A Soldier in Love

by A. Petrov

  The feelings, the realizations, the memories, they all felt incredibly strange to her. She knew the ride had stopped and she only hoped it would now be over.

  It feels strange because that’s how things used to be on Earth, she realized. There was a time when only men fought, then some women fought but it was only if they chose to. Men protected women. Her heart pounded. Right now I am protected.

  It felt strange, it felt incredibly strange, but it also felt good. Michelle sighed as her mind continued to race.

  What am I going to do? I’m not anywhere close to Earth, not that I can go back to Earth. If we dock on next trade planet and I make contact with the Earth Army and they will send for me. My best bet is to stay with him for now. Best bet? Who am I kidding? My only option…

  It was peculiar but she didn’t feel trapped or repulsed by the idea of staying with him. In fact, she kind of enjoyed it.

  I’m safe with him and I’m finally off Redex, she smiled to herself.

  She closed her eyes again trying to rid herself of the pain the dwelled in her head and the sadness that had taken siege in her heart. She would fight again.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Michelle awoke a few hours later. She could sense it was still early in the morning. She felt a small tinge of pain in her head but she ignored it.

  Damn, I must be really off track since I’ve done nothing but sleep the entire time I’ve been here… What’s up with this headache? Why won’t it give?

  She propped herself up on her side and watched Serik sleep peacefully. She studied his powerful body and looked over the scars that plagued his body.

  Those must have been really painful for him.

  Slowly, she sat up.

  I think… I think I feel normal. Well, besides this pestering headache.

  The headache had been with her ever since the whirly ride dreams. She slipped out of the soft bed she had been confined to for what seemed like an eternity. She cautiously rose to her feet.

  “I don’t feel like I’m going to die. In fact, I feel great,” she quietly murmured to herself.

  She quietly picked up her clean uniform and made her way to the bathroom to change. She neatly folded Serik’s large clothing and left it on the counter. She began to stretch her arms and then bent over to touch her toes.

  Well, let’s see what is going on in this place.

  This time the hallway wasn’t as dark. It was still dim but she could see. Michelle slowly made her way around the ship.

  This thing is a lot bigger than I thought it would be, she thought to herself. She was surprised she thought she would be in very small quarters.

  Didn’t Serik say he was the only one on the ship? Why would he need this much space?

  She grinned. Maybe because he takes up a lot of space being so massive.

  Michelle peered through the glass door with what looked to have exercise equipment.

  Is this a gym?

  Michelle looked down to the door handle. It kind of looked like a sliding glass door like the one on her bedroom. She gave it a hard shove to the side and entered the room.

  She made her way over to the equipment to examine it. The treadmill looked similar to the ones they had on Earth. She was tempted to get on and walk.

  Hmm, I had better not. What if this thing goes warp speed and I can’t turn it off?

  Michelle could see herself being stuck on the treadmill running.

  Oh, Hell no, I had enough running on Redex. I’ll just leave that thing be.

  She made her way over to what looked like small polished stones.

  What could these be for?

  She cautiously touched one before attempting to put it in her hand.

  “What the Hell! These things are heavy,” Michelle said shocked at how heavy something that incredibly small could be.

  “Ah-ha,” she exclaimed as she discovered they had dials beneath them.

  She tuned the dial down and then tentatively picked one up. It was still heavy but not as ridiculously heavy as it was with the dial all the way turned up.

  These things must be how he got so muscular. I will just have to skip these and leave them to Serik…

  She tuned the dial back and forth experimenting with the weight again before putting them down.

  These things are crazy.

  Michelle dropped down to the floor and prepared to get into pushup position.

  I’ll just stick with what I know.

  Michelle got into the plank position aligning her hands apart a little wider than her shoulders. She pushed her body down then up again. Her muscles slowly complied with her request as they warmed up.

  She pushed down again slapping her left hand to her right shoulder. She repeated the action with her right hand as she went down again. She slowly got into the rhythm. It felt good to be able to use her body again. She felt thankful to be able to move, to be able to get out of bed.

  “Hey,” a voice called breaking her from her trance like state.

  “Sorry, old habits die hard,” she said as she finished out her reps. She abruptly got back on her feet to meet Serik’s gaze.

  “Feeling better?” Serik smiled.

  She nodded. “I feel better than normal… I haven’t felt this good in awhile. Probably feel better than I ever felt when I was on Redex.”

  “Good,” he replied warmly.

  “I hope you didn’t mind me coming in here,” she said realizing it might be rude to wander aimlessly around your host’s space ship and use his gym.

  He grinned.“No big deal.”

  “What are these?” she asked pointing to the small shinny rocks.

  “They are rocks from a planet past the Phair Belt. You can use these dials to adjust their weight. They don’t play by the normal rules of gravity no matter what atmosphere you bring them into,” he explained.

  Michelle examined the rocks again. “You must spend a lot of time in here.”

  “Why do you say that?” he raised an eyebrow.

  “Because you look really strong,” she replied as she tried not to blush. She felt like all she did lately was become embarrassed when she spoke to him.

  I guess it doesn’t really matter if I make a fool of myself. He’s already seen me half-dead and a crying wreck. He pretty much knows I’m a mess.

  “Come on, let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll make you a first meal. I think your people call it breakfast,” he offered.

  “OK,” she followed him as he led the way to the kitchen.

  She watched as he prepared the same noodles he had made the other night for her. Her stomach rumbled with hunger.

  He pressed a button on the oven type contraption again. Before she knew it, there was a serving of hot noodles in front of her. He graciously handed her a pair of chopsticks.

  She waited until he began to eat before she took a bite.

  “Thank you for staying with me last night,” she said softly.

  He nodded. “Of course. I am happy to.” He was indeed happy to. Her company provided him something he had never had before. He couldn’t quite describe what she brought with her, but it was good; it was needed.

  She brought more noodles to her mouth, savoring their delicious flavor. They reminded her of calamari without breading, although it had been years since had eaten something like that on Earth. She kept eating and decided she did not want to know what they were made out of, no, she would just enjoy them whatever they were. She hadn’t enjoyed food in many years. It felt almost wrong to enjoy eating, to enjoy tasting.

  “Did you sleep OK?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she replied tentatively.

  “No bad dreams?” he questioned.

  Michelle paused and took another bite.

  “Uh, no. No, I slept well,” she lied. He had already been so kind to her; she didn’t want him concerned about her having a few bad dreams.

  He put his bowl down. “If you’re feeling better… then I can chip you with the translation piece today, if you still want.
”

  “You wouldn’t mind?” she asked softly.

  “Of course not, you might need it if you’re going to be hanging out with me,” he grinned.

  “I will?” she asked.

  “Yeah, few people are going to speak your native language here.”

  She wasn’t sure what he meant or where she would go. How long would he let her stay? Was she an unwelcomed guest? Another mouth to feed? She knew she should be terrified but she wasn’t. She had cheated death many times before what difference did it make where she went?

  He took their bowls and put them in the sink. He led the way back down the hall into a small room. It held what looked to be a variety of medical equipment and felt very sterile. It reminded Michelle of a doctor’s office on Earth. She squinted as he turned a lamp that brightly illuminated the room. He motioned for her to sit.

  The seat felt colder than the already freezing ship. She shivered wishing she still had on his sweetshirt. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her uniform and then looked around the room.

  “Serik, what is this room?” she asked as she continued to study the medical equipment which was sealed in small clear bags.

  “This is the medic station. Most ships like this have one.”

  “So, what is all this stuff?” she asked.

  “Medicine, vaccinations, medical equipment,” he began.

  “And you know how to use all of this?” she interrupted.

  He nodded. “Yes, it was part of my training in Baat. I’m no healer but I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  “Oh, I didn’t think you would. I guess on Earth not everyone has medic training,” she smiled.

  “On Baat, it is mandatory for most everyone,” he replied as he rummaged through a cabinet. He pulled out a clear bag with a small silver stud in it. He put it under what looked kind of like a small microscope.

  “I’m just making some adjustments to the settings,” he assured.

  “OK,” Michelle replied.

  He set the chip aside and moved in closer to Michelle. She could feel the familiar goosebumps reappearing and heat enflaming her cheeks. She breathed in his scent again; it almost had a calming effect for her.

  She felt his finger tips run over the cartilage of her left ear.

  “What happened here? I guess I examined your other ear last time,” he asked as he looked over the crude incision.

  “I had an IS implanted before going to Redex. I had to get information somehow. Is it a problem or can you chip my right ear with the translation chip?”

  “No, I can put it on the right side but who implanted this into you? It seems like something soldiers shouldn’t have.”

  “Well, I did at first I just chipped it but my friend, Aaron implanted it. He had to do it quick, on the floor, in the dark…” Michelle’s heart sank as she thought of Aaron.

  She nervously wrung her hands in her lap and looked up into Serik’s golden and blue gaze.

  “Do you remember if any of the other soldiers… did anyone… who made it to the shuttle?” she stammered as she thought of Aaron and then of Kate.

  Serik nodded. “Yes, two light colored ones and a dark one all over.”

  Michelle felt her heart jump for joy and she smiled. “Aaron, Kate and Bryce!”

  “It must have been them, you mean light like up here,” Michelle pointed to her hair.

  Serik nodded.

  “Yes, much lighter than your hair. Then one dark all over,” he said waving a hand over his upper body.

  “Yes that must have been Bryce,” Michelle smiled.

  “The older, the one I did trades with he died,” he added softly.

  Michelle frowned and bit her bottom lip. “I think I already knew he would. He was going to kill us all sooner or later.”

  Serik moved in closer. “What happened there?”

  Michelle just shook her head.

  “I thought they had left you there,” Serik added quietly.

  Michelle shook her head. “No, I told them to go ahead of me.”

  Serik’s eyes widened. “Why? And why would they ever comply with such a request?”

  Michelle shrugged her shoulders despite her heart feeling heavy. “They were out of ammo and I wasn’t.”

  “But there wasn’t something else they could do?”

  Michelle shook her head. “We didn’t know what to do so we shot.”

  “I don’t understand you Earth people,” Serik sighed.

  “What do you mean?” Michelle questioned.

  “You don’t all fight together? You leave one to die?” Serik replied.

  Michelle narrowed his eyes at him. “I am soldier and it is my duty to protect others. I had ammo left and they didn’t. They would have all surely died if I wouldn’t have stayed back.”

  “And you surely would have died…” Serik began.

  “If you hadn’t come to my rescue,” she interrupted. “Thank you again. You are truly a hero,” she added softly.

  Serik shook his head. “No, Michelle, you are one brave little female.”

  Michelle rolled her eyes. “Serik, I’m not little. I’m not brave either. I’ve just somehow cheated death… more than once.”

  “Again, I don’t understand you Earth people,” he grinned.

  She let out an exaggerated sigh.

  He ran his finger tips over her right ear. He ran something cool over her ear. She felt a slight stinging sensation. “What was that?”

  “It is a numbing and disinfecting solution,” he replied.

  “Oh, I didn’t need my ear numbed,” she said furrowing her brow.

  “I told you I wouldn’t hurt you,” he said as he put the chip in what looked like a gun. She was amazed he didn’t drop the tiny silver bud with his large hands.

  “Take a deep breath in,” he instructed.

  Michelle sucked in a large breath of air as he had said to do.

  “All done,” he replied with a smile.

  “But I didn’t feel anything,” she said with a look of bewilderment.

  He grinned. “I know.”

  Michelle ran her fingers over her right ear and felt the coolness of the chip in her cartilage.

  “Wow, it’s really there. Thank you, Serik,” she said in amazement.

  He held up what looked like a mirror and she studied the chip in her ear. She nodded and he put the mirror in a drawer.

  “How do I get it to work?” she asked.

  “It just will,” he replied.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Michelle really enjoyed Serik’s cooking. He served her noodles almost every day for breakfast or first meal as he called it. They reminded her of Ramen noodles on Earth. Well, gourmet Ramen noodles, if there could be such thing. They were rich and delicious.

  She was perched by the bar as he prepared their next meal.

  “Serik?” she called out softly.

  “Yeah, baby?” he answered. He had been calling her baby since she had gotten well enough to carry on a decent conversation. It was a little strange at first but she had grown to enjoy it. She didn’t know if it was a Baat thing but it felt good. He was very affectionate even beyond his terms of endearment. He held her when she needed to be held. He was gentle and kind. She had never experienced anything like it in all of her life.

  “Will you teach me how to cook your food?” she said looking closer at the stove.

  He grinned. “Of course but I’m almost done with this so next meal, OK?”

  She nodded. “What are you making anyway?”

  “Tois berries and vegetables,” he called out.

  Tois berries were from Baat, Michelle remembered Serik had made them before. They were berries but they tasted more like roasted chicken. They were scrumptious. The vegetables that he made were often exotic in color and texture, yet they tasted remarkably similar to root vegetables on Earth. He had served something between a yam and radish with their last meal. Everything was rich flavorful. She could feel the food here gave her more energy she had
never felt better in all of her life. The foods he made had to be chocked full of vitamins and nutrients. She wondered if that’s how people on Baat got so large and strong.