Disclaimers:  All characters are mine.

Resistance of Memories

by

AJ Marks

Part 6

Fulton set his fighter down in the woods not far away from where the battle had occurred and patiently waited for anyone to follow him.  After he had destroyed two of his fellow wing mates they seemed to retreat back to the ship.  He was not sure, as his communications had been cut off so he did not know what was happening.  He had no way of knowing that once the one transport had departed the planet along with the surviving orbiting ships the Peree captain had called off the attack.  The captain figured that their target would be on that transport, not still on the planet.

Fulton jumped down after waiting a few more minutes to make sure that no one was pursuing him.  He looked around where he had landed and noticed that there was a small stream nearby, so he would at least probably have fresh water and there might be some eatable fish in the stream as well.  He powered down his fighter and looked it over for damage to any of the components and found nothing so his fighter would be in working order in case they came back after him.  They had to know that they did not destroy him in the battle and he figured that it would only be a matter of time before the came after him again.

The fighter was not equipped with any survival gear so Fulton had to look around for something to make a shelter out of.  He glanced at the sky and noticed that it would become dark soon, and that he would probably need shelter for the night.  Some of the memories that had come back were of him camping outdoors on his home world, this planet was a bit different, but the same rules probably applied.

The shelter took him a while and it was a bit of mindless work but the physical aspect of the work allowed him to concentrate on something other than the memories that threatened to consume him.  As he finished he looked at the small little tent-like structure that he had created.  It would be big enough for him and he had dug a couple of fire pits.  One was a perimeter fire to keep any animals away and another two would be for cooking and keeping warm if it was needed during the night.

He had tested the water and knew that it was safe for him to drink and he had seen some sort of fish swimming in the water.  He took off his shirt and waded into the water and stood perfectly still and waited.  It did not take to long before a fish swam to his legs looking for something eat in the shadows of his body.  With a swiftness that made him such a deadly pilot he reached down and plucked the fish up out of the water and tossed it onto the bank.

A glance at the sun confirmed his thoughts that the sun would be down soon and that it could be getting cold soon.  He would need to start his other fires as he already had a main one going.

He was correct in that it did get cold once the sun sent down and the wind had started to pick up.  The fish was good and he still had some left for breakfast in the morning.  He now had some time to recall some of the memories that had come through and the memories of what he had done.

He could not believe how easily he had been turned as a Peree instrument of conquest.  It sickened him the more he thought about it and he wondered if he would ever be able to show his face anywhere again.  A slight rain began to fall and it only added to his mood of depression as he moved under his small shelter.

For the third time he woke up with a start by the images of innocent faces calling him a murderer and wanting their revenge on him.  After the third time he decided that sleep would be too evasive and he would try to concentrate on something else other that sleep.  He noticed that the rain had picked a bit more and that the temperature had dropped some more when he heard it.

He strained against the other noises to see if he could hear it again.  He tried to drown out the sounds from the rain and the fire and see if he could hear it again.  There it was, very faint but defiantly intelligent, and it sounded like it was in trouble.

He could have ignored it and let nature take its course, but his conscious would not let him.  He got up and walked toward the sound.  The sound was not very loud and not very often but he knew that he was getting closer by the strengthening of the voice.  Looking back he could still see the light of his fire and knew that he still had a way back to his campsite.

He stepped into a small clearing and noticed an unusual silhouette against one of the trees.  It was then he realized what the noise was, crying.  He carefully approached the figure and noticed that it was a female and that her clothes were obviously wet and she looked hurt.

"Um, hello!"  Fulton said quietly not wanting to startle her.  She jumped anyways and Fulton staggered back when she looked up.  Those eyes, those green eyes were staring at her.

Kadti almost jumped clear out of the forest when she heard the sound.  She was wet, hungry, cold and alone, or so she had thought.  She thought that she would probably die where she was because she had no survival skills that could help her out in this mess that she had found herself in.

She looked up into the eyes of a young man who had the prettiest brown eyes she had ever seen.  The man seemed to back up for a second when they made eye contact and she felt herself drawn into them.  It felt like a dream until the cold made her shiver out of reflex.

The young woman's shiver broke the spell that Fulton was in and he knew that she was cold.  He could see that she was also hurt as there was a small cut on her forehead and a bruise on one of her arms.  Her shivering made him concern.

"I have a small shelter and a fire going."  He said reaching out his hand to her seeing if she would take it.

Kadti looked at the extended hand for a second and made a decision to accept it.  Her hand shook from her being cold and grabbed the man's hand.

Fulton noticed how cold the hand was the moment he grasped it and knew that his first priority would be to get her warm again.  He pulled her up and without a second's thought picked her up and started to his campsite.

"Hey, I can walk you know."  Kadti protested, but the warmth of his body felt good to her.

"You need to get warm."  Fulton responded feeling her body shiver.  His mind was also thinking of a nice way to tell her that she needed to get out of her wet clothes.  He did not have any blankets or anything else except what he was wearing.

When he finally arrived at his little campsite he placed the woman done and he still had not come up with a good way to tell her so he took off his jacket and just decided to swallow what pride he had tell her.

"Um, miss."  Fulton said getting her attention.  "You, um, need to get out of, um, well, you need to get out of those wet clothes, um, that is if you, uh, want to warm up."  Fulton said stumbling through the words.

Kadti looked up at him in disbelief at first.  The shock of the words hitting her first before her brain registered what he was really saying and she then realized why he had taken off his jacket.

"O-okay."  Kadti replied knowing that she probably would feel warmer without the wet clothing.  She tried to get undressed but her hands were still shaking and she found it a difficult process.

Fulton noticed that she was having a hard time with her shaking hands while he was building up the fire in front of the shelter.  Part of him wanted to go over and take control and do it for her, but another part was more civil and would wait for her to ask.

Kadti finally became frustrated with herself and knew that she would require some help with her shirt buttons.  She shyly asked Fulton if he could help her and he said yes and together they got her out of her soaked clothing and wrapped in Fulton's jacket.

Fulton laid down next to her, he was near the back of the shelter, with her facing the fire so she would have warmth from front and back.  They didn't even realize it when they both drifted off to sleep.

Fulton slowly came out of his slumber and became aware of his surroundings.  He then realized that he was still spooned up against the young woman that he had found last night.  He looked at her face and hair for the first time.  Her lightly tanned skin made her seem to glow in the new day's light, bringing fiery highlight in her hair.  He already knew what color her eyes were, a very pretty shade of green.  He slowly got up so as to not disturb her.  The rain had stopped and the temperature was rising again from the chill of last night.

He placed a hand on her forehead and was pleased that she was not feverish, something that had worried him last night with the chill she seemed to have.  He glanced at her and noticed that she seemed so small and delicate in his jacket, and sexy, his mind added.  He pushed that last thought from his mind and went to the stream to get some more fish, as he knew that she would probably be hungry when she woke up and the small amount he had from last night would not satisfy both of them.

Kadti slowly awoke to the small of something good that was cooking.  Her stomach growled before she was even fully awake and she forced her eyes open.  She was in a small campsite that was obviously organized by the way the fire was going and the fish over the fire.  She then remembered what happened last night.  At first she had thought that is was a dream, but now she realized it had actually happened, someone had come to her rescue again.

Fulton had heard his companion's stomach growl and knew that she was moments away from waking up, or getting up.  He had placed her clothes by the fire to dry out so she would not have to walk around in his jacket all the time.

Kadti sat up and noticed that the man who came to her rescue last night was arranging her clothes by the fire.  Another person might have been mad, but she found it to be sweet that he would do something like that.

"Um, good-morning."  Kadti said being the first to speak up.

"Good morning, there's some fish by the fire if you want something to eat, I've already had mine."  Fulton said awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to say.

"Thanks."  Kadti said offering a shy smile.

"No problem, my name's Fulton."  He said.

"Kadti."  She said not revealing her title.

"So are we stuck on this planet?"  Kadti asked after spending most of the morning in silence, which was about to drive her mad.  She had just finished changing into her clothes and was wondering if Fulton still had a tongue.

"Think so."  He replied.  He had spent just about all morning trying not to think about the small beauty in his campsite.

"You don't talk much do you?"  She asked again and got a grunt in response.

"So who are you?"  Kadti asked trying to see if she would get anything more than a couple of words out of him.

Fulton was a bit irritated by her questioning and he decided to answer her, and perhaps she would shut up.

"I was the leader of the Black Destroyers of the Peree.  We can here to capture someone who was very important to the resistance, but now I'm stuck here with a girl who can't be quiet, alright."  He said then turned and walked to the stream to leave a stunned Kadti standing in the campsite.

Kadti stood in shock as Fulton said who he really was.  He brain tried to twist the words to see if there was something more to it, but could not find anything.  It was then that the thought struck her, they were after her, not the resistance or anyone else, they wanted her.

She sank to the ground as tears formed in her eyes.  All those men and woman lost their lives trying to protect her, and now they thought that she was probably dead, or captured.

Fulton had watched Kadti discreetly for her reaction.  Her face had shown shock at first then a realization that he had not expected.  He saw her collapse and the tears start in her eyes and it made him feel guilty.  He really had not wanted her to cry.

He walked back into the camp and slowly knelt in front of her.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm not use to talking so much.  I didn't mean to make you cry."  He said not quite able to say the word 'I'm sorry' to her.

"They're dead because of me!"  She stated softly.  Fulton was not sure he understood her.  "I'm the one they wanted, I'm Princess Kadti."

Fulton was now the one who was shocked.  This little young woman, who did not see capable of fighting, or even taking care of herself out in the wilderness was the one that his superiors, former superiors he reminded himself, wanted to capture.  Looking at her now he knew that his life would somehow be forever different.

End Part 6

Go on to Part 7

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