A Soldier in Love (27 page)

“Sure,” Serik replied.

“Can I come too?”
Michelle asked.

Kyle shook his head.
“No, no girls allowed this time.”

Serik shrugged his
shoulders and smiled at Michelle. He followed Kyle up to his room. Kyle showed
off his possessions proudly as Serik nodded and trailed behind him.

“Kyle,”
Dru
called. “Get down here and help me with the dishes.”

“Come on we better go,”
Kyle said as he made his way downstairs.

Serik decided to leave
a little something else for him as well. He slipped a
luvoxko
rock in one of his toy Earth cars before he trailed down the stairs behind him.
Serik looked to Michelle who had
several bags by her feet.

“Some things from Earth
they gave me. They wanted to thank me for my service in the army. They said it
was the least they could do after I risked my life to help protect everyone,”
she explained.

 
“Ah, OK.”

“I feel bad taking it
but I think they will be offended if I leave it here.” She furrowed her brow
still unsure what to do.

“You should take it
then. Are you ready to go?” he asked.

She nodded.

The goodbyes were both
easy and hard. Although it had only been a few days, Michelle felt incredibly
close to
Rina
. She supposed it was normal to feel a
familial bond to anyone of your own species when there were only a few of you
left in the universe.

“If you ever want to
come back,”
Rina
said wiping her eyes. “I mean it.
You can come back if you ever need to.
Both of you.”

Michelle gathered
Rina’s
small frame into her arms and hugged her tight.

“Thank you again.”

Serik had to make many
difficult decisions in his life but none were of this magnitude. He had missed
out on the chance to tell Michelle who he really was. After everything, he
couldn’t bear to lose her. He decided it would be his secret to keep from her.
As unfair as it was, he decided that’s what it would have to be or he would
lose her and that was no longer an option for him. She loved him and he loved
her. The secret would just have to stay a secret.

A soft chiming noise
interrupted his thoughts.

“Incoming call, will
you accept?” the ship’s feminine robotic voice questioned.

“Yes, I’ll accept the
call,” Serik stated.

The viewscreen appeared
and Bock’s image was displayed.
 
Bock
didn’t ask about Michelle and for that Serik was thankful, instead he told Serik
of a bounty on
Kapo
. It was the same Cabaka terrorist
that had been planet hopping. It was the same guy no one had caught. They had
upped the pay.

“I got a call for a
bounty,” Serik said to Michelle as she looked up from her reading.

He continued, “The
bounty I was going to hunt on Redex, well, that was false information, he’s on
Kapo
. He’s been planet hopping.”

“The Cabaka terrorist?”
Michelle questioned putting her tablet down.

He nodded.

“Great. Let’s go!”
Michelle exclaimed as she rose to her feet and clasped her hands together.

“What?” Serik
questioned. “Are you sure?”

Serik felt unease. It
was as though she punched him in the gut. She hated the Cabaka which meant that
she hated what he was. The worst part was that he hated it too. He would just
have to keep his secret. He loved her too much for her to know.

“We’ve sparred. Do you
not think I’m a good fighter?” Michelle frowned.

“No, you are,” he
assured her.

“It’s a Cabaka
terrorist,” she repeated. “I have to go those motherfuckers took my planet.”

“No, Michelle you don’t
understand. This place it’s surrounded by jungle, you have to go through the
jungle to get to the town there’s no other way,” Serik tried to explain. He was
beginning to think this was a very bad idea.

Michelle began to
nervously pace back and forth. “No, Serik you don’t understand I’m a soldier. I
can handle myself. I didn’t do shit on Redex except run and get attacked by molcos
hunds. Please let me do this with you. Can’t you see this is what I have to
do.
I have to do this for my people.”

He sighed. “OK, then.”

“Great! What kind of
guns you got?” she grinned.

He shot her a smirk
back and led the way to his weapons closet. He pulled out a rifle and a then a
smaller gun.

“I handled something
similar in the Earth Army,” Michelle replied confidently as she picked up the
rifle.

“This will be
dangerous,” he said in a serious tone.

“I know,” she replied
as the same fear and anxiety began to well within her that had first begun when
she left Earth. She would surely face death again.

This man saved me.
He’s nursed me back to health, given me
his love, fed me, clothed me,
housed
me. I have to do
this. I have to be of some sort of use. I have to give this everything I’ve got.
This is for my parents, for my fallen squad mates, especially Alex, for Earth,
and for him. I have to do this. I have to.

No, she decided she would
have to live this time. They both would.

“I have to do this, Serik,”
Michelle said with a sullen seriousness about her.

“I understand,” he
replied although his heart was heavy.

Serik had landed the
shuttle in a clearing. It was a lot different than landing in a docking bay. It
had been a shaky ride and a bumpy landing. They hadn’t even stepped foot on the
planet and Michelle already felt shook up.

The planet was a dense
jungle just as Serik had advised. The air was thick and humid causing sweat to
bead on their foreheads. Michelle felt the familiar heat that she had felt on
Redex but this time she was used to it. She wouldn’t let a little heat and
sweat get in her way this time. She trudged forward despite the heavy pack and
rifle affixed to her back. There were mosquito type creatures that buzzed
around. She swatted them away.

Serik cut the brush in
front of them so that they could make their way through the vegetation. He
looked back to see Michelle not trailing too far behind him. He couldn’t help
but to be surprised. He thought back to their sparring, maybe he shouldn’t be
surprised. He remembered how hot it was on Redex and reckoned you’d have to be
tough to survive there any amount of time.

As always when he had
any dealings with the Cabaka, he wondered if the bounty would recognize his
half. He wondered if the captured was his cousin, his brother, or even his father.
The thoughts haunted him. It seemed as though he couldn’t keep his secret from
Michelle for forever. He wondered if she would hate him when she found out. He
wondered if they would live long enough to find out. He didn’t know what they
were up against when it came to this bounty.
 
I’ll
tell her when we are off this planet,
he decided.
I can’t keep hiding this forever.

They continued their
trek quietly for what seemed like hours.

“Shit! What was that?”
Michelle shrieked as a giant lizard-type creature skidded out in front of them.
It was as big as a crocodile but it darted away before Michelle could take a
closer look at it. Her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest.

“I know it’s big but
it’s harmless. I won’t let anything hurt you, Michelle. I’m watching,” Serik
replied calmly.

Michelle nodded and
continued forward. They traveled in silence for what seemed like hours.

Serik looked up at the
sky as the sun began to draw its self closer to the horizon.

“Let’s go ahead and
make camp,” he called to Michelle.

She nodded and set her
pack down.

She kindled a fire as
he set up the tent. Despite camping in the middle of a jungle on an unknown planet,
she felt safe with Serik. He always knew what he was doing.

“It’s beautiful,”
Michelle said as she looked up to the clear night’s sky. She could see the
stars, they were crisp and clear. It was almost as though you could reach out
and touch them. It was unlike anything she had ever seen on Earth. The three
moons hung around each other. She could even see another not so distance planet
in the sky.

Serik studied the sky
as well.

“It’s beautiful but not
as beautiful as you,” he commented.

When
Rina
had dressed her up like some sort of twisted Barbie
doll she didn’t feel beautiful, she felt like a fake, an imposter. She wasn’t
like
Rina
.
Rina
was like
Amy. She was beautiful, she did her hair and her makeup,
she
was something. Michelle was a soldier and beautiful and soldier were just not
synonymous.

She pushed all of the
silly thoughts out of her mind. Finally, she would have her chance to do
something with her life. She could get the terrorist. It was small in the grand
scheme of things but it was what she could do. She didn’t want to be a hero,
no,
she just wanted to do something, anything to avenge her
people and her planet.

She thought about death
again but it was different this time. She thought about death but then she
thought about Serik. She had a reason to live now. This man who loved her and
cared for her and was good to her, the man with scars and a broken soul, the
man who was different from her but still very much the same. He was the reason
she would have to go on.

Michelle could hear the
wind rustle through the trees through the silence.

“Serik, I’m not
beautiful. I’m a soldier,” she replied despite the lingering silence. She
continued to look up to the night sky. “This body, this is a hollow shell I
exist in. It is not beautiful.”

“Your body, your face,
your hair, your scent, everything it is beautiful, Michelle but when I say
you’re beautiful I mean your soul,” he replied.

She gave him a weak
smile. “Then that must mean you’re beautiful too.”

He shook his head and
reached for her hand to give it a squeeze. Her hand intertwined with his as
they sat in silence. It was something small but it was something meaningful.

***

The next morning the
pair continued their way on the trail. Michelle felt tired and her muscles
ached, but she continued forward. She knew Serik was stronger than her but her
will was stronger. Her desire to complete the mission was more than just money.
Money to her had become meaningless in her quest for survival. To Serik she
knew it was just another job. To her, it was personal. It was something that
had to be done.

They continued mostly
in silence. It was the type of silence you could have with someone you were
close to. There was no need for talk between them.

They continued forward.
Serik tried to silence the thoughts that ran ceaselessly ran through his head.
What if the Cabaka terrorist they were chasing was his father?
His brother?
His kin?

Those were the thoughts
that always filled his head when he was on a bounty. Not knowing who your
father was really toyed with a person. Serik remembered when he was a child
he’d often stare at faces in the crowd, just looking, always looking. He
thought surely he would recognize his own father if he could see his face. No
matter how long he looked, he would never see him.

They trudged forward
only to stop as Serik cleared some brush in their path.

Suddenly a hyena-like
animal jumped across their path. It was small but it was fast. It stood up on
its hind legs, balancing on its tail. The creature paused for a moment staring
them down as it
bared
its sharp teeth. It let out a
growl as is leapt forward.

“Shit,” Serik cursed as
he fumbled for his gun.

Michelle pulled her
rifle forward and quickly fired a shot before Serik could get to his own gun.
She watched as the animal keeled over. It let out a pitiful sound as she shot
it again. After dealing with the molcos hund, she wanted to be sure it was
dead.

“You’re a good shot,”
he said breathlessly. He knew he would have still had time to get his gun but
Michelle had been more than capable at killing the predator. She wasn’t dainty,
she wasn’t squeamish; she was a soldier. He forgot that sometimes and it pained
him. He wondered if when she found out the truth, she would kill him. He
swallowed the thick feeling back down in his throat. He didn’t want to think
things like that, even if they could be true.

 
“You act surprised that I can,” she said.

“I’m never surprised,
only impressed,” he replied with a grin.

“What was that thing?”
Michelle questioned as she reloaded her gun.

“I don’t know,” he said
as he shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.”

His thoughts turned to
a new sort of anxiety. He had to stop the thoughts that caused him such
distraction. If he didn’t how would he keep Michelle safe?

He wanted desperately
for her to have this small victory. He wanted her to have this victory and he
wanted them both to live too.
 
He knew it
wouldn’t get her planet back but it would be something. From what she spoke
about on Redex it had been a dose of Hell. She had lost everything and still
she wanted to fight.

She was surely the
strongest person he had ever known.

***

“He will be in the town
just beyond, we are close,” Serik called out to Michelle. She was thankful they
were approaching. It felt like all they had done so far was cut brush and walk.
She wondered if all the running on Redex had done her some good after all. She
had endurance and somehow didn’t suffer from a case of heat exhaustion.

“He will probably be in
a
vrasoluu
den,” Serik said as he checked his pockets
for a folded up sheet of paper.

“A what?”
Michelle said raising an eyebrow.

“
Hm
,
how do you say… narcotics,” he offered.

“Ah, OK.”

“He’s just in there,” Serik
said pointing to what looked like a rundown nightclub that had two large men
standing in front of it.

The street was sparse
with few things. They were out in the sticks for sure. According to Serik, the
planet they were on was newly found. There were no natives and it was mostly
jungle which was the only thing they had seen until now. The weather always
felt hot and humid. There was no power grid, no running water, no septic
systems but it was the perfect hideout if someone was looking for you.

“Then let’s go,”
Michelle pushed, her tone slightly sharp and annoyed.

Serik shook his head
and frowned.

“It’s not that simple.”

“What do you mean?”
Michelle furrowed her brow.

“They will know we
don’t belong there. They are filled only with lowlifes and prostitutes. They hire
the guards there so they will be safe during their highs and so they can kick
the ones out who run out of money or cause trouble.”

“Prostitutes,” she
repeated.

“Yes,” he confirmed
unsure why she cared. It seemed like a minor detail.

“What
if I pretend I am a prostitute and go get him,” Michelle offered.

“No, that’s too
dangerous.”

“It won’t be,” Michelle
shrugged although she was unsure herself.

Serik was about to
protest but Michelle began again.
 

“You’ll be right out
here and I’ll have this,” Michelle said pulling out the smaller gun from the
waistband of her pants.

Michelle set down her
things and took off her long sleeved shirt. It was covered in
her own
sticky sweat, but it had protected her from the many
branches and vines. It kept her skin safe from the planet’s scorching sun. She
looked down at the thin tank top she had worn beneath. It was one of many
things
Rina
had given her. It seemed more like
Rina’s
style than hers but for some reason she had put it
on under the other shirt.

She took her hair down
from the tight ponytail it seemed to live in and ran her fingers through it. She
would have to pretend to be a woman again.
I
am a woman
, she reminded herself although it didn’t always feel that way.
Most of the time she felt like an androgynous being, not really
existing in a way to be desired.
Sure, Serik had rustled feelings deep
within her. They were feelings of who she was before the war.
The days when she did her hair and wore makeup.
The days when she smiled.
She had feelings, wanting, and
desires. They were intense and almost overwhelming but war changes a person in
more ways than one. She couldn’t face up to be her old self quite yet although
incidences such as this always proved difficult. Serik’s body, his touch, his
voice,
his
kindness they always brought the feelings
back. She wanted to hate him for it but she couldn’t.

“Michelle,” Serik began
in a worried tone.

“Do you have any better
ideas?” Michelle shot. She knew he protested because he cared, but she had come
too far to let go. This is what she had prepared for her and this is what she
had to do.

He sighed and shook his
head. He knew this was much too important to her. She wouldn’t listen to any
reasoning he offered.