Chapter 6
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Kelen threw herself against the door, hoping to make it through the opening before it closed, but she was too late. Slamming her fist on the metal, she cried out to him, hoping there was the chance he could hear her.
“Kyber! Kyber, wait! We can work something out! I know we can work this out! Please! Don’t turn away! Talk to me, Kyber!” Her chest clogged up, her face became hot with building tears. Hitching a breath, she slapped the door again with her palm. “Talk to me,” she repeated in a softer voice. “Please. Come back to me.”
She waited, but she knew he wasn’t coming back. At least not to talk to her any further about them and their future together.
Returning to the rear of the cell, she sat and drew up her knees, wrapping her arms around them and bowing her head. She went over what Kyber had told her and realized he was wanting her to tell him she would stay with him. He wanted them to remain together. The only problem was, where would they spend their lives?
“I can’t stay on Seneecia,” she whispered, hiccupping. Wiping her face with her hands, she swiped the sleeve of her uniform under her nose. “If there was any way the Seneecians would allow a female crewmember on their ships, I’d readily stay. But then where would we be? You on your ship and me on mine? What kind of marriage can last under those conditions?
“But I can’t stay land-bound, either. I’ve spent years training to be a pilot. Being in space is in my blood. I can no more give it up than you could, Kyber. Why can’t you accept that? Why can’t you help me work out something that we both can be happy with?”
Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself. It had been apparent he’d declared their marriage over because he’d seen no solution to their problem. He’d declared it, but he’d hated every word coming out of his mouth. She gritted her teeth.
“It’s not over between us, my love. I didn’t give myself to you on a whim. We connected. We bonded. We found a place where we could be equals, despite our vast differences.” Sniffing, she wiped her eyes. “I’m not giving up on us. I’m not. I’m going to fight for us, even if you won’t. Damn hard-headed Seneecian.”
She tried not to cry, but the tears continued to leak from her eyes. She sniffed again and took a deep, cleansing breath. His last words to her continued to ring in her ears.
That is the problem, Kelen. I still do…and always will.
Always will.
“Then let’s fight for our right to be together, damn it! Don’t assume we have to follow the norms. That we have to do what they say just because they say so! We’ve defied traditions. We’ve defied all social norms. We were not meant to be, Kyber, but we are! And no one has the right to say that what we’ve done is wrong. Nobody!”
She found herself rocking forward and back in agitation. She needed to remain as calm as possible in order to think. If she allowed her emotions to take over, she knew she’d react impulsively, and she could lose this fight before it ever started.
I need to keep a level head. Go into emergency mode, Chambliss. Calm. Controlled. Keep focused. Steer toward your destination, regardless of impediments.
She curled her fingers into fists and took several more breaths when the door unexpectedly opened. A Seneecian warrior she didn’t recognize stood there with a packet. He tossed it to her without commenting, and the door closed before she had the chance to get to her feet or to say anything.
The packet landed on the floor beside her. Picking it up, she opened it to find several smaller packets inside. Two felt spongy in her hands. Two felt like they contained water. Tearing off the tip of the small nipple-like extension, she squeezed some of the contents into her mouth. It was water, as she’d suspected.
She drank until she emptied the bag. The rest she left for later. She had no idea when she’d be fed again, but at least the cramping in her stomach was assuaged for the moment. She could sleep now.
Sleep…and plan.
* * *
Kyber made it to the end of the rows of cells and out into the main passageway when he could go no farther. His legs gave way and he fell against the wall, sliding to the floor where his body refused to obey any further commands from his brain.
“Sir!” A pair of hands reached down to help him up, but he waved them away. He tried to rise, but he couldn’t move his feet. The hands reached for him again. Unable to defer the man’s offer, Kyber felt himself being lifted and half-dragged, half-carried further down the ship’s wide corridor.
They encountered another Seneecian warrior, who quickly took Kyber’s other side. They didn’t tell him where they were taking him, but they didn’t have to. Kyber knew he was showing all the signs of extreme battle fatigue. Of a man who had repeatedly pushed himself past exhaustion and past all endurance, to the point where his body was finally revolting by shutting down all muscular activity.
The two warriors ended up carrying him into the ship’s hospital. One took his hands and the other took his feet, and together they lifted him onto the first empty bed. Kyber laid there, barely cognizant as the transparent dome sealed over him, and the low hum of the computer examining him filled the space around him.
He felt totally paralyzed, yet he wasn’t alarmed. He’d known this might occur sooner or later. But he knew without a doubt that his meeting with Kelen had been the final assault to his stamina.
What about my desire? The space military is as important to me as it is for you.
He knew that without her telling him. In fact, he’d known before he’d presented his question to her that she would turn down his offer. And, truthfully, he understood her protest because he would have said the same thing had the tables been turned.
The scan completed. A readout of all his injuries, external and internal, appeared on the top of the dome for him to see. A strap snaked over one arm to hold it steady for a needle to be inserted into a vein. The same was done to his other arm. Seconds later, Kyber felt the drugs entering his bloodstream as a robotic hand started to work on the wound at his hip.
A face appeared above the dome over his face. Kyber blinked and tried to focus.
“Kleesod.”
“Do not fight it, Kyber,” the Seneecian told him. “Let them heal you.”
“Feed…Kelen. Feed…the p-prisoners.” There was no feeling left in his lips. Trying to form the words took too much effort.
Kleesod gave a nod. “I will see to it. You must rest now. Rest so that you will be strong enough to face the Triumvirate when we return.”
The man was right. He had to allow himself the time to rest and recover, so that when it was time to face the lawmakers, he could present himself as capable in mind and body. Weakness was not tolerated, and he’d already exposed a major weakness when he’d declared Kelen, a Terran, one of the enemy, as his Confirmed.
Kelen.
Kyber closed his eyes as a chemical lassitude took control.
Kelen.
Kyber, don’t tell me you don’t love me anymore. Please, for God’s sake, don’t tell me you no longer love me!
I will never stop loving you, my one. But you and I both knew that the moment we left that half world, any life we had hoped to share together would no longer exist.
His final thought as he succumbed was the vision of her tear-stained face before he turned his back on her.