by HC Playa
Standing beside Robert in front of General Westing, an uneasy sense of premonition settled over Naia. Like a fulcrum, on the right stood the frightened soldier ready to attack, and on the left stood the stalwart general ready to fearlessly tackle this newest threat. Lucky me. I’m smack dab in the middle.
An idea bounced around in her head. What if the thing they felt was magic? A spell perhaps? Nothing in her scientific experience could explain what Robert had done, but what she knew of magic certainly could.
Just as the general opened his mouth to say something, she blurted, "Excuse me, but I’d like to try something."
The general stared at her. "What?"
"An experiment if you will, to see if I can replicate something similar to what Robert just did."
"All right."
Naia closed her eyes and using meditation techniques Katarina taught her, she focused on the hum of energy inside her. True magic didn’t require fancy rhyming spells or strange ingredients, but simple spoken spells often helped the practitioner focus their will and achieve the desired result. Aiming for something simple yet obvious, Naia opened her eyes and her gaze fell on an old metal folding chair about six feet away from her. She held her hand out toward the chair and visualized a flow of energy from her fingertips to the chair. Going with tradition, she recited a simple rhyme. "Chair of metal, here you will settle. As I will so mote it be". The chair swiftly slid across the floor and stopped right in front of Naia. "Well, whadaya know?" Naia mumbled.
"What the hell is going on here?" Westing asked.
"General, I think we have a problem on our hands."
"I’m coming to the same conclusion."
Naia gestured to Robert. "I think Robert’s on the right track with the idea that the change is in us somehow, but whether it’ll show up on the brain scans I don’t know. The energy pulse, for lack of better terminology, did do something. I know this is going to sound like superstitious nonsense, but I think a spell of some sort was either cast or broken."
"Why isn’t everyone affected?"
"I don’t know. Maybe the tests will show something."
The general exhaled a sigh. "This couldn’t have come at a worse time." General Westing pointed at her. He pointed his finger at their escort. "You're dismissed." The solider saluted and headed back out the way they came in. "As for you two, you will be joining me in Conference Room 1A where you will explain the data on that computer." Westing turned to go.
"You broke my encryption?"
Westing glanced over his shoulder. "Son, you used an encryption your company made at our behest. We had the key."
Naia quirked up one eyebrow. "Good one, Robert."
He shrugged. "Do you have any idea how many clients we have? I can't recall who uses what code at the drop of a hat. I picked the most complicated I could key in without a computer."
"And you didn't think that the government would have the most complicated one?"
"They don't always."
Westing barked a laugh as he swiped an access card and palmed a bio-reader. A light on the reader turned green and the door opened. "Come on. I'll tell you about our aliens if you tell us about yours."
***
Katarina left Zane's side in the middle of night according to the ship's dim lighting. Her internal clock argued that it was past time to get up. She cringed as muscles complained about the night's sleeping arrangement. She felt like she slept on a kitchen table. Worse, the twins' seemed to be getting annoyed with the decreasing amount of space. The kicked and jostled so much she barely slept.
"Damn. I swear, every day I feel more and more like a beached whale."
She headed down the corridor, a featureless metal tube that reminded her of a hamster tube, stopping at the bunk area Vrion originally assigned to her. "Less than two months to go," she reassured herself.
Her internal clock insisted she supply it with caffeine, so she hunted for her satchel. She found it by tripping over the satchel’s strap. "Way to go, Kat. Break your neck while you’re at it." Why in heaven’s name did I put it on the floor?
She started to bend over, but realized that her bulk no longer allowed her to do that without. "Well fuck." It occurred to her to call the thing to her. Katarina concentrated and very little energy expenditure the satchel flew into her waiting hands. Katarina smiled. Well, at least there one good thing came from all of this. She wouldn't have to bend over ever again unless she wanted to.
Katarina put on a clean dress, brushed her hair, and then made her way to the cockpit. If her half-asleep brain insisted it was morning, then Naia was up and she could find out what was going on back home.
When she got to the cockpit, Private Driglok sat by himself playing some game on one screen while another scrolled sensor readouts. Sensor scan. The immediate recognition threw her. Here in Zane's world the memories he shared gained the crisp edge of reality as she encountered things she shouldn't know, but thanks to Zane, she did. No matter how often it happened, it continued to surprise her.
"Excuse me, Private Driglok, but I need to make a call to Earth."
The private started and cleared his throat. "I’ll have to clear it with the commander."
"I'm not asking. I’m courteous. I didn't want you setting off the alarm and jerking the poor Commander out of his sleep. If you recall, he gave me the computer in the first place. If he didn't want me contacting Earth, he wouldn't have done that."
A furrow formed on his brow. She left him to muddle through her argument and returned to the area off her bunk area. One wall held a small comm station. Instead of a data link, she opened a live relay link and called the computer she left with Naia.
***
After the shock of being told the government knew all about the existence of aliens, Naia at first assumed their news would be anti-climactic, but it still stirred up a roar of opposing opinions. Despite the Roswell visitor that died shortly after landing and warning the governments not to trust any alien visitors, in Naia's opinion they did little to prep for an invasion. Now the idiots wanted to nix a perfectly good weapon. They refused to consider her arguments, despite her listing all she knew about magic and referencing Maureen’s groundbreaking ESP research in an attempt to convince the other scientists that magic could be the best weapon at their disposal.
In a lull of conversation the computer, which was set in the middle of the conference room table, buzzed.
Westing pushed it toward her. "Answer it."
Naia hit the accept button as an engineer beside her turned on a recording device.
"Hello?"
Katarina's face filled the screen. She swept a hand over her face before smiling. "Hey, Naia."
"Did you find Zane?"
"Yes, and I didn’t have to hijack the ship. Of course, I'm going to have to get us out of here before he gets executed. I don't put faith in the likelihood he can talk his way out of trouble, not to mention I do not wish to be IGC's fancy new toy." Katarina rubbed either side of her temples and then looked up again. "How goes the other stuff? Karglock's troops were not at the base when I went to get Zane. It stands to reason he's already headed toward Earth."
Naia glanced at her audience. "I'm sure General Westing appreciates that update."
"You're with the military?"
"Yes."
"Thank God. I wasn't sure anyone would listen."
"Oh, they listened all right. They took a bit of an exception to random transmissions from space beaming to a civilian home."
Katarina stared for a minute. "Yeah, I guess that would do it. I suppose it's a good thing I forgot about that. Are they prepping for the invasion?"
Naia looked at General Westing. He nodded. "Yes, but they won't even consider using magic."
Katarina winced. "It wasn't just me?"
"Nope. So it is magic?"
"Energy, magic, call it what you want, but yes. Hit the hologram option, Naia."
"The what?"
Katarina closed her eyes. "Second button t
o the left on the right panel."
Naia hit it and the image of Katarina projected on the table in miniature. "Wow."
"Hello. IGCF is sending a fleet to Earth from what I'm told. Whether they can make it in time to intercept the invasion fleet, I do not know. You'll need a plan to hold out until they show up. Then IGCF can take over defense. Unless you have entire squadrons of Mages, I'd advise against using magic. Without training it's unpredictable and dangerous."
"But," Naia said.
"General? Do you have squadrons of Mages?"
"No, we do not. At best, we can scrounge perhaps a dozen. The numbers of Mages who enlist are not what they once were." Westing pointed at Katarina's hologram. "I knew your father. Good man and a good Mage."
Naia gave Katarina credit. She smiled and not one ounce of contradictory emotion showed on her face. "Thank you, sir. I look forward to being home as soon as possible. If I may, I'd like to seek political asylum for Zane. He'll be more than happy to offer whatever services he can to aid in the defense of the planet."
Westing glanced around the table at the other officials and no one voiced disagreement. "Asylum granted as soon as he sets foot on Earth."
"Thank you. Before I go, may I ask what species sent a visitor in the Roswell incident?"
"He called himself a Dedanaan."
A flicker of emotion passed, but Katarina's face smoothed to polite smile. "Interesting. Thank you again. I'll see you soon, Fates willing. Ending transmission."
The hologram blinked out.
Naia met the multitude of eyes focused on her. "See? I told you it was magic."
Chapter 18
Katarina checked on Zane after her call to Earth. He slept deeply as his body continued to heal. Despite the lack of caffeine, she felt no urge to go back to sleep. Zane looked a great deal better, but one day of care did not make up for weeks of torture and starvation. His face held a gaunt look and she could see every rib. She feared he might try to join the fighting if she took them straight back to Earth, but where else could they go?
Katarina sighed and wandered out into the corridor. What do I do about my latest problem? She said nothing to the military about the Fae as she had no proof. Besides, if they accepted the counsel of the Dedanaan, they would have been warned about the Fae.
She paced up and down until the narrow space grated on her nerves and then she returned to the bunk area. Katarina gained a new respect for Zane and any soldier who travelled regularly in such close confines with nothing to do and nowhere to do it. The troubling message from the vision played in her head over and over. She expected Torin to show up at any second.
"What am I thinking? Why should I wait for him to show up?"
Katarina perched on the edge of the bunk and closed her eyes. She let her breathing slow and relaxed her body as awareness of the physical realm melted away. She pulled from the depths of memory the psychic imprint of the faerie she met in the woods. She held that in her mind, but finding the words to say proved far more difficult.
"I know who you are... Father."
A whole host of demands and questions formed in her head, but she kept it simple and to the point. As she pulled her mind back to her physical form, she recalled the faerie's gentle touch on her shoulder, the loving embrace, and his show of affection. Why? Why leave me if you cared?
In juxtaposition to the emotions she felt from the faeries that day the lore her mother taught her clashed like an out of tune piano. "The Mages fear them for good reason, Kat. The Fae don't love. They don't empathize. They are cold and selfless creatures who take what they want, be it your body for their pleasure of your life to extend theirs. Never, ever trust the Fae." Her mother's voice rang clear in her mind. Her mother spoke directly of the Fae a total of perhaps half a dozen times. Katarina still did not understand her mother's obsession with proving their existence. On one side she feared them and refused to reveal her father's identity, and yet she continued the pursue them. Perhaps the pursuit was nothing but a ruse, a trick to keep me from guessing at the truth.
"That's precisely what the bitch was doing. You thought she was trying to identify Mages; she was, but not to reveal their identity. No, she was warning them about us, or rather more precisely, about me."
Katarina's eyes snapped open. Towering over her, less than two feet away, stood the very same faerie she met in the woods. They eyed each other in silence, he with a glare as hot and fiery as a volcano, while she showed nothing but a mask of icy reserve.
"Good to know that not all of you play oracle."
"What?"
"Your friend, Torin. The best I got from him was a damn phone number to a pub in Ireland."
The faerie grinned. "Ah, Torin. If he had a middle name, it would be cryptic. I sympathize with your frustration. However, it seems you did figure it all out on your own." He scowled in an almost identical expression to Torin, and Katarina noticed a strong resemblance between the men. "It took you bloody long enough."
Katarina cursed her current girth, because it did not lend to haughty, graceful movements. Instead of standing in one smooth motion, she lurched to her feet. "You owe me an explanation."
The faerie closed his eyes and his face took on a pinched expression. "This isn't at all going as I meant." He opened his eyes and looked at her with a sad wistful gaze. "What happened to my beautiful, sweet little girl who chatted and danced after butterflies?"
His question stole her breath and unleashed so many emotions she gasped for air. Still, she kept her mask in place. "I grew up." Katarina walked past the faerie. She felt cornered and needed movement to help maintain her grip on the emotions she held in check. "I was rejected by my own parents and abandoned by the parent who gave me the powers the others feared. That's what happened." She stared at her father's back. The muscles in his shoulders tightened and his hands fisted at his sides. The air took on an electric charge, but after a long minute, he deflated as if whatever he felt just ceased.
"No matter how much I tell myself otherwise, I did abandon you. True, I did not comprehend the ramifications of the promise I made your human paternal surrogate, but that does not change the result. Does it?" He turned to face her. Lines etched into the corner of his eyes and marred the otherwise perfect illusion of a youthful countenance. He executed a deep bow. "Finn, of the Tuatha De’ Danann, and I am at your service, my daughter."
The pain she sensed mirrored her own. Katarina stepped forward and dropped the façade of reserve. She reached out and touched his shoulder with a feather light tap. He rose and caught the change in her expression and something shifted in his face as well. The shadows lessened and a trace of a smile curved his lips. "My gentle little one isn't gone, is she?"
She hesitated, recalling the pain of rejection as her mother stared at her with fear, but then she thought of Zane and Naia who loved her in spite of everything. She smiled at her father, "No, I'm still here, just hiding in that fortress you showed me how to build."
In less than the blink of her eyes she found herself swept up in strong arms and crushed against a lithe body that rivaled Zane's in physique. She felt something warm on her shoulder and realized her father wept. Her last bit of reserve melted away and she shed tears locked away for far too long. He held her for a long time, soothing her sobs with words in a language she did not know before finally switching back to English.
"Hush, little one. All is well. What can I do to make you feel better? Ask for anything and I will grant it."
Katarina hiccupped and stepped back. "Really?"
He arched a brow. "Yes."
Katarina’s lips twitched and she gave into her mischievous streak. "In that case, I’ll take a cup of coffee, light with a hint of sugar, scrambled eggs, toast, a glass of juice, French toast, bacon, and I have a serious craving for watermelon."
Finn grinned and then stepped back. With a wave of his hand a table covered with a linen tablecloth appeared, laden with all of the items she requested.
"Impressive." Then the ar
oma of the coffee hit her and she fell on it like a woman in a desert dying of thirst. After a long sip and a sigh of satisfaction she turned back to Finn. "I was kidding, but you have soothed my caffeine addiction, so that makes you my hero." The faintest hint of a blush colored her father's cheeks.
She looked back at the table. There was no way she could eat all of that by herself. Katarina lowered herself into the single chair. Its comfortable cushions eased her aching muscles. She reviewed in her head the pathways of energy he used to conjure everything before her. She concentrated, picturing an exact replica of the chair upon which she sat. She waved her hand and willed one into being. It shimmered into existence next to Finn. "Pull up a chair and join me."
Finn chuckled and sat down next to her. They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes.
"Are you and Torin related?"
Finn nodded over a piece of bacon. "He's my half-bother. He's the king of our house. You are descended from a powerful and noble family, little one."
Katarina glanced down at her waistline. "I don't think I qualify as a little one."
Finn scowled. "You will always be my little one. As for your current condition, how the hell did that happen?"
Katarina took a sip of juice. "The usual manner."
Finn rolled his eyes at her flippant response. "You know what I mean. Not to mention, why are you in a spaceship?"
"The father is in the med bay. He's not from Earth."
"Are you married?"
"Depends on who you ask."
Finn set his fork down and rubbed at a tic beside his eye. "Why do I feel like I'm having a conversation with myself?"
Katarina laughed. "Torin said we were a lot alike, although he didn't say it in a particularly flattering way."
Finn waved a hand. "Torin's too full of himself. Don't mind him."