Thirty One
The journey became a grinding uphill slog. As usual, the rain began in the afternoon but now they also had to contend with a sharp wind that grew more blustery as they climbed.
Kara’s calves began to burn. When Vahn took the backpack from her she only put up a token complaint. He didn’t seem bothered by the gradient and she was too tired to argue.
The hound-beast was equally unfazed. He skipped up the track as if on a casual walk, seemingly untroubled by the increasingly rocky ground. Sometimes he picked up a small stone and crunched it in his jaws just for fun.
“Rocky,” she murmured. “That’s what I’ll call him.”
Every so often Rocky would run ahead to investigate, then turn and watch anxiously to make sure Kara was coming. It was a different story with Vahn.
Every time the Vraxian got close, Rocky would lay his ears flat and bare his teeth.
“Look at that,” Kara teased. “Clearly a good judge of character.”
“The animal is deranged.” Vahn glared at the beast and Rocky’s deep-throated growl kicked up a notch.
“Break it up, you two.” Kara chucked a stick and Rocky bounded off, the joys of ‘fetch’ never getting old. She smiled. Amazing how something so scary-looking could be so sweet.
They finally reached what they judged to be the peak as dusk fell. The path had plateaued for a few kilometers and in the distance they could see the beginning of its descent.
“I think this is as high as we’re going to get,” said Kara. She pushed her soaking hair out of her eyes. “Not unless we go down into the valley and up the next hill.”
They looked across to the next peak in the range. Vahn estimated it was at least another couple of days’ hike away.
“I think this will suffice,” he concluded. “Let us position the beacon.”
“Okay. We ought to find someplace the wind won’t blow it over.”
“We can put stones around it to anchor it in place.”
They found a spot they both agreed on and set up the transmitter, partially burying it in the sodden ground and wedging stones against it to keep it in place.
As they worked, doubt gnawed at Kara.
Once they switched the beacon on, the distress signal would – if it worked – call the SDF to her rescue. It might take days or weeks, but they would come. They never left a man behind, even those who weren’t related to the President.
But they would also find Vahn. And the more she thought about it, the more she worried about his safety.
Not because humans were bad but because… well, because they were human. Killing Vraxians was second-nature.
Let’s be honest. Before you got to know Vahn, you’d have happily shot him through the head. The rescue party won’t be any different.
“I think it is ready.” Vahn interrupted her thoughts. “I shall activate the crystal and then…”
“Wait.” Impulsively, she touched his hand. “I think… um, I think if anyone comes, you should hide.”
His eyebrows shot up.
“Hide?”
“Yes. I don’t think you should be a POW. I’ll tell them I’m here by myself.”
“So you want to leave me behind to die on this cursed planet?”
“No, dummy. Once we’re back at base, I’ll get a signal out to Vraxos. A coded message giving your location.”
“How?”
Kara shrugged.
“I’m the President’s daughter, remember? There’ll be a way. Even if I have to break into her private communications center.”
Vahn regarded her steadily.
“And why would you do that?”
She looked down at her feet unhappily.
“Because if you’re taken prisoner I don’t know if I can keep you safe. This way, we’ll both get to go home.”
There was a long silence. The rain fell around them in a steady drumbeat. When Kara dared to peek up, she found his expression unfathomable.
“What are you thinking?” she ventured.
“That I am rarely surprised. Yet you have surprised me, human. It took a lot to admit your people aren’t as moral as you would like.”
“I think there’s probably room for improvement on both sides,” she said quietly.
“I cannot argue with that.” He sighed. “Very well. If your people come, I will hide.”
He held out his right hand, palm facing upwards with fingers spread. Kara looked at, confused. Did he want her to slap it?
Gently he took her right hand and laid it on his, palm to palm. His thumb and little finger slid between her thumb and little finger, and his fingers pressed against her wrist.
“This is how Vraxians seal an agreement,” he explained.
Kara looked at their hands entwined in the rain. Hers was almost completely engulfed by the Vraxian grip. She curled her fingers against his.
“Then it’s agreed,” she said. And her heart became thirty times lighter.
Together they activated the distress call. As before there was no sound from the beacon. But when the crystal flared into life, Rocky gave a little yelp and shook his head, giving them hope that something , perhaps, was being broadcast.
“How long will the crystal last?” asked Kara.
“Indefinitely. It converts light waves from all parts of the spectrum so it will power up even in the rain.”
“That’s pretty impressive,” she admitted. “And these things are all over Vraxos?”
“They used to be mined. But then we discovered how to manufacture their crystalline structure using the energy they themselves provide. One crystal can be used to produce a dozen more.”
“Exponential yield. That’s the same as our fusion reactions. We get more energy out than we put in.”
Vahn shrugged.
“Perhaps. But we end up with stackable, transportable crystals. You have to fit reactors to everything you need to power.”
He wasn’t wrong. In her mind’s eye, Kara saw the bulky fusion generator fitted onto every Merlin, every troop carrier, every gunship. The power of a tiny sun in each one.
Most of her father’s work with the prototype space-jets had been in making them maneuverable whilst also carrying reactors.
How much faster and nimbler would they be with a mere crystal to power them?
“Anyway.” She got up and brushed as much wet dirt off her trousers as she could. “What now?”
“Now, we rest. We get dry. And we eat.” He indicated the prey Rocky had left them that morning, still hanging from his belt. “At least your infernal hound is not entirely worthless.”
Later, warmed by a fire and with his belly full of food, Vahn watched the beast curl up next to Kara. He was surprised to feel a jolt of jealousy as it lay its head in her lap.
Vannla’s Sword. His emotions were getting out of control. Jealous of an animal? It was humiliating. And concerning.
Coldly, he realized what he had to do. He had to put some distance between them. That was the only thing that would break the kalehsh bond.
His heart ripped a little at the thought of leaving her. But she had the beast to protect her now, as well as her pulse blaster.
Tomorrow he would go.