16

- Cori'ax -

He stood and stared into the fire, his evening ruined. The visit from the conspirators had been very unwelcome. It had completely taken away his good mood, even after the celebration. His plan to go to Charlotte's tent and take her in that way she liked the most, from behind after a spanking that was just hard enough for her to be pleasurable, was now not going to happen.

Over the past months he had almost been able to forget that secret mission he had committed to, blowing up the Friendship, and how he wasn't sure if it was the right thing after all.

How could Charlotte and the other Earthlings be bad? He had detected absolutely no pretense in her. She had done her best for the squad to the point where he had come to truly admire her devotion and her immense ability. She risked her life every time.

With the skills she had displayed, surely Earth could have conquered Acerex with their flying machines and guns in a very short time if they'd wanted to. So that begged the question: did they want to? Yes, certainly they would save many lives on both sides if they were able to gain power by subtle, sneaky means. But still-

He looked up. There was a sound on the air, one that he knew well. But it was far too loud.

He ran out of the tent and then reflexively ducked at the intense, otherworldly howl from a dropship passing directly overhead.

His jaw dropped. Was someone stealing the ship? It couldn't be on legitimate business. Flying directly over the base was frowned upon, especially at night. And with a noise like that, it had to be going at close to full power.

The flashing red lights on the craft disappeared straight up, and the ghostly blue glow from the engine illuminated the base.

Blue? Only Earth-made ships had drives that gave off a blue light. That had to be Charlotte's dropship!

More warriors came running out of their tents, their hands on the hilts of their swords. “Are we under attack?”

The dropship gained height faster than Cori'ax had ever seen. Whoever was flying that thing knew what he was doing.

A sudden coldness settled in the pit of his stomach. Or she.

“I don't think so.” He sprinted to her tent and tore the flap open.

Empty. Just standard military issue things, perfectly squared away, and a bed made with such cold perfection that it sent a message all of its own. She was gone, and she was not planning to come back.

The world spun around him as the realization set in. She was gone.

For a moment he was stunned.

“No, no, no ...” He searched the tent wildly, throwing bedsheets and objects around, desperate for a sign that he was mistaken.

There was something white on the floor. He froze, then squatted down and picked it up with a hand that was trembling worse than it had since the Fire Planet, many years ago.

An elereon flower, so delicate and beautiful, even in its fossilized state. But now it was in two pieces - the stem was broken in half.

No, she was definitely not coming back.

He slowly rose, feeling numb, then went back out on feet that felt like lead and looked up. Already the ghostly glow from the intrasystem drive in her dropship was just a blue pinprick among the other stars in the sky.

At least she had not gone quietly. He couldn't help a part of him being pleased by that. She had the warrior in her.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His throat had a raspy soreness in it now that he hadn't felt since childhood. Yes, she had the warrior in her, just like he had seen from the first moment.

Well, it had to happen at some time. She was so far above him in every way that it was only a matter of time before she realized the ridiculous discrepancy between him, the primitive grunt, and her, the ambassador from the stars. A couple? She and him? Such a childish dream. But he had entertained it for a while now.

Or was it that she had somehow accomplished her alien mission, and he was no use to her anymore? Or, judging from the way she left, perhaps he had been no use to her at all and she was angry that she had wasted her time on him.

He nodded. That would fit.

Spirits damn it! He had thought that she was sincere. He had thought that she really did ... well, perhaps not love him, exactly. She was a glamorous alien from far away, a close friend of Queen Harper's, so that was probably not on the table. And of course, his burned face wouldn't help. But he'd gotten the feeling that she at least cared a little for him.

Had she really faked it? If so, he had been completely taken in.

If Charlotte was an alien agent, then she had come very close to succeeding without even knowing it. His experience with her had given him second thoughts about the bomb mission. He had even tried to downplay her role in the squad when he talked to his co-conspirators earlier that evening. If they had realized how important she was to both him and the squad, and that her very existence and personality was getting Cori'ax to waver in his determination to rid Acerex of the Earthlings, then she would have been in extreme danger. Bandi'ex was a deadly enemy.

What had he said? Bed warmer? Well, it was better than the truth; a crucial influence. It was a concept any warrior would understand, and-

He froze as a thought suddenly hit him. Was it possible that she had overheard? The timing would be pretty right. Only a few minutes after the men had left his tent, he'd heard the dropship screaming overhead.

But no. He shook his head. Surely her Acerex wasn't good enough yet for her to understand that conversation in High Warrior, the special dialect. The chance was too remote. And she never came to his tent anyway. He always came to hers.

No, she had finished her mission and that was it. If anything, it was a good enough reason for him to be even more determined to remove the Earthlings from Acerex space once and for all.

He nodded as he felt the old certainty fill him anew. Only Acerex allowed on the Acerex homeworld. If the Earthlings wanted to conquer, they had to do it the hard way, not the sneaky way.

And if Charlotte was on the Friendship when the bomb went off?

The mere thought made him draw his breath in horror, but he forced himself to think it through to the end.

Well, then ...

He felt a sharp pain from his hand. The fossilized flower had cut deep into his flesh when he tightened his fist around it, and blood was flowing from his palm.

Well, alien agent or not, he knew he couldn't live with having harmed her. So if she died there, then he just had to make sure that he died, too.

After tonight, after her leaving, it would feel like a relief.