Sonata in Orionis (Earth Song Book 2)

by Mark Wandrey

  Minu checked the notation and saw it was signed by Bjorn Ganose, than forty years ago. Minu smiled and looked further into Bjorn's writings. As she'd suspected, he'd been a prodigious researcher his whole adult life. As she looked further she found many other people’s notes. There was Pip, of course, his first entry only days after the Trials. She was surprised at how often his name appeared considering how he'd been Chosen only a little more than a year and a half. Then there was Ted Hurt, his writings dating back well before he joined the Chosen and was still a civilian. Then a name that simply floored her: Chriso Alma.

  She spent most of the night reading after everyone else in the complex was off to their beds. Her father made more than a thousand notations on human and Concordia technology, weaponry, and history. Few others had made more, and none of them surprised her so much as his. Clearly he could have been in science if he hadn't ended up in command instead. Did fate step in to steer his course into becoming a Chosen? Was the same fate working with her, or against her?

  Finally in the wee hours of the morning she couldn't stay awake any longer. Almost staggering downstairs to her room she didn't bother with a shower. She just stripped off her jumpsuit, tossed it in the cleaner, and slid between the sheets. The longer she thought about her father being into science the more it made sense. From his insistently encouraging her at every chance to pursue science to his always seeming to have the answers to homework questions (when he was home, of course) to his last minute attempt to get her to go to college instead of taking the Trials. Alone in her small bed she drifted off thinking of her father and how things often weren't as they seemed.

  * * *

  September 4th, 516 AE

  Squeen Archeological Dig, GBX49881, Galactic Frontier

  Minu sat at a table in the cafeteria, a small pile of tablets and a half eaten chicken salad sandwich in front of her as she went over a never ending list of figures. The prototype beam weapon showed just enough favorable results to excite Bjorn, or someone above him, and now her entire carefully planned research schedule was shot to hell. So much so that she was helping chew through data by hand in the hopes of a breakthrough. One tablet held test data, another recorded profiles, from one of the rare beamcasters the Chosen owned, and still another schematics for both the beamcaster and their prototype. The number sifting was the most boring aspect of the research so she'd been going through the schematics when she noticed someone was standing next to her.

  “Hi,” he said when she looked up.

  “I know you, don't I?”

  “Yeah, my name is Tetsuo.” Minu cocked her head and thought, his face was familiar. “The technician helping you test the energy weapon last month?”

  “Oh, yeah! You need something.”

  “Kinda. Can I sit down?”

  Minu looked at the table, mostly covered by her tablets and unfinished lunch. “I'm really rather busy right now.”

  “Okay, I'll just say it.”

  “Say what?”

  “Will you go out with me?”

  It took a long moment to realize she'd been asked out on a date. The young technician was close to her age, in civilian common dress and a lab coat with his ID badge hanging from one pocket. By his Asian features he was either from the Peninsula Tribe, or his ancestors were, and shared their below average height. Dark brown hair hung low over his gray eyes and he was not unattractive. She was so surprised she didn't immediately respond. He started to look anxious, either excited or fearful. She'd only been asked out twice in her life, both times at the Keeper's Academy. They'd been older boys who took notice of her developing figure and she'd been forewarned by her mother. They were sent on their way and no more followed.

  “I'm just too busy these days to date,” she said while looking him in the eye. At the last second she gave a little smile. It proved exactly the right thing to do and obviously softened the blow.

  “Okay,” he said, only slightly dejected, “maybe some other time?”

  “Maybe,” she said with a nod and another little smile.

  “Good. I might see you again if you need a tech.”

  Minu watched him go and shook her head. Where the hell did that come from? More than a year in the Chosen and the only attention from the opposite sex was from a rapist and Ted Hurt. The former she tried to not think about, the latter she found mostly amusing, if a tad bit flattering.

  Later in her room that evening, she came out of the shower and stood naked in front of the narrow full length mirror attached to the bathroom door. She didn't think her body was anything special. She considered herself a fully grown woman now, and hardly a beauty queen. As her mother once said her face was too long, and her legs too short. Her breasts were small and her hips narrow too. “It all adds up to average,” she said to the reflection.

  The next afternoon was the twice weekly sparing session with Cherise. During their midpoint water break she asked her friend a question. “Do you think I'm pretty?”

  “Very much so,” Cherise said without hesitation.

  Minu looked at her brown skinned friend in confusion. “I don't understand that,” she admitted. “Now you, you're beautiful. That long black hair, sleek long legs, and the boys can't stop staring at your bust line.

  Cherise shook her head. “That isn't always a good thing. I'm beginning to wonder if my tits are keeping me from getting four stars like you. Its all most men notice.”

  “Maybe my lack of them helped me get four stars?”

  “Don't be ridiculous. I'm bigger than I'd like, you’re perfect.” Minu snorted and Cherise cuffed her in the back of the head.

  “Hey!”

  “Well, you asked for it. Minu, boys watch you everywhere you go.”

  “Yeah, then how come I never got asked out until yesterday?”

  “Someone asked you out?”

  Crap, she thought, I hadn't planned on letting that out. “Uhm, yeah.”

  “Who?”

  “Technician named Tetsuo.”

  “Kid from Peninsula Tribe, yeah he asked me out a couple weeks ago.”

  “Oh, so he's just desperate.”

  “Not really, I've asked around. He's at least a little particular.”

  “So that still doesn't explain why he was the first to approach me.”

  “Minu, you really don't know?”

  “Know what?”

  Cherise wiped sweat from her hair and tossed aside the towel, taking a second to be sure no one else in the gym was within ear shot. “You're the daughter of the First, well the previous First.”

  “I have been my whole life.”

  “Yeah, and now you're living and working with Chosen! Think about it.”

  “They're scared of me?”

  “More like intimidated.”

  “So what's the story with Tetsuo?”

  “He's new, and not from Plateau...”

  “Didn't know who my father was.” Cherise slapped the floor where they sat and nodded. “Oh.” Cherise took a drink of water and stood up, ready to continue; only Minu wasn't done with her line of questioning. “Still, there are a lot of red blooded males around here and the only one who made it obvious they were interested was Ted Hurt-”

  “That pervert would screw anything with two legs and at least one breast.”

  “Don't I know it.”

  “Dear, have you ever let it be known you were interested?”

  “I would never go around...I mean I wouldn't-” Cherise lifted one eyebrow and Minu spat a curse, climbing to her feet.

  “If you don't put out some bait, you won't attract any prey.”

  Minu picked up a pair of plastic practice knives and tossed one to her friend. They sparred with the fake knives for a few minutes before switching to unarmed martial arts. After a particularly effective flip, Minu reached down to offer Cherise a hand up and the other girl asked a question. “Are you interested in dating, Minu?”

  “No,” she said as she pulled Cherise up, and then thought again. “Maybe. I
guess I don't know.”

  “I've wondered for a long time about you in that way. You have no idea how many men have asked me and your other friends about you.”

  “So you guys have been running interference for me?”

  “No at all,” Cherise said evenly. “We just told them that you weren't dating, and they left it at that. I've wondered what happened to you in the Trials to change your mind. You seemed to be interested, at least partially, after Gregg and I had our fling.”

  “The Trials change you,” Minu said and left it at that. “What about you and Gregg?”

  “We've gone out a couple times, nothing serious. I know he still wants me, but I'm trying to sort it all out.” She gave a very uncharacteristic giggle. “We kiss and stuff, I don't let it go any further. He probably has a boner all night.” Minu gave a single snorking laugh before covering her mouth self-consciously. One of the physical trainers nearby gave them an annoyed look and went back to his class.

  “If sex feels that good, why are you not doing it again?”

  Cherise gave her a very strange look then shrugged. “I'm just not ready again.”

  Minu nodded and they went through a few grapples. “Maybe I'm thinking about it,” she said between bouts. “What should I do now?”

  “How did you respond to Tetsuo?” Minu gave her a blow-by-blow. “Oh, well done. You don't have to do anything.”

  “You said I have to put out bait.”

  “You already did.”

  “I told him no, how will that help attract another boy? He'll tell them I blew him off.”

  “No, he'll say you said maybe. Minu, it's game on, now.”

  “Why do I think I just made a mistake?” Cherise just smiled. Minu thought about the last time she'd seen Aaron, and how much more bulked out his chest and arms were. A second later Cherise took advantage of Minu's lack of concentration and rewarded her with a black eye.

  The shiner kept the boys at bay until it went away. Even with the wound Minu could tell she was now a target of extreme interest. Starting the very next day she saw boys watching her go by, many trying to catch her eye and smiling when they did. One day in line for dinner she turned and caught a three star Chosen from training giving her ass the once over. She cleared her throat and when he looked up she skewered him with her flashing green eyes. He turned redder than her hair and excused himself, all thoughts of food or other things abandoned.

  She'd been afraid that crushing him like that would hurt her prospects. That turned out to be completely wrong. Two days later, the black eye now healed, another three-star (from Logistics this time) asked her to a movie in the lunch line. She politely said she was too busy, and this time added a genuine smile, a bat of her eye lashes and a shrug. He grinned like an idiot and suggested some other time. She laughed and said that might be nice. He left even happier than Tetsuo. How the hell do I know how to do this? She wondered. As she carried her food to a table several boys were all competing for her attention. She suddenly knew what a lone tuck felt like as it ran past a herd of kloth.

  Minu gave Cherise an update during their next sparing match, being careful this time to keep her attention on the fighting more than the story. Cherise laughed at the stories, especially how Minu wondered at her own skills in the game of flirting.

  “I was flirting?” Minu asked. “I was just saying no.”

  “You were saying maybe, and pouring it on hard. You'll hear from him again, bet on it.”

  “Wow.”

  “And as for where that ability comes from, we're born with it, girl.”

  “All girls?”

  “Only the hot ones,” Cherise said and struck a seductive pose, hip cocked, one hand on one hip and chest pushed out. A nearby boy swinging on a set of rings slipped and crashed to the floor. Both girls laughed and went back to their workout. Afterwards in the tiny girls shower Minu stole a look or two at her friend’s body. It was certainly more curvaceous than hers, and her legs were so long as to be improbable. Were they really so different? Maybe beauty was something that transcended basic individual details. Her own body was nice too. It was a revelation that would change her life forever.

  When they were getting dressed Cherise turned to her. “You need to decide what you're going to do.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, sooner or later you have to say yes to one of them, or they'll give up again.”

  “I'm not ready to have sex,” she said quickly, a little nervousness in her voice.

  “I wasn't suggesting that. Watching a movie in Chelan, holding hands, maybe a kiss or two isn't beyond reason, is it?”

  “I suppose not.” As she went back to work she began to think about it. Boys was a subject of deep interest for weeks to come.

  Chapter 13

  Octember 22nd, 516 AE

  Chosen Headquarters, Steven’s Pass

  It was a month later when Minu's team was suddenly called into the field once more. The briefing with the launch controller, Chosen Carlson, was a quick one, done as they nearly ran down the hall to the portal. Minu didn't really know the new mission planner who'd taken over hen Dram was announced as the Second among the Chosen to replace Jacob. All her science team was going with her along with a squad of five scouts.

  "It looks like a recon scout team on the frontier world GBX2334 found an alien cache with some prime goodies,” Carlson explained. “I need your science team to pop out there, evaluate the find, and if it could prove useful enough to warrant bringing it home immediately."

  "What did they find?"

  "If I knew that, we wouldn't need you," he said tersely.

  Minu nodded as she walked, double checking that all her gear was in place. Her belt now carried two computers in holsters, nothing like Pip's four. The more into science she got, the more hands-on she became with her team. The more classes she tackled, the more data she seemed to need additional tablets for. Carlson noticed her carefully making sure the computers were secure and shook his head. "You're going native?" he asked and pointedly eyed her four gold stars. "I thought you were in command."

  "Occupational hazard," she mumbled under her breath. Dram, who'd come in during the briefing, overheard her and gave a barking laugh.

  "This is exactly the sort of Op envisioned when Jovich and I created your team,” the big man explained. “We need scientists that can hit the ground running. Before you took over it would take a couple days to have a team of scientists out there to investigate."

  “What are you doing down in the jump off room anyway?” Minu asked him. “Doesn't the Second among the Chosen have more important things to do?”

  “Pining away for my old job,” he admitted with a shrug.

  "Why not just bring the cache back regardless?"

  "It's complicated. You'll see when you get there."

  Up ahead in the ready room, her science team was assembling. Only Pip was completely ready on such short notice and she felt a stab of annoyance. She resolved to hold monthly readiness drills from now on, especially after finding out that this was part the very idea for having her in command of a group of scientists. Again, why hadn't they bothered to let her in on this little plan? If she were in charge of the Chosen, things would be done differently. Carlson waved her toward her team as a way of letting her know time was short.

  "What's up, boss?" Pip asked without looking up from his equipment check. Minu gave him a sit-rep as she scanned the others. Alijah was trying to get his kit together while Mandi argued with Terry over some piece of heavy equipment she wanted to take but was unwilling to carry herself.

  "Wonder what they found?" Pip asked as he shouldered his pack. She felt a swelling of pride at how far he'd come as a Chosen, the pack looked well assembled and within his ability to handle. As she watched him settle it in place she saw the strength in his shoulders with some surprise. Has he been working out? As the squad of scouts arrived she put the thought aside. Minu looked them over and didn't recognize any of them. This squad was compo
sed of four stars lead by a three star. Now she knew this was big, and that she would not be in charge. Even though she wore four gold stars, she would defer to the superior three black stars of the scout leader for this mission.

  "We'll find out what it is in a few minutes," she told Pip and then glanced to check the rest of her team. They were finishing up well enough. "We haven't found much free time to talk lately," she said to her friend. Pip nodded as he checked the holstered tablets one more time, tugging at each one to see if he could dislodge it. "Has there been any progress in researching the Squeen?"

  "I was making some headway in the Concordia database a few weeks ago and got shut out."

  "Like you were directly interfered with?"

  "Exactly. There is probably more to the Squeen than we realize."

  Minu looked over at Carlson and saw that he was chatting with the scout leader before continuing. "It's too bad we didn't go into that village and try to make contact when we first spotted them."

  "Considering their situation as an 'extinct' species, we might have received a less than open-armed welcome." Carlson waved to get Minu's attention and she started heading her people toward the door. "Still, I'm not giving up. I hate an unsolved mystery."

  "Just don't get your fingers burnt."

  “Hey, it's me!”

  Outside they gathered in front of the portal and Minu met Capella, the three-star scout leader. “Good to meet you, Minu,” he said with a big grin on his tanned face. His broad face, prominent nose and thick brown hair spoke of European ancestry. “I've heard a lot about you.”