Stop taking it out on her. We both know what you are really angry about.
And what is that?
You were completely useless in the battle back on Pirané. You are angry because you’ve tasted what real power feels like and you realize how worthless you are without it.
“It hurts to be treated like a commoner, doesn’t it?” Reika teased as she walked up with Kuroi squad flanking her. “Not really a person, just something to be used and discarded when no longer useful.”
“Not now, Reika,” Nariko growled, her temper showing. “I’m not in the mood.”
A wicked smile crossed Reika’s face.
“You know, I never understood you Senshi,” Reika teased as she slinked around Nariko, her tail batting at Nariko’s ponytail. “You say you value honesty, but you never say what you really think. You always hide behind etiquette like it is some mask you wear. Why are you so afraid of just saying what you feel, Nari-chan?”
“Do not address me so informally. It disgusts me,” Nariko snarled, her control weakening.
“Unless you’ve forgotten, I’m a Senshi now too, so I will address you however I please,” Reika chided. “Frankly I’m a little surprised that it is so easy to get your feathers all ruffled-up. Your illusion of superiority must be pretty thin if someone like me can pierce it so easily.”
“Fine, you want honesty, I’ll give you honesty,” Nariko roared. “You seem obsessed with goading me into a fight, but I don’t want to fight you.”
“Such a smart girl,” Reika purred.
“I don’t want to fight you because I’m worried that I’ll lose control and kill you.”
Reika stopped in her tracks, her ears twitching on top of her head. When she looked back, her feline eyes were alight with satisfaction.
“You actually think you could beat me?’ Reika asked in her silky voice.
“I know I could,” Nariko answered frankly, her breathing becoming heavy.
Reika’s smile returned to her lips and she dropped down into an attack posture. “That sounds like a challenge to me,” she taunted, her vibro-claws extending out of her gauntlets.
“Oh, a catfight,” Sorano exclaimed. The members of Shiro squad stopped unloading the shuttle and gathered in close.
“I guess it was a challenge,” Nariko answered, drawing her katana.
“Are we really going to do this here?” Keiko complained.
“First we’ll need to agree on the terms,” Reika said slyly.
“Terms?” Nariko blinked. “There are no terms. We fight for our honor.”
“Honor-schmoner,” Reika taunted. “Honor isn’t worth a cup of coffee. We need a real prize that will make this interesting.” Reika’s ears twitched as she thought then shot up when she hit upon an idea.
“I know. If you win I’ll let you tug on my ears.”
“Why would I want to play with your ears?” Nariko asked.
“Everyone wants to touch the ears. When was the last time you came across a girl with cat ears?”
“No one wants to touch your ears, Reika,” Nariko accused.
“I wanted to touch her ears when I first met her,” Rini admitted.
“Well, I don’t want to touch her ears,” Nariko snapped.
“I wanna touch her ears!” Ami shouted, hopping up and down.
“Fine then,” Reika said, eyes twinkling, “The loser of the duel has to run the length of the ship naked.”
Nariko gasped in offense.
“Now this is getting interesting,” Taka commented to Sorano.
“I bet ten Taries on the one with the tail,” Sorano whispered back.
“There will be no betting here,” Nariko ordered. “I cannot agree to such a demeaning prize.”
“Aah, that’s too bad,” Reika said, standing up and stretching, her claws retracting back into her gauntlets. “I guess we’ll have to call it off, then.”
“What do you mean?” Nariko asked, tightening the grip on her sword. “Come back here.”
Reika scratched behind her ear and continued walking away. “Can’t, sorry, got lots of Senshi stuff to do like paint kabuki masks and crap like that.”
“You mean this was all a game? You never really wanted to duel?”
“You do catch on quick, don’t you?” Reika praised as the doors closed behind her with a swish.
For several moments everyone stood silent. Nariko ground her teeth together. It felt like her blood was boiling.
“She’s insane. How can you allow yourselves to take orders from someone like this?” Nariko demanded of Reika’s squad mates.
The members of Kuroi squad looked at each other and shrugged.
“It’s better than being bait,” Rini admitted.
“Then I suppose you would take her place in the duel?” Nariko challenged.
“No thanks, I’ve got work to do,” Rini declined as she walked away. “By the way, you’ve got more rice in your hair.”
“What?”
When Nariko reached up and grabbed her hair she could feel the grains of rice stuck there. She threw her sword down on to the ground and stomped off into a corner to sit down and pick it out. Slowly the crowd dispersed and went back to their duties. The shuttle was unloaded and preparations began for the offensive on Kall.
When the bay was nearly deserted, Sakurako walked over and sat down next to Nariko.
“You really don’t remember, do you?” Sakurako asked quietly
Nariko closed her eyes.
I don’t want to admit the truth. I don’t want to deal with the shame.
“I’ve lost almost all of my memories,” Nariko finally admitted.
Sakurako’s silver eyes grew wide with concern.
“Please don’t look at me that way,” Nariko requested. “I don’t want your pity. Just, please don’t tell anyone.”
Sakurako nodded and the two sat in silence for some time.
“Her thoughts were so loud I couldn’t help but hear them when you two talked. Reika wasn’t warrior caste. Her family was Yogoreta,” Sakurako began at length.
“The unclean,” Nariko said out loud. “I recall that gravediggers had to live separate from other castes, for fear of contamination.”
Sakurako nodded. “The only thing worse than being Yogoreta was being a witch. But there was one year when the tithe-masters came up short, so the trials were opened to the other castes. Reika was the only one who passed.”
“And the Amano Family opposed,” Nariko guessed.
“You remember?”
“No, just a feeling. A sense of who they were, nothing specific.”
Sakurako nodded. “You volunteered to challenge her in a tonfa duel. Being from a noble family, your tonfa was an heirloom composite weapon. You knew that she would only have access to a wooden one. It was over pretty quick. Her tonfa shattered and she was sent back to her caste.”
I can’t remember any of it.
Nariko felt the panic rising inside of her. She forced her face to show nothing.
“Of course,” Sakurako continued. “None of that really mattered, in the end. A few years later the Gunoi came and after that our people were so overwhelmed that pretty much everyone had to fight. Everyone became warrior caste at that point.”
Nariko thanked Sakurako who stood up and got back to work, leaving Nariko alone with her thoughts. Nariko kept playing the scenario over and over again in her mind, imagining what it might have been like. The facts reflected very poorly on who she had been as a young person. She seemed cruel, prejudiced, proud, even haughty. It completely clashed with what Nariko had assumed she had been like before the curse.
You’ve been lying to yourself.
I have. I guess I convinced myself that this darkness was forced on me that I used to be a good and honorable person. I imagined my real self as...being different than you.
I am not your opposite, I am you.
The door to the detentionary whooshed open and Nariko walked in, carrying a tray of food. In the cor
ner of his cell sat the large frame of Don Kielter, relaxing as if he were merely a guest at a resort.
“So, the girls on this ship...these are your people,” he mentioned, picking at the bits of food stuck to his massive beard.
“I suppose,” Nariko admitted, clearly dissatisfied at being associated with them.
He shrugged. “They seem.... nice.”
“I really wouldn’t know,” she grumbled, stepping forward through the auger field.
He sat up and looked the tray over. “There’s no knife,” he complained.
“You’re in a holding cell, why would we give you a knife?”
“Well then, you are going to have to cut it for me.”
Nariko put a fist on her hip. “You want me to cut your food into pieces for you?”
Don Kielter scratched his chest. “Well, you are my slave-girl.”
“Unbelievable,” she grumbled as she sat down on the bench and pulled out her utility knife.
“I prefer my carrots to be sliced diagonally,” he mentioned.
“You know, I don’t have to do this for you,” she warned.
“Alright, alright,” he gave in, holding up his hands.
She could feel his eyes all over her as she cut up the vegetables. Some part of her just knew that he would say something if she didn’t make each slice to his liking.
“So...” he began. “You’re basically immortal, right?”
“I really didn’t come in here to chat.”
“So, what do you do with all that spare time? Have you, like, read every book there is or anything?”
To emphasize her point, she tossed the piece of meat up into the air with one hand and then swiped at it with her knife. Three times the blade slashed, too fast for him to follow. What landed back on the tray were perfectly sliced pieces of steak.
“Ooh, I like that!” he praised, clapping his hand against his knee. “You cut my steak, answered my question about how you spend your time, and then threatened me to stop talking all at the same time. Very efficient.”
“Thank you,” she said coldly as she slid the tray through the opening in the bars. She watched him oddly as he took the tray and dug into its contents. He didn’t seem to have a care in the world. It was as if nothing existed for him beyond the tray and its contents.
“You know, you aren’t like most men I’ve met,” she observed.
“That is true,” he boasted as if it had been a compliment. He smiled as he poured some sauce onto his steak from a little cup.
“And you don’t seem to scare easily,” she noted.
“I thought you didn’t want to talk,” he mentioned slyly, slurping down some mashed potatoes.
Nariko chuckled. “I’m sorry, you’re right.” She leaned forward a little and rested her elbows on her knees. “I guess it’s just, after a while, you get used to people being afraid of you all the time. When someone isn’t...it becomes a little weird.”
Don Kielter looked up, steak juice dripping from the corner of his mouth. “Now, why would I be afraid of such a gorgeous woman?”
Nariko turned away, a slight blush on her cheeks. “I told you not to do that.”
Don Kielter took a fresh bite of steak. “Yeah, you’ll find I’m really not that good at following orders.”
He gulped down some more of his food while looking her over with his deep eyes. “So, do you have a special workout routine you do?” he asked between bites. “Because I gotta say, your midsection is incredibly toned. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more athletic tummy on a woman.”
“Stop it,” she said, tugging self-consciously at her uniform.
“And yet, your bustline remains so enormously big. Usually women lose their chest when they exercise as much as you seem to.”
“I said stop it,” she blushed yet again, this time from embarrassment.
Don Kielter smiled with a mouth full of shiny white teeth. “Stop what?”
“Stop looking at me like a woman. I’ve always been a warrior. It’s all I know how to be. When you talk to me like that...I...I guess I don’t really know how to react.”
He set down his tray and scooted closer to the bars, resting on his knees. “Here, I’ll teach you,” he said.
She raised an eyebrow doubtfully at him. “You’ll teach me?”
“It’s very simple, watch,” he commanded. “This is what you do when a man compliments you.” He shook the bits of food off of his hands and placed them at his sides. Ever so slightly he nodded his head and said, “Thank you.”
Nariko rolled her eyes.
“Now, you try,” he encouraged.
“Fine,” she agreed sarcastically. “Thank you for ogling me, pig.”
Don Kielter sat back and breathed on his encrusted fingernails, as if he was about to polish them. “Ah, the master has taught yet another student.”
“Indeed,” Nariko said, slapping her knees as she stood up. “I have to get back to work...”
“Lots of steak slicing to practice, huh?”
“Something like that. If you need anything just hit the comm-rune. But don’t misuse it or we’ll take it away from you.”
He scratched his nose. “Some real food wouldn’t hurt.”
Nariko tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“This freeze-dried stuff is nice and all, but I’d really like something freshly cooked. Back on the Scavenger we had open fire pits and I guess I kinda got used to it.”
“I know, I saw what it did to the poor air-scrubbers,” she remarked. “I’m afraid I can’t help you with that.”
“Such is life,” he remarked as he picked up the water pouch.
Nariko turned to leave. It was strange how being behind bars didn’t seem to diminish his presence. “You know, most of the other men have been released on work duty.”
He took a swallow and shook his head. “No, not for me. I swore off manual labor long ago. I’ll only accept a job if it suits me.”
“I’m sure they could get you something to do that would be more entertaining than this cell.”
“Yes, but then I wouldn’t get to spend time with you. Your little visits are my favorite part of the day.”
Nariko paused at the door. Something about what he said made her chest feel a little tight inside, but not in a bad way. She looked back and saw him grinning at her, as if he knew exactly what he was doing. It irritated her enough that she left without saying another word.
Chapter Twenty
The Grey Cathedrals of Kall
It is a weakness of the flesh to assume that if you live your life well nothing bad will happen to you. Your life will be filled with loss, pain, fear, betrayal, sickness, and tragedy regardless of any decision you make. Accepting that reality is the fifth step toward inner peace.
-Book of Cerinţǎ, Chapter 15, verse 4
The stars wheeled and stretched on the view screen before settling into their rightful places.
“We have reentered realspace,” Shika announced, leaning back in her chair with relief.
“Bring in the sails, switch to standard drive. Well done navigator,” Inami praised as she sat in her elevated command chair, leisurely sprawled out in a silky light aqua bathing suit.
There was a distant thud and the ship shuddered slightly around them. In the air a holo-window of Nori appeared, her mouth agape as she screamed. “Blast you, Inami! Jumping this close to a planet, you just blew out the entire fraking...”
Inami yawned and lazily swiped her hand to one side, closing the window.
“No enemy ships detected in the immediate vicinity,” Mai reported, looking very professional in her uniform. “It looks like entering along the planetary disk was a good idea after all.”
“When are you going to learn that all my ideas are good ideas?” Inami corrected as she spread tanning lotion along her arm.
“Permission to speak freely?” Mai requested dispassionately.
“Always,” Inami said majestically as she stretched.
&
nbsp; “We are arriving three days behind schedule after you decided to force the crew to take ‘Mandatory Shore Leave’ at a place called Futara’s Pleasure Planet. I’d say that qualifies as a bad decision.”
“It couldn’t be helped,” Inami said, clapping her hands. A brawny man in a tight swimsuit responded to the command and placed a grape in her mouth. “We needed division morale to be as high as possible, so we integrated it into our plans.”
“I think you mean your morale, don’t you?”
“Hehe, these Carrion guys clean up real nice, don’t they?” Inami boasted, patting the man on his huge bicep.
“I’m sure I don’t have to remind a Senshi Taisa that there is no ‘I’ in the word team.”
“Of course there isn’t,” Inami said, sumptuously munching on another grape. “Because this isn’t a team. It’s all about me and you CAN spell ‘me’ with team.”
Inami tapped a rune and Mai’s chair buzzed, indicating a wrong answer and Mai’s chair lowered down several inches.
“We just got an update from the skeleton crew we left behind with the Kuldrizi,” Fujiko called out. “They report having some difficulty keeping the queen in hibernation.”
“You left a dozen people in charge of several trillion Kuldrizi and you don’t think that was a bad idea either?” Mai criticized.
“Bonbon!” Inami shouted, holding her mouth open until a hunky male attendant placed one in her mouth. Inami wiggled happily in her chair and tapped a rune. Again, Mai’s chair buzzed and lowered itself down several inches.
“Long range system scans complete.”
The air before them became filled with the holographic display of the Kall system.
“Excellent,” Inami exclaimed, sitting up in her chair. “The Carrion raids did a better job than we expected. Nearly all the traitor forces have withdrawn, the only ones left are the forces from Bael’Eth and they’ve been driven back to the southern peninsula.”
Mai enlarged the image showing only the planet Kall itself. The diminished traitor fleet was clinging to a geostationary orbit above the southern pole, while the Confederate fleet was grouped around the north. “For this to work we will need to help the traitors get into the catacombs beneath the Luminarch’s Cathedral and then help the Confederate forces drive them out again. We’ll be playing both sides. This isn’t going to be easy, tomorrow is Ascension Day and the Cathedral will be packed with civilians. Had we arrived three days ago like I...”
Heart of a Traitor Page 20
