Fire and Ice

Chapter 9 † Kayleigh

I watch their reactions carefully as they process the information.

"But, A9 was a guy, I thought," says Tom. "He was so violent, killed so many people..."

"Damn historians," I mutter. "A9 was absolutely not a guy. And for the record, L11 was the 'one-man army' you may be thinking of. When possible, every base I took down was devoid of life, which I personally saw to. Cain took pride in the amount of people my team and I 'killed', however, much of the time we weren't given much to go off of, and our phasers were generally locked on stun."

"That would explain it," Petra mutters. "Because many people listed as casualties in your maneuvers had different days on their official death certificates."

"When did you start going by Kayleigh again?" Hot Soup asks.

"Right before I hunted Cain down and handed him over to be tried. I wanted my name to go down for the arrest, not the persona he forced me to live with. It was a personal victory, I suppose, to shed the life he so kindly gave me and show that no matter what torture he put me through, I didn't belong to him."

"Torture?" Alai says.

"Like what? It couldn't have possibly been that bad." Fly scoffs. I pull up the tight sleeves of my flight suit, revealing scarred skin.

"He gave me all of these and many more that cover my body. He fed me relatively little, about 800 calories a day. I also was taken in with a class of about 152 other little girls, about my age, 6 or 7." I see Petra's face fall completely. The others look shocked, and confused. Ender looks... unreadable. His face is completely expressionless, with the corners of his mouth turned slightly down. His blue eyes are clear, but also sharp and cold. It looks like he's entered the killer's calm. I gulp ever so slightly and look away.

"Only three of us lived to graduation. Me, Althia, and Evangeline." Fly looks down at the ground at my statement, his cheeks beginning to tinge pink. I see a small wet circle appear on the ground below his face and roll my sleeves back down.

"Is it true that Althia and Evangeline were dating?" Dink asks breaking the solemn mood.

"How're you gonna switch from dead children to that in less than ten seconds?" Tom barks incredulously. A slight laugh rises up, breaking the previously dark and disturbing air that had weighed us down.

"Yep. Also Harvey and Einri. Andrej couldn't get a girlfriend to save his life."

"And Mikhail?" Ender asks. I shift my stance slightly, suddenly uncomfortable. Petra looks me sympathetically. You liked him? she mouths. I dip my chin slightly. She looks at Ender, whose eyes are fixed intently on me, and then back to me. I smile softly back at her.

"He was always more interested in my sister. He did date me for a while, but nothing stays hidden for long when you're in such close quarters with your friends," I answer carefully. Ender nods slightly and leans back in his chair.

"How did you get the news across enemy lines to inform them that you were ready to negotiate the treaty after Cain's capture? The history textbooks don't say anything about it," says Ender. I grin widely at the group and crack my knuckles.

[][][]

"How did you get the news across enemy lines to inform them that you were ready to negotiate the treaty after Cain's capture? The history textbooks don't say anything about it,"  I ask. It's something I've been wondering about for years. As soon as the question is out, Kayleigh's previously gentle smile turns wicked. She cracks her knuckles.

"It was after the ceasefire for the night," she began. "I just waltzed right past their guards. Dark suit, wore a helmet, no problem," she drawls walking over and plopping on the couch near Petra. "Intelligence also told me that a tour was being filmed live that night to broadcast to the world, to show them the inside of the bunkers, raise moral for the War of Mountains, whatever."

"You fought in the War of Mountains?" Hot Soup exclaims. "Well, I mean, you did go to Karlstein, so I suppose that makes sense..... Sorry, brain lapse," he ends sheepishly. Kayleigh smiles and continues on with her story.

"I snuck in to the bunkers through the vents-" Like right after she was Awoken. "-and found the Presidential office there. The chair was really uncomfortable to sit in. I just sat in the chair, legs on the desk, until the president led the film crew into the office. They almost combusted, seeing me sitting there, plain as day, like I owned the place, in my Lunar Orbital flight suit. We then successfully negotiated the treaty, and the rest is history I guess."

"I like it," says Dink. "Just enough confidence while still showin' 'em who's boss." Silence falls for a few minutes.

"Well, enough about me, then. What about you guys? What does your family think about you being here? Did you have any pets? Boyfriends? Girlfriends? Spill." Everyone laughs slightly at her eagerness, before Petra begins chatting about her life that she remembers.