by Brian Fisher
Chapter 38
T'Sula watched warily as Corin came into view. He had a look of trepidation on his face, an expression that he did not wear well. She didn't know why he had come, but that didn't really matter. Whatever the reason was that he was there, she would be ready.
"Commander," Corin came to a stop just on the other side of the invisible barrier. He sighed, stuck his hands deep into his pants pockets, and finally forced himself to look at T'Sula. Even though she was covered in bruises, grime, and blood, he found himself attracted to her raw beauty. "Your scans came back negative for harmful radiation."
"Oh, well, that's good." T'Sula didn't even try to hide her sarcasm. "Let me out."
"Listen, I ah, I came down here to talk to you about something." Corin stammered. He didn't know why he was so nervous around this woman, but he was. It didn't make any sense to him, she was behind a forcefield, and unable to touch him in any way, yet he was a step away from becoming a nervous wreck. "There's something that I need to talk to you about."
"You said that already." T'Sula crossed her arms in front of her chest and stepped up to the forcefield. He was nervous about something, and she wanted to know what it was. "Why did you check me for radiation?"
"Well, the scans that the ship ran of you, automatically of course, picked up trace amounts of this radiation." Corin paused for a moment, forcing himself not to look at the woman in the airlock. He already wished that he could have met her under any other circumstances. "Anyway, Kamira had the same radiation signature, but yours..."
"Your radiation was ten times stronger." Corin finally finished.
"I'm cleared to come into the ship though, right?" T'Sula glared at Corin. He didn't make any sense to her, but right now she just wanted to get out of her confinement. Any retribution would probably have to wait.
"Yeah, you're cleared to come into the ship." Corin smiled slightly. "Can I trust you Commander?"
"Can you trust me?" T'Sula laughed. "What do you think? You've kept me confined in an airlock! You launched Major Narja into space, you scanned me without my permission, and you took Kamira who knows where... I don't have any reason to trust you!" T'Sula fumed. She let her anger slip through the barrier that she had fought so hard to construct. "You want to know if you can trust me? I don't believe this."
"Trust me?" Corin shot back. "I didn't have to take you away from Olcai! I could have left you there to blow up with the rest of the planet! Would you have liked that?"
"Of course not." T'Sula replied after taking a moment to calm down. "Look, things have been a bit rough lately." She stopped herself from saying anymore about her feelings and state of mind to a man that she didn't really know.
"T'Sula, the only reason that you're still in here, is because of that radiation signature." Corin paced absently about the corridor. "I couldn't let you wander around the ship without knowing if you were a danger to everybody aboard. I'm sorry."
"I think that the best way for you to apologize, would be to let me out of here." T'Sula smiled at Corin again. Something about him began to work its way through her defenses. She still didn't trust him, and felt obligated to enact some form of retribution for Narja, but her resolve had started to erode slightly after having talked to the man. "Some fresh clothes, a shower, and some food wouldn't hurt either."
"I think that I can accommodate you." Corin sighed, relieved that he finally had an avenue of communication with the one woman that, for some reason fate had drawn them together. He needed her, and whether or not she knew it, she needed him as well.
"What's your connection with the cat?" T'Sula nodded to Brutus as he padded up to Corin.
"Brutus?" Corin asked as he scratched the Sand Panther behind the ears. "We're family. All that I've got left."
"That's the way with Kam and me." T'Sula offered before she could stop herself.
"That's what she said too." Corin glanced up at T'Sula as he dropped the forcefield. He watched her carefully as she stepped out of the airlock for the first time. She walked up to Brutus and gently scratched him behind his ears, after she let him sniff her hand.
"He's not so bad." she grinned and looked at Corin. "You said something about clothes and a shower."
"Come on." Corin motioned for her to follow, and headed down the corridor. He tried hard not to show his apprehension. He knew that she wanted to hurt him, and that greeting Brutus was more than just saying hello to the big cat. She was letting him know that she could play along, but she was still just biding her time.
They walked quickly down the barren corridors, Corin in the lead, and Brutus in the rear. He glanced back occasionally to see T'Sula taking notice of everything. He doubted that there was a single detail that she would have missed.
"Is this an escort ship?" T'Sula asked quietly. "It looks pretty straight forward. Clean, efficient, and I'm guessing pretty good in a fight."
"Yeah, actually. How'd you guess?" Corin played along, his suspicions confirmed.
"Well, it's small, but a lot bigger than a fighter, probably about the size of a small freighter. And normally, a civilian ship has more in the way of comforts. You know, things like carpeting, or just having the overhead conduits covered up, that sort of thing." T'Sula continued looking around, liking the things that she saw. She decided that if she were to have her own ship, it would be something like this one. "What's the ships name?"
"I call her Vengeance." Corin stopped in front of an open door. He waited patiently for T'Sula, and then stepped into the room behind her, leaving Brutus in the corridor.
"You can use these quarters." Corin let her walk around and get comfortable before he continued. "The shower's through that door over there and there's a MRU down the way that you can use. I'll be on the bridge, with Kamira, if you need anything."
"Corin?" T'Sula ventured as he turned to leave.
"What is it T'Sula?" Corin turned to face her again. The sound of her voice calling his name aroused parts of him deep inside, that he had nearly forgotten existed.
"Thank you for helping us." she closed her eyes for a moment, warring with herself over what she was doing. "You were there to help when we needed you. Thank you."
Corin watched T'Sula struggle within herself. He knew that she was angry with him, and that she needed to resolve things on her own. Only then would he be able to approach her with what he needed. He would have to be patient and bide his time.
"You're welcome." Corin gave T'Sula a small, reassuring smile. "After you've cleaned up, I'll get you something to eat." he grinned again, and then walked out the door.
T'Sula waited until Corin was gone, and then looked around the room. It was comfortable enough, with a bed nestled against the far wall, and locker built into the wall next to it. It was a small room, spartan in its amenities, but it would do. At least it had its own bathroom and shower.
When she decided she had waited long enough for Corin to be gone, T'Sula left her quarters, and went down the corridor to the MRU. The room itself seemed to have only one purpose, and that being to house the massive Matter Reclamation Unit. The unit stood against the back wall, silently flashing its indicators, showing that it was fully stocked and ready for use.
It didn't take long for T'Sula to find the menu that she needed for new clothes. She would have preferred something different, possibly something more flattering, but finally decided that a simple jumpsuit was probably her best choice. She chose a dark blue for the jumpsuit, and black for her boots. Everything else was just comfortable white cotton.
After she had the clothing that she needed, T'Sula input specific instructions for one more item. Nothing in the database that resembled what she wanted. She had to assemble it from scratch. It took the MRU several minutes to create what she wanted, but in the end, she had it.
Ch'Lan had forced T'Sula to memorize the specifications for her body armor as part of her training, and she had never forgotten it. The result was a highly durable polycarbonate armor that fit and functioned like a second
skin, and was nearly invisible to both the naked eye, and most scanners. T'Sula had used the armor so many times, that she had long since lost count.
T'Sula folded her things, and took them back to her quarters. She showered quickly, not allowing herself the luxury of soaking in the heat and comfort of the shower, then dressed and headed for the bridge. It wasn't that she was overly anxious to face Corin again, but at the same time, he did intrigue her.
Anxious for a bit of food, T'Sula hurried through the well lit corridors that led to the bridge. Her stomach growled and reminded her that she had not eaten in quite some time. She reached the door that opened to the bridge, the place where Kamira and Corin waited for her, when the ship lurched suddenly, throwing T'Sula against the bulkhead, and everything went dark.