The Iron Hallway

Chapter 17

(Baird's POV) 

The next two weeks baffled my mind. They seemed at once to drag on and on as inexpressibly long expanses of time, and also to speed by at the swiftness of fighter jets. 

After I had lamented over my selfishness and thoroughly abhorred myself in the Kemarian alleyway for what must've been about two hours, Khemera, Keira, and Hannah returned, telling me that they'd engaged the RFs in a mutually destructive skirmish that had ended in both parties fleeing. They'd added that the vile Dirk Josante had merely retreated to gather more men, and that returning to the safe isolation of the beach near the Sand Dollar was the best course of action. 

For the rest of that day, I rested, as Sila detected I'd suffered a bad bruise from Khemera's kick. Even though I didn't feel it all too much at that time, I was assured I would in the morning. 

Sure enough, I did feel it as the next day dawned, and quite acutely at that. Sila prescribed three days of total rest for me, and so dragged the longest three days of my life. Khemera stopped in from time to time to visit me, and especially to offer me spiritual comfort and instruction. The God he worshipped was the only one selfless enough to love me, even after the horrid things I had done. 

Keira also visited me fairly regularly, especially to feed me meals, and for that, I was thoroughly grateful. She also entertained me by recounting tales of Aaron's frustration in repairing the Sand Dollar outside my walls, and his severe scoldings directed at an increasingly fatigued Jedrek. 

As could be expected, Hannah also came to see me from time to time, and often eased my pain by playing guitar and singing soothingly. The random thought crossed my mind often, that someday, when she was a little older, some man would be thoroughly pleased with the sweet, adorable girl. 

On the morning of the fourth day, Sila entered my quarters for a checkup and deemed me still unfit to do anything but rest. I was dejected, but accepted the news nonetheless. As Keira told me later, that day, Aaron sent Jedrek and Sila to the village to obtain the gasoline Khemera had been too forgetful and busy to bring back the other day. Upon returning, Jedrek had complained about carrying the heavy weight all the way back, to which Sila shoved his spinal disks into place mechanically and painfully. I'd thought I heard screaming from my room inside the Sand Dollar, so this news confirmed my suspicions. 

On the morning of the fifth day, Sila again returned, and the robot finally proclaimed me fit to walk about and engage in some moderate exercise to get my body moving again. To Khemera's pleasure, I immediately took that advice and did some pushups and crunches, though my remaining pain limited the number I could do. Later in the day, he began to show me some punches, saying that I still lacked the strength to continue the endurance training we'd begun earlier. The next two days were very similar, with my strength increasing and pain decreasing as time went on. 

On the eighth day of our stop on the beach, Khemera began to take me on morning runs, as well as resuming the endurance training, keeping his ear wide open for the slightest negative feedback from me. At one time, he remarked pleasurably that I was much less of a complainer than I had been before, and for that, I was glad. He also taught me how to block a punch effectively, and showed me several different forms to fit various situations. The next six days were very similar, and they ran together in my mind for their lack of variety. However, they were nonetheless enjoyable. 

Finally, the morning of our fourteenth day on the beach arrived. Keira had handpicked me to help her catch some fish, and then assist her in cleaning and roasting them for breakfast, despite my complete lack of skill in either arena.