Laura Jo Phillips (25 page)

“Yes, I can see you in this,” she said.  She handed the terminal to Karma and reached for her vox.

Karma scrolled through the list and laughed happily.  “You told me kevlex and leather, but I never imagined this.  This is fantastic,” she said.  “Beautiful, warrior like, and sexy.”

“Sexy?” Aisling asked worriedly.  “It’s not meant to be sexy.  It’s meant to be something I can move in, fight in, run in, and yes, I admit, I wanted it to still be feminine.  But I wasn’t really aiming for sexy.”

Karma rolled her eyes as she returned the hand terminal to Hope who was gesturing for it.  Hope began reading the list into the vox so Karma moved closer to Aisling so she could talk without interfering with Hope’s call.

“Don’t worry about it so much,” she said.  “It’s perfect for you, and there isn’t anything wrong with sexy.  Not to change the subject but, Ash, I want to go with you on this trip.”

“Why?”

Karma hesitated for a long moment as she considered her answer.  “The truth is, I don’t know why,” she said finally.  “When you said the name of the planet, Rathira, a few minutes ago, I just knew I was supposed to go there.  I’d never heard of it before, so I have no idea why I feel this way.  I wish I could explain it, but I can’t.  If you say no, I’ll understand, but I’ll still go.  I’ll just have to find another way to get there.”

“That’s not going to be necessary, Karma,” Aisling said.  “Of course you can go with us.  In fact, I already promised that you could go with me.  I’m not going back on my word.”

“Thanks, Ash,” Karma said with relief.  The sudden tightening she’d felt when she’d first heard the name Rathira loosened.  She didn’t understand it, but for now she’d done all she could do about it.

“They promise they can deliver the items on your list in three days or less,” Hope said triumphantly after she disconnected her call.  “All you need to do is forward the spec files to them and they’ll get started immediately.”

“Wow, that’s fast,” Aisling said with surprise.  She had hoped for at least two outfits, and perhaps one pair of
sai
, but hadn’t dreamed she’d get everything.

“Living on the Dracons’ ranch and having the last name Bearen tends to speed things up a little,” Hope said with a shrug.  “Normally, I wouldn’t pull strings that way, but this is an exception.”

“I really appreciate your help, Hope,” Aisling said. 

“No problem,” Hope replied.  “I just wish I could see the faces on the Gryphons the first time they see you in one of those outfits.”

“Do you think there’s something wrong with them?” Aisling asked, worried again.  She’d never much cared what others thought of her.  She dressed the way she did for a reason, and it wasn’t anyone else’s business what she did, or why she did it.  She was going to Rathira as a warrior, not a tourist, and she needed to dress the part.  The difference was, she did care what the Gryphons thought of her.  Very much.

“No, it’s you, and therefore perfect,” Hope said stoutly.  “Don’t worry about it for a moment.  I think they will be surprised, but in a good way.”

“I hope you’re right,” Aisling said.  “But, it’s who I really am, and they need to know that part of me, and accept it.”

“That’s right,” Hope agreed.  “What I find puzzling is the fact that you are not their Arima.  From everything you’ve told me, your feelings towards them, and your ability to sense their emotions sounds like my reactions to the Bearens.”

“I don’t know what’s going on with that,” Aisling said.  “But I do know that they are meant for me, and I am meant for them.  That is all that matters to me.  From what they said to me last night, that’s the conclusion they’ve come to as well.”

“Good,” Hope said.  “Now, on to the next matter.  You’re planning to have Doc fix your back, correct?”

“Yes, I’d prefer him,” Aisling said.  “Do you think he’ll do it?”

“Of course he will,” Hope said.  “Luckily, he’s just returned from a trip with the Katres, so he’s here on the ranch now.  I think we should give him a call and get that set up as soon as possible.”

“Sounds good to me,” Aisling agreed.  She was tired of limping around and more than ready to have the problem fixed.  Besides which, she would feel a lot more confident about going up against Urwin when she was fully healed.

“You go ahead and send those plans to the tele-fabricators, and I’ll vox Doc,” Hope offered. 

“Deal,” Aisling replied, glad that she had decided to tell Hope everything.  Without her help, she didn’t know how she would have gotten so much done so quickly.

***

After dinner that evening the Bearens speed traveled with the Gryphons to the spaceport to inspect the
Kontuan
.  The Bearens had agreed they could use it but it would take a few days for it to be provisioned.  The sooner they put things in motion, the sooner they could leave. 

Since they were on the Dracons’ ranch, there was no need for an extra guard to watch over Aisling and Karma while the Gryphons were gone, which was a relief to both women.  It was nice to be able to just relax in the living room of the guest cabin without a strange man there. 

Aisling had sent her order to the tele-fabricators and received confirmation that the order would be delivered to the ranch, to Karma, in three days.  Her surgery was scheduled to take place in two days, and Doc had agreed that she could be placed in a healing tank afterward and moved to the Kontuan.  It was hard to believe how much had been accomplished in just a few short hours.

Aisling chose a chair in the living room, turned on her hand terminal and pulled up the Arkandu oraculum.  She hadn’t had much time to spend on this, which made her feel a little guilty, so she thought she should work on it while waiting for the Gryphons to return.  An hour later she hadn’t gotten very far. 

“How’s it going?” Karma asked from the sofa across from her.

“Terribly,” Aisling replied with a sigh.  “I’m really good with numbers, so I thought this wouldn’t be too difficult.  I was wrong.”

Karma bit her lip, then took a deep breath.  “Aisling, I’m going to tell you something, but this is between you and me only, okay?”

Aisling glanced up at Karma in surprise.  “Sure.  I’d never repeat something you asked me not to.”

Karma put her reader on the arm of her chair, looked at Aisling for a long moment, then shifted her gaze to an area beside Aisling’s chair. 

“When Hope, Grace and I were in the desert, after I fell and broke my leg, something happened to me that had never happened before,” Karma said.  “I saw a man that I knew was not really there.  A man I didn’t know.  He told me things and to be honest, I thought at first it was just the fever and the pain talking.  I didn’t really believe it myself at first.”

“There but not there?” Aisling asked in confusion.

“Yes,” Karma replied.  “It turned out to be Hope’s cousin, Harlan.  The things he told me saved Hope’s life, and saved us both from getting burned.”

“Harlan is dead,” Aisling said.  “So what you’re telling me is that you talked to his...what?  His spirit?  His soul?”

“Yes,” Karma replied.  “Whatever you want to call it, I spoke to a dead man.  When I woke up from the healing tank in the base hospital it was one of the first things I remembered.  I thought that it happened because of my fever.  I didn’t think it would ever happen again.”

“But it did,” Aisling guessed. 

“Yes, it did,” Karma admitted.

“I’m glad you trust me enough to share this with me but I gotta ask, why did you?” Aisling asked.

“Because there’s a strange little being standing right next to your chair, and he wants very much for me to tell you something,” Karma replied.

Aisling’s eyes widened in surprise.  “Wow.  Okay.  Where is he?”

Karma pointed to the empty space beside the armchair Aisling was sitting in.  Aisling looked where Karma pointed, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.  She turned back to Karma and studied her face carefully.  Over the years she had learned to be a fairly good judge of character.  There was nothing to indicate that Karma was lying to her.  In fact, all of the indicators insisted that she was being perfectly honest.

“What does he want you to tell me?” she asked.

Karma’s gaze shifted again to the empty space, then back to Aisling. 

“I am going to repeat everything he says as close as I can, okay?” Karma asked.

Aisling nodded, sitting up straight now, eager to hear what this invisible being wanted to tell her.  It sounded strange, but no stranger than her sudden ability to translate languages she’d never heard before.

“He says that he is a member of a race once known as the
Arkandu
,” Karma began.

Aisling gasped.  “Arkandu?  Seriously?  Are you certain of that?”

“Yes, positive,” Karma said.

“Look at this,” Aisling said, holding her hand terminal out to Karma.  Karma took it and stared at the screen for a moment, but she couldn’t read a word of what she was looking at.  She handed the terminal back to Aisling. 

“Sorry Ash, but I have no clue what that says.”

“I’m sorry,” Aisling said taking the terminal back.  “I see Standard when I look at this stuff, except for the oraculum part anyway, and I keep forgetting it doesn’t look that way to everyone else.  Right before the part that I can’t read, the text refers to it specifically as the
Oraculum of the Arkandu.
”

“Oh,” Karma replied.  “Yes, I can see why that would be exciting.  It also makes me feel better, like I’m not a lunatic.”

Aisling grinned.  “Who said you’re not a lunatic?”

“Nobody,” Karma replied with her usual half shrug.  “Do you want to hear the rest of this?”  

“Yes, please,” Aisling said.  “I’ll be good.”

Karma cocked a doubtful eyebrow, then glanced at the empty area beside Aisling.  “I know, I know, I’m getting there,” she said.  “Don’t be so pushy.”

Aisling glanced at the space beside her where Karma was looking, then back to Karma.  She decided not to comment. 

“The Arkandu were an advanced technological race,” Karma began again.  “They were the first civilization in our galaxy to leave their own world and explore the stars.  Before long they attracted the notice of the Xanti, who were just beginning to venture into our galaxy from their own.”

“How long ago was this?” Aisling asked.

Karma turned to the empty space, then looked back to Aisling.  “He is not sure, but thinks that it would be about seven thousand of our years ago.”

“Amazing,” Aisling said softly.  “Please continue.”

 “The Xanti had technology that was far beyond that of the Arkandu, and because the Xanti seemed friendly enough, they began to trade with them.  Many of the Arkandu were psychic, and there was a lot of suspicion about the Xanti because they looked just like the Arkandu.  This was troubling as the Xanti had told them they were from a different galaxy.  They didn’t think it made sense that a race from a different galaxy would appear exactly as themselves. 

“Good point,” Aisling said softly, remembering what Elder Vulpiran had told them about the Xanti’s bio-suits.

Karma nodded in agreement.  “Eventually, the Arkandu psychics discerned the Xanti’s true nature.  They learned that the Xanti were predators who could mimic any race using technology stolen from enslaved races from within their own galaxy.  They did not know the Xanti’s true form, but they knew enough to know that they wanted nothing further to do with them.  The Arkandu tried to distance themselves from the Xanti in a peaceful manner, but that only made the Xanti suspicious.  Eventually the Xanti decided that the Arkandu knew too much about them.  They decided to destroy the Arkandu so that they could not spread their knowledge among the other worlds.

“Knowing that their end was coming, the greatest seer of the Arkandu delivered an oraculum to the Xanti.  The text that you are struggling with is that oraculum.”

“Am I right in thinking that an oraculum is similar to a prophecy?” she asked.

“He thinks so,” Karma replied.  “He isn’t altogether certain what a prophecy is, but if it is a foretelling, then yes.”

“Does he know it?” Aisling asked.  “Can he tell you what the oraculum says so that you can tell me?”

Karma shook her head.  “He doesn’t know it,” she said.  “He knows the story leading up to it because he lived through it, but only the Xanti heard the oraculum.  After the seer delivered it to the Xanti, they murdered him.”

“But I can’t read it,” Aisling said with frustration.  “I can’t figure out what it says.”

“He asks, no,
begs
, that you not give up on this,” Karma said.  “He says that it is his task to be sure you understand how important this knowledge is, and that it is your task to decipher it.  If you don’t, the continuance of the Thousand Worlds will be left in doubt.”

“That big, huh?” Aisling asked as she stared at the terminal screen.  After a few moments she looked up at Karma, a determined look in her eye.

“Tell him not to worry, I won’t give up on it.  I’ll keep at it until I figure it out if it takes me the rest of my life.”

“I don’t need to tell him, he can hear you,” Karma said.  “He is bowing to you in thanks.”  Karma fell silent for a moment, then nodded silently to the empty area beside Aisling’s chair.