Kalan got Cera settled in a room in one of the safer hotels on the station and a tidy bribe kept her name out of the system. He was pretty sure that wasn’t supposed to happen and equally sure that it happened all the time on a station that had as much through traffic as Cobalt 7. There were just too many people who didn’t want to be located for hotels to offer no options for privacy. If they handled it off-the-books, that was even better in Kalan’s opinion. She eyed him like she thought he might be setting her up, but eventually took the card that would give her access to the room. Kalan felt a wave of relief as she disappeared into the mini-lift that would take her up to the floor her room was on. He didn’t mind her company, per se, but spending that much time with someone you only halfway trusted was on the level was mentally taxing, even for someone as even-keeled as Kalan.
As he left the hotel, he started doing a mental inventory of all the things he had to do. Then, he remembered the thing that he had forgotten to do the last time he was on the station. Grimacing, he made his way to the lift and let it carry him to the right level of the station. Kalan didn’t let himself walk slowly. He wasn’t the kind of person who put off doing things that he feared would be unpleasant. Even so, he didn’t hurry either. He wasn’t sure what kind of reception he was going to get and that left him with an ill-defined feeling of disquiet rolling around in his chest. There was nothing to do about it, though. He’d said he was going to do something, and he hadn’t. It wasn’t typical of him, but there had been a lot going on at the time. Enough that he’d overlooked something that, while not important in the grand scheme, was still important at a personal level. Doing his best to maintain his calm, he stepped into the tailor shop. A small chime announced him, so he didn’t even get a chance to study the room before the owner looked over at him.
Kalan had known Khem professionally for a while. She had made his captain’s coat, a much more profoundly useful item than it might have seemed at first glance. She had made it with materials that made it all but bulletproof and even highly resistant to energy weapons. Those weren’t theoretical, either. Kalan had first-hand experience with those life-saving features of the material. The last time he’d been there, she’d unexpectedly kissed him. He’d told the hard-faced woman that he would take her to dinner the next time he was on the station. He hadn’t followed through. It was also clear from the extra-stony glare she directed at him that she had made note of that oversight on his part. Neither of them said anything for several seconds before she offered him a derisive sniff. Kalan reasoned that was probably better than having her yell at him or throw things at him.
“I feel like I should explain,” he said.
“Oh, explain. You think that an explanation will get you anywhere. Tell me this. Were lives at stake?”
She stared at him with the triumphant expression of someone who knew they’d just won an argument before it started. She’d even planted a hand on one of her hips.
“Yes,” said Kalan. “Many. They still are.”
The bedrock certainty in Kalan’s voice seemed to take the wind out of Khem’s anger sails. She frowned at him and then did something behind her counter. The doors of her little shop closed and sealed behind Kalan. He glanced at them and gave Khem a questioning look.
“When a Warder Under the Night says that many lives are in danger, privacy seems prudent.”
Kalan winced and wondered how she knew. He certainly hadn’t advertised his past to anyone. Maybe she’d just put together the clues with some kind of prior knowledge. Kalan didn’t know anything about the woman’s past. He supposed he might have learned some of those things if he’d shown up and taken her to dinner.
“I’m not a Warder Under the Night,” he said.
She rolled her eyes at him. “I know one of you when I see you.”
“It’s complicated. I’m an exile.”
“Oh,” said Khem, her normally hard expression softening in confusion. “I didn’t know your people did that.”
“To be fair, I didn’t know my people did that until it happened to me, but that’s a story for some other day.”
The woman eyed him like she thought it should be a topic for right damn now, but she sighed and nodded. “Very well. Explain these lives in danger.”
Kalan gave her an overview of what he’d been up to since she last saw him. He left out a lot of details because knowing many of those details could get her killed. Still, she heard enough and, more importantly, believed enough to know that he wasn’t just making excuses.
“People are going to come to this station looking for answers. Anyone who knows me is likely to end up with unfriendly visitors. Honestly, I’ve probably put you in danger by coming here today.”
Khem was quiet for a long time after he said that. Her expression had gone unreadable somewhere in the middle of the tale when he’d gotten to the parts with the Zerens. He waited for her to decide what direction the conversation would take. He half-expected her to tell him to get out and never come back. Then, make a scene outside to tell everyone that they were not on good terms. It would be the smart move on her part. If she didn’t do that, or at least suggest it, he would. When she did talk, it wasn’t any of the possibilities he’d imagined she might pick.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“What will you do next?” she asked.
“I’m heading for Ikaren space. The Zerens are bloodthirsty and stupid, but I doubt all of their ship captains are suicidal. They won’t cross into Ikaren territory on the off-chance they might catch me. It’d start a war. Minimally, it would mean the destruction of any ship that flagrantly violates their space. Granted, that war is probably coming one way or the other, but they won’t kick it off early unless they’re certain they can win. My sense of things right now is that the Zerens aren’t certain they can win. I might be wrong about that, but it’s the theory I’m working off of until I have more information.”
Khem nodded. “Probably a wise choice. It’s neutral territory for you and hostile to the Zerens if nothing else.”
“And I come bearing gifts. It should buy me some goodwill. You should consider getting off the station for a while. Maybe visit some relatives or far-off friends.”
Khem actually snorted at that. “Do I strike you as a woman with many close friends? People don’t like me, Kalan Rinn.”
Kalan struggled to think of something productive to say to that. He’d never considered himself particularly adept at socializing with people, but even he couldn’t miss the bitterness in her words. This was someone who longed for those friendships, that closeness, but found herself excluded from them. He had no idea if she’d always been stern or had taken that on as a kind of self-defense. It made sense both ways. He’d found that most people found it difficult to relate to those with stern personalities. On the other hand, it would also be an effective way of pushing people away before they could push her away. Those observations did not, however, give him any useful insights about what someone needed to hear in a moment like the one he found himself in. At a loss for what else to say or do, he shrugged.
“I like you.”
He thought she’d wave it off or dismiss it, but she didn’t. She froze in place with her eyes locked on his face. Kalan tried to interpret what he was seeing there, but it was as mysterious to him as the physics governing the wormhole network. Her gaze was so intense that it made the back of his neck itch. The only thing he could understand was a fragility in her eyes that was usually masked behind her stony expression. He wondered how rarely she had heard such words for the simple phrase to have such an electric effect. It occurred to him then that she was probably trying to decide if he’d meant it, or if he’d said it because that was the kind of thing people said when confronted with someone else’s vulnerability. He considered the words. He didn’t find anything in his heart to suggest he’d said them just to say them, so it wasn’t difficult to meet the woman’s eyes. She seemed to find whatever she’d been searching for in his face because she gave him a soft smile.
“Thank you.”
He inclined his head toward her. “You’re welcome. Still, if there is somewhere you can go, you should probably go there. I’d rather you not get caught up in the wake of my disaster.”
She gave him something he’d have called a smirk from anyone else. “Maybe I’ll visit Ikaren space.”
Kalan gave that a serious nod. “I have two ships heading there if you need transportation. Well, assuming I can find a cargo on the shortest possible notice that I can also reasonably sell in Ikaren space. Either way, you’re welcome to join us.”
Khem went unnaturally still again as she stared at him. She slowly lifted an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting I run away with you? I didn’t think you were the roguish sort.”
Kalan’s mind stuttered to a complete halt. He simply meant it to be a kind gesture and a way of making a bad situation a little easier for her. He’d never considered that she might interpret it as an invitation to something more. I’m terrible at these things, thought Kalan.
“No! No, I didn’t mean… That is… I just wanted to… I,” he tried to gather his thoughts and assemble a sentence that wouldn’t make things worse.
“Take a deep breath. It was just a joke. You’re really too sweet for your own good.”
Kalan scowled at that. “Sweet isn’t usually a word people use to describe me.”
“I expect most of those people are your enemies. Assuming you’ve left any alive.”
Kalan rolled his eyes but was relieved to be on somewhat familiar ground again. “I might have accidentally left one or two of them breathing.”
“I thought you Warders Under the Night had some kind of rule about that.”
“They do,” agreed Kalan. “I’m not bound quite as tightly by those rules.”
“Always nice to have a little room to maneuver.”
“It can open up more options for me when the situation allows.”
Khem looked around at her shop before she settled her gaze on him again. “When are you leaving?”
“If the gods are merciful, late in the day sometime tomorrow. If they’re not, I’ll leave the next day regardless of the cargo situation.”
Kalan wondered what she would decide to do. Her brief moment of vulnerability aside, Kalan thought that she was as likely to decide to stick it out on the station as leave. She’d learned to survive and even thrive alone. If she decided the best move for her was to stay, he didn’t believe for a moment that he could sway her. Nor, he decided, would he try. He couldn’t decide for her what level of danger was acceptable. He’d given her the information. It was on her to make up her own mind what to do with it.
“I’ll sleep on it. Better to make decisions with a clear head. You’re a little too handsome for me to decide right now.”
That flustered Kalan all over again, but he managed to clamp that down a little faster than when she’d asked if he wanted her to run away with him. He just nodded.
“That’s for the best. I wanted you to know what’s coming so you could make an informed choice. If you decide to stay, I’ll respect that choice.”
“You mean you won’t come back here and try to charm me into going with you.”
Kalan gave her an uncertain smile. “No. I won’t do that.”
“Pity. I’d probably have let you.”
“I doubt it would have worked. I don’t know how to be charming.”
Much as she had done the last time he’d been in her shop, Khem walked over to him and slid into his personal space. This time, the kiss she gave him was a longer, lingering kiss that made him acutely aware of his body, her body, and the locked door. He let himself relax his self-control a tiny bit to indulge in that fantasy for just a few seconds. She finally pulled away and gave him an amused smile.
“You do okay.”