Chapter 22 - Teaser! (Patreon)

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my friends and patrons, for the chapter teaser is here!  I've been sick the past two weeks non-stop with a cough that just won't quit, so there were moments where I wondered if I'd be able to get this chapter done on time.  Thankfully, my wife gave me some time to myself and I got it done!  I think it turned out pretty well.

Stay tuned for the next chapter which will be dropping very soon!

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In short order Neela and Ro fell asleep, lulled to sleep by my constant body heat and the sound of the storm raging outside the cave; I could tell by the change in their breathing. I also heard Kira stealthily get up and move to the entrance of the cave. I had a feeling that she was going to do something stupid, so I carefully slid Neela into Ro’s arms and went after her.

"If you’re set on this course of action, do you want some help?" I asked quietly.

Kira turned to look at me, obviously surprised that I had caught her and that I wasn't trying to stop her. If I wanted to truly stop her I suspected I’d have to do something drastic, like stun her.

"No, I'm…" She started to lie, but obviously gave up. "Okay.”

Kira’s emotions might be overriding her good sense at the moment, however this didn't mean that she was stupid. Fighting a guerilla resistance campaign against a superior foe left no room for stupidity or unnecessary self-sacrificing heroics. If you were stupid, you died, typically in pretty horrific ways, simple as that. Accepting my help was the smart thing to do.

"I assume you're headed for the Ghetto," I guessed, to which she nodded.

On Earth, at least during my time, a ghetto was another way of saying the slums, normally the poorest part of a city that would be inhabited by minorities and other unwanted peoples. On Bajor it was the holding location in various provinces across the planet where Bajorans were kept prior to being shipped off somewhere else, mostly to work in the ore processing center on Terok Nor these days, but there were plenty of horror stories of Bajorans being shipped off world and never being seen or heard from again. The imagination went wild with ideas of what true horrors awaited those unfortunate souls. Was it any wonder even young Bajoran children were willing to pick up phasers to kill Cardassians?