Her nod was stiff but her face relaxed just a hair. Kevin placed two hands around her waist then lifted her over his lap and out of the way like a ninety five pound sack of flour. I turned to Kara and her eyebrows raised in appreciation at the way he managed Corinne.
Maggie scooted toward the door then got out, pushing James out of the way to offer the younger Harris a hand down. Surprisingly she accepted.
Kevin gathered the older Harris in his arms and hunched over to move backward. He was careful not to bump the totally limp councilwoman’s head. My aunt and Corinne helped steady his stance as he put a foot out to feel for the ground blindly.
Cora’s face was peaceful in repose and I wished she could find that peace on her own in real life.
Silver sang in our head, “Never gonna happen. Some people are born mean.”
Kara pushed on our back with a fist. “Quit talking in your head to each other and get out.”
She shoved our long coat across our right shoulder and Silver pulled it into a heap in our lap. The notebook Maggie had saved was still in a pocket but sadly we weren’t sure if it was ruined from the rain. Our leather duster had gotten pretty soaked at one point and it still felt damp in a couple of places along the seams.
One of the ambulance trucks had its back doors wide open and two EMTs jumped up when they saw Kevin walk past with his unconscious cargo. Maggie stopped to waylay them and gestured for him to continue into the infirmary with Corinne.
Silver scooted us forward and accepted the hand James offered. As soon as our feet hit the dirt she dug around in our pockets to locate our gloves and put them back on. The wind helped a little but the air was starting to heat up. We flung the duster out behind our shoulders and slid our arms back into the sleeves just so we would have our hands free.
James squinted sideways at us. “You’re gonna burn up.”
Silver winked. “We’ll see. Quit trying to get my sister out of her clothes.”
Kara unfolded her lanky length, still standing on the running board of the side door, to peer off at the gathered emergency response vehicles. “I see cop cars but no cops. In fact…I see fire trucks and no firemen as well. Where are they?”
I thought for a second. “Since no one’s really hurt they’re probably all out inspecting the crater that used to be our training facility.”
Maggie broke off her whole ‘I’m a doctor I can handle this’ speech with the EMTs to whistle for attention. “Y’all get your butts inside. I may need your help.”
Kara jumped off the running board of the van with an intentionally loud half joking grumble of, “Rude!”
Maggie sighed. “I’m so sorry, sweet precious darling pie. Would you please get your butt in the infirmary…with sugar on top?”
Kara’s long neck arched as she lifted her chin and raised her nose in the air to prance haughtily past my aunt. “That’s more like it.”
When my friend was almost clear Maggie reached a hand out to swat her bottom with a meaty crack. “You’re not too old to spank, young lady.”
Kara’s eyes sparkled at Maggie. “No one’s ever too old.”
James came up behind his sister and gave one of the male EMTs looking too interested a silent warning before he pushed Kara’s shoulder. “Let’s get inside. I’m sure Corinne wouldn’t appreciate us horsing around with her mom waiting.”
Silver warned, “She’s covering. Joking like that. When she falls apart we need to be somewhere private.”
I agreed with my sister’s assessment. “Go find Gerome in the Web after we see to Cora. He needs to tell us the plan for moving this many people and where the hell we’re all going.”
Once we were up the stairs and inside the door to the waiting area it was clear some of the populace were using the clinic as an emergency shelter. The benches were full to bursting with mostly mothers and small children. Chaos ruled and Nicky was nowhere in sight.
We all waded single file through to the counter flap that someone had left propped open.
A couple of people tried to get my aunt’s attention but she made vague hand waving gestures until we were all behind the barrier of polished wood.
Maggie whistled to quiet the disharmony of so many voices at once. When all of the adults in the small rectangular waiting area had eyes on her, my aunt tapped the side of her head and lowered her lids.
I thought at Silver, “While they’re in the Web go see if Shiva’s managed to infect anyone else. It’s doubtful he’d risk it this soon but better safe than sorry.”
Silver said before she vanished, “Good idea.”
A little girl with straggly pigtails looked around at all the silent, still mommies in concern. Next to her, a boy who appeared to be about Reb and Ray’s age with lopsided bangs reached out an arm to steal the toy truck she held limply in her hands. The fine blonde hair on her cheek moved in the stir of motion caused by his sudden movement, the smaller girl screamed in frustration.
Loudly I said, “Hey!” I had a guess to the boy’s name due to the butchered hair so my next words made him freeze in shock. “Zach, give it back.” As Malcolm had said, it would grow back but Reb or Ray had really done a number on the kid’s straight platinum locks.
Footsteps approached down the long supply-lined hall behind us. Nicky came into view as she pushed through the swinging doors. The boney mousey girl smiled, lighting up her whole face with kindness.
In soft tones she asked, “What’s going on?”
James said, “Impromptu meeting in the Web.”
She smiled a little wider as she walked through the open counter flap. “I meant with the little ones.”
Kara’s face was drawn and serious as she answered Nicky, “Toy squabble. Cass was just breaking it up.”
James had picked up on Kara’s rapid mood change. He reached out a hand to steer us through the swinging doors, leaving Maggie to her Web meeting and Nicky to sort out the children. Our feet made hollow thumping sounds on the mud smeared hardwood floors. The mess was evidence indeed of the gravity of our situation. Maggie and the rest of her staff normally kept the infirmary spotless.
All ten cots in the open treatment area were occupied. Not until the last cot next to Maggie’s office, in Kara’s old spot, did anyone appear to be even mildly injured and that was where Cora rested. Debris from the wind had probably blown a few things into people as they fled to the gym. That was pretty dang good odds considering what we’d faced today.
With an internal pop Silver was back and talking as soon as her mind was centered. “I didn’t see anything suspicious on my cruise. Someone unexpected found me in the Web though. When were you planning on telling me about Mez, Cass?”
Her tone suggested a slight amount of annoyance and I thought back, “I wanted it to be a surprise, Sister.”
As we drew even with the end of Cora’s bed I noticed David was taking the councilwoman’s vitals while Corinne and Kevin leaned against the wall, staying out of the way.
Out loud, a little too sharp, I said, “Where are the twins?”
Kevin looked up from the floor to say over the background hum of the other patients talking, “Melody has them in Maggie’s office.”
Something inside relaxed and Silver took over our mouth to say, “I’ve got an incoming friendly so don’t freak out. I told him not to ‘port in. He should be coming in by way of the laundry room in a minute.”
James and Kevin straightened, their faces all business, to say in unison, “Who?”
Silver smirked. “I’ll wait until he gets here to introduce him. I’m not wasting time sayin’ everything twice. Just know he’s Axsian and he’s the new agent assigned to make sure nobody meddles with Earth against the rules of the Galactic Alliance. Hopefully he’ll do a better job than the last one we busted up.”
Kevin was still confused but Corinne squeezed his smoothly muscled forearm with her bony porcelain fingers and gave him eyes that hinted she’d explain later. His face relaxed immediately. The trust between the two of t
hem was a tangible thing.
James whispered in an aside to us, “Don’t ask, don’t tell?”
Silver moved aside for me to answer. “Just so.”
We’d see how this all played out. Mez was…enthusiastic in his shows of affection to say the least. Maybe he’d try to play it cool in a foreign environment and be official but…Mez was Mez. I could feel Silver anticipating a bad reaction from James and almost looking forward to the fight.
At my twin I thought, “Behave. Trouble goes both ways.”
Smug, Silver replied, “Mez isn’t the jealous type.”
I wasn’t as sure about that as she was. Maggie put an end to our mental bickering as she marched out of the hall in a storm of motion right into the disorganized hum of conversation filling the cavernous treatment room.
Annoyed, she clapped her hands and when that didn’t do the trick she whistled. All conversation ceased and the absence of sound was jarring. “I require silence. You wanna gab, go in the Web and chatter to your heart’s content.”
Immediately, on the bed closest to us, a woman leaned back to recline on the small flat pillow and close her eyes. Silently one by one the whole room complied. Even the smaller children ghosted their parents, turning the other nine cots into a mass production of Sleeping Beauty. It was mildly creepy.
Maggie saw David at the head of the bed. “Where are the twins?”
Melody poked her head out of the door to her best friend’s office to whisper-yell, “With me.”
Just before the statuesque woman pulled back from sight I saw a grimly disapproving look pass over her normally composed features when she took in Corinne and Kevin standing together. Kevin stood straighter as if the sound of Melody’s voice alone made him on edge. What the heck was that about?
Reassured, Maggie turned back to her patient on the bed. Cora looked shrunken and frail inside her clothes as if the force of her personality usually filled them to capacity. Dark circles ringed her closed eyes and her hair even had a brittle and stiff bad wig look to it. Someone had crossed her arms over her abdomen and it gave her the illusion of being a corpse laid out for a wake.
David said, “Whatever Corinne is doing hasn’t hurt her. Cora’s vitals are normal and steady but her body is reacting as if her mind is lost in the Web. I can see her presence but it’s muted.”
Maggie asked Corinne, “How long can you hold her in this stasis?”
Pale nearly translucent lids blinked slowly over Corinne’s bright eyes before she answered in a low monotone, “Another hour or two at most and then my energy stores will be too depleted to continue. I have to concentrate to keep it level and I need her in close proximity. There’s no guarantee she’ll be any more settled than she was before I put her under.”
Maggie nodded and turned to us. “Silver, you started this whole mess. How are you going to fix it?”
As if buried under a water weight of guilt Silver said, “Given how little I know about her condition and abilities I need some time to search her Web presence. Corinne, am I going to be able to get around your containment shield?”
The petite blonde’s nod was nearly imperceptible. “If I go with you yes.”
I took over our mouth to say, “You do anything to Silver in retaliation for Calvin I’ll make what she did to save me long and slow for you. Are we clear?”
Maggie hissed in disapproval. “Cass!”
James vetoed her censure. “No, Maggie, it needs to be said. Silver was trying to make things right, she just went about it wrong. If Corinne has any ideas about avenging her brother’s death she needs to know the consequences. Unlike what Cass and Silver did five years ago her actions wouldn’t be self-defense. They would be murder.”
Kevin leaned away from the wall and I couldn’t help the image of a big cat with its back arched in anger from our mind. He bowed his chest out and barked, “Enough! It’s a bad situation without y’all assuming the worst of Corinne. She saved your asses at great cost to herself and her own mother. Quit treating her like something you found on the bottom of your shoe!”
The smell of ozone assailed our nostrils with familiar crisp undertones we recognized and then our body was bent backward into warm enveloping arms. Full firm lips kissed ours with a chaste closed mouth enthusiasm and I gave over control of our body to Silver as she relaxed into the dip.
Kara yipped in alarm and I heard James gasp at the sudden appearance of the dark-skinned eight foot tall alien casually molesting us. It was a good thing some of our companions had gotten a warning or this could have gone bad quickly.
The kiss was over in seconds and Mez bent us back to our feet by our ponytail. His nictitating lenses flickered as they flexed across his coal black eyes and the fluorescent tubes on the ceiling made little reflections of light dance like will-o-the-wisps across their glossy surface. He wasn’t bothering to use a light field to disguise his differences from humanity at all. It made us wonder.
In a deep, throaty bedroom voice Mez said, “Mi sawol es lihtan mid gleomu.”
Blood rushed to our cheeks as Silver reacted to his little romantic jab. My brain translated it to English automatically and I smiled at his way with words. My soul is alight with splendor, indeed. ‘Splendor’ was a slang word for an orgasm on Axsa. I was sure he’d be campaigning for one of those later.
To my sister I said, “No splendoring until we get Cora figured out.”
With an air of aloof curiosity he took in the rest of the group. His attention lingered on James then Mez inquired, “How are my Leoght Cor and Sustor Cor? Well I hope? Did I interrupt something?” Bushy eyebrows rose in query but his attitude stated plainly he didn’t really care about butting in.
Silver opened our arms dramatically before saying, “Everyone, this is Mez. Mez, this is everyone.”
From the hall that connected to the laundry room heavy boot steps approached and Silver wouldn’t let me turn our head as revenge for not warning her about Mez’s impending arrival. It didn’t matter—I already knew who it would be.
Silver took in Mez’s manner of dress and made a tisking noise with her tongue. “I see Kal failed to rope you onto the cowboy wagon. It’s a shame…your butt would’ve looked really good in some Wranglers.”
The towering length of handsome at our side smiled devastatingly and smoothed down his plain black cotton shirt all the way to where it was tucked into a rather plain pair of black jeans. He caught Silver following the path of his hand and he wiggled his eyebrows, smiling impossibly wider to reveal daintily pointed teeth.
Kara made a small fear noise that made me grab control of our head to give her our attention. Pale skin graced her cheeks and her sternum was palpitating like a bird’s as she stepped backward without looking and slammed right into Kevin who gently gripped her shoulders to keep her from falling. Horror and disbelief warred for pride of place in her eyes.
Raggedly she breathed out, “You’re…with…him…willingly?”
She broke then and ran toward the hall that led to the bathrooms and the laundry room, crying like we’d killed her puppy with a meat cleaver. James looked confused but he went after his sister.
Kal had to sidestep to avoid a collision with the fleeing Lees. Countenance calm and Zen-like, the shorter alien, and by shorter we meant around seven feet tall instead of eight, stood with his wrists gripping one another at his front, waiting patiently for an explanation.
Our teacher’s light field was fully engaged, making him appear to be a completely bald, run of the mill, taller than normal human male. His features were intentionally bland and forgettable to avoid notice, race indeterminate but definitely not Anglo with the darker brown skin. Kal’s natural face was beautiful in its own way but most definitely not human. The only thing that might make him stand out in a crowd more than his height was his addiction to western wear.
I thought, “Anatomy. Kara said Shiva hurt her once and she had to be taken to the Warp compound for treatment. That bastard used his anatomy against her. We are beyon
d stupid.” I craned our head to look in Mez’s puzzled eyes. “Shiva did ‘things’ to her that didn’t involve ‘splendor’.”
His face cleared immediately only to darken into a pinched storm cloud of fury. Axsian males were equipped for intercourse a little differently than human men. Somewhat like a leopard, their multi-appendaged ‘penis’ had barbs that hooked into the vaginal walls of their women to stimulate ovulation. If you were mating for fun, no barbs—if you were mating with a human…no barbs ever.
Maggie leaned against my side to ask, “Do I want to know?”
I muttered into our collar, “Probably not but we’ll tell you later.”
Kal wove his neck. “Death becomes a mercy for one such as him.”
I tamped down the inner burning anger before I asked our mentor, “It’s a race then? If you kill him first we have to buy you a new pair of boots—deal?”
My teacher tilted his chin down at our feet. “Should I be glad you still retain your coat?”
Silver gave Kal an enthusiastic double thumbs-up as she deadpanned, “It’s a long story. You taught us not to value material things at the expense of others…good job, you!”
Maggie cleared her throat. “Not to put a damper on this little reunion, but I need Silver to move things along with Corinne for Cora.”
Kal nodded a respectful greeting to Maggie then gave us an intense once over, taking in our disheveled state with mild disapproval.
Raising his eyes, he said, “Size twelve, and I would prefer ostrich skin.”
Silver pulled our lips tightly across our teeth in a closed mouth smile before saying, “Any rules to this contest? I wouldn’t want you to weasel out of buying us new gear.”
Kal gave us a mock offended look in response.
Mez flashed too much teeth. “Rule one: Don’t die. Rule two: Refer back to rule one.”
Chapter Sixteen: Love Quadrangle
With one last glance up at Mez, my twin went into the Web. I nodded at Corinne where she stood tensely observing our melodrama while her mother lay in enforced stasis. Kevin moved to her side to offer support. Corinne’s lids lowered slowly as if she were afraid to take her eyes off the room, leaving her mother vulnerable to the mercy of two unknown aliens and other segments of humanity she didn’t trust.
VECTOR (The Weaver Series Book 3) Page 26