by Valerie Parv
“But you put the experiences down to her so-called psychic abilities.”
“You have to admit it’s easier than dealing with a half-alien who has powers we can barely imagine.”
Shana took another swallow of coffee. “She’s also half human. They both are. Adam is the only one born on their homeworld.”
They’d known each other long enough that Timo didn’t miss the flare of distress in her voice when she mentioned Adam. “I’ve had relationships that involved exes, sometimes not-quite-exes. And been in love with women from backgrounds very different from my own.”
“You’re telling me this isn’t any different?”
When he nodded, she said, “I agree. On the scale of way-out-there, this is a lot to deal with, but you and I can handle it, if anybody can.”
“What I can’t deal with is the possibility of never seeing her again.”
She rose smoothly. “Then we have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
*
By the time Garrett came back to the reception room after making the broadcast, Timo and Shana had rejoined the group. A man in chef’s whites was replacing the pastries with more substantial fare. At the aromas, Garrett’s mouth watered.
“Jules told me where you were. How did it go?” Shana asked, coming up to him.
“She took just the right tone, using me as – quote – celebrity author on the scene, to cover the weather events without getting too deeply into the causes.”
“She knows her job.”
“Yes, she does.” Shana didn’t miss the fascination on Garrett’s face as he watched Amelia approach.
“What were you and Timo hatching before I got here?” he asked while the journalist was still out of earshot.
Shana drew herself up. “Just because you can eavesdrop on my affairs doesn’t mean you should.”
“Strictly speaking, this isn’t your affair. It concerns all of us.”
“Granted, but I don’t want you listening to every move I make.”
“I can’t always shut you out.”
Shana stood very still, studying him. “When this is over, I’m going to find a way to beef up my security.”
The look he gave her told her she’d need all the luck she could get. He couldn’t imagine any precautions that would keep Elaine from seeing – and himself from hearing – anything that caught their attention. “If we live though this, I’ll try to help,” he promised.
She looked unconvinced. As he turned away, she caught his sleeve and he noticed the bandage on her forearm. Before he could say anything, she shook her head slightly. “I’m fine. But I’m worried about Adam. Still no contact with him?”
Garrett wished he had better news to give her. He was increasingly worried about his friend. “Not a sign,” he said. “Even if he isn’t on Earth, I should be able to hear him.”
“Then you don’t think Captain Zael has him?”
“No. I can hear Elaine well enough. She saw me, heard me telepathically, although she convinced herself she’s hallucinating.”
Shana moved toward the buffet and picked up a plate, handing it to Garrett before she took another one for herself and began to fill it. “What happened to her?” she asked as Garrett followed suit.
“Zael fancies herself as a scientist in more ways than just weather manipulation. She adapted an energy field normally used to pick up cargo to make it suitable for humanoid use. She tried to make the field airtight but it started to leak air as it was pulled back to the ship with Elaine inside – by the time she was on board, she was suffering severe hypoxia. I heard most of the details from the medic who treated her.” He speared a chunk of lobster onto his plate and added salad. “You haven’t answered my question. What does Timo plan to do?”
She popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. After swallowing, she said, “He wants me to let him take Arrafin on a rescue mission.”
“The shuttle is functional, but from what I saw of Black Tree, the launch facilities are another story.”
Taking another few steps along the buffet, she looked over the choices and clearly found them unappetizing. Or else what was going through her mind achieved the same result. “That’s what he told me. He has some ideas of his own. Timo doesn’t give up easily.”
Garrett couldn’t damn the man for a quality that had saved his own life. “This time, he may have met his match.” He followed the governor to a side table. Amelia and Timo were already seated at another table. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was until you set this up,” he told Shana.
“Me neither. It’s been a long couple of days.”
In more ways than one, he knew; as governor she was not only holding the province together under crisis conditions, she was also worried sick about the man she loved. Not to mention being under siege by an alien power. “Hell of a situation, isn’t it?” he said. “I’m sorry we dragged you into this.”
Her eyes widened. “If anyone is to blame, it’s your parents. They were the ones who chose to come to Earth and meddle in our business.” She leaned forward. “Why did they come, Garrett? What did they want from us?”
He pushed the half-empty plate aside, his appetite vanishing. “All I’ve heard from my father is that they were sent here as observers. I assumed we must be related to the Prana somewhere back in the multi-generations.”
“We?” she asked with a lift of one eyebrow. “Which side do you see yourself on?”
“I’m half human. I guess that gives me a foot in each camp.”
“And Elaine’s family?”
“Her mother was a very powerful watcher who was born on Prana and came here in the late seventies. She died a few months back,” he said when he saw Shana framing the question. “She didn’t tell us much more.”
“But you have your own theory?”
He rested his hands on the table. “I’d rather keep it to myself until we have more to go on. But I do think this is more than observation. Our parents came here for a reason they didn’t fully share with us.”
“A reason that brought the Kelek down on our heads.”
“From what I’ve heard from them, they see us – Elaine, Adam and me – as key to finding their way back to the Prana homeworld.”
Shana nodded. “From where they feel they were dispossessed. Do you think they have a case?”
“They think so.”
Shana glanced at her watch. “News time.” She beckoned Jules over and had him turn up the volume on the plasma screens around the walls. “Let’s see how you and Amelia did.”
Amelia had also straightened, paying attention, although probably more critically than Garrett. He hated seeing himself on TV and could barely watch his book publicity. Instead, he watched Amelia, finding her far more interesting.
The segment was short and to the point, interspersed with footage of Black Tree and the aftermath of the tsunami. At the close, the camera returned to the journalist as she signed off and the shot widened to show Garrett standing beside her.
Shana leaned across the table. “A good, professional job. Factual without frightening the horses.”
“There’s no point when the Kelek hold all the cards for now. What do you think they’ll do next?”
Lines of tension bracketed the governor’s mouth. “Why don’t you tune in on them and tell me?” As he opened his mouth to protest, she shook her head. “I don’t mean to make light of what you can do, but we’re in a war here. I have to use every weapon at my disposal.”
Unable to argue with her thinking, he blanked his mind to the surroundings and trained his hearing on the Kelek ship. From habit, he sought out Elaine and was surprised to find he could hear her. Either the Kelek captain had dropped their dampening field, or Elaine’s distress was cutting through it, as Garrett’s own had done in ESIN’s hands. She was arguing with the medic urging her to eat. If their food wasn’t organic and vegetarian, they’d have their work cut out.
“I need to get some air,” he heard her insist. “You also need
to take this whatever-it-is off my arm.”
“Does she need the medication cuff?” another voice Garrett identified as the adept, Kam, asked.
Kam and the medic argued over the decision until Garrett heard Elaine snap, “I’m getting out of this bed whether you two like it or not.”
Go Elaine, he thought, relieved to hear her sounding more like her usual self. There was a series of clicks, then he heard Elaine’s exhaled breath of relief, then protests from the other two as she started to get up. The medic threatening to fetch the captain was followed by Elaine’s agreement to stay where she was. The other voices receded as the two Kelek moved away, still talking.
Tentatively he spoke Elaine’s name, trusting the mental link between them to attract her attention.
He got it, but not the kind he wanted. “Go away. You’re a figment of my imagination.”
“You know that’s not true.” He framed the words carefully so she could read his lips, if her alien vision was operating, that was. “Look at me.”
“How can I? There’s nobody here but me, for which I am truly thankful. I don’t know where cruise ships get their doctors these days, but those two are weird.”
And the beacons weren’t? Garrett felt a smile start. “For a figment of your imagination, you’re happy to chat with me.”
“What does it matter, since you’re not real?” Then he heard her drag in a breath. “Oh my goodness.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. I kind of blinked and there you were. I must be sicker than I thought.”
“You’re not imagining this,” he said quickly. “You have unique vision that can see wherever you choose.”
“And you can hear me the same way?”
“That’s it exactly. Stay with me, Elaine. At least until your friends come back.” If they caught her communicating with him, they might drug her again. “When they return, I’ll hear them and close this down.”
“Close what down? I don’t know how we’re talking in the first place.”
His heart turned over. She sounded young and frightened, very different from the self-assured woman he knew so well. “Hang on, Elaine. You’ve been through a rough experience that affected your memory. When it comes back, this will all make sense.”
“What if I never remember?”
“One step at a time,” he said. “Does the name Timotea Rooke mean anything to you? You call him Timo.”
“The name sounds familiar. I feel as if I should know it.” The warmth in her voice suggested that some part of her recognized how much Timo meant to her.
“He loves you, and he’s doing everything he can to get you back.”
He heard rustling sounds as she got up and paced around the bed. “I’m frightened, Garrett, of where I am and the people here. They’ve treated me well so far, but if they find out we’re talking …”
Her voice trailed off and his pulse picked up speed. At least she’d moved past thinking of him as a hallucination. “Don’t let them know we’re in touch.” Her amnesia would protect her from the Kelek for a while longer, he hoped. “When you’re alone, look for me.”
“Look for you how?”
“The way you’re doing now. Just relax and blank out what’s around you, and think of me. You’ll be able to see me then. If we don’t speak out loud, they won’t even know what you’re doing.”
“You’re sure?” The tremulous sound was back in her voice.
Garrett couldn’t be sure whether Kam would sense their link, but alarming her about the adept was pointless, since they could do nothing about him. So far, he seemed to be taking Elaine’s side.
“I’m sure. It’s only until we find a way to get to you,” Garrett promised. “I’m going to leave you for a bit, while I eavesdrop on the rest of the ship.”
“Go,” she said more decisively. “Do whatever you have to do. I’ll be all right.”
Reluctantly he pulled his focus away from Elaine, closing his eyes to better listen in on the rest of the Kelek ship.
Perhaps because they’d already connected, he first found the adept talking with Captain Zael. “The watcher still doesn’t know who she is, but she’s becoming suspicious, Akia. We won’t be able to keep her in ignorance much longer.”
“Can’t we use her in spite of her condition?”
“Unknown,” the adept said. “But I would advise against making the attempt. If we try and fail, we could kill her and destroy the ship.”
“I read the tightbeam message Captain Zimon got out seconds before his ship was destroyed. His adept thought there was something alive inside the flux, protecting the beacons against our people.”
“I’ve sensed something of the sort myself,” Kam said. “Not enough to identify the life form, only to know it’s there.”
“And you only now think to tell me?” Zael’s voice rasped with anger. “I’ve seen you with the beacon. You’re growing soft on me.”
“She’s a wounded animal, no more.” The adept’s accusatory tone reminded the captain of who’d done the wounding. But Kam sounded more placating as he added, “My first duty is to you and this ship.”
“See that you don’t forget.”
“I won’t. If there is any service you wish me to render—”
“There is. Use that powerful mind of yours to get through to the beacon. Wake her up to her duty, no matter what the cost to her. In the meantime, I am geoengineering a new surprise for the humans.”
“What are you going to do?”
The captain’s humorless chuckle sent a shudder through Garrett. “Their government is sitting on top of a volcano. Just because it hasn’t erupted in eons doesn’t mean it can’t with the stimulus I can provide.”
“No!” the adept protested, as Garrett listened with horror. The potential damage in awakening a dormant volcano was unthinkable.
“Losing sight of your duty again so soon, Kam?”
The menace in her voice shook Garrett. The threat to the adept concerned more than Zael’s authority as ship’s captain. He sensed some hold she had over the adept and wondered at its source
“Of course not, captain. May I ask when you intend to activate the volcano?”
“I haven’t decided. First I’ll give you the chance to get through to the beacon. Use whatever mental techniques you have, but convince her to help us.”
“How much time do I have?”
“Until noon tomorrow, as the Earthers reckon time.”
Not much more than half a day. When Garrett pulled back to the reception room, he found Shana studying him in concern.
“From the look of you, the news isn’t good.”
“No,” he said hoarsely. Struggling to keep his voice from shaking, he told her what he’d heard.
Chapter 20
With her legs threatening to give way, Elaine sank back on to the bed. She felt as if she were trying to find her way through a dense fog. Her head pounded and she almost wished the medic hadn’t removed the cuff that presumably had been pumping medicine into her system. But she needed the clarity to think. If the price was the granddaddy of all headaches, so be it.
Thanks to Garrett, she knew her name. If he was real, she added automatically, but felt her belief in him strengthening. Some part of her recognized not only his reality, but his importance to her. He’d told her she could see anything she wanted to. Testing the ability couldn’t make the headache any worse.
She was wrong. As soon as she opened her mind, the pain had her clamping her jaw against the urge to cry out, but she kept on doggedly. Not sure what she was doing, she blanked her mind to the room around her, pushed the pain aside, and thought of the captain of this ship – a spaceship, according to Garrett.
She’d never been into space – that she knew about. Part of her didn’t believe she was there now, but she knew she wouldn’t rest until she was sure.
The shock of actually seeing the captain in her mind almost made Elaine pull back. The woman and the man called Kam were i
n what looked like a laboratory and they were arguing. Elaine struggled against the pain in her head, to focus on what they were saying.
You taught yourself to lip read so you could see more. She remembered what Garrett had told her and ordered herself to relax. She found she could follow their conversation in surprising detail.
Unfortunately, most of their discussion made little sense. Something about a flux with a living being inside it, and another ship sending a message before it was destroyed. They seemed as if they were discussing the plot of a movie. But something told Elaine that this was real.
Then the conversation switched to the beacon – a wounded animal, Kam called it. She had a horrible feeling he meant her. What a beacon was, and how it related to her, Elaine didn’t know. But she recognized the danger when the captain ordered Kam to use his powerful mind to get through to the beacon, no matter the cost to her.
Elaine put a hand to her head as the pain almost overcame her. She was in the middle of a nightmare with no way out. Everything in her wanted to curl up on the bed and hide in sleep.
Stop this, she ordered herself. Whether or not she was this beacon that Garrett and the people on the ship believed her to be, she wasn’t helpless. She could act, if not to save herself, then to protect others against the threat of a volcanic eruption the captain clearly intended to trigger.
The decision felt right, even as Elaine started to tremble. She might not know how or why, but some part of her was used to taking action, to being this beacon person. Fake it till you make it, she thought and smiled grimly as she wondered where the trite phrase came from.
Slowly, still testing the limits of her strange skill, she pulled her vision back to the cabin around her. She’d been tempted to venture further, to look at the stars to see if she was, indeed, on board a spaceship. But her courage had failed.
One step at a time, she remembered Garrett saying. She could manage that. Timo would expect no less of her.
Timo. His very name bolstered her courage and she found her hands caressing her belly. She looked down, wondering at the connection. Timo was somehow important to her, although she had no idea how or why.