way to work on this together?
Except that the Colonel hadn’t shown any intentions to work on anything with me. I hadn’t caught a hint of any romantic feelings from him, not a trace of a desire to build some understanding between us. Of course, my judgy rhetoric didn’t help the matter, either.
The way things were going, I didn’t think any kind of a relationship would ever be possible between us, not even that of an employee and an employer. And with the children not being here, I had no idea what my true purpose in this house could be.
The thoughts pounding in my skull made my head spin. Worry proved exhausting. I stifled a yawn. It wasn’t that late in the night yet, but I felt tired.
“You said you’ve unpacked my things?” I asked Omni.
“Yes. This way please.”
The robot rolled behind a planter with a tall lattice covered in vines. It served as a screen, hiding an arched entryway into a large room, which I recognized as a humongous closet.
“Your bathroom is this way.” An arrow pointing to the right appeared on Omni’s screen. “I’ve added your clothes to the rest.”
“The rest?” I stared at the rows upon rows of hangers lining the walls from the floor to the rounded skylight in the ceiling.
A white, round couch stood in the middle of the colorful rug on the floor. Shelves of shoes, all shaped for human feet, surrounded it.
“Whose clothes are these?” I asked, admiring the bright fabrics that shimmered under the strings of lights intertwined with flower garlands under the ceiling.
“Yours,” Omni replied. “The Colonel ordered them as soon as your sizes had been confirmed.”
“So, he didn’t bother to write a single word to me, but he made sure to obtain my dress size?”
“And shoe size, too,” Omni added, matter-of-factly. “As the head of the Voranian Army, the Colonel attends a number of high-profile public events and social functions. As his wife, you will be accompanying him. It is important you’re dressed appropriately.”
“Right. The Colonel is pretty high up in the ranks, isn’t he?”
I slid my hand along the soft, glistening material of the clothes on the hangers. Maybe that was the purpose of my being here? The Colonel needed a female escort to formal galas and such. If so, he’d made a huge mistake by choosing me. Mingling with high society was not one of my strengths. He would have known that had he read that letter I wrote.
“Colonel Kyradus currently holds the highest rank in the Voranian Army. He was promoted just over a year ago, after successfully leading the operation that ended the fescods’ invasion in Voran.”
“Fescods?”
“The semi-intelligent species from the planet Tragul. They had almost entirely occupied their planet, then invaded Neron by landing in Voran eleven years and three months ago. The Colonel’s actions on Tragul weakened the fescod forces enough to withdraw from Neron entirely.”
An image of the space blob, identical to those attacking the Colonel in the video he’d sent to me, appeared on Omni’s screen.
“Fescods,” Omni said in a somber voice. “They caused a long and devastating war in Voran. The Colonel’s heroic actions last year ultimately led to our victory.”
“Wow,” I gasped softly, rather impressed. “The Colonel is not just the Army Commander but also a war hero. So many details were not included in the information package I received from the Committee.”
“The Committee shared only the basic facts. However, when your request for more information was received, the Colonel ordered me to send the recording of his moment of glory. Not sure if the video reached you, as we were told you had already left for Neron by then.”
“It did reach me.” I sat down on the round couch in the middle of the closet room. “I watched it on the spaceship, shortly before my arrival here.”
The video that terrified me was apparently that of the Colonel’s “moment of glory.” It must be his way of telling me more about himself, not to intentionally scare me away. Though, a brief message to accompany the video would’ve been very useful at that time.
My headache had only intensified after all of this.
“I’ll think about all of it tomorrow, Omni. I really would love to go to sleep, right now.”
“Absolutely.” Omni’s agreeable voice flowed smoothly. “Good night and pleasant dreams, Madam Kyradus. I’m shutting off this unit now, but if you need anything at all, just say my name.”
The stick rolled to the charging base by the wall, then the screen went black.
GREVAR
Fully