She Bleeds for Us: The Galactic Consortium 3

Chapter 28

The Kurgara barracks were almost entirely empty when Devaki arrived home from work a few days later. Almost but not entirely. Kandra was there, showering. The kurgara were accustomed to having little or no privacy amongst themselves and the showers were open.

Kandra turned as Devaki walked by. "There's plenty of hot water if you want."

It was more than an invitation to shower, Kandra was always horny when zie got back from a mission, but Devaki was hardly in the mood for such things. Zie shook hir head no and went to hir bunk, laying down.

Kandra came over a few moments later, a towel in one hand. "Hard day at the office?"

"That I have to be at the office," Devaki groused. "Your mission?" For all hir grumbling, zie was interested.

"Nothing that exciting," Kandra said. "The men of North Sudan won't move across the border, they fear Consortium reprisal. And they should. They tried to sneak a few special forces past the border but Ganaka called them out right away."

"I heard," Devaki said.

Kandra swatted Devaki with hir wet towel. "Scoot over," zie commanded. "Least you can do is cuddle me till someone else gets home."

It was, Devaki thought, the least zie could do. Zie moved so that Kandra, still naked, could lay down next to hir. Devaki put an arm around Kandra's shoulder. "So, long boring assignment, or so I'm to believe."

Zie didn't believe it. Zie believed that all hir kurgara sisters were out there on the front lines of the unrest while zie was stuck on base. They just didn't want to tell hir stories, make hir feel worse about hir confinement than zie already did.

"Yes, it was. My skin is dark enough to fit in with the locals. We got a friendly village up by the border. They will say I'm one of them if bad people from either side come."

"And you spy on the border?"

Kandra made a noise of frustration. "I listen to their gossip. 'Old fashion scouting,' Lieutenant Jardin calls it. But, yes, I call it boring." After a pause zie added. "Lakora says that I should confide in you."

"That you love me above all others?" Devaki joked.

"I do," Kandra said, poking Devaki in the side. "You know that. If you asked me to be monogamous I'd consider it."

"For ten minutes, tops." Devaki and Kandra had never been regular lovers, but they were close in other ways and this teasing was nothing new. And Kandra was pathological opposed to being true to one person. It went against hir very nature.

"Ten minutes," Kandra replied. "That's longer than I'd think about it for anyone else."

"True," Devaki conceded.

Kandra wiggled against Devaki's side, making hirself comfortable. "It's the villagers. They suffer, even without a war. Food supplies are low. They trade across the border all the time, technically its black market, but what choice do they have. Only now..."

"They can't." Devaki was beginning to understand what Lakora wanted Devaki to do. "And you want to help."

"Jardin says that is not our mission. Besides Consortium food rations will raise suspicion in that region."

"Sittamanu is almost indistinguishable from Cassava," Devaki said. "Maybe some mycobactim..."

"And water purification rings. Maybe some water collectors, to trap condensation? It's a pretty arid region."

"It's all got a fit in your pack, you know," Devaki grumbled. "And Jardin's already got his eye on me."

"I know, I know. I just worry about these people. You've never seen poverty quite like it, not back home, that's for sure."

Two others came into the barracks, interrupting their conversation. "I'll see what I can do," Devaki said quietly before letting Kandra go to greet the others.