"Mr. MacBain." Brice, one of Rea's water base guards, caught up to him as he strode down the hallway. "Doctor Gears is here to see you."
Rea stopped and ran his hand through his red hair. All these new guys Ken hired were idiots. He swore they were always dodging work.
"Just call me Mac." Rea shook his head at the young man. "And the name is just Gears, not Doctor Gears. Go back to Ken and do something useful."
Man, it was a good thing none of these men knew his full name; otherwise, who knew what they would end up calling him. Right now, most of them had a hard time remembering Mac. If they knew his full name was Joseph-Rea MacBain, all their heads might explode.
Gears appeared behind the lanky guard and gave him a sideways smile. His friend wore so many coats the pile of fabric made his head look tiny. Gears chuckled at Rea's response. Rea didn't think the men on his water base were amusing.
After Gears fell into step next to him, Rea gave a glance to the doctor. Gears pushed his large glasses up his skinny nose.
"I'm not going to bother giving Brice orders." Rea didn't add that there was no point. The water base guards loved to agree with his directions, and then later, he would find them on the opposite side of the base with no explanation of what they were doing. Their antics were enough to make him want to punch something. He would fire them all, but the idea of starting over with a new batch of men was depressing.
Gears nodded and began to take off a pair of heavy wool gloves. His friend regarded him thoughtfully.
"Ken assures me that these are the best men for training. I know what you're going to say."
"What I was going to say involves more swear words than you'd be willing to listen to."
"Fair enough." Gears shrugged. "I was looking for you because I wanted to talk." From one of his many coat pockets, his friend pulled a map. "I came to tell you the building of this water base is almost done. The skylights have been added. All the major construction men have moved on to start a new base. The electricians, plumbers, and earthmovers are gone."
Rea frowned. This wasn't new information. He didn't look at the map. Why was Gears really here? Gears was the doctor for the water base and a brilliant scientist. Construction wasn't normally a subject he reviewed. When Rea didn't respond, Gears went on.
"Our facility is up against the ocean here. The building's part above ground and part below." Gears gestured with a wave of his right hand.
Rea scanned his only friend as they passed the training hall. Up ahead, he could vaguely hear men eating and the general horseplay in the mess hall.
He wanted to say he didn't care, but instead, he held his tongue. If Gears wanted to talk about the state of his water base, fine, he would listen.
"This place is built solid and will be easy to defend when it's up and running." Gears tipped his head toward the sleeping quarters as they continued to walk. "Everything here should be ready to go by now. Setting up water bases doesn't typically take this long. If your dad was still alive…" He smoothed the corner of the map as he trailed off.
After a moment of awkward silence, Gears produced a stack of papers from the backpack on his shoulder. Rea had to stop while Gears struggled to free the papers from the zipper. He slapped what appeared to be a list of men's names to his chest.
Rea barely looked at the documents. Instead, he began moving again. His feet picked up the pace. He was tired. He wanted to get to his room.
"Get to the point."
"These guys can be trained. Then we can hand the base over to Miller if you like that idea. Miller is still resting after he broke his leg, but his rehabilitation is almost complete. If Ken helps him, the base could run smoothly. Then you can do whatever you want."
"I know," Rea shoved his hand through his hair.
"Mac, I don't think you do know." Gears put his hand out and stopped him from moving forward. Rea was forced to look at the other man. "You don't have to stay here after this is built. I'm not trying to keep you here. I know you think you're responsible for me, but I'm an adult. I'm not a teenager like when we first met. I don't understand why you're dragging your feet. I thought you wanted to leave." Gears nodded his head, and his short sandy-blond hair didn't move an inch.
"I do want to leave."
"So… finish the base and go."
At times like now, Rea was pleased his friend was around to hound him. Right now, he was floundering. Rea wasn't struggling because he didn't know how to get a base operational. He'd done that many times when his father was alive. Rea had even created two bases after his father died, but right now, he struggled because he just didn't know what he would do when the building was finished. Rea was honest enough with himself to face that he didn't want to be doing this kind of work any longer. He didn't think someone like Gears could understand, so he didn't try to explain. Gears liked his work, and his home, and he wouldn't grasp wanting a different life.
"These new guys could be decent if they'd stop screwing around. I think they stay up all night." Rea exhaled.
As he looked at Gears, Rea threw up his hand. Talking to the doc did nothing to temper his frustration. Training men was dissatisfying. One day, Rea would do something else, anything else. His father was no longer alive to keep him beaten down. Soon he would do something with his life besides telling idiots what to do. Maybe he would try having a room where he could unpack. That would be a novel idea.
His mind conjured his sparse living quarters. He tried to picture the space with real furniture. He couldn't see it.
Rea shrugged off the thoughts and began walking again. Gears trailed him as he rounded the corner past a large cement column.
"These are the guys we have right now, but they'll improve. I have to go back to the lab and continue working on the new drug I told you about. I know God will help you find your way. You're a better man than your father. These men will give you loyalty. They'll improve."
"I think I liked you better when you were an atheist. You were less idiotically cheerful," Rea muttered.
"Very amusing. I don't plan on going to hell. You should pray more. God will help you when you can't find your way." Gears pulled on a skullcap. His bright blue eyes narrowed. Clearly, he wasn't joking. His glasses slipped down, and he pushed them up again.
"Screw praying more. I'm looking forward to going to hell. At least it's warm there."
"Don't joke about that," Gears scolded. Rea could tell he got under the doctor's skin when the man scolded him like a naughty child. His sharp retort made him smile.
"You know, you're the only scientist I know who believes in God and the afterlife."
"I don't think one cancels out the other. Besides, when you live every day with the chance of running out of food or freezing to death, it's only a matter of time before you have faith in something."
Rea didn't have a good response to the whole faith thing. Right now, he had a belief in nothing, not even himself.
Out of the corner of his eye, Rea watched Gears shove his map back into his coat. He considered the training issues as his friend adjusted his backpack. He couldn't ask Gears to drop his projects to help him find better men. As their doctor, Gears had men he cared for on the base. Also, his friend was making sure everything was ready in the water treatment area.
Besides, Rea didn't need help. He could prepare the men by himself. It just came down to the simple fact that he didn't want to. Usually, Rea was a problem solver. He didn't typically need so much time to mull over issues. Normally, training was a quick and smooth task. Gears wasn't going to be sympathetic to his hesitation.
Rea was getting more and more pressure to finish this base, and he knew why. His friend had a woman waiting for him. Gears wanted to settle down. Maybe a girlfriend was what Rea needed too. He could have a home base with a woman. Home was never a thing he had. His life was to simply create the water base, train men, and then move. In the past, all he had was a dysfunctional relationship with his abusive father and continuous work.
They reached Rea's bedroom. At his door, Gears put his gloves on. The way Gears dressed, Rea would've thought he was heading to the surface instead of back to his lab. The water base hallways weren't that cold. His lab wasn't on the other side of Canada.
"Wish me luck. Tomorrow, I'm going to the training ring to see if any of these morons know their heads from their butts," Rea grumbled as Gears turned to leave.
"You, Mac, need faith and a little luck. We all do." He grinned. "If you get the base operational, then you'll get everything figured out. I know you will. You don't need your father."
Gears left on that parting sentence and shuffled toward the greenhouses.
As his friend departed, Rea considered what he'd said. He was grateful Gears tried to keep the base on schedule. Some days their friendship was his rock, but Gears didn't understand. Rea's problems had nothing to do with his father dying. Hell, he'd practically jumped for joy when the body got incinerated. No, he didn't need his father and all the pain and humiliation to get him moving. What he needed right now was… he didn't know.