My Enemy's Son (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 2)

by J. Naomi Ay

Chat soon,

  Shelly

  To: s.mattson@sdkcorp.com

  Dear Shelly,

  I'm so sorry to hear about the Admiral's cardiac episode. I hope he feels much better soon and if he does decide to retire, I know that the Spaceforce will sorely miss his presence, but you must do what works for you.

  We recently had an encounter with a distressed vessel and ended up losing two crew and a shuttle trying to save the occupants. The whole event was very upsetting to our entire crew. We've been lucky to have had very few occasions where we have gotten into fire fights or lost crew through accidents like these. It's caused all of us to spend a great deal of time soul searching. I know it sounds trite to ponder now about the meaning of life et al but this incident has truly made me wonder what I am here for and where I am going. I guess the whole point of telling you all this is that I think the Admiral must do what is right for him at this point in time even if Spaceforce will feel the gap in his absence. Your happiness is what's important now.

  On an unrelated note, I did pass my rank test and am just waiting signatures to get my stripe. So that's the good news. Don't interpret this as my asking for the adjunct position though, as I can't imagine myself moving to Rozari anytime soon.

  On an even more unrelated note, I received a notice from my bank that a deposit, a substantial deposit of about four times my annual salary, was made into my account. I figured it was an error but I had the bank trace it anyway and it seems I received a quarterly dividend from my SdK Corporation stock. I didn't realize I had any SdK stock let alone enough to dividend sixteen times my annual salary. Is the company paying massive dividends or am I just holding a large percentage of shares? Maybe you can ask Thad about this when you get back to work. I don't recall ever buying any shares and I checked and SdK is not a public company so I'm not sure how I could buy shares anyway. Sounds like somebody gave me a gift and didn't tell me. It's a pretty expensive gift too! Was it you?

  Love to all,

  Kate

  To: k.golden@ssdiscovery.ap.mil

  Hi Honey,

  Tim is doing much better. Thank you so much for the lovely plant. How did you know I love jasmine? Our house smells wonderful these days. Tim has decided not to stand down. He's not ready to cut the cord completely as he hasn't figured out what he wants to do next. He still needs some time to think about it

  As far as your dividend goes, I did check with Thad. He informed me that you own 50% of the company and that Dr. SdK owns the other half. Hmmmm…do you know something that I don't know? I know he hasn't called but he gave you half of his mega $$$$$ company. That must mean something, right? Is that beautiful villa out on the coast (which by the way is very nearly finished) being built for you? Thad told me the floors are absolutely stunning, pink marble with gold veins. Apparently he's one of the chosen few who have gone inside.

  I'm so sorry about the loss of crew. Please know that all of the Spaceforce families hurt when one of our families suffers.

  Seems to me it's been about nine months since we last saw you. I should think we will be seeing you soon. I dearly hope so. I think we've become great pen friends and I would love to meet you again in person.

  Shel

  To: s.mattson@sdkcorp.com

  Dear Shelly,

  I'm being written up by Spaceforce Command. Apparently they began investigating me when they saw that huge deposit into my account and now they are checking to see if I had any influence on the SdK equipment contract. I didn't know anything about it! I didn't know anything about my stock in SdK! I don't want the money and I don't want the stock. Can you tell them to take it back? My rank advancement has been put on hold because of this!

  Kate

  To: k.golden@ssdiscovery.ap.mil

  Dear Kate,

  Don't panic. Tim is being investigated as well due to Thad and my own employment at SdK. You'll be cleared as will Tim. The sales team that worked with the Spaceforce procurement office has already testified that they have never met or spoken to either of you and the procurement officers have concurred. It will clear and you will get your stripe because you have earned it and deserve it.

  Shel

  To: k.golden@ssdiscovery.ap.mil

  Dearest Katie,

  I haven't heard from you in several weeks. What's going on? Are you okay? Tim said you were cleared and you should be getting your stripe within the next month. He also said he wants to talk to you about the adjunct position as soon as you get here. Please write to me, honey. I worry about you and I miss hearing from you.

  Shelly

  To: k.golden@ssdiscovery.ap.mil

  Katie,

  Where are you? Write to me or call me as soon as you get this message.

  Shelly

  To: s.mattson@sdkcorp.com

  Dear Shelly,

  I'm sorry I haven't written to you in so long. These last few months have been very difficult and I just haven't had the energy to even begin to discuss what happened. I think I can tell you now and I wonder if you might already know some of it.

  A little over a month ago, we were on routine patrol near Spacebase 43. It was not very eventful. We had a minor distress which we towed, a few vessel exams and a couple more small assists and repairs. We were out in space for about two weeks and pulled into 43 for restocking and fuel. We were given a few hours shore leave so my friends and I went to get something to eat and do a little shopping. I had a laser and Caroline's boyfriend who was in security had one. Neither Caroline nor Jerry carry them because they are both med staff.

  We were on base in line for food at the taco stand and Jerry and Elton (Caroline's boyfriend) went to go get burgers instead so Caroline and I were just standing there when a group of men came up behind us. I didn't think anything of it at the time until they grabbed me and then it was too late. I couldn't get to my laser and I couldn't get away from the guy who was holding me before he slammed me on the wall and cuffed me, both ankles and wrists. I was scared out of my mind because I didn't know who it was. I thought maybe it was Spaceforce taking me to jail for making all that money off of SdK or something ludicrous like that. It wasn't though. This guy picked me up and carried me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. We didn't go very far before Jerry and Elton came back and Jerry started to yell and Elton took out his laser and I'm not sure entirely what happened but these guys that kidnapped me had light swords (which as you know are totally illegal and incredibly dangerous) and Elton with his poor little laser was no match. They killed Elton but I didn't know that until days later.

  They carried me through the space station and took me into their ship and tossed me into a seat and chained me to it. I still didn't know what or who they were and I couldn't understand what they were saying except it did sound similar to Rozarian. I tried to figure out where we were going by identifying the systems as we passed and when we passed Rozari and moved on to the next star Erindad 37, I pretty much guessed we were going to Rehnor. I didn't and still don't know much about Rehnor. I know Ron had given me a brief history of how the Rozarians moved there after nuking their own planet and I know that he is from there. But, why would they want to kidnap me like this?

  We landed outside a huge building and they pulled me out of the plane and across a courtyard. It was snowing and within minutes I was soaked and freezing. The balconies of the building were open to the courtyard and we had to walk for a long time and I could only take small steps because my ankles were cuffed. We had to go up several flights of stairs and I couldn't even lift my legs enough to make one step so someone picked me up and carried me the distance. I was staring down at the floors as I was bouncing around on his back and thinking what beautiful floors they were, pink marble with gold veining. I was just focusing on that so I wouldn't panic. These people wouldn't take me to a place with such beautiful floors just to kill me there would they? You said the floors in the house in Takira-hahr were pink marble with gold veining so I wondered if these were similar. Maybe it's a Rehnorian thing to have these
kind of floors?

  I was taken into a room, like a sitting room and there were two men sitting on a sofa. One was about medium build and had sandy brown hair, a long face and very deep emerald colored eyes. The other was stockier and very pale with white blonde hair. Both of them looked to be in their middle age, perhaps around fifty and both were dressed in robes with a lot of gold detailing and had many rings on their fingers.

  To tell you the truth, I took one look at them and the word dilettante came to mind. The guys carrying me let me down and I stood there and they spoke at me. I didn't understand a single word they said. At some point I tried to speak Rozarian to them but they clearly didn't understand me either.

  The brown haired man sounded like he gave some orders and then one of the guards came over and literally ripped my tunic off of me. He tore my whole uniform and there I was standing there half naked and furious with my hands tied behind my back. My first reaction was to head butt the asshole which at least gave him a bloody nose but not much else. The two on the couch thought this was terribly funny and then another asshole came over and stripped off the rest of my uniform. I was able to kick him in the groin once even though I landed soundly on my butt and then I couldn't move at all because someone was pinning me down. So there I was stark naked, being ogled by the two on the couch or laughed at, I'm not sure. Then the brown haired guy ordered me carried off and the next thing I know I was thrown on to his bed and tied there. I was thinking then that this was the biggest pile of shit I could ever get into. Here I was on Rehnor (I think) about to be raped by the two poufs and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it and no one from my ship was within light years of me.

  So the two poufs came in and honestly Shelly, I don't know whether to laugh or cry now as I tell you this because frankly it was the most ridiculous yet hideous experience of my life. Pouf number one was bent on raping me for whatever reason but he couldn’t get it up! So Pouf number two came over to help him. The two of them got so worked up with each other that I think they forget about me. So while they are busy going at it, I was just lying there reflecting on this whole damn situation and wondering how in the heck I got into this. Did they randomly decide to just pluck a spacewoman off 43 and drag her back to Rehnor so two poufs can test their manhood or was I specifically targeted? After all, I was standing next to Caroline and she's cute and she was in uniform too. On the other hand, was this somehow tied into Ron? Was I famous on Rehnor and didn’t even know it and if so why?

  In the meantime, the two poufs finished with each other and since neither of them were able to do the dastardly deed with me, they must have decided it would be enough for them merely to spray their leavings on me. YUCK! Just about this time, the bedroom door flew open and more men came rushing in. At the lead was an older, huge white haired guy and he was screaming his head off. He immediately wrapped me in the bedspread and untied me and then carried me like a baby. I was taken back out into the snow soaked hallways, down a long corridor and into another set of rooms. These rooms were empty and cold and the furniture was all covered with dust covers so obviously nobody was living there. The man took me to the bathroom and showed me the shower and the towels and then he left.

  The bathroom was gorgeous. The taps were gold, the countertops and shower were granite, but damn it, the water was like a lukewarm trickle. The soap smelled like lavender and I used the whole bar. I showered for a very long time and I realized that this was my opportunity to get out of here. So, leaving the shower water on so anyone listening would think I was still in it, I got out and looked around. There was a bathrobe hanging on the wall. It was black silk with gold piping and there was a gold coat of arms on the left breast. I put it on even though it was way too big for me, obviously belonging to a man, and Shelly, it smelled a little bit like Ron's cigarettes and aftershave and I thought I must be going crazy and imagining this. I looked through the drawers in the vanity hoping to find a razor or some sort of weapon but all I found was a beautiful gold hairbrush, a tooth brush, and a black ribbon just like all the ribbons Ron ties his hair back with. Okay, even someone as stupid as me could put two and two together and conclude that this was not random, that I was here because they specifically came for me and I needed to get the hell out of here.

  Adjacent to the shower area was what I suspect was meant as a giant bath tub but looked more like a small swimming pool. There were doors leading out to a balcony so I exited through them and discovered that I was above a beach. It was still snowing and even though we were on the shore, the sand was covered with a foot of snow. The breakers were crashing and there was nothing but whiteness as far as I could see. Already I was freezing with my wet hair and in only this bathrobe but I couldn’t stay. I wouldn’t stay. I resolved to run where ever I could run to and somehow get back to my ship.

  I climbed down the side of the building. It was easier than it sounds even in the snow because the building was stacked stones of marble and they were odd shapes and sizes and made easy handholds and footholds. The last ten feet I jumped and landed in the powder. Then I ran, hugging the side of the building in case anyone was watching for me.

  I ran for about a mile and then rounded the far end of the building. There were a lot of people there, homeless tramps huddling around fires in tin drums. There were giant holes in the side of the building that were even in this weather draining water that must have been pooling up on the roof. My feet had gone numb and my teeth were chattering so I joined a woman and a small child at one of the drums. She was wearing a few worn coats and the child had cardboard shoes. I pointed at my robe and indicated my legs and feet. She motioned for me to follow and I did. A few steps into the adjacent woods, there were dead bodies. One was a woman about the same size as me and no one had taken her clothing. I stripped the dead woman's pants, shirt and shoes and then handed my robe to my guide. I hope she put it around the child.

  I was marginally warmer and slightly drier and my toes could wiggle again. I walked because it was dark and the snow was thick and I didn’t know where I was going.

  It was a short distance to a city. I hadn’t eaten since before we docked on 43, however many hours ago that was. I was desperately thirsty and tried to drink the dirty snow. I spent the night in an alley huddled against a building, underneath a sheet of cardboard I was lucky enough to find.

  In the morning the snow had stopped but was slippery as hell and I fell more than once in these worn out shoes with holes in the soles. At some point, I found a soup kitchen and I stood in line with hundreds of others for a small bowl of clear broth and a hunk of cheese. The snow here was filthy, black from the soot with worse stains in other colors from other sources. I couldn’t bring myself to melt it and drink though I knew I was becoming dehydrated. I developed a cough in my chest and my clothing was soaked through and I was shivering. Later I would be wracked with fever. I don't even know where I went or how I went over the next few days.

  I wandered. I hallucinated because at one point I looked up at a building I could have sworn I saw Ron gazing down at me. I remember sitting in an alley thinking I was done for as it started to snow again and then the next thing I saw when I opened my eyes was light streaming into a room and one of those wonderful creations that Jerry is mad about beeping over my head. I had an IV and a cath but I was covered in warm blankets. I was so congested I didn't think I'd ever breath through my nose again. My chest ached but I could think again and I was ravenously hungry. I watched the snow outside my window and marveled out loud how content I was despite feeling so sick.

  Two men came into my room along with my breakfast tray. One was the same heavy man who had rescued me from the poufs and the other was a man about my age who looked very much like the older one. The younger one turned on the vid and rang someone and the next thing I knew I was staring at Thad, your Thad.

  “Hi Katie,” he said. “Are you okay?”

  “I'm in a hospital, Thad!”

  “I know you are,” he laughed, which I'm sorry to say, j
ust made me want to slap him. “You're in our Old Mishnah Medical Centre. This is Berkan and Captain Loman. Berkan runs our Rehnorian company. Captain Loman is his dad and he will make sure nothing happens to you again. You're safe now, understand?”

  I nodded and tried to smile at the Rehnorians.

  “You can stay there as long as you like or Berkan will put you on an SdK spaceplane and have you taken back to your ship tomorrow if you'd rather recuperate there.”

  “I want to get the hell off of this horrid planet,” I said. “Does my captain know where I am?”

  “No, but I'll have my dad contact him immediately and tell him you've been found and will meet them at Spacebase 41.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I want to go home as soon as possible.”

  Thad made a face like he was thinking.

  “Home. Hmm. That's a difficult concept to define. Maybe you ought to be a little bit more open to alternate versions of home. Maybe that planet isn't so bad?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I cried, wanting to slap him even more.

  He started to laugh.

  “Ron's in deep shit,” Thad said and the guy Berkan laughed too while his dad scowled.

  After Thad disconnected, Berkan and his dad continued to stand there in the room with me. They spoke quietly to each other and stared at me as if I were some great oddity.

  “Is this an SdK hospital?” I asked, getting tired of their staring.

  “Yes Madame,” Berkan replied, speaking Rozarian.

  “Then I own half of it. Get the hell out of my room or you're both fired!”

  They look at each other and Berkan laughed some more. I wanted to slap him too.