Mystic

by Cheryl Brooks

  Sula smiled her approval while attempting to recall everything she’d learned about Zerkans. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember what the typical Zerkan diet contained, although she doubted it was anything like traditional Indian cuisine.

  Still, if what he put on his plate was any indication, their diet was mainly vegetarian. Giklor also eschewed the bacon, a circumstance that appeared to please Rashe and Qinta, who each devoured several slices. Norludians weren’t entirely vegetarian; case in point, the relish with which Abuti had eaten chicken korma the night before. Why wouldn’t she eat a dosa?

  Sula puzzled over this inconsistency long enough to realize she was subjecting her tablemates to the same close scrutiny she would give a newly discovered species. Not only that, she was viewing them from the perspective of an outsider.

  I’m thinking like an anthropologist.

  Granted, they were all members of interesting species, but they were the sort of beings common to many cosmopolitan worlds, and Rhylos had the most varied population in the galaxy.

  Perhaps her anthropology background had nothing to do with her attitude.

  I’ve been alone too long.

  Giklor had referred to her as a new friend. In the past, she’d been so focused on her studies and her career, friendships hadn’t seemed important. If she and Raj hadn’t been in so many of the same classes, she might never have paid him any attention. In truth, he had been the one to approach her. Prior to that, she honestly hadn’t noticed him.

  All work and no play makes Sula a dull girl.

  Raj had changed that. Lively and fun, he’d encouraged her to engage in activities she never would have done if left on her own. He’d even convinced her to try rock climbing. Little had he known how useful that skill would become.

  “You okay?” Aidan asked. “Leg hurting you?”

  She shook her head. “Not too much. I was just thinking.”

  Thankfully, he didn’t question her any further. Giklor, however, took the mention of pain as his cue to intervene. “About that broken leg, my dear Sulaksha. I can heal it with no side effects whatsoever.”

  Aidan viewed him with a narrow-eyed suspicion. “That isn’t what you said a while ago.”

  “That was before I was able to assess her injuries. Because she has only suffered a broken bone in a limb, topical application should suffice. The bone will not mend as rapidly as it would if the healing fluids were ingested, but some concessions must be made for those not wishing to bear the mark of healing for the rest of their lives.”

  “Meaning the glowing red eyes.” Sula stared at the Zerkan, suddenly realizing he looked like the ghost of a gingerbread man whose head was too big for the rest of him. She would’ve been laughing if Aidan hadn’t mentioned the possibility that a hit man had caught up with her. Her presence put every one of these people in danger, and she had no desire to be responsible for the deaths of any innocent bystanders. “How soon will I be able to walk?”

  “Internal healing, within perhaps one or two days. External, about two weeks.”

  Two minutes was too long to wait if there truly was an assassin lurking nearby. Still, either option was better than sitting around for six weeks. Glowing red eyes wouldn’t be so bad. Aidan’s eyes had a golden glow to them, and red and gold actually went well together.

  She looked at Rashe. “How sure are you about the man you saw? You said he was creepy, but can you be more specific?”

  Rashe shrugged. “Tall, mean-looking Terran dude with dark hair. Didn’t notice what he was wearing, but he wasn’t carrying a pulse rifle, if that’s what you mean. I would’ve noticed that.”

  “Well, if he is the same man who tried to kill me before, we can’t just sit around waiting for him to bump us off.”

  “What do you suggest we do?” Rashe asked. “Confront the guy or chase him away and hope he doesn’t come back?”

  “I don’t know,” Sula replied. “Maybe we could catch him and try to find out who’s paying him.”

  “That works for me,” Aidan said. “Not sure how we can do that, though.”

  “Set a trap with me as the bait?” Sula said this without much conviction. She already felt like a worm on a hook as it was.

  “No way,” Aidan snapped. “Anything but that.”

  Rashe rubbed his chin in a contemplative manner. “According to Aidan, you have evidence that suggests there were once intelligent natives of this planet. And you were there when the people on Ecos were wiped out. Plus, you’ve been targeted. Seems to me the best way to expose that sort of wrongdoing is to go public.”

  “We need to be very careful about this,” Aidan said. “Once the existence of that cave is made public, what’s to stop the bad guys from finding it and destroying the artifacts?” A cock of his head suggested a new idea. “It might be interesting to find out if there’s any connection between Terra Minor, Rhylos, and Dalb University.”

  “Sounds like a job for Val,” Rashe advised. “What’s in the history books might not necessarily be the truth.”

  “Val?” Sula echoed. “Isn’t he the Avian clone?”

  Rashe nodded. “Awesome hacker. If you need to dig up dirt on someone, he’ll find it.”

  “Yes, but involving Val would make him the hero of this story,” Abuti pointed out. “Thought this was your baby, Sula.”

  “Does it matter who finds the evidence as long as the perpetrators are exposed?” Sula asked. “We’re talking about genocide on a planetary scale. We can’t just wait until they announce the discovery of Ecos as another uninhabited world and then tell everyone I’ve been there and know what happened to the indigenous people.”

  “We could—although I doubt they’d be calling it Ecos,” Aidan said. “They’d at least change the name. We need to be able to pin this on someone specific. Someone in the university hierarchy who’s been there for a long time.”

  “Or some group funding the research,” Sula suggested. “Maybe a rich family?”

  Aidan sat up straighter. “Now you’re talking! Someone with enough wealth to be a donor or investor…someone who would benefit from the sale of a habitable world…”

  Rashe snorted with laughter. “Shit, dude. Anyone would benefit from selling an entire planet. Especially if it was sold off in sections the way Terra Minor was.”

  “Not all of Terra Minor was actually sold,” Aidan said. “Since it was designated as the new Zetithian homeworld, much of the land has been set aside so that every surviving Zetithian could be guaranteed a place to live.”

  “Yeah, but there’s so few of you, they could afford to be generous,” Rashe scoffed. “Even the worst crooks try to put up a good front so they can at least appear to be respectable.”

  Aidan nodded. “Like the way Rutger Grekkor could hire mercenaries to destroy Zetith, deal in slaves and illegal drugs, and still maintain several legitimate businesses.” His eyes burned brighter, like a bonfire that had been sprayed with oil. “Including the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the vaccine for the Scorillian plague.”

  “And who better to develop a new strain of the disease than the people making the vaccine?” Sula shuddered. “I’d hate to think they only did it so they could sell a newer, more expensive vaccine. However, if what I witnessed on Ecos truly was deliberate, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were true.”

  Aidan’s already grim expression hardened even further. “Grekkor may be dead, but he wasn’t the only greedy bastard in the galaxy. Makes you wonder who’s running that company now, doesn’t it?”

  * * *

  Aidan would only have to meet that person to know their future and possibly their guilt. The trick would be getting close enough to do it.

  “Then again, if we’re right about all of this and both Rhylos and Terra Minor were ‘cleansed’ in the same manner as Ecos, this conspiracy would have to go back further than Grekkor’s in
volvement. He may have been nothing more than a pawn.”

  As a man who would never have been born if Grekkor’s vendetta against the Zetithians had been more successful, Aidan had no difficulty believing that an even greater evil existed.

  “How can we ever hope to stop someone with that much power?” Tough, street-smart kids like Qinta didn’t scare easily. For her to sound so horrified made Aidan wish he’d never allowed her to become involved.

  “We’ll need more help,” he said. “But it can be done. All we need to do is find the right person and apply the appropriate pressure.”

  Qinta still seemed doubtful. “You make it sound so simple.”

  “The best plans usually are.” He looked at Sula. “First of all, we need to get you back on your feet. Then we’ll head for Ursa Prime and see what we can find out there.” He chuckled. “I can’t wait to see the look on your professor’s face when you come strolling into his office.”

  Sula shook her head slowly. “I can’t believe Professor Dalb would be in on this. It’s so out of character.”

  “He might not know what’s really going on,” Aidan admitted. “But I’m sure they’ll have found a way to keep him quiet. That’s the first mystery we have to solve.”

  Giklor rubbed his hands together once again. “I take it my services will be utilized?”

  “Since I can’t heal myself overnight like a Zetithian, I don’t see that I have much choice.” She sighed. “I’m sure I’ll get used to the red eyes eventually.”

  “Excellent!” Giklor hopped from his chair and rounded the table with astonishing speed. “You may feel ill or dizzy for a time, but that will soon pass.”

  “Yeah, after she’s puked her guts out,” Abuti said. “What a waste of a perfectly good breakfast.”

  “She will not lose her breakfast,” Giklor said firmly. “None of those I have treated ever have.”

  “I might be the first.” Sula already looked a little green around the gills, but she swiveled around in her chair to face Giklor with remarkable resolve. “Go for it, Giklor.”

  Although Aidan had never been healed by a Zerkan, he’d seen Giklor in action before, and the ritual was no less fascinating to watch than it had been the first time. As Giklor cupped Sula’s cheeks in his palms, she stared blankly ahead as he fixed his gaze on hers. Soon, his own eyes began to change color, first going from red to purple, then blue to aquamarine. His forked, snake-like tongue protruded from his small mouth, growing in length as a ball formed inside it near the base. Sula never flinched as Giklor’s tongue slipped through her parted lips. The ball began to slide down the length of his tongue, causing Sula to gag slightly as it continued on down her throat. Seconds later, Giklor’s tongue recoiled into his mouth like a spring-loaded tape measure.

  “There, now,” Giklor said, appearing to be quite pleased with himself. “If you men will carry her to her bed and allow her to rest, she should be fully recovered in a day or two.”

  Aidan and Rashe both rose from their seats, but Aidan waved him off. “I got this.”

  Gathering Sula in his arms once more, he carried her unconscious form into her bedroom, where he laid her gently on the bed.

  He was about to drop a kiss on her forehead when Abuti spoke from directly behind him. “That was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen.” Moving closer, she touched a sucker-tipped finger to Sula’s arm as though checking her temperature. “She seems okay. He never said he would knock her out, though. Is that normal?”

  Aidan honestly didn’t know for sure. His observation of Giklor’s previous healings hadn’t included the immediate recovery period. “Probably.”

  “I don’t know about Qinta, but you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  “No one’s getting rid of you,” Aidan promised. “Not yet, anyway.”

  Abuti crossed her bony arms over her thin chest. “Sula will still need help until she’s fully recovered. I’m staying.”

  “That’s fine.”

  “I’m staying after that too,” the Norludian girl went on. “Qinta and I would be in more danger if we went back to the orphanage now.”

  Aidan didn’t quite follow her logic, but at the moment, he was too befuddled to understand why. “If you say so.”

  “She’ll need me to help her walk, and—wait a second. You’re actually saying it’s okay for us to stick around?”

  “Yeah.” He stepped back from the bed, gazing down at Sula as she slept. Would the red eyes be the only change in her when she awoke? Or would she feel differently toward him?

  He was almost afraid to learn the answer. He couldn’t think about that yet. All he needed to do now was to get everything organized and be ready to go whenever she was able.

  Straightening to his full height, he managed to give Abuti a smile. “The thing is, we won’t be staying here for very long. What we need now is a fast ship.” He searched his memory, trying to recall the most recent news he’d had of his siblings and the various “cousins” he’d grown up with. “I wonder whose is the closest.”

  Chapter 14

  Sula had never felt quite so strange in her life. Head spinning, she refrained from opening her eyes, even though she’d heard a variety of voices urging her to do so.

  The last thing she remembered was falling under the hypnotic spell of Giklor’s glowing red eyes. After that, everything was a blank.

  Until now.

  Beyond the dizziness, the first thing she noticed was the total absence of pain. While this was undoubtedly a good sign, the accompanying weakness and lassitude were not as welcome, nor was the appalling taste in her mouth.

  As she lay there assessing her current status, somewhere in the back of her hazy mind, facts about another side effect of Zerkan healing drifted like a wisp of thought before coming sharply into focus. Her head now clear, she opened her eyes to find herself staring into Aidan’s green and gold gaze.

  “You didn’t kiss me afterward, did you?”

  He drew back in surprise at her accusing tone. “Was I supposed to?”

  A shake of her head brought the dizziness surging back, with the result that several moments passed before she was able to mumble her reply. “Not unless you want to be bonded to me for life.”

  His own response wasn’t nearly as long in coming. “I’m okay with that. Cat and Jack were bonded by a Zerkan.”

  “Cat and Jack?”

  “They’re sort of like my aunt and uncle, although not actual blood relatives. My family and theirs lived on the same starship. Cat is Zetithian, and Jack is a Terran trader who bought Cat in a slave auction years ago.”

  She managed a wry smile. “Sounds like an interesting story.”

  “It is, and if you ever meet Jack, I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it. But right now, I’m guessing you’d like something to drink.” He nodded toward a glass of fruit juice sitting on the nightstand. “Giklor said you’d have a nasty taste in your mouth when you woke up.”

  “Nasty doesn’t even begin to describe how horrible it is.” When she tried to sit up, she discovered her limbs were even less cooperative than she’d expected.

  Without prompting, Aidan helped her to sit up and stuffed an extra pillow behind her.

  “Sorry to be so helpless,” she said.

  “No worries. Giklor assured me that you’d be back to your old self in a day or two.” He held the glass to her lips. “Meanwhile, he said for you to drink plenty of fluids and eat foods high in protein and calcium.”

  She took a long sip of the juice, savoring the sweet nectar as it soothed her mouth and throat. “Sounds like good advice for healing broken bones.” As if on cue, her stomach let out a snarl. “How long was I out?”

  “About a day and a half,” he replied. “You woke up just in time for dinner.”

  Abuti came riding in on the hoverchair. “I thought I heard voices. Need
a lift to the dining room?”

  Sula giggled. “Sure. I’m guessing I probably shouldn’t try to walk right away.” She tossed back the covers, noting that the bamboo-and-bullwhip splint had been replaced with a clear polymer cast. “Did he say when—”

  “All will be healed by tomorrow!” Giklor announced as he entered the room. “However, since we have access to a medscanner, I recommend a scan to ensure the break is fully healed before the cast is removed.”

  “Sounds reasonable,” Sula said. “So…how red are my eyes?”

  “Barely noticeable in daylight,” Giklor said gaily. “Your night vision will be greatly improved by the treatment.” He wheezed with laughter. “Yet another happy side effect.”

  She glanced at Aidan as she nodded toward Giklor. “Is he always this chipper?”

  “He does seem more cheerful than usual,” Aidan admitted after surveying his Zerkan friend. “Hasn’t stopped smiling yet.”

  “Healing gives me such joy!” Giklor said. “Simply to abide beneath the same roof with one whom I have healed is a gift beyond price.”

  A quizzical look at Aidan yielded a barely perceptible nod. “A few more guests and we’ll have a full house.”

  Abuti parked the hoverchair beside the bed. “Qinta and I have been practicing the stand-and-pivot transfer to the chair. It works pretty well. That is, if you’re able to stand on one foot.”

  “I’m a little weak, but we can try it.”

  With Aidan’s assistance, she was able to sit on the side of the bed and then stand without any difficulty. Pivoting and sitting down was even easier. “No sweat,” she said. “How does this thing work?”

  After Abuti gave her a quick rundown of the controls, Sula zoomed out into the hallway and headed for the dining room. “This thing is a lot faster than I am, even on a good day,” she remarked as the others followed in her wake.

  Abuti took a seat at the table. “Yeah. We’ve been keeping ourselves entertained with it. Qinta can beat its top speed on foot, but not by much.”

  “We were hoping you’d be up by now,” Qinta said as she brought in another place setting. “I was starting to get worried.”