The Galactic Bride

"This isn't Musa Minor."

"Of course not. This is a short ranged fighter. We can't travel across the galaxy in just this."

Aki opened his eyes feeling slightly dizzy. What had happened? Last thing he remembered he was curled up in a ball in Kahwool's concubine's arms, trying to get a grip of himself over the possibility of going back to Musa Minor. As he started, a hand gently pet his head, and he realized that the concubine still was holding him, only now he had been laying in her lap. He sat up and looked around. Both of them were still on the fighter, but the door was open and the others were outside in some docking bay arguing.

"What happened?" Aki turned and looked at the concubine.

"Major Lani and Sergeant Amuri landed the fighter at some trading post. We're going to get fuel and supplies before we head off too… where ever we go." She explained.

So Anura's sister was named Amuri. He wondered what the concubine's name was, but thought it was rude to ask after she had taken care of him. "Did I pass out?"

"Yes." She smiled kindly. "I don't think we should go to that planet if it affects you so."

"We don't have a cho-" Aki started, then shook his head thinking of something. "Hang on… we can't go there…"

He stood up and climbed out of the fighter. The concubine followed him. His head was still spinning, but he had to tell the others what he just realized. He joined them, ignoring their concerned faces when they spotted them.

"We can't go to Musa Minor." Aki repeated.

"Is it too much for you Aki-chan?" Hana asked.

"It's not that. I just realized something. The Mari authorities are looking for me and Kahwool-"

"Lady Kahwool." The concubine corrected.

"Yeah, her." Aki went on. "So they are going to look in the places we know. I've only been to Terran-3, Sheplam, and Musa Minor. That rules them out. So add where ever Lady Kahwool has been and that rules that out as well."

"She had only left the city of Kiev twice." The concubine said softly. "Both times to other Sheplam cities."

"Pono, I can speak for myself." Kahwool said in a sort of bratty whine.

"I apologize."

"So now what?" Lani ignored the exchanged. "Where do we go?"

"Well, what do we know?" Aki placed his hands on his hips. He still wasn't feeling that steady and he needed to feel stabilized. "The Nimba and the Mari want to start a war. Why?"

Lani and Amuri looked at each other then Lani spoke for the both of them. "We don't know. That's the thing, we just do what we're told and we don't really have a handle on galactic politics."

Aki considered that for a bit. "Maybe we're going about this wrong. Why do the Wahco and the Tyro dislike the Mari being in power?"

"Do they?" Amuri blinked. "I mean, sure every noble wants to have more influence but-"

"Think about it. The Tyro and the Wahco tried to rig the Contest so they'd win. But that didn't work. So a plan had been drawn up to stop the wedding between me and Lady Kahwool. Somehow this leaked, so the Minister forced us at gun point to marry early."

"Yeah we know all that already." Hana shook her head. "So what."

"In the coliseum, a Wahconese referee said to me: 'You didn't kill those people, the Minister did'." Aki recalled. "So combine everything. The Wahco and Tyro dislike the Mari and Nimba alliance, and they find the current government system brutal. Add that to the fact we know Mari and Nimba want to take complete control over the Galactic Parliament."

"Behind everyone's backs." Amuri added. "As a common soldier I heard nothing about this."

"So does that mean the Wahco and the Tyro are the good guys?" Hana boiled it all down. "I mean, they wanted to peacefully balance power by winning the Contest, but when that didn't work instead of attacking they just wanted to stop the wedding from happening. Shouldn't be we going to them?"

"Exactly." Aki nodded his head at her.

"The Tyro want peace?" Lani looked doubtful. "Doesn't sound like them."

"But it sounds like the Wahco." Amuri had to admit. "And if the Tyro laid down their arms in the past, who's to say they aren't now? Sure they are competitive but-"

"But what you're talking about is going to them… the enemy." Kahwool butted in, then paused. "Wait… why do I see them as an enemy when we're supposed to be in a Galactic Confederation?"

"Exactly." Aki looked at her. "What have they done to be called enemies?"

"So now what? Even if we go to them, a war will start." Kahwool reminded them. "My Olma will just say they kidnapped us as an excuse."

"What happens if we hide somewhere? War. If we go to them, war. But at least they'll have a heads up, and maybe we won't be held as political prisoners like we would on Sheplam." Aki reasoned.

"All of this is speculation though. We don't really know if the Wahco and the Tyro are as pure as the mountain snow." Hana reminded him.

"True, but I'm willing to gamble on me being right about this." Aki said. "For now, let's break up and take some time to re-fuel and get supplies. We'll all think about it. If anyone else has a better plan we'll meet up here later and discuss it. But for right now, I say we go to a Wahconese ship, station, or planet and turn ourselves over to them."

There was an agreement on this. In order to get all the supplies they would need quicker, Lani and Amuri divided the list and sent out everyone out in groups. Everyone wanted to be with Aki, which was no surprise, but in the end Amuri needed his strength to help lug barrels of fuel. Lani went with Hana to get water and drinks, while Kahwool and Pono went to get the food.

But the fuel wasn't that heavy at all, and it dawned on Aki that Amuri was using that as an excuse to be alone with him. It become more evident that this was the case when she went into a side-shop and asked him to follow her. When he did, he realized it was a rented room, not a shop. He wondered what all this was about, and was fully aware that she was making for the bed in the room.

"What's going on?"

"Aki, I'm out of my depths here." Amuri admitted. "I want to help, but I'm just as useless as the two concubines and your wife."

"Don't say that, you can pilot the fighter, can't you?" Aki didn't even bother to defend the others. They were, afterall, cargo.

"Yes, but so can Major Lani. I bring nothing to the table. Being a solider has the luxury of just doing what you're told and not thinking. This is all too much for me."

"It's too much for everyone." Aki narrowed his eyes at her, feeling she needed someone to be strict with her now. "Do you think it's easy for Kahwool? She's way out of her depth here. But she's doing the best she can. That's all I can ask for. I don't expect you to be some great strategist like your sister. That you're here and helping in whatever way you can is enough."

"It's not!" Amuri shouted at him. "What you need is my sister, not me."

"Well that can't be helped. We'll get by somehow."

Amuri was silent, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Wrapped inside of it was a ball. When she pulled it open, one seed rolled on her palm. Aki's heart seized. He knew without saying that that was one of Anura's seeds.

"I gave the others to my parents." Amuri whispered, reverently looking at her sister's seed. "I kept this one for myself."

"Why do you have that?" Aki asked, looking at the seed. "You're not going to have your sister's baby are you?"

"No!" Amuri looked shocked at the question. "But I can do a transfer."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can use this seed to collect all of Anura's memories from the point she ejected it. It's similar to how you learned the common tongue. Usually when imprinting a seed, one only gives the information they want the seed-carrier to know. But with a seed like this, Anura would have given everything of hers to it, so that a baby maturing could pick and choose lessons and thoughts that would be helpful in life. But if I took it, not to make a baby but to collect memories, I'd have everything."

"Oh." Aki understood now, but figured there was something else to this, other wise Amuri would have used the seed by now. She didn't just pull him inside this room for a sexual partner, as he was sure sex was the only way to activate the seed, judging from his experiences in the past. There was something else. "What are you not telling me?"

"If I accept fully this transfer, I'm allowing Anura's memories to take over. Meaning… Anura will take over. My memories will be like… kind of like a dream she can remember but aren't real. It means I'd be giving up my life so she could live again."

"No." Aki joined her on the bed now and shook his head. He was still slightly dizzy and regretted it. "She wouldn't want you to do that."

"I know she wouldn't. But you need her."

"I don't need her that badly. We have a plan, we'll be fine."

"My life is over anyway." Amuri said after a moment. "I've gone against the Nimbonian military and am giving secrets away to the enemy. That's a traitor. Lani and I will have death sentences. My family has disowned me by now, since they are of a noble house and don't want to be shamed. What do I have to live for?"

"Live for yourself. What about your friends… someone you love."

"There's no one now. You and this pathetic group we have are the only people I have now." Amuri looked at the seed. "Please let me do this. I might not have anyone, but my sister will." She glanced up at him again. "She loved you so much."

Aki felt guilty. The image of Anura's head being chopped off came into his thoughts again. She loved him so much and he killed her. "I can't allow you to take your own life like that."

"I'll still be alive, technically." Amuri pointed out. "And if you won't help me, I'll convince Major Lani or that Pono girl to aid me. But it should be you. Anura would have wanted it to be you."

"No she wouldn't!" Aki stood up again, his head spinning. "She wouldn't want you to give up on life like this!"

"It's not a life I want!" Amuri stood also. "Scraping by, being called a traitor, and constantly having to look at you for help. Every time you look at me, you feel guilty for killing my sister. I hate it. And I have a whole life waiting for me of you looking at me like that. I want to do this. Not just for you but for me too. I want to give my sister one final gift."

"Amuri…"

"Will you help me or not. If you say no, I'll find a way of doing it anyway…"

Aki looked down at his bear-fur trimmed boots. It was against everything he was to go along with this. But Amuri was right in one thing. Anura wouldn't want something so private and special to be shared with a common concubine. Without another word, he went over to the bed and took off his boots, then pulled off his bottoms. Amuri watched him for a moment, then joined him on the bed and did the same.

"You'll have to plant it inside of me, then… then we rub genitals." Amuri explained. "It'll work when I… when I feel good."

"Should I get the seed wet first." Aki was closing his mind off to the screaming panic he was feeling. He had to be strong now. Amuri was giving up her life for him, he couldn't act like a baby.

"Yeah. It'll go in easier."

Aki did as he was told. Not only did he use his mouth to get the seed wet, but he did the same to her lower region as well. After he planted the seed, Amuri breathed in, clearly bracing herself. Then they had sex. Even though he was against doing this, it still was sex, and it did feel good. Amuri seemed to giving in to the sensation, as if allowing herself to experience one last good thing before she faded. Her eyes were shut, probably imagining someone else doing these things to her. It didn't take very long for her body to tremble and within moments she was flopping on the bed quivering in pleasure.

Aki, having not finished himself, stopped and waited. He wondered if all of this business was true. His body ached to be pleasured, but his curiosity overruled his primal urges. Amuri curled up in a ball, still experiencing her orgasm, her breath quivering. Then she sat up, her eyes wide. She looked around in panic, then looked at Aki. For a brief moment they stared at each other, then Amuri's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell back down. Aki crawled over her to feel her pulse, but she had just passed out.

Was that Amuri who looked at him, or was that Anura. He didn't know. He realized part of him was scared for either outcome. If the transfer failed, Amuri would have lost her precious seed and would have to live with the guilt of roping him into this. But if it worked, what would it be like if Anura was back? Would she be angry at him for what he had done?

A hour went by, and Amuri was still asleep. He was starting to wonder if he should try and wake her up. The group would probably be wondering why they hadn't returned yet. But she seemed out for the count. To fill time he re-dressed her, and dressed himself, after he solved his primal urges on his own. But now he had nothing to do by wait for her to wake up. SO he laid down beside her, looking at the ceiling. How would the others react if it worked. How would he?