Page 16 of Koha'vek
“I don’t have enough information to make that calculation. It will probably depend on what else is happening within his organization and how important it is to him to have you under his control.”
I shook my head. “That’s anyone’s guess. It was important enough for him to send someone after all these weeks. I don’t think it will be long before someone else comes.”
“If they come back, I will kill them. Or they will kill me.”
His words settled over me like a bucket of ice water. “I don’t want them to kill you. I don’t want to bury you in the ground because Jenkins wants a prize to display on his arm back in town.”
Koha’vek’s expression was unreadable, but his voice was low and steady. “I would die to keep you safe.”
I shook my head. “Koha’vek, I don’t want you to lay down your life. I want us to have a life together.”
As he looked up at me, I could see a flicker of hope beneath his stoic surface. “It is my wish, too.”
“Then, what should we do?”
“We may need to go deeper into the wilderness and find another place to dwell,” he suggested.
“You mean run?I’ve already lost one home; I don’t want to lose this one too.”
“I understand. I've enjoyed the life I've made here, and even more so now that I've you to share it with. I do not think it is worth making war to keep it. I brought my weapons with me. I could kill them all. What do you thinkwould happen if I did that?”
I looked at him. A vision of men hunting Koha’vek flashed through my mind. Word of his presence would bring the legendary cyborgs. If they didn’t kill him, they would take Koha’vek away, and I would still lose him.
“You’re right. I would rather lose this place than lose you.”
“Our meal is ready,” Koha’vek said, removing the spit from the fire.
I started to say I’d set the table, then saw he’d already done it. I smiled at the rustic table and two chairs Koha’vek had made. He constructed the table of small, split logs tied together with deer hide cordage. It was just big enough for us to eat together like civilized people.
Using an animal hide to protect my hand from the heat, I lifted the small iron kettle from its hook and carried it to the table. Koha’vek removed the carcass from the spit and cut it into pieces using a sharp, lethal-looking knife.
I ladled the vegetables into two wooden bowls at the table. Koha’vek brought the meat to the table on a small wooden platter, and then we both sat in our respective chairs.
“If we have to leave, where would we go?” I asked.
“Before I settled here, I scouted some places south of here, deep in an unsettled partof the wilderness. I would have to build a dwelling.” He said, putting a choice piece of meat on the plate beneath my bowl. “I still have the hovercraft I stole from the base to get there.”
“What about Dotty?”
“I’m afraid she would have to walk, but we can get her there,” he assured me.
“Okay,” I nodded. “We can make a home wherever we can be together.”
“Including your horse.” Koha’vek smiled slightly, then put a piece of the meat into his mouth.
After our meal, Koha’vek went back to working on a chair he was making for me to sit by the fire. Since the weather was mild, he went outside to work. I went out to visit Dotty. Then I got a small basket I’d made from vines to forage around the cabin for herbs and vegetables.
I didn’t feel comfortable going too far from the cabin after my encounter with Jenkins’s henchmen. I found enough variety for a nice salad that would pair well with the grouse Koha’vek had snared in one of his traps. It was a quiet, lovely day going about the business of living.
It was dark and colder outside when we finished our meal.Koha’vek fed the fire, and I took care of the dishes.I prepared a pot of herbal tea to boil over the fire, then got out the deer hide jacket I’d started sewing for myself. Koha’vek insisted the patchwork coat I wore when he found me would not serve me for another winter.
We were sipping hot tea and chatting casually when the cabin door opened with a soft creaking sound. Koha’vek jumped up, and I gasped at the dark specter standing in the doorway.
I jumped up, letting my work fall on the floor, and gripped Koha’vek’s arm. “Who are you, and what do you want?”
The specter stepped inside and retracted his dark helmet to reveal a handsome, dark-haired man nearly as tall as Koha’vek.
“Why are you here?” I demanded again.
