The Enemies

Roleen

Oden

It is an understatement to say the flight in a Karmian fly jet to the Drellian territories is hard. Flying close to the ground, anticipating to hit the treetop and lose control is not what I would be willing to repeat. I land several miles from the frontline in a skirt of the forest. Then go on foot. The forest is thick here. Prevented by the heavy growth, the sunlight barely reaches the surface. But semi-darkness is good. I stay covered by shadow and green.

My hold on my gun tightens when I see movement ahead. But I am in the right location. With relief, I see soldiers in blue and grey instead of green. The Drellian outpost is crowded. As I slowly make my way towards the base, people start noticing. With my hands up, I stop a good half-mile away.

'I am Major Oden Candred, the A9 squad.'

Three soldiers part from the crowd and head my way, weapons ready. They lead me straight into one of the houses, in a room with no windows. Closer to dawn the same guard, accompanied by an unfamiliar man, enters.

'Hello. My name is David Cartright. You are allowed to leave for Sunbright,' the man says and offers his hand.

I shake it and nod.

'So you will be my pilot for tonight.'

Cartright smirks but does not react.

The natural smile, relaxed posture, and little too focused eyes prompt him to be intelligence. He will pinprick every phrase and word I tell him. Lank, stooped with a pointed face, he lends a rather foppish impression. But he is impeccably dressed. So I cut straight to the chase, as we start walking to where the air jets are located.

'What do you want to know?'

'I am sure you are aware that your sudden appearance caused many questions. It is not my place to doubt highly esteemed officers like yourself, Major. However, I am bid to have this conversation. Could you share everything that happened to start from the moment you got to the roof of the building where you were captured.'

Sharp, David Cartright reads my reaction correctly. I respect that. Intellect with a little less pride is something Drell could use more.

I know the procedure. There is nothing strange about meeting with intelligence first. My credibility is the only reason I am walking beside him, rather than sit in front of him. Cuffed. So I pick my battles. Though my blood boils just the same, I feel strangely protective of my team, myself and, surprisingly, Rhea. I share everything I know, meticulously describing where I landed. Only when we take off, I start lying. Though brilliant, Cartright will never be able to process everything. My speech is short, detailed, and bone dry.

'Flint made a mistake?'

Cartright goes over the information I shared. His eyes rush from left to right as if he was reading a book.

'If she didn't, then why am I still alive?'

Without being indebted to her, I would be cuffed, first. Shot at close range, second. With zero talking. In all likelihood, Rhea would do it in that cell after my comment of a very disgracing character.

'We need to meet again. It's important to go over the details. I need someone like you. This is the closest I got to Flint.'

'You study her like an animal, huh?'

'She is an animal.'

And I concentrate on the clouds. An animal.

Sunbright seems a much better place after Rompsbridge. Every single evening, I devote to training, shooting or beating the punching bag. With little desire to rest, I volunteer my recreation time to action and count days to return to duty. A9 meets me in Sunbright a day later.

Everyone is already back. But not Rufus. Whatever we agreed on with Rhea did not include him. Either Rufus stayed, and my team walked, or no one walked at all. I am fine with option one. Rhea might be ruthless and wild, but she indeed possesses enough influence to ascertain the fact that Rufus has his face in the trough. Rhea did me a favor, of a sort.

I meet with Cartright two more times rehearsing the information I already provided, each time lying to his face more profoundly. He trusts me, which makes me both relieved and worried. How gullible intelligence is. From him, I learn what happened after the ambush. The story of three words - no one survived. So it is no wonder intelligence got interested. We were not to live this one through. Rhea was right, Karmians had help from inside. So her friend Guss may be just as good as Rufus in sending people to hell.

During the next couple of weeks, A9 supports several operations. Most of which are routine like securing the perimeter for information or people exchange. After our failure and Rompsbridge, no one in A9 treats them as minor though.

On the second day in Sunbright, I talk to Roleen. I procrastinate for about twenty minutes, examining the furniture in the room I occupy, the carvings in the polished blackwood, the bolls in the form of flower-buds, and when my gaze lands on the floor, I give up and dial the number.

She picks up almost immediately.

Argh.

'Oden, you finally called. I thought something is wrong!'

Exuberant. Everything about her is too much. I gulp and jump straight to the topic.

'I am sorry,' I mumble to the communicator when I am finished with the reasoning. She listens patiently until she hears my apology. Silence follows. I focus on the wall. The deep blue paint is a sharp contrast to snow white. The lines almost shine and jump at me.

Counting seconds, I desperately hope Roleen to be proud enough to keep from crying. But all is lost, when she breaks down, and her sniff explodes into hysterics. I wince.

I waste fifteen minutes with her sobbing into my ear. Though I am slightly annoyed, it still feels liberating. I just have to suffer this through.

'Can we discuss it when you are back?'

Cringing from the hope that enters her voice, I go for the brain.

'Do not wait for me if you meet someone you like.'

I stare at the wall again with some sort of drawing on it. The girl in the arms of the boy, with her eyes, dramatically closed and arms stretched wide. He holds her so as if he caught her in a freefall. The romantic bullshit, Karmians so enjoy.

If we meet again, there will be nothing romantic. I can only hope to be the one to end her life.

The boy presses her to bossom as if the girl is his raison d'etre.

Karmians marry for love. Rhea is Karmian. Isn'tshe?