Ensign Probus

by Wendie Nordgren

  “What’s with the sparkling eyes and dazzling smile?” Dario asked. He didn’t understand how cleaning could put me in a good mood.

  Hugging him, I laughed. “Don’t you get it? This is my home. I’m in complete control here. I’m who I want to be and doing what I want to do.”

  As if he listened to me through our bond and truly understood, he said, “I want you to feel this way on Daphoene in our home.”

  I used the pad of my thumb to rub some lint from his stubbly cheek. He’d been doing laundry. “I’m getting there. Arachne is where I first felt like I really had a home, one that would never get taken away.”

  “Yes, I’ve seen the bench which Lord Alaric gave you.” He brought his arms around me and held me close.

  “Knowing this land is mine, family land, and surrounded by family and our spiders, gives me a strong sense of safety. I love it here.”

  He kissed my forehead. “We should spend more time here.”

  “You’ll get no argument from me.”

  “Uncle Lee!” Neema yelled.

  “Hello! Hello! Your father told me you worked very hard today. He decided to reward you all with the best meal to be had on Arachne. It is why I have come.”

  “Yeah!” Niklos exclaimed.

  I could smell the orange chicken, and it beckoned me forward. Dario chuckled when my hands and attention left him. I was drawn into the dining room, lassoed by an invisible rope of culinary anticipation. Yukihyo had already set the table and had Peter in his highchair.

  Uncle Lee perused the boxes full of food that he’d brought. “Aww, here is a cool one.” He removed a container of honey chicken and noodles which Dario quickly distributed among the children. “Who do we have here?” he asked while kneeling beside Niklos.

  “She’s my spider friend. I’m like Mommy.” He smiled proudly at Uncle Lee.

  Fitz put his arms around me while Yukihyo soothed my emotions. Both of them knew I’d been close to more hormonal happy tears. With my emotional outburst averted, I sat at the table and enjoyed the meal, conversation, and lots of laughter with my family. Our plates emptied, and our stomachs filled. Uncle Lee had directed our conversation to trade and merchant ships.

  Yukihyo looked at me, and I smiled wistfully at him. “Do you miss it?” I asked.

  He winked a milky-white eye at me. “It took me a while to adjust to our new lifestyle, but in retrospect I was constantly working. While I earned enough credits on Tora to amass some wealth, it is a pittance compared to what we now earn in one day through Ponidi Propulsions.”

  Uncle Lee said, “Yes, there are many who would benefit from faster starships. My brother was telling me a few hours ago of merchant ships rumored to be missing. They have simply vanished, neglecting their customers, failing to meet deadlines, and not responding to communications. Not even a distress call has been heard.”

  Looking around at the faces at the table, I saw their concerns mirrored my own. For a ship and crew to simply vanish without a trace wasn’t something which happened in our day and age.

  Dario said, “There must be something. Starships don’t just disappear.”

  Uncle Lee shrugged. “I am merely a humble chef.” He tried to look innocent, but he knew exactly what he was doing. He and his brother wanted us to investigate.

  Yukihyo asked, “Has the Militia been notified?”

  Uncle Lee nodded. “Oh, indeed. However, they assume the captains of the Asylum and Good Fortune decided to make their profits elsewhere, the Talpa Sector perhaps. With no debris or distress calls, there isn’t much the Militia can do.”

  Yukihyo leaned forward. “The Good Fortune is captained by a cousin of yours.”

  Uncle Lee stared into Yukihyo’s eyes. This wasn’t some random gossip, and family wouldn’t disappear without a word to anyone.

  Yukihyo said, “We’ll look into it and let you know anything we learn.”

  Uncle Lee took a data chip from his pocket and handed it to him. “This is all we know on the matter.”

  I held my hand out for the chip. “I’ll get to work on it immediately. I might be able to get locations on the ships by accessing the Inquisitor databases.” I knew Eli and Drex would help me search for answers when they returned, but I didn’t want to bring them up along with questions as to where they were.

  “Thank you, niece.” Uncle Lee inclined his head to me.

  “Teagan has been learning a great deal studying at the Academy,” Yukihyo said.

  “So I have heard,” Uncle Lee said.

  I blushed and felt a tiny spark of pride.

  “You have changed much from the frightened young girl who I first met years ago on Earth.”

  Neema said, “Mommy is an ensign. She can fly fighter ships. Watch.” She pressed her finger against her vid-screen’s surface. “See?” She climbed onto Uncle Lee’s lap. “She that one,” Neema said while pointing.

  “What are you watching?” I asked.

  They didn’t answer. Their attention was consumed by whatever played out upon the screen.

  Dario had a devious smile on his face.

  Neema said, “That’s Rio. See? Boom! Boom! It should sound like that, but we can’t hear nothing. See? Daddy shoots, and Mommy flies. They fight the bad guys.”

  My eyes almost hit the table. Hurrying over to them, I looked over Uncle Lee’s shoulder. She was playing a file titled, “Mommy and Daddy go Boom!” It was a compilation of flight recordings from the warship and my fighter of our battle with the pirates.

  “Dario Galerius, did you give this to her? She has no business seeing such violence. What were you thinking?” I reached for the vid-screen, but Neema slid from Uncle Lee’s lap and under the table. Then, she went straight to Yukihyo.

  Holding his hands up in surrender, Dario said, “I had nothing to do with it.”

  “Lady Wife, I told the children about our adventure one night in lieu of a bedtime story. They wanted to see for themselves.”

  “Yukihyo Alaric Montgomery Lee, on what planet in which universe could showing children a space battle possibly be considered to be a good idea?”

  He had a confused expression on his face. Neema crawled onto his lap and put an arm around his neck. She wasn’t holding her vid-screen, so I assumed my crafty little princess had hidden it under the table where I couldn’t get to it and delete the file.

  Yukihyo answered, “On Chione, tales of bravery are shared each evening. We are not there to tell hunting stories, but pirates are in their own ways as dangerous as ice bears.”

  “Yeah, but when Daddy hunts bears and wolves, we get coats and boots,” Niklos said. “When do we get to hunt?”

  “The next time we go to Chione, we will take you and your sister hunting. However, first both of you must learn to shoot bows,” Yukihyo said.

  My face felt hot, my pulse sped up, and I thought I’d have a fit. What the ever-loving fuck was he thinking?

  “How we do that?” Neema asked.

  “Tomorrow, we will take you to select your first bows. We can practice out in the yard,” Nico said.

  The two fuckers were in on it together. They hadn’t asked if teaching my babies to use weapons was okay with me. Before I could unleash my fury, Niklos said, “Finally, Rory gets to, but I don’t.”

  “By the time we return to Daphoene, you will get to join the other boys,” Nico promised. Coming to my side before I could explode, Nico showed me an image of a play crossbow with foam-tipped arrows.

  Yukihyo had a ridiculous smile on his face.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re still in trouble for the video.”

  Uncle Lee said, “It is remarkable how far you have come. Do not admonish my nephew for his pride in you.” He stood and kissed my cheek. “You will contact me should you learn anything?”

  “Yes, sir. I promise.”

  Yukihyo stood with Neema in his arms. “We will walk you out.”

  Together, the four of us left the dining room and went outside to Uncle Lee’s l
arge white land transport with the Sun Palace’s logo emblazoned on its sides. After exchanging hugs, he drove away. We watched until the lights of his transport disappeared down the road.

  Yukihyo didn’t ask because he could feel I was no longer angry with him. “Alright, it’s bath time. Let’s go.” I led the way back inside.

  “But, Mommy, I’m ready to go to bed. See?” She pointed out her pajamas which had survived three meals, various snacks, and the love and attention of her snow fox’s paws.

  Yukihyo sniffed her neck, making her giggle. “Ew.” He scrunched up his nose.

  “Neema stinky? Mommy, am I stinky?”

  I waited until Yukihyo had closed the door and then sniffed her hair. “A bath wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Fine,” she grumbled.

  Yukihyo and I bathed the kids while Nico, Fitz, and Dario cleaned the dining room. Eventually, the kids went to sleep, and I took a long soak of my own.

  The next morning, as promised, Yukihyo and Nico took the children to town to purchase bows. Taking advantage of the quiet, I went to the sunroom at the back of the house. Sitting on the couch, I sank my toes into my ice bear rug and gazed through the large picture windows, framed by stone and wooden beams, and out at the trees.

  “Are you enjoying yourself?” I asked.

  From his tree sculpture to the right of the room, Thunderdrop blinked lazily at me. He was watching over Sue, his pet octopus, in her aquarium. “Chirp.”

  “Let me know if you want to go outside or anything. I’m going to get some work done while it’s quiet.”

  Curious about the information it contained, I studied the files on the chip Uncle Lee had given us. Then, I tracked the known trade routes of the Good Fortune and the Asylum. It had all been provided within the files, but I didn’t know who had compiled the information or if it was even accurate. Sometimes, a mistake early in an investigation could foul the entire thing. A good Inquisitor only trusted what he or she knew to be facts. I took a sip of coffee and patiently verified every fact on the chip, flagging each docking location and each fueling fee the ships had accrued.

  Afterwards, I entered the information into the Inquisitors database and waited. I kept expecting my vid-screen to ping and to see the cold, calculating eyes of an Inquisitor who would question my purpose. Then, knowing them, a few of them would begin investigations of their own into my inquiries. I hoped they would. Two missing ships, one of which contained extended family, even if I’d never met them, wasn’t something to ignore.

  Realizing my query might take some time, I stood and slowly stretched my back. Then, I made my way toward the kitchen. Phillip’s infirmary was empty. He had whisked Terre off somewhere, and I missed both of them. Sparrow was with Xavier. Violet was with Poppy and Kaoti, and Tracy and Jazon were enjoying some alone time. Now that I had friends, I liked having them around. I made a fresh cup of coffee and realized how much I detested a quiet house. Gazing out the window, a sight startled me.

  “Thunderdrop, get in here.” My voice contained enough hollow fear to have him scurrying. His claws clicked against the floors, easing my distress the closer the sound came. “What are they doing?”

  Hopping up onto the counter, he peered through the window. Hundreds of Silk spiders covered tree branches, watching us and waiting, but for what I didn’t know.

  “Rozz, are you here?”

  I felt a sense of calm as Rozz, Walter, Tomaz, and Zergio joined us in the kitchen. Each of them had solid-black eyes and short, dark hair. They were dressed in their uniforms, and it comforted me to have my Imperial Guards with me.

  Zergio said, “They would never hurt you, Teagan. They are curious.” He put his arms around me from behind. Leaning my back against his chest, I rested my hands on the arms he’d wrapped protectively around me. It was the compassionate hug of a brother to a sister.

  “You guys should make some noise or something. It’s too quiet and makes me feel lonely. So, what has them so curious?” I motioned with my chin toward the window.

  Lifting the sphere disguised as a necklace from my chest, Walter said, “This.”

  Suddenly, a greenish-yellow sparkling ball of light freed itself from the sphere, floated across his hand, into the air, and hovered in front of the window for a moment before floating back inside of its temporary home. I held perfectly still but for the blood pounding through my veins. Outside, the spiders began to disperse.

  “It grows restless, and the spiders sense it,” Tomaz said.

  “Does it know that we are doing the best we can?” I asked.

  Walter shrugged.

  “I think I’d like some company. Want to join me? The Good Fortune and Asylum’s last confirmed locations were Earth.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” Rozz asked.

  Zergio gave me a gentle squeeze before releasing me. Thunderdrop touched a claw to the sphere and met my eyes. Then, he showed me a dark image. He was in a confined space, trapped, and he wanted to go home but couldn’t. I’d been taken from him. He wanted to find me to be with me, but he was afraid I’d been killed and he’d never see me again. The vision and feelings dissipated.

  “Oh, Thunderdrop. It was when we were on Malta, and they trapped you, but Phillip came. Everything worked out.” I rubbed his leg to comfort him.

  “Chirp.” Again, he touched his claw to the sphere.

  “It can get out of the sphere. I’m not trapping it,” I said, confused.

  Walter said, “It can get out, but its other half is trapped and alone on Earth if it still lives.” His voice was far away, and so were his eyes. “We need to get to Earth. Every clue points us there.”

  “Yep, just like an arrow,” Rozz said.

  The guys laughed, making fun of me over the crossbow misunderstanding. It pulled Walter back from wherever he had gone in his mind.

  Holding the sphere on my palm, I said, “Don’t worry, little guy. We’re going to do our best to help you.”

  With coffee in hand, we returned to the sitting room. With their help, we continued investigating the disappearances of the merchant ships.

  “How could they simply vanish? Where are they? The Inquisitors don’t even have any information.”

  Tomaz frowned. “Something, some trail, should be evident even in the barest trace elements of their passage. It leaves only one possible explanation.”

  I waited to hear it because nothing about the ships’ disappearances made sense to me.

  “They never left Earth.” Tomaz looked around the room to judge our opinions.

  “How could they be hiding on Earth?” I asked.

  Rozz put a schematic of the Good Fortune up on the large vid-screen. “We search every land port on Earth. The ship could very well be hiding in plain sight or being hidden. The crew might be in danger, or they could have become entangled in some nefarious business dealings. Either way, Tomaz is right. What else makes sense?”

  The five of us got to work. Using our eyes, we searched satellite images of Earth’s land ports in grid patterns, checking off vectors as we went. After we finished with one land port, we moved onto the next. Hours later, we had completed our search and had found nothing.

  “It has to be connected. Alien technology, blackmail, the Mad Ones, a fractured alien consciousness, missing ships, private funding by the uber-wealthy, and enough people in on it to make two ships and crews disappear,” Walter said.

  Tomaz asked, “Do you think the crews saw something they shouldn’t have seen?”

  “Could they have been destroyed during the testing of a new weapon?” Zergio asked.

  I became distracted by a feeling of love and safety through our empathic bond. Smiling, I said, “We’ve got company.”

  “And, they brought food,” Rozz said.

  “Teagan! Come out! Come out wherever you are!” Gram called.

  Laughing, I went to the front sitting room. Gram, Sydney, Auria, and Evan had let themselves in. We chatted and ate in the dining room until Nico and Yukihyo brought the
children home. They had made a day out of it and were happy and tired.

  Chapter Fifteen

  We woke up to a beautiful morning. The children were eager to run outside and soon wanted to play with their new crossbows. Fitz, Dario, Nico, and Yukihyo were supervising them, so I decided to do some baking. I was preparing to fill some pans when I noticed my helper’s situation.

  “Baby, you’ve got flour all over your back. How did you manage that? You’re supposed to flour the cake pans, not yourself.” I laughed while Thunderdrop turned in circles trying to see the flour in question.

  “Chitter clack chitter.”

  Laughing even harder, I said, “Well, be still, and I’ll clean it off of you.” Taking a dish towel, I wiped him clean. “There you go. All better.” My timer dinged, so I started removing cookie trays from the oven and put my cakes in. The scent of warm chocolate chip cookies drifted along the air currents of my kitchen. “Want one?”

  “Chirp.”

  I slid my spatula under one and transferred it to my fingers. “Ouch. Still hot.” I shifted it from hand to hand before dropping it to the counter in front of a chirping spider who found me to be amusing. I had just stuck a chocolate smudged finger into my mouth when I realized we were being watched.

  “You look so beautiful here with the sunlight shining through the window behind you. I could be content to watch you like this all day.”

  I laughed. “Then, you wouldn’t get any cookies. I’m baking enough for a squadron, but you know how they are.” Wiping my hands clean, I joined Eli in the shadows where he stood watching me from the dining room.

  Sliding my hands up his chest, I held my fingers behind his neck and lifted my lips to his. Eli kissed me with a needy hunger, plunging his tongue deep and gripping my hips with strong hands. I was breathless when he ended our kiss.

  “Come upstairs with me.” His eyes were dark with passion.

  “My cakes will burn,” I said innocently.

  “My need for you will surely make me burn. Which would you prefer to survive, your cakes or your Inquisitor?”

  I tapped my chin and pretended to think.