Page 37 of Rescued

26

HEROD

“Have you gathered your things?”

Caimbrie was sitting on the bunk, looking around the rear of the ship in a daze. She hadn’t moved since we’d put down on Divoron, and I was starting to worry. She blinked at me in confusion and then slowly came to life.

“I don’t have any things,” she muttered caustically.

“That’s not true. I bought you a few things. At least take those.”

I don’t know why it mattered to me, but I wanted her to have something from me aboard Adreax’s ship. A memento of our time together, however meaningless it may be to her.

“Fine. I’ll take them. I just need a minute, if you don’t mind?”

Her voice was so low I could barely hear it. She sounded meek and scared, something that I now knew was out of the ordinary for her. I wanted to shake her, bring her back into herself, and hear the fierceness of her declaration that she was ready to go on and fight her next battle, whatever it may be. But right now, she didn’t look like a warrior. She just looked sad, maybe overwhelmed.

“Take your time,” I answered, excusing myself.

I stepped out of the ship and into the breezy, midafternoon air of Divoron. Adreax and Tayla were outside with a group of the women, caught in some big discussion about restocking their ship for the next leg of their trip. I didn’t want to interrupt.

Eventually, Caimbrie emerged, a small bundle of possessions clutched to her chest as she hopped down from the door of my ship and made her way across the tarmac. The conversation there stopped, and Tayla welcomed Caimbrie aboard with a broad smile, ushering her inside and showing her the way to her new room.

“See?” I said to myself. “She’s already happier.”

I didn’t stick around outside to see if she would re-emerge. I ducked inside, pulled the door closed behind me and went straight to my bunk, snapping my eyes shut and willing myself to sleep. There was no sense in staying awake to say goodbyes. It would only complicate things. It was best to quit things cold, especially things you really wanted.

Nikathy came back a short while later, rambling about some woman he had met in a cocktail bar. He was drunk and chattering aimlessly, apparently oblivious to the fact that I was trying to sleep. I sat up with a groan and glared at him.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t even see you there!” he exclaimed when he finally spotted me.

“Whatever. Are you ready to go?” I snapped, throwing the blanket off and getting out of bed no more rested than before.

“Are we in a hurry?”

“No sense in hanging around. I thought you’d be with me on this.”

“Oh, I am. Not like I have much choice, after all, but I kind of expected you to see the lady off, you know?”

“I did my part. Now, I’d like to be on our way before nightfall, so we don’t get stuck in this port if there’s another lockdown. I never know what’s going to happen when you’re around.”

He laughed, clapping a hand on his knee. “I suppose I do have a bit of a history. Well, as you say, let’s be off then. You don’t mind if I take her bunk?”

He was already walking toward it. “Of course not. Make yourself at home.” I turned and went to the cockpit, checking the fuel levels and readying the ship for takeoff. Shit. I hadn’t fixed that fuel leak, and I could only imagine the disapproving look she would give me if she knew I was going to put it off again.

Outside, Caimbrie stood with the other women. She had changed into some outfit, probably provided by Tayla. Her hair was washed and tied up in a neat twist. She was smiling and laughing with them, something I had never seen her do before. She looked so alive. If I had known any part of her at all, it was merely a shadow of who she really was.

I watched a little while longer, grateful to catch a glimpse of her and know that she would be better off without me. The evidence was right in front of my eyes, and it assuaged my guilt.

When she went inside again, chatting over her shoulder with one of the other girls, I started the engines and made the call to the tower to get us lined up for takeoff. Nikathy never came up to the cockpit, and I assumed he’d fallen asleep in the back, but that was okay by me. I wanted space to myself for a while. I had a good enough idea of where we were headed, and the trip ahead of us was going to be a long one. If I needed to correct my course, I’d do it later when Nikathy woke up.

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