Stranger King (12 page)

Chapter Twenty

Thegn was
brought into the lab two days later. He saw the doctors standing over the table, cautiously looking at the circular disc before them.

Kozol pushed Thegn ahead to the table “Identify it, priest.”

Thegn kneeled down beside the table to examine it better, looking as Kozol glared down at him. He glanced up, seeing Lena watch from the other side, arms folded across her chest as she waited.

Thegn smelled the device, examining the colored lights on the side without touching. He immediately stood up.

“You need to get this device out of here right now,” he demanded. “You need to get this outside and away from the others, now. This is … I don’t know the word for it in English. It’s gas, chemicals.”

“It’s a trick,” Kozol said, “he wants it brought back to his people.”

“No,” Thegn promised, “it will go off soon. They let you capture it; they’re trying to kill you. Just take it outside. Now. You don’t have much time.”

Lena nodded. “Get it outside. Bring Thegn with you. I will follow.”

“You can’t be serious, Lena,” Kozol laughed.

Lena glared at him. “Bring it outside. Carefully.”

*

Thegn breathed deeply as they brought him outdoors. Even this foreign air was comforting to him after so long underground.

“You’ll need to bring it out further than this,” Thegn explained. “Get it as far from the shelter as possible. You need to seal any airways back into the compound. I do not know how this chemical will affect your kind, but it is almost lethal to mine.”

Kozol glanced at Lena and she waved him off.

“You’ll need to help us detonate it safely,” Lena replied.

Thegn admitted, “I do not know how. I only recognize the smell.”

Lena opened her mouth as if to speak, but then did not. She led the group further into the forest.

When they reached a clearing, Lena laid the disc down in the snow. She looked up at Thegn and waited for instruction.

“I am told they are set off by being stepped on, but I do not know how you would do it safely otherwise. I’m surprise it wasn’t set off when it was picked up,” Thegn said.

“How do you know?” Lena asked.

“Because they used it on my kind,” Thegn said.

“Who are ‘they’?”

“The Elchai,” Thegn said.

They exchanged a look and he replied, “If I survive this, I will tell you the story. But let us get through this right now.”

Lena whistled for the rest of the crew to meet them. As they circled nearby, she gave instructions.

“I need a rock, something that when thrown will be the weight of someone stepping down. I’ll detonate it myself, the rest of you get inside and shut off the air vents. Thegn, you get inside with them. You said this is nearly fatal to your kind. I don’t need you being heroic twice in one week.”

Thegn raised his palms. “I will wait outside the gate for you. I will be far enough there and you may need assistance returning.”

“I’ll wait outside the gate,” Kozol interrupted.

“It will be safer for you inside,” Thegn replied. “I have been exposed to this before. My body has some immunity already. Please. Protect yourself.”

Lena and Kozol exchanged a look and Kozol nodded. “There’s the emergency shelter a kilometer south from here. If we can’t let you in, go there. There will be enough air for twenty-four hours when it’s activated. Will it clear by then?”

Thegn was confused as he realized Kozol was speaking to him. Thegn replied, “I am not sure. Hopefully so.”

“Go,” Lena said. “Get everyone out of here.”

“You don’t always have to be the self-sacrificing one,” Kozol reminded. The two grasped each other’s hands for a moment as they exchanged a meaningful look. Thegn looked away, sensing this was not a moment meant for his eyes.

The crew went past him on the way back to the compound. Lena went forward with a round object someone had handed to her. Thegn held back. She was close enough now to have an accurate throw.

When they reached the compound, Kozol grasped Thegn by the shoulder.

“If you don’t bring her back, I will find you, and if you’re not dead already, I will kill you myself,” Kozol warned.

“I would expect no less from you,” Thegn said, attempting to smile.

He could almost sense respect in the human’s eyes, but he was still unsure how to read him.

Thegn waited as the entrance sealed behind him, his skin growing cold as the precipitation fell around him. He touched it experimentally, and it melted into his hand as water. Solid water from the sky. Rain was within the realm of the Mokari. Maybe this substance was too.

He heard the blast before he smelled it. A memory crept into the back of his mind, but it was quickly replaced by the image of Lena running toward him, a cloud of orange gas rising behind her. There was no time. They would need to reach the emergency shelter. Lena knew it too. Once again, they shared an understanding without words. She grasped his hand and they ran through the trees.

As they drew closer to the shelter, Lena’s coughing became worse. She fell to the ground and Thegn picked her up despite her protests. He ran, holding her close to his body, until they reached the gate. He helped her to her feet as she dialed the combination. As the lock began to click open, they both turned, looking back at the forest.

The trees around them were slowly burning, a strange orange mist in the air drifting slowly in the other direction. A great tawny creature glared at them from the forest, another following behind, their gaunt forms sleek and dangerous.

Lena was transfixed, still watching them after the gate opened. Thegn led her inside, despite her protests, forcing her to close the gate behind them. The lights were slow to turn on, but in the dim light, Thegn could already see the chemical burns creeping across Lena’s face. There would be little he could do until they returned to the human doctor.

As the lights flickered on, she looked at him and said quietly, “I still hate you.”

Thegn replied, “I know.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Thegn woke
after a few hours, both stomachs growling at him for sustenance. As Lena still slept by his feet, he rose and began to look around for any supplies left in the bunker. He found a few of the human rations, some of which he could eat, the others he left for Lena whenever she woke.

He paused. What if she did not wake?

He was not an expert on human physiology; he could not tell how well she faired. But as he examined her, she still breathed and her heart still beat beneath his fingers. He would have to accept that for now.

She grabbed his hand still hovering over her chest. Her other hand slapped him across the face and Thegn backed up into the far side of the shelter.

“Never ever do that again,” Lena warned, snarling at him.

It occurred to him that Maria had mentioned humans viewed their glands as sexual objects. He tried to explain he was merely feeling for her heartbeat, but Lena was not satisfied with this. He stopped rationalizing, fearing she might hit him again.

He offered her the rations and she took them hungrily, eating quickly while still glaring at him from across the shelter. He ate his own slowly, trying to lock eyes with her in a sign of submission.

When she finished eating, she asked, “Did you find anything to drink?”

Thegn rose, locating the bottles of water he had found earlier. He brought them down and she grabbed one, drinking quickly. She grabbed her stomach, her fingers digging into her skin. She looked up at him, pale and sweating.

“What did that do to me?” Lena hissed.

“It will be hard for you to ingest liquids for a time,” Thegn explained. “You’ll expel them, one way or another. It tends to pass if the exposure ceases. But it may take a while.”

“How long?”

“I do not know. I’ve never seen a human exposed to it before, Lena.”

At the sound of her name, she raised her head and glared again. He wondered if he had yet again transgressed.

“Before. You mentioned the … Elc … I can’t say it. You were exposed to this before. I don’t think it was friendly fire, was it?”

“You do not forget a promise, do you?” Thegn asked wearily. “Very well. My people had no interactions with other off-world species until two hundred standard years ago. When the Elchai met our people, there was a war. I have mentioned this before, to your priest. There are no good wars, but this was certainly not a clean one. Many died. I was born near the end of the war. I don’t remember much of it. By the time I was grown, there was peace.”

“Why was there war?”

“The Elchai wanted land on our planet. We refused.”

“You bloody hypocrite,” she cursed, rising weakly to her feet. “You were invaded and within that generation, you just go and invade someone else? What sort of monsters are you?”

“Foolish ones,” Thegn stated, “But perhaps your own people are not so different. Could you tell me that the humans would not have done the same if our positions were reversed?”

Lena did not reply, burying her head in her hands and releasing a quiet scream.

“I did not mean to upset you,” Thegn said softly.

Lena laughed, raising her head to show those same tears he had seen before. Her knees buckled and she sat down again, resting against the cold ground beneath them. Thegn resisted the urge to touch her arm. He would not touch her again unless she had given him permission, he decided; he did not want to risk hurting her further.

“Every time I killed one of the bastards,” she said quietly, “I had myself convinced I was doing the right thing. That I was justified, that it was self-preservation. I know that’s still true. But then I see you in them. I hesitated today during that raid. For one second I thought that maybe that bastard would take bullets from my skin, too. So I didn’t shoot him, just for a second. Then he got one of us instead. Charlotte. She had been with us from the beginning and she died because for three seconds I had a conscience. It’s too dangerous for me to stop thinking they’re nothing but soulless monsters. That’s all that’s kept me together for the past two years. You have to understand that.”

“When I first was given to the Elchai,” Thegn said quietly, “I was terrified of them. I thought they would kill me within the week. I saw the same murderers of my family, my friends, of our ways of life. But there was good there, too. I learned so much, more than many of my kin ever could. I’ve seen so much of the universe, met so many people. Good people. Good Elchai.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Lena asked.

“Because I don’t know how this war will end for you. Maybe you will drive us out. Maybe we will wipe your people from the planet. But know this and trust this: I came here to preserve what life I could. I can’t speak for anyone else but myself. I will not hurt you or any of your crew. Even if they strike first. I swear to you now. I am here for life, not death.”

“Are you saying that I should just accept the bastards as some sort of new godly figure to rule over us like they did you?” Lena asked.

“No,” Thegn replied. “I’m asking you to trust me.”

“What makes you so different from them?”

“Nothing,” Thegn admitted, “I am Mokai just as they are. But I have shown you twice now that I mean you no harm.”

“Are you trying to tame me?”

Thegn didn’t understand the verb and Lena explained, “Humans keep animals. They used to be wild, but eventually, they come to depend on humans as much as we depend on them. But we are always in power, in control.”

“Then no, that is not what I want,” Thegn clarified. “You have control over my life, Lena. If you leave me here to die today, who would question your orders? I want you to trust that I will do what I can to protect you and your crew. There are things in this universe worth preserving. I believe your kind is one.”

“We’re an endangered species,” Lena laughed darkly.

She sat closer to him, “I don’t hate you.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Thegn replied.

“But I don’t know if I can trust you yet.”

“That is reasonable.”

*

The shelter grew cooler as the night progressed. He saw Lena shivering beside him and he wished to draw closer to her to offer warmth. But he would not make a move unless asked. He felt that any transgression would damage this fragile peace between them.

In her sleep, she rolled toward him, her hand outstretched to his. He hesitated before touching it lightly, closing that small space between them. She woke, her eyes fluttering open as he pulled back.

Sleepily, she put her blanket over him as well. He sighed from the relief, letting himself fall back asleep, oddly aware of how close her body lay to his.

He saw the shape of her body beneath the blankets, the soft curve of her hips and thighs. In this way, she looked almost Elchai from behind. He imagined her in the dark robes of the Septun before he stopped himself.

There would be no human Septuns. There were not even Mokai Septuns. Still, his mind wandered as he fell asleep, half-ashamed, and half enjoying the temptations laid out before him in his mind.

There were no singing Mokari that night.

*

The howling wind caused them both to stir from their sleep. Thegn rose to see Lena across the shelter from him, curled against the corner, watching through the gate that separated them from the hazardous outdoors.

Winter, she had called it. Once a year, the world grew cold, so cold even the rain went solid and all the trees lost their leaves. So cold that the other animals would sleep and hide and wait for the sun to return.

But what was she waiting for?

Her eyes met his and he felt that he should look away. This moment was not for him, not about him. Yet when he saw her there, watching quietly as the moon crossed the darkened night sky, he felt something pass through him that he had not experienced in many years.

I am a foolish, foolish man,
he told himself,
and completely delusional.
He lay back down, turning his body from her as he tried to find some semblance of rest.

He heard her call his name across the shelter, but he feigned sleep. She called once again and stopped, muttering something to herself under her breath as she laid her head back against the wall.

Thegn cursed himself silently and closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep.