AWOL

by Traci Harding

  ‘Well … you’re the doctor.’ He held her face and wiped the stray tears from her eyes, drawing her into the kiss he’d been dreaming about since the day they’d first met. ‘And I do like that prescription.’

  As soon as Taren was back on deck she wasted no time summoning the crew together for a full debrief — all except for Trance and Vadik who were at the cabin on watch.

  The feeling in the room was a mixture of relief and gratitude to be home, tainted by the all too obvious absence of the crew members still unaccounted for, and the uncertainty of their return.

  First up, Lucian raised his concerns in regard to Ringbalin’s role as hostage for the Phemorians, but when Mythric and Swithin outlined the situation in which they had found themselves, the captain admitted that he would have probably done the same in Taren’s place.

  Yasper took issue with his father’s death. He wanted Zelimir’s body returned for cremation, as his father’s state of decomposition would make it impossible to resurrect him at this point. Taren vowed she would ask after Zelimir’s remains when she next met with the general to give a report.

  Just about all the crew had a beef with Zeven’s mission to rescue Khalid from himself and no matter how many times Taren explained the situation, or how much she voiced her complete faith in her cousin’s actions, the general view remained unaltered.

  ‘You know I adore the short man,’ Jazmay spoke up to give Swithin’s voice a rest, as he was the most fiercely outspoken on the subject. ‘But the fact is, you don’t really seem to know what his motives are, and him going AWOL without us, is just plain reckless! He endangered all our lives.’

  ‘Like you all haven’t done that at some point!’ Taren blew a fuse. ‘If this is what it takes to prevent an inter-universal disaster then sorry, but I support it one hundred per cent.’

  ‘If we were all dead, would you still be saying that?’ Swithin challenged, coolly.

  ‘Please don’t make me answer what ifs,’ Taren simmered down. ‘Let’s just deal with what is. What happened was not Zeven’s fault; he took every precaution to ensure the safety of this crew and the future. If anyone is to blame it is me; if I’d not ignored Thurraya’s repeated requests to know where her father was, she would not have been compelled to pop off and see him.’

  ‘Well, I ain’t going to blame a six-year-old girl,’ Swithin gave up his beef. ‘But Starman had better fucking come through!’

  Taren nodded to accept his point, but was truly drained in the wake of the onslaught. She half expected a hug from her husband, but Lucian kept his distance.

  ‘Anything else you need brought to our attention?’ Lucian invited everyone to air any other complaints or information for discussion.

  Leal raised a finger and Lucian gave him the nod to speak. ‘I don’t believe anyone mentioned why Zelimir was slain so swiftly.’

  ‘How do you mean?’ Taren was curious, thinking it was Ronan’s MSS history that had forced Prochazka’s hand.

  ‘The ring!’ Yasper clicked his fingers, remembering the instance in question. ‘My father questioned Prochazka about a ring she was wearing.’

  ‘Where in wretchedness did you get it?’ Leal quoted. ‘Which seemed a poignant remark from someone who could see auras.’

  ‘That confirms it,’ Taren uttered under her breath. ‘That’s how she controls them and how she found this ship so damn quickly.’

  ‘Is that helpful?’ Yasper queried. ‘I’d like to think my father didn’t get his brains blown out for no good reason.’

  ‘Yasper?’ Jazmay hugged their son to her, obviously feeling he didn’t need to be reminded.

  ‘Mother.’ Fari pushed her away. ‘I’m not a kid,’ he insisted.

  ‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Jazmay went down on her haunches to assure him.

  ‘I know.’ The boy exhibited his mother’s same detachment from emotion. ‘I wasn’t holding the gun.’

  Jazmay was a little taken aback by his view, but satisfied he was not just putting on a brave front, she let it be. ‘I really don’t think this discussion is appropriate for a seven-year-old.’

  ‘No, Ma! Don’t get me dismissed!’ he objected.

  ‘The information is very helpful,’ Taren assured them all, especially Fari. ‘It confirms a hunch I had; your grandfather’s word is gold to me.’

  ‘Now, you’re going to send me to bed, aren’t you?’ Fari drew in the corners of his mouth, and exhaled heavily.

  ‘Dismissed.’ Taren was sorry to be so predictable.

  Fari rolled his eyes as his father turned him towards the door and slapped his behind to get him moving. ‘I’ll be in to say goodnight shortly.’ Yasper watched his son flounce out of the mess.

  Mythric raised a finger. ‘I too am fairly sure Prochazka is at the bottom of all this. But something she said has me puzzled.’ He frowned as he recalled. ‘She promised that she would be keeping a very close eye on my progress and if I betray them she would know of it. But then immediately following, Satomi gave me back my Juju stone.’

  ‘Which shields you from being perceived or found via psychic means.’ Taren got his drift.

  ‘I’m fairly sure the general was aware of what Satomi was about to do, and Prochazka is not the type to make idle threats.’ Mythric raised both brows in question. ‘So how else might she perceive my movements?’

  ‘A spy,’ Swithin concluded, as his mind was the most devious.

  ‘Exactly,’ Mythric put it to Taren. ‘I am thinking that perhaps one of the people we rescued may not be who we think they are, but a shifter.’

  That statement set everyone on edge, but not Ayliscia. ‘Or perhaps the spy is exactly who they appear to be.’ Her wary sights looked back to Jalila.

  ‘I was near dead when you found me,’ Jalila defended. ‘Perhaps you are the impostor, if you feel the need to point a finger at someone else?’

  ‘I had someone with me the entire time we were captive,’ Ayliscia argued.

  ‘True,’ Kassa concurred.

  ‘You, however,’ Ayliscia continued, ‘knew we had a healer and that the timekeeper would not allow you to die.’

  ‘Ladies!’ Lucian called time on the argument. ‘At this point the claim is supposition. We have no proof of leaked information, and until we do there is no crime here.’

  Taren looked around the room, feeling in her gut that Mythric might be right; she needed to be careful who she trusted with important information. ‘Just out of curiosity, is there anyone else who can vouch they had company the entire time they were captive?’

  Amie and Kassa raised their hands. None of the men present, including Mythric, could raise theirs. This left only Lucian and Vadik in the clear. Jazmay and Kalayna had also been separated from their crew mates, and even Trance had been left alone for a time.

  ‘So now we go back to being kept out of the loop,’ Swithin grumbled, ‘because you can’t trust us!’

  ‘If anyone in this room was wearing the guise of another I would see it,’ Lucian pointed out, as he was clairvoyant. ‘And I can assure you that you are all who you appear to be.’

  This was a relief to all present, Taren most of all. She had just brought all the crew into her confidence and didn’t wish to exclude half of them again.

  ‘That doesn’t mean one of us won’t voluntarily hand over information,’ Ayliscia cautioned. ‘And who better than a telepath to do it?’

  Your view is noted,’ Lucian assured the biologist. ‘And if no one else has any concerns at present …’ He put it to the room, who were all looking ready to depart and shook their heads in decline. ‘Then we are done here. Jazmay, would you drop Yasper and Swithin over to the hut, to relieve Trance and Vadik for a spell? I’ll run my second sight over them when they return and be sure they are all clear also.’

  ‘You got it,’ she concurred.

  ‘I’ll need to grab some things.’ Swithin raised himself and headed out.

  ‘I better say goodnight to the lad.’ Yasper followed, along with Jazm
ay and most of the crew, but not Mythric. He sank to a seat, and as Taren knew why, she remained also.

  ‘You still haven’t told us what news of Zeven?’ Mythric folded his arms, feeling he was owed that much. ‘Did you locate him?’

  ‘I did,’ Lucian admitted now that they were alone. ‘And he was right about Khalid, his soul belongs to the Old Ones, who Zeven refers to as the Dropa. It was they who built the inter-system gateways to pave the way for our civilisations to flourish. Khalid was meant to be born female and bring enlightenment and balance back into the Phemorian culture by pacifying the curses created during the time of the sexual revolution. For many of the souls who took part in those events were also Dropa and needed to be freed from their earthly delusions and fears in order to rejoin their source. So the Dropa formed an alliance with the Phemoray, promising the offspring of the unions of Dropa men with their Qusays would produce even more powerful progeny. When this plan went awry, and as Khalid was what they term a Sharrujahan —’

  ‘What … like their leader?’ Mythric guessed.

  Lucian cringed, not satisfied that this was an accurate translation. ‘The Dropa are one and so don’t really have a leader. It means something more like “most excellent expression of their being” perhaps? “Most beloved expression” or something to that effect.’

  ‘So when the Dropa lost their Sharrujahan, they …?’ Taren got them back on track, fascinated by the theology behind their evolution in this universe as it was far and away the least documented topic in the USS.

  ‘They called upon the Grigori for help getting their soul minds out.’

  Lucian’s claim made Taren gasp, and she felt as though her heart had shot into her throat, bringing tears to her eyes. ‘That makes perfect sense,’ she rasped.

  ‘To you maybe.’ Mythric was cynical. ‘Who are the Grigori?’

  ‘Our watchers,’ Lucian said. ‘The beings who mediate between us and the being residing over this planet; the one that gives your Juju its power.’

  ‘You picked up a good deal in ten minutes.’ Taren, listening to Lucian speak in terms metaphysical, fell in love with him all over again — she found this side of him seriously attractive!

  ‘Okay …’ Mythric rolled with that. ‘But what has all this to do with Zeven?’

  ‘He is being guided by the Grigori also, and the Dropa, perhaps more clearly than any of us.’ Lucian’s view was a great relief to Taren.

  ‘But where is the rest of my family? When are they coming back?’ Mythric probed, losing patience. ‘Are they coming back?’

  ‘I was dragged back to the land of the living before Zeven reached any resolve,’ the captain was sorry to inform. ‘I know he was contemplating trying to make contact with your mother in the celestial city, Taren.’

  ‘But if your ten-minute stay cost you two days,’ Taren fretted, ‘a sidetrack like that could stretch out to be months, even years!’

  ‘I didn’t say that’s what he would do,’ Lucian clarified. ‘As I also know, Khalid was keen to return here and fulfil his reason for being born.’

  ‘Which would involve doing what to my wife?’ Mythric’s past adverse experiences with Khalid came back to haunt.

  ‘These are highly spiritual beings we are talking about,’ Lucian stressed. ‘They are creators, not destroyers.’

  ‘Was it not members of their soul-group that started all of this in the first place?’ Mythric’s comprehension skills were sharp as always.

  ‘Extreme trauma can make a malefactor out of the purest of souls,’ Lucian reasoned. ‘In the last universe, one little tantrum from you got your entire civilisation wiped out!’

  Surprisingly, Mythric was not as sceptical now, as if he knew there was truth in the outrageous statement.

  ‘Wait a second, you both remember what happened during the last mission that Zeven claimed we went on?’ Taren was shocked — were more crew members AWOL?

  ‘I had a few visions while I was on Oceane,’ Mythric confessed with some discomfort. ‘I know I made Zeven pledge to help save Khalid, as I had pledged the same to a being who claimed to be one of the Dropa.’

  ‘Holy shit!’ Taren gasped, looking back to Lucian for his explanation.

  ‘I was enlightened to these events at the time of my death,’ Lucian explained morbidly.

  ‘So you can both confirm Zeven is telling the truth!’ Taren was overcome with joy, and when Lucian nodded to confirm this, she hugged him. Lucian’s embrace was not so heartfelt, however.

  ‘Is there something you’re not telling me?’ Taren wondered why he was so distant. Was it just because Mythric was present? Being openly affectionate had never bothered Lucian before.

  ‘Nope. That’s about all I learned before I got brought back.’ Lucian left Taren to approach Mythric. ‘But I can assure you that your family are perfectly safe, and that Zeven, by all accounts, appears to know what he’s doing.’

  Mythric nodded, and having a lot to digest, he rose and shook Lucian’s hand. ‘Many thanks.’

  ‘Any plans to visit your wife?’ The captain queried his intentions.

  ‘Not at this point,’ Mythric replied. ‘But I will be sure and let you know if that changes.’

  ‘Much obliged.’ Lucian watched him leave.

  When the captain turned his attention back to her, Taren expected that he was about to explain the cold shoulder she was getting.

  ‘Kalayna asked if I’d pay her a visit in the tech room, so I’ll catch you a little later.’ He headed off towards the door.

  ‘I get that you’re mad with me, what I don’t get is why?’ Taren’s appeal waylaid his exit.

  ‘There’s no point discussing it until this crisis is over,’ he said shortly.

  ‘But that could be years away.’ Taren entreated him to show a little mercy.

  ‘Look, I’m not mad at you,’ he explained. ‘I just need a little distance to process.’

  Now Taren was really panicked. ‘What on earth happened? Did I betray you? Get you killed?’

  ‘Not me,’ he said, choking down his emotion. ‘But this week was not the first time you traded the safety of another to save my life.’

  ‘What?’ Taren couldn’t believe he was going to guilt her out over that. ‘Don’t you think I feel bad enough about Ringbalin? He volunteered!’

  ‘At least he was in a position to.’ Lucian’s response was cutting, even though Taren didn’t really understand what it meant; it was the resentment underlying his comeback that hurt. ‘I’m sorry, please forget I said that.’ He attempted to wave off the entire matter. ‘Death was just a little confronting, I’ll be right in a few days.’

  Taren could feel her tears welling again, and they were anything but joyous now. ‘It’s a bit unfair to chastise me, when you won’t tell me why.’

  ‘After the crisis,’ he repeated. ‘Don’t forget I’ve already experienced these instances a few times now and I know for a fact that you will prefer it this way.’ He left for his next appointment.

  In the wake of the clash, Taren was completely shell-shocked. They’d had differences of opinion before today, but never had she felt such true resentment directed at her from Lucian’s quarter. She was starting to wish she’d gone AWOL when Telmo and Zeven did. She had four years to wait before she would be able to clearly recall the events that had her crew so divided. She could only hope that the unification of the last universe would not cost them the same in this one.

  The waiting game began and the truce held firm. Taren met with Prochazka each month to report the same lack of contact with her missing crew, and every time Prochazka accepted her account without question. This was disconcerting. Did the general have a spy in their midst to confirm these reports, or another means of observing them altogether?

  Taren had been taught to see auras during her first visit to the universe parallel, but unused, this skill had become a little rusty. She needed to really focus on her target, who also needed to be still and in good natural light, in order to get he
r lazy third eye sight to function. Her attempts to perceive the general’s ring and see whatever Zelimir had seen, without her obviously staring at the item, had proved impossible thus far.

  But at least Taren had been able to retrieve Zelimir’s remains for cremation and burial in space, as there was no planet that Zelimir Ronan called home at the time of his death. Zelimir had been born and raised on Maladaan, whose government had betrayed him. As the industrial capital of the USS, any natural beauty to be found on the planet had been destroyed long before Zelimir had been born. No one dared breathe the air outside of the completely enclosed cities, so it was no place to rest in peace.

  The meetings with the general were never very long; Taren suspected that the presence of the Juju she wore would have a draining, even sickening, effect on Prochazka — if the ring she wore was as evil as the charm that was once implanted in Khalid. Whilst connected to the curse, Khalid had become violently sick when exposed to the Juju, when he’d never known a sick day in his life before that.

  Despite her lack of news, Taren was permitted to visit Ringbalin where he worked and lived — in the royal gardens. She need not have feared for her friend’s wellbeing as the horticulturist-cum-biologist appeared to be thriving in his new environment, just as his environment was thriving around him.

  ‘Are you quite sure that restraining device is working?’ Taren had asked, admiring how well the garden was growing as Ringbalin gave her the tour.

  ‘Absolutely,’ he assured her, well pleased. ‘I haven’t had one woman so much as smile at me in the entire time I’ve been here. A Valourean even slapped me down for looking at her the other day.’ He was most excited about that, and Taren had to laugh.

  ‘I could replace that restraint with a fake,’ Taren teased, as without it on a planet of women he’d be doomed!

  ‘Please no!’ he was quick to refuse. ‘I’m thinking I might even keep this on when they finally let me go back home. At least then I might know when someone is attracted to me and not my power.’ Ringbalin was only half-joking about this.