Chapter 10
Natalie showed her friends around their quarters and instructed them on how to use the food dispenser. Then she left them to their own devices. She had to get off by herself. She had her own demons to recover from after her time on the planet.
On her way back to her own quarters, though, she passed the holographic windows. At the end of the corridor, she stopped in front of the training studio. Only one person was in it. Arno worked his way through an obstacle course of holographic enemies and moving targets. He swung his staff and struck them one after the other. He moved with methodical precision and delivered every strike with just enough force to accomplish his aim. He never lost control.
Natalie watched him for a few moments. Then she turned away with a sigh. She ought to stay away from him. She would be the last person he wanted to see right now. But just as she started to walk away, the studio door opened, and Arno strode into the corridor.
“Do you want something?” he asked.
Natalie shook her head. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I was just passing on my way to my quarters.”
“Did you get your friends sorted out?” he asked.
Natalie nodded. “They’re fine.” She shifted from one foot to the other.
Arno regarded her with cool eyes. “I’m finished here if you want to use the course.”
Natalie swallowed hard. “I’m not going in.”
He started to turn away.
Natalie took a step toward him. “Listen, Arno—about Tina. I want to say how sorry I am that you…..”
He cut her off with a chop of his hand. “Don’t. You don't have to be sorry for something Tina did. You didn't do anything.”
“But you two were getting so close,” she exclaimed. “I would have done anything to stop her from running out on you the way she did.”
He cocked his head to one side. “What makes you think we were getting close?”
Natalie looked around, and her cheeks turned bright red. “I only meant you were more than mission partners. You were….well, I don’t know what you were, but Tina ran out on a lot more with you than she did with anybody else.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It didn't mean anything.”
“It did mean something,” she insisted. “You don’t have to cover it up. I'm hurt and disappointed by what she did. I can only imagine the pain you must be feeling. I don't blame you for wanting to leave her to her fate.”
He shrugged and turned away. “I’m not feeling any pain. Tina and I had a good time preparing for the gathering, but that's all it was. She never cared about me, so I have no reason to be disappointed when she ran away. If she's happy with the Toom, I'm happy for her.”
Natalie smacked her lips. Men! You couldn’t get through to them if you smashed them over the head with a brick. “Listen, Arno. I saw you and Tina together in the training studio there. I saw the way she responded to you and the way she fought with you when you sparred with your staffs. I don't think anybody could have brought her out of her depression the way you did. Not even I could do that.”
Arno gazed at a spot above her head. “I never met anybody like Tina. I never met a woman who could fight the way she did. She brought such power and tenacity to her attacks and her passion…..” He trailed off. Then he sniffed. “Well, never mind.”
Natalie closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Arno. I'm sorry for your loss.”
He studied her. “You’re a strong and resourceful woman. After I trained with Tina, I thought she was like you. I guess I was wrong about her. I should have known no one could leave the regeneration bed.”
“I left the regeneration bed,” Natalie replied. “And Tina’s a lot stronger than you think she is. She's been through extraordinary hardship and trauma, but she's just as strong and resourceful as I am. She's the one who kept us all grounded when the Toom first abducted us. It's the regeneration bed that altered her. She doesn't know her own mind anymore. I only wish there was some way to show you what she's really made of.”
“And how would you to that?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “But there must be a way. She’ll come out of this, and then she'll be strong and resourceful the way she was before.”
Arno let a long pause settle between them. Then he murmured under his breath. “Eblian isn’t the only planet the Toom destroyed, you know.”
Natalie’s head shot up. “What do you mean? There are thousands of Eqels all over the place. I’ve seen more Eqels at the gatherings than any other species.”
“And why do you think that is?” he asked. “Before the Toom came to our planet, the intergalactic surveys called Eqel the Garden of the Galaxy, and the Peaceful Planet. Then the Toom came along and introduced the gatherings. Before anybody knew what was happening, our whole civilization collapsed. Families sold off their young daughters for a handful of credits, and whole shiploads of representatives traveled to our planet to take advantage of the innocent women and children that made our people so special.”
Natalie stared at him. “That sounds like what happened to Eblian.”
He shook his head. “Not quite. The Toom robbed the Eblians of their females by force. On Eqel, they didn't have to. They tricked us into doing it to ourselves, and now there are more Eqel slaves and Eqel representatives at the gatherings than there are on our home world.”
Natalie groaned and cradled her head in her hand. “Oh, Arno! I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve been with a lot of different females at the gatherings,” he went on. “I’ve even been undercover with them before. But none of them was like Tina. I thought she was one of a kind.”
“She is,” Natalie exclaimed. “I don’t know how to convince you of that.”
He turned away. “If you find a way, you let me know.”
Natalie walked on to her quarters, and the door shut out all her cares. She slipped out of her uniform and let it fall to the floor. She crawled into bed and pulled the duvet over her head. She buried her face in the pillow and let out a long sigh.
Kyan’s voice brought her out of hiding. “Bad day?”
Natalie pulled the duvet up under her chin and settled back into the bed. “The worst.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed. “Even though you got your friends away from the gathering? You did a great job down there. I’m proud of you.”
“But I lost Tina,” Natalie replied. “And I’m not so sure I did the others any favors, either. Maybe we all would have been better off with the Toom. At least we wouldn’t have known any different.”
He cocked his head to one side. “You don’t really believe that, do you? I can’t imagine anybody wanting to stay with the Toom if they had any choice about it.”
“Tina did,” she pointed out.
Kyan paused. Then he sighed, too. “You didn’t lose Tina. You did everything anybody could do to give Tina her freedom. If you couldn’t give it to her, nobody could. She chose of her own free will to go back to a life of slavery. You have nothing to blame yourself for.”
She looked the other way. “I guess so.”
He patted the side of her leg. “Anyway, it’s all over now. We won’t be going back for her.”
Natalie’s head whipped around. “What do you mean?”
“Commander Axilon has decided to let her go,” he replied. “We won’t mount any more rescue operations to get Tina back. If she’d rather stay with the Toom than take the life of freedom we offered her, she’s welcome to it.”
Natalie sat up in bed. “How can you leave her to suffer like this? We can’t just abandon her.”
“For one thing,” he replied, “I didn’t make the decision. Commander Axilon did. If you want to argue about it, you have to argue with him. For another thing, our job is to free slaves. Tina went with the Toom of her own free will. That means she’s not a slave anymore. She might get a kick out of playing a dominance game, but she isn’t a slave. We’re no longer obliged to risk our lives to free her.”
“You might not have any obligation to her,” Natalie told him. “But she’s my friend. I’ll always have an obligation to her. If there is any way I can get her back, I’ll do it.”
“You can’t,” he replied. “We’re leaving orbit around the Magellan home world and moving to another part of the galaxy. I blew my cover down there, so I won’t be going back to the gatherings again.”
“You blew Arno’s cover, too,” she pointed out. “I wish that hadn’t happened. Your skills are too good to waste.”
Kyan shrugged. “I did it, and I don’t regret it. I got your other two friends out, and that’s my job.”
“What will you do now?” Natalie asked.
“I’m sure I’ll find something to do,” he replied. “I’m not completely useless to the Police Force just because I can’t go undercover. Now that I’ve found you, I might settle down somewhere in some quiet little corner of the galaxy. I won’t have to bounce around all over the place anymore. I might even go back to my home world, if you’ll come with me.”
Natalie put out her hand to touch his. “I’d like that.”
“Could you stand to leave you friends?” he asked. “Could you put Tina out of your mind and enjoy a quiet life with me?”
Natalie nodded. “I’ll never forget her, but I would rather enjoy a life with you than to dwell on something I can’t change. She’s gone, and I can’t get her back. I have no choice but to put her in the past and move on.”
He lifted her hand to his lips. Then he bent down and kissed her. He leaned his weight on top of her, and she snaked her arms around his neck. She clung to him for dear life.
Kyan pulled back and gazed into her eyes. “I guess you don’t want to play the master and slave game right now.”
Natalie kissed him back, but softly. “I don’t want to play that game again as long as I live.”
Kyan stretched out next to her and burrowed under the duvet. His scaly skin brushed against her delicate flesh, and their warmth softened all the bumps and bruises on Natalie’s heart. She sighed and nestled into his embrace.