Read The Refugee (The Korvali Chronicles Book 1) Online
Authors: C. A. Hartman
Tags: #Science Fiction
“You couldn’t have told me that before I shared what happened with my mother?” she shot back, feeling herself get angrier. “If I’d known you required Steele’s good opinion, I would’ve kept my mouth shut instead of telling you something so personal. That wasn’t just a lesson in cancer genetics, Eshel! She was my mother, and she’s dead, and she’s a big reason I do what I do … and you revealed that information to the one person who seems determined to hold me back! I’m losing years of progress on this ship and you just made it worse!” She stopped herself, realizing she was nearly shouting.
“Be calm, Catherine…”
“Don’t tell me to be calm!”
Eshel was silent, and remained so for some time, as if waiting for her to settle down on her own. Finally, he spoke. “You do not understand. If you and I are to achieve our aims, one of us must gain Commander Steele’s trust. He does not like you, so it is I he must trust.”
Catherine looked up at Eshel. “What aims?”
“For you, to conduct your research as you should be.”
“And for you?”
He hesitated. “I have projects as well.”
“Genetics projects?”
“No. That is too risky for me.” He paused. “Catherine, it was important that I betray you in this way. The information about your mother was enough to convince the Commander that I show no loyalty to you, but not enough to result in your discharge.”
A realization came over her. “You did this on purpose.”
“Yes.”
“And what happens next time you need to do that? The consequences may be more severe.”
“They won’t.”
“How do you know?” she said.
“There will be no next time.”
“Why should I believe you?”
He stared at her with his pale sea eyes. “It is like your poker game. The stakes are much higher for me, should you choose to betray me.”
He was right. He had far more to lose than she did. Catherine felt her anger dissipate. “I’m on your side, Eshel. And I have nothing to betray you with, anyway.”
“No. But you will.” He walked over to her table, retrieving one tablet from her pill dispenser and handing it to her. He gave her his canteen to drink from.
After a bit of hesitation, she placed the pill on her tongue and drank Eshel’s chilly water. “I’m sorry if I was…” She handed his canteen back to him, trying to think of the right word.
“Temperamental,” he offered.
She chuckled, shaking her head, too tired to rebut.
“You are tired,” he said. “Rest. I am off duty on Saturday and will swim. Since you cannot yet train, perhaps you will go with me to the coastline.”
Catherine replied that she would. After Eshel left, she lay down and slept.
Saturday, Eshel and Catherine boarded the train and sat down among chattering Derovians, many of whom looked at them in curiosity. Catherine’s black eye had diminished quite a bit, her bandages had been removed, and her other injuries were only mild aches. But even with her almost-normal appearance, she and Eshel stood out.
Eshel conducted his usual scan, probably looking for Sunai. There were none to be found. Tom and Snow had told her at second meal that week about Eshel’s attack at the water station. Catherine shook her head, chastising herself for having let him out of her sight. They told her he’d managed to defend himself by going for the eyeshades and escaping back into the crowd. She wondered why Eshel hadn’t told her about the attack. Then, with some chagrin, she realized why; the evening the Sunai accosted him was the same evening she’d been called up by Steele and had accused Eshel of selling her out.
“You should’ve told me the other night about being attacked again,” she said.
“There were more important things to discuss,” Eshel replied.
She considered reminding him to stay close to them when off the ship, but she refrained. Eshel already knew he shouldn’t wander off alone, but struggled with it nonetheless. The Korvali were a clanspeople, but Eshel said they tended to go about their business alone or in pairs, free to splinter off in their own direction at will, without a word. “Did you talk with Yamamoto or the Captain? It seems strange that it was the same guys who attacked us before.”
“Yes. They will speak with the Sunai, but there is little to be done if the attacks do not occur on Suna.”
When they reached their stop, Catherine stood up but Eshel remained seated, stating that he’d found a “far superior” location than their usual tourist’s beach. Although 20 minutes farther away, Eshel’s new find was a small cove that required them to descend a long, narrow staircase from the top of one of the steep cliffs. There were a couple of portions where the stairs turned into a ladder, forcing them to climb down with their belongings on their backs, with nothing but a long fall to the cove below. The cove had few people and far more trees, providing the privacy Eshel craved and the shade both their fair skins required.
Eshel had barely set his things down before he began stripping down to his swim trunks. He walked gracefully into the ocean, dove into the water, and swam away. Catherine read. Later, she took out a picnic she’d packed for herself, making sure to bring enough in case Eshel decided to eat.
When Eshel returned hours later, he saw the spread and said, “I have berrywine.”
She smiled. “Perfect.”
He retrieved the canister from his pack and opened it. Catherine put out her cup, and Eshel poured some for her, then some for himself.
“Cheers.” She raised her cup and clinked it with Eshel’s. She took a sip; it was delicious. “Is this red tefuna? Where did you get this?”
“My sources.”
She laughed. “Your sources? You’re beginning to sound like Tom.”
He smiled at that.
“Esh, does it feel strange to be so far away from your people?”
Eshel looked at her with his sea gaze. She’d begun to know his different gazes, and knew he would answer her question. “Yes. But I still have half of one year to complete my adjustment.”
Catherine was unsure of what he meant. Then she recalled telling him it could take a year for him to grow used to living among them. And he’d been with them six months already.
“What about your family, your… clan?” she asked. “Do you miss them?”
“Miss them?”
“Long for them… or wish you were near them.”
He thought for a moment. “That is not the correct word. It is more that a Korvali must face the difficulty of a broken… bond… when separated from those he has joined with. It can be difficult. Who do you… miss?”
Not expecting the question, Catherine thought about it. “My dad, mostly. And my mom… but she’s been gone a long time. And you?”
“My mother and father. It is different with my father,” he added, his expression getting colder. “And Elan.”
“Elan? Who’s Elan?”
“He is a geneticist. And my friend.”
“He’s Shereb?”
“Yes. He is the eldest son of the malkaris.”
Catherine stared at him, not sure what to say.
“You appear surprised,” Eshel said.
“I thought you hated them.”
Eshel took a sip from his cup. “Elan is not like the others. The second eldest, Ivar, is the worst of them. The two youngest, Moeb and Vashar… they are less vile, but growing to be more like Ivar.” He paused. “Elan would chastise me for not continuing my work, for not having convinced the Alliance. He would not understand the world outside Korvalis. But my father would understand. My father desired that I have opportunity to explore offworld.”
“That’s why he helped you with your epigenetic design.”
“Yes. But he taught me much more than that. He taught me what he knew about the other worlds. He wanted me to learn the language of the outsiders, and when we worked alone in the lab, he would speak in English, in primary Sunai, in Derovian… to ensure I learned.” He paused. “If he lived, he would be pleased.”
“Does your mother, or Elan, know you’re alive?”
“Elan must know. If my mother does not, she will discover the truth. She is a member of our assembly, and she is… clever.”
Catherine nodded, turning to look out at the sea. The water had darkened to a deeper blue under the fading sun.
“I will swim,” Eshel said after a while, standing up. “I believe you are safe here,” he added, glancing around him. The cove’s other visitors had left.
“It’s going to get dark soon,” she warned.
“Do not worry.” He departed, entered the sea once more, and disappeared.
Catherine took a quick dip in the sea and then lay on her mat, relaxed from the red tefuna and the quiet surrounds. Eshel had found the perfect spot, she thought to herself. She imagined what it would be like to live in such a place, to do what a small number of human ex-pats had done and set up residence on Derovia. She smiled, imagining how she would stick out among Derovia’s citizens, how they would call her “Miss Catherine” and “Dr. Finnegan” instead of just “Catherine,” and ask her lots of questions about Earth. She imagined a life free of research, of genetics, of Commander Steele and technology and glutted cities, with days spent reading in quiet coves….
She jumped when something cold touched her leg. It was a water droplet. A dark figure stood silhouetted above her. She gasped and within a moment she was on her feet.
It was Eshel. She let out a sigh of relief.
“If you must sleep,” Eshel said, “I will stay here. It is not safe otherwise.”
She looked around. The Katara sun had set, their small cove illuminated only by the reflected light from Suna’s rings. No one else was around.
“I don’t remember falling sleep.” She hugged her arms around her, chilled from the breeze, the long leaves of their tree swaying above them.
“You are cold,” Eshel said.
Catherine nodded, goose bumps forming on her skin. Eshel’s skin showed no such bumps, as the water droplets seemed to bead up and evaporate from his pale body.
She knew it was time for them to return to the ship, so she reached for her pack. “I need to change,” she said. She twirled her hand, indicating for Eshel to turn around. As she stripped off her clammy suit and dropped it on her mat, she dug through her bag for her dry clothing. Just as she pulled out a t-shirt, she felt something touch her hair. A quiver ran through her. She turned around quickly, shielding her nudity with her shirt.
Eshel stood close to her, far closer than he ever had.
Catherine stood motionless as Eshel stared at her with an unfamiliar gaze. Eshel often watched things or people, observing some minor behavior or thing he found unusual. But despite her familiarity with Eshel, and despite the length of their acquaintance, his proximity to her unnerved her. Instinctively, she backed away.
“I do not mean to startle you,” he said. “I should have asked first.”
“Asked what?”
“To touch you.”
Catherine looked at him in surprise, attempting to discover some sign of his intent, but finding none. “You want to touch me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Eshel peered at her with his unblinking eyes. “I do not know.”
Catherine still didn’t move, seeing only the strange expression on Eshel’s face. He stepped toward her, and she felt her heart begin to pound. Eshel reached up and touched her hair, taking a handful at its roots and gently following it to its ends. He did the same with another handful of her hair, seeming almost fascinated by its existence, staring at it as he let it run between his webbed fingers.
After letting go of her hair, he placed both hands on her shoulders, their heat warming her. She’d noticed the warmth of his hands during training—it was the only skin-to-skin contact they’d ever had—but she assumed the warmth was due mostly to heat generated from their workout. But even in their stillness, the heat of his hands was intense.
He moved his hands to her chest, and she wondered if he could feel her heart, which still pounded. She realized her t-shirt no longer covered her. It lay in a heap at her feet, leaving her completely nude. She didn’t know if she’d dropped it, or if Eshel had removed it.
Eshel touched her breasts, almost as if afraid to harm them. Then his hands travelled down to her stomach, and further downward. Just as Catherine began to wonder if she should back away, he withdrew his hands and took two steps back. He looked down, his expression clouded.
“Never speak of this,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.
She nodded, agreeing to his request. She bent down to retrieve her shirt.
But just before she picked it up, Eshel stopped her, encircling her arm with his hand. She stood up and faced him, her heart thumping once again. He looked down at her, taking two steps toward her, until he was next to her.
Eshel placed his hand between her legs. She froze, until he began exploring the area with his fingers. He touched softly, again almost as if afraid of harming her, his smooth nail-less fingers stroking her. She felt lightheaded suddenly and almost backed away, but realized the tree they’d sat under was right behind her. Eshel saw her expression and stopped. She put her hand on his and guided it back to her, leaning against the tree for support. He continued until she was so overwhelmed by the sensation that she grabbed Eshel’s other arm to steady herself.
After, she sank down onto her mat as she tried to recapture her breath. Eshel kneeled down next to her. She glanced up at him, and his face showed raised eyebrows and another expression she’d never seen before. Not knowing what to say, she sat there, the lightheadedness passing but her sense of nervousness returning.
Before she could make any move, Eshel took her hand and placed it on his chest, palm down. She looked back up at him, and when he saw she didn’t protest, he slowly moved her hand across his chest, down to his abdominal area, then back up. He let go of her hand.