In the Name of the Empire: Ep. 3

Spaceport 1, Katarn Prime:

"I've bargained my honor in the army to escort you here," said Commander Pacorr Kay Naweth, First Officer of the Katarn Warship Nissardi. "So gimme that big Naweth smile, and a big hug."

Desi and Pelra, 6- and 7-year old daughters of Commander Naweth, jumped on their father, ears folded, tails wrapped around their father's waist, sobbing. "C'mon, I wanna see you girls smile. Smile for Daddy, will ya?"

"Now I've to deal with their tear- and mucus-drenched dresses," said Radirra, Pacorr's wife. "I've told you your escort is not necessary."

"I know you hate me for leaving for the war," Parcorr pried his daughters arms and tails to let them down, "but I now need that tenderness you've shown me the first years we were in love. At least, have some now for our daughters sake. They are very much your flesh and blood too."

"It's always your daughters!" Radirra dropped her luggage on the floor. "I'm not one of your crewmen! You have no right to command anything out of me." She shut her mouth with her hand. She had all the look of a person who didn't intend to say what she just said. Her eyes brimming with tears, feeling afraid, angry and ultimately confused.

Parcorr drew his wife into his arms. Radirra wept like her husband is already dead. "You're going to die," she said, "and I hate myself for not loving you better. I hate myself for being angry at you. For being a jealous wife ... Oh ..."

"Hush, woman," Pacorr ran his fingers into Radirra's long, white hair. "No one's going to die. I will be back. I promise you, I will not return with a princess from Ur, awrite?"

"I never have the courage to ask you," Radirra lifted her head to look her husband in the eyes, "but this might be my last chance: Have you ever ... ever have another woman?"

"No."

"You sure?"

Pacorr kissed her deeply. Their tails interlocked. If only a small room was nearby, they would go there now. A strange place and time to feel horny for one another, but they did. Jealousy is simply another face of passion and love.

"Oh, Aroth!" Radirra held her husband's chest close to her cheek. "Aroth will keep you, or I'll be your avenging angel."

The speakers blared, Mrs. Naweth. Please, report to Platform 5. Transport will depart in 3 minutes. I repeat: Mrs. Naweth ...

A crowd is growing at the closed glass doors, threatening to break through. Families already in the terminal were beginning to sprint to their designated platform for priority checkouts. Economics at work even at the brink of war.

"I've to get back to my shuttle," Pacorr pushed her daughters towards their mother. "Go!" And he took off in the opposite direction of the rush.

Radirra sat her children in their compartment, and looked out the porthole to make for a view of Pacorr's military shuttle. It should be up in the atmosphere now, heading straight for the Nissardi. She whispered, "I'm sorry ... I really thought you were like every other men." She wept once more. Could she blame her friends now at the social club for what they fed her about the nature of men? She could only blame herself when she slept with a number of Pacorr's subordinates throughout the years. And she thought she was avenging herself. The word cunt kept playing in her mind.