Dawn of a New Age (16 page)

2.4.2136

1214

Jarada V

T
HALA Ker’sal stepped off of a freighter that had brought her from the Gamma Epsilon Station to her homeworld.  It felt good to once again be on the desert sands of her home planet.  She slung her duffel bag over her left shoulder, and smiled a sad smile as she watched  the dust swirl in the distance.

“Home,” she said, closing her eyes and letting the sun caress her skin.  “I’ve missed this planet.”

She walked over to the transport station and walked inside.  The Jaradan behind the counter smiled at her.

“Where do you want to go?” the man asked.

“Well,” she gave it some thought.  In the end there was only one choice for her.  “I suppose I should go to Kentar.”

“From there originally?” he asked as he wrote up the transport ducat.

“Yeah,” she nodded.  She wasn’t able to muster up even a sad smile for this man.  “I still have family there.”

“Well, I hope you have a safe trip,” the man smiled.

“Thanks,” she said as she took the ducat.  The man did not even notice her lack of enthusiasm for the trip.  He simply turned to take care of the next person in line.

She walked towards her transport, looking around.  The spaceport and transport hub had not changed any since she had been there last.  She hadn’t been there since she had passed her officer’s exam and had been assigned to her first ship as an officer ten years before.  She suspected that it was one of those places that would just never change.

As she walked across the tarmac to her transport, she thought about how she had gotten there.  It had been a long three days since she had stepped down from commanding Gamma Strike.  She still wondered if she had done the right thing.  In her heart, she knew she had, though.  She would never have been able to handle the constant reminder that K’Alan had chosen his wife over her.

She stepped onto the transport and found a seat near a window.  She looked out the window and sighed to herself.  She took comfort in the fact that Jarada hadn’t changed since she’d left to join the Defense Force.  Jarada was a mostly desert planet, its reddish orange sand kicking up into dangerous sandstorms regularly.  The buildings always had been a rust colored brown.  The Jaradan people had developed a thick outer skin to protect themselves from the sun and the sand.

She watched as the buildings slowly moved past her.  Travelling to Kentar would take a few hours at best.  It would be longer if they ran into a sandstorm and had to divert.  Sandstorms were always a possibility this time of year.  Unfortunately, that left her with too much time on her hands, something she was all too familiar with.

She closed her eyes, only to see his face in her mind.  Lords, she resented him.  She resented the fact that he was now the commanding officer of the squad she had been given command of.  Resented him because he had found happiness with another woman.  Resented him because he had no regrets.  Resented him because she was the one who had left the ship not him.  And she resented him for making her feel something she knew she shouldn’t have.

And yet, she didn’t know what to do.

She still wore her Star League uniform.  She had no other clothes but her uniforms.  That was something she would have to fix when she got back to Kentar.  She thought of her home.

How would her family react to her being home?  It had been a long time since she had seen them.  Ten years since she’d visited.  She wondered how her baby brother had turned out.  He had been only seven when she’d last seen him ten years earlier.  And her parents.  How were they?  Would they be happy to see her?  She seemed to recall that they hadn’t parted happily the last time she was home.

She shook her head, as if to clear her mind of all questions.  It was pointless second-guessing herself.  She was going home, whether she was ready or not.

The transport lurched, and she opened her eyes.  A small sandstorm had kicked up on the horizon and the transport pilot had altered course to avoid it.  She watched as the sandstorm swept over a nearby town, covering the town in reddish orange dust.  She shook her head, trying to remember the name of the town.

She closed her eyes again, hoping to get a few minutes sleep before the transport landed, but knowing that was impossible.  She had status reports in her duffel that she could go over.  Sighing, she opened her duffel and pulled out a stack of reports, deciding that the best course of action would be to keep herself occupied.  So, she read the reports, but didn’t really find their contents interesting.

“We’ll be arriving in Kentar in about three minutes. Have your transportation ducats ready,” the pilot called over the transport’s loudspeakers.

She put her reports back into her bag and looked back out the window.  Kentar was one of the more beautiful cities on Jarada V.  It was also one of the few cities that was not in the desert.  Kentar was surrounded by a lush green forest, one of the few such areas on Jarada V.  She sighed, a slight smile on her face as she looked at her home.

“Miss?  Your ducat please?” the crewman assigned to her cabin asked.  She handed him the ducat without looking at him.  He smiled and said, “Thank you.  Enjoy your stay in Kentar.”

“I hope I will,” she said, without thinking about what she was saying.

She watched the town grow as they got closer.  As soon as the transport landed and they opened the doors, she was off the transport, taking a deep breath of the air she remembered so fondly from when she was growing up.

Without even thinking, she slowly walked straight to her parents’ home.  She looked around remembering her childhood.  No one gave her a second look as she walked along the streets of Kentar.  She stopped outside her parents’ home.  Suddenly, she was nervous about coming back.  No one was looking out the window, so no one saw her as she stepped up the walk and stood in front of the door.  The gate squeaked as it always had.  She suspected someone had heard that at least.

She knocked, not expecting anyone to answer. 
In fact,
she thought, her inner voice as glum as she felt. 
It may be better if no one answers.

“Coming!” a voice she recognized as her mother’s called from somewhere inside the house.  The door opened, and Cheria Ker’sal stood in the open doorway, a look of total shock on her face.

“Hello, Mother.  May I come in?” Thala asked, her voice soft.

“Thala!” her mother cried, wrapping Thala up in a giant hug.  “Of course you can, child.  Welcome home.  Your father will be so glad to see you.  He should be home in a couple hours.”

“It’s… good to be home, Mother,” Thala said as she entered the house she still considered home.  As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she realized that it was the truth.

Cheria chuckled and smiled at her daughter as she closed the door behind them. She looked over the younger woman and sighed.

“You’ve lost weight, Thala.  You need to eat more,” Cheria shook her head.

“I needed to lose weight, Mother.  I was getting fat,” Thala sighed.  “It was hindering my performance.”

“Well, it’s not healthy to be so thin,” Cheria tsked.  “And why are you wearing that uniform.  You’re obviously off duty.”

“I don’t have any clothes other than my uniform, Mother. I’ll have to buy some at the market tomorrow,” Thala sighed as she slumped in a chair.  “How’s Marron?”

“Your brother is fine.  He’ll be attending the Brohcal School of Music next year,” Cheria smiled proudly as she set to tidying up.  “I wish you had told us you were coming.  We would have prepared a special welcome for you.”

“I didn’t know where I was going to be going until I found myself on Jarada V, Mother,” Thala shrugged.  “If I knew I was coming here, I would have called.  It’s been a very long week.”

“You want to talk about it, Thala?” her mother asked, looking at Thala with pure concern in her eyes.  “You know you can always talk to me if you have a problem.”

“I know, Mother,” Thala said.  “I just don’t want to talk about it.”

“OK, Thala,” Cheria nodded.  “You don’t have to.  I just want to make sure you know that the option’s open for you.”

“I do, Mother,” Thala said, smiling slightly.

They chit-chatted for a little while, then Cheria stepped into the kitchen to start preparing dinner.  Thala sat in the living room, her eyes closed, trying not to think about him.

“THALA!” Marron thundered as he tore across the living room and wrapped her up in his arms.  “Lords, I’ve missed you, sister!  How are you?  Did Mother tell you about my being accepted into the Brohcal School of Music?  How long are you going to stay here?”

“Hello, Marron,” Thala chuckled as she returned her brother’s hug.  “I’ve missed you, too.  Yes, Mother told me about your being accepted.  It’s a fine school.  You’ll do well, I’m sure.  To be honest, I don’t know how long I’ll be home, Marron.”

“I wish you’d stay, Thala,” Marron rumbled as he stood up straight.  Suddenly, she realized how much her little brother had grown.  Marron had clearly taken after their father.  She had to look up at him now.  Little brother, indeed!  “We’ve spent so little time together.  I’d like to get to know you a little more before I go off to school.”

“I’d like that, Marron,” Thala smiled, her first genuine smile in days.  “I don’t know how long I’m going to be away from the Star League Defense Force though.  I’m on… a leave of absence.”  She sighed.  “I’ve got… a lot on my mind these days, and I needed some time away.”

“Well,” Cheria said.  “You’re welcome here as long as you want to be here, Thala.”

“Thank you, Mother,” Thala smiled a sad little smile at her mother.

“Tobias was asking after you,” Cheria said.

“Tobias?” Thala raised an eyebrow.  “I haven’t even thought about Tobias in years.  He was really asking about me?”

“Yes,” Cheria said.  “Had I known you were coming home, I would have told him.”

“I’ll have to look him up while I’m home,” Thala said thoughtfully.

“I’m sure he’d be happy to see you,” Cheria said.  “And I think it would be good for you, too.”

“Maybe it will,” Thala shrugged.  “If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to take a nap until Father gets home.  I haven’t really been sleeping well of late.”

“All right, Thala,” Cheria said.  “Your room is just the way you left it.”

“Thank you, Mother,” Thala said, exhaustion showing in her voice.

Thala grabbed her duffel bag and headed off to her room.

“Mother, I think I’m worried about her,” Marron said, looking after Thala.  “I think there’s something very wrong with her.”

“I know, Marron,” Cheria said.  “And I agree that something is wrong.  But we can’t really do anything to help her until she’s ready for us to.”

Thala was floating.  She had no idea where she was.  All she knew was that she was cold.

“What in the name of the Lords of Jarada is going on?” she demanded.

“You are here because we have need of you,” a sinister female voice said.

“Who are you?”

“That is not relevant.  You will do as you are told,” the voice said from all around her.

“I don’t understand,” she furrowed her brow.

“Understanding is not required,” the voice hissed.  “Only your compliance is.  And you will comply.”

“And if I don’t?” Thala asked.

“Then there will be consequences,” the voice said.  “Such a lovely family you have.  It would be a pity for something to happen to them.”

“What do you want me to do?” Thala sighed, resigned to the fact that she was going to have to do whatever the voice wanted.

“You will know,” the voice faded.  “In time.”

A black shape passed in front of her face, and she knew nothing more.

When she awoke the next morning, she remembered nothing of her dreams.  She did feel refreshed though.  It had been a long time since she had slept through the night like that.

“Good morning, Thala,” Cheria greeted her as she walked out into the kitchen.  “How did you sleep last night?”

“Like a rock,” Thala smiled.  “It was the best I’d slept in a long time, Mother.”

“I’m glad.”  Cheria handed her a plate of eggs.  “You looked a little haggard when you came in yesterday.”

“I hadn’t been sleeping well,” Thala shrugged.  She took the plate of eggs and took a bite.  “And I’ve missed your cooking.  I’m afraid I’m not much of a cook.”

“Well, I’m sure in time, you’ll learn how to cook,” Cheria smiled.

“I was thinking I’d go to the temple today,” Thala said thoughtfully.

“You might run into Tobias there.  He’s been there a lot lately since his sister was killed,” Cheria sighed.

“Serin was killed?” Thala’s jaw dropped.

“Yes.  She was on the Grange when it was destroyed,” Cheria looked down.  “She didn’t make it.”

“Lords, I didn’t know,” Thala said softly, tears filling her eyes.  “I didn’t see her name on any of the casualty lists, Mother.  If I had, I would have been home as soon as I had heard.”