The Fate We Share, 1: Secrets to Hide
23 Feb 2022Meowers
I was spending week after week, recovering in the Aucharnie station hospital. Wounds weren't critical, but nevertheless quite severe, so it took a long time... Long time in the silence, calmness and thoughts. Thoughts about what I'm doing, who I am, what's my... place here. In this world. In this Galaxy. Recollection of the events of my recent past, thinking about the future, seeing my today, that point where my life brought me.
It has been several months since I last saw Jacqueline. I had thought of her a few times and wondered how she was getting on with her new life, how her training went, how her treatment goes, what she does now. But I didn't know where she had gone after we parted ways so I had no way to contact her. Then, the other day, I was in my ward, reading books with some calm music on the background..when I unexpectedly received a message on my private comm channel. And it was from her.
When we parted our ways, I told her to send me something if she wants, a simple 'hello', however, this message was long, detailed. It said that after she finished the training and received a proper ID, she had decided to put her medical skills to use, taking a job at the medical centre of an agricultural colony in the HIP 116158 system. She told me she had settled in well and had her own quarters, and she asked me if I wanted to come and stay with her for a few days so we could catch up.
It would be really nice to see her again, and I've almost recovered at the moment, so I agreed. Then, after a pair of days, when I was finally discharged from the hospital, I boarded Marshmallow and headed for Bennett's Landing on third planet in HIP 116158. It was a settlement on the equatorial continent with about 50,000 inhabitants, spread across a few square kilometres, with several large bio-domes and many other buildings littered in between. Bennett's Landing wasn't mentioned in the Pilots Federation maps, it was actually an old agricultural colony that separated many years ago and now was a kind of independent community.
The landing pads were on the western side of the site, so I set down and Marshmallow descended into the hangars below the surface. Jacqueline was waiting for me with a smile and a warm hug as I stepped off of the ship. We walked slowly through the tunnels that led away from the hangars and up to the edge of the town that formed the central hub of the colony settlement. As we walked Jacqueline told me about the settlement, the work that the colonists did, and about the medical centre she worked at.
HIP 116158 was on the fringe of the inhabited space, quite far from highly-populated areas, so, no wonder that such a kind-hearted person as Jacqueline had chosen this place to work in, as those settlements and systems are always in the need of qualified medical personnel. Medical and humanitarian aid transports were a rare sight here, local medical centre was understaffed, equipment was old, so Jacqueline worked day and night, week after week, assisting the local medical staff, before she finally had a few days off to write me that message and invite me. So, while looking tired, she was very proud of her work.
We headed into town and went and sat opposite each other at a table in a small café there, where we talked some more, and she filled me in on what had happened since I last saw her, and explained why she had decided to go back into medicine and take the job there at the colony. Her sense of duty was stronger than that 'spirit of freedom' of being a pilot, so, shortly after finishing the training, she passed the exams at the Dromi Medical Centre and went here with a medical transport.
We talked for hours. She seemed really happy, and, after all she had been through, I was so glad to see it. We talked a bit about our time together after I rescued her from the slavers, and she asked me about something I'd said while we were sharing accommodation while laying low after I had killed the slavers that had tried to take us and Marshmallow. To be discreet and hide Jacqueline I had to book a place for just one person to stay, and that meant we had to share a bed. Also the same situation was in my place in Komotae, since I live alone. But then, in those days, it was helpful for her, she needed someone close to her to deal with the nightmares. Without any other possible context. When we'd spoken about it at the time she had said it might be awkward with two women sharing a bed, and I'd said it might be even for me.
She asked me what I'd meant when I'd said 'even for me'. At the time, with her being so vulnerable, and with the situation we were in, it wouldn't have been appropriate to tell her as it might have made her feel uncomfortable or like I had a hidden motive for helping her, but now, she was safe, and she knew me, and I didn't mind her knowing a little more of the real me, so I told her that I had made the comment because I'm a lesbian.
Suddenly Jacqueline stopped me saying any more by putting her hand on my forearm which was resting on the table. With a look of panic on her face she quickly looked around the café to see if anyone had overheard us. No one had, and I looked at her, a little confused. With an urgent hushed tone she told me to come with her, got up and headed toward the door. I followed her and we walked quickly back to her quarters which were nearby in the southern district of the town. She ushered me in first, then followed me in and locked the door.
I was really confused. Why that fear? Why that secrecy? What's happening here?
And then she started talking...