Oak

by Catty Diva

  As they entered the cafeteria, she caught his eye first. She sat at a table alone. That wouldn’t be the case for long. He and Elm filled their plates and Elm went to sit at another table while he joined her. The look she shot him showed her exasperation with him. It didn’t bother him, she would get over it in time.

  “Will you be training with us this morning?” He asked.

  “No, Nila will be going first. If I get done with what I have planned to do, I’ll watch for a while. I will join in tomorrow. She and I will be taking turns. Some of the others will also take turns. Those running equipment and so on.” She replied.

  He was relieved she’d bothered to answer. “That will make it harder on you.” He observed.

  “I’m sure it will as well as on Nila and the others. Still, it will be good for us to stay in good shape. Our missions are dangerous and we need to be able to defend ourselves.” She took a bite and he noticed she needed to gain some weight. He was smart enough not to mention that.

  “Flicker is a tough instructor. Just be ready to work hard.”

  “You think I’m not?” She asked with her eyebrow raised.

  “I’m just trying to prepare you, Woman.” He knew he sounded aggravated because he was. Why did she take everything he said wrong?

  “I’ll be fine. Don’t concern yourself with me.”

  Maybe he should be happy she’d sat with him and they’d enjoyed a meal together? It was a sign he was wearing her down. She normally sat alone and rarely spoke with anyone but Teresa. In time, he’d wear away at her resistance.

  “Friends worry, it’s what they do.” He finished his last bite of food. “Have a nice day.” Grabbing his tray, he took his plates and other items and carried them to the appropriate bins.

  It was time to train and he headed to the room Teresa called the gym. That was a human term they all used now since Teresa was in charge. Most of the others that would be training with them were there. Flicker usually came at the last minute. Everyone should be there that way. Nila stood in the corner looking shy and unassuming. This wouldn’t go well for her.

  The room had a large group in it now and he looked for Flicker. There he was coming in the door looking ready to begin right away. He didn’t like to waste time because he was always busy.

  “I see everyone is here. Let me go through things quickly. Some of you are not usually warriors, but you are here to learn or improve you knowledge of self-defense. Our ship could be boarded on a mission and we want you to have at least a chance to save yourselves. There are times even delaying an enemy can give a warrior time to get to you and save the day. You are also to work out to stay in good condition. We will start with stretching exercises and move on to other things.” Flicker explained.

  The stretching went on for about ten minutes before Flicker got into basic self-defense moves. He used regular warriors and paired them up with the other crew members. Nila was partnered with him. It worried him that Flicker expected some of the females to learn these moves so quickly. It would take time for them to get familiar with them and be able to use them efficiently.

  They started with an easy move to make someone drop a weapon. Flicker showed them how to press on a nerve to make them release what they were holding. Next he showed them how to step into them and use the arm as leverage to flip them. It seemed like a lot for females that knew no self-defense to learn on a couple hours.

  “Now that you’ve seen how to do it, I expect you to practice and apply it next time you come back. Those here for self-defense may go now. Warriors, the real work begins now.” Flicker warned.

  Flicker could be a real bastard when he started training. Looked like Teresa had told him to ease those that didn’t fight into the ranks of warriors before he got hard on them. That was only right since some of the females like his Angel looked like a good stiff wind would blow them away. They’d also been through a lot. So much in fact that they had a psychiatrist as part of the crew now.

  That was unheard of among the kinds he was familiar with but apparently humans did things like that. He’d not seen the mind doctor, but everyone was talking about him. His name was Mike Smith. Apparently Smith was Earth’s most common surname and often used by criminals and unsavory characters. Mike was common as mud too but usually a short form of another name.

  He’d hoped to meet this doctor before now, he’d wanted to talk to him about Angel who concerned him greatly. Counseling might be a good thing for her. In some ways she seemed to be recovering well, but in others she held back. Her everyday relationships might not suffer, but he was certain she would hold back on intimate ones. Some females who had been through what she had, never had those kind of relationships again.

  That was something he would not accept. “Ouch!” He growled. He’d been struck on his ear.

  “Pay attention, Oak.” Flicker demanded.

  Now he concentrated on what was going on around him and pushed Angel to the back of his mind. Two hours later, hot with sweat pouring off him, he hurried to his room to shower and change. It was time for his to take Elm’s place on the bridge. Stripping quickly, he stepped in the shower. Some ships used mist, but Teresa had insisted on water for them.

  The water was recaptured and used to water the plants on board or to flush the sanitation pipes. Either way, it made for a more pleasant trip. The water got as hot as desired and it was helping his aching muscles. Once he was completely clean, he dried, dressed, and headed to take Elm’s place.

  “It’s about time you got here. I better not be late.” Elm observed.

  “You’ll be fine if you move your ass.” Oak encouraged. Elm hurried, but he would stop to change before heading to the next training session Flicker was teaching.

  It would be boring covering navigation, but that was always better than too much excitement. He looked at the scans seeing ships in the distance. That was to be expected since they were traveling a trade route. The ships he saw were traders and an occasional passenger ship. They all moved at the appropriate speeds and held their courses as they should. Their ship wouldn’t be seen by those ships until they were nearly on them.

  That’s why it was important that they be observant and keep out of the way of those other ships. A warship would draw much attention and the word would get out. On missions like this, secrecy was everything. They had a long way to go, but he had no doubt they would get there.

  Two days passed without him seeing Angel. Normally, he was easy going, but the separation was irritating to him. Even though he didn’t know her well, he missed her. Today he had most of a day off and it was time to find her. Searching everywhere, he couldn’t find her until he checked out Flicker’s training program.

  She was there in the middle of everything. Apparently she’d not bowed out as the others had when most of the females were dismissed. What was she thinking? Harm might come to her and the other female that had remained in the training session.

  He held back his impulse which was to rush in and protect her. Flicker knew what he was doing even if it didn’t look like it right now. Standing back, he observed. What he saw led him to believe his mate and her friend has some training already.

  “She knows what she’s doing.” A soft voice said.

  “I know so little about her. She’s so secretive. Who is the other woman?”

  “I suppose it hurts nothing to tell you. That’s our new doctor.”

  “Mike Smith the head doctor?”

  “Yes, but she’s also a medical doctor.” Teresa shared.

  “I thought the new crew member was a male. Isn’t Mike a man’s name?”

  “It can be either. She was named after her dad. That woman is a warrior too. Angel and she are friends and I hope that will help with the counseling.”

  “Gods, I hope so too. I can see the barriers she’s built around herself. When I try to get close, all she does is try to keep me away.”

  “You’re aware of what she’s been through. They used a band around her neck to punish
and control her. She was dangerous and they feared her. That meant they took out much of their fear and frustration on her. The damage was limited because she was a valuable commodity. The mental suffering was endless.”

  “I wish I could ease her pain.” He admitted.

  “Are you certain she’s yours? If you get close to her and change your mind, she’ll be shattered.”

  “I would do anything for her. There’s no doubt that it’s her or no one at all. Walking away is not an option.”

  They continued to watch and he was impressed with how graceful she moved and capable she seemed. Flicker put them through their paces for hours and they’d already trained a while.

  “She won’t appreciate you watching. You should go somewhere she can’t see you.”

  “Won’t she resent that more? It’ll look like I’m spying on her if she finds out.”

  “I suppose that’s true. I’ll leave you to do as you want. Just be careful.” Teresa directed.

  He was relieved she didn’t push and let him make his own decisions. It was his hope that those decisions wouldn’t be proven wrong.

  Chapter 3

  Counseling

  They were covered with sweat. All those that had undergone Flickers special brand of training. Her friend, Mike, had decided to go through training too. She wasn’t sure why Mike decided to, but as an officer on the ship it was a smart decision. Mike was to be her counselor and the one other crew members went to.

  The woman was easy to talk to and seemed more than capable in a fight. She was a good addition to the crew. She’d even heard that she would be going planet side with the raiding team. That made her infinitely braver than she was. Fighting was only an option when there wasn’t another one. A week out from their target and she felt well-trained, but still unwilling to fight unless forced.

  Teresa and she had discussed her situation thoroughly as soon as the ship had set out on their trip. “I need you trained to defend yourself if we’re boarded, but going down to the planet, that will always be your decision. We have plenty of people who want to go and we would only take extras so they can train in case they’re needed at a later date.” Then her boss had hugged her. “Decide on whatever is best for you. I will support your decisions. The training will be based on your level of fighting and it will empower you. By the way, Mike is training with you.”

  “Mike is onboard?”

  “Oh, yeah. That woman is amazing. Did you know she’s a medical doctor too?” Teresa asked.

  “I hadn’t a clue.”

  “Me neither, but she is. I feel good about having a healer with us.”

  “I do too. So many things can happen on a mission.”

  That was the God’s honest truth. Things could happen just in everyday life as it had when she’d been captured. Every precaution and safety in place made her feel better. The weapons hidden at her station just in case, also made her feel better. Teresa had been through a lit too and she was all about protection.

  She wasn’t paranoid, she was convinced. This was a dangerous time to live in especially on or near Earth or any of its stations or colonies. Many of their targets would have people from Earth on them. The new aliens, those no one seemed to recognize were looking to take over their galaxy. They didn’t seem to mind doing it one person at a time.

  Sitting at her station with her head phones on, she listened for the slightest sound, but her mind ran through a million things. Some of those things she wanted to forget but would never be able to. Her hand moved to her neck and she rubbed the slight scar. The doctor had told her it was still healing, but might never go away completely.

  That damned band had hurt like hell. They’d driven her to her knees when they’d turned it on. She tried to forget about it and the healer on Oison had cleared up most of the sore and only a fine line was left around her neck. It was still a reminder of times best forgotten. But she was sure she would never forget. The worst of her memories came to her at night. She had been forced to do things she had never gotten desperate enough to do of her own free will.

  It was her hope and Mike agreed, that these missions would help her feel more in control of her new life. Revenge? Not really, just an opportunity to help others that were currently in the situation she’d previously been in. No, she wouldn’t help free them up close and personal. Instead she would do her part to help the mission succeed. Monitoring communications was an important part of the mission too.

  Right now training was done and she needed to get to her room to take a shower, dress, and prepare to fulfill her duties. Now that they were closer, it was more important than ever. Any messages she could intercept might give them information about what was going on where they were headed.

  The hall was deserted as she hurried along. The others were either behind her heading to their rooms or at their stations doing their jobs. Her coworkers were dedicated. They got a long time off between jobs and that helped them stay focused.

  She got to her door. Once it was open she stepped in and immediately began to undress. It felt good to get into the shower as the hot water flowed over her. Muscles relaxed and she felt much better. Her thoughts were moving through her mind slowly. This could be a good life, much better than her life had been in the past.

  So far she’d been fed well, her clothes were comfortable and decent. She had spending money and a place of her own to live. The possibilities were endless once she completed a mission and got a real paycheck. It was alright that she wouldn’t make what those who went to the surface got. They received hazard pay and that was only fair. The poorest paid crew member still got paid well. Their treatment was good too, both by Teresa and by Razar who gave them each a place to live and access to food and other necessities.

  Razar also looked out for them even though it wasn’t his fault they’d been mistreated. Had she not worked for Teresa, she would have received care and money from Razar. It had never been her way to get things she didn’t work for. Razar had others to look out for that couldn’t care for themselves. Her skills could earn her a living and they would.

  She was clean and dressed so it was time to head to work. This time the hallway was crowded but at least she was clean when she bumped up against someone. Oh, hell. It was Oak. How unlucky could she be?

  “Excuse me.” She said.

  Oak held onto her shoulders lightly. He breathed in deeply as his eyes stared into hers. “Are you alright?” He asked.

  “I was just headed to work. I’d best get there soon.”

  He stepped back letting her go. “I wouldn’t want to get in your way.” He expressed with a hurt look.

  She felt almost bad as she hurried on to communications. Nila was there monitoring things as she usually did. “Now that you are here, I’ll head out.” Nila declared.

  While they took turns covering communications, they didn’t always monitor the same things. She checked on any messages or sounds that were broadcast near them or near their target. Nila usually sent messages. She updated Razar and helped crewmembers contact family members if Teresa allowed it. When she had nothing else to do, she scanned for sounds currently detected or fast forwarded through the recordings of sounds they hadn’t been actively listening to.

  It could be a boring job. That’s why they also had all taped everything and had the computer scan it and isolate anything detected. The scans were a backup, just to be completely sure nothing was missed. She felt safer for having it and listened to all sounds the computer isolated.

  Most of the time, it was only one of them covering their station. When they trained, other crewmembers sometime covered their station. If they heard anything they would record it and leave it for one of them to listen to.

  Her father had always felt his job was important and he had trained her to help him with it. She had also gotten schooling in communications and even had a part time job covering communications coming in where she had been living. It had been enough to prevent her from starving, barely. Had she been able to get a
way, she might have improved her situation by getting a job on a ship. That hadn’t happened and she’d been abducted instead.

  As she listened to the sounds around there target, she picked up some messages. These might help them. It sounded like a meeting was being planned. Once she had the whole conversation taped, she sent it to Teresa marked urgent. It was times like these she felt she earned her keep.

  The shift progressed slowly and she headed to the cafeteria to eat lunch. Oak was there making her think they were on the same shift. How did it seem no matter how her shift changed, he was always on the same one? Was it her imagination or did he plan it that way?

  She sat at a table alone eating, but she wasn’t surprised when he joined her. Since he didn’t say much, it wasn’t worth arguing about. They sat quietly, just eating their food. When she got up to leave, he touched her hand.

  “I’ll see you later. Have a nice evening.” Oak said.

  Was it evening? Why did he talk so much like people from Earth? “You too.” She declared. What the hell else could she say? He was still sitting there as she walked out the door.

  It was time to get back to work as she stepped into communications. She would pull the audio from the time she’d been gone and speed through it. Then she would speed through what was recording currently until she was caught up. Her station was a quiet place to work without all the chaos of the bridge and other parts of the ship. This was the perfect place for her and she was sure it always would be. Others yearned for danger and excitement, but she’d already had enough to last a lifetime.

  By the time her shift was over and Nila came in to let her go, she was sleepy from the boring work of half a day. Not that finding something exciting would distress her. She actually hoped to find something before they arrived that would give Teresa and the raiding team a leg up. They were close enough now, that all communications should be accessible to them.