The Archer's Paradox - The Travis Fletcher Chronicles Read online

  She changed the subject. “I also took the opportunity to prepare the dead for return to Otoch.” Travis’ gaze snapped up at the mention of the massacred crew. He was about to make a comment but Xnuk Ek’ was not finished. “I believe your people have complicated rituals to honour your dead.”

  Travis nodded but decided not to elaborate. It did not seem appropriate.

  “The Xi Scorpii are much longer lived and there are so few of us left, so death is a rare occurrence.” she explained.

  Until I arrived. Travis thought to himself.

  If Xnuk Ek’ picked up on the thought, she gave no hint of it. “Rituals of death have been lost for generations, but the pain of loss is that much more acute.” she paused for a moment and Travis leant forward to stroke her hair and put his arms round her shoulders to comfort her. She did not resist and leant into him for a moment. “Do not be sad for me.” she said softly as she gently disentangled herself from Travis’ embrace. “I took the time to mourn while I was in the Healing Tank.”

  Travis gave her a quizzical look but said nothing.

  “Time has no meaning in the Mindscape,” she began in way of explanation, “so I was able to make enough ‘time’ to contemplate Lak’in and our time together.” she finished more brightly.

  Travis thought he understood, but decided this was not the time for a philosophical discussion about time. “Where are they now?” he asked. “I would like to pay my respects to them all as well.”

  “They are in one of the White Rooms.” she answered. A new look of respect flitted across her eyes for a moment.

  “And the soldiers?” he asked, with a good deal more bite than he intended.

  “I have ejected their bodies towards the sun.” she replied with an uncharacteristic edge to her voice. “I have no wish to look upon them again.” her voice and countenance finally cracked, her eyes, filling with tears, looked like two pools of mercury.

  After a moment, her countenance brightened again and she took his hand. “Come.” she insisted, tugging him to his feet. “I have something to show you.” she finished, as if she had just come to a decision, urging him through the cabin towards the door.

  They were at one end of a short corridor. It was short only by Xi Scorpii standards, with about ten doors per side opening onto it. At the far end Travis could see some bounce tubes, but Xnuk Ek’ steered Travis in the opposite direction. They were in a parabolic shaped room on a mezzanine floor. Judging by the array of equipment and displays, Travis deduced they were on the bridge, but it was not the technology that held his attention, it was the fact that the whole ceiling and the walls were transparent down to the height of the equipment desks, just below chest height for Travis, the Xi Scorpii being somewhat taller than the average Earthman. He fought down a wave of vertigo to marvel at the splendour for a moment. Off to the left, port side, Phaqsi, Otoch’s moon, dominated view, pale grey and completely alien. In front was Otoch itself, brown and dead and uninteresting when compared to seeing Earth from space, which, Travis reminded himself, he had not done. He was unconscious when he left, or dead, to be precise, but he was careful to keep his thoughts to himself. It was the stars that stole the show however. They blanketed the dome above him; tiny pricks of light in shades of red, blue, yellow and white. The dome, like the great window in the observation room, seemed to enhance colours of even the tiniest point. He could even see purple and magenta swathes of dust clouds arching overhead. No sooner had he focused on one group of stars than he saw more beyond and more and more. He felt as if he was being sucked into the centre of the universe from where he stood.

  Xnuk Ek’’s insistent tug brought him back as she led him right to the apex of the parabola. Her mood turned sombre for a moment. “While you were sleeping I managed to contact Otoch.” she began. “There has been a great battle and the Children of Éðel have been defeated. You are safe.” she proclaimed. “We are safe. We can go home as soon as a shuttle can be sent for us.” she finished.

  “There is no such thing as a great battle.” Travis snapped back. “How many people died in this ‘great battle’?” His question bit hard. “How many? Hundreds?” he saw her expression change. “Thousands! How many thousands? No, don’t answer that. All because of me? I don’t think I can take any more of this!” Faces of the dead he knew and those he never met swirled round behind his eyes as they got sucked into an abyss created by his mind. He felt himself slipping into a depressive slump and the tears began to well up behind his eyes.

  Xnuk Ek’ reached out with her senses and massaged the troubled Earthman to calm him. “Please, Travis Fletcher.” she put a hand on his shoulder. “The Children of Éðel would have come sooner or later, that much was inevitable. We all knew it but we hoped that we could bring them back into the Xi Scorpii family, but some wounds run too deep to heal. Remember the dream I gave you?”

  He did. She asked him if they were still worth saving after wreaking so much destruction on themselves. It was a rhetorical question that made no sense at the time, but bits of the puzzle were clicking into place the longer he stayed with her. His heart went out to her. “I’m sorry, Star.” he put his hand over hers, squeezed it gently then took it from his shoulder and kissed the palm. Xnuk Ek’ was surprised by the tenderness and compassion conveyed in that one simple act. “I suppose I still feel so small and helpless when compared to all this.” he waved at the ceiling. “I don’t like not being in control, so I kick out against it. It’s a failing of mine.” he finished with a small smile. One of many. He added mentally.

  Xnuk Ek’ looked the small man from Sol 3 up and down. Was this the same primitive that she had brought back from their expedition? The man that spat and cursed at his saviours, who had trouble understanding even the most simple of concepts but who stood in front of her now showing more courage, compassion and honour than many of her own kind, including herself? It seemed he had not only forgiven her for trying to kill him but had risked his own life to save hers. Or was it her that had changed? He had called her a ‘superior, self-righteous bitch’ when they first met. The insult lost something in translation, but the sentiment was clear. It was not just him. She remembered humiliating that little Paal Kanik in the Gaming Centre. The same Paal Kanik that came to her to enlist her to help Travis Fletcher escape. She had misjudged so many people so badly. But no more. Her loss of honour had given her cause to rethink her life and her attitude towards others. And then there was what she had seen while he slept.

  She looked deep into his eyes. So like those of the warriors from Xi Scorpii E, yet so different. There was something about Travis Fletcher that fascinated her and not just the obvious attributes that she and Turix Dayak' had pondered over. She supposed it was always there, but she decided she needed to find out and now was as good a time as any; before he had a chance to change his mind about her again. She opened up an intimate channel between the two of them. This would not convey words or images or even concepts, but acted as a direct link between each other’s senses and emotions. What one felt, the other would feel, as if it were their own experience.

  Travis had kissed Star’s hand on impulse. It seemed the right thing to do. A small gesture and he wished he could do more, but he was still floundering out of his depth. He had no idea what to do or what to say. He watched as emotions flitted across her eyes too quickly for him to identify. What was she thinking? Her shields were up so he had no way of knowing. A silent click in his head focused his attention. There was a connection between them, like when they had communicated telepathically before, but this was something new. Her eyes caught his attention and they locked together. She was looking intently at him. No, not at him but into him as if she was trying to read his soul. She moved closer without releasing her gaze and he felt a rush of anticipation, her anticipation.

  She paused with their lips mere microns apart. He felt her warm breath caress his upper lip for a moment, stimulating the sensitive nerve endings, before she allowed the faintest of touches as their lips
brushed each other. With that, all the hairs on the back of his neck rose up and shivers ran down his spine as the pleasure centre of his brain suddenly ignited. She drew back and smiled, evidently receiving the feedback of his reactions. She moved in again for a more lingering kiss.

  After a long moment’s embrace, Travis felt Xnuk Ek’’s lips part slightly and her tongue probe gently. He responded and their tongues began an intricate dance which had no set moves or steps, but relied on the instinct and counter instinct of each dancer. As they embraced tightly, Travis ran his fingers through her hair and down her spine to the small of her back. She responded with shivers of pleasure that reverberated back to Travis and he found quickly that he was able to gauge just how much pressure and where would give the most positive reaction. They had melded together to become a single entity, sharing each other’s most intimate feelings and emotions. When they finally parted they were both breathless and looked at each other in astonishment.

  “I think we finally understand each other, Travis Fletcher of Sol 3.” she said finally.

  I don’t think I will ever fully understand you, Star. He thought ruefully.

  She either did not pick up on his thought or chose to ignore it. Instead she waved an expansive arm at the panorama displayed around them. “I brought you here to show you this. What do you think, Travis Fletcher?”

  “Incredible, amazing, beautiful.” he replied. But he was not looking outside. Standing as she was against the backdrop of the universe, he realized that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. She had released her hair from its constraining ponytail and it now bounced around her shoulders in silvery waves, as if there was a zephyr that blew just for her. She looked at him and smiled as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. His knees nearly buckled under him.

  An image popped unbidden in to Travis’ mind. Xnuk Ek’ cocked her head, her silver eyes shining with anticipated pleasure. She reached up to the collar of her jumpsuit and drew the catch along her shoulder and diagonally across her chest to her waist. The jumpsuit lost its integrity and fell in a shapeless mass at her feet and she stood completely naked before him. Her skin was flawless; without blemish or wrinkle. Her breasts stood firm and proud with dark brown nipples and areolae. Being used to the women on Earth shaving their underarms religiously, Travis was surprised to see silvery wisps poking from under her armpits and the silver pubic thatch stood out in contrast to her skin. Her muscle tone was perfect with not one ounce of excess skin or fat. Her navel was an almost invisible vertical slit in her perfectly flat stomach. He felt a playful tweak to his mind. It was his turn. Mechanically he reached up and reciprocated, but how could he compare? Next to this goddess he was a misshapen, badly maintained lump of flesh. How must he look next to the men she was used to?

  Surprisingly, he detected nothing but pleasure from her. Either she had low standards or she was hiding her thoughts very well, he decided.

  I hide nothing from you. I am nothing more or less than you see before you and I am yours until I die.

  But what do you see in me?

  [Smile] I will show you.

  As his erection strained to close the gap between them, she lowered herself into a nearby operator’s chair, which immediately tried to adjust itself to her body shape. She adjusted the height and attitude so she was reclining but not horizontal and beckoned him forward. As he approached she wrapped her long, shapely legs around his body and placed her heels in the small of his back.

  Kiss me again. She urged. He leaned forward as her grip on his lower body pulled him towards her. Deft fingers gently positioned his engorged manhood into position. He felt a slight resistance, then Xnuk Ek’ arched her back and gasped as he slid home. The feedback was so intense that Travis had trouble controlling himself. He had often wondered idly, usually when he was alone in the shower, what a woman felt during sex, but he had never had a woman react like this before. Was she getting reciprocal feelings from him? Was that it? He reached the hilt and was about to withdraw for a thrust when Xnuk Ek’ tightened her grip around him. She put her arms round his neck and held him in a soft but firm embrace.

  “Do not move!” she panted in his ear.

  Pulses of pleasure built and rippled through the connection between them, each one more powerful than the last. Just as he thought his head was about to explode, Xnuk Ek’’s body convulsed in an orgasm so intense it threatened to expel him like a Champagne cork, but her powerful legs held him in place, which only served to intensify the feeling.

  “Oh sweet Jesus!” Travis gasped to himself as the aftershocks of her orgasm pulsed through him. Finally he felt her grip loosen a little so he pulled back slowly and kissed her passionately as he thrust deep into her. He changed his position slightly for the next thrust and was rewarded by an increase in pleasure from her. It wasn’t long before her body was wracked by another orgasm. This was so easy! There was no fumbling or guess work. He knew exactly what worked and what didn’t. This was incredible! He would have been considered a sex god if he could do this on Earth.

  A familiar pressure in his loins warned him that it was soon to be his turn. He hoped she wasn’t going to be disappointed in him but it had been such a long time. He pulled away from her embrace to change his position to try to last a bit longer but the two silver saucers that dominated her face and the open mouth told him she was getting a front row seat for his orgasm and that she was building for a third. They exploded together, feeding off each other’s desire until they could take no more and he collapsed into her arms, panting from exhaustion.

  He slipped out of her, slumped to the floor and rested his cheek on her stomach, the cold, hard deck of the bridge pressing at his bare skin. The rise and fall of her breathing was soothing and soporific. She stoked his hair, which had grown longer and even more unruly since she had brought him on board, and lay back in the chair. Never before had she had a lover so intent on her pleasure. Without exception Xi Scorpii men, and women for that matter, used the sexual connection for intensifying their own enjoyment, not to gauge how it was affecting their partner. Travis Fletcher was a singular individual indeed. Now if he could only work on his stamina…She felt a conflict in his thoughts but did not intrude. She knew he wanted to tell her something but was unsure how. Although Travis’ mental agitation made her anxious, she let him resolve it himself.

  “When we were on the shuttle,” Travis began eventually, without taking his cheek off her stomach. “And people were dying…” His voice faltered as the memories came flooding back. She gave his emotions a gentle massage to ease the pain of the memory, just a little. “I decided that this was all a dream.” he paused for a moment. “I decided that I was still in my bed, on Earth, waiting to die and my mind was creating these intense images as it shut down.” she was about to make a comment but Travis continued. “I mean, how could this all be real?” he asked, rhetorically. “And happen to me, of all people.” he finished, a little plaintively.

  “So, I am a figment of your imagination?” she asked quietly, trying to hide her disappointment. After all this time and all he had seen, he still could not accept who he was.

  Travis jerked his head up and looked into her eyes. “No!” he exclaimed. “You don’t understand. Until then I had been a passenger.” she gave him a querying look. “Since my accident on Earth I had not made any decisions myself. Events, people, everything around me had made all my decisions for me; what to do, where to go, what to say. Even when you shot me, it was not my choice to piss you off.” Xnuk Ek’ blushed heavily as anger started to rise. Travis raised himself to his knees and held her shoulders without breaking eye contact with her. “And it wasn’t your choice to shoot me either.” he added earnestly. He was about to break his promise to Sundaravāda Ciṭṭe but he reigned himself in in time. “I understand that now and I forgive you.” he adlibbed instead, insinuating a link to her Paradox of Honour without actually lying. Inside he berated himself for not telling her the whole truth. Fucking Code of fucking Ho
nour. But he was not ready to tell her the whole truth and she was not ready to know. But if not now, when?

  Xnuk Ek’’s heart soared and her anger subsided, but she was still a little confused. “Why now? What has changed?” she asked with trepidation.

  “On the shuttle,” he replied, “I made a decision to give myself up, I didn’t have to, I could have let things just happen, just like before, but I didn’t. That’s the difference.” he was on a roll and the words started tumbling out of his mouth. “And later, when you had been…you were…” he could not bring himself to say the words but she nodded her understanding. “I made things happen, me!” he finished, with a tone of self-incredulity. “And then…” An image formed in his mind of their recent lovemaking. “How could this not be real?” How could I have dreamed up someone like you?” he asked, smiling tenderly. “Someone so beautiful, so amazing, so…” he left the sentence unfinished.

  She cupped his head in her hands and bent to kiss him. The connection was still active between them and Travis felt his sex drive reviving under Star’s coaxing. She took him by the hand and led him back to the cabin. There was time to investigate this more thoroughly.

  Chapter 18

  Commander Lemphealt Wudubucca was still smarting from the sneak attack by the Xi Scorpii fighter squadron that had attacked the Eardgeard Cwellend without warning. The swarm of tiny craft had not appeared on their scanners until the first shots had been fired, knocking out their communications arrays, and they disappeared just as quickly before the ancient turrets of the Eardgeard Cwellend’s defence batteries had been brought to bear on the swarm of tiny ships. Lemphealt Wudubucca had torn strips off the scanning and gun crews, threatening everything from lifetime incarceration on a moon of ice that serviced Níwlíc Éðel with fresh water to immediate spacing via the nearest airlock. Neither solution would solve the fact that they had been taken by surprise, no doubt to ensure that they could not warn the fleet of an attack from the rear. Cowards! Still, what could a swarm of angry insects do against the Pride of the Níwlíc Éðel fleet? He changed his attention to repairing the damage and preparing to enter the fray if they were needed. Recriminations would come later and he was sure that he would be first on the list when Fleet Commander Beadu Slecg returned victorious. He had to make sure that he could mitigate as much of the blame as possible.