A TALE OF BROTHERS

— by Jeff Karamales

Chapter 10
 

  Alistair finished sealing the helmet on his suit and clomped to the control for the airlock, mashing the actuator button and swearing vehemently when it didn’t open. He jabbed the activation button again, then three more times before a voice from behind brought the man up short. As he spun around the man assumed a defiant stance, ready to face any repercussions for his actions.

  “Just what do you think you’re doing, Mister Gordon?” Valencia asked, two other SPOs armed with stunner carbines flanking her.

  Flipping the faceplate of his helmet up with a Clack!, the man stared hard at the tigress, her suddenly predatory expression causing a moment of concern that was rapidly quashed by the fear for Elias’ life. “I’m goin’ tae save me friend. He’s nae dead, Cap’n! I know it!”

  Valencia waved the two guards back and stepped forward. “We never assume one of ours is dead, Alistair. You know this. Until I see a body I consider all of my crew still among the living. What you’re doing is reckless, though, and I can’t allow you to jeopardize yourself or another from the ship.”

  “I’m nae gonna leave him!” the man persisted, his eyes stinging with unshed tears of frustration as his mouth tightened in an effort not to let his emotions break him down completely.

  “We aren’t leaving anyone,” the tigress declared firmly. “We’re working on the problem even as you and I stand here. But we have to be careful. We know there’s been a cave in from the explosion, but caution is called for. If the wrong thing is moved or we go in half cocked, the situation could become far worse.”

  Alistair watched as Captain Palmers came closer and placed a large paw on the human’s shoulder, the look of resolve in her topaz colored eyes telling him that she felt the same, even if it were for different reasons.

  “We will get him and SPO Perrins back. You have my promise on this,” Valencia told the man solemnly.

  No longer able to hold back the fear for his friends’ lives, having become fond of the small mouse that he’d met, Alistair stopped holding back and let a tear roll from each eye. “He’s bein’ like me brother, Ma’am,” the human admitted. “I’d be dyin’ fer the barmy fox if’n it were needed!”

  “I know.” Valencia looked at the environmental suit her number two pilot wore and nodded slightly. “Well, seeing you’re ready to go, I might as well suit up and head over with you to see the progress that’s been made myself. Give me five minutes to suit up.”

  Alistair could only nod mutely, still fighting the torment inside him, though he was still a little surprised when Captain Palmers shucked her uniform in front of him, not at all bothered by her momentary nudity as she snagged a body glove from a locker with her name on it. Alistair was so distraught that he couldn’t even be bothered with looking at the show from his captain and shifted from foot to foot in anticipation.

  Once her suit was inspected by the two SPOs that had accompanied her, Valencia led the way into the airlock and waited for it to cycle, pausing as the chamber was equalized with the lower pressure in the transit hub, turning to look at the man beside her.

  “Would you have made me shoot you to stop you?” the tigress asked with a slight grin.

  “Aye, Ma’am. Ye woulda.”

  “Thought so,” she said with an amused chuff. “The scuttlebutt on the ship is that you and Elias could have come from the same litter the way you act towards each other.” Alistair shrugged in embarrassment until the Captain again put a paw on the man’s shoulder. “No. Don’t be embarrassed. You and Elias have a friendship that most individuals will never have, nor understand. Treasure that friendship, Alistair.”

  “Aye, Ma’am. I do.”

  “Good,” the tigress said with a genuine smile. “Now, let’s go get our people,” she said as the hatch to the hub finally cycled open. 

*** 

   Vanna was having a hard time staying awake and had done her best to work with Elias to get her suit back on, the thermal sheet not keeping her warm enough with the blood loss she’d suffered. She had to stay alert, though, to keep the fox from falling asleep and decided that talking was the best thing for both of them. They knew that help was on the way as the sound of metal-on-rock had been heard several times from the blocked doorway. Now it was a waiting game.

  “Wh-who w-was she?” the mouse asked with slightly chattering teeth as she shivered in the circle of the fox’s arms. “The o-one that Alis-stair said hurt you?”

  Elias wasn’t as bothered by the cold and he’d had Vanna sit in front of him so that he could hold her and protect her as much as possible with his own body while keeping the thermal sheet over her smaller form. “Her name was Ilsa.”

  Vanna turned her head so that she could look at the fox and smiled. “I knew her! Sh-she was an upper c-c-class fur when I got t-to the Academy.” Despite the cold and throbbing pain from her leg, the mouse’s eyes sparkled merrily. “So you’re the snowy white fox that she was talking about!”

  “She talked about me?”

“Oh, yeah!” Vanna replied with a vigorous nod before snuggling back against Elias’ chest, her arms laying over his as another shiver ran through her. “She thought you were the dreamiest dog fox she’d ever seen.” The mouse sighed softly before talking again. “You know sh-she really was fond of y-y-you. B-but the whole reason that she c-c-came to the Academy was to escape an arranged marriage her fa-father was t-trying to force her into.”

  “Maybe,” the fox said, trying not to think of the vixen that still affected him. “I just wish she’d been a little more forthcoming before I made a fool out of myself and proposed to her.”

  Vanna shook her head emphatically. “No. Don’t think that, Elias!” The mouse turned so that she was curled up in a way that let her keep her injured leg straight while her tiny paws rested on the fox’s chest and she could look up into his deep blue eyes. “Saying no was the hardest thing ever for her. I found her in the showers just after your class graduated, completely miserable and crying. It really tore her up to say no when she really wanted to say yes.

  “Ilsa really was in love with you, but she wanted…needed to be free, to do what she wanted. I guess it was the first time ever that she got to make a choice about something she wanted to instead of having to do what her family wanted. I didn’t know that you were the one that she was talking about, though.”

  Elias sat quietly and digested what Vanna had said. Perhaps he should have kept is relationship with the vixen where it was. Warm, friendly, simply two individuals that found enrichment in their time together. He’d been the one to change the dynamics when he’d proposed. “Maybe,” he said quietly. He looked down at the mouse and pushed her almost black hair back from her eyes. “What about you? You seemed pretty down when we were talking before all of this started.”

  “I…I don’t know if I really want to think about Jan right now…”

  “I promised we’d talk later, and now’s as good a time as any,” Elias prompted. “It’s not like we’re going anywhere at the moment.”

  Vanna shivered again, closing her eyes as the fox pulled her closer and gave her a squeeze, rubbing her upper arms to impart as much warmth as he could. “I guess…” She rubbed at an eye with her tiny fist before snuggling back down into the folds of the thermal sheet. “I grew up with Jan. Well, me and my four sisters. We started hanging out in school and not long after began dating.

  “I think…I think the whole reason that he was interested in me was because my dad had six fishing boats. Boats on Crescentis means that you’re sorta wealthy. The more boats, the more fishing you can do, the more money you get. I hate fishing, and wanted to travel, that’s why I joined the SPF. Of course that I was hooked on that space opera Star Rangers might have had something to do with it!” the mouse exclaimed with a rueful smile. “They made it look so glamorous, different worlds that were exotic, adventures…I was so stupid to think that that’s what the SPF would be like!

  “Me and Jan were kinda serious at that point, and I thought that if I was with the SPF I would make enough money for us to move to another world that had a little more in the way of land. I swear if I never see another ocean it’ll be too soon!

  “Jan wasn’t really interested in that, but I didn’t find out until I went home on leave. Mom and dad were out on the boats because they didn’t know I was going to visit after graduation. What I did find was Jan and my sister rolling around in the bed of my old room like they were in a naughty video! When I got angry he said that the only reason he dated me was because I could pay for things, but that I was a l-lousy girlfriend because…bec-cause I didn’t….di-didn’t let him go all the way…”

  Vanna sobbed bitterly and batted at her eyes while the muscles of her jaw clearly clenched and relaxed under her sleek fur as tears coursed freely from her dark eyes.

  “I…I always thought th-that the f-f-first time should be…special!” the mouse continued. “I couldn’t believe it. And my own sister, laying there for all the world to see just gave me the most smug grin, like I didn’t matter…” she sniffed loudly. “My own sister!

  “I wanted to hurt them both….I wanted to throw up because of what Jan said, the way both of them acted like I was…was just trash! I-I-I sp-spent the rest of m-my leave at the SPF barracks on Windward Island until the next shuttle heading back for Joplin lifted.”

Vanna gave in to sobs that Elias tried his best to sooth, letting the rodent get the hurt out of her heart, simply supporting her in quiet commiseration.

  “I…I think what really d-drove the point home is that just before we got the distress signal from here I got a wedding invite from my mom.” Vanna sniffed once more and lifted her head petulantly. “I want to try and get over this, but part of me hopes that they’re miserable, and that isn’t very nice, is it?”

  “Maybe not, but you know what kind of people Jan and your sister are, now. Do you really think that their marriage will last?” Elias inquired.

  The mouse shook her head. “N-n-no. He…he’s scum. He’ll jump on anything in a heartbeat. And I know what my sister is, and it’s not much better. She…well, she was really popular in school, but that’s only because she sees more traffic than a spaceport!”

  The fox couldn’t help but chuckle at that analogy and impulsively hugged the mouse a little tighter. “I for one think you deserve better, Vanna. And I have to agree with your assessment that the first time should be special with someone that knows and will treat you with the respect and affection you deserve.”

  The mouse nestled closer and tucked her paws under her chin. “Maybe. I…I’m not much of a catch, am I?”

  “Are you kidding?” Elias exclaimed. “Vanna, believe me when I say that you’re completely lovely and any male would be very, very lucky to be with you. You’re honest, hard working, dependable, and far too sweet to settle for anything less than someone that will treasure you.”

  The mouse looked up, her eyes warming considerably. “And…and what about you?” she whispered.

  Elias’ mouth fell open and he worked it up and down silently for several moments in an attempt to respond.

  “I…I’m not asking for commitment, Elias,” she said, still speaking softly, her words only marginally louder than her breathing. “I…I just want to feel pretty…that someone might actually want me. I want to be with someone that will do what you said…that will make it feel special…because you’re special, too. I heard Ilsa say that you were. Special, that is.”

 When the fox seemed to take too long to what the mouse was offering, Vanna assumed it was rejection and felt her heart plummet. When she tried to pull away, not really caring if she got cold, Elias gently restrained her, knowing he had to say something or destroy yet more of the fragile female’s ego.

  “I really don’t know what to say, Vanna,” Elias began. “I’ll be honest and tell you I want to say yes, and if we weren’t in this predicament, I’d show you. I really would. But I don’t know if I can give you what you’re looking for-”

  “I’m just looking for someone that can show me that I matter as a person! I want someone that can make me feel special, even if it’s just for a little while!” Vanna’s face contorted with all of the self doubt that she carried, of the words that had been spoken to her by the ones she thought would never betray her. “Just a little affection…”

  There was only a moment of resistance when Elias put his finger under the mouse’s chin to lift her head and placed his mouth tentatively against hers in a chaste kiss that held the promise of more. Both were slightly dazed when they parted, Elias with the feeling of rightness to the contact, Vanna with the hint of what she longed for, and sat blinking at each other before both grinned.

  “You know, when we get out of here, the Captain’s authorizing a week’s worth of shore leave,” the fox said softly, noticing that his finger pads were smoothing the fur along Vanna’s jaw line in a very tender manner and it wasn’t something that he’d planned to do, it just happened. “How about we find a place to stay that has room service and I show you that you are very, very special.”

  “You…you mean it?”

  Elias nodded. “I mean it.”

  Vanna looked up at the fox, a smile forming as her imagination came up with so many different things that it was enough to make her lightheaded as the medications the biogel was seeping into her. “By the Maker, Ilsa was an idiot…” she murmured before snuggling up closer and only wincing slightly at the twinge from her injured leg. “And it’s not like you don’t have practice getting me out of my clothes now,” the mouse whispered archly as she indicated her vac-suit.

“I don’t think I should respond to that,” the fox replied with a grin as he helped the mouse get situated more comfortably on his lap.

Vanna’s arms slipped around his neck. “Then do you mind if I ask for another kiss? I’d like to get in a bit of practice before we go on leave…”

  Both were enjoying the contact so much that they were still pressed together when the ruble was shifted enough for Alistair and Captain Palmers to enter the chamber. “See?” the tigress said in an amuse tone. “I told you they’d be fine.”

— NEXT CHAPTER —

Unless otherwise noted, all material © Ted R. Blasingame. All rights reserved.