Meru

Chapter 4

When he got to his cabin, Sudhir undressed patiently. He carefully placed the insignia that showed his rank and years of service as a Vice Captain in a blue felt lined box. He hung his uniform neatly inside the wardrobe. Then he entered his bathroom and closed the room behind.

A tiny shower, a steel sink, a toilet, racks for hanging towels and a small mirrored cabinet for toiletries; like every other toilet on the ship. No special privileges for the Vice-Captain. However, this one had a thick pillow mounted on one wall.

Sudhir walked up to it and started punching. Hard.

He punched repeatedly, till his hands grew tired.

Then he stepped in front of the sink and the mirror. He opened the tap and splashed cold water on his face.

Masked in droplets, his visage was that of a man transitioning into his demon-self.

Sudhir wondered if Mohini knew; if she spurred his advances because she knew in her heart that he did not rescue her husband on purpose. That he had pretended to fall. That he had crawled slowly to reach his erstwhile friend. Because he had lusted for the man's wife for a long time and he wanted her for himself, body and soul.

Here in the distance reaches of the space, a man gets to dwell on his desires, nurture his obsessions for a long time. What began as a kernel of an idea, an itch, transformed into a raging hunger. There were younger, prettier women on the ship who were single and ready to mingle. But his heart was set on Mohini. Her cute ass. Her luscious mouth. The way her skin lit up in the starlight when she was leading missions on the bridge. Her voice. Her beautiful hair that he had dreamt of running his fingers through. She must feel good between her legs.

He tried to fight his desire for months. For the sake of his friendship with Dev. But it became a constant mantra in his head.

Mohini. Man Mohini. He wanted to bite those lips of hers.

Then one day, he found that his dear friend might have harboured a different assessment of his character, which was not betrayed by his loud laughter, or their after-work beers, or demonstrations of physical affection or declarations of friendship.

A little birdie told him that Dev was of the opinion that it was too early to promote Sudhir to the role of Vice Captain, owing to his temperamental nature. And the High Command valued Dev's input.

The fucking bastard!

The betrayal riled him.

He would have made that problem go away. Like the few stalking and sexual assault charges from his years in the marine corps which he had expunged - giving him a clean chit to complete his officer training and soar into space. Nevertheless, it irked him that his so called mate, would stab him in the back.

Lusting after the wife of his good friend had never been a sin in Sudhir's books. That being said, he never made any overt attempts to hit on her in front of Dev.

But, that was when he considered the little shit his friend. That was before the man with the little cock decided to screw him over and deny him a promotion. That is all he was; a little shit with a little cock, Sudhir thought. I bet he never satisfies Mohini.

He got bolder; made passes at Mohini in the presence of her husband.

Dev laughed it off in his trademark pacifist fashion.

Sudhir considered this further evidence of Dev's weakness. Mohini deserved better. He was that better man.

On that fateful day on Grax Taxxon 91, he gave into his temptations. He let Dev die. And it felt good.