by Ralph Prince
She smiled at him, extending her hand in his direction.
“I’m sorry,” he said, gently taking her hand in his. “I realize this hasn’t been an ideal way to spend a honeymoon, but I’ll try to make it up to you.”
“What’s a honeymoon?” she asked, drawing the attention of Jackie and Will. “Do stinging insects make planetary satellites from the nectar of flowers?”
“No,” Don laughed, imagining a bee large enough to make a moon out of honey. “It’s the time mates spend together after their marriage.”
“Oh,” she said, blushing. “Dillon never told me much about that.”
“Donald Benjamin Garris!” Jackie said angrily. “Am I to understand you two have made some kind of commitment, and you didn’t even tell me? I’m hurt. I thought I was your friend.”
“Donald asked me to be his mate,” Karen explained, her eyes radiant with joy.
“And you accepted?” Jackie ribbed. “You poor girl. You’ve got your work cut out for you, trying to keep this guy out of trouble.”
“She’s teasing you,” Don explained in response to Karen’s confused expression. “Don’t pay any attention to her.”
“Will,” Jackie said, “we’re being rude. These two probably want to be left alone. Why don’t you and I go to the galley for a nice dinner together; I haven’t had a decent meal in days.”
“And after that,” Will said suggestively, “we can find someplace quiet, where we can be alone; then, you can explain to me what an Overseer is.”
“You know,” Jackie said as they started toward the hallway, “that’s not exactly what I had in mind.”
“I’m going to shut down for a while, since it doesn’t appear I’m needed at the moment,” Iva said following the lead of the two lieutenants. Silently, she faded from view, leaving the captain and Karen alone on the bridge.
“Donald?” Karen asked as the footsteps faded. Her voice was soft and troubled. “Are you sure you want me for your mate? Even Dillon used to say I could be more trouble than I’m worth. I know I’m a bother sometimes, and I would understand if you wanted someone else.”
“Come here,” he said, gently coaxing her from the chair and guiding her into his lap. Embracing her tightly, he whispered into her ear, “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. You said you would be my mate, and I’m holding you to it.”
“Now you’re teasing me,” she said, nestling her head into his shoulder.
He smiled as the scent of her perfume tickle his nose, and her soft hair brushed against his face. He reveled at the touch of her warm body pressed tightly against his, her heartbeat pounding in time with his own. Her words sang in his ears as she voiced a quiet “I love you.” His eyes marveled at the unchallenged beauty of her radiant face as she met his gaze, and his mouth watered at the taste of her nectarous lips upon his. She was a delight to all his senses.
“I’ve never felt this way before,” he whispered. “So happy, so young.”
“So free,” Karen added, knowing she would never again live in fear of the Tants.
“And so human,” Don concluded, his life-long fear that his origin had made him less than human put to final rest. “You know what we should do? We should celebrate.”
“Celebrate?” she asked. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” he said, affectionately tweaking her nose, “I’m going to have the food synthesizer prepare a special meal, break out a bottle of wine I’ve been saving, and treat you to a romantic candlelight dinner.”
“With music?” she asked, her dark blue eyes wide with excited anticipation. “And poetry. You could read to me, or I could read to you.”
“Anything you want,” he smiled, overwhelmed with exhilaration. “If it makes you this happy, nothing is too much to ask.”
“How about another kiss?” she asked, caressing his face.
Gently pressing his lips to hers, they embraced in a long, heartfelt kiss, leaving all their cares and troubles behind. With simultaneous sighs, they drew away from one other and gazed into each other’s eyes.
“Your eyes,” Don said, feeling suddenly flushed. “They’re almost purple. I’ve never seen them that color before.”
“Donald,” she confessed, shyly averting her gaze. “I don’t really know anything about honeymooning. Will you teach me?”
“Why don’t we just go to our quarters,” he suggested. “We’ll see what happens there.”
CHAPTER 11: Aftermath
The Tant bodies were piled in the streets as the Underdwellers hauled them from their underground home, using a winch and makeshift elevator Will had manufactured. The scene reminded Don of the pictures he had seen of World War II concentration camps, where the dead were described as “stacked like cordwood”. He had seen similar sights on Quillan occupied worlds, but never dreamt he would play a part in such a brutal massacre.
His bare shoulders absorbed the heat of the noon sun, as he stood overlooking the masses of dead, taking a well-deserved break after hours of heavy labor. He tossed his blood-soaked shirt aside, unable to stand the nauseating stench any longer. If only there had been another way, he thought.
“Sir,” Will said, as he approached from behind the commander. “If you won’t be needing me, I’ll go below and get some of the food samples to take back to the ship for analysis.”
“No, Will,” he replied without turning to face the young lieutenant, his tone was flat and emotionless. “Jackie and Karen can collect the food samples. You have work to do back at the ship when we finish here. I need you to remove the damaged photon cells, while I try to organize a work force to transport the panels from The Phoenix Complex.”
“It’s too bad we can’t use the vehicles you found to transport the panels,” Will sighed. “But according to the information she found on the data crystals, Iva said the tunnel through the ridge collapsed during the cataclysm.”
“They also had a few helicopter-type vehicles,” Don pointed out. “But unless you know how to fly one, we don’t have the time to learn.”
“Not me,” Will protested vehemently. “I played with a simulation program I found in an archive once. I’m amazed those things could even fly.”
“Once we clear a path through the minefield, we’ll be able to move the panels to the ridge with a truck.” Don said. “Even so, getting them over that wall is going to be the hard part. We’re going to need a lot of help.”
“We’re pretty close to done cleaning up here,” Will said. “I’ll go help finish up then return to the ship and get to work removing the old panels.”
Nodding, Don glanced toward where Jackie and Karen stood, speaking quietly with one another. A bright smile crossed Karen’s angelic face as she met his gaze.
“Karen!” Don called, motioning her to come to him, as Will left.
She rushed to him, a pronounced spring in her stride, and threw her arms around his neck. Rising to the tips of her toes, she planted an affectionate kiss upon his lips.
“Yes, Donald,” she gushed, maintaining her embrace.
“I—” he paused to clear his suddenly dry throat as Jackie looked on with acute mirth.
“Honestly, Don,” the med-tech said, moving behind him to examine his back, “you should know better than running around in this sun without a shirt. You should at least apply a UV blocker. On the other hand,” she reconsidered, “it would serve you right if you got sunburned.”
“It doesn’t even feel that hot today,” he insisted, squirming as her finger poked at his back.
“It’s hotter than hell out here,” Jackie said, thankful for her flight suit’s thermal-weave. “Besides, it’s not the heat that gets you, it’s the solar radiation. Wait a minute,” she said, noticing something amiss. “What happened to your back?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, freeing himself from Karen’s embrace and straining his neck to see over his shoulder.
Gliding her fingertips across the smooth tanned skin, she replied, “Your scars are gone.”
“I know,” he said. “It was a side effect of that transfusion you gave me with Karen’s blood. It would seem your cure worked better than you had anticipated. It healed most of my scars, but at least I still have my navel.”
Jackie activated the medical scanner on her forearm and studied the readings intently.
“I’m fine,” Don insisted, his back still to her as he and Karen playfully exchanged affectionate expressions. “In fact, I’ve never felt better.”
“I can see that,” Jackie said, her attention still focused on the holographic screen. “Despite working hard all morning in this heat, I’m not reading any signs of physical fatigue. You’re hardly sweating, but your body temperature is perfect. According to this, your bone density and muscle mass have both increased measurably since the readings I took yesterday. You’ve always been at the top of the fitness scale, but these readings are beyond anything I’ve ever seen. The nanites in the bio-mend should have shut down by now, but I think the ones from Karen are still active inside you. Are you feeling any unusual effects?”
“Other than having slept for three hours last night and feeling like I’ve had a full night sleep,” he answered, his attention still on the native woman. “My senses seem more acute. I’m not wearing my goggles and it doesn’t seem bright out here to me. When fighting Oaklander, my reflexes and strength seemed heightened, but that was probably just adrenaline.”
“I don’t like this,” Jackie said, shaking her head. “There’s no telling what those things will do to you before they’re done. I wouldn’t get too attached to that bellybutton if I were you.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Don, showing none of the med-tech’s concern. “It doesn’t seem any different than what it’s done for the Underdwellers, and,” he continued, lightly stroking Karen’s cheek with the backs of his fingers, “it explains a few things. Besides, there’s not much we can do about it now; we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I’m taking a blood sample,” Jackie said, her expression making it clear it was not a request. She took a device from her medical kit and procured the specimen without resistance. “I’m going to run some tests on this.”
“Before you do that,” Don said, trying to ignore the med-tech’s prodding, “I need the two of you to run a small errand for me.”
“I would rather stay with you,” Karen whimpered, somewhat disappointed.
“I’m going to be rather busy today,” he apologized, watching as her eyes faded to a pale green. “It would be a great help to me if you were to do this one small thing. It won’t take long.”
“Okay,” she said with sad resignation. “What do you want me to do?”
“Go to the supply level, and get some food samples,” he said. “Then take them to the ship for analysis. That’s all.”
“That won’t take long,” she said excitedly, kissing him once again, then bounding toward the building that concealed the entrance to the caves. “Come on, Jackie.”
“I don’t know what you did to her last night,” Jackie said, casting a shrewd glance at her captain as she stowed the vial of blood in a pouch on her belt. “But she’s been loquacious, and unstoppably mobile all day.”
“The scars aren’t the only thing the nanites fixed,” Don admitted sheepishly. “The ‘other’ problem seems to have been resolved too.”
Jackie looked at him in momentary incomprehension before the meaning of his comment dawned on her.
“I-I’m sorry,” he stammered, his gaze cast at his feet. “I know that was the main reason you and I never...”
“Don’t sweat it,” Jackie chuckled, a sly grin crossing her lips. “I’m happy for you. And, it turns out the rookie is fairly adept in that department. Let’s just say it sounds like none of us got much sleep last night.”
“You realize inter-crew fraternization is against regulations, don’t you?” Don asked.
“So write me up,” she said, turning toward Karen, who urged her to follow from the building’s entrance. “It was well worth it.”
Shaking his head as she sauntered away, Don noticed Stanton approaching him from the direction of the bodies.
“Dillon would have been pleased,” the Underdweller said. “Karen could not have been chosen by a braver or more compassionate man. I have watched her grow from a child into a young woman, and I have never seen her this happy. Despite what has happened here, some good has come out of it.”
“It didn’t have to happen this way,” Don lamented, gazing once again upon the mass of mangled corpses. “I tried to avoid it, but they wouldn’t listen.”
“The only voice they listened to belonged to a madman,” said Stanton, standing beside the commander. “Oaklander instilled within them a hatred of the Underdwellers that surpassed all reason, though they did nothing to warrant his loathing.”
“You seem to know a lot about Oaklander,” Don observed. “One might think you knew him personally.”
“Is it that obvious?” Stanton asked, confirming Don’s suspicions.
“I wouldn’t say obvious,” Don replied. “There are just a few puzzling things I noticed about you. When we first met, Karen introduced us by our first names; but you always refer to us by rank and last name. To do that, you would have to be able to read the tags on our uniforms. Not only does that makes you the only Underdweller we’ve met that knows how to read, it would also suggest you have military training. Oaklander’s guards stand at attention and salute him, indicating they too have military training. You offered a lot of insightful advice concerning Oaklander,” Don continued. “Although it didn’t occur to me until after the fight, he flew into a rage just after I mentioned your name. I presume you and he were not on good terms.”
“We were friends once,” Stanton confessed, gazing back across the years. “In the time before we came to this city and he became obsessed with power.”
“Then you are a Tant?” Don surmised.
“We never used to call ourselves that in those days,” Stanton replied, “but I was. My deformities were not as severe as most, and were easily hidden. That’s why I was chosen to act as a spy to find the Underdweller’s hideout, once Oaklander learned of their existence. He was able to overthrow the tribes who lived on the surface, but he couldn’t find their hidden lair, and it infuriated him. It was my mission to infiltrate them and find the location of the caves.”
“But you didn’t betray them,” Don guessed.
“I was trying to contact them when I came across a group of Tants Oaklander hadn’t yet subjugated or eliminated. I escaped from them, but was badly injured. One of the Underdwellers found me, and rendered aid. I told him I was from outside the city, and he took me to the caves, where he gave me food and shelter until I was well.
“Keep in mind,” Stanton continued, “before Oaklander came to power, the Underdwellers and some of the Tant tribes engaged in trade. It was only after he took charge that the rift between the two widened. I never understood the reason for his hatred of the people who offered me shelter and food when there was so little to go around. When I was well enough to travel, I returned to the Tants and reported to Oaklander; though I did not divulge the location of the caves to him. Instead, I proposed a peaceful trade agreement with them. Oaklander seemed open to the suggestion.
“For several months,” Stanton continued, “I lived among the Underdwellers, gaining their trust, and offering my benefactor the chance to open negotiations. He said it had always been a dream of his to see the day when Underdwellers and Tants could live in peace as friends. So, I arranged a meeting between the two of them.”
“I’m guessing it didn’t go well,” Don said.
“Oaklander killed him before my eyes, and demanded I tell him where their lair was,” Stanton recalled, closing his eyes tightly to try to banish the images that flashed before them. “In that moment, I realized that I had lost two friends; one to madness, the other to a madman. I fled, never to return. I will live with that guilt for all my days.
My only wish is to somehow make amends.”
“The benefactor you spoke of,” Don began.
“It was Karen and Dillon’s father,” Stanton finished for him. “He trusted me, and I led him to his death. I never even had the courage to tell them what really happened to their father.”
“Don’t,” Don said, recalling how he had lied to Jackie concerning her brother’s death. “What’s done is done. All you will accomplish by telling Karen is hurting her. You’re the closest thing she has to family now; don’t take that away from her too. You tried to help, and it didn’t work out; that wasn’t your fault. You’ve been carrying a guilt that belongs to Oaklander. All of this,” he indicated the piles of bodies. “This is Oaklander’s doing too. There’s no sense in dwelling upon it any longer; it’s just one less river to cross.”
“You’re right,” Stanton agreed. “Still, it is a relief telling someone. Perhaps things will be better now that he’s gone.”
“I see the shoulder’s healed,” Don observed, realizing Stanton no longer wore the sling on his arm.
“Yes,” Stanton said, flexing his arm. “As though it were never injured. Much the way my mutations healed after spending time with the Underdwellers. There’s something down there that cures them and keeps them healthy. If the Tants and Underdwellers had found peace, perhaps, in time, there would no longer be Tants. Not that there are many left anyway.”
“What did you end up doing with the survivors?” Don asked, recalling that after the fourth grenade, few had the desire to continue the fight.
“The only thing we could do,” Stanton replied. “We let them go. It wouldn’t be right killing them after they surrendered, and we had no place to contain them. There were so few left, they no longer posed a threat to us. They are dying as a race, and they might as well live out the last of their years in freedom.”
“That was a noble and humane thing to do,” Don said. “Maybe they’ve learned something from this. Maybe it’s not too late for a peaceful coexistence between the Underdwellers and the Tants.”
“Maybe,” Stanton agreed. “Karen’s father would have liked that. But you didn’t ask to see me to speak of the Tants. You have the appearance of a man with a purpose. How may I help you?”
