KETTY'S SUBDIVISION Wattys2017

Chapter 16-Part I

Ketty looked into Kato's eyes and said, "It's a long story."

"We have plenty of time, so tell me. We've been in near space for over a month, don't you think it's time to talk?" The rebel star ship Kestral pounded like a marauder through the inky blackness of space. Unknown to the handful of people on board, the fate of the Subdivision, and possibly the Galaxy hung in the balance. Up until now, it was simply a matter of survival and trying to right something gone terribly wrong, but throughout history, it was the efforts of brave men and women which determined the survival of Empires. Sometimes a person could be led by their ideals and set aside friendship or personal safety to answer a higher calling. They were willing to sacrifice everything to bring their dream to fruition, even if what they were doing only seemed right to them. Traitors, terrorists, martyrs. These were some of the names people with such ideals had been called. Did it make them right? Only in their own minds. For Ketty, her one fault was she trusted people too easily, but Kato was not one of those people.

"I've never told anyone, not even Rayleen." Ketty squirmed under his unflinching gaze, as if a fist were pressing on her chest, making it hard to breath. Not that he was condescending or harsh, but she wasn't used to his sympathy.

"Come on, you can trust me," said Kato. She hated the way he made her feel, and she moved over to a couch across the room, as if distance would change the fact they were stuck together for two more months. She didn't want to be attracted to him. There wasn't time, there wasn't room in her heart, and it went against everything she had fought for all these years. His mere presence made her feel out of control which she was unaccustomed to, in fact it scared her. Lately, his indifference to others seemed to have faded into a painful memory, like he actually cared about a person's feelings, but how did she know if it was genuine? All this was in her head, having nothing to do with the conversation.

"You know we moved from another solar system," she asked rhetorically, changing the subject, and trying to put him off guard? From the day she arrived on Karabellum, he had berated her mercilessly, calling her a half breed and a freak.

"Yea, it was three years ago. You were fourteen," he laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"You were the strangest person I ever met, but I respected that."

"How so?" Ketty was getting angry now and she tried to calm herself.

"No matter how much I teased you, you didn't care. Everyone else fit in somewhere, but you Ketty, you march to a different drum."

"If you're trying to flatter me it's not working. Why don't you be honest, Kato, you were the rudest person in the entire school. And you were cruel . Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I don't know, maybe I matured." It was a lame excuse and they both knew it.

"Well," Ketty grimaced, "I'm not so sure about that. What I didn't tell you, or anyone is, we moved from the Jar-sedan Subdivision during the robot rebellion." Kato fished mindlessly through a bowl of snacks while he tried to process the information, but she didn't need to see his face to know he was caught off guard.

"That Subdivision was... no one survived... they banned Artificial Intelligence and destroyed all the robots."

"Now you're getting the picture," she said with smug satisfaction. "Only a few of us got out alive and every bot was destroyed, except Boondock."

"Did someone call my name?" Her little man came bouncing around the corner, half skipping, half running.

"You haven't been eavesdropping, have you?"

"No, my keen sense of hearing is only augmented by a more sophisticated algorithm to mind my own business." He smiled innocently, waiting for a reply. "Besides, Purline and I have been playing chess to pass the time. I do say it is rather boring out in space."

"You don't know the half of it," she said sarcastically. "Get me a drink of water, then give us some privacy."

"As you wish, Mistress." He ran over to the food processor and punched in his order. "By the way, I thought we were supposed to keep that story secret, weren't we?"

"Boondock! You were listening."

"Listening and minding my own business are two separate things..."

"All right, get out of here and keep your mouth shut as you promised." Kato was pushed back in the couch like Boondock had the plague but he held his tongue until the bot was gone.

"He's a renegade bot..." Ketty lunged across the room and clamped her hand over his mouth, sending the couch flying backwards where they landed in a heap.

What do you think of their relationship now?

Do they stand a chance?

Are they right for each other?

Will they make it?

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