A Soldier in Love

by A. Petrov

  “What do you mean?” Serik asked gently.

  “Well, the Earth Army drafted my parents. They were both killed on their missions. Amy, well, she’s older than me. She had already gotten married… err mated as you say, to Eric. He was a high ranking official in the army. She was in New Shanghai, across the globe from me. I was sent to foster care.”

  Michelle stopped there feeling anxious.

  “What’s foster care?” Serik questioned.

  “Never mind,” she said coolly.

  Serik raised an eyebrow. “What happened? You know you can tell me.” He desperately wanted to know what upset her. If he knew, then maybe he could somehow make it right.

  Michelle shook her head. “It’s not important.”

  “Everything that has happened to you in your life is important to me.”

  Michelle became quiet and took another sip of her prasna.

  “OK, I won’t push,” he said quietly. He knew not to push her. She often shut down and got quiet on him. He knew it was part of how she dealt with things.

  “Bad things happened there and I was already angry. I was angry I had lost my parents. I finally got a hold of Amy. She came and got me and I went to live in New Shanghai with her and her husband. ”

  “Husband?” Serik questioned.

  “Uh, her mate,” Michelle offered.

  “Sorry, my translations are not always correct. I think it will get clearer over time,” he said lightly tapping the small silver bulb in his ear. “Then what?”

  “Then that life was gone and this soldier’s life began. I was angry and I didn’t want my parents’ death to be in vain so I learned to fight. Well, at that time Eric taught me. He was high ranking in the Earth Army and he knew a lot about hand to hand combat. He also sent me to take martial arts,” she paused. “I ran, I ran a lot, almost as much as I did on Redex,” she finished.

  Serik nodded as he listened intently. He wanted to know everything and he felt as though he just got a mere glimpse of her life.

  “I got enlisted, I taught school, I went to basic training at night and on the weekend like most everyone else around me. Then Earth got attacked, I still don’t really know what is going on with that you know? I got called in and then for some unknown reason I got sent to Redex. Now, I’m here with you, Chef,” she grinned.

  “So…” he tried to begin but was interrupted, “So, your turn,” she smiled.

  “I don’t know if you want to hear my story,” he said quietly.

  Michelle stood up from the table and poured him another glass of prasna.

  “Sure I do,” she said warmly as she gently grabbed his arm and pulled him to the more comfortable couch.

  “I would really rather hear more about you,” he offered.

  “Serik, I barely know anything about you.” Michelle frowned. “Please,” she added softly.

  “I grew up on Baat. Like you, I had a loving family,” he began.

  “Did you have brothers or sisters?” Michelle inquired.

  “Not growing up, but now I have a younger brother. My mother had him when I had left the house. I guess families on Baat are a little different than yours. It takes much longer for the females there to conceive. Many years of trying and no sisters, there was a genetic mutation,” he explained.

  “Genetic mutation?” Michelle asked softly. He had said something about it before but she couldn’t really remember.

  “It was my generation and a little before as well… the Baat military meant it to be for their best warriors, to produce more sons, more warriors, but it was somehow unleashed on our entire planet by an enemy terrorist.”

  “Serik, that’s awful,” Michelle said softly.

  “It sounds like we have both been through several different kinds of wars both on our own planets and off,” he offered.

  “Tell me about your childhood,” Michelle said softly wanting to change the subject from the military, she had enough of it to last a lifetime.

  “I had a hard time with my eyes. It is a sign of bad luck, a sign of evil. I was made fun of a lot in school, well, that is until I became the tallest and the strongest in class,” he said unsure of how to tell her about his childhood.

  “Serik,” Michelle reached for his hands taking them within hers. “I’m so sorry.”

  He shook his head.

  “Michelle, I’m sorry about your planet and your wars and your parents. My planet’s customs… they pale in comparison. This is why I didn’t want to tell you about me. This pain was nothing compared to yours,” he said quietly.

  “It’s unfair to compare the two. It’s hard to compare bad things,” Michelle offered.

  He nodded in acceptance.

  “I don’t understand why you’re eyes would be bad luck?” Michelle asked.

  “Both light and dark are not good together is what my people believe,” Serik replied.

  “Serik, I hope you don’t mind me saying this but I think your eyes are beautiful,” Michelle said very softly.

  Serik grinned. “Nothing about me is beautiful baby but everything about you is.”

  “Would I be bad luck there? You said I am both light and dark,” Michelle asked as she tried to brush away his compliment.

  He chuckled. “No and hopefully I never have to take you there.”

  Michelle frowned. “Why not?”

  “Because every male there would want to ask you to be his mate.”

  Michelle let out a small laugh.

  “Yeah, right,” she grinned.

  “You think I joke? I am not,” he frowned. “You are extremely beautiful.”

  “I’m not sure what you see but thank you, Serik.”

  “I see someone beautiful, brave, and strong when I look at you,” he replied with an intense look in his eyes.

  “So, how tall is the average male on Baat?” Michelle questioned thinking back to his statement that he had been the largest in class. She needed to get on another subject. It still felt strange when he said things like that to her.

  “About six and a half of your standard Earth feet,” he replied.

  “You know the big guys where I’m from are usually the dumb ones. I’m learning that’s not the case with you,” Michelle grinned.

  Serik let out a chuckle. “I’m not sure how to take that.”

  Michelle stretched out a little. “Tell me more.”

  “I grew up, it was hard being an outsider but my family was there for me. On Baat only 10% of the population is female and since I’m a two-eyes I figured I would never take a mate. I signed up to do exploratory campaigning on the new worlds in the name of Baat.”

  “What was that like?” Michelle questioned.

  “Seems much like your Earth Army. They sent us to planets that they had little information on and we paved the way. We had to determine whether they were inhabitable or not. That’s why I know a lot about Earth. Not that we would have gone there since your people inhabited it but it was our job to know.”

  Michelle studied his face as he explained. She knew that look, he had also seen his fellow men die. He had fought and he had fought hard. He had the scars to prove it.

  “How many different worlds have you been to?” she questioned.

  “Ah, maybe three hundred or so between the explorations, bounty hunting, and trading,” he replied after a moment of doing mental calculations.

  “Three hundred?” Michelle’s eyes widened.

  “Yeah, with the explorations I’d say some of them were worse than Redex,” he grinned.

  “Serik, my God, I just barely made it off Redex… you must be incredibly tough,” she said in astonishment. “And brave,” she added.

  “We lost a lot warriors on those places,” he said with a saddened look in his eyes. “But not all of the places were bad,” he added wanting to lighten the conversation. “I’ve been to some amazing places as well. Maybe I can take you to some of them,” he smiled.

  Michelle listened intently but felt a wave of sleepiness wash ov
er her. She tried to hold it back but a yawn escaped from her mouth.

  “See I’m boring you to sleep with my life story,” he jested.

  Michelle shook her head. “No, definitely not. I think it’s the prasna.”

  “It’s late, you ready for bed?” he asked.

  “Yeah, but Serik, I think you left out some details… some important details about your life. I want to hear more,” she grinned.

  “What are you grading me, teacher?” he poked.

  She giggled. “Yeah, I am but I’m tired so I’ll give you an extension on your assignment.”

  He picked her up in one swift motion.

  “Serik! Don’t drop me!” she exclaimed.

  “Drop you? You weigh nothing,” he grinned moving them into the bedroom. He gently sat her down on the bed before crawling in himself.

  She curled up beside him as she had done every night since she had first asked him to stay with her. He gently stroked her soft hair as she lay in his arms.

  “Mmm… that feels nice,” Michelle cooed.

  “Good night, baby,” he murmured softly.

  “Good night, Serik,” she replied sleepily.

  She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, feeling safe and warm.

  Serik looked down as the beautiful female next to him rested. The simple act of her curling up next to him each night made his heart soar. He would do anything to protect her, anything to make her feel comfortable and safe.

  I’d do anything for you, baby. Your happiness means everything to me.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Serik had been on the viewscreen for hours. He was working out some sort of deal. He promised Michelle after the deal he would try and get information as to what was going on with the Earth Army.

  Michelle hadn’t been able to tell how long they had been together now but it seemed like a lifetime ago that she was anywhere else. He had been good to her. She wasn’t sure how it was that they had found each other but he had a gentle understanding about him. He knew what it was like to have lost.

  Michelle tapped her upper ear. They had finally made it close enough to some sort of civilization, a satellite. She turned and made her way down the hall to the bedroom. She didn’t want him to see her.

  “IS sync,” she commanded.

  She heard it chime softly. She was surprised it came on at all with all. She couldn’t remember the last time she had used it. Everything had been such a blur. It was a delicate piece of equipment that had been through several atmospheres as well as extreme heat and cold.

  I guess it’s sheltered by cartilage.

  The IS chimed in her ear again, “IS sync to satellite initiated.”

  Michelle frowned.

  “Sync failed no satellites available. Information available from last sync, continue?” its robotic tone relayed to her.

  “IS stream to me, directly, topic planet Baat,” she said.

  “IS has failed to find topic,” it chanted into her ear.

  “Damn,” Michelle murmured to herself. She desperately wanted to know more about Serik and his people.

  She sighed, It doesn’t have any new information only information before I left for Redex.

  “Michelle?” she heard Serik call for her. She quickly tapped the IS into its off mode.

  “Yeah?” she replied making her way towards the control area.

  “I’m sorry, baby but I can’t get any information on Earth. We are really far out from almost every major planet. We won’t know until we travel closer to the Earth realm,” he said with a look of disappointment on his face.

  Michelle frowned. “Thank you for trying.”

  “Of course, I only wish I could get more information for you, good news. I will try to get a hold of a friend who can maybe help.”

  Michelle smiled weakly. “Thank you, Serik. Thank you for being so good to me.”

  Serik took her hands within his. “I know you are worried about the Earth wars but don’t be. We will get some news soon.”

  He hated that he’d let her down. He wished he could get the information she so desperately wanted.

  ***

  Michelle found herself in Serik’s embrace. It felt like he was always holding her, not that she minded. Her nerves were still shaky and it soothed her. His embrace was like nothing else she had ever experienced. There was something about your planet getting overtaken and being sent off to the unknown that left a person shaky.

  “What did you do for fun on Baat?” Michelle asked as she inhaled his sweet masculine scent and relaxed, feeling safe in his muscular arms.

  “I read a lot, I still do.”

  “I used to like to read before the war. When everything started happening, it happened so quickly… I had to teach during the day and then do training on the evenings and weekends so I never had time,” Michelle replied.

  Serik grinned, “Well, now you have time. I never showed you the library.”

  “The library?” Michelle was certain there wasn’t an additional room on the ship she hadn’t seen.

  “Yes, the library,” he assured.

  He handed her a small tablet.

  “It has almost every book in the universe. I’ll get them translated into English.”

  Serik quickly configured the tablet to English and handed it over to her.

  Michelle stared down in amazement. “Wow.”

  She had seen something similar in the Earth Army once but it seemed antiquated compared to the tool in her hands.

  “Yeah, the Baat really like to read,” he grinned.

  He placed the tablet in her hands. “I want you to have this.”

  “Serik, I’ve already taken so much from you. You know I can’t accept this,” Michelle replied softly.

  Serik shook his head, “No, I will get another. This is for you. You haven’t taken either, you have given me much.”

  Michelle smiled. “Thank you, Serik.”

  A chime interrupted their conversation.

  “Oi, I think it’s my friend calling me back. Let me see if he’s got some information for us,” Serik said as he swiftly arose to his feet.

  Michelle looked down at the tablet and tried her best to figure out how to use it. It was different from any Earth technology she had seen.

  “Ah,” she exclaimed in victory as she began to understand how the device worked. It was definitely an advanced piece of technology but it seemed to be extremely user friendly. She began to look through the library and at all of the different titles.

  “Michelle,” Serik called.

  Michelle looked up to Serik who had a serious look on his face.

  “I couldn’t get very much information. I did hear that a lot of your people made it to other colonies. Many of your people are taking refuge on other planets.”

  Michelle’s face saddened. “You’re saying my planet is gone, aren’t you?”

  Serik sat down and took her hands into his. “We don’t know that.”

  “I feel homeless,” she sighed. Nervousness and fear welled in her stomach. She felt nauseated. Her entire planet was gone. Her home, her people, everything demolished. She had known it deep inside, the odds hadn’t been good but now the verbalization made it real.

  “You’re at home with me,” he offered.

  Michelle smiled weakly at him.

  He sat down next to her and pulled her close.

  “I know it’s not the same, I’m not sure if it’s what you want but it’s what I can offer,”

  “Serik,” Michelle called out softly as she embraced him. His arms wrapped around her and she felt a wave of relief wash over her.

  The simple act of her seeking his protection caused his heart to skip a beat. He would do anything to protect her; to make her feel comfortable and safe.

  ***

  Michelle relaxed against the soft bed beneath her. She closed her eyes as a wave of sleepiness came over her. Michelle thought back to her parents. She thought of her father and her mother. Their faces were right th
ere whenever she shut her eyes.

  “Every time I close my eyes… and I’m crying again pathetic,” Michelle murmured as she faced Serik.

  “It’s OK, baby. You are not weak. You are strong to not give up, you are a fighter.”

  “I don’t feel like one. Why do my emotions feel so strong? Why does it feel like these things just happened? It is like having a wound reopened,” she cried.