AWOL

by Traci Harding

  ‘My father’s not here,’ Yasper observed.

  Lucian backed up into the corridor to look for the stragglers. ‘Here they are,’ he advised upon spotting them, whereupon he finally entered the mess and approached his wife, kissing her. ‘Good morning,’ he said after. ‘Where did you disappear to so early?’

  ‘I had to see Zeven about an errand,’ she answered.

  ‘Anything I should know about?’

  Taren shook her head. ‘We have more pressing matters that you should definitely know about.’ She noted Kassa and Zelimir had joined the rest of the crew, who were clustered around the group of tables closest to the servery.

  Zelimir had joined the ranks of the chosen after he was arrested by the organisation he’d been heading for over half a century. After being so anti-psychic and banishing his wife and unborn child to another planet, the ex-chief of the MSS had discovered he had a Power himself — he saw auras. Zelimir’s wife had died giving birth, and so he had never seen her again, nor the child he abandoned.

  Today, if Zeven’s intel proved correct, Zelimir and Yasper Ronan were about to get their lost family member back.

  However, if Zeven had made a time-jump without her — and he’d pretty much confessed to doing just that — then they were already changing the course of events. Since meeting with him this morning, Taren’s plan of attack had changed; she had to trust Zeven knew what he was doing, for she was now his willing accomplice.

  Before Taren had left the universe parallel to come back in time to save AMIE and Maladaan, she had made a list with Lucian of goals they needed to achieve. There were eight items on that list.

  1. Stop AMIE taking the sample from Oceane

  2. Wake Lucian up to Amie and Swithin (completed)

  3. Lift mother’s curse

  4. Reunite Taren’s parents

  5. Expose Khalid (completed)

  6. Free Jazmay and Fari (completed)

  7. Return to Kila to warn Rhun about the Orions (?)

  8. Save Yasper (completed)

  Since returning to the past Taren had managed to achieve half of her objectives — over half, if Zeven’s claim that they had already returned to Kila to warn Rhun was true. Number 1 on her agenda could only be achieved with the fullness of time, so items 3 and 4 were a very high priority. One could even say that AMIE’s first mission had been decided long before the vessel had ever been built. To rid her mother, the Qusay of Phemoria, from the curse of the Phemoray, and hopefully get her two estranged parents to start speaking with one another, on a diplomatic level at least, had been top priority — until her chat with Zeven this morning. Now there was another goal to add to her list.

  Retrieve Telmo and Kalayna — get them to shut down the inter-system gateway they fixed, before anyone, including the MSS, come through and arrest them.

  This goal was now priority number one, and fortunately the timekeepers had some time to spare before needing to report to President Anselm for their mission this evening.

  ‘So, we are gathered here today to …?’ Yasper posed to prompt Taren to be out with it.

  ‘To be briefed on tonight’s mission,’ she advised. ‘I have an errand I have to run myself before we leave, so in case I get held up, I thought it best to bump this meeting forward.’

  ‘So what is our first mission to be?’ Leal was curious, as he’d only just signed up to the crew, and only knew snippets of the full agenda.

  ‘Anselm has, after four years of negotiating and pleading for a meeting, finally persuaded the Qusay of Phemoria to grant him an audience, and we shall be his guard,’ Taren informed.

  ‘I really need to speak with Anselm.’ Yasper was predictably eager. ‘Only he knows where my long-lost sibling is. They might be in this very room and I would be none the wiser.’ He made light of his dilemma, but for his father, Zelimir, it was a gentle ribbing.

  ‘I know you’ve not forgiven me,’ Zelimir granted, ‘but Anselm will not have let me down.’

  ‘I can’t believe you never even bothered to find out if you’d fathered a boy or a girl,’ Yasper said, though without angst; his father was a very different man these days.

  ‘Absolutely, Yasper, you are on the team,’ Taren confirmed to end the affront. ‘There’s a good chance we’ll need you to create a bit of an airborne diversion for the Phemoray.’

  Yasper looked a little wary about that premise.

  The only crew who were originally involved in the de-crowning of the Queen of Phemoria were Lucian and Ringbalin, both of whom were essential to this mission. They needed Lucian’s etheric sight to keep tabs on what the angry female thought form guarding the crown of Phemoria was doing during their visit. They needed Ringbalin’s ability to influence the moods and emotions of others to keep the Qusay’s Valourean guard in good spirits.

  ‘I have to be touching someone to pacify them.’ Ringbalin was panicking upon learning this. ‘I cannot do it en masse!’

  Taren knew that in the future Ringbalin would learn to, but during the instance in question his talent had been no more developed than it was now.

  ‘That didn’t matter the last time we went through this.’ Lucian wanted to reassure him. ‘You still had hardened Valoureans pleading to their queen to spare your life!’

  Ringbalin was very embarrassed by the claim, yet concerned also. ‘Why was I in trouble with the Phemorian Qusay?’

  The captain paused.

  ‘The Qusay of Phemoria tried to kidnap me and wasn’t happy when Lucian protested,’ Taren jumped in to spare explaining to Ringbalin about a love affair that was yet to happen for him, and its tragic end — which would hopefully never eventuate. ‘Of course you sided with Lucian and …’ She shrugged in conclusion.

  Ringbalin was looking at Taren sideways, as though he sensed he was not getting the whole truth. ‘Well, if you need me, I am at your service.’

  ‘We’re also going to need a telepath.’ Taren looked to Leal and Kassa.

  ‘I’ll go,’ Leal didn’t hesitate.

  ‘Hey,’ Kassa was offended. ‘The Phemorians are more disposed towards women than men, so … I should go.’

  ‘I don’t need their permission to read their minds,’ Leal bantered with a grin.

  ‘Neither do I,’ she challenged, grinning back.

  ‘I can’t risk injury to our doctor.’ Lucian called it. ‘Leal is trained for this kind of thing.’

  ‘Oooh,’ Kassa protested, with a big pout.

  ‘Not to worry,’ Taren assured the doctor. ‘Your chance is coming.’ According to Zeven’s list, Kassa would run her first mission before the day was out.

  ‘I am coming,’ Jazmay assumed. She was Phemorian and Taren’s unofficial bodyguard.

  ‘Of course.’ Taren felt that went without saying. ‘I’ll also be needing Amie.’

  ‘Really?’ Amie was surprised to be included. ‘What do you need me for?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ Taren answered honestly — Zeven had called this one. ‘But I guess we’ll find out.’

  ‘Okay.’ Amie was pleased to agree, despite Taren’s vague reasoning.

  ‘Mythric?’ Taren looked to him. ‘I gather you and Satomi might like to come along?’

  The Princess Satomi may have been dead, but her ghost was usually to be found in her husband’s vicinity somewhere. Thanks to the captain’s talent for seeing the disembodied, they had been enlightened to her presence. In life, Satomi had been searching for a means to spare her younger sister from the curse that was attached to the crown of Phemoria — today she would finally see her efforts realised.

  ‘Definitely,’ Mythric spoke for her.

  ‘Satomi is giving that the big nod,’ Lucian confirmed Mythric’s gut instinct.

  ‘The Phemorians are going to be more on guard than they were last time around,’ Taren advised. ‘Anselm is the man the Qusay-Sabah Clarona despises most of all, but with any luck my presence will conciliate the Qusay’s wrath long enough to get the crown off her head.’

  �
�So where are you off to this morning?’ Lucian, as captain, was surprised he’d not been informed that Taren intended to run an additional mission.

  ‘Kalayna and Telmo have fixed Inter-system Gateway Five ahead of schedule,’ Taren informed him, and most in the room gasped as this was an event the timekeepers needed to prevent if they were going to keep the entity on Oceane from discovery.

  ‘So I’m taking Mythric to get them out,’ she stated, ‘and shut it down.’

  Lucian nodded; he didn’t need to ask why she was taking Mythric — he was the only person left on AMIE that Kalayna knew personally, although she knew Mythric by the alias BA Tane. Mythric also had PK, meaning he could help transport their new members back here, rather than needing Taren to teleport him as well.

  ‘Who are Kalayna and Telmo?’ Yasper queried, as Mythric raised himself from his seat to answer the commission.

  ‘The two babies of the crew,’ Taren filled him in. ‘We’ve been holding off on recruiting them as long as possible, but now their safety is in question, so it’s time to conscript them.’

  ‘Do they know about us?’ Yasper, as security, was always concerned about new personnel.

  ‘I suspect they don’t even know they have Powers, let alone that a whole bunch of us psychic outcasts have banded together,’ Taren outlined. ‘But they belong on this crew, and already have been timekeepers, once upon another timeline.’

  ‘If you say so,’ Yasper said. ‘You’ve been right about everybody else.’

  Taren smiled, gratified by his faith, and indeed everyone’s. ‘Shall we?’ Taren looked to Mythric, who gave her a wink.

  ‘I’ll meet you at Kalayna.’ He vanished, and Taren followed his lead, bringing an image of Kalayna Zuri to mind to seek her out.

  Arse planted on a sandy beach, a wet, salty breeze blowing in his face — Zeven had missed the Frujian lifestyle.

  He’d spent years living on an island just off Frujia’s capital island, Kotan-Bathaar, with his father, Spyridon Vidor, aka Mythric Zeon — a name his father much preferred. Still, the locals on Frujia had dubbed Mythric Bakar Aitor Tane, which meant ‘alone good father man’, thus he was also simply known as BA. At the time, Zeven had only just discovered that Mythric was his father, and he looked back fondly on those years that they been awarded to get to know one another, whilst the AMIE vessel was being built. Mythric had become a good friend and ally long before they’d discovered the truth behind their inexplicable connection to one another.

  ‘I do believe I shall retire here,’ Zeven decided, although that was every person’s dream, despite what planet they were born on, and it was easy to see why — everywhere you looked the view was picturesque.

  It was coming on evening here in the cooler climes of Frujia, and the beach was bathed in the long shadows of the trees at his back — Zeven had maybe a couple of hours of daylight left, which was all the prep time he would need.

  What did he know about the situation he was about to pop into?

  Khalid was being held in a top level psychic security prison — meaning that Zeven could teleport himself to his target, but he could not teleport them both out until the cell was opened and they were both clear of its restraint. Such a powerful prisoner would also be wearing a psychic restraining device, which effectively rendered him Powerless — this would work to Zeven’s favour. From the last time he’d passed through this instance in time, and his adventures since, he knew that Khalid currently had the evil spirit, Chironjivi, who had been posing as his father, trapped inside his body with him. This was the result of Chironjivi and Khalid’s ill-executed attempt to join forces to assassinate Jabez Anselm, President of Sermetica. The timekeepers had thwarted this event, and Khalid was sent to prison for the murder of the Duchess Maiara Vidor, whom he’d killed only hours prior to his arrest. Unknown to them at the time, when Khalid had been psychically restrained the evil entity possessing him had been trapped in his body with him and had been tormenting him ever since. Zeven had later discovered that the key to separating the curse from the man lay in a tiny metal amulet that had been implanted in Khalid’s hand at birth to ensure his allegiance to the evil cesspool of souls at Dead Man Downs. The last time this instance in time played out Khalid had begun cutting this amulet out of his hand himself. As his cell was monitored constantly, his jailers had moved to intervene. Zeven never got the full story, but somehow Khalid had escaped custody, cut the trinket out of his own hand and then trapped Chironjivi’s evil soul in a coffer. If they could do the same with all the evil souls at Dead Man Downs then Khalid would be free to discover who he really was for the first time in his life.

  ‘Oi, you!’ The voice was aggressive, but some distance away.

  Zeven looked to the source to find a huge, strapping, blond fellow striding towards him.

  ‘What are you doing on my beach?’ The man obviously didn’t relish company. ‘How the fuck did you get on my beach?’

  That was a good question as no transport came out this way, but Zeven had picked this spot because it was uninhabited, and thus he’d not been expecting to have to answer questions. He could have just vanished, but Zeven was curious about who this guy was — looking as he did, he wasn’t a local, as native Frujians were shorter, and dark of hair and skin, usually.

  ‘I wasn’t aware that property out here in the protected regions of Frujia had become available for purchase?’ Zeven shouted back over the evening breeze that was whipping up.

  ‘Political asylum,’ the large fellow replied. ‘What’s your excuse?’

  ‘The Frujian government gave you a residency here?’ Zeven found that hard to believe. Standing on a beach as he was, Zeven was paying no heed to the water pooling at his feet.

  ‘Secret service,’ the islander boasted with a grin.

  ‘Whose?’ Zeven probed, then felt the water at his knees. He looked down to find it was rising up over his body — as if filling an invisible casing around his form. ‘Oh shit.’

  ‘You ask a lot of questions, little man.’ The fellow stopped just out of reach and folded his arms, smiling smugly. ‘Now you have five seconds to tell me who you are and what you want, before I drown you. Go!’

  ‘This is really not necessary,’ Zeven warned him politely. ‘Call it off.’

  ‘Three seconds.’ The islander grinned as the water reached Zeven’s waist.

  ‘Have it your way.’ Zeven imagined a psychic restraining band clamping around the ankle of his opponent, and it was so.

  ‘Fuck! I fell for it again!’ The hulk of a man protested the restraint, dropping onto his haunches to try and rip it from his ankle. ‘Get it off!’

  Power impeded, his opponent’s liquid casing broke from around Zeven and the water fell away in one almighty splash.

  ‘The chick who put me here did the same thing!’ the man grumbled, but then had an afterthought. ‘Did she send you?’

  Zeven suppressed a grin as he considered that there was only one secret service female with the ability to do what he’d just done. ‘Fit, bit taller than me, long blonde hair, tenacious?’

  ‘That’s her,’ the fellow confirmed. ‘A bit of a rebel.’

  Zeven laughed at the understatement, and the coincidence — but then, being a timekeeper he’d learned there was no such thing.

  ‘She said that she’d send someone back to fetch me once she’d gathered her forces.’ The fellow was sounding far more amenable.

  Zeven nodded, suddenly realising who this fellow was. If his guess was correct, the timekeepers had first run into this guy in the universe parallel, where he’d aided Jazmay and Fari to escape MSS custody. In this universe, however, Taren had persuaded him to abandon a vendetta he was waging against the MSS, and to retire to Frujia; this deal had in turn prevented Yasper Ronan’s death six years ago. On neither occasion had Zeven met the man but thankfully Taren always gave a comprehensive mission debrief.

  ‘Vadik Corentin,’ Zeven put a name to the legend. He’d been one of the MSS’s most wanted psych
ic rebels. Due to his mastery of the elements, they called him ‘the Hurricane’, thus Taren had given him another alias. ‘Or should I call you Harry Cane?’

  ‘Harry is fine,’ he advised, cocking an eye. ‘So she did send you to fetch me?’

  ‘Why would you want to leave this?’ Zeven considered that Vadik already had it made.

  ‘Because the MSS are pulling some creepy shit on the psychics on Maladaan and I want to make them desist,’ he seethed.

  ‘How would you know about that, living all the way out here?’ Zeven wondered.

  ‘The elements are everywhere,’ he advised, and smiled in conclusion, ‘and the elements are friends of mine.’

  Zeven considered this a good answer. ‘And why should we trust you?’

  ‘You want me to prove my conviction to the cause?’ Vadik challenged and stood, keen yet offended. ‘Take this fucking band off my ankle and give me a mission. I’ll do anything you ask me to.’

  ‘Anything?’ Zeven grinned as he could use an accomplice at present, especially somewhere this remote. ‘You may not like what we have in mind. In fact, I’m quite sure you won’t!’

  Vadik grinned. ‘I’m just hired muscle, I don’t have to like what I do … and despite how gruesome the task may be, I usually do enjoy my work.’

  Zeven removed the psychic restraint from the man’s ankle as a show of good faith, but was smiling on the inside. Let’s see how well he does babysitting the man who headed the very organisation he once sought to bring down.

  ‘So what do I call you?’ Vadik queried, happy to be free of the restraint.

  ‘Bob.’ Zeven held out a hand to his new ally, who shook it gladly.

  ‘What do you want me to do, Bob?’ Vadik clearly recognised the simple name was an alias.

  ‘Well, Harry, I just need you to wait here,’ Zeven stressed the simple instruction. ‘I’ll bring your assignment to you.’

  ‘Good deal.’ Vadik looked about the island, a little baffled. ‘So where is it?’

  ‘Sermetica,’ Zeven advised, and before Vadik could express his bafflement, Zeven teleported himself to his next target: Khalid Mansur.