by Terri Lane
“After this news appearance, we can turn in for some rest?” he asked. I studied his features and saw he had some bags under his eyes.
“You haven’t been sleeping?”
“Barely, I hardly do before a battle of this scale,” he admitted. My heart went out to him then and my hand creeped over to his before I could think twice about it. He laced his fingers with mine and we shared an intimate look for a few brief seconds.
“Would you move?” I asked suddenly. His brow wrinkled a bit in bemusement, then he realized what I meant.
“If I got to have you to myself, yes, I’d move,” he said readily. I was surprised, he didn’t hesitate.
“You’d leave everything? Your horses, your office? You’re the second most powerful man on your planet,” I said.
He chuckled and nodded his head, “Yes, I know. But what is all of that compared to lasting happiness?” he asked.
“You think you can have that with me? Even with everything I’ve put you through already?” I asked, frankly I was incredulous.
Waylen leveled his gaze on me and cupped my cheek in his hand. “You’ve been on this planet how many years without finding someone to spend your life with?” he asked. “And now, you ask me if I’d move for you…which means you see yourself with me.”
“It was just a question,” I backtracked. My heart was starting to speed up as I started to grow panicky. Knor’s face kept flashing in my mind. He’d already demonstrated he was willing to move for me and I could see myself being with him. But Waylen had a point…I took a deep breath and sighed.
“Why can’t you just…share,” I grumbled. That made him laugh, he tilted his head back and all.
“We’d kill each other. Or, I’d certainly kill him, I don’t share Aliya,” he said. His gaze was intense “This is difficult enough,” he added in a mumble.
“What would you do here? I thought you didn’t like Earth all that much?”
“I’d be a military coordinator. It’s the closest position here to what I do on Bagar-1,” he said simply.
“What if we got into a big fight?” I asked.
“I don’t foresee it, but if we did, then I would try to work through it,” he answered. I searched his expression for something, something other than the hopeful fervency in his voice and eyes. I wanted to kiss him and, reading my mind it seemed, he leaned across the seat and pressed his lips softly to mine. Warmth licked through me, along with his tongue against mine.
The sound of a car door opening and shutting snapped us out of our bubble. The car had stopped and we were parked outside of the news station. Not the best place to be kissing Waylen in front of.
“Let’s go,” he prompted. The station was all set up for us when we arrived, a couple of interviewers waited for us on the set, it was one of those characteristic news desks with a backdrop of the city behind it. A few producers came to greet us and ran through what would happen, the nature of the interviewers’ questions and whatnot. Before we stepped on set, I glanced at Waylen. He didn’t seem nervous, which was a bit of a booster for me. I never really liked doing live news interviews. But media attention came with my position in Nations United. Plus, the people really needed a boost, from what I’ve seen so far anyway.
“Ready?” Waylen asked, snapping me out of my short lapse.
“Oh, yeah. Didn’t mean to stare,” I chuckled. He smirked while gesturing to walk ahead of him. The interviewers seemed innocuous enough as we greeted and shook hands. Shelly was a beautiful African American woman with high cheekbones and full lips. Cole, a slightly plain well-built man. His caramel colored eyes were remarkable though and all I’d ever remember about the man.
“So, I’m sure the producers told you. But we’ll mostly be prompting you to continue speaking, instead of asking precise questions. We just want you to tell everyone that we’ll get through this relatively unscathed,” Shelly said.
“That’s why we’re here,” I told her. We got started within five minutes after all. I sat next to Waylen while bright lights were aimed at us, talked to the camera mostly about how we’d win the fight, and how certain we were that there’d be no other outcome. After the segment, we got hugs from nearly everyone in the building on our way out. I’d never seen Rob so antsy.
In the car ride back to the hotel, Waylen and I sat hand in hand. I realized I wouldn’t rather sit with anyone else in that moment.
***
I made Waylen sleep in his room overnight so that we could both get sleep for the day ahead. Come morning, I was woken up by an early phone call from Knor.
“Early,” I mumbled after picking up.
“There you are,” he replied. I peeked an eye open and glanced at the windows stamped into the side of the room. The sky was barely a baby blue.
“Where are you? I said in a barely awake voice.
“The Jersey-York base. I wish to see you before I’m too busy to spare a moment,” he said quietly.
“Can you leave the base?” I asked. He said that he couldn’t. “Well text me exactly how to get to you, I’ll be there in thirty,” I told him. We ended the call and I stayed in bed, briefly hesitating. If we had some heartfelt moment before the all-out battle with the Corsovians, how many implications would it have? Did I want those implications? I forced myself to roll out of bed and put off those tumultuous thoughts. I did want to see Knor.
Rob drove me to the residential buildings of the base and I followed Knor’s directions to one huge, glass skyscraper. Knor was standing in the lobby, just past the double doors. He looked amazing, as usual. His hair was perfectly combed back and slightly gelled, he was wearing blue pajama bottoms and a plain white undershirt. On his feet were grey socks.
“Missed me?” he asked. I hugged him around the waist and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders.
“I did,” I said truthfully. He kept an arm around my waist and I his, as we walked through the lobby to the elevators. It was early enough that we ended up in an elevator alone. As soon as the doors closed behind us, he cupped my cheek and pressed his lips to mine. He kissed me fervently, pressing me against the back elevator wall. When we felt the elevator suddenly stop, we pulled apart. The doors opened and a man stepped on. He didn’t even look at us, just stepped in and turned around.
Knor and I behaved until we reached his floor and stepped out. Then he put his lips on me again, kissing my neck and collar.
“Knor, I don’t know where I’m going,” I giggled. He sighed reluctantly, then looked in front of him and led us to his apartment. It was nice, for a military apartment. I guessed it was one of the perks of living in a city that had high standards for the style of buildings built within it.
“So, will you tell me exactly what your assignment is here?” I asked after glancing around his living room, kitchen, and dining room—all an open floor plan.
“It’s one of the safest, relatively. Waylen likes to keep the fight in the sky, so I’ll be on ground protection,” he said with a grin.
“So, you beat the system, huh?” I quipped. Knor grinned and shrugged. I wandered over to his breakfast bar, and sat on one of the tall chairs under it. “What if a couple ships manage to touch ground and you’re thrust into the middle of a firefight?” I asked.
“I’m trained for ground combat just as I am for space,” he assured me. Knor crossed the room to me, from near the front door, and took my hands in his. “Don’t worry about me, or else all I’ll do is think of you worrying,” he said in an intimate tone. He nipped at my neck playfully and tugged me down from the chair.
“Why’d you ask me here?” I questioned. “Really.” Knor’s brows drew together and he took a deep breath.
“Have you decided yet?” He looked at me with held breath and I held my own. I wasn’t ready to make the choice out loud and I didn’t want to affect his frame of mine going out into the fight.
“I haven’t. But please Knor, you better make it through this,” I ordered. He gave me an almost sad smile, his eyes melancho
ly, but determined.
“Oh, I will. I suppose I still want you to know that…I love you,” he said. My heart beat hard in my chest a few times. Then I quickly recovered and hid my shock. I wasn’t expecting him to say that at all. “You don’t have to say anything in return. I simply wanted you to know this,” he added. I bobbed my head in a nod then accepted his kiss. His lips stroked soft over mine for a few short seconds before he pulled away.
“Have you told anyone that before?” I had to ask.
“Other than close family? No, if I have then I was young and didn’t mean it,” he replied. I considered that and figured he wasn’t bluffing. He’d likely never had the urge to profess his love to women who likely threw themselves at him.
“Do you have stuff here to make breakfast?” I asked.
“Sure. You know, in all our time together, I don’t think we’ve ever eaten a meal we prepared ourselves,” he noted.
“Not together, no,” I agreed. We made omelets and cheesy hash browns, then sat at the breakfast bar to eat.
“I was thinking, after the fight here is over and my assignment is up. I can apply for a permanent position on the base, as a pilot of course. Then eventually commander,” he mused. I glanced away from him and took a bite of omelet.
“Nothing to say to that I see…” he mumbled. I didn’t feel like having the same exact conversation with him that I did Waylen. It just felt odd and wrong. The sun was starting to come up over the city anyway and with that came an anxiousness that burrowed right under my diaphragm.
“Where will you be posted?” I asked him.
“Around the main command building here,” he said, “where will you be during the fight?”
“On the base, I’m not sure which building exactly. But it’s either the command center or wherever I’m told to go,” I told him.
“Let me know when you find out for sure.”
“Of course,” I said. We finished breakfast quickly, because Knor had to report to his post. Before I left we shared one last kiss at the door, it was again soft and almost tentative.
Back at the hotel, I showered and changed into dark jeans, a blouse and blazer, along with nice flats. Waylen knocked on my door just after I got dressed. I welcomed him with a hug and felt some of my anxiety calm in seeing his confident smile.
“You’re due for a haircut,” I noted. His thick hair framed his face and was starting to hang in his blue tinted, dove grey eyes.
“I’ll see to it after our victory today,” he said.
“Don’t you have to head to the base soon?” I asked. He was dressed in his Bagarian High General uniform.
“I still have an hour before I must leave,” he told me. “Are you coming to the base as well?”
“I think so. I haven’t really looked at my phone yet, which is probably a bad idea,” I admitted. Waylen followed me to the small kitchenette where I left my phone. I did have two e-mails from the council. One advising all members to indeed report to the command center and the other a detailed report of what would take place once the sun set and our troops met the Corsovians.
“Yeah, I’ll be at the command center. Maybe we can leave together?” I asked him. Waylen nodded, then followed me into the room where I started packing up a small bag with necessities. I had a feeling I’d be in the command center for a couple days or more.
“Have you spoken to Knor at all?” he asked. I glanced at him, curious.
“You worried about your cousin?” I said, I couldn’t quite keep the hope out of my tone. Even though they both wanted me for themselves, I didn’t want them to hate each other. Waylen chuckled with barely any humor.
“Just asking,” he said.
“I saw him for a little bit early this morning. We had breakfast. He’s on command center protection duty. So, we’ll all be in one place,” I told him.
“Ah, did he get you to profess your love for him before he goes off into ‘battle?’” he asked. I couldn’t help my grin, I glanced at him over my shoulder and noted his expression was almost pouty.
“He told me he loved me,” I said, “and he did want to see if I’d chosen yet.” Waylen’s expression turned serious in a heartbeat.
“What did you—did you tell him that you love him too?” he asked through clenched teeth.
“Waylen, calm down,” I said, my tone reasoning. I turned to face him and he closed the few steps between us to pull me into his arms. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but was fighting himself, or debating it in his head.
“I told him I hadn’t decided yet…” I said in a low tone. Waylen’s chest deflated with a sigh of relief. Then he lowered his face into my hair and I rested my head against him.
“Does he make you happy? Being with him?” he questioned. I didn’t answer, mostly because if I did it’d be something he didn’t want to hear. “You can tell me,” he urged.
“Yes, I’m happy when I’m with him, but I’m happy with you too,” I told him.
“It’s good that you haven’t voiced your choice yet. Wouldn’t want him going into a fight thinking he has nothing to live for,” Waylen murmured. I grinned, laughing a little and hit him lightly on the chest.
“You’re bad,” I said.
“No, I’m good…for you,” he corrected. I rose to the tip of my toes and reached up to tug on his thick locks.
“If it gets long enough, I’ll be able to do this for a change,” I joked. He twirled a few strands of my hair around his finger, a fond smile on his face, then bent his head to kiss me. His free arm banded around my waist and he pulled me flush against his body. Even through his crisp uniform, I felt all the hard lines of him. His lips were soft, but insistent as he coaxed my lips apart and caressed my tongue with his.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and it sent a jolt through us both. “We should get going?” I said. Waylen reluctantly stepped away from me and I finished sliding my laptop into the tote I was packing. Waylen and I left the hotel, Rob driving us both, and reached the base within a half hour. The anxiety that hadn’t quite gone away, balled up again the closer we got to the command center. The building was at the center of the base and occupied a star shaped building made from durable metal paneling and one way glass that reflected everything outside. Rob parked in front of the building, but I wasn’t ready to get out yet.
“Can you give us a second Rob?” I asked before he got out of the car.
“Sure thing Miss,” he replied, then left Waylen and I alone.
“Are you ready?” Waylen asked. He studied my face and I glanced at him with an apologetic expression.
“I should be asking you that. It’s your troops going to fight, it’s you who’s doing the work of commanding them alongside our fighters,” I sighed.
“Yes, but I’ve been through many galactic defense wars before and I know what to expect. You have only imagination and movies to reflect on,” he noted.
“Right, yeah…I’m freaking out a little bit,” I admitted. Waylen tilted his head at me, one of his brows quirked.
“Weren’t you beside me yesterday telling the people of Earth that everything would be all right?” he asked.
“Yeah, then I woke up this morning and realized, ‘holy shit it’s actually happening’,” I said. Waylen chuckled, but he shook his head.
“Nothing is happening. We’re defeating the Corsovians today,” he said simply. A huge grin spread across my face and all I could do was nod.
* * *
Throughout the day, I kept sneaking out of the room the council had commandeered. Everyone was gathered at command mostly because we’d be the only mediums offering detailed and concrete information of what was going on when the fight started. We were close to the ones making the major strategy decisions, giving commands, receiving news from above, and so on. We weren’t state representatives anymore, we were reporters and pure military correspondents.
Waylen was busy double checking procedure with the other human generals in the next room over. I’d finally tracked K
nor down after a brief visit to the surveillance room. He was posted a few feet in front of the southeast entrance in an armored truck parked on the street. There were several dozen armored trucks parked in the city, around the base, and pretty much anywhere there was an army or rebel group even.
In the face of total destruction, it was incredible how quickly conflict was set aside to preserve the planet.
“Sneaking away again?” Knor asked. I’d just stepped outside to bother him…for the fourth time.
“Well nothing really has happened yet and Carlson keeps going into the central command room to get all the info. She won’t ‘let’ me help yet. I keep reminding her that we can split talking to the Canadian and American governments, but she likes all the attention or something,” I vented. Knor chuckled and leaned against the bumper of the truck. He was positioned with four other guys who were loosely circled around the truck, occasionally scanning for trouble that wasn’t due for a few more hours.
“You know, if you’re gonna keep coming out here Representative, at least bring us some snacks,” one of the other soldiers joked. I glanced over my shoulder to the left.
“Noted for next time Miles,” I said.
“Someone should anchor you in there,” Knor said.
“Am I distracting you?” I asked.
“You will if you keep coming out here and there are Corsovians in the sky,” Knor said.
“All right, sorry. This is the last time, seriously,” I said. Knor grinned and then gestured to the building.
“Aw! No snacks then?” Miles called after me as I walked towards the building. I tossed him an apologetic grin, then glanced at Knor one last time. He wasn’t watching me go, but was chuckling at Miles and said something I didn’t catch. I turned my head and made my way to the central command room. I stayed in the periphery and found an empty seat to watch the feed of the incoming Corsovians. It was displayed on one of the large screens at the head of the room. They didn’t look like stars anymore. I saw dozens upon dozens of enemy ships nearing a digitized blue perimeter that marked the entry point to our solar system. A few hundred miles behind the border waited an Earth and Bagarian fleet ready to shoot them into oblivion.