Page 10 of Bernadette

Halmiko gulped bohut to keep Kom talking. “Then what?”

“The of-age females were considered spoils of war. Those few full clans on the spyship got their pick of Mataras. The rest were subjected to re-education by the medical staff.”

Halmiko frowned. “Re-education?”

“Understanding what we do about Earth’s treatment of its women now, it was probably as harsh as it sounds. The head doctor of the spyship halted the program after a short time, and the women were given the option of de-clanning at war’s end.”

“Ancestors.” Doljen had been involved in that? “Is that why your captain is as tough as a Tragoom’s hide?”

Kom chuckled. “I think she was born full of Don’t-Fuck-With-Me. It must have been difficult, though. She’s shared stories about how on Earth, rape victims were blamed, tortured, and executed for lewd behavior. Having lived in that atmosphere, then being coerced into having sex with the enemy ‘for her own good’? Hell, I can’t imagine.”

“Did she…did Doljen…”

No. He wouldn’t have. Not the Doljen he’d known.

“Finish your drink.” Kom shouted to the bartender for another round. “I’m unsure of exactly what went down betweenthem, except the captain said Doljen woke her up. Broke her out of her ‘self-made prison.’ Her words.”

That sounded more like Doljen. Halmiko relaxed. “How’d it end?”

“She asked to stay with him, and she says he wanted the same, but he told her it was impossible. His clan had fallen apart, and he had to take care of some important business. She was sent off to an Earther colony, and he disappeared in his spyship. No contact since. All she’s learned was he was last assigned to a military installation before he fell off the star charts.”

Halmiko managed to keep from snorting his drink. Assigned to a military installation, indeed.

“I guess Doljen left an impression. How close did they get?”

Kom shrugged. “She reminds me of a Nobek when it comes to talking about her feelings. My guess is, she fell in love. She must have, to be so determined to find him for so long.”

“Hmm.” Halmiko thought of Bernadette and Doljen together. One angry and hurting, the other angry and no doubt scared. They would have been quite the pair. Had Doljen told her what had happened with his clan? How much he despised Halmiko and Tumsa? The alcohol in his gut sloshed queasily. He glanced around the bar and noticed his vision was fuzzy at the edges. He’d lost track of how many drinks his companion had foisted on him.

“Your turn.”

“Huh?” He looked at Kom.

“You were a star kurble defender at the age of nineteen. You still hold the record for being the longest active player in the game. No cart-offs on the field. No long-term injuries. Most valuable player fifteen seasons, again a record.”

Halmiko grabbed the glass in front of him and discovered it was full. He didn’t remember finishing the last. “That was a different life. I was a different Nobek.”

“Was it Zakla’s death that made you retire and tore your clan apart?” When Halmiko swung toward him, enraged, Kom held his hands up in surrender. “I was a huge fan. It devastated me when you quit the game. You were so damnedgood. Old-timer on the field or not, you probably had five more years in you. Maybe ten.”

Halmiko managed to refrain from planting his fist in Kom’s reverent expression. What was he going to pound him for? For telling the truth about how his clan and career ended?

He was still angry as he turned back to the bar and his nearly empty glass. “Zakla’s death ended a lot of things.”

“Everyone agreed it wasn’t your fault. Or Doljen’s.”

Almost everyone.The bartender brought him another drink, and he downed it.

* * * *

Bernadette walked from theRogue’scargo hold, heading down the corridor to her quarters. She tapped the incoming manifest for her upcoming run. It would be a fine payday, as well as taking her to Haven. She’d soon be a step closer to Doljen, by way of his estranged Dramok.

She was almost to the lift that would bring her to the crew’s living level, when she heard the maddened roars. It wasn’t an odd noise to hear when three of her crew were Kalquorian Nobeks, but the ship was presently empty and sitting in dock. Kom, Burken, and Dakmo, her security team, should have been running around the station and blowing off steam. As large as theRoguewas, they still tended to feel cramped during journeys that could take up to a few months to travel.

As she headed for the sounds of combat, Bernadette breathed a prayer of gratitude that Haven was less than a month’s travel from Nove. Better still, the colony was situated on an entire planet of wide-open spaces, perfect for confinement-hating Nobeks.

She came to the door of a small chamber she’d given to the battle-happy trio of her crew to work out their cabin fever by pounding the hell out of each other. As long as they showed up for their shifts and did their jobs competently, they were free to indulge in as much fighting as excited their warrior hearts.

The door was open, but that wasn’t odd. The rest of the crew often watched and bet on Kom, Burken, and Dakmo’s fights. There was no one there to cheer the combatants, however. They were all no doubt drinking and fucking their credit accounts empty on the station.

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