by Gun Brooke
Briar desperately returned her focus to Tylio, who had retaken her seat at the head of the table. Perhaps her frayed emotions and her desire to escape them made her amp up the empathy. Suddenly she felt faint, and several images and words floated around in her mind—and they certainly weren’t hers.
She knew about Hadler…she knows I loathe him…how do I proceed?…population will demand…death penalty…How can I sentence her? Her. Is she truly…innocent…or an act? Even if it is true…defending any attempt at…her. Keeping her? Sister…more dangerous? Red Angel. Famous. Revered. Respected. Her eyes…never forgot that…turquoise…transparent…one with visions…one all-seeing…
Tearing her mind from Tylio’s, Briar gasped and didn’t know whether to clasp her eyes or her ears to keep the president’s thoughts out of her mind. She sobbed, and then strong arms were around her.
“I think they both have had enough for tonight, Madam President,” Adina said. “While you decide on your next course of action, would you allow them to remain in my care until…Well. Until.”
“I need to know what Briar just sensed. And I want the truth.”
Briar hiccupped and leaned against the strong body next to hers. She couldn’t fathom why Adina hadn’t pulled back completely. “I’m sorry, Madam President—”
“I can’t take the whole title thing right now. My first name is Gassinthea. Call me Thea when we’re in private,” Tylio snapped.
“Thank you, Madam…Thea. I didn’t mean to push into your mind like I did. I’m still trying to learn about…this.” Briar gestured at herself. “I never expected, not ever, I’d be able to see, or feel, words. Feelings, yes, reading expressions from eyes and body language, this has always been one of my strengths. But words…I’m sorry. It frightened me.”
“And which words did you feel?” Tylio pressed her lips together and gripped her glass hard. “And are you doing it now?”
“I’m not doing anything now. I swear.” Holding her hands up, palms toward Tylio, Briar cleared her throat. “I picked up on how you feel about your husband. How confused you are about my sister. And your reluctance at exercising capital punishment. And that you don’t trust us for a second, but that my status as Red Angel may be useful.”
“Damn.” Tylio put her glass down with such care Briar didn’t have to use her gift to know the president forced herself not to slam it into the table. “Damn the both of you. The Exodus operation is hard enough without having this thrown in my lap.”
“We’re sorry, Thea,” Caya said, her voice a mere whisper. “Please. Just make sure security sweeps the corridor.”
“I will consider it.” Turning to Adina, Tylio regarded her in silence for several moments. “All right, Commander. I’ll allow them to stay with you in your quarters for two reasons. Security at our level is the best aboard Pathfinder, and in spite of popular belief, I’m not entirely made of stone. I realize the evening has been traumatic for all of us. Post no less than four guards outside your door, Commander, and four extra at each exit. That’s an order.”
“Aye, Madam President.” Adina stood and saluted, hand to chin. Then she assisted Briar in standing up and took a few steps toward Caya.
Instead, Tylio pushed back Caya’s chair and moved as if to help pull her up, but stepped back instead. “Are you feeling well enough to walk? If not, I’ll have someone bring a hover chair.”
“I’m fine, Thea, thank you.” Caya looked seriously at the president. “And thank you for giving us time to process this in the privacy of Adina’s home. We are well aware that protocol dictates you should throw us in the brig.”
“Are you trying to make me change my mind?” Tylio actually managed a wry smile, or perhaps a mere twitch at the corners of her mouth.
“Not at all. I wouldn’t want to change anything about you whatsoever.” Caya nodded and stepped around Tylio and walked into Briar’s arms. “Let’s go. Please.”
Adina opened the door and exchanged a few words with the guards out of earshot. Briar glanced at Tylio over Caya’s shoulder and saw the oddest expression on her face. Deliberately, Briar kept her far-too-agile mind from penetrating the president’s again. Once was one too many times.
Adina poked her head back in. “We’re ready for you. Let’s go.” She nodded toward Tylio. “Good night, sir.”
“I’ll see you in my office tomorrow. I’ll have my office page you when it’s time.”
“Thank you, Madam President.”
Tylio knocked back the last of her drink. “Don’t thank me yet.”
Chapter Fourteen
Adina’s quarters were the same size as Briar and Caya’s, which meant she had twice the space since she resided there alone. Caya and Briar stood motionless in the center, Briar looking shell-shocked. Neither of the sisters had said a word during the short walk to Adina’s quarters.
“I know we all had dinner an hour ago, but can I get you anything?”
“Something to drink, please,” Caya said.
Adina found it worrisome that the younger sister was the calm and collected one. Briar hadn’t spoken since they left the president’s conference room. She walked behind Adina, flanked by presidential guards on all sides, and though Adina kept turning her head to check on her, Briar’s expression didn’t change.
“Briar? Anything?”
“No. Thank you.”
“I thought you two could take the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch.” Adina studied Briar. Normally, the Briar she knew would have balked at the idea of anyone offering her the most comfortable solution, but tonight she only nodded, looking absent-minded.
“All right. Thank you.”
“She’s not herself,” Caya said in a low murmur, as if that would keep Briar from overhearing. “I’ve never seen her like this. At least not since I was little and she told me about our parents.”
“Let’s get something to drink. That herbal tea you favor sounds like a good idea.”
Caya nodded and assisted Adina at the food dispenser. “You’re being amazingly kind to us.”
“I’m your friend, Caya. That hasn’t changed. I will need some time to think about what’s happened this evening, though.” Adina put the mugs on a tray and carried it to the dining table. She wasn’t sure Caya realized the only other option. Despite her mixed emotions, Adina wouldn’t have let President Tylio throw either of them in the brig, not if she could help it.
Having worked toward a life without the volatile changers situation all her adult life, she now knew two of them. Loved one of them like a little sister, and the other…Briar. Adina still loved her, but how could true and authentic love coexist with so much doubt and confusion? She also worried about Briar’s mental state right now. Normally, she was feisty, courageous, and the most caring person Adina had ever met. Now, she still stood in the center of Adina’s quarters, her arms limp at her sides, her gaze vacant.
“Come on, sis. We’ve made tea.” Caya took one of Briar’s hands. “Oh, no. She’s freezing, Adina.”
Cursing herself for not recognizing the initial stages of shock, Adina yanked a blanket from the couch and wrapped it around Briar. “Come sit down,” she said quietly. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she feared anything loud might shatter what was left of Briar’s control. “Let’s sit on the couch and Caya will bring the tea, all right?”
Briar didn’t say anything but followed on unsteady feet as Adina guided her to the couch.
“There. Much better. Sure beats sitting on those hard chairs by the table.” Adina kept talking, but her eyes shifted to Caya, signaling for her to join them.
“Here, sis.” Caya sat down on Briar’s other side and handed her a mug of tea.
Briar moved slowly, as if her brain couldn’t process the request fast enough, but gripped the mug securely, sipping it. After drinking a third of the contents, she let the first sob break from her lips. Then another. Adina rescued the mug before Briar dropped it and burned herself.
“It’s all my fault,” Briar w
hispered huskily. “I never should have insisted on going. I should’ve found a secure area on Oconodos and hoped the new interim government there would be able to restore order. I endangered you by bringing you here.” She fell against Adina’s shoulder and wept almost without sound, which made it all the more heartbreaking. “I let everyone down.”
“That’s not right.” Caya’s pain-filled eyes met Adina’s as she caressed her sister’s back. “You risked everything by forging our screens, yes, but you did it for all the right reasons. I would have fought you on it if I hadn’t wanted to go. Don’t you realize that? I had so many visions of us on this ship before we left on the shuttle to Pathfinder. I knew this was our fate. No matter what, I was sure we had to come. I have faith in the president. She’ll reach the same conclusion—just give her time.”
Adina heard the absolute conviction in Caya’s voice and wondered what it would be like to know such things, to feel them to such a degree of certainty. She thought of Caya’s vision earlier and wondered if the president was taking it seriously.
“I’ve never felt this exposed before.” Briar shoved her hands through her hair, effectively disheveling her beautiful hairdo. “Still, after listening to me, Tylio must feel just as stripped of her privacy.”
“Not to mention threatened when it came to my vision. We sure made her night memorable.” Caya snorted.
Adina looked back and forth between the sisters, not sure how to respond. “I’m sure she’s used to dealing with a lot of weird things, but one of this magnitude—no.” She heard her own words too late. “Not that I mean you’re weird—”
“Oh, yes, you do,” Caya said, giggling now, sounding slightly hysterical. “You mean we’re the Wired Weirdly sisters.” She laughed, and even though her laughter bordered on crying, it was contagious.
“Did you just say Wired Weirdly?” Briar’s mouth fell open. Then she started laughing too, holding onto her side. “I swear I’m going to air-lock you myself before the night’s over. Of all the inappropriate things to say.”
“No, no. Air-locking is too mild,” Caya said between gasps. “I think you should have me scrub the hull from the outside with an ultraviolet toothbrush.”
Adina couldn’t keep from smiling any longer but also tried to calm the threatening hysteria. “You two are crazy. Easy now.”
“Crazy? Not to mention a clairvoyant and an empath.” Briar shook her head. “Oh, dear.”
Looking drained after they stopped laughing, Briar leaned against Adina. “I’m really sorry. No matter what tomorrow brings, I really, really am sorry.”
“Shh. Let’s get you into bed.” Adina pulled Briar gently from the couch. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”
“Will you stay with me?” Briar said, now slurring her words.
“Caya will—”
“Oh, that’s all right. Why don’t I take the couch?” Caya said. “I’m younger and can sleep just about anywhere.”
“She’s calling us old.” Briar stumbled and Adina held on tight to her.
“Sure. Why don’t you use the bathroom, and I’ll program a shirt for you to sleep in?”
“Thank you.”
Adina returned with the shirt and knocked on the door to the bathroom, concerned she might have made a mistake by letting Briar fend for herself in her wobbly state. “You all right in there?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve got your shirt here.”
“Thanks.” A small hand shot through a crack in the sliding door, which then closed again. Clearly Briar was steady enough to manage.
The bed was wide enough for two people, which normally gave Adina a luxurious bed space when compared to most people aboard the Pathfinder. She pulled back the covers and fetched an extra pillow and some bedding for Caya, who was readying the couch.
“Are you sure about sleeping here?” Adina put a hand on Caya’s shoulder.
“I am. Briar doesn’t need my help right now. I’m the one responsible for the situation we’re in tonight because I chose to inform the president of my visions and to come clean about my changer status. I honestly had no idea about Briar, even though I knew she’d take the fall for getting us aboard. She’ll never admit I failed her. Never, during all these years when she did everything for me—put her own life on hold to keep me safe and homeschool me—has she made me feel anything but loved. Cherished even. Not once has she blamed me for having to give up living her life in complete freedom.”
“Don’t make me sound like a saint, Caya.” Briar’s hollow voice made Adina and Caya pivot. Briar stood in the door to the bathroom, dressed in the thigh-long shirt, pale and exhausted. “I’ve done my best, but at times you and I were barely speaking.”
“Only because I was a brat who didn’t know what you gave up for me at the time and how hard you worked to keep me away from the gangs of young changers up to nothing but trouble.” Closing her eyes briefly, Caya sighed. “Such trouble could easily have been my path since I’ve come to realize I’m fond of adventure. Jumper-cruising has been great and I miss it a little, but it’s been important to me to find some balance. He doesn’t know it, but Mathro has been an amazing guide in teaching me some meditation techniques.”
Adina understood now that she had a lot to learn about what Caya and Briar were dealing with, much more than she ever would have guessed. The changers Adina had encountered that day back on Oconodos when the parade caused changer-riots hadn’t provided a fair image of the people with the changer gene. Now, however, wasn’t the time to explore these issues in depth. Right this minute, Briar needed to go to bed, as did Caya. Adina had urgent work waiting on her tablet. It would perhaps help bring some normalcy to this overwhelming turn of events.
“We’ll talk more tomorrow, Caya. I’ll call my next in command to cover my duties and go with you to the hearing, or whatever Tylio has in mind. Just try to get some sleep, all right?”
“I will. Thanks again.” Caya kissed Adina’s cheek and then Briar’s. “You’re the best and always will be. I love you, sis.”
“I love you too, brat.” Hugging Caya close, Briar looked at Adina over her shoulder. Adina saw more pain in that glance than she would have thought possible. Briar’s usually transparent irises seemed darker and clouded over. “Good night.”
“’Night.” Caya slipped into the bathroom and closed the door.
“Come on.” Adina held out her hand and guided Briar to her bed. She’d folded back the covers and now helped Briar get in. Moving slowly, as if everything hurt, Briar lay down with a moan.
“Do you hate me, Adina?” Briar whispered, and wiped at her eyes.
Adina reached for a box of tissues and handed Briar one. “No. I’m confused and I have a million questions, but I don’t hate you. I could never hate you, Briar, or Caya, for that matter. A selfish part of me wishes you’d told me. Couldn’t you have done that?”
“No.” Briar curled on her side, calmer now. “I never would’ve created such a dilemma for you. What would your choices have been? Keep the secret for us and commit treason? Risk being court-martialed and sentenced to death? Or would you have given us up, reported us to the authorities and performed your duty even if it hurt you?” Briar touched Adina’s knee briefly. “I think you would have been loyal to us and sacrificed your career—everything.”
Briar was right. How could she be the one holding the proverbial ax in this case? Impossible. She didn’t envy Tylio her decisions. She suspected the president and her cabinet of ministers and their advisers were arguing about the two people in her quarters right now. “I hear you, Briar, I do. I would never have committed treason against my people. Still, part of me wishes I could have been there to help ease your burden.” This gift, or curse, was Caya’s and Briar’s to live with, to navigate through, and for Adina to be judgmental—that wasn’t going to happen.
“So this is how it ends,” Briar murmured and closed her eyes.
“What do you mean?” Adina sat on the side of the bed and took o
ne of Briar’s cold hands in hers.
“Everything. Caya’s and my lives. You and me, our friendship. Our faint hope of something more. Everything.”
“Don’t.” Angry, with intense pain erupting in her chest, Adina took Briar into her arms and held her fiercely. “Don’t you dare give up. You’ve come this far against overwhelming odds. You can do this. You can be the one to prove once and for all that not all changers, in fact most changers, aren’t dangerous or evil. If anyone can do that it’s you. You’re the famous Red Angel, revered and already a living legend. Caya’s the epitome of youthful innocence and beauty, and as insignificant as I am in this scenario, you still have me. I won’t give up on you and Caya, if you promise to not go down without a fight.”
Tears streamed down Adina’s face and landed in Briar’s hair. She couldn’t remember reacting this strongly to anything in a long time, if ever. The thought of losing Briar to the legal system, even if the punishment for her deeds wasn’t death, but incarceration, was like pouring white garnet into her bloodstream. “I won’t let you give up. Do you hear me?”
Briar tipped her head back, focusing on Adina, and her tears, also perhaps her compassion, made her eyes turn transparent again. “Don’t cry, Adina. I’m just tired, that’s all. I’ll go in, guns blazing, so to speak, and fight for us. I know Caya will too, as she’s a born negotiator and fighter. We have to make them understand that we can be useful rather than a threat.”
“Yes. Yes. That’s my Briar. Now I recognize you.” Wiping quickly at her cheeks, Adina kissed Briar’s forehead and was about to lower her down on the pillow again when suddenly Briar’s arms encircled Adina’s neck more forcefully. Taken aback, Adina opened her mouth to ask if she was all right once again, but Briar quieted her by pressing her lips onto Adina’s. Seeming clumsy and feverish, Briar’s lips brushed back and forth across Adina’s, searching for a response. It took Adina a few moments. Only when she felt a frustrated moan against her could she move. Pushing her fingers into Briar’s hair, she held her still as she explored her lips.