Being of the Field (28 page)

‘It’s okay.’ Taren hugged her. ‘We’ll go now.’ She swung them around to head back to the medical chambers.

Kassa was inside the recovery room adjusting the apparatus that was going to help keep Aurora alive. ‘She’s breathing on her own. Everything seems good. With any luck she’ll come out of it of her own accord within a few days.’

Kalayna approached and, taking up Aurora’s hand, she sat down beside her to whisper the words that she needed to say.

‘Did Swithin do this to her?’ Taren queried.

‘Who else?’ Kassa replied, having telepathically scanned her patient to learn the exact cause of injury. ‘He struck her on the back of the head with a weapon, which knocked her out. She regained consciousness for a bit…’ Kassa paused as she recollected the conversation between Swithin Gervaise and Khalid Mansur that Aurora had overheard.

‘And…’ Taren prompted.

‘The swelling at the back of her head finally caused her to black out and fall into a coma.’ Kassa decided not to disclose the private and somewhat explosive claims that Swithin and Mansur had made about Taren.

‘Are you here to try and finish her off?’ Zeven didn’t like walking in to find Kalayna at Aurora’s bedside.

‘Careful, Zeven,’ Taren piped up. ‘It was not so long ago that it was you waiting for me to awake, so that you could apologise.’

The parallel took Zeven aback. ‘That was an accident—’

‘In the quantum world there are no accidents, only action and reaction,’ Taren replied. ‘But that didn’t stop me forgiving you.’

‘Aurora is fine, Zeven,’ Kassa said to calm him. ‘Now it’s up to her…she needs to want to come out of this. And I dare say hearing the two of you ripping shreds off each other will not inspire her to return.’

Zeven immediately backed off. ‘I’ll come back later.’

‘No.’ Kalayna stood and forced a grin as she passed him. ‘That’s okay. I was just leaving.’

‘Promise?’ Zeven asked, ever so nicely, but his stern expression did not change.

‘At the first opportunity,’ she assured as she left the room.

‘Ask yourself, do I feel better now or worse?’ Taren queried, and followed Kalayna out the door.

‘I feel better, actually,’ he scoffed.

‘Liar.’ Kassa retreated past him and closed the door on her way out.

Zeven looked at Aurora, knowing Kassa spoke the truth. ‘I know it’s my fault that she’s here at all! If I’d just asked you out that night, you’d never have met and we’d be together,
no complications…
shit!’ He wanted to kick himself. ‘Now I may have lost you in more ways than one.’ He sat down at her side, and taking up her hand he rested it against his forehead. ‘Just give me one more shot at this, Rory, and I promise you I won’t ever let you forget that we are
meant
to be together. Please, wake up.’ Tears flooded his eyes. ‘I have.’

Kalayna had never felt so wretched. She was very thankful to have Taren to show her around, but she felt that her guide could not truly favour her as well as she appeared to.

Taren had assigned Kalayna quarters, near other of the crew, that were more spacious and luxurious than any accommodation she’d ever had in her young life. The canteen in the mess room, where she was to be basing herself, was better equipped than the gourmet restaurant in the five-star hotel she’d been working for on Frujia. Kalayna had nothing to complain about in her work conditions, nor did she have a
problem with the crew she was to be serving. They had all been more than fair with her—even Starman, in her opinion.

The sting of it was that Kalayna was bitterly disappointed in herself—for the first time that she could remember, there was no one else that she could blame or be angry at for the hurt she felt inside. If she had only saved Aurora instead of seeking revenge, she would still be in her dream relationship and have scored a dream job to boot! Now, when she had finally found the ideal situation where she might eventually be able to fulfil her technical aspirations, she felt completely undeserving.

‘I’m going to leave you in Ringbalin’s very capable hands,’ Taren advised as she moved to depart. ‘If you need anything, just page me.’

‘I’m good,’ Kalayna assured her and forced a smile of appreciation before looking back to the botanist she’d just been introduced to.

He seemed a very pleasant, gentle fellow who had a rather effeminate quality about him which Kalayna found rather attractive and comfortable. She wondered if he might be gay.

‘Let’s start with the herb room, shall we?’ Ringbalin suggested, leading off down a side path to a string of greenhouse rooms. These were near the labs and offices around the periphery of the huge circular garden area in the centre of the module.

Kalayna was already blown away by the set-up in Module C, but her eyes nearly popped out when she saw the fresh produce rooms. ‘Whoa, RB, this is
so
impressive. There are fruits in here that I couldn’t dream about affording to eat in my lifetime!’

Her admiration was pleasing to Ringbalin and the way she referred to him as RB amused him too. ‘A fellow nature enthusiast, then.’

‘Not really. I’ve always been better with machinery…but,’ she was quick to add when she saw his disappointment, ‘I do
love
to eat.’

‘Can you cook?’ He raised his brow, curious.

‘With this array of produce, I’m sure I’ll manage,’ she told him confidently, as she eyed the choices.

‘Well then,’ Ringbalin picked up a set of hand shears, ‘let’s go shopping.’

As Ringbalin gave her the guided tour of his pride and joy, helping her to collect a good range of foods with which to stock the kitchen,
Kalayna’s mood lightened considerably, and she found herself inspired by Ringbalin’s advice and his insight into the natural world.

She just couldn’t work him out—he seemed way too charming towards her to be gay, but way too sensitive not to be. For the first time in her life she was finding a man attractive, and as he walked her to the exit door to Module C, she just couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.

‘I can hardly wait to get started now, thanks, RB.’

‘Come shopping any time,’ he said, rubbing his hands together. ‘I can hardly wait to have a decent meal.’

The exit doors opened and a tall, elegant woman entered the greenhouse. Kalayna’s guess was that she was a Phemorian.

‘Ah, Dr Portus.’ Ringbalin made ready to introduce the woman to Kalayna, but the woman strode up to Ringbalin shaking her head.

‘My love, you can call me Ayliscia now we’ve been intimate.’ She bowed down, kissed Ringbalin passionately and then looked at Kalayna. ‘Hello,’ she smiled, not caring who Kalayna was so long as she got the message that Ringbalin was spoken for. The Phemorian then strode off through the greenhouse.

‘Ah…that was Dr Ayliscia Portus,’ Ringbalin explained a little uncomfortably.

‘Your lover,’ Kalayna verified with a grin.

‘Yes,’ Ringbalin was proud to say as his eyes drifted after the woman.

‘To seduce a Phemorian woman is said to be impossible,’ Kalayna said. ‘Definitely not gay then.’

‘Who, me?’ Ringbalin was startled. ‘Ah, no. But it seems to be a common misconception. You are…gay?’

Kalayna nodded. ‘Yeah, I was.’

‘Past tense?’ Ringbalin queried, and Kalayna grinned as she backed up toward the exit doors.

They opened and Kalayna stepped into the corridor that led to the mess. ‘Yeah…’ she told him finally. ‘I have to admit that you’ve caused me a bit of confusion this day.’ She looked thoughtful, not at all awkward about making this revelation.

Ringbalin chuckled, more embarrassed than she was. ‘I take that as a very great compliment indeed.’

‘
It is
,’ she assured him, rather surprised herself, ‘believe me!’

When Taren returned to Lucian’s office he was standing by his large windows, gazing out at the twin suns in the distance.

‘Our stowaway has been settled in and set to work,’ Taren said as she approached to wrap her arms around the captain. Although he smiled to greet her, she could tell that his mind was elsewhere, and wherever that was it was very disturbing to him. ‘What did Swithin say that has you so distracted?’

‘It’s nothing.’ Lucian shook his head to dispel his melancholy. ‘But we need to get Kassa up here, to aid with deprogramming your code name…once that is done, I’ll feel a whole lot better.’ He kissed Taren’s forehead and reaching for his communicator he paged for Kassa to come his office.

‘I don’t believe for a moment that that is all that has you worried,’ Taren told him with a smile, hoping she might seduce the truth out of him.

‘You’re right.’ He held up both hands in his own defence and backed up to take a seat. ‘I have a list of things to worry about that’s a star-field long!’

Taren slid to a seat upon his desktop, facing him. ‘So share the burden.’

Kassa knocked on the wall outside the open office door to announce her arrival and then entered at Lucian’s request.

For what Taren imagined to be the last time, she was hypnotised and advised that she would no longer respond to the code name ‘Sci-chick
Puppet’, and upon being snapped out of her trance she felt liberated. ‘Thanks so much, Kassa. I feel lightened of a great load.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Kassa forced a smile in return.

Taren’s eyes darted from the doctor to Lucian, who was still frowning. ‘What is amiss with you two? Are you keeping something from me?’

The captain and Kassa looked genuinely stunned as they glanced at each other and shook their heads in denial.

‘So you each have separate concerns regarding me,’ Taren concluded, and her instincts proved right on the mark as usual.

‘I do have something to tell you,’ Kassa confirmed. ‘It’s very personal and as far as I know, Lucian has no knowledge of the intelligence I have obtained.’

‘Shall I leave?’ Lucian offered.

‘No,’ Taren insisted. ‘If I have any secrets you have a perfect right to know.’

Lucian was pleasantly surprised by her resolve.

‘Go on,’ Taren said to Kassa.

‘Could you close the door,’ Kassa asked Lucian, which intrigued the captain and Taren all the more. ‘What I have to say, if true, has to be one of the best-kept secrets in the USS…so it might pay to be a little cautious.’

Lucian closed and locked the door from the controls at his desk. ‘What have you discovered?’

‘What I know, I perceived from Aurora when I was scanning her memory for the cause of her injury.’ Kassa turned her full attention to Taren. ‘I told you that Aurora awoke for a time whilst in the custody of her captors,’ she prompted and Taren nodded.

‘Yes, what of it?’

‘Aurora overheard a conversation between Swithin and Khalid Mansur—’

‘Anselm’s viceroy?’ Lucian said in disbelief. Kassa confirmed it and he boggled at his brother’s high political connections.

‘During that conversation Swithin claimed to have a tracking device on board this ship—’ Kassa gasped, realising she’d forgotten that piece of information up until now.

Lucian was on his feet. ‘I’ll get Leal and Zeven on it right away,’ but Kassa forestalled him.

‘Wait, that’s not the important part. What’s important is why they are tracking us.’ Kassa regained the captain’s fullest attention. ‘They are tracking us because Anselm’s daughter is on board this vessel.’

‘What?’ Lucian freaked, thinking it must have been their stowaway.

‘I didn’t know the president had a daughter!’ Taren added.

‘No one knows,’ Kassa stressed. ‘
That’s
the secret.’

‘And you think they mean Kalayna?’ Lucian voiced his assumption.

‘I don’t think so,’ Kassa’s knowledge made her grin, despite everything. ‘Swithin implied that the woman in question was your lover.’

All eyes turned Taren’s way and she caught her breath at the shock of the news. Taren’s mind rushed back to her impressions of Anselm during her perception of that alternative future.
I am the keeper of her memories,
he had claimed regarding Taren. ‘Could this be why he was seeking me so desperately?’ she said, bewildered that she could be the daughter of the most powerful man alive.

‘Taren, you must be horrified.’ Lucian approached to see if he could be of comfort. ‘And Anselm wanted to frame you for my wife’s murder!’

Her heart remained steady. ‘It was just a means to an end…’ Taren recalled Anselm saying so and now she understood what he’d meant. ‘If he is my father, I know for a fact that he is in league with the MSS and every secret service in the USS. Therefore he’s known where I was all this time,’ she said angrily, and stepped away from Lucian so as not to take it out on him. ‘He probably even had me recruited into the secret servics! Damn it!’ She became frustrated by the huge blanks in her memory. ‘What does it matter anyway? Anyone could claim anything about my past and I cannot confirm it.’ She burst into tears, overwhelmed by her deepest, darkest fears, but her hatred soon enabled her to regain control. ‘As far as I am concerned,
I have no parents
. They both died the day my memory was taken from me.’ Taren’s sights turned to Lucian. ‘Did you know any of this?’

‘No,’ he assured her. ‘I truly thought Kassa was referring to Kalayna.’

Taren calmed a little, although anger and confusion still held her in their clutch. ‘So what is it that you are keeping from me? Surely your concern cannot be any more shocking to me than what I have just heard.’

‘I should go,’ Kassa decided, having said her piece. ‘I hope I was not wrong to tell you.’

‘No, of course not. You are a true friend,’ Taren assured her, giving Kassa a hug. ‘Thank you for being discreet.’

‘I owe you big-time in that regard,’ Kassa replied with a smile, and took her leave.

‘Please tell Leal and Zeven I need their assistance,’ Lucian said as he let Kassa out, and then closed and locked his office door once again. ‘I believe part of my concern may have just been answered for me,’ he said, finally replying to Taren’s query.

‘How do you mean?’ Taren, still shell-shocked, frowned, not following.

‘Swithin claims you have another, more highly classified MSS code name,’ he divulged. ‘I pressed Swithin about who might know this other code name and he swore he didn’t know, which infuriated me. But thanks to Kassa, and Rory’s bit of detective work, I believe we now have a very good candidate.’

‘Anselm.’ Taren’s eyes narrowed as she uttered his name with spite. Now she had twice as many reasons to seek the man out.

Lucian was on a mission as he stormed up the corridor toward the lab where his brother was quarantined. The news of a tracking device on board AMIE was alarming, but he hoped to turn the betrayal to their advantage. ‘Are we all clear on how to play this?’ The captain paused outside the lab to query Leal and Zeven who were trailing him. ‘Don’t give anything away,’ he cautioned.

Leal and Zeven nodded in accord as they all burst into the lab.

‘Hey, boys, what’s happening?’ Swithin noted their irritation as they stormed straight through the observation room and into the security passage that led to his containment area. ‘All right…what have I done now?’

The final security door opened and Zeven came rushing through to hit Swithin on the jaw so hard that his target was spun around to land face-first on the ground. ‘Where’s the tracking device?’

Leal hoisted Swithin up and turned him around to face Zeven and the captain—so they could question Swithin and hold his focus.

As Swithin spat blood and regained his composure, Zeven decided he was taking too long and belted his ex-employer in the gut. ‘The tracking device.’ Zeven raised Swithin’s bowed head to make him focus. ‘Where is it?’

‘Give me a fucking chance to answer.’ Swithin spat out a tooth and a lot more blood.

‘Well…’ Lucian demanded, motioning for Zeven to back off. ‘Where is it?’

Swithin smiled a defiant smile. ‘I don’t remember.’

Zeven looked at Leal who gave a nod. Zeven lined Swithin’s face up to take a final punch. ‘
This
is for Rory.’ He punched Swithin with his full force and the blow knocked the consciousness right out of him.

Leal allowed the traitor to drop to the floor.

‘Let’s go.’ Lucian led the way out of the lab, and when they returned to the corridor, he turned to Leal. ‘Did you get it?’

Leal grinned. ‘I know exactly where it is.’ He led off toward the elevators, for the device had been planted inside one of the smaller submersibles in the Marine Module.

Once the offending item was in their possession, the men headed back up to the hangar and launch bay area. Lucian was of a mind to launch the tracking device in a pod, in the opposite direction to their destination. He hoped this would throw the USS carrier vessel that was somewhere in the vicinity off their scent.

‘We’ll have to shut most of the ship down for a few days and only run the essential life-support systems,’ Lucian said. ‘With any luck, the USS will continue to pursue their device and miss us altogether.’

‘If we are not already on their scopes.’ Zeven chewed his lip, not wanting to be the pessimist, but this was a big ship.

‘If we are, you’ll just have to quantum-jump us somewhere else,’ Leal suggested.

‘Better hope this works then, as I sure don’t want to find out if I can pull that off
without
Aurora’s sweet inspiration.’ Zeven gave AMIE clearance to launch the pod.

As Kalayna cooked up a storm in the kitchen, her mind kept drifting back to the botanist. He’d made her feel so much better. Besides her father, and more recently the captain, no man had ever attempted to make her feel good about herself. They seemed a rare breed of men on this vessel.

Kalayna thought back to what Taren had said: that in another future, Zeven had saved her from being sexually assaulted. It would not have been the first time that a man had tried to force himself upon her, but in the past there had not been anyone to come to her rescue, nor had she dreamt that there ever would be. Still, it wasn’t hard to imagine Starman playing the hero, and as the little flight of fantasy played out in her mind Kalayna found herself smiling and her heavy heart lightened for the duration.

‘So, you must be our stowaway?’

Kalayna turned to find a tall, lean fellow heading for the cool room. ‘I’m Leal Polson, co-pilot-slash-navigator.’ He sidetracked from his path to shake her hand, but as both Kalayna’s hands were covered in pastry, he simply raised an open palm in greeting.

‘Sorry,’ she apologised, ‘but I am very pleased to meet you. Navigator,
wow
.’ Kalayna was impressed. ‘Nice career move.’

‘A little birdie told me that you’re a ninth-year systems tech.’ He whistled, impressed also.

Kalayna laughed. ‘Did the same little birdie tell you that I’m forbidden to practise any of said craft whilst on board this vessel?’

‘I did get that impression, yes,’ Leal granted, ducking into the cool room and emerging with a piece of fruit. ‘I wouldn’t worry too much…the little birdie will change its tune when something shorts out and he finds himself unable to fly.’

Kalayna couldn’t help but smile, but she was not so optimistic. ‘He’d rather crash and burn than ask me for help.’

‘Well, be that as it may,’ Leal said airily, ‘
I
can ask you for help, and I am.’

Kalayna gasped with excitement and, thinking that she’d heard him wrong she met his eyes and surmised that he seemed deadly serious.

‘Ever done any spacewalking?’ he asked with a grimace.

‘
No way!
’ She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, as it was very appealing to her sense of adventure. ‘Are you serious? I thought you hadn’t sustained any major damage during the escape.’

‘The damage isn’t major,’ he replied, glad to see her enthusiasm. ‘When we got blasted leaving Frujia the wiring on the exterior launch bay door was damaged, and until it’s fixed we can’t use any of our larger craft.’

‘Starman wouldn’t be happy about that,’ Kalayna mused, thinking this could go some way toward getting back into his good books.

‘I figure we’ll just tell him
after
you fix it,’ Leal explained. ‘How about after the breakfast shift tomorrow?’

‘Are you kidding?’ Kalayna couldn’t believe he even had to ask. ‘
That’s completely wicked…
I’ll be all over it.’

‘That’s good, right?’ Leal wasn’t up on the current adolescent lingo.

‘
Very good
,’ she assured him.

‘See you at dinner.’ He waved and left Kalayna high as a kite.

‘Another nice guy,’ she muttered to herself. ‘Do they have a secret breeding program here
or what
?’

No wonder Aurora had chosen to become an outlaw rather than lose her place on this crew—they were all so interesting, professional and caring. Kalayna, wanting to earn her place among them, continued to work feverishly, determined to make her first meal for the crew of AMIE one that would not fail to impress.

At the appropriate time, Kalayna advised everyone via the ship’s intercom system that dinner would be served in the cafeteria in ten minutes’ time.

The crew dragged their weary bodies down to the mess—having had no sleep for over twenty-four hours most of them had only stayed awake in order to have a decent meal before they finally got some shut-eye.

The wafting, delicious smell of fresh-cooked pie and vegetables engulfed Taren’s senses as she approached the mess hall alongside
Lucian. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of how desperate she was to consume something that wasn’t out of a packet. When she laid eyes on the dinner table, Taren was almost moved to tears.

Several of the tables in the cafeteria had been pulled together to form one long table. As they were in minimal-power-usage mode, Kalayna had turned all the lights off, bar a small light in the kitchen itself, and the dinner table was candlelit.

‘Very nice,’ Lucian commented as they entered, greatly approving of the set-up. ‘This will be the first time in the history of the project that all the crew have gathered for a meal at the same time.’