Neutral Space(36)

“I will send word to your father and let him know of your marriage. Your road is not an easy one, but I know you can do it. You were always meant to be more than Major Trekes.” Ren said as he hugged her.

“You’ve chosen wisely, young man. Take great care of this woman, and you shall be blessed.” I offered my hand, and he took it not quite sure what to do. I shook it, and he smiled. “If anyone could put a stop to this, then it’s you two. I will pray you succeed.”

“It could have been avoided if the humans simply gave back the Sirus System.” Kheda sniped.

“Or if the Kelsairans simply admitted they had no claim to it.” I teased her in reply.

Ren looked at us solemnly. “Remember that in every fight there is one person who is wrong,” he looked to Kheda “and one who is right” he looked to me.

“Are you saying…” Kheda started.

“Have a good trip, dear, wherever you are going,” Ren said quietly. I took the bag from Kheda, knowing Ren would say nothing else. It was time to go and who knew how long it would take to clear the engines. We pulled on our shoes outside and hiked back down to the ship. The sun was still hidden behind the outcropping of rock, and I wanted to leave before it came out again. Kheda went into the ship and made entirely sure there was no power to the engines before we started. She’d closed the flaps to the air vents before going up to Ren’s the first time which was going to make the process faster. The sand though still seemed to get everywhere. She started on the other engine, and I helped her when I finished mine.

We brushed as much sand off of us before going inside and closing the hatch. Kheda laughed when I took off my sunglasses revealing two clean spots on my face. I went down to the cargo hold and pulled off my shoes, pants, and shirt. I didn’t want sand all over the ship. Kheda merely had to brush herself off. Now I finally knew the point of her skin-tight outfits. She sat in the chair beside me as I blew out the rest of the sand from the engines. We took off and laid in a course for the Sirus system.

She took the controls while I went to shower and change. When I came back, she had a cup of coffee waiting for me. I sat in my chair, and she sat on my lap. “Bhet told me what she did.”

“She finally confessed, did she?”

“You really didn’t have to go through the ritual, you know. You could have protested.”

“You’re worth it.” I took a drink of coffee. And looked at her. “So what’s up with Aya and Thris?”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s serious enough about her to tell her about us so he won’t get in trouble and bought her a similar necklace but yet he’s still dabbling as you put it.”

“He bought Thris a necklace?” She stared at me.

“How do you think I knew to get you one,” I told her about the necklace Aya gave me and how I traded it in for hers. She seemed happy that I went through the trouble.

“She allows him to dabble when he’s not in Vali because he is Aya. But that will end when they marry, and he knows it.” She smiled wickedly. “You had to endure one day of purification. Can you imagine what Aya will have to go through?”

“What about Thris?”

“He hasn’t touched her. Why do you think he dabbles?” I shook my head, not really understanding their culture. “Thris is from a well-to-do family. She would never shame her family.”

“Kheda, if you were a virgin at your trial, why didn’t you simply tell them? You could have saved yourself. I mean, a doctor could tell, right?”

“I thought about it, but they threatened to make every man who ever claimed to have been with me come forward and testify in detail. Better to be humiliated once than many times over.”

“But they would have all been lying.”

“Jackson, it wouldn’t have mattered. The doctor’s findings would not have made it into evidence, but all of those men’s testimony would have. My family would have been shamed.”

“Isn’t that the reason you renounced them?”

“Their circle still knows who I am. Things are bad enough for them now I’m sure. Although, the way the government told it, you were the ringleader and killed me when I was no further use to you.”

“We have to clear our names. My parents already lost one son. They don’t need to lose another, and I don’t want my nephews ashamed of their uncle.”

“First things first, Jackson; we take advantage of my being dead to gather information.” I was getting madder the more I thought about it. We had to do something so my family knew I wasn’t a murderer and absolutely not one who used women but we were stuck for the moment. We had to hide in the shadows, and that only made me madder. Kheda took my coffee and set it aside. She turned on my lap to face me. “I like it when you’re angry.”

I woke up later that afternoon and found Kheda back at the controls. “Not angry anymore?” I shook my head. “Just let me know when we need to work on that temper.” I looked at the coordinates and realized they’d changed.

“Where are we going?”

“Just a pit stop. One of my safe havens. I can link with some of the Kelsairan databases from there.”

“Good thinking.”

“What do you want for dinner?” She asked me like we were a typical couple.