| Phase 10 Once I�d gotten control of myself again I went down to the gunroom for a drink. I�m not usually one for alcohol--in fact, it makes me paranoid--but this time I just had to get over that and think of something other than how a complete stranger made me cry when my best friend, nearly-brother couldn�t. But I was not to get my wanted drink. The gunroom was already occupied and Maison and Sig at least would have fits if I went ahead and got myself a shot glass and had a little drink or two. � Kris! Come join us!� I made my way through the dark room and ran into whoever was sitting at the end of the banquet table. � Good one,� Bart�s voice snickered. I hit him. � Hey! What was that for?!� � For being a jerk! Want another one?!� I snarled. � Kris,� Fei broke in quietly, � there�s a seat beside me.� I sidestepped Bart�s seat and continued to the end of the room. A few seats down I ran into something. Clutching it reflexively, I recognized it as my brother�s arm. He took my hand and guided me to the chair beside him. I thanked him and sat down, suddenly glad that I�d decided to come down here. Maybe I could finally--- � We�re going to Nisan tomorrow,� Sig�s voice announced from across the table and down near Bart�s end. � Nisan?� I echoed. � No, Nortune.� � Shut up, Bart!� I leapt up and promptly tripped over a free chair. � Ouch!� � Ha ha. Grace.� � Well it�s dark in here and you remodelled!� I snapped. � Let me know next time before you invite me to talk!� � Kris, I never remodelled the gunroom. I never remodelled anything. You�ve been gone much too long.� � I must agree with him, Kris.� � Really, Sig? That�s a first.� � I would suggest sitting, Krista.� � Suggest all you like, Maison. I won�t be able to until I find my chair!� � Why�d you get up anyway?� � So I could bash Bart�s head in, Fei!� � She missed.� � Bart! I�m gonna get you this time!� I went right for him as soon as he spoke. � Go ahead and---Ow! Hey!� � Told you.� � Well now it�s my turn!� � Gotta catch me first, Prince Bartholomew!� � Don�t call me that, damn it!� His chair scraped along the floor as he stood and I took off. � Maybe it is just me,� Citan began, � but those two act like siblings.� � Not surprising,� Sig replied after taking a sip of his tea. � Though it definitely hadn�t been planned, that was the kind of bond they formed.� � What do you mean �hadn�t been planned�?� Fei pressed. � Well to understand, you�d have to know of Kris� past.� � One thing I haven�t heard yet.� � Nor have I,� Citan added. � Would Kris mind if you told us?� � Shouldn�t,� Sig answered after a moment of thought. � Kris?� � Be my guest!� I told him, still escaping Bart�s reach by a hair. Sig faced the table again as Maison calmly went for more tea, easily dodging Bart and I. He was used to it, especially in the dark. � Nobody but Kris knows her life before she was seven, so I can only tell you so much.� I ran to the door and escaped, hearing the satisfying thud as Bart went headfirst into it. � How many is that now?� � Not enough!� he yelled from the opposite side. � You better scram!� Laughing, I skittered away to my room. *>*<* � The only thing I�m sure of is that somebody wanted to kill her,� Sigurd stated. � She was beaten and bloody and alone in the desert. She had probably run away, but you couldn�t blame her. Franz caught her movement on radar and reported her as a lone sandman. The young master ordered the surfacing; he�d been itching for a fight. Maison and I went outside also to be sure nothing terrible happened because the young master was only eight. � But it wasn�t a sandman. It was a young girl we�d scared the life out of. She didn�t let us within ten sharls of her and cornering her was impossible because she always escaped.� � So I made Sig and Maison stay back since she seemed more afraid of them than me,� Bart added as he sat down. � I managed to coax her into coming closer and I'd almost gotten my hands on her when a sand shark interrupted. She protected me from it and killed it. A few of my men shot her because they thought she was attacking me, but it didn�t slow her down. But once the sand shark was dead I saw how weak she was and started to get scared. I thought for sure she�d die.� � That was before we found out how strong she really was,� Maison added. � She recovered much faster than we had expected.� � Yeah, Bart elaborated, rubbing his nose. � I went into the medical bay the next day and got a fist in my face for my trouble. That�s how we found out she was okay. I must have chased her for three hours until I cornered her in one of the storage rooms in the Gear bay. She was wild and it took Sig, Maison, and me together to hold her down so the doctor could give her sedatives. And even then she was a handful. I earned a bloody, almost broken, nose. � We learned from that and kept her in restraints from then on. It wouldn�t do any good to have her running around loose causing havoc. So when she woke up I questioned her, but she wouldn�t say anything. Then Sig came to report to me and she went crazy. The restraints were pretty new, but she snapped them like they were a thousand years old and then ran to a corner, as far away as she could get. We watched her for a minute and when she just huddled in her corner, Sig ignored her and gave me the report. And all of the sudden she just calmed down and crawled back onto the bed and laid there in this tiny ball, looking between us.� � It took six months to gain her trust and for a while she remained on the bridge with the young master and I,� Sigurd continued. � Then one morning she didn�t come to the bridge. We looked everywhere and finally found her here in the gunroom talking to Maison. And from then on, if she wasn�t on the bridge she was in the gunroom. It was so predictable we didn�t have to worry about it after the first week. It became her routine, actually. A few days on the bridge, a few in the gunroom, then back on the bridge and so on.� � Her sleeping habits,� Maison reminded him. Sigurd groaned. � I won�t even get started on those.� � Why not?� Fei asked. � Kris was a night-owl,� Bart explained. � Still is, sometimes. She slept nearly all day and then stayed on the bridge all night and kept the rest of us out of trouble while we slept. She knew the panels so well that I thought she was a spy. When I confronted her she told me about her ability, which at the time only allowed her to understand how mechanical stuff worked. � So I made a deal with her. I told her that if she watched the ship at night, I�d cover for her during the day. She agreed, which set the schedule. We never told Sig and he was ticked when he found out. He yelled at us and she passed out from fright. I thought she�d died at first, but she was still breathing. That didn�t make me feel the least bit better because she was so emotionally frail. I was afraid she�d go loopy on me. � But she was just fine when she woke up. She avoided Sig for the rest of the week until she was sure he�d cooled off and then she was right back at her old routine.� � If everything was so great, why did she leave?� � Some weirdo came for her. I tried to protect her and got hurt. She stayed until I�d completely recovered, then took off in the early morning just before I got to the bridge. Sometime around six a.m.� � But why?� Fei persisted. � She said she�d stayed too long and that she had to move on before she put the entire ship and crew in danger. I tried to talk her out of it, but she snuck out anyhow. I never saw her after that until you and I got back from the cavern.� Sigurd finished off his tea and stood. � I believe I�ll say good night.� He left the gunroom and got into the elevator. But instead of going to his room, he skipped the next door down and entered the one after that. *>*<* I was laying on my back and staring up at the ceiling when the door hissed open. I jumped and started to sit up, but saw it was only Sig and relaxed against the headboard. � Don�t scare me like that.� � Sorry.� He went around to my left and pulled the chair away from my desk to sit beside my bed. He held my hand between his and looked me in the eye for a split second. � Are you all right?� � Yeah, I�m okay.� � Bartholomew said you cried.� � So? Is that against the rules?� I asked defensively. � No. But think about it, Kris. You�ve never cried with us and now all of the sudden you see a Gebler officer and break down right there in the hall. It has both of us worried. If he�s one of the men who tore you up---� I shook my head. � Not him. I knew him, but I didn�t remember him.� I stopped in confusion. � I can�t explain it. I guess you could say it was severe deja vu.� � Enough to make you cry?� � Apparently.� � What did he look like?� � He was in a dark Gebler uniform and had light brown hair and brown eyes and a sword.� Sig frowned worriedly. � Did he say anything to you?� I nodded. � He said that I�d abandoned him like they did and that he couldn�t get them back for it, but he could get me.� Pain flashed across his face and he abruptly hugged me. � I won�t let him hurt you, I promise. Not like last time.� � Last time?� I echoed. � What happened last time?� He stiffened and released me, but kept his hands on my shoulders. � You don�t remember?� he asked. � Remember what?� I questioned. � If it was any time after my parents were killed and before I was six, no, I don�t remember. Tell me.� Instead, he kissed me. Gently, but firmly. I squeaked in surprise and placed my hands against his chest, though I�m not sure I could�ve fought him off if he really wanted to do something to me. The door opened and I sensed a surprised silence before Bart barked angrily, � What the hell is going on?!� Sig jerked away from me, looking even more scared than before. Bart growled and pointed at him. � You. In the hall. Now.� Like a guilty man to the gallows, Sig did as he was told without protest. Bart watched him, eyes narrowed. � And don�t go anywhere. I want to talk to you.� When the door was shut, Bart came over and sat on the edge of the bed, lowering his head to look up at me. � Are you okay?� I nodded and said quietly, � Yeah.� � Did he do anything else?� � No.� � Don�t protect him, Kris. That was way out of line.� I shook my head. � I�m not. We were talking about my breakdown in the castle and then he kissed me.� Bart opened his arms in invitation and I crawled over to him, hiding beneath his jacket as he soothed me. I didn�t cry (I know he was listening for it) because even though Sig had surprised me, he hadn�t frightened me. Which is important, since the men who�d done similar things had scared the life out of me. He hadn�t forced me into anything, just caught me off guard. It wasn�t something I couldn�t�ve gotten away from if I�d tried. � Don�t be too hard on him, Princeling,� I begged. � I was only surprised, not scared.� With a heavy sigh, Bart rubbed my back. � You�re too forgiving.� � You�re not forgiving enough.� � I am too!� After a pause, he added, � Sometimes.� � That�s my point,� I said, pulling away to look him dead in the eye a moment. � I don�t want you to be possessive about this. I�m not in any kind of trauma; you have no right to go out there and heckle him for a simple kiss.� � Possessive?� � Yes, Bart, possessive. It�s one of the things that makes you you. I�ve noticed how you�ve been acting. Like when Sig got on my case with the wings and you stepped in. You never would�ve done that before. You would�ve stood back and laughed like you used to.� Another sigh. � Fine, if that�s what you want. I�ll go easy on him.� � Thank you.� <--Phase 9 Phase 11--> |