Davin's Quest (6 page)

“He was a biologist in the old world. He taught me a lot about plants and animals,” she said with a hint of shyness.

Rick stayed where he was, not wanting to frighten her. “He sounds like a good man. Do you know where he is now?”

“Probably still in the cell with my mother and little sister. They took me away last week.” She nudged her chin toward the soldiers by the door.

Rick stepped closer, projecting calm as best he could. “Did they hurt you?”

She shook her head. “They hurt Daddy when he tried to stop them. I hope he’s all right.” Tears threatened and Rick knew he had to help her in whatever small way he could. Perhaps he could find some angle that would appeal to the scientist. He looked at the alien with shrewd eyes.

“Do you know the condition of her father?”

“He is well, though the soldiers did have to restrain him with some force. I believe they broke one of his
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arms, but it is healing well.”

“And your plans for this girl? I have to tell you right now, putting her in with a group of hungry males is a very bad idea. Gang rape will do nothing but traumatize a youngster like this. She is not mature enough physically or emotionally to endure that kind of treatment.”

“How do you know this?” Mara 36 asked.

Rick wanted to pound his fist against the wall in frustration, but restrained himself. “If you’ll find my handheld device, I have a number of medical texts on human development. If you had familiarized yourself with the subject before beginning your experimentation, you could have avoided re-inventing the wheel.”

The scientist pursed his lips, almost smiling in amusement, but Rick couldn’t see a damned thing that was funny about this situation. “A quaint expression, but one I understand. I will give this matter some thought.”

“In the meantime, will you allow this girl to go back to her parents? I can assure you, she’s way too young for what you had in mind. Subjecting her to the kind of experiment you intended could bring on despondency, thoughts of suicide and major psychosis.” Rick pulled a few big words out of his ass, hoping to convince the alien to return this poor little girl to her mom and dad. It was the least he could do.

Mara 36 sighed. “Perhaps you’re right. I can delay this study for now and dispatch a team to find your device. If you agree to help me study your people’s old texts, I will wait. Otherwise, the study will proceed as planned. Do I have your agreement?”

Rick saw no way out that would not harm the girl. He had no choice but to help his enemy. He’d have to make a deal with the devil.

“I agree.”

Callie turned sweet sixteen a few weeks after Davin left and the family had a party for her. They’d had a celebration of Harry’s sixteenth birthday just days before and he’d stayed with them at the ranch for the occasion. Harry spent a lot of his time in the alien city, getting an education and surreptitiously looking after his Papa Caleb, but he didn’t want to miss Callie’s special day.

The party lasted for hours with music and jokes, all her favorite dishes and a big cake. Jane had also managed to make some new clothes to surprise her daughter with and the girls of the house had oohed and aahed at an impromptu fashion show.

Harry found Callie alone by the paddock the next day, just before he was going to return to the city. She had the beautiful amethyst crystal Davin had given her in her hand, watching the play of light through the facets, almost mesmerized by its beauty.

“That’s a special gift he gave you.” Harry propped up his boot on the split-rail fence next to her as he
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watched a yearling colt gallop over the grass.

“Harry, you know about their technology. What can you tell me about this amethyst?”

Harry looked at the stone with a critical eye. “I can tell it’s one of the more powerful crystals I’ve ever seen. It hums with energy.”

“Davin said it was flawless, and that he’d tuned it.”

“Well, he’s the best crystallographer they have. If he did the tuning, no wonder it’s good. I asked a bit about him, you know. As much as I could without raising suspicion. Our parents were a little concerned about him, but as far as I could tell, everything he told them was true. He is a throwback, but he’s also one of the most powerful of the Alvians. He’s the Chief Engineer for the whole planet, and he got that position solely on merit.”

“Sounds important.” Callie fingered the crystal, watching the play of the sun off its natural facets.

“It is.” Harry nodded. “He’s interested in you, I think.”

“What?” Callie blushed and didn’t quite meet her brother’s eyes.

“I overheard Mama Jane talking about resonance mates and I did a little digging in the Alvian histories. It used to be, when they still had emotions, the males would search for their destined mate. They called them resonance mates. Without a mate, most of the males eventually went insane. I guess Davin came to the Waste looking for a human mate who could return his feelings and maybe his eye turned to you.”

“No way.” Her blush deepened as she protested.

“They why did he give you such a valuable gift? He only gave crystals to Mama Jane, Papa Mick and my dad. And I’ve seen those crystals. They’re not half as powerful as the one he gave you.”

“Really?”

Harry touched her hand. “Really. We’re sixteen now, Cal. In the old world we would have been dating other kids already and in a few years we might’ve thought about getting married. I, for one, don’t want to miss out on that if I can help it and I don’t think you do either.” He smiled at her kindly. “Am I right?”

Callie shrugged one shoulder. “I’d like to get married someday, I guess.”

“But where are we going to find potential life partners?” Harry slapped one hand down on the fence railing. “I don’t want an Alvian woman. First off, none of them would understand me and my emotions, and they’d probably only want me because of my Hara DNA anyway.”

“Harry, that’s awful!”

“Awful, but true. You haven’t been around them much, but Callie, regular Alvians are just coldhearted.

They don’t understand or want emotion and it’s hard for me to live among them.” He turned back to her.

“Which is why I think I understand a little about Chief Engineer Davin. If I were him, I’d be looking among the human women for a mate. Hell, I will be, when the time is right.”

“But there are so few human women, Harry. It may take you a long time to find the one for you.”

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“Well, I don’t have anything against having sex with Alvian women. That’s what Dad did to make me after all, right?”

“Harry!” She punched his arm, blushing again at his bold words.

“Well, I’m not a virgin, Cal.”

“You’re not?”

Harry laughed. “One of the benefits of having a mother who’s a scientist. She arranged for me to learn about sex in a rather hands-on way. She even monitors me in my sleep. And she’s collecting my DNA for study and comparison.”

“What’s it like? Sex, I mean.” Callie was bright red with embarrassment, but intrigued.

“It’s hard to describe.” He hesitated. They’d been raised on a ranch. They’d seen animals doing it, but it was hard to reconcile the harsh reality of the act with the rush of pleasure he’d learned could be coaxed and prolonged, or hard and fast. “And I can only guess what it’s like for a woman, but for me, it’s…amazing.”

Callie watched the yearling gallop closer. “I want to try it, but…”

Harry tucked her under his arm and hugged her to his side. “It’s okay to wait. In fact, I think you should.

I know that’s old-fashioned of me, but you’re my sister. I love you and I want you to share it with someone who loves you and who you love back. Without love, it’s just sex, Cal. It feels great, but a little empty.”

“Well it’s not like there’s a bunch of men courting me, so I’ll probably never do it. The only men I really know are members of my family.”

“And Davin.” Harry nodded toward the purple crystal still in her hand.

Her breath caught. “I only met him once.”

“But he gave you a tuned communication crystal, Cal. You can talk to him through it, if you want, and get to know him.”

She turned the crystal in her hand. “This is a communication device?”

“Among other things.” Harry reached out one finger to touch the surface, pulling away quickly. “It’s a powerful emitter, and tuned perfectly. It’s probably a direct link to Davin, and totally untraceable because of the way he’s tuned it. The other crystals he left aren’t like this one, Cal. I think he gave it to you, hoping you’d talk to him.”

“You mean it’s like an old-world telephone? I can just call him and talk back and forth?” She seemed fascinated by the idea.

Harry nodded. “I think so, Cal. I’ve seen crystals similar to this in the city, but nothing this small or fine.

Davin’s reputed to be the best of the best when it comes to crystals, so I’m not surprised he gave you some of his best work. It tells me he really is serious about you—or at least wants to learn more about
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you.”

“Really?”

Harry squeezed her shoulder once more. “Really. And Cal, think about it. He’s the only Alvian with emotions I’ve heard about. His work keeps him separate and apart from everyone—even most other Alvians. I think he’s probably a pretty lonely guy.”

“Are you trying to convince me to talk to him?” She eyed him suspiciously. “I don’t think our parents would want me to.”

Harry sighed. “You’re probably right, but I can’t help but think maybe this was meant to be. I get this feeling…” His eyes took on a faraway look that she’d come to recognize a bit from Papa Caleb. Harry’s amazing gifts were still manifesting as he matured and it wouldn’t surprise her at all to learn he’d somehow gotten the clairvoyant gift as well as all the other things he could do with his powerful mind.

“Did you see something?”

But Harry shook his head. “It’s more a feeling. I don’t know, Cal, but this feels right. Davin is important to the Alvians and I think he’s important to this family too. I think he’s going to be important to you, but I can’t say just how. But I can say this—he needs you, Cal. He needs a friend.” His eyes turned serious as he focused solely on her. “Even if it never amounts to more, he needs to know there is someone out there who can feel¾who can commiserate and talk with him about his day. He has no one. Absolutely no one he can talk to. You could be his friend, Callie.”

She seemed to consider his words. Her empathic gift was no doubt making her feel sympathy for the lonely Chief Engineer. Harry couldn’t say why this was so important, but he’d been waiting for something to give over the past few weeks and he thought this had to be it. There had been a feeling of waiting about the ranch and about Callie in particular since she’d started carrying that amethyst crystal. It was as if the universe were waiting for her to call on the massive power stored within the small shard, waiting for her to bridge the gap between her empathic soul and the lonely man who had given her the means to make contact.

“I don’t think our parents could object to that,” she hedged, palming the crystal more strongly. “I don’t think they’d mind if I made friends with him.”

Harry felt the energies sliding toward completion with some satisfaction. He’d given her the nudge and now she would see it through. He knew he’d done the right thing, but he still didn’t know exactly how it would all play out. His powers were growing stronger as he grew, but there was still so much he didn’t quite understand.

“No, they wouldn’t object to your making friends, Cal. You should call him.”

“But how?”

He spent just a few moments telling her how to work the crystal as he’d seen similar crystals work in the city, then left her to it. He’d planted the seed and as he walked away, the flower blossomed.

“Davin?”

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Callie’s voice was hesitant, but it was music to his ears, half a world away.

“Is that you, Callie?”

“Yes. It’s me. Harry showed me how to work the crystal. I hope you don’t mind.”

Mind? She had to be joking! He was ecstatic that she’d initiated contact. He quickly secured his chamber and lay back on his couch, ready to hear whatever she would choose to share with him. He hoped he could keep her talking, but he wasn’t much of a conversationalist.

“I don’t mind, Callie. I’m actually very happy to speak with you.”

She could feel that, even over the distance that separated them. Her empathic gift was an odd creature.

Sometimes she felt resonances of feeling from people just by hearing their voice. It was that way with Davin, and it was that which had made her sneak around Papa Mick’s office when Davin had been staying there, hoping to hear the deep rumble of his voice and experience the shivers it sent down her spine and through her empathic senses. She didn’t quite understand it all, but she knew his voice, his raw emotion, made her feel good in a way that was entirely different than what she’d experienced with her family members.

“I was hoping…” She took a breath for courage. “I was hoping we could be friends. I know my parents didn’t want you talking with us kids while you were here, but Harry says you might be lonely, and you might want a friend to talk to once in a while.”

Davin was silent and she was afraid she’d said too much. But when he sighed, she felt it down in her bones.

“Harry sounds like a very wise man.”

Callie laughed, liking the respect she could feel in his voice. “Harry’s the best. But he’s going back to the city today. Maybe you’ll see him there.”

“I doubt it. I imagine he’s going to the northern settlement. I live in the Southern Engineering Facility, which, if I’m reading the old human maps correctly, is roughly in an area that used to be called Brazil, though the coastline is much changed now.”

“Wow, you mean in South America? Mom taught us the old geography, but warned us it was probably all different since the cataclysm. I didn’t realize your people had more than one city, but I guess that would make sense.”