by C. R Corbin
"You'll need the iridium wire. Could you hand some to him Lauren?" she buzzed out and I looked over at Lauren who said nothing but grabbed some wire and jutted her hand out with it in her grasp. I reached out and slide my fingers against her hand while retrieving the wires and she only quivers slightly before going back to attending to whatever matter she was preoccupied with, Fi did her best.
We managed to finish the repairs on the 13th day, once we were all done fixing the hardware in the backroom we all exchanged a glance. Lauren allowed me to see her grin slightly as Fi announced that we were completely finished. She walks out of the room without a word and I sit there on the metal grating of the engine room, unable to say a word to her.
"I don't know what to do...." I said to myself and Fi hovered to a spot in front of me before landing. She sits there at my feet with that screen flashing that stupid pixelated smiling face.
"You know what to do. Talk to her, tell her everything, tell her how you really feel." she said and I shake my head.
"She'll.....she doesn't care about any of that. She won't even look at me anymore. Anything that I say to her will just be met with resistance." I muttered.
"Maybe.....or maybe you'll have to ask her to find out won't you? Jasa is only a month away at this point so it will have to come up sometime before the end. You don't even know if the plan is in effect now. She could kill you in your sleep. Clear this up before you risk losing her forever." said Fi and I frowned, shaking my head.
"Since when did an AI become my relationship counselor?" I groaned while running my hand through my black hair.
"Since a foolish Jorathian fell in love with an Earth girl that saved his life." she stated and I nodded, getting to my feet.
I catch her as she's leaving the cockpit, she stops dead in her tracks while I stand in the hallway. I lock glances with her and bite my lip, I have been on countless life or death missions but nothing as terrifying as this.
"I'm sorry Lauren. I should have told you sooner. It was....it was my intention to use you but in the time that we've become acquainted with one another I have come to care...a great deal for you. I have fallen in love with you and acknowledge my mistake. It was foolish and evil to use an innocent woman in such a manner, especially the woman that I love. I understand if you hate me, I understand if you want to reject me and run away. I will arrange for us to take a direct course towards an Earthling colony and will confront Khor myself. You will never hear from me again if that's what you wish....I just wanted to let you know that I hate myself for doing what I did to you because I love you. I have come to love you more than I ever thought I could love anything in this damned universe...." I said, shutting my eyes and glancing at my feet. I back away from the doorway and shake my head, she says nothing and walks out of the room, leaving me there in all of my lonesome.
That night I laid in the bedroom, alone. I presumed that we were going to take off tomorrow, I didn't know, usually it was up to me but she has been more of a captain in the last couple of days than ever before. I deserved only the worse, I saw her face superimposed over everything I glanced at and it only made this putrid sickness that was dwelling in the pit of my heart fester even more.
I think to what I would do for her. I would have to turn back completely and deliver her somewhere safe, that much was certain. After that I suppose I would confront Khor myself, it was suicide and I wouldn't succeed in all likelihood but if it meant that she had a chance at a better life then....I would take it. He was likely searching for her like a mad man at this point, combing through every inch of the stars so perhaps it was best to inform the human military and have her delivered back home to Earth. He wouldn't dare attack her there. I would find him through the usual tracking and detective work I did, if I was lucky I might get the jump on his ship and eliminate him but without this plan.....it was likely to fail. He had eyes and ears across every seedy underbelly of the quadrant so the thought of me being able to stop him was laughable. The key was his mate, my mate, the key was her, but she was no tool.....she was the woman I loved and I would do anything to see her smile, to see her radiant once more.
And then something from behind grasps me.
I turned and see her holding me, pressing her cheek up against my back with her face pressed against the back of my shoulder. She was crying softly, tears falling onto her shirt as her hands dashed along my pecs and I shivered. I turned around and she hugged me in an embrace that washed all of that festering self-hatred away. I glanced at her and she sniffled before beginning.
"I forgive you....I forgive you." She started, repeating the statement as she leaned into my chest and cried into the fabric of my shirt.
She continues for a while before pulling away, her cheek sliding against the pillow as we laid there in bed, glancing over one another for a while. The howl of the storm outside was low, our breathing was the only other noise present. She slides her hands over her eyes to dash away the tears and I rubbed her shoulder.
"I've made some mistakes too.....god i've made some mistakes. I left Earth because I messed up, because I hurt some people I cared about due to my recklessness, my carelessness. I've made so many stupid fucking mistakes they're hard to count so when I look at you I see my reflection. You're my mirror and I don't want you to have to run away from what you did. I don't want you to run like I did." she stated and my eyes widened. I gasped and was about to speak but I could feel that she wasn't done.
"The truth is...I love you too. I love you more than anything at this point, you're all I have left. I'll admit you ripped my heart out when you told me about what was really going on but i'm glad you did. I trust that you've become a better man because you've felt it, i've seen it happen with my very own eyes and I can't stand to be angry with you any longer. I can't stand to be bitter. I don't want to regret not being with you when I could have because of your past mistakes. I don't want the ghosts of yesterday to haunt you like they did, I want to leave all of that behind us. I can see it in your eyes when you told me you were sorry and that you loved me, you were telling me the truth, I know it. I can feel it because...in a lot of ways I am you." she stated and I keep my gaze on her, my breathing ragged as I caress her cheek with my hand and pulled her in. My fingers dashed along her cheek and I leaned in unison with her. Her lips pressed against mine and I moaned into her as I feel her hands rub my neck and we meld into the kiss.
We stay there for what seemed like an eternity, an eternal union that would last until the heat death of all that was ever created. Her lips locked with mine, her hand on my cheek, her breath scratching mine and the green of our eyes melding together. Her soft body melding with the scarred muscle, the tears on her cheek rubbing my face. This facade of the tough mercenary finally shattering as I regained something that I had lost in all of those wars and raids. Honesty. Honesty with someone that I loved and honesty with myself.
After the kiss disconnected we stared at one another for a moment, our eyes were wide and my body was quivering as she giggled softly and I smiled. I rolled onto my back and looked up at the ceiling, shutting my eyes for a moment and exhaling powerfully. We lay in mostly silence for what seemed like the entire night, we did ask one another some things though.
"What happened?" I asked her.
"I was driving drunk, intoxicated when I shouldn't have been. We crashed and everyone in the car died but me...it was all my fault." she states with tears in her eyes. I didn't know what she entirely meant, especially not what a car was but I understood what she was trying to say beneath all of the cultural differences.
And at other junctions in the night she asked me.
"What did you do?" she asked me.
"I...I tortured, I killed women, children, men, old, the sick, the strong, whoever he would want me to. All of it for a paycheck, all of my morality tossed away because of him. I committed the worst atrocities that you could imagine." I lamented, my eyes empty and my body slumping as I confessed the demons of my past.
Every night before I slept I would have had those nightmares, those visions of what I had done. Some nights I would have those visions of what I would have done to her, of the fate that she would have been subjected to. Tonight however there were no such dreams, I had been absolved of my nightmares and my demons and it was all because of her.
#
Janar
"Are we ready?" she asked me.
"Storm's dying out soon but it all depends on if we can find Mr. Mystery. Fi. Report." I ordered the AI who confirmed the readings.
"I haven't seen him anywhere around here, not for miles around. He might not even be here any longer." she stated and I glanced at the sonar readings. There was no one around for miles huh?
"So what do we do?" asked Lauren and I rubbed my chin, leaning back against the cockpit chair.
"I don't know.....we could take off but he might detect us. I don't feel comfortable taking off in all of this snow...then again Khor is approaching soon so maybe we should just take our chances by taking off." I muttered.
"He could have crashed completely and not even still be here you know?" said Fi.
"I doubt it, he had a fully working craft where we did not and he was a better pilot than I gave him credit for....What do you think we should do?" I asked Lauren who shrugged.
"Shouldn't you be the arbiter of that?" she asked and I shake my head.
"You've proven to be just as capable if not more over the last couple of days. It's your call." I said to her and she pondered for a moment.
"We could........We could do that couldn't we?" she asked.
"What? Do what?" I asked her.
"Set off a device that will send out an identical signal to ours miles away to see if, one, he has his craft in working condition, two, if he's even alive. If he shows up then we can set up a trap and kill him in the ensuing explosion." She states.
"She's right, such a device would only take moments to create and since there's all of this snow he wouldn't know it's a fake. He would just think the ship is just buried underneath all of this ice and slush. After he arrives he would mostly likely try to dig through the snow so just leaving a trap there to kill him while he does so would work to our advantage." stated Fi.
"What if he doesn't take the bait? What if he doesn't go searching for us until after the storm subsides?" I asked.
"Then that means that we can take off now. The storm will last for another day so that gives us ample time. If he doesn't approach then that either means he doesn't have a craft, he's dead, or he doesn't want to fly which gives us clearance to take off. If he does approach he's dead, it's a win, win situation." sated Lauren and I nodded, smiling to myself.
"You would have made one hell of a general. It's a plan then." I remarked while beaming at her with pride, she jokingly bowed and I laughed in response.
"Well i'm sure glad you like it." she said to me with a flirtatious smile, I beamed back at her before clearing my throat.
"Well then.....Fi. If you would do the honors?" I asked her and she floated off without a word, the cube floating out into the snow and disappearing for a minute.
I keep my eyes on the readings I was gathering from her. Apparently she was quite a ways away at this point and the signal was just being placed. Moments later I picked it up on my monitor and looked over at Lauren who was sitting in the copilot’s seat. I nestle into the cockpit and wait for Fi to log back on.
"I don't detect anyone...." she chirped and I nodded.
"Give it some time, he'll likely appear soon." I muttered.
I keep watch of the signal for some time. Fi had planted some explosives where the signal was being laid along with a camera that broadcasted whatever was happening in that area. Lauren grabs my hand, my rifle was leaning against the chair, ready to be used at any moment. I stare at the video feed before I see something, movement.
"What is it?" asked Lauren.
"It's him, looks like he's on foot. He got out of his jet, looks like it's still functioning." I murmured as he began to dig into the snow next to the signal. I glanced over at Lauren who nodded before I pressed a button on the device that we had manufactured. Seconds later the video went black and I could hear a large boom in the distance.
"It's done." I muttered, in all likelihood he was dead or at least close to dead at this point. No way was he going to survive an explosion that big.
Neither her nor I say another word and simply turned the ship on. Fi logged back onto the mainframe and muttered the status report of the ship's systems into my ear while I nodded. I feel us floating upwards, rocketing into the sky before we beamed through the clouds. We shoot through the stratosphere and into that familiar void, white giving way to black. It was such an alien sight after weeks in that horrid, cold place. The heat of the ship turns on once again and I shake my arms, smiling at the sudden warmth.
"Oh god I can't tell you how nice that feels." said Lauren, smiling and jumping around while the heat flowed into the room.
"All systems are back to full power. Thrusters seem to be completely repaired." said Fi and I nodded, good, good.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Janar
We arrived at Jasa a few weeks later. We had been spending the last month going over various plans that could be placed into effect if we wanted to kill Khor here and now. We looked over all of the possibilities, particularly to do with Jasa itself. The explosives couldn't be used without endangering us both and if I tried to trick him into entering the caves by placing a decoy signal he would know. He had her bioelectrical signal tagged so I wouldn't be able to lead him in deep enough to take him and his men out, it would only kill 30% if I was lucky.
So I came up with something even better.
We would lead him here and use his hesitancy to eliminate us to our advantage. Without his main weaponry the only method he had of catching us would be to use a magnetic pulse to hold our ship in place, such weapons were not effective as they required a great deal of precision, something that wasn't in abundance with an extremely fast ship like ours. His fleet would be vast but I could cut down on a great deal of them by flying through the nearby asteroid field of the star system. He would think I would be trying to escape so he would send his men after me with reckless abandon, directly to their deaths as asteroid after asteroid plummeted into them. After flying through there I could lead them back to the planet where I would drop makeshift bombs full of a basic compound onto Jasa's hills, likely creating large explosions that should catch a great deal of the fleet chasing us in the explosion and distort their flight patterns. From there I could eliminate the rest.
"Alright how much is that so far?" I asked Lauren who was holding the test tube of a basic compound up before dumping it into a small canister of water. I don't know the molarity that we would be needing so I brought out a small sample of Opaq out to test.
I take a droplet of the solution and drop it onto a fine grain of Opaq. There is no reaction and I shake my head to tell her to drop more of it in. She continued adding droplets until finally I dripped the compound onto the sand and heard a loud pop along with a bright flash. She raises an eyebrow.
"Good?" she asked. I nodded.
"Good." I responded.
We would have to find a way to manufacture much more of the basic solution but luckily it didn't take that much to create a compound. We drew the water that would be needed to make the large "bombs" from our own stores. Eventually we ended up with four large canisters of the substance. The canisters were about as tall as her and about as wide as my foot was long. We placed them into the ships dropping compartment and put Fi in charge of dropping the compound once we got to that stage of the plan.
Now it was time to wait. I had sent out the signal that we were indeed here, from Izani they could hear us for sure. I was using my old radio communicator to contact Khor so I had a direct line of access to him, he was approaching.
"Are you afraid?" I asked Lauren, it w
as one of the last quiet nights we would have until the battle. She shakes her head.
"Not with you here." she responded and I smiled at her.
I laid down there, pressing my cheek against her's, the fluorescent light of the ship beaming across the cold surface of Jasa. We had been spending the nights together again, each night I would hold her, love her, tell her how much she meant to me and in the morning she would be the first thing I would see, as radiant as she ever was, she almost seemed ethereal, unreal in her beauty.
But she was entirely real.
"Well no time to waste then I suppose." I said, sitting up and staring at her while she laid there.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I mean this." I responded and leaned into kiss her.
My lips purse as I slide them against her mouth and she moaned into me. I feel her hands sliding along my stomach, my abdomen tensing as her fingers run along my bare chest. I groaned into her, she rubbed my scars and I shut my eyes while reaching down to lift her shirt. Her breasts are revealed to me and I grip them with my hands, my claws gently teasing her nipples while I continued kissing her.
"I like what you mean." she giggled as I continued to pleasure her.
"I love you. I love you more than anything. You are the mate that I have wanted for so long." I responded to her as my left hand remained on her breasts while my right gripped the back of her neck.
I feel her shaking, her eyes fluttering as I moaned louder and louder. I can feel her quivering, her hips swaying as I gripped her pants and pulled them off. I tug off her undergarments as well and her entire body is revealed to me, every inch of her shown as I shut my eyes and nodded.
"So beautiful, so beautiful." I remarked and she smiled.
"I'm glad you appreciate this body." she remarked.
She was laid in front of me, her body bare for my eyes only. I saw the curves ripple as they pressed against one another, I saw her thighs rub one another suggestively, her breasts pressed together and her green eyes gazed at me through a curtain of golden hair. I remain on my knees and beckon her closer as she realizes what she wants. She laid on her belly and placed her lips near my member.
