by Brian Fisher
Chapter 69
Major Narja sat in his quarters, staring across the room at Prinelle. She had gone to Corin's MRU and fabricated a few sets of clothes, before changing out of her armor. She now wore a pair of loose fitting, emerald green pants, with a matching top that had gold embroidery around the neckline, and matching shoes.
Narja closed his eyes and tried to focus his thoughts, but found himself unable to do so. So many things had happened since he had been a young man on Caldon. The loss of his Mother to the Ta'Reeth, joining with Captain McWilliams, the battles of Bakesh and Olcai, and a multitude of things that he wasn't prepared to talk about yet. His list of things kept growing, and yet here sat the one woman that he had wanted to share his life with. She was the one that he had believed for so long to be dead, yet here she was.
"What?" Prinelle finally asked. "You've been sitting there, staring at me for almost an hour. What is it?"
"What happened to you?" Narja forced the words to come out of his mouth. "I thought that you were dead."
"I almost was." Prinelle sighed. "There was an attack while you were away. I think you were training or something, but, anyway, the Ta'Reeth came. They destroyed everything, ships, shuttles, over half of the station. Everything." Prinelle stopped, her voice choked with tears as she glared at Narja. "You weren't there Narja! You never came back to see if I was dead or not! You never came back!"
"I couldn't." Narja cast his gaze gown at the deck. He closed his eyes to hold back the tears and rage.
"The only reason that I survived, is because of Maruk." Prinelle got to her feet, and stormed over to Narja. She jammed her finger into his chest as she screamed. "He saved my life Narja! Not you. I've got the scars to prove it!"
"So do I." Narja stood and ripped his shirt open, letting the clothe fall to the floor. "I was sold to a slave trader by my commanding officer! I spent years surviving the fight pits on the Valla moons. Every day, I had to fight to the death, just to live."
His gaze bored holes into Prinelle. The rage and fury flowed freely as he pointed to his back.
"Look at them!" He yelled. "Look at them!"
Prinelle's eyes softened as she saw her betrothed's scars. Her fingers gently traced the marks left by the whips and blades that covered his muscular back.
"I wasn't there, because I couldn't be." Narja sobbed as he turned to face Prinelle. "When Marjak sold me, I was told that you had died in the attack. The memory of you, and thoughts of my Mother, kept me alive for two years Prinelle. Two years, before I could escape, only to be told again that both of you were dead."
Tears rolled freely down Narja's cheeks as he placed his hands on Prinelle's shoulders. He trembled as he looked her in the eyes. Her face was soft, almost apologetic for the accusations that had so recently flowed so freely.
"I didn't come for you because I was imprisoned in a slave camp, Prinelle." Narja sneered at Prinelle. "What's your excuse? Why didn't you come for me? Why didn't you let me know that you were alive, Prinelle? Why?"
Shaking, Prinelle stepped away from Narja. He hadn't hurt her, and she did not feel that he would, but still she stepped away. She kept quiet as she walked around the small room, pretending to look at the handful of decorations hanging on the otherwise barren walls.
"Do you know what it's like to be abandoned by the one person that you were supposed to be able count on for everything for the rest of your life?" Prinelle finally turned to look at Narja. Pain filled her eyes, and overflowed with tears. "There is no place in our culture for the abandoned, Narja. Either you have a place, or you don't. If you don't, then you don't exist."
Slowly, Prinelle approached her betrothed. She reached out and gently took his hands. "I am sorry for what happened to you, for the lies that you heard, and the pain that you had to bear." She reached up, and pressed her hand against his cheek. "My life was no easier than yours. You thought that I was dead, and I believed that you had abandoned me. It sounds to me, that someone was trying to keep us apart. It wasn't me Narja. I would never do that to you, to us."
"I never abandoned you." Narja gently stroked her cheek. His words hung in the air for a moment, and then Narja wrapped his arms around Prinelle, and pulled her close. "I never will abandon you."
Prinelle closed her eyes and sank into Narja's massive chest. Even with her anger, she had longed for this moment. She breathed him in, letting him wash away the pain. Slowly, she looked up, pressing her lips to his. "Make me your wife." she whispered.
"I never stopped loving you." Narja whispered, pulling Prinelle closer. He caressed her, feeling the scars on her back and shoulders, and the supple curves of her body. "I want you to be my bride."
"Sorry to interrupt the two of you, but we're going to be dropping out of hyperspace." Corin's voice broke into the room. "We should be reaching the rendezvous point in about twenty minutes."
"Thank you Corin." Narja's husky voice reverberated through the intercom. He and Prinelle held each other for a few precious moments longer, and then reluctantly parted. Narja gazed deep into Prinelle's eyes.
"I owe you an apology." his voice was soft as he spoke, as if he would hurt her with his voice.
"No, you don't." Prinelle slowly backed away. "You don't owe me anything."
"Prinelle, I should never have raised my voice to you. You don't deserve my anger." Narja cast his gaze away from Prinelle. "You are better than that, better than me. I am sorry for hurting you."
"Narja, stop. Stop it right now." Prinelle stepped forward, and wrapped her arms around Narja. "If we are going to make a life together, then we need to start anew. We need to put the past in the past and forgive each other. I forgive you." she forced Narja to look at her. "I forgive you Narja. Can you forgive me?"
"I do." Narja pulled her tight and held her for as long as he dared. Time nearly stopped as they embraced each other, longing for nothing more than to be together.
"It's time to go to the bridge." Prinelle murmured as she pulled herself away from Narja's embrace. She walked over and opened a drawer. Pulling out a new shirt, she tossed it to her love. "We need to go."
Narja quickly replaced the torn shirt with the fresh one, and escorted Prinelle to the bridge. They held hands as they walked in silence, preferring simply to be near one another.
On the bridge, Corin sat peacefully in his chair, watching as Mekala played with Brutus. The little girl looked up as Narja and Prinelle walked onto the bridge. She left the big cat, and ran over to Narja. Wrapping her tiny arms around his legs, she hugged the Caldonian, and then looked over at Prinelle. She grinned and wrapped her arms around Prinelle's legs in a tight embrace.
"I'm afraid that my miniature security system over there is a little hug happy right now." Corin grinned as he pointed to Mekala. "Anyway, we're coming out of hyperspace in a minute, so let's be on our toes."
Prinelle bent down and picked Mekala up. She carried the little girl over to one of the seats and strapped her in. The seat quickly formed to Mekala's tiny body, securing her against anything that might happen.
Satisfied that Mekala was safe, Prinelle found a seat next to Narja and strapped herself in. Again, the seats formed to fit whoever was sitting in them. Prinelle glanced over to see Narja looking at her. She smiled and blushed before turning to look at Corin, who had been watching her the whole time.
"Alright, look alive." Corin took hold of the controls, ready for whatever awaited them in real space. Brilliant white light flashed, encompassing all of existence, as Vengeance burst out of the hyperspace conduit. Red strobe lights instantly began flashing and deafening sirens roared over the intercom.
"Status!" Corin yelled as he checked his sensors. The coordinates were right for the rendezvous, but something was wrong. There were too many ships, and only four of them registered as friendly.
"Shields are up!" Prinelle reported. Terror filled her eyes, and then drained away at the sight of Narja sitting next to her.
"Weapons are online." Narja coolly adjusted his re
adouts. "Targeting computer indicates three hundred and forty-five bogies, and is ready to lock onto the nearest target."
"Standby. Don't lock on to anything just yet." Corin flew an oblique route, bringing his ship out of danger. "Before we fire at anything, I want to know who we're shooting at. Prinelle, contact Redemption and find out exactly what is going on. Major, please find out who those ships belong to."
Neither Narja nor Prinelle said anything. They simply did as they were asked. Tense silence hung thick on the bridge as they worked. A thin bead of sweat trickled slowly down Corin's brow as he piloted Vengeance around the hoard of ships. There were so many configurations that he had never seen before.
Near the center of the hoard sat Redemption, with three Resistance cruisers close by. The ships ranged in size from heavy battle cruisers and fleet tenders, to escort ships near the size of Vengeance. Each of the vessels looked similar in design. They all had powerful engines in the rear with bloated waistlines and blunt noses, bristling with various weapons pods and sensors.
"Corin, these are Malgar ships." Narja finally reported. "The insignia near the nose gives them away."
"Insignia?" Corin selected one of the heavy cruisers, and enlarged the image on the main view screen. Emblazoned in platinum and gold, near the nose of the ship, was comet struck through with a sword. "Wow, this thing's old. Will it still be worth anything in a fight?"
"Redemption is much older than any other ship here, Corin." Narja pointed out. "Besides, how dead is dead? Whether it's an old weapon or a new weapon, dead is dead."
"Good point. I'll have to remember that one." Corin grimaced. He shook his head in dismay, and glanced over at his daughter. She sat in her chair, silently staring at the ships on the view screen.
"Corin, Redemption says that they have a hanger bay waiting for us." Prinelle looked up at her new friend and wondered what lay ahead.
