Honored Path

Priviledge of Secrecy

I so hope you're involved with the story at this point. Let me know what you think, as constructive feedback is always appreciated and desired.

---------

   "Do you like the houseboat?" Johnny asked, between bites of spiced beef.

"It's interesting," Compass said, picking a hot pepper from her bowl. "I never gave much thought to renting a houseboat."

"No, maybe not," he said.

"What are you going to do when the other lots are bought up?" Compass asked.

The waitress passed by with the tray of food pieces and Johnny took one of the chicken feet; Compass took a cube pork skewer and asked if the establishment had any bean curd buns.

"I'll check," she said.

Johnny leaned over. "You're not pregnant, are you?" he asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"No," Compass said. "Oh, no. My mother loved them."

"What are they?"

"Little steamed dumplings with bean curd in the center. I remember them being white, with little pink and red rosebuds on them," Compass said, as the waitress set two in front of her. "Thank you."

The waitress bowed and backed away. Compass cut one in half and offered it to Johnny. He ate, tentatively.

"Too sweet."

"Once a year," Compass said, with a shrug. "You never answered about the lake."

"I own it," Johnny said. "Although I would consider it a pond."

"You own the lake?"

"Yeah, the lake and some two hundred acres around it. I'm going to put in a landing pad."

Compass stared at him. "You're serious."

"Of course," Johnny said. "How else am I going to continue not existing?"

"You exist," Compass said.

Johnny shrugged. "I should be dead," he said, flatly. He pushed back from the table. "Are we done?"

"I – I didn't mean to upset you," Compass said.

"Rosebud, you didn't," Johnny said. "I want you naked and spread eagle, my cock inside you. How about it?"

"Get the check," Compass said, after mere consideration.

-----------

Water sloshing on the sides of the barge wasn't a sound Compass felt she could get used to, or the swaying from side to side. Living in a space ship presented its own challenges and Compass wasn't going to complain without giving a reason on the two-story houseboat, not without giving it a real chance.

That Johnny outright owned the boat and the little lake was neither here nor there, and despite her savings, Compass wasn't in any big hurry to buy a house, and in less of a hurry since the adoption of Resolution 17, in the Galactic Union.

In fact, her father, General Bericus Ambrose, specifically arraigned for Compass's deployment to be cut short from aboard the Adrian, to spearhead the new Ronin Intelligence Department, which existed under the Department of Defense for the planet Keova. This was ahead of the congress' enactment of clause 40 of the Keovan Military code – no woman could serve in the military for the next ten years, with the exception of the mandatory two-year period, and were regulated to supporting rolls, and women who now served were discharged with full honors and time served.

Because of how small the military was across the branches, the phase out would take over a year for some women to return to Keova as civilians.

The appointment to Ronin made Compass no friends. She kept her rank, her military prestige. Then came the unsavory taste of what her first task was: to enforce Galactic Union Resolution 4117-2231, which stated that her brother was a thief and she needed to retrieve the six keys he stole from Keova.

Compass rubbed her eyes, the sleep sand and lack of sleep getting to her.

"You're not sleeping," Johnny said, coming up behind her.

"I can't."

"Sex that bad?"

Compass shook her head, turning a page in her notebook. Johnny squatted down, turning her in the swivel chair away from the table.

"How long do you have?" Johnny asked, taking her hands.

"I leave in three days. I arrive on Terra in six. I have a day to settle, and then after that, at Midnight Eastern Standard or Daylight Savings – I forget which, the final seventy-two hours begin."

"Okay," Johnny mouthed. "They certainly want to drag this out."

"I wish it wasn't me," Compass said.

"Who else could it be?" Johnny asked. "Who else could convince your brother -?"

"I'm not going to convince Esau." Compass took a breath and looked down. "He sealed the keys on the Honpay at the end of the war. Three years later, he unsealed them – for whatever reason. If he hadn't made his appearance on Terra's moon with the Legion, to fight back the Pendragon, we wouldn't know where the keys are."

Johnny fingered the pendant hanging on a brown leather cord around his neck. "My world is gone," he said. "The planet eater saw to it."

Compass covered his hand with hers. "Johnny, you wouldn't keep this from your people," she said. "Esau has."

"He's forgotten who he is. Remember that," Johnny said, brushing back Compass' hair.

"Have you forgotten who you are?" Compass asked.

Johnny didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I like to think I have someone who helps me to remember," he said. "Officially, I'm dead. Remember? My whole race was killed, a real genocide the likes of which no one is willing to remember."

"One many have tried to repeat," Compass said.

He paused, tracing Compass' lips with his thumb like he wanted to remember their shape, their color.

"I am nowhere near the man I was," he finally said. "I am what I am and I can't argue if that is a fixed quality or not – but my integrity is the same. My ethics remain the same, even as grey grows larger and black and white smaller."

"We fight not flesh and blood," Compass said. "A war of words, philosophy, politics -."

"You do have the law, Compass," Johnny said. "The planets have sided with Keova, and uphold its right to the keys your brother stole. Keep Keova, keep your nation in your sights. You're a 20/20 pilot. You snipe with the best of the best of them. Now come to bed. I want to hold you."

Johnny stood and took Compass by the hand, pulling her back up the stairs to the loft bedroom.