Chapter 6 Basque - Unwanted Reunion

Cold sweat ran down Basque’s back. Convulsing? He ran to the curtained area from where Fawna’s voice had come. Ripping it open, Fawna held Malcam’s hand while tears ran down her face. Reianna stood back from them with an impassive look on her face. As Fawna had said, Malcalm was twitching on the bed.

Basque ran over to the boy. While he wasn’t a doctor by any means, he knew enough first aid from training and being a teacher, and so he gently rolled Malcam on his side to keep his airway clear.

“How long has he been like this?”

Fawna just cried.

“Fawna?”

“He just started about thirty seconds ago,” Reianna answered.

“Okay, now where’s the nurse?”

Reianna shrugged. “He was bandaging him when a servant came in and the nurse left with him.” Unlike Fawna, her voice didn’t tremble in the slightest.

Basque held his curse back. There was no doubt in his mind that Krill was behind the nurse’s disappearance. “Okay. There’s not much we can do right now. Do you think you can calm Fawna down?”

For the first time, Reianna looked nervous as she nodded.

“Good. I’m going to go get us some help.”

“No!” Fawna cried. “Don’t go!”

Basque grabbed her hands. “I can’t help him any more than this. I know someone who can. I need to get them here.”

Fawna wouldn’t let go of his hands.

Reianna walked over and put her hands on top of theirs. Finally, a worried look replaced the placid expression she wore. Basque pushed Fawna’s hands into Reianna’s, and the blond-haired girl gripped onto her roommate’s hands.

“I’ll be back in less than two minutes.”

Basque ran out of the nurse’s room and to the closest stairwell. Bounding up the stairs four at a time, he burst onto the third floor. “Sophia! Tell Harnel to come watch this floor and to not let anyone in but Class E!”

He neither heard a response from her nor saw her, but he knew that she was already making her way to Harnel as fast as she could. Unlocking his door, Basque sprinted across his room to his trunk. Keying it open, he pulled out the comm device that linked him to the main ambassadors.

“Rakelle! Rakelle!”

There was a slight pause, and then his ex-lover’s voice came over the line. “What is it, Basque?”

“How soon can you get to Dyntril Academy, first-floor left wing, nurse’s room?”

“Ten, fifteen minutes. Why?”

“Can you do five?”

“Why?”

“I’ve got a student here with head trauma. He started convulsing about a minute ago.”

There was a pause. “Okay. Five minutes.”

Basque didn’t thank her; he just relocked his device and sprinted back the way he came, jumping the stairs, three or four at a time. When he got back to the nurse’s office, Fawna was curled up against Reianna’s chest, Malcalm’s spasms had stopped for the moment, and, just as Basque had thought, the nurse had yet to return.

He held no grudge against the nurse. He knew that it wasn’t Hendrix’s choice to leave his station. The nurse would be a servant. He would have no choice but to obey Krill’s summons.

Keeping his breath calm and even, Basque walked over to the girls as if he didn’t have a worry in the world. “A doctor is on her way. I have a favor to ask of you girls.”

Reianna held on to Fawna as if she were the most precious thing in the world to her. Fawna had her arms wrapped around Reianna’s waist in return. Fawna’s eyes were closed, but Reianna stared at Basque and nodded.

“Thank you. The boy’s name is Malcalm Leadbetter. He has a twin sister in our class, Maecy. She’s got the same color blue hair. Can you please go find her and talk to her? I’m sure she’s heard about the attack by now. Please let her know her brother will be okay.”

Reianna nodded again. Fawna stood up but still held onto Reianna. “Come on, Miss Fawna, let’s find Miss…blue hair.”

“Maecy Leadbetter,” Fawna told her.

“Yes, Miss Maecy Leadbutter.”

“Leadbetter,” Fawna corrected as they walked out the door.

Basque turned his attention to the boy lying in the bed. Nurse Hendrix had at least bandaged his head before he’d been called away. Guilt coursed through Basque. If he hadn’t wasted those precious moments sulking in self-pity in the Grand Entrance Hall, Rakelle would have arrived that much earlier.

Malcalm was still now, his breathing slow and rhythmic. From Basque’s untrained eye, everything seemed fine, but convulsions after a head injury weren’t usually something that was just fine afterward. Rakelle could handle it, though. She was the best doctor that Basque knew, and he trusted her to help Malcalm more than he trusted a native doctor. She just needed to get there in time, she owed him that much. It was, after all, her fault he was in Kruami.

Basque checked Malcalm’s vitals again. The boy seemed fine, but Basque only had rudimentary knowledge. The best he could do was light field medicine to prevent immediate death. He couldn’t do anything to make someone better.

Rubbing his eyes, Basque cursed Krill. How could a teacher be so callous? A child. A child was lying there with severe injuries that needed treatment and all because that Yani bastard wanted to have a pissing match with me. For Basque, Krill’s malice was unforgivable—he was wilfully harming a twelve-year-old boy. When Julvie informed him of the situation, Basque figured Krill called the nurse out as reprisal for the humiliation earlier in the day.

I should have done more than just closing the door in his face. Basque daydreamed about shaking sense into Krill until Krill’s head fell off. Then, Basque’s imagination simplified it to just slamming Krill’s head into a hard surface until it burst open like a watermelon. It can’t be quick, though.

Finally, Rakelle walked through the door. She wore some sort of Kruamian dress, and her raven black hair was braided with the braids tied up in a bun. The Kruamian clothes made her beautiful features exotic.

“< What’s the situation ?>” she asked in Hianb

“< Head injury. I didn’t see it, but the boy who did it boasted about how hard this boy’s head slammed off the wall. >”

Rakelle nodded. She pulled a scanner out of her personal space and connected a diode to the boy. She keyed in some commands to the medical device and held it, waiting for the results.

“< Is he one of yours ?>”

Basque nodded even though Rakelle’s eyes never wavered from the analysis. “< Yes. His name is Malcalm —>”

“< I don’t need to know his name. Don’t forget what you’re here for, Basque .>” She pulled the diode lead from Malcalm’s head and put it back in her personal space. She then pulled out some other tools out that Basque wasn't sure what they did. “< I know how you get, but anyway, that was the wrong answer. The correct answer was, ‘no, he’s not’. >”

Waving the tools over Malcalm, Rakelle never once looked at Basque. “ < You’ve only been here two weeks, and you’re already calling me to look after one of the kids here. >

“< Notice how I said ‘one of the kids here’ not ‘one of your kids’. >” She paused and looked at Basque. “< They aren’t yours. >” She turned back to the boy.

“< Are you done with your lecture now, Rakelle- Shr ? >”

“< Am I allowed to go on longer ?>”

“<‘ Come with me, Basque! It’ll be fun, Basque! ’>”

She turned her head back to him slightly. “< I know! That’s why I’m here and didn’t just tell you to go screw a Yani. >” Rakelle continued to work on Malcalm. “< I don’t know why you needed to call me for this. From what I can tell, this is well within their ability to treat. >”

“< Don’t you notice a lack of staff around here ?>”

She sighed. “< That’s the choice they’ve made.> ”

Basque looked at the ground. “< Well…that might of, sort of, kind of be my fault. >”

Rakelle didn’t respond, she continued to address Malcalm’s injuries.

“< One of the nobles pulled the medical staff because he’s pissed I kicked his ass when sparring .>”

Rakelle sighed again. “< That doesn’t sound like observing, Basque. >”

“< He challenged me, >” Basque said as he shrugged.

“< Whatever, I don’t need to know the details, just…this is the last time I’m going to do something like this. So, if they want one of theirs to die.… >”

Basque didn’t respond. He knew her stance was right. It was the stance that he was supposed to have as an ambassador. He needed to rein in his personal feelings, but the problem was, the Kruamians had given him a class. His initial briefing was that he would just observe and maybe hold training sessions. For six weeks.

Clicking her tools closed, Raskelle put them back in her personal space. She stood and walked over to Basque. She looked at him and shook her head. “< Two weeks. You’ve got two hundred and fifty-eight weeks left. >”

“< I know. And you’re only here for four more of them. >”

They were silent for a few seconds. They should have left their relationship platonic. She shouldn’t have applied for this mission. He shouldn’t have joined her.

The Kruamian… “< They gave me a class to teach. >”

She paused, then punched his chest and left her fist stuck to it. “That’s our mandate. Remember that, Basque. This is a science fair project, not a humanitarian effort. >” Under her breath, she added, “< Though it might as well be .>”

She opened her hand and put her palm on him. “< Five years is a long time. Why don’t—why don’t we see if we can have a replacement sent? You can go back with me …>”

There was a sharp pain in Basque’s heart. Her sweet words were poisonous. It wouldn’t work like that, and she knew it. “< You’re in the first group to leave. Isn’t that why you broke up with me? >”

“< Yeah, but —>”

“< But what? We couldn’t bring a long-range comm, so the only way a replacement can be sent is to have someone actually go back to Hianbru to make the request. No one is leaving before you, so there’s no way I could go back with you. That would leave this position open for a whole year, even assuming my replacement left on the day we arrived back .>” Basque shook his head. “< Let’s face it, I’m stuck here. >”

Rakelle slid her hand down and off Basque’s chest. His skin tingled where she’d run her hand over him, like when they’d been intimate. Five years was too long for her. She wouldn’t wait for him.

He grabbed her hand. She didn’t shake him off. He bowed his head. “< Why the hell is it five years? I can already tell that there’s nothing of value to be learned here .>”

She squeezed his hand. “< The council has faith in your evaluation no matter the length, but your stay is dictated by the Kruamian government, you know that .>”

And Eder, Basque thought, but didn’t say. He pulled her closer and wrapped his arm around her waist. He lifted his head so that his lips were inches from hers. “< Well, judging by the reception I’ve received so far, it makes me wonder why .>”

She completed the contact, pressing her lips into his. He missed her, not just this, but also as a friend—his best friend. Rakelle reached up and wrapped her arm around Basque, pulling him closer. She removed her lips from his and leaned up to whisper in his ear, “< The clothes here are horrible, except for one thing.> ”

“< What? >” Basque swallowed.

Rakelle pushed back from him and put her hand up her skirt. She shook her hips a couple of times, then lifted one foot after the other. When her hand returned from under her skirt, she held a piece of cloth in her hands. “< Ta-dah! Easy access . I tell you, these people are some horny Yani.> ”

Basque frowned. She was too cruel. “< What are you doing ?>”

“< Trying to get laid ,>” she said.

“< And you’re making fun of them for being sex-crazed. >”

She pulled Basque further into the nurse’s room. Basque looked back in the direction of the unconscious student. “< He’s not going to wake up for a good while. >”

Basque shook his hand free. Unconscious or not, Basque couldn’t do this with a student around. ”< Why are you doing this to me? You are the one who ended our relationship .>”

Rakelle rolled her eyes. “< So dramatic. You know why I broke it off. It’s not because I don’t like you. Five years, >” she pointed at him, “< six weeks, >” she pointed at herself. “< Those numbers aren’t the same. Plus, aren’t you the one who was just teasing me? >”

Basque stepped forward and took her hand. “< Then stay. You don’t have to leave. >”

She shook him off and scoffed. “< Just like you can’t leave early, I can’t leave late. My report will be important and needed with the first wave back .>”

“< So write it up and have someone else present it .>”

She shook her head and hopped up on an empty bed. “< They wouldn’t be able to answer questions. >”

Basque walked over to her and stood in front of her legs, but didn’t do anything. He just stared at her. The day she told him she applied to be an ambassador was still fresh in his mind, even though that was half a year ago. She’d wanted to end things then, but he wasn’t willing to, so he applied and got accepted.

Rakelle had already floated the idea of separating when it’d just been her going. The only safe route took close to six months one way. Almost a year of travel for six weeks' worth of work seemed like a waste, but that wasn’t Basque’s decision.

At first, they’d assumed that Basque would be on the same timeline, and they felt almost like it would be a honeymoon work trip. Then they arrived. The Kruamians demanded that the education ambassador teach a class “from start to graduation”. Eder agreed without consulting Basque.

That was another memory Basque would never forget. “Quit moaning,” Eder said. “Do you know how long the discovery team was there? Where do you think those language files you’re studying came from? Be happy it’s only five years.”

After finding out the length of Basque’s stay, Rakelle broke up with him, and this was the first time they’d seen each other since. He wanted her. But still, he didn’t reach out or put his hand on her bare knee.

She put her hand on his chest and pushed him away. “< Don’t force yourself for my sake. Take care of the kid. >”

Hopping off the examination table, Rakelle put her undergarments back on and slid them up her legs, raising the skirt as she went, showing off her bare legs to Basque, as if to taunt him with what he’d just turned down.

Rakelle put her hand on his shoulder. “< Be careful, Basque. Observe. Evaluate. Don’t get involved*.*>” She slid her hand across his chest as she walked past him and to the door.

“< Don’t call again ,>” she said as she left.

Basque was left with a whirlwind of emotions. She’d come for him; she’d helped Malcalm for him; and the only thing she had wanted was him. But he wasn’t as good as she was at separating actions and feelings, which she also knew, and that’s why she’d warned him multiple times.

Observe.

Evaluate.

Don’t get involved.

Those were the words in his mind as he scooped up the unconscious form of Malcalm. When he left, Julvie was standing outside the nurse’s office.

Yeah, don’t get involved .