Being of the Field

by Traci Harding

  ‘Until such time as we know Aurora’s condition, we have no idea how serious the effects of your actions are. But should Aurora recover and not wish to press charges, then I would consider this case closed.’

  Kalayna was not happy. ‘But I could have killed her! I wished to do her harm—’

  ‘If I had known what my late wife had been up to behind my back,’ Lucian said, ‘I dare say I would have killed her. Not because I am a violent man or a bad person, but because my shock and emotional derangement might have driven me to it.’ Listening to himself, Lucian smiled grimly, for it seemed he did sympathise with his brother’s motivation for ordering Amie’s death after all.

  ‘You are sympathising with me?’ Kalayna was astonished. ‘But Aurora is your personal assistant! Surely—’

  ‘I’m not taking sides here,’ Lucian said clearly. ‘I am just saying that I understand your motivation, and that you were not entirely sane at the time you committed the offence. But in Aurora’s defence you should know that, when she was unable to find you, she believed that you had reconsidered stowing away and remained on Frujia.’

  ‘I would also like to bring another perspective to this if I may,’ Taren said, and when Lucian gave her the nod, she looked at Kalayna. ‘I am a pre-cog. Do you know what that is?’

  Kalayna was wide-eyed at this news, but not fearful. ‘You can see into the future and then change it.’

  ‘We were all to be taken into the custody of the USS before we departed Frujia, you included,’ Taren informed the astonished girl.

  ‘But why would I have been arrested?’

  ‘In that alternative reality they mistook you for me. During the ensuing interrogation you were accosted by a United Star Systems commander, and it was only when Zeven came to your assistance, to his own detriment, that you were not raped and promptly disposed of by the USS.’

  ‘Really?’ she squeaked, her spite choking her.

  ‘It seems to me that what we have here is several misunderstandings and one huge case of very bad timing,’ Lucian summarised.

  ‘You see, we actually beseeched Aurora to, not so much seduce Zeven, as just boost his ego a little,’ Taren said, without going into detail. ‘I just think their past finally caught up with them and things got a little carried away.’

  ‘But why ask her to do that?’ Kalayna frowned—what kind of sick operation were they running here?

  ‘That’s classified information at present.’ Lucian put the matter to rest. ‘Perhaps once we know you better, you will be made aware of what we know, but for now you’re just going to have to trust that we are on the up and up.’

  Kalayna was still frowning, but she had a grin also. ‘So what am I to do with myself, captain? Surely you must have some penance for me.’

  Lucian thought about this. ‘You’re a tech, you said?’

  ‘Ninth year,’ Taren boasted on Kalayna’s behalf.

  Kalayna shook her head. ‘Starman has already threatened to rip my hands off if I touch any of his craft.’

  Lucian was taken aback to hear this, but thought it best to humour the pilot for now. She could be a spy for all they knew. ‘Can you cook?’

  Kalayna stuck her bottom lip out and nodded her head. ‘Sure,’ she said. ‘Starman might starve, as I doubt he’ll trust anything I’ve prepared.’

  ‘His own cooking skills will drive him to your table, trust me,’ Lucian chuckled. ‘There will be washing and cleaning chores about the place that I expect you can take care of also.’

  ‘I’ve got real good at all that stuff since I lost my apprenticeship,’ Kalayna assured him.

  Lucian was curious. ‘With you only having a year to go before you qualified, I am very surprised pod-link did not keep you on.’

  Kalayna grimaced. This was a sore point. ‘I was the only female apprentice in the program. I wouldn’t have been there had my dad not fought to get me in,’ she explained. ‘They’d been looking for an excuse to dismiss me from the start. Dad’s death gave them the perfect opportunity, as none of the other male techs would take me on.’

  Taren was infuriated to learn this, and folded her arms in silent protest.

  ‘But Dad taught me a lot outside of work,’ she continued. ‘I’ve worked on all kinds of craft and I am licensed to fly. I was more qualified than any of the male techs. If you ask me, none of them had the guts to sit their final exam against me.’

  ‘All good to know,’ Lucian nodded with a sympathetic smile. ‘Taren, would you mind showing Kalayna where the kitchen is and assign her some quarters.’

  ‘Of course.’ Taren was rather thankful to be given a mundane task.

  ‘You’ll also need to introduce her to Ringbalin. Our horticulturalist,’ he explained for Kalayna’s benefit.

  ‘You have fresh produce?’ Kalayna asked in amazement.

  ‘And so much more,’ Taren assured her. ‘Follow me.’

  It was on the way down to Module C that the news reached Taren and Kalayna that Aurora was out of surgery. The good news was that she was alive; the bad news was that she had drifted into a coma.

  Kalayna did not take the news well. ‘I have to see her. She has to know I didn’t mean this, and that I’m not mad at her any more and…’ She burst into tears.

  ‘It’s okay.’ Taren hugged her. ‘We’ll go now.’ She swung them around to head back to the medical chambers.

  Kassa was inside the recovery room adjusting the apparatus that was going to help keep Aurora alive. ‘She’s breathing on her own. Everything seems good. With any luck she’ll come out of it of her own accord within a few days.’

  Kalayna approached and, taking up Aurora’s hand, she sat down beside her to whisper the words that she needed to say.

  ‘Did Swithin do this to her?’ Taren queried.

  ‘Who else?’ Kassa replied, having telepathically scanned her patient to learn the exact cause of injury. ‘He struck her on the back of the head with a weapon, which knocked her out. She regained consciousness for a bit…’ Kassa paused as she recollected the conversation between Swithin Gervaise and Khalid Mansur that Aurora had overheard.

  ‘And…’ Taren prompted.

  ‘The swelling at the back of her head finally caused her to black out and fall into a coma.’ Kassa decided not to disclose the private and somewhat explosive claims that Swithin and Mansur had made about Taren.

  ‘Are you here to try and finish her off?’ Zeven didn’t like walking in to find Kalayna at Aurora’s bedside.

  ‘Careful, Zeven,’ Taren piped up. ‘It was not so long ago that it was you waiting for me to awake, so that you could apologise.’

  The parallel took Zeven aback. ‘That was an accident—’

  ‘In the quantum world there are no accidents, only action and reaction,’ Taren replied. ‘But that didn’t stop me forgiving you.’

  ‘Aurora is fine, Zeven,’ Kassa said to calm him. ‘Now it’s up to her…she needs to want to come out of this. And I dare say hearing the two of you ripping shreds off each other will not inspire her to return.’

  Zeven immediately backed off. ‘I’ll come back later.’

  ‘No.’ Kalayna stood and forced a grin as she passed him. ‘That’s okay. I was just leaving.’

  ‘Promise?’ Zeven asked, ever so nicely, but his stern expression did not change.

  ‘At the first opportunity,’ she assured as she left the room.

  ‘Ask yourself, do I feel better now or worse?’ Taren queried, and followed Kalayna out the door.

  ‘I feel better, actually,’ he scoffed.

  ‘Liar.’ Kassa retreated past him and closed the door on her way out.

  Zeven looked at Aurora, knowing Kassa spoke the truth. ‘I know it’s my fault that she’s here at all! If I’d just asked you out that night, you’d never have met and we’d be together, no complications…shit!’ He wanted to kick himself. ‘Now I may have lost you in more ways than one.’ He sat down at her side, and taking up her hand he rested it against his forehead. ‘
Just give me one more shot at this, Rory, and I promise you I won’t ever let you forget that we are meant to be together. Please, wake up.’ Tears flooded his eyes. ‘I have.’

  Kalayna had never felt so wretched. She was very thankful to have Taren to show her around, but she felt that her guide could not truly favour her as well as she appeared to.

  Taren had assigned Kalayna quarters, near other of the crew, that were more spacious and luxurious than any accommodation she’d ever had in her young life. The canteen in the mess room, where she was to be basing herself, was better equipped than the gourmet restaurant in the five-star hotel she’d been working for on Frujia. Kalayna had nothing to complain about in her work conditions, nor did she have a problem with the crew she was to be serving. They had all been more than fair with her—even Starman, in her opinion.

  The sting of it was that Kalayna was bitterly disappointed in herself—for the first time that she could remember, there was no one else that she could blame or be angry at for the hurt she felt inside. If she had only saved Aurora instead of seeking revenge, she would still be in her dream relationship and have scored a dream job to boot! Now, when she had finally found the ideal situation where she might eventually be able to fulfil her technical aspirations, she felt completely undeserving.

  ‘I’m going to leave you in Ringbalin’s very capable hands,’ Taren advised as she moved to depart. ‘If you need anything, just page me.’

  ‘I’m good,’ Kalayna assured her and forced a smile of appreciation before looking back to the botanist she’d just been introduced to.

  He seemed a very pleasant, gentle fellow who had a rather effeminate quality about him which Kalayna found rather attractive and comfortable. She wondered if he might be gay.

  ‘Let’s start with the herb room, shall we?’ Ringbalin suggested, leading off down a side path to a string of greenhouse rooms. These were near the labs and offices around the periphery of the huge circular garden area in the centre of the module.

  Kalayna was already blown away by the set-up in Module C, but her eyes nearly popped out when she saw the fresh produce rooms. ‘Whoa, RB, this is so impressive. There are fruits in here that I couldn’t dream about affording to eat in my lifetime!’

  Her admiration was pleasing to Ringbalin and the way she referred to him as RB amused him too. ‘A fellow nature enthusiast, then.’

  ‘Not really. I’ve always been better with machinery…but,’ she was quick to add when she saw his disappointment, ‘I do love to eat.’

  ‘Can you cook?’ He raised his brow, curious.

  ‘With this array of produce, I’m sure I’ll manage,’ she told him confidently, as she eyed the choices.

  ‘Well then,’ Ringbalin picked up a set of hand shears, ‘let’s go shopping.’

  As Ringbalin gave her the guided tour of his pride and joy, helping her to collect a good range of foods with which to stock the kitchen, Kalayna’s mood lightened considerably, and she found herself inspired by Ringbalin’s advice and his insight into the natural world.

  She just couldn’t work him out—he seemed way too charming towards her to be gay, but way too sensitive not to be. For the first time in her life she was finding a man attractive, and as he walked her to the exit door to Module C, she just couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.

  ‘I can hardly wait to get started now, thanks, RB.’

  ‘Come shopping any time,’ he said, rubbing his hands together. ‘I can hardly wait to have a decent meal.’

  The exit doors opened and a tall, elegant woman entered the greenhouse. Kalayna’s guess was that she was a Phemorian.

  ‘Ah, Dr Portus.’ Ringbalin made ready to introduce the woman to Kalayna, but the woman strode up to Ringbalin shaking her head.

  ‘My love, you can call me Ayliscia now we’ve been intimate.’ She bowed down, kissed Ringbalin passionately and then looked at Kalayna. ‘Hello,’ she smiled, not caring who Kalayna was so long as she got the message that Ringbalin was spoken for. The Phemorian then strode off through the greenhouse.

  ‘Ah…that was Dr Ayliscia Portus,’ Ringbalin explained a little uncomfortably.

  ‘Your lover,’ Kalayna verified with a grin.

  ‘Yes,’ Ringbalin was proud to say as his eyes drifted after the woman.

  ‘To seduce a Phemorian woman is said to be impossible,’ Kalayna said. ‘Definitely not gay then.’

  ‘Who, me?’ Ringbalin was startled. ‘Ah, no. But it seems to be a common misconception. You are…gay?’

  Kalayna nodded. ‘Yeah, I was.’

  ‘Past tense?’ Ringbalin queried, and Kalayna grinned as she backed up toward the exit doors.

  They opened and Kalayna stepped into the corridor that led to the mess. ‘Yeah…’ she told him finally. ‘I have to admit that you’ve caused me a bit of confusion this day.’ She looked thoughtful, not at all awkward about making this revelation.

  Ringbalin chuckled, more embarrassed than she was. ‘I take that as a very great compliment indeed.’

  ‘It is,’ she assured him, rather surprised herself, ‘believe me!’

  CHAPTER 19

  BEST-KEPT SECRET

  When Taren returned to Lucian’s office he was standing by his large windows, gazing out at the twin suns in the distance.

  ‘Our stowaway has been settled in and set to work,’ Taren said as she approached to wrap her arms around the captain. Although he smiled to greet her, she could tell that his mind was elsewhere, and wherever that was it was very disturbing to him. ‘What did Swithin say that has you so distracted?’

  ‘It’s nothing.’ Lucian shook his head to dispel his melancholy. ‘But we need to get Kassa up here, to aid with deprogramming your code name…once that is done, I’ll feel a whole lot better.’ He kissed Taren’s forehead and reaching for his communicator he paged for Kassa to come his office.

  ‘I don’t believe for a moment that that is all that has you worried,’ Taren told him with a smile, hoping she might seduce the truth out of him.

  ‘You’re right.’ He held up both hands in his own defence and backed up to take a seat. ‘I have a list of things to worry about that’s a star-field long!’

  Taren slid to a seat upon his desktop, facing him. ‘So share the burden.’

  Kassa knocked on the wall outside the open office door to announce her arrival and then entered at Lucian’s request.

  For what Taren imagined to be the last time, she was hypnotised and advised that she would no longer respond to the code name ‘Sci-chick Puppet’, and upon being snapped out of her trance she felt liberated. ‘Thanks so much, Kassa. I feel lightened of a great load.’

  ‘You’re welcome.’ Kassa forced a smile in return.

  Taren’s eyes darted from the doctor to Lucian, who was still frowning. ‘What is amiss with you two? Are you keeping something from me?’

  The captain and Kassa looked genuinely stunned as they glanced at each other and shook their heads in denial.

  ‘So you each have separate concerns regarding me,’ Taren concluded, and her instincts proved right on the mark as usual.

  ‘I do have something to tell you,’ Kassa confirmed. ‘It’s very personal and as far as I know, Lucian has no knowledge of the intelligence I have obtained.’

  ‘Shall I leave?’ Lucian offered.

  ‘No,’ Taren insisted. ‘If I have any secrets you have a perfect right to know.’

  Lucian was pleasantly surprised by her resolve.

  ‘Go on,’ Taren said to Kassa.

  ‘Could you close the door,’ Kassa asked Lucian, which intrigued the captain and Taren all the more. ‘What I have to say, if true, has to be one of the best-kept secrets in the USS…so it might pay to be a little cautious.’

  Lucian closed and locked the door from the controls at his desk. ‘What have you discovered?’

  ‘What I know, I perceived from Aurora when I was scanning her memory for the cause of her injury.’ Kassa turned her full attention to Taren. ‘I told you tha
t Aurora awoke for a time whilst in the custody of her captors,’ she prompted and Taren nodded.

  ‘Yes, what of it?’

  ‘Aurora overheard a conversation between Swithin and Khalid Mansur—’

  ‘Anselm’s viceroy?’ Lucian said in disbelief. Kassa confirmed it and he boggled at his brother’s high political connections.

  ‘During that conversation Swithin claimed to have a tracking device on board this ship—’ Kassa gasped, realising she’d forgotten that piece of information up until now.

  Lucian was on his feet. ‘I’ll get Leal and Zeven on it right away,’ but Kassa forestalled him.

  ‘Wait, that’s not the important part. What’s important is why they are tracking us.’ Kassa regained the captain’s fullest attention. ‘They are tracking us because Anselm’s daughter is on board this vessel.’

  ‘What?’ Lucian freaked, thinking it must have been their stowaway.

  ‘I didn’t know the president had a daughter!’ Taren added.

  ‘No one knows,’ Kassa stressed. ‘That’s the secret.’

  ‘And you think they mean Kalayna?’ Lucian voiced his assumption.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Kassa’s knowledge made her grin, despite everything. ‘Swithin implied that the woman in question was your lover.’

  All eyes turned Taren’s way and she caught her breath at the shock of the news. Taren’s mind rushed back to her impressions of Anselm during her perception of that alternative future. I am the keeper of her memories, he had claimed regarding Taren. ‘Could this be why he was seeking me so desperately?’ she said, bewildered that she could be the daughter of the most powerful man alive.

  ‘Taren, you must be horrified.’ Lucian approached to see if he could be of comfort. ‘And Anselm wanted to frame you for my wife’s murder!’

  Her heart remained steady. ‘It was just a means to an end…’ Taren recalled Anselm saying so and now she understood what he’d meant. ‘If he is my father, I know for a fact that he is in league with the MSS and every secret service in the USS. Therefore he’s known where I was all this time,’ she said angrily, and stepped away from Lucian so as not to take it out on him. ‘He probably even had me recruited into the secret servics! Damn it!’ She became frustrated by the huge blanks in her memory. ‘What does it matter anyway? Anyone could claim anything about my past and I cannot confirm it.’ She burst into tears, overwhelmed by her deepest, darkest fears, but her hatred soon enabled her to regain control. ‘As far as I am concerned, I have no parents. They both died the day my memory was taken from me.’ Taren’s sights turned to Lucian. ‘Did you know any of this?’