This is the
result of a Snippet Challenge on the Crais’ Cohorts Board. Crais on the run,
how ironic can life be.
Good Turns
by GitonCrais
Crais cursed
his luck or rather, the lack of it. He had not anticipated that the wanted beacons would have been put
in place so fast and this far out. What a fool he had been to believe this.
A fine
drizzle was slowly soaking him, especially since he had to stand still to avoid
detection.
He pressed himself
flat against the wall in the side street as he could hear another contingent of
Peacekeepers pass the alley. He was thankful for his black attire and his black
hair, it afforded him a meagre concealment.
He had no
way of outrunning them. He couldn’t go to the pod directly, that was a sure way
of giving himself up. It was only a matter of time.
For a brief
moment he contemplated turning himself in. He clenched his jaws; that was not
an option. Even if he succeeded in pleading convincingly, it would only mean a
delay of execution.
The sounds
of Peacekeeper boots faded in the distance.
Cautiously
he looked around.
The narrow
alley was shrouded in shadows and wasn’t very long.
He had to
hide for the day and attempt to get to the pod under the cover of darkness.
He cursed
himself for a fool to have gone back to town after he had brought the supplies
to his pod but he had needed the medical supplies. He cursed the town-planner
for situating the Healer’s Quarters in the other side of town.
It had been
his luck, if one might call it that, to have seen the man talk to one of the
Peacekeepers and point in his direction. Since then he had been running and
hiding.
An ironic
smile curled his lips, better get used to it.
He looked
around. He only saw closed doors, except for maybe one possibility, halfway down
the street. If he were wrong, he would be trapped. A wooden door, set into the
wall, would probably lead into a garden.
When he
heard Peacekeeper shouts in the distance, it made up his mind.
He sidled
along the wall to the door. The door was locked.
The wall
into which the door was set wasn’t too high.
One leap in
the air and his hands gripped the edge. His powerful arms pulled him up and
soon he was over the wall and dropped to the other side. A tree near the wall
provided him with immediate cover from the house. The low branches hid him from
view but didn’t protect him against the fine rain.
Entering the
garden had not been too soon.
He could
hear Peacekeepers talk on the other side of the wall.
His eyes searched
for alternative cover. Two more trees and some bushes surrounded a neatly
trimmed lawn. Not much of a cover. His heart hammered loudly in his chest.
“Anyone
spotted him yet,” he heard a male voice ask.
“No, but he
can’t have strayed too far from this area,” another male answered.
A chuckle,
“Don’t bet your mivonks on it. He is a sly Blotcher.”
“How would
you know?”
“I served
with him before he made Captain. Always found a way out for us.”
“Good
Commander?”
“Yes. Hard on
his troops but hard on himself too. He’s a survivor.”
“Well, he
needs all his luck to survive this. Once we get our hands on him…”
“When it
comes to Crais, it has nothing to do with luck and we have to catch him first.”
The voices
moved off.
Crais let out
a sigh of relief. He had not realized he had been holding his breath.
The backdoor
of the house opened and he hid behind the tree. A woman stepped out.
“Who’s
there?” She stepped out with the tentative step of
the blind or very near sighted. “Who’s there?”
Crais
crossed the lawn quickly before her cries could alert the Peacekeepers.
He laid a
hand on her arm and when he saw her eyes widen and her mouth open in panic, he
closed a hand over her mouth, “Hush. I’m not here to harm you but don’t cry
out.”
She nodded.
Slowly he
let his hand drop from her mouth. She stayed silent.
“Can we go
indoors?”
She nodded
again and turned to proceed inside.
He followed
quickly and closed the door.
When he
turned around, he saw the panic in her expression.
“Who are you?”
“A fugitive,” he said softly.
When he heard her gasp, he
added, “From the Peacekeeper.”
She relaxed
a little but was still frightened of the stranger, “Why?”
Crais
crossed the kitchen but stopped short a couple of paces away from her, “I was a prisoner and I escaped.” He hoped
he had been right and she couldn’t see that he was wearing a uniform.
“What did
you do to become a prisoner?”
“I protected
my brother.”
She nodded
in understanding; she stepped closer and reached a hand up to touch his face.
For a moment
Crais stiffened and then relaxed, allowing her to touch him.
Her touch
was light.
She smiled, “You have a
nice strong face; I like your voice.”
Her hands
dropped to his shoulder, “You are wet. Take your tunic off and let it dry. You
are safe here.”
Crais
relaxed and took his tunic off. She took it off him and draped it on the back
of a chair near the stove, “It should be dry soon.”
Crais
thanked her.
“What is
your name?”
Crais
contemplated then said, “Baltor. Just Baltor.”
“All right,
Baltor, I am Celeah. Are you hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” she
smiled, “I make you something to eat.”
She busied
herself preparing some food, all the while keeping up a conversation, “I don’t
get the chance to cook for others that often. It would be a pleasure.”
“The pleasure
would be mine,” answered Crais in his deep voice.
She laughed,
a nice tingling laugh, “I bet you would. Are you on your own?”
“Yes.”
“Were you
able to protect your brother?”
“No,” said
Crais in a strained voice, “I couldn’t. He died.”
Her face fell,
“I’m sorry.”
When Crais
said nothing, she urged him to sit down.
Before Crais
sat down, he asked if he could assist her.
She shook
her head merrily, “You would only be in the way.”
He watched
her cook.
Her
confidence in the kitchen amazed him, “Have you been blind long?”
“Since I was
a little girl.”
“I’m sorry
to hear that.”
She smiled
again, “It’s not that bad. At least I have been able to see colours, see the
sun, even if it was for a short period of my life. And what about you?”
Crais folded
his hands on the table, “I grew up in a farming community. When the
Peacekeepers came, I tried to protect my brother. He died anyway and they imprisoned
me.”
She looked
sad, “How long were you their prisoner?”
“A long
time,” Crais said evasively.
She nodded
again, “I understand. You don’t want to speak about it.”
She brought
two plates to the table and placed one in front of him, she placed the cutlery
next to it, “I hope you will enjoy this. It is just a simple dish.”
His pleasure
was evident in his voice, “I will. It has been… a while since I tasted home
cooking.”
She blushed.
It was a
simple dish, scrambled fried eggs, with tossed vegetables and smoked strips of
meat. But to Crais it was something to savour. He had not lied when he said he
hadn’t tasted much home cooking. He ate slowly but with relish.
“You like
it?”
He grunted
in pleasure.
They had
just finished eating when they heard the banging on the door.
Crais
stiffened in his seat.
She laid a
comforting hand on his arm.
She stood up, moved to the side of the kitchen, and opened a door in the floor, “You hide
in here. They will not find you.”
He was quick
enough to grab his tunic and disappear under the floorboards.
He stood in
the darkness and listened to the sounds overhead.
She had let
them in. They searched the floors.
“Why are
there two plates on the table?” The voices were muffled.
“My son had
eaten and only left a little while ago.”
Barked
commands.
The house
became quiet again.
The door was lifted, “You can come out
now, they have left.”
Crais
climbed out.
“They really
must want you badly.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I stole
something from them when I escaped… Another prisoner.”
“He’s
valuable to them?”
“Very.”
“Then I hope
you can keep him out of their hands.”
“I hope so
too.”
They sat
down again.
“How were
you blinded?”
“Peacekeepers,”
she said with anger in her voice but then her voice softened, “The Peacekeepers
were the reason I don’t see the light anymore but it was also a young
Peacekeeper who saved me. Ironic isn’t it?”
“How did he
do that?”
“We, my
parents and I, were on the planet Tell-Nav-6 when the Peacekeepers came. The
people weren’t giving up their children without some resistance. The
Peacekeepers started shooting. A pulse blast grazed my temple and I fell. In
the panic, I could have been easily trampled or killed. This young
Peacekeeper, he ran over to me and lifted me in his arms to get me to the side.
He was wounded by a stray blast; it grazed his shoulder. His blood splattered on my face. He was
the last face I saw before the light was taken away from me.”
“I hope he
didn’t give you nightmares,” Crais swallowed.
“No,” her
soft smile made her face look pretty, “He had a kind face. Tanned. Dark eyes, I
had never seen them that dark, black hair and the kindest smile, despite his
injury. I will never forget that smile.” She sighed, “He handed me over into my
father’s arms and told him to take care of me. I can’t remember much after
that.”
She stood up and moved the plates to the
sink, “I often wondered what had become of him.”
Crais remembered
the incident.
It had been
his first recruiting mission. He had not liked it but he had to follow orders.
He
remembered seeing the little girl fall. Saw the blood on her shoulder. He also
saw the panic of the people in the street.
He ran
towards her and scooped her in his arms while running with her to the side.
A stray
pulse blast had hit his shoulder, his first injury.
He looked
down in her face, she was pretty and one day, if Cholok wanted it, she would
grow into a beautiful woman. He thrust her into the arms of the first person he
could see.
“You are
very quiet Baltor,” she said when she walked back to the table.
“Just
wondering about the irony of it all,” his voice was deep and soft.
She nodded
and smiled, “Yes, I can see that. The Peacekeepers took my sight but one among
them gave me my life.”
They sat
together amicably in the kitchen for the remainder of the afternoon.
Celeah did
most of the talking. She spoke mostly of the people of the town and how kind
they were to her, while Crais listened.
He told her
in turn a story to satisfy her curiosity about him and his current predicament,
totally fabricated but satisfying. She wouldn’t suspect she had been harbouring
a renegade Peacekeeper.
Finally, it was time for him to go.
Dusk was
slowly turning to darkness and the rain had stopped.
She walked
him to the door in the garden and unlocked it, then turned to him, “You stay
safe, Baltor and out of the clutches of the Peacekeepers.”
He looked into her serene face, “I intent
to. Thank you for saving my life, Celeah.”
“The
pleasure was mine.”
He was about
to leave when he turned back to her.
His finger
was warm and gentle under her chin when he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek,
“Your Peacekeeper lived and was saved by a beautiful woman.”
He quickly
slipped out of the door and disappeared into the darkness, leaving a stunned
woman touching the side of her face.
He made his
way carefully back to the space port, using alleys and back streets, taking
full advantage of the cover of darkness. A few times, he came close to being detected but he
was lucky. Before they realized that they had missed him, he had boarded his transport pod and
had taken off, it was too late to stop him.
His luck
held and soon he was back on board Talyn. They StarBurst before the
Peacekeepers could follow them.
Talyn was
curious to know what had happened.
Crais
smiled, “Irony, Talyn. I was saved by the woman I had helped when she was a
little girl.”
Talyn chuckled;
it started to sound like
Crais’ chuckles ~All is not unfair then~
Crais smiled
back, “No Talyn, life can be fair sometimes.”
The End