The Enclave (The Verge)

by H. M. Clarke

  Katherine found herself wandering in the direction she thought Liam had said some good dance clubs were located, but once she came out of the park, all she found was high rise housing.

  Should I give Liam a call? But Katherine immediately dismissed the thought. If she was going to be with someone tonight, she would prefer it to be with someone that will never be seen again.

  Maybe these clubs are located behind this housing estate? Katherine walked several blocks, keeping her ears pricked for the slightest sounds of music, but all she could hear was the quietness of people settling in their homes for the night. The streets looked deserted and the farther she walked, the more depressing the buildings and atmosphere became.

  This is hopeless. Katherine stopped suddenly on the footpath and looked about her. Might as well head back to the park and grab a cab back to the port.

  As she turned to head back, Katherine heard the scrape of metal as something moved in the covered doorway across the street. The quietness magnified the sound and it sparked a surge of emotion within her, triggered by the fresh memories of Yunga. She tensed as five figures bled out from the darkness across the street and slowly moved to form a loose semi circle around her.

  Great. Just my luck!

  Katherine moved back closer to the wall.

  “Just look what we have here,” one man said. “Bloody thieving Alliance scum,” said another. “We don’t want no Val Myrans here!”

  Katherine frowned. There were only five of them, she had survived worse odds. There was a strong smell of alcohol in the air but these men did not act intoxicated. Katherine kept silent and readied herself.

  “You should never have wandered out of the estate.” The man closest to her jerked his head toward the end of the street. Then there was the brief flash of steel and they rushed her.

  Katherine pushed forward and grabbed the first body that came within reach and threw him hard into the wall behind her. Bracing an elbow, she rammed it back behind her and heard the satisfying crunch of ribs. That body fell away and Katherine swung out a leg as someone grabbed her other arm. Her deck boot met soft flesh and the scream told her that the man’s knee was crushed, but searing pain bought Katherine’s attention back to the grip on her arm. “Got you bitch!” The last man looped an arm around Katherine’s throat and the other pulled his knife from her arm and held it to her jaw.

  Katherine stilled. Her injured arm hung at her side and she could feel blood trickling between her fingers.

  “Fucking Bitch,” the man with the knife spat at her. “You’ll pay for this.”

  Her legs were still free and the man’s groin was very tempting, but before Katherine could act she heard the crack of a fist meeting flesh and felt the arm around her throat slip away.

  Knife man jumped back, holding the blade uncertainly before him. The knife was small and it glistened with her blood. But the man had not jumped back far enough. Katherine flicked out her leg before the man could react and felt the toe of her boot bury itself in the softness of the man’s genitals. As he doubled over in pain, he dropped the knife and Katherine gave him a solid punch to the side of the head, knocking him out cold.

  “Bastards,” she muttered as her injured arm began to throb.

  “Are you okay?”

  Katherine swung around, subconsciously noting that all of her attackers were unconscious.

  “Yeah...” the rest of her words froze in her throat as she looked at the tall man shaking out a knuckle grazed hand. Sandy haired, blue eyed and looked very familiar. Daniel? Katherine gave herself a shake as she felt her past try and slide over her. It can’t be Daniel. It can’t be. She looked away.

  “You’re bleeding.” The man stepped closer to her, carefully as if afraid that she would bolt, and gestured to her arm.

  Katherine looked at him again and now saw a stranger. Not Daniel. He just looked like him. She raised her arm and looked at the gash that ran down her forearm. It was a clean cut, once cleaned and sutured it would heal in a day or two and within a week it would be a new scar among the many already there.

  “It looks worse than it is.”

  “Let me look at it, I have a medikit back at my place.” He gestured down the street in the same direction one of her assailants had nodded. “It’s not far.”

  Katherine looked carefully at the stranger but saw only genuine concern in his eyes. She should go and inform the Adelaide about this incident. But it can wait. The man was right; she should get this looked at quickly. It would take a while to get transport back to the Port and all the rigmarole that would go along with it. A diplomatic incident was not what she needed right now.

  “Sure,” Katherine nodded. “Thanks for the timely help,” she said as they walked to the building at the end of the street.

  “I doubt that you really needed it.” He fished into a pants pocket and pulled out a large white handkerchief. “Here, don’t worry its clean.” He quickly wrapped it around Katherine’s elevated arm to try and stop the bleeding.

  “A hankie? I haven’t seen one of these in years.”

  “My mother made me carry one when I was a kid. I guess the habit stuck. I’m Joshua by the way.” He smiled at her.

  “I’m Katherine. The police will need to be informed.” She jerked her head back down the street at the prone bodies.

  “Don’t worry; they were called before I came out. That group has been prowling around for a few nights now looking for a victim. You just happened to come along at the wrong time.”

  “They just happened to pick the wrong woman to bully you mean.” Katherine smiled. And she felt a hell of a lot better. Her body was still on a high from the adrenalin that coursed through her veins and the fight had taken an edge off her aggression. “When the police arrive I’ll go out and make a statement.”

  “That’s not a good idea. The New Holland Police aren’t too keen on outsiders at the moment. They would throw you in prison as well just for being Val Myran.”

  “I’m not Val Myran. But I’m not from New Holland either,” Katherine said as she was shown through a small side door into the apartment building. “I must have a sign over my head today that says ‘kick me’.”

  Joshua opened a door. “Just through here.”

  The apartment was plain, simple and comfortable and Joshua ushered her to the lounge before disappearing into what must be the bathroom. Katherine carefully slipped off her coat, frowning at the now wrecked sleeve. There was no way that invisible stitching could fix that! She slowly removed the blood soaked hanky and studied her arm. Joshua reappeared with a red medikit in one hand and a water bowl and wash cloth in the other.

  “Welcome to my home,” he said placing everything on the coffee table and taking a seat beside her on the couch. “Let me look at that.” Joshua squeezed the excess water from the wash cloth into the bowl and Katherine offered up her injured arm to his ministrations.

  “So. Where are you from if not from here?” he asked as he cleared the blood away from her arm.

  “From Earth initially,” she replied as she watched Joshua work on her injury. His hands were firm but gentle and their touch distracted her from the pain. “Lately I’ve just been a citizen of the Gateways.”

  “A Spacer?” Joshua asked in surprise. “If you don’t mind me saying, you don’t look it.”

  “What are Spacers supposed to look like? Big, large, hairy and butch?”

  “No, of course not, it’s just…” Joshua stopped as he dumped the wash cloth in the water bowl and removed the sutures from the medikit.

  “Just What?” Any thought she had of calling the Adelaide or meeting the police had evaporated. Even with all she had been through tonight, it was just nice to sit down and talk to someone without them expecting anything of you.

  Joshua looked embarrassed. “It’s just that you don’t expect a woman who looks like you do to choose to be a Spacer.” Joshua quickly plastered the sutures over the wound, applied the spray bandage and sat back. “You look like you
should be an actor or celebrity.”

  “Bet you say that to all the girls.” Katherine smiled. She felt flattered. “So what do you do for a crust?”

  “I’m an Administrator, which is really a fancy name for dogsbody.” Joshua closed up the medikit. “Would you like a drink? Coffee, water, tea?”

  “A coffee would be nice.” Katherine flexed her forearm, the sutures held the cut securely. “You did a good job with this Joshua,” she said as he went to the meal counter to put the kettle on.

  “Thanks. Do you take two sugars and milk?”

  Katherine nodded and leaned back into the couch. A feeling of euphoria washed over her, the adrenaline high had reached its peak. She always felt this way after a close run fight.

  Once the kettle had boiled, Joshua made up two cups. On the way back to the couch, he paused to look out the only window.

  “Is there anyone there yet?” Katherine asked.

  “Yes. There are two officers out there. They look to have everything in hand, they’ve bought a van with them.”

  Joshua came and handed her a mug and then sat down beside her on the couch.

  “Do you still want to go out and talk with them?”

  Katherine shook her head. “I’ll let it pass. Anyway, I don’t think that group will be out ambushing anyone again in a hurry.”

  Joshua took a careful sip of his coffee. “So. What brings you to this ass end of the universe?”

  “I came looking for someone.” Katherine tasted her own mug before placing it on the table.

  “Husband? Boyfriend?”

  “No. Nothing like that. But it is still a personal matter that I don’t want to talk about.”

  “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s a bit of a raw subject for me at the moment.”

  Joshua took another sip of his coffee and put the mug down beside Katherine’s on the table. “I can take you to wherever you’re staying. I won’t have you going back to your hotel by yourself.”

  Katherine looked across at her host. He was attractive and if she had read his signals right, he was attracted to her.

  “I don’t want to go back. At least not yet.” Katherine smiled and leaned forward and ran her fingers lightly along his arm. She would never see him again. He was perfect.

  He gave her a tentative smile; Joshua knew exactly what she meant. He leaned forward and brushed her cheek gently with the back of his fingers. “Are you sure?” he asked softly.

  Katherine said nothing, just nodded. She moved closer and kissed him gently. He hesitated a moment but soon was kissing her back. Then they were fumbling with the fastenings on each other’s clothes.

  Pain racked her body, making her back contort and arch, her arms and legs pulling at the restraints. Collapsing back against the table, she drew ragged breaths from between clenched teeth. The man in white approached her again, this time holding a scalpel and clamp, his assistant appeared at her head and checked that the brace and restrains were firm and then they locked a new restraint over her torso. The man in white then took the scalpel and began to cut into her chest. She screamed.

  Katherine jerked awake, breaking into a cold sweat and shaking. She swung her legs out of the bed and felt the cold night air cause goose bumps to rise on her naked skin. Cradling her head in her hands, Katherine waited until the memory of her nightmare left her body.

  Shit. They’re back.

  As she rubbed her eyes, Katherine realized that she was in a strange room, in a strange bed. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the naked form of a man sleeping soundly in the bed. Joshua.

  Katherine smiled, her dreams momentarily forgotten. He was her first since the death of Brent. Katherine felt a little guilty in using him this way, but she would never see him again. He had helped her forget who she was for a time. She leaned across the bed and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He stirred, a small smile touching his lips but did not wake.

  Slipping quietly from the bed, Katherine went into the lounge where their clothes were still scattered and quickly dressed. She took one last look around the apartment before leaving to go back to her ship.

  Chapter

  eight

  Joshua Val Myra sat stiffly in his chair. As the only available representative of the Val Myran leading family he had been elected to put forward the asylum claims of his fellow refugees.

  The members of the Council of New Holland sat in a semi circle around him behind a continuous desk. Joshua ran his eyes again over the faces of the twenty nine councillors. They were a mixture of men and women of various ages most of whom looked friendly and welcoming. A handful of councillors varied from distained to downright hostile, and the chief among these were the man that had introduced himself as the First Councillor.

  Adam Chandler was a figure not well known in Val Myra or much of the Northern Hemisphere. He was new to the office and since the trouble began in Val Myra, their usual media reporting was censored by the Alliance. At first glance, Chandler looked a different type of man to the last First Councillor that his father dealt with before he died a year ago. Hopefully this First Councillor will be as understanding.

  But the man who sat quietly behind him in the senate chamber Joshua knew very well. Robert Prockter had been Val Myra’s main New Holland contact and he had conversed regularly with his mother. Thoughts of his mother suddenly sharpened his musings. At this moment she is in the care of the New Holland Medical Centre being treated for a plasgun wound to the head and numerous other injuries too hideous to think about. It made him think of the woman who had saved her from death during their escape from the city. Joshua wondered whether the woman herself got out of Val Myra alive, he could not remember seeing her among his fellow Val Myrans and Joshua had made a point of trying to visit each family to ensure they were settled and being cared for. Because of his mothers injures he had taken upon himself her mantle of leadership. It was something he was not comfortable with. And it did not help that she kept asking to see his younger brother. Joshua could not bare to tell her that Daniel was missing, that he had let his broken brother down again.

  “Elder Val Myra,” the First Councillor had risen from his seat in the centre of the semi circle. The acoustics of the place projected his voice to every ear in the room. Even the public galleries, if they were full, would not need the earpieces that were commonly used in most large public auditoriums.

  “You have come to state your case for asylum within New Holland. The Council has been assembled to listen to your claims and then to decide on the next course of action.” The First Councillor looked around at the faces turned towards him. Some of those faces showed open disapproval at his tone. The Council knew his views and should be satisfied that he was being this polite. “You may now present your case.” Chandler sat back carefully in his seat making sure that his suit did not crease.

  Joshua hesitated a moment before rising from his chair. Chandler’s tone sounded more menacing than diplomatic; he was beginning to grow a genuine dislike for this man.

  “First Councillor, councillors.” Joshua nodded around the room and was heartened to see some sympathetic faces. “Our case is a very simple one. The City and territories of Val Myra voted to secede from the Alliance and become a neutral territory.” Joshua stopped and drew a deep breath. “The Alliance did not respect our decision and attacked us without warning. They had the codes to our defense systems and so Val Myra was an easy target for them. We wish to ask for asylum in New Holland until we can claim back our home.”

  “And how do you propose to do that?”

  Joshua turned to look at the scoffing councillor, schooling his face to not show his annoyance.

  “We are going to ask for assistance from the Earth Federation.” Val Myra also had a destroyer and a fighter carrier serving in the Alliance Navy under the command of his cousin. They had been recalled the day before the Alliance attack on Val Myra. They should be due to arrive back in system in another four days; Joshua di
d not think this a good time to point this out to the Hew Holland Council.

  “Lobby help from us you mean.”

  Joshua declined to answer the man and looked back at the First Councillor. Adam Chandler’s expression had not changed. “The Council has agreed to grant Temporary Asylum to the citizens of Val Myra. But remember our largesse does have a time limit,” he forced through gritted teeth.

  Joshua bristled at the First’s words but quickly tamped down his anger. If Val Myra was still intact Chandler would never have spoken to him in this way.

  “Then it’s best I get things moving right away. We request a meeting with the newly arrived Federation Ambassador as well as with your Governor General.”

  Adam Chandler’s face suddenly set like stone. Joshua tried not to smile. What did he think? That the official request for aid would be placed to the Federation through him? Val Myra had been in secret communication with the Federation over the last few months and in the last communication, Val Myra was told that a Federation delegation would meet with them at New Holland.

  An administrator turned from speaking with a silver haired woman who sat apart from the others. “A meeting with the Governor General has been arranged for this afternoon Elder Val Myra. The Governor General has offered to pass your request for a meeting to the Federation Ambassador.”

  Joshua bowed his head low in appreciation to the silver haired woman. This was obviously Andrea Pritchard, the Governor General of New Holland.

  Abruptly Robert stood up, tapping furiously on his datapad. He turned to the Council members seated around him. “Please excuse me,” Prockter stepped out from his chair and made his way towards the door.

  “What is happening?” the First asked.

  Joshua turned to hear the SIO Directors answer.

  “An incident with one of the Federation Personnel that arrived with the Ambassador,” Prockter answered, his eyes staring hard into Joshua’s.

  Joshua tried not to squirm under the Director’s intense gaze; he had nothing to hide from him but he had the distinct impression that Prockter had ‘caught him out’ somehow.