by Alma Nilsson
“I don’t think I can do it. I want to speak with John, I don’t know anything about pregnancy, and I don’t have access to a computer. I am scared,” she only had lied about being scared about being pregnant.
Siu nodded and brought John over. Siu did not leave them alone, though.
“Are you feeling dizzy again?” John asked for something legitimate to say.
“Yes, it was my daily walk to the shrine. I always go an hour before the midday meal, but today I felt like I was going to pass out on the way back.” What she was really saying was, ‘I am going to try to escape when I go to the shrine.’
“Maybe you should change the time, and you won’t feel so light-headed?”
Kara was pleased that they were easily talking with a hidden message about when to try and escape, “Tir asked me to go at that time, so I will continue to do so, I just wondered if this was normal?”
John put his hand on Kara’s arm, “Yes, your body will be changing a lot. Don’t stress.” John was trying to say, ‘Yes, I understand.’
Kara smiled and said she felt a bit better, got up, and walked back to Tir’s quarters before she missed lunch. As she walked into Tir’s quarters, Mux had just laid out her lunch. She sat down and ate with him, watching her as no one was allowed to eat alone. Apparently, it did not matter if only one person was eating, and Kara wondered if this meant that Mux missed lunch every day, she couldn’t meet John and she expected he did. “Why don’t you ever eat with me?”
“I am here to take care of you. I am not your equal.”
Kara sighed. She knew that was the answer before she asked and realized she did subconsciously to be reminded that these people were not her own and never would be. That she needed to focus on escape and not try to make excuses for them or justify staying.
Kara finished eating, and then Mux left. When she was sure, he was gone she logged into the guest account again on Tir’s computer and saw a message for her. It was from Captain Jackson of the Silverado. He wrote,
Captain, I never knew you were also a fan of the wild west. The next time we are in Tombstone, we should meet at the OK Corral. HJ
Kara looked at his message and screamed, “For the love of pandas, why did it have to be Captain Jackson, stupid wild west freak. What do you mean?” She tried desperately to remember what happened at the OK Corral. She could not remember, and if she searched for it, and someone noticed she would not be able to escape.
She closed the guest's services and sat on the sofa, trying to remember everything she could about the wild west. “Come on, Rainer, your father loved that stuff. Remember,” she whispered to herself. “Nothing is ever lost in mind. It only takes longer to retrieve it,” she said, trying to inspire herself to remember.
She lay on the sofa then. Her eyes closed, going through everything she knew about that time-period in human history. Then she remembered a name and said out loud, “Wyatt Earp was in Tombstone.” Then she thought to herself, but what did he do? Was there a rescue at the OK Corral? What can I respond back?
She lay on the sofa for an hour concentrating and then she jumped up, opened the guest computer and replied,
I hear that fight is something to see and takes place every two days at the same time, at about noon, but one should dress appropriately if entering from the actors’ entrance. It’s also rumored that Wyatt always fired a warning shot.
She sent it and hoped it made sense. The last battle would take place in two days. Kara knew the Silverado had cloaking technology, and the one thing that humans did better than any other species in the galaxy was stealth. The Silverado could get in and out during the battle. Humans had technology to get through force fields quickly, disruptions that would go unnoticed in a battle. Once the Silverado was in the vicinity, and alerted her, ‘with the warning shot,’ she would somehow get out of Tir’s quarters and get to the Silverado.
Kara quickly checked her messages one more time before Tir returned, and she was not disappointed.
It’s funny. You should say that. I have two friends that are actors in that reenactment. They say that they never use the actors’ entrance but always the spectators and are there are noon sharp, but it’s always confusing then with the spectators not quite realizing what is going on until the man who plays Doc Holiday says, ‘I’m your huckleberry,’ as late as 3 PM. I never heard that about a warning shot, but it sounds like him.
Kara thought to herself, Really, Captain? I don’t love the old west, and I hope that you mean you are coming through the main docking bay at noon during the battle which will hopefully have begun by then. Just then, Tir walked through the door, and she quickly closed the program. She could see on his face that he was trying to decide if he had just seen anything suspicious, so she took him off guard by saying to him in Alliance, “Welcome home husband.”
Tir was dumbstruck when Kara spoke to him in Alliance. He knew that is what she had used as she had an accent suddenly, and this was a set phrase that only existed in his language as one word. He recovered himself after a minute and then said the appropriate response, “I am home,” which was a set response which was also only one word.
Kara’s heart was beating so quickly, Had he seen the message? Did I distract him enough to forget? Was he going to take away everything from me and keep her in the brig now? She was watching him, waiting for a reply.
Tir knew he shouldn’t be that surprised that she learned to speak Alliance as well as read. Humans were known to waste their time doing things like this. He knew that she would never gain the kind of fluency she needed to steal a ship, even though, without a doubt, that was her intention. “You know you have an accent?”
She turned her translator off now so she would not be distracted by the English in her ear when she was trying to speak Alliance. “I know, but you can understand?”
He smiled at her. Her accent was adorable. He had never heard an alien speak Alliance, and now he wanted her to say lots of things. “I can understand you. Your accent is pleasing to listen to. What else can you say?”
“What do you want to hear? Maybe you can teach me how you would unlock an Alliance ship,” she smiled.
“You know you will never be good enough to fool the computer. If I gave you your own ship, we would have to reset everything for you. Our security technology outstrips most of the galaxy.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Not a chance. But tell me, how have you learned to speak? I am impressed.”
“The hieroglyphics program and the mirror in the bathroom,” she did not want to involve Sera in this. “Humans can turn their translators on and off at will.”
“Yes, the galaxy looks at you all and laughs about it. But I am not laughing now. I find this endearing even though I know you had ulterior motives.”
She did not want him thinking about how far her ulterior motives would go today so distracted him again, “As you can see,” she stood up so he could see the dress and her jewelry properly, “I am suitably dressed now according to Mux.”
“And to me,” he took in her full appearance, she was dressed still modestly, but as his equal. “I hope you like the jewelry?” He had never imagined that he would see a human wearing that jewelry when he bought it years before, but now it seems so natural.
“I have never seen anything these pieces of jewelry. It is all exquisitely made. I imagine an Alliance woman would have been able to appreciate much more than I can.” She was fishing because she wanted to know if she had bought anything for her specifically.
Tir went into the bedroom then and looked through all the boxes. He returned to the sitting area with a couple of boxes. He sat down across from her and handed her a small black box, “This I bought for you specifically. It is not small because I think so much less of you now, quite the contrary.”
Kara gently took the box from his hand and opened it up. Inside was a small but beautiful barrette.
“I know you don’t want to wear a lot of jewelry especially when you are alone so much, so I
thought, maybe you could wear this in your short hair,” he finished and thought, Gods, I am so inarticulate. She must think I am a complete amateur when it comes to our relationship.
Kara had never been given a piece of jewelry in her life. She was touched by his thoughtfulness and realization that what she wanted was not anything he had bought before knowing her. She looked up at him, “Thank you, Tir. It is lovely.” She took it out of the box, and he reached over and took it out of her hands and surprisingly put it in her hair. She was always amazed by his actions like this. She couldn’t’ help then to be reminded of the first time they were alone in his quarters, and he combed her hair. Alliance men, or at least Tir, seemed to have a thing for treating her like a doll and she never knew what to do when he did these things.
He opened the second box he had brought out then, and she knew these were the marriage bracelets. He took them out and held them in his hands so that she could see them. “Can you read these inscriptions?”
“Yes.”
“So, you know what these are?”
“Yes.”
“Good. We should put them on now. We will have to repeat the promises to each other again.”
Kara didn’t know why she was nervous all of a sudden. She was already married and pregnant.
He took her left wrist and put the bracelet on her and then he put his own on and said, “Kara of Earth,” he left off her surname as they were technically already married, “I pledge my life to you.”
She responded, “Tir Zu,” she knew he was surprised she knew his surname, “I pledge my life to you.” Kara jumped when the bracelets tightened automatically then, and she felt a pin prick in her left wrist. “What was that?”
“Just an initial activation to make them ours,” he turned her wrist and showed her where it said children, “there will be a number there after we have a child and it will continue to grow, I hope.”
She looked at him in disbelief, “And you all wear these things openly with your names and how many children and how long you have been married?”
“Yes, it is an honor to be married.”
She looked down at the bracelet now and wished her dress covered her wrists but now understood why it did not. She felt sick again and went into the bathroom but didn’t throw up, and she just hovered over the toilet wishing she could throw up. Then she got up and splashed some ice-cold water on her face. When she emerged, she said, “Frank from the Earth store sent a bottle of wine and chocolate. I need to eat and drink this now. We have so much to celebrate,” she said the last sentence sarcastically.
Tir followed her into the dining room and took the wine. “Not this.”
“How do you not know this is just as dangerous?” she asked, holding up the chocolate.
“Very little happens on this ship without my knowledge, especially anything about you.” He set the wine on a side table and poured them both some water and sat down. “This is a strange situation for us both, but Kara, this is destiny. We are meant to be together. The gods have blessed us. You will see.”
“I am so tired of you saying that. I am here against my will and now seriously married.”
“You were seriously married months ago too.”
“I guess being tagged like a dog with all of my personal information on my wrist makes it real.”
“You mean you can’t lie to yourself about it?”
“Yes,” she confessed.
He brought back the wine and poured her half a cup. “Relax. You are no one’s pet.” Tir looked at Kara and remembered Siu’s advice not to put extra stress on her, so he decided not to bring up the binding tattoos now.
“With all you Alliance men running around after me, I feel like it. I am used to taking care of myself. You won’t even allow me to walk to the shrine and back alone.”
“It is for your protection.”
“At least let me eat with John tomorrow. I hate Mux watching me eat knowing he misses his lunch because of me.”
“You can have the midday meal with John tomorrow,” Tir said against his better judgment. But he rationalized it with himself. She was pregnant now. She would not want to leave. He didn’t realize that humans saw fetuses as non-beings until they could survive by themselves and that escape was still very much on her mind.
The next day after visiting the shrine, Kara met John in the mess hall for the midday meal. Although the guards shadowed, the mess was louder with so many voices. They could not fully concentrate on her conversation with John.
“I was invited to the OK Corral,” she said out of the blue, “by the captain of the Silverado.”
“It is unfortunate you can’t go,” John said after a couple of seconds trying to figure out what she was talking about or if she had completely lost her mind. “Remind me again, what time does that start? At night?”
“Before lunch tomorrow. At the same time, I usually go to the shrine to thank the gods for the child.”
“Ah,” he said as if this was the most boring thing in the world. “I expect I will be very busy in sickbay then, we are going into battle, probably in the morning. Siu has said to expect the worst as the Jahay will see this as a last-ditch effort.”
“Yes,” she agreed, and then they held each other’s eyes. She knew he would not be able to join her. He was not followed by guards, but he would also be killed on sight if he was caught trying to escape. She, as the Admiral’s wife, would always have to be taken alive, or so she assumed.
“I am sure you are learning a lot that will help humanity when you return.”
“Yes,” he agreed and then said, “You should think twice about going to the shrine so much now that you are married and with child, Captain.”
She dismissed his warning with a stern look, and then they said their goodbyes which would hopefully be a goodbye for quite some time.
That night Tir did not come back to his quarters until very late. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes, just last-minute changes for tomorrow.”
Tir got into bed, pulled her close to him and then reached his hands down, and pulled off her stockings without saying anything.
She became immediately aroused by his hands on her legs and cuddled closer to him.
He then put his hand on her hip though to keep her at an acceptable distance, “I just need to sleep now.” Tir was asleep in minutes.
Kara’s mind was racing from his words, What if the plans have changed so much the Silverado can’t rescue me? She told herself that no matter what happened she needed to get to the docking bay by noon and she willed herself to sleep, and she had a small thought she tried to stamp out, but couldn’t that said, And revel in these last moments next to him in the silence, because you will miss this.
The next day the battle was vicious. The Refa was hit a couple times, and the ship rocked with the impacts. Everyone was at their stations, and she was left with one guard. She still went to the shrine as she always did. She only wore her barrette and marriage bracelet though, as she did not want to be encumbered by all the other jewelry. She also wore three pairs of stockings under her dress. She was not leaving without those. When she walked out of the shrine the Refa was hit again, and this time the lights went out momentarily, Kara did not wait, she ran as fast as she could away from her guard. There was so much confusion that she had lost him in no time, then she began running towards the docking bay. It was so obvious that this is where she would go, she knew the guard would sound the alarm, and this would be the first place they looked, but it was also the place that she was supposed to be rescued from. She was running through corridors, trying to remember the way, but just as she saw the main doors, she was hit over the head by someone from behind her and crumpled to the floor with feet all around her.
Kara awoke in complete darkness. Her head hurt. She touched her head and winced. She could feel dried blood there. She tried to feel where she was, but she just felt cold metal. Great, she thought, I am in a transport storage unit. She wondered if she should s
cream for help or if it was better to remain quiet and see if she could somehow figure out a way out of the box, in complete darkness without a weapon or tool. She decided to try the latter first. Her fingers traced every inch of the box, and she could not find anything that felt like a latch. She sat back and thought, You were right, Tir. The ship is not safe, and now I have been abducted by your enemies instead of my people. Suddenly Kara felt very tired again and decided just to sleep. Soon she would either die or be let out of the container she reasoned.
When she woke up next, she was in a bed, and when she sat up and looked around the room, she was surrounded by all the sights and sounds of everything human. It was all so overwhelming. She almost began to cry.
She immediately got out of bed, felt dizzy, but it was only a minute until she steadied herself, and then walked out the door to her room. She smiled that it just opened. It was unlocked; she was with her people and no longer a prisoner. She walked out into the ship’s hallway looking for someone, but it must have been in the middle of the night as there was no one there and the hallways were only dimly lit. She decided to go back into her room then and ask the computer. One thing that was certain, though, she had been rescued by her own people, and she was no longer a prisoner. Relief washed over her.
In her room, she brought up the ship’s general computer on the desk and found out that she was indeed aboard the Silverado, and the mission was classified. She apparently was not even cleared to see it, so she had no idea if she was the only one who had been rescued or if they were heading back to Earth or what. She got back into bed then and thought about everything that had happened in the last weeks and made her plans now that she was free. The next thing she was going to do was try to get her female crew home before any of them become pregnant.
She quietly apologized to the unborn baby inside of her, “I am so sorry,” her voice was barely a whisper, “I hope that if there is an afterlife like your father believes in, you will find it in your heart to forgive me for what I must do. I must protect humanity at all costs, even your little one.”