by neetha Napew
Nyk shook his head. “No, keep down.”
“I just spoke to Kronta again,” Senta called from below. “He says an internal affairs skimmer will be heading our way shortly. He's very upset about this whole thing.”
“As if we're not upset?” Nyk replied. “Can you hear anything?”
“No. Nothing.”
“I wonder what they're doing?” Andra asked.
Hammering and scraping resumed at the shutter. Andra switched on the shield, climbed to the roof and began firing again. “They've set up a cross-fire,” she shouted. “One behind each of those big rocks. They want to keep me occupied so the others can cut through the shutter. It won't work.” She fired at the troops near the house and drove them back. “Got one! Now it's three to one!”
The commando near the house fell back behind a rock and began firing at Andra with a handgun.
“That Lexalese pistol isn't very powerful,” Nyk shouted. “You can tell by the sound, compared to what they're using.”
“It's powerful enough to be deadly,” Andra replied. “It uses some sort of fuel-air technology ... Nyk, toss me the other handgun. This one's empty.”
Nyk handed her the pistol. “They're wearing some sort of body armor,” Andra shouted.
“That must've been part of Zander's shipments, too.”
“I have to aim at their legs ... or their heads. I wonder if they counted on this shield. Got another one! Now, it's two against one!”
Andra turned back and forth, pinning the two remaining commandos behind their rocks.
“Where is that skimmer?” Nyk shouted. “How many more rounds do you have?”
“I haven't been counting,” Andra shouted back. Nyk continued to hear shooting. Then, Andra screamed and fell to the roof.
“Andra!” Nyk poked his head through the trapdoor. Andra was lying on the roof, writhing. A red splotch was forming below her ribcage.
Nyk pulled her into the house and secured the trapdoor. He carried her to the main living level and stretched her out on a bench. “Senta!” he shouted. “Andra's been shot!”
“Oh, no!” Senta sat and held Andra's head.
“Is it bad?” Nyk asked.
“I'm bleeding inside,” she gasped. “I can feel it.”
“Try to lie still. It may keep the bleeding to a minimum.” He turned to the vidisplay. “Kronta, where's that skimmer?”
“It's on its way, Nyk. A Lexalese shuttle landed to help mop up in Sudal. They'll be there shortly.”
Nyk sat and held Andra's hand. “Friends for life,” she said.
“Does it hurt?”
“It won't hurt for long. I'm going to sleep, now.”
“No!” Senta cried. “Stay with us, Andra!”
“Nyk...” Andra panted.
“Save your strength.” He pet her hair.
“Nyk -- when you see Janna -- tell her ... tell her ... Unu Deva Feti.”
“I will.”
“We got the princess!” a voice outside the shutter shouted. “Now, let's finish the job!”
Nyk could hear more hammering and scraping.
The shutter creaked open and one commando stuck his head inside. Andra lifted the pistol she still clutched, pointed it and pressed the trigger. The three of them were splattered by blood and brains. The commando sank to the floor and the shutter slammed onto his body.
Andra dropped the pistol to the floor and groaned. Nyk picked it up, opened the storm shutters and stepped outside. The last commando picked up a pump shotgun and jacked a shell into the chamber. Nyk lowered the handgun and fired, striking the trooper in his vest and knocking him to the ground. The shotgun discharged into the air, its pellets raining onto the roof.
The trooper attempted to climb to his feet, but Nyk fired again, knocking him down. The man looked up from the ground as Nyk stood over him, pointing the muzzle of the handgun into his face. “Mercy!”
“This is for Nayva!” Nyk shouted and fired into the man's forehead. He pressed the trigger again and again, until pistol refused to respond.
Nyk looked at the mangled corpse and then at his own hand. He threw down the pistol, buried his face in his hands and began wailing. He felt a touch on his shoulder, turned and saw an internal affairs officer.
“They're all dead or captured,” the officer said to him.
Nyk heard a scream from inside the house. He and the officer ran inside. Senta was holding Andra.
“She's dead!” Senta shrieked.
Two Lexalese security troops pushed into the house. “Princess!” one shouted. “Get the stasis chamber!”
The other trooper headed from the house. “Wait -- that's not the Lexalese crest.” He pointed to her right shoulder.
“That's not Janna,” Nyk replied. “That's Andra Baxa.”
“Baxa!” The guard spat. “I can't utter the name without spitting. Best to leave her dead.”
“No -- Andra despised her husband as deeply as you. She put herself into harm's way to protect your princess, who's right now safe in Floran City.”
The second Lexalese guard entered dragging a field stasis chamber on a levitating pallet. “Quick -- get her inside.”
Nyk helped slide her into the tube. “I can't get good stasis,” the guard shouted.
“The belt!” Nyk replied. “It's a shield and may be interfering with the stasis fields.”
The men slid her out and Nyk removed the belt. “We have good stasis, now. Is there a clinic in Sudal?”
“Take her to Central Clinic in Floran City,” Nyk replied. “Ask for Dr Kurso Aahhn.” He watched the guard drag the pallet toward a skimmer.
“Take her to the shuttleport,” the first Lexalese guard shouted. “Transport her to Floran City by shuttle.” The Lexalese corpsmen nodded acknowledgement.
The Internal affairs officer approached Nyk. “A shield? Let me see that.”
The Lexalese guard snatched it. “This belongs to Lexalese Security Forces.”
“Come,” he heard a voice shout from outside. The Lexalese guard took the belt with him to the skimmer and it lifted off.
Nyk looked at his shaking hands. “I'm a killer! I killed a man!”
“You preserved your own life and the lives of your friends,” the officer said.
“He begged for mercy. I had none. I shot a man when he was down -- I shot him between the eyes. I killed him!”
“If he had gotten up, he'd have done everything in his power to overcome you. I'm certain it'll be ruled justified.”
“And then -- I emptied the gun into him.”
“It's no crime to shoot a corpse. Come, two more skimmers are on their way. We'd like you to come into Sudal and tell us your story.”
* * *
Nyk stepped from the skimmer and into the Residence. He looked at Senta. “Senta, can we call a truce?”
“Truce,” she replied. “You're a mess -- go get cleaned up. Then, we can walk on the beach.”
“You want to walk on the beach? You, Senta?”
“We have some things to discuss.”
Nyk stepped from his childhood bedroom in a tunic and sandals. He saw Senta sitting at a vidisplay. “You look so much better.”
“I wish I felt better.”
“Are you interested in discovering whether or not you and I are half-brother and sister?”
“Aren't we better off not knowing?”
“Are we? It's bad for me if we are, and bad for you if we're not.”
“What do you mean?”
“You threatened the prospect of incest to persuade me to grant the separation. You don't want to know because you're afraid it'll destroy your strongest argument.”
“Senta, after everything I went through, I'm in no mood for petty bickering.”
“A dissolution of marriage is hardly petty,” she replied. She poked the touchscreen. “I have my DNA sequence here. I also have the sequence of Ryddo Tibran, my legal father ... and of Veska. A couple touches on the screen and we'll all know for sure.”
>
Nyk looked into her green eyes. “All right. Do the comparison.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I'm sure.”
“You're not just saying that, are you?”
“You do enjoy tormenting me, don't you?”
“Do you really believe that?”
“Senta, just go ahead and run the match, will you?”
“Okay. Remember -- you asked for it.” She poked the touchscreen. The display flashed as it performed the statistical match of the two DNA sequences. The results were displayed. “Percentage match with Veska is 92.52 percent,” she replied. “Percentage match with Ryddo is ... 99.99995 percent.” She looked into his eyes. “I'm a Tibran, legally and biologically.”
“You knew, didn't you? You ran the match before, while I was on Lexal.”
She smiled. “Yes, Nyk. I needed to know.”
He sighed. “All right, Senta -- you win. Tell me what I have to do before you'll grant the separation.”
“For starters you can take a walk with me.”
He took Senta's hand and led her out of the house. “Did you tell your stepdad?” he asked. She shook her head. “Shall we tell him?”
“I think it would be all right to let him keep guessing, don't you?” Senta replied.
He headed toward the bluff. The burned-out skimmer sat on the edge of the cliff. Nyk pointed. “They'll be by tomorrow to remove that.”
Nyk helped Senta down the rocks to the black sandy beach. He slipped off his sandals. She slipped hers off her long, narrow feet and walked with him barefoot toward the surf.
“I didn't think you could stand the smell.”
“The smell grows on you,” she replied. “Sudal grows on you. I thought I'd miss the excitement of Floran City. I've discovered I don't, but I do appreciate the peace and quiet here. Maybe I'm getting older.”
“Why couldn't you see that about Sudal before?”
“Why, indeed? Nykkyo, I am sorry I never permitted myself to appreciate what your home has to offer. I'm sorry I never let you share this with me.”
“It wasn't from my lack of trying,”
“Certainly not.”
He walked with her along the edge of the surf and felt the waves wash over his ankles.
Nyk stopped and stared out at the sea toward the horizon. He glanced Senta's way and saw her savoring the breeze, her face lifted and her eyes closed as it caught her red hair.
“Now, Senta -- what are your demands? You know I have little I can give you. You'll keep the rights to the house. What else do I need to do?”
“Nyk, we've called a truce. For Andra's sake let's honor it.”
“I want us to remain friends, Senta. We've known each other so long and the years we were married do count for something.”
“I'm pleased to hear that. After our last vidphone conversation, I was afraid they didn't.”
“I don't know why you'd want to stay married to a killer.”
“Nyk, I don't blame you for what you did.”
“All I could think of was poor Nayva. She saved both our lives. She didn't deserve to die.”
“A great many have died in this adventure. Andra still may. Few deserved to.” She pointed to a rock overhanging the surf. “That's Andra's favorite place. She sits there after dinner...” Senta brushed tears from her eyes. “I love her, Nyk. I don't know what I'll do...”
“She loves you, too, Senta. You and I are bonded through her. Aahhn's a miracle worker. He reanimated Suki after her suicide.”
“There's a limit even to what he can do, Nyk.”
A warbling signal came from Senta's lifxarpa. She withdrew from her sash a handheld vidisplay and looked at it; then handed it to Nyk. “Vidphone for you.”
Nyk pressed it to his wrist to answer the call. He saw his friend Aahhn.
“Nyk, we reanimated your friend.”
“Will she live?”
“We believe so.”
Nyk turned to Senta with tears in his eyes. “Did you hear?”
Senta threw her arms around him and kissed him. “Let's take the night train to Floran City.”
* * *
Nyk escorted Senta into the clinic and was directed to a treatment room. Andra was lying on her back on a therapeutic pallet. Her skin was green and her lips black. “They've given her artificial blood,” Nyk said. He walked to her and took her hand. It was limp and she was unconscious.
A figure in hospital garb approached them. Nyk recognized his friend Aahhn.
“How is she?” Nyk asked.
“Oh, she'll recover. It's a serious wound. The ... projectile entered here, below her left ribcage.” Aahhn pointed on his own body. “It grazed her stomach, put a nick in her colon, severed a rather large artery and lodged near her spleen. She lost a significant amount of blood.”
“Did you have to remove her spleen?”
“No, the surgeons patched it all up.”
“It's fortunate she was wearing a shield,” Nyk said.
“A shield? Hmmm ... it appears it didn't work very well.”
“It worked very well -- it stopped hundreds of rounds. You should've seen her, Aahhn -- standing on that roof, firing on those commandos. By the time she was hit, its power was depleted. I imagine it was still able to slow the impact of the bullet. Otherwise, she'd have been cut up even worse inside -- perhaps beyond repair.”
“She's still recovering from the neural block. She should be coming around in a short while.”
“Why don't we take turns waiting up for her?” Nyk said to Senta. “I'll take the first shift.”
“Fine, Nyk. You'll call if there's any news?”
“Of course.”
“I'll be by in the morning.” Senta headed out the door.
Nyk pulled up a seat beside Andra. He kissed her forehead, then leaned back and closed his eyes.
The sound of an attendant caring for Andra roused him. He looked up and saw the nurse leaving the treatment room. Andra's eyes were open. “How are you feeling?”
“I'm not feeling much ... I have a neural block ... on my spine ... I can't feel anything .... below my ... shoulder blades ... it's also controlling ... my breathing ... a very odd ... sensation...”
“Other than that?”
“I feel happy ... to be alive ...” Nyk took her hand and she squeezed it. “We make quite a ... team ... don't we?”
14 -- Back to the Grind
Nyk walked into Andra's treatment room. Senta sat in a chair, dozing. “Good morning. How are you today?”
“They removed the neural block.”
“So, you have legs again.”
“And pain. Not too bad, though. They told me I can go home as soon as I've displaced most of the artificial blood.”
Nyk stroked her oat-straw white hair. “That green skin makes your hair look even lighter.”
An attendant brought in a meal tray and handed it to her. “Doctor wants you to try eating.”
Andra brought the pallet into a sitting position. She removed the cover on the meal package and scooped a spoonful. “I had forgotten how bland the food is on this planet. I'm in the mood for a chunk of meat.”
“Maybe we can have some lagexeva shipped from Lexal.”
“No thanks.” She scooped another spoonful.
“Andra, I must ask you -- how did you feel after you killed Zander?”
“Good. He deserved it.”
“How can you feel no remorse?”
“Nyk, it's easy. It's lesson number one from Vebinad Academy -- the first order of business is survival. I knew I wouldn't be free of Zander until one of us died. I had a little bet with myself as to which of us would die first. I thought it would be me. I was wrong -- I lost my bet but I won the game. Think how many more would've died if he'd been able to carry out his plan.”
“Plenty of others died anyway.”
“Exactly.”
“And the commandos?”
“They had no regard for life -- none for their own, and you
can imagine their regard for yours and mine.”
“Don't you think about their families?”
“They were all career criminals. They were dead the moment they joined this adventure. My only regret is I didn't kill all of them.”
“I couldn't sleep last night. I kept seeing them in my dreams. I keep hearing the screams of those in the skimmer. And the one I shot -- he begged for mercy, but I shot him. I shot him in cold blood.” A tear ran down Nyk's face. “I don't know how I'm going to live with myself. I don't know how I'll return to Earth -- to a mundane little job in a dingy little office with that man on my conscience.”
“Nyk, remember they killed many more in cold blood. They shot Nayva in the knee to induce her to tell them where you and I had gone. Then, they shot her in the head. If you hadn't killed him -- he'd have killed you, me and Senta. And I doubt it would've been quick, like a pellet in the head.”
“You're a tougher man than I am, Andra. This is a side of you I never wanted to see. It's a side of me I never knew I had. Is it Earth? Have we been corrupted by that planet? Does everyone who has contact with that world end up tainted somehow? I'm sure Earth corrupted Zander. I think it's corrupted Seymor, at least in a way. Is anyone immune?”
“It's not Earth, Nyk. It's human nature. You and I are the same species that lives on that planet, and we think and feel and love and hate the same way. If Florans weren't every bit as human, the school that formed me would've died for lack of clients generations ago.”
“I'm no better than those Altian commandos.”
“You are the better man, Nyk -- much better. That commando wouldn't have shed a tear over you.”
“What of you? You almost paid for our adventure with your life.”
“I survived, and I'll heal. This was good for me, Nyk.”
“Good for you? How can you say that?”
“Ever since Zander took me from the school, I've had doubts.”
“Doubts? You?”
“Yes. Zander did terrible things to my self-esteem. I wondered if I had what it takes to perform the assignment for which I was trained. Now I know I do. This has strengthened me, Nyk. I don't have any desire to repeat it. What I want to do is to recover from these wounds and spend my life with what I love -- with what you showed me to love -- to study the life in the sea.”
