by Anna Lewis
“May I also say you look exhilaratingly beautiful this evening,” he said and Tessa blushed a little, but giggled.
“Lindesty insisted it was worth the money. She is much better at picking out the right clothes for any occasion that I ever will be,” she told Jindal. She was wearing a sparkling blue gown. Modestly cut, it hugged her curves, yet was elegant. Lindesty was in a skirt suit that suited her perfectly. Grey with a light pink trim and blouse.
“So how is she doing?” Tessa asked her boyfriend. Yes, that was how he thought of Jindal, and Jobol. It seemed that she had two boyfriends now and she was not even trying to figure out how that happened yet.
“Your friend Lindesty has everyone she talks to eating out of her palm. She was discussing political science with the Gorgon Ambassador and he was quite impressed. That is hard to do,” he said with a chuckle. Tessa nodded, happy for her friend. She was glad that after Tessa had got her into this mess at least she may be able to get some good from it.
“I am glad, she is my best friend and I don’t want her to have to come to any more harm on my account,” Tessa said.
“Stop that Tess,” Jindal began softly. Tessa looked up surprised by the firmness of his tone. “You are not to blame for any of this. The people responsible would have done what they did whether you were here or not. You, and now Lindesty are helping make a bad situation better. If you two were not in the middle of this now many in the Alien Quarter would be on the verge of walking away from Station One as a means to peace. It is obvious that humans are behind these plots. Between you two and the command staff here, things are being handled as diplomatically as possible and that is all to the good. I hope you understand this. You ought not blame yourself,” he said. The caring in his eyes made Tessa nod and look away. She had to fight the moisture she began feeling in her eyes.
“Thank you Jindal. You are so good to me and we barely know each other,” she said softly.
“After the other day my dear, we know everything about each other, can’t you feel it?” he asked. Tessa blushed. She had thought those feelings were just her being silly. She nodded and cleared her throat. He smiled slightly and greeted Security Chief McDonald as he approached them. Tessa quickly pulled herself together. The universe was intruding again.
“Hello Chief, how can we help you?” Jindal asked the tall gaunt man.
“It is time to call this a night Jindal. Something has come up and we need to get everyone safely away,” he said and he looked grim.
“What happened now?” Tessa asked and hated the fear in her voice. The hard man softened for a brief moment, looking down at her, then he sighed.
“The prisoners who attacked you have committed suicide in their cells. The doctor is trying to find out how, since we had them scanned before they went in. The choices are to stay here or get everyone to safety. It might be safer for everyone to stay here, but many of the Ambassadors will protest that,” he said as the Gorgon Security Officer Killgeer came over with Lindesty in tow.
“I understand Chief. Just point the way,” Jindal said as several Jindal security officers made their way over. Lindesty stood next to Tessa and took her hand. Tessa squeezed Lindesty’s hand in return. Here we go, she thought, wondering what else could go wrong.
Chapter Seven – It is Getting Critical
When the first bomb went off Tessa was walking between Jindal and Jobol with the Commander right behind them. She did not know how but the Kindar shielded her half a second before the blast. She could feel a wave of heat as the Commander shouted.
“Move damn it move!” the Commander cried. They moved. They were just entering the Alien Quarter and guards surrounded them as they ran. She heard another distant blast and the floor seemed to shake followed by the worst sound you can hear in space. A klaxon horn.
Hull Breach.
Tessa felt fear like she had never felt. It was easy to forget when living in space that you were surrounded by the cold dark of a vacuum. She heard screams and the floor shook again as they rounded a corner. She could see the Kindar offices ahead. They rushed in and the doors closed behind them cutting off most of the noise. Tessa turned and saw that only Jobol, Jindal, and the Commander were in the office with her. She thought the guards must have stayed outside. Then she realized something else terrifying.
“Where is Lindesty! Lindesty!” she screamed and ran towards the door.
Her Kindar friends stopped her while the Commander watched with a hand to her ear.
“The Gorgon Security and Norton got her down a safe corridor. She will be okay Tessa; your friend is okay!” The Commander shouted at her struggling in the alien’s arms. She gasped and felt the panic recede a little and stopped struggling.
“Thank you Commander,” she said softly. She received a nod and the Commander closed her eyes.
“Okay damn it, talk to me. What the hell is going on? Damage report now!” snapped the Commander into her communicator. She sounded vicious and rightly so. Tessa felt her own energy seem to die and she staggered. Jindal and Jobol helped her to a chair.
“It will be alright Tessa, take a deep breath,” Jobol told her, she looked at him in her fear.
“How do you know?” She asked.
“Because if I believed anything else I would not be of any help for anyone. Have hope,” he said kindly and Tessa nodded, taking a few deep breaths. To her surprise it actually helped. The Ambassador went to a communication board on his desk and began trying to find out was going on. The Commander was pacing and barking orders into her communicator that was built into her earpiece. Tessa gasped and got to her feet.
“Commander you are injured,” Tessa said. Jindal looked over and said something in Kindalese that sounded like a curse. There was a piece of metal sticking out of the Commander’s back to the left, below her shoulder blade. The woman turned and frowned.
“You caught some shrapnel Commander Earhart,” Jobol said putting his communication handset down and coming around from the desk. The Commander scowled at him and then tilted her head down.
“How could you hear that? I can barely hear what you are saying,” she said into the communicator. Then she turned and tried looking over her shoulder at the wall mirror and grimaced in pain. Jobol opened a wall panel and took out a first aid kit, then from that he grabbed a scanner.
“We are going to have to remove it Commander,” Jobol said after a quick scan. The Commander was moving too much for him to get a good scan. Tessa went forward toward the Commander. Jindal dragged a chair from its place along the wall to the center of the room and gestured the Commander in it. She did so without appearing to think about it.
“Look, don’t worry about me. As the Doc said, I am okay and will be fine. No, goddamn it. The people on this station are more important than I am. They are under my care and when I come back online I better hear some good news!” she shouted and then pulled the earpiece out and tossed it aside in disgust. She shifted position and grunted in pain.
“How the hell did I miss that?” she asked to no one in particular. Tessa knelt in front of her. Jobol and Jindal stood behind her scanning and getting some tools from the med kit ready.
“Do you know what you are doing?” the Commander asked quietly. Tessa realized the noise from outside was gone and it was quiet in the office. Was the hull breach sealed? Tessa wondered. She didn’t want to bring it up yet though.
“I know what needs to be done, Julia,” Jobol answered using her first name. She just nodded. Tessa knelt in front of her and took her hands. The Commander looked startled. Tessa shrugged in reply.
“I know I would want someone to hold my hand. This is going to hurt. Maybe not pocket blaster hurt, but you know,” Tessa said trying humor. The Commander smiled and chuckle dryly.
“I’ll let you know,” she said.
“Alright Julia I am going to pull it out. Immediately after that Jindal will be wiping it clean and then applying a local pain killer and wound sealer. You will have to hold still,” Jobol told
the Commander. She just nodded and Tessa met her eyes and held her gaze. They squeezed each other’s hands. When Jobol pulled the shrapnel out the Commander gasped and stiffened. Tessa’s hands were being squeezed and she had to keep from gasping herself. Tessa just looked into the woman’s eyes as she endured the pain.
“Hurry Jindal, she is losing a lot of blood,” Jobol told his aide.
“I am Ambassador. Here we go, this should do it,” Tessa heard the sound of a spray and then the tightness in the Commanders face relaxed and her grip stopped trying to squash Tessa’s hands.
“Now Commander, that is all we can do from here. I would suggest, when you can get the doctor to look at that. As I said, I knew it needed to be done, I just never have done it before,” he said. Jindal went to wash his hands that had the Commander’s blood on it and Jobol got her a tall glass of water. The Commander sat up slowly and released Tessa’s hands.
“Thank you Tessa, it wasn’t quite blaster pain. Almost though. Thanks to you two as well. Now I had better have a report waiting for me,” she said as Jobol handed her the water and her earpiece. Tessa got up and went to the side bar for some water herself.
“Talk to me Chief McDonald,” Tessa heard the Commander say. Tessa turned and leaned against the counter and watched the Commander as she sat stiffly with her eyes closed, listening. Her face looked like it was carved of granite and Tessa did not think that was from the pain of her wounds, just pain from the news she was receiving.
“Confirmed, the Alien Quarter is clear and secure. Okay good. And the breach? Damn fast work, we need to get those guys a raise. Now tell me about the reactor,” she said and Tessa winced. If the plotters had targeted the reactor that would be as bad as a hull breach, maybe worse. It was the power source for the whole station. The silence lengthened and she saw Jobol looking over his computer screen. She wondered if he were reading reports. After a moment longer of silence the Commander spoke again.
“Alright Chief, good job. Do you want me to notify his family? Okay if you say so. I will be down there shortly. Tell the doc I will be needing him when I get there, okay thanks Chief, see you soon, keep pushing,” she finished and removed her ear piece and looked up at us.
“May I ask what happened to the reactor Commander?” Jobol asked quietly. The Commander sighed but nodded.
“The terrorists targeted several places at once. It appears they counted on us moving everyone when the news of the suicides broke. So they went after us and the reactor. The air filtration is too heavily guarded now. The breach was closed fairly quickly and the area was not as crowded as it could have been. We got lucky there. We got even luckier with the reactor. Sargent Norton was gathering information on this Lockley person and came upon something fishy. He took a team to investigate in Cell sector, where the reactor is. They got there in time to deactivate the device. Norton held off the terrorist while his team took care of the bomb. He got a lot of them but died fighting them off. The rest got away. The station is on complete lock down now. No ships are allowed in or out until that bastard is found. I also am ordering that everyone currently in the Alien Quarter stay here for now. I want no moving targets for this guy. The area is now secure and I intend to keep it that way Ambassador,” she said and the Ambassador nodded.
Tessa saw Jindal return to the room as the Commander got to her feet with a grimace. Tessa close her eyes as she felt herself begin to shake. She was not sure she could take much more of it. Norton was dead? All she could think about was how she had done nothing but hate the guy, and now he was dead, killed saving the station. She took a deep breath trying to stem her grief and opened her eyes. She was looking right into the Commander’s. She understood.
“Things will get better Tessa. We will all grieve when the time comes. You guys take care of her,” the Commander said as she turned and slowly began walking towards the door. Jindal went to help her, but Jobol waved him off. As the doors opened Tessa saw two guards waiting for the Commander. The doors slid shut and Tessa lost her battle and caught a sob in her throat. Both Kindar come to her side as she began sobbing. So much pain, so much grief, she thought. She felt like she was drowning in it. She couldn’t understand how anyone could want to do such things. She was wrapped in their strong embrace and she let it all out. Tessa sobbed for the dead. She sobbed for their families. She even thought of the families of the terrorists doing this. They probably had no idea their own loved ones were doing something so horrendous. How would that affect them? Her lovers consoled her as she cried and it somehow made it easier. She had not cried like this in her life and she kept going until she just didn’t have the strength anymore. Finally, she backed away from the two people who, somehow, cared so much about her and wiped her eyes.
“S-sorry. I am supposed to be tough,” she said helplessly. Jindal shushed her and Jobol touched her cheek.
“Who is stronger, the one who holds it inside until he explodes? Or the person who knows when to free themselves from the weight of it all? We cannot hold the galaxy on our shoulders, little Tessa. No matter how much we may try. Think on this: the Commander allowed a perfume seller to hold her hand and talk her through surgery,” he told her. Tessa sniffed and nodded thinking about it.
“You have a call,” Jindal said and looking over Tessa was surprised to see he was holding a communication device out to her. She took it hesitantly.
“Hello?” she said.
“Oh thank god. They said you were alive but I just had to hear from you. Are you alright Tessa really alright?” Lindesty asked in a tearful voice. Tessa mouthed the words “thank you” to her two men, and turned to talk to her friend.
Chapter Eight – Something to Occupy the Time
The next morning Tessa felt rested and restless. The hunt was still on for Lockley and his accomplices. It was estimated there were only three of them left. The Commander had also let them know that the cabal of terrorists stretched back to earth. Everyone on that end had been captured after a firefight in the capital city of Geneva. The only ones left were the ones on Station One.
“It is two more days until the convention Jobol. Is it still scheduled to go ahead?” Tessa asked from the couch in his quarters. He was at a desk on the other side of the giant bed. She had passed out on that almost as soon as her head hit the pillows.
“It is. Mostly out of hope. Those of us here very much want to hold the conference and have hope that the Commander and Chief McDonald will be able to catch Lockley and his people in time. It would be a feather in the Station’s cap, as you say on Earth, to be able to hold the convention despite everything. It would be a signal to all of the home worlds that we are here to stay. I am certain that it is the Commander’s wish as well,” he said looking up from a report he was reading.
“Do your people have a problem with mixing with other races,” Tessa asked. It had come out that that was the reason for the recent attacks, and Lockley’s whole philosophy.
“Some do. There are not many and I have never heard of them being violent, but yes the purity debate comes up from time to time. I am certain it does on most worlds. It is ridiculous to my way of thinking. It is just something we must always be aware of,” he answered reasonably.
Tessa nodded and got up, walking over to look at a moonscape painting. It was beautiful. Tessa was hoping it would distract her. She had spoken to Lindesty again and she was feeling stir crazy as well. She sighed and walked across the room to look at another painting of the stars. It too was beautiful but was not distracting her. The door opened and Jindal came in smiling with a platter of food. They had eaten just an hour before and Tessa was confused.
“Oh good Jindal you are a treasure among aides. To quote the Commander, I should give you a raise,” Jobol said humorously.
“Really?” Jindal asked.
“Not really no,” Jobol said. “Your timing is perfect, however because Tessa here is trying her best to wear a bald spot in the rug with her pacing,” he said and Jindal looked at Tessa and she blushed and gl
ared at Jobol. They laughed.
“I know it is hard to be confined to quarters as we are, but there is not much we can do. All work has stopped until the crisis is over with. What have you there Jindal?” Jobol asked his aid.
“According to Lindesty these are Danishes. Sure to get Tessa’s...” Tessa interrupted him with a grin.
“Danishes?” She asked gleefully. She hadn’t had any of those in ages.
“Attention,” Jindal finished with a grin.
It turned out that Kindar had a love of Earth pastries, so the three of them ate greedily and licked their fingers like children, standing at the side board. They hadn’t even bothered to sit for the snack. Tessa felt cheered by the treat and sighed leaning against Jindal.
“Thanks guys. I am sorry, I am not used to be cooped up like this. Usually if I am tense or worried about anything I go for a walk and look out the view port,” she told them. They understood. Jindal’s arm went around her waist and Jobol stroked her long hair. It felt wonderful and she purred contentedly.
“This is nice too,” she murmured. “I hope you two are not going to get into trouble for having a human lover,” she told them looking from one to another.
“Not at all,” Jobol said leaning in to kiss her neck. “When someone has a lover on our world it is a thing to be celebrated. The joining of love is considered a high accomplishment,” he said kissing her lips.
“Of course only being rated as “nice” might be embarrassing,” he said then.
“Hm I was thinking of that too. We should raise our rating; don’t you think Ambassador?” Jindal asked jokingly.
“I do Jindal,” he responded. Suddenly Jobol stepped away and Jindal scooped her up in his arms. Tessa squealed in delight and kissed Jindal’s lips with eagerness. He returned the kiss as he walked across the room and then lay her on the bed, reclined against a stack of pillows. The two Kindar began undressing and Tessa did the same with a few giggles. The clothes she had with her were from the shopping trip. They were new expensive silk that Lindesty had talked her into buying. She got down to her silk one piece and slid the shoulders down to expose her breasts. She was a little embarrassed but the looks they gave her were reward for her efforts. They lay next to her naked and leaned over either side of her. The warmth of love she had felt before with them came back in full force and she felt her eyes mist up. These two lovely creatures made her feel like a princess in a fairy tale and she loved it.
