Betrayal
DAR
My mind was reeling. She couldn't be HUMAN. She just couldn't be. I felt like I needed to hit something. I had started to care about this wonderful, amazing, sexy female.
I felt as if I had just had my hand cut off.
I was completely done with her forever. Even if there hadn't been a hundred other complications in a relationship between me and a Susohnnan commoner, her being a human was a deal-breaker.
Understand this. There is an order in the galaxy. The Susohnnan are at the top, and the humans are at the bottom. What happened was that The Great Race went out and colonized the stars. Our species currently lives on about forty different planets within the Milky Way.
Since the great colonization, some of the planets have had catastrophic events that destroyed their civilizations and returned them to primitive times. That is what happened on Earth. They have spent centuries trying to catch up. We on Susohn, on the other hand, have never lost our technology and civilization. We've only continued to evolve onwards without going back.
That's why we consider ourselves superior to humans. We are, and that's all there is to it.
"Doesn't matter what your name is, my dear," Sinba Mackeye, the leader of the AEA, said. I was supposed to be negotiating with him. Fucking terrorists. "You don't need a name if you're dead."
Dead? Were they going to kill her? I drew in a deep breath, trying to stay calm and think. I could smell the scent of a sun-warmed forest. What to do? What to do? I leaned my hand on a nearby tree and felt the rough bark biting into my palm.
They couldn't kill her. I couldn't let them kill her. I doubted they would kill me. I was too important. They could ransom me for the wormhole, after all. But Kenna was dispensable. I had to stop him from killing her. What use could he have for her? If she could be useful to Mackeye, then he wouldn't shoot her. I was sure of it.
I looked at Kenna, and she looked back at me, swallowing visibly. Mackeye walked over to her and aimed his gun at her head.
"But just tell me which way the base lies, before I blow your head off."
Her eyes got big, and she didn't say anything.
"Well, sure, kill her if you want to," I said, offhand. I didn't look at Kenna, not wanting to see her reaction to my words.
Mackeye looked from me to her and back again with interest.
"But do any of you happen to know how to get back to the Complex from here?" I said, dropping my eyes to the ground. "It's a little more complicated than just point me in the right direction."
I was sure that there must some doubt in his mind about how to get back if he was asking Kenna in the first place. Since they had shut down communications on Dobu, there was no way to use any positioning system. And from what I could see of his men, they looked like city boys. You can spot them a mile away. At least, someone like me who's comfortable with nature can figure out when someone is not.
City folk walk gingerly in the forest like they're afraid they're going to be bitten by the next flower, and they're scared to get dirty.
"Kenna can get us back there in half the time, so you and your boys won't have to get your feet all dirty in the swamp."
"Swamp?" Mackeye looked at me skeptically. I could see his men glancing at each other.
"Swamp," I said, then leaned back against the tree. Kenna had told me that the humans had grown a swamp as well as the forests, so I wasn't lying. I hoped.
"I don't care if you kill her. She means nothing to me. I just escaped with her because she knows her way around the forest." I had told a blatant lie, but they didn't know that. "Why don't you make use of her first?"
I glanced at Kenna's outraged face, my tone suggestive.
"She has other uses besides being good in the wilderness."
Mackeye's gaze raked her from head to foot, making me sick to my stomach. I wanted to plant my fist in his face, but I didn't. I needed to act like she wasn't anything to me anymore. And I tried hard to remember that she was human, and I no longer had any interest in her. But I couldn't just let her die, either, now could I?
"Really? I'm not sure I want your leavings, King Shu'in, but my men would undoubtedly enjoy her."
Several of them were openly leering at her, and Kenna's outraged expression had turned to one of sheer hatred. I didn't know if she knew what I was doing or not but if she was acting, she was doing a damn good job of it.
Mackeye made a decision.
"All right, Kenna. Please, lead us back to your base. And when you've done that, and my men have made use of you, then you will die."
She turned her glare on Mackeye but didn't say anything, just spun and stalked off. Mackeye gestured with his gun.
"You next, Shu'in, and don't try anything. You haven't got a chance."
KENNA
I was seething as I walked away into the forest back towards the Complex. I hated Dar. I loathed him. How could he do this to me? Even if I wasn't Susohnnan. Even if we had only had a one-night stand. Three one-night stands. Maybe his precious Three would only approve of us his weakness if he dallied with an Earth girl three times.
I just didn't understand it. It didn't make sense. I nearly stopped walking when it hit me. Dar might not care about me, but he was a decent guy. That terrorist had been about to blow my brains out, and he had bought me some time.
I drew in a deep, shuddering breath. Oh, thank goodness. He hadn't sold me out. He had saved me. He had given me a chance. Even though I knew that there was no way in hell that a relationship between us would ever be possible, I still felt better that he hadn't sold me out.
Right?
And now I had to save us. It was all in my hands. And Mackeye had stupidly put him in line right after me, so we were together. Sure, we had guys flanking us but he was in reach if I just turned around. Now I just had to think how to turn that to our advantage.
I made a fairly sharp turn and twisted a little to catch Dar's eye. He gave me a look. I nodded. Then I gave him a look. And he nodded. Good. We understood each other, then.
I didn't want to think about the alternative.
I deliberately led us on a curving path that went in the direction of the Complex, but in a circuitous way. I was thinking furiously. How could we escape?
There were six guys accompanying us and more hidden in the woods according to our captors. If we went back to the Complex, of course, there would be more people against us.
Just then my nose caught the scent of water.
The river.
We were near the river. The Complex got its drinking and irrigation water from an extremely fast flowing river. Anyone who fell in that would get swept away immediately.
They'd be hard to hit with a gun, too.
I smiled to myself. A while ago I had discovered a beautiful spot where the forest ran right up to the river. You couldn't see it until you were right about to fall in. I had reported it to Mr. Branigan because it was a danger. You could just be walking happily and, with one more step, you'd be falling off a cliff. He had said he would put up a railing, but he hadn't got around to it yet — thank goodness.
I could lead them right there, grab Dar and jump in the river. They would have to come out of the trees to get a good shot and by that time we would be long gone.
I guess the water could drown us as well. But I would prefer drowning to whatever was waiting for me back at the Complex with the terrorist's men. I turned my head from side to side as if trying to decide which way to go, so I could see Dar again.
"Be ready." I mouthed to him.
He made no audible response since the guard was looking at him, but I saw his eyes flicker.
Here goes nothing.
We approached the river, and I wondered if they realized what the sounds were. None of them made a comment, so I assumed either they didn't know that the noise was a river or they didn't care and thought we would be going right by the obstruction.
I let my pace slow a little so that I was getting closer and closer to Dar. When I figured I was within arms reach, I kept my pace steady and readied myself. Within a few steps, I recognized the spot. My heart started to beat fast, but I took deep breaths to calm myself down. I would need all my wits about me.
I walked right up to the cliff. At the last minute, I turned and grabbed Dar's hand, giving a hard tug that threw both of us off the cliff and into the water. I heard shouts as we fell and the sound of gunshots. The last thing I saw before I smashed hard into the water was Dar's surprised expression.
Then I could think of nothing but keeping myself alive.
Hitting the water from that height felt like hitting a brick wall. It fucking HURT. And the water was cold. Unbelievably cold, so cold that it took my breath away, and I honestly couldn't breathe. The current was powerful, and I had a hard time getting my head above water. The minute I swam to the top and took a breath, I was pulled under again.
I could feel myself being swept downstream, and I was glad we had escaped. I had no idea what had happened to Dar, and I was worried about him, but now I had to just not die.
It felt like I was in the river forever. I swam to the top and got sucked under, over and over. I was making some progress toward the bank when I hit my head on a rock, and everything went black.
DAR
Good thing I know how to swim, I thought as Kenna dragged me off the cliff with her. I hit the water and immediately floated to the surface. I was a powerful swimmer and could keep my head above the water.
Gunshots rang out but soon the water swept me around a bend in the river. I swam with the current, aiming for the shore. Then I caught sight of Kenna ahead of me. She seemed to be having trouble. She kept going under and coming back up. I wondered for a minute if she had ever been in the water before. If she hadn't, then this was a pretty harebrained plan of hers. I saw her swimming for a moment before she got pulled under again. She could swim, but she was in trouble.
I couldn't just leave her to drown. She had saved my life and taken a bargaining chip away from the terrorists. And I owed her a thanks for helping me out of the Complex when I couldn't see, too.
I sighed internally and started swimming towards her. She seemed to keep coming up for air, so she was still alive. I kept my eye on her head in case she went down and didn't come back up. Ahead I could see some white water rapids.
I saw her go down again and back up and then she was in the rapids. She seemed to be doing well until she was swept up onto a big rock that jutted out of the water. Her head hit hard and her eyes closed. She lay on the stone, half her body still in the river.
I could see the water pulling at her lower body, trying to suck her back in. If she fell in now, she would die. I attempted to think calmly. I had to end up on the big rock too.
I swam carefully, aiming myself right at her. Her thighs slipped back into the river, but her torso was still out. The current was dragging at her constantly, and I prayed to The Three to get me there in time.
Then I was in the rapids and getting spun around and whipped through the churning water. I went under but clawed my way to the top of the water again, reaching desperately for the rock where Kenna was lying.
There. I was only about three feet away, but I was too far to the side. If I didn't move, I was going to miss it. I swam as hard as I could, but I was tiring. The Three take me, but I'd be damned if I would let her die, even if she were only a human. As the river rushed me past her, I reached out and grabbed a point of the rock that was sticking out.
I felt it slice through my hand, but I held on. I reached with my other hand, too, and pulled myself onto the rock. Kenna's body was almost back in the water, and I dragged her quickly back on. There was barely enough room up here for the both of us with me holding her in my lap. The ice-cold water was running over the top of the rock, chilling us both.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her close, taking a moment just to breathe. She wasn't going to drown. I had her now. I ignored the enormous feeling of relief that was flooding me.
She was just an innocent bystander that had got sucked into this terrorist mess. I couldn't let anything happen to her. It wouldn't be right. It had nothing to do with what had happened between us previously. It had nothing to do with how right she felt here in my arms. I was just doing a good deed.
Nothing more.
I sat holding Kenna on the rock in the middle of the river, feeling numb. My brain didn't seem to want to work. I knew that the terrorists would be coming for us, but I doubted they would catch up to us anytime soon.
At the rate we had been washed downstream, it would take them hours to find us on foot going through the forest. But we had to keep moving.
Somehow we had to get out of the river. Finally, I roused myself. There had to be a way. I looked around. We were still in the rapids, and that could work to our advantage. I saw another rock nearby that could benefit us. After that, I would make my way to that fallen tree, and then a short swim to the shore...while I was carrying this unconscious human. Thank goodness the cliffs fell away behind us and the river widened into standard banks.
I took a deep breath and shifted Kenna so that her back was to me, and my arm was under her left arm. I grabbed onto her right shoulder so that my arm was pinning her to me.
Then I began to climb from rock to rock dragging her body with me. We slid into the water. The current grabbed at us, trying to take us back, but I pulled us across and we made it to the tree.
My hand was aching, but I ignored it, focusing only on the shore. I had to get us out of the river. Everything else could wait. My attention narrowed until my complete focus was on moving us along the tree. The water wedged the trunk tightly between the rocks and felt solid. I reached out as far as I could and found a place I could get a grip, pulling us towards shore. For a heart-stopping moment, I had to let go and grab on again farther down.
If I missed, we would be swept away again, but there was no way to hold on with both hands and still bring Kenna with me. If she had been conscious, she could have held on to me, but as it was, I had to hang on tightly on her to prevent the river from washing her body away.
I felt despair rising inside me, but I ignored it and focused on keeping hold of that tree.
When I got to the end, I felt like collapsing and celebrating, but I still had a short swim to shore.
I held onto Kenna and the tree simultaneously and looked at the pebbled beach. I knew it was only a few feet, but it seemed so far. I was tired. What if the current pulled us under the water again? There was no way of telling from here how strong it was this close to shore.
I took a deep breath. There was no point in waiting around any longer. It wouldn't get any easier by waiting, and I could feel my resolve faltering. I let go of the tree and struck out vigorously for shore with my one free arm. After only a few moments, I realized that I was going to have to tow her. I flipped onto my back and held her with one arm, keeping her head out of the water, kicking hard, and swimming awkwardly.
I was grateful that the current was weaker here near the shore. We reached the beach without any further difficulties. When we got there, I crawled out of the water, feeling limp and exhausted after my beating from the river.
With my last bit of strength, I pulled Kenna up as far onto shore as I could and lay down beside her. Only then did I look at my throbbing hand and see that there was a deep slash across the palm that had been bleeding the whole time. I had probably lost a lot of blood.
I felt dizzy, and my brain didn't seem to be functioning properly. I had enough sense to pull off one of my socks and wrap it around my hand, tying it as tightly as I could with my good hand and pulling it with my teeth. That was my last memory before I blacked out.
KENNA
My head felt like terrorists had split it in two. Did those guys attack us with an axe?
At least if I was thinking, I wasn't dead.
I cracked one eye open and immediately shut it again. The light hurt so much I groaned.
"Kenna?"
Dar. I felt relief to know that he had survived the river. It occurred to me now that I hadn't even known if he could swim. He might have died. I can swim, and I might have died if Dar hadn't saved me. I assumed that he had saved me because I was not at the bottom of the river.
"Dar?" My voice was creaky. "What happened?"
"Here," he said, and I felt his hand on my back helping me to sit up.
I decided to try opening my eyes again. It still hurt, but I needed to work through the pain. I looked around. Dar was still supporting me.
"I'm okay now," I said. He looked at me skeptically but moved back a bit, his hands ready to catch me if I toppled over. I swayed slightly but remained upright. "What happened?"
"Well, after you pulled us into the river, which was a crazy move," he said severely. "You almost died."
I opened my mouth to defend my actions when his look softened, and he said, "Thank you. I don't know what we would have done. Those men were going to kill you."
"Why? Who were they? They seemed to know you," I said, giving him a look.
"Ever heard of the AEA?"
DAR
"The AEA? The human terrorist organization? Oh no." She said, looking aghast and disgusted. "They've caused more trouble for us than any other group in history. Did you know they almost got us kicked out of the Union?"
I nodded, not voicing my opinions on the matter.
"I had arranged negotiations with them. You humans..." She flinched at the clear delineation between her people and mine. But she should get used to it. She had to know the truth about where we stood. "...were not supposed to be here yet. I don't know if they intended to attack from the beginning or if they decided to change their plans once they saw that there were people on the planet."
"We weren't supposed to be here...Oh, so that there wouldn't be anyone for them to threaten, right?"
"Yes."
She was silent a moment, thinking. I decided to change the subject.
"You hit a rock and were knocked unconscious. Fortunately, I was coming down the river behind you and was able to reach you and bring both of us to shore."
She looked up at me, and I noticed for the first time that I could lose myself in her dark brown eyes.
"That can't have been easy," she said, an unreadable look on her face.
"No, it wasn't."
The look changed to speculative.
"Why didn't you let me die?" she said. "I'm just a lowly human."
"Kenna, in spite of our differences, we are enough alike that you must know that any decent Susohnnan or human for that matter would not stand by and let an innocent die. Not if they could save them."
She blinked.
"Innocent?" she said and raised her eyebrow. And by The Three, didn't I start to feel a little hard. I had to put a stop to this. I was not going to sleep with her again. It wasn't right. We could never have a relationship, and I didn't want to lead her on.
"Damn it, Kenna, you know what I mean. I wasn't going to let the river take you."
"Ah," she said, smiling a little. Then she noticed my hand and frowned, pulling it to her. "Dar, what happened? You're hurt."
"Yes, but it's nothing. I've wrapped it. It will have to do till we get back to the Complex."
"No, let me see. That looks bad."
She unwrapped the sock, and the wound gaped, still bleeding sluggishly. I felt a little sick looking at it and looked at her instead.
Her face had a serious look on it that worried me.
"What?" I said.
She glanced up at me then back down at my palm, frowning.
"I know a bit about medicine. We need to get something to disinfect this right away."
"A healer?"
I had assumed that she was a laborer. It hadn't occurred to me that she was intelligent. Of course, she had saved us from the terrorists but I had put that down to brilliance under pressure.
"My Gran taught me back on Earth. Fortunately, we have a boreal forest at our disposal," she said, grinning and standing up.
As soon as she rose, she immediately put her hand to her head and swayed. I got up to help her, but I wasn't exactly steady myself. Again I wondered how much blood I had lost.
Leaning on each other, we made it to the water. She washed the wound thoroughly and told me to hold it tightly closed. We headed for the trees and after a few minutes, she started to recover from her vertigo. She let go of my arm.
"We don't know how long we'll be out here. It's best to put spruce gum on it to prevent infection until we can get somewhere with real medical supplies."
"Spruce gum?"
"See this tree?" she pointed at a tall skinny brown tree with rough bark and short green needles. "It's a spruce."
I nodded, filing the information away.
"This is spruce gum." She pointed to yellow blobs covering a tree. "But it's the hard kind. Good for chewing. Not for the prevention of infection."
She picked some off and handed a piece to me while popping the other piece into her mouth. I looked at it and then put it into my mouth. I wrinkled my nose. It tasted gross, and it broke into little pieces when I bit it.
"It takes a minute of chewing for it to come together, and the flavor improves the more you chew, too." she informed me.
We continued walking. She was right. After a minute or two, the chunks came together and formed a pretty good wad of gum.
"How come you conveniently forgot to mention you were the king of an entire planet?" she said conversationally. I nearly choked on my gum; the question was unexpected.
I glanced over at her, and her lovely face was looking away from me, searching for the elusive spruce gum. I took a breath. I guess I owed her an explanation.
"Look, Kenna. It was my mating cycle. Okay?"
Now she would understand. But when I looked over at her, she was staring at me, her face a mask of confusion.
"Mating cycle," she said, her eyebrows nearly touching her hairline.
Human. The girl was human. Not Susohnnan. I needed to remind myself of that. Otherwise, I forgot.
"Oh, right. I guess you don't know about that?"
She shook her head.
"Well, genetically humans and Susohns are similar. But one of the biggest differences is the male mating cycle in Susohns."
She didn't say anything, so I continued.
"You are aware of breeding cycles in human females, I am assuming. That there are times of fertility and times of infertility, right?"
"Of course. I am a human female. Remember?" she pointed to her breasts.
I remembered all right. I remembered every part of her in exquisite detail. But there had to be no more of that, and I wrenched my mind away from the thought of her breasts.
"I remember," I said, between my teeth. But she wasn't listening.
"Aha!" she said in triumph moving quickly towards one of the trees. Then she stopped, and her face fell. "No, not spruce gum. Sorry. Go on. You were saying about human females?"
I tried not to grind my teeth together.
"Well, Susohnnan males have fertile and infertile cycles as well. For part of the month, I am unable to help a female conceive a child."
"You shoot blanks half the time?" she said.
I frowned, not understanding her.
"Sorry," she said again. "Male Susohns are only fertile part of the month, got it. What does this have to do with not telling me you were king of the world?"
I sighed, putting my working hand to my forehead.
"When it is the time of the month when we are fertile, it is called our mating cycle. And we are very..." I paused searching for the right word. "Interested in sex."
She snorted.
"Don't you have a harem or something?"
"The king rarely lacks for willing partners. I have no need to force anyone to have sex with me," I said stiffly.
She looked me up and down and then smiled.
"Yes, I can believe that."
I turned away and began walking. I had had enough with the sexual innuendo. It was driving me insane.
"Why did you come to the party in disguise if you had so many willing bodies already lined up to jump in your bed?" she said, running to catch up with me. She was joking, but I could see her face was serious, waiting for my answer.
"I was bored."
She snorted again but this time derisively.
"Sometimes you want a female who will say no," I said.
"I guess you didn't find that," she said, looking mortified. Now I was embarrassing her. This conversation was taking a different direction than it had in my imagination.
I stopped walking, and she did too, looking up at me. I put my hands on her shoulders.
"I'm glad you didn't say no, Kenna," I said. And I meant it. "But you could have, and I would have respected that. It was the fact that I was going to find females who could say no to me, but didn't want to that made it exciting. Of course, I had to go in disguise, so I couldn't tell you about being king."
"Hm. So you were just slumming. For fun." She shrugged. "Me too."
"What does slumming mean?"
"Slums on Earth are awful neighborhoods with poor, mostly uneducated people living there."
I wrinkled my nose, and she saw it.
"Yeah, you do not want to go into a slum — they don't always contain the best examples of humanity. Slumming means hanging out with people who are below you. Sometimes it means spending time with people who are below you to get laid."
I didn't know what get laid meant, but I had a feeling it had to do with mating.
"Well, by your definition I guess I was slumming." And damn it if I hadn't liked it. But I was a king and a king couldn't keep slumming forever. I had an example to set and standards to uphold.
"But a king can't be with a commoner. I get it. It was just a fling for me, too."
"A fling?" I said.
"Yeah, just something fun. I never had much fun on Earth, and I decided that I was going to have some on Dobu."
"Oh," I said, feeling unreasonably upset by her admission that I had been used. "So, I was just one of many flings?"
"Well," She looked me up and down. "You were my first fling. But I doubt you'll be my last."
I pressed my lips together, and she laughed.
"Hey, don't worry about it. You have a space harem, remember? You'll forget about me the moment the shuttle takes off from Dobu, and you go back to doing..." She waved her hand in the air. "...whatever it is that kings do. Oh, perfect. There's some sticky sap. That's the kind we're looking for."
I watched her reach up and gracefully scrape off a large blob of the goop with a stick. She took my hand and spread the sticky substance onto the wound. I studied her as she worked.
She was beautiful. And a puzzle. And fascinating. And funny.
And a human, I reminded myself yet again. And I couldn't ever have a relationship with her.
But I doubted that I would forget her anytime soon.
KENNA
Dar watched as I carefully spread the sticky spruce gum on his gaping wound, and gasped when I pressed it together. The sap helped to hold it closed and would keep it much cleaner. Then I unbuttoned my coverall.
"Kenna, what are you doing? Dar said, swallowing as my breasts came into view.
"What? I'm wearing a bra. Even if I uncovered them, it's not like you haven't seen them before." I pointed out. And did other things to them as well, but we weren't discussing that. I shrugged the top of my coverall off and looked around for a sharp rock. Carefully, I cut a long piece of the lining out.
"Bandage," I said by way of explanation.
"We could have used my coverall," he said, apparently working very hard to keep his eyes on my face and not on my cleavage. The bra was wet, of course. We hadn't dried out yet after being in the river. And it was white. I glanced down and saw that it wasn't leaving much to the imagination. Oops.
Well, he had made it pretty clear that he didn't want a disgusting human female. I took his hand and carefully wrapped the bandage around it to hold the wound closed. I made it relatively tight because it was a bad cut. The spruce gum would help a lot. Hopefully, it would keep it from getting infected until we got back to civilization.
"So, we head back to the Complex?" I said when I was done dressing the wound.
"Thanks," he said. "Yes, what else can we do? We go back. See what's happening. See what survivors are left and we try to help them. Free them. Get rid of the terrorists. Do king stuff."
I nodded.
"Okay. Sounds good."
"And then we go our separate ways." he added.
"Right. Of course. What else can we do?" I said, mimicking him. "A fling by definition doesn't last, Dar."
He didn't answer me, just gestured in the general direction of the Complex. I was impressed he even knew where it was. Our attackers certainly hadn't had a clue. Maybe he knew more about nature than he was letting on.
We walked in silence for an hour, each of us lost in our thoughts. When we stopped for a rest, he sat down on the ground and spoke.
"You know now why I was pretending to be a commoner," he said. "Why did you pretend to be Susohnnan?"
"My boss made me," I said sitting down beside him but not touching. I figured just telling him straight out was the best policy.
"What? Your boss asked you to pretend to be Susohnnan and sleep with me?"
"No," I laughed. "He wanted me to pretend to be Susohnnan because he didn't trust you, we humans don't, you know — believe the Susohnnan — too much bad blood."
He gave me a look.
"He wanted me to nose around, listen to conversations, try and figure out what you were hiding. Sleeping with you was my idea."
Well, technically it was Dar's idea but I had gone along with it very, very willingly.
"Why didn't you tell us about the possible terrorist attack? Maybe we could have prepared," I said.
"I thought we could stop them. I hoped it would turn out to be a false alarm. It was a bad decision." He looked at me, his face full of regret over that decision. "Even kings make wrong decisions."
I smiled. He didn't look like a king to me. He appeared to be a man — okay, a Susohnnan male to be precise. Now that I thought about it, he just looked like Dar. A good guy. And one I would miss.
"You got dressed up. Your clothing was very convincing," he said, clearly remembering what had happened after he removed said clothing. "Did you just have sex with me to find out information?"
He was looking off into the forest, his face expressionless when he asked that question. My heart clenched a little when he asked. He did care. Even if it was only a little bit. It made me feel better that I hadn't just been an experiment for him. He hadn't exactly been just a fling for me either.
"The only information I found out by having sex with you, was that spot that makes you..."
"Kenna." He interrupted me before I could finish. "Did you?"
He really wanted to know.
"No. I slept with you because I wanted to. All three times. You didn't notice that I enjoyed it?" I said, then looked away. I couldn't help the blush that spread across my face.
"I noticed," he said, reaching out and playing with a stray curl that had escaped my braid. He tucked it behind my ear. I swallowed.
"We should keep moving," I said, pulling away from his hand and standing up. "And you do remember that you're the king of the Susohn, right? You've got to set a good example for your people."
He nodded, but I continued.
"How else will they learn to be elitist, stuck-up, supremacists?" I said, shrugging one shoulder. Then I pretended to be surprised and put my hand over my mouth. "Oops. Did I say that one out loud?"
He stood up, staring at me in consternation.
"Is that what you think we are?"
"Do you think you're better than humans?"
"Of course."
"Well, doesn't that mean that I'm right?" I said, turning and walking off. He didn't follow me and eventually I turned to see what the problem was. He was still staring at me, clearly upset.
"Hasn't anyone told you that before?" I called back. He didn't move.
"Come on, your highness. We've got to get back to the Complex before dark. We'll spend a much less pleasant night out here than last time if we have to sleep in wet clothes."
He didn't stir, looking completely aghast.
I walked back to him and took his good hand.
"I don't hold it against you, Dar," I said kissing his cheek and leading him in the direction we needed to go.
We walked in silence, but I could see him thinking.
DAR
For the second time today, I was shocked by Kenna's words. Shocked was an understatement.
I was outraged, stunned, and rocked to the core. I was calling into question everything I had believed to be true about myself.
On Susohn, just as on all the other planets, we have people of different colors. Our culture has always celebrated the differences, and I have scorned humans many times when hearing about their prejudice and racism.
I was completely unaware of my surroundings as my brain tried to understand how wrong I had been about myself. Because I had been doing the same thing: I had been prejudiced against humans all these years, and I had never seen it.
In a haze, I felt Kenna come back and take my hand, pulling me on — her words didn't register, though. The rest of the trip back to the Complex seemed to pass quickly because I was still in a state of shock. When we neared the edge of the woods, Kenna stopped and looked at me.
"Dar," she said forcefully, taking my chin in her hands and making me look at her. "Snap out of it. We're almost there. I need you functioning."
I sat down on the ground.
"Say something. Anything. What's going on?" she said, sitting down beside me.
I thought for a long moment before I spoke.
"I am not the person I thought I was," I said finally.
She studied me.
"You're still worried about what I said? I'm sorry. It was rude..."
"But true."
"Okay, well, I'm glad you admit it. But look. We have to see if we can help those people, Dar. Who knows what the terrorists are doing to them? Can you wake up now? There'll be time for you to think about all that stuff later."
I shook my head. She was right. Again.
"Okay, I'm ready," I said, trying to bring back my focus.
"Good," she said, getting to her feet. "I hope kings know how to sneak around."
We got to the forest's edge and surveyed what we could see of the Complex. It looked terrible. There had clearly been several other explosions, other than the two we had experienced firsthand. The terrorists had nearly destroyed the building. Windows were blown out. There was a large hole in the wall, and I could see into one of the rooms.
Many of the gardens had been trampled and wrecked.
"Dar, I can see some tomatoes and cucumbers that still look good," Kenna said. The night was falling, and shadows were beginning to steal across the field. The area seemed safe enough.
"I'm going to grab us some food and be right back," Kenna said, darting quickly out of cover before I could stop her. I watched as she filled her arms with some vegetables and ran back.
"Kenna," I said, feeling furious. "You could have been seen."
"I know, but we're starving. It won't do us any good to try and storm the castle on an empty stomach."
"Storm the castle?" I said, confused.
"Never mind. Here." She handed me a long, green vegetable and a little red spherical one, as well.
"What's this?"
"Tomatoes and cucumbers. Try them, they're really good."
We ate quickly, and I did feel better by the time I finished — my mind more clear and alert. We didn't have much of a plan. We were just going to creep around and try to figure out what was going on.
We made a complete circle of the Complex, seeing only a few of the AEA men. Then we went to the launch pad. There were eight spacecraft parked there — two of them ready for launch and stocked with supplies.
We circled back. As night fell, it was getting hard to see.
"We need to go inside," Kenna said. "We can't find anything out just skulking around out here."
"Yes, you're right. But what if we're recognized?"
"We need some of those uniforms the terrorists wear," she said.
I looked at her.
"What? That's what they always do in the movies."
Ten minutes later, we had tackled a pair of the terrorists and knocked them out. Dressed in their navy blue uniforms, with the caps pulled down low on our foreheads, we made our way into the rubble of the building.
There weren't that many of the AEA around, and none of them bothered us. I wondered if Mackeye had been planning to negotiate after all and had changed his plans at the last minute. The people we had seen did not seem like an invasion-sized force.
We found the prisoners. They had locked them in an atrium that ran from the ground floor to the top floor in the center of the building. At the upper part of the Complex, there was a spot where you could look down into the plant-filled space. When we looked down into the atrium, we saw various humans and Susohnnan that we recognized. But from our count, their numbers had been vastly reduced.
"They must have been killing them off," Kenna said, her eyes worried. She was probably thinking about her friends and co-workers.
I nodded. From what I knew of the AEA, the terrorists didn't have much compassion for their prisoners.
"What can we do?" she said.
"There's too many of them to get into those eight spacecraft, and only two are ready for launch. We'll have to escape and bring back help."
"Okay," she said nodding.
We walked over to the elevator chutes. Humans designed this building with chutes that held only one person. Kenna said they were fast, and you didn't have to wait like in a traditional elevator while everyone got where they were going. You just got in and dropped to whatever floor your were going to and then got out. There were ten of them lined up against this part of the hall.
The explosions had disabled all but one. We were going to have to take turns. I climbed in.
"Shouldn't I go first?" she said.
"Why? I want to make sure it's safe," I said.
I was the male, of course I went into danger first.
"But you're the king. You're important. You can't die."
"Kenna. I am the male. I need to make sure it is safe for the female."
She rolled her eyes.
"Okay."
Just then we heard a group of men entering the hall at the far end. We were on a viewing platform, and there were only two exits. The way that they were coming from, and the elevator chutes. We looked at each other. There was only one chute.
All of sudden, I realized we had been operating under the illusion of safety. There were men coming down the hall right now that would rather kill us than look at us. We had no war on my planet and Earth was peaceful now, too, from all accounts. But these people had somehow missed the memo that violence wasn't the way. The only reason they hadn't shot Kenna right away in the forest was because she might be useful to them.
Now she had no value. Except that she was beautiful, and they would want to rape her before they killed her, which was possibly even worse than just shooting her outright.
"Shit," I said, trying to get out of the chute. "You go first. Hurry."
She shook her head, pushing on my chest and preventing me from getting out.
"No way, Dar. They can't catch you. You go first."
Her eyes were full of fear, but I could see resolve in them as well.
"Kenna," I said. The noises were getting closer. "They'll capture you."
"I'm just a nobody. A human. Dar, it doesn't matter if they catch me. You have responsibilities. You are way too important."
One of the men said something and the others laughed. My eyes darted to where the terrorists would appear at any moment.
"I can't leave you here. It wouldn't be right," I said.
"You can leave me, and you have to. Right now. I'll be okay. You go. Get to the spacecraft. Get away. You can send back help. I'm trusting you."
I frowned. It couldn't be right to leave her. But it wouldn't be right to get caught either. I did have responsibilities — huge ones.
"Just go, Dar," she said, a little desperately as we heard the men's boots on the tiles.
I pulled her to me and kissed her. It was brief but scorching hot. She pulled away a second later and hit the button to close the door. As I zipped downward, I heard a man's voice.
"Hey, what are you doing up here?"
Kenna's voice came back sounding seductive.
"Waiting for you boys."
Did I really just do that?
I put my head in my hands as the chute whizzed down to the main floor.
I got out, looked around to make sure the coast was clear and ran for the nearest exit — no longer assuming that I was somehow safe from these ruthless people.
How had I got into this mess? I had been trying to fix things, and now everything was worse off than before and innocent lives were being risked AGAIN. If anything happened to Kenna, I would never forgive myself.
I ducked outside and flattened myself against the wall. There weren't very many of them around. I began to believe that Mackeye had intended to negotiate after all. I headed across the field, planning to use the forest as cover to get to the launch pad as I had done before.
Shouts rang out before I was all the way across and I looked back to see two terrorists chasing me.
I hoped Kenna's sacrifice would not be in vain, but they caught me and tackled me. I jumped to my feet in a fighting stance. Although there is no violence on my planet, we are well aware that other planets have no such guarantees. All Susohnnan learn basic self-defense and princes are well trained in combat with our hands and our weapons. We hope never to have to use them, but it is important to know how to defend oneself, just in case.
I had never fought anyone in a battle situation before, but I hoped it would be like sparring practice. The first man came at me with a big punch I could see coming a mile away. I avoided it and while he was off balance, slammed my fist into his head with all my force. He crumpled.
I stared for a moment, unable to believe I had knocked someone unconscious. Then I whirled just in time to face my other assailant. He moved more carefully, coming at me slowly. I waited, my entire focus on his next move.
His hand shot out towards my head, and I blocked. Unfortunately, he hadn't meant to land the punch but to force me to lift my arms, leaving my ribs exposed. He delivered a vicious roundhouse kick that broke a bone or two.
Fuck. No one had ever hurt me before. It was excruciatingly painful. And I found that the fact that he had hurt me made me furious. I tried to remain calm, knowing that becoming angry could give my opponent the advantage, but it was a losing battle.
I came at him, fists flying. I spun around, and the top of my foot slammed into his ribs. He bent over a little. I gave him no time to recover. If those men were hurting Kenna like they had hurt me, I would kill them. I would kill them all. I delivered two quick jabs to the face while his guard was down, then danced back as he gave two spinning kicks that nearly took my head off.
He was good, but I was angry and desperate. He was coming at me with punch after punch and kick after kick. I blocked but couldn't get in a punch of my own. Then he came too close, and I stepped on his foot, hard. He leaned over, and I took a chance, delivering a brutal uppercut to his chin that knocked his head back. He landed on the ground and didn't get up.
I blinked. I couldn't believe I had just done that.
Then I took off running for the forest. I ran as hard as I could trying to escape my demons, and the AEA themselves — the terrorists were easier to outrun. When I came to the part of the woods that ran along the launch pad, I slowed down and checked it out. Two guards. I guessed Mackeye had spread his men thin, which was good for me.
I snuck up on them in the darkness and took them both out in about a minute. They never knew what hit them.
Quickly I found the spacecraft that were ready for take-off. I opened one and climbed in, looking at the controls. It looked like something I would be able to fly. I went through the checklist, trying not to think about Kenna.
Finally everything was ready, and I strapped myself in. I initiated the launch sequence, and the computer began counting down to ignition.
"Ignition in 20, 19, 18…" the digital voice said.
I'm going to send back help. I'm going to send back help. I'm going to send back help. It would have to be enough. But what if the rescue didn't get here in time?
I couldn't think of anything but Kenna's face.
I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her.
"10, 9, 8, 7…"
I NEEDED to make sure that nothing happened to her.
"4, 3…"
That's when the realization hit me. There was no way I was going to leave without her. I hit the abort button, and the computer stopped counting down.
I had to go back to her because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't.
KENNA
"Hey, what are you doing up here?" one of the men demanded, pointing his gun at me. I had no idea what to say, so I said the only thing that popped into my head.
"Waiting for you boys."
Did I sound sultry, or terrified? It wasn't the best choice of words, but I hoped it would keep him from shooting me on the spot.
They blinked and looked at each other. Then one of them grinned.
"Did Mackeye send you?" He looked at the other men. "Remember he said he had a whore for us?" The others nodded, and I swallowed.
Now what? How was I going to get out of this?
He stepped closer and pulled me against him. He was hard, and I supposed I was about to be gang raped. Should I run? Should I fight? Could I get one of their guns?
I began to struggle.
"Hold her for me, boys. Oh, she looks soft. I'm going to enjoy this."
I tried to run, but they all grabbed me. One held me against him, two held my arms, and two spread my legs. The one who was going to rape me first began unzipping my navy terrorist coveralls from the bottom of my leg.
Their uniforms had a weird design with a zipper that went all the way around from one leg to the other. It had been chafing me since we had stolen them from the guards. When he had unzipped enough to see I was only wearing panties underneath, he hooted.
At that moment, the man's communications went off. I guessed that after getting lost in the bush, Mackeye had decided that it would be prudent to turn communications back on. The man took his hand away from my pants to answer. He hit speaker, and we all heard the voice.
"Attention. We have spotted Shu'in. He's on the run and heading for the launch pad. All men except those guarding the prisoners are to move to intercept him immediately. I repeat..." the voice said it again. I hoped that Dar had made it to the spacecraft and was taking off right now before everyone moved to capture him.
The man who had spoken first stood up.
"Throw her in with the others. Our fun will have to wait."
Oh, thank God and The Three and whatever other deities were watching over me.
Five of them ran for the stairs. The other one shoved me roughly in the same direction.
"Let's go," he said.
I could see that his pants were still tented, and he seemed awfully irritated because he pushed me again.
"Hurry up," he said to me. Then continued muttering to himself. "Fucking Shu'in. Had to interrupt just when I was going to get some."
We got to the stairs, and I thought hard as we descended, trying to figure out a way to get away from him before he locked me up. I was no good to anyone as a prisoner. I could push him down the stairs...but not if I was walking in front of him.
I turned around on the next landing.
"What are you doing? Get going," he said.
I moved closer to him, putting my hand on his bulge.
"What...what are you doing?" he said in an entirely different tone of voice.
"Doesn't seem like we should have to miss out on the fun, just because they do," I said, trying to make my voice husky or something.
It seemed to be working because he swallowed audibly.
"Come here," I said, backing up and turning so that he had his back to the stairs.
I took his hand and put it to my breast.
"Fuck, that feels so good," he said, closing his eyes and squeezing.
What an asshole. I gave him the biggest push I could, and it sent him rolling down the stairs. I didn't stop to watch but took off running as fast as I could up the stairs. When I got to the top, I listened and could hear groaning but no movement.
I ran hard for the chute and soon I was on the main floor. I made for the door as fast as I could. As I pushed it open, I ran smack into someone entering from the other direction. He was a terrorist from what I could see on his chest because he was wearing the same uniform as me.
God fucking damn it. I had not escaped so that they could capture me again!
I slammed my fist into his stomach.
He groaned in pain, bent over. And that's when I looked at his face for the first time.
It was Dar.
DAR
I gasped because she had hit my injured ribs.
"Dar!"
"Come on. We have to get out of here."
I pulled her towards the forest.
"No, not that way. They know we went that way before. I just thought of something."
I followed her as she tore around the building, her long braid flying out behind her, to what looked like an airplane hanger. We entered through the smaller unlocked door.
"We haven't used these much. They're for going to the other forests that are quite far away."
She pulled off the cover to reveal a red ATV. I couldn't help it. I grabbed her and kissed her hard. She kissed me back but then pushed me away.
"Not now, Dar," she said, but she was grinning.
"Do they have fuel?"
"Electric," she said, getting on. "Let's go."
There was a small remote attached to the vehicle, and she pressed the button on it. The large door began to open.
"Old tech," she said. "We didn't get to bring the fancy stuff."
She drove as fast as she could in the dark all the way to the launch pad. The ATV's headlight illuminated the path in front of us.
"I've got a ship ready to go," I said, then pointed. "That one."
There were terrorists swarming everywhere in the dark. But the spotlight they had erected couldn't light up all of the launch pad at the same time. It was nighttime, and the terrorists found it difficult to distinguish us because our clothing looked like theirs.
"We have to chance it. Come on. Let's try to blend in."
We walked quickly towards the spacecraft, looking like we had urgent business. When we got to the door of the ship, I opened it. Almost there.
"Who are you?" one of the men said.
I stayed in the shadows, and I kept my cap low over my eyes.
"I was told to search the ship. Mackeye's orders. Do you have a problem? Take it up with him."
"No, no problem," the man said, looking nervous and moving away from us. I hoped the punishment for disrupting orders from Mackeye was particularly brutal.
We climbed aboard.
"Strap in. Quickly," I said, fastening my seat belts. I glanced at Kenna to confirm that she was secure and hit the launch button again. It started counting again from where it had left off.
"3, 2, 1...Ignition."
The spacecraft shuddered, and I frowned as I heard bullets hitting the outside. I prayed to The Three that they wouldn't hit anything important. The outside of the spacecraft was probably a titanium alloy, but their bullets might be tougher.
The ship hit the atmosphere and in a few seconds we were in space. I looked over at Kenna, and we stared at each other for a long moment.
"Holy shit," she said.
I nodded.
"I know. But now we're safe."
I activated artificial gravity on the ship and undid my straps. I stood up. Kenna was getting out of her seat too. She pressed her lips together, and I saw that she had tears in her eyes.
I sighed and folded her into my arms.
"It's over. It's over," I said, rubbing her back. She wept for a moment on my shoulder. "Did they...harm you, Kenna?" I said, fear in my heart. She shook her head.
"No, they were going to but then they got an order for everyone to go find you, and they stopped. I don't know why I'm crying," she said. "We got away. They didn't hurt us."
I didn't tell her about my cracked ribs, she'd just want to fix me up. And I could work through the pain. My hand was aching too, but I ignored it as well.
"Were you afraid?"
"Not then. Well, not much. I didn't have time to be. But I am now."
She was shaking.
"Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?" I said, not knowing what to do. I studied her. She looked as exhausted as I felt. We had been up for nearly twenty hours.
"No. I'm just exhausted," she said, her eyes filling with tears again. I felt helpless to do anything about her fear. But I could do something about her exhaustion.
"Come," I said. We found the quarters. There were four rooms. I picked one at random. In the drawers were clean, new, standard issue clothing. We each took a set of sleepwear in our size and went to the bathroom.
After a shower and a change of clothes, I felt almost Susohnnan again. When I went back to the room I had left her in, she was sitting on the bed in her pajamas brushing out her waist length hair. My heart twisted. She was beautiful.
"You had a shower?" I said, not knowing what to say to her.
"Mm, hm."
"Well, goodnight then. I'm going to set my alarm for a couple of hours and get up then and reset this shuttle's course. They preprogrammed the destination, and I'll have to rewrite some of the code. But I think I need some sleep first."
"Okay." She put the brush down and bit her lip, not looking at me.
"Kenna?" I said. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm all right," she said but her voice sounded funny. I walked over to where she sat on the edge of the bed and squatted down. Her eyes were full of tears.
"You're not all right," I said softly.
"I'm fine." She nodded. "I'm quite fine. I'll be okay. You go. Get some rest."
She kept nodding as if she were trying to convince herself that the words she had spoken were correct.
"Do you want me to stay here?"
"No. No. You don't need to do that. We're not anything. You don't have to do anything, Dar. Honest, I'll be okay. I'm used to being on my own."
Her shaking breath belied her words. My upbringing had taught me to do one thing, but I wanted to do something else.
In school, my instructors taught that there ought to be no interaction between Susohnnan and humans. They were inferior, primitive, and to be avoided. We certainly didn't have sex with them, though I hadn't known she was human when I slept with her.
My upbringing told me to walk out of here, leaving her to cry alone.
But my conscience was telling me something else. It was telling me that Kenna had shown me a side of humans that I hadn't known existed — a side that showed that humans could be as noble as Susohnnan. That was something new I hadn't expected.
I couldn't have a long-term relationship with her, but that didn't mean she had to cry alone. Something inside me was telling me it wouldn't be okay to leave her with her fear. Her admission that being by herself was a familiar situation made her sound lonelier, not tougher.
"Come here," I said, taking her hand and helping her into the bed. I tucked her in gently.
"Thanks, Dar," she said. "Don't worry. I'll be okay."
I nodded.
"I know you will," I said, walking around to the other side of the bed and getting in. "Because I'm going to make sure of it."
"What?"
She was lying facing away from me, and I snuggled right up to her, wrapping my arms around her. She drew in a deep breath and then let it out again.
"Oh. Okay," she whispered, her voice sleepy. "If you want to."
"There's nothing I want more," I whispered back, drifting off to sleep immediately.
I woke up sometime later completely disoriented. I hardly remembered my name, never mind where I was and what I was doing there. It was so dark I couldn't see. But I could feel. And what I felt was a warm, soft body pressing against me. There was a female in my bed.
I felt more than half-asleep, but my hands knew what to do. My hand slid under her shirt and found her breast bare. I took it in my hand, feeling the weight of it and how the nipple puckered at my touch. I felt my erection get even harder.
My hands explored every bit of skin I could reach. I kissed her shoulder and neck. Then I dipped down into her pants — she wore nothing underneath, and I cupped her mound of curls. Yes, please.
Drawing in a deep breath, I slid my finger into her folds. She was wet and slippery. I felt her breath hitch and knew that she was awake now, but my hands didn't stop for a moment.
"Want me?" I murmured in her ear, awake enough to know I needed to ask.
"Yes," came her strangled response.
I pulled her pants down and then my own. Her full bottom pushed against my hardness. I needed to do this.
I found her opening and lined up the tip of my cock against it. I pressed more firmly and the resisting flesh split, allowing me to sink into her.
The female moaned, pushing back against me as I filled her, burying myself to the hilt. Her panting breaths, as I began to thrust, fueled my desire. My hand dropped to her clit and began rubbing lightly. I rocked into her faster and felt my orgasm start to build.
She goes first.
I held off my climax, keeping a steady pace of thrusting and rubbing the tight nub between her legs.
She thrashed against me.
"Yes," she muttered. "Yes, please, Dar."
Finally, I recognized the voice.
It was Kenna's.
I was making love to Kenna.
At that moment, shattered by her orgasm, she cried out my name, her muscles clenching around me. Her ass pushed back against me, taking me as deep as she could.
No.
I couldn't be doing this.
But it was too late. I stiffened and felt myself coming inside of her. The ecstasy washed over me, followed by intense guilt.
After a long moment, I spoke. I had to come clean.
"Kenna. This shouldn't have happened. I was half-asleep. That's my only excuse. I...I don't want to lead you on."
She turned towards me just as the room began to lighten. The lights were set to mimic the sun. I gazed into her eyes.
"I'm sorry," I said.
She leaned in and kissed me, hot and seductive, and my body leaped to life again. How could she have me wanting her again only minutes after having had her? She pulled back then, so she could see my eyes. Tilting her head, she smiled only a little sadly and said, "I'm not."
I got up out of bed quickly and went to the view screen, pulling the sheet with me to wrap around myself. I stared out at the stars feeling disgusted with myself. It was wrong what I had done. If I didn't want to be with Kenna, then I should stay away from her. If our relationship was impossible, then I should stop sleeping with her. She was not my toy.
As I looked into space to get my bearings, I felt disoriented. Something was wrong. I hit a button to see the stars on the other side.
No.
I switched views again.
No!
"Oh, fuck," I said.
"What's wrong?" Kenna said from the bed.
I turned around, and she was watching me, a concerned look on her face.
"These are not the right stars."
I ran my hands over my face.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't recognize these stars at all. That's what I mean."
"So?"
I tapped at my watch and waited impatiently for it to update.
"No," I moaned.
"What?" she said, getting apprehensive now.
"We've been asleep for fifteen hours."
"So what, Dar? What's going on? Please tell me. I've never been off Earth before I came to Dobu. I don't know anything about space travel."
I swallowed. I needed to tell her. I was ashamed that I had let this happen. But she deserved the truth.
"Before I lay down with you last night, I forgot to set the alarm. I was going to reset the spacecraft's trajectory because it was pre-programmed, and I didn't know where it was going."
"Oh," her eyes were big.
"So, I didn't reprogram the coordinates and now..."
"Now...?" She waited.
"We're completely lost. I don't even know which quadrant we're in. I've never seen these constellations before."