Majgen Ch. 016

Warning! Work in progress, the full book-series is not yet finished (unless my profile states otherwise). Agonising waits in between chapters is a very real risk!

With this chapter begins book two.

Copyright of Nanna Marker

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----=(Alive)=----

Majgen woke with a start, heart pounding eyes flashing open. The brightness of the room hurt her eyes.

'Bright?' she wondered,'the interrogation room is dark.'

She struggled to orient herself.

'Did I pass out? What happened?' Blinking, she tried to adjust to the light.'Aejoa? where is Aejoa? I can't sense him.' Majgen focused on her empathic senses.'Aejoa is not here, but two strong empaths are.'

She turned her head in the direction of the empaths. Her vision came to focus, and she saw two yijejos.

'Yijejos! Aejoa is safe,' concluded Majgen.'But where is he?' She moved her head, scanning the room for a visual sign of Aejoa's rescue. Finding none, she turned her attention back to the yijejos.

The two yijejos were talking to each other in yijejoan. Majgen didn't understand a word they were saying.

'I don't need to understand their words though,' she thought, then said, "Aejoa?"

One of the yijejos turned and spoke to her, in yijejoan.

'He said something like 'good-morning',' perceived Majgen.'He was joking.' She didn't care, what the joke was.

"Winin, is the Winin ok?" she asked.

"I can't believe it," said the Interrogator.

"Can't believe what?" asked his assistant.

"It just asked if the Winin was well."

Majgen couldn't understand their words, but she followed the gist of the conversation in their emanations.

'Stop thinking about why I ask, and start thinking about what I ask. Grief, I want to know how Aejoa is.'

"Why would it do that?" wondered the assistant, who did not understand humana.

"I guess it is hoping the revered Winin is dead," the Interrogator erroneously concluded. "I'm thinking it won't be happy to see him stepping in the door in a moment."

'He is alive!' understood Majgen.'Alive and coming here.' Relief washed through her.'We made it Aejoa, you are safe. We...' She halted her line of thought.'I am alive. Why am I alive?'

She attempted to move.

'I'm tied down, I'm... I'm...' Panic began to rise in Majgen as she began to comprehend her own situation.'I'm alive, and I'm chained to a table.' Her chest started heaving and instant sweat broke out.'No, no, no, this isn't happening, this wasn't meant to happen. They took me alive, why would they take me alive? What are they planning to do to me?'

The Interrogator's muscles moved his facial expression into the yijejo equivalence of a grin. "I'm thinking it understood what I said."

"I'd say you are right," added the assistant, clearly sensing the human empath's rising fear.

The interrogator approached the table the prisoner was strapped to.

"Just for the record, Prisoner. Who are you? Name and rank."

'He is asking who I am,' Majgen understood from his emanations. The syllables he spoke made no sense to her. She swallowed.'Control your fear, girl. They won't make you suffer. The yijejos have laws against needless torture.'

"I am Tenth Ranked Student Majgen Rahan," she replied, speaking full truth.

"The humans use students for interrogations now?" asked the Interrogator. Again Majgen understood his question from his emanations.

"Not normally, no. This was an unusual case," she explained honestly.

"Too bad for you, wasn't it?" mused the Interrogator.

"Why am I still alive?" asked Majgen.

"Is it really that hard to guess, Prisoner?"

Majgen perceived images from the Interrogator's memories. Images of him torturing humans on tables like the one she was on now.

"No!" Majgen exclaimed in humana, straining against her bonds. "You can't do that. It's illegal. It's against your laws."

"Normally it is," the Interrogator admitted in his own language, "but there are exceptions, Prisoner." Hatred and righteousness was evident in his emanations.

"Aejoa will have your hide if you torture me," threatened Majgen without contemplating her words.

"Whoever Aejoa is, he can rest in his tomb," stated the Interrogator. "I will only be assisting the torture. The freed Winin himself is coming to take his revenge on you, Prisoner."

'Aejoa wants revenge on me?' Majgen perceived that much.'Why would he want revenge on me? I helped him.'

The interrogator walked back to his assistant. In silence Majgen and the two yijejos waited for the Winin.

'Aejoa will not torture me,' thought Majgen.'Why am I scared?'

A short while later their wait was over, as the door opened and the Winin entered.

'Aejoa, you look magnificent.' Tears of pride came to Majgen's eyes.'One truly good deed I managed to do in my life. Now I am ready to die, my beautiful enemy.'

From where she lay she could see him in full figure. Being of average size for an adult yijejo, Aejoa was a bit less than four metres tall when standing erect as now. Like humans, yijejos had two legs, a torso, a neck, a head with two eyes and a mouth. Yijejos had no hair, or fur. Pale yellowish skin covered their bodies. Rather than a nose in the midst of their faces they had two breathing holes, close-able nostrils. One on either side of the head. Normally yijejos breathed through the mouth, but while eating they used their nostrils, at least the well-mannered ones did.

Yijejos had a stockier build than humans, and sturdier. Like humans their peripheral limbs had a soft surface and a bone centre, but where many parts of a human torso were soft the yijejo torso was protected by a natural armour. A kind of exoskeleton just below the skin. Majgen could not see these parts of his body now, though; Aejoa was fully dressed.

His clothes were fitting for one of his status, they had been brought to the War-Zone, along with the extra forces who had come to rescue him - or his dead body.

'That would have been his funeral wear if not for my intervention,' realised Majgen. She felt prouder than a mother to see him wearing the clothes alive. The last remnants of fear vanished from her mind.

Yijejos had five sets of 'arms'. Yijejos and humans usually referred to the yijejo arms as reaching limbs. Being limbs used for reaching and grabbing was the only real similarity between a yijejo reaching limb and a human arm. The reaching limbs were multi-jointed, more comparable to the tails of certain vertebrate mammals originating on earth than to the arms of humans. The two upper sets of a yijejos reaching limbs branched into two parts at the ends, but these branches did not truly compare to the human hands and fingers. The lower reaching limbs did not branch.

Aejoa moved towards her - slowly and dignified.

'Why is it not afraid of me?' he wondered.'Doesn't it realise I have been given the power to torture or kill it?'

Majgen perceived the question - why not afraid - from his emanations.

"Why should I fear you, Aejoa?" asked Majgen. "You are a good person, and you have no reason to torture me." She smiled through tears.'Why am I smiling in the face of death?' she wondered.'Yijejos don't torture the way humans do, but they do kill their prisoners after interrogation.'

"I'm not sure why I don't fear death right now, Aejoa. Maybe I was just too afraid for too long to fear something as natural as death."

'What is it saying?' wondered Aejoa. He felt troubled. He had come for proof that the little human had been playing with his mind - played a hypnotic trick on him with drugs. But the small creature's feelings did not match what he had imagined.

"Aejoa," said Majgen.

'Did it just speak my name?' he wondered.

"Yes, I did," said Majgen, and then recalled the yijejo word for yes, "Ei."

"Aejoa ei," she reiterated. Her pronunciation was off, but what she said was unmistakable to the Winin.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, but could not understand the answer.

Aejoa did not understand a single word of humana. Instead of asking for translation, he sedated Majgen by mind control and started scanning her mind, scanning her memories of him.

He couldn't believe what he saw.

'I had my mind shield up. It could not have gained my memories. Even if it did, humans do not sacrifice their lives for yijejo prisoners. They hate us.' Beginning to doubt his own sanity, Aejoa thought,'Did they damage my mind irrevocably?'

"Would one of you be so kind to fetch Ejue Yeenje?" asked Aejoa. He was not ready to ask the Ejue to scan his own mind for traces of insanity, but there was another way to find certainty too.

While waiting for the Ejue, Aejoa kept the human sedated.

'If it turns out I am insane I will ask them to keep me unconscious till I get home. I don't want anyone less than another Winin to try to repair my mind,' decided Aejoa.

"You sent for me, Winin?" asked Ejue Yeenje the moment he arrived, kneeling to the Winin while catching his breath.

"I did, Ejue Yeenje," confirmed Aejoa. "I want you to see something."

"You honour me, Winin," said Ejue Yeenje.

Aejoa had every possible mind shield up. He doubted the Ejue would feel honoured after completing the task, and didn't want the Ejue to catch on to that.

"Scan this human, Ejue. Look at its memories of the time just before I was rescued. When you have done this I want you to tell me what you found."

"Certainly, Winin." Ejue Yeenje did not understand why he was told to perform the task, but was very willing to comply to any demand from the revered Winin.

"Keep it sedated, Ejue," ordered Aejoa.

"Certainly, Winin."

Aejoa stepped aside and studied Ejue Yeenje as the lower ranked Eieie obeyed his orders. The Ejue had been puzzled when accepting the orders, but soon puzzlement changed to awed surprise. To notice these emotions in the Ejue gave Aejoa reason to hope that - maybe - he was not insane after all.

Ejue Yeenje raised his eyes to the Winin while still scanning Majgen's mind.

"I am truly honoured that you allowed me to see this, Winin. It is miraculous," said Ejue Yeenje.

"Tell me what you see, Ejue. Speak it in words," commanded Aejoa.

"This human, it sacrificed itself to save you, Winin."

Aejoa blinked in affirmation.

'I am not insane,' thought Aejoa, only able to understand the truth after having it confirmed by another.'It was reality, not a trick. The little human really did care for me.' Aejoa returned his thoughts to the present.'Does care, the little thing does care.'

"Untie the prisoner," ordered Aejoa.

"By interrogation safety procedure prisoners are kept tied down at all times, unless they are dead or unconscious by drugs. Would you like me to kill it or to drug it, Winin?" asked the Interrogator, feeling very uncomfortable to partially contradict a Winin.

"Untie the prisoner without drugging or harming it. Do it right now!" demanded Aejoa.

The Interrogator obeyed.

"Ejue Yeenje, you may lift the mind sedation and step back now," instructed Aejoa. The Ejue obeyed.

Majgen blinked, slowly returning to reality. Aejoa and the Ejue had used full mind sedation. She had been completely out.

"Eeejow Juman," she heard. Someone was repeating it gently, slowly.'Aejoa is talking to me.' She turned her head to look at him.

"Little human," repeated Aejoa - in yijejoan - yet again, as he saw it turn its face to look at him.

"Aejoa." She blinked again. "You are not confused anymore."

"I would like a translator so I can talk with it," said Aejoa, not taking his eyes of the human. He was aware any request of his would be obeyed like an order.

The Interrogator swiftly produced a portable translator. It was of a size convenient to hold and control with an upper reaching limb.

"How do I use it?" asked Aejoa, and the interrogator explained the simple controls.

In the meantime Majgen realised she was no longer tied. She sat up and covered her naked self as best she could, by hugging her legs with her arms.

"This is a test," said Aejoa, in yijejoan, once he knew how to use the device.

"This is a test," repeated the translator, in humana, with a mechanic human-like voice.

"Is it working?" asked Aejoa. The translator translated that too.

"Yes," said Majgen, and smiled when the device translated that to 'ei'.

"Finally we can talk," said Aejoa, and awaited translation.

"Yes," confirmed Majgen.

"Thank you," said Aejoa.

Majgen understood from his emanations, but waited for the translation before replying.

"You are welcome, Aejoa." She waited for the translator to finish before speaking again, "Is the official interrogation of me completed?"

"Yes," replied Aejoa, feeling happy and relieved.

Majgen nodded and waited for the translator again.

"I have a request, Aejoa." Looking at him, she hoped he would grant her wish.

"Tell me about the request," Aejoa's words translated.

"I would like for you to stay with me, while they kill me," explained Majgen. Her heart was beating hard while she waited for the translation.'Please say yes, Aejoa, I don't want to be alone when I die.'

"No one is going to kill you."

"My life is forfeit, Aejoa. You can't send me back. My own kind will torture me to death if you do. It's ok, I knew what choice I made. I don't regret that choice, Aejoa. You were worth it." Majgen's speech took a while to deliver because of the pauses she made for the sake of the translating device.

"You protected me, Little Human. Now I will protect you," explained Aejoa.

'What kind of life, can I possibly have now?' wondered Majgen, but did not ask.'He has not thought this through. Later he might come to realise there is no hope for me.'

Aejoa sensed her despondent emotional response to his words. "You had no power to protect me. You had to lie and deceive to save me. I have power. I am a Winin. You could not take me from the human interrogation chamber, but I can take you from this one."

'He believes he can.' Majgen no longer knew how to feel. She had been so sure she would die, yet Aejoa was so sure he could protect her.

"Trust me, Little Human," said Aejoa reaching to her mind to comfort her with his feelings of gratitude.

"Aejoa." Her voice trembled.

Majgen ached.

'I was so sure I would die now, and instead he rewards me with feelings of gratitude. The only one that ever felt so strong gratitude towards me was Fral, and he disappeared so fast.' Majgen started crying, uncontrollably. She couldn't deal with the years of built up loneliness on top of everything else.

"All is well, Little Human. I am here," said Aejoa and reached to her with body and mind, pulling her into his hold, while showering her with warm emotions.

'I've been so afraid and alone,' wailed Majgen's emotions.

'You will never be alone again. I will protect you always,' Aejoa promised silently.'I will take care of you.'

The Interrogator and his assistant stared after the Winin, as he left the interrogation room with the prisoner held to his chest.

"Miraculous," stated Ejue Yeenje with awe, once the two were out of sight.

"Are we meant to let the Winin walk away with the prisoner like that?" asked the assistant, when he was sure the Winin was out of hearing range.

"I don't think so," replied the Interrogator.

"After what that human did for him, I wouldn't recommend you try to take the prisoner away from him again," commented Ejue Yeenje.

Aejoa carried Majgen through the hallways of the yijejo battle-cruiser to the quarters he had been given. Hugging her tight he transmitted promises of protection and care to her. She pressed her cheek against his chest, feeling the heat from his body while her tears drenched the fine fabric of his clothes.

'I love you, Aejoa,' she felt. His care warmed her lonely heart.

Once in his quarters he took a sheet from his bed and covered Majgen's nudity. He had perceived she was not comfortable being naked. She cuddled in his reaching limbs, like a toddler in the arms of a parent. She felt like a small child in the arms of a parent. Cared for. Protected. It made her happy and content. She had not felt cared for this way since she was five.

For a while they were both content simply sharing their warm feelings for each other. Majgen could have spent hours in his reaching limbs, snuggling in silence and feeling his care for her, but Aejoa wanted information.

"How did you gain memories from me?" he asked, while still in her mind. Majgen concentrated on how to answer, rather than answering. Being an empath herself, she knew that the question was asked to make it easier for him to find the answer, rather than for her to answer.

'I'm not a normal human empath. Look into my memories to see how I see memories which you would think me unable to, Aejoa,' she thought with closed eyes, wiggling a bit to snuggle even closer to his warmth.

The human's trust and appreciation of him warmed Aejoa immensely. He felt special for having somehow earned the affection of the small creature, who had been an enemy of his kind. Her love for him strengthened his resolve to protect her.

'Her perceptivity really is extraordinary,' he saw, as he followed the paths his question had lighted in her mind.

'Do you mind, Aejoa?' Majgen got worried a moment.'Does it upset you that I invaded your privacy?'

'I don't mind,' the emotion was clear in Aejoa.'You were willing to sacrifice yourself for me, I don't mind sharing my mind with you.'

'Most people mind,' recalled Majgen, new tears came to her.'Hold me tighter,' her emotions begged. It seemed all the hardships of her past life came to her now within the safety of his hold.

Aejoa did not ask more questions for a long time. For hours he sat with the little human in his arms, learning of her life through her memories, soothing her pain, promising to protect her, promising that she would never be lonely again, promising life-long friendship. In those hours it happened multiple times that ship staff requested entry to his quarters. Demanding privacy, he denied them access every time.

In the end their prolonged emotional intimacy was thoroughly interrupted by nature though. Majgen needed to pee.

Figuring out how a human should use a yijejo lavatory was difficult for the pair. After Aejoa had shown her the facilities and explained how they were used, Majgen demanded privacy for the errand. Aejoa looked from Majgen to the lavatory bowl and back again.

"It's taller than you are," he stated. "I'm scared you will slip and hurt yourself."

'I'm scared I won't even be able to climb up there,' thought Majgen, but kept telling him to leave.

"How about I hold you and close my eyes?" he offered.

"I don't know how yijejos do," replied Majgen. "But amongst humans, adults use the toilet alone."

Their arguments were slowed by the constant waiting for the translator.

"We do too, normally, but in special circumstances we can handle spectators. It's really not such a big deal to us. If we are injured and need help we go with help. What do humans do in such cases?" he asked.

"We go with help too," admitted Majgen. "But I'm not injured!" she added to avoid cornering herself.

"How about I stay till you are in position, just to see if you have the situation under control, and then I leave before you do it?" he suggested.

'I can't climb while holding this sheet around me,' thought Majgen.'Don't want to drop it while he is watching.'

"I've seen your body already, what does it matter if I see it again?" asked Aejoa.