The Reign_Destiny_The Life Of Travis Rand

by Lance Berry

  Now she stared at Travis with her good eye, and a fiery rage burned within–the anger of one who had been unjustly wronged, and was now seeking retribution. “Kill him,” she repeated, her tone divided between anger and desperation. “You have to kill him for what he did.”

  Travis looked at the unconscious Calvorian as he considered the weight of Danielle’s words. She was right, of course; the damage he had done to her, both physically and mentally, was entirely uncalled for and undeserved, and would stay with her the rest of her life. Long ago, when such violent acts against women were almost commonplace, the criminals who perpetrated them were not always caught, or at least not punished as they should have been. But with the unification of Earth’s military and a new solidarity among the planet’s police forces, such crimes were now virtually nonexistent–due in no small part to the fact that any severe crime against an individual almost always immediately warranted the death penalty. On Earth, there hadn’t been a reported case of a crime such as this in nearly thirty years.

  Travis had the right to kill Aliamar. He won the fight fair and square, and if the tables were reversed, there was nothing to say that the Calvorian could not kill him in turn. But the capture of a live Calvorian was an immensely rare thing–even rarer than the precious Einsteinium which went into the formation of the LaPlacian Lattices which powered the quantum engines that allowed Heavy Cruisers to create artificial wormholes. And Aliamar might possess valuable information which UEF could use…

  Travis turned back to Danielle and Bennis. He walked over to them and knelt before Danielle, holding her in a sympathetic gaze. “I’m sorry, Danielle. I can’t begin to know what you went through, what you’re feeling…but we have to take him back with us.”

  “NO!” she screamed as she threw her hands up, weakly flailing her fists against Travis’ chest…anguished at the prospect of her violator being alive for even a second longer. “No, you have to kill him, it’s not fair, it’s not fair…” She trailed off, her protests turning to gentle sobs as she bowed her head, her soul now claimed by a shame she didn’t deserve. Travis wrapped his arms around her and held her in a gentle embrace, letting her cry for as long as she needed.

  Chapter 29

  “What if you had lost?” Bennis finally asked Travis, still looking at him with a type of wonder in his eyes. Travis briefly glanced at Aliamar, who was slowly beginning to stir from his forced slumber. He nodded to the spot where he had ordered Bennis to stand previously. “Why do you think I wanted you to go over to the high ground? It gave you enough distance and time that if he did get the better of me, you could kill him.”

  Bennis shook his head in amazement. “You’re really something else…”

  Travis nodded to their prisoner, and the two of them made certain they had their guns properly trained as they flanked him. “Get up,” Travis said darkly as Aliamar’s eye finally opened. The Calvorian looked up at him in surprise, and the memory of his defeat at this human’s hands quickly came back to him. He stood slowly, careful not to make a move which could be construed as antagonistic, since Travis had a Blastrifle aimed directly at his face.

  As Aliamar covered his open eye socket with one hand, trying to shunt his pain away to a compartment deep within his mind, he glanced around. He saw the female he had broken in and the weaker male moving to stand beside her, his own Blastrifle aimed at the Calvorian. If his species had possessed the proper facial muscles for it, Aliamar would have smiled. “Hello, my young bride,” he said lasciviously.

  The human, Rand, moved with a speed even Aliamar didn’t expect–before he knew it, Rand had reversed direction of the Blastrifle, holding it by its muzzle. Wielding it like a club, he swung and struck Aliamar so hard in the face that he could feel a tooth loosen. Just as quickly, the dark-skinned human reversed direction of the Blastrifle so that he had it aimed properly at Aliamar once more…only this time, the muzzle was pointed much lower.

  “Say another word to her, and I’ll blow your cock off before I kill you,” Travis promised. Aliamar closed his mouth, saying nothing more as blood dribbled out of one corner of his lip.

  “We had a deal. Will you honor it?” Travis asked as he leveled the gun at Aliamar’s chest once more.

  “I told you that our word is who we are,” Aliamar replied evenly. “No matter what happens, I will make no attempt to escape. I am your prisoner, Rand.”

  Travis regarded him silently a moment, then finally nodded once in satisfaction. “We’re going over the ridge. You first,” he commanded. To the surprise of all the humans present, Aliamar did as he was told without hesitation. Travis nodded to the others, but unfortunately Danielle was too injured to even stand, let alone follow him up the modest incline. Bennis had to sling his Blastrifle over his shoulder in order to lift and carry her, which made Travis the only one able to keep his gun trained on their prisoner. Again to Travis’ surprise, Aliamar waited patiently while the corpsman hoisted Danielle into his arms, and did nothing to betray them as they all made their way upwards once more.

  Drake was still sitting where Travis and Bennis had left him, Blastrifle in hand. When he saw Aliamar crest the edge of the crater, his heart leapt into his throat and he let out a cry of despair as he raised his gun, taking aim. Aliamar didn’t move, didn’t flinch–instead he looked back over his shoulder expectantly. Travis rose from behind him, his own gun pointed squarely at the base of the Calvorian’s spine. “Drake, don’t shoot! It’s alright! He’s our prisoner now!”

  Drake halted, his finger poised on the trigger. He stared at the image before him a moment in uncertainty, scarcely daring to believe it. But finally he lowered his gun, a weak sigh escaping his lips and his shoulders sagged in exhaustion.

  Soon enough, the group was reunited. Bennis reclaimed his medical pack and did his best to field dress Drake’s injured leg. A strange silence had fallen between Danielle and her boyfriend, as neither said one word upon seeing each other. Danielle had insisted on being set down close to Travis, and he saw no point in making a big deal of it. He kept an eye on Aliamar as he retrieved a discarded Blastrifle and handed it to Danielle. Her hands closed tightly, eagerly, about the weapon. “I’m serious, Danielle …don’t kill him. We need him,” Travis whispered. She stared at him intently a moment, but then lowered her head slightly and nodded.

  There was a sudden flash overhead, and Travis had to remember to keep his gun trained on Aliamar even as he glanced upward. To his great relief, he saw five Heavy Cruisers coming out of their artificial wormholes and heading in the direction of Outpost 339 and its oppressors.

  Bennis started to cheer, but fell silent when no one else did. Aliamar looked up at the humans’ ships impassively, a neutral expression covering his visage. Travis found the discarded micro-com. He dusted it off and fit it in his ear once more, relieved to find there was no longer any static clouding transmission. “This is Private Rand to Outpost 339 on emergency frequency Delta-five-seven. Command, please come in,” he said, hoping the urgency in his voice would impel someone on the other end to respond faster. He didn’t like being out in the open like this, with no idea whether enemy troops might be near. The tactical dsp didn’t sense any Calvorian units nearby…but it wasn’t picking up any Earth Force troops either.

  After almost a minute, a voice finally came over the micro-com. “This is Lieutenant Graves at Outpost 339. We are receiving you, Private Rand. This frequency is secure. Over.”

  Travis exhaled lightly. “We have a tactical emergency. Lieutenant- Commander Jones is critically wounded, and we are currently cut off from her position. The majority of my unit has been killed, as was the majority of another unit we linked up with, Epsilon-pi. We have secured a Calvorian prisoner, and are seeking to link with another unit with an experienced commander. Please advise, over.”

  Travis kept a close eye on Aliamar as there was a moment’s pause over the com-line. The Calvorian didn’t move in the slightest, and then a different voice came over the line. “This is First Li
eutenant Elke Reed. Private, am I receiving this message correctly? You’ve secured a prisoner?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. But there are only four left in our combined unit now, and two are…severely injured. We need reinforcements if we’re to make it back. Over.”

  Another pause, shorter this time. “Just hang tight, Private, and keep an eye on your prisoner. Lieutenant Finkler’s unit is two clicks away from you, and now that the Calvorian ground troops are routed, I’ll be sending you another unit in expedience. Just give me your location, and we’ll have them to you in no time.”

  Twenty minutes later, Lieutenant Finkler’s unit and Gamma unit showed up as promised. Aliamar was kept under watch by an ample number of troops as Finkler congratulated Travis, while Danielle was carefully positioned on an anti-grav stretcher. Unfortunately, even the more experienced corpsman in Finkler’s unit could only do so much in the field, given what had been done to her. The most he could do was to give her some medicine to lessen the excruciating pain she was experiencing.

  The most serious problem seemed to arise when Finkler tried to take charge of the prisoner.

  “I will go with no one but Private Rand,” Aliamar said as he backed away from Finkler and defiantly bared his teeth.

  Finkler’s brow furrowed and he motioned for the six troops surrounding Aliamar to step closer. They kept their weapons raised level to his chest, but he crossed his arms, implacable. “I will fight to the death if you attempt to move me.”

  “What the hell is with you, alien,” Finkler said in puzzlement. “What loyalty do you have to this private? He’s the one who defeated you!”

  “Exactly,” Aliamar said and glanced meaningfully at Travis. “He defeated me, not you. As one soldier to another, he is the one who deserves whatever recognition comes of it.”

  Upon hearing how Travis had beaten Aliamar single-handed, several of the younger soldiers had been staring at him in awe. Their expressions only deepened upon Aliamar’s declaration. Finkler swore under his breath and pointed to Travis. “Private Rand! Take charge of your prisoner!”

  Travis stepped forward, his Blastrifle raised and ready. Aliamar offered his hands to him, palms up. For a moment, Travis didn’t realize what he was doing, but then it came to him. He nodded to a trooper near him, who stepped forward and cuffed Aliamar.

  “I am yours, Rand. ‘Fair and square’, I believe was the term.”

  Travis nodded in acknowledgement. As the unit proceeded home with Aliamar under his watch, Travis couldn’t help but be amazed that for all the wrong the enemy had done, there was still a type of honor to be shared among soldiers on the battlefield.

  By the time Finkler’s company returned to where Lieutenant- Commander Jones had been left, she was dead. It turned out that her wounds had indeed been too grievous for her to survive unattended for long. Bennis was miserable and blamed himself, but Finkler would have none of it. He commended him for doing what he could, and acknowledged Travis’ sound tactic for attempting to preserve the overall greater good of the mission.

  The five Cruisers that arrived made short work of the Calvorian ships, destroying two and causing the last to retreat. A few other Calvorian troops had actually managed to be captured, but that was due to overwhelming numbers on the humans’ side. Travis’ single-handed capture of Aliamar remained the talk of the base.

  A few hours later, after having his own wounds treated, Travis waited outside the base’s medical bay for news of Danielle and Drake. As he sat in the waiting room, news came in of the near-destruction of Captain Christenson’s ship, the Victory, in a sector of space actually not too far from Travis’ base. Outpost 339 was equipped to handle moderate Heavy Cruiser repairs, and he briefly wondered if perhaps Christenson might decide to stopover. If so, he hoped his newfound notoriety might afford him the privilege of getting to meet him.

  The doors to the waiting room opened, and Drake came in on crutches, his foot in a cast and a metallic brace-like device clamped around his bad leg, which he favored as he hobbled forward. Travis offered to help him into a seat, but he declined, feeling that he needed the practice. Drake managed to sit down with little difficulty and noticed Travis staring at the odd device around his leg.

  “It’s called a thermetic bone shifter. It alternates small releases of heat and cold, soothing the knee while keeping it from swelling as it gently shifts the bones into permanent place. The doc says I’m really lucky, ‘cause those shots just missed my long saphenous–“

  “A lot of women have said your saphenous isn’t that long,” Travis broke in, a wry smile on his face.

  “Ha-ha,” Drake replied dryly. “It’s an artery in your leg, chowder head. If the lasers had sliced it, I would’ve bled to death on the spot. As it is, my popliteus muscle is pierced, so it’s going to require some surgery.”

  “I’m surprised they didn’t just keep you in.”

  Drake shrugged and cast his eyes to the floor, embarrassed. “I hate hospitals, Travis. My grandfather died in one, miserable to the end. I just can’t stand ‘em. I begged Finkler to let me at least stay in my quarters tonight, and he agreed. Tomorrow morning though, I’m back in the bay for as long as it takes.”

  Travis nodded. “Well, long as you get better, that’s what counts. Any word on Danielle?”

  Drake looked at him. “No. I asked, but the doctor wouldn’t tell me.”

  Travis nodded again. The two sat in silence for a long while, neither of them comfortable with raising the subject of what had happened to Danielle, or their inability to stop it. Finally, the doors to the waiting room opened once more, and Doctor Mandeep Singh–a strikingly beautiful woman of Indian descent–entered the room, a medical chart tucked snugly under her arm. “Private Drake? I can talk to you now.” She gave Travis an expectant look, but as he stood to leave, Drake grasped his arm. “Anything you can say to me, Doctor, you can say in front of Private Rand. He’s my brother.”

  “No, Private. You really don’t want me to,” Singh said in a manner which clearly stated that she was not going to break confidentiality rules just on the say-so of Drake’s friendship with another soldier. Drake glared at her defiantly a moment, but then slowly turned to Travis, who genially patted him on the shoulder. “It’s alright, Tony. I’ll be right outside if you need to talk.”

  Doctor Singh waited until the doors to the exterior corridor shut firmly behind Travis. She took a seat and looked Drake squarely in the eye. “Private Keys’…experience…was very traumatic, physically as well as psychologically and emotionally. I want you to know that I am only giving you this information because she told me it was alright…she really didn’t want to go through the action of recounting this all to you.”

  Drake nodded in understanding. Singh brought the chart out from under her arm, reading from it and occasionally glancing at him. “Both the labium minoris and majus around her vagina have been severely torn. These wounds extend into the urethral opening. The forward portion of her pelvis has been fractured, and the peritoneal ligaments and fibrous bands which hold the uterus in place have been…ripped, to put it gently. I don’t know how far along your relationship is with Private Keys, whether you planned to have children–?”

  Tony shrugged lightly. “We talked about it, a while back. We haven’t made plans…”

  Singh gently took Drake’s hand in her own and squeezed it slightly, trying to offer some comfort as she informed him, “Her uterus has been… misaligned. Battered and moved out of place by the size and force of the Calvorian’s penetration. Even with the technology we have today, it’s unlikely she will ever be able to have children.”

  Drake nodded in mute acceptance as he tried to fight back tears. Why was he so stupid? Why had he allowed himself to be injured, unable to save Danielle when the Calvorian decided to have his way with her? “Is there anything else,” he asked as he swiped at his tears with his free hand. Singh frowned and looked back at her chart while still holding his hand. “There are some superficial lacerations on her bre
asts and shoulders. As you know, she was punched in her left eye. It was swollen shut, but we managed to fix that. Luckily, there’ll be no retinal damage. She lost a lot of blood but we’re in the process of giving her transfusions, so she’s about halfway back up to normal levels. She’s going to be in here at least a week, if not more. In addition to the medical treatment, we’re also going to schedule sessions for her with the base psychiatrist, to help her through this. She’ll get better, but it’s going to take time…and patience, from everyone she knows. Especially you.”

  “I understand,” he said emptily.

  Singh exhaled lightly as she released his hand. “There’s just one more thing…”

  Travis leaned against the wall as he waited in the corridor outside the waiting room. He had been dismissed by Finkler, who told him they would meet later for a debriefing. The base had been re-secured and the five Cruisers remained in protective orbit above the base. Travis had nowhere else to be, so he figured he would just wait as long as he could for Drake.

  Finally the doors opened and Drake hobbled out on his crutches. He looked at Travis a moment, and there was almost a type of resentment in his face. “So, what’s the verdict?” Travis asked, trying to ignore the look.

  “She wants to see you,” Drake said evenly.

  “Doctor Singh? Why?”

  “No, not Singh,” Drake said harshly, then forced himself to calm down. “Danielle. She wants to see you. She doesn’t want to see me, but she wants to see you.”

  Travis didn’t say anything; he had no idea how to respond. Drake moved as fast as he could away from Travis, heading down the corridor. He paused abruptly, barely managing to retain his balance as he looked back at him. “She loves you, you know. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we haven’t been that tight lately, she and I. We had an argument, almost a year ago. She told me. She told me she’s in love with you, but since we’re together, I’m her man. Do you have any idea how that feels? I should’ve just walked around with a medal around my neck that says ‘second best, but trying harder’!” Drake’s voice cracked in anguish as he said this last, and Travis felt horrible about it. He could tell from the moment they had met, that Drake truly loved Danielle with all his heart. He had never, under any circumstances, intended to hurt him like this. “Tony, I…I don’t know…”