Neutral Space(8)

I had nightmares that night about Kheda and her men. Things I never wanted think about her, things I refused to believe. Then my dreams turned more severe, and I began to dread the fight Dan, and I had planned. Why was I doing this? I was awake before the siren and Dan gave me a nod as he pulled on his shirt. I’d pick a fight in line for breakfast.





Chapter 4





H



ere we go, I sighed to myself as I knocked Dan’s tray out of his hand. He yelled at me and took a swing. I ducked to make it look good and landed a punch in his gut. He decked me, and I acted like it was a lucky shot, and I was out cold. It was quick enough to keep the guard's wrath off Dan and enough to land me in the hospital ward at least for the morning. Teesa was at my bed when I pretended to come to. Her ministrations were always welcome, no matter if they were needed or not. The monitors were off, but Teesa was already glancing at the door. I caught her on the right day. “You could leave the monitor on to keep me company if you have work to do Teesa.”

“You’re feeling better then, Jack?”Tesa checked my vitals and smiled at me.

“I always do under your care,” I assured her.

“All right; I’ll turn them on and check on you soon.” She hurried off.

Teesa was true to her word. The monitor was turned on, and she left me completely alone. Trekes was led into the courtroom in chains. Today she wore blue instead of her usual drastic black. But the one piece suit was just as skin tight and no less revealing. She faced the judges proud as always as her lawyer began to speak.

“If it pleases the tribunal, I intend to show that Major Trekes is still loyal to her people. She was merely under the influence of this human she felt she owed her life to.”

“A supposed human; there is no proof he exists.” The court’s official pointed out to the room.

“I have evidence to support her claims.” The man squirmed before the judges. He seemed small for a Kelsairan. “The major submitted to a physical by the jail nurse last night and I have her findings here.” He held up the report and handed it off to a court runner.

The center judge looked it over. “Let the records indicate that the nurse found a six-inch scar on the major’s upper inner thigh with traces of shrapnel healed with a tissue fuser from any medical pack.” He looked to Kheda’s representative. “It proves she was injured.”

“The nurse is willing to testify that a wound such as the major’s could not have been healed by her own hand. The angle was wrong, and she would have passed out from the pain before she finished the procedure.”

“I still don’t see the relevance,” another judge began. The center judge cut him off.

“Proceed, but you’ll need more concrete evidence than a medical report and speculation.” He sat back in his chair rubbing his chin.

“We have a biosignature from the base. It’s not enough for positive identification of the specific human, but it was enough to prove she was a human on the base.” Trekes grinned. She was an engineer if she wanted the biosignature read accurately it would have been. She was protecting my identity. I couldn’t imagine why though. The lawyer handed over the chip, and it was displayed for the whole court. Two biosignatures coming in and out of the compound for days one Kelsairan female and one human male.

“Her biosignature can’t be read either.” The judge pointed out.

“No, but her beacon and radio transmissions place her on the planet during this time period. Not to mention she booked passage on a commercial ship back to Kelsair after the last biosignature is gone. We have the record here.”

The judge nodded finally as he sat straight once more. “All right; we’ll hear her story.”

Artemis was lead forward and her chains removed for the first time I remembered seeing. She addressed each of the judges by name and thanked them for the opportunity to speak on her own behalf. The center judge waved it off, “Tell us what happened major.”

“I had two weeks leave and decided to spend it on Micea. I took an old human cruiser which I’d rebuilt. It’s a hobby of mine rebuilding old ships. The trip was uneventful until I entered the atmosphere. Then I lost an engine, and the cabin caught fire. I managed to put the fire out, by then I was dangerously low, and it was a difficult landing. I was knocked unconscious. I would be dead, if not for Jeep.”

“And this human simply saved your life?”

“He did. He admitted to me later that he thought I would be human because of my ship yet couldn’t leave me to die.”

“Tell us what happened then.”

She told them an abbreviated version of the five days we spent together. She told them about the osimpas and the cairns and how I got her across the lake to the base. Then she explained to them how she’d asked me to heal her wound and how reluctant I was to inflict such pain on her. That part they didn’t quite believe. She made the rest up, though. She told them we spent our remaining days together in silence talking to each other only at meal times and that I agreed to take her to the trade route so I wouldn’t feel guilty about leaving her behind. She told them about our deal with the beacon her way of repaying her debt. She said we both tried to get military information out of the other once we figured out we were both in the army. She managed to convince them that it was then that I’d told her about the civilians on the transports.