I tried to stifle a laugh, but a small snort escaped anyway. “I take it that a lot of that was your doing?” my master asked me.
I shrugged. “Some of it. There was one particular hallway where I had to slit someone’s throat. I imagine that one made quite a mess.” I glanced at Bryce again. “Perhaps I should make myself scarce?” I suggested. “Maybe go and start moving the bodies to the docking bay? Just so there’s a bit less to complain about?”
“I think I’ll come with you,” my master said, hustling us both towards the door. “I like Bryce a lot, but in a bad mood, he’s worse than Henderson!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
JAI
Kade scowled at me as I relayed the story of the fight with the pirates over breakfast the following morning. “I got taken out by a sheet of metal, and you got to fight space pirates? How is that fair?”
Beside me, my master snorted. “Let’s not start squabbling over who got to have more fun on their mission,” he said, his tone scolding, but his expression amused. “There’ll be plenty more space pirates another day.”
Last night, my master and I had arrived back home very late, and we’d gone straight to bed once we’d assured Kade that everyone was safe and only suffering from minor injuries. It had taken several hours to return the ship to orbit around Rendol 4, and then to package the bodies of the pirates and store them in the first cargo transporter to arrive. The ship itself would be sanitised by a cleaning crew, and the cargo workers were more than capable of doing their own job, so once that was done, the military teams had been collected by a small fleet of fighter jetsand returned to the planet. It was early evening by the time we got back, and then Henderson had wanted all of the team leaders to file their preliminary reports immediately. Given the number of dead pirates, and the stray detail that our entire squad had been taken captive at one point, I could understand his concern.
The freighter was going to need significant repairs before it was ready for its next mission, and the crew were all taking the opportunity for a well earned break on Rendol 4 while they waited. There was also talk of the five who’d stormed the bridge being given bravery medals, but it was going to take a few days before a decision on that one came down through official channels.
Meanwhile, most of the soldiers on the rescue mission had been given today off – firstly as a thank you for the risks we’d taken, but also to make sure we were all taking care of our mental health. The military base had a number of counsellors on staff, available for any of the soldiers to make use of if they felt they needed a little extra support. It was reassuring to see that the Alliance took the psychological health of their soldiers just as seriously as their physical health.
“Something else Henderson mentioned,” my master added, as we continued our breakfast, “is that he’d be very interested in having you train some of our soldiers in the techniques you were using on that mission – not just the fighting, but how you think about strategy. I’m not talking new recruits, either. I mean he wants you teaching some of the seasoned soldiers. There were details you were noticing that the rest of us missed, and he wants to know a hell of a lot more about Eumadian training methods. Kade, you’ll probably get dragged into that as well, at some point.”
“One of the details he should be aware of,” I pointed out, “is that Vangravians can see more of the ultraviolet range of lightthan humans can. That’s not something anyone can be trained to do. That’s just biology.”
My master nodded. “I’m sure we’ll need to talk more about the details. For now, I’m just giving you the heads up about the idea.”
We continued eating, but as the meal drew to a close, I was aware of my master sitting rather stiffly in his chair, and of the way he kept shooting wary glances Kade’s way. I wanted to call him out on it, but after spending so long being antagonistic, and then my very recent revelations about the far more genial nature of my master, I wasn’t sure how to phrase my concerns without seeming rude. I wanted very much to prove to my master that I was now far more cooperative than I had been before.
“Sir?” I tried eventually, as he set his plate aside and picked up his mug to finish his coffee. I was concerned that if I didn’t say something now, the opportunity would be lost.
“Hm?” he said, turning my way.
“I was wondering, sir, if there’s something concerning you? You seem rather tense, though you’ve also said we have the day off. Is there a problem?”
My master glanced at Kade again, then sighed and set down his mug. “It’s not a problem, as such. But there is something I’m a little concerned about,” he admitted. “You told me yesterday that you know I didn’t buy you. Jai is fully aware of the fact that he was found, not bought,” he added, speaking to Kade. “And he’s totally fine with that, just to be clear about it.”
Kade looked surprised by the announcement, but not overly alarmed.
“That revelation has clearly had quite an impact on your expectations of me and of this planet,” my master went on. “I’m very glad you’re feeling more comfortable, and I’m genuinely looking forward to getting to know you better.”
I couldn’t help a bashful smile at that one. The idea of my master truly wanting to know who I was was a new and enticing prospect.
“And we’ve dealt with the whole issue of solo missions – that being to say that the Alliance generally doesn’t allow its soldiers to go off alone, or in the rare cases it’s necessary, we still try to provide as much backup as possible. Which I hope has made you feel a lot more secure in your role here.”
I nodded, pleased when Kade grinned at me as well.
“But that does leave one rather significant issue, and I’m not entirely sure how to approach it. That issue is that you weren’t just trained as a combat specialist. You were also trained as an erotic companion. And yet, in the same way as you had aversions to solo missions, you have some fairly serious aversions to certain aspects of your sexual training. I am absolutely not,” he rushed on, before I could reply, “trying to convince you to participate in any activities that you find unpleasant. But the problem I have is that you seem to find the vast majority of sexual activity unpleasant, at the same time as… well, to be perfectly frank, I’ve long considered sex to be one of the primary methods of rewarding a dimari. The most important method, unless I’m sorely misunderstanding something. So I don’t know how to appropriately reward you and show you that I value having you here.”
My master’s words sank in, and I found myself completely baffled by the sentiment he was expressing. He hadn’t asked me which sexual activities I could tolerate. He hadn’t attempted to bribe me into complying. He hadn’t suggested some low level activities to ‘ease me into it’. He had asked, plainly and bluntly, how to make me feel appreciated.
I glanced at Kade, unsure what to make of the question, and even more uncertain about how to answer it.
“You could suggest certain sexual activities that you could still enjoy,” Kade prompted me, as he picked up on my confusion. “Or you could suggest something that’s nothing at all to do with sex. Food. Excursions to interesting places. The opportunity to sleep in, in the morning.”
I looked back at my master, at his hopeful, patient expression… and suddenly, a few major pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. “There are certain activities I dislike, because I found them painful or strenuous,” I told him. “But a much larger part of the problem was that I…” I paused, making sure to choose my words carefully, so that I both expressed myself clearly, but at the same time, wasn’t inadvertently rude. “I found it distasteful that I had to bring pleasure to my master, when I was convinced at that point that he would never care about me.” I felt yet another sloppy smile lift the corners of my mouth, and I was aware that I’d made that same expression a dozen or more times over the last day. Not even a week ago, I’d been disparaging Dax for wearing that same expression, for being so pleased about making his master happy. And now, here I was, doing the exact same thing.
“The greater problem has been solved. You’ve proven yourself to be…” I paused again, a little shocked that I was audacious enough to say what I wanted to say next. “…very much the sort of man I would like to bring pleasure to.”
My master’s cheeks turned pink, while Kade seemed to be doing an admirable job of trying not to laugh.
