“For you. I have no intentions of doing any sort of business down here.” Triena leaned against the wall. The pouch on her belt dug into her and she readjusted her position, remembering the necklace she took it out. She held it up. Shades of green held to sooth her mind. The pendant looked innocent enough. Triena wrapped her fingers around the pendant, and eased her awareness into the Energy Field to join with the stone. No patterns formed to suggest it was anything else other than a necklace.
Without giving it another thought, she put on the necklace. Immediately the heaviness of Pernally’s essence in her aura eased. Triena sighed with relief. She didn’t like having the Queen’s vibration as part of her own. Triena also didn’t like the fact she’d killed Pernally, even if that was what the Energy guided her to do. The responsibility sat like a heavy rock in her belly.
Triena’s stomach rumbled reminding her she needed nutrients if she was to survive. She pulled out a container of nutrient pills and swallowed two. She put one on the ground for the rabbit. It felt like the walls were way too close and all she wanted to do was to breathe in the dusty air of the moon. Her home.
You won’t miss it as much as you think.
“Maybe.” She rubbed her head. She needed to rest, so she could use her skill with the Energy to traverse around the ship without being seen. Triena had a little of her faith restored in the Energy since it guided them away from trouble. It was Braklen’s fault they were nearly caught again.
“Do you think Rangit can use the energy?”
The rabbit twitched his ears and began chewing on the nutrient pill.
“Men can’t use the energy. It’s not possible.” Triena looked over at Braklen. “He’s proof of that.” He started snoring.
I think the Queens have been less than honest with us.
“You think they already know?”
It looks like it. He’d already gnawed through half the pill.
“What did Rangit tell you?”
Not much.
“Liar.” Triena massaged her temples.
Enough to know the Queens need to be stopped.
“Tell me.”
Not yet. I need to make sure.
“Fuck the Queens.”
Exactly.
Chapter 7
Triena groaned. Her skin was covered in sweat. She felt her energy sway with the rock of the ship as it travelled through space.
You are flexible. You can cope with this change.
Her breath was shallow and quick. She concentrated on keeping her body relaxed, in particular her stomach muscles. She swallowed against the rising mucous.
Triena, the ship has only just taken off. You can’t be sick already.
The thoughts from the rabbit hit her head like bullets, disrupting her balance further even though she lay flat out on the floor. What she wanted was nice cup of freshly brewed Quem tea, with a hint of ginger. Her stomach relaxed a little at the thought of the soothing tea.
That’s it. Bring in the energy of the Quem tea.
“Shut up. You’re not helping.” Triena lost her focus and her stomach muscles contracted violently. She sat up and dry-retched.
Great, this is going to be a long trip. The rabbit wrinkled his nose against the acidic smell of stomach acid now flavoring the room. Think of the Quem tea.
It was an old technique and one that didn’t always work. If she didn’t have the ingredients she needed, then she would think about the energy of a particular plant. It was a last resort, unreliable, the last option. It was hard. Every cell in her body, every atom in her Energy Field felt the movement of the ship and she couldn’t concentrate. All she felt was rocking motion, back and forth. A fresh wave of nausea gripped her body.
I can’t even feel the movement.
“I’m more sensitive than you.”
Pull yourself together. Master the energy like you should.
“Trying.” Her stomach muscles contracted again and she dry retched. She didn’t think that this was even possible. Her skill should be helping to control the motion sickness. But, she couldn’t. Each time she tried, she was overcome. It was a struggle she wasn’t going to win.
This is going to be a long trip. The rabbit twitched his nose in annoyance.
“Don’t remind me.” She lay back down. The metal flooring cool on her hot body.
I’ll bring in the Quem tea energy then.
Triena felt the motion slow down, just a little. She relaxed into the energy the rabbit built around her.
“So much for trying to go out and get supplies for us.” Triena breathed against another wave of queasiness.
She lay breathing slow and deep, trying to think of the smell and taste of the Quem tea.
“Where am I?” Braklen sat up rubbing his head.
“Safe,” said Triena. Her body sweated and she covered her eyes with her arm. Some light came in through the cracks between panels so they could see.
“What’s wrong with you?” Braklen managed to sit up cross-legged. He looked down at Triena.
“Space-sick.”
“There’s hardly any movement.” He ran his hand through his thick hair, looking at her with disbelief.
“Not for me.”
“Where we going?”
“Hopefully to Soneria. Then to Inite, if we can get passage.” Triena forced herself to speak. The exertion made her feel worse. Her abdomen muscles were already sore from vomiting and her mouth stung from the acid.
“Fuck the Queens. You really that sick?”
“Yeah.” Triena kept her eyes closed. “Never been good at travel.”
Weak stomach, very weak. The rabbit clicked his ears together.
“Don’t you bite me, you bastard.” Braklen pointed to the rabbit.
Triena had enough of this small compartment. Out of habit, she slipped into the Energy Field for comfort, but she felt like she was on a roller coaster ride, going up and down, and up and down. Her stomach muscles contracted and she dry retched.
Braklen moved to hold back her hair. “Soneria isn’t far.”
Tears slipped down her face as she sat back. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She could feel his energy supporting her, but she still felt queasy.
He rummaged around in the pack and found a flask of water and made her drink a few mouthfuls before helping her to lie down. He pulled everything out of the pack. “I don’t think there’s anything in here for space-sickness.”
Triena didn’t remember having it this bad when she travelled to Oberon. Then she had been exiled and was running away from the Queens. It was a long time ago, and it was her first experience of travelling in a ship. It took a month of travelling at warp speeds. Triena remembered she was sick, but she thought it was grief from being forced to leave Earth and her home. She’d been a mess, an emotional wreck over what happened. Her stomach lurched and she forced the past from her mind.
Braklen swallowed a few nutrient pills and then put everything back in the pack. “How long we been travelling?”
Triena’s mind went blank as she tried to relax and to go with the motion of the ship. “Not long.”
~
He took a deep breath. He found it difficult to breathe in here, the smell of rabbit piss, stomach acid and even he stank. He took stock of the situation. There were probably enough nutrient pills for them to get to Soneria, if that was actually where they were going, there wasn’t enough water, and he had to look after Triena. If he didn’t get some medication for her soon, it was going to be difficult to keep on the move when they landed.
Then, there was the chip. He didn’t know how he was going to go getting them any supplies if he had to stay within five hundred meters of her. This was about the worst situations he’d been in. He couldn’t entirely blame her for it. Why would the Queens do this to me? He was confused by their actions. He planned to question Triena a lot more, once they were off the ship and she wasn’t so sick.
He needed to know what was going on here. He needed something to e
ase the pounding in his head. A nice cold beer would be perfect. He rubbed the back of his head. If he ever went back to Oberon he was going to find the person who whacked him and do the same to him.
There was only one thing for him to do. He crouched down at a panel that opened up to the main part of the ship. He wished he wore plain clothes and not the Peacekeeper’s uniform, which was dirty.
Don’t you go messing things up. The rabbit clicked his ears in warning to Braklen, who of course couldn’t hear him.
He clicked off the panel and peered out. “Brace yourself.” He paused, summoning the courage to go and out search for anything that would help them to survive on this ship.
He crept out, replaced the panel and then tried to stand up. He swayed from the movement and leaned back on the wall to stop himself from falling. Triena dominated his thoughts. He wanted to acquaint himself with her curvy body, entangle his fingers in her long hair, taste her juices and lose himself in her eyes. He couldn’t understand why he’d be attracted to a woman who tried to kill him. Stop it. He pushed her out of his mind as he surveyed his surroundings.
The loading bay was full of crates, wooden and metal, big and small, all tied down with nets of ropes. He walked around them, looking for any markings that would indicate what was inside. Whatever they were shipping, it wasn’t marked. It was a long shot to think he could find something in the crates. Oberon wasn’t good for much, certainly not for anything agricultural, just a neutral place to trade, especially if illegal. It would be unlikely there would be water or food in these crates.
He knew with a sickening pressure in his gut he was going to have to go further. He didn’t feel the pull of the chip like Triena did, for him it was more like a heaviness on his shoulders, which meant it was easier for him to go too far from her and cause her pain. Not vice versa. No matter what she’d tried to do to him he didn’t want to hurt her. In fact he wanted to protect her. Man, you’ve got it bad. They couldn’t survive the trip without more water.
Braklen looked back over the crates. His curiosity distracted him. What was being traded? He moved further away from their hiding spot, ignoring the building pressure on his shoulders from the chip. He found a metal bar and jimmied the lid off an unmarked crate. He looked inside, moving away the bubble plastic used for packaging. It was too difficult, so leaned into the crate, desperate to see what might be in there. Maybe it will be something I can use to gain favor back with the Queens? He didn’t like his chances being marked as an enemy of the Queens. Despite his feelings he still held onto hope he could change this situation around, bring in Triena, and then continue on with his life as a Peacekeeper. He’d known no other life.
The side of the crate dug into his gut as he reached down for something to grab. His fingers brushed against a metal container.
“Everything all right down here?”
Braklen froze. He found purchase on the container and quickly stood up, coming face to face with a young man.
“Is your shipment okay?” the young man asked.
“Yeah. Just had to check something,” said Braklen. He held the small box close to his chest.
“You Peacekeepers are rather paranoid, always checking the loads. Really I don’t give a fuck what you got in them. They’re as safer down here than anywhere else. No one can’t get down here once we’re in flight, except you guys.”
“Well, better to be sure.” Braklen realised the Peacekeeper’ uniform he wore wasn’t such a problem after all. “So is the flight on schedule?”
“Yes sir. We should be at Soneria within twenty-four hours, ahead of schedule by about two hours. Managed to leave early, your boss wanted to get going.”
“That’s great news.”
“I don’t know why you guys are in such a hurry. Oberon’s not that bad.”
“Well, there’s always things to do when you’re doing the Queen’s work.” His shoulders were straining against the pull from the chip. He’d been away too long from Triena. He couldn’t go any further without risking her life – or his own.
“Do you need a hand then?”
Braklen shook his head. “Oh, do you have any water?”
“Yeah, here, take this. Management’s always handing us water and telling us to rehydrate on these journeys.” The young boy handed over his flask.
“Thanks. Umm, do you mind, I got some things to do here.”
“Sure. I know what you blokes are like. Always secretive. Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone you were down here. It’s part of my job description.” The man walked away leaving Braklen standing in stunned silence. What is going on here?
He looked at the box and decided he’d already used up of his one and only chance. He should leave. He replaced the lid, taking the metal bar with him. On the way back he spied a medical station and took the medical kit with him. So far his little outing had been rather fruitful.
It took him a little while to find the panel to the compartment, he cursed silently, they all looked the same, hexagon shapes bound together to keep the loading bay strong against bad weather when crates were known to move and crash into the sides. The rabbit thumped his hind leg on the floor. Braklen followed the sound and found the panel.
~
“Where have you been?” Triena lay on the ground. She looked deathly white. “I thought you were trying to kill me.” She rubbed her arm where he inserted the chip.
“Sorry.” He sat cross-legged next to her in the cramped space and looked at the metal container he’d stolen.
He’s got something. The rabbit hopped towards Braklen twitching his nose.
“What did you find?”
“Nothing much, but we now have some more medical supplies.” He put the box behind him and opened up the medical kit.
He’s lying.
I know.
Triena felt sick using the energy to speak, but she also felt too weak at the moment to do anything about it. For now, she had to trust him, and if he found a medical kit, maybe there would be something for the sickness.
“Anything for me?” Triena asked.
“Pain killers, sterile liquid, and a heap of bottles I have no idea about.”
Triena sat up, ignoring the feeling of heaviness that crushed her chest.
Maybe it’s the Queens doing this to you.
“Surely not.”
“You talking to me?” Braklen handed over the medical kit. Triena shook her head. “Oh, the rabbit of course. You’ll have to teach me how to do that one day.”
~
Triena held back from telling him only women could do this, and only women who were born with the ability to connect to the Energy and then only after they had been trained could they read the patterns. Besides, she was realising her own ability to read the Energy with the help of flowers was an anomaly. What felt normal to her, a natural part of her birthright, wasn’t. No wonder the Queens want me. For all the wrong reasons. She looked through the bottles and liquids. “This will do.” She popped open an orange plastic bottle, took out two pills and dry swallowed them.
Braklen took the orange bottle from her and read the label. “You should’ve only taken one.”
“If you felt as bad as I do, you’d have doubled the dose too.” She took out some nutrient pills.
“Hey go easy on them too,” said Braklen.
Triena ignored him and took three.
“While you’re at it, you really should be drinking some water.” Braklen took out a sachet of rehydration powder. “Here put this in the water. You need to be at full strength by the time we get to Soneria.” He tipped the powder into the flask of water from the pack and gave it a shake before handing it to Triena. “A High Commander is on board and who knows how we are going to get off this ship without being seen.”
“That’s not what I want to hear.” She took a few sips. “Gross. Enough.” She handed back the flask. “I think I’m dying.”
“You look like it.”
Triena took off her coat
and used it as a pillow as she lay back down on the floor.
“You really think it’s a good idea to go to Soneria?” Braklen banged his knee on the side panel, swore and tried again to find a comfortable position.
“Why? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“No. Just know there’s a fair bit of Peacemaking activity on that planet.”
“Really?” Triena felt the chemicals disperse throughout her body. Quem tea would’ve been better. She hated having to take chemicals. They drained her energy. But, right now she didn’t care. Her body relaxed. She found it hard to concentrate on what he said and she wished he’d shut up.
“Not sure this is the best place to go right now. Did you try to go to any other planets?”
“We had to get off of Oberon. You were out cold. This was the only ship I could get us on.” Her words began to slur. “The Peacekeepers were looking for us everywhere. It’s not so bad.”
“As long as they aren’t looking for us there.”
“Don’t be such a worrywart.” Sleep forced its way into her mind and she relaxed her grip on her consciousness.
“Why do we need to go to Soneria anyway?”
“Some idiot put a prisoner’s chip in my arm and it’s not the easiest thing to put up with when you’re on the run.”
“I don’t think that’s the place to go.”
“It’s an intermediate step.”
“So where then?”
But, the drugs finally took hold of her and she fell asleep.
~
Braklen decided to try and clean up his head. He’d been unconscious enough lately and didn’t feel like sleeping. It wasn’t easy trying to clean up all the dry blood in his hair. He used up all the saline solution in the medical kit, and the swabs, but he figured he needed to look normal when disembarking the ship. At least the room smelt less of bile and more like salt. A new pressure took hold of his shoulders. It was up to him to get them off the ship safely and out of the sight of the Peacekeepers. That wasn’t going to be easy, not when the cargo on this ship was something they were shipping, something at a guess which was meant to remain a secret.
What is it they are sneaking off of Oberon? Braklen reached around behind him and picked up the metal box he’d stolen.
Flower Readings Page 8