by J. A. Clarke
And the floor dissolved beneath their feet.
Chapter 25
Margaine Confluence:/First Rising
Pallas Five
"No change?"
Maegan looked up. Deep in thought, she hadn't heard Sharm Foster enter the healing chamber.
She shook her head. "The medtechs are estimating another two cycles or so."
"Then there's no need for you to be here. You look exhausted," he said. "You should go back to the habitat and rest."
"I know. I will." She turned her gaze back to the two healing pods. "I talk to him...to them," she said. "I like to think they can hear me. Any news?"
Sharm came to stand beside her. He was dressed in the formal uniform of a Mariltar commander of the Seventh Fleet. "No. We've suspended the search. There are no life signs. She was standing in the center of that chamber when they opened it up, Maegan. She was likely vaporized."
"I don't believe that." Maegan felt as if an enormous weight was holding her down. She really did need to get more sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she found herself reliving the nightmare.
The rescuers had breached Nargune's sanctuary by tearing through the floor with a laser blaster. They had taken a risk. While they'd known Maegan and Morgon's location from their tracker beacons, they'd had to assume that Alerik was with them. When the floor gave way, the columns had provided some support for the three. In the chaos of sound and falling debris, Maegan had seen Nargune simply disappear from the center of the chamber, along with her green flame.
The disturbing part was no trace of her body had been found. Now she haunted Maegan's nightmares, very much alive. In every one, she had Alerik tethered to her with an unbreakable bond of chainflesh forged into his brain.
With every dream, Alerik faded a little more. The last time she had slept--and dreamed--he'd been just a pale shadow. When Maegan called for him, he hadn't acknowledged her, hadn't reacted at all.
"I don't think you believe that either."
Sharm sighed. "I have to accept the evidence. She couldn't have left that place alive. Come, Maegan. Let me take you back to your habitat. I'm rather fond of my testicles, and I fear Alerik will separate me from them if he finds you nothing but a wraith when he wakes up."
"He will wake up, won't he?" she whispered. She desperately needed the reassurance again. The medtechs were certain that he would. This coma-like state that both men were in had been medically induced to allow their brains some healing time. But the images from her dreams still terrified her and left her with a deep uncertainty.
"He will." Sharm's voice was firm. He put a hand under her elbow and urged her to her feet. "He's strong and has much to live for, including a project he referred to once as 'creating miniature Aleriks.'"
"What?" Outraged, Maegan yanked her elbow out of Sharm's grasp. "Miniature Aleriks? He told me he was on blockers."
"What a surprise. Thought he might have told you about that." Sharm's bland expression indicated he thought anything but. "Are you pregnant?"
"No! I don't know! It's certainly none of your concern." Maegan swung around and marched over to the pod where her mate lay. "You!" She jabbed at the plexicover. "Wake up! If I'm pregnant, I'll kill you." She whirled and pushed Sharm aside. "Where's the medtech? I want a test."
"Later," he grabbed her elbow again. "If he told you he's on blockers, then he's on blockers. Let's go. You need to get some rest. Both his parents and yours are on their way here."
"What?" This one came out several decibels higher.
Sharm winced and clapped a hand over his ear. "Balls of Sortor! You're certainly not as much slieking fun to torment as he is. I just received the comm. Came straight over to tell you."
"Why?"
"Why? Because I thought there was a small chance you might want to know."
He yanked her out of the healing chamber and marched her through the med center, past techs and monitors.
"No, you imbecile." Out of patience, Maegan slapped at his hand. "Why are our parents coming?"
"You might want to keep the insults and blows down. Just on the off chance you're not aware of it, I am the acting governor of The Grogon Belt. The name-calling and assaults won't inspire much confidence."
They passed a tech who did look slightly shocked.
"Oh, sorry." She lowered her voice. "So why are they coming, dimwit?"
"Well, they said it was to check on Alerik and Morgon for themselves. And you, of course," he added as an apparent after thought. "Personally, I think it's to check up on the miniature Alerik project. I've noticed when people get to be a certain age and their offspring are mated, there's a certain expectation about the miniature issue."
"When I was at the academy, I actually thought you were nice," Maegan muttered. "When do they get here?"
"Three cycles. Alerik and Morgon should be wide awake by then. You thought I was nice?" They'd reached the shuttle tube, and Sharm manhandled her into an empty car.
She pulled away and scowled at him. "Don't get too excited. I've changed my mind."
"Excited? I'm insulted. Nice? I wasn't trying to be nice."
He sounded deeply offended and Maegan felt the weight that held her down lighten a little. A bubble of amusement worked its way up her throat and burst from her mouth. Her companion did not need the extra encouragement, but she couldn't stop it.
Sharm rolled his eyes. "And she thinks that's amusing. Sagar's Crystals, you and Alerik deserve one another."
Maegan didn't know why, but this comment set off a cascade of giggles. To her horror, she couldn't stop, even when another couple entered the tube. They were polite and pretended not to notice as Sharm made small talk with them, but Maegan caught the woman's amused glance as he hauled her off at the next stop. He was muttering something under his breath about Corenna and Drakal.
And that killed the giggles. Suspicious, she stopped in her tracks at the entrance to the governor's habitat. "What about Corenna and Drakal?"
Sharm took her hand and held it against the scanner to release the door lock. "Corenna's been cleared for duty and I've assigned them both to you again, at least until Alerik is released from the med clinic."
"What do you mean, 'assigned'? Why do I need nursemaids again, especially here on Pallas Five? Nargune's operation is defunct. There are no more child transports. I have no reason to leave."
"Maegan, hear me out." Suddenly, Sharm was all seriousness. "They will be here in nans. They will shadow you wherever you go, and will stay in the habitat with you. Wait!" He held up a hand as she tried to interrupt.
"I'm leaving for Pallas Seven and taking a large contingent of Mariltar security with me. Others will be posted at the med center to guard Alerik and Morgon. While you and Alerik were at The Divide, we intercepted a human trafficking vessel. We believe now the counselor of Pallas Seven is involved in these death fights up to his ears. Things are about to get bad, and until we have everything under control, all other Pallas leadership is being assigned extra security as a precaution."
"Nursemaids reporting for duty, sir."
Drakal dropped a gear bag by the entrance and strolled toward them. He cocked an eyebrow at Maegan.
"Well, you are," she said crossly. To Sharm, she said, "Why do I need two? I'm sure they'd far rather be on a real mission with you. Take one of them with you."
"The Mariltar security team all took a vote." Corenna followed closely behind Drakal. She couldn't see any evidence of a battle wound on him.
"It was unanimous. You are the real mission. There's far more dang--uh, challenge keeping up with you and keeping you out of trouble than in a take-down mission." He draped an arm over Drakal's shoulder and grinned at her.
United against her and amused at her expense, the three men stood side-by-side, wearing expectant expressions.
Maegan threw up her hands. She was tired to the bone. Suddenly, sleep sounded much more attractive with two bodyguards in close proximity, even as annoying as the idea was.
; "Successful mission," she said politely to Sharm as she passed him. "Have lots of fun nursemaiding, boys," she called to the other two over her shoulder. "Just so you know and are on appropriate full alert, I'm going to be unconscious for hours and hours."
"That's the most intelligent decision she's made in cycles."
Maegan paused on the threshold of the bedchamber she shared with Alerik. "I heard that," she yelled. "Just remember, Foster. You were the nice instructor at the academy. I wasn't the only one who thought that!"
As the doors shut, she heard a hoot of derision, and Drakal say, "Nice? She thought you were nice? Does Alerik know? Can't wait to tell..."
* * * *
"You don't think the schedule's too aggressive?"
Makiee shook his head and fiddled with something Maegan couldn't see on the vid screen. He'd been distracted the entire time they'd been conducting a routine review of the ComXFive technology release schedule.
"No, we'll be ready. It's solid. It's a beautiful piece of technology. Bortock really applied his genius on this one."
"What's wrong then?"
"Wrong?" His head snapped up, but his gaze almost instantly shifted away. "Ah, nothing."
"Makiee?"
His skin darkened at her inquiring tone. "Was, ah, wondering if I could, ah, take some rec days following the release."
"Well, of course. You deserve it more than anyone. You've kept everyone on track. You--" A beep from her console warned of an incoming message.
At the same time Makiee interrupted her. "Nimon is asking for the same rec time."
"Oh!" She had to take the incoming message. Its source was the med clinic. "I don't see any reason why you can't both be gone--" The implications dawned on her. Makiee and Nimon had squabbled like children from the time they'd joined Janas Corporation within days of each other. While the squabbles had continued, there'd been a subtle shift in the nature of their disagreements lately.
The console beeped again.
"It's all right, Makiee. You can both take the time you need." There would be opportunity to tease later. "Are we finished? I have to take another call."
Makiee lost no time in signing off, the relief at having that conversation out of the way visible on his young face. Maegan grinned as she switched to the incoming communication.
The message was the one for which she'd been waiting. Alerik and Morgon were being roused from their comas.
Chapter 26
Margaine Confluence:/Fourth Rising
Pallas Five
Alerik opened his dry, gritty eyes to the sight of a completely unfamiliar room. He badly needed to piss. He rolled his head. Healing pod. A low hum coincided with immediate relief as some machine took care of his problem.
"Welcome back." An unfamiliar medtech leaned over him and smiled. She began to busily check various wires and tubes he hadn't noticed until then. "How do you feel?"
"All right. Where--" He cleared his throat. It was tight, his voice hoarse. "Where am I?"
"Clinic on Pallas Five." She drew a thin med blanket over him. "You have a visitor who is most anxious to see you."
The woman disappeared. Why by Cor's blood would he be on Pallas Five? He had a vague awareness it was part of the Grogon Asteroid Belt on the edge of the Crestar System, but as far as he knew the place had little significance. What had happened to put him in its vicinity, and more importantly in its med clinic?
Cautiously, he moved his arms and legs. He seemed to have all his parts, and everything seemed to be working. He tried to sit up, but the contraption tightened around his body and held him in place. He forced himself to relax. Sharm Foster would fill him in when he arrived.
"I'm told they'll release you from the pod to a normal sleep platform soon. I know it's hard, but you have to be patient."
The voice was soft and warm and female. Definitely not Sharm. The face that appeared above him nudged something in his memory, but it was fleeting and gone in a nanonan. Blonde hair bound tightly back from her face. Spectacular green eyes. Not strictly beautiful, but certainly striking. Her smile faded a little and a tiny crease appeared between her eyes. There was only one person he knew who had eyes that particular shade and he'd lost track of her long ago.
"Are you feeling all right?"
"I'm fine," he said impatiently. "Where's Commander Foster?" Sharm had to be somewhere close by. He was the head of Alerik's core team and bound by oath to serve and protect him.
"He hasn't returned from Pallas Seven yet. Oh--you don't know about that."
"I don't know about a lot of things apparently," Alerik said grimly. The mystery of where he was, why he was here, who this woman was, all made him feel as if he'd entered a different dimension.
"What do you want to know?" The smile was gone. Confusion clouded her green eyes.
"Why am I here, for one thing? Where's my core team? And who are you?"
* * * *
"I still don't understand, dear, why you didn't tell him you're his mate." Maegan's mother took a sip of her favorite drink, a barilian nectar, and reclined in her chair in the great room of Morgan's habitat. "He's going to know sooner rather than later. Better it come from you, don't you think?"
Maegan sighed. She couldn't explain something she didn't understand herself, and about which she was becoming increasingly nervous. Outside the plexiwall, the wilding winds were tearing through the forest canopy, which meant her father would be stuck on Pallas Five, where he had gone to visit Morgon, for possibly a full cycle.
"I don't know, mother. They both have these huge voids in their memories. Morgon's, I'm told, are scattered but he does have some short-term recollection. Alerik doesn't seem to remember anything about his assignment here, including our marriage partnership. He doesn't remember he's the governor. He doesn't remember me at all. The first person he asked for was Commander Foster. I just couldn't add to his confusion by telling him about us. The medtechs have every expectation some, if not all, of his missing memory will return."
She still shuddered at her memory of Alerik's cold sapphire eyes. Their lack of interest clearly showed he had no understanding of who she was or why she was there, and that he wanted the people he knew and trusted to attend him. She had left the room and had sent Corenna and Drakal in with a brief explanation and a reluctantly extracted promise not to disclose what she was to him.
Maegan's mother shook her glorious head of hair. "Someone's going to tell him, and then he's going to wonder why you didn't."
"This wasn't a marriage partnership of mutual agreement, mother. He consulted the Match Key. I was hardly even conscious during our joining ceremony."
"But it is a Match Key partnership," her mother said gently. "The Match Key has never been wrong. Alerik Mariltar would respect that under any circumstance."
"There's always a first time," Maegan responded bitterly. She hated the doubts that eroded her confidence and questioned her memories of Alerik's feelings for her. Except when had he ever said he loved her, and why was that suddenly so important? "Since when did you advocate for an outdated Mariltar tradition?"
"This one I've grown to respect." Melissa Shale set down her goblet and stood. She went to her daughter and slid an arm around her waist. Together they stared out at the gathering darkness and tossing canopy.
"Your father won't be back until this has died down, will he? Do you not want this marriage?"
Maegan squeezed her eyes closed. How often had she used those words in the form of a statement with herself? The answer had once been so clear. "It's not a simple answer. At the beginning, I couldn't fathom why he would choose me, why he would accept the Match Key choice. We were so different in our beliefs and goals. But then..."
"You fell in love?"
Is that what this ugly ever-present pain was that stole her sleep and brought tears at inconvenient moments?
"I don't know," she whispered. "It's so complicated. I don't know what I want anymore."
Just cycles ago, she would have answered t
hat question differently. But back then, Alerik had held her in his arms and made her feel like they belonged together for always. Back then, the Mariltar heir had stepped away from the customs and training of a lifetime, and had chosen to disregard protocol, expectations and diplomacy to follow her in support of her rebel--some would say treasonous--actions. She hadn't realized at the time how very much he had sacrificed.
The man with the cold sapphire eyes, who lay in the med clinic, would never have done that.
"Far be it from me to add to your dilemma," her mother said softly, "but you should know that Alerik is being recalled. It's partly why his parents were delayed and won't arrive for another few cycles. They had to stop at the council seat at Magnilium. With this Taragon mess, the Coalition Council wants Alerik to sit on a special committee. His father will deliver the news when he arrives."
A particularly hard gust of wilding wind hit the plexiwall and made it bow.
"Then he goes alone. I will not leave Grogon or Janas." That decision, at least, was easy, except for the horrible ache in her chest. She was almost certain it was one she would have made anyway. She and Alerik would have argued about it, but would eventually have worked out a long distance arrangement. He would have respected her desire to continue her work.
Except now Morgon was back to take the helm of the corporation again. Mistress Gloriana was firmly entrenched as Pallas Four counselor. The network was no longer operational. What was there for her to do?
Even if the fragile relationship she and Alerik had begun to develop survived intact, she knew she couldn't tolerate the life of a political wife.
Beside her, Melissa sighed. "I'm very afraid, dear child, you will not have a choice. Again, I urge you to go back to Pallas Five and tell Alerik yourself. Before his parents arrive." She reached for Maegan's hand and stroked the tip of her finger over the bright blue bands. "Mariltar men are so extraordinarily stubborn and proud. They--"