The morning was quiet as light streamed in through the windows, with lukewarm air floating through the villa, a type of serenity one wouldn't find aboard a ship, floating amidst the desolate silence in space. Life has a way of setting memorably profound moments in the simplest of settings, for they are ingrained into the very being of one's soul; and in the times of desperation, are what someone will cling to the hardest, and what they will fight harder to protect.
Everything was still, everything was peaceful, as Braedan lay next to what he thought was the loveliest creature this life could have bestowed upon him. Watching as she slept blissfully, ignorant of the worry that clouded his thoughts, all Braedan wished for was to repeat this idyllic morning, never wanting her absent from his side again. Seeing an exposed spot on Edhen's back as she lay on her side, he grazed his fingers along the skin, admiring its unblemished perfection. Laying up on his side, Braedan moved the closest he could without nudging her, a sweet botanical scent still infused in the hair and the trace smell of citrus blossom in her skin from the night before, Edhen was the personification of majestic. Resting his hand on her hip over the sheets, he leaned in and kissed the back of her shoulder, and like clockwork, a faint smile appeared on her lips, as if her body was attuned to his slightest touch.
Rolling over, with that same faint smile, she asked, “You couldn't sleep?”
“I got to thinking, it's been a about a week and I still haven't said anything of my previous life. The ceremony last night was another reminder that I needed to tell you before I left again,” he said sincerely.
Rolling on her side to face him directly, “Whenever you want, I'll listen, but you don't have to do it now.”
“If I don't tell you now, it'll eat away at me,” he replied while sitting up in the bed.
Edhen sat up with him, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs, answering with, “Okay...tell me.”
“A little over a year before we met, I was part of a colonial garrison on the world of Qal'tar. There had been small amounts of rebel activity across the planet, prompting garrison commanders to hand orders to local troops to conduct sector sweeps. As often as we ran these sweeps, insurrectionist forces grew, and in time, rebels openly defied the planetary government. The sector I was in had been quiet, until we conducted a sweep into a random village one day, where we were caught in a firefight. Didn't last long, killed the majority of rebels and took captive those who'd surrendered,“ she could see Braedan was disturbed the longer he went on, “But this is where things went wrong. My unit's commander, a man named Anders, ordered the captives killed, with the town gathered to witness. During the display, all the exits had been barricaded, trapping the townspeople in the square. Soldiers had been stationed on nearby rooftops, and those in the square fell back to the perimeter. This is when Anders ordered us to open fire, to massacre the town for aiding the rebels.”
Edhen covered her mouth in horror.
Braedan continued, “The reason why word of this never got out, was because the town was razed and all evidence destroyed, so no one could be implicated, and those who disagreed...were told to keep quiet for their own safety,” holding his head in shame.
Fear, anger, and doubt hung over him, like dust that refused to settle, seething at being unable to refuse at the time, instead, following orders like the good soldier he'd been instructed to be.
This was when he slipped into psychosis, where one second he was in the bedroom, the next, he was back in that village, firing into the crowd. Braedan could see the people scattering as the first shots were heard, running anywhere they could to hide, problem was – there was nowhere they could hide. The screams echoed as people pleaded for their lives, but they were drowned out by rifle fire as, one by one, they fell to the ground. Soon, there but was nothing, an unnerving silence as the last survivors were executed. Bodies were gathered, stacked neatly like firewood in each of the town's buildings, and burned likewise as they were razed, to erase any and all evidence. As the unit was pulling out of the town, he feels a hand sitting on his shoulder, and when turning his head, there was Edhen to help him escape the nightmare.
From where she sat, all Braedan was doing was staring blankly at the wall, his eyes frozen in a state Edhen had never seen. Moments later, he hung his head once more, overcome, this time by guilt.
He mumbled, “I'm no hero...not with what I've done.”
Scooting over, Edhen kissed his shoulder before resting her head, whispering lovingly, “No one is asking for you to be a hero, all they want is for you to be the leader they know you can be.”
“What if I can't be that person again?” Braedan speculated.
“When I saw you walking toward the smoke that day, I saw someone confronting their past, entering a crucible of fire willingly, knowledgeable that it might change them forever. The person who emerged...remains unsure of the scope of what he's done, and before he can see the future realized, he must first shed the demons from his past,” she spoke with inspiration.
“But...,” he started up before Edhen interrupted.
“Those three people out there, as different as they are from each other, all have one thing in common – you. You brought them together, you galvanized them into being better than what they would've been alone, and you have given them an example to live by...to be the leaders they didn't know they were. It's you – and only you – who they'll follow, but you must become the man you were, only stronger.”
Braedan answered, “If there's one conclusion I've found...it's that you're the source of strength I've been missing. As a soldier, there's only so much you can endure or withstand without some type of hope, to keep pushing when you might've quit. To me, you're the hope that'll keep me driving forward.”
Sitting up, Edhen leaned in and kissed his cheek, smiling, “Not quite the betrothal I imagined as a girl, nor from the tall, dark, and handsome type I pictured in my dreams...”
Braedan rolled his eyes in response.
Like a tease, she giggled then grinned, “But had it come from someone like you, who was sincere and thoughtful, there isn't a way I could have denied the request.”
Through the calming effect of her influence and letting things run their course, Braedan felt relaxed enough to get some sleep. And against her inward desire to stay and share a long morning in bed, Edhen knew she needed to spend a few hours at work before she could call it a day, and the earlier she went in, the sooner she could get back to show Braedan the gift she'd told him about. Getting out of bed, she threw on a dress, put on a light touch of makeup, and was ready to go inside inside of twenty minutes.
From his place on the bed, he commented, “There's never anything you don't look good in.”
Edhen responded appreciatively, “You can thank my mother, all the best parts come from her.”
Before stepping out, she walked over to the bed, giving Braedan a soft kiss before letting him rest.
Outside, the weather was pleasant, the temperature was warm but below average for that time of year, with the twin suns providing ample sunshine to bathe the streets and avenues of the city with a warm glow, as scattered clouds drifted slowly across the skies. Unbeknownst to Edhen, eyes of a devious sort were tracking her, shadowing every movement through the crowds of pedestrians, watching from a stone's throw away to avoid the chances of being detected. She would be monitored, from the time she entered her office, and while it was impossible to trace Edhen once inside, eyes were kept on the building until she reappeared a few hours later. It'd been instructed not to harm or interfere with her in any way; but in due time, a warning would be sent, only in a forum where it wouldn't be deemed a threat and to those who would take it seriously.
When returning to the villa around midday, Edhen found Dani lazing about the place, secretly giving her the stink eye as she walked through the living area as she looked around for Braedan. She would find him in his usual attire, looking over the algorithms Masaki had cooked up in the wee hours of the morning, and having gotten the gist of their concept, was going over how to implement them with he and Talia.
Knocking on the entryway to get their attention, Edhen kindly asked, “Braedan, mind if I steal you away for a couple minutes?”
“Sure,” he replied, telling Talia to keep going through the algorithms until he got back.
She was silent the whole time as they went out toward the courtyard, giving away no hints of what she was planning. Reaching the center-most point in the garden, as brightly lit from the sunlight streaming inside as it was warm and inviting. It was at the this time that Edhen, her skin washed in an angelic glow, stood in front of him with arms behind her back, which reminded him of the first time she asked to spent time with him when she was a girl.
Out of the blue, she asked, “What does the courtship ritual among humans usually entail?”
A bit uneasy at the straightforwardness of the question, Braedan scratched the back on the neck when he replied, “Uhh...you mean dating, right? Well, uhh...it usually involves dates of course, spending time with someone, showing...umm...you generally care for them. Sorry if I can't give a more sophisticated answer, they didn't give us much time for anything but training when I was growing up. The impression I got, from hearing about it, was that it involved seeing a person a lot and spending money on them in the hopes that they'd eventually have sex with you.”
“Hmm...that sounds tedious,” Edhen stated.
Braedan snickered, “Tell me about it...,” getting a smile from her for his efforts.
“You'll be pleased to know, that among my people, the process isn't as trivial. All that is essentially required is having a suitor ask for a female's hand, and should she accept, the suitor is asked to pay a small sum put forth by the betrothed’s parents. Should the suitor have such a sum, and pay it, then nothing stands between he and the female from joining hands,” she elaborated.
“Oh yea... sure, that doesn't sound at all complicated,” he remarked sarcastically.
Edhen excused the comment, saying, “If you'd like to know, I contacted my father while I was away this morning. After asking a veritable litany of questions, ranging from your character, profession, homeworld and the like, he reluctantly agreed only when he heard you were the person awarded the Insigne Virtus. All that was asked for, in exchange for my hand, was fifteen-thousand credits.”
She could nearly see Braedan's heart sink, “Just because I won an award doesn't mean I'm made of money.”
“Is that the case? I guess that means I'm free to find the tall, dark, and handsome type...,” Edhen spoke with a tantalizing charm.
Braedan grinned, “You always were, what do you call it – adorable – when you wanted to get you way, or were at least trying to.”
She nodded, “Mm hmm,” flashing her girlish eyes, biting her lower lip while playing innocent.
“The same person who was a tease, played hard to get while at arm's length, but up close, could barely mutter more than a syllable at any given moment. That is, until you kissed me the first time, by accident if I remember, and liked it more than you thought. Couldn't stop you, from kissing or talking after that...that is, until I said I was leaving. But that decision, allowed us to grow...mature...find our way, more so apart than we would have together, letting life help us find each other again, as if it were destiny,” he told her touchingly.
The gaze she gave him said she couldn't have agreed more.
He said nonchalantly, “It just happens that I have a bit extra lying around. Which means, I'll transfer the funds to you, and you transfer those to your father. And since I'm feeling generous, I might throw in an added bonus, simply because you're beaming right now and it's hard to resist.”
In all the excitement, Edhen had nearly forgotten about what she'd meant to give Braedan. Extending her hand, what she held inside looked like, at first glance, to be little more than an earpiece, that was until she told him to put it on.
Slipping it behind his right ear, he inquired, “Mind if I ask what it is?”
“You'll see,” she said, “Just slide your finger across the bottom half of the device.”
Doing as he was told, Braedan slid a finger across the device. Before his eyes, a helmet began materializing, and within barely a second and a half, it had fully enclosed his head. In front of his eyes on the visor, there were displays for pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, readings for temperature, humidity, wind, structural layouts, weapons schematics...a whole repository of information and applications he'd need in the field. Braedan panned his head, turning in every direction to get used to the feel of the helmet, and its features.
Bringing his view back to Edhen, he asked, “What is this?” his voice coming through a digital modulator, making it undetectable to scanners.
“This is an experimental combat helmet, something the scientists at the Academy were working on during the time of the raid. While you were recovering in the diacona, I went back there to ask a favor from them. With a bit of convincing, they turned over the device. When I turned it over to your small, dark haired male friend...”
“Masaki?”
“Yes...I gave it to him to upload all he could on human languages, measurements, everything that you would need,” she concluded.
Braedan replied, “I have just two questions. One, how did you convince the scientists?”
“I told them, if they gave it to me, I would give it to the person who stopped the raid, and that he, in turn, would use it to punish those responsible for this crime,” Edhen implicitly stated.
Even though she couldn't see his smirk, he responded, “A vindictive woman can be a terrifying thing,”
Grinning, she asked, “And what was your second question?”
Braedan asked comically, “How do you get this off?”
Edhen used this as an excuse to get close to him. Tapping the same spot behind his ear, the helmet materialized back into the earpiece. Taking him by surprise, she planted a full, luscious kiss on Braedan, giving him an alluring stare with her deep, enchanting eyes.
Leaving him with something to dwell on, Edhen says seductively, “Keep this up, and who knows what I'll do with you,” biting her lower lip before going back toward the interior of the villa.
This one phrase would peak his interest well into the evening. It could wait, however, as Braedan still needed to get back with Talia and Masaki to study the algorithms that they'd been going over, prior to the Courtesan's affable interruption.
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Diacona - hospital, infirmary |