Daughter of Destiny (3 page)

“Yeah, you'd better believe it. A lieutenant commander in my squadron attacked me from behind in the Ready Room right after I got off a flight. I had just finished writing my report, when I stood up to leave. I didn't hear him come in. The next thing I knew, he was grabbing my ass and telling me in no uncertain terms just what he wanted to do with me.”

Mike stared at her. Kai's eyes were slits of fury and her full mouth was pursed as she sat tensely in her chair. “You've got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed. This was one woman Mike would never tangle with. He had sensed the power of her Indian heritage swirling around her like a storm just waiting to break, though he also saw now she closeted that power, whether to protect herself or others, he wasn't sure. He had also been as keenly aware of her anger then as he was now. Mike had learned that she'd
come from a long line of medicine people, and that explained the turbulent power that swirled around her. The anger he felt her carrying…well, he figured that had come from her past, from her childhood, but he didn't know her well enough to be sure.

“Lieutenant Commander Thorval paid for the attack,” Kai told him. “My kick-boxing skills come in handy from time to time.” She flexed her fingers. “I broke his nose.”

“He's lucky you only did that.”

“I was going to do more, but the commanding officer of our squadron appeared unexpectedly at the door. Thorval was screaming that I'd hit him for no reason at all, Major Houston. I had no witnesses who could tell the wing commander that Thorval was lying.”

“My God,” Mike breathed, “don't tell me…they court-martialed you?”

“That's exactly what they did,” Kai told him grimly. “But that's not why I'm here, Major. I got busted out of the Navy and came home to where I was born—the Quallah Reservation in North Carolina. My Grams, Ivy Shining Star Sanderson, sent me out on a vision quest, to pray to the Great Spirit to give me new direction in my life. I wanted to save my honor. I wanted to salvage my family's name. Right now the gossip on the res is that I've given the entire nation a black eye. People don't understand what happened and they blame me. The newspapers painted me as an outcast. A rebel. Someone who would strike a superior officer….”

Shaking his head, Mike got up and came around his desk. He leaned against the front of it and faced Kai.
“You've come to the right place, Kai. Do you want to vindicate your good name? We can help. We can start an investigation—”

“No,” she whispered, “that's not why I'm here, Major. I'm not here for me. I'm here as a representative of my nation, the Eastern Cherokee people….”

M
ike studied the determination in Kai's eyes. “What can I do to help?”

“Aboard the carrier I made a connection with you,” she answered. “I believe you're someone I can trust and I need to talk with you.” She looked around the office, which held a pair of crossed cavalry sabers on one wall, an American flag in the corner, with the flag of Montana nearby. One wall was devoted to photos of Mike Houston with various Peruvian Army personnel. There was no doubt he was a warrior of the first order. Clearing her throat, she said, “I don't know much about your people's culture down in Peru. Are you familiar with vision quests? With Native American protocols?”

Shrugging, Mike said, “We have similar things in our culture, beliefs and practices in common with our cousins to the north. Why?”

Kai sat back and held his gaze. “I need to share my vision quest dream with you. I know that's not normally done, but you have to hear it to understand why I'm
here….” Taking a deep breath, Kai launched into the nightmare that had dogged her heels nightly since she'd come off that mountain in the Great Smokies. When she was done, she added, “Here's what you don't know, Major, and it's key to my dream. Cherokee storytellers say that our clans each have their own totem, hand-carved by a medicine person with prayer and ceremony, over a period of many years. To outsiders, these are nothing more than art objects.” She shrugged. “But to us, they are alive, real, and exude an energy that helps the clan and, in turn, all the people of our nation. Without the three stolen totems, our people are suffering badly in a spiritual sense.” She halted to see if he understood. His dark blue eyes were narrowed and thoughtful. Kai sensed he did.

“Among the Quechua, my people, we also have totems,” Mike affirmed. “For example, I have a jaguar spirit guide.” He smiled slightly as he fished a small black figure out of his pocket and showed it to her. It was a jaguar carved out of obsidian. “This is a fetish—an archetypal symbol of the energy of the animal, insect, bird, fish or whoever we work with, spiritwise.”

“Yes, I'm familiar with them,” Kai said. She knew better than to reach for it. One never touched a sacred item unless it was directly offered. To do so was to put one's energy upon it and alter it. That was taboo. She saw that the jaguar was beautifully carved from the shining black stone. Watching as Houston slid the object back into his left pocket, she murmured, “Fetishes are usually personal totems. The three clan totems of the seven we own are a hun
dred times more powerful and valuable, spiritually speaking, from what my grandmother told me.”

Nodding, Mike said, “No question there. I understand your concern over them being stolen. A nation can disintegrate without sacred items such as these being kept where they belong. I know they need special care. I'm sure there is a moon ceremony for them each month to keep their power aligned with the clan.”

Kai sighed, knitting her fingers in her lap and staring down at them. “That's correct, although Grams, who is one of the oldest and most revered medicine people on the res, didn't say much about them in that regard.” Kai looked up at him. “As you know, that kind of information is kept secret and sacred as it's passed down from generation to generation. One family, and one member of that family at a time, is educated and charged with the care and protection of each clan totem. Only they know what must be done to look after them.”

“I understand perfectly,” Mike said. “Some things, especially totems that have come down through thousands of years in a clan's lineage, are very, very powerful and need special care, cleansing and honoring to maintain their energy.”

“Major, finding the missing crystal totems and bringing them home to the Quallah Reservation will help to save my nation's honor and help my people find their balance and harmony again. Grams was telling me that since these totems have been stolen, some of the young people on the res have gotten into drugs. She believes that many of these young people are simply trying to get in touch with the Great Spirit. Before the totems were stolen, there were
ceremonies in which they could have wonderful, heart-centered experiences that fed their spirit and gave them a sense of bonding and balance within the clan. Without the totems there are fewer ceremonies to attend, and they don't have the same impact. As a result, some of the young people have turned to drugs to try and find that same special feeling of oneness that you get from attending this very special ceremony.”

“I grasp the importance of finding these treasures. And yes, a nation can be sent reeling without its totems being present.”

“It appears I need to find the first totem, the crystal mask. The other two will be found by different women later.”

“You sound hesitant about going after it.”

Kai snorted. “I'm hardly a saint! I'm not even a medicine woman, which is what has me worried about this. My grandmother told me that even though I don't have metaphysical training, I have been chosen by the Great Spirit for this venture.”

A slight smile tipped the corners of Houston's mouth. “We know that the Great Spirit moves in mysterious ways, Kai. And that none of us are perfect down here in human form. We all have our flaws.” Smiling more widely, he added, “And if we weren't flawed, we wouldn't be in human form. It sounds to me like the Great Spirit is more than ready to work through you to find the first crystal totem for your clan. By getting it back, you will help restore balance among your people. A totem works similarly to the rudder on a ship, which holds the vessel on course.
Without its totem, the people of the clan are without direction. This mission is worthy of you.”

Kai tilted her head and scanned Houston with her senses—an ability she had had since childhood. In the right conditions, Kai could send out energy like a radar signal. She would bounce it off the person in question and receive an accurate reading back on them, giving her an indication of their character and what they were thinking. Of course, she could only do it when she was relaxed. If she had honed the skill instead of turning her back on her Native heritage, she'd have known Commander Thorval was stalking her. Instead she had been completely blind, deaf and dumb to his intent toward her.

Now Kai was very sorry she hadn't accepted her spiritual training. Spreading her fingers, she admitted, “Major Houston, I have to tell you that I think they've got the wrong person for this task. I have absolutely no metaphysical training. I walked away from all of that when I was nine years old after…well, after my parents were killed. I was forced into an Anglo foster family shortly after that and I left the res. I wanted nothing to do with anyone except Grams. She eventually got the state of North Carolina to let me come live with her. But I was so angry—and still am—about my father, who was an alcoholic. He was driving drunk with my mother in the car and plowed into a tree, killing them both. I just haven't forgiven him. I doubt I ever will….”

Hearing the pain in her voice, Mike unfolded his hands and stood up. “I'm so sorry, Kai. I had no idea. That must have been a terrible loss to you, especially at such a young age.”

Anguish filled Kai's heart. She could defend herself better than nearly anyone physically, but she had no defense against the pain she felt over her mother's loss. She had idolized Janet Alseoun and held close those cherished memories she had of her.

“Th-thanks, Major. I appreciate your words….”

“Call me Mike, Kai. You look like you really need a cup of coffee.” He pointed to a sideboard behind his desk, where a coffeepot sat on a warmer.

Nodding, Kai smiled thinly and said, “Yeah, I think I'd like a cup of coffee now. Thanks…”

Mike ambled over and poured two cups. “Cream? Sugar?”

“Straight and black.”

He smiled wryly. “Spoken like a true Navy aviator.” He handed her one cup and then leaned against the desk again. She sipped the steaming coffee and he saw her tense features relax a little. “So, what you're wanting is monetary and logistical support from Perseus to locate these three crystal totems, right?” Perseus was the organization founded by Mike's boss, Morgan Trayhern. It was a covert team of military trained men and women who came to the aid of others when government intervention wasn't possible.

“Yes, exactly.” Kai studied his dark features and saw him thinking as he sipped from his own mug. “I haven't a clue as to how the other two women are going to be found.” She rubbed her wrinkled brow. “Maybe they'll appear to me in a vision later, after I find the first totem. I really don't know how this works….”

Mike smiled benignly. “In my experience, whoever is
supposed to go after it will get the message, just as you have. And come forward when called to do so. But let's not worry about that right now. Let's take this one step at a time, shall we? Let's get you on the trail of the Paint Clan crystal mask.”

“I don't have any money. What little I'd saved went for a civilian attorney to defend me against the charges, but I lost the case…. Lost everything—my good name, my family's honor. I've shamed them—shamed my nation—and I can hardly live with it. All because of Thorval. Looking back on it, I think he was jealous of me. When I bagged those two MiGs, he went after me. He couldn't stand the fact that a woman combat aviator had two kills to her credit when he had none.”

Nodding, Mike said, “Unfortunately, there're men like that everywhere in the world, not just in the service.”

“I know. So I was more or less forced into this mission, Mike. I don't really think I'm the best one to handle it, but I keep getting a dream every night about the crystal mask. It's over in Australia. I recognize the continent. In the vision, I can see the land and the face of a very old Aboriginal woman. I know she's a medicine woman for her people. And I know she knows where the crystal mask is hidden.”

“You need bankrolling, Kai.”

She searched his face. “Could you do that for me? I have no way of paying you back. I don't want to work for Perseus, I want to fly. That's what I really want to do…but with a BCD, I'm not going to be hired by any commercial airline company.”

“I know,” Mike murmured. He saw the ravages of pain in her eyes—eyes as blue as a mountain lake. “Look, let me talk to Morgan about the possibility of such a mission. This sort of request is a little out of the ordinary for us. We generally help people in foreign countries who can't be helped through regular ambassadorial channels or through the political process. We handle a lot of undercover missions, but this one is different. We're not going after people, we're going after a special object, a crystal totem. My boss is not exactly educated about Native American spirituality, nor does he necessarily believe in it.”

Mike smiled slightly and drummed his fingers on his desk. “However, his son, Jason Trayhern, just married a full-blood Apache woman, Annie Dazen, and she comes from a family of medicine women. And Jason was healed by that medicine, not via conventional means. So I think Morgan may be a little more open toward this mission than he would be normally. Let me write up a mission brief for him, Kai. He needs to read it, we need to talk, and that's when I'll try to persuade him to support your request. Okay?”

Kai didn't know whether to be relieved or not. “I still don't think I'm the person for this, Mike. I'm so unskilled when it comes to anything spiritual….”

“I know you feel that way, Kai. But the Great Spirit is behind this one, and who am I to question it? I believe you. I believe in your vision. And yes, this world is a lockerful of trouble. The darkness is out there. As a shaman, I can vouch for that. I see it all the time. Perseus is on the front lines—warriors of the light, if you will, combating
it and the people who employ the power of darkness for their own selfish end. So you have someone on your side who understands you and your mission.” He set his cup down on the desk. “Let's see if I can persuade Morgan to run with this.”

 

“Just what the hell kind of mission
is
this, Mike?” Morgan muttered as he held up the assessment report and then dropped it on the bird's-eye maple desk in front of him.

Mike smiled briefly and sat down in front of Morgan's huge desk. It had taken a week to get the report written up, after several more sessions with Kai discussing the particulars. Mike was having her stay at one of the company condos in Phillipsburg while he waited to see if Morgan would go for the plan.

“This falls under our ‘unusual' category,” he told Morgan with a grin.

“That's putting it mildly,” the older man said as he stared down at the mission brief. He adjusted the pink silk tie at his throat. “This reads like science fiction, Mike. If I didn't know you, I'd say someone was playing a prank on us just to see if we'd knee-jerk on it or not.”

Nodding, Mike watched as Morgan, who was dressed in a charcoal gray suit with a white silk shirt, scowled at him across the desk. “You know, for a long time I've been wanting to create a department within Perseus for just this type of mission.” He pointed to the brief.

“Really?” Morgan sat up, eyeing Mike curiously.

“Hasn't what happened to your son Jason convinced you that there's more to this world than what we see, Morgan?”