12 Hours Leave

12 Hours Leave

Nai’sha flipped through the pages of the book and curled up in the chair. They had all needed a bit of time to unwind. . . . It will be nice to set aside the war for a while, even if only for a few minutes.

Her orders had their transport stopping over at a Rogue Trader station for 24 hours, and she had ordered her crew to take at least 12 hours of downtime. They needed it.

“Nai’sha?” She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. Her honour guard, Ki’ae, stood behind her. “Most of the Cadre has gone onto the station. I was about to follow them.” He bowed. “Would you like to come with me?”

She smiled and shook her head. “No, it’s alright, I’m more then content to curl up with my book and read. Go on. You need time off as much as anyone.”

“Nai’sha . . “ His gaze tracked towards the sash of violet fabric she wore, tied around her arm; the symbol of mourning. The entire empire mourned the death of Shas’el Tyr’es, sister to Commander Shassera; but to Nai’sha it was something a little more personal. It wasn’t just the one death on Medusa V, it was all the death, all the blood spilt that could have been avoided. In a way, it was the death of innocence, and idealism. The massacre at the crest, the taking of the Gue’la navigators. . . . war doesn’t make this right. . . How many died, and for what? To find out something we already knew, the Warp is no place for our people.

She managed a smile. “Ki’ae, it’s alright. Go, have fun. I’m just going to curl up with my book.”

He nodded. “Nai’sha. . . are you sure?”

“Of course.” She waved him off with her hand. “What could go wrong? I’m not going anywhere, this is the first time I’ve gotten a chance to read something that’s not a report or one of those damn letters in over a month.”

“I see.” He sighed. “Very well, then.” He bowed again, and left. Good, now he’ll stop buzzing around like his usual overprotective self and actually –enjoy- his leave instead of just staying near me. She found the bookmark – how long had it been since she had read this last? It must have been before her duties on Medusa, that was sure.

She found the bookmark and flipped the book open to the right page. It was nice to have at least a few hours leave, at the very least.

---

She couldn’t help but gape. I’m going to kill him. The cargo bay had been totalled, crates melted, walls melted and scorched with energy blasts. . . . the human stationmaster was standing beside her, understandably less then pleased. Of all the people to get into trouble. . . I never thought Ki’ae would be the instigator. Reports had it that he had been brawling with a human – with the human in power armour and him in his Mecha. I’m really going to hurt him. . . And both of them had been . . . she frowned, trying to remember how the human had defined the situation. . . . ‘drunk off their asses,’ were the words that had been used.

I think I’ll have to have words with my honour guard. . . . well, ‘words’ might be putting it mildly. She realized the stationmaster was speaking to her. “ . . . as you can see, commander, the damage is extensive. I’ve spoken to the commander of the human in question, and –“

Nai’sha held up a hand to forstall any future conversation. This wasn’t what I meant by ‘go have fun.’ She scowled. I’m going to hurt him. “I do aplogize for the behaviour of my pilot,” she bowed to the stationmaster. “Please convey that to the commander of the human involved, as well.”

He sighed. “It’s not just your pilot, commander, reports say that it was impossible to tell who started what. Though I will relay your message.”

“May I see my pilot?” She asked with a nod. The stationmaster frowned and nodded in return.

And I’ll have to drill Ki’ae out for this . . . She sighed. So much for my book. . .