Kita'thalla Ch. 09

Eric blinked. "What do you mean?"

Kita sighed, looking off into the woods. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but the battles between your people and mine have been getting larger. More desperate. More and more of the Ketrali fleet is being used, drawn away from protecting Ketra and other core worlds of our empire. It has been a long time since we've won a solid victory against your kind. We've driven you back, or maybe even taken a small system. But we've always lost more ships than we've destroyed. The places where we have won, your kind was either outnumbered or on the ground. But of course, a ground battle means nothing if you don't control the space around it. We've gotten our selves into a war that's slowly killing us. Even if we somehow destroyed your entire fleet and took your home world, we've taken so much damage it almost wouldn't matter."

"So...why do you keep fighting?" Eric asked. "If the war is bad for your people, why not withdraw?"

"It's not that simple. There's matters that make it...well, complicated." she said, shaking her head before glancing up at him. "I'm surprised you aren't happier about all of this."

"I guess I'm just shocked that you're telling me all of this." he said, taking a seat next to her. "I don't know if I'd be so forward with that kind of information, especially with..." he trailed off as he realized what he was about to say.

"With an enemy soldier?" she asked.

"Well, yeah. Although" he quickly added. "That's not to say I still think of you an enemy." Especially not after this morning at the river, he privately thought to himself.

"It is hard for me to think of you as the enemy anymore, either." Kita replied. "More importantly however, you are the only one I've ever known that would listen."

"Why wouldn't anyone else listen?" Eric asked, a little surprised. "Hasn't anyone gone over the logic of the situation?"

Kita shook her head. "The few who know the truth, they're either blinded by pride, or unwilling to speak up"

"Wait, you're telling me that not everyone knows this?"

Kita closed her eyes. "If you were a commander and you knew you were losing the war, would you really be able to say anything? Morale would crash in the lower ranks once word got out, and your career would be over, assuming the war council doesn't just kill you right there."

"So no one with the power to stop this cares enough to stop the killing?"

Kita shook her head glumly. "No one that matters."

Eric sighed. "I'm sorry."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "What for?"

"I can see that you care about your people, even if you didn't show it back there. And I wish there was something I could say to help but...I don't really know what I could, when we're talking about something this serious. So, I'm sorry that I can't be of any help."

Kita was silent for a moment before shaking her head again. "No. You have been helpful. It is a welcome change, to have someone that will actually listen, even if they can't do much."

Eric took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "Well, at least I can do that much. Don't hesitate if you want to talk again, about anything. It definitely beats being stuck on this planet alone."

The corner of Kita's mouth curled up slightly. That it did. "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." She then wrinkled her nose. The wind had shifted for a moment, bringing with it the scent of burnt flesh. "I think we've sat here long enough." she said, standing and pulling Eric back to his feet from his seat. "Think you can manage the climb back down?"

He nodded. "Going down is easier than up"

"Good, because I wasn't planning on carrying you."

++++++

Yet again declining Kita's offer to show him the fast way down, Eric did manage to reach the bottom of the cliff without any problems, although it took him almost twice as long as Kita, something she made sure he was aware of the entire time they were walking to the cave.

"Look, it's better safe than sorry, okay? Besides, you really don't want to have to be the one treating me instead of the other way around." Eric said, taking his usual seat on one side of their shelter.

"Oh? Why's that?" she asked, taking her own spot opposite him.

Eric grinned. "Because doctors are the worst patients. Trust me, I've had to treat others before, and I know just how annoying we can be."

"Hmm." she said, glancing at his medical equipment. "Looks like I might have to show you what it's like to be on the receiving end of one of your needles."

"Hey, that's for use by medically trained personnel only!"

"How hard can it be?" she asked, an evil glint in her eyes. "Pointy end goes into you, you fall asleep"

"And then I'll snore so badly you'll wish I was awake!" he countered.

Kita waved him off, chuckling softly as she examined their finds from the wreckage. The pistols were mostly undamaged from what she could see, save a little scorching. The magnetic fields were still indicating full strength, and none of the warning lights were active. Still, when dealing with something like these, you really had to be careful. It was possible to intentionally overload them for use as an explosive device, but enough damage could cause it to happen unintentionally. If only they'd found some of the larger weapons intact! They were generally more robust, less prone to accidental damage that could cause them to become unstable. Detaching the plasma cell from the pistol, Kita quickly examined the gun, making sure the accelerators were still aligned, the circuitry was still intact, and most importantly, the thermal cooling system was still operational. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, Kita reassembled the weapon. "This one is good." she said in answer to Eric's questioning look.

"Well, that solves a lot of problems" he said. "What about the other one?"

"I'll deal with that when I get back."

"Wait, back from where?"

"We finished off the water when we ate." reaching across the cave floor, she grabbed the empty cantine. "I'm going to go fill this, I'll be back shortly."

"You don't want any company?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well..." she said, wondering if she should be nice, but then decided it would be more fun to just flat out say it. "I've been hearing and seeing signs of prey around here. But I haven't been able to really find out what they are, because you're so noisy when you're trampling around through the woods."

"Ouch..." Eric feigned hurt, though he knew she was only being honest. "Am I really that bad?"

"The storm was more subtle than you are." she teased. "Anyways, I want to find out what options we have for when your food runs out. I'll teach you later, if you're interested, but for now I want to do a little searching on my own."

He shrugged. "Fair enough. Let me know what you find."

She nodded, and in the space of a few seconds, she disappeared into the forest. Eric listened carefully, but she'd left no sign of her passage. Well, she'd be back soon, he figured. Noticing the weapon she'd left behind, he pulled out his own and began his own inspection. He hadn't checked it after the torrential downpour the previous day, and while he was pretty sure it would be fine, it gave him something to do while she was gone.

+++++

A short distance into the forest, Kita paused, taking a moment to take in her surroundings. Without Eric around, she was able to concentrate, and she was quickly spotting things that she'd missed earlier. There was a bush that had recently been fed on, and the imprints of hooves similar to the ones she'd caught a fleeting glimpse of this morning confirmed what she'd suspected. There was something herbivorous living around here, and while that didn't necessarily mean it was edible, it was definitely more likely to be a food source than something predatory. She sniffed the air, trying to gather any clue as to which direction it had gone. The wind shifted and yet again Kita caught the scent of burnt flesh from the wreck. Ugh, sometimes she hated having such an acute sense of smell. But...wait, why hadn't she smelled it before? And also...

Kita froze. The wind wasn't blowing from the ridge. On top of that, there was another scent, just beneath that of the seared flesh and fur. It was...no, that wasn't possible, was it? If that was true then...Kita spun around, pistol at the ready.

"You're looking well Chas'kaa...or is it Keetah now?" a mocking voice said from the shadows, and Kita's stomach dropped as the speaker stepped into view, even as she lined up the sights on her weapon.

++++++

Ehehehee....cliffhanger. I'm mean, aren't I?