A Soldier in Love

by A. Petrov

  “The past is painful, but it is what it is, the past. That part of your life, that painful part, it is over now. No matter how angry you are, no matter how hard you fight, you cannot right the wrongs that have happened. Fighting will not bring your parents back.” He paused and a quiet moment passed. “The woman who abused you, she is now gone, she has perished and is in a place she deserves to be, she is in a place of great pain. Only God can decide these things because he accounts for everything and not just what you see.”

  Michelle nodded.

  “You know your parents are in the good place, the place you briefly visited,” he added softly.

  “How did you know?” Michelle whispered.

  Instead of waving his hands around like a maniac he gripped both of her hands within his. She felt like jolting back as a flood of emotions ran through her but his touch was also soothing. It wasn’t like the memory fog withdrawals, it was good. She felt supernatural peace and tranquility flow through her body.

  “Your parents loved you. They are proud of your service and they are proud of your mate,” he said as his grip tightened and the feelings became more intense. It was as though he was flushing out the bad by overrunning her soul with good.

  She suddenly had understanding. She could feel every warm moment she had ever shared with her students in the past. The hugs, the shoe tying, the story reading, it all came back. She could feel the warmth that Kate and Aaron had given her. She could hear laughter with old friends before the Earth wars. Most of all she could feel her parents. The love they had given her made her heart felt happy.

  “My child, your heart is good. Now, you may bond with my son of Baat, Serik,” he said releasing her hands from his.

  A sudden commotion began as someone entered the door.

  “No, no she can’t!” a voice cried out.

  Chapter Forty-eight

  “These are sacred grounds and this is a private sacred time,” the priest scolded.

  Michelle opened her eyes and looked up to see Amy. She was the same still tiny with a massive mane of blonde hair and blue eyes.

  “Amy?” she cried out in disbelief. With all the weird emotions she had just experienced with the priest she wasn’t sure if her sister was real or if it was some sort of crazy spiritual hallucination.

  “You came? I can’t believe it!” Michelle exclaimed joyfully.

  Michelle’s happiness shifted into confusion as she noticed the annoyed look on Amy’s face.

  “Look, the priest is right, I’m sorry. We’ll be done in a minute but you can’t be here,” Michelle called out.

  Suddenly Eric stepped out. Michelle’s stomach turned when she saw their expressions. Something was wrong.

  “We’re going now but you are going with us,” Amy said coolly.

  Michelle shook her head. Her mouth became dry as she tried to force herself to say no.

  “We are taking you back with us,” Amy repeated. “I’ve already lost everything else. I’ve lost mom and dad and I lost everything on Earth. I can’t lose you too.”

  “You haven’t lost me,” Michelle began.

  “Yes, yes we have.” Amy pouted. “We can’t afford any more losses. You have to come back with us we have to repopulate the human race.”

  “Repopulate the human race?” Michelle asked in disbelief.

  She held back a chuckle, was her sister really serious? She took the whole Earthy Army wife thing a little too far.

  Michelle looked over Amy and Eric’s faces and quickly realized it was no joke. Their expressions were frightening expressions.

  “Michelle, this is serious,” Eric said as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

  “I am to be with Serik. We are having our wedding today,” Michelle replied in shock.

  Eric shook his head and stepped in closer. “You are to come with us.”

  He grabbed her by the wrist and began to drag her.

  “Serik!” Michelle yelled as loud as she could. She pulled back with all of her strength as she tried to free herself from Eric’s grip. She fought with all she had despite the fact that he was the stronger fighter; he was the one who had trained her.

  Eric grunted and in one swift move he covered her mouth with some sort of rag. Michelle struggled and wriggled against him. She felt everything slow down. She tried to force her body to move but it wouldn’t comply.

  “Its horse tranquilizer, sorry,” he whispered as he dragged her body out of the temple.

  ***

  Serik turned his attention towards the private priest room. He could have sworn he heard a commotion.

  “Hey, so what did you say about the Baat weather?” An unknown human male asked for what seemed like the third time. He had been engaging Serik in such useless and annoying conversations.

  “I thought I already told you…” Serik replied wearily. The guy seemed rather dense and he was beginning to get frustrated. He wasn’t sure why the male was at their wedding. He had said something about knowing Michelle but Serik knew that couldn’t be.

  Serik heard another noise from the private priest room. He could sense something was wrong. It was a place of peace, why would there be a commotion?

  He pushed the Earth male out of the way and barged into the room. Serik gasped as he saw the priest lay in a heap on the floor.

  “Help,” he called out to the others in the Temple. He looked around the otherwise empty room as he knelt down to check the priest’s pulse.

  He saw several temple attendants rush in. They surrounded the area in a flurry.

  “My bride,” he managed to get out. “She’s gone. I have to go after her.”

  “Go my son. We will care for this one,” another priest motioned.

  Serik began to run as fast as he could toward the docking station. His muscles ached due to his intensity and speed. He was finally there but it was too late. He watched as an Earth Army ship shot through the atmosphere.

  “No, no, it can’t be,” he cried out loud to himself.

  But it was. She was gone.

  ***

  Michelle groggily opened her eyes. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light.

  “No,” she cried. “NO,” she screamed as she realized where she was. She wasn’t with Serik but instead taken from him.

  She desperately wanted to go back to Serik. Fear paralyzed her when she realized he might think she willingly went off with Amy and Eric. She couldn’t stand the notion that he could think that she stood him up on the altar.

  Michelle looked up to see Amy come in. Everything was still bleary but she knew it was her. Her blonde hair was neatly pulled back and a serious expression marked her face. Her usual warmth and glow wasn’t there.

  “You are supposed to be my family. You are supposed to care about me. Why are you doing this?” Michelle asked weakly. She refused to cry, she had done enough of that for a lifetime already.

  “Because we care,” Amy replied mechanically.

  “You care?” Michelle repeated in an astonished tone. “You care about yourself, you mean? You only care about your own selfish needs and desires.”

  Amy’s facial expression formed a disapproving look. “You will feel better in a few days. He must have been telling you many lies.”

  “What is wrong with you?” Michelle cried.

  “Nothing,” Amy replied. “And nothing will be wrong with you either very soon. We’ll be home in the morning.”

  Chapter Forty-nine

  “Are you hungry?” Eric asked with what almost looked like a hint of concern in his eyes.

  Michelle nodded. Lately she had been feeling almost ravenous. She guessed that she was continuing to regain her appetite after being almost starved to death. Although it seemed odd, it had been months now but still she was almost always hungry.

  He remained silent as he led her to the kitchen. Eric and Amy’s home on First World II wasn’t anywhere as nice as their one back on Earth. It was small and dark. Everything was government issued. There were no pi
ctures on the walls. There wasn’t much furniture beyond the basics. It felt very bleak and uninviting. Michelle thought back to their house on New Shanghai. Amy had spent so much time and energy into decorating and transforming her home into a warm and inviting space.

  “I’ll make you toast and egg substitute,” he said as he motioned for her to sit at the kitchen table.

  Michelle’s stomach growled with hunger. She sat and watched him quickly prepare a meal for her. She wasn’t surprised when the food he served her tasted bland and rubbery. Despite its taste, she devoured her food as soon as Eric put it in front of her.

  “You’ll probably want to take a shower,” he offered.

  Michelle nodded. “I would.”

  “Don’t try anything funny we will be right outside,” Eric said as he led her to the small bathroom.

  Michelle shut the door. She took a sigh of relief; despite the bleak circumstances that surrounded her it was nice to have a moment of solitude and peace. Eric and Amy had hardly left her alone. She knew they didn’t trust her; they were afraid she would run.

  She began to undress. She groaned as she unbuttoned her top. She realized her breasts were painfully tender. Have I had a period since being deployed? she wondered. She had figured she was suffering from anovulation from being so thin.

  The realization finally came to her, she was pregnant.

  Of course, she berated herself. Me and Serik had unprotected sex many, many, times. How could I be so dumb?

  The water poured over her in the shower. She had to figure how to get back to Serik and get back to him fast. She was a true soldier this time; she had an innocent child in her womb to protect. She let the water pour over her as she tried to think.

  Think, think, think….

  She left the water running but slipped out of the shower. She quickly dried herself off and tapped her IS. The information it gave her always seemed to be useful one way or another. She just had to ask the right things.

  “IS activate,” she whispered softly.

  She heard the familiar beeping.

  “IS syncing to satellite,” its mechanical tone replied.

  “Find registered space shuttle named Sally,” she instructed.

  “500 matches in intergalactic registration found. Confirm if you would like list?” the IS replied.

  Shit.

  Michelle’s mind raced. “From those matches those registered to Baat citizens.”

  “One result found.”

  Michelle breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

  “Record ship’s viewscreen data number,” Michelle instructed quietly.

  She heard knocking on the door. “Michelle, hurry up!” she heard Amy yell through the door.

  “I’m almost done,” she called out.

  She turned her IS off and then shower.

  I just have to play along. I have to play along until I can think of something. I’ve done it before, I can do it again.

  ***

  “Fuck!” he exclaimed.

  He couldn’t lose her. He just couldn’t. It wasn’t even an option.

  Serik raced towards his shuttle.

  What I’m going to do? How can I find her?

  He paced back and forth; his heavy boots caused a thudding noise on the floor. He had fought before but no war had ever been like this. This was personal, this wasn’t about Baat or bounty hunting money, no this was his mate. This was the female he loved. The female he swore to protect, the one that gave his life meaning, the one that he would lay his life down for.

  Her translation chip. I can find where they’ve taken her through it, he realized with a sudden excitement.

  He darted to the medic station. He fumbled around through the cabinets. Items crashed and spilled on the floor, he didn’t care; he had to find it. He dug until he found the translation microchip case. He shoved the other chips under the microscope.

  He looked at the sequence. He calmed himself to find the missing number. Moments later he had the microchip number of her translation chip. He could track her.

  He breathed a sigh of partial relief.

  He was a bounty hunter. He was good at finding people. He had tracked dangerous criminals and terrorists throughout the galaxy. He could find her. He would have to do.

  He entered the chip number into his computer system. He nervously tapped his fingers along the dash as it loaded. He knew it was fast but again nothing was fast enough when the one you loved wasn’t safe.

  The screen populated with her location, New Earth II.

  He entered the coordinates into his navigation. The shuttle lurched forward through the atmosphere before steadily gaining speed. He knew however fast he went, it wasn’t fast enough. He couldn’t stand to be apart from her, to not know whether she was safe or not.

  God, please keep her safe. Help me get her back, he silently prayed.

  Chapter Fifty

  “I have someone for you to meet,” Eric’s loud voice interrupted her thoughts.

  “Who? Who could I possibly need to meet?” Michelle furrowed her bow. She had been on New Earth II, for two days now. She guessed this wouldn’t be a social call.

  “Your rightful husband,” Eric replied with a devilish grin.

  Michelle felt almost dizzy as she sat down. She wanted to vomit.

  “My what?” she asked in disbelief.

  “The man, excuse me, the human we have promised you to,” Amy practically beamed.

  “He’ll be over soon. You don’t want to misbehave here, Michelle. You don’t want to know what we do with women who misbehave,” Eric warned.

  Amy dragged her into the kitchen. “Come sister. Help me prepare our meal.”

  Michelle silently prayed. It was what she did when she didn’t know what else to do.

  I just have to get through tonight. He’ll come for me or I’ll find a way out.

  Michelle silently sliced tomatoes as Amy scrambled an egg substitute.

  Their dinner would be tomatoes, egg substitute, and water. It reminded Michelle of Earth Army meals. Michelle began to wonder if it was the same food she had been fed. She looked down at the tomatoes and decided they would be safe for consumption but not whatever Amy was scrambling. No, that might have some sort of brain altering substance. She swallowed, realizing she had already had a serving at breakfast.

  Amy sat the table and motioned for Michelle to sit at the table. She fussed with her hair for a moment. Michelle wanted to wave her hands away but decided she would need to remain calm. She would have to play a long if she were to get out of here, acting out would only cause her to inhale more horse tranquilizer.

  “Michelle,” Eric’s voice boomed. “This is Officer Mansfield.”

  Michelle stood up. She was unsure whether to shake his hand or to just stand. She shuddered as she realized he was looking over every inch of her body. She immediately sat down.

  “Earth Army soldier?” he questioned.

  She nodded.

  “Only a private?” he scoffed.

  She crinkled her nose at his words. She wanted to scream, yes, only a private. A private who narrowly escaped death and starvation on Redex. A private who saw almost everyone on her squad die. A private who lost her friends, her family, her job, her planet. Yes, only a private. A private, stronger than you.

  “Yes,” she replied slowly. She wouldn’t rock the boat. Michelle knew they had barely spoken a few words between them but her instinct warned her. It was just a small feeling but she recognized his type, he would be abusive. He had the same look in his eyes as her foster mother. It was a cold and unnerving look. He was the kind that tore wings off of butterflies and laughed when they tried to fly. Michelle realized he had probably survived the Cabaka because of his sadistic tendencies. He had enjoyed killing.

  She hated the way he looked at her, like she was some sort of pet to be owned. To him she was only a toy, something to use and have power over. When he was done with his fun he would be rid of her.

  He wanted power over s
omething or someone else. He wanted control.

  She could still hear them although their voices were low as she put dishes away in the kitchen.

  “Yes, she will do,” Officer Mansfield said.

  “Great, we will send her to an appointment in the morning,” Amy replied.

  “You can get in that quickly?” he questioned.

  “I think I can pull some strings,” Eric added.