Flower Readings

by Lilliana Rose

  “Not long, a few breaths,” he said.

  “Good.” She took a deep breath to center herself. At least the Energy no longer tugged at her. “Time to get moving.” She looked over at the man unconscious on the floor. “Looks like you’ve just a new uniform.”

  “He looks more my size too. Pity about the holes in the trousers,” said Braklen.

  “And the blood. You could do with a change of clothes.” A deep strength within her gave her the motivation to carry on.

  “So could you.” He took the man by the legs and began to drag him to the place they had been hiding. “Can you help me?”

  Triena held grabbed onto one of the man’s legs and pulled. She wasn’t about to go back to the Queens, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to be caught and taken to them. She wanted to remain free.

  “You don’t have much upper body strength.” Braklen strained to drag the large man around the side of a crate.

  “Thanks. Do I really need to remind you what I’ve been through? I’m now homeless, on the run, and stuck with you because of this damn chip.” She sweated and her muscles ached, but she kept pulling with Braklen until they had reached the concealed compartment in the side of the ship’s hull.

  He puffed as he let go of the man’s boot. It dropped with a dull thud. “He’s going to have one big headache when he wakes.”

  You two could be a bit quieter.

  Triena leaned against the wall. The dizziness associated with space-sickness returned. Braklen changed into the clothes of the man. A flash of his broad chest, toned biceps, smooth back momentarily distracted Triena. A different sort of heat claimed her, one that she wanted to fill her body and explode outwards in bliss. Get a grip. She couldn’t manage to look away.

  “Not perfect, but it will do.” Braklen buttoned the shirt. “You pull him in, and I’ll push.”

  “Great.” Triena didn’t want to get back inside the compartment.

  “You’re smaller than me.”

  She ducked down and crawled inside. The smell of stomach acid immediately made her head spin and a sickening heat flushed over her skin.

  “Hurry up,” said Braklen.

  Triena turned around to get hold of the man’s feet. “Ready.” She braced herself and pulled. Somehow between the two of them, they got the sailor inside.

  You should tie him up.

  Triena groaned. She just wanted to get out of this confined space and take another pill, but the rabbit was right. She searched the man for something to bind him with. She found some plastic ties and bound his feet and hands together. She ripped off part of his under-shirt and tied it around his mouth.

  She went back through his pockets. She put his particle gun in the pack along with his chip, a pocketknife and some pills she assumed were for recreational use.

  Triena pushed the pack out quickly and then wriggled out. “I don’t ever want to go in there again.”

  Braklen picked up the panel and clicked it into place. “Fine with me.”

  The loading bay was quiet except for the normal clicks and groans of the metal interior and a few sparks of electricity. The crates provided some cover, but Triena didn’t feel safe as they moved. “You got any ideas of where to go now?”

  Braklen shook his head. “Away from here.”

  Idiot, thought the rabbit.

  “I got that much.” Triena reached into the Energy to see if she could find a path to follow. It was hard. Her body ached and her mind was exhausted. All she wanted to do was to put her feet on a planet, any planet, and never travel by ship again.

  The Energy suddenly parted to her left. “This way.”

  Braklen swung the pack over his shoulder and took her hand and went in that direction, forcing the rabbit to hop along after them.

  “You’re down here again?” asked a young man.

  Triena froze. Not again. It was like someone knew where they were, all the time. Could the Queens see us in the Energy? She knew it was possible, but the Energy wasn’t always clear, or that easy to read. Surely not. A chill ran through her body. Everyone had a unique Energy print so it was possible. But, they would’ve caught us by now. Surely the Energy isn’t working against me? It didn’t feel right to her, but the idea stressed her.

  Maybe it’s not the Energy, but you, suggested the rabbit.

  What do you mean?

  Maybe it’s your perspective that has changed. Triena didn’t answer as Braklen squeezed her hand bringing her attention back to them and their situation.

  “Yeah, I’m back.” Braklen nodded at the other man.

  His skin warm against hers helped to keep her balanced. She hoped the rabbit had managed to hide, at least he was somewhat camouflaged with his dark fur.

  “What are you …?” The man saw Triena. “Oh. I see. Well … I’ll leave you both then.” His face flushed red and he turned to walk away, but then he stopped. “There are more comfortable places if you would like me to show you.”

  “Discretion is important,” said Braklen.

  Triena wanted to hit him, even though he’d just helped her from being caught. Heat rose up inside her. There was a contradiction in this rising heat, a mixture of anger and something else; something she didn’t want to admit.

  You do like him, thought the rabbit.

  Triena tried to push the rabbit away without being seen, but it hopped out of the way.

  I’m right.

  She felt the animal laughing through the Energy. Her face flushed with heat. Triena tried to move from Braklen, but he squeezed her hand tight. She had to trust him.

  “Of course. Follow me. Captain doesn’t really like this sort of behavior, but if you’re discreet enough he’ll turn a blind eye.” He looked directly at Triena. “Besides someone as clean as her will get the men excited and lining up for their share.”

  He turned his back and began walking away. Braklen let go of her hand, and scooped up the rabbit and shoved him down his top.

  The man led them to the back of the loading bay up metal stairs and along a platform. Triena found it hard to walk from being in a confined area for so long. Her body tuned into the rocking motion of the ship and her renewed strength faded.

  At the top of the stairs he directed them around a corner. Everything in this ship was made of metal. Triena hated the energy of metal. It made her feel sterile, cold and dead. She stumbled along behind Braklen.

  Pull yourself together. You went into the Energy and so you can control the space-sickness.

  Triena forced herself to keep walking.

  The man stopped in front of a metal door. Triena swallowed hard against the rising mucus and her stomach turned. He wouldn’t, would he? She didn’t think so because Braklen helped her. She wasn’t sure how solid this newfound trust in him was.

  The man took out his ID card and swiped the pad. The door slid open, revealing a small storage room half full of boxes.

  “I know discretion doesn’t always come for free,” said Braklen.

  “For a cheap prize, I can be persuaded to not come down here for a while.”

  “How long?”

  “Well, the longer you want, the more it’s going to cost.”

  “You sure we won’t be disturbed?” Braklen pretended to get money out of his pocket.

  “Yeah. We gotta look out for each other.”

  Triena felt sick listening to the male bonding. All she wanted to do was to kick this man in the balls. More than once. That would teach him to misuse his parts. But, Braklen kept her behind him and she didn’t have a clear shot.

  “Is there …” Braklen leant forward to the man and whispered something she couldn’t hear.

  “Sure.” The man went inside and Braklen followed him closely. When he turned around, Braklen punched him. Hard and square in the face. It took the man by surprise, so much so Braklen managed to punch him a few times before he registered what the hell was going on. The rabbit slipped out of his shirt and hopped to safety. By then it was too late, Bra
klen had the upper hand in the fight and the man lay unconscious on the floor.

  “Why did you do that for? You got some sort of fetish of breaking men’s faces?” She felt some relief knowing Braklen hadn’t been planning on taking advantage of her and he wasn’t hurt. Fuck the rabbit might be right. I need some space from Braklen. I’m losing perspective.

  You could fall for worse men.

  This is not the time to start a romance.

  It never is. You could do worse than him, you know.

  “Help me get him out the way,” said Braklen.

  Triena grabbed one of the man’s boots and helped drag him to the back of the room. They dumped him between the boxes so he couldn’t be seen from the door.

  Triena looked at the boxes. Something drew her to them.

  “Let’s go,” said Braklen walking to the door.

  “We’re not staying here?” asked Triena.

  “No.”

  “Why? This room looks perfect for us. We can sit in comfort for the last few hours of the trip.”

  “It’s not safe down here.”

  Triena put her hands on her hips. “I’m not going anywhere.” She didn’t want to move around the ship. She wanted to stay here.

  Listen to him.

  Fuck you. I don’t need you against me too.

  “Something’s not right. We can’t stay here. It feels like too much of a set-up. You know there are ads out for us. All the crew would’ve read them, even this guy.”

  “Maybe, he was just trying to help us?”

  “You don’t really believe that.”

  “There would be a huge amount of money on our heads, much more than we could counter, so he must have known.”

  “Or completely dumb.”

  “All crew would’ve read the Ads out on us. No question, not after that other guy came down here.”

  “Why haven’t the Peacemakers come for us themselves? Why send the crew?”

  “Good question, and I don’t know. Maybe they don’t want to get their hands dirty.”

  “I just want to get off this ship.”

  So read into the Energy then, so we can get moving. You’re putting us at risk.

  Triena didn’t need to read the Energy Field to know they needed to keep moving and standing still would be a sure way to get caught.

  See.

  “Fine then, but before we go anywhere, let’s see what he’s got on him.”

  You’re good at this.

  Yeah, well you just keep your bladder tight, or I’ll throw you into one of the rubbish bins. Triena searched all the pockets of the man, pulling out anything and seeing if it would be useful. She took his ID chip, card, a few money cards, slipping them into her pouch.

  Braklen watched at the door. “Hurry up.”

  Triena was about to walk out of the room. The Energy stopped her. She turned to the boxes. What’s in them? She walked up to one. She had to look in one before she left. It was too good an opportunity to miss.

  “We don’t have time for this.” Braklen walked in and took hold of her arm.

  “Ow.” Triena squirmed trying to get out of his grip. “You don’t know that. You got to tie him up. We can’t leave him like this. He’ll wake up in a bit and then let the Captain know about us. Then, there won’t be anywhere safe on the ship for us.”

  “Fine. Once I’ve got him tied up, we’re leaving this room.” Braklen set to work while Triena took out her knife and sliced open a box. She removed the packaging, digging her hands in deep into the box.

  Her fingers scrapped against something small. Her fingers tingled from the increase of energy around the object.

  “Come on, we gotta go,” said Braklen as he stood up.

  “Just a minute.” Triena pushed down further into the box. She jumped from a spark of static electricity. She wanted whatever was in the box even more.

  “Nope, come on.” Braklen walked towards her.

  She kept her hand in the box. The energy reminded her of one of her dried flowers, but she couldn’t think of which one.

  “Triena.” Braklen went to grab her but she moved. “We don’t have time for this.”

  Triena felt a stab of electricity through her palm and closed her hand, just as Braklen took her by the arm. “Now.”

  She took her hand out of the box. The item was small enough to be enclosed in her fist. It continued to shoot out small blasts of electricity into her skin. The glass, long and thin was cool against her skin. All Triena wanted to do was to look at it, but there wasn’t time. Braklen squeezed her arm tight. She slipped it into the pouch on the inside of her belt.

  She looked at Braklen. His eyes were icy like a gem stone. She could see he was angry with her, and worried. He should be. Their situation was getting worse by the second, and more complicated the longer they stayed on this ship. Whatever way the Queens were searching for them before, it was so much easier for them to be found.

  Braklen tugged her towards the door.

  “You actually got a plan on where we can go?”

  “Sort of.”

  “It’s a question that requires a yes or a no answer.”

  “You ready or not?” He pulled the strap of the pack over his shoulder.

  “Ready.” She stood. “Wait.” She scooped up the rabbit and secured him in the pack.

  “He’s more trouble than he’s worth,” said Braklen.

  “He is, but I’m not leaving him behind.” Footsteps echoed outside along the corridor.

  “Quick, someone’s coming, we got to go now.” Braklen pulled her out of the room. “You got his card?”

  “Yeah.” Triena swiped the man’s card to lock the door.

  “This way.” He led them away from the loading area. Triena felt sick at the thought of moving further into the ship.

  Braklen grabbed hold of her hand and kept her close. The roughness of his hand, the firm grip helped to keep her focused on where they were going and not on the rocking of the ship. He directed them away from the sound of boots. It was hard not to make a noise as they walked and she cringed each time she took a step. They must have heard us by now.

  They moved along the meshed floored runways up another level. Triena looked down between the holes in the metal and saw the cargo below. She swayed and Braklen had to slow down for her to regain her balance. It was like an open warren. The platforms swayed a little as they moved along them and she struggled to keep her balance.

  He forced her to keep moving. “Don’t look down. Just watch me.”

  He changed direction, dragging Triena with him. “In here.” He took the ID card and swiped the door open, exposing an electrical grid. He pushed Triena inside and squeezed himself into the small space with her before the door shut, leaving them in darkness, with flashing red and green electrical lights that reminded her of bug eyes.

  “We can’t stay here,” whispered Triena.

  “Shut up.”

  She tried to move so his elbow wasn’t pushing into her ribs, but there wasn’t any space. She felt a little better here in the gray light, but the air was stuffy and she became aware of how much they both stank, a mixture of blood, stomach acid and piss, the last one she blamed on the rabbit.

  “Don’t knock anything,” Braklen murmured. “Pull out any of those cords and the ship’s alarms will go off, or worse.”

  “Worse?”

  “You’ll get fried. Now shhh.” He moved his body so they faced each other and embraced her. They pressed each other tight, more for comfort than anything else. Triena felt his warmth anchor her and the space sickness eased. She leaned into him, wanting to feel more of him.

  Don’t squish me.

  The rabbit’s though pulled Triena back to reality and she moved away from Braklen. “The rabbit …” The sound of footsteps outside made her freeze. Both of them held their breath, listening, and hoping whoever it was outside wouldn’t come in.

  Triena realised if the door opened, Braklen could get shot in the back,
and then she would die soon after because of the bloody chip in her arm. Fuck, I want to cut it out.

  There were a few things she would’ve done differently. One thing was becoming more apparent. She wouldn’t have killed Braklen when he turned up in her Tea Room. She wouldn’t have even tried if it wasn’t for the Queens. Triena rested her head on Braklen’s chest. Immediately, her energy sought to meld with his. She tried to pull her energy back, but she began to feel dizzy. It was like she had no control and they were meant to be together. Maybe that’s the problem?

  The banging of metal outside made her jump and her senses sharpened. Braklen kept his grip around her waist tight, but now it wasn’t much comfort to her. She felt his heart pounding in his chest as she held her breath. The footsteps walked away.

  “Too close,” said Braklen.

  Triena allowed herself to relax against him. It was like he had the strength to hold her, to anchor her and she felt less sick. Maybe, if I put my head on his chest, this nightmare would all go away. She did that. But, the red and green lights flashed a reminder to her.

  “We’ll stay here for a bit longer, then move on.”

  She nodded, keeping her head on his chest. She didn’t want to go out of this room, unless it meant she would get off this ship. The air was already suffocatingly hot and her back dampened from sweat.

  “Rest for a bit, then we’ll go,” said Braklen.

  “Okay.” She closed her eyes against the flashing electronics in the room. Echoes of the light pulsed behind her eyelids. Rest was a good idea, but she didn’t think she’d be able to get any, in a claustrophobic-like room, and in close proximity to Braklen, especially while having to stand up. His chest moved up and down slowly. Unlike the motion of the ship that apparently only she could feel, she found his breathing action soothing. Cocooned in his strength her energy levels increased. She rested all her weight on him and he held her patiently.

  Her mind unfolded through the events of the past few hours. The ghosts of the lights reformed in her mind’s eye and she saw the crown again. It was different, and she drew herself through the Energy to look closer. The golden crown turned to a white gold. Its luster disturbed the Energy nearby with a white glow with silver threads. She felt soothed by its presence, the white light cooling the heat in her essence.