Hero

by Reagan Woods

  “Tara.” He met her hungry gaze with a heated one of his own. “You have to stop looking at me like that. Right now.” He marched her through the security gate without stopping for the usual bio scan.

  “It’s a pretty day,” she hurried to change the subject, glancing around for something to talk about as they trotted through the Earther yard. “The sun is shining…shit! I’m really late.”

  “Keble got a promotion,” Calyx explained grimly, ushering her into the common building. “We lost two of our best Warriors.”

  Tara sucked in a breath. “What? Who?”

  “Domik and Silex,” he answered, face impassive as he gripped her arm and marched down the hall.

  Her heart did a slow roll. Silex was his partner, his friend. “I’m so sorry, Calyx.”

  “I don’t want to discuss it,” he bit tersely. “Things will be changing for us, too.”

  Oh, no. Here it comes.

  He stopped in front of the infirmary where Medic Taver stood at attention.

  “Uh, I’ll just go,” Tara mumbled. She didn’t have time to listen to Calyx and Taver catch up and, truthfully, she wanted to put off the inevitable news that Calyx had been recalled to his ship or transferred to another camp.

  Calyx’s fingers on her elbow tightened as he nodded to Taver. “Tara is ready to finish her Claimed Female registration.”

  “I am?” She squeaked as Taver broke into a wide smile.

  “Well, at least something good has come of your adventure,” he said soberly.

  Tara’s world narrowed down to the single regeneration bed on the other side of the room.

  Taver gestured to the bed, open like a beautifully stylized lotus. “Get in,” he instructed brusquely. “There’s a step stool built into the base. You can leave your clothes on. The nutrigel will feel slightly cool at first, but you’ll adapt quickly.”

  Her mouth quit working and her feet felt like blocks of ice weighing her to the spot.

  “Tara?” Calyx’s concerned face swam into vision. “Tara? What’s wrong? You’re sweating. Taver!”

  “I-I c-c-can’t,” she stuttered, teeth chattering.

  “Is this really necessary?” Calyx sounded panicked, his voice echoing hollowly in her ears.

  “We need a scan.” Taver frowned uncertainly.

  Jinlee’s voice added to the din. “Back off! Give her room.”

  Someone shoved a stool under her butt and her head between her knees. “Deep breaths, Tara. In. Now out. In. Good job.” The big hand between her shoulder blades patted encouragement. “Breathe out. Deep breaths.”

  Tara didn’t have the energy for embarrassment. That would come later. Right now, she felt grateful they hadn’t forced her bodily into the cremator.

  “Here. Have some water.” Jinlee held her neck steady while Calyx brought a cup of chilled water to her lips.

  Calyx appeared stoic, but Tara saw the disappointment in his eyes. This was supposed to be a high-point in his – their – day.

  He took her hand, wrapped it around the cup. His own found the curve of her cheek. “You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to.”

  “Oh, Calyx. I-.”

  “I don’t believe it is a matter of want,” Jinlee interrupted thoughtfully. “Tara exhibited the signs of a panic attack. She’s terrified of the regeneration chamber.”

  Taver had stepped back to watch with serious eyes. “Why?”

  Calyx snarled and shot to his feet. Jinlee held up a staying hand. “Such fears aren’t rational,” he began.

  Tara felt vaguely at risk of being toppled off her stool and trampled with so many tall aliens crowded around.

  “Excuse me?” She stood shakily. “I think it’s perfectly rational to be afraid of burning to death inside one of those things.”

  Three sets of puzzled alien eyes turned on her.

  “Like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” she put her hands on her hips, turned to Calyx. “When I asked for Grandmama’s body, the guard told me the medics incinerated her in the regen bed.”

  “The bed wouldn’t perform that function with a living being inside.” Taver reassured tightly, shooting Calyx an unreadable look.

  “Could you help Taver pull one of the portable field scanners out of storage?” Jinlee asked Calyx. “We can rig it to log all the scans required. Problem solved.”

  Jinlee turned to Tara as soon as the others were out of sight. “You can’t let on that you know about the cremation function to anyone else. You aren’t cleared for that information and we don’t want injured people refusing treatment.”

  “It’s not exactly something I want to think about – let alone discuss,” Tara replied drily. “The regen bed is a useful tool. It’s not as though I don’t recognize the good it does…I’m just scared.”

  “Don’t worry.” He patted her shoulder kindly and stepped away. “This will be completely painless.”

  Chapter 44

  Breakfast wasn’t a total loss. The Ferocious Five put out a spread. By no means was it an impressive spread, consisting mostly of enriched beans and spiced brown rice and pretty much all the eggs Tara had allotted for the week. But people ate fresh food. That was what was important.

  It wasn’t fancy and didn’t quite hit all the food groups. Still, Tara was beyond pleased with her staff. She’d been toying with the idea of doing some baking with the supplies on hand…she just needed some sort of leavening agent. Maybe she’d bake the ladies a cake.

  “Y’all saved my bacon today,” she told Juanita as they wiped down the counters. “Thank you.”

  “Jinlee said you’d be busy for a while,” Juanita shrugged the thanks off, embarrassment putting spots of dusky color high on her cheeks as she frowned and scrubbed the counter. “We didn’t want everyone to starve.”

  Tara crossed the space between them, put a hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “Well, I appreciate the quick thinking and the team work.”

  “You’ve been taking care of us since we got here,” she mumbled. “Making us fancy breakfasts, putting aside lunch and dinner portions to be sure we eat.”

  Penelope and the others pushed through the door between the kitchen and dining rooms chattering like magpies.

  “Cafeteria’s clean and prepped for lunch,” Jocelyn announced, tossing her tightly braided caramel colored hair over her shoulder. “I’m free to go check on the meat supply,” she offered with a hopeful gleam in her eye. “Just tell me what you need – particularly from the cattle fields.”

  Were these women volunteering to take some of the load off her shoulders? She was touched…and reluctant to hand over control without giving them a little more training.

  “If you’re handing out passes, we all want to go check on the meat supply,” Penelope said with an exaggerated wink.

  Juanita’s sober face lit, “I’m up for a field trip.”

  The other girls broke into raucous laughter.

  “What am I missing?” Tara appealed.

  Petite Anne waived a hand in the air. “Most of the ex-Marines for the Western Central Gov – the few that lived, you know? – work the cattle. Those guys are built.” She gave a dreamy sigh. “So built.”

  Jocelyn smiled. “They’re eye candy, all right. It’s too bad they don’t seem to be interested in women these days…”

  A sly look crossed Juanita’s face. “Maybe they just haven’t met the right ones.”

  Tara thought back to the conversation she’d had with Marta and Franny, realized the damage to Earth’s fighters might not be as well-known as she’d assumed. So many of those men hadn’t survived the war and invasion, anyway. Those that remained were something of a miracle.

  She already had bad news to deliver today and the weight of it was a stone around her neck. Perhaps now wasn’t the time to educate the women on what they would be up against if they chose to throw themselves at the Marines.

  “I’ll check with Calyx,” she promised. “See if I can get you an escort and we can work
out a schedule of duties – if you’re serious about – er – checking out the meat supply.”

  “Yes!” Juanita gave a fist pump, doing a little hip-wiggling happy dance.

  Penelope watched her with open amusement. “We’re used to exploring,” she explained to Tara. “Caving, climbing, drilling test samples for the aliens. This same stuff, different day routine makes us antsy.”

  Jenn piped up, “But it keeps us safe.”

  “We appreciate safe,” Juanita agreed, getting herself under control. “But it sure as hell is boring.”

  “Well, I guess we can see about livening up your lives with an assortment of…field trips,” Tara said weakly. “Thanks again, ladies. I’ll see you in a few hours,” she dismissed them neatly, waited for them to file toward the doors.

  “Jenn,” she interrupted Penelope’s low-voiced commentary on something or another and both women turned. “Can you hang out a minute? Penelope can wait for you in the hall. This will only take a moment.”

  “Go ahead, Pen.” Jenn waived her friend out before turning to walk back toward Tara. “What’s up?”

  Tara’s heart sped up. She’d thought of these women as girls, but she realized with a jolt they were right around her age. Jenn especially seemed younger because of her delicate build. She was about Tara’s height, but Jenn’s black durafiber clothing hung off her thin shoulders and sometimes drooped down to show bony hips. Mousy, light brown hair fell in silky waves to her stick-like shoulders. High cheeks and a wide forehead topped a sharp nose and thin lips.

  The overall package would have been plain if not for her eyes. They were the color of new apple cider, lighter than whisky and too clear to be called simple brown, and they sparkled intelligently out of a narrow face.

  Clearing her throat nervously, Tara began, “I don’t know any easy way to say this, so I’ll make it fast. Domik, he didn’t make it back, Jenn.”

  Those sparkling eyes dulled, welled up with pain so deep Tara imagined she could dive in and swim. Jenn turned quickly away, hunched in on herself, arms hugging her own torso tightly, accenting the child-like frailty. “You’re sure,” she mumbled.

  “Calyx told me this morning,” Tara answered the unspoken question. “I don’t have any details, and I’m sorry for that. I thought you should know.” It sounded lame to her own ears, but it was all she had.

  Ashy hair falling over her pale face, Jenn nodded once. “Thanks for telling me,” she croaked, spinning for the door.

  “I understand if you need a little time,” Tara called after her helplessly.

  She’d seen a lot of death, delivered a lot of bad news over the years, but she hated it, hated bearing the talons that sank deep into another’s chest to claw at a heart.

  “Well, that sucked,” she muttered. Still, she was relieved the telling was behind her.

  Jenn, like everyone else, had survived thus far. She’d shove her heart back into that gaping cavity in her chest and patch herself up as best she could.

  They all had scar tissue.

  Chapter 45

  General Darvan stood roughly eight feet tall and carried over three hundred pounds of long, lean muscle packed under his somber black uniform. Though he wasn’t physically there, the holographic projection did little to mute his innate presence – or to hide his bloodshot copper eyes from the group gathered outside Warrior barrack five.

  The General was gracious as he wished Skylan a successful future and appointed Calyx the new Commander of CGA Earth Camp Three. His brief speech, given for the handful of Warriors witnessing the change of command, praised both Calyx and Skylan for their loyalty and valor and memorialized Silex and Domik, commending their sacrifices.

  The ceremony was brief and surprisingly emotional for Calyx though he knew his friends weren’t truly dead. In his dreams, he’d naively painted this day, the day of his big promotion, as one filled with happy friends and glorious, victorious battle. To have the fulfilment of his professional goals come in such a way, at such a personal price to Silex and Domik, left his gut churning sourly.

  He listened to the General wrap up his speech, watched his hologram wink out. Several Warriors pressed forward, offering congratulations and sly comments on his promotion. There were subtle inquiries about his plans for the Doranos prisoners he inherited from Commander Skylan and not so subtle questions about reorganization and promotions now that key personnel were gone.

  Being the kind of male who always had a plan, Calyx had answers; however, this wasn’t the venue. After fifteen minutes spent dodging, he signaled Skylan. Calyx could see that Skylan grew weary of the endless questions as well, so he determined it was the ideal time for a knowledge transfer.

  They made their excuses and headed out of the camp toward Skylan’s waiting shuttle.

  “The questions are already getting to me,” Calyx said irritably. “Do they really believe I would tell them my plans when I haven’t yet met with the General to see what he wants done.”

  Their footsteps were silent over the hard-packed earth.

  Skylan chuckled, obviously at peace with being relieved from command and shipped out to another system, another war. “With regards to the Doranos and the Earthers, the less you tell him at this juncture, the better. He’s got his own battles to fight.”

  “Pressure from the Council, you mean?”

  “From the Council, from his family, and of course, the expectations he’s always had for himself,” Skylan’s hard voice softened with uncharacteristic pity. “He’s lost his brother who was his closest advisor, he might have to abdicate the Corian throne because he’s bonded an Earther, and the Council is determined to make that Earther pay.”

  “And you’ve been reassigned,” Calyx guessed. “That has to sting. They’ve kicked his last crutch out from under him so to speak.”

  Skylan nodded, pleased. “I’ve always said you’re smart, kid. The General doesn’t know exactly what’s going on here, the missions I’ve started that you’ll have to take responsibility for, so listen closely,” he advised. “I don’t know if Lady Arianna is an enemy or a pawn. She’ll either poison our General or make him stronger. She has ties to this Peter. You’ll need to read a transcript of the conversation she had with him to fully understand what you might be up against there.”

  Calyx narrowed his eyes and made a mental note, gestured for Skylan to continue.

  “She also has ties to Dex.” He paused, waited for Calyx to catch up.

  “The Earther we found?”

  “Indeed,” Skylan confirmed, keying his authorization code into the hull of the shuttle. The top slid open with a pressurized hiss. “The transcripts should be priority one. After you’ve seen those, you’ll understand why I’ve sent Domik to hunt the desert for more rogue Earthers and Silex to infiltrate the other work camps.”

  “You what?” Shock had his jaw hanging open. Domik’s mission seemed reasonable. To horn in on another CGA operation was ugly business.

  “The Doranos running the other camps report none of their Earthers or personnel missing, yet we keep finding strays in the desert. Someone is lying,” Skylan relayed flatly. “Or we were sloppier than we’ve ever been in clearing a planet.”

  “I went over the scans, same as you,” Calyx defended the Track Teams and their work. “We were thorough.”

  “We were,” Skylan agreed. “I’ve promoted you in my stead, so you can cover your brother Warriors when the need arises – and it will. Because Soryan and I failed to draw out the Doranos conspirators here, I fear I’ve left you in an untenable situation. If anyone can navigate these treacherous waters, it’s you, Commander Calyx. I know I needn’t caution you not to trust anyone else with this information.”

  He held out his arm and Calyx gripped it firmly. “Safe travels, Commander Skylan.”

  “Happy hunting.” Skylan climbed into the shuttle, sealed the doors.

  Calyx heard the whine of engines heating, felt the ground tremble beneath his feet as the long-range shuttle prepared
to muscle its way through the atmosphere and into the far reaches of space.

  Miknel and Keble jogged out to meet him, identical expressions of worry on their faces.

  “Commander,” Miknel puffed. “You’re needed.”

  Skylan’s shuttle fired with a nearly deafening roar, his thrusters powering him into the late morning air and away with an echoing boom.

  “What is it, Miknel?” Their urgency had him trotting with them as they turned back toward the energy field.

  “It’s Shirok, sir,” he answered.

  Calyx briefly closed his eyes but kept pace with his Warriors. This was on him to deal with. Only a few more hours before Tara was his. She had to be safe. He had Warriors looking in on her constantly and would have heard otherwise before this. “He’s broken free of the detention cell?”

  He clamped down on the instinctive need to find Shirok and beat him to a bloody pulp. They might all benefit if he taught the rich whelp the meaning of the word respect, but none of their careers would.

  “Not exactly. He’s dead, sir.”

  Chapter 46

  It was Jinlee who scurried across the hall after lunch to tell Tara of Shirok’s demise. She couldn’t find an ounce of sorrow for him even when she heard is throat had been ripped out, nothing but a bit of sinew and bone left to hold his head on his body.

  The one emotion she could find was relief. For the first time in days, she relaxed. It was like she’d been wearing a target on her back and someone had come along and peeled it right off.

  So great was her rediscovered sense of freedom, she dared to poke her head into what the aliens un-creatively dubbed the Earther yard to look for Calyx. A quick hello to her lover and some fresh air were just what she needed. But he wasn’t anywhere to be found.

  “Female!” A Warrior she didn’t know glared disapprovingly when she approached the security gate between the yard and administration sections. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m looking for Calyx,” she answered. “Have you seen him?”