Chapter Seven
The Breakthrough
The next two days in the Krinar calendar were also work days. Sornan had his training schedule, intelligence briefings, dispute resolution, and a staff meeting. He also had an ongoing discussion with Larkon about something that involved Leslie. This was a full schedule but it also contained their MMA session, which had become sacred to them.
But never mind that. Something had changed. The wall of bitterness that Leslie hid behind had cracked and something had appeared beneath it, bright with hope, but so very fragile. MMA time would be given to another purpose tonight.
Sitting with Leslie in the Compound’s dining/meeting hall, hoping he was not about to ruin everything, Sornan said, “Leslie, there’s something I know, that I haven’t told you. It’s because I thought you could work through it with Mia. But after what you told me, I think now is the time to tell you. I know how you feel about Mia, but I think you should know, she did not betray the Resistance.”
Her eyes narrowed at that. “I thought you and I were being more honest with each other now.”
“I am being honest, Leslie. Let me tell you a story.
“When John first approached Mia about joining the Resistance, Mia told him that she couldn’t possibly spy on Korum. She said, ‘John, he’s thousands of years old—he can read me like an open book. I don’t stand a chance.’”
“How can you possibly know about what she said there, Sornan?” She looked like something had just occurred to her. She snarled, “Did she tell you about it?”
He smiled. “No, Leslie. Actually, I’ve listened to the recording Korum made of that conversation. I was helping to review the recordings that might be used in the trial of the KIETHS. I’ve seen all the recordings that involved her; Mia warning you and John that your meeting place was known to Korum; John giving Mia the ring, the data stripper the KIETHS made, to steal Korum’s weapons designs. Finally, you giving her the weapon that would have turned Korum into particles.
“The bottom line is, Korum was reading Mia like an open book. He knew what Mia was doing from the start. He let her find useful information to build up your confidence in her and then let her steal the phony weapons designs which caused your attack on the Centers to fail.”
Leslie gave him a disbelieving look. “So,” she said sarcastically, “if what you’re saying is true, if Korum was just using her, how come the bitch isn’t dead, you know, as opposed to, say, running off to Krina to marry Korum and chat with your Elders?”
He let out an exasperated sigh. Sornan said patiently, “She wouldn’t have been killed in any case, no more than the rest of you. But to answer your question, it’s because Korum didn’t get into a relationship with Mia because he had a plan to use her. He went after her because he wanted her. After Mia was approached by John, Korum could have warned Mia to stay away, but it was too much for Korum to pass up an opportunity to take down the Resistance when he saw one. He was in that relationship though because he wanted her. He came to love her, Leslie, just as she loves him.”
Leslie rolled her eyes at him. “That's so sweet I feel like I need to puke.”
He looked into her eyes and held them. “Leslie, Mia never betrayed you, was never your enemy, and now she sincerely wants to help you. Can’t you give her a chance?”
Leslie looked angry, as if she were on the verge of shouting at him, then she stopped. She looked as if she were about to cry, then, that too stopped.
Leslie hunched over the table staring blankly at the not quite wooden surface. Finally she looked into his face and nodded. She said in a small tremulous voice, “Can you be there too, Sornan? I really need a friend.”
“Of course.” He added to himself, I’m more than a friend Leslie…
On the morning of the following rest day, Leslie and Sornan walked together to her meeting with Mia. This time they were holding hands.
Mia was already there. The ship she had taken from Lenkarda was nearby, resting on the sandy, needle-covered ground of the hilltop. Mia had positioned a couple of floating planks for their meeting.
Leslie stood pensively, looking at the planks, then at Mia. Mia was a slender, petite, young woman; her small but nicely proportioned curves accentuated by the ivory and peach pastels of her backless, Krinar-style dress; her hair, a shower of dark curls, flowed halfway down her back, framing her pail face and large striking, blue-gray eyes. She wore her small shimmer stone wedding ring, flashing on her left hand.
“Um… Mia…” Leslie felt absurdly shy, actually calling her by name. “I’d like it if we could start over.”
Mia smiled cautiously. “Of course, Leslie. I would like that too.”
“Mia, there’s so much I want to tell you. Um… I’m really sorry about being such a bitch too. I understand now, you’ve never done anything to deserve it.”
Mia looked surprised, then pleased. “It’s alright Leslie, I’ve always understood why you felt the way you did.”
“Do you think it would be okay if Sornan could join us this time?”
Looking a little shocked, Mia replied, “He’s welcome Leslie but only if it's alright with you.”
“It is. He deserves to hear this too.”
Mia called her fabricator and created another floating plank beside the one she had already placed for Leslie.
When everyone was seated, Leslie began to talk. “Ever since I joined the Resistance I have been using what happened to my brother to fuel my anger, my hatred of the Ks and of people like you.
“You remember what I told you on Ormond Beach, how my brother was walking around the X club, begging Ks to bite him, until they killed him?”
“I remember,” Mia said softly, touching Leslie’s hand.
“After our meeting last time I told that story to Sornan. I rub that story really hard into any K who listens. It was his first time though. He looked really sad and really thoughtful.” Leslie began to cry. “Then he apologized to me. Like he was apologizing for himself and for all the Ks on Earth.
“And that was enough; somehow that was enough. I could move on from thinking about the fucked-up way my brother died, and I was glad. I was so damn glad. Mia, I can tell you, the way he died, that's the very last thing he would have ever wanted to be remembered for.
“On K-Day, when the whole planet was freaking out, thinking we were all going to die, Joe was excited. There was another intelligent species out there. He wanted to meet some of the Krinar. He wanted to tell them about himself and to understand their lives.
“Back then it was pretty hopeless for an ordinary guy, who wasn't high up in the government or something, to actually do that kind of thing. Even harder than it is today.
“That's what drew him to the X clubs. He understood that they were about sex between humans and Ks, but that really wasn't what he was going for, at least at first. He wanted to be a kind of ambassador between the ordinary people of both species.
“I wish he could have met you too Sornan. You guys could have been really good friends.
“Yeah, but then it happened. I understand that kind of sex is pretty amazing, and he started wanting more and more.”
“It is pretty amazing,” said Mia, “but it doesn't have to be harmful, or physically addictive, in any way, if you don't share your blood more than a couple of times a week it never becomes a physical addiction. It’s really sad, and careless of the Ks who ran that club, that your brother didn’t know that in time.
“I told Korum what you told me that time on Ormond Beach. He was very sad and angry about what happened.”
“He gave a fuck?” Leslie's face looked like it had gotten stuck in the middle, between surprise and disbelief.
"Yes Leslie," Mia smiled, “as Korum often tells me, he's really not the monster we've made him out to be.”
Leslie went on telling Mia about the K who brought Joe’s body to the police station and then left without telling the police anything about what happened. Sornan’s face was coldly furious as she did. She told her about the friendship clubs Joe had dreamed of starting.
As their session was coming to a close, Leslie found the courage to ask about what she feared the most. “Am I going to be rehabilitated? Do I have to be? I don't want to lose my memories. They are all I have left of my brother.”
Mia took her hand. “No, Leslie. You don't need to be rehabilitated. Over these four days, I think you've already done that for yourself. And even if you hadn’t, I can't imagine anyone being cruel enough to do it, given what you’ve said.
“I think there is something you can do though. Something that might help you and help the Ks as well. I would like to see you share your brother’s story in the Council Chamber in Lenkarda. Your brother's story is an inspiration. It’s something the Krinar society should know about and honor.”