Wait, hair? Maia was so startled by where her mind had wandered that she almost stopped the motion of her hand. Her heart thumped crazily against the cage of her ribs, and her fingers slipped a little. No. This was wrong. Taylor was an alien, not to mention her guard. The human might have inadvertently saved her life, but she had still taken her captive.
Her body still burned, and desire coiled tight in her abdomen. It was just the stress of her situation, Maia thought. She closed her eyes again and allowed her fingers to press firmly against the swollen bundle of nerves. A shudder ran through her body, and she bit her lip. Yes, she needed this to take the edge off her stress. That was all and the human’s figure just happened to be a sexually pleasing one. Lust and proper emotional desire were two very different realities, and Maia trusted that her attraction to Taylor would remain safely within the realm of lust.
"By the ancients," she groaned, giving in to temptation and slipping two fingers inside herself. Perhaps if the humans and ikthians had found peace instead, she would have come to Earth on a scientific study. They would have made Taylor her escort in between lectures, and sometime during her busy schedule. Maia could picture it so vividly. Taylor would pin her against the shower wall, hands gliding down from her shoulders to cup her breasts. She swallowed a moan as she rocked forward on her own fingers. The human would part her legs and slip two fingers inside her just like this, taking her with frenzied passion. The thought alone, so utterly forbidden and impossible, was enough to bring her release crashing down on her sooner than she expected. Maia gasped as her inner walls fluttered around her fingers, and she rocked into the heel of her palm, desperately trying to relieve the pressure.
As her contractions faded, so did the pleasure. Her clouded mind returned to Earth, in this steamy shower, where she stood alone. She shook her head. "What is wrong with me?" she whispered. Maia had never fantasized so intensely about someone before, especially not an alien she knew next to nothing about. If she took the time to learn about Taylor, surely her infatuation would vanish.
Maia removed her fingers and resumed washing. A friend of hers had once said that relationships ended when both parties realized neither would live up to the other’s expectations. The same would hold true for her infatuation with Taylor. She was Maia’s guard, and the largest obstacle between her and freedom. Taylor would never sympathize with her, and she would certainly never help her escape the military base. That alone would put enough distance between them.
Maia shut off the water. She still felt tightness deep within her chest every time she breathed. She wanted to know more about Taylor, as disappointing as the outcome would probably be.
Chapter Twelve
Taylor groaned and hit the ‘delete’ button again. The screen in front of her wiped, and she flexed her fingers on top of the old-fashioned touchpad. She had no idea what else to type. Most of her colleagues simply dictated through the microphone, but she could not seem to find her voice, let alone her words. She had gone through perhaps five attempted drafts for this letter with little success, and it was only the first one on the list. It was addressed to the significant other of Barkes, who Taylor had never met. Barkes had never brought up personal details with the squad, a fact Taylor only realized after sitting down to write the damn letter.
With a sigh, she started typing again, this time trying to describe the battle scene. Private Barkes fought bravely to ensure the safety of the squad. Taylor considered deleting the line. The seekers had taken them completely by surprise, and most of the squad were butchered before they could put up a proper fight. Only she and Jackson had escaped the initial ambush.
Taylor rubbed her temple and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair. Although losing Jackson, Barkes, and the others weighed heavily on her, she had no words of condolence for their grieving family members, and she hated herself for it. She could feel pressure building behind her eyes. Damn it. The last thing she needed was to be on the verge of tears.
As she wiped a hand across her eyes, she heard the door to the bathroom open. Taylor hunched over the interface and tried to concentrate on the letter. If she kept her face low, perhaps Maia would not see the tear streaks forming on her cheeks. Taylor felt like she was going insane. She had to be. Nothing had ever made her cry so easily. She had not even cried right after her squadmates died, but there had hardly been time to think about it. Now, sitting at this desk, she had to write a letter that somehow conveyed a sick message of hope, respect, and remorse for her fallen comrades. She drew in a shaky breath and forced herself to type another meaningless sentence.
"Taylor?" The voice behind her sounded inquisitive, concerned.
Taylor blinked and wiped at her eyes again, but she did not turn to face Maia. "What do you want?"
There was a moment of silence, as if Maia was unsure whether to continue speaking. Even though she continued staring resolutely at the datapad, Taylor could sense her hesitation. "I was wondering why you were crying," she said at last.
For a moment, Taylor fooled herself into believing that there was actually concern in Maia's voice. She sighed, blinking away the sting in her eyes and hoping that no fresh tears would fall. "It’s nothing," she said, a little more gruffly than she had intended. She was not in the mood to talk about the loss of her squad, or the seemingly impossible task of writing letters to their family members.
Maia crept a little further around Taylor’s chair. She did not force eye contact, but she pressed slightly into Taylor's personal space. "I do not know much about humans, but I doubt that they cry over nothing."
Taylor sighed. Part of her wanted to unburden herself, but it seemed almost disrespectful to talk about the loss of her squad with an ikthian. Maia certainly did not act like the seekers, who slaughtered without mercy, but she was still the enemy. After several moments of conflict, she finally turned her chair to face Maia, not bothering to hide her face anymore. She had to talk to someone, and even though Maia was an ikthian, she had witnessed Jackson’s death. Perhaps she would be able to relate in some small way.
"You know I lost my entire squad on Amaren." Taylor set her datapad back on the desk. It was something of a relief to put it down. "The seekers killed them all. Since I was their commanding officer, I have to inform their families." She swallowed, trying to fight the sudden thickness in her throat and praying that her voice would not break. "They all got a brief memo to let them know what happened as soon as I reported in, but…I have to write letters. Something more personal."
Taylor looked up into Maia’s blue eyes, and was surprised to see them swimming with sympathy. It was more emotion than she had ever seen on an ikthian’s face before. She did not know how to react. Finally, she decided to continue. "The worst part is, I don’t know what to say. I worked with them. I respected them. I would have given my life to get them off that rock safe. But I didn’t really know them. Not the way their families did. Now, I wish I had. At least then I would have something to say besides: ‘I’m sorry I got them killed.’"
Maia placed her hand on Taylor’s shoulder, much like Taylor had done for her earlier. The contact made Taylor jump, but she made no move to pull away or push the hand aside. For some reason, it comforted her. "It is not your fault. The seekers were not even pursuing your soldiers in the first place."
Taylor ran the back of her own hand across her face again, wiping away the last stubborn streaks of her tears. "Don’t say that. It was my fault. It was my job to get them out of there alive, and I failed."
"No, the seekers were after me," Maia whispered. Although she did not step away, she pulled back a few inches, almost as if she was retreating. Taylor felt the comforting weight of Maia’s hand leave her shoulder, and for some reason, she wanted to reach out and take it back. Instead, she remained seated and resisted the impulse.
"That doesn’t change the fact that a bunch of bottom feeders mowed them down for nothing." Taylor swiveled her chair back around and picked up her abandoned datapad. She had to finish these
letters before tomorrow, no matter how difficult it was. After all they had lost, it was the least her squad’s family members deserved.
Maia started to say something, but Taylor did not meet her gaze, her face fixed with concentration. She typed a few more useless words, sighing and erasing them again almost as soon as they appeared on the screen. "I know you are upset," Maia began, but stopped when Taylor let out a snort.
"Damn, I wonder how you figured that one out?"
Maia frowned. "I came over to help you, but that seems pointless if you are going to behave this way."
"Well, I didn’t ask for your help anyway," Taylor snapped. She knew she was being petty toward Maia, but she had little sympathy left at the moment. She tossed her datapad aside. She was sick of writing these letters. "You’re right, it was your fault my squad is dead. Whatever stupid quarrel is going on between you and the rest of your stinking race, it killed my people."
Taylor knew the words were a mistake the moment she said them. Maia looked livid, and she felt a spike of fear in her chest. Even with the collar on, Maia was still dangerous. "You involved yourself with that quarrel when you made me your prisoner to save your comrade," Maia said, and Taylor could hear the tightness of anger in her voice. She leaned back in her seat, shocked at the obvious display of emotion from her usually demure prisoner. "And even that poor attempt failed. They would have slaughtered you if they did not need to torture me first."
The translator in Taylor’s ear could barely keep up with the volley of words the ikthian flung at her. "Maia," she said, unsure of how else to calm her.
"This quarrel is beyond any feud between races. At least you know your soldiers are dead and not being tormented for information. At least you know you are safe on your own home-world." Maia blinked, and Taylor saw tears glistening in her eyes. She reached forward to grab Maia’s hand, but the ikthian stepped back. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, the tears were gone. "I apologize," she said, the pitch of her voice softening. Taylor sat still, mouth open in slight shock. "I scolded you for an ill temper, and lost mine instead."
"No…it’s okay." Taylor got up from her chair and grabbed her datapad. "Would you like to sit down? You look like you have some things on your mind."
"What?" Maia asked.
"You seem to be upset," Taylor clarified.
"Oh." Maia crossed her arms over her chest and took another calming breath. "I suppose I should."
Taylor led her over to the couch, and they sat down together. She glanced over at Maia, relieved to no longer see tears welling in her eyes. She did not know how she would handle a sobbing ikthian. "I’m sorry I snapped. I forgot that you’re probably on the verge of a breakdown. God knows I would be if I had been captured by the ikthians."
"You would be dead already," Maia said in her usual serious tone.
Taylor laughed. The tension had broken, and she felt much better than she had before starting the letters. "Well, there’s a vote of confidence for me."
Maia shook her head, her brow furrowing. "I was merely stating a fact. If they thought you could provide them any useful information, the Dominion would…"
"Hey," Taylor said, repeating the gesture that Maia had given her earlier and resting her hand on the ikthian’s forearm. "Let’s not think about what the Dominion would do to either of us if we were on Korithia instead of Earth."
"That is probably for the best," Maia said with a sigh. "It is far from ideal, but being held captive by humans is preferable to being dragged home by the seekers."
Taylor wanted to ask Maia to expand on the cryptic comment, but she suspected that she would not care to talk further. Instead, she waited to see if Maia would volunteer an explanation. When Maia did not speak up, she decided to change the subject. "Hey, thank you for trying to make me feel better. It’s not something I would have expected from an ikthian, especially one that’s my prisoner."
Maia gave her a small smile. "You are not what I expected from a human, either," she confessed.
"I’m not sure whether that’s a compliment or an insult." Taylor returned the smile. She stretched for a moment, trying to ease some of the stiffness in her shoulders and spine before she pushed herself up off the couch. "I’m going to try and finish those letters." She headed back towards the desk and her long-forgotten datapad. "I think I know what to say now."
Maia stood up from the couch as well. "I think I might try and sleep," she said, gazing at the open door leading to the bedroom.
"I won’t be far behind you." Taylor activated the datapad’s screen. Her fingers hesitated for a moment, and she glanced back over her shoulder. "Maia? It wasn’t your fault my squad died."
"Yes, it was," Maia whispered. "But…thank you for saying that anyway." She turned and made her way to the bedroom before Taylor could respond.
Chapter Thirteen
Taylor slammed another ammo clip into place and hoisted the assault rifle back up to her shoulder. She aimed at the distant target, let out a breath, and fired a short burst of shots directly into the dummy’s chest. The cluster of bullets hit in a controlled scatter with a satisfying rat-tat-tat.
"Not bad, Taylor," Rachel said, holding her own gun at the ready. She grinned, narrowing her eyes as a smirk tweaked the corners of her lips. "That is, if you were still in training." She turned back to the target, took aim, and fired off a series of clean shots. All of the bullets landed squarely in the dummy’s forehead rather than the scattered chest shot Taylor had gone for.
"I get it. You rock. I suck." Taylor shot again, this time clipping the target’s shoulder. "Damn," she growled. Usually, she was a much more consistent shot, but she was on edge this afternoon, and her concentration was blown. Maia had been taken in for more interrogating, and Taylor found herself increasingly annoyed by the ikthian’s absence. It was not like they wanted to hear about her research anyway. After talking with Maia that morning, Taylor learned that the interrogators had already asked about her research, but were much more interested in her lineage, something that frustrated Taylor to no end. Instead of dwelling on the morning further, she waited to fire another round. Rachel fired another shot that landed literally between the dummy’s eyes, so she gave up, locking the safety into place and putting the gun down. "You win."
Rachel pouted. "Aw, come on, you usually last a little longer than this. What’s bugging you today?"
Taylor kicked the dirt with her boot and picked up her gun again. If shooting targets would stop Rachel from asking questions, maybe it was too early to call it quits. "Nothing is bothering me," she said, though it was a lie. She wanted to spend more time with Maia. No, that couldn’t be it. Maybe she was just upset that they might be torturing her. Maia was not like other ikthians; she was a person, and if they treated her like anything else…
The next shot Taylor fired hit the dummy in the center of the forehead. "Something is obviously bothering you," Rachel said. "Is it the 24 hour watch they dumped you with? I mean, I know we’re short-handed, but it’s unfair to expect you to watch a bottom-feeder all day, every day."
Taylor almost cringed at the comment ‘bottom-feeder’, even though she had used it plenty of times herself. Maia was anything but that. The empathy she had shown yesterday proved it. "I appreciate the downtime, don’t get me wrong," Taylor said, gesturing at the shooting range. This had been her first moment alone with a friend for a while. "But I just think they’re wasting time in the interrogation today."
"Who?" Rachel asked.
"The people interrogating Maia." Taylor sighed and pulled the spent ammo clip from her gun. It was filled with practice rounds to conserve resources.
Rachel blinked, as if she was surprised to hear that the alien had a name, and even more surprised to hear Taylor use it so casually. "So, you’re on first name terms with it now?" she asked, her tone edged with disapproval. She fired a few more shots into the dummy’s head, and Taylor watched it snap back in response. "Damn it," Rachel muttered
, "this thing won’t last long before someone breaks it. Wish they would spring for a proper holo-arena."
"No money," Taylor said, secretly relieved that Rachel had not expected an answer to her first question. She did not want to think about the curious way her relationship with Maia was developing. It was starting to put her on edge. "This war is bleeding us dry."
"True," Rachel said, popping out her own spent ammo clip and replacing it with a sharp motion of her hand. "I haven’t been off-planet for a while, but I’ve heard stories. They’re barely equipping squads with what they need to complete their missions anymore."
Taylor sighed, lowering her gun and turning away from the targets. "A lot of bullets and guns won’t save you if the ikthians get the jump." Except for Jackson, the rest had been slaughtered in a matter of seconds, with no time to use what little weaponry they had been provided with.
"At least we’re not as bad off as the colonists," Rachel pointed out, following Taylor’s lead and lowering her own gun. "My family’s out there somewhere. They wanted to come back, but the Chair of Defense issued an executive order saying Earth couldn’t take any more refugees."
Taylor scowled at the mention of Bouchard, but decided not to say exactly what she thought of him. It would only feed Rachel’s worries. "They’re still alive?"
Rachel nodded. "For now. But if something doesn’t break soon…who knows?"
"We just have to hope…" Taylor caught herself just before she used Maia’s name again. It was a dangerous habit to get into. "We just have to hope that the ikthian can help us. The brass seems to have high hopes."
"She’d better," Rachel said, narrowing her eyes. "She cost you your entire squad. It would be nice to see something good out of it."
Taylor swallowed thickly, glancing down at her gun to disguise the conflicted expression on her face. She remembered back to the night before, when Maia had talked about her own people with such obvious fear. For just a moment, Taylor wondered if there was a way to use Maia and negotiate for a ceasefire without turning her over to the Dominion afterwards. She had made it clear that the ikthians were not going to be kind to her if she was returned to Korithia.
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