(8) Chance Meeting

It had been at least three or four weeks since Tarkath arrived at Base, it was a big place, always lots going on, but somehow it was peaceful, it was beginning to seem like home to him.

As he stood at his usual window in one of the east corridors, staring at the loading platforms like he had become accustomed to doing around this time everyday, he was thinking of the pretty young cadet. After she had escorted him to his room and shown him the ropes, the general emergency call-up protocols and such, she had seemed to disappear from the base, but about a week ago she had spotted him eating in the upper-mess late in the evening and they spoke briefly.

'I know I should have asked for her name' he mused 'or even her comm. number' he paused in his thoughts, then looked down and said under his breath 'yeah, next time I’ll ask for her number' as he smiled to himself at his own quiet determination.

'And who's number might that be then?', He wheeled around, already knowing who's voice that was and he was right, she was stood there with a smile on her face, knowing she had just caught him talking to himself. There was a glint in her eye as he raised his head to meet her eye-to-eye,

'H-Hello again' he said, trying not to sound surprised or nervous, he failed, but to Tarkath’s surprise she was still there, and was now smiling that little bit more. In her sweet ringing voice she said, or she sang as Tarkath heard it

'I was just on my way to upper-mess, saw you here and I thought you might like to join me for supper?'

Tarkath stood stunned for a moment then through the surprise at his good fortune, then quite enthusiastically replied

'Sh-Sure, that would be' he paused a moment, searching his vocabulary for a suitable adjective that didn't sound too enthusiastic 'nice, yes, that would be nice' he then smiled back, not only at her but also at his own success at not saying something stupid yet. He stepped to her side like he had done a month ago and felt instantly at ease again.

'I haven’t seen you in a while, Mr. Aloirun wasn't it?'

'Please, call me Tarka, all my friends do.' Then looked into her eyes as she smiled.

The sun was setting and the desert outside had taken on a greenish red hint, the large windows were creating a glow inside the dinner hall, the couple had been talking for the last hour or so. They had both enjoyed a snack and a small drink and were now getting to know a little about each other. Tarkath felt so comfortable with her, and she hadn't stopped smiling for a moment.

They sat back and looked out of the window.

'It's beautiful out here at night' said Tarkath

'Oh, you should see it from the green-land, it's incredible.'

‘Maybe I’ll visit some…’

The doors across the mess swung open and in marched Endrin. He sounded quite rushed as he approached, but his usual commanding self

'Tarkath,' he saw the young woman with him and paused a moment, 'Excuse me interrupting but I have to talk to you about something important, I'll wait outside.'Tarkath replied 'I’ll be with you in just a moment'. As Endrin left Tarkath turned to the cadet

'Sorry, but I have to go, maybe we can get together again sometime?'

'I'm sure that can be arranged' she said, and smiled at him again, then added 'I’ll look forward to it.' With that Tarkath, smiled, turned away, and walked out of the door.