27. Chapter 27
Chapter twenty-seven
-Bryce-
K oum had been standing opposite me since I woke up. He hadn’t budged once from his upright posture, spear gripped tightly in his hand, as if he expected me to leap through the particle barrier and attack at any moment.
I sat back against the wall with a sigh. Where was Kitari? When I woke up he was gone. He probably had better places to be, I couldn’t expect him to sit next to me all day and night.
My comm fizzed in my ear for the fourth time about half an hour. I glanced up. Koum was watching me like a hawk, there was no way I could talk without him noticing. I sat unmoved, eyes downcast as Chief spoke into my ear, even more pissed than the last time.
“Gunner. Come in Gunner. Where the fuck are you?”
I winced. I needed to convince him to abandon the mission, but I couldn’t even whisper back to him. Koum’s intense animal eyes tracked my every movement, and I didn’t fancy a spear between the ribs.
The Chief swore a few more times in my ear and then cut off just as another Aldar came in. I looked up hopefully, but it wasn’t Kitari. This one was smaller and duller in color, its clothes less embellished. They spoke to Koum quickly. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but once they were finished, Koum moved towards the door. He stopped and shot me a look and said something in his language that was probably ‘ behave yourself .’ I gave him an innocent smile that I hoped said I’ll be good . He marched out, followed by the smaller Aldar who kept talking to him.
The instant he was gone, I touched the earpiece.
“I’m here, sir,” I said.
Chief’s voice came back on the line, as pissed as he sounded before. Possibly even more so. “Where the hell have you been? Why didn’t you make your last report?”
“I’m sorry, sir, I’ve been under constant surveillance since—”
“I don’t want your excuses. Tell me what you know.”
“I spoke to Clay, sir.”
“The target? And?”
I took a deep breath, hoping like hell Chief would believe me. “He doesn’t want to be rescued,” I said. “I don’t think he’s been brainwashed or anything like that, he seems genuinely happy.”
“What?” Chief snapped. “What are you talking about?”
“Clay is happy here. He isn’t being held captive. He doesn’t want to leave.”
“He’s been brainwashed, of course he’d say that,” Chief said. “What have you learned about the settlement? About the aliens? When will you get the target out?”
I hesitated. “I have nothing new to report about them yet. But Clay—”
“I expected more of you Gunner, you’ve had more than enough time to get me some actual intel. If you don’t come up with something I can use, you’ll be dropped so low in rank you’ll be polishing boots for the rest of your life.”
A sick feeling twisted in my stomach. I didn’t want that, of course I didn’t. But this whole thing had been a mistake, and I couldn’t do it. I had to get that through to Chief somehow, but he wasn’t listening. For a split-second, I wished I was back in that cave with Kitari; cold, hungry, and hurt, but happier than I had been for a long time.
“I’m sorry, sir,” I said. “But he hasn’t been brainwashed, he’s been bonded.”
There was silence.
“He’s been what?”
“Bonded, sir. I don’t really understand it, but Clay said it’s this link that connects two people together when they, er, are together.”
There was a longer pause.
“Get him out of there. Now. I don’t care what excuses you have.”
The line cut and I slumped back against the wall. I couldn’t do it. Even if I could get out of this cell without being skewered, which was a big ‘if,’ I couldn’t take Clay. That would be kidnapping, and I did not kidnap people, that’s not what we did. We were soldiers on a rescue mission, not whatever this was. But could a soldier disobey direct orders and still call himself a soldier? I felt torn. I’d never doubted my orders before, and it left me confused and lost.
I sat up at the sound of approaching footsteps, expecting, hoping, for Kitari to reappear. But it was some other guard, taking the spot Kitari had been in when I fell asleep.
***
I dug my fingers into the scar tissue that creased a few inches of skin above the connection to my prosthetic leg. There was no feeling left in the lower half of my thigh. Some people got that phantom limb nerve pain, where you can feel the missing limb, but I didn’t have to deal with that. I’d developed a habit though, of jabbing the numb area—I’d press something sharp into the skin around the scar tissue, digging it into the flesh and just look at it. I guess it was a way of grounding myself, reminding myself that other people had it so much worse. I could use that reminder right about now.
I’d been sitting here for hours, and there was no sign of Kitari, no sign that I was going to be released. Clay had said he was in trouble for bringing me here.
I dug my fingers in deeper, pushing as hard as I could through the material of my pants. What if they were never going to let me out? What if he wasn’t coming back? What if he had been punished in some way, because of me? Or had he just given up on me?
Footsteps approached, but I didn’t look up this time. The guard in the room had changed about five times, each one a face I hadn’t seen before. Or maybe I had, but they all looked the same. Was that racist to think? Either way, it was just another pair of yellow eyes to stare at me.
But when the current guard said something in a harsh bark, I looked up. The guard hadn’t spoken to me, but to the newcomer who—
Kitari stood in front of my cell, wearing a long, draping cloak with a deep hood. I sat up, brightening when I saw him, but he didn’t appear to be happy, or paying any attention to me. The guard was brandishing his spear at Kitari, not in a threatening way, but as if telling him to go away. Kitari scowled and spoke in a rush to the guard. The guard’s eyes widened, and he moved to the door to look out. Kitari said something else, his voice urgent. The guard looked back at him, hesitated, then gestured towards me and said something. Kitari snapped back at him, and the Aldar hefted his spear and ran out. Clearly, something was very wrong.
Once they were gone, Kitari hurried to the opening of my cell and touched the wall next to the barrier, pressing his hand against it.
I struggled to my feet, bewildered.
“What’s happening?” I asked, staggering forward. “What did you say to him?”
The barrier dropped. “I told him the humans are attacking and Jursin needs to see him this instant to defend Amalya.”
My stomach flipped. “They’re attacking? Now?” Why hadn’t Chief told me?
Kitari gave me a wry smile. “No, but I had to tell him something.”
I stared at him as he pulled his cloak off. “What? Why?”
He threw the cloak over my shoulders. “I am getting you out of here.”