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"But that's..."
"Illegal," I say.
She gasps. "It's not only illegal. It's treason. You know the law. You made an oath. Oh, Jesus..."
I bite the inside of my cheek so hard it draws blood. "Please, don't lecture me on the terms of military service," I say. "I bonded with a Kurrek alien. Our child is growing inside of me, Clara. I need your help."
She lowers her voice. I can tell the news is breaking her. "All that talk about breeding patterns. It all makes sense now. You were looking for them because you wanted to defect. You were trying to leave this entire time, and I gave you the perfect out. I vouched for you, Anna."
"You know me better than that," I say. “Things happened. My life has changed.”
This isn't just hard for her. It's hard for me, too. Her voice makes me remember things. We were best friends. We met when we were young and reckless goofballs. Our parents were Earth Federation, so we were going to enlist, too. It was as simple as that.
There was something that separated us from the rest of the crowd. We were going to do big things. But things change. She was always the better soldier.
I should have signed up to be an anthropologist.
"Do you remember grade school?" I ask.
"We were a force to reckon with," she says.
Choked laughter escapes my lips. "I think the word you are looking for is fierce," I say.
"Military brats for life," she says. "No one could break us apart. We were going to rule the planet."
"I would have done anything for you," I say.
"Same, lady."
My smile fades. "This lady needs your help, okay? Don't make me beg," I say.
She sighs. "I could lose my fucking head over this. Do you know that?"
"I know, but there are women at stake. I saw the Syndicate facilities. They are atrocious. I’m lucky one of the alphas helped me escape. I know this sounds crazy, but if you help us get a starship off this planet, I will give you the coordinates of the facility. I want you to see it, Clara. I want you to take those bastards down."
"The generals will never clear a strike based on your intel," she says.
"Fuck the generals. Fuck Earth Federation too. If you want to save a lot of alien women, you'll find a way to get it approved," I argue.
"Can I meet you somewhere?" she asks.
I stare at Ax. He's obviously not too happy, but somewhere else is better than her meeting us here.
“Fine. But don’t bring anyone else,” I say.
She sends coordinates. It's outside of Ruyka, about a hundred miles from the Red Sands. "Sent," she says.
"We'll meet tomorrow," I say, ready to hang up the radio. "Oh, and Clara. One more thing. You were my best friend. I'll never forget this act of kindness."
"Over and out, soldier.”
Ax
"Display on. Vertical thrusters on. Horizontals, ready. We've got enough fuel to last us days," I say, pulling back on the shifter to turn the par
ticle spinner to the correct level. We hover into the air, and I promptly punch in the coordinates.
Anna buckles up and kisses my neck. "This is going to work," she says. "We're finally going to get off this planet!"
