by Jason Parker
As if on cue, Reneac began to stir. Seemingly oblivious to his wounded arm, splintered wrist, broken ribs, and likely cracked skull, he struggled to his feet and howled like a savage animal. Blaze caught a glimpse of his eyes and was unsurprised to see no trace of the promising young soldier he had known moments ago.
Vladrik laughed and the poison-honey tone returned to his voice as he said, “Perhaps you will see him again. Now sleep and when you awaken, deliver my message.”
The sweet toxin of his voice bound them to sleep.
Blaze opened his eyes. As he lay in the dirt he fervently hoped the images flooding his mind were the remnants of a bad dream. The last vestiges of daylight dappled the mossy ground amidst the shadows of the trees. He rose to a sitting position and saw Whitestorm stirring. Nearby, the pale, lifeless body of Tari dispelled all hope of a dream. Blaze crawled next to her and caressed her cheek as tears trickled down his own. He kissed her forehead, gently lifted her in his arms, and walked toward the deserted ranger encampment.
Out of the corner of his tear-filled eyes, he saw Whitestorm who followed silently behind.
CHAPTER 18
Laurela Frankev sat on the tattered old sofa in her small apartment, absently petting Dapple, the gray and white cat nestled beside her and re-reading Ron’s letter for what must have been the fiftieth time. Hearing from Ron always brightened her day, but this missive was bittersweet. She wanted him and not just a letter. Sighing, she read it one more time.
My dearest Laurela,
I thought I would be well on my way to Arcanta by now, but unfortunately it looks like I will be stuck at home for a bit longer. My dumbass brother managed to break his leg. The medics say he will need 4 to 6 weeks to recover. My dad said I had more than fulfilled my family obligations and didn’t need to stay because of Brylan’s accident, but I can’t leave him in a lurch.
There are a couple of upcoming supply runs to Crossroads Brylan was going to lead. I’m going to take those and by the time I’m done, my brother should be back on his feet. Don’t worry, I’ll behave myself in Crossroads!
I will send you another message soon to let you know how my brother’s recovery is going. Hopefully by the time you are reading that message I will be on my way to you. I love you and miss you and can’t wait to do all sorts of nasty things with you.
Love,
Ron
Smiling as she folded the letter, Laurela contemplated traveling to Crossroads to surprise Ron. The letter was dated six days earlier. Laurela silently cursed how excruciatingly slow the mail moved. Unfortunately, Ron’s letter did not mention when he would be in Crossroads. If she made the journey and happened to find him there at the same time, it would be pure coincidence.
Crossroads was roughly the midpoint between Arcanta and Agron. Depending on the available transportation, it would take her one to two days to travel there. Despite the uncertainty of meeting him, she was tempted to take the chance. A week ago, she would have. Worst case, if she didn’t find Ron in Crossroads she could continue on to Agron and stay with him until his brother fully recovered. Her work was important but could be put on hold for a few weeks. However, this past week something strange had happened in the lab. Something impossible. Something that, quite frankly, frightened her.
Laurela set the letter aside on a small end table and stretched out on the sofa. Dapple meowed, jumped to the floor, and turned to give her a look suggesting he was highly offended.
“Sorry guy,” she said, “forgot you were there.”
As Dapple turned and strutted away, she ran her fingers through her long, disheveled auburn hair. She wished she had a means of contacting Jalen, or rather, Nightlocke. He could probably tell her what was going on in the lab and he wouldn’t think she was crazy. Hopefully she wasn’t.
For a moment, she pondered. Well, Master Scientist Cultivachek was scheduled to visit the agricultural science center tomorrow afternoon. Despite his advanced age and semi-retirement he visited the center several times a year to share his insight and wisdom. Tomorrow would be his first visit since her graduation and she wanted to show him something impressive—not something weird. She didn’t want to look like a ninny. He was, after all, the legend in the field of agricultural science.
“Ugh,” she groaned. She decided she would have to take a chance. She needed an explanation and if Cultivachek couldn’t provide one, no one could. If he laughed at her or dismissed her, though, she would just keel over and die.
“Ugh,” she groaned again. Dapple meowed at her from his new spot on a well-worn chair that matched the sofa in style and dilapidation.
“No one asked for your input, buddy,” she responded light-heartedly.
She reached behind her head and patted around the end table until her fingers found the letter. Taking hold of it, she pulled it to her chest and held it over her heart. She would have to wait a while longer before seeing her love, she thought as she drifted asleep. Plenty of time once he got here. She smiled.
***
An early riser, Laurela awoke shortly after sunrise. Sitting on the sofa, she massaged her stiff neck as she rotated her head from side to side. She had not intended to spend the entire night on the frumpy old couch. The mattress in her small bedroom was much more comfortable. Dapple sauntered over, brushed against her legs, and serenaded her with a chorus of meows. A crinkling sound caught her attention and she saw Dapple had settled on Ron’s letter. She must have dropped it during the night.
“Okay, okay, boy, I gotcha,” she said reaching down to scratch the top of Dapple’s head and pry the letter out from under him.
She stood and stretched then placed the letter on the end table. Refilling Dapple’s water bowl, she placed it outside on her small porch. There she stretched again in the warm morning air. The air was thick with moisture and the dark clouds signaled imminent rain. Rain was always a blessing during the latter stages of the growing season.
Dapple followed her outside and immediately went searching for his breakfast. The fields surrounding the town were rife with mice and other small rodents and he was an excellent hunter.
Laurela went back inside and spent the next twenty minutes attempting to make herself presentable. Grimacing at her full-length mirror, she was less than pleased with the outcome. Her hair was a mess, her freckles were too prominent, and her dress was unflattering. She made a final attempt at doing something with her hair, determined it was an exercise in futility and settled for pulling it back in a ponytail. She contemplated breakfast, but her excitement and apprehension about Cultivachek’s impending visit had her stomach in knots.
She paced. She observed the clock, ticking, ticking, and ticking. She thought she should busy herself but after another tick she gave up and decided to make the short walk to the agricultural science center and report for work a bit early.
The town of Arcanta served as a supply depot and marketplace for the farmers in the surrounding region. Arcanta was mostly quiet except during the harvest when an endless stream of cargo wagons invaded the town to transport agricultural goods south to the train station in Dirka and north to Crossroads.
The primary purpose of the agricultural science center was to provide fertilizers, pesticides, soil enhancers, and livestock care. The vast majority of the farming products were prepared using tried and true formulations. Scientific discovery and innovation were rare. Laurela blamed this on the leadership of Scientist Geopon. Laurela acknowledged he was spread thin having to serve as executive director for the Arcanta center as well as its sister facilities in Dirka and Skejed. He was an effective administrator, but a disappointing Scientist. Thank Keyaul for Master Scientist Cultivachek!
In addition to Laurela, the Arcanta agricultural science center employed two other Science Institute graduates and eight technicians who completed a mandatory six-week training course in rudimentary chemistry. Korbin Midenko was a graduate of the Tuvir Science Institute and had been the director of the center for as long as she could remember. Korbin
was a competent director and served the region well in maintaining the status quo. To be fair, his attention was largely focused on livestock care, a skill that was sorely lacking at the center. His sons, Kale and Dane, were two of the eight technicians at the center. Korbin hoped one of his sons would become a Scientist, or at least graduate from a Science Institute, and eventually take his place as director. Neither had gained acceptance at an Institute.
Draia Levich was the other Science Institute alumnus on staff. She graduated from the Delon Science Institute six years before Laurela. Laurela was completely baffled as to how she graduated at all. She was less skilled than most of the technicians. Korbin hoped Draia could succeed him as director, but her incompetence gave him second thoughts. Korbin delayed his retirement due to his reticence. Now that Laurela had graduated and was on staff full-time, he had latched onto her like glue—clearly grooming her to be his successor. He was a bit too obvious. Draia was extremely resentful and bitter toward her. While scientifically inept, Draia was quite capable at stirring up drama.
In Laurela’s opinion, Draia was much too thin. Her appearance was dominated by her big beak of a nose which completely overshadowed her head of wavy brunette hair and brown eyes. As much as Laurela was reluctant to admit it, though, Draia did have a certain charisma and was quite charming when she wasn’t being arrogant and egocentric. She was skilled at using her femininity to its fullest advantage and rarely lacked male companionship despite her bland appearance.
“Men can be such blind idiots,” Laurela thought as she approached the entrance to the center. When Ron got there, Laurela made a mental note to keep an eye on Draia. No doubt she would use her seductive charms to try and wile him. Surely he would see through her sultry filaments—at least, he’d better.
The door closed behind Laurela and the back-wind lifted the back of her dress. Hurriedly smoothing it, she was surprised to see Draia already present and flitting about. Hmm. This was atypical. Draia was not an early riser and rolled into the center whenever the mood struck her. She knew Korbin usually spent the morning making livestock calls. Her tardiness was likely due in part to the time she spent on dabbling in makeup, selecting her outfit, and prancing about a mirror. Despite her homeliness, Draia was always pristine. Today, however, she took her beauty regime to an entirely new level. Her hair was styled in an elegant up do, her skin looked flawless, and her form-fitting short, red dress gave her stick thin figure the illusion of curves.
Momentarily, Laurela caught a glimpse of her own reflection in a stand mirror on a prep table and cringed. Strands of hair had escaped her pony tail and hung limply around her face. Her skin was blotchy and her earth toned A-line dress made her look like a bloated cow.
She approached Draia who was busily wiping down the counter tops of the prep tables in the main room of the center. “You’re here early,” she said, sounding more accusatory than she had intended.
Draia stopped scrubbing for a moment and smiled after sizing up Laurela. “It’s not every day a Master Scientist pays us a visit. I want to make sure everything is perfect.”
“It’s nice to see you are taking an interest in something,” Laurela said with feigned sincerity.
“Of course,” she replied. She put her hands on her hips and scanned Laurela from head to toe. “We wouldn’t want the place to look like something the cat dragged in—would we?”
Laurela felt her temperature rising and knew her cheeks must match the deep red of Draia’s lips. “I’m sure the Master Scientist is more concerned with scientific achievement than appearances,” she stammered.
Draia smiled sweetly. “Cultivachek is like a grandfather to me, sweetie. He appreciates my efforts.”
Laurela made mock scrubbing gestures. “Then by all means, continue cleaning,” she said in a raised voice. “You’re good at it. I’m going to my lab. Someone around here needs to do some important work.”
She turned and hurried into one of the three private labs that also served as offices for Korbin, Draia, and herself. She slammed the door. She immediately regretted her childish outburst. Her retort wasn’t even clever. Draia was undoubtedly silently celebrating her victory. Laurela hoped no one else had been around to hear the exchange and chastised herself for not glancing about before engaging with Draia. The woman always managed to bring out the worst in her.
She plopped down in the chair behind the small table in the corner of the lab that served as her desk. Leaning over the table she cradled her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes. She fervently wished Ron was here. Damn his brother for getting injured.
A tap at the door startled her. “Yes,” she said, hoping it was not Draia.
“Hey, Laurela, do you have a minute?” a male voice called from behind the door.
She was relieved to recognize Dane’s voice, Korbin’s youngest son. Good. He was fairly intelligent but a bit lackadaisical. He looked and often acted like he was sixteen, but he was actually in his late twenties and even a couple of years older than Draia.
“Sure. Come on in,” Laurela called back.
The door opened and Dane stuck his head in for a quick glance before fully entering and closing the door behind him. His youthful features were soft rather than rugged and his most prominent feature was an unruly mop of sand-colored hair. Laurela thought he was cute in a quirky sort of way. She had crushed on him a bit as a teenager.
“What can I do for you, Dane?” she asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice. She thought it prudent to be cautious in any personal conversations with him. He was friends with Draia and they frequently hung out together, particularly when he was between girlfriends and her between boyfriends. Laurela didn’t think there was anything serious between them, but she was certain they had shared a bed on more than one occasion.
“Nothing,” Dane responded. “I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. I saw you barge in here—flustered. You seem a little stressed out.”
“A little,” she confessed. “I’m kind of nervous about Cultivachek’s visit. He’s pretty much the reason I chose to pursue this career path. I saw him here one time before I went to the Institute and I was so awestruck—I could barely say hello. He was a guest lecturer every year at the Institute, but it wasn’t until my final year that I mustered the courage to attempt to speak with him. I’m pretty sure I came across as a bumbling idiot.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” he laughed. “Cultivachek’s an easy-going guy. Just be calm. You’ll find he is very approachable and interested in helping out however he can.”
She glanced at her hands. “Yeah, that’s the impression I get. But, he’s such an icon. I really could use his advice about something I’m working on.”
Dane grabbed a stool and pulled it up next to her table. “Don’t hesitate to ask him. He’ll be thrilled, he likes to make his visits meaningful. Just make sure you don’t stand by and let Draia monopolize all his time. She’ll latch onto him as soon as he’s done addressing the staff. Cultivachek is quite fond of her so be respectful, but after a reasonable amount of time, politely interrupt.”
Laurela looked up at him somewhat confused. “Why are you telling me this? I thought you and Draia were close friends.”
“Oh we are. But I know how she is and you were right,” he replied with a wink. “We need someone to do some important work around here.”
“Thanks, Dane,” she said with a smile.
“No problem, kid,” he said, returning her smile as he exited the lab.
Laurela stared at the door after he had gone. Was that for real? She wondered if Draia put him up to it as part of some scheme to embarrass her in front of Cultivachek. She didn’t think Dane was that good of an actor and she didn’t believe he would be part of something cruel. All the same, she decided to proceed cautiously with his advice.
Re-create the experiment, she thought. Laurela arose from the table and selected a small vivarium from a supply shelf. She filled it half full with soil, sprinkled in some wheat see
ds, and then covered them with additional soil. She glanced up at the glass roof, constructed to allow sunlight into the labs for experimentation. A few drops of rain splattered against it. The lack of light wasn’t ideal, but it hadn’t really mattered in her previous experiments.
After mixing up a batch of her newly created fertilizer recipe she was ready to demonstrate for Cultivachek and gain some insight from him about the strange results she had been observing. Strange…no…impossible was more accurate. She hoped to obtain Cultivachek’s trust.
Laurela looked at the clock and noticed it was lunchtime. Since she had skipped breakfast, she forced herself to eat the leftover half sandwich from her icerator. After finishing the scant meal, she nervously paced around the lab for fifteen minutes and then decided to go to the main room of the center to see if there was any news about Cultivachek’s arrival. She held her stomach and the butterflies back.
Laurela looked around the room. Wood folding chairs for the eleven staff members were arranged in three rows in the center of the room between the prep tables. She scanned the floor and the tabletops and admitted the place was spotless. She felt a small pang of guilt for acting childish and not offering to help Draia with the cleaning.
Aside from a couple of technicians who were scooping and measuring ingredients from large bags to mix insecticides, everyone was engaged in small clusters of conversation. She noticed Draia and Dane were together. Draia smirked at her.
“Ah! There you are, Laurela,” Korbin said. He broke away from a few technicians and a man she did not know and approached her with a smile and arms wide. “I was just about to retrieve you. We have word from an advance rider that Cultivachek is about fifteen minutes away. I’m going to ride out to meet him.”
Laurela shuffled her feet nervously. “Well, this is good news. I’ve been looking forward to his visit.”