Blade of the Lucan: A Memory of Anstractor (19 page)

He thought about taking a shower but couldn’t bring himself to step foot in the bathroom. So, he pulled on shorts from his pack, then walked to the kitchen and poured water into a bucket. He took it back to his room where he “bathed” in the best way he could in that closed in space.

The ship seemed alien and primitive compared to what he was used to on Anstractor.
Marika’s a control freak, she would want to fly herself around. I wonder if she figured out how to fly these old ships, or is she using the crystals to get where she needs to go?
he thought. The image of Marika fussing made him smile, and then he thought about her and Marian arguing over their next destination.
What a strange dynamic those two must have
, he thought.
I never knew that they were such good friends, not so good that Marika would risk her life and career to follow her out to this schtill
.

After dumping the water, he went back to the hammock and went to sleep. When he woke up, it was to the sound of Baylon shouting his name, so he hurriedly dressed, slipping back into his 3B suit, and collected his things to see what was going on.

“What is it?” he asked Baylon as he jumped back into the co-pilot’s chair and buckled himself in.

“I wanted to show you the surface, and why I agreed to help,” Baylon said, regarding him with a well-rested face and what appeared to be a change of clothes. “You were tired, rebel; you were out for hours. I’ve been calling your name for five minutes now and you barely moved an inch.”

Rafian looked at the moon through the front of the ship, and saw that everything was black and charred as far as his eyes could see. He looked at Baylon questioningly, and the Daltak merely shrugged as they cruised at low altitude above the surface.

“This, my new friend, is the result of the scortchet bomb. Whatever rock you were sleeping under probably prevented you from hearing about it, but the Fels used it to kill about a million of our resistance members and allies. It was bad, Rafian; I could actually feel them dying. Do you know what I mean?”

“I’m a Mera Ku monk; I understand more than you’d believe. Had I been here when this happened, the pain of our people alone would have killed me. Why didn’t she tell me this was what was going on? I would have never hesitated.” Rafian looked out at the blackened landscape with a heavy heart. “How long ago did this happen, Baylon?”

“It’s been a few months.”

Rafian pulled out the holo-disc and brought up the map. He punched in the coordinates on the ship’s computer. “We have another hour or so before we reach my destination, Baylon. Is there a hatch that you can drop me when you fly over it?”

“Yeah, the third bay room to the right; you will see a circular hatch on the floor. When you’re ready, just go back there and stand on it, then give me the signal and I will get as low as possible and let you out. Seems like suicide. You do know that Talula’s gravity is immense right? How will you survive the fall once I open that hatch?”

“I’m a skilled Phaser, Baylon, so don’t worry about it. I will call you when I land to ease your mind, but for the time being don’t worry for me. I have lots of tricks up my sleeve.”

T
he wind was a vicious, humid beast that tore at Rafian’s face as he fell from the old ship towards a patch of trees to the south of the camp. Baylon had let him out at about 20,000 feet, and when he slipped through the hatch and leveled himself out in to free fall, it felt as if he had fallen into a sauna.

The camp looked bigger than he thought, and from where he fell he could see a large bonfire in the center. He forced his arms down to his sides and then spread them quickly, activating the gliding wings that were a part of his pack. He glided away from the camp, caught an air pocket and spun, then dove down towards the trees by bringing his arms to his sides again.

To anyone watching him from the ground, he would have appeared to be a giant bird, performing tricks beneath the moonlight. He cruised above the trees, turned towards the camp and collapsed the wings as he tucked and rolled onto a grassy field that stretched between the forest and the campsite. He was still several hundred yards away from the camp, but he stayed low and touched his ear, activating his comm.

“Baylon, do you hear me?” he whispered.

“I hear you, brother, loud and clear. I must say, that was some fancy flying you were doing just now. Are you on the ground, or in a tree?” he joked, and Rafian grunted with disapproval.

“Listen, Baylon, take the ship to Jemi City and wait for me. When I’m ready, I’ll send you my coordinates so you can pick me up.”

Baylon confirmed that he would be waiting, and Rafian stood up and touched his wrist. He wore a small wristband with a number of dials and as he twisted them, he faded and became invisible. Unlike Marian, he had come to Luca with Phaser technology, and now that the Ranalos couldn’t see him, he sprinted towards the camp, zigging and zagging to match the wind.

He was up to the first tent in under three minutes, and he twisted the band to remove the “cloak” so the device could recharge. He pulled up a handheld vid communicator and lifted it up to his face, then moved it around to see where the traces of crystal would take him. One of the large tents in the center was where it stopped, so he packed away his tools and slipped between two dark tents, and then worked his way towards the center.

It took another ten minutes for him to reach the center but there was a large meeting going on between the Ranalos and a number of Tyheran freedom fighters. Rafian sank back a bit and then started walking towards Marian’s tent when he almost stumbled into a soldier. The man was stooped over a hole in the ground, relieving himself of the night’s meal. Rafian doubled back when he saw the man, whose back was turned, and his focus deadlocked on a magazine. The ground was soft dirt so it was easy to sneak, but he did not want to risk discovery any longer.

Cloaking and walking around to the front of Marian’s camp, he slid between the two guards that Illi had posted in front of her door.

Once inside he uncloaked, removed his pack, and took a deep breath as he regarded for the first time in weeks, his beautiful wife. She was sleeping peacefully on a dais built of furs and silken sheets. She looked like a prized princess in the company of the war-hardened Ranalos and he looked around to see what she had for protection. Nothing stuck out to him and he felt concerned so he walked around, hoping his silhouette was not visible through the thick Ranalos tent walls.

He stared at her for a long time, scarcely believing that he was back in front of her. He removed his boots and slipped off his gloves and gear, then slid under the sheets to lay next to her, watching her as she slept.

In a quick instant she was on him, her knife free and at his throat as she mounted him and placed her thumb against his eye. He dared not move and didn’t breathe, hoping she would look before acting and not force him to disarm her roughly.

“Rafian?” She whispered the question in disbelief, then blinked her eyes and shook her head before regarding him again.

“I’ve missed you, my hatch kitten,” Rafian said as he reached up and touched her waist, feeling her warmth and strong, slender form for the first time in what felt like ages. He didn’t want to release her so he held her firmly, relaxing his hips to feel her soft posterior against his groin. She tried to object, and ask him how it was he was there, but he took her knife away and dropped it onto the rug beneath the bed.

He reached up and touched the back of her neck and she let him bring her in for a kiss. “Rafian, how are you here?” she managed to whisper, but he suckled her neck and took an earlobe into his mouth and ran his hands through her hair.

“I’m a fool. I’m so sorry, Rhee … I’m sorry that I—”

“Oh shut up, shut up, shut up!” Marian whispered sharply, and placed her hand on his throat as she touched his chest with the other. “You came here. That says everything I need to hear. Now, take this off,” she said, sounding out of breath as she jabbed her finger into his ribs.

Rafian removed the 3B suit and she lifted off her gown, and they were on to one another like starving predators, eager to tear the other apart but wanting to savor every second in case it was all a dream. Rafian took his time and explored every inch of his wife, and she let him have her, pushing aside all of her anger, at least for that moment.

Her eyes closed in a stasis of limitless ecstasy and she sent prayers to the makers to beg them to keep her there eternally. Their lovemaking was gentle, passionate, and lengthy. Their bodies spoke volumes to one another about how they each felt inside, and by the time they were finished they could barely move.

Rafian stared down into the black mass of Marian’s hair and fought back tears of happiness as he felt her flesh against his skin: slick, warm, and familiar. It was a familiarity he had not realized he missed as much as he did until he saw her there beneath the silken sheets.

“I’m glad you came,” Marian said softly, and Rafian leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

“I missed the hell out of you,” he said, but she didn’t seem to be listening to him.

“You know, I told Marika not to call you and here you are, anyway. I told her, ask Tayden, Camille, anyone, but don’t tell Rafian. I—I thought it would make me seem weak, having you here after our fight. But, I don’t know, when I woke up and you were here, I hoped and hoped and hoped that I wasn’t dreaming.”

She twisted herself to lay in front of him, but he kept his arms around her, not wanting her to separate just yet.

“You know what the problem is?” she said after a while.

“What is it, Rhee?” he replied.

“It’s your galaxy, it’s Anstractor. You are not yourself there, not the Rafian I fell in love with. Am I making sense? Here in Luca, I have
you
. There, I am forced to share you with everyone and they are not okay with allowing me to have the biggest portion of you.”

Rafian slipped his fingers into her hair and kissed her, realizing that he had made a promise to her when he gave her the ring—that she still wore—and then proceeded to break it whenever it was convenient. Any other woman would have left him for good, or done something to sabotage him for breaking her heart. He felt lucky to have her, indebted in a way, and he wanted her to forgive him and allow him to prove himself again.

“It does seem that way, doesn’t it, Rhee? Here in Luca, we are husband and wife first and warriors second. In Anstractor, we are Phasers first, soldiers second and married last. How do we fix that moving forward—especially since it involves so much more than us?”

Marian kissed him gently and then sat up as she whipped her hair out of the way and gave him a warm smile.

“Well, I was thinking. Help me set up with some crystals and you can leave me here to be with my people. Here, I can undo the damage the Felitians have wrought and you can go back to the war against the Geralos. I would visit you—very often—and you can visit me the rest of the time. We would miss each other greatly. That cannot be avoided.  But we would stay happily married and on top of that, we could simultaneously tackle the issues of our two worlds.”

“That’s a tough proposition, Marian, but I need to be with you more than you want to believe, and it would kill me to have limited time with you in that way. This cannot be your wish.”

“Of course it isn’t a wish, but I am not happy in Anstractor.”

“You were not happy because you were never given a chance to be happy. I brought you into a war that you have no stock in, forced you to befriend strangers, and I turned into a terrible husband who neglected you.”

Marian thought for a long time and then nodded. “It wasn’t all you, baby, so please don’t take all of the blame. I put up with a lot, yes, but we could have talked it out. I left to punish you more than to come home and check on things, and I am wrong for that.” She looked around, as if she were taking mental notes of their surroundings, then looked at him again as she ran her hands over his chest. “You know, if we could remain this way, I don’t think location would matter at all. I just need to know that despite everything, you are mine, Rafian VCA. Mine and mine alone.”

“You got it, Baroness Rienne. I am yours.”

Their talk took them into the early hours of the morning, and though there was stirring outside from the scouts going out, they continued to talk, making sure that they were okay.

“So, I got some news yesterday from our contacts in Veece,” Marian said as she lay on his chest and stared up at the tent’s ceiling.

“I was just in Veece. What’s going on there?” he asked, and she stopped for a moment to turn and look at him.

“How are things there?” she asked, her eyes reflecting worry.

“Sometimes I forget that Veece is your hometown, you know that Rhee? With all the crap that is going on there, the troopers running amuck, and Marika’s work…well, let’s just say that the place reminded me of an ant nest when you accidentally step in it. So many people milling about, even at night, and it’s under martial law,” Rafian said.

“Did you get into anything while you were there?” Marian asked and he nodded, not wanting to get into the details. “I really hate what the Fels have done to the people here, Rafy, but it can be over soon if you can lend me a hand.”

“What do you need? What’s the plan?” he asked.

“We have a guy in the Fels, a high ranking Crimson Guard. Illi, the warlord here, told me that he spoke with him early yesterday morning. Palus Felitious will be flying in to Veece to pay his respects to Qeran Kyle. There will be defenses all over, and more Crimson Guard than we have ever seen, but that’s nothing for a Phaser to get through,” she said.

“So, while you’re helping to rescue the rebels here, you want me to go down there and take off his head? That would be a pleasure. I just need to know—” Rafian began, but Marian used her hand to cover his mouth.

“It has to be me. I hope you understand. That man is responsible for everything I was and everything I hate about myself. I need to end him, I need to feel him die. It will fill this void, this
thyping
void that has been eating at me since the day you took me away from the Fels,” Marian said. “You probably don’t understand, but I have a guilt that refuses to leave me, no matter what I do. I left with you to go to Anstractor, and I trained my butt off. I joined the Phasers and lost myself into the missions. You may have thought that I did all of that to be close to you, Raf, but I did it to forget. I did it to wash away the old blood with new, Geralos blood. But it hasn’t been enough, and I can’t get past it. Now, now that I am here, in this galaxy, on Tyhera, and Talula, I’m seeing what is being taken from poor people so that spoiled rich brats like myself can grow up with titles, assuming we’re better.”

She stood up and brushed her hair back, and Rafian reached up and touched her wet cheek.

“I understand Rhee, I get it, and I won’t stand in the way. I know that you will get it done, masterfully. Not just because you’re my wife, but because you’re one of the best Phaser Aces I have ever seen.”

Marian didn’t say anything for a time, but rocked slowly, thinking. Rafian watched her, wondering what it was that she was planning on doing.

“I was going to take a transport down to Tyhera tomorrow, to see if I could board his ship and kill him when he leaves the planet. The timing is tight, and I know it’s a long shot, but it’s worth a try. If I die in the attempt it would sends a message loud and clear that the bastard is not invincible,” she said. She leaned down and kissed Rafian on the lips and then wiggled into his arms. “But then you showed up, and I took it as a sign that I can get really get him this time; I can get him in front of the people where he will feel the safest.”

Rafian kissed her lips and held her there, massaging her gently. “You have a lot to do, so you need your rest. We’ll talk some more when we get up. Come, close your eyes; there’ll be time for revenge talk in a few hours.”

~ * ~

The mid-morning hours brought a light inside the tent that looked like an orange glow through the material. Outside, they could hear the angry shouts of the commanders corralling their troops, and the frustrated grunts of hung-over warriors, answering as best they could. The smell of roasted meats, coffee, and soap permeated the air and then the sound of clanging of metals as they geared up in preparation.

Rafian opened his eyes and saw Marian standing near a bucket of water, running a long, wet rag over her legs as she finished cleaning up.