Neutral Space(20)

“If I was going to would I tell you now?” I sighed. Kheda had a point. She begged and pleaded with me to come out and, finally, I caved. Maybe I shouldn’t have. Perhaps, I should have told her to drop me at the next trade ship with a bottle of ale so I could barter my way home but I didn’t. I opened the door.

“So, tell me everything from the beginning. Maybe then I can trust you again.” I went back to the kitchen, and she followed, looking utterly lost and defeated. I’d never seen her like that before; not when she was injured and not at her trial. That was nearly enough to convince me there, but I was hurt beyond comprehension that she would keep it from me for so long. She sat down across from me.

“I got the call that you were headed for Micea. My transport dropped me off, ship and all. I rigged one engine months ago to go out. The second wasn’t supposed to follow. I wanted to crash, but I also wanted to live through it. I used a loose piece of metal to cut my leg open. Just as I started, it is when the engine cut out that’s why it was so deep. I barely got it tied off enough to keep from bleeding out before I had to return to the controls. God, I thought I was going to die. I managed to keep her level, but I was knocked unconscious. That wasn’t supposed to happen either. I knew I was dead when everything went black.

“Then I woke and you were there. I was safe. You weren’t what I was expecting. You weren’t supposed to be handsome, or kind, or charming. I half expected to be raped, and somehow I justified it as part of my duty. I even used my body to my advantage. I figured if you had what you wanted from me it would be easier to gain your trust. You didn’t, though, and it intrigued me.

“I had this whole scheme in mind, but nothing seemed to go right. My ship was wrecked so I had nothing and I couldn’t get a biosignature for my trial. The only thing that worked in my favor was the osimpas, but even they proved more trouble than I thought. I was going to offer not shooting you as a simple repayment and leave it at that, but you Jackson, had to make me care for you. Twelve years around men in the military and I never met anyone like you. Everything I said and did I meant. You met the real me not Major Trekes, the persona I put on when I go to war.”

“Thank you, for that much at least,” I said, still hurt. Khenda reached for my hand, and I pulled away.

“God Jackson, do you know how hard it was for me to resist you? How hard it still is?” She sighed and looked away.

“Go on with your story,” I told her, not wanting to hear it.

“I thought about you every night for weeks, and my men were beginning to think something happened between us. So, I pushed you out of my head. Still, occasionally, I would dream of you. Months drifted by without any word or sign of you and I thought you were gone. Every fight I was in, I would scan for your beacon and civilians before attacking. My men had the same orders.”

I looked at her surprised. “I killed four of your men.”

“They were told you were a good pilot, evasive maneuvers until I got to you. They shot back but not to kill. You forget I killed five of yours.” I nodded point taken “My debt was not so easily paid Jackson you saved me more than once on Micea. My men understood and gladly honored that debt. The transport ship outside Navea was not the only one your words spared either. Three others were only disabled.”

“Why was Navea the one you were on trial for then?”

“They were looking for you still hoping to go through with their plan. The army couldn’t find you though and finally grew sick of my disruption. Other units were beginning to scan for civilians as well, and the government didn’t like their authority being questioned. I was hauled before the tribunal, and I thought I would go ahead with my mission as planned. But the trial didn’t go the way it should. They began asking about the other ships and my orders to my men. They asked nothing of you.

“When I had to bring you up in my own defense I realized my mission no longer existed. The task I risked my life and my virtue on, was all for nothing. I’d never felt so betrayed in my life. Then they brought out accusations that you and I had been intimate and I was outraged. They forged tapes of you and I using pieces of real footage spliced with footage taken later at the base. It wasn’t even the same room, but people believed what they wanted to think.

“So I told them exactly what I thought of their precious war and everything I’d told my men about humans. Officially I was found guilty of failure to obey orders and sent to Roteo but off the records. I was found guilty of treason and sent to Kras. I thought for sure I’d die there and didn’t really care. I was at peace with my god, and that was enough. Then when those men attacked instinct took over.”

“I noticed, I’m glad we met as friends before enemies.”

“Then, you were there. I thought somehow my mission was never canceled. That perhaps the army merely had to trump up the charges to get me into Kras to get to you. But then you told me about the official, and I knew I was wrong. They didn’t know you were there. They thought somehow I would have been stupid enough to give you my name or that you had somehow figured it out. Looking back, I suppose I should have given them someway to locate you. Looking back I don’t think I wanted them to find you. If they did it would mean I would have to hurt you and put you in danger and I couldn’t do it.

“I started off with five friends in the jail, all of them guards well except Teesa. One was a childhood friend and the rest I served within the army. Salea and I were together on that small ten man ship I told you about he was my gunner. Teesa is his wife. They went undercover; in case you got sent there, he was to figure out who you were and was my contact on Kras.”