“Mexico. I want to go to Mexico.”
My ladies chatted excitedly and started searching.
Sparrow said, “Oh, look! Let’s do this!”
“Will it fit in? Check it against our dates,” Terre said.
“Yes, it will!” Violet said. “Teagan, can you help us make costumes?”
Blinking, I looked from their expectant faces to the vid-screen. A trip to Mexico would coincide with the celebrations for Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. Chills swept over my flesh. The Mad Ones were sending me dreams from beyond the grave.
“Yes, you’ll have the best costumes. Sherman sent along several bolts of silk.”
Tracy knew something was bothering me, but she also knew that I didn’t want to share it with the other ladies. To spare me a questioning, she encouraged them to look at costumes and find patterns which we could load into my vid-screen and use to program my machine.
A few minutes later, Zared crouched beside me and kissed my forehead. He gave me a nod and left to report my nightmarish epiphany to the Inquisitors.
Into my mind, Izaac said, “You have discovered the piece of the puzzle which we lacked. We can spread out in Mexico and systematically search minds for knowledge of the alien presence much like we did on Amphictyon.”
Simply hearing the name of the dreadful world sent a knife into my soul. Zared’s steps toward the lift ceased, he turned, and walked back to me. I watched his eyes as he approached. He had almost lost his life during our mission to find my mother. He had survived, but Luca hadn’t. Kneeling before me, he held my face in his hands. He didn’t promise me that I’d never lose him or anyone else I loved.
Instead, he said, “I can promise you that you will never suffer any loss alone. Always, there will be arms to hold you and gentle lips to kiss away your tears. Luca would not want to be a continual fount of pain. He would want you to remember moments of joy and laughter, like this.”
Zared took me back into a memory.
I was lying on my stomach and getting a fabulous massage by a waterfall in a picturesque paradise. I realized it was Luca’s hands all over my body. He’d taken the place of my hired masseuse. I had been furious and shoved him into the pool of water.
When the vision cleared, I stared into calm pools of black, Zared’s eyes. “This pain never leaves me. It hurts just as much.”
“Yes, but not as often, and you never suffer this loss alone.”
I felt them then, reaching out to soothe me, Zared, Jazon, Walter, Xavier, Tomaz, Vawn, Xander, Wyatt, Vic, Zach, Zergio, Rozz, Izaac, Zam, Travis, Jezzie, and even Zeth who was so far away on Parvac.
Zared said, “We have you and will never fail you.” He kissed me, twirled one of my braids around on his finger, nodded to my ladies, and made his way to the lift.
Sparrow, Terre, and Violet assumed my nightmare had been about Luca and let it be. Tracy knew it was something more, but when she didn’t ask, I assumed Jazon had explained everything to her telepathically. Each of them looked at me with concern.
“I’m fine,” I said to reassure them. “Let’s look at those designs.”
Chapter Eighteen
All the while the Empress sped toward Earth, three other ships kept in formation with her. Two of those vessels were Parvac warships under the commands of Inquisitor Cormac Gordian and Captain Merick Carus. Captain Carus had torn across galaxies to come to my defense upon first hearing of the pirate attack. It was suspected that someone feared we had been getting too close to uncovering the truth and had burned through his or her credits in hiring the droves of merciless criminals to stop us. Our nemesis had thought the pirates would prove our unmaking, sending us back home whimpering in fear. What our adversary had failed to understand was that the Empire nurtured her most merciless sons, honed their skills and proclivities toward violence, provided them with the most advanced technology and weapons, and set them loose as Inquisitors. Well, he or she might now have come to that realization if the pirate base and what remained of its inhabitants had been found. They had struck one lone warship, but now there were two.
There was one other, and it was the Constantine. I feared rather than an ally, the ship’s captain and crew were an albatross around our necks. However, time would tell.
Many things were revealed in time. I thought back to when Yukihyo and I had first visited Parvac with Hiroshi and Phillip on Tora. We had been so naïve. We had considered running from my birthright, hiding from Papa and the Empire. I laughed now at the memory. They never would have let us go….
“Never gonna let you go….” The Mad One’s words came back to haunt my memories.
“Where are you? Focus,” Rovek scolded.
I’d been staring at the white wall panel. My team and I sat at the table studying businesses and facilities in the vicinity of Mexico on Earth. “Sir?”
Rovek looked startled by my respectful address.
“The Mad One said something about never letting me go. Could it be another clue? What never lets go?” I shook my head. “Maybe, it’s stupid.”
“It is doubtful it is stupid. They never did anything without a reason. They left you an alien and soil from Earth for the stars’ sakes.” Rovek sat with us and ordered us to narrow our search.
Stayton said, “From recent personal experience, we know adhesives are designed to hold.” He tapped away at his vid-screen. “There just so happens to be a molecular adhesive factory in Mexico.”
Rovek stared at his own screen. “It isn’t owned by Rupert Warren.” He tapped away at his own screen. Sometime later, he said, “But he is the one who funds it through a series of subsidiaries. Excellent work.” He stood. “On Earth, you will remain with Teagan and her ladies at all times. Arm yourselves with weapons which are undetectable to scans, garrotes, resin blades, and such. Also, you should know by now how to take anything from your environment and use it to kill. You will dress as civilians and act like tourists. Clark, you may act like a newlywed male if it suits your princess. In this way, the ladies will have twice the amount of guards allowed to visiting dignitaries. While Lord Yukihyo meets with Rupert Warren, a team will infiltrate his computer systems and search for incriminating evidence. We need to know what the hybrids used to control him.”
Sensing Eli and Drex as they entered the room, I looked up and smiled.
Eli said, “Those activities will be tightly coordinated with the clues which you have just provided.”
Taking my hand, Drex said, “For appearance’s sake, you must play the part of the Emperor’s daughter, drawing attention to yourself and away from us.”
I wasn’t completely buying it. They wanted me safe and out of the way. “Alright, Drex. I’ll play along, but what if they come after me?”
Factually, Clark said, “Then, they will die.” He wasn’t being boastful.
Bowing, Drex kissed my knuckles.
The next day when we docked on Earth, it put my stomach in knots. I sat on our bed and watched as Yukihyo finished dressing. He was wearing one of his best suits and the diamond Imperial pin with which Papa had presented him. I followed when he left our quarters. Xavier stepped out of the quarters he shared with Sparrow dressed in a black suit which made him look like the stereotypical deadly bodyguard. He wore a pair of brown eye films which disguised what he really was, a deadly Laconian hybrid who could use his mind to kill. Knowing how much deadlier he was than a deadly bodyguard made me feel better about Yukihyo leaving.
Sparrow followed Xavier out of their rooms and slapped him on the ass. “Keep this on tonight.”
“Oh? What will you wear if I do?” Xavier asked.
Her brown curls bounced when she tilted her head back to kiss him. “Stay out of my mind so you’ll be surprised.”
Xavier grinned.
I held tightly to Yukihyo’s hand. “Please, be careful. He’s dangerous, and I don’t trust him. If anything were to happen to you….” I felt my throat closing up in pain.
Soothing my emotions, he said, “I w
ill be fine. You will see. Now, don’t you have plans?”
I nodded. We had agreed that the children would all be staying aboard for their safety and our peace of mind. However, they would be having some fun of their own. Crewmen had cleared one of our cargo holds, covered its floors in thick rubbery padding, and had erected and filled a kiddie pool. They would be well-guarded and supervised by Pierce, Lorca, and Dr. Savelli.
I took a seat. Our plans were in motion, and there was no backing out now. Terre, Tracy, and Violet were still getting ready. Ulf was helping them with their hair. They were all bubbling with excitement because in a few hours, we would be boarding a chartered shuttle and visiting the Great Pyramids of Egypt.
Yukihyo kissed me and left with Xavier.
The Hadrian was docked a few miles away. Pulling out my vid-screen, I called Quaid.
He answered, but wasn’t aboard his ship. “Lady Bosh, you look beautiful.”
I tried to see where he was, but he held his screen closer. “We’re docked in Union Port City. Where are you? Are you coming to see me?” It annoyed me that I sounded whiny and needy to my own ears.
“Not today unfortunately, but soon. I promise. I love you, but I must go.” He ended the call.
I stared at the blank screen and promised myself that I wouldn’t call him back. If he wanted to spend time with me, he knew how to find me. He’d made me feel dismissed. Feeling eyes on me, I looked up and saw Sparrow. She wasn’t the only one who was observing me. Sensing my mood, Thunderdrop crawled to sit beside me and nuzzled my neck.
She said, “They’ll be fine. I’ve seen Xavier rip the head off of an AI soldier with his bare hands, and Yukihyo’s no pussy.” I snorted and laughed at her, but her expression remained calm. She’d been stating facts and not making jokes. “It’s not just them going or even Quaid. It’s something else. Why do you seem sad?”
I shrugged. “I grew up here. It sucked. When I ran away, I ended up in a housing community not far from here.”
“Let’s go see it.”
“Why?”
She said, “Keep facing shit, putting yourself above it, and it can’t put you in its shadow anymore. What did you want when you were there? What did you wish for?”
Wistfully, I said, “Most of the time, I wanted to be in space, and sometimes I just wanted another fucking blanket.” I thought about the beautiful bedding with which Yukihyo had decorated my quarters on Tora. Then, a thought occurred to me. “Sparrow, we bought out Dade’s store on Arachne. It was just a whim, a way of saying hello and letting him know we’d been there.”
She smiled at me. “Someone gave me a pillow and a blanket once when I was shit out of luck. We’ve got time. Don’t we? They’re still in there doing their hair.”
I nodded.
Clark asked, “Where are you going?” He followed us into the lift.
Then, Cedrenus and Stayton fell in with us.
“We’re going to take some textiles to my former housing community.”
“Not without us,” Binder said as he followed us into the lift.
Surrounded by my team, who had dressed as civilians for our excursion, we loaded a large land transport with the merchandise from Dade’s store. With Thunderdrop on my arm and back, I drove us from the Empress, from the land port, and out to the lonely housing community located under a defunct overpass. My heart grew heavier the closer we got. Clark could feel my emotions, and his expression had turned to stone. He and the others knew my history, but seeing it in person really drove it home.
There was a chill in the air when I opened my door and stepped out. The gravel crunched under my shoes as I walked toward a few older ladies who sat beside one of the communal buildings on worn lawn chairs whose tattered straps fluttered in the breeze. Their hands stilled over the bowls of peas they were shelling. I recognized one of the ladies. She was wearing her hair short, and the black curls were shot through with white. She looked far more tired than I remembered.
“Ms. Reeves, is that you?” I called out.
“I don’t believe we’ve met, young lady.”
Walking closer, I held out my hand. Reaching out with a rough palm, she shook it. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Teagan. You used to make sure I ate when I lived here.”
She looked me up and down, not in an unfriendly way. “Been a lot of people here asking about the girl you used to be.” She laughed. “I don’t need to fuss at you for being too skinny these days.” She smiled at my baby bump.
I smiled back at her. “I have some blankets and pillows I’d like to donate to the residents. They’re Arachnean Silk, so if they don’t want them for themselves, they can sell them for a decent profit.”
Ms. Reeves stood and put her bowl on her chair’s seat. “It’s much appreciated, especially with the weather getting cooler. Tell you what. How about we put them in the common room?”
The guys started unloading the transport and putting the crates where she directed. News travelled fast, and soon those who were home came out to see what we were doing. Sparrow and I encouraged them to take what they wanted while Ms. Reeves told the guys how many people were at work so things could be set aside for them.
“Thank you,” a lady said.
“You’re welcome.”
She had two kids with her. She was the only one who got close to me. Everyone else was terrified of Thunderdrop. I slipped a credit chip with a couple of thousand credits on it into her hand when we shook and motioned with my head for her not to say anything about it, but Ms. Reeves had seen. To her, I said, “You don’t have to stay here. You can come with me. You can start over.”
She shook her head. “Oh, honey. You ain’t getting me off the ground in one of those contraptions.”
“What are you going to do? Stay here? You’re not happy here. No one is.” I couldn’t have hidden the frustrated anger from my tone had I tried. “Don’t you have dreams?”
She smirked at me. “Well, of course, I do.”
“What?”
“I love to feed people. For years, I’ve dreamed of having a small place.” She shook her head.
“I can make your dream come true.”
“How you reckon so?” She put a hand on her hip.
I pulled out my vid-screen and did a quick local search. Then, I showed her a few images. “What do you think of these? This one is small, but it has an attached apartment and is at the land port.”
“Do you see the price tag on it?” she asked incredulously.
“I see an investment. Do you want to go look at it or not?”
“Are you serious or just playing with an old woman?”
“You were kind to me when I had no one. That isn’t the kind of thing I can forget.”
Clark smiled at Ms. Reeves and offered her his arm. Gazing up at him, she took it and let him help her into the transport.
I said, “Land port businesses thrive, Ms. Reeves. There are always hungry dock workers to feed.” I looked back at her from my seat to see her clutching her hands as if she feared her fingers would disappear.
Sparrow took the passenger seat and pulled out her vid-screen, showing me a small transport for sale. I nodded at her. Ms. Reeves would need a dependable means of going from the land port to the markets. Sparrow winked at me and paid for it with her own considerable credits. Turning into the land port, I parked in front of the Harbor Master’s business offices and expected a nightmare of forms, waiting, and lines. However, I got treated like a celebrity, and when the Harbor Master learned of the purpose for my visit, the burly man got red in the face with emotion. He offered Ms. Reeves his arm, showed us to a long, open roller, and drove us to the small restaurant’s storefront with its plasti-glass door and single picture window. He opened the door with a palm scan and showed us inside.
A counter wrapped around the right side and was surrounded by bar stools. Behind it, there was counter space along the wall which was home to a beverage dispenser. Cups, saucers, and plasti-glasses filled the shelves beneath it. On the back
wall behind the counter, there was a set of doors which led into the kitchen and a small pass through window for orders. The dining area contained a few booths, and there was a restroom in the back.
“You get to the upstairs apartment through the kitchen, but it has a private backdoor and set of steps down to the alley,” the Harbor Master said while escorting us through the kitchen and up to it.
It was a two-bedroom, one bath apartment with a small kitchenette which opened onto the living room. The window in the living room looked out over the land port where ships could be seen coming and going. It was a view that would have thrilled the eighteen-year-old me.
“What do you think? Can you make your dreams come true here?” I asked Ms. Reeves. I held Clark’s arm and watched as Sparrow stepped over to look out the window at the bustling land port activity.
“You can’t really mean to do this for an old woman who did nothing more than fuss at you to eat,” she said quietly.
“There were days when you were the only person who spoke to me at all. It meant more to me than you could have known.” I grinned at her or tried to. I ended up having to blink rapidly so I wouldn’t cry. “Just think. You could feed people here and give them your special case of fussy emotional support while you’re at it. There’s probably someone out there who could really benefit from your personal touch of sass.” I motioned at the land port.
We all went back downstairs, and she ran her hand over the counter and then stepped over to gaze through the window. She said, “There are a bunch of hungry workers out there. I could serve hearty meals, roast beef, potatoes, and meatloaf.”
My mouth watered.
“Good old-fashioned stick to your ribs food,” the Harbor Master said.
Ms. Reeves smiled. It was a real smile, and I hadn’t ever before seen one like it on her face.
“Let’s do this,” I said.
Half an hour later, Ms. Reeves had the deed to her new building, her permits, and a business account with ten thousand credits in it. Her hands were shaking, and her eyes darted about in disbelief.
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