Heart Of The Sun Page 2

  Alan smiles, letting his guard down. “You and me both, Vash.”

  * * *

  They spend the day looking over worn books, tearing out maps and anything else that might be of use. They descend and hurry inside the building, shuttering the doors of their room against the coming storm. It beats on the roof and howls around the building as they cower in the dark.

  Vash finds some candles and with a flick of his fingers, lights them and places them around the room. The warm glow seems to set them both at ease and they sit in their beds, huddling tightly in their blankets.

  “What’s it like... having magic?” Alan asks, his curiosity getting the better of him.

  “What’s it like not having magic?” Vash asks in response. “I can’t imagine a life without it. How do Humans cope?”

  “Technology, I guess,” Alan guesses. “We’ve never had magic, so I doubt we’d know what to do with it if we did.”

  “I suppose not,” Vash says. “Do you have family at home?”

  “Yeah,” Alan says. “My parents, and my little brother, Chester.”

  “No mate?”

  Alan smiles a little at the translation. “No. No... mate.”

  “I see.”

  “You?”

  “No mate either. Or family.” Vash looks pensive as he says it, as if speaking of something he once had and lost. Best not to probe him about it, Alan realizes.

  At some point the conversation dies out, and with it the storm raging outside. They both settle into a quiet slumber. Alan wakes first, hearing a noise at the very edge of his hearing. Staying still, he opens one eye a fraction to see Vash sitting on the edge of his bed, naked. The candlelight dances off his features, almost human in nature except for the red patterns that cover his whole body except for his prick. Which, Alan realizes, is hard as a rock. He bites his lip as he realizes what the gasping noise is and sure enough, he sees Vash grasp his cock in a tight hand, stroking it gently.

  Alan knows he should look away, but he can’t. He’s entranced by Vash’s closed eyes, the way he concentrates on a body that deserves to be concentrated on. Alan bites his lip as he contemplates the Karalian’s massive cock. He realizes it’s been a long time since he thought about anything sexual, his pilot days filled with fighting for his life and catching sleep when he could. Now he’s faced with an attractive man, he can’t help but feel himself grow hard under the covers. You’d have to be made of ice not to. Look at him, it’s as if the Gods sculpted a perfect man. He hears another gasp and concentrates, knowing that if he moves, Vash will hear him and know he’s been watching. His prick aches, but he stays as still as a statue as Vash’s pace quickens.

  Vash stifles a cry as he comes, seed spilling onto his chest as he utters an alien word. It’s a beautiful whisper, foreign and exotic, adding spice to an already hot scene. Alan can’t hold back anymore as Vash turns away. He slips his hand down, silently and slowly snaking under his blankets until he grasps his cock in his hand. A couple of strokes and he’s coming, biting his lip and spasming silently in the candlelight.

  Perhaps it is an involuntary whimper, or maybe the slightest rustle of sheets and blankets as Alan comes, but Vash’s ears prick up and he turns around before Alan can close his eyes. He bolts them shut too late, just in time to see Vash’s angry expression directed at him as he stalks across the room and rips off Alan’s blankets, exposing his unzipped pants and the evidence of his guilt.

  “I’m sorry, I... It’s been a long time... I...” Knowing he can’t hide, Alan’s eyes are open now and a thousand excuses start pouring from his mouth. “I didn’t mean to watch, I just...” His voice sticks in his throat as even now his eyes are enraptured by Vash’s naked body, pouring over his features nervously as he tries to turn away.

  “Did you like what you saw?” Vash’s eyes have a threatening gleam to them.

  The wrong move could mean my death. He could snap my neck like a twig and think nothing of it. “I told you, it’s been a long time since I saw anything sexual. I didn’t mean to invade your privacy.”

  “Are you kast’ka?” The alien word does not translate and it hangs in the air between them, each breath they take heavy, their hearts pounding like drums.

  “I don’t know what that means,” Alan admits.

  “A male who likes other males. I know your species has them.” Alan isn’t sure if Vash’s words are a judgement or simply a statement of fact. I can’t lie to him. He’s already seen the evidence. He already knows. Lying now would just give him an excuse to kill me.

  “I am.” For the first time in my life, he makes me ashamed to say that I am.

  “You should have told me. We should not be sharing a room.” Vash gathers his blankets, hiding his nakedness behind them and stalks out into the hallway.

  There’s a spark in his eyes that looks less like anger and more like fear, but I can’t be sure of anything right now that isn’t my own shame. He’s an alien, a Karalian, the worst enemy of Humankind and I just watched him rub one out. I wanted him. No matter what excuses I made, if he had come to me and asked, I would have done anything he asked me to. I may have sealed my own fate with my foolish desires. The Karalians are not Human. They do not share our standards when it comes to acceptable behavior. I’m a poor ambassador to my people in a situation that could have led to co-operation between enemies. He bows his head, acutely aware of the sticky seed running down his stomach. He wipes it away angrily and lies back down, staring at the ceiling until he falls asleep.

  Chapter Three

  Hunters

  Day Three

  Rinax One

  Alan is hungry when he awakens, his stomach growling and complaining. He reluctantly gets up and leaves his room, going outside the bunker to make water. Of Vash there is no sign and so he tucks himself back in, about to go and apologize to the alien when he sees movement at the corner of his vision. A deer-like creature, one of the beings that Vash had killed before, runs through the underbrush and then stops in a clearing.

  This is a chance for a meal, Alan thinks. Perhaps I can show Vash that I am a hunter too, in my own way. That I’m not so different to him. He draws his gun from its holster and sneaks closer, being careful not to step on any loose branches underfoot. He lines up his shot perfectly and is about to fire when he hears the sound of engines in the distance. A million black birds scatter up in the trees and the ears of the deer prick up. It races away into the trees, running from its unseen predator.

  That sounded like some kind of engine. Have they come to find me? Or perhaps it is the Karalians, coming for Vash. Alan forgets about the hunt and sneaks through the trees, drawing closer to the sound until he spies the markings of a Karalian ship. A dozen Karalians hustle off of the ship and it floats away, back up into the atmosphere. Alan can’t help but notice how heavily armed the Karalians are; in addition to their usual staves and charms, each man carries a gun of Human design. Stolen from the dead, no doubt.

  The Karalians form up in front of their leader, who barks at them in their own language. Without Vash’s translation jewel, I can’t understand a word. Still, the way they’re armed, the way they’re standing... They don’t look like soldiers on a rescue and recovery mission. They look like... like exterminators. Alan’s fears are confirmed when the leader draws a line across his throat. Have they come for me? Do they even know Vash is here? I have to get back to him. He’ll know what to do. Maybe he can talk them down. They are his own people, after all. Uneasiness rolls in his stomach along with the hunger. Maybe, after what happened yesterday, he’ll hand me right over to them. I wouldn’t blame him. Still, I have no other options. I can’t face a dozen heavily armed men alone and expect to win. I have to trust that Vash can get over his distaste of me.

  He starts off through the trees, getting a head start while the soldiers are still talking and the drop-ship’s engines cover the sound of breaking twigs. He finds the facility’s door and lets himself in.

  “Vash! Vash! Come quickly!”
His yells echo off the walls of the empty facility, but there’s no response. Perhaps he left last night. What if I’m all alone now? He rushes down the hallway, checking each door in earnest and coming up empty, his fear growing as he starts to run out of corridor.

  “What’s the matter?” Alan turns to see Vash emerging from the last door, clad in his light battle armor. He’s never been so relieved to see anybody and clutches at Vash’s arms as he recounts the story of the soldiers in the forest.

  Vash seems to pale considerably. “You need to run,” he says. “You need to get as far away from here as you can. We cannot hold off Karalian commandos.”

  “We? Vash, these are your people! Haven’t they come to take you home?” Vash’s face only seems to pale more at Alan’s question, the red birthmarks standing out against his white skin.

  “They’ve come for me,” Vash explains, “but not to take me home. They’ve come to execute me.”

  “What?” Alan’s eyes widen. “You’re on the run from your own people? Why?”

  “Why?” Vash laughs dryly and shakes his head. “I thought you would have figured that out, human. I am kast’ka. He looks down at the floor as he says it. “On Karalia that is nothing less than a crime punishable by death. Our birthrate is so low that we lose ten people for every one that is born. There’s a high percentage of kast’ka on Karalia, almost thirty percent. We make an effective scapegoat for those looking to blame the death of Karalia on someone.”

  “The commandos are near,” Alan says, pulling Vash from his reverie. “We need to act now.”

  Vash shakes his head. “There are no actions we can take,” he says. “The game is up. I have run as far as I could go, and gotten much further than I ever expected. It was foolishness to dream that I could ever reach a place of safety.”

  “You were going to defect?”

  “It is of no concern now. You must run. If they find you here, they will execute us both.”

  “I’m not going.” Alan draws his gun and reloads it. “You saved my life. I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for your kindness. Besides, I owe you an apology. For yesterday.”

  “None is required,” Vash says. “I’m not used to the way Humans see sexuality. That is all.”

  You were ashamed of your actions. That’s why you despised being caught. That’s why you were so angry, why you wanted me to feel ashamed, isn’t it?

  “I don’t want you to die with me,” Vash says. “This is not your war. Karalian internal politics do not concern you.”

  “They do when they threaten a friend of mine,” Alan says. “Back on Earth, we hear a lot of stuff about the Karalians. I always thought it was just propaganda. Karalia’s so far away from Earth that most people will never see it, so I thought all the stories of oppression were just fabricated to increase war spirit.”

  “Shh.” Vash hushed Alan and grabbed his arm, leading him into his room where he shuts the door. He leans in so close to Alan that Alan can feel Vash’s hot breath tickling his ear. “We’ll take them by surprise when they come through this door. Maybe we can take a couple of them out before they get us.” He closes his eyes. “Alan, if they take me, please shoot me. The Karalian execution method for kast’ka is not pleasant.”

  Alan’s hand trembles and he swallows, his mouth suddenly dry. “I don’t want to shoot you.”

  “It would be a mercy. Please do this for me.” Vash summons green light, readying himself for the commandos’ assault. Alan steadies his gun hand and moves to the other side of the door.

  “Okay,” Alan whispers. “If it comes to that.”

  They can hear the commandos’ footsteps outside the door before long, can imagine them getting into position on either side and then imagination turns to reality as the door is kicked in with a loud crash. The first one moves in and is taken out by Vash, burning in some kind of light that Vash set forth from his hands. The soldier claws at his face as another sprays the room with automatic weapons fire. A bullet ricochets and hits Alan in the side. He falls to his knees, clutching the bleeding wound and shooting the Karalian. The commando crumples and falls like a sack of potatoes to be instantly replaced by the third one.

  There’s footsteps and yelling in the corridor as the other commandos hear the noise and come running. Vash sends a commando flying into a wall, where the sickening crack of his bones can be heard. He slumps as Vash takes out another one.

  A commando bends Alan’s gun into a mess of metal and shoots a fireball at Alan’s head. He drops the remains of the gun and dodges the flames just in time, landing on the floor and rolling. He sees a grenade roll in.

  “Vash, get down!” Alan hears himself scream before the world turns white and blue, the stun grenade exploding in his face and dazing him. He sees commandos pull Vash to his feet. One tears the clothes off of his dazed body while another pulls down his pants. He reaches for a needle and injects his own balls with some kind of substance as Vash is bent over before him.

  The Karalian execution method for kast’ka is not pleasant. Alan feels desperation fill him as he struggles to regain his focus. Alan, if they take me, please shoot me.

  Alan scrambles for a laser rifle dropped by one of the dead commandos. He pulls it towards him slowly as the commandos laugh, the one with the needle playing with himself now to gain an erection as the others watch, thrilled by their sexual punishment. Vash’s eyes are closed, his expression one of pure fear. Only the first shot will count. His hands tremble as the crosshair lingers over Vash. He’s just like me, only cursed in a world where he can’t be himself. This isn’t right. I can’t let it end this way. Even if they kill me for it. I have to try. He moves the gun, hovering it over the commando leader and firing. The commando’s brains splatter the wall and Alan fires off two more shots, downing two more commandos before the others react. Vash opens his eyes in surprise and stands up, gathering energy and firing it at the remaining commandos. They go down in a wave, knocked over like so many bowling pins. Alan shoots them as they go down and it becomes a wave of red, splattering the wall. Alan rushes to Vash’s side as he falls to his knees, shaking.

  “Don’t worry... about me,” Vash says. “Finish them off. Make sure there are no others.” He lies down on the floor and Alan is reluctant to leave his side. He’s right, I must do this. I can take care of Vash later on.

  He checks each of the corpses in turn and finishes off the remaining commandos. He spends the rest of the day dragging the corpses out to the forest, burying them in shallow graves and destroying radios and other equipment that could be used to track them. They will send others. It’s only a matter of time. We’re not safe here. His job finished, he heads back to the facility and finds Vash in the same spot where he left him. He kneels down and checks the Karalian’s pulse, and feels a typical Karalian fluttering heartbeat under his fingers. Thank the Gods.

  He gently picks up Vash’s naked form and carries him down the hallway to his room. The Karalian feels feverish as Alan lays him down on his bed, covering him with his own blankets and lighting candles, sitting at his side. He looks at his own blood-stained hands and longs for a shower to wash away his day’s sins, just like during his days as a pilot. No blood back then. Space war is a clinical affair. This is different. I killed them with my own hands, and I don’t regret it. They were going to rape Vash. What kind of civilized society rapes and murders its citizens just for being themselves? He shakes his head. I guess we humans have had our moments too. Every race’s history is filled with blood and persecution.

  He looks down at Vash. I was so busy seeing the Karalians as an enemy that I never saw them as more than a single unit. It never occurred to me that they would have politics as complex as ours, or that individuals would end up fighting against their own kind. It’s so easy to think of war as simple, two sides against each other, but there are so many different voices. When I see Karalians like those commandos, it’s impossible to reconcile that with a person like Vash, who saved my life even though I could hav
e killed him. Yet nothing about me has changed. The Karalian government is still my enemy, perhaps even more so now that I know they’re oppressing their own people. But the Karalians... there are others like Vash out there, I know it. Other people who want to build a better world. People who have common ground with humans and could build a peace with us, perhaps.

  Vash stirs on the bed and Alan grasps his hand. “Vash, are you okay?”

  “Overused... my power...” Vash mumbles. “Must rest... Alan... Keep guard. They won’t... stop hunting... for me.”

  “What are we going to do?” Alan asks, but Vash is already sleeping again. He gets up, restless, and paces the halls. We have to get out of here. Vash is right, they’ll be back, and soon. He’s not fit enough to travel right now, though. His hand is on the gun he looted from the dead commando. I’m exhausted, but there’s no way I can sleep. Vash needs me to keep him safe. He returns to Vash’s room and sits down by the wall, covering himself with a blanket. He leaves the gun at the floor by his side and sleeps with one eye on the door. I must keep Vash safe. I must... I must...

  Chapter Four

  Biological Warfare

  Three Months Previously.

  The Heart Of The Sun, Crew Deck

  “Hi, Alan. I mean, sir.” It’s Martin, standing outside the mess hall on the Heart Of The Sun, his usual smile plastered all over his face.

  That man would be happy even in Hell, Alan thinks, but he high-fives the man. Somehow, his happiness is contagious even in these dark times and they walk together down the hallway, making small talk as they go.

  “So, you doing anything tonight?” Martin asks, trying to sound casual but seeming oddly shy and out-of-character. His blonde bangs are falling into his eyes and he lets them, as if to hide.

  “Are you asking me out on a date?” Alan breaks into a confident smile. “You are, aren’t you?” They pass some young ensigns and Martin seems to redden a little.