Arnica

by I. Christie

  Nameer reluctantly allowed Horiku and JG to fashion a harness that would allow him to carry one end of the plank. The group accepting the role of the initiate gave prayers of encouragement and well wishes to themselves and to JG's journey.

  Chapter 16

  Alexandra felt a shaking palm on her forehead. When she took a deep breath, the hand withdrew. Opening her eyes, she saw the dark cavernous ceiling arching above her.

  The ground she laid on was warm and vibrant. Taking another deep breath, she focused on the two men sitting back from her.

  "We saved your life!" Sys'mara declared triumphant.

  Alexandra bit back the caustic reply and took another breath, clearing the fog in her head. She drew energy from the spirit of the cavern. The cloud that was covering her moved out of her and hovered above them, and then dissipated.

  "You owe us homage!" Amonic echoed with the same attitude.

  For a moment Alexandra could not figure out what they were declaring.

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  "You are Lady Montran from Mendoca and we declare homage for saving your life!" Amonic explained sounding pleased with himself.

  "Homage? Only a Mendocain can ask for that type of protection," she stressed so that they did not think that it meant she was their servant. Besides, she was already protecting them, though they did not see it that way.

  "I demand it on my mother's side! Her grandmother was from your stinking planet!"

  "Whoa! With that attitude you're going to be creating more problems for yourself, and I will not be taking on your personal burdens. It's not possible."

  "You're backing out of the responsibility! I can declare you to the board and you shall be stripped of your title!" a triumphant Amonic continued.

  Alexandra wondered if this was a joke. Her palms were pressed against the floor of the cavern to hold herself upright and through them she sent out tentative feelings to see if this was real.

  "Amonic, what are you talking about? There is no law on Mendoca that places the blame of one person's acts on another."

  "And who is going to believe your word against the two of ours?"

  "The Monks of Hela, Council of Rings, and you two. Why don't you just tell me what all this is about and I'll see what I can do? You don't have to play these games."

  "We declare homage!" Amonic shrieked and ducked.

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  "What the…"

  Alexandra was knocked over when Sys'mara tried to crawl over her to hide behind her. She could feel the panic of the two men as she struggled to right herself and neutralize the energy of the apparition. However, she was tired and their intense fear was too much for her.

  "Stop!" she called out on three levels and movement froze. Alexandra blinked her eyes and looked about her. She gestured to the two physical forms and the men's ethereal bodies rose to meet hers. She was firm in her directions to the men. They were to take responsibility for this apparition that they created. It was easy to speak to them on this level; however, the physical level would be more challenging.

  They all dropped back into the physical.

  "I can't stop it!" squealed Amonic as the apparition took a dive toward his head.

  "Sit! Sit!" Alexandra ordered, getting into the position that she wanted them in.

  She waited for the two to do the same and then showed them how to hold them.

  Reluctantly the two men pulled themselves into a sitting position and followed her directions all the while fearfully watching the apparition hover beside them.

  "Hum," she directed. She hummed to give them an idea, and waited for them to find their own pitch. As they relaxed their hum became the true pitch to their individual vibration. Alexandra was sure that there was a lot of subtle influence assisting the men, as long as they made the effort.

  Vanstar pulled Jer back from where he was stumbling. "Helgas moon! Watch where you're going!"

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  "What difference does it make if we fall over a cliff or stumble over a cliff, we aren't going to get hurt."

  "Duh. Like that was a difficult thing to figure out. The next part is the stumper, why don't you just stop with all this trouble and face whatever it is that keeps us going in circles. This is the fifth time we've been here."

  "I don't know what you're talking about," he responded hotly.

  "Then we're just going to be wandering around in circles until you do. All of this tripping around in the dark is because of you and your friends created that damn cloud or whatever it is."

  "Shut uupp." His voice sounded like it was fading.

  "Aww, crap," Vanstar cursed as she heard the body hit the water. "We are so lucky both of us can swim." She walked to the edge of a shelf she could dimly make out and looked over the edge. Jer was already pulling himself out of the water. They had done it so many times they both were getting better at this. Instead of jumping after him, Vanstar decided to wait for him. After all, they kept ending up here. However, five minutes later she heard a shriek. It was not Jer. She jumped unhesitantly, cursing the man as she hit the water.

  She followed his wet prints but instead of taking the usual turn he had taken another. "Damn idiot."

  She found Jer's body by tripping over it. As she was falling something that was covering him lifted and knocked her to the side. "Ohhh, helgas bloody moon! What the 353

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  hell was that?" She shivered and crawled over to Jer. She pulled him to his feet where he swayed for a few minutes.

  "Hey!" She slapped his face a few times and then shook him.

  She pulled him further into the tunnel, looking for a place to sit. "You find us a tunnel we haven't been in and there are no exits," she muttered. Jer was heavy and she was carrying most of his weight.

  "I can walk," a grumpy Jer informed her struggling to get his feet to move forward.

  "Let's find a place to sit out of this tunnel and then we'll take inventory."

  Predictably, a small area for them to rest appeared a few steps later.

  "Okay. Sit. Jer, what were you doing? We can't be separated then the Commander will have two more lost lambs." She felt in one of her pockets where she suddenly remembered she had a trail bar stashed. She pulled out the bar and unwrapped it. She broke it in half and gave a piece to Jer. "It's all I have so savor the flavor," she told him as she would any enlistee that had the mishap of ending up stuck with her in a situation that needed a CO. She laughed to herself. She was supposed to be an officer, not a noncom, so why was she always acting like a noncom. She really needed to get her roles together.

  The commander was expecting her to get him out safely even if she had to carry him. She sighed heavily.

  "I don't think I can take much more of this," Jer mentioned quietly.

  "More of what? It's just falling into a pool of water, getting out, and then dropping again. Though, that whatever I found lying on you…that's a new one."

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  "Wha…what did you say?"

  "When you decided to take another tunnel without telling me, I followed you. I didn't see you or hear you. I found you by tripping over you because this dark thing was lying on you."

  "No," Jer whispered horrified. She could hear him patting himself as though seeing if he were still there.

  "What's wrong?"

  "The shadow, it…it sucks the life out of you," he whispered frightened.

  "You know about it? Where did it come from?" There was only silence and heavy breathing. "This is something you guys created, right?" she asked suspiciously.

  Only his heavy breathing could be heard. She decided she did not want to hear any more about this mess. "Let's get going. And don't think! If you have to think…think flowers…nice ones. We gotta find the others." Vanstar was aggravated.

&nbs
p; "I…I don't want to go on," Jer whispered still frightened.

  "Jer, you have to face this thing…you created it…right? Therefore it's going to be made up of whatever you fear. Okay? So, this is your moment to face your fear. You got me right here. Helga's moon's but I've seen and been through enough scary things in my life to know you just keep on moving through stuff like this." She chucked, her voice softening. "You let your dreams sort out the stuff and believe it or not…eventually it's nothing." She did not tell him that what really happened was other nightmarish experiences replaced the old ones. A soldier's life was not pretty when called to war.

  "I don't want to," he told her firmly.

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  "Hm. You know, I've been to more planets than you and I have digits to count them on, but the best advice I ever received was from my mom when I left home to follow my dream. She said if I don't face my demons no matter where I run, they'll follow me. She was right. Whatever unresolved problems I had at home, they were the face of every problem I couldn't face after that."

  Jer scrubbed his face with his hands.

  With compassion, Vanstar touched Jer's arm. "Come on, Jer. We can walk and talk. You gotta tell me what the helgas moon you got against women."

  He bristled but got up and started in the direction Vanstar indicated.

  "I'm the only boy in the family," he started in a low voice. "My…mother did not want a son because she was the only girl in her family and her brothers made her life miserable."

  "Oh."

  "It does not excuse her! She pushed me to leave the house as soon as I was of age.

  I had no where to go."

  "What do you remember about your parents? Just so I can get an idea of what's got you bothered."

  "She…my mother, was sold to my father. She had started her first menses and the marriage went forward quickly. Father said she was seeing someone else but her parents didn't like the family. Father thought the bargain was good. She was smart and could run his business and raise his family. He didn't mind having daughters because it meant he could marry into other families and the potential of more customers was a good thing. He 356

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  only wanted one son to avoid inheritance fights between sons, and pass on the business. I hated the business…visiting with buyers and smiling at their damn stupid jokes. They always expected expensive gifts and party favors. Well, I was spared carrying on his business," his voice held a note of contempt. "Father died in his whore's bed. Mother became the sole owner because father didn't see fit to leave it to me and she wanted me out of the house. Sent me away to school and when I became old enough, told me not to bother to come home. I didn't care anyway. I had joined a group of people that were going to one of the new colonies. I would be doing what I wanted…traveling. And when I got tired I would settle down and…" he shrugged his shoulders.

  "You never got beyond traveling, huh? Well, don't feel so bad. A lot of military recruits think the same. They join to get away from family and to travel, not knowing what they're going to do after their contract expires. They're too busy surviving to figure out their future."

  "Yeah," he said softly.

  "So, what would you want to do besides whatever you're doing now?"

  "I… I'm fine the way I am now," he told her stubbornly, but not with as much heat as he had before.

  "Yeah. I can't think of anything I would want to do besides being a soldier. Of course, I wouldn't mind visiting home now and then. But I like a soldier's life. I can do without the killing part though. That part got old in a hurry. But, the challenge of each situation being different; not knowing what to expect each corner I turn; it makes my blood rush and gives me a charge," she hummed.

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  "What do you do with your things?"

  "What things? Personal belongings like trinkets?" She laughed. "Ehh. My kit doesn't have room and nor do I want to carry too much weight. No trinkets."

  "I…would like to have one place I can return to. A place where I can look at the things I gathered on my travels…"

  "Then what? Who's going to dust them or store them?"

  "I can get a storage room," Jer insisted. "They have those here."

  "So, where are you going to travel, and what are you going to do to pay the bills?

  Jer shook his head in dismay.

  "You know, in our neck of the woods, they have those tests to match your interests up with something out on the job market…or, they do…"

  "They have that here too," Jer interrupted. "The others…that's how they found jobs when they left their colonies." Jer heaved a heavy sigh and for a moment Vanstar thought she heard him sobbing.

  Vanstar continued their walk, thinking that if he was crying, he would prefer her not making a big deal of it.

  "Hey, here's an opening. Gi always found food and wood in places like this. You take that side, and no swimming before dinner," she warned.

  "Yeah. I've had enough of that," Jer agreed softly.

  With their bellies full they relaxed in the warm flickering light of the fire.

  "I like working with maba," Jer told her. "They're animals."

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  "What do they look like?" Vanstar asked.

  "Like horses, or challents, or bredants. They're intelligent here. Won't let you get near them much less on them if they don't like you. I met a traveler; he told me of a ranch on Vashaba the 2nd continent, owned by Princess Lelahul. She trains people to work all sorts of animals. They perform, do jumps and really fancy stuff." He sighed and shook his head. "I'm too old for something like that but, I would like to travel to her ranch and see the shows she puts on."

  "You're limiting yourself before you even get there," Vanstar told him. "If a soldier ever came to me with any attitude like that before a battle, I would tell him to stay in his bunk." Or shoot him. I'm not gonna let a person that already feels defeated go intobattle with others that feel they can win.

  "Are you gonna shoot me?" Jer asked picking up on her thought.

  Vanstar laughed. "No. Why don't you wait until you get there…to this ranch. See what it's all about, then decide what you want to put your energy into. Helga's moon, you may decide all that stuff is too much work and the only thing that interests you is watching the shows. Then…just get a job selling tickets or something that lets you do other things."

  "Yeah," he said with relief and excitement.

  Both of them laid down for a nap.

  Gi watched over the groups nodding at their progress and then returned to the two that were waking.

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  Corporal Wetfoot woke with all her senses alert. E'l was only moments behind her. E'l always awakened when she sensed someone around her in a waking state.

  Gi moved over to the fire and stirred the soup. It was intentionally chilly in this part of the labyrinth.

  "Gi, that smells good. Better than soldier's rations," Cpl. Wetfoot told her. The corporal turned to E'l to see if she was okay. Her eyes had their usual dull look that she wore to protect herself. "E'l, you hungry?"

  E'l nodded.

  "You aren't going back," Wetfoot told her believing it. "The Commander, I can tell she's not going to let the colonists continue as they have been."

  E'l nodded and took the cup of soup from Gi.

  "Gi," Wetfoot looked up from the soup. "How do you do this…magic or something?"

  Gi smiled. "E'l knows," she said softly.

  Wetfoot watched Gi carefully, knowing that if she wanted to disappear, all she had to do was turn sideways. Her paper thin frame would be near impossible to see in the dim lighting.

  "How does she do it, E'l?" Wetfoot asked as she sipped the soup. It was good.

  E'l shrugged her shoulders.

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  "Dogone, E'l," Wetfoot chided, "tell me. This planet is full of all sorts of things that are here and then not. And people, they are so nice but…I can't believe that anyone could be that nice," she told her in an undertone.

  E'l smiled and sipped her soup.

  "You're not going to tell me, are you?" Wetfoot stared into the fire. "I wonder how the Commander is going to tame the colonists. I know she is. The hag said so. She described her down to her bright orange hair." She sighed and played with her cup. "You know, the only way she can do anything about the colonists, is get them to change their way of thinking; to get them to see things from another perspective; but…" she shook her head. "Damn but the hunters, they love being away from your village and not having to follow the rules they are subjecting everyone else to. You know, if the hunters didn't bring any more people back the village would disappear." Wetfoot swirled the cup of soup watching the herbs spin around and then, the spinning became a whirl. She watched with fascination as the whirl changed to a scene, she was going to break it off, embarrassed, because this was a recent occurrence that happened to her when she looked into cups of liquid, especially water so she no longer looked into her cup. The scenes that unfolded were of her and E'l walking down the main street of her village. E'l gave the women their voices back and they all left. The male children and adults became belligerent and threatening as the females, old and young left, unstoppable. Why? What was different this time? E'l was holding something. It hurt if she stared at it, and this was held aloft so the men could not approach them as they waited until the last cart of belongings and women left. One boy cried and E'l turned to him. Before the nearest male could cuff him, she raised her hand and prevented the boy from getting hurt. She 361