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Chapter 210: A Change in Relationship (1)
🕑 Added 2025-02-06 16:33:31 +0000 UTCAt night, the cruise ship Margaret sailed smoothly across the Atlantic, like a giant beast moving silently through the darkness.
Since it was now privately owned by Josh and not open to the public, only close friends and family were occasionally invited aboard. The ship, originally designed to hold over a thousand cabins, had been reduced to less than a hundred.
This change greatly expanded the leisure and entertainment areas while improving the quality of the remaining cabins.
Of course, some of the extra space was used for more than just relaxation.
"Your boss sure has a lot of secrets," Mar-Vell said as she stood on the balcony of a luxury cabin, watching the guards patrolling the deck below. She was talking to Carter, who had just emerged from the bathroom.
From the moment she had boarded, Mar-Vell had used her scanner to discover some hidden surprises on the ship. While Josh had incorporated various high-tech features from the Red Alert world, they seemed no different from Earth's modern advancements compared to the technology of the Kree Empire.
"That's not surprising. Did you really think this was an ordinary cruise ship? Josh may have named it after Margaret, but beneath the surface, this ship also functions as a military intelligence platform. The lower decks contain classified military facilities," Carter said as she stepped out onto the balcony, shaking the moisture out of her hair.
There was a hairdryer in the cabin—this device had been around since 1890—but Carter preferred letting the wind dry her hair naturally.
Although it was winter and the Atlantic winds were freezing to most people, Carter's super-soldier physique made her immune to the cold. In fact, she found the cold quite refreshing.
Since becoming a super-soldier, Carter had lost many normal human experiences, such as getting drunk or feeling exhausted from exercise. But she also gained new experiences that normal people couldn't enjoy. It was a trade-off.
As a high-ranking CIA officer, Carter had been given limited information about the ship's special nature.
Just as Fury couldn't hide things from Captain America in the movies, Josh knew there was no way Carter wouldn't find out the ship's secrets if she spent time aboard.
So, he told her a little—just enough to satisfy her curiosity—while keeping the more classified details off-limits under the excuse of "military secrecy."
This approach worked well.
Because of Josh's consistent behavior, Carter had a high level of trust in him.
And as someone who had worked in intelligence for years, she understood that people in positions of power often had to make tough decisions.
Even if she didn't like some of these hidden truths, she could accept them.
So instead of prying further, she simply chose to ignore what she didn't need to know.
In this regard, Carter was quite different from Captain America.
"As long as you know, there's no problem," Mar-Vell said, dropping the subject. She had only brought it up to make sure Carter wasn't kept in the dark. Since Carter knew, there was no need to say more.
However...
"You really do trust your boss, don't you? You two wouldn't happen to be...?" Mar-Vell asked, looking at Carter with a sudden sense of unease.
"What are you talking about? We're just friends. And you’ve seen for yourself—he and Margaret are very much in love," Carter said, rolling her eyes.
After knowing Josh for so long and getting so much help from him, it would be a lie to say she felt nothing for him.
But as someone with a strong moral code, Carter knew where to draw the line.
Josh's love for Margaret and her own lingering feelings for Steve ensured that she would never cross that line.
"Sorry, I was just kidding!" Mar-Vell said quickly. For some reason, her tone suddenly felt lighter after hearing Carter's firm reply.
"That kind of joke isn't funny at all. If Margaret hears it, I won't be able to explain myself even if I jump into the Atlantic Ocean." Carter shot Mar-Vell an annoyed look, but that look made her realize something was wrong. Mar-Vell was looking at her in a way that felt different. She frowned and asked, "What are you looking at?"
At the moment, she was only wrapped in a bath towel, leaving much of her body exposed to Mar-Vell's eyes.
Of course, it wasn't a big deal since they were the only two people in the cabin, and after spending over a month together, they had seen each other in similar situations before.
But for some reason, she suddenly felt that Mar-Vell's gaze wasn't the same as before.
It seemed that being a super-soldier had not only improved Carter's body, but also her instincts.
The way Mar-Vell looked at her reminded her of the way some men stared at her on the street.
"Ah... it's nothing! I was just admiring your form. I'm going to take a shower!" Mar-Vell quickly looked away, let out a nervous laugh, and fled into the bathroom.
Watching her reaction, Carter felt something strange rise in her heart. Could it be...?
Even though same-sex relationships weren't very common in this era, they weren't unheard of either. There were even some books, movies, and comics about them.
For example, in 1931, there was a movie called Mädchen in Uniform, which told the story of a student and a teacher at an all-girls school.
Even the early Wonder Woman comics had some interesting implications. The character's creator, Dr. William Moulton Marston, had been in a polyamorous relationship—his wife had even welcomed his mistress into the family. After Marston's death, the two women stayed together for the rest of their lives.
Because of this, Carter had seen many things over the years, but that didn’t mean she could accept them for herself. She had always considered Mar-Vell a good friend—nothing more.
After all, in this era, such relationships were still very much on the edge. In fact, even wearing men's clothes as a woman was illegal in many states.
Even in Europe, several countries had "cross-dressing bans" that prohibited women from wearing men's clothing.
And most importantly... Mar-Vell was an alien.
That last thought sent a chill down Carter's spine.
