as long as he thought useful.

*I did,* she replied in his thoughts. *But it's a long story…*

Kurt looked around once more. Nobody seemed to have noticed anything.

*I'm listening,* he said.

*I am a Tarran,* she began what he believed to finally be an honestly true story. He imagined that she no longer had anything to lose.

*My people are on the verge of a disaster. We had been trying to end this war with you for the past several months but to no avail. The humans wouldn't listen.* She paused. Kurt gave up eyeing the area in the hope of finding where she was hiding. By then, they were in the middle of a desert. She must have stayed in the mountains.

*We were trying to reach you,* the voice in his head continued. *Through both diplomatic and unofficial channels. Nobody wanted to talk to us, I don't know why you're so adamant to destroy my race once and for all.*

*And that's when you decided to abduct me? Wipe out all the information from my mind and make me a new person, one that would be useful for you?*

He heard the woman in his head sigh. He wasn't sure how he sensed that but he could feel it was difficult for her. For some reason, he felt sorry for her.

*You may call it that, I suppose,* she finally answered. *Please understand, we had no other choice!

*There is always a choice,* Kurt replied sadly. *You could have tried to talk to me directly, without… violating me. I would have listened…*

*You wouldn't,* she answered. *And you didn't.*

And then he suddenly remembered. About a month earlier, he received a coded signal through his personal transceiver. The moment he realized it came from the Tarrans, he relayed it to the War Department, without even bothering to decode it first. He considered it his patriotic duty. He wasn't so certain of it now…

*And that's when you decided to employ a more… efficient course of action? *

*Listen,* Katija's voice in his mind sounded almost as melodically as it did in reality.

*Millions of lives are at stake here. It's not only about you and your thoughts. Please, try to understand.*

*I'm trying. I have been for the past couple of days. What would you have me do? Betray my people? Reveal all the tactical information I possess? Or, perhaps, you've already extracted it from my mind?*

*I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me,* her voice sounded really sad now. *But please, think about it. If I did that, why would I be talking to you now? I've escaped. Your Soldiers haven't been able to catch me. Wouldn't I rather hurry back to my people and relay everything I knew about your weaknesses?*

Kurt pondered it for a while. It was logical. He didn't like it. It meant, there was something else she wanted from him and it didn't particularly fit into his view of the world.

*What would you have me do?* He repeated his question.

*Go back with me. Talk to our leaders, let us present you our point of view. Then you'll be free to go and do as you please.*

8)

That night, Kurt waited until the Soldiers were asleep. He approached the one on guard, pretending he needed some water, and disabled him quickly and silently with a certain pinch he had learnt long ago. Frankly, he had no idea why he was doing this. Every nerve in his body and every cell in his mind were telling him that it was a mistake. He was a senator, for Dei's sake! He wasn't supposed to be attacking his rescuers just to go out and meet an enemy. It was… treason. Yet there he was, sneaking away, curious what the alien woman wanted to show him.

She guided him with her mental voice until he reached a small hole in the sands. He found her there, waiting for him.

'Now what?' He whispered as he slipped down the small slope and landed beside her. He couldn't help but notice that her silver catsuit was still spotless and shining in the moonlight. Underneath that, she had a gorgeous body…

'We should be leaving,' she replied, rolling over to face him. Their faces were so close…

'Don't even think about it!' She said. Kurt moved away, surprised. He forgot she could read his mind. Katija laughed softly, seeing his expression.

'We're not even biologically compatible,' she said. 'I am an alien, remember?'

At this moment, lying in darkness so close beside her on the warm sand, Kurt found it hard to believe. She laughed again and her laughter was pleasant.

'We've got to get going before the Soldiers realize you're gone,' she reminded him.

'Right!' Kurt finally managed to look away from her tempting shapes.

'Please, remind me why I am doing this?' He asked when they set out. 'You've abducted me, wiped out my memory and lied to me. Why do I trust you?'

'Do you?' She asked, without even turning to face him. He shrugged.

'I'm here with you now. What do you think?'

Katija wanted to say something but just at that moment a few things started happening simultaneously. Kurt saw a beam of blindingly white light coming from behind them and right through the woman's body. It pierced her stomach and she screamed. He heard people shouting in the distance. He darted to support her when she begun falling down. She hung helplessly in his arms, the expression of pain on her beautiful face.

'Katija!' He whispered.

'No… time,' she breathed with an effort. 'Leave me… go…' she gave up trying to speak. Instead, she projected an image directly into his mind. It was the route he was supposed to take to get to the Tarran base.

'Are you all right, sir?' One of the Soldiers approached him, still with his laser ready. Kurt looked at the man sternly and then bent over to carefully lay Katija's unconscious body on the sand.

'I am,' he replied straightening. 'Hold your fire before you kill me.'

'Aye, sir,' the Soldier nodded and signalled his colleagues. Slowly, they started emerging from the desert and gathering around Kurt. Finally, the Leader came closer, too.

'I'm sorry, sir,' he bowed. 'We realized that you were gone too late. Fortunately, we managed to track you down. And now we've got the Tarran, too,' he added, eyeing the woman's body at their feet. 'What should we do now?' He asked, clearly expecting his orders from Kurt.

'You killed her,' he said plainly.

Tarn looked surprised: 'She was trying to kidnap you again, sir. We stopped her!'

Kurt didn't find it in himself to answer the man. He only nodded his head.

'What should we do now?' Tarn repeated his question.

Kurt forced himself to think about it. *Now. What now?* He had the location of the Tarran base clearly in his mind. He knew he couldn't lead the Soldiers to it unless he wanted it completely destroyed. *I'll have to come back here one day,* he thought.

'Let's get to that shuttle,' he finally said. 'And,' he added, looking at Katija's body. 'Bury her.'

'Sir?' Tarn looked at him incredulously. 'I thought we'd take the body to investigate…'

'Bury her,' Kurt repeated without looking back.