A Soldier in Love (16 page)

Michelle awoke a few
hours later. She could sense it was still early in the morning. She felt a small
tinge of pain in her head but she ignored it.

Damn, I must be really off track since I’ve done
nothing but sleep the entire time I’ve been here… What’s up with this headache?
Why won’t it give?

She propped herself up
on her side and watched Serik sleep peacefully. She studied his powerful body
and looked over the scars that plagued his body.

Those must have been really painful for him.

Slowly, she sat up.

I think… I think I feel normal. Well, besides this
pestering headache.

The headache had been
with her ever since the whirly ride dreams. She slipped out of the soft bed she
had been confined to for what seemed like an eternity. She cautiously rose to
her feet.

“I don’t feel like I’m
going to die. In fact, I feel great,” she quietly murmured to herself.

She quietly picked up
her clean uniform and made her way to the bathroom to change. She neatly folded
Serik’s large clothing and left it on the counter. She began to stretch her
arms and then bent over to touch her toes.

Well, let’s see what is going on in this place.

This time the hallway
wasn’t as dark. It was still dim but she could see. Michelle slowly made her
way around the ship.

This thing is a lot bigger than I thought it would
be,
she thought to herself.
She was surprised she thought she would be in very small quarters.

Didn’t Serik say he was the only one on the ship?
Why would he need this much space?

She grinned.
Maybe because he takes up a
lot of space being so massive.

Michelle peered through
the glass door with what looked to have exercise equipment.

Is this a gym?

Michelle looked down to
the door handle. It kind of looked like a sliding glass door like the one on
her bedroom. She gave it a hard shove to the side and entered the room.

She made her way over
to the equipment to examine it. The treadmill looked similar to the ones they
had on Earth. She was tempted to get on and walk.

Hmm, I had better not. What if this thing goes warp
speed and I can’t turn it off?

Michelle could see
herself being stuck on the treadmill running.

Oh, Hell no, I had enough running on Redex. I’ll
just leave that thing be.

She made her way over
to what looked like small polished stones.

What could these be for?

She cautiously touched
one before attempting to put it in her hand.

“What the Hell! These
things are heavy,” Michelle said shocked at how heavy something that incredibly
small could be.

“Ah-ha,” she exclaimed
as she discovered they had dials beneath them.

She tuned the dial down
and then tentatively picked one up. It was still heavy but not as ridiculously
heavy as it was with the dial all the way turned up.

These things must be how he got so muscular. I will
just have to skip these and leave them to Serik…

She tuned the dial back
and forth experimenting with the weight again before putting them down.

These things are crazy.

Michelle dropped down
to the floor and prepared to get into pushup position.

I’ll just stick with what I know.

Michelle got into the
plank position aligning her hands apart a little wider than her shoulders. She
pushed her body down then up again. Her muscles slowly complied with her
request as they warmed up.

She pushed down again
slapping her left hand to her right shoulder. She repeated the action with her
right hand as she went down again. She slowly got into the rhythm. It felt good
to be able to use her body again. She felt thankful to be able to move, to be
able to get out of bed.

“Hey,” a voice called
breaking her from her trance like state.

“Sorry, old habits die
hard,” she said as she finished out her reps. She abruptly got back on her feet
to meet Serik’s gaze.

“Feeling better?” Serik
smiled.

She nodded. “I feel
better than normal… I haven’t felt this good in awhile. Probably feel better
than I ever felt when I was on Redex.”

“Good,” he replied
warmly.

“I hope you didn’t mind
me coming in here,” she said realizing it might be rude to wander aimlessly
around your host’s space ship and use his gym.

He grinned
.“
No big deal.”

“What are these?” she
asked pointing to the small shinny rocks.

“They are rocks from a
planet past the
Phair
Belt. You can use these dials to adjust their weight. They don’t play by the
normal rules of gravity no matter what atmosphere you bring them into,” he
explained.

Michelle examined the rocks again. “You must spend a
lot of time in here.”

“Why do you say that?” he
raised an eyebrow.

“Because you look
really strong,” she replied as she tried not to blush. She felt like all she
did lately was become embarrassed when she spoke to him.

I guess it doesn’t really matter if I make a fool of
myself. He’s already seen me half-dead and a crying wreck. He pretty much knows
I’m a mess.

“Come on, let’s go to
the kitchen. I’ll make you a first meal. I think your people call it breakfast,”
he offered.

“OK,” she followed him
as he led the way to the kitchen.

She watched as he
prepared the same noodles he had made the other night for her. Her stomach
rumbled with hunger.

He pressed a button on
the oven type contraption again. Before she knew it, there was a serving of hot
noodles in front of her. He graciously handed her a pair of chopsticks.

She waited until he
began to eat before she took a bite.

“Thank you for staying
with me last night,” she said softly.

He nodded.
“Of course.
I am happy to.” He was indeed happy to. Her
company provided him something he had never had before. He couldn’t quite
describe what she brought with her, but it was good; it was needed.

She brought more
noodles to her mouth, savoring their delicious flavor. They reminded her of calamari
without breading, although it had been years since had eaten something like
that on Earth. She kept eating and decided she did not want to know what they
were made out of, no, she would just enjoy them whatever they were. She hadn’t
enjoyed food in many years. It felt almost wrong to enjoy eating, to enjoy
tasting.

“Did you sleep OK?” he
asked.

“Yes,” she replied
tentatively.

“No bad dreams?” he
questioned.

Michelle paused and
took another bite.

“Uh, no.
No, I slept well,” she lied. He had already been so
kind to her; she didn’t want him concerned about her having a few bad dreams.

He put his bowl down. “If
you’re feeling better… then I can chip you with the translation piece today, if
you still want.”

“You wouldn’t mind?” she
asked softly.

“Of course not, you
might need it if you’re going to be hanging out with me,” he grinned.

“I will?” she asked.

“Yeah, few people are
going to speak your native language here.”

She wasn’t sure what he
meant or where she would go. How long would he let her stay? Was she an
unwelcomed guest?
Another mouth to feed?
She knew she
should be terrified but she wasn’t. She had cheated death many times before
what difference did it
make
where she went?

He took their bowls and
put them in the sink. He led the way back down the hall into a small room. It
held what looked to be a variety of medical equipment and felt very sterile. It
reminded Michelle of a doctor’s office on Earth. She squinted as he turned a
lamp that brightly illuminated the room. He motioned for her to sit.

The seat felt colder
than the already freezing ship. She shivered wishing she still had on his
sweetshirt
. She
smoothed out the wrinkles in her uniform and then looked around the room.

“Serik, what is this
room?” she asked as she continued to study the medical equipment which was
sealed in small clear bags.

“This is the medic
station. Most ships like this have one.”

“So, what is all this
stuff?” she asked.

“Medicine,
vaccinations, medical equipment,” he began.

“And you know how to
use all of this?” she interrupted.

He nodded. “Yes, it was
part of my training in Baat. I’m no healer but I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“Oh, I didn’t think you
would. I guess on Earth not everyone has medic training,” she smiled.

 
“On Baat, it is mandatory for most everyone,”
he replied as he rummaged through a cabinet. He pulled out a clear bag with a
small silver stud in it. He put it under what looked kind of like a small microscope.

“I’m just making some
adjustments to the settings,” he assured.

“OK,” Michelle replied.

He set the chip aside
and moved in closer to Michelle. She could feel the familiar
goosebumps
reappearing and heat enflaming her cheeks. She
breathed in his scent again; it almost had a calming effect for her.

She felt his finger tips
run over the cartilage of her left ear.

“What happened here? I
guess I examined your other ear last time,” he asked as he looked over the
crude incision.

“I had an IS implanted
before going to Redex. I had to get information somehow. Is it a problem or can
you chip my right ear with the translation chip?”

“No, I can put it on
the right side but who implanted this into you? It seems like something
soldiers shouldn’t have.”

“Well, I did at first I
just
chipped
it but my friend, Aaron implanted it. He
had to do it quick, on the floor, in the dark…” Michelle’s heart sank as she
thought of Aaron.

She nervously wrung her
hands in her lap and looked up into Serik’s golden and blue gaze.
 

“Do you remember if any
of the other soldiers… did anyone… who made it to the shuttle?” she stammered
as she thought of Aaron and then of Kate.

Serik nodded. “Yes, two
light colored ones and a dark one all over.”

Michelle felt her heart
jump for joy and she smiled.
“Aaron, Kate and Bryce!”

“It must have been
them, you mean light like up here,” Michelle pointed to her hair.

Serik nodded.

“Yes, much lighter than
your hair. Then one dark all over,” he said waving a hand over his upper body.

“Yes that must have
been Bryce,” Michelle smiled.

“The older, the one I
did trades with he died,” he added softly.

Michelle frowned and
bit her bottom lip. “I think I already knew he would. He was going to kill us
all sooner or later.”

Serik moved in closer.
“What happened there?”

Michelle just shook her
head.