Thirty Eight
When her period came, Kara knew they’d been stranded on the planet for almost a month. She woke with cramps and when she drew back the fur covers, she saw blood on her thighs.
Vahn had already gone out hunting with Rocky so at least she didn’t have the embarrassment of dealing with her bodily functions in front of him. She swallowed some paracetamol and washed off in the river.
Then she took her shirt, which she barely wore anymore, and tore it into strips to use as makeshift sanitary pads.
When Vahn got back with two freshly caught birds, he was dismayed to find her curled into a ball in the tent.
“Kara, what is wrong?”
When she explained the monthly experience that most human women went through, he was amazed.
“ This is how women in your world experience fertility?” he asked.
“Do you find it gross?”
“Of course not. I find it intriguing.” His eyes glinted with curiosity. “May I place my serpetri in your…”
“No you may not! It’s just blood. You know what blood tastes like.”
“But not blood from your feresh. ”
“You’re not going anywhere near my feresh right now. God, I hate having my period.”
“It does seem an uncomfortable way of facilitating reproduction.”
“You have no idea. The women in my world have all kinds of fun with their ovaries. We spend a lot of energy either trying to get them to work or trying to stop them working. Annoyed when our period comes, worried when it doesn’t. Dealing with hormones and pain and mood swings. And when your childbearing days are over, there’s a whole host of other delightful symptoms. It’s a fucking minefield.”
Irritably, she kneaded the area above her left hip where the cramps were worst. The paracetamol had barely made a dent. Vahn watched her with concern.
“Let me get you some food. It will make you feel better.”
“I don’t want food,” she snapped. “I’m seriously thinking of mainlining some morphine.” She saw Vahn’s face and sighed. “The first day’s always bad for me. I’ll be okay in a few hours. I’m used to it.”
“Kara, if you think I am going to let you suffer then you do not know me. Come here.”
Ignoring her grumbles, he scooped her into his arms and put his dendra on her abdomen.
“Hey, what are you doing?” she asked in alarm.
“I will apply a miniscule amount of arak . In small doses it is an excellent painkiller.”
“And a deadly poison!”
“Trust me, kalesha ,” he said calmly. “I will not harm you.”
Kara held very still as a her skin began to tingle. The sensation spread through her belly and over the small of her back, as warm and comforting as syrup. In the next instant, her menstrual cramps vanished.
Kara leaned against Vahn, feeling relaxed and – if she was being honest – a little high.
“Sweet Jesus. I didn’t know you could do that.”
“I do not think a Vraxian has ever knowingly alleviated human suffering before.”
“It’s awesome. Best painkiller ever.” She squinted up at him. “I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?”
“About being rescued. I’ve been praying to leave this crappy planet but then I realized I wouldn’t be with you any more. I’m going to miss seeing your weird face every day.”
Vahn kept his expression impassive.
“Weird?”
“Bumpy.” She gestured vaguely at his head. “Bony.”
“To me, you are the one who looks weird, human. Like uncooked dough. Raw and formless.” She giggled and he raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps I overdid the arak. ”
“If you’d overdone it, I’d be dead. Anyway, I like your bumpy head.”
“And I like your smooth one.”
He pressed his forehead to hers and she looped her hands around his neck.
“I can’t believe just a few weeks ago we were trying to kill each other.”
“It seems like another life.”
“The thing is…” she hesitated, then continued more slowly, trying to put her thoughts in order. “The thing is, when we eventually get off this planet, I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to being a soldier.”
Vahn tightened his arms around her.
“I have been thinking the same thing. When we leave here, we will be expected to go straight back into war. Yet my heart shall not be in it.”
“Mine neither. The thought of maybe facing you on the battlefield…” Her voice choked and he pressed his lips to her head.
“I know.”
“But what choice do we have? If we tell people that we… what did here, how we lived, they’ll lock us up. They’ll think we’ve betrayed them, or gone mad. But the thought of pretending to hate all Vraxians… it’s unbearable.”
Vahn was quiet for some time.
“Perhaps there is an alternative,” he said eventually. “But it will not be easy.”
“I’m listening.”
“Your mother is the Earth’s President. And I… I have access to the Vraxian Zhaal.”
“Access?”
“I am sort of an unofficial advisor. I have his ear.”
Kara sat up straighter.
“You never told me that before.”
“It was not relevant before. And in truth, of late I have been regretting some of the advice I have given him.”
“Such as?”
Vahn hesitated.
“When our overtures for peace were rejected by Earth, I told Zhaal Qu’rash to redouble the war effort. Make humans regret their decision. I was angry after my brother’s death.”
She bristled immediately.
“I told you before, there’s never been any offer of peace from Vraxos. My mother…”
“Kara.” Vahn interrupted her gently. “Why would I lie to you? After all we have been through, do you honestly believe I would make this up?”
He can’t be right. He can’t be. She took a deep breath.
“When was this supposed peace offer made?”
“About a year ago. Vraxos declared a temporary ceasefire and sent a message through diplomatic channels to the Presidential Office.”
A year ago. Kara tried to think back. Her mother had just completed her first term and was looking for a second. She had been counting on the war and the wave of patriotic fervor it stoked to secure her re-election.
A cold chill worked its way down her spine.
Was it possible, was it even fucking conceivable , that her mother had deliberately sabotaged a peace deal in order to retain power?
She didn’t want to believe it.
But the thing was – the chill intensified – the thing was, there had been a temporary ceasefire. It had lasted forty-eight hours. She remembered it.
The Vraxians had laid down their arms and for a brief time there was a lull in fighting. But her mother had declared it an alien ruse to allow the enemy to regroup. She ordered the SDF to resume their attacks.
Kara wanted to vomit.
She struggled out of Vahn’s embrace and walked out of the tent. Vahn followed but didn’t say anything, simply watched as she paced with her arms folded.
“So what’s your plan?” she asked abruptly, wheeling round to face him.
“When we return to our respective homes, we advocate for peace. You speak to your mother. I will speak to the Zhaal. We will use whatever influence we have to get both parties to the table.”
“My mother won’t listen to me.”
“Then you make her. You speak to her advisors, you speak to the Parliament, you do whatever it takes. You have influence, Kara. You are the President’s daughter and a respected soldier. People will listen to you.”
Kara nodded slowly.
“If I tell her I know about the peace deal, that she turned down the chance to end the war, she might listen. She wouldn’t want that to go public. What about you? Are you close enough to the Emperor to convince him to listen?”
A fleeting expression crossed Vahn’s face, one she couldn’t decipher.
“I pray so. I will try.”
She put her arms round Vahn’s waist and laid her head on his chest.
“We’ll both try. For the good of both our worlds.”
She was a little drowsy now, a side effect of the arak . He picked her up and carried her into the tent, laying her down among the furs.
“Get some rest,” he told her.
He started to leave but she caught his hand.
“Hey. Just now. You called me kalehsha again.”
Vahn cursed himself.
“What of it?”
“You said before it was a term of affection. But my microbes are translating it as something else. Something difficult to define. I think ‘soul-mate’ is the closest thing we have on Earth. Why did you call me that?”
She waited for an answer. Vahn hesitated.
Maybe it was time. Maybe he should tell her. Even if it was just to hear her dismiss the idea of kalehsh . To mock it, even. Because then at least he could stop wasting his time on hope.
He opened his mouth and in that moment a volley of blood-curdling barks echoed round the forest. Startled, Vahn looked outside the tent.
Rocky was on his feet snarling and baring his teeth at something in the trees.
“Stay here.”
Vahn left Kara in the tent and went to investigate.
An animal was lumbering towards them. Large and black, with a heavy tread and a long tusked snout that sniffed the air as it went.
Kara poked her head out of the tent. Vahn saw the beast turn towards her, nostrils flaring.
Her monthly bleeding. It smells her.
With a low growl, the animal rose to its hind legs, revealing its full size. Even from fifty yards away, it was easy to see its monstrous proportions. It would dwarf even Vahn.
“What the fuck is that?” Kara stuttered.
“Just stay very still.”
“Really? You think?”
The animal’s muzzle wrinkled back to reveal the yellowing fangs of an ageing carnivore. On each side of its bottom jaw a tusk curved upwards. Both were pitted from years of hunting and the one on the left was broken.
The creature’s body was heavily muscled and to Kara’s eyes looked similar to that of a full-grown grizzly bear. An old, rabid grizzly bear crossed with a wild boar. Her mouth went dry.
“Where’s the blaster?” she asked.
“ Drek. It is in the bag.”
They both looked towards the bag, several meters away where Vahn had left it. With a roar the animal dropped to all fours and plunged towards them, moving with frightening speed.
Reacting instinctively, Vahn snaked his serpetri towards the creature and pushed arak into its thigh and chest. It had no effect.
It was either immune or – more likely – the dense covering of coarse hair on its body was preventing the toxin from being absorbed.
It reared up as Vahn drew his blade and swiped it across the beast’s arm, leaving a deep gash. It didn’t stop.
With a screech of fury, it smashed a paw against the Vraxian’s skull. It was a savage blow and without his superior bone density it would have ended him. As it was, the skin on his brow split and blood gushed into his eyes.
Kara ran from the tent, trying to reach the bag. But the creature sensed her, or more likely smelled her, and bolted in her direction. Kara saw it tower over her and froze.
With a flurry of snarls, Rocky leaped for the animal’s throat. The full force of his body slammed into the Grizzly-beast and for a moment, Kara thought it might be enough to scare it off.
But then there was a high-pitched squeal and the hound was sent flying into the undergrowth.
Kara looked towards Vahn, her heart hammering wildly.
“Vahn! Vahn, get up!”
Kara’s cries shook some sense into him and he tried to clear his head. Raising his blade, he lunged forward. The animal clubbed his shoulder and he ricocheted backwards. His head connected with the tree trunk and he went down.
When he staggered to his feet again, both the beast and Kara were gone.