30

Three days later

- Cori'ax -

“You were nowhere to be found!”

The older man was furious, but Cori'ax was unmoved. He turned the skewer over the fire. Here on Acerex, he often preferred to eat meat cooked like this, under the open sky in some remote location. It gave him time to himself, time to think, time to relish being home. “I was busy. I had to find someone myself. Charlotte got away from me for a while.”

“Charlotte? Oh yes, that alien who entertains you at night. You're not suggesting to use her as the pilot for the event, are you?”

“No.”

Bandi'ex nodded once. “Very well. That would be completely out of the question. The aliens simply can't be trusted. But I wish you'd not be so reckless and cavalier about this, the most important action of our times. Yes yes, I know your reputation, Cori'ax. Some recklessness is to be expected from you. Have you now prepared your part in the act?”

He looked up at the starry sky. He'd only been away for an hour and he missed her already. “There will be no act.”

Bandi'ex stiffened. “What do you mean? Of course there will! The future and glory of our people depends on it!”

“There will be no act because I don't want the Earthlings gone from our planet. They're the best friends we've ever had. With them on our side, we will keep Acerex safe forever.”

The other man didn't speak for a while, and when he did, Cori'ax had almost forgotten that he was there. “You too, Cori'ax? An alien female turned you against us, too? You, the ultimate patriot? You, our brightest star? Turned into an enemy of your people, like King Vrax'ton and Chief Ravex'ton?”

Cori'ax sighed. It was so obvious. But he supposed he had to give the older man a chance. “The Earthlings are not enemies. They're everything they say they are, and much more too. They're making us better and richer and safer. But they have no desire to rule us. That is in ourselves. We looked at them and saw the things we have inside us. I only wish I'd realized it sooner. We were wrong about them. You are wrong about them. Completely, shamefully wrong.”

“They're witches!” the other man exclaimed. “They possess some power that makes Acerex men go insane with lust. All the more reason to remove them from our world!”

“She flew us into combat many times,” Cori'ax said, talking more to himself than to the other. “She could have died at any one of those missions. Many times over. She risked her life. But she's good. She's got the warrior in her. Other Earthlings have died fighting for Acerex. I have seen it. They are helping us. They want us to be strong and healthy. They save our lives and expect nothing in return. They've showed us how to more effectively fight our enemies, how to improve our society, and they have made no attempt to control us. There's no betrayal in them. All that is in us. We don't recognize good when we see it. We're the traitors.”

Bandi'ex pulled a black gun out of his robe and aimed it at Cori'ax's chest. “I will not be talked about in that way by a simple grunt. Any treason here is entirely yours. Well, I can't have you running to the king and telling him about our plans. They're too important for that. We'll find another warrior, one who actually loves his planet, one who won't put alien interests before those of his own people.”

Cori'ax casually drew his sword and slashed it across the gun. It flew from Bandi'ex's hand and clattered against rocks many yards away. He placed the sword back in its scabbard before the gun had hit the ground.

Finding his Mahan had not only made him happy. It had also made him a better fighter. Something had come loose in him, something that had held him back, something that had blocked him from being his best. What he had just done seemed normal to him, but he knew that the other man had only seen his hand and sword as a blur. That was how he had kept those firebirds at bay, too – he was much faster now than he had been ever before.

He couldn't help grinning. He owed her so much!

“We have the same interests,” he said as if nothing had happened and they were just having a pleasant discussion at the campfire. “They're aligned. Anyone can see it. I have not yet told the king about the plans we had to murder all the Earthlings on the Friendship, including his wife. I want to do it along with you. Together. To confess and repent and throw ourselves at his mercy and his judgment. It is honorable.”

“He will kill us!”

“He might execute us,” Cori'ax agreed. “And he should. I know I would kill anyone who threatened my wife-to-be. But I know King Vrax'ton is a better man than me. He might decide otherwise. I will tell him about our conspiracy. You can come if you want. In fact, I insist that you come.”

The other man was clutching his wrist of the hand that had held the gun, and now he was quite pale. He got unsteadily to his feet. “You would betray us to the king! The alien-controlled king with the alien queen!”

Cori'ax took the skewer from the fire and examined the meat. “I don't think revealing a plot against the royal family counts as treason. Indeed I think it's the opposite. You're a Chief of the Dirt, Bandi'ex. A legend of our times. You will repent and be safe.” He couldn't hold back a smile. “She's given me a child. She's my Mahan. Anything is worth that. Even being executed as a traitor. She's safe, they both are. Charlotte is a hero and our daughter will be a legend.”

“I will do it anyway! I will do it myself! I will chase the Earthlings from our world, whatever the cost!”

“Squad Nine is on the Friendship,” Cori'ax said mildly. “I ordered them there before I came here. They'll arrest you on sight. And tomorrow, every warrior in the kingdom will be instructed to do the same. I will go straight from this place to the king.” He looked up suddenly. “Come with me! The offer is still open. It is honorable. Bandi'ex! Choose honor!”

But the old war hero fled without a word, and soon after his shuttle was just a moving light in the sky.

Cori'ax chewed thoughtfully on the meat, then extinguished the campfire and made the signal.

Shortly after, his own shuttle landed.

He got inside. “He's not coming.”

Charlotte shook her head and took off. “So stupid. I'm sure Vrax'ton won't punish those who turn themselves in. He understands that the situation is unusual. But if he has to come get them ... well, I don't know. There is honor in seeing one's mistakes and wanting to correct them. After all, no harm was done.”

Cori'ax lifted little Elerea out of the makeshift crib he had designed and welded in place between the pilot's and copilot's seat. “Hello, little angel. Spirits, I'll swear she's grown in just an hour!” He kissed the sleeping baby and cradled her as they shot up through the atmosphere of Acerex. “Yes, there's honor in it. And without you, I might have made a very bad and dishonorable mistake, harming many.”

Charlotte glanced over. “Are you sure you would have? Seems to me you spent a lot of time and effort looking for a way not to do that. Even to the point of almost killing yourself in every battle you took part in.”

He looked out the side window, down on his home planet. He loved it. But the first time he had visited the Friendship, he'd known in the depths of his soul that he would not take part in the bombing that would kill all the Earthlings. Of course it was too late to claim that now; he hadn't exposed the conspiracy back then. But at least he could answer the question truthfully. “I would not.”

To his surprise, Charlotte just laughed, and her eyes twinkled with amusement. “See, I know that, Cori'ax. But I think it's important that you know it, too. ”

He smiled. Of course she had seen through him like no one else ever had. She was his Mahan, after all.

He leaned over to kiss her again. He still had trouble keeping his hands off her.

She turned to let his lips reach hers. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. It's just that you said it like you're revealing some deep secret, when anyone who knows you realize you would never have done it. It's just not your way. I can't believe they even asked you to take part. They must have been blind.”

He stroked his little daughter's head, feeling her thin, dark hair. They had stopped at Gideo Station on the way, resting and getting help from the medical robots there to do everything necessary for a newborn, a mother and a father who had recently fought firebirds. The crew there had helped them as much as they could, in the same selfless way it seemed all Earthlings would. Now that he was allowing himself to see them for who they really were, he marveled at how he could have missed it.

“Yes, they must. And yet, I can't blame them. I was blind myself.”