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The soldier appeared in his prime, but the stars on his shoulders clearly stated his inferiority to Captain Foxnor even if they shared the same rank. He seemed slightly weaker than Lieutenant Dyester, but Khan couldn\'t feel sure about that from a simple inspection.

Khan told everything to the Captain. He even managed to play it humble without forgetting to mention his many feats. He relied on his entire knowledge about human interactions to create a perfect image of himself without bragging.

Captain Godman often adjusted his black mustache with his fingers while listening to Khan\'s story. He remained silent for the whole speech and only nodded from time to time when he heard certain decisions that he approved.

The soldier didn\'t ask anything about Lieutenant Sehlolo, but Khan guessed that the Global Army would question him about that during the official interrogation. He mentioned her presence inside the cave, but he didn\'t give all the details about their private conversation since that situation didn\'t let him exploit the information properly.

The Captain took out a pack of cigarettes when Khan\'s story ended. The heavy rain had finally stopped, so he could pull an electric lighter from his pocket and smoke without worrying.

The soldier offered a cigarette to Khan, but the latter refused it. His curiosity about smoking had waned when he had seen people in the Slums trading cans of food to keep up with that bad habit.

"It\'s regretful that you didn\'t know more about Istrone," Captain Godman eventually announced while blowing smoke above him. "Your background even worked against you, but I can see that you did your best."

"Do you know about my history, sir?" Khan asked while turning toward the soldier.

"We checked you up since the Cobsend kid didn\'t stop narrating your deeds," Captain Godman said while giving voice to a short laugh. "You made good friends in the army already. I\'ve seen soldiers undermining their companions to improve their chances of getting a promotion, but none of the recruits here dared to forget to mention your name."

"I wouldn\'t have survived without them," Khan promptly added to make sure that his pretense remained in place.

"And they wouldn\'t have survived without you," Captain Godman continued. "Still, you could have played it better, but you should blame the army for that."

"How so, sir?" Khan asked.

"You could have realized that the kid\'s families would have hurried on Istrone after the mission went sideways," Captain Godman explained while drawing something on the ground with his foot. "You could have avoided the patrolling Kred if you moved toward the edges of the blind zone. The Global Army would have even learnt about the rebellion earlier if you met the reinforcement deployed on Istrone."

Khan followed the Captain\'s foot with his eyes. The soldier was drawing a simple scheme of Istrone\'s situation to explain the different approaches that Khan could have taken.

The edges of the blind zone were farther away from the crash site than the plain, but they were safer. Also, those areas had soldiers from the families and the Global Army busy searching for traces of the recruits.

The Kred didn\'t make the plain the center of the blind zone to mislead the army, so Khan would have had a high chance to meet the reinforcements in a single week. In theory, he could have helped to deal with the rebellion far faster.

"I didn\'t think about that," Khan honestly announced when he understood the Captain\'s point of view.

"Of course you didn\'t," Captain Godman snorted. "You had no idea of the actual situation of the teleport, and you didn\'t know how the sensors on Istrone worked. You couldn\'t see the best course of action without that knowledge."

Khan turned toward the Captain again at that point. He didn\'t say anything, but even his aloof face couldn\'t hide his confusion. He didn\'t see the point of that speech.

"I\'m not saying this to worsen your mood," Captain Godman explained. "Take my words as a special lesson for talented recruits. You have a high chance to end up in a position of power one day, and this might allow you to save lives."

"Thank you for your kindness, sir," Khan exclaimed as his eyes widened.

Khan didn\'t know how the Global Army would value his feats, but Captain Godman had basically revealed how important they had been. Even such a high-ranked soldier had acknowledged that Khan could end up leading platoons.

"It\'s rare to find good soldiers at such a young age," Captain Godman eventually said while standing up and patting Khan\'s shoulder. "Keep working hard and serving well, and you\'ll get somewhere. Wear something now. You\'ll have to stay on Istrone a bit more, and I bet you don\'t want to spend that time in pants."

Khan suddenly realized that he had yet to change into the clean uniform that one of the soldiers had brought him. He was only wearing the torn trousers that had accompanied him in the last two weeks.

Khan promptly stood up and performed a military salute before taking out the uniform from its cover and walking toward a tree to change himself. The mud, blood, and dirt that had accumulated on his trousers and pants made them hard to take off, and he ended up tearing them apart to quicken the process.

Remaining in the open was pointless now that the army had built a proper encampment. The soldiers had prepared enough tents for all the recruits, so Khan picked an empty one and allowed himself to rest. The exhaustion accumulated after staying awake for three days almost made him look forward to his familiar nightmare.

Khan slept for a long time while the troops on Istrone continued their tasks. The rescue missions were still ongoing, and the lack of sensors in the blind zone made the exploration of the forest slow.

The camp could communicate with the space station and the entirety of the Global Army through the spaceships, so multiple vehicles landed on the planet in the following days.

Each spaceship could only cover a small area, but the army used them to create checkpoints inside the blind zone. Moreover, the space station sent technicians toward the broken structures, and they worked day and night to restore the sensors.

Khan didn\'t do much during those days. George, Luke, Dorian, and Cora often visited him due to the habits developed in the previous weeks. The recruits spent a lot of time meditating together and exchanging faint jokes to relieve the pressure accumulated during their journey.

The soldiers brought other recruits into the camp as the days passed, but those scenes were a rarity. The troops returned with metal coffins most of the time since the Kred preferred to kill their prisoners before escaping deeper into the jungle.

Khan stood up whenever he saw soldiers returning into the camp with coffins or stretchers. He didn\'t forget about his friends after the traumatic experience. Bruce\'s location was still unknown, and the same went for Martha.

George and the others noticed his behavior, but they also acted in a similar way. They had lost friends too.

Still, Cora felt more emotional than the others. She came from Reebfell\'s training camp, so the return on Earth would inevitably separate her from Khan. Also, seeing the boy so interested in the dispersed recruits made her heart ache.

Cora couldn\'t muster the courage to question Khan about eventual romantic relationships, but the same wasn\'t true for Luke. The latter was easy to talk to and open about gossips, so she got her answers from him in no time.

Learning about Martha made Cora feel bad for Khan. She already had immense respect for the boy, but understanding that he had led them to safety while his girlfriend remained dispersed made her fall even harder for him.

Khan didn\'t share his pain with anyone, but he had endured his companion\'s suffering like a true leader. Cora couldn\'t find any flaws in his character, deeds, and appearance, but she felt unable to help him.

The desire to lift Khan\'s mood intensified as the days passed and the date of their return on Earth grew close. Cora didn\'t want the two of them to separate as simple acquaintances, but leaving a mark on him required all her courage.

Cora made up her mind one morning and reached Khan\'s tent when she knew that he would have been alone. The sun had just appeared, but she was aware that her friend was already meditating.

Khan opened his eyes and closed them as soon as he recognized Cora. It was unusual for her to come in his tent so early, but he had grown used to his friends going in and out of it freely, so he disregarded the matter.

Yet, ignoring Cora became impossible after she stood in front of him for entire minutes.

"What is it?" Khan eventually asked while interrupting his meditation.

"Do-," Cora began to speak, but she had to take a deep breath before she could say the entire line. "Do you trust me?"

Khan noticed the slight blush on the girl\'s face, but he also saw that she was struggling to say those words.

"Of course," Khan replied in his emotionless tone.

"Then close your eyes for a bit and don\'t move," Cora exclaimed as her voice gained a begging tone. "I need to check something."

Khan knew that the girl had a crush on him. He even felt glad that his group had such a heartwarming presence during the travel through the jungle.

Cora had done her best to lift Khan\'s morale since the crash, and the latter couldn\'t ignore her efforts. His mental barrier still hid his emotions, but he could understand when he had to play along.

"Sure," Khan said while closing his eyes.

Silent seconds passed while Cora reaffirmed her courage. She took a while to bend toward Khan and place her hands on his cheeks.

Khan instinctively retreated when he sensed the warm sensation spreading on his face, but his eyes remained close to respect his promise with the girl.

"Don\'t move!" Cora complained, and Khan gave voice to a weak "sorry" before bending forward again.

A warm and slightly wet sensation then spread from his lips. Khan couldn\'t help but open his eyes at that point, and Cora\'s face filled his vision. The girl had kissed him.

"You opened your eyes!" Cora shouted while retreating as soon as she noticed that Khan was looking at her.

The girl\'s face became completely red, and she hurried toward the exit of the tent, but she suddenly stopped before lifting the azure fabric.

"Don\'t forget about me, ok?" Cora asked while keeping her voice down and glancing at the boy staring at her in surprise.

"How could I?" Khan replied while wearing a warm smile, and the girl quickly escaped from the tent after seeing that scene.

Khan\'s expression returned cold when the girl left, and his fingers instinctively went on his lips. That had been his first kiss, and he had to admit that it had felt good.

The entrance of the tent suddenly opened while he remained immersed in his thoughts. Khan initially thought that Cora had returned, but the appearance of Luke\'s figure made his eyes sharpen.

Luke was wearing a conflicted expression. Worry and sadness filled his face while his eyes moved between the ground and Khan. Still, the boy didn\'t take much to steel his resolve and explain the reason behind his visit. "They have found Martha."

****

Author\'s notes: The privilege will activate once the novel goes premium, so I can\'t drop the additional chapters now. I\'ll see if they lock my chapters while I\'m still awake. You\'ll have to wait for me to wake up otherwise, so don\'t panic if you can\'t purchase the privilege. I\'m either sleeping or editing.