Forging the Alliance short Read online

  “I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. “There’s nothing I can do for her. She’s too far gone, and we only have enough supplies for our own men. We can’t be flying all over the galaxy saving every pretty girl you boys bring back.”

  There was a click as Darius cocked his gun. “I’m not asking.”

  Dr. Kandre felt the cold tip of the barrel press into the skin at the base of his neck. He nodded quickly, agreeing to Darius’s demands. He couldn’t spare himself a look of disgust as he reached out to touch the woman’s dirt-caked skin. Darius wanted to shoot the man for looking at Xerces like some kind of filthy rodent, but he thought better of it. If he killed Kandre, Xerces would be the one to suffer.

  Once Dr. Kandre stepped up and started taking Xerces’s vitals, Darius backed off. He took a step back and watched closely as Kandre made notes and listened quietly to her lungs and heart. The doctor kept glancing over at Darius intermittently, checking to see if the threat had abated, but Darius never let himself look away.

  Kandre shuffled back and forth, lifting Xerces’s arms and bending her legs to inspect her body. Mostly, her eyes stayed closed, but every once in a while she winced, and with each wince Darius felt his shoulders tighten. He had to fight not to rush to her side and stop the exam. Instead, he settled for a gruff complaint.

  “Is this necessary? Can’t you give her something for the pain first?”

  The doctor whirled on him with an arched eyebrow. “You came to me. If you don’t like the way I do my job, you can just drag her right back on out of here.”

  Darius straightened and started pacing anxiously in the tiny space, but he bit his tongue.

  “I need her to be aware of what hurts so I can document it. If I give her pain killers or knock her out, I’ll have to go by guesswork.” In a softer voice, almost sympathetic, he added, “I’m almost done. She’s in good hands.”

  Darius nodded imperceptibly and settled against the far wall of the room, taking up his post and watching over her helplessly. After a while, Kandre finished making notes and observations on his clipboard. He set it down on the counter and then pulled up a rolling stool. He rotated slowly toward Darius, clasping his hands in his lap calmly and looking at the soldier expectantly.

  “All right, what’s the story?”

  Darius grunted. “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean. There’s no precedent for you barging in here with a wounded civilian. You know this medical bay is for our men.”

  By now, Darius was chewing on his lip thoughtfully and nodding along with the doctor’s words. He acknowledged that there was no precedent, but he wasn’t sure he could explain why he’d done it, anyway. The longer he considered this, the heavier the silence grew in the room, begging him to make an excuse. Even the doctor had looked away, searching the floor tiles scrupulously as if they might hold the answer.

  “She’s not just a civilian. She’s a victim. And it’s our fault,” Darius stated finally, pushing off the wall to come stand at her side. He laid his broad, rough hand over her frail one on the bed, and he let himself believe that he saw her face soften for a second in response.

  “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” Kandre answered stiffly.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Darius cut him off brusquely. “All that matters is that one of our bombs did this… to her. And there were others - orphans - and I’m almost certain they’re dead now.”

  Kandre shook his head sadly and made a clucking sound with his tongue. “Slow down, there, boy. That may be the story she told you, but it doesn’t add up. Just look at her. She’s wearing scrubs. She was obviously a medical officer for the enemy. Did you ever see the orphans with your own eyes?” Kandre paused, but then continued without giving Darius a chance to answer. “No, I doubt you did. If there were others, they were soldiers of the insurgents. What use would we have in bombing a bunch of orphans? Just think about it.”

  Then, Dr. Kandre slapped a hand down on his lap and stood abruptly, shaking his head in the same dismissive way as he shuffled back out of the room, leaving Darius and his charge alone. Darius watched him go, angered but unable to argue with Kandre’s logic. What he needed was for Xerces to wake up again and give him more information, but it was getting too late already. It was almost time for the rest of the crew to return, and once they were back onboard, he would have to report. And gods only knew what would happen to her then.

  3

  Xerces slept for several more hours, unmoving. Darius got up and paced and then settled back in beside her. Dr. Kandre did not return to check on them. Then there was a loud noise outside the medical bay, and Darius knew that the men were returning. The sound of heavy boots filled the hallway and Tyler’s raucous voice rang out over the shuffling of bodies. Curious, Darius went to the door and pressed his ear against it, hoping to understand what all the commotion was about.

  “Line them up!” Tyler shouted, and there were a few muffled grunts that followed. “Anybody seen Darius? He didn’t come back with us.”

  Darius jumped back from the door like it had shocked him. So Tyler had noticed his absence. That wasn’t good news for him, but he wasn’t ready to come out just yet.

  From what he could gather, Tyler and the crew had found a handful of insurgents to take prisoner. Through the door, Darius couldn’t make sense of how many there were, or what condition they were in, but it surprised him a little that Tyler hadn’t shot them all out in the field. It wasn’t like Tyler to bring back survivors without a good reason.

  When Darius turned away from the door, Dr. Kandre was standing on the far side of the room staring at him placidly.

  “What?” Darius huffed.

  The doctor shrugged. “Just wondering what your plan was now that you have us locked up in here. Sounds like Tyler knows you’re missing, and the second you open that door, he’s going to come in here and clap some cuffs on that critter you brought in. What are you going to do then? She would’ve been better off dying on the streets of her home planet than being taken prisoner by those guys.”

  “Don’t talk about her like that,” Darius growled, advancing a step toward Kandre and pulling himself up to his full height.

  The doctor smirked, but he took a half-step back toward his office. “Look, I have nothing against the poor girl. She’s in pitiful shape, and I don’t think she could hurt a fly. I’m not saying she belongs in the brig, but don’t think she’s staying in here. Command won’t allow it. You will have to move her sooner rather than later.”

  Darius nodded. He knew he had limited options, and Xerces was in no condition to walk out of the medical bay. He turned away from Kandre in frustration and leaned on the bed, towering over her prone form and observing her wearily. He didn’t want to think his effort to save her would only cause her more pain.

  Her eyes flickered open, and she offered him a weak smile when she could focus on Darius’s face.

  “Hi,” she croaked, then she licked her lips and tried again. “Hi.”

  The relief that washed over Darius was palpable, and he thought he might cry. Then he stopped himself, appalled that he had become so emotional over a woman he didn’t know, who was still in great danger thanks to him.

  “Thank the gods,” he whispered.

  She closed her eyes softly, and for a moment he thought she had fallen back asleep, but then she opened them again. Her hand moved slightly, and she wrapped her fingers over his, squeezing with as much strength as she could muster, which was very little.

  “I need you to tell me what happened… before the bomb.”

  Darius knew that this would be a touchy subject. Before the last words were even out of his mouth, he could see the sadness crumpling her expression, and he hated himself for asking this of her now, but he needed answers.

  She gave him a look of consternation, and then rallied herself to say, “I don’t understand.”

  He wanted to shake her. He wanted to set her upright and look in her eyes and demand that she e
xplain everything, but that was not an option, so he stifled his anger and tried again.

  “Tell me about the insurgents. When did they come? What did they do to your people?”

  Again, Xerces shook her head in confusion, her brows knitted and her smile turning into a frown.

  “Xerces, I’m begging you. We are running out of time. My superiors think you’re one of them. One of the bad guys. If you don’t answer me, they will throw you in jail. You’ll die in there.”

  He was pleading, and when she pulled her hand away, he realized he had been applying too much pressure. She looked at her hand, and back at him, hurt. Her mouth moved, but he couldn’t decipher her words.

  “What?” His voice broke as he pleaded with her one more time.

  “Just… let… me… die.”

  At this, he could not contain his rage. He slammed his hands down on the bunk beside her, making her broken body bounce. She cried out in surprise and pain, and then recoiled from him, cowering under her meager covers. Her eyes welled with tears that threatened to spill down her dirty cheeks, and her lip quivered.

  “You will not die on my watch,” he stated with a certain finality.

  She didn’t dare move, only watching him steadily to see what he might do to her.

  Kandre cleared his throat from the side of the room where he had been standing all along. The nasty look on his face had not changed, and now he seemed more entertained than ever to see Darius desperate. Darius had to wonder what the doctor was getting out of this, because it was unbecoming to see him so mirthful with a life hanging in the balance.

  “Perhaps you’d better go for a walk, Darius. I’ll watch after the girl. Go clear your head.”

  “I will do no such thing. She will not leave my sight until I have answers, and until I’m sure she’s safe.”

  “But-” Xerces protested.

  “It’s for your own good,” Darius declared, putting his foot down.

  Xerces looked to Dr. Kandre anxiously and then back to Darius. She had no reason to trust the doctor any more than she trusted the soldier who had appointed himself her bodyguard. In the end, it probably wouldn’t make much difference, anyway. Unable to fight for herself, she settled back onto the bed and rolled away from both men so she was facing the wall. Darius could hear her crying quietly over the sound of his own blood pounding in his ears.

  “Fine. Let me know if you need me, but don’t be surprised when somebody comes looking for you,” Dr. Kandre warned before turning back to his office and shutting the door resolutely. He took a moment to stare Darius down before locking the door.

  Defeated, Darius slumped down on the floor beside the medical bed and pulled his knees up to his chest. Tipping his head back against the wall, he tried to gather his thoughts and slow his breathing. Xerces’s meek sobs quieted down, and her breathing settled into a steady rhythm once more. She was asleep again, and who knew when she might wake.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Darius muttered to himself, rocking his head back and forth against the wall. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  He tried to walk himself through all the possibilities. He tried to sort out why the bomb landed there, and who had ordered the strike, and whether he really remembered a baby crying inside the building or if that was only a modified memory, pieced together after Xerces mentioned the orphans. The harder he tried to remember the details of finding her on the street, the less sure he was that he had done the right thing. He couldn’t be sure if his mind was playing tricks on him, or if he was just too exhausted to make sense of things, or even if he was just too jaded about the Administration’s purpose to believe anyone on either side of the fight.

  Xerces’s breath faltered, and she coughed, whimpering with the pain that clutched her chest. She sat up a little way on her elbow and got sick off the side of her bed, covering the bed with reeking vomit. Darius jumped into action. He grabbed a small paper cup off the counter and filled it with a tiny bit of water, bringing it to her immediately. He rolled her onto her back and helped lift her head and shoulders so she could take a sip without spilling. She didn’t recoil from his touch this time, and he thought that was a good sign. Maybe he was forgiven.

  Once Xerces sipped a little of the water and didn’t seem like she would be sick again, she shuffled away from the stained wall, moving her body closer to where Darius stood. His arm still cradled her upper body, and he brushed her hair out of her face with one hand before gently mopping her brow with a soft cloth.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “I don’t want to die.”

  Her admission was solemn and confidential, betraying the angry defiance she had harbored a little while earlier. She had softened again, and she was scared.

  “I won’t let you die, but I really need to know the truth,” he said with a gentler insistence.

  This time she nodded slowly.

  “Help me sit up.”

  He plumped up the pillow behind her and added a second pillow propped against the wall. He helped her reposition herself so that the blanket still covered her, but able to stay upright. Even this small amount of movement was extremely taxing, and it took her several minutes to settle in before she was ready to speak again.

  “I’m not one of them,” she began. “I don’t even know who they are, really. You say ‘insurgents’ like they were out there with matching uniforms and symbols declaring whose side they were on. It wasn’t like that. You - your men - your Administration is the only one with uniforms and symbols. There was no army that came before you.”

  She paused, thinking hard about something, but then thought better of it and carried on.

  “What I mean is… the insurgents never came and attacked. They’re not coordinated. They did not wreak havoc. Mostly they came, and they preached their anger about all the ways the Administration had let them down, and they urged people to listen. They scared people with their screaming and shouting, but they didn’t hurt anybody, and when they realized that our people could offer them no support, they moved on. To bigger cities and stronger people. But they did not destroy our city. By the time they came, there was nothing left to destroy.”

  “But where are your people?” Darius asked, confusion clouding his mind. “We were told that the insurgents were slaughtering your people, kidnapping and enslaving them. They sent us to free you.”

  Even as he said the words out loud, he heard his own uncertainty beneath them. Xerces snorted derisively in his direction and then caught herself and gave him an apologetic look.

  “You people have a funny definition of freedom,” she said with a sideways glance, humoring herself.

  Darius let out a long, heavy sigh and nodded his agreement. He knew she wasn’t wrong, but he also knew that he couldn’t abandon his post. He was treading on dangerous ground now.

  “So now what?” she ventured, breaking the tense silence that had grown up between them.

  Before Darius could answer, there was a loud rap at the door and they both caught their breath. In the blink of an eye, Dr. Kandre’s face appeared in his office doorway, peering out curiously.

  4

  “Open up,” the command came through the locked door, making Darius’s heart race.

  He scrambled to his feet and motioned to Xerces to lay down and close her eyes. She nodded silently and did as he instructed, pulling the blankets up and assuming the awkward positioning of someone who was unconscious. Darius made three long strides to the door and checked on Xerces one last time before clicking the lock open and cracking the door a few inches.

  He pressed his eye into the narrow space, appraising the danger that awaited him outside. To his relief, it was only his immediate superior who stood outside, arms clasped behind his back and a look of impatience on his face. Counting to three in his head, Darius stepped back from the door and stood aside, allowing the man to enter. The officer paused as if he had been expecting a fight, then he stepped inside and scanned the room suspiciously.

  “Good evening, sir
,” Darius greeted in an upbeat tone, trying to stay calm.

  “Good evening, soldier,” the man replied curtly, but Darius could not miss the skepticism in his voice.

  “I apologize for failing to report earlier, sir. As you can see, something came up, and I had to make a quick decision.”

  The officer arched an eyebrow at Darius but only said, “Yes, I heard. So, tell me, what was so pressing that you had to violate an order from a commanding officer and put this mission at risk?”

  Darius edged around the officer, putting himself between the man and the girl, blocking her from view as best he could.

  “I couldn’t leave her to die, sir. It wouldn’t have been right.”

  It was a weak defense, but he had nothing better to offer. He’d spent all afternoon trying to make sense of his predicament, and there were no good answers. Her explanation of the circumstances only made him more confident that there would be a price to pay for his insubordination.

  “You some kind of philosopher now, soldier?” the officer asked sarcastically. “Who is she?”

  “Her name is Xerces, sir. She was a nurse. I mean, she is a nurse. She will be, when she wakes up.”

  “And you thought what? She’s just going to join our side and get straight to work healing our men?”

  Darius could tell that the officer’s patience was growing thin, and he needed to pacify the man before he decided to get rid of her. Then a thought occurred to him.

  “No, sir. I thought she would be a valuable prisoner to have,” he declared. He prayed that Xerces didn’t react to his words and give herself away.

  “Valuable? In what way?” The officer grew agitated now, tapping his foot and crossing his arms as he awaited Darius’s explanation.

  “She was on the front lines. She saw how many of their men were injured. She knows how bad they’re hurting, and she was in a perfect position to hear their plans for the future. Bed ridden soldiers can’t help but flirt and chatter about what’s going on in the field. She knows things.”