Solbidyum Wars Saga 4: Too Late for Earth (10 page)

“And now I give to you, that very special boy, who’s traveled very far, to nearly every star, and found that special love has he. And at his side we stand in pride for such a man as he.” 
As he ended the song, he motioned with his hand toward me and suddenly the entire room stood and cheered.  I looked at Kala who also stood and looked at me, smiling.  By her side, Jenira was bouncing up and down grinning.

“You set me up,”… I said looking at Kala.

“Actually, it was Kerabac and Jenira’s idea; they wanted to do something to cheer you up.”

I couldn’t help but smile while I fought back some tears.  I felt like I should say something, but at the same time I didn’t really feel worthy of saying anything. One thing was very sure; that was the love that I felt in my heart from my crew.

After things died down, Kerabac and A’Lappe went on performing with some relaxing tunes while people milled about chatting and visiting.  A large number of the crew stopped by our table to say they were glad to see me up and about again and to express their concerns and wishes.  At some point someone set a glass of afex in front of me.  Afex is a beverage much like beer back on Earth; until my arrival in Federation space, it had been considered a drink of the common man and typically was not drunk in public.  However, my ignorance of customs had brought about a change in people’s thinking.  Now afex is consumed everywhere, at any occasion, and by just about everyone who consumes alcoholic beverages.  I took a few sips of the afex, enjoying its coldness, just as Kerabac and A’Lappe began playing another of my favorite Nat King Cole tunes “When I Fall in Love"; and even though I wasn’t sure how strong my legs were, I wanted to hold Kala in my arms and dance with her.

“Come on Kala,” I said as I started to stand up, “Let’s see if I can still dance.”

Kala smiled and got up from her seat. “My, you must be feeling stronger if you want to dance.”

I took Kala in my arms, and we began a nice, slow dance.  I wanted to try some of the fancier steps that Kala and I had used in the past, but though I remembered the moves they didn’t go as smoothly as they had before my accident.  I was hoping no one was noticing my difficulty when Kala said.  “Relax Tibby, there is no need for you to show off fancy dance skills every time you take the dance floor; you’re doing fine and are still the best dancer in the room.  Don’t push yourself so hard.”

“It shows?”  I asked incredulously.

“Not to the people watching you, but I can feel it in your body and movements.  Your muscles are quivering, and you do not have the relaxed look on your face you usually do when dancing.  You look like this is the hardest thing you’ve ever done, and it’s taking all your concentration.  Just relax.”

I realized she was right.  I was focusing so hard on my movements that I was all tense and tight.

“I’m sorry Kala.  I’m just not… well… this is all new and awkward for me.”

“Kala smiled, kissed me on the cheek, and snuggled tight in my arms. “It’s all right Tib, everyone is still here for you.”

After we finished dancing, Kala suggested we return to our suite, saying she wanted to …“Test out the rest of my body and make sure it was still working.”  I must confess that I was rather concerned about that myself and hoped I didn’t disappoint Kala.  I was afraid that all my scars might put Kala off once we were nude and in bed, but she didn’t seem bothered by them.  Rather, she spent a great deal of time tracing them all with her fingers as she examined them.

“What are you doing?”  I asked, “Memorizing them?”

She got a crooked grin on her face, but didn’t look up as she kept tracing them.  “They are already starting to fade away. In a few more weeks they will all be gone.  The nanobots will remove every trace of scar tissue, and you will look just like you did before.”

“Except for the eye, you mean.”

“You’ll have that back soon enough.  Only about 5 more weeks and it should be ready for implanting.”

“I wonder what it will be like getting a new eye.  Will I see things the same way with it?”  I never got to finish that thought, nor did Kala answer, as she was kissing along one of the long scars that ran down my torso.  However, the question about how the rest of me was working was answered and to both my and Kala’s delight, we discovered that there were no deficiencies in that area of my physical performance.”

The next morning I woke to find myself feeling totally invigorated, and I was starving.  Kala must have awakened before me, as I found she was gone.  I called for Piesew, who appeared seconds later.

“Good morning sir.  Is there something I may do for you, First Citizen?”

“Good morning, Piesew, I’m starving!   Could get me something to eat?  Do you have any idea where Kala has gone?”

“First Citizen Kalana awoke earlier and said she needed to see to her assistants about several issues.  She requested that I contact her when you awoke so she might dine with you this morning.”

“Thank you Piesew, if you would be so kind as to notify her that I am awake.  I shall shower in the meantime and dress.”

“Very well sir, would you care for me to lay something out for you, or do you wish to select your own attire for the day?”

“I think I will choose my own clothing, thank you, Piesew.”

I got out of the bed, noticing that I didn’t seem to have any of the stiffness or difficulty that I had on previous days and I felt more limber.  I showered, and then while using the depilatory device to remove the stubble from my face, I noted that my scars had faded in color considerably in past few days; they were now almost a normal pink flesh color.  Kala had told me that even the raised scar tissue would vanish as a result of the nanobots restructuring my flesh as it healed.  I was in the process of cleaning my teeth, when suddenly Kala came into the bath area and slapped me on my bare bottom.

“Hi there, lover!”  She said in a happy tone.

“Well hi there yourself.”  I replied, equally as enthusiastically.

“You put on a pretty good show for an injured man last night.”  Kala chuckled.

“I seem to be healing pretty fast.”  I commented. “Look-- all my scars are healing and are pink now instead of bright red, and all my bruises are gone-- except for this one near my groin.”

“A’hem... I’ll have you know that is not a bruise… that’s a love bite from last night.”  Kala said wickedly.

“Oh… OH!!!”  I said as I recalled more of the detail from the night before.  “Well in that case, may it last forever!”

“Well if it doesn’t, I can refresh it as needed.”  Kala winked.

It was about a week later that I found myself in the gym again.  I was slowly starting to regain some of my sense of balance and movements, but I still was slower than I had been in the past.  A’Lappe had explained that the synthetic nerves which replaced the ones I had lost in the crash would probably not work as well as my natural ones; I was hoping to prove him wrong.  By now just the faintest lines of my scars remained, and I only had a few more weeks to wait before I would have a new eye. I was just finishing up my practice set of exercises when I heard a commotion at the other end of the large gym.  A crowd had gathered around the combatants, and there was a lot of cheering going on.  I decided to see what was attracting so much attention.  As I drew closer, I could hear the sounds of objects being struck together in a clacking sound.  I approached the crowd, and some people saw me and cleared a little space so I could see into the center of the circle.  What I saw there totally surprised me.  Kerabac and Jenira were sparring with short wooden sticks, about the same length and weight as the swords that Jenira showed me earlier.  Kerabac was stripped to the waist, wearing only a pair of exercise shorts. His black skin glistened with perspiration; Jenira wore an exercise leotard that was common for both men and women on the ship.  I could see dark damp patches on her uniform, which didn’t surprise me, with the speed at which they both were moving.  The practice swords they used were a blur of motion.  I was surprised to see that Jenira aggressively held her own and fought fiercely with a look of determination.  Likewise, Kerabac also seemed to be fighting with determination, but I was surprised to see him retreating at times from Jenira’s fierce attacks.  I didn’t think for a moment that Kerabac was deliberately letting her think she was better than he was.  The way she fought was astounding, there was a smoothness and grace in her movements; one flowed naturally into another with blurring speed. I wondered how much of her skill came from the learning headbands and how much was a natural ability.

In the end it was Kerabac who landed a winning jab with one of his mock swords, catching Jenira under the armpit.  Jenira flinched and threw her swords down in frustration.  She quickly regained her composure, however, and placed the back of one palm against her forehead and the other palm inside the first and made a slight bow to Kerabac who bowed back in return without the hand gesture.  I found out later that this was a traditional way for ending a practice bout between the defeated and the winner.  Both Kerabac and Jenira were breathing hard, but Jenira seemed to be recovering faster than Kerabac.  With the bout ended, people started moving in, patting both Kerabac and Jenira on the back and complimenting their skills.  Eventually, Jenira moved off toward the shower room, leaving Kerabac talking to one of the crew members.  Once he noticed me; he made a few comments to his companion and then walked over to me.

“Did you see Jenira sparring with me?”

“How could I miss it; I think almost everyone on the ship was here,” I said jokingly.   Kerabac grinned and said, “The crew must have shrunk in size, I only saw about 50 people.”

“Tell me, is Jenira really that good, or were you just making her look good?”

“Trust me Tibby, she is very good.  I was afraid for a while that she was actually going to beat me.  She is incredibly driven and fights like her life is on the line with every match.  Padaran is good, but Jenira beats him every time now.  At the rate she is going, she will be beating me in a few more days.”

“Do you think it is wise for her to be using the swords?”  I asked.

Kerabac gave a sigh.  “I honestly don’t know.  Back on Hugulsa, before we joined the Federation, only males of the Ruwallie Rasson were permitted to carry and use two swords.  We did have a few women warriors, but they were only permitted to carry and use one sword.  I’m not sure what customs are like there today, but I know they are far more liberal than they were back then.  I’m not sure how people in general will take her carrying two swords, but the Federation is pretty open to the many customs of other planets; very few people will really take notice unless she draws them.”

“How well do you think she would hold up in a battle with one of the Ruwallie Rasson warriors back on Goo’Waddle?”

“Ha…” Kerabac snorted, “I doubt that there would be many who could best her, maybe one or two.

“She’s really that good?”

Kerabac just nodded and looked at me questioningly.  “What’s really bothering you, Tibby?  I would think you would be pleased that she can defend herself.”

“I am, at least I think I am, but doesn’t it bother you that she is not a typical young lady in the Federation.  Instead of being concerned with the things that girls her age are, she’s only interested in becoming a warrior.”

Kerabac placed a hand on my shoulder and said, “Tibby if you look at what she has gone through, I think that the direction she is taking now is probably the best for her.  Only time will tell what she will become, but I think she will be a good and wonderful person regardless.  There are far worse courses she could take, and if she becomes a woman warrior, I am certain she will be one of the best.”

“Just how old is she?  Do you know?”  I asked.

“I’m guessing she is about 15 or 16, but she could be 14, or 17 and just younger looking than she is.  We’ve tried to figure out her actual age but haven’t had much luck.  She doesn’t seem to remember, much after her parents were killed, it’s like time stopped for her, and everything after that was just one long horrible day.”

As Kerabac finished his statement, Jenira came out of the shower room; she'd changed back to her normal ship’s attire and was once again wearing her two short swords on her back.  When she saw Kerabac and me, she ran to me, hugged me, and started asking me in sign language if I had seen the match.

“Yes I saw, you were amazing.”  I said.  Jenira nodded but signed that she had lost.

“One cannot always win,” I said.  “We must lose at times in order to learn, Kerabac tells me he was worried that you were going to beat him.”

Jenira looked at Kerabac as he was walking toward the showers and then signed.  “He is really good, I want to be a good as he is.”

“He said that if you keep improving like you have been, you will be beating him soon.”

“Did he really say that?”  Jenira signed.

“Yes he did.”

Jenira beamed. 

“Jenira, why do you want to master the swords?”  I asked suddenly before I realized what I was asking.

Jenira immediately started signing.  “So I can help and protect others, like you did when you helped Tanden and me.  I want to be fast and strong so no one can beat me and so I can stop bad people from hurting others.”

“Those are good thoughts, but don’t you think it would be safer for you to let that for others?  There are other ways you can help that are less dangerous!”