Chapter 14: Revelation

It had taken three days before Mark was strong enough to walk about, and during that time Arron and Minara had told him their story and given him some history of the planet. Including the fact there were two species of Grojan and they were genetically incompatible. Normally the two species co-existed, the Grojan being the ruling class and warriors the Grojani servants and artisans. As the decline accelerated there were now planets such as this one where the relationship no longer existed. The whole population was Grojani and they had been alone so long they knew nothing of the Grojan. Minara had told them when asked that she and Arron came from a remote island in the southern ocean to explain their blonde hair and aquamarine eyes. Most of the time they were looked at as a bit odd but were just accepted.

The society had lost its technology and as the planet was now located in what had become a remote and isolated area of space in the Scorpius Sector, the Grojan Empire had been declining over millennia. The arrival of the pirate's ship in the small kingdom of Halcyon had been a shock to the people and the pirates had disposed of the ruling class and set themselves up as dictators. It was during the final hours of the pirate's defeat that he had been woken.

The advanced ship and weapons the pirates had with them had been disabled by Arron over a period of a few nights and the ruling family had been hidden by Minara when the pirates had arrived.

The ship sat in the palace gardens and Arron, having duties as the General in charge of the Halcyon armies, had asked Mark - once he had recovered from the effects of the cryochamber - to work on the ship and restore it to working order. He had been happy to oblige, as he hated not having anything to do.

Things were not as bad as Mark had thought when he had first inspected the damage. The outer airlock door had been bent and the lock destroyed. The navigation console, armory and the computer core housing had also been damaged by low level charges. With great foresight Arron had removed the core before planting the bomb, giving the impression on quick inspection the core had been destroyed in the blast. He had carefully hidden the core so at a later date the ship could be made to fly again. Metalwork and wiring could be replaced but a ship without a computer core was just a pile of scrap.

He decided the first task would be to restore the core; the computer would then help him in diagnosing faults and repairing the rest of the ship. Arron had taken him round and introduced him to metal workers and clock makers in the city who would help him with producing the parts he needed, once they knew he was a friend of their General Arron and Lady Arron, a name that annoyed Minara as she felt it demeaned her as a person and gave the impression she was her mate's property. Arron seemed to take great delight in teasing her about it.

Having seen her during weapons practice, Mark wondered to himself if teasing her might not be dangerous. When he had heard the story of how she had become the Queen's bodyguard and Lady-in-waiting Mark made sure he did nothing to upset her. There had been a selection contest for the role of bodyguard and Minara had defeated the best warriors in the Queen's country, where the Queen had grown up as a young princess.

Mark had found out for himself by talking to the servants that Minara had a fearsome reputation as a warrior and even those who knew her were a little afraid of her. Arron on the other hand was a national hero; he had brought the kingdom back from near defeat at the hands of the young queen's people then saved them all from the pirates.

As Arron and Minara were both heroes, people fell over themselves to help Mark with anything he wanted. He also noticed the young un-partnered females would try and get his attention. If it was not for the blasted female who had attacked him in that ruined building constantly at the back of his mind he would have enjoyed the attention. But because of her he found the attention slightly irritating.

Mark had been working on the core housing for a few days and had just returned with some new racking he had ordered to be made when he heard a knock on the bulkhead. "Hello Mark?"

He recognized Minara's voice so he crawled out of the service conduit and stood in the corridor "I'm in here, Minara."

She stepped through the open hatch. "How is it going? Are you getting the items you need made without any trouble?"

"Yes, because I look similar to you and Arron everyone recognizes me instantly and nothing is too much trouble."

"Good. Um ... are you still getting the feeling that the Grojan you bonded with on that planet is nearby?"

"Yes why?"

"I'm going to talk to the pirates and see if they know anything, is that all right with you?

"Yes of course Minara, do you think they might know something?"

"I have a hunch, but I would rather not talk about it until I know for sure, but I wanted to check with you first."

Minara turned to go, but Mark hesitated. "Minara?"

She turned back

"What is it Mark?"

"I'm sorry if I seem a little abrasive at times, as far I'm concerned we were at war only weeks ago and Grojans were the hated enemy, vicious unfeeling aliens who started the war for no reason. As no one had ever been seen behind their armor helmets dead or alive the common belief was they were horrifyingly ugly.

"Then when that girl's helmet folded back it was a shock in more ways than one. To see her and also realize that my own mother was probably a Grojan became almost too much to accept. The following day, after I had been debriefed, I said nothing about the Grojan woman or my mother by the way, I was sent to the medical facility for plastic surgery. The next thing I know I woke up here."

"I understand, Mark, Arron and I had our problems when he found out I was Grojan and I found out he was human." She gave him a wry smile. "It took a while for our relationship to recover." He nodded and she turned away. "I have an appointment with some pirates - see you later, Mark."

Minara walked up the steps to the City Guard building. The receptionist looked up as she entered. "My lady Arron."

Minara inclined her head. It would be a while before she got used to her official title, but they lived in a primitive society so she accepted it. "One of the prisoners has apparently been asking for me?"

"Yes, m'lady, this way please."

The cellblock was to Minara's surprise light and airy. Varna sat on the far side of the cell at a small desk. She looked up as Minara entered the corridor.

"Hello, Minara. My, don't you look the fine lady."

"What do you want, Varna?"

"Do you know what is going to happen to us?"

"Yes, you will be given the choice to become useful members of society. However, you will of course be watched. Or be transported to the nearest habitable planet. Arron did not destroy your ship as you believed, he removed the core before blowing up the casing. It will soon be fully functional. However, we are keeping it just in case we get any other unwelcome guests visiting."

"So I get nothing?"

Minara sighed. "You get to keep your life, Varna." She stood looking down at her through the bars. "Now you can answer me a question. I want to know why you suddenly turned nasty and teamed up with that awful Sisanna. What happened, Varna?"

With a sigh Varna rose and walked up to the bars. "All right, there is no point in keeping it secret any more. Do you remember that last battle we fought together on that planet on the far side of human space with the small human colony? The one where my helmet failed?"

"Yes I do, because it was just after that you changed, Varna."

"I-bonded-with-a-human." It came out in a rush and Varna shifted her weight from one foot to the other looking uncomfortable.

"What! You had better tell me how."

Varna swallowed. "I was just checking some buildings when he attacked me. He was so strong and fast I had no chance. I was shocked to say the least, a human overpowering me so easily. He wasn't even wearing armor for, Ancestors sake!

"He had me pinned to the ground and smashed the side of my helmet with a brick. As you know it failed and folded back..."

"Yes, all that was common knowledge."

"Well what I didn't tell anyone was he held the brick ready to smash my brains out, when our eyes met ... we bonded, Varna. He froze then threw the brick away got up and left. We had bonded and he just left." A tear trickled down her cheek. "I was so shocked and ashamed ... I had bonded with a human, I had to keep it secret no one could know the truth. What would have happened to me if anyone knew I had bonded with the enemy?"

Minara pinched the bridge of her nose. "I knew something had happened, I could sense it."

"That's why I had to push you away and get a transfer. You knew me well enough to make it impossible for me to hide what happened."