every job had taken ten times longer than he had planned for. He was now convinced that a Mongolian miner would be a fair match for a Teeronite any day of the week.

  Two hours later Callem was once again clean and on the way out the door to get dinner before connecting with his crew, when, loud hooting and whistling coming from the manager’s unit slowed his steps. The door burst open as he passed and Joe barrelled into him, shouting good natured obscenities over his shoulder to the men in the room behind him.

  “Hey! Sorry man, I wasn’t looking,” Joe apologised to Callem. “These morons are trying to beat me at poker and the only way they can do that is to send me out for more beer.” A lot of good natured catcalls and insults followed that remark, resulting in even more abuse from the laughing man standing next to Callem.

  “Join us if you feel like sitting in on the game mate, we love new blood to fleece. I have to make the booze run now but, I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.” Callem was tempted by the thought of friendly company for a few hours however, contacting his team had to come before any fun times with his neighbour.

  “I’d love to but, I’ve got an appointment tonight; next time maybe?” Callem raised one finely sculpted, black eyebrow in question.

  “Sure thing---I’ll bang on your door when the guys come around for the next game,” replied Joe with a grin. Heading out the door at a run he shouted back over his shoulder, “Like I said, we love new blood to fleece.”

  Callem followed the laughing man out the door, feeling his strength and spirits lift. He still had to eat and then report in to the Co-Op before he could rest, but, Hail Hera, life was good.

  As Executon, Callem was in charge of the expedition. It was his responsibility to direct the other members of the team in their duties and co-ordinate the data they collected. Once collected from various parts of the planet, the team members forwarded the data to Callem, who then forwarded the collated results to the Research Co-Op on Teeron.

  Callem was also, ultimately responsible, for returning his crew safely and in good health to their families on completion of their tour
of duty. A big responsibility but, one that Callem had embraced happily for the last twelve months. This present tour of duty had only lasted for four months and was due to finish in less than two earth weeks.

  Callem piloted the transporter ship out to the research pod that was hidden in the Gold Coast Hinterland. The cloaking device on both the pod and the transporter made security easy. Easy, that is, as long as a hiker didn’t accidentally walk straight into the shield at the point where it touched the earth. Hail Hera thought Callem, as he imagined the uproar if that should happen.

  Callem activated the docking port door with a gadget that resembled an automatic garage door remote. With an inward smile he thought that the average human would love to own a garage like this one. Exiting the transporter Callem headed for the Pod control room where he would be able to contact his team. Whistling a tune he’d heard on Earth’s wave lengths, he eased into the sumptuously comfortable, Executon’s seat, as he got down to business. “Hail Hera, yes, life is good.” He spoke aloud, as he settled in and worked steadily and happily for several hours.

  Chapter 3

  Callem bolted out of the shower adding even more sudsy water to the river that already covered the tile floor of the bathroom. Hail Hera he was in trouble. Madly throwing towels on the floor, he raced to soak up the mess before the bedroom carpet was invaded by the red-water tide; this was all his fault and he knew it.

  He’d jumped happily into the shower after his early morning swim, looking forward to the massage of hot water on his body. Several minutes later after rinsing the shampoo out of his hair he’d felt a tide of tepid water rising over his ankles. Looking down he’d seen a cascade of reddish coloured water merrily dribbling over the edge of the shower tray and flooding the bathroom floor. That’s when he remembered soaking Mongolian dust off of his body and clothes the night before. Damn! He’d clogged up the drain. Dan was not going to be pleased. Towelling off quickly, with the last of the dry towels, he set to work cleaning up his mess.

  An hour later found Callem banging on Joe’s door and praying that he hadn’t left for work yet. He’d washed the towels in the washing machine, all the time praying that he didn’t clogged that drain as well—so far he could breathe easy.

  Now he needed Joe to pull him out of this mess. Fingers crossed he stood before the manager’s door with a guilty expression on his face. The door swung open and Joe gave him a cheeky grin.

  “No poker at this time of the morning,” he laughed. Callem took a deep breath and confessed.

  “Sorry Joe, but I’ve done something stupid in Dan’s unit and I need help to fix it.”

  “No problem,” replied Joe with a curious expression. “Can’t be too bad because I didn’t hear the fire engine pull up,” he laughed.

  “Well I haven’t set fire to it, but I did nearly flood it out.” That comment finally stopped Joe from grinning.

  “What’s the problem, will I need to contact Dan about insurance?”

  “No, no need for that, I’ll pay for the repairs. But, I do need a plumber urgently.”

  Callem was obviously at the begging stage, urging Joe to follow him back into Dan’s place with a tight grip on his shoulder. When Joe got a good look at the problem he realised things weren’t too bad and that he could get a bit of fun out of the situation. Shaking his head and rubbing his face, he pretended to be worried by the mess. Joe the Joker, was about to strike again.

  “Oh darn it, the only plumber available is Harry and he’s a cranky devil. You’ll have to be careful what you say to him or he’ll down tools and leave the job. But, I’ll send him over after work tonight—can’t get him to come any earlier because he’s needed on the Brisbane project all day.” Joe rubbed his hand over his face, carefully hiding his grin and twinkling eyes. Joe loved a joke and he couldn’t wait for the fireworks to start when Callem met Harry.

  Chapter 4

  “Hey Harry,” get your butt over here and give me a hand with this wall stud will you” bellowed Joe.

  “So help me Joe, if you or one of your moronic mates calls me Harry one more time I’m going to punch him in the nose,” bellowed back Halliday Ferguson Grant, a she wriggled her curvy body out from under the sink to go and help her undeserving brother.

  “How many times have I told you the name is Halli, not Hank, not Henry and certainly not Harry? Just one more time and I’ll punch-out the one who says it.”

  Joe turned his head to the side so that Halli wouldn’t see his grin. Halli didn’t know it but, tonight she was going to get called Harry one more time before he let go of his latest joke. Callem was expecting Harry the plumber so that’s who would turn up. He figured a man as big as Callem would be safe. Halli would have to stand on a chair to reach his nose.

  Halli returned to her place under the sink and picking up the discarded wrench, she went back to work on tightening the fitting she had just installed. It was a shame that Joe and his mates took such delight in teasing her, because all in all, they were a decent bunch of men. Halli had known them most of her life and they would all kill for her if asked but, they just couldn’t resist teasing her about her name; also, the fact that amongst a family of six footers her five foot five inch frame was ripe for a little teasing.

  Her father had started it by coming home from work and tucking her bodily under his arm, then walking out to the kitchen with her in that position while he greeted the rest of the family. Halli had loved the attention as a child but, when he was still doing it when she was sixteen the joke had grown decidedly cold. Worse still, her brother Joe and his friends had taken to doing the same thing and at twenty seven she’d had enough.

  Halli didn’t really mind being the odd one out in the family because they all loved her so much, but why, oh why, couldn’t she have gotten just a few of their good looks. The men in her family were tall, blond haired, blue eyed, strong, handsome men. The women were also tall, blond haired, blue eyed and stunning enough to turn heads wherever they went.

  Halli had medium brown hair shot through with red highlights that all the dye in the world couldn’t hide, so, she’d given up trying. The family said the red hair was her Scots ancestry showing through and to be proud of it. Yeah right. Her figure, far from being slim was so curvy that she wore overalls most of the time to disguise her ample bust and rounded hips. Working as a plumber in a world of men she certainly didn’t want to stand out more than necessary.

  Halli’s one secret vanity was the length of her hair, it reached past her waist when it was let loose from its braid—which was only when she washed it. But, for some unaccountable reason, she was the only woman in her family who could get her hair to grow past her collar, all the rest of the family had hair that flew in every direction once it reached a certain length. It wasn’t much consolation but, Halli would take it.

  Digging in, Halli got on with her work and finished her contract on this particular job by five o’clock. Gathering her tools and gear together, she went in search of Joe to get her ride home.

  Halli had been staying with Joe while she looked for a new apartment. Renovating her last one, she had sold it on at a good profit a couple of weeks ago. Now she was in the process of looking for another fixer-upper. No doubt about it, thought Halli with a smug grin, I’ve got the family talent for turning a profit in the building game.

  Finding Joe packing up his tools she lent him a hand and together they headed wearily for his truck. Flipping the ignition on as they settled into their seats, Joe looked across at Halli.

  “Have you decided whether to work with me on the next block of units Halli or are you taking a break?” Joe queried. “I’ll be ready to start the plumbing in three weeks or so.”

  “I probably will Joe but, if I find a unit soon, then I’ll work on that full time so that I can get my gear out of storage. It’s been good being able to stay with you but, I would like to have my own things around me again.” Halli stretched her cramped muscles, feeling the tug of the seat belt as she did. “I’ll let
you know in plenty of time to get another plumber if I’m tied up.”

  As Joe glanced across at Halli he caught her looking up at the sky. He went cold inside because, damn it, he just knew what that gaze meant. Halli was plotting trouble again.

  “Halli you aren’t thinking about what I think you are, are you?”

  “How do I know what you think I’m thinking?” She threw back at him with an innocent look on her face.

  “You only start checking out the sky like that, when you’re working out the wind direction,” frowned Joe. “Please tell me you aren’t heading up the mountain again?” begged Joe.

  “I’m going up Mt. Tamborine tomorrow if that’s what you mean. The wind is supposed to be good so, I’ll launch a few times and just relax for a few hours. Don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of my friends around to pick me up and bring me back to my truck.”

  “I’m not worried about you getting a lift---I’m terrified you won’t need one and I’ll have to cart your body back to Mum and Dad.”

  Joe gave a huge sigh when he saw the stubborn look pass over her face.

  “OK, but check in with me a few times during the day please, just so that I know you’re still alive.” Halli shot a quick, considering look, back at her brother.

  “You’re not really worried are you? I promise you I’m really careful when I fly. I wouldn’t take any stupid risks.” Joe slowly loosened his clenched fingers on the steering wheel and forced himself to relax.

  “No problem, big brothers are supposed to worry about their tadpole sisters, who insist on hang-gliding off the side of mountains,” he laughed, as Halli dug two fingers into his side in retribution.

  Joe decided that the trick he was going to play on Halli tonight would be payment for the stress he would be suffering all day tomorrow, until he knew she was safe. Joe finished the rest of the trip quietly contemplating his revenge. Pulling into his parking spot at the units Joe prepared to set the bait.