Heart Of The Sun (7 page)

No. No way. That can’t be possible.
Alan feels himself turn pale as the memories of Martin’s last night pour into his mind.

We’re long past the age where biological warfare was ever deemed acceptable. Right?

“Vash?” Alan’s voice is a shadow of its former self, barely a whisper against the roaring flames. “Where did this weapon come from?”

Vash turns his face away from the fire. “Humans,” he says simply. “A spy stole it from them while they were debating its use. Even my kind considered it too cruel for warfare, but not for social cleansing. Nothing is considered taboo in the war against the
kast’ka
.” He shakes his head. “That is why I cannot give the commander what he wants, Alan. Even at the cost of my own life. I have seen the darkest depths of the Human spirit and it may perhaps be even crueler than ours.”

“That’s not possible,” Alan says. “Our people are improving. Humans are past the age where we would create such weapons! We’ve evolved beyond such cruelty!”

“You have,” Vash says, his tone sympathetic. “Not all have. Every race has its animals, those who would go to any lengths to win. It is the nature of all of us, after all. Those who win, go on to reproduce and create the next generation. Those of us who cannot create... will never spread our genes. Even without persecution, we will die out. The animals, the cruelest, most brutal of us all... will win in the end. I believe you Humans refer to it as “natural selection.” We refer to it as what roughly translates to ‘life’.”

“That’s not true,” Alan says. “Science has solutions. On my planet, our
kast’ka
, we can have children. They’re grown in a lab and brought to term inside a woman who volunteers. A surrogate.”

“Then you are lucky,” Vash says, his eyes filled with sadness. “Haven’t you wondered why you never see Karalian women in fighters? Why the birth rate is so low on my planet?”

“That’s because Karalians don’t allow their women to work, right? I saw a vid about how Karalian women are rarely free to pursue education.”

“It would be pointless, unless she was to become a brood mother,” Vash says.

“I never expected to hear you say such a thing. I guess we do disagree on some things,” Alan sighs. “Culture shock, I guess.”

“I don’t know what you mean by that,” Vash says. “Alan, I have nothing against our women. In fact I refused to lie and take a mate under false pretenses for a good reason. I could have hidden my
kast’ka
status and lived a normal life, but for the cruel hand of fate. Alan, our women die after giving birth. Not occasionally, like yours, but always. A one hundred percent chance. It is a brutal way to come into a world, born of blood and death. I could not deceive a woman into believing I wanted her when I would be the one to kill her.” He paused, staring into the fire. “That is why the
kast’ka
are hated, Alan. To have a mate that will not die in the circle of life, a companion that life can actually be spent with is a blessing, one more and more secretly yearned for by Karalians who are sick of death, loneliness and grief. There are those who are waiting longer and longer to have a life with their mate before procreation, or abstaining from it completely, but every race wants to reproduce, Alan. It is in our nature. And that’s why we came to your planet. We wanted what you had; science instead of worthless magic, bodies that could create without destruction, a world filled with hope instead of darkness.”

“Why didn’t I know any of this? Why don’t they tell us?” Alan is aghast, his head spinning with the new information.

“I suspect your authorities would frown upon your feeling sorry for us, which you would. We could spread the word, perhaps ask for help, but we are a proud people and do not want our dirty laundry to become public knowledge.”

“But taking our planet won’t solve anything for the Karalians,” Alan says. “So why bother?”

“Of course it won’t. It’s just a two-hundred year old case of jealousy. And the
kast’ka
are caught right in the middle of it. If the ruling class cannot have what they want, Alan, then nobody shall. So they will continue the war until both races are dead.”

“That’s why you have to come with us,” Alan says. “I won’t let you become another footnote in this tragic death spiral. Neither do you have to betray your people; what you’ve told me is more than enough to fill in the gaps left to the commander by our government’s secrecy. He’ll be happy to have some new material by which he can make sense of Karalian transmissions. Children won’t die at your hand. I swear it.”

“If it were you making the decision, I would trust you in a heartbeat,” Vash says. “You have a noble spirit. But I fear other Humans are not the same. I cannot be sure my words will not be used against my people.”

“We can never be sure of anything,” Alan says. “I thought I was sure about everything I believed in. I thought Humans were the good guys in a war of good versus evil, fighting off the vicious Karalians. Then I met you, and suddenly things were no longer as clear. The Karalians are no longer my enemy as a whole. Inside the heart of darkness I have found the most gentle, noble spirit in you and where you tread, others must surely follow.” He looks at Vash’s face, lifts his hand to move a lock of white hair that’s tumbled into his eyes and brushes it behind his ear in a tender motion.

“The truth is, you and I are a little different. I’m more selfish, and the truth is, even if people on your planet do suffer for it, I want you to come with me. I want to present you to the people of Earth and show them what you have shown me, muddy their black and white worldview as you have muddied mine. I want them to question the vids, question the government, question why they are fighting. But it’s more selfish than even that. I want you to be at my side every day. I want to wake up in the morning knowing I’ll see you, knowing you’re not trapped on this distant planet, waiting to die alone.” Alan takes Vash’s hands in his own, squeezing them tightly, his motions well ahead of his words. His cheeks are red, kissed by the heat of the campfire and yet it is nothing compared to the fire that is raging inside, the desire to hold and protect Vash against a wicked universe.
Damn Karalia, damn Earth, damn the whole war and everything to do with it.

Vash is looking down into his lap with an expression of shame. Alan releases one of Vash’s hands and draws a line over Vash’s armor with his finger, draws it up his throat and under his chin, lifting Vash’s chin until their eyes meet. Their breathing grows ragged as they bathe in the growing tension between them. Alan’s mind wanders to the memory of that second day, when he watched Vash play with himself and he feels himself growing hard now just imagining himself touching that body so close to him, those lips that yes, smell like honey, those lips that had to be the ones that brushed his last night. He finds his body moving of its own accord, his mouth moving to brush Vash’s lips with his own. As if to say;
I know what you did last night. I know. And this is my response. This is what I had to ask you more than anything else; were you the giver of that stolen, fleeting kiss?

The answer is most certainly yes.

The gentle whisper of their kiss grows deeper and more needy as each grants the other silent permission to go further. They only part to slip off Vash’s lightweight armor and undershirt and then Alan is kissing down Vash’s neck, kissing down his patterned chest as he works on Vash’s belt with skilled hands. It comes unclasped and they part again to get Alan’s uniform shirt off. It joins the pile with the other abandoned clothes on the cliff top. Alan feels a slight chill on one side but is warmed by the heat of the fire and the even hotter sensation of Vash’s hands as they explore him. He pulls Vash’s pants off to reveal tight underwear that teases the shape of his cock and balls. His breathing is labored as he fondles Vash’s cock through the underpants, cupping his balls. Vash lies back on the ground, moaning heavily. Alan can’t take it any more and strips his own pants and underwear, revealing his own raging erection. Vash sits up and strokes it experimentally, seeming curious about the lack of foreskin but saying nothing. Without warning, he ducks his head down and takes Alan’s shaft in his mouth. Alan gasps at the hot warmth surrounding his cock, at the hair pooling in his lap as Vash’s pretty face takes a mouthful of him. He wants to stop him, to give Vash some pleasure but he can’t, he’s too wrapped up in it now, the vision before him of this beautiful alien sucking on him is driving him over the edge and before he can form a coherent warning he’s coming in Vash’s mouth with a cry that echoes off the mountains. Vash swallows and lets the cock slip from his mouth. He looks up at Alan with an expression of lust that makes Alan’s spent cock twitch.

Vash’s cock is leaking and Alan takes it in his hand, the thing he’s wanted to do since that day he caught Vash touching himself. He turns Vash around in his arms so he’s facing outwards, his limp cock pressing into Vash’s back as he strokes him with practiced ease. Vash throws his head back and utters alien words. Alan finds himself growing half-hard again despite the fact that he’s spent as Vash writhes in his arms, grinding his ass against his prick until it’s all the way hard again. He’s hot, hotter than he’s ever been, like he’s in the heart of a burning sun with Vash--

A gunshot echoes and Alan pushes them both to the ground. Vash is torn between need and survival as Alan lets go. He reluctantly lets go of desire and his mind clears letting instincts take over as he crawls across the ground and reaches his clothes, putting them on awkwardly. A gunship hovers over the cliff top, trapping them in and Alan curses the fact that he only has a hand laser in his belt, more a tool for cutting rocks than men. Vash sees his predicament and nods, crawling up beside his new lover and summoning magical energy to his fingertips. He whispers a word in Karalian and the heavens open, a bolt of lightning hitting the gunship. It loses control and crashes into the side of the cliff.

Still, there are seven commandos against the two of them, and Alan looks at his hand laser helplessly.

“Get out of here,” Vash whispers into his ear. “Be safe,
havi.
” Alan didn’t need to ask what the foreign word meant; the tenderness with which Vash said it meant it could only be a term of endearment, a beautiful word to describe what they had just become: lovers, born from fire.

“No. I’m not going anywhere.” Vash smiled at Alan’s words as the commandos encroached on them, and pushed him off the cliff.

Chapter Eight
Falling

Day Fifteen

Rinax Cliffs

Alan is falling at a rate too fast for his mind to comprehend.
He’s betrayed you after all,
the cynical part of his mind suggests; the optimist in him silences it with a firm
never.
Still, he falls, and he wonders what on Earth Vash’s plan might be or even if he’s screwed up this time.
If one of the commandos got to him before he can catch me--

He’s suddenly stopped by an invisible force that feels like it might tear his body apart, then let go the last foot to the ground, where he lands on his feet at the bottom of the cliff.

“Vash!” His voice is filled with the panic that’s bubbling inside him, the terror that fills his mind with the thought of Vash dying up there alone. “Vash, jump!”

Maybe Vash doesn’t hear him or perhaps he’s a little busy, because Alan doesn’t see a shadow fall, he only hears gunshots echoing through the valley. Looking up, he can see flashing lights on top of the cliff and a green glow that suggests the use of magic.

Alan sees the dune buggy not ten yards away and runs toward it, feeling an idea coming to him. He grabs the radio and nearly tears it out in his haste.

“Come in, base, come in. Hurry it up...”

“This is base. Lieutenant, is that you?” Macey’s voice is crackling on the radio and Alan’s never been so happy to hear it. “Macey, do you have snipers in position? You know, to shoot Vash in case anything went wrong?”

“Yeah. What about it? Has Vash gone rogue?”

“No! Karalian commandos are all over us. Order them to fire!”

There’s a scramble as the radio is put down on the other end, and then the sounds of sniper fire boom off the cliffs. There’s a strangled cry and a figure falls from the cliff. Alan watches in horror as a Karalian falls off the cliff and all he can do is utter a two word prayer to the Gods that it’s not Vash. The figure hits the bottom of the cliffs with a sickening crack and Alan looks away as blood splatters ten feet in every direction. He looks back, needing to know if the bloody mess is Vash, but he sees the heavy armor and breathes a sick sigh of relief. The snipers keep firing for what seems to be forever until the last commando goes down. Alan finds himself rushing to the cliff, climbing the cliff face as fast as he can manage. His hands bleed from chafing against the bare rock without gloves, but he pulls himself up anyway, gasping and panting as he reaches the top. He sees Vash standing and runs to him, grabbing him in a tight hug and kissing his face, his hair, his eyes, his ears, anything he can reach as he strains for air.

“You should not have climbed. It is too risky.” Alan can feel Vash shaking a little in his arms though, and doesn’t regret his risky ascent one bit. They calm down, then, aware of all the eyes on them, slowly descend the cliff face.

“Karvakian, do you read me?” The radio is full of excited chatter. “Report!” Alan picks the radio up.

“We’re coming home, Commander,” Alan says. “Vash and I will explain everything, and you can start asylum proceedings for Vash. He’s coming back to Earth with me as originally planned.”

“I will expect a good explanation for Vash’s behavior,” Macey barks down the transmitter.

“You shall have it,” Vash says in his accented English. “All in good time.”

“He speaks English?” Macey is aghast. “You understood everything we were saying?”

“Indeed,” Vash says, his face dark. “I will help you, Macey, but I won’t put the women and children on my planet at risk. I would rather die. Do you hear me?”