Bean's Heart (Hearts of ICARUS Book 7)

by Phillips, Laura Jo

  Zander looked down at her, noting the distinctly worried note in her voice. “It’ll be fine, Bean. “We’ll stay right by your side.”

  “Thanks,” she said, then breathed in deeply just before they stepped into Transport. A few seconds later, feeling slightly dizzy and nauseated, Bean saw her sisters standing just a few yards away. Her eyes instantly filling with tears, she hurried forward and hugged both of them at the same time. The three of them stood with their arms around each other for long moments, all of them with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces.

  The Falcorans stepped off the transport pad, but stayed back, letting the sisters have their moment together. It was only when the door slid open behind them that they broke apart.

  “Sorry,” Vari said to Declan when she saw him standing in the doorway.

  “No need to apologize, Miraku,” he said. “I just thought the Falcorans would like to come out here with us.”

  “Oh,” Vari said sheepishly. “Well, let’s all of us go to the conference room.”

  “Good idea,” Declan agreed.

  Once they were all out in the corridor introductions were made all around. The Falcorans hadn’t met either Vari or Ria before, nor had they met Star or Pandora. Bean had never met Star, the Katres, or the Dracon-Bats, and her sisters had never met the Falcorans. Fortunately, they all knew enough about each other to at least know names, which took a lot of the confusion out of it.

  “That’s a unique and beautiful marking,” Vari said, looking closely at the white, pearlescent feather on Bean’s cheek. “It suits you very well, Bean. Something tells me you can’t tell us much about it, though.”

  “Not much, no, but a little,” Bean agreed. “Later though, all right?” Vari nodded.

  “What I find interesting is that all three of you have companions,” Zander remarked. “Intelligent companions.”

  “You have a companion?” Vari asked Bean.

  Bean held her arm up. “Come on out, Iffon.” A moment later they were all treated to the sight of Iffon’s red and blue bird sliding down Bean’s arm in the form of a tattoo. When he raised himself up off her skin, the surprise on the Dracon-Bats’ and the Katres’ faces was nearly comical.

  “Hi Iffon,” Pandora said once he was standing on Bean’s shoulder.

  “You know him?” Vari asked in surprise.

  “Yes,” Pandora admitted with a shrug. “He’s been with Bean her whole life. Of course I know him.”

  “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible, Lady Vari,” Iffon said, speaking into everyone’s mind. “Only I may reveal my existence, and only by my own will.”

  “I see,” Vari said. She cleared her throat and looked around. “We should take this somewhere a little more secure.”

  “Agreed,” Declan said. The whole group began walking toward the elevators, the women staying together in the middle with their companions. The Bihotza wasn’t that large of a ship so it didn’t take long to reach the secure conference room, though it did require three elevators to get all of them there. They sat around the large meeting table, Star sitting beside Ria, her head easily high enough for everyone to see her clearly.

  “The Kinahns are ready to begin transporting whenever you are,” Declan said once they were all seated. “We’re not sure how you intend to go about it, but if you mean to transport them, we can help by using our transporters if you’ll set up clear transport areas for us.”

  “I’m afraid we’ll probably have to take you up on that, Commander,” Zander said. “We have two shuttles on the Askara specifically for that purpose, each one capable of holding about one hundred people. Unfortunately, neither one of them is currently operational.”

  “Why not?” Declan asked. “Did you have an accident or something?”

  “Chaos has been working very hard to keep us from getting here,” Zander replied. “Thanks to Bean we’ve been able to head it off before anything serious occurred, but it doesn’t give up easily.”

  Everyone looked at him in surprise. “That’s troubling,” Declan said finally.

  “Not as troubling as the fact that Chaos has been trying to kill Bean since she was seven years old. Or that it came too damn close to succeeding several times over the past few weeks.”

  “Chaos has been trying to kill you for the past fifteen years?” Vari asked, stunned.

  “I didn’t know it until Iffon told me a few weeks ago, but yes. He’s not only my companion, but also my guardian. He’s also able to heal me which has saved my life too many times for me to count.”

  “It’s thrown a lot of trouble our way,” Zander said. “But we’re here, and on time, if barely.”

  “On time?” Declan asked.

  “We only have forty eight hours to get everyone off of Kinah.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ll explain in a minute,” Bean said, then turned to Zander. “Don’t forget, we also have to distribute the supplies we brought for the Bihotza, the Hilgaria, and the Beacon.” Zander nodded.

  “That you brought supplies is very good news,” Kai Dracon-Bat said. “We were concerned about continuing with our mission with such depleted stores.”

  “That’s not going to be necessary,” Bean said, shocking everyone. “This room is secure, right?”

  “It is,” Declan assured her.

  “Why don’t you think we need to complete our mission, Bean?” Vari asked.

  “Sorry, Vari, I said that wrong. You won’t need to go anywhere, is what I meant. Pithos is coming here.”

  “What?” Vari asked in surprise. “Here? How do you know this?”

  “I’ve been getting messages from an unknown entity for four and a half months now. Well, unknown until about a week ago. I know now that the messengers are the Basulor, the Ruling Cache of the Colony. Er…Pithos.”

  She explained about the messages, and Zaza, and how the messages had gotten them through a number of tight spots. When she was finished telling them all that had happened, she said, “I believe you all know about the Doftle named Weeble.”

  “Yes,” Vari said, her voice icy. “He’s the one who spent a year surgically experimenting on Rayne without anesthesia. When they got tired of her screams, he cut her vocal cords.” She turned to her men. “He’s also the one whose arm Rayne acquired for the council to examine. That’s how we learned that Kunian steel worked against them.”

  “What is this Weeble doing now?” Declan asked.

  “About a year ago he initiated a coup against the Ruling Cache of the Lost Tentacle. They weren't true Basulor, but they were the highest ranked Doftles of the tentacle, so they took on that role and kept it for ten thousand years. When they disagreed with some of the things Weeble wanted to do, and threatened to strip his authority from him, he got angry. He put them in hibernation tanks and began working on the creation of a virus to kill Doftles. He succeeded a little less than five months ago.”

  “I don’t understand, Bean,” Vari said. “Why would he create a virus to kill his own people?”

  “Because he wanted to use it against the Colony.”

  “Rajne,” Vari said softly. “He must’ve guessed we’d be searching for the Colony.”

  “Yes, he did. The Ruling Cache of the Lost Tentacle didn’t agree with his guess, nor did they agree with his idea to destroy the Colony.”

  “Do you know why he destroyed Kinah?” Ria asked.

  “It’s a distraction,” Bean said. “He wanted to stop you from searching for the Colony but, since you had Blind Sight, he couldn’t find you. Your plan to find Kinah was an open secret, but there wasn’t enough time for him to sit there and wait for you to show up. So, he poisoned it, knowing you’d stay and help the survivors until help arrived.”

  “He intends to destroy the Colony before they can destroy him,” Vari said.

  “Yes, and no,” Bean said. “He knows a certain percentage of the Colony Doftles will survive the virus. It’s the Colony itself h
e wants, though. Once he’s able to board the Colony, he’ll kill all of the survivors above the lowest rank, and any of the lowest rank who refuse to swear loyalty to him.

  “If he succeeds, if he gains control of the Colony, he’ll be unstoppable. He’ll obliterate the Thousand Worlds without even having to use all those hybrids they’ve created.”

  “Why doesn’t the Colony stop him?” Vari asked. “All they have to do is order him to kill himself.”

  “They tried,” Bean said. “There have been changes to the Doftles’ brains over the past ten thousand years. Those of the Lost Tentacle, I mean. Changes to the way they think and behave because of their long-term insanity. That makes them different enough from what they once were that the Colony’s commands no longer work on them. Weeble knew this, or at least believed it. Otherwise he’d never have gone near it.”

  “You’re sure?” Vari asked.

  “It’s what they’re telling me so yes, I’m sure. The Ruling Cache of the Colony, the Basulor, are psychic, as you know. Twenty five years ago one of them, a seer, saw what the Lost Tentacle was doing in the Thousand Worlds. It’s taken them all that time to reach a point not too far from where we are now.

  “Their intention was to destroy the Doftles of the Lost Tentacle. Even though the seer later saw that it could cost the Colony and all within it their lives, they chose to continue. As they see it, the Lost Tentacle is their responsibility, and if they should lose their lives in destroying it, then so be it.

  “Unfortunately, Weeble is, himself, an aberration. The seer never saw him, or his plans.”

  “Even so, the Colony is powerful, Bean,” Vari said. “I can’t imagine how Weeble could possibly get close enough to infect it without being destroyed.”

  “He couldn’t, nor did he try. Weeble had a better way in mind, but he had to get close enough to the Colony to be within range of it, first.”

  “Range?”

  “Weeble is a scientist, and always has been, even before his tentacle became lost. He knows how the computerized and automated systems within the Colony work. All he had to do was get within signal range of the Colony, then log into the laboratory computers remotely.”

  “How could he do that?” Vari asked. “It’s been more than ten thousand years since he was in the Colony. Haven’t they changed enough in that time to make it impossible for him to log in?”

  “No, they haven’t,” Bean replied. “Ten thousand years isn’t all that long to Doftles. And, as I’m sure you know, Doftles never change anything unless they have to, and they haven’t had to.”

  “You’re right,” Vari said. “I should have thought of that myself even though I probably would’ve thought things would change over such a long period of time, anyway. What did Weeble do once he had access to the Colony’s computers?”

  “He uploaded the formula for his virus and set the automated gene sequencing and biogenic systems to create it. Once enough was accumulated, it was spread throughout the entire Colony using the ventilation system.”

  “Zerua gainetik,” Declan said softly. “Did it work?”

  “Yes, it did,” Bean replied sadly. “It killed millions of Doftles in the first twenty-four hours, and many more millions since. The Colony was forced to shed tens of thousands of tentacles in which all the occupants died because there weren’t enough Doftles living to properly dispose of the remains.

  “The Colony is crippled, but not destroyed. They are, at this moment, racing toward us with Weeble and a dozen ships close behind it. If not for the fact that he wants the Colony for himself, he could have easily destroyed it already.”

  “Why are they racing toward us?” Declan asked.

  “Because we’re the only ones who can help them, and they’re the only ones who can help us. Our destinies are tied together now. Either we survive what’s coming, or Weeble does. That’s what it all comes down to.”

  Everyone looked at her, and she saw in their eyes that they all believed her without a moment’s hesitation. It took Bean a few seconds to process that. She’d fully expected it to take hours to convince them.

  “What are we supposed to do, Bean?” Vari asked.

  “We have to protect the Colony.”

  “The Hilgaria is the only ship among us equipped for fighting,” Declan said worriedly. “This task force is meant to protect, not go into battle.”

  “It’s not that kind of battle, Declan. If it were, we’d never win it. Vari, Ria, and I have to stand one against Weeble and his Doftles. We must destroy him. If we succeed, we have a chance. Otherwise, everyone dies.”

  “Bean, I’m not a fighter,” Ria said, her fingers buried in Star’s thick fur, her Rami watching worriedly. “And, unless there's something I don’t know, neither are you.”

  “No, Ria, I’m not a fighter either. Not in the sense you mean. But all three of us have power. A lot more power than we ever imagined. Power that Chaos has worked very hard our entire lives to keep us from discovering.”

  “What sort of power?”

  “For one thing, Vari has about 70 percent of the Armonia gifted to us by the Creators. I have the other thirty.”

  “I don’t have any?”

  “No, but you were never meant to have any, Ria. Chaos tried to change that shortly after we were conceived, and I somehow managed to stop it. You can’t do what you have to do and still contain Armonia within you.”

  “Which is what?”

  “You’re the only one of us with a psychic ability that can be used offensively. You can take Weeble’s twisted needs, desires, and feelings and return them a thousand times stronger. The way things stand right now, that’s the only way we have of killing him.

  “In addition, you can see tachyo-matter. You’ll be able to see precisely where every single one of their ships is.”

  “I don’t understand,” Ria said. “How will seeing tachyo-matter let me see their ships and oh I get it now, they use tachyo-matter to power their ships.”

  “That’s right,” Bean said, smiling to see Ria do the same rambling thing she’d only recently discovered in herself. “You’ll be able to see the Colony, too. Without that ability, we’ll never know where they are until it’s too late. And you can shift. That’s important too, though I’m not sure why just yet.”

  “What about me, Bean?” Vari asked.

  “You have the knowledge, the experience, and the courage to lead us. You’re the only one of us who knows how to use a mundane weapon that’ll kill Doftles, and we’re going to need that desperately. Without it, we won’t even get a chance at Weeble. Your telepathy will be of use too, because you’ll be able to learn important information from Weeble that we’ll eventually need.”

  “And you?” Ria asked.

  “I’m our shield.”

  “Shield?”

  “I can create a shield that nothing the Doftles throw at us can get through. While you two do what you’re meant to do, I’ll keep us safe from harm, which is what I’m meant to do. I can also receive messages from the Basulor, which might come in handy.”

  “What of us?” Pandora asked worriedly. “Will we be able to come with you?”

  “You, Star, and Iffon are intelligent beings who must make that choice yourselves. But I can tell you this much. Without the three of you, none of us would have been able to overcome what Chaos did to us. And if we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be here, right now, ready and able to do what we’ve always been meant to do. This is the reason why Chaos interfered in our lives.”

  Vari and Ria both looked at her with tears in their eyes. “Thank you, Bean,” Ria said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Thank you so much for that.”

  “You’ve just answered the one question that has eaten at me for years,” Vari said, smiling through her tears. “Something inside of me has just settled for the first time in…well…ever I guess.”

  “There’s always a reason for everything,” Bean said. “Sometimes it just takes a while to find it.”

 
“Were we always meant to be the ones to help you?” Pandora asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Bean said. “Vari’s Armonia convinced the Eternal Pack to aid her in whatever way they could. You, Pandora, agreed to be remade in order to provide that aid. Because of the Armonia I carry, the same thing occurred, in much the same way, and Iffon did much the same thing. Whether that means you were specifically meant to be our companions or not, I just don’t know.”

  “What of me and Star?” Ria asked. “I carry no Armonia.”

  “You and Star needed each other, Ria. That need was so powerful, so deep, and so pure in each of you that your hearts instantly connected. You chose each other. You love each other. So much so that you both felt as though some other force were at work. In a way it was. But not in the way you think.”

  “In what way then?”

  “In the way of the need in your hearts. I’ve discovered just recently that the heart is more powerful than I ever imagined. Only by opening your heart to Star were you able to accept the Katres. Only by accepting them into your heart were you able to become the person you were meant to be.”

  “And thereby overcome Chaos,” Ria said. Bean nodded.

  “I’m not sure I fully understand all you’ve said, Bean,” Star said. “But if you’re saying that I may accompany Ria on this hunt, then I choose to do so.”

  “I appreciate that very much, Star, because I really want you with me, selfish as that is,” Ria said.

  “If you are selfish, then so am I, Ria, because I am not going to remain behind in safety while you face danger alone. It would drive me crazy and besides, if anything happened to you, I’d never forgive myself for not being at your side.”

  “What about Belle and Lonato?” Ria asked. “If something bad happens…we can’t both leave them.”

  “There is always risk when one goes on a hunt, Ria. And I am going on this hunt. There are many here who will watch over and love the cubs of our pack if we are called by the Cloud People. They will not be alone.”

  “Okay, Star,” Ria said, hugging her tightly around the neck. “Thank you.”