“I can get a hotel. I want to go to Malazar before I leave,” Pela said.
“Nonsense! We’ve got plenty of food here to get you filled up! And drink! Look at you, worked to the bone! You can have Rachel’s bed. She just sits out here, looking at the stars all night anyway!” Momma Donark waved that away. The unapologetic woman grabbed the bag from Rachel and waved Pela forward.
“Uh,” Pela started.
“You’ll be safe. You have my word as a Vanguard.” Rachel smiled.
Pela didn’t fight. Right now she wanted to be cared for, but she didn’t want to break down here. She was touched as she hung her head.
Momma Donark squeezed her hand as they made it to the Donark house, a simple dwelling. Momma Donark hugged Pela.
Pela was shocked by the action and felt the numbness falling away a bit. “W-what was that for?”
“I’m Momma Donark—I know when someone needs a good hug.”
Pela bit her lip and her arms moved around Momma Donark. She buried her head in her shoulder. She was a strong but wiry woman, a woman who had lived through hardships, unlike her soft and fragile mother.
Momma Donark was right: sometimes you just needed a hug to make the world a bit nicer.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Fornau
Tricticus, Emarl System
12/3556
Pela had woken the next day in the strange house and with the family of Rachel Donark. It had taken her a while to drift off. She’d messaged Aileen and Ashaeed, with a brief note about what had happened and her decision for her future. The quietness of the room and the strange smells had kept her awake for a while, but she’d eventually realized she’d needed sleep, and sleep that came with nothing needed from her. This was something so different, so peaceful.
A knock at the door made her push herself up out of the warm bed cover. “You awake in there?” Rachael’s voice came through to her.
“Yes,” she said, “come in. It’s your room.”
Rachel slipped inside, her large frame only just getting through the door. “Sleep okay?”
Pela nodded as a couple of messages came through for her from her friends. “It’s okay. You can see what they are.”
Rachel moved around her room, picking up things that she obviously wanted.
Pela opened her messages. First were several from her family and those she didn’t want to speak with.
“Gondi,” she said, “get rid of them, and block all other incoming messages or comms. I am no longer part of their family and they need to learn this.”
Gondi acknowledged her and then did as she asked.
Pela looked to Aileen’s message first.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe it! Thank God you were saved, and by who... Man, I wish I could be there to meet her—she sounds amazing! Why don’t I meet you back in Crisidium? We can stay in a hotel, do some fun things before we leave. Message me back and let me know as soon as you can. My family will be fine with it.”
Pela smiled. Knowing at least that Aileen really cared was something else. In fact, Pela was overwhelmed at the genuine concern from everyone.
Gondi came back into her mind. “There were several sections interested in your applications, but I think the one closest to Aileen will be better for you.”
“Then I’ll take it,” she replied, not realizing she’d said it aloud.
“You’ll take what?” Rachel asked.
“Oh.” Pela laughed. “Sorry, I’ve been offered an opportunity at a mining station, near my friend. So, I’m going to take it.”
“That’s great news.” Rachel moved to sit in a chair opposite her. “Will you need to stay here for a few days? I don’t mind and Momma was really glad of someone younger to feed up yesterday.”
Pela let out a slight groan. The sheer wonderful nature of Rachel’s mother had her eating everything the older woman put in front of her, and that meant seconds of dessert too. Pela patted her stomach. “She gonna try to do that at breakfast?”
Rachel laughed. “You betcha.”
Pela slid out of bed and moved to grab her clothes. She noticed Rachel eyeing her, and felt suddenly conscious of it.
“You’re gonna be okay, right?” Rachel asked.
Pela slipped a shirt over her head, and then pulled on some trousers, fastening them even though they were slack against her waist. “Yeah, I am.”
Rachel moved to her wardrobe. “Here, there’s a lot in here that I’m never going to get to wear again. You want to take them with you?”
Pela stared into the rack of clothes. There were handmade items of stunning quality. “Where did you get these?”
“Momma, of course. She always wanted me to be a girly girl. But I never was. Used to drive her nuts, out playing with my brothers, getting into fights.”
Rachel plucked out a trouser and shirt set with beautiful glistening gems. “They’re not real, nothing is in here, but they were handmade for me.”
Pela took the garments and ran a hand over them. “They’re beautiful. I’d feel guilty taking them, though.”
“No, I’m not taking that as an answer. Just promise me one thing,” she said.
Pela raised an eyebrow at her.
“That you try to fit them better.”
Pela looked down at herself. “I’m under orders from the Victor Corp—and Gondi, my NIAI, is also on guard. I’m not letting my health or lack of nourishment have them kick me out.” Pela glanced at the bedroom door. “I can smell Momma’s cooking already. Bring it on.”
“Good. Then might I suggest you pick out the things you don’t want in your bag. Get rid of the past, the old you. And...” Rachel indicated the wardrobe. “Take a little from the Donarks.”
“Thank you.”
“Breakfast is ready! Come and get it!” Momma called.
“No need to thank me. Was nice to have you here for a night. Besides, I get the feeling that I’ll see you again, someday.”
“I’d like that,” Pela said.
***
Aileen had told her she would meet her at the shuttle station. That meant that she’d have to start to do many things for herself, like organize a shuttle off Tricticus, to her new home.
Gondi backed her up, and with a very full belly once more, she’d said good-bye to Rachel and the Donark family, getting the biggest hug off Momma again.
“You give me a call anytime, young lady,” Momma whispered in her ear.
Rachel had made sure she was on the train and not bothered by anyone. She would have taken her back to the city, but she wanted to spend some good quality time with her family and Pela could understand that.
“Just like Momma said, you need anything, you can comm me too.”
Pela looked into the eyes of that large woman. The very commanding nature of the legionnaire and fighter from the Vanguard just oozed not only that nature, but warmth and friendship.
“I don’t know what to say.... Really, thank you just doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to be enough.”
“Just be the best you can. No,” she said. “Do better. I know you can.”
Now with nothing but black ahead of her, and a huge station coming into view, excitement filled her veins. She was free, free of her family and with a future that was brighter than anything she’d thought she would have. And the city lights ahead also seemed that way.
Aileen waited for her at the exit. “Glad you made it.” She grinned. “Come on, I’ve got us booked in a little hotel not far from here. We can chill out, spend the day in their pool and spar, drink and eat all we want. Then you ship to the mining facilities.”
“You know where I’m going?” Pela asked.
“Of course. Gondi and I have been making sure we’re not far from each other, should be able to schedule something so we can see each other.”
Pela chided him, but also thanked him.
“I believe a young man you know also is going to be there.”
“Oh?” Pela asked.
“Goes
by the name of Lucus. He’s going to be working over with me, but he said he’d worked with you before. That you and he ‘hit it off’ back on where.”
Pela remembered him, but didn’t feel the same way. Still, her face flushed, and Aileen laughed. “I thought I’d never see it—you blushing over a boy.”
“I am not.”
“I think we’re all going to get along just fine,” Aileen said. “Do you know where you’ll actually be mining?”
Pela didn’t. “I asked Gondi to sort it all out for me, to make sure we were just near each other. I’m on one hell of an adventure, and I guess it starts as soon as I land.”
Aileen took her bags from her. “I thought you had nothing?”
“Oh, Rachel gave me a load of her clothes. Those her momma made.”
Aileen’s eyes lit up. “You’re joking—you’ve homemade clothes from the Donark family?”
“No, why?”
Aileen was trying to get the bag open.
“Hey,” Pela said. “At least wait till we get to the hotel!”
Aileen sighed. “Okay, but we’re heading out for dinner later—you have to let me try some of these on.”
Pela smiled. “Sure. I might even let you wear one.”
When Aileen’s face lit up, Pela’s insides did too. She was excited for her future more than anything now, and the next few days relaxing might be just what she needed. Then it was down to work; settling into a new job would open her eyes up all the more. It thrilled her.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Crisidium
Tricticus, Emarl System
12/3556
Touring some of the facilities was interesting for Ava, but she wanted to spend as much time with her family as she could. This was a job that they needed to be doing, but her mind was elsewhere. It was back with her siblings and the conversations she’d had with Mark, her mother, and her father.
Mark hadn’t said much to her after that night, but she knew that a conversation was going to happen. She’d let everything get to her, and the emotions she’d felt she wasn’t sure she could change.
The fact was, she couldn’t have children and looking down into the tiny bundles of joy that were Akai and Kail, she had thoughts she didn’t want to acknowledge. One she couldn’t change—her fate she chose already. Now all she wanted was something different for them. But with the way things were going, it was going to get a heck of a lot shittier than better. There were thoughts coming across from Mark about attacks on the system. They were preparing for it, though she didn’t want them to.
Now they were ready for anything and getting even more ready for it. As more and more ships—be it the larger EMF carriers that they were reclaiming and using or the hundreds of smaller ships—landed, it seemed that her home system was the place everyone wanted to be. That meant her mother and father’s home and even her decisions were being scrutinized by everyone. Of course, no one would ever voice anything, but there were little tiny bits of things coming across to her.
Ava hadn’t had much chance to talk to or see her brothers. She’d missed them just as much as her home. Now she’d learned of a few more truths, and she wanted to see Julieus and work things out for herself. These rumors weren’t true.
But, that meant some time away from Mark and the jobs she had going on here, and she couldn’t afford to do that. There was too much going on.
Now, though, all she wanted was to take a shower, relax, and do something normal.
Mark tugged her to him, his eyes glinting. “What the hell’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Enough,” was all she could muster.
“Dinner and a movie?”
Ava let out a laugh. “You want dinner out, with me, here...then you want to watch a movie?”
“Isn’t that what people do here?”
“Of course.” She tried to read him, but sometimes he was impossible.
“Well then, come on. Let me take you out, where no one knows you.”
“That will be pretty impossible. Even if I weren’t a princess, the fact you’re taller and much larger than most bodybuilders would have heads turning.”
Mark looked away. “Know anywhere we might be able to go for some privacy?”
There was a glint in his eyes that she’d not seen before. Maybe their time here with her family had done him some good. Then again... She pushed those thoughts aside too.
“I think we could get something nice, go and eat down by the fishing lake. See the sunset later on.”
“That would be lovely. I’ve one job to go over with your father this afternoon. Why don’t you spend it pampering yourself, like a princess should do, and I’ll swing by about eight?”
“You really want to go on a date?”
Mark tucked her under his arm and kissed the top of her head. “Of course I do. I wouldn’t be asking otherwise.”
“Then I’d like that.”
Mark moved away from her then, to speak with her father. She listened in. They were talking about his favorite thing: fabbers. No matter how much she and he could create themselves with their nanites, the fabbers and those down in the Ark were creating so much, they literally ate through resources at incredible speeds. If the planet itself hadn’t been so rich, Ava had no idea what or where they’d be now. The Ark, their resting place for the fallen—there was so much more to it than it just being there.
Packing herself off, Ava made her way back to the palace, and eventually wandered up to her bedroom. She could fabricate every dress under the sun if she thought about it, but now she wanted to wear something special, something real. She just hoped that something she had would still fit. Maybe.
It was after a shower, and sometime later that her mother found her crying on the bed. She moved to wrap her daughter up in her arm and held her close. “Whatever is the matter?”
Ava looked up into her mother’s concerned eyes and wiped her tears away. She looked to the bomb site that now was her room. There were clothes everywhere. “What have I done?”
“You did the most courageous thing anyone could ever do for the future of your people here in Crisidium. If you hadn’t a life debt to Mark, do you think you’d have gone?”
Ava had wondered herself about this, the decision to go with him, to become a merger. But she knew, life debt or not, she’d always wanted to be a legionnaire; if he’d be her way in, either way then she would have gone. So she nodded. “I’d have gone anyway to protect our people, to do the best I possibly could for them, without being a medico.”
“There you go. You have the answer you seek already within you.”
“Nothing fits anymore,” she sputtered out, looking over the destruction of her room and clothes.
“Come with me. I know exactly where there will be something for you to wear. What’s the occasion?”
“Mark asked me out.” Ava followed her mother out of her room and through into some others. There was a large walk-in wardrobe filled with stunning clothes. “What about the sizes?” Ava frowned.
“I’ve just had twins. I am more than sure there’s something here that will accommodate your muscles.”
Thia moved to look through the outfits, and went straight for something that she knew would suit her daughter. She held out a blue silk dress, with encrusted jewels. “Here—this would be perfect for you. It’s always been your favorite color.”
When Ava took it, she blushed. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Mom.”
Thia moved to help her into the dress. She was a lot taller than she was used to, but she still seemed not to manage the zipper.
Ava laughed to herself; she could have done it, but she knew her mom wanted to feel still needed, special. And she was special. Ava twirled around, a smile tugging at the corner of her face. “Think he’ll like it?”
“If he doesn’t, he can come and see me.”
***
Of course, Mark had seen Ava in a dress before, but this was different. When he had picked up the picnic basket and
blanket from the kitchens, he’d made his excuses with Hael and Thia, and moved to fetch the woman he was in love with. She greeted him with a smile as wide as the room, and she glowed, more beautiful than he’d ever seen. The dress wasn’t part of her, his NIAI and senses had said that, and he couldn’t help himself; he was almost drooling.
“You look amazing.” He took her hand in his. “Ready to see the sunset?”
She grinned even more and giggled. “You’re making me feel like a schoolgirl.”
Mark leaned in and kissed the side of her cheek, catching her freshly washed scent. “That’s my plan.”
It was a decent walk through the palace gardens out toward a small lake at the back. There were plenty of places for them to settle but he kept on going. Ava tried to stop him a couple of times, but he insisted they carry on; it wasn’t quite the right place.
Then he stopped and pointed ahead.
“What?” Ava asked.
Ahead of them on the jetty of the lake was a boat. It just bobbed up and down, waiting for them to climb aboard. “Wouldn’t be right for this to just be a picnic. Let’s watch it from the water.”
Ava climbed onto the boat, and sat while he pushed them off the side. There was no need for the engine; just drifting away was what he’d planned.
“Is there some special reason you’re doing this?”
Mark moved to her side. “I just know we need some time, time away from everyone. There’s been a lot happening between us—we’ve still not spoken about it.”
Ava’s face flushed. “Because I kept pushing you. I’m...”
“Don’t be. There’s no other way I think you’d have gotten me to settle without it. I’m grateful for that.”
Mark leaned back into the soft cushions, and then, reaching into the basket, he pulled out two glasses and some wine.
When he’d poured it, she took a sip. “Wow, didn’t skimp on this either.”
“No, I asked Hael what your favorites from home were. I’ve even managed to get some of your favorite dishes, though it took me all afternoon to find those mushrooms you like.”
Enemies on All Sides (Maraukian War Book 4) Page 26