Twenty Eight
She dreamt about her father again. But not one of the nice dreams, where he told her stories or showed her his paintings. It was the bad dream. The one she always tried to push away.
They’d found his ship drifting without power. He’d taken out a Vraxian fighter but sustained a missile hit which had sparked a cockpit fire. The automatic extinguishers should have put it out in seconds but they had malfunctioned.
Those early space-jets didn’t have escape pods. And in the cold depths of the galaxy her father couldn’t eject. He’d put out a distress call but by the time the E.S.V. Brixton had reached him, it was too late.
Her mother had been next to her when they’d brought his body back to Earth. It had been covered with the military flag but as the soldiers had carried the stretcher down the ramp his hand had slipped out.
Kara remembered staring at it. It wasn’t a hand anymore. It was a charred lump of blackened flesh. The fingers which had drawn all those beautiful sketches for her were gone. And she knew then that life had changed forever.
The pain was like a physical weight lodged in her chest. She opened her mouth to try and get it out but no matter how much she cried and screamed, the pain wouldn’t go. It was trapped inside her forever.
Her father was dead. Her father was dead. Her father…
“ Kalehsha, what is it?”
Vahn was in the tent with her. He was on his knees next to her, the blaster in one hand. She sat up, surprised to find her face was wet with tears.
“I… it was nothing.”
“It was not nothing, Kara. You are upset.”
“I was just dreaming, that’s all.”
Her voice was so small and her eyes looked so lost that Vahn reacted without thinking. Throwing aside the blaster, he gathered her into his arms. He half expected Kara to resist and fight against it, but she didn’t. She pressed herself into his chest and sobbed.
Vahn held her, still confused as to what the problem was, knowing only that her distress was tearing at his heart.
When her sobs finally trailed off into a series of hiccups, she didn’t move away. She stayed resting against him, her cheek against his skin.
“Kara,” he said gently. “Will you please tell me what is wrong?”
“I had a bad dream about my father’s death. I haven’t had it for a long time. Sorry if I scared you.”
“I thought you were hurt.”
“It was an intense dream. A memory, really. Of the last time I saw his body. I try not to think about it but sometimes it just surfaces.”
“I understand. I was still a hatchling when my mother died.”
“I’m sorry. Was it… was it the war?”
“No, she was ill. But the war claimed another of my family. My younger brother Zorin. He died in one of the later skirmishes when humans had perfected their long-range torpedo launchers.”
“I’m sorry for that too. My father died in the first encounter with the Vraxians. It’s a shitty war, isn’t it?”
Vahn was quiet but his arms tightened around her. Kara was surprised how comforting it was. She started to get sleepy again.
“Vahn, can I ask you something?”
“Of course, human.”
“What does kalehsha mean?”
He stiffened.
“Where did you hear that word?”
“Just now. You called me it a second ago.”
Vahn wanted to slap himself around the head.
“It is of no consequence. A term of affection, that is all.”
She smiled.
“ You have affection for a human? ”
“As you might have for a pet.”
“Ah. That makes more sense. You prick.”
She wriggled into a more comfortable position, her head still against his chest. Vahn was nonplussed. She seemed in no hurry to move away and she wasn’t ordering him to leave. Unsure what to do, he stroked her hair.
“So you came rushing in here with the blaster because you thought your ‘pet’ might be in danger, did you?” she said sleepily.
“I… yes, yes, that is the case.”
“And is that why you’re stroking me? Because I’m your pet?”
“I will stop if…”
“No, keep doing it.” She yawned. “It’s nice.”
He smoothed his hand along the dark wave of hair spilling over her shoulders.
“Do you wish to be alone, human?”
There was no answer. She was asleep.
Carefully he lowered her down to the floor of the tent, intending to leave her there, and found his arm was trapped beneath her. He tried to extricate it but she tightened her hold on him. Admitting defeat, he lay down next to her.
She looked peaceful as she rested on his shoulder and he didn’t want to wake her. Her distress earlier had shaken him and he was relieved it seemed to be over.
Have a care, he told himself sternly. You must not do anything to strengthen the kalehsh bond.
He would stay for just a few minutes more to make sure the dream did not come back. Then he would go.
He watched her face as she slept and wondered how it was that something so different to him, so alien, could now seem so precious.