The Helavite War Page 11

  The assistant filled the silence. "This is Arr, Dr. O'Connor. He is a Henu from a planet in the Nigula System."

  "Well, Arr," Margaret began in a friendly tone, trying to put her patient at ease, "We haven't had the opportunity to meet a Henu before. What brings you in? Are you ill?"

  "No, I'm fine. My friend wouldn't come unless I did and he needed a physical."

  Margaret turned to her assistant. "Find out who's examining the other Henu. We will want to compare data." Two, this was a rare find.

  Arr smiled and caught the assistant's arm as he turned to leave. "He's not Henu. He's a human named Jake Harcourt. I'm the only Henu."

  Margaret couldn't believe what she heard. She asked for clarification. "You're the only one here or the only one anywhere?"

  "The only one anywhere. I am the last of my people."

  Margaret could feel her adrenaline rise. This got better and better. Not only a new species, but one of a kind.

  Chapter 52

  Jake had been sitting in the waiting room for at least a half hour. He had his physical, paid the bill and even went to the bathroom yet there was no sign of Arr.

  Oh well, he probably just got a slow tech. Jake's stomach growled. He gave thought to where they'd go for dinner when the blood suckers got finished with Arr.

  Chapter 53

  "Will it hurt?" Arr asked with one eyebrow raised questioningly as Margaret stood impatiently holding the eye dropper in her hand.

  This was the third time she was asked this question. She took a breath and tried to put herself in the young man's place. He told her that he had never seen a doctor before. This must be a strange and frightening experience for him. Don't talk down to him she told herself he'll resent you and possibly bolt before you have all the data you need. Remember, he is here of his own free will. He could leave anytime.

  "No Arr, I just want to look at your eyes. The drops dilate the pupil so I can see in."

  She hadn't hurt him yet. Arr decided to trust her further and tipped his head back obediently as instructed, just as Jake poked his head in the door.

  "Aren't you finished yet? I'm starved. My stomach thinks my throat is cut." Jake said indignantly, as he stepped into the room.

  "This is my friend, Jake." Arr introduced. "This is Dr. O'Connor the Chief Medical Officer," he continued politely to Jake.

  "Well doc, I know you're finding my partner real interesting, but there's nothing wrong with him and we got places to go and people to see. Just give him his shots and a base medical graph for our ship's files and we'll be on our way."

  "I don't think giving him a battery of inoculations would be wise. We haven't determined if he is allergic to anything." Dr. O'Connor put on her best bedside manner.

  "Well, aren't you the lucky one. No shots. Personally I feel like a Bull's Eye after target practice." Jake rubbed his arm. "So doc, if you'll just give us his graph we'll be on our way." Jake waved Arr off the table. "Come on kid. Chow's waiting."

  Margaret put a restraining hand on Arr's shoulder as he moved to obey Jake's instructions. "Could you wait here for just a moment Arr? I want to speak with Mr. Harcourt."

  As she moved briskly past Jake at the door he caught a light whiff of her very pleasant lemon scent.

  She stood in the hall waiting for him to close the door. She was really quite lovely. Jake figured when that coil of hair on her head was let down it probably reached close to her waist. She began to lecture shortly after he closed the door. Jake called his attention back from her good looks to what she was saying.

  ".... and a base graph will do no one any good if they don't have the backup information to go with it. What is it that is so pressing that you can't give me another hour or so?" Margaret asked, unable to keep from sounding scornful.

  "Dinner," Jake answered, turning on his charm. "Why don't you join Arr and me? We'll talk about your extra tests and perhaps we can delay our departure."

  Chapter 54

  Margaret was a delightful dinner guest. She was intelligent and witty. She was a good conversationalist, but balanced it well by being a good listener. Jake was quite taken with her.

  Toward the end of dinner Jake turned his attention from their lovely dinner guest to Arr.

  "You mind letting Margaret do some additional tests?" Jake wasn't going to force the kid into anything even for a beautiful woman, but he promised her he'd ask.

  "No, not if that's what you want." Arr looked at Jake for assurance.

  Jake could see the apprehension in Margaret's eyes as she waited for his answer. "I think it would be a good idea." Jake graced Margaret with a roguish grin.

  "It won't hurt will it?" Arr asked. He thought sure there must be something they missed doing to him today that did hurt or Jake wouldn't have fussed so about taking a physical.

  "I promise it won't." Margaret now had the task of reassuring the young Henu though she thought she could probably tell him she was going to pull his toe nails out one by one with pliers and he'd submit to it because Jake said 'he thought it was a good idea.' Jake had a winning personality. She wasn't sure that she wouldn't end up taking orders from him herself if she was around him long enough.

  After dinner they strolled around the park in the city square. It was a lovely night. Good company, good food and prospects of her name in numerous medical journals filled Margaret's thoughts. Her mind was racing, trying to put in some orderly fashion the tests she would run in the morning on Arr when he commented that the sky looked like the night they spent in the bunker on Alta III last year.

  "Alta III has been off limits to visitors for years," Margaret said with authority. "What were you doing there?"

  "We were just resting between jobs. It's really a lovely planet if you stay out of the inhabitant's way."

  Jake cringed; bracing himself for the next question he knew was poised on Margaret's tongue.

  "What kind of jobs, Arr?" she asked with interest.

  "Fighting. We're mercenaries." The young Henu announced in total innocence.

  Well, there she goes, Jake thought. Women either loved the idea of dating an adventurer or they hated it. He thought Margaret was probably the latter. He had been side stepping the subject all evening with success. Now Arr blew it in a few random comments. He would have to clue the kid in on the finer art of wooing women.

  "Mercenaries? My father was with the Earth Forces." Margaret commented with her own innocent expression.

  Well, you called that one wrong Jake, old boy. It had rolled off her like water off a duck's back. Maybe there was hope for the evening after all.

  Chapter 55

  It was late afternoon and Margaret was hunched over studying Arr's open medical file on her desk. She chewed absentmindedly on the end of her pencil.

  The last three days were like a wonderful dream for her. She spent her working hours with Arr, her leisure hours with Jake. Margaret really couldn't say which she enjoyed more.

  Arr was an incredible being. Usually three days with an alien was sufficient for basic cataloging, but Arr was a real find. Every time she thought she was finished she'd discover some new angle to pursue.

  Margaret scanned one of the test charts. The pencil traveled from her mouth to beat a light tattoo on the desk top. She narrowed her eyes behind her reading glasses in concentration at the outcome of the tests.

  The first day was spent testing his senses. They were very unique. He possessed enhanced night vision much like the domestic cats at home and his hearing and smell were very astute.

  Jake's first night alone with Margaret he told her about the incident on the ice planet with Arr and his purring.

  The next day that phenomenon was explored.

  She asked Arr late in the day where he learned to speak English. He tried to explain to her how he learned. She couldn't believe it. She was fluent in French and asked him if he spoke it. When he replied negatively she pulled a volume of French poetry from the shelf behind her desk and began to read aloud. Within fifty pages
Arr could converse in French. His mind was like a computer when it came to languages. He was truly remarkable.

  Margaret leaned back in her chair pushing her glasses up on the top of her head. She continued to toy with the errant pencil between her fingers.

  The hours with Jake were just as rewarding. He was everything she ever wanted in a man. He was strong and forceful yet intelligent and witty as well. He was also gentle and tender with the ones he loved and he loved the Henu. That's what was going to make what she felt she must tell him tonight so hard.

  The pencil splintered in half with a resounding crack in Margaret's unrelenting grip.

  Chapter 56

  Jake hadn't raised his voice, but he was no longer sitting by her on the couch. He had stood up and walked a few steps away. He was trying very hard to stay in control.

  "I've only scratched the surface Jake. Arr has so much to offer and if something were to happen to him it would be lost forever. He should be studied." Margaret's tone had an almost pleading quality to it.

  "I can't believe this. What are you saying? You want to keep him like a lab animal?" Jake's voice rose in anger.

  "You know better than that Jake. He would have a good life here. The things we can learn from him as far as language concepts alone are staggering. We won't learn anything from him if you get him killed!" It came out much too harsh. Jake looked as though she had slapped him.

  "He's a good fighter and I take care of him." Jake was talking through his teeth. His fists clenched and unclenched at his side as he tried to reign in his temper.

  Margaret could see how difficult this was for Jake. She pushed forward trying to make him see the logic of her idea. "You can't be there all the time. He would be safe here. Have you ever asked him what he wants? He comes from a gentle people. If you left him here he might even take a human wife. His anatomy is capable of it."

  "Right! Then you'd have a little half breed to study. You could write some paper that could make you rich and famous," Jake spit out as, quivering with rage, he stalked toward the door.

  "You're being unfair Jake." Margaret was seeing the only relationship she ever really wanted crumble before her eyes. She rushed to him placing a consoling hand on his arm. "Please at least consider what I've said."

  "I think I'd better go," he said testily.

  Jake was gone before she could think of anymore points to strengthen her argument.

  Chapter 57

  Arr heard the pod come into the bay on the cruiser. He and Kay-o were having a late night snack in the mess.

  Jake came in and went straight for the cabinet where he kept his bottle of whiskey. He brought a glass and the bottle to the table.

  "You're home early," Arr said, as he took another bite of his carrot. He tossed a Goo Chew to Kay-o, which the dar-dolf caught expertly on the fly.

  Jake shrugged and downed a double shot. "You ever think of doing anything besides being a mercenary, Arr?"

  "No. That's what we do."

  "I mean, if I wasn't around. Would you do something different?" Jake persisted.

  "Have I done something wrong Jake?" Arr sounded upset.

  "No, kid. Not at all. I was just thinking out loud." Jake poured himself another double shot.

  Chapter 58

  The Calpernia left the St. Mary's air space the next morning. Jake was morose. His usual playful battering of Arr and Kay-o was absent. When Arr asked if he should send a message to Margaret that they were leaving, Jake growled, 'Do whatever you like.'

  Arr came to the logical conclusion that Jake and Margaret had fought. He didn't however realize it was about him. He re-analyzed the conversation of the night before and decided Margaret must have asked Jake to quit the life of a mercenary. Arr would have volunteered to quit. He liked the quiet times they spent on the Henu planet. He would like to have explored the St. Mary further, but he knew the quiet life was not for Jake and he would never, ever leave Jake.

  *****

  Jake felt betrayed. He had known Margaret only a short time, but in her he truly felt he found the woman to share the rest of his life. She was perfect in every way. They were like soul mates that found each other finally after a lifetime of searching.

  Why did she make him choose between Arr and her? Couldn't she see that she was tearing him apart? He could not conceive of leaving Arr behind. Being without him now would be like operating with one arm tied behind his back. It would be like losing the brother he never had. The thought was incomprehensible after all they had been through together.

  Sometime during their conversation Margaret suggested Jake stay too. Jake pointed out that a Mother Ship didn't have much call for mercenaries. Margaret's suggestion that he might change professions was met with laughter and the query, 'What else could I do?' She had no answer.

  At the same time Jake could hear Margaret's words ringing in his head. 'He'll be safe...., he's the last of his kind...., he has so much to offer....' He had never really given thought to the fact that he put Arr in danger of losing his life time after time. It was what Jake did. It was his job. It was natural that it should be Arr's as well.

  The kid was good. He came through the last three missions without a scratch. In fact, the only time he ever got really hurt was in the encounter with the Hydra and he was green then, just new at the game. He could take care of himself now and Jake would keep a careful eye on him as he always did.

  So it went on. All the way to Outpost #26 Jake talked to himself in circles that always came back to the basic fact that he deeply cared for the Henu and didn't wish to part from him.

  Chapter 59

  Margaret wasn't herself for weeks after the Calpernia left. She berated herself unmercifully. She handled it all wrong. She should have thought it out more thoroughly. If she played her cards right, she could have kept Jake and Arr here for months. She knew Jake held the same feelings for her as she did for him. If she hadn't been so demanding. If she hadn't made it seem like an ultimatum. If... If... If...

  The Henu was so rare. So unusual. Her scientific side took over her good sense. Ever since she found out that Jake and Arr were mercenaries she thought of little else. The fact that Jake risked his own life was bad enough, but the fact that he risked losing something so precious as the only living example of a species preyed on her mind.

  Chapter 60

  Jake didn't realize it, but he was taking out his anger in his work. In the two months since he parted from Margaret they had been on three very difficult missions.

  Jake was always a fierce fighter, but lately he had become reckless. Arr was worried about him. The Henu went so far as to contact Tim for his opinion.

  "The girl must really be 'a piece of work' for her to affect Jake like that." Tim's message appeared typed on the sub-space monitor; he was too far away for a direct audio line. "Jake had a similar period after his father's death," the message went on. "I spent some sleepless nights worrying about him. It didn't do any good. It's just the way Jake works things out."

  Tim's sub-space messages were as lengthy as his conversation when you were with him. However, this time Arr was interested in his every word.

  "Hang in there kid and watch your own back. Don't let Jake pull you into something you know is wrong. You been with him long enough now to know when you're in over your head," Tim advised, still not allowing Arr enough time to type in any response.

  "I'll meet up with you at Outpost #12 in three months for Jake's annual 'Surprise' birthday party. If he hasn't worked things out by then I'll have a 'heart to heart' talk with him."

  Arr thanked him and Tim signed off. The Henu wiped the screen of the monitor clean. All he needed was Jake to come by and find out he was talking to Tim behind his back. Jake would be furious.

  Arr didn't know if they'd last another three months. Each time they went into battle he wondered if he'd see Jake alive at the end of the day. Arr took to hanging back close to Jake instead of taking off on his own or with Kay-o. He wanted to be close if Jake should get
himself in over his head. Jake didn't seem to notice where Arr was during the fighting. He was like a crazed man.

  *****

  Jake felt like he was going to explode. This was worse than when he lost his dad. That was final. There was an end to it. There was nothing he could do to change it. The situation with Margaret was still unresolved. Sure he said 'NO!' and left, but he couldn't get her off his mind. The more he thought about what she said, the more it began to make sense, as much as he hated to admit it.

  Lately, they encountered in some pretty hairy missions. Arr took to staying very close to him. He didn't say anything about it. The kid was probably frightened. Anyway, having him close made it easier to protect him if something should happen.

  This morning he accepted a job on Nulian. He didn't even care what it was about - just grabbed at the chance to bury his troubled mind in physical action.

  Chapter 61

  Nulian was forested like the Henu planet and behind every third tree lurked a Drifit. Jake and Arr had been hustling for days to clear out the last of the enemy. Jake was wounded in the initial battle to re-secure the factory. The Drifit's were using a weapon Jake called a 'burner.' They were lethal like any other weapon. Beyond that, if it didn't kill you, a wound sustained from one was extremely painful. The weapon shot an intense ray of burning white heat. It could burn through almost anything. Even something as thick as a tree wasn't great protection from them. The shot Jake took went right threw the fleshy part of his upper arm. Arr wanted to stop then. He told Jake they should retire to the ship. Arr wanted to contact Tim or Hank to come and help them mop up. Jake said the two of them could handle it. He wasn't shot in his gun arm. Jake promised the entrepreneur who hired them that they'd have the factory back and on line in two weeks. They had already been here over a week. They didn't have time to wait for Tim or Hank to show up.

  Jake peeked out around the side of the rock they were hiding behind. A burner blast just missed his head. "You cover me. I'm going to see if I can get up around behind him." He crouched down ready to bolt for the next rock to their right.

  Against Arr's better judgment he proceeded to give Jake cover.

  Jake made a dash for the next outcrop. He got three fourths of the way there before the Drifit burned him in the leg. He went down like a stone. The next shot would kill him if Arr didn't act fast.