♦
She only spent another week in the hospital before she was allowed to return to her parents’ home. When her father had retired they had bought a small ranch in a quiet suburb of Omphalos. It was not a huge place, but Andie’s father had decided that at last he was going to try something new—farming. Currently he was trying to raise a quinoa crop and a few local vegetables. It was long, hard work for him, and he spent much of the day trying to get the planting done. He was up before Andie, and she almost never saw him except at meals. In the evening he would collapse in a chair and doze while trying to read a farming journal. Andie was pleased to see her father handling retirement so well. Not many military men seemed to make the transition that well, but her father had found something that fired his interest and was challenging. Once, to her great amusement, she had even heard him shouting orders at his small flock of insubordinate chickens. She hoped he stuck it out.
Her mother and Kendra were gone almost all day. Her mother spent her days still managing public relations for the Armada and Kendra attended classes at the University of Omphalos, and the commute, even by the quick bullet trains, took an hour each way. Andie saw very little of either.
Her first night in the house, Kendra had snuck into her room after Andie’s parents had gone to bed. She had slipped quietly into the chair next to Andie’s bed, almost before Andie had realized that she was there.
“Aunt Andie?” she whispered. “Are you awake?”
Andie had rolled over and lit the lamp. “Kendra? I’m awake. I’m not really tired yet, just resting my eyes.” She waited for Kendra to say something. Truth be told, she was still a bit angry with Kendra for helping Tiran keep her relationship with Markus—no, Erron—a secret. Kendra sat silently, apparently unable to speak.
“Are you okay, Kendra?” Andie asked quietly, trying valiantly not to show any rancor. Suddenly Kendra burst into tears. “I’m so sorry, Aunt Andie. I didn’t know he was such an evil man. I would have told you about Tiran if I had known he wanted to take her away. But Tiran trusted me, and I promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone. I never would have kept it a secret if I had known,” she sobbed a bit incoherently. Andie’s anger faded. Poor Kendra obviously blamed herself so much, and what did Andie expect? As a teenager she would never have told on her friends either. It wasn’t Kendra’s fault.
“It’s all right, Kendra,” she comforted gently. “I know you never wanted anything to happen to Tiran. These men weren’t the kind to give up. They would have found a way somehow or another. How could you have known?”
“But you almost died, and Tiran is probably dead and it’s all my fault. If I had just said something you would have sent Markus away sooner and it never would have happened.”
“Kendra, look at me!” Andie commanded urgently. Kendra reluctantly raised her eyes to Andie’s face. “You cannot blame yourself for this. You had no control over it. These were truly evil men. They would not have given up. Nothing you could have done would have changed that.” Then she softened her voice. “Please believe me, Kendra. You don’t need to hate yourself for something you couldn’t have prevented.” Kendra’s sobs had slowly subsided into sniffling. Finally Andie had sent her to get some sleep but she had lain awake herself far into the night.
She had succeeded in forgiving Kendra, but she could not pardon her husband. Shortly after moving into her parents’ home she received her first comm from Casey who was still at the Assembly Station. It had been very brief, a mere note (addressed to her father), only to tell her that he loved her and that he was doing everything he could to find Tiran. She sighed as she read the terminal screen. It was such a short message, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to expect much. All available transmission time from the Assembly Station was usually commandeered by the politicians, leaving little or no time for personal messages. It infuriated her though that while their daughter’s life was in danger Casey was still focusing on his job to the exclusion of all else. Deep down she resented that he had sent her away and then left himself.
Since Casey wasn’t able to send her any details on what had happened, she spent several hours combing the terminal archives for information from Corizen. When she first read that her attacker had been killed by the guards, she slumped back in relief. At least that was one enemy Tiran was safe from. Oanni was gone forever. Continuing on, she was startled to learn that she had been named as a top Red List target and publicly revealed as Sirra Bruche, and she watched clips from her faked funeral in dark amusement. Horrified, she learned of the embassy bombing and wondered uneasily if any of her friends had been killed. Most of all she scoured every possible reference to the Ambassador’s missing daughter but didn’t learn anything more than her parents had told her. It only made her more determined to return to Corizen. With such terrible things going on, she doubted that Casey’s agents were doing much to look for Tiran. It had been overshadowed by graver things.
Though she was alone during the day, she spent most of the time doing physical therapy exercises to gain back the strength she had lost while in the coma. It was a long and painful battle. Once a week her father took her in a transport into Omphalos for an appointment with a doctor who checked her progress. She drove herself hard, and within six weeks the doctor determined she was fit enough to get outside on her own if she didn’t overdo it. It was what she had been waiting for. She felt she was finally strong enough to travel again, and she wouldn’t put it off any longer.
That evening after Kendra had gone upstairs to study, Andie sat with her parents in the living room and explained to them what she wanted to do. Her father raised his eyebrows, and her mother leaned forward as if she wanted to say something, but then thought better of it. She settled back into her chair.
Her father was first to speak. “I don’t think this is a good idea at all. Casey sent you here to be safe and get better. You’ve been out of the hospital only six weeks! The doctor just gave you permission to go out as long as it wasn’t too much. I think traveling off-planet definitely qualifies as too much!” Andie heard him out patiently. She had not expected a much different reaction from her father. She waited for her mother’s opinion.
“It’s still not safe for you back on Corizen, Andie. I just can’t bear for you to risk it when Casey already has people trying to find her. What if these men find you again?” her mother’s voice trembled.
“It’s not as bad as you think, Mom,” Andie explained patiently. “Everyone on Corizen thinks I am dead. Casey staged a public funeral. No one will even be looking for me.”
“It still does not make sense for you to go back to Corizen,” argued her father. “Casey’s people traced Tiran to Nubia.”
“I know they think they did,” Andie refuted. “But I am the only one who knows that it was Oanni who attacked me and Erron Kruunde who left with Tiran. They are looking for a Markus Stoer. They’ll never find them.”
“So tell Casey that,” pleaded her mother. “Tell him what he needs to know so that he can direct them to search for the right man. That’s still no reason for you to go back to Corizen.”
Andie saw her mother’s eyes swimming with tears and moved into the chair next to her, taking her mother’s hands into her own. “Mom, really terrible things have happened on Corizen, and I don’t think that right now Casey will be able to convince anyone to spend much time finding a girl who supposedly eloped six months ago. She’s my daughter. If I don’t go find her, who will?” she appealed fervently.
With that her parents gave in and agreed to help her get back to Corizen. She had known they would in the end.
14. The Search Begins
It was surprisingly easy to get back to Corizen. Andie’s father arranged for her passage on a trading ship that was heading from Omphalos to Roma within a couple of weeks. It was pretty expensive without the Armada or the Union picking up the tab, but her father insisted on paying for it. “Some of my investments over the
years have done extremely well, Andie,” he insisted. “I would rather have my granddaughter safe than any amount of money,” he added. “This is the only way I can help.” Andie thanked him with tears in her eyes. As a young woman she had never appreciated her father. He had been the dominant authority figure in her life, a rock that she had battered herself against constantly, trying to prove her independence. Yet she finally saw now that that same man she had seen as unyielding granite was also someone strong that she could always depend on.
The last week before she left passed slowly. She had few preparations to make. Her mother had purchased a small new wardrobe for her before she was released from the hospital and that was all she had to take back. Casey had not sent any of her own things with her. He had closed their local money account on Corizen but had transferred a large amount of their savings for her use on Zenith, and she decided to withdraw enough Union Currency to last her a short while on Corizen. At the local branch of the bank she spoke to the manager about transferring the rest of her money to Corizen. She was shocked to learn the exorbitant fees for an interplanetary money transfer to Corizen—twenty percent of whatever was transferred.
“Why in the world is your transaction fee so high?” she demanded. “I thought the going rate for an interplanetary money transfer was only five percent!”
The manager smiled a bit primly. “Well, on all normal interplanetary transfers we do charge the standard rate. However, money used on Corizen is considered money lost to our economy, Ma’am. It is such an unstable place these days. We discourage transfers there whenever possible.”
Andie ground her teeth in frustration. “Then how am I to access my money once I am on Corizen, may I ask?”
“Ma’am, if you insist on going to such a dangerous place, you must simply accept that risky behavior is costly and pay the higher fee.” He put on his starched, insincere smile again. “I’m sorry, ma’am. It is the bank’s policy, and I must comply with it.”
In the end she gave in and paid the outrageous transfer fee and arranged to have an account set up in the Union-based bank headquartered in Roma. She didn’t want to risk running out of funds during her search.
That night she arrived back at her parents’ home thoroughly worn out. She collapsed in a recliner in the living room after dinner and closed her eyes. Her father looked up from his journal. “You overdid it today,” he observed, disapproving.
“Well, yes,” Andie admitted. “It was a long trip into the city and back. Frustrating, too.” She described her interview with the bank manager. Her father shook his head ruefully. “Sounds like legal robbery,” he commiserated. “But I see why they would be worried. Everything I hear describes Corizen on the point of civil war again.”
“Oh, Dad, it isn’t as bad as that. Really. We just have some crazy terrorists who have been trying to frighten everyone. That’s all.”
“Sounds like they’re succeeding in frightening everyone though. I hear people all the time talking about whether the Union should step in or not.” Andie sighed deeply. Her father put down his journal. “If the planet isn’t safe, the businesses are going to pull out, Andie. A lot of people have invested in Corizen. They don’t want to lose everything there.” Andie bristled.
“Corizen doesn’t need the Union to step in! The last thing they need is the Armada in there telling everyone what to do. They are perfectly capable of governing themselves, Dad,” she defended, a bit wearily. She had had this same conversation with Casey a number of times. Her father leaned back in his chair. His brow creased. “If things aren’t stable, the economy will go down the drain. Do they have a strong enough military to keep the peace?”
“Well, the Corizen Peacekeeping Force is pretty strong. They do a good job of keeping everyone safe.” Except for lately, she realized as soon as she said it. They had been starting to get overwhelmed by the Brotherhood before she had been shot. All the terminal news only showed it getting worse. Her father studied his hands.
“Nothing worse than an army whose loyalty is divided,” he observed quietly.
“So you think the Union should just send in the Armada to whip Corizen back into shape?” she asked incredulously.
“No,” he chuckled cynically. “No, I don’t think the Armada has any business on Corizen. They don’t want us there, and in my opinion that’s good enough reason to leave them to sort out their own mess. People like that wretched Oman deserve what they get.” The words cut Andie to her heart. Her father didn’t care what happened on Corizen. Everything that meant so much to her meant nothing to him.
Her father must have seen it on her face. He rose from his chair and came to her side. “I don’t think the Armada belongs there, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see Corizen succeed, Andie. I know it’s your home. I know you have given everything you are to the Denicorizens. I only wish . . .” he tried to express, but the words faltered and instead, he kissed her cheek. “I just want you to be safe and happy. That’s all.”
Andie hugged her dad tightly in response. That was all she wanted as well.
♦
Her parents and Kendra accompanied her to Omphalos the day she left Zenith. It was a bittersweet parting. Andie was impatient to get back to her search for her daughter, but at the same time it was hard to leave her parents. It was impossible to know if she would ever see them again.
Just before she boarded the ship, her father hugged her tightly and Andie gave him a swift kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Dad,” she whispered. She turned to Kendra who was standing a bit behind and pulled her closer. “I hope you find Tiran, Aunt Andie. I miss her so much,” Kendra whispered. Andie nodded and smiled at her niece and then turned to her mother.
Her mother wrapped her arms tightly around her. “It will all work out in the end, you’ll see, Andie,” she promised. “You are an amazing survivor and so is Tiran. You’ll find her.” Andie fought back her tears and kissed her mother. Then, she picked up her small carry-on bag and turned to board the ship. She turned one last time before climbing the ladder and waved at her family. Her father saluted her, and Kendra and her mother waved back madly. Then Andie boarded the ship, some part of her knowing she would never set foot on Zenith again.
♦
Once in Roma she took a shuttle directly to Freeport. It was a large new seaport on the coast of Urok, about 50 miles from Kruundin City. Before the revolution it had been merely a sleepy fishing village. Over the last decade however, it had quickly grown to be one of the largest ports on the continent. When Andie disembarked from the shuttle, she looked around her and inhaled the sea air deeply. The salty air reminded her vaguely of Laeren and their days together colonizing on the island of Faroi. She smiled as she thought of him; the sting had gone out of her first husband’s death long ago.
Freeport was a very orderly laid out town. The shuttleport was near the center of the commercial district, with the streets laid out on a grid. She looked around to get her bearings for a moment and then headed down one of the main commercial roads. It had been quite awhile since she had been to Freeport but her intended route came back to her quickly.
It was a great relief to be out of Roma. In the short time she had been gone, Roma had turned into a war zone. There were bombings almost every day, and in some neighborhoods, fires simply burned the buildings to the ground. A curfew was in effect, and CPF soldiers patrolled the streets with roadblocks every few miles, but still the violence continued. Andie had been shocked and even terrified by the changes. Here in Freeport, life seemed to be going on a bit more normally. The shops were open for business, and she didn’t see any roadblocks anywhere. Yet even here there were signs that all was not well. An occasional building showed signs of fire and graffiti supporting the Brotherhood scrawled across the front. She shuddered as she passed one such building. It looked like it had once been a small grocery store, with living quarters above. It was a horrible blackened empty shell,
and Andie quickly looked back at the street. The sooner she arrived at her destination, the better.
It didn’t take much longer. She found herself on a street of well-kept but modest three story homes. They were narrow and built out of brick; small courtyards dotted with potted plants or small fountains fronted the buildings. She walked past them until she reached number sixteen and then slowly pushed open the front gate. A small fountain gurgled merrily in the corner of the courtyard, with a small wooden bench and a young tree completing the arrangement. Potted flowers were set all around the courtyard and the heavenly smell calmed Andie considerably. Yes, there was still peace and beauty in the world of Corizen if one knew where to look.
She climbed the front steps and rang the doorbell. She only had to wait a minute for a voice to call from inside, a bit warily. “Who is it?”
“Rosalea?” Andie called back loudly. “It’s Andie Morten.” The door crackled as a shield was deactivated. She could hear the door being unbolted and it cracked open. An eye peered cautiously out. “My stars, this is impossible!” she exclaimed. “Bret, come quickly!”
The door swung wide open, and Andie was confronted by a tall, blue-skinned beauty with gleaming masses of mahogany hair. She grasped Andie’s arm and pulled her into the entryway. “I thought you were dead, we all did, we even went to your funeral,” Rosalea babbled, a bit hysterically. “And here you are on our doorstep!”
A man’s firm tread thundered down the stairs and Andie looked up to see Bret Ka staring down at her. He looked much older than his thirty-five years now. It had been Bret’s plan back in the days of the Kruundin City siege that had sent her to confront Jaory and ultimately destroy him. In the intervening years he had married the beautiful Rosalea and served in the Planetary Congress. Andie and Casey had kept in close contact with the Ka family over the years. They were some of the few people she knew she could trust without reservation.
Corizen Rising Page 12