Page 12 of Narzek
He handed her the brush and stood watched as she carefully brushed the snarls out of her shoulder-length brown hair.
“We were lucky if we had a comb between us. I usually tied it back to keep it from getting too many tangles. When I was deployed, it was just easier to keep it short.”
“Some of our female warriors wear short hair, plait it, or tie it up, so it looks like an animal tail.”
“We call them ponytails. A pony is an animal with a tail covered with thick long hair. I could probably do that if I had something to hold it together,” Cayla said.
“Praxu display hair restraints available from stores,” Narzek said. A short list appeared in the mirror. There was a round clip, a thin tie, and an inch-wide tube that looked like a piece of pipe.
“That one, I think.” Cayla pointed to the last one.
“We can stop at the storeroom after our meal to get some as well as a standard grooming kit,” he said.
He wanted to wrap his arms around her from behind as he gazed at her image in the mirror. His cock twitched at the thought of holding her, so he didn’t.
He rested his hand lightly on her shoulder and said, “Shall we go?”
Cayla nodded and turned to face him. She looked like she might want to hug him, and he took a step back. A slight wrinkle of her brow indicated confusion at the subtle rebuff.
“I really want to hold you, but we won’t be able to leave if I do.”
“Oh.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “Then I guess we better go.”
They were late for second meal as they called the midday meal so there were only a few people in the mess. Since it was all automated, they could get food any time of day to accommodate different shifts. Narzek was off duty for the next several rotations as were some of the other ground fighters, now that they had completed the extraction from Berrapo. It was up to the ship’s operating teams to get them to the next extraction.
His team had nothing to do but train since they had done complete maintenance on their weapons and armor on the way to Berrapo. The overseers and guards were no match for the show of force by the Farseek Brigade. They surrendered without a fight. Some of them even tried to defect. They were denied.
The ground fighters were accustomed to long periods of downtime between planet falls. During those times they would cross-train on ship operations and maintenance. It had never happened yet, but they needed to know how to fly the dreadnaught in case something happened to the pilots. They also learned to fly the shuttles, especially now that each Dread had an extra shuttle.
“Each of the Farseek Dreads staying in the system gave up one of their three shuttles so we could evacuate our people from slavery faster,” Narzek explained as he chose food for both of them.
Even though the processor screens showed what they dispensed, Cayla was not familiar with what the dishes contained.
“So, do you know how to pilot a shuttle?” Cayla asked.
“Yes, I even helped with some of the extraction from Julconi.”
“If I am staying with you here, I think I would like to learn shuttle transport. Transportation was my job in the military back home, though that was mostly on the ground.”
“That can be quite dangerous,” Narzek said. He might have said more, but he heeded her warning look.
“Any military job can be dangerous under some circumstances, especially in a war zone. I don’t even know if I have an aptitude for piloting space shuttles, but it sounds like I will learn if I train to serve in the Brigade. An overheated engine in the desert landed me on an alien slave ship to Berrapo.”
“And you came here because of me.” Narzek shook his head. “Just being on this ship, we are both in danger. I should have taken you to theKurellisand returned to Farseek with you because I knew I couldn’t send you away.”
“But you still have three family members to account for,” Cayla finished for him.
“Yes. I will understand if you don’t want to stay. Your friend will be going to Farseek probably after the next raid,” he said, picking up his tray and heading for a table where they would be alone.
“Is that what you want?”
He shook his head as he set his tray down on the side that put his back to the wall. “It’s what I should want for your safety; however, I don’t know when I might see you again.”
“And I think we both know where this is headed. Separating now is unacceptable.”
Narzek smiled at her. “Exactly.”
Cayla used the hybrid fork-spoon to try a bite of the meat and vegetable medley that he had chosen for her. “Mm. This is pretty good for military food, way better than slave food on Berrapo. It was bland, so it didn’t taste horrible, but it didn’t taste good either. We ate it because that’s all there was.”
