The Mercenary (The War Chronicles Book 1) Page 21

  She had been assigned a new silver and white uniform of loose trousers, a short-sleeved top with the logo of BelDaap over her right breast, and white sentha leather ankle boots that pinched her feet after the first hour. Urul, one of the amiable servers, had assured her that the leather would get more pliable once she’d broken in the boots, which he had cheerfully informed her would take no longer than one standard month. Tonight, after two hours in the leather boots, Saakshi’s feet hurt. Having knelt down, to try and unsuccessfully adjust her pinching feet, Saakshi missed the group entering the alehouse. Urtak ushered the group of Hadari’Kor to a large table to provide them with menu tablets. Thus it was that five minutes later, an unaware Saakshi happened to glance up, only to find her eyes tangle with that of Zoran Hadari-Begur-Kor. Her heart thumped once, intent on escaping its cage, as her eyes met familiar black ones. Time stood still for Saakshi, as a rush of memories pummeled her, rendering her silent and still. Memories from another alehouse, on another space station, where an enigmatic male watched her silently, his dark eyes intent on her. A male who’d been content to never approach her until she was compelled to ask for his assistance in desperate circumstances. Saakshi felt herself drowning in the black eyes as flashes from their past assailed her. His possessiveness as a lover, always tempered with tenderness; his kindness and unfailing generosity; his protection and assiduous care of her. He had made her feel cherished and someone of immense value to him in the short time that they had been together. He had stolen her heart in those few short weeks. He’d always come to her aid repeatedly, unheeding of the danger to himself. He had kept every promise he had ever made to her. And his loss from her life had left her bereft and broken.

  The clinking of goblets as Ural tried to manage a large tray jolted Saakshi out of her trance. A spontaneous smile bloomed on her face, Zoran’s name on her lips. But before her smile could blossom fully, his attention had moved on. He acknowledged her with a short and oddly formal nod as one of his companions engaged him in conversation. A huge sense of desolation and dejection swept through the young girl left standing with a half-smile on her face. Saakshi turned quickly away to busy her shaking hands at the bar. She worked on mixing drinks, allowing Urtak to handle Zoran’s table. When, an hour later, Zoran approached her, a Saakshi assiduously focused on keeping her eyes averted from Zoran’s table jumped skittishly at hearing her name called out in a low voice. Glancing up from checking supplies on her tablet, she jerked back in sheer disconcertion at meeting Zoran’s eyes.

  “When are you done here?” he asked, trying to keep his words inaudible from the other customers in the crowded alehouse.

  “Midnight” Saakshi managed to squeak, trying to keep her voice steady.

  He’s furious, Saakshi realized suddenly. This explained the strange impassive expression on his face before. Mingled in with astonishment at seeing her had been a sense of banked anger. Saakshi wondered at his unexpected fury, for she’d only ever seen him this coldly furious once before. This sense of banked anger, one buried deep through sheer will. It had been on display on another memorable occasion - when she’d gone to him with her proposition on the Juntafeyore. Then, she’d failed to recognize it for what it was. Now, she knew him better.

  “Everything fine here, Saakshi?” inquired a familiar voice as the brawny body of Ural joined her at the bar.

  His eyes searched her face before turning to stare at Zoran with quiet menace. Zoran glanced at the male beside Saakshi, taking in the protective stance and body language. His eyelids swept down to hide his eyes. When he glanced up again, his face was carefully blanked of any expression. He ignored Ural’s presence, making it clear that he awaited Saakshi’s response to his query.

  Saakshi tried to suppress an almost hysterical giggle at the strange situation she found herself in. Ural had rushed in to protect her from what he considered the unwelcome attentions of an alehouse customer. Little did he know that Zoran was the one male in the whole world that she trusted with her life. She took a silent breath before turning to Ural with a smile.

  “I’m fine, Ural. Thank you. Zoran is an old friend.”

  Saakshi congratulated herself on the steadiness of her voice, though she had to silently admit that the effect of her words was rather ruined with the infinitesimal hesitation before she claimed him as a friend. However, it seemed to satisfy the burly male who had mistakenly jumped to her assistance. He exchanged a short nod with Zoran before striding away with a rather boyish smile mixed with a generous dose of sheepish apology at Saakshi.

  Saakshi turned back to Zoran, an apology on her lips. The tablet on the bar before her buzzed loudly, shattering the moment and distracting her before the apology could leave her lips.

  “Not a good time, I think” Zoran said quickly before she could say anything. “The Juntafeyore plans to be docked here awhile, Saakshi. I’ll catch up with you another time.”

  With those words, he strode out without a backward glance, to where his companions awaited him. Saakshi could do nothing but silently watch his retreating back and rue missed opportunities. Even in this endeavor, she was soon interrupted by the angry call of the tablet’s buzzer as it impatiently demanded her attention.

  Saakshi chewed steadily and quickly, her mind preoccupied with weightier matters than the usually interesting events to be observed around the Sustenance Pavilion at this time of the evening. Her shift at the alehouse started in a half hour, forcing her to eat quickly and rather mechanically, a contrast to her usual meal time celebration of tastes and flavors that she so enjoyed indulging in. To a girl who had spent her life counting her blessings on the days that she did not go hungry, meals like these were meant to be savored and lingered on. Today, though, she was preoccupied with thoughts of Zoran and the strange encounter from the night before.

  Lost in her thoughts and unaware of her surroundings, Saakshi reacted with a muted shriek when she felt a hand descend on her shoulder. She glanced up, a quick apology on her lips, only to meet the dark eyes of the very male whose actions and intentions from last night she’d been lost in contemplation of.

  “Sorry” she said faintly. “You surprised me.”

  “I’m sorry” Zoran was apologetic. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  They stared at each other silently, the air around them heavy with an expectation that neither seemed in a hurry to breach.

  “I wanted to talk to you …”

  “I’d like to apologize for last night …”

  Typical, we finally decide to break the silence and we both start talking at the same time.

  “Please” she said quickly. “You were saying?”

  A burly young Budheya male materialized by Saakshi’s side before Zoran could respond.

  “Nehlia Saakshi, is everything alright?” he enquired solicitously with a not so subtle glance at the large Hadari’Kor male looming over her.

  A short and uncomfortable silence ensued as both males stood their ground. Zoran wore an exasperated expression on his handsome face while the young, homesick Budheya male she’d befriended managed to somehow project an image of restrained aggression.

  Not again, Saakshi sighed silently. What absolutely wretched luck! How did all the well-meaning overly protective males in her life manage to come out of the woodwork at the exact moment she needed them to stay far away. This time though, Saakshi was determined to diffuse the situation before Zoran either walked away or wiped the floor with the young male. If only she could announce to the world the real tale of how Zoran had saved her, not once but many times. The irony was that if Zoran had not helped her in her time of need, she would be relinquishing in a Ketaari prison at this moment at the mercy of the sadistic Unta-Golar.

  “I’m absolutely fine, Krunar” she said firmly. “Zoran Hadari-Begur-Kor is a friend.”

  At her words, Krunar nodded silently before walking away with a lingering backward glance, his gaze implying that she was entirely too soft-hearted for her own good and that he intended to
keep a close eye on her while the large male was in her presence.

  Saakshi watched him go with a silent sigh before directing her attention back to Zoran who had chosen to ignore the last byplay and was watching her with an impassive expression on his face.

  “I apologize for him” she said, a tad helplessly. “I don’t know why everyone is so protective of me.”

  Zoran shrugged lightly.

  “You have no cause to apologize. It is good to know that you’ve made many friends here who care enough to look out for you” Zoran said simply. “It is what I hoped for you, Saakshi.”

  Saakshi hesitated, unsure how to react to his words.

  “However, I must admit that it does make for some awkward encounters between us” he added with a small smile playing about his lips.

  He glanced around him to note that they still drew a fair bit of attention, some overt and the rest, surreptitious.

  “I want to talk to you, Saakshi. But we need a less public venue.”

  Saakshi couldn’t fail to notice that Krunar continued to watch them openly.

  “I’m not working at the alehouse tomorrow” she hinted, her tone hesitant, at a loss to suggest a venue on this large station where they could have a private conversation that escaped everyone’s notice. In a strange way, her predicament reminded her of the first time she had asked him for his time. Then too, she had faced the prospect of no privacy. Until her mercenary had solved the problem by procuring her a suppressor device.

  “Would you have dinner with me on the Juntafeyore?” he asked, the black eyes steady. “I can meet you at your office to escort you over to my ship.”

  Saakshi nodded shyly, accepting his invitation with alacrity. As always, Zoran had come to her rescue again, smoothing her path as was his wont.

  “Until tomorrow, then.” This time the smile was unmistakable.

  Saakshi watched him walk away with a much lighter heart this time.

  Dinner with Zoran, she thought excitedly, as she gobbled down the rest of the food hurriedly before making a dash for BelDaap.

  Thirteen

  The next evening, Saakshi waited impatiently for her last appointment of the day, unable to concentrate on her work for once. Once done, she made a hasty dash to the Ladies’ Enclosure to freshen up and smooth down the simple Alliance uniform she had been assigned to match the other administrative personnel on the station. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she thanked the Pura for the flattering outfit. The dark blue slacks and the asymmetrical tunic with short sleeves that fell to mid-thigh in the blue and white colors of TF124 was simple, yet superbly cut to fit her like a glove.

  Zoran arrived right on time to escort her to his ship and she fell into step beside him. Subjected to the gamut of astonishment, curiosity and speculation from the Budheya, as well as station personnel on their way to the Docking Bay, Saakshi had to fight hard to keep her poker face. For TF124, the mystery of their Budheya Personnel Coordinator had only deepened at this evidence of her fraternization with a Hadari’Kor Captain.

  “It seems I made the right call after all” Zoran remarked ruefully beside her.

  Saakshi glanced at him in puzzled inquiry.

  “Dinner on the Juntafeyore was a good choice” he said lightly, glancing around them with a significant look.

  “Yes” Saakshi sighed inaudibly. “My friend Sila keeps telling me that this station is a hotbed of gossip, but I never quite believed her until now.”

  “Your friend is right. To be fair though, you are a rather mysterious figure on this station. It is natural for people to be curious.”

  “There’re a whole host of other Budheya on this station” she protested.

  “Those are rebels and you work for the Alliance. No one knows your past or how you came here. Hence, you’re a mystery.”

  “Hmm” Saakshi murmured contemplatively.

  She had noted the polite curiosity but had put it down to the Alliance’s unfamiliarity with anyone from Budheyasta before. A century of Ketaari subjugation had not quite managed to destroy the mystic of her people to the rest of Quadrant Five. Also, since all the rebels on the station so far had been male, she was also the first female Budheya in the Alliance world. This was why she’d sub-consciously chosen to keep herself aloof from the others, she realized. And the reason she’d gravitated towards the only other person on the station who had never evinced any interest in her antecedents, possibly because Sila herself seemed to have quite a back story.

  “Does it bother you?” Zoran asked, interrupting her introspection. “The speculation about us when people see you in my company” he explained, in answer to her quizzical expression.

  “No” she said firmly. “That does not bother me.”

  The dark eyes searched her face briefly before Zoran turned away. They continued their silent way towards the Bay. By now, they had left the populated walkways of the station and were in the final stretch of corridors to the Docking Bay. A sense of déjà vu gripped her. Memories of walking with Zoran on another space station far away assailed her. She could almost taste the fear and desperation holding a vice-like grip on her emotions as she gambled everything on a stranger’s desire for her and her instinctual belief that he would not hurt her. How she’d lain awake practicing the proposition to put forth to the massive gray-skinned mercenary, only to be wracked with indecision as they made their way towards another Docking Bay. He’d gone to the trouble of procuring her a suppressor device to override the station’s exit sensors and had patiently reassured her when she had faltered. In the end, his unexpected thoughtfulness, generosity and overall demeanor had gone a long way in calming her fears.

  Saakshi turned impulsively to Zoran as he ushered her into a docking elevator.

  “Zoran, I want to apologize for abandoning you on Budheyasta.”

  “What?” he exclaimed, hastily punching a port number into the elevator controls before swinging around to face her.

  “I abandoned you” Saakshi cried out. “Once through the escape tunnels, Tilabok sent one of his rebels to find out where you were being held. He came back and told us that the word was you’d been roughed up badly. I tried to convince Tilabok that we should rescue you before they hurt you more, but Tilabok insisted that the priority was to ensure the Ketaari knew nothing of my presence on Budheyasta or the tentative deal you’d offered the rebels. He said he’d given you his word that he would keep me safe until the Henia came back for us.”

  Zoran laid a gentle finger on her lips to stop the flow of anguished words.

  “Tilabok was right, Saakshi. The important thing was to keep you safe from the Ketaari. Once they had you, they’d figure out the rest of it, sooner or later. I was in no danger. I knew the Henia would be back for us once we’d activated the emergency beacon.”

  The anguish in her gray eyes let him know that his words had neither convinced nor soothed her obvious distress.

  “Aah, tseriya, I’m perfectly fine. What kind of a soldier would I be if I couldn’t take a few beatings!”

  Saakshi flung herself into his arms with a sob, holding on to him as she poured out her anguish from that day months ago. It had been eating her up inside that she might never be able to apologize to Zoran for not doing enough to save him from the Ketaari’s clutches on her home world.

  “I was so frightened for you, Zoran. And so ashamed. You would never have left me there if the roles had been reversed. While I …. I could do nothing but wait for the ship” she sobbed. “Then, when I was on the Henia, the Star Captain said they were having trouble locating you ...”

  “Shhh … shhh” Zoran soothed as he held his previous burden in his arms.

  “It was my fault. I should never have let you set foot on Budheyasta. Once there, I could not let you be taken by the Ketaari. They just beat me up, tseriya. They would have killed you” he said vehemently in a voice gripped with strong emotion. “And that, I could not let happen.”

  Saakshi held on tightly, wanting to tell him so much
more but held back by a mix of confusion and hesitation. At least, he was back, she told herself. And not wandering in enemy territory while she worried about him and struggled to make herself whole again.

  “Have you been blaming yourself all this while?” he asked in little while, once they had both calmed down a little.

  Saakshi nodded, tilting her head to meet his eyes where she stood within the circle of his arms.

  “I wanted to apologize to you on the Henia, Zoran. But you were busy navigating us through the border security net. Then, you were closeted with the Star Captain. Before I knew it, I was on TF124 and you were gone. I couldn’t live with knowing you were out there somewhere believing that I’d abandoned you on Budheyasta.”

  “You didn’t abandon me, Saakshi. The time in Ketaari custody, all I prayed for was that you were safe and that Tilabok had managed to get everyone off the hill. Though I’ll admit that had I known you were eager to apologize to me, I would’ve tried to wrap up my work and get here sooner” he teased, trying to lighten the mood.

  I am so glad to see you. I’d almost given up hope of you coming back.

  Saakshi laid her head on his chest.

  “I’m glad you’re here now” the words were wrung out of her.

  He hugged her once more before setting her free. A big gray finger came up to gently caress a stray curl of hair on her cheek.

  “I’m glad to see you too, tseriya” he said scratchily in that husky voice she loved so much.

  Chef had managed to put quite a spread on the table for them in Zoran’s chamber. Saakshi glanced around the familiar room with a smile as she ate the food and drank the wine Zoran poured for her. Zoran talked easily about what had kept him busy and away from TF124 the last few months. Commander Kerovac had tasked Zoran and the Ur’quay Star Captain with devising a steady route to transport Budheya rebels into Alliance space without detection by the Empire’s border security net. Currently the problem was being addressed by the Ur’quay ship and Zoran’s knowledge of the gap in the Empire security net, but they needed a way that would allow other Alliance ships to transport the rebels too. The Commander also had his people scouting for a more permanent and better location for a facility to train the rebels.