Brianna - part 3
When I left the gym after training, I took my time wandering back to the barracks. Around me, Skyrholm was the usual bustle of activity. I threaded my way through warriors on leave, couriers, holdfast secretaries, food vendors, shivering offworld merchants, and assorted civilians. My feet scrunched in the icy slush that seemed to defeat all the city's efforts to melt off the streets. The sky was a pearly gray that deepened to luminous indigo at the horizon. Biting cold air nipped at my face, all so clear that I could make out every notch and crag on the mountain looming behind the city.
Beautiful. Ordinarily I'd just drink it all in and enjoy it. A world like this made me feel free, and I would imagine how people had to cooperate to survive, how this kind of world brought people together. That kind of thought normally carried a lot of cozy memories of Narhaven with it, especially of the great fire in the central hall of my holdfast.
But I felt confused and guilty after meeting Bando. What in Dark had I been thinking? That Blood Eagle prisoner wasn't the nice guy my fantasies made him - he was a butcher! Just like the rest of 'em! Seeing those horrible scars on Bando's scalp brought that fact home with a vengeance.
Lachris was right. They were all right. I was the one who'd lost touch with what we were doing here: going to war against the butchers.
Then there were the tender feelings I had suddenly developed for Bando. Something about him just hit me as trustworthy, like nobody I'd ever met before. Maybe it was pity for what had been done to him, but I didn't think that was it. I hoped it wasn't just that he was good looking. I'd be ashamed to be so shallow. Still… there was something about him.
At the same time, I didn't trust my feelings. How could I? I'd humiliated myself and disobeyed orders over a butcher who happened to have a nice smile. I hadn't thought of myself as that kind of girl. I knew I tended to be impulsive, but up to now I hadn't dropped into outright stupidity.
But while Bando talked to me, I'd melted like a schoolgirl in a half-shek romance vid. It was all really confusing.
I pushed all these thoughts away when I hit the barracks, steeling myself for the usual round of tart comments and cold shoulders my fellow cadres had taken to greeting me with.
Instead, I found the place all abuzz. Lachris was suited up in her Scout Armor armor. "Come on, Kenzie! Don't make us late!"
"What?" I managed.
She sneered. "We got the call to pick up your boyfriend and go up."
"We?" I said stupidly. "What do you mean?"
"I'm going with you, Eagle-lover. Since I'm running the cadre now, the Sergeant thought it'd be a good idea for me to come along and keep an eye on you."
"I thought-"
She cut me off with a slicing gesture. "No. You didn't. But I ought to thank you." A superior grin flashed at me. "Without your idiotic romance, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet the Ur-Warlord face to face."
I didn't say anything after that, but rushed to my locker to break out my armor. I already had my skinsuit on, so that saved me the trouble of putting it on. I pulled my hair back and bound it with an elastic band, then pulled on my boot-greaves and unfolded the thigh plates along my quadriceps and hamstrings. As I did so, the armor's microseals knitted themselves closed with a series of rippling clicks. Next came the pelvic plate and the breastplate, followed by the vambraces and gauntlets. The armor activated immediately, each part drawing power from its cells until the microfusion pak in the breastplate came online. I felt the metal warming my skinsuit as I put on my helmet and made sure the neural induction links rested comfortably on my temples. The duracrys visor slid down to cover the upper half of my face, and the Heads Up Display flickered through a quick startup sequence.
A faint chime sounded in my ear. I was ready.
Lachris stood with folded arms at the door to my room, tapping her foot. "Come on, Kenzie. No time to spruce yourself up for your boyfriend."
"He's not my starkissin' boyfriend!" I shouted.
She just laughed at me. "Riiight. Well, he'll be a dead boyfriend soon, that's for sure." She spun and strode away, her long blonde hair streaming behind her. The hair reminded me of Bando all of a sudden, and a cold knife of anxiety stabbed me right in the gut.
Lachris was coming. She was beautiful. Bando would take one look at her and forget all about me. I wasn't sure why that idea should bother me at all, but it did. I trotted after her with my stomach churning.
We picked up blasters from the weapons locker on the way out. Then we jetted up to the roof to meet Bando and Sergeant Sartis. The Sergeant was piloting a Havoc turbograv, one of the combat transports we'd flown to the Hunters exercise the other day. According to the instructions on my Command Circuit, we'd pick up the Blood Eagle - the butchers, that is - out at the POW camp outside of town. Then we'd fly over to the starport and catch a dropship into orbit.
The Havoc had four passenger slots in addition to the pilot and tailgunner positions up on the central chassis. Lachris and I took two of the passenger positions, and Bando stood in the tailgunner slot in a Assault-class armor. I spotted a spinfusor and a chaingun on his armor's warharness.
"Hi, Brianna," he said over the CC. He sounded as cheery as ever.
"Hi, Bando," I replied cautiously. I was glad to note that the sound of his voice didn't thrill me like it had when we'd talked an hour or so earlier.
"Who your friend?"
"I'm Lachris," Lachris shot out before I could say anything. "The leader of Ke-Brianna's cadre."
"Nice to meet you, Lak-kris." He stumbled over her name slightly, and I could just see her roll her eyes. My HUD flashed up the text message <Moron.> I bit my lip and sent back. <No, he's not.>
We got moving pretty quickly, and it was a short flight out to the POW camp, but it was dark by the time we got there. The butchers were escorted out in skinsuits while a couple of guards packed their armors into the Havoc's storage compartment. I didn't see any other prisoners. The big ugly butcher with the face tattoo didn't say a word, just hauled himself into his slot and strapped in. The other one - THE guy - stopped in front of me, the camp lights shining full on his face. I caught my breath. By the Wolf! He was going to make things even worse, wasn't he? He was going to talk to me!
"Hi, Wolfgirl," he said quietly. "Thanks for, you know… everything." His voice was strong and clear, though he spoke Neolac with a little bit of a drawl. Up close, I saw he was definitely good-looking, even with a cluster of bruises still blotching his face. His eyes were deep green and slightly slanted, like I imagined a cat would have. His hair was nothing but a dark shadow on his scalp, totally opposite from the way we Starwolf wore it. He looked sincere and vulnerable, and I felt a fluttering in my chest.
<Butcher-lover!> popped up on my HUD, and I twisted to catch Lachris smirking out of the corner of my eye. Bando was watching too. I spun back toward the butcher and jerked my blaster toward the last open slot.
"Get in the transport, scrof!" I sounded harsh, and I meant to. For a second, something sad passed behind those cat eyes, and then he nodded.
"Yeh-check." He climbed up and strapped in. As he did, he tossed off an airy "Heya, blondie," to Lachris, which seemed to catch her off-guard, because she didn't make any retort before he turned his back on her and settled in. I stifled a smile at the expression on her face. It was the first time I'd ever seen her at a loss.
All the way to the dropship, I watched the back of the butcher's head. It was really hitting me that he was going to his death, if everything I heard about the Ur-Warlord was true, about her being a champion duelist and all. In spite of what Bando and the rest said, I couldn't help but wonder. This Blood Eagle didn't seem like the kind of guy who would torture someone. But then I'd remember how Bando's scars lay like white worms along his skull, and I'd get angry all over again.
Like I said, I was really confused. Bri, you are a mess, I told myself. Get it together!
After we got into the dropship, though, my doubts just trickled away. We escorted the two butchers into the transport bay and buckled them into their seats before we took ours. We didn't make any conversation, and aside from a couple of looks, the butcher guy didn't try to say anything else. The big ugly one sized Lachris up and licked his lips. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but the Sergeant cut her off.
As we sat there, I started remembering how noble Bando was, how he could have let hatred for the Blood Eagle tear him apart, but he hadn't. I found myself stealing looks at him. Strangely enough, Lachris seemed like she was doing the same thing. When she noticed that I saw her doing it, she blushed and quit for awhile. But a little later, she was at it again, just like me.
Part of me worried this was a little weird, but the rest of me just brushed it off, relieved to have something in common with Lachris at last while also hoping Bando didn't pay her too much attention.
Before we knew it, we'd docked with the Retribution. With a start, I realized Lachris's ponytail was floating over her head. When had we gone over to microgravity?
The Sergeant unbuckled himself and kicked over to the hatch. "Alright, people. Time to take these two little lambs to the slaughter."
"What do you want, an invitation?" I snarled at the butcher. "Get moving!"
"Kenzie!" warned the Sergeant. "Save 'em for the Ur-Warlord! And save that temper for Fury, heya?"
Abruptly I realized my hand had raised to slap the butcher. Wearing armor like I was, I could easily crush his skull if I hauled off. Chagrined, I muttered an apology. The butcher's eyes narrowed. He grabbed his armor bundle and headed for the hatch without a word.
I stood there a moment before following, looking at my hand.
What was happening to me?[1]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References