“Choices made lightly darken the heart.” Tropa Shi’nese

Besh rolled to the side of his bed with a low moan. He sat on the edge with his hands covering his eyes. It seemed early and late at the same time. He wouldn’t mind missing breakfast, but he desperately needed a cup of coffee and a pain pill.

“Ow!” he said slowly.

The parasite spoke with an annoying cheeriness. “Driscoll is quite the woman.”

Besh answered, “I hurt everywhere. I shouldn’t have listened to you.”

“Admit it,” said the parasite. “You had the time of your life.”

Besh lashed out. “Pirini, please!”

“Do you always talk to yourself?” That voice was not the parasite.

With a start, Besh turned in the bed to look behind him. Yikes! he thought, she’s still here! He pulled the blanket up protectively.

Besh stammered. “I thought you were gone.”

Driscoll stretched under the covers and stifled a yawn with her hand. “That was just a nap, dear. Time for mornsies.”

His arm was in her grip. Her smile was absolutely wicked. Besh rued his lack of decisiveness as his heart beat hard in his chest. He was pulled back in, with no strength to resist. The night had been wild; Driscoll had bent him in unimaginable ways until his very soul was bruised. Besh closed his eyes and envisioned himself walking like a cowboy for the rest of his life.

Showered and dressed, Besh sat in a lounge sofa facing his room. The Elite filed from the shower room, towel-clad and lost in conversation. Besh could not look them in the eye. Instead, he hid his eyes behind a hand. Hack sat across from Besh and ran a simple razor around his head.

“Rough night?” asked Hack.

How did he know? Besh was shocked and ashamed. He looked into the man’s knowing grin and hid his eyes once more. Hack went to his room; Besh sighed. Simone and Saltry filled seats near the shower and continued an ongoing conversation. Olaf joined them. Besh listened without hearing.

He had never felt so whipped in his life. Besh was a conquered man. He envisioned a helpless mouse in the paws of a cat, neither eaten outright nor allowed to escape. Besh sat with his back to Driscoll’s room. Perhaps, he thought, if there was no eye contact, she would walk past him without taking note.

Hack was back. He took the seat across from Besh and fussed with the buttons on his shirt. Besh was still hiding behind his hand when Driscoll walked from her room, pulled his face up to hers, and planted a lip lock. There were hoots from the team members and laughter that made Besh blush. Then came the voice of Heaven.

“Here now!” said Heaven. “What’s this?”

Driscoll walked toward Heaven with a smile, she answered in a deep casual voice, as Besh turned to see Heaven standing at the entrance. For some strange reason, Besh felt guilty and turned away from Heaven’s eyes.

“You were busy with the King,” said Driscoll. “I just borrowed him for the night. I’ve returned him in pristine condition, a better man for the experience.”

Driscoll placed a hand on Heaven’s shoulder and searched her eyes. Heaven cleared her throat, and Driscoll turned to her team.

“Breakfast in five,” she said. “Eat light, and be quick. The King has given us his personal training room for the morning. Cadet Shi’nese will be your guide.”

Driscoll marched from the room. Simone, Saltry, and Olaf jumped happily to their feet and followed. Heaven walked past Besh to the showers without looking at him, unzipping the jumpsuit as she went. That left Besh and Hack facing one another. Hack smiled.

“Shall we?” asked Hack.

Besh confessed, with an embarrassed smile, “I don’t think I can walk.”

Hack stood and extended a hand down to Besh. “I know how that is,” answered Hack.

The King’s personal training room hosted some of his crew's officers, who wrestled on mats. Besh sat on a side bench away from the action. He felt comfortable to sit and observe. The Elite team emerged from a dressing room wearing gym tights. They wasted no time. Driscoll sparred with Hack, Saltry wrestled and pinned Olaf, while Simone teamed up with an officer of Sam’s crew.

The parasite said to Besh, “I can make you feel better.”

Besh answered quietly, “I should not have listened to you.”

The parasite said, “There is an energy outlet in the wall beside you. Lower the cover, and tap the center. All your aches and pains will melt away.”

Besh stood with a sigh. He stood with his back to the outlet and reached behind himself. He lowered the cover and lightly tapped the center pad. A charge shot through Besh, enough to make him itch.

“Again,” said the parasite.

Besh tapped repeatedly. He could feel the parasite grow stronger. Strangely, Besh was strengthened by the parasite’s well-being. His aches, his weakness, all the morning’s ills flew away. Besh was glad he did not short out the lighting. Team members had changed sparring partners, and some of the officers had left the room when Sam and Heaven came through the main entrance. Heaven was dressed in attractive gym tights, Sam wore a one-piece outfit that exposed his brawny arms and legs.

Sam walked to the center of the room and whistled loudly for attention. The team gathered quietly as Sam looked around. Sam spotted Besh standing by the wall and called loudly.

“Besh, my friend,” he called. “Please join us.”

There was no avoiding it. Besh walked forward under the pressure of a collective gaze. He avoided Driscoll’s smiling face, preferring to look at his shoes.

The parasite said, “I got you, buddy.”

Besh answered, “Yeah, right.”

Everyone smiled at Besh with the exception of Heaven. Her narrowed eyes peeled away the layers of his being. His flesh fell away until his soul lay flayed at her feet. He felt naked before the young woman and turned for cover into Sam’s attention.

The King addressed them. “Besh is the reason we are here today.”

Eyes wide, Besh looked from one face to another. Most were as surprised as he was. He looked back at the King trying to ask a question with knitted brows. 

Sam continued. “Besh and I are bonded. We both are host to the Pirini, a parasite that gives Orlain’s bloodline an advantage of speed and strength, of precision and foreknowing.”

Olaf, with raised hand, asked, “Is Besh royalty?”

“No,” said Sam. “My friend is an accidental host.” Sam looked into the old man’s eyes. “I wish to know the extent of his capabilities.”

The King paused to let the information sink in. Simone asked, “So, this is like a test?”

Sam replied, “I will ask one of you to fight with Besh.”

Besh swallowed hard. He looked about into the faces of the Elite. He saw confusion on the faces of Simone, Saltry, and Olaf. Driscoll and Hack seemed to consider the prospect. Besh did not want to tangle with Driscoll; he was all too aware of her predatory nature. On the other hand, Hack was a mountain of a man. Besh turned in sudden desperation to the King.

“I’m not a fighter,” pleaded Besh.

Heaven said, “I’ll do it.”

Shocked, Besh turned to the young woman and gaped. Her face showed no emotion. It was a mask of stone. Her eyes fixed on his with a singularly narrow aim. Was she angry at him? Besh was lost in the moment with nowhere to turn for help.

“Let’s give them room,” said the King. He turned and said to Heaven, “Don’t hold back.”

As the King and the Elite stepped back, Besh found his voice, and said, “I don’t want to fight you. Heaven.”

Heaven jumped and spun in midair. Besh saw her foot coming toward his head. He bent to the left, stepped back, and spun away on his right foot. No sooner had he found his balance, than he was forced to leap back. Heaven’s fist sliced the air in front of his face. Besh saw the bend in her knees as her spin continued. He knew her other foot was coming.

Besh spun sideways. It seemed surreal. His body turned through the air with a mind of its own. He landed crouched as Heaven’s foot sliced above his head. Besh took Heaven’s lower ankle in his hand and stood. Heaven landed on her back. Besh held both her ankles firmly so that she could not rise. She panted from her exertion.

“Enough,” said Sam.

Besh released the woman’s ankles and stepped back, heart racing. Besh heard hands clapping behind him. He turned to see Driscoll bringing her hands together loudly. He looked into unadulterated admiration on the team member’s faces. That was fleeting, quickly followed by wide staring eyes. He sensed a tingling prick at the base of his skull and turned.

Heaven’s fist sliced past his head as he dodged. He spun backward, moving around Heaven’s back to catch her with his elbow. Her spin brought her directly into the force of his arm as it landed across her collar bone. She fell on her back with a grunt, then rolled back over her head and jumped to her feet.

Heaven stepped forward and lunged. Her hands caught Besh at the shoulders and tightened. The inertia carried Besh backward. Surprising himself yet again, Besh pressed with his toes and somersaulted through the air. 

Heaven landed with her back to the mat. Besh braced himself to avoid landing atop the young woman. His hands were at her sides. Besh landed with a foot beside the woman and a knee between her legs. Panting heavily, staring apologies into her eyes, Besh leaned back and accepted the proffered hand of the King.

“That will do,” said the King.

Sam reached down to haul Heaven upright. Without a word, Heaven walked from the training room. Besh followed Heaven with his eyes as she left. He attempted to still his panting. Behind him, Besh heard the team applauding.

He heard Olaf exclaim, “My! God!”

A hand on his shoulder, shaking him, was Driscoll’s. “The wizard of HP954,” she said with a happy laugh.

Besh looked from Driscoll to Sam, a question in his eyes. Sam met his eyes with a positive assessment. He said to Besh, “You are the soiled golden apple.” He turned to Driscoll and said, “You took a bite from her trophy.”

Besh watched Driscoll’s face go slack. She looked toward the door, then dropped her hand, sighed, and followed Heaven. Besh was confused. He looked to the King for an explanation. Sam slapped his back with a meaty palm and turned to the team.

“Please, avail yourselves of the training room. Eat well. Rest well. Tomorrow, you deploy.” Sam turned from the team, his hand still on the old man’s back, and said “Come. Let’s talk.”