Nexus

A/N: Well, here is yet another installment of my novel, Nexus. Again, the actual chapter is split into parts, so without further ado...

Nexus
Chapter Two: Brother Anjor
Part One


Tavo Kraus strode into the cockpit with a sigh.

“You washed up before you met that trader, didn’t you?” Ariano asked without even addressing him.

Tavo nodded. “Yeah. It’s a damn good thing the Jerraki don’t exactly have the best sense of smell.” He sat down at the co-pilot’s chair, looking at his brother’s jaw tighten ever so slightly. “You’re pissed because you had to give Edwyn the rest of your supply of Melody, didn’t you?”

Ariano snorted. “Karissa’s lucky I’d do anything for her, including giving up the rest of my wedding present from S’Jini.”

Tavo grinned as he sat back. “You and Karissa have a history?”

Ariano chuckled. “I had my chance with her way back when, and she knew it. We both knew that it wouldn’t work out, though.” He flicked off the screen containing a transmission he was scanning and shook his head with a laugh. “We’re still close friends. I’d lay my life down for her, and I know she’d do the same.” He looked to his brother. “How’s Edwyn?”

“Well, I managed to clean his wounds and stabilize him. The Construction Site will take care of closing him up,” Tavo answered. “All he needs now is a lot of rest.”

“He’ll be getting it. He’s not leaving the ship again until we get to Avaani.”

“Huh?”

“I just got an anonymous message saying that for Edwyn’s sake, as well as all of ours, he can’t be allowed to leave our ship until we reach Avaani.”

“Anonymous?”

Ariano nodded. “Whoever sent the message said that they’ll find us at the wedding.” He grinned. “They also wished S’Jini and I a happy and prosperous marriage.” He got up and began to head out of the cockpit.

“Where are you going?”

Ariano smiled widely. “I’m checking out that wedding present Edwyn gave me.”


* * * * *


Karissa stirred and woke from her sleep, realizing that she had dozed off. It had been an hour since she washed up and Tavo left Edwyn to her care, and she realized that she had fallen asleep to the metallic buzzing of the machine at Edwyn’s wound, a Cellular Replacement Apparatus, more commonly known as The Construction Site.

The Cellular Replacement Apparatus was a moderately sized ring with a series of articulated needle-like fingers used to repair a wound. Microscopic sensors speed the growth of healthy cells, essentially forcing cell division within the ring’s aperture and nano-probes take the cloned cells, travel through the needle fingers and replace the cells along the edge of the wound, effectively closing it up.

Karissa looked over to Edwyn, who was breathing at an even pace. She looked down at the Construction Site, which was in Standby mode, its needles retracted and its fingers curled over the ring. She slowly stood, walked around the bed, closed and locked the doors to their quarters and walked back over to him, switching the machine off and setting it on the nightstand by his sleeping form. Humming in low tones to herself, she let her fingers roam gently over his skin where the wound used to be, silently disapproving that it didn’t leave a scar. She smiled inwardly, imagining that if he did have a scar where he’d gotten shot, she would have kissed it, teasingly at first, then let another kiss linger for a couple of seconds longer…

She shook her head, shaking the thought away. Yes, she and Edwyn loved each other. They’ve had sex before, but she knew that his body didn’t have the energy to put up with the need that she felt in that thought. He needed rest, and plenty of it.

“It’s the Melody,” she heard him say in a low whisper. She looked down at him to meet his sleepy gaze.

“What?”

“It’s making you want me,” he whispered. “I could hear the music, your music, through that damned Construction Site, and I wanted that thing off me as soon as it was done.” He grinned. “I saw your eyes glaze over when you let your fingers roam over where I got shot.”

She balked. “Was I really that obvious?”

His chest puffed up briefly in a whispered laugh. “Not really. I know better, though.” He tilted his head slightly, inviting her over. Resuming her humming, she walked over to the other side of the bed and lay down beside him.

“I was worried about you, you know,” she said in a whisper. “I was worried that you wouldn’t pull through.”

“It’s all right now, Rissa,” he said in a low voice as he stared up at the ceiling. “I’m not going to die yet. I’m going to grow old and live out my days on a barely inhabited planet, in an obscure village were everyone will know me as ‘Old Man Valayan’.”

She chuckled lightly then looked up at him. “Am I in that vision?”

He looked at her with a smile. “Yeah. You’ll be the old crone constantly hitting my shoulder with a cane going, ‘You old bastard, you don’t even look at me anymore! I ought to let that young boy down the street give me a throw!’, and I’d just grumble about young kids and hormones while you fixed up another cup of tea at the coffee table.”

She laughed. “Where do you come up with this kind of shit?”

He shrugged. “I read datafiles when I wasn’t trying to get in trouble at Home, you know that. I know of some backwater planets with little villages with actual ‘Old Men’ in them.”

“You read too much,” she said.

“And you act too much,” he countered. “Don’t get me wrong, I love getting up and moving about, but I sometimes like to kick back and enjoy life.”

She bit her lower lip for a moment and looked down, away from him.

“What?”

She met his gaze again. “Then just kick back tonight. Just lay back and enjoy me.”

Edwyn was going to say something when she kissed him on the lips briefly. She put a finger to his lips, stopping the question that he was about to ask and gently slipped off her form-fitting pants, smiling as Edwyn swallowed the lump in his throat. Gingerly, she moved the covers off his hips and straddled him, taking in the coolness of his skin. She sighed and closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of his arousal pressed against her.

“I was afraid, Edwyn,” she confessed. “I was afraid of what would happen if you died, what would happen to me.”

“You’d be with Ariano,” he managed. “I know you two used to be an item.”

She smiled sadly and shook her head. “No. Ariano’s set to marry the Avaaniite Empress’ daughter, S’Jini. Besides, we had our chance, and we knew it wouldn’t work out. And much as I get along with Tavo, I couldn’t see myself with him.”

Edwyn chuckled. “You’d find somebody.”

She shook her head again as she guided him into her. “No, Edwyn. After you, I don’t think I could open myself up to someone else. You know me too well, anticipate my every move, and I can’t start over and find that with someone new.”


* * * * *


Ariano was strolling down one of the halls of his ship, a light skip in his step. Things were going his way. Not only was he going to be married to the Avaaniite Empress’ daughter, the epitome of female beauty in Ariano’s eyes, but he also had a lifetime supply of Waterherb and more money than he could imagine with that joining. As well, he had his own Espandon-class scout ship, a wedding present from Edwyn, in his mind, one of the few classes of scout ships with hyperspace capabilities.

As he rounded the corner, he saw that the doors to Edwyn’s quarters were closed, and immediately his mood fell. He knew Karissa was there, and if the doors were closed, he knew that Edwyn was awake, and he knew what was happening in that room.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, feeling torn inside. He couldn’t deny that he loved S’Jini. He had since their first chance encounter several years ago before he had given up work as a gun for hire. He gave up his life as a mercenary so he wouldn’t have to kill her. He promised to look over her always, to give up his life as a soldier of fortune, and to marry her when she was of legal age in Avaaniite law so that she’d never be a target for another assassination.

But at the same time, the feelings he had for Karissa, emotions he thought he’d long ago gotten over, rose up within him, and he felt a lump in his throat.

He shook his head furiously. He knew they wouldn’t have worked out. She had Edwyn, and Edwyn knew her better than him, which surprised Ariano. He thought no one would know Karissa Colanna, a woman who was closer to him than any sister or lover, better than Ariano Kraus.

“Life’s full of surprises,” he said to himself. He had initially come down to ask Karissa to assist Tavo and the Jerraki trader with loading up the ship, but he thought better of it and turned on his heel, heading down for the loading bay. He could disturb Karissa later, after the loading was done, the delivery finished, and they were all on their way to Avaani.


* * * * *


“So, their mission was a failure?”

“Yes, Master. I have received no transmissions from my men. I don’t know how the boy managed to fight back against an entire platoon of my best soldiers, but I assure you that when we find him, he will not escape again.”

Ominous silence.

“Very well. You will have this one reprieve, Kanaji.”

“My most gracious thanks for granting me this, Master.”

“The boy will go to Avaani. I want your entire aerospace and artillery wing dispatched to the planet. Level every building, destroy every ship, and vaporize everything as soon as the ceremonies begin.”

Kanaji’s eyes went wide. “…Everything?”

A nod. “Everything. I want the entire planet turned into an inhospitable wasteland by the time your men are through with it.”

“How will we get all of our ships into Avaani airspace without their patrols knowing?”

“You are their leader, you figure it out. Incompetence is unbecoming of you.”

Kanaji beat his fist once against his chest and bowed. “My apologies, Master. Forgive me.”

A hand emerged from the shadows and waved him away. “Go with all haste to Avaani. I have a wedding present for the Empress’ daughter.”

=[ End of Part One ]=

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review. Constructive criticisms are welcome.