by Brian Fisher
Chapter 45
Kamira slept. Her body ached with an unquenchable fire as the DioBed methodically repaired her injuries. She was restless, trying to turn to get comfortable, but was held fast inside the machine by protective force fields.
As she slept, she dreamed.
She dreamed of T'Sula and her childhood, she dreamed of Redemption, but most of all she dreamed of Jason. Her Husband was strong, defiant, and willing to do what was needed to make things right. It was because of a hundred different reasons like these that she loved him as she had never loved anyone else.
She was the new Chief Engineer of the Starship Redemption, the first for the ship's new Captain. Kamira had never been a Chief Engineer before. She always thought of herself as just an Engineer with a gift that allowed her to understand and repair any machine. It had surprised her when Captain McWilliams had offered the position to her, but she took it eagerly, and decided not to look back.
A new Engineer, a new Captain, and an old ship. Granted, Redemption was technologically beyond anything that Kamira had ever worked on, but the ship was nearly two centuries old, and that had presented its own set of problems. Redemption was a war ship from the old Earth Coalition, back before Earth had fallen to the Ta'Reeth. It seemed impossible, but it was real.
Redemption's capabilities were greater than any other ship in the Resistance. She was faster, stronger, and more agile, but her greatest asset was that Redemption was the only known ship that had Artificial Intelligence. Kamira was still a little uneasy about talking to Angel. She knew that Angel was just a sophisticated computer program, but she seemed so real, so tangible.
All of this, and Captain Jason McWilliams, the most incredible man Kamira had ever laid eyes on, had picked her to be his Chief Engineer.
She had just finished her shift in Engineering. Tired, not physically, but mentally, Kamira had taken a minute to change, and was headed for the gym. A good, hard workout was exactly what she needed to relax, and at this late of an hour, she should have the gym to herself.
The door slid open and Kamira stepped inside. It was quiet in the gym, no whirring of machines, or clanking exercise equipment, but she was not alone. In the far corner, on the mats, was the one man that she needed to get out of her mind. She watched as Jason McWilliams worked fluidly through a few martial arts forms that she was not familiar with. It was a strong, aggressive art, and very direct. The movements were powerful and fast with a surprising aesthetic quality in the spinning kicks.
Kamira tried to avoid the Captain's attention. She wasn't sure if she simply didn't want to distract him, or if she just wanted to keep to herself. Heading for an open spot along the far wall, she started to limber up. Her muscles were tight at first, but she was quickly able to execute her flips and high kicks with ease.
By the time Kamira reached the wall, she was ready. She paused and took a few more minutes to stretch properly before she stepped onto the mat. Keeping to the far side, away from the Captain, Kamira methodically worked through her first two forms. She could feel her heart pumping the blood through her body, loosening and strengthening her muscles. As she progressed, she began to move faster, until her hands and feet blurred gracefully through the air as she danced across the mats.
"Impressive Commander." the Captain's voice cut neatly through the silence. "Which art is that?" he asked, standing and watching Kamira.
"Aichi Te Do." Kamira stopped to look at Jason, and take a breath. She was breathing harder than she would like, but not enough for anyone else to notice.
"Never heard of it." Jason smiled. Kamira was impressively graceful, and that surprised him. "Is that a Bakeeron martial art?"
"It is." Kamira smiled shyly, her cheeks turning embarrassingly red. "Which art were you practicing?"
"Oh, ah Taekwondo." Jason fidgeted a little. "I'm only a Brown belt, and not very good at that." he had always liked what he saw in his Engineer, he just hadn't realized how much he liked it until now. "So, ah, where did you learn Aichi Te Do?" he stammered.
"I learned it from my cousin T'Sula about ten years ago." Kamira took the time to stretch some more.
"T'Sula huh?" Jason looked puzzled. "Is that a common name on Bakesh?"
"No." Kamira stood up and flexed her back. "Sula is, but the 'T' is more of a moniker for achievement. I only know one person named T'Sula, and that's my cousin, T'Sula Mir."
"T'Sula Mir is your cousin?" Jason could not hide his astonishment.
"You know her?" Kamira was surprised, but tried to hide it.
"Yeah, I do." Jason quickly gathered his composure. "We worked together a couple of years ago, back on Home Station."
"Wait a minute." Kamira smirked. "You're the Constable that she kneed in the groin!" she tried, but could not hold back her laughter. The thought of T'Sula dropping Jason to his knees in pain forced her to smile.
"Yeah, that was me." Jason now looked very uncomfortable. "I still need to thank her for that." he said sarcastically. "Hey, um, do you want to spar? I mean nothing hard, just a little freeform, light touch?"
"Alright." Kamira smiled at him. "I'd like that." She slid her right foot back and rolled her hips slightly forward into a left fighting stance. Jason slid his left foot back, moving into a right modified fighting stance. They faced each other in a closed fighting position.
They slowly circled each other, searching for an opening. Jason jabbed tentatively with his right, probing Kamira's defense. She blocked with her left as she stepped in close. Placing her right leg behind his left, Kamira gently pushed. Jason fell backwards, taking Kamira with him.
"I told you I wasn't very good." Jason said, smiling, as Kamira landed on top of him.
"You’re better than you give yourself credit for." she smiled back, blushing. "Care to go again?"
"I kind of like it right here." Jason slipped his arms gently around her.
"I, ah, I, um, I like you to." Kamira stammered as she turned a bright shade of red. The words were out of her mouth before she could even think of stopping them. Her cheeks burned, and she felt slightly nauseous. This was exactly what she had wanted, and tried to avoid. She wanted to hide. In her entire life, she had never been this embarrassed, or this exited.
Before Kamira knew what was happening, she found herself pressing her lips against her Captain's. She liked the way it felt, the way she felt. She closed her eyes, and gave herself over to the moment.
"Captain, if I may interrupt, there is a situation that requires your attention." Angel’s voice broke the silence.
"What is it Angel?" Jason reluctantly asked.
"Sir, we will be arriving at Bakesh within the hour. Unfortunately, the system is overrun with Ta'Reeth ships." Angel disappeared and replaced her image with one of Bakesh. Swarming through the system were a half dozen Ta'Reeth light cruisers. The ships surrounded the planet and her moons, destroying anything that dared to move.
"All stop!" Jason ordered, dragging himself and Kamira to their feet.
"What do they want with Bakesh?" Kamira asked, not entirely sure that she really wanted to know. It was her home, and she felt the need to defend it, but she knew that Redemption was only one ship, not six.
"I don't know, but we're going to do something about it." Jason studied the hologram for a few moments. "It's a trap." he muttered, running a hand over his chin. "They're waiting for someone, or something."
"Who?" Kamira asked, getting closer to the hologram. "They could be waiting for anybody. Bakesh is right on a major route from Caldon to any number of other planets."
"Whoever it's for, we're going to spring it." Jason looked Kamira in the eyes. "I really want to have some more one on one time with you. But, I think that's going to have to wait."
"I'd like that a lot." Kamira smiled, and leaned in to kiss him. As she leaned closer, her eyes grew wide. Jason's face began to twist, and contort until she was no longer looking at her husband, but at Corin Dante.
"It's time to wake up." was all that Corin said
before everything went black.
