by KD Jones
“Heather, we need to talk about this…situation.”
Situation? She froze with a sudden fear that things were about to get complicated. She didn’t want the mood to be ruined. Couldn’t they stay in their little bubble away from the rest of the world for just a bit longer?
Chapter 10
A loud banging on the door of the subcar pulled them apart. Devlon couldn’t take his eyes off of Heather as she quickly dressed, leaving her undergarments off. They needed to talk about things, a lot of things, but he was shaken too much by the depth of his feelings for her and he couldn’t bring himself to say anything more. The pounding came again, even louder. He frowned with frustration at the interruption. He wanted to stay there with her and make love again and again.
“Who the hell is banging on my door?” Heather asked angrily, stuffing her feet into boots that looked battered and too small for her.
Devlon didn’t have as much to put on as she did. He pulled his pants up and tugged his uniform top over his head. “That’s one of my warriors.”
He moved past her as she was pulling on her shirt and opened the door. There was no lock on it, which he found unacceptable. He would have to do something about that.
“What is it Lt. Falar?”
“Sir, a fight has broken out in the center of the tribe area. Three were injured, including a child.”
Heather was right behind him. “Who got hurt?”
Devlon walked down the steps and moved out of the way as Heather pushed past him. She didn’t wait, just ran toward the tribe’s center square, where most of the communal activity occurred. He followed her at a brisk pace; with his long legs, he was able to keep up with her easily.
They rounded another subcar and caught sight of his other warriors restraining two men while two human women were treating the injured. A little girl around ten years of age, was crying and a bruise was developing on the side of her face. The sight of the hurt child unleashed a fury inside of him, but before he could say a word, Heather lashed out.
*****
“What in the hell is going on here?” Heather demanded as she walked over to squat down next to the crying girl.
“Jeremiah was taking more than his share of food rations!” A short balding man yelled out as he pointed to another man, who was taller with long hair and being held back by two warriors. Mitchell and Jeremiah were trouble-makers that she’d kicked out of the tribe months ago.
“What are you two doing here? Who let you back in, and who gave you permission to have food rations?” Heather stood up and put her hands on her hips.
Both Michell and Jeremiah spoke at once, pointing at her second-in-command. “Leonard did.”
Leonard pulled his thin shoulders back, puffing up his chest. “While you were cavorting with the dome leaders ,they approached us wanting refuge in exchange for supplies. As the interim tribe leader I accepted the supplies and allowed them shelter. We can’t afford to throw people out just because we’re having a bad hair day.”
Heather turned her glare on Leonard. He knew better than to let someone back into the tribe once they’d been banished. She ignored him as she addressed the two men who’d started all the trouble.
“You two are still banished and will be escorted out of my district. Don’t even approach us in the future for trading.”
Both of them sputtered, “You can’t do that!”
She narrowed her eyes at them and Leonard. “Yes I can, because I’m the tribe leader here. No one else has a say over me.”
Devlon motioned for his warriors to remove the men, who left kicking and yelling, calling Heather all kinds of ugly names. She looked at her injured people and felt guilty for entrusting their safety to someone like Leonard.
“One of my warriors is a trained mediko. We’d be happy to assist you,” Devlon offered.
“Yes, thank you. We’d appreciate your help.” Heather sat down next to the little girl, and the child went straight into her arms.
“Are you okay, Kiki?” Kiki was special to Heather. She was an orphan; her parents had died a few years back. There were so many times in the past that Heather had wanted to keep the girl with her, but she didn’t want to be selfish. She had to think about what would be best for Kiki, and that was for her to live with and grow up in a family. So she gave Kiki to a single mother with children who loved her and accepted her with open arms. Family wasn’t always who you were blood related to, but who you surrounded yourself with and loved. Still, she and Kiki had a very special relationship.
The little girl nodded her head but stared up at Devlon with suspicion. “Who is he?”
“That’s Commander Estro. He’s here to help us plan to build our new homes.”
“I live with Mona and her kids in the subcar. I don’t need a new home.”
She patted Kiki’s back reassuringly. “Don’t you want one with maybe your own bedroom and a private shower?”
The little girl poked out her lower lip. “I don’t like taking showers. The water is always too cold.” The shower area that they used was no more than a tiled room where they’d been able to pry open a pipe to allow water out for washing and then reattach the pipe when they were done. Some tribes lived closer to where employees of the subway had had locker rooms and showers, but her tribe wasn’t one of the lucky ones.
She hugged the child to her, trying to comfort her, or maybe trying to comfort herself a little. “I guarantee you’ll love these new showers, and they won’t be cold. Think about having your very own bed to sleep in.”
The little girl lifted her head, interest showing in her face. “I won’t have to share?”
“As long as Mona is okay with it. We’ll have to ask her about it.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
One of the warriors came over, bringing a mediko kit with him. “May I treat the child’s injuries?”
Heather nodded as she moved Kiki beside her. The little girl refused to let go of her hand, so she stayed there to reassure her. “Everything is fine, Kiki. This is Lieutenant…”
The young man smiled as he knelt down. “Tores.”
“Lt. Tores is going to help you with what hurts. I see a bruise on your cheek—did you get hurt anywhere else?”
Kiki was holding her wrist carefully with her other hand. “Is your wrist hurt?”
Lt. Tores reached for her hand but Kiki jerked back and winced in pain. “Easy honey, let him help you.” Heather reached to gently take Kiki’s wrist, holding it out for Lt. Tores to use his mediko scanner.
“She has a break. I can begin treating it, but she’ll need to wrap it and keep from using it for at least forty-eight hours.”
A tear ran down Kiki’s cheek. The girl was always so brave, but Heather could tell that she was in pain. “Lt. Tores, do you have anything to give her for pain?”
“I do.” He reached into his medik bag and pulled out a pressurized syringe.
“Is it going to hurt?” Kiki asked worriedly.
Lt. Tores gave her a reassuring smile. “Not one bit. It’s just like the treatments you’ve been getting for radiation. There’s no needle. All you’ll feel is air pressure against your skin.”
“Okay,” Kiki held out her wrist, watching everything that Lt. Tores was doing. He put the syringe to her arm and pressed the plunger.
“See, that’s all there is.”
Kiki blinked a few times, then smiled. “It feels better already.”
“I took the pain away, but I still need to treat your break.”
Heather spotted Leonard sneaking away. She wasn’t done with him yet. “Kiki, I need to go deal with something. I’ll send Mona back for you.”
“Okay.”
Heather stood up and walked over to Mona, who was trying to get her kids to behave. The woman looked exhausted, and she’d been crying over the whole incident, too. “Mona, I need to speak with you privately.”
Mona looked down at her kids. “Go sit with Kiki.” They ran off to be with their friend,
and started asking Lt. Tores all kinds of questions while he treated Kiki.
“Tell me what happened?”
Mona sighed. “Leonard let them back into the tribe while you were away. The first few days everything was fine, but today…I swear I only took my eyes off the kids for a minute or two while I was washing the clothes in the shower area. When I looked up, Kiki was gone. I asked Jojo and Luke where she went and they said that a man grabbed her and took her away. I love Kiki and would never want anything bad to happen to her.”
Heather hugged her. “It wasn’t your fault. You’re taking care of three kids all by yourself. I should have been here to help you.”
“That man is sick,” Mona wiped her tears away.
“Mitchell?” Heather asked, but she already knew the answer.
“Yes. I went after her and she was screaming. Mitchell hit her and then threw her down while he and Jeremiah were arguing. A couple of the other men tried to break up the fight. I feel horrible, Heather. I should’ve taken better care of her.”
Heather felt her stomach clench with uneasiness. Mitchell had paid too much attention to Kiki and some of the other children, with a sick kind of interest. He cornered a twelve-year-old but was caught before he did anything to the child. That was one of the reasons she’d kicked him out of the tribe. In addition to that, he and his buddy Jeremiah were always stealing or breaking things and starting fights. She’d enough of them and sent them on their way.
Heather wanted to blame her, but the truth was Mona was trying to raise three kids, and one of them wasn’t even hers. She needed more help. “Don’t blame yourself. I’m going to make sure that you have someone helping you with the kids from now on. If anyone is to blame, it’s Leonard, for letting those two troublemakers back in.”
“I could sure use some help. The kids can get rowdy sometimes and I don’t have the energy I used to have.”
Heather frowned. Mona was a young mom, in her late twenties. “I’m going to ask the Drastans to send a team of medikos. Our tribe has received fewer radiation treatments than the others.”
“I do feel better after a treatment.”
Heather patted her on the arm. “Tell Kiki I’ll stop by later tonight to check on her. I need to make arrangements for the commander and his people.”
Mona glanced behind Heather at where Devlon was standing. “He sure is handsome.”
“Is he?” She tried not to sound jealous over the other woman’s appreciation.
“Oh yeah, I’d jump all over that.”
“He’s taken,” Heather blurted out. Where the hell did that come from?
“Figures, all the good ones get taken fast.”
“I’ll see ya later.”
She turned and walked over to Devlon. What must he think about what he just saw happen? It was surprising he didn’t try to step in more. He liked to be in charge.
“Is there anything I can do?” Devlon asked.
“If you could have a team of medikos sent down. I hadn’t realized how long it had been since they received treatments, they’re kind of looking exhausted.”
“Of course. There’s still a team at Jerry Lee’s tribe. I’ll have them come tomorrow.”
“Thank you. Now, let’s get you and your people settled. I have someone else I need to deal with before the night is over.” Heather was starting to question whether Devlon was right about someone trying to take over her position as tribe leader. Though it seemed it wasn’t the rebels she had to worry about, but one of her own people.
Chapter 11
Devlon had been there a little over two hours and already didn’t like what was happening with Heather’s tribe. It took every ounce of his strength not to step forward and take over. Instead he watched in amazement as Heather handled the situation with confidence and empathy. It was clear there was an emotional connection between her and the little girl. She kept her distance as a leader would have to do in order to make the hard decisions, but he could tell it took a toll on her.
He checked in with his men, who were setting up their tents. Heather offered to free up a subcar, but he felt uncomfortable forcing someone out of their home, even if it was temporary. Besides, their tents were heated and the beds were much more comfortable than in the subcars. He didn’t tell the humans that, not wanting to offend them.
“Report on what you discovered,” Devlon demanded.
“There is appropriate space to create apartments and a market. The subcars are not in as good a shape as others we’ve seen, and there was a cave in one part of the subway tunnel which will need to be reinforced.”
“What of the people?” Devlon looked in the direction of the tunnels as he continued to question his men.
“This tribe is much smaller than some of the others. They also appear to be in need of more treatments.”
“Why do these people need more treatments than the people from the other tribes?” That confused him the most. Heather’s tribe wasn’t the first to receive treatment, but they weren’t the last, and it seemed they were in worse shape. He couldn’t help but worry over Heather. When did she last receive a treatment?
“I think there has been more exposure, due in part to the cave-in.”
“Order the reinforcements to be applied to the tunnels, and I want every inch covered in a protective barrier. I’ve already requested a mediko team to come and give treatments. What of their supplies?”
“They will need more clothing, shoes, and food. I believe the food also might be what has caused more problems with their recovery.”
“Explain.”
“We noticed quite a few dented cans, and some that had even been pierced. When I asked the officer guarding supplies about them, he said that some of the cans came from where the cave-in occurred, but that he had multiple problems with people breaking into the supply area. He suspected tampering.”
“What do you think, Lieutenant?”
“I believe the opened cans were plied open with some tool purposely.”
“Have samples taken of those tampered cans.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The equipment will arrive tomorrow to start building the apartments. I’ll speak with Heather about which men she would like trained to assist in the construction. Until tomorrow, take turns setting up security, especially around the supply area.”
He dismissed his men and went over to the tent that had been set up for him. If the food was tampered with, someone was trying to make Heather’s people sick on purpose. She needed to be told about this. He went to open the flap to the tent and stopped when he saw Heather standing nearby.
“Heather?”
“May we talk privately?”
“Of course.” He moved to the side so that she could enter the tent.
*****
Heather looked around at the tent, which was impressive. “Wow, this is much bigger than I thought it would be. It’s so tall you don’t even have to bend down to enter or exit.” It had a small table, a chair, and a floating cot, which looked way too comfy. She pictured being naked with Devlon on that cot. No, I didn’t come here for that.
“Is something wrong?”
She turned to face him. “I had to expel Leonard from the tribe. Usually that requires a vote, but I made an executive decision. I thought you should know so that you could tell your men not to allow him back in if he tries to return.”
“That must have been a difficult decision to make.”
“I’ve know him a while, but he was never satisfied being second-in-command.”
He motioned for her to sit on the bed, but she chose the chair instead. “I’ve had those who think I should be replaced, as well. In fact quite recently I had to deal with an incident.”
“You were almost killed, from what I heard.”
Devlon waved that away like it was nothing. Heather rolled her eyes. God help macho men who thought they were invincible.
“I’ll notify my men of the change. Have you decided on a new second?”
/> “Yes, the elderwoman Mabel has a spine of steel. I think she’ll be perfect as my second.”
“Should you not…”
She glared at him. “You think I should’ve picked a man?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You thought it, and I know you were going to say it. You have no right to make that kind of judgement.”
He sat on the cot across from her. “You’re right, I’m out of line. I’m sorry.”
She blinked, confused at his admission. She hadn’t expected him to apologize. “Apology accepted. I owe you an apology as well.”
“What for?”
“When you told me that there were people trying to take over tribe leader positions, I didn’t believe you. Now I’m starting to think that Leonard wasn’t acting on his own. He’s not very brave or clever. He knew better than to let those two assholes back in the tribe. I have a really bad feeling about it all.”
“I’m glad he’s gone then.”
“Me too.”
“When will the building of the apartments begin?”
“Tomorrow, as soon as more men arrive with the equipment. I wanted to get a list of the people you’d like to have trained on how to use the equipment.”
“Let me speak with a few people tomorrow morning. I’d rather have volunteers for the work instead of assigning people to it.”
“Very well.”
A silence stretched between them. She could feel Devlon’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t meet his gaze. The whole situation was awkward, and it made her nervous. Then she looked down at her lap and realized she’d forgotten she brought something for him.