Being of the Field

by Traci Harding

  ‘No,’ he assured her. ‘I truly thought Kassa was referring to Kalayna.’

  Taren calmed a little, although anger and confusion still held her in their clutch. ‘So what is it that you are keeping from me? Surely your concern cannot be any more shocking to me than what I have just heard.’

  ‘I should go,’ Kassa decided, having said her piece. ‘I hope I was not wrong to tell you.’

  ‘No, of course not. You are a true friend,’ Taren assured her, giving Kassa a hug. ‘Thank you for being discreet.’

  ‘I owe you big-time in that regard,’ Kassa replied with a smile, and took her leave.

  ‘Please tell Leal and Zeven I need their assistance,’ Lucian said as he let Kassa out, and then closed and locked his office door once again. ‘I believe part of my concern may have just been answered for me,’ he said, finally replying to Taren’s query.

  ‘How do you mean?’ Taren, still shell-shocked, frowned, not following.

  ‘Swithin claims you have another, more highly classified MSS code name,’ he divulged. ‘I pressed Swithin about who might know this other code name and he swore he didn’t know, which infuriated me. But thanks to Kassa, and Rory’s bit of detective work, I believe we now have a very good candidate.’

  ‘Anselm.’ Taren’s eyes narrowed as she uttered his name with spite. Now she had twice as many reasons to seek the man out.

  Lucian was on a mission as he stormed up the corridor toward the lab where his brother was quarantined. The news of a tracking device on board AMIE was alarming, but he hoped to turn the betrayal to their advantage. ‘Are we all clear on how to play this?’ The captain paused outside the lab to query Leal and Zeven who were trailing him. ‘Don’t give anything away,’ he cautioned.

  Leal and Zeven nodded in accord as they all burst into the lab.

  ‘Hey, boys, what’s happening?’ Swithin noted their irritation as they stormed straight through the observation room and into the security passage that led to his containment area. ‘All right…what have I done now?’

  The final security door opened and Zeven came rushing through to hit Swithin on the jaw so hard that his target was spun around to land face-first on the ground. ‘Where’s the tracking device?’

  Leal hoisted Swithin up and turned him around to face Zeven and the captain—so they could question Swithin and hold his focus.

  As Swithin spat blood and regained his composure, Zeven decided he was taking too long and belted his ex-employer in the gut. ‘The tracking device.’ Zeven raised Swithin’s bowed head to make him focus. ‘Where is it?’

  ‘Give me a fucking chance to answer.’ Swithin spat out a tooth and a lot more blood.

  ‘Well…’ Lucian demanded, motioning for Zeven to back off. ‘Where is it?’

  Swithin smiled a defiant smile. ‘I don’t remember.’

  Zeven looked at Leal who gave a nod. Zeven lined Swithin’s face up to take a final punch. ‘This is for Rory.’ He punched Swithin with his full force and the blow knocked the consciousness right out of him.

  Leal allowed the traitor to drop to the floor.

  ‘Let’s go.’ Lucian led the way out of the lab, and when they returned to the corridor, he turned to Leal. ‘Did you get it?’

  Leal grinned. ‘I know exactly where it is.’ He led off toward the elevators, for the device had been planted inside one of the smaller submersibles in the Marine Module.

  Once the offending item was in their possession, the men headed back up to the hangar and launch bay area. Lucian was of a mind to launch the tracking device in a pod, in the opposite direction to their destination. He hoped this would throw the USS carrier vessel that was somewhere in the vicinity off their scent.

  ‘We’ll have to shut most of the ship down for a few days and only run the essential life-support systems,’ Lucian said. ‘With any luck, the USS will continue to pursue their device and miss us altogether.’

  ‘If we are not already on their scopes.’ Zeven chewed his lip, not wanting to be the pessimist, but this was a big ship.

  ‘If we are, you’ll just have to quantum-jump us somewhere else,’ Leal suggested.

  ‘Better hope this works then, as I sure don’t want to find out if I can pull that off without Aurora’s sweet inspiration.’ Zeven gave AMIE clearance to launch the pod.

  As Kalayna cooked up a storm in the kitchen, her mind kept drifting back to the botanist. He’d made her feel so much better. Besides her father, and more recently the captain, no man had ever attempted to make her feel good about herself. They seemed a rare breed of men on this vessel.

  Kalayna thought back to what Taren had said: that in another future, Zeven had saved her from being sexually assaulted. It would not have been the first time that a man had tried to force himself upon her, but in the past there had not been anyone to come to her rescue, nor had she dreamt that there ever would be. Still, it wasn’t hard to imagine Starman playing the hero, and as the little flight of fantasy played out in her mind Kalayna found herself smiling and her heavy heart lightened for the duration.

  ‘So, you must be our stowaway?’

  Kalayna turned to find a tall, lean fellow heading for the cool room. ‘I’m Leal Polson, co-pilot-slash-navigator.’ He sidetracked from his path to shake her hand, but as both Kalayna’s hands were covered in pastry, he simply raised an open palm in greeting.

  ‘Sorry,’ she apologised, ‘but I am very pleased to meet you. Navigator, wow.’ Kalayna was impressed. ‘Nice career move.’

  ‘A little birdie told me that you’re a ninth-year systems tech.’ He whistled, impressed also.

  Kalayna laughed. ‘Did the same little birdie tell you that I’m forbidden to practise any of said craft whilst on board this vessel?’

  ‘I did get that impression, yes,’ Leal granted, ducking into the cool room and emerging with a piece of fruit. ‘I wouldn’t worry too much…the little birdie will change its tune when something shorts out and he finds himself unable to fly.’

  Kalayna couldn’t help but smile, but she was not so optimistic. ‘He’d rather crash and burn than ask me for help.’

  ‘Well, be that as it may,’ Leal said airily, ‘I can ask you for help, and I am.’

  Kalayna gasped with excitement and, thinking that she’d heard him wrong she met his eyes and surmised that he seemed deadly serious.

  ‘Ever done any spacewalking?’ he asked with a grimace.

  ‘No way!’ She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, as it was very appealing to her sense of adventure. ‘Are you serious? I thought you hadn’t sustained any major damage during the escape.’

  ‘The damage isn’t major,’ he replied, glad to see her enthusiasm. ‘When we got blasted leaving Frujia the wiring on the exterior launch bay door was damaged, and until it’s fixed we can’t use any of our larger craft.’

  ‘Starman wouldn’t be happy about that,’ Kalayna mused, thinking this could go some way toward getting back into his good books.

  ‘I figure we’ll just tell him after you fix it,’ Leal explained. ‘How about after the breakfast shift tomorrow?’

  ‘Are you kidding?’ Kalayna couldn’t believe he even had to ask. ‘That’s completely wicked…I’ll be all over it.’

  ‘That’s good, right?’ Leal wasn’t up on the current adolescent lingo.

  ‘Very good,’ she assured him.

  ‘See you at dinner.’ He waved and left Kalayna high as a kite.

  ‘Another nice guy,’ she muttered to herself. ‘Do they have a secret breeding program here or what?’

  No wonder Aurora had chosen to become an outlaw rather than lose her place on this crew—they were all so interesting, professional and caring. Kalayna, wanting to earn her place among them, continued to work feverishly, determined to make her first meal for the crew of AMIE one that would not fail to impress.

  At the appropriate time, Kalayna advised everyone via the ship’s intercom system that dinner would be served in the cafeteria in ten minutes’ time.
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  The crew dragged their weary bodies down to the mess—having had no sleep for over twenty-four hours most of them had only stayed awake in order to have a decent meal before they finally got some shut-eye.

  The wafting, delicious smell of fresh-cooked pie and vegetables engulfed Taren’s senses as she approached the mess hall alongside Lucian. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of how desperate she was to consume something that wasn’t out of a packet. When she laid eyes on the dinner table, Taren was almost moved to tears.

  Several of the tables in the cafeteria had been pulled together to form one long table. As they were in minimal-power-usage mode, Kalayna had turned all the lights off, bar a small light in the kitchen itself, and the dinner table was candlelit.

  ‘Very nice,’ Lucian commented as they entered, greatly approving of the set-up. ‘This will be the first time in the history of the project that all the crew have gathered for a meal at the same time.’

  Now that there were so few crew, and only one cook on board, it was much more practical to have one set mealtime and not eat in shifts.

  ‘I like the idea of us all eating at the same table,’ he said to Kalayna, who was standing by with a decanter of wine.

  ‘More like family…yes,’ Kalayna commented, motioning Lucian to the spot at the head of the table.

  ‘Indeed,’ Lucian quietly confirmed, ‘and we haven’t felt that sentiment on board for quite some time.’

  ‘Smells like our little stowaway has outdone herself,’ Leal commented as he walked in with Kassa on his arm. Ringbalin and Ayliscia were right behind them, and they all expressed their delight and thanks as they were seated by Kalayna.

  ‘Should I wait for Starman?’ Kalayna consulted the captain, for she suspected the pilot would not be coming.

  ‘First in, best fed, I always say.’ Lucian was too hungry to wait, and Kalayna was happy to comply and moved to serve the food to them all.

  With wineglasses filled, and people beginning to tuck in, Kalayna requested the captain’s permission to make a toast.

  ‘Permission granted,’ he allowed, much happier for having a few mouthfuls of pie in his belly.

  Kalayna rose, with glass in hand, to say her piece.

  If he wasn’t so hungry—if he’d only learned to cook—Zeven would not be heading to the mess hall, against his will and instinct. He really didn’t want to see Kalayna, much less eat anything she’d cooked. On the other hand, even a deadly poison would be welcome in his gut at present, as he just couldn’t bring himself to eat one more cheesy puff.

  He slowed as the smell of real food reached him out in the corridor. That’s when he heard Kalayna’s voice and stopped short of the door to hear what she was saying.

  ‘To the captain and crew of AMIE, who are the most gracious, generous and forgiving bunch of people that I have ever had the curse of disappointing.’ She caught her breath, and some on the crew tried to dispute her impression, but she spoke up to silence them. ‘I really haven’t had too many second chances in my lifetime, and even though I know I am so very undeserving, I am also infinitely grateful for the opportunity you are giving me to make amends.’

  ‘Cheers to that,’ the captain concurred, and the crew clinked glasses.

  Kalayna’s words seemed so heartfelt that Zeven felt a lump form in his throat. Yet a thought for Aurora’s sad state of affairs made his resolve harden once more. She’s a vixen…leading us all down the garden path with her sincere sweetness. He swallowed hard to banish his sympathy and hold onto his prejudice.

  Zeven walked into the room and noted a spare place set for him with food already on the plate. He headed straight there, picked up the plate of food and moved to leave.

  ‘Zeven,’ the captain called, ‘will you not eat with us?’

  He looked around the table, at all his dear friends. ‘Aurora should be here.’ His voice went hoarse and he cleared his throat, to get the rest out. ‘I’m going to eat with her.’

  Nobody argued.

  The pilot backed up a few paces and looked at Kalayna’s expression of utter devastation. ‘Nice speech.’ He left them to their feast.

  He got halfway up the corridor before Taren was at his heels. ‘Zeven,’ she called and he stopped to allow her to speak.

  ‘Hatred and fear will make you sick—’ Taren wasn’t given the chance to finish.

  ‘—and trust and kindness will get you killed!’ he spat back and moved off, but Taren threw herself in front of him.

  ‘What’s more important is that your hatred in particular has the capacity to injure others very badly, without you even realising it!’ Taren said firmly. ‘Before you kill this girl out of spite, bear in mind that we have two telepaths on this vessel, neither of whom have detected any secret agenda about her.’

  That was a good point, Zeven conceded…and yet? ‘Nobody detected a secret agenda about you either.’

  ‘Which only proves that we all deserve a second chance. I got one, and you did too—’

  ‘Taren…’ Zeven spoke up over her. ‘You aim to see the best in people, and if I expect the worst that just makes for a nice balanced perspective, don’t you think?’

  Taren shook her head. He still didn’t get it. ‘I need you to understand the extent of your own Power.’ She paused to think about how she was going to get through to him, and had a revelation. ‘Meet me in Module C tomorrow after breakfast.’

  Zeven rolled his eyes. He just wasn’t ready to give his anger up. ‘If I must.’

  ‘You asked me to train you…’ He nodded in submission. ‘And this is important,’ Taren told him in a deadly serious fashion. ‘In the meantime, I want you to put Kalayna completely out of your mind.’

  ‘That won’t be easy. Every time I look at Rory—’

  ‘—you should find a happy place,’ Taren advised. ‘Think about the good times you’ve had and will have again. That is the most constructive thing you can do for her. Dwell on the negative and she’ll just go on sleeping. As I keep telling you, intention has great power.’ Taren backed up towards the cafeteria. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow morning.’

  ‘Can hardly wait.’ He forced a smile and resumed his course to Aurora’s recovery room. ‘Find a happy place,’ he grumbled, ‘and how in the universe does she expect me to do that?’ What did he have to be happy about exactly? His career was in tatters, he was wanted by the USS, and if anyone found out about his Powers he’d be a complete social outcast. He felt like he could cope with all that, if only Aurora was still around adding sunshine to his life.

  ‘That’s it!’ Zeven figured out how he could comply with Taren’s request. Every time he got mad about Aurora’s situation, he would just imagine how his world would be right now if Aurora’s abduction had not happened and Kalayna had stayed on Frujia.

  Zeven entered Aurora’s recovery room. Seeing her motionless form, he suppressed his urge to direct anger at Kalayna, and instead imagined eating dinner with Aurora. ‘In my quarters, perhaps,’ he said, speaking his fantasy out loud, ‘where we could be alone and be ourselves…’ Zeven smiled with delight at the notion. His imagination was on a roll.

  The set-up was a very simple form of an experiment that Taren had carried out many times. Usually the effects of the experiment took a few weeks to become obvious, but as Zeven’s psychic skill was so advanced, she believed the results would be instantly noticeable.

  Ringbalin had donated the three plants they planned to use as test subjects and each had been placed in a separate lab apart from one another. Alongside each of the plants was a vial of fresh spring water. The labs had large windows in the dividing walls, through which you could see all the labs from inside any one of them.

  Zeven had undergone his first meditation session with Ringbalin that morning and so was calm, relaxed and focused.

  The pilot was led into the first lab where he observed the plant, a healthy specimen whose flowers were yet to bloom. Ringbalin then invited Zeven to look at the vial of spring water that sat alongside
this plant. It looked just like normal water.

  ‘What’s the water for?’ Zeven queried.

  The botanist poured half the contents on the plant. ‘You will note there is no noticeable reaction in the plant after being watered,’ he said to Zeven, who nodded in agreement. ‘This represents the normal state of reality before you become wilfully involved,’ Ringbalin explained.

  As Zeven seemed to be in a good mood, Taren decided to start with the positive test first. She requested that Zeven focus all the loving energy he could muster on the plant in the second test room for just one minute.

  Zeven found this easy. He just thought about Rory and the force of his loving intention caused the plant to instantaneously burst into bloom, which stunned him beyond belief. ‘Did I do that?’

  ‘You certainly did,’ Ringbalin confirmed, ‘and check this out.’ He poured half the water in the vial onto the plant and its colour vibrancy intensified threefold.

  ‘Whoa!’ Zeven had to rub his eyes, thinking he might be seeing things. ‘The colour is even more vibrant.’

  Taren nodded. ‘Such can be the state of matter when you become involved with a positive intent.’ With a finger she beckoned him to follow her into the third lab.

  Zeven didn’t have to be a genius to work out what the third part of the test was. ‘You want me to try and kill this one, don’t you?’

  Taren nodded. ‘But I need you to do that without using Kalayna as inspiration.’

  Zeven let out a long, heavy exhalation. ‘I’ll do my best.’

  ‘Lives depend on you being able to master your focus,’ Taren cautioned him. ‘You asked me to help train you, but your base desires will never aid you to be constructive. It is therefore imperative that you learn to put them aside, or better still, release them altogether.’