Exile (7 page)

“Doesn’t it bother you, the isolation? The distance from the galactic center?”

Aja shrugged. “They tried keeping us on Matsu for a time, but they feared a revolt. I was a small child when we were sent into exile. The Sauran Asteroid Belt feels like home to me. It’s an exciting place to fly. You should try it sometime, when the revolution is over, that is,” she teased.

Kyr’s response was a playful tug on her long braid. He strode from the cave, her hand held tight in his, pulling her along with him. “Damn the revolution, let’s get the hells out of here and back to the ship. Davi must be preparing to search for us right about now.”

Fortunately Wyer had hidden the bird at the base of a tall cliff. Kyr stayed low, barely skimming the surface, to avoid detection.

Davi met them at the head of the gangway, pistol in hand. At the sight of Aja and his captain, the tension in his face melted away. He and Kyr pounded each other on the back for a few moments before they battened down the hatches for the night. Aja reminded them they would leave at dawn.

A
ja sat in the navigator’s chair. Davi acted as co-pilot. Kyr piloted the ship. Aja kept her eyes closed, navigating by inner vision alone. She had already explained it took all her concentration to see their pathway yet at the same time relay instructions to Kyr and Davi.

Davi had been a bit skeptical at first, but Kyr had complete faith in Aja and Davi had confidence in his friend and captain. He agreed to set aside his doubts and follow Aja’s instructions.

Kyr had no choice but to tell his second in command about Aja’s abilities. It was necessary as Aja had not yet determined whether it was safe to go directly to the Resistance. She surmised that she might need to stay out of sight for a while.

She’d confided to Kyr it might be preferable to allow the Coalition and the Resistance to sort things out without her.

It was clear to Kyr that she could quickly become a powerful pawn for idealists and fanatics on both sides.

“Head directly into the sun.” Kyr heard the focus in Aja’s voice. “Fly low and fast. Hug the contours of the terrain. Five hundred kigs from here you’ll see a hauler leaving the planet. Stay in its gravity shadow.” She opened her eyes. “Is that possible without burning us?”

“Yes,” replied Kyr, with a glance at Davi.

“Now,” said Aja.

Kyr fired up the engines and lifted from the dusty surface. He took off, reaching top land speed within seconds. He was pressed back into his seat, but the sensation was second nature to him. He took a quick look at Aja. Her eyes were closed again and she seemed to be handling the speed without any problem. Despite the fact that he’d dropped the light screens, the desert sun was very bright and Kyr felt as if he was flying by feel alone. The land rolled rapidly away beneath the ship, like a vid in fast forward. Red rock outcroppings, sand dunes, ancient eroded mountains, dry river beds. The occasional herd of bramah passed beneath them in less than a heartbeat.

“Coming up on the hauler,” said Davi.

“Can you stay right with him?” asked Aja. “Make like a shadow if anyone tries to get a reading?”

“Easy,” Kyr answered. “Watch me.” He brought the nose of the ship up sharply and dove into the larger vessel’s wake. “Brace yourself, Aja.” They were buffeted by turbulence from all sides.

Aja’s voice shook. “Stay with them until they reach the first moon. They plan to—” she concentrated for a moment, “—pick up several junked vessels on the far side. They’re dragging them to the parts depot orbiting Aria.”

“You want us to go with them to Aria?” Davi asked.

“No,” replied Aja. “Drop off as soon as they reach the dark side. Drop off and lay low while I scan for Coalition signatures. Then we need to power up and flash. We’ll have to flash as fast and as far as we can and hide near the outer settlements. That’s the only way to stay out of their hands. They’re not sure if I’m alive or dead, but those who suspect I may be alive expect me to make my way to the Resistance forces near the galactic center. We can’t go there, Kyr, I’m sorry. That way is death for the three of us.”

“Well,” said Davi, his voice dry. “I’m all for avoiding death at this time in my young life.”

Kyr glanced at Aja’s face and saw her smile despite her closed eyes. “Who is not sure if you’re alive or dead, Aja?” he asked.

“Both the Resistance and the Coalition. The Resistance Governing Body and the Junta present dangers to us. It would be a mistake to let anyone know where I am. If my mother is alive, she will know. But she’ll hold her peace.”

“But how does your mother...? This is all a bit much for me.” Davi shook his head. “If your mother can sense you’re alive, why can’t you sense whether or not she’s alive?”

“If she still lives, she’s shielded herself and my sisters and my brothers. I’ve dropped my shields so she will know. She won’t know where I am, but she’ll know I’m alive.”

“But if no one else can sense her, why? Why shield from you? I don’t understand.” Davi shook his head.

“Because there is one other who is bonded to her through the Blood and if she’s not careful, he will find her and he will destroy her and the rest of my family.”

Kyr was coming to understand more about the bond with every passing hour. His link with Aja grew stronger each time they shared the Blood. “Who is it?”

“A man who must die, my true father. My father of the Blood, General Bom.”

Kyr turned and stared, speechless.

Davi whistled. “The head of the Junta? He’s your father?”

“Yes. The man who broke his own law and ordered the virus produced. He, himself, is a descendant of the Blood.”

Davi let out a groan of dismay.

“But why?” Kry attempted to wrap his mind around the idea of a man who would murder his own child. “Why would he want his daughter dead?”

“Because he believes me to be the Abomination, but he also fears I am not.”

“I don’t understand.” Kyr made a slight adjustment in their heading. “What of your father, The Empress’s Consort? He risked his life to protect the Empress during the coup.”

“I call Dua N’ib father,” Aja said, opening her eyes. “He is the only father I’ve ever known and I love him. He is my mother’s chosen, her true mate. But she cannot give him daughters, only sons. The Blood is passed from mother to daughter. Therefore, my mother had to seek out a man of the Blood. The Blood is an autosomal recessive genetic trait.”

Kyr and Davi exchanged glances.

“I’m sorry,” Aja said. “This isn’t something those who are Blooded usually discuss. Both parents must carry the gene to transmit it to their children. Only descendants of the Blood carry the gene, but the power is passed to female offspring. Therefore, in order to bear female children, my mother had to mate with a man of the Blood.”

“Your brothers are not like you?” Kyr asked.

“My brothers are of the Blood, yes, and they are stronger and faster and more intuitive than the average man, but no, they are not like me.”

“And your sisters?”

“We all have ability, but we’re careful not to speak of it. There is almost always someone listening and we shield our thoughts.”

“But why...?” Kyr hesitated before asking his next question. He took a deep breath. “Why would your mother mate with General Bom, knowing what he was, knowing the monster he would become?”

“It was not pre-ordained that he would become such a monster.” Aja’s voice was quiet, almost gentle. “Remember, the future is never set in stone. Ika Bom chose one path from the many that lay before him. The Empress, my mother, had sex with him and shared her blood with him so that I would be born. Apparently she anticipated a need for one like me.”

“This is giving me a headache,” said Kyr, rubbing his temples.

Aja grinned at him. “Ah, my love, now you are beginning to see my problem.”

T
he ship drifted, dark and silent, as the men held position behind the first moon. The hauler had flashed to its destination several turns before. Kyr and Davi remained alert, scanning for any sign of a Coalition destroyer.

Still in a trance-like state, Aja hadn’t moved since they’d powered down.

Kyr watched the irregular rise and fall of her chest, his anxiety for her increasing. Despite the chill of the ship, she was drenched in sweat. Her clothing clung to her. Her skin seemed even more pale than usual in the dim glow of the emergency bulbs.

He hadn’t witnessed this before, this searching for a path, for a future. He’d only seen the aftermath. To watch this made his heart pound. Wherever it was she went on this inner journey, he couldn’t go with her. Whatever she did, she did alone.

Davi fidgeted in the chair next to him. He kept the scanner on low, watching and listening for any radio broadcast. So far it seemed they’d gone undetected. Kyr could read his friend well and he knew Aja’s trance-like state, in addition to everything else she’d told them, made Davi ill at ease.

Kyr leaned over the console, kept his voice low. “She’ll be all right. She’s done this before. It’s how she found our way off the planet.”

Davi shook his head. “Maybe so, but watching her makes me want to jump out of my skin. Is it magic? Is she touched by the Gods? I thought this was nothing more than myth.”

“I did as well, until I saw her fight her way out of the laboratory. She fights like a trained Aric Assassin. I’d heard the stories of Women of the Blood from my grandmother, but until I saw it with my own eyes, I’d never believed them.”

“So you believe all of them? You believe they’re true?”

“Yes. I believe they’re true.”

Davi was silent for a few moments. “Then she could be used as a terrible weapon by either side.”

“Yes.”

“So what do we do? Do we take her to the Resistance? Gods forbid; we can’t let her fall into Coalition hands.”

“For now, we wait. When she comes out of this, she’ll guide us. I think we’ll need to stay on the margins for a bit, in order to keep her safe. If you prefer, I’ll find you secure transport at the first opportunity with twice your share of the coin. I won’t leave her, but I won’t ask you to take this risk with me.”

Davi searched Kyr’s face. “You’ve had her blood, haven’t you?”

Kyr didn’t answer.

“So that part’s true too, then?”

“Yes.” Kyr could almost read his friend’s mind as he pondered his options.

Davi turned the scanner even lower. “I’ll stay with you for now. You need a second in command. But if we discover it’s easier to hide two rather than three, then I’ll make my way back to Kesa and the men. They won’t wait forever, Kyr. They’ll grow restless after a piece.”

“I know. They’ll wait a moon, maybe two, no more. They’ll begin to scatter for their own safety.”

“And everything we’ve built over the years?”

Kyr glanced at Aja. “If it’s there, it’s there. If not, well, we knew the risks when we began.”

“What if they come after you? Not just the Coalition, the Resistance. They’ve paid half the coin for her safe return and they’ll want her. They expect our loyalty.”

“Unless they think we’ve failed and they believe her dead. I don’t have any answers for you yet, Davi. Let’s wait and hear what Aja has to say.”

“What about this father of the Blood, General Bom? I’m not certain I want to know anything more about that.”

“She won’t ask you to be involved, Davi. Of that much, I’m sure.”

“It’s all right, Mr. Fedd.” The men turned abruptly at the sound of Aja’s voice. “You won’t come to any harm.” Aja’s smile was weak. “You have a woman and three children in your future. My path will not interfere with yours.”

Davi’s mouth dropped open.

Kyr rose from his seat to kneel beside Aja. He laid his hands over hers. Her skin felt cold and clammy to his touch.

“Aja...?”

“Do you know a place called Eir-Edan?”

“Yes, but it’s a dangerous place. Not a fit place for you. The planet is lawless.”

A corner of Aja’s mouth turned up. “Lawless or not, that’s where we will go. There is a woman there who’ll hide me and she can complete my training. Kyr, I don’t have the control I need. I must go there. I’ve seen it. Once we find her, you will leave me with her and return to your men. They should leave Kesa. General Bom will be looking for them. Take your men to your brother. He can protect you.”