Being of the Field (31 page)

‘Although my place is now with Zeven, I hope we will remain good friends.’

Kalayna nodded agreement, having a little trouble squeezing her words out. ‘Of course…I am really happy for the both of you.’ Kalayna stood to make an exit, seemingly afraid that her emotions might get the better of her. ‘I’d better get back. Leal’s waiting for me.’

Rory was disconcerted…Kalayna seemed very accepting of their breakup, but that was good, right? ‘Cool.’

‘See you.’ Kalayna departed without further ado, leaving Aurora with an odd feeling that there was something she wasn’t being told.

The Phemorian authorities, on detecting the ship in their airspace, made contact with AMIE and invited the vessel to dock in their capital port of Tonissia—which in Phemorian meant ‘twofold’ or ‘twin’. It was said that this related to the fact that the capital had a twin city on the other side of the planet, but this explanation made little sense to Taren as Tonissia had been constructed first.

They would be docking the next day, so Taren finally returned to her quarters to pack clothes for planet leave.

That’s where Zeven sought her out. ‘I need to talk to you,’ he said, closing the door after entering.

‘What’s the problem?’ Taren asked, taking in his bemused appearance.

‘I’m confused,’ he announced, as he collapsed onto the lounge.

‘About what?’ Taren went on with her packing.

‘How can I have fallen deeply in love with two different women at the same time?’

His answer got Taren’s full attention and she moved to take a seat on the lounge opposite him. ‘Spill it,’ she invited, and Zeven was happy to oblige.

When all was said, it was Taren looking bemused.

‘So, ever since Aurora woke I’ve been avoiding her because I fear making Kalayna feel bad, and avoiding Kalayna, for fear Aurora will get the wrong impression! I’m going insane trying to choose, and what’s most frustrating is that I have two women in love with me and I’m
still
not getting laid!’

His dramatics made Taren laugh, but she toned down her amusement when he gave her the evil eye. ‘Sorry. If you want my advice, and I assume you do…Just be honest with them both. Send them your love and goodwill—’

‘But that’s what got me in this mess in the first place!’ Zeven wasn’t satisfied, and stood up in protest. ‘If I’d just stayed mad at Kalayna, I wouldn’t be in this predicament.’

‘No, you wouldn’t,’ Taren agreed. ‘Kalayna would be dead and you’d have to tell Aurora how your hatred killed her.’

Zeven frowned. ‘You’re right, that would be worse.’ He took a seat once more.

‘Besides, from what you’ve told me, your hatred of Kalayna was your way of denying and hiding your attraction, just as you did with Aurora for some time.’

Zeven stared at Taren, hating it that she could read him like a book. ‘So who do I choose? The girl who taught me how to love and be selfless, or the girl with whom I have so much in common and feel an almost electric connection to?’

Taren could not answer that and he knew it. ‘When in doubt, trust in the universal process.’

Zeven was clearly still very anxious.

‘You haven’t done anything wrong, Zeven. You cannot help how you feel. All you can do is be honest and forthright—’

‘Stalemate,’ he concluded with a heavy sigh.

‘Nothing stays the same forever,’ Taren pointed out, sorry that she
couldn’t be of more help. ‘You’ve been so constructive in the way you’ve handled the challenges that have been thrown your way, that the universe is bound to reward you sooner or later.’

With a smile of appreciation, he nodded. ‘Thanks for listening anyway.’ Zeven departed, seemingly no closer to a solution that would make him happy.

Taren bit her lip, a little remorseful that her advice had led him into such a dilemma. It was still her best advice—positive intention always produced the desired result. She’d proven it over and over! ‘Dear Universe, help that boy out,’ she appealed to the cosmos. He was such a good soul, deep down, surely he deserved a little happiness.

When Aurora hadn’t seen Zeven for over twenty-four hours and he failed to answer a ship-wide page, she knew for certain that he was avoiding her.

‘I am so
sick
of these games. Why tell me that he loves me, and then go out of his way
not
to see me?’

She needed to get to the bottom of this mystery, and she had an idea that Kalayna had something to do with it.

Kalayna had finished her work on the recon vessel’s propulsion system the previous day, and at this early hour of the morning Aurora knew she would find her in the cafeteria kitchen preparing breakfast.

Aurora entered the all-but-empty eatery quietly, and as she approached the kitchen, she heard Kalayna weeping. ‘I thought you enjoyed your work here?’

Kalayna gasped in fright, and quickly wiped the tears from her face. ‘Onions,’ she rattled off.

‘But you’re cutting bread.’ Aurora pointed out.

‘But I
was
cutting onions…before,’ she said, forcing a grin, and knowing full well that her tale was anything but convincing.

‘What’s going on with you and Starman?’ Aurora asked directly, so there was no avoiding the topic.

‘Nothing!’ Kalayna was clearly panicked by the question. ‘Why would you ask that?’

‘Because you’re both acting so
strangely.
’

‘Well,’ Kalayna shrugged, and went on with her slicing, ‘life’s been a little strange lately.’

‘Oh, really?’ Aurora was curious to hear more. ‘Do tell.’

Kalayna drew a deep breath as if to steady welling emotions. ‘There’s nothing to tell.’

Aurora was losing patience, so she decided to state what she suspected. ‘You seduced him, didn’t you?’

‘What?’ Kalayna clearly felt the suggestion was ludicrous. ‘No! We weren’t even talking until a couple of days ago.’

‘And then?’ Aurora challenged.

‘And then…
nothing
.’ Kalayna kept her eyes focused on what she was doing, although she was now hacking the bread to bits. ‘He loves you, Aurora. Any idiot can see that.’

‘Then why haven’t I seen him in the past twenty-four hours?’

‘You haven’t?’ Kalayna sounded almost heartened to hear this.

‘No, I haven’t.’ Aurora folded her arms, even more suspicious. ‘I know—’

‘Aurora. There you are,’ Zeven called from the cafeteria door. ‘Can we talk?’

Aurora could have dropped dead where she stood. Zeven never wanted to talk. ‘Sure,’ she replied sweetly, turning back to catch Kalayna’s reaction.

Her friend appeared uninterested and with a shrug urged Aurora to go.

Aurora felt bad for her friend…not only had she broken Kalayna’s heart, she had made unfounded allegations about Kalayna as well. However, Aurora sensed a vibe that something was going on, and she headed out the door without an apology.

‘What’s on your mind?’ Aurora asked amiably as Zeven led her back to his quarters.

‘A
whole
lot,’ he emphasised, opening the door to his private space and motioning with both hands for her to enter.

‘Do you really want to talk?’ Aurora stopped halfway through the door to grin at him, believing ‘a talk’ was just an excuse to get her alone in his room.

‘I certainly do,’ he was sorry to say, but not as sorry as Aurora was…
her dreams of a tender, passionate encounter were shattered. If Zeven wanted to talk, something was seriously wrong.

‘You don’t love me.’ As much as it hurt her to suggest it, she wanted to cut right to the chase.

‘Oh, I do,’ he assured her. ‘I love you more than I ever imagined I could love anyone.’

Aurora was truly confused by his openness. ‘Then why the long face?’

‘Your love opened a floodgate,’ he said, once the door was closed. ‘I have done things in the past week that I never thought possible. I have changed at a core level—’

‘I can see that!’ Aurora was overwhelmed by his passion and candour.

‘And it was your love that did it. I want to tell you everything. No,’ he corrected himself, ‘I
have
to tell you everything,
right now
, or I’m going to burst!’

‘Better get on with it, before you blow something up,’ she said encouragingly as they sat down on the lounge together.

Aurora experienced many different emotions during Zeven’s confession—all of them good. She boggled at his heroic feats and insights, and cried like a baby in empathy for all he’d been through on her behalf and Kalayna’s. She loved him more now for his frankness, honesty, and for all he’d done for love from the time he’d saved her life till this very moment. She’d never considered in her wildest dreams that Zeven would prove to have such emotional depth, nor the moral fibre to explore his emotional dilemma
before
he had betrayed or hurt someone.

‘I didn’t want to lie or cause any more hurt, so you see, I had to tell you…I’m sorry,’ he concluded.

Aurora blew her nose and wiped her eyes, hoping to compose herself. Zeven was very red-eyed himself and was fidgeting nervously as he awaited her reaction. ‘I do believe this is the bravest I’ve ever seen you—’

Her strong emotions made her catch her breath and, inspired by his example she figured that it was time for honesty all round. ‘The truth of the matter is, I still love her too,’ Aurora said, standing up to pace
about. She recalled finding her friend weeping in the kitchen earlier and it broke her heart. ‘Kalayna should know all this,’ she determined and Zeven nodded in agreement. Aurora sent a page to Kalayna, and was surprised to hear the tone of Kalayna’s communicator just outside Zeven’s chambers. Aurora and Zeven grinned at each other as he got up and opened the door.

‘Shit!’ Kalayna finally managed to hit the off switch. She turned in a fluster to find Zeven and Aurora with eyebrows raised watching her. ‘I was just on my way past, um, when I got your page. So, what’s up?’

Once they had Kalayna behind closed doors, Zeven started the conversation. ‘I’ve told Rory everything.’

‘What!
Everything
?’ Kalayna jumped to the conclusion that Zeven was wanting to make her look the bad guy. ‘Look, I don’t know what he’s told you, but—’

‘He told me that he has very strong feelings for you, and you for him. Is that true?’ Aurora asked so amiably that Kalayna was confused by hope and delight.

‘Maybe?’ Kalayna shrugged, still not sure what was happening here. ‘But then, I still love you and I’ve
missed
you, so maybe my feelings are just being misplaced.’

Zeven clicked his fingers. ‘That’s what I thought, at first. But then, when Aurora awoke I felt there should be no more confusion…’

‘…but there is,’ Kalayna realised, enlightened, and then sank back into confusion.

‘Look…I love both you guys. I don’t want to give either of you up,’ Aurora confessed openly, with joyful tears in her eyes. ‘You love each other and you love me,
so…
as far as I can see,
we don’t have
a problem.’ A mischievous smile formed as she looked from Kalayna, who gazed back astounded and grinning, to Zeven, who looked like he’d just won the intergalactic jackpot. ‘Okay then…’ Aurora slinked over to Zeven and, with a glance and a smile in Kalayna’s direction, she shoved him backwards onto his sleeping pod. ‘Let’s dance.’

When their pilot reported to the bridge to dock AMIE at the Tonissian spaceport, he was in a very good mood indeed.

The only time Taren had ever seen Zeven look that happy was on
the surface of Oceane. She could only assume that Zeven had finally got himself laid! Taren was dying to ask who the lucky girl was, but was spared the trouble when the pilot left for shore leave on Phemoria with a girl under each arm.

‘What a handful,’ Lucian commented as they trailed the happy threesome.

‘He certainly is.’ Taren shook her head in disbelief.
The universe helped him out all right.

‘I meant the girls,’ Lucian corrected with a chuckle in his voice. ‘But I dare say that being held in such high regard by two gay women will have Zeven in the residents’ good books in no time.’

‘Looks like we’re frightfully out of fashion, then.’ Taren hugged her man around his waist.

‘Only me, really,’ replied Lucian, ‘as the only thing more admired on Phemoria than a gay female is a gifted psychic.’

‘I don’t really like to advertise that fact. I’m quite happy to be completely un-chic with you.’

All the crew were going ashore, even Ringbalin. He’d promised Ayliscia Portus that she could show him around her town, although he planned to return to the ship periodically. Kassa and Leal were keen to spend a few days alone together, away from their working lives and the accompanying interference.

At customs their party was met by a tall, elegantly dressed Phemorian official. The majority of Phemorians tended to be oliveto dark-skinned, very tall, and their hair and eyes were usually darker shades. Dr Portus was more blonde and blue-eyed, although her skin did have that healthy olive hue. The official sent to meet them was dark-skinned and her long jet-black hair fell back from an ornate jewel clasp on the crown of her head. Her eyes, however, were a very striking shade of indigo; as were Taren’s, although slightly lighter.

Lucian recognised the official as the Phemorian viceroy and uttered as much in an aside to Taren, adding: ‘Our visit must be considered
very
important.’

She was not at all like the Phemorian officials Taren had met on Frujia—no veil, no floating about. Perhaps Dr Portus had been right
in saying that they had been no ordinary government officials, but were, in fact, the mystical Phemoray.

‘Greetings, Captain Gervaise,’ the viceroy said, knowing Lucian by sight, and bowed her head to him in respect. ‘My name is Jalila Lamus and I am here to welcome you and your crew…’ Her eyes came to rest upon Taren. ‘…to Phemoria, where you will be given sanctuary. On the instruction of our illustrious queen, the Honourable Qusay-Sabah Clarona, I am to extend to you every courtesy and luxury our planet has to offer.’ Jalila smiled warmly at Taren, who was a little discomfortted by the attention.

‘On behalf of my crew, I thank you,’ Lucian replied, regaining the viceroy’s attention. ‘Your queen is most gracious.’