Sister Katherine

by Tracy St. John

  Katherine raised her voice to be heard over the frightened exclamations of the aspirants. “Where was the last place anyone saw her?”

  “Imdiko Vadef carried her from the school,” Darci said, worried tears already creeping down her cheeks. “She kept whining she wanted Mr. Honey. He’s back in her sleeping cell.”

  Katherine’s heart stuttered to think of Marci all alone with Tragooms somewhere in the convent. Somehow she managed to keep her voice steady.

  “All right, the rest of you go ahead and start. I’ll go out and tell Simdow and Miv they need to get Marci.”

  Blaster fire exploded outside. The nuns and aspirants screamed as the sounds of battle erupted behind the chapel. Katherine screamed with them and then yelled to the sisters. “Get them safe now!”

  The nuns recovered and began ushering the youngsters to the sacristy. Katherine ran back to the front of the chapel, away from the sounds of shooting and yelling. It sounded like a full-on war was going on outside.

  Katherine triggered the outer door and jumped to the side to keep from being shot. However, apparently none of the fighting was going on at the front of the chapel. She peered outside to see no one around. Everyone was at the back, fighting for the women and children’s lives.

  Katherine knew it was madness to go out there. From the ongoing sounds of pitched battle, she would be a complete fool to try to alert her clan that Marci had gone missing. Yet, she couldn’t bear the thought of her littlest girl out there all alone with death potentially only steps away.

  Katherine stared at the dorms across the walkway and two buildings up from the chapel. No Tragooms were out there that she could see. She could get to the aspirants’ wing in a matter of seconds if she ran as fast as she could go. She could get to Marci and they would hide in the ductwork in that building until the fighting ended.

  Katherine paused long enough to arm her blaster for firing. Then she took a deep breath and dashed for the dorm.

  * * * *

  Vadef crouched next to the chapel’s wall, his back to Miv and Simdow as they fired on the attacking Tragoom party. He’d been given the task of watching for any enemy that tried to flank the defenders and sneak up from behind. They used the chapel and the building next to it for cover as they tried to keep the raiders away from the children. When he saw a flash of movement where the pair of structures ended, he pointed his blaster with a yell ready at his lips. His cry choked off before he could utter it.

  Katherine?

  She ran past the narrow walkway, heading down the convent’s main concourse and disappearing from sight. This time Vadef got his voice to work.

  “Katherine! Simdow, she’s left the chapel!”

  Without waiting to see if his Dramok had heard him over the deafening blaster shots, Vadef went after his Matara.

  * * * *

  Katherine made it to the aspirants’ wing of the sleeping dorms. The instant she was in the corridor she called, “Marci! Marci, where are you?”

  The little girl emerged from her sleeping cell, clutching the worn and well-loved Mr. Honey in her grip. She began to cry as Katherine hurried towards her.

  “I’m sorry, Sister! I just couldn’t let those nasty old Tragooms take Mr. Honey.”

  Katherine reached her and hugged the little girl as tightly as Marci hugged her teddy bear. “Marci, thank God. You scared the life out of me! Don’t ever, ever do that to me again.”

  She let relief wash over her as she hugged the tiny girl. For a one second, Katherine simply held Marci, feeling the warm little body cuddle against hers, smelling the sweet scent of her youngest charge, along with the mustier odor of Mr. Honey.

  Then another odor reached Katherine’s nostrils, something noxious. It made her think of old and spoiled garbage left in the summer sun to rot. At the end of the hall, where the turn would take them into the nun’s wing, the sounds of thudding steps resounded.

  “What—?” Marci started.

  “Hush.” Instinctively, Katherine shoved the girl back into her cell and turned towards the end of the hall. She pointed her blaster that way as she backed towards Marci’s room.

  At the other end of the corridor, the door to the outside slid open. Katherine was startled to see her angry-looking clan charge in, but she put her finger to her lips in warning without hesitation. Immediately, the three men froze.

  Simdow, Miv, and Vadef all pointed their noses in the air, sniffing like wolves on the hunt. The sounds of heavy footsteps grew louder, and Katherine once more faced the other end of the hall and pointed her blaster.

  All at once the three men were at her side, pushing her into Marci’s cell. Vadef and Simdow also came in, with Miv coming just within the doorframe, watching the connecting hall carefully with his blaster at the ready.

  Simdow whispered to Katherine and Marci. “Both of you get into the vent system.”

  Before Katherine could move to the shaft’s covered opening, Miv started firing. Inhuman squeals ripped down the corridor and return blaster fire shivered the air outside the cell door.

  Katherine dropped her blaster and leapt onto Marci’s bed. She yanked with all her strength at the vent cover. It pulled free with a reluctant squeal that sounded eerily like the screaming Tragooms shooting at the snarling Miv.

  Letting the cover fall to the bed, Katherine leaned down and grabbed the sobbing Marci, pulling her to stand next to her and then boosting her up towards the duct. The little girl climbed inside, dragging Mr. Honey with her.

  “Get as far inside as you can!” Katherine told her. She grabbed the vent cover and slammed it back into place.

  Ignoring Marci’s terrified cries, Katherine turned in time to see Miv fall to the floor with a howl. The outer thigh of his formsuit was torn to rags, and within moments, red with blood. Rather than appearing pained, the Nobek looked pissed off. However, he was down and the Tragooms’ shots were getting closer.

  As Katherine jumped off the bed and scooped up her own firearm, Simdow leaned out of the cell, snagged Miv’s arm, and dragged him into the room. While he executed the rescue, Vadef provided cover fire. As soon as Simdow had Miv out of danger, he joined his Imdiko in shooting from the doorway.

  Miv wasn’t about to lay there and lick his wounds. He got on his feet and limped back to the doorway to join in the fray. He yelled to the other two, “They grazed me, that’s all.”

  Katherine stood back and watched them fire at their enemies. She knew nothing of armed battle and realized she had little time to learn. However, she noted how the three men leaned out of the doorway quickly, just far enough to aim and fire a few times. They then ducked back into the cell, avoiding the blaster shots meant for them. As the tallest, Miv stood nearly his full height on one side of the door with Simdow kneeling at his feet. Vadef hugged the other side of the door in front of them, his shorter stature keeping him out of Miv’s direct line of fire.

  Thinking she had a good idea of how to help without getting her men killed, Katherine got down low on the floor and crawled over to them, ending up between Vadef’s legs. Her clanmates had been so intent on fighting the Tragooms, they didn’t notice she hadn’t gotten into the shaft with Marci until that moment.

  Simdow yelled, “What are you doing?”

  Katherine readied her blaster. “I’m keeping these monsters off my girl.”

  Miv shouted, “Katherine, get in that shaft or I will wear your ass out with my strap if we live to tell about it!”

  Simdow’s attention was diverted from their Matara joining the fight. “They’re closing in!”

  The three men leaned out and released a deafening volley. A moment later, Katherine’s blaster joined the thunderous fire.

  As she shot, she stared at the invaders. Katherine had never seen a Tragoom in person, but she’d seen pictures. The still shots and vids had not done the alien monstrosities justice. With gray rock-like armored flesh, snouted faces, and yellowed tusks, they looked like the hideous progeny of pigs, rhinos, and elephants. Katherine ga
sped at their sheer size; even Miv looked like a pygmy compared to these walking boulders.

  She didn’t allow her horror at the swarm’s appearance to keep her from shooting. After a few seconds, Katherine realized she only wasted the blaster’s power. Her aim was awful, even with the Tragooms nearby.

  The continuous fire from her clanmates did do some good. The personal shielding the Tragooms employed began to fail from the nonstop bursts, and they were forced back to the junction at the end of the hall. Katherine got off a lucky shot that caught one Tragoom below the knee as it backed away. He went down with shrieking squeals and was still squalling when the clan ducked back into the cell.

  Simdow checked his blaster’s load. “Katherine?”

  She peered up at him, sure he was about to confiscate her weapon. “Yes?”

  “Aim higher next time. A lot higher.”

  “Okay.” If she lived through this, Katherine decided she would insist on shooting lessons.

  Vadef winced as the stricken Tragoom continued its earsplitting cries. “I wish that damned thing would shut up. We can’t hear the rest of them coming now.”

  Miv tensed and raised his blaster. “No, but I can smell them.”

  He was right. The horrific stench was getting worse again, giving Katherine the urge to gag. Did the loathsome things never wash?

  Simdow and Vadef readied themselves, and Katherine followed their lead. This time, she would aim higher and maybe offer some decent assistance.

  Miv nodded to them all. “Now.”

  The four of them leaned out of the doorway and fired in a tremendous volley. Katherine did her best to shoot at the wide torsos rumbling down the hall towards them. Her position close to the floor was awkward however. That the blaster had been made for bigger Kalquorian hands also impeded her, and it was heavy. She didn’t do much better than her first attempt, her best shots deflected off shielded groins.

  After five seconds that felt like a nightmarish eternity, Katherine ducked back to avoid being blasted herself. Her clanmates did as well. The air before the cell door wavered violently from the incoming shots.

  The sounds of firing thundered through Katherine’s ears, louder than ever. It sounded as if hundreds of blasters were going off, and the rumble of heavy feet running at them shook the floor. Katherine thought they were done for, and she looked to Simdow in agony, sure they were all about to die.

  However, his and Miv’s faces were split with savage smiles. “The others are here and coming from the other wing behind the bastards! We’ve got them boxed in!” the Dramok shouted.

  The men leaned out again and shot as fast as they could trigger the blasters. Realizing that the end had not come quite yet, Katherine also went back to shooting at the now confused Tragooms, who couldn’t seem to figure out which way to run. As the Kalquorians pushed the frantic aliens nearer to the cell, Katherine’s hands went numb from the vibration of the firing blaster.

  Perhaps the Tragooms were also God’s creatures, but they had threatened her girls. Katherine spared few thoughts of mercy as she shot.

  She had no idea if any of her blasts did much; the firing was too intense and the invading party fell in heaps along the hall. After a chaotic lifetime, the last Tragoom dropped. The colony’s Kalquorians filled the corridor, howling and screaming in animal triumph.

  It was over. Katherine celebrated by collapsing facedown on the floor, her entire body turned to jelly.

  Strong hands grabbed her shoulders, turning her over and lifting her up. Vadef’s worried face filled her vision. “Are you all right, my Matara?”

  She leaned forward, her lips meeting his in a loud victory smack. “I am.”

  Katherine looked up to grin at the hovering Miv and Simdow. The pair blew out relieved breaths. Simdow then moved out of the cell to greet the approaching Besral. Miv limped out to join him, apparently in no hurry to have his injured leg treated.

  A tiny voice whimpered from overhead. “Can I come out now?”

  Vadef helped Katherine stand, and they went to the vent opening. The Imdiko pulled the covering off and lowered the little girl and Mr. Honey to the floor.

  As resilient as only a child could be, Marci’s first thought was not for the deadly battle they had managed to survive. Instead her nose wrinkled and she made a disgusted face.

  “It smells bad in here, Sister. I’ve never smelled nothing so nasty. Like trash and – and poop. It smells like when Darci ate a big bowl of chili and it made her sick so she sat on the toilet for almost an hour. For real! An hour!”

  Vadef started to laugh. He kept laughing until tears poured down his face and he had to sit on the bed. An equally overcome Katherine sat next to him, hugging the grimacing Marci close. After the danger they’d just faced, the little girl’s reaction was more hilarious than it should have been.

  It was good to laugh like that.

  Finished with whatever initial business he’d needed to get through and attracted by the laughter, Simdow came into the room and frowned at the lot of them. They fought to get control over themselves.

  When Vadef and Katherine managed to regain their composure the Dramok told them, “I sent Miv to the infirmary. Fortunately, the injury looks worse than it is. Vadef, let’s get to the office. Besral says the Tragooms outside of the chapel broke off their attack suddenly and ran off. We think maybe they got word their force in orbit wasn’t faring so well against our destroyers. Katherine, we’ll accompany you and Marci as far as the chapel. Wait with the rest for the all clear that the Tragooms did leave.”

  Katherine set Marci on her feet and rose next to Vadef. “We’re ready.”

  Simdow grabbed her, wrapping her in a strong hug and taking her lips in an equally strong kiss. She returned the embrace with interest.

  They parted to find Marci crowded close, her eyes narrowed. “You are married, right? To all three of them?”

  Katherine looked at the two present members of her clan. They smiled at her, love filling their expressions.

  She nodded. “In the eyes of God, yes I am married to them. Heart and soul.”

  Marci joined in the happy expressions. “Then it’s okay for you to kiss them like that.”

  Katherine laughed. She took Marci’s hand and led her out of the cell. Escorted by Vadef and Simdow, they left the dorm.

  Chapter 22

  Ten months later:

  Katherine stood on the convent’s playground, watching as 50 children of varying ages whooped it up under the watchful eyes of their minders. Europa’s other 750-plus children were elsewhere attending chores, doing homework, involved in special interest clubs, or being doted on in the nursery.

  The converted convent was rated for 1500 people, and between the foundlings and support staff, it crept closer to that number every week. The compound was beginning to get claustrophobic.

  Katherine ended her work day as she always did, enjoying seeing the orphans of Earth indulge in lightheartedness. As she stood there, muscled arms slipped about her rounded belly, hugging her close to the man who had approached from behind. Without looking, Katherine knew who embraced her. She smiled and leaned back against Simdow.

  He nuzzled the top of her head. “You shouldn’t be on your feet.”

  Katherine rolled her eyes. The way her clan fussed over her, one would think she had a life-threatening illness rather than being pregnant.

  She reminded him for the umpteenth time, “I’m only six months along. I’m not going to break.”

  The Dramok sighed. “The next few days are going to be hard and you’ll need your strength. Moving over a thousand people is no small matter, especially when most of them are children.”

  Katherine nodded. She looked around the convent a little sadly, taking in her home of nearly four years. It had changed greatly in the last months, with extra pre-fabricated dorms added and the fields increased. The utilitarian aspect it had held when it was only a small convent had disappeared for the most part. Kalquorians despised the too-angular lo
ok of how it had originally been laid out. On their own time when they were off duty, they had gone out of their way to take out concrete sidewalks for gravel paths and traded square patches of lawn for riotous growing foliage. Even the original white rectangle shoebox buildings had been altered with more organic additions. The colony looked alive and welcoming.

  Vadef joined Katherine and Simdow. The Imdiko took his wife’s hand. He too looked over the playground and gardens, his expression wistful. “I’ve been here only ten months, and I’m sad to go. I can’t imagine how it must be for you, my Matara.”

  She tried to look on the bright side of the equation. “It will be good to have the room though, especially with so many more children needing a place to stay.”

  Miv’s voice preceded him as he approached. “We always knew Europa would be temporary. The little ones need more room to run and play.”

  Katherine smiled up at him. “Here’s yet another change for you three. First you were part of the Empire’s fleet, then members of Kalquor’s ground forces. Now you’ll be reporting to the Galactic Council of Planets as administrative and security specialists on behalf of the orphans of Earth.”

  Vadef put on an exaggerated sad face. “I’m beginning to think no one wants me.”

  That sparked laughter among the other three. Miv snorted at the Imdiko. “It’s not that anyone is getting rid of you. Instead, they’re fighting to have you work for them.”

  “That’s a much better way to look at it,” Vadef agreed.

  Simdow kissed the top of Katherine’s head. “Shall we go inside? I really do want my Matara to rest while she can.”

  Katherine gave him a theatrical sigh. “Fine. Wait on me hand and foot because I am such a delicate creature.”

  Miv snorted. “This delicate creature is going to get a spanking if she’s not careful.”

  Katherine shushed him. “Not in front of the children or you’ll be the one getting the spanking.”

  They chuckled. Katherine let the men lead her to their sleeping quarters. They’d taken over the dining room’s former office as a sleeping space, due to the size of the room. There had been no point in even contemplating trying to make one of the tiny sleeping cells into a livable place to stay.