by Lisa Lace
I smiled. He didn't look like a king to me. He appeared to be a man — okay, a Susohnnan male to be precise. Now that I thought about it, he just looked like Dar. A good guy. And one I would miss.
"You got dressed up. Your clothing was very convincing," he said, clearly remembering what had happened after he removed said clothing. "Did you just have sex with me to find out information?"
He was looking off into the forest, his face expressionless when he asked that question. My heart clenched a little when he asked. He did care. Even if it was only a little bit. It made me feel better that I hadn't just been an experiment for him. He hadn't exactly been just a fling for me either.
"The only information I found out by having sex with you, was that spot that makes you..."
"Kenna." He interrupted me before I could finish. "Did you?"
He really wanted to know.
"No. I slept with you because I wanted to. All three times. You didn't notice that I enjoyed it?" I said, then looked away. I couldn't help the blush that spread across my face.
"I noticed," he said, reaching out and playing with a stray curl that had escaped my braid. He tucked it behind my ear. I swallowed.
"We should keep moving," I said, pulling away from his hand and standing up. "And you do remember that you're the king of the Susohn, right? You've got to set a good example for your people."
He nodded, but I continued.
"How else will they learn to be elitist, stuck-up, supremacists?" I said, shrugging one shoulder. Then I pretended to be surprised and put my hand over my mouth. "Oops. Did I say that one out loud?"
He stood up, staring at me in consternation.
"Is that what you think we are?"
"Do you think you're better than humans?"
"Of course."
"Well, doesn't that mean that I'm right?" I said, turning and walking off. He didn't follow me and eventually I turned to see what the problem was. He was still staring at me, clearly upset.
"Hasn't anyone told you that before?" I called back. He didn't move.
"Come on, your highness. We've got to get back to the Complex before dark. We'll spend a much less pleasant night out here than last time if we have to sleep in wet clothes."
He didn't stir, looking completely aghast.
I walked back to him and took his good hand.
"I don't hold it against you, Dar," I said kissing his cheek and leading him in the direction we needed to go.
We walked in silence, but I could see him thinking.
* * *
DAR
For the second time today, I was shocked by Kenna's words. Shocked was an understatement.
I was outraged, stunned, and rocked to the core. I was calling into question everything I had believed to be true about myself.
On Susohn, just as on all the other planets, we have people of different colors. Our culture has always celebrated the differences, and I have scorned humans many times when hearing about their prejudice and racism.
I was completely unaware of my surroundings as my brain tried to understand how wrong I had been about myself. Because I had been doing the same thing: I had been prejudiced against humans all these years, and I had never seen it.
In a haze, I felt Kenna come back and take my hand, pulling me on — her words didn't register, though. The rest of the trip back to the Complex seemed to pass quickly because I was still in a state of shock. When we neared the edge of the woods, Kenna stopped and looked at me.
"Dar," she said forcefully, taking my chin in her hands and making me look at her. "Snap out of it. We're almost there. I need you functioning."
I sat down on the ground.
"Say something. Anything. What's going on?" she said, sitting down beside me.
I thought for a long moment before I spoke.
"I am not the person I thought I was," I said finally.
She studied me.
"You're still worried about what I said? I'm sorry. It was rude..."
"But true."
"Okay, well, I'm glad you admit it. But look. We have to see if we can help those people, Dar. Who knows what the terrorists are doing to them? Can you wake up now? There'll be time for you to think about all that stuff later."
I shook my head. She was right. Again.
"Okay, I'm ready," I said, trying to bring back my focus.
"Good," she said, getting to her feet. "I hope kings know how to sneak around."
We got to the forest's edge and surveyed what we could see of the Complex. It looked terrible. There had clearly been several other explosions, other than the two we had experienced firsthand. The terrorists had nearly destroyed the building. Windows were blown out. There was a large hole in the wall, and I could see into one of the rooms.
Many of the gardens had been trampled and wrecked.
"Dar, I can see some tomatoes and cucumbers that still look good," Kenna said. The night was falling, and shadows were beginning to steal across the field. The area seemed safe enough.
"I'm going to grab us some food and be right back," Kenna said, darting quickly out of cover before I could stop her. I watched as she filled her arms with some vegetables and ran back.
"Kenna," I said, feeling furious. "You could have been seen."
"I know, but we're starving. It won't do us any good to try and storm the castle on an empty stomach."
"Storm the castle?" I said, confused.
"Never mind. Here." She handed me a long, green vegetable and a little red spherical one, as well.
"What's this?"
"Tomatoes and cucumbers. Try them, they're really good."
We ate quickly, and I did feel better by the time I finished — my mind more clear and alert. We didn't have much of a plan. We were just going to creep around and try to figure out what was going on.
We made a complete circle of the Complex, seeing only a few of the AEA men. Then we went to the launch pad. There were eight spacecraft parked there — two of them ready for launch and stocked with supplies.
We circled back. As night fell, it was getting hard to see.
"We need to go inside," Kenna said. "We can't find anything out just skulking around out here."
"Yes, you're right. But what if we're recognized?"
"We need some of those uniforms the terrorists wear," she said.
I looked at her.
"What? That's what they always do in the movies."
Ten minutes later, we had tackled a pair of the terrorists and knocked them out. Dressed in their navy blue uniforms, with the caps pulled down low on our foreheads, we made our way into the rubble of the building.
There weren't that many of the AEA around, and none of them bothered us. I wondered if Mackeye had been planning to negotiate after all and had changed his plans at the last minute. The people we had seen did not seem like an invasion-sized force.
We found the prisoners. They had locked them in an atrium that ran from the ground floor to the top floor in the center of the building. At the upper part of the Complex, there was a spot where you could look down into the plant-filled space. When we looked down into the atrium, we saw various humans and Susohnnan that we recognized. But from our count, their numbers had been vastly reduced.
"They must have been killing them off," Kenna said, her eyes worried. She was probably thinking about her friends and co-workers.
I nodded. From what I knew of the AEA, the terrorists didn't have much compassion for their prisoners.
"What can we do?" she said.
"There's too many of them to get into those eight spacecraft, and only two are ready for launch. We'll have to escape and bring back help."
"Okay," she said nodding.
We walked over to the elevator chutes. Humans designed this building with chutes that held only one person. Kenna said they were fast, and you didn't have to wait like in a traditional elevator while everyone got where they were going. You just got in and dropped to whatever floor your were going to and then got
out. There were ten of them lined up against this part of the hall.
The explosions had disabled all but one. We were going to have to take turns. I climbed in.
"Shouldn't I go first?" she said.
"Why? I want to make sure it's safe," I said.
I was the male, of course I went into danger first.
"But you're the king. You're important. You can't die."
"Kenna. I am the male. I need to make sure it is safe for the female."
She rolled her eyes.
"Okay."
Just then we heard a group of men entering the hall at the far end. We were on a viewing platform, and there were only two exits. The way that they were coming from, and the elevator chutes. We looked at each other. There was only one chute.
All of sudden, I realized we had been operating under the illusion of safety. There were men coming down the hall right now that would rather kill us than look at us. We had no war on my planet and Earth was peaceful now, too, from all accounts. But these people had somehow missed the memo that violence wasn't the way. The only reason they hadn't shot Kenna right away in the forest was because she might be useful to them.
Now she had no value. Except that she was beautiful, and they would want to rape her before they killed her, which was possibly even worse than just shooting her outright.
"Shit," I said, trying to get out of the chute. "You go first. Hurry."
She shook her head, pushing on my chest and preventing me from getting out.
"No way, Dar. They can't catch you. You go first."
Her eyes were full of fear, but I could see resolve in them as well.
"Kenna," I said. The noises were getting closer. "They'll capture you."
"I'm just a nobody. A human. Dar, it doesn't matter if they catch me. You have responsibilities. You are way too important."
One of the men said something and the others laughed. My eyes darted to where the terrorists would appear at any moment.
"I can't leave you here. It wouldn't be right," I said.
"You can leave me, and you have to. Right now. I'll be okay. You go. Get to the spacecraft. Get away. You can send back help. I'm trusting you."
I frowned. It couldn't be right to leave her. But it wouldn't be right to get caught either. I did have responsibilities — huge ones.
"Just go, Dar," she said, a little desperately as we heard the men's boots on the tiles.
I pulled her to me and kissed her. It was brief but scorching hot. She pulled away a second later and hit the button to close the door. As I zipped downward, I heard a man's voice.
"Hey, what are you doing up here?"
Kenna's voice came back sounding seductive.
"Waiting for you boys."
Did I really just do that?
I put my head in my hands as the chute whizzed down to the main floor.
I got out, looked around to make sure the coast was clear and ran for the nearest exit — no longer assuming that I was somehow safe from these ruthless people.
How had I got into this mess? I had been trying to fix things, and now everything was worse off than before and innocent lives were being risked AGAIN. If anything happened to Kenna, I would never forgive myself.
I ducked outside and flattened myself against the wall. There weren't very many of them around. I began to believe that Mackeye had intended to negotiate after all. I headed across the field, planning to use the forest as cover to get to the launch pad as I had done before.
Shouts rang out before I was all the way across and I looked back to see two terrorists chasing me.
I hoped Kenna's sacrifice would not be in vain, but they caught me and tackled me. I jumped to my feet in a fighting stance. Although there is no violence on my planet, we are well aware that other planets have no such guarantees. All Susohnnan learn basic self-defense and princes are well trained in combat with our hands and our weapons. We hope never to have to use them, but it is important to know how to defend oneself, just in case.
I had never fought anyone in a battle situation before, but I hoped it would be like sparring practice. The first man came at me with a big punch I could see coming a mile away. I avoided it and while he was off balance, slammed my fist into his head with all my force. He crumpled.
I stared for a moment, unable to believe I had knocked someone unconscious. Then I whirled just in time to face my other assailant. He moved more carefully, coming at me slowly. I waited, my entire focus on his next move.
His hand shot out towards my head, and I blocked. Unfortunately, he hadn't meant to land the punch but to force me to lift my arms, leaving my ribs exposed. He delivered a vicious roundhouse kick that broke a bone or two.
Fuck. No one had ever hurt me before. It was excruciatingly painful. And I found that the fact that he had hurt me made me furious. I tried to remain calm, knowing that becoming angry could give my opponent the advantage, but it was a losing battle.
I came at him, fists flying. I spun around, and the top of my foot slammed into his ribs. He bent over a little. I gave him no time to recover. If those men were hurting Kenna like they had hurt me, I would kill them. I would kill them all. I delivered two quick jabs to the face while his guard was down, then danced back as he gave two spinning kicks that nearly took my head off.
He was good, but I was angry and desperate. He was coming at me with punch after punch and kick after kick. I blocked but couldn't get in a punch of my own. Then he came too close, and I stepped on his foot, hard. He leaned over, and I took a chance, delivering a brutal uppercut to his chin that knocked his head back. He landed on the ground and didn't get up.
I blinked. I couldn't believe I had just done that.
Then I took off running for the forest. I ran as hard as I could trying to escape my demons, and the AEA themselves — the terrorists were easier to outrun. When I came to the part of the woods that ran along the launch pad, I slowed down and checked it out. Two guards. I guessed Mackeye had spread his men thin, which was good for me.
I snuck up on them in the darkness and took them both out in about a minute. They never knew what hit them.
Quickly I found the spacecraft that were ready for take-off. I opened one and climbed in, looking at the controls. It looked like something I would be able to fly. I went through the checklist, trying not to think about Kenna.
Finally everything was ready, and I strapped myself in. I initiated the launch sequence, and the computer began counting down to ignition.
"Ignition in 20, 19, 18…" the digital voice said.
I'm going to send back help. I'm going to send back help. I'm going to send back help. It would have to be enough. But what if the rescue didn't get here in time?
I couldn't think of anything but Kenna's face.
I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her.
"10, 9, 8, 7…"
I NEEDED to make sure that nothing happened to her.
"4, 3…"
That's when the realization hit me. There was no way I was going to leave without her. I hit the abort button, and the computer stopped counting down.
I had to go back to her because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't.
* * *
KENNA
"Hey, what are you doing up here?" one of the men demanded, pointing his gun at me. I had no idea what to say, so I said the only thing that popped into my head.
"Waiting for you boys."
Did I sound sultry, or terrified? It wasn't the best choice of words, but I hoped it would keep him from shooting me on the spot.
They blinked and looked at each other. Then one of them grinned.
"Did Mackeye send you?" He looked at the other men. "Remember he said he had a whore for us?" The others nodded, and I swallowed.
Now what? How was I going to get out of this?
He stepped closer and pulled me against him. He was hard, and I supposed I was about to be gang raped. Should I run? Should I fight? Could I get one of their gu
ns?
I began to struggle.
"Hold her for me, boys. Oh, she looks soft. I'm going to enjoy this."
I tried to run, but they all grabbed me. One held me against him, two held my arms, and two spread my legs. The one who was going to rape me first began unzipping my navy terrorist coveralls from the bottom of my leg.
Their uniforms had a weird design with a zipper that went all the way around from one leg to the other. It had been chafing me since we had stolen them from the guards. When he had unzipped enough to see I was only wearing panties underneath, he hooted.
At that moment, the man's communications went off. I guessed that after getting lost in the bush, Mackeye had decided that it would be prudent to turn communications back on. The man took his hand away from my pants to answer. He hit speaker, and we all heard the voice.
"Attention. We have spotted Shu'in. He's on the run and heading for the launch pad. All men except those guarding the prisoners are to move to intercept him immediately. I repeat..." the voice said it again. I hoped that Dar had made it to the spacecraft and was taking off right now before everyone moved to capture him.
The man who had spoken first stood up.
"Throw her in with the others. Our fun will have to wait."
Oh, thank God and The Three and whatever other deities were watching over me.
Five of them ran for the stairs. The other one shoved me roughly in the same direction.
"Let's go," he said.
I could see that his pants were still tented, and he seemed awfully irritated because he pushed me again.
"Hurry up," he said to me. Then continued muttering to himself. "Fucking Shu'in. Had to interrupt just when I was going to get some."
We got to the stairs, and I thought hard as we descended, trying to figure out a way to get away from him before he locked me up. I was no good to anyone as a prisoner. I could push him down the stairs...but not if I was walking in front of him.
I turned around on the next landing.
"What are you doing? Get going," he said.
I moved closer to him, putting my hand on his bulge.