When We Connect (Previously: Connections Are Strength)

Chapter 16 - Respite

Sheera groaned and lifted a hand to her forehead. This is the worst kriffing headache I've had in my life, she thought.

As soon as she returned her arm to her side, she realized she was lying down, untethered. Not wanting to open her eyes right away, she lay still and observed her surroundings through sound and smell.

The tang of salt water filled her nostrils first. I don't remember Anaxes having any oceans. The sound of the waves filtered into the room next, confirming the fact that she had been taken to some watery planet.

Have the Imperials moved me to some other base? Will the interrogations and torture continue? Her stomach lurched at the thought of more rounds of needles and syringes, and she promptly rolled over on her side to vomit.

"Shhh, it's okay Sheera. Let your body expel the toxins which have been injected into your system."

Sheera snapped her eyes open when she heard Tech's soothing voice. His large, dexterous hands were holding the hair off her neck and stroking her back.

"Tech?" she rasped, her throat feeling like sandpaper. "But, how..."

Tech interrupted her, running his thumb over her cheek.

"You're safe now," he said, his voice strained. "Hunter and I got you out of the Imperial detention facility."

"They told me the Marauder had gone and I thought..." Sheera's voice caught in her throat and her eyes misted over at the memory of the hopelessness she felt while in the holding cell. "I thought you all left me," she whispered.

"Oh, cyare, I'm so sorry." Tech caressed her face, his eyes glistening. "Some of the squad wanted to complete the mission first, but I told them I wasn't leaving the planet without you."

He drew her into his chest and held her close. She wrapped her arms around him and clung to him with all her strength.

Once again, Sheera lost herself in the safety of Tech's protective arms. The man who refused to leave her behind had risked capture, torture and death to save her, and she would never forget that sacrifice. Breathing in the scent of his skin, she clung tighter to him, vowing that nothing in the galaxy would ever keep her from the refuge of his embrace.

After a while, she pulled away to look around the room.

"Where are we?"

It seemed to her something like a hotel or lodge; besides the bed she lay on, there was a small kitchenette along one wall and a sofa and chair in the opposite corner facing a large open window. Through a door on the opposite wall, she could see a refresher.

When she glimpsed the scenery through the window, she exhaled in awe. Golden sand stretched out to the edge of a foamy green sea and the rising sun was climbing steadily above the horizon.

Sheera looked back at Tech's face to see him smiling broadly.

"We're on the planet Niamos. Omega and I convinced Hunter that the squad could do with a bit of a respite." He adjusted his goggles before continuing. "We happened to be in this sector already, so we found lodgings here for the rest of the week. Besides, Niamos is a pretty easy place to avoid detection, if even for a little while."

Sheera grinned, then paused. Furrowing her brow, she said, "How long have I been out of it?"

Tech's countenance became somber. "Two days. I can't say for sure what compounds the Imperials used on you, but it took them a while to get out of your system."