Heart of a Traitor

by Aaron Lee Yeager

  Her waiter came by and placed down an appetizer of meat skewers sitting on a bed of rice. Nariko eyed the rice suspiciously.

  Up on the rooftop of a nearby building, Don Kielter and Keiko had set themselves up in survey position. They were becoming quite skilled at scaling the water pipes that ran on the sides of the buildings to get up onto the rooftops without being seen by the frequent police patrols. The comm-link hidden in Nariko’s jewelry had a horribly short range, so they had to the keep a large signal booster nearby, which forced them to make several trips to get everything up there, which Don Kielter had volunteered to do after Keiko began ‘complaining’ of sore arms. The rest of Shiro squad was walking the streets of the area, except for Taka, who had disappeared again.

  Brannon didn’t have nearly the entourage of private security that his brother did. Just a single man, who doubled as Brannon’s gondola driver, was standing at the entrance of the restaurant, chewing on a nicotine stick. Following Brannon was definitely easier than following Louie and Don Kielter was feeling quite immune to danger that night.

  “Honestly, Nari, I can’t believe you are so clueless about this stuff,” Don Kielter mentioned offhand as he gazed through his viewfinder at some young noblewomen walking in the park beside the restaurant.

  “I am a Senshi,” Nariko sub-vocalized through the comm-link. “I took a vow of chastity when I was 12 years old, so forgive me for not being an experienced himo like you are.”

  This surprised Don Kielter enough that he turned his attention away from the young women.

  “Really?” he asked in surprise. “But still, you must have seen couples together.”

  “You have to understand,” Keiko explained. “All marriages among the warrior class on Correll were arranged. It was forbidden to even meet your spouse before the day of the wedding.”

  “Didn’t the regular people court?” the Don asked curiously.

  Keiko thought on this for a moment, her hair changing to a blue color.

  “I suppose they did...”

  “But commoners don’t create traditions, they just do things,” Nariko added.

  Kielter accepted this explanation and returned to looking at the group of young women in the park. He started shifting through various vision modes and quickly became frustrated.

  “There’s like a thousand different settings on this fraggin’ thing! Is there one to search for weapons concealed underneath clothing?” he asked curiously.

  “Mode ju-hachi,” Keiko answered, scanning the building-tops.

  After several attempts, Don Kielter managed to find that mode.

  “Ah, there we go. No concealed weapons on them all right,” he said with a wolfish grin as he leered through the viewfinder.

  Keiko snatched the viewfinder out of Don Kielter’s hands and replaced them with an ordinary set of binoculars, her hair green with disgust.

  “You make me ashamed to have once been human,” Keiko chided.

  Don Kielter threw his hands up in the air.

  “C’mon Keik! The female form is the most beautiful and wonderful thing in the galaxy. You can’t blame me for appreciating it,” Don Kielter defended.

  “Trust me, the female body is not nearly so interesting when you have one of your own,” Keiko explained.

  As she paused and thought about it for a moment, her hair changed to an aquamarine color.

  “In fact, it loses its appeal altogether when you have to start dealing with things like...”

  “Um, is this really necessary to say over the comm-line?” Sakurako interrupted through the link.

  Don Kielter and Keiko chuckled together. Their shared sense of humor made it difficult to focus on their job at times.

  “Hey, Keik, do we have any more of that suki stuff?” Don Kielter asked as he rummaged through her bag.

  “It’s sah-kay, not suh-ki,” Keiko corrected, her hair turning a dull red. “Why do I feel like I’m always correcting everyone?”

  “Because you are, Kei-chan” Ami complained over the line.

  Back in the restaurant Nariko found herself staring at a young couple sitting at a table at the other end of the room. Keiko noticed Nariko’s focus as she watched her through the viewfinder.

  “What are you looking at?” Keiko asked.

  “The woman at the southwest table is wearing the same brooch I bought. It was supposed to have been one of a kind, so why does she have one?” Nariko stated, surprised at how irritated she was.

  “Well, there’s only one thing you can do,” Keiko explained. “Go over there and slap her across the cheek.”

  Nariko let out a deep chuckle and stood up to do just that.

  “No, Nari-chan! Sit down, I was just kidding.” Nariko caught herself and sat back down. Nariko could tell she was still feeling some of the effects of Nori’s concoction. Nariko looked at the people staring at her from nearby tables and excused herself with the light giggle that Keiko had taught her.

  The waiter and Brannon finally returned with the food and an oval dish was set down in front of Nariko.

  “I see you did not eat your appetizer, was it not to your liking?” Brannon asked as he sat down.

  “I don’t eat rice anymore,” Nariko explained.

  “How interesting, may I ask why?”

  “No reason,” Nariko said, running her fingers through her hair self-consciously.

  The silver covers were removed. The food in it looked horrible and tasted even worse. Nariko waited for a moment when Brannon wasn’t looking her way to ask Don Kielter a question.

  “What am I eating?” she sub-vocalized.

  “It’s keintez,” he explained. “An un-leavened bread dough mixed in with the droppings from triclop snakes.”

  “I thought this was supposed to be a high-status place,” she accused. “Why would they serve me garbage like this?”

  “On Ardura, the really expensive food is always horrible. Only the nobles can afford to eat it often enough to learn how to keep it down without throwing up. It’s what they call an ‘acquired taste.’ Whatever you do, don’t vomit or everyone will think you’re a commoner.”

  Nariko decided that this was the strangest mission she had ever participated in during her military career, trying to eat snake droppings without throwing up. Fortunately for her, her body could digest foods that a normal human could not. What it did not do, however, is make eating horrible food any less unpleasant.

  They passed the time with small talk, both avoiding talking about Louie or the Faust family. Brannon had two real passions. He had a fascination with saber duels and he owned an extensive collection of firearms. Nariko shocked Brannon with her extensive knowledge of both subjects and at one point even gave him an impromptu lesson in the Hurin Stance using their butter knives.

  Keiko’s Eleventh Lesson: There is nothing more irresistible to a man than a woman who is knowledgeable about his favorite hobby.

  The time passed quickly and Nariko found that she was enjoying herself quite a lot. Brannon was refilling Nariko’s wine glass after almost every sip.

  “He’s trying to get you drunk,” Don Kielter warned while Brannon was away using the bathroom.

  “I’m not worried. A Senshi can drink any civilian under the table,” Nariko boasted.

  “So, the other night you were talking about the different locks that a woman has around her heart,” Ami asked over the comm-line.

  “What about it?” Don Kielter responded.

  Brannon returned and sat down with a smile and set about to pour himself some more wine.

  “I’m curious, is this Faust guy doing well? I mean, what are the locks for Nariko’s heart?”

  “Oh, that’s easy. The keys to Nariko’s heart are...”

  “Don’t you dare!” Nariko yelled out loud, grabbing her earring.

  There was a long moment of silence. Everyone in the room was staring at her outburst.

  I forgot to sub-vocalize.

  Brannon was frozen, the bottle of wine hoverin
g half way on the journey to his glass mouth.

  “Erm, I mean...” Nariko began. “On my world, it is extremely bad taste to pour your own drink. Please allow me to pour it for you.”

  Brannon relaxed a little at this explanation and shrugged.

  “Well, why not? After all, you have gone out of your way to honor my customs; I see no harm in honoring one of yours.”

  Nariko took the wine bottle and poured him a new glass, all the while internally flogging herself.

  “You know, it’s funny how much power traditions have over us. It is tradition in my family to serve keintez on the first night of courtship,” he explained. “I really appreciate the fact that you are willing to go along with all of this.”

  Nariko nodded thankfully. Brannon leaned in and whispered to her.

  “Personally, I hate the stuff. I think it tastes like crap.”

  Nariko burst out giggling, so much that she accidentally let out a snort as she laughed. She covered her mouth and nose in embarrassment.

  How am I this tipsy?

  As Brannon laughed heartily, Nariko looked over and caught a foppish woman with a crooked nose glaring at her hatefully. Nariko locked eyes with her and tapped her own cute little nose with her index finger, then gave the woman a wink. The woman’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in outrage, making Nariko laugh even louder. Nariko flipped her hair and stretched over the table to feed Brannon a bite of keintez, accentuating to the woman and to Brannon Nariko’s clearly superior figure.

  This feels easier now.

  Nariko no longer felt like she needed prompting from the others. It was coming naturally to her now. Nariko hooded her eyes sultrily and ran the back of her finger down Brannon’s cheek. She gave him a smoldering smile and slowly rocked her hips back to give her backside an alluring little wiggle as she leaned over, staring into his eyes dreamily.

  The effect was almost immediate. Brannon’s face became flushed and his breathing deeper. Nariko could see his pupils dilate and his expression became that of unmistakable passion.

  And they said I couldn’t do this.

  Back on the rooftop, Don Kielter was busy fidgeting with Keiko’s viewfinder. He had gotten tired of the un-powered binoculars she had given him and so when she had left to use the restroom, he had tried to use her viewfinder instead. Unfortunately, she had put some sort of lock on the thing and he was at a loss as to how to get the thing to turn back on. Had he not been so frustrated, he might have noticed that she had been gone for quite some time, but as it was he was too busy banging the viewfinder against the roof tiles.

  He did notice, however, when the cold metal barrel of a concussion rifle was pressed into the nape of his neck and he heard the unmistakable clack of a round being chambered.

  “Son of a Gunoi!” he cursed.

  Nariko and Brannon walked out of the restaurant in very good spirits. The drink combined with her high heels left her more than slightly wobbly and she used Brannon’s arm to steady herself.

  “So, my Herr Faust,” she asked hazily as they walked, “Did I follow all of your traditions correctly tonight?”

  Brannon smiled at something.

  “Mostly,” he said.

  “What do you mean, mostly?” She asked. “What did I miss?”

  Brannon told her not to worry about it, but Nariko found herself insisting.

  “Well, normally the woman pays for the meal on the first night,” he mentioned.

  Nariko decided that she would give Don Kielter a thump on the skull for that glaring omission. She’d already failed with Louie and now Brannon was her only chance to salvage this mission.

  “I’m really sorry about that. If you want, I’d be happy to go back in there and do it the right way,” she offered.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Brannon said. “I’m getting used to it. I’ve already spent as much on you as a fifth-nighter by now.”

  While Nariko reflected on all the things that she had had done to Brannon while pursuing Louie, she found herself blushing. She decided that it must be from the alcohol.

  When they reached Brannon’s hover-gondola, Nariko suddenly found herself feeling very sleepy. When Brannon sat down next to her she unconsciously rested her head against his shoulder.

  He feels so comfortable.

  The hover-gondola began moving with a soothing hum. As Nariko dozed off, she imagined hearing the sounds of distant gunfire.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The Silk Tapestries of the Glanz Hotel

  The political effect of the Corcitură’s defection from the Imperialist armies was devastating. Emperor Neîndoios faced censure from both Houses of the Senate and the Asociaţie party called for his impeachment. Typical of his reactionary policies, all Corcitură units that had remained loyal to the Empire were ordered to be destroyed by înjunghea.

  -Excerpt from The Fall of the Ashtari, suppressed by the Marshals 22.03.4112rl

  Nariko found herself awaking from the most pleasant sleep she ever recalled having. She stretched, a pleasant smile on her lips. She felt so feminine, even a little girly.

  This peace was shattered by the realization that she didn’t know where she was.

  Nariko opened her eyes and found herself in a white-carpeted bedroom with the morning sunlight pouring in though the silk curtains that hung lazily over the window. Beautiful tapestries hung down over the white stonewalls and the room was filled with the scents of flowers.

  The bed she was lying in was soft and luxurious. Delicate silken drapes hung down from the banisters at each corner and the light-blue comforter was embroidered with intricate swirling patterns.

  Nariko’s worry turned into panic when she realized that she was not wearing any clothes beneath the sheets and the sheets themselves rested sloppily on the bed, as if they had been roughed up during the night.

  What happened last night? She couldn’t remember anything after leaving the restaurant. She heard a sound from the bathroom and realized that Brannon was in there taking a shower.

  She looked around frantically and saw her clothes and purse hung neatly over the back of a chair near the door. Next to them were...Brannon’s clothes!

  Nariko pulled the sheets up over her mouth and tried not to scream.

  What have I done?! She was supposed to be a Senshi of Correll. She couldn’t have actually...

  Nariko’s mind recoiled at the horror of the situation and she refused to complete her line of thought. To stem her panic, she had to focus on something. She had to get her clothes back.

  She scooted to the edge of the bed and tried to wrap herself in the bed sheet, but found that it was really hard to get the thing to cover her properly. When she gathered up one side, the other side would slip off. She finally gathered together the sheet around herself with both arms, looking very much like a cotton ball with feet. She took a step forward and tripped on a pair of slippers placed at the foot of the bed and came crashing down in a pile.

  She imagined her squad mates looking at her. They would take one look at her and know what she had done. She began to feel ashamed.

  “No!” Nariko said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. She had to get her clothes first. Anything to take her mind off of what was happening. She gathered the majority of the sheets on top of her and began crawling along the floor, like a great caterpillar made of blankets. When this caterpillar reached the chair, a small human hand extended out from underneath it and pulled the clothes inside, before slowly turning and crawling back toward the bed.

  Another thought entered her world of fear. Had they used contraception? She couldn’t remember. She had always known that it might be possible for her to become pregnant, but it had always been a cold and distant theory, nothing more than a factoid. Now, for the first time, it became very real in her mind. The thought filled her with horror.

  Am...am I pregnant already? Nariko placed a trembling hand on her stomach. In her delirium she imagined that she could almost feel a demon fetus slithering a
round inside of her.

  Nariko pulled her hand away in revulsion.

  I can’t think about that, I have to focus on putting my clothes on, she thought as her trembling hands searched for the neckline. She could feel her heart pounding inside her chest and her breathing had become labored.

  The door to the bathroom opened and Brannon entered the room. Nariko jumped two feet in the air and let out a little squeak of fright.

  “Good morning,” he said cheerfully.

  Nariko lay there curled up underneath the bed sheets on the floor as Brannon got dressed. After a time she was able to force herself to speak.

  “Did anything...umm...” Despite her need to know, Nariko could not make herself finish the question. She felt that the shame of saying something like that out loud would kill her.

  Brannon finished putting on his clothes and sat on the edge of the bed and grinned down at her wickedly.

  “It was the best night of my life,” he said coyly.

  Nariko felt her world shatter around her. The person she once was must be completely gone by now. Now, she was just some dirty little enjo-kosai in a love hotel trying to come to terms with a night of sin.

  Suddenly Brannon started to laugh deeply.

  “I’m sorry, Betti, you were so cute lying there I just couldn’t resist,” he chuckled.

  Nariko’s rage flared within her. Not only had he taken her virtue from her, but now he openly mocked her and boasted of the act.

  What am I, just another trophy to put on his mantle of defiled women? Her ability to think rationally left her completely. A dark shadow fell upon her and her thoughts turned violent. As Brannon laughed, Nariko reached behind her and grabbed at a small crystal globe that decorated the nightstand next to the bed. In a moment, she would crush his skull with it. If he were dead, no one would ever know that she had been with him.

  This must be kept secret. No one must ever know. I will do what I must to keep it a secret, kill if I must to keep it a secret. After all, deep down I am really nothing more than a beast, aren’t I? When a beast is provoked, it attacks!