<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Later that night Ada Jane actually ate dinner. She cleaned her small cottage, and sat for a while reading before she was tired. She did put on one of Kol’s shirts to sleep in, but she’d probably always do that. Before bed she walked around her cottage, smiling as different places in the house reminded her of the memories she and Kol had already created in this small home. She loved this cottage. She smiled widely when she thought of her land and that he’d managed to have it returned to her. She stopped and looked around again; she was going to miss this place. Her brow creased and she began to move back to the living room as her mind worked.
Ada Jane sat on the sofa with the tablet that Kol had left her. She powered it up and swiped the option for audio. “Hello, Missy,” Ada Jane greeted.
“Hello, Ada Jane Ra’ Don Tol. I have been waiting for you to contact me.”
“I am sorry I didn’t think to do so sooner,” Ada Jane answered, smiling at how lifelike the computer was.
“Apology accepted. How may I be of service?” Missy asked.
Ada Jane had a reason for contacting the Cruestaci artificially intelligent software system, but all she could think of at the moment was Kol. “How is Kol?” she asked, knowing the answer would be that she wasn’t allowed to give that information.
Missy surprised her with a completely different answer. “I have a vid that I am allowed to play for you, Ada Jane Ra’ Don Tol.”
Ada Jane held her breath while the vid downloaded. Then she was looking at Chairman Bartholomew, speaking to her from what appeared to be his office. “Hello, Ada Jane. I can only guess how anxious and distressed you must be over this situation. Unfortunately, the laws are simple. While in Unified Consortium Defense custody, the accused are not allowed contact with the outside world. While it seems unfair, there is a reason for it. We have in the past experienced terrorist acts as a result of certain contacts — this is the reason for the lack of communication. Unfortunately, it is an all or none at all rule. And while I cannot allow contact, there is absolutely nothing addressing my ability to show you footage of myself and Kol as we work our way through all the evidence and prepare his defense. He is not aware that I’m sending you this recording. He loves you very much, Ada Jane, and you are always on his mind. I can only believe that you will be reunited at the closure of all this.” Bart smiled at the vidcom recorder before the screen went black, then came back into focus with an obviously less focused camera angle. Ada Jane sat up straight and cradled the tablet in her hands as she watched Bart sitting at a large table. The door opened and two males escorted Kol in, then turned, leaving the room and leaving Kol alone with Bart.
Ada Jane’s eyes were for Kol only, she looked closely at his face, his body, his hands. He didn’t seem to be injured in any way. When they began to speak, she focused on their conversation.
“Morning, Kol. I have good news for you!” Bart told him.
Kol stood beside the table and waited. “Tell me, what is it?” Kol asked.
“Get your breakfast and then I’ll tell you,” Bart said.
“Tell me now,” Kol insisted.
“Ada Jane’s land… I got word late last night. It’s being returned to her. My motion to have the storage facilities moved from it and it returned to her was defeated, but it has been returned to her. “Basically, Earth’s government said, ‘We’re not paying to clean it up, but you can have it as is if you want it. I told them we did and transferred payment this morning.”
“You used the funds I gave you in preparation for this day?” Kol asked.
“I did. And I even owe you a small amount back,” Bart said smiling.
“Put it my account. Ada Jane has been added to the account so she can access all that is in it.”
“I’ll take care of it. The land’s Ada Jane’s, though. It’s a done deal.”
“That’s great news! She will be so happy!” Kol said, truly smiling for the first time since he’d left Ada Jane.
Ada Jane listened to the rest of their conversation before rewinding it and watching it again. Just to see him sitting with Bart as they had breakfast and spoke of her land was enough to make her feel a little better. As the conversation went on, Kol mentioned her again, and she couldn’t help but concentrate on that part.
“I miss her sweet face. I would give anything to see her, to hold her,” he said.
Ada Jane stopped the vid on that particular part. In it, Kol’s face was smiling and happy as he thought of her. She reached out and touched the image of his face on the tablet. “I miss you, too,” she whispered.
That night she went to sleep with Kol’s voice fresh in her mind as she watched the vid over and over again. It was the best night’s sleep she’d managed to get since Kol left.
Chapter 32
The sky was dark and the docking pad of the repatriation center practically empty as Kron docked his transport and moved through the empty spaces through the medical center. The automatic doors opened at his approach and he stepped through them, pausing at the map mounted on the wall just past the information desk to locate the offices he was looking for. Smiling as he used his finger to trace the route to the lift, the office he wanted, then back again, he memorized the route and smiled to himself as he made his way out of the main lobby and toward the middle of the medical center where the particular lift he needed was located. He stepped inside and braced himself as he stared straight ahead.
Dr. Jason Cavanaugh sat at his desk, working late again, but not on anything to do with his patients. He was working on plans for the Purist movement he poured so much of himself into. He often stayed late at the medical center to take advantage of the online access to government websites he could sign on to here, that he didn’t have access to at home. At the moment, he was making notes on all the most recent arrivals of aliens and their home planets. It was extremely important that he keep accurate numbers so that when the Purists rose up against them, evicting them from the planet, they were sure to get them all.
A knock sounded on his office door, and he looked up at it irritatedly. “My office does not need cleaning! Just skip it tonight,” he shouted.
No one replied, but someone knocked again, more forcefully.
Jason got up and stalked over to his office door, yanking it open and preparing to repeat to whoever was standing there that they should leave him alone. “I said…” he began before the words stopped flowing from his mouth, probably because of the yellow hand that was now clenched around his throat and holding him up off the ground.
Jason kicked his feet and used both hands to grasp at the yellow one cutting off his oxygen supply and his voice.
Kron stepped into Jason’s office and kicked the door closed behind himself. “Dr. Cavanaugh, we need to come to an understanding,” Kron said, tossing the doctor across the room and allowing him to land half on, half off his own desk, his back slamming into the outer edge painfully.
“Who are you?! I demand you leave my office at once before I call security!”
“I’ve blocked your communication abilities. You can’t call anyone short of running down the hallway and screaming for help. Though that would not surprise me as you are a coward,” Kron answered calmly.
“I am no coward! You have no idea who I am,” Jason answered.
“Oh, but I do. You are the male who deserted Ada Jane Ra’ Don Tol on a docking pad at Base 28, knowing full well that she was being surrounded by violent, armed forces,” Kron answered.
“It was too late to be able to help her. I had to get away while I could. I com’d the authorities as soon as I was away to have them send in assistance,” Jason said defensively.
“No, you didn’t,” Kron answered. “You simply left her there to be taken hostage, die or worse. And as you are about to learn, there are worse things than death.”
“You stay away from me!” Jason shouted. “I’m important! I’m needed here! I’m the reason most of the people in this facility have recovered from their inju
ries and survive!” Jason yelled.
“Really? If you weren’t such a Purist, I may take that into consideration,” Kron answered.
“What I do in my spare time is none of your business!” Jason said defensively.
“Oh, but it is. You see, it is my responsibility to watch over Ada Jane. And you’ve been stalking her home, trying to force her to interact with you. If you don’t stay away from her, I’ll make you beg for death,” Kron threatened.
“You can’t hurt me! I’m well known,” Jason spat back at him.
“Test me. Please,” Kron said calmly, then turned his back on Jason to exit the office.
Jason snatched his sharpened, bladed letter opener off the desktop and attacked Kron, just as Kron had hoped he would.
Kron turned and caught Jason by the wrist, snapping it in one single movement, then he beat him into submission until Jason was on his knees, sobbing and begging for mercy with both wrists broken, an eye swollen shut, bruises across his body, and blood falling from several cuts on his face. Kron opened his mouth and pulled his lips back tightly to expose his razor sharp fangs, then he leaned over until he was right in Jason’s face. “You will stay away from Ada Jane, or I will come back. I will rip your body apart limb from limb, after I use my fangs to tear your arteries from your body. Are we clear?” Kron asked quietly.
Jason nodded while he continued to sob.
“Make no mistake, I know everything about you. Where you live, where you play, where you meet with your Purist friends, your family, your coworkers — all of it. I will kill you. It’s only a matter of how many others you force me to send with you into death. You are a coward, you are less than a male. You will stay away from Ada Jane. You will not contact her, nor visit her, or I will be back. In fact, you will forget she even exists. Do you understand?” he asked with saliva dripping from his fangs.
Jason held his broken wrists up in front of him as he sobbed and begged for mercy from the yellow monster that had attacked him. The only way to survive was to agree. “Yes,” he answered pitifully.
“Do not make me return. I may not be so pleasant if I do,” Kron said. He straightened, turned his back on the broken and battered male, and left the medical center via the same route he’d used to find the doctor’s office.
Jason let himself fall over onto the floor and sobbed uncontrollably. He’d get his revenge. Only it wouldn’t be just on Ada Jane. He’d take out the yellow alien that had beaten him, and broken his wrists. If he never achieved anything else in life, he’d take his revenge on the yellow bastard.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
The next morning Ada Jane was up bright and early. She and Missy researched options for moving houses while she had breakfast, then went to Pastor Douglas’s home to be sure that he was willing to sell her the cottage she lived in. Everything all ready to go. She com’d Kron.
After a moment his image popped up on her tablet. “Good Morning, Ada Jane,” he said, smiling at her.
“Morning, Kron. I have an idea I was wondering if you’d mind helping me with.”
“Of course. What can I do?”
“Well, first, I want to move my cottage to my parents’ land,” Ada explained.
“Can we do that?” he asked.
“Yes! Missy says that physically it’s possible, and Pastor Douglas has agreed to sell it to me. So I need to transfer the money into the account for the church,” Ada answered.
“Very well. We can do that,” Kron answered as his attention was pulled away from somewhere off screen.
He stopped speaking for a moment and he was momentarily lost.
Ada Jane watched for a moment, waiting for his attention to return to her, but when it didn’t, she called his name. “Kron?”
Kron looked back at her. “I’m sorry, Ada Jane. I’m a little distracted this morning.”
“I can com you later if you’re busy,” she said.
“No, that’s not necessary. Allow me to speak to Buchanan and see how we should proceed. He is going back to your land today with several males to complete emptying the last storage building. Once I speak to him, I’ll be back in touch this afternoon,” he said, his gaze again leaving her and getting lost somewhere in the room he was in.
“That’s fine. Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.
“Yes, I am very well. Thank you for asking,” he said, his brow creasing as he watched something she couldn’t see.
“I’ll wait to hear from you,” she answered, and ended the com.
Kron ended the call on his end as well, and allowed himself the luxury of watching the small, pale female with the equally pale red hair as she waited for her father to return to his desk. He’d heard some of the other males call her hair red, but it was not red in the sense that Zha Quin was red. It was a softer color, almost a combination of the color of flames and the pale golden blonde of Ada Jane’s hair. Whatever color it was, it was his new favorite. The tiny little spots sprinkled across her nose and her upper cheeks drew his attention almost as strongly as her hair.
He was so caught up in admiring the female that he didn’t realize she’d spun her father’s chair around and was now staring back at him. Instead of getting offended, she simply pressed her lips together in a smile and waited for him to notice she’d caught him watching her. After a few moments she laughed and raised her hand in front of her face to wave at him.
Kron startled, whipping his gaze up to hers.
“Hi,” she said, grinning at him.
“Hello,” Kron answered nervously, knowing she was aware of his having been admiring her.
“You sure Dad’s coming back to his office?” she asked.
“Yes. He is,” Kron answered, looking down at his own desk and starting to shuffle documents so he’d appear busy.
“Okay, I’ll wait,” she said, spinning the chair in a circle again. When she came face-to-face with him again, she smiled at him. “So, was that your girlfriend?” she asked.
Kron’s eyebrows creased heavily over his eyes as he considered her question, a totally confused look on his face.
“The vid. The girl you were just talking to…” she reminded.
“Oh! No, no she’s not my female. She is the mate of a friend of mine who cannot be here at the moment. So I continue to insure her safety until he can return,” Kron explained.
“Ah, I see. Would that friend be Ambassador Kol?” she asked.
“Yes, she is Kol’s female,” Kron answered.
“I never met him, but my Daddy talks about him often. He said Kol’s a good man and that without him we’d still be dealing with Diskastes.”
“Your father is correct. He has been my friend and my commander for many, many years,” Kron said.
“So, you’re Kron, right?” she asked.
“Yes. I am Kron.”
“I’m Ginger. I’ve seen you around, but you always seem so busy I didn’t want to interrupt you.”
“Baby girl!” Buchanan said boisterously, entering the open offices of Base 28.
“Hey, Daddy,” Ginger answered, getting to her feet to hug him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“You invited me to breakfast,” Ginger said, smirking because he forgot.
“I sure did, didn’t I?” he asked. “I’m sorry, baby. I got so busy I forgot all about it.”
“Have you eaten?” she asked.
“I did. I was planning to go out to finish cleaning out those storage facilities I was telling ya’ll about and just completely forgot.”
“Which reminds me,” Kron said. “Ada Jane would like to know if it’s possible to move her cottage from the Church to her land. She has already gotten permission to purchase it, and would like it moved to her land,” Kron explained.
“That’s not a hard thing to do. Just have to get the permits to do so. And, seeing as how I’m headed that way today, I’ll stop and apply for them. We can get it done by the end of the week.”
“Thank you. I will com her back a
nd let her know it will be done,” Kron said.
“Very good,” Buchanan said, then he looked from his daughter who was watching Kron intently, to Kron who was trying his damnedest not to stare at Ginger. “Hey, Kron? You eaten breakfast yet?” he asked.
Ginger’s wide-eyed gaze flashed to his at the same time Kron’s did.
“No, I have not yet eaten this morning,” Kron answered.
“Excellent. I have to be off, I’ve got a lot to do and some men waiting on me, as well as the permit to move Ada’s house now. You mind taking my daughter to breakfast so she doesn’t have to eat alone?” Buchanan asked.
Kron looked at Ginger, who’d lowered her eyes and peeked up at him through her lashes. “If you do not mind the company, I would be honored to accompany you,” Kron said with a slight smile.
Ginger smiled and kissed her Daddy’s cheek. “Have a good day, Daddy,” she said, before taking a step toward Kron.
Kron stood from his chair and walked around his desk. “Would you like to go now?”
“Yes, I would,” Ginger answered, smiling up at Kron as they walked out of the office together.
Buchanan smiled to himself and shook his head. There were a lot worse males than Kron for his daughter to set her sights on. Kron was hardworking, he was loyal, and he had integrity. Besides it was obvious he was as smitten with Ginger as she was with him.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Vivian stood on the catwalk in the docking bay of Command Warship 1. She’d dutifully agreed to stay aboard their warship rather than attend the end of Kol’s trial. But what Quin didn’t know was that she had her fingers crossed behind her back the whole time she agreed.
She stood and watched as the Cruestace envoy left their dock via a small battle cruiser. On that ship were Quin, his personal guards, Ba Re’, Jhan, and half of Kol’s Elite Warriors. She wasn’t stupid, she knew exactly what Quin was planning. If the final review of the judiciary board assigned to hear Kol’s case did not find him innocent and release him, Quin was going to release him regardless, and he didn’t really give a damn who he had to remove from his path to achieve it.
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