by R S Penney
“Actually, Jack-”
“Oh yes! I forgot about Summer.”
Folding her hands on the table's surface, Jena leaned in close to share a warm smile with the other woman. “The trick with alcohol is to find the sweet spot,” she said. “Drink just to the point where you're a little tipsy, and your Nassai will become very mellow and share those emotions with you.”
“And caffeine?”
“You have to be careful with caffeine,” Jena explained. “Most people who bond a symbiont have already developed a tolerance – so they don't notice it as much – but too much will make…Seth…very uneasy and you'll be fighting off anxiety for the rest of the day. Not pleasant.”
Anna took a sip, then paused for a moment to stare into her glass. “I forgot that I like wine,” she said. “I haven't had all that much of it since I was sixteen.”
“Well, be careful.”
“Oh?”
Jena winced, shaking her head. “When normal people get drunk, they end up in bed with a an idiot,” she began. “If you get too drunk, you'll be unable to stand up for several very painful hours.”
“I never heard that!”
“That's because Keepers have developed such a religion around not imbibing that most of them have forgotten why it can be a problem. Your brain has learned to rely on the spatial awareness provided by your symbiont. Get the poor thing too intoxicated, and you'll feel as if the room is upside-down and spinning.”
Sharing your body with another living being: in a way, it was more intimate than anything you could experience with even the most passionate lover. Shared emotions, shared experiences. You were never truly alone after you Bonded a Nassai. However, it meant giving up certain freedoms. It wasn't just your body anymore.
Leaning back in the booth with her arms folded, Jena looked up at the ceiling. “So,” she murmured. “Care to indulge my insatiable curiosity and tell me every last detail about your personal life?”
Anna was smiling, her cheeks flushed to a deep red. “I didn't think you cared about other people's personal lives,” she said, brushing a lock of hair off her forehead. “You're kind of remote up in that office.”
“I've never had a little sister,” Jena said. “Humor me.”
“Well, I've been seeing this guy for a few months,” Anna began. “He's nice…He's very sweet.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Well, it just seems a little sparse of detail,” Jena replied. “Which, more often than not, means there's something on your mind.”
Grinning sheepishly, Anna shut her eyes and shook her head. “He's curious about my work,” she said. “It makes for some interesting conversations whenever I get an e-mail that I can't discuss with him. And you? How are things with Harry?”
Jena pressed her lips into a thin line, ignoring the heat in her cheeks. “I'm not sure,” she answered honestly. “He's very serious. I think he might be picturing me as the new stepmom to his kids.”
“Is that a problem?”
A frown tugged at the corners of Jena's mouth, one that she tried without success to hide. “I don't do permanent,” she said. “I've always been a bit of a lone wolf. Sooner or later, something calls me off into the great dark yonder.”
She was cut off by the sound of her multi-tool beeping.
Swiping her finger across the screen, Jena watched as the round face of Glin Karon appeared. “Is Agent Lenai with you?” he asked in that stern voice of his. “I need to speak with both of you immediately.”
“What's wrong?”
“I think perhaps you had better come up to Station Three.”
The only thing Anna could see was the back of Jena's white shirt when the other woman froze in the open doorway to Glin Karon's office. “All right, what's this about?” Jena demanded of her fellow director.
Anna folded hands over her stomach, hanging her head as a wave of anxiety went through her. It can't be good, a tiny voice whispered in her mind. You only get called to the principal's office when you're about to get detention.
Jena strode in.
Anna followed.
Glin's office was a large open room with shelves lined with potted plants that grew under the light of bright fluorescent bulbs. The large rectangular windows that should have peered out into space were shaded with dark curtains.
Director Karon stood in front of his desk with a tablet in his hand, turned so that Anna saw him in profile. A man of average height with what Jack would call “Asian features,” he frowned into the screen.
A quick glance over his shoulder allowed him to direct that scowl at Jena instead. “We've received a rather disturbing complaint about one of your agents,” he explained. “It seems Agent Lenai assaulted two officers of the Manchester Police Department.”
Grinding her teeth forcefully, Anna scrunched up her face. “I knew it.” She slapped a palm against her forehead. “They were going to kill that poor kid. I tried several times to reason with them, but-”
Jena cut her off with a wave.
The other woman stepped forward to stand between Anna and the man who now stood in judgment over her. “I've read Anna's report,” she said in a voice so cold it could extinguish the sun. “You're aware of what the Earth-Leyria Accords say. Justice Keepers have authority over local law enforcement.
“Anna ordered them to stand down; they refused. Both men displayed intent to use deadly force against a civilian. She was within her rights to respond accordingly.”
Glin closed his eyes with a deep breath, then grunted in frustration. The look on his face told Anna that it wasn't nearly so simple. “The Manchester police are claiming that you used excessive force against them.”
“Of course, they are!” Anna snapped.
“They want the matter investigated.”
Anna crossed her arms, striding forward with her eyes downcast. “So what are you going to do?” she asked in a gruff voice. “I've never had to use force against an officer of the law before. How does this play out?”
Glin watched her with a tight frown, his eyes flicking from side to side. “It's highly unlikely that they will be able to try you in an Earth court,” he said. “But a tribunal of six directors will review the situation.”
“And if they find me guilty?”
“You could be suspended.”
Jena stared at the man with teeth bared, hissing like a snake about to strike. “Make sure I'm on that tribunal!” she snapped. “I won't have-”
A look from Glin was all it took to silence her. The man arched one eyebrow, and just like that, he had the floor again. “I'm sure that you can understand why that would be considered a conflict of interest.”
He lifted his chin to stare down his nose, and suddenly Anna felt like a little girl who had made a mess in the kitchen. “It's easy to insist that other people are using force excessively,” he said. “Much harder when you must justify your own use of it.”
Anna flinched.
“Perhaps,” Glin went on, “it would be best if I relieved you of duty for now. I've called Larani and suggested that she come as soon as possible. She's been flying back and forth to Leyria ever since she took up Slade's duties. In the meantime, take a break. Spend a few days hiking. This planet has some beautiful nature trai-”
Anna didn't even bother listening. Before he could finish his sentence, she whirled around and marched right out of the office. Anger threatened to push bile right to the tip of her tongue, and if she stayed one moment longer, all that primal fury would lash out at the first available target. Most likely Glin.
Wasn't that just what she needed? Snarling at a superior officer on top of knocking out a pair of cops? That would do wonders for her credibility. Nevertheless, the rational voice that told her to keep her cool was swallowed in a sea of indignation.
Two men had planned to murder a boy for no other reason than to sate fear born out of prejudice, and she had stopped them. Now she was to be punished for that choice? Not if she c
ould do anything about it! It was vile. It was immoral. It was…overwhelming.
The law existed to protect citizens from harm, but in her short time on this planet, she had discovered that Earthers learned how to twist it to their advantage. It was a sad byproduct of their culture; they saw everything as a game in which they tried to gain a competitive edge, and now…Now, they were going to ruin her career because she chose to save a boy's life.
Anna covered her face with both hands, trembling as tears leaked from her eyes. Keep it together, Lenai, she told herself through a fit of sniffles. You're going to survive this. Jena won't let them undermine you.
The words sounded hollow to her.
The Science Lab doors slid apart to reveal a room with black floor tiles and light gray walls. Long, rectangular tables supported all sorts of equipment: scanners, powerful microscopes and some things Jena couldn't identify.
At the very back of the room, a man sat with his back turned, facing a container that looked very much like a fish tank that had been drained of water. Inside, a thin sheet of membranous skin was stretched out and suspended from metal clamps.
Looking at it made her shiver.
Jena strode into the room with her fists balled at her sides, dressed in black pants and a white t-shirt. “I hate looking at that thing,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Any luck figuring out how it works?”
The man swiveled in his chair.
Professor Nareo was short and compact with a handsome face for an older man and gray hair that was thinning. “Some,” he said, getting out of the chair. “This isn't the first Overseer device we've encountered.”
“And?”
Nareo hung his head to look down at himself. “They all work the same way,” he said with a shrug. “They're designed to bond with another organism and to receive input through the central nervous system. So if you can mimic that…”
Baring her teeth in a vicious snarl, Jena hissed. “That thing nearly destroyed some poor kid's life.” It came out as a growl. “It seems to me it almost takes over your central nervous system.”
“It wasn't designed for humans.”
A wince made Jena's face crumple, and she tossed her head about is if she could shake away the anger. “You sure about that?” she asked, moving past the man. “Maybe this is exactly what the Overseers want.”
That Bleakness-taken sheet of skin was just hanging there inside the containment unit, stretched out with veins pulsing despite the fact that it wasn't attached to anything. Just looking at it seemed to have an effect on her.
Jena knew what it was; she knew it was dangerous, and yet for some reason that she couldn't quite articulate, she wanted it. It whispered in her mind, urging her to come closer, to take it and-
Jena turned away.
Nareo was facing her with his arms crossed, frowning as if she had said something very stupid. “You think this is what the Overseers wanted?” he asked. “To leave us with a piece of technology that would destabilize its user?”
“It wouldn't surprise me.”
“That's an interesting theory.”
How did she go about explaining this one? To her knowledge, no one else had ever seen what she had seen. The events on that ship, the monstrosities the Overseers created to do their bidding: all of that was coming sooner or later. It reminded her of a book she had read as a child: The High Winds by Vic Tarson.
Just beyond the edges of civilization, the Infernals were gathering their forces, and no one was the wiser. She could tell people, of course, if she wanted to be published in this month's issue of “Crazy People Ranting.”
No one would believe her.
By some blessed miracle, the small team she had put together since coming here had taken her seriously, but even they required a little coaxing. Worse yet, if she spoke openly about what was happening, she would only be making herself a target. “It's just something that makes sense to me,” she said. “I've never been able to believe that a race of beings who make it their business to take primitive people from their home world and dump them all over the galaxy has benign intentions.”
Nareo grunted.
Scratching her chin with three fingers, Jena squinted at the man. “So, can this thing be used for anything other than violence and destruction?” she asked. “Is there any point to keeping it around, or should I find the nearest airlock.”
“If I'm right,” Nareo said in the pedantic tones you could only get from a professor – not that she had ever been to university. “This thing likely has data that would give us a better understanding of the Overseers.”
“Data?”
“Oh yes! These things have memories.
Covering her mouth with the tips of two fingers, Jena felt her eyes widen. “Well,” she said under her breath. “Isn't that just peachy? Any guesses as to what you might find in that thing?”
“I'm afraid not,” Nareo replied. “The only people to have successfully extracted information from one of these things have done so while bonded with it. But as I said, my colleagues have been working on a neural interface that-”
Knock knock knock!
Jena spun around to find that the two metal doors that led out to the hallway were still shut tight, but someone was pounding on them. Desperately knocking as if a wolf stood just outside and this was the only sanctuary they could find. The computer would only let authorized personnel into the lab.
“Open!” Jena commanded.
The doors slid apart to reveal young Raynar – the telepath – standing in the hallway in a pair of black pants and a gray shirt. The boy had grown out his blonde hair and now wore it parted in the middle. He had also put on a few pounds. It was a welcome sight. After three months, he no longer looked like a refugee fleeing a war zone. “What have you got in here?” he demanded.
Jena licked her lips, then looked down at the floor. “Raynar,” she said, starting toward the boy. “This is a restricted area. Only station personnel have access to the lab. If you need to talk-”
He looked up at her with hard gray eyes that reflected the lights in the ceiling. “I've been down on the surface for three days,” he said. “Dr. Kalaro thought I should get some fresh air. I Slipped up just an hour ago.”
“Raynar-”
“And the instant I set foot on this station, I felt something pulling me to this room,” he went on. “It was irresistible. I didn't even know where I was going. I just wandered the hallways and felt the tension fade as I got closer.”
Hearing that left Jena with an icy lump in her stomach. Nareo, on the other hand, seemed to find the whole thing fascinating. He shuffled over to the boy with a hand over his mouth. “Interesting,” he said. “Overseer devices draw people to them – that is likely why Kevin chose that exact spot to plant his time capsule – but the range should be limited to this room and possibly the hallway. For the boy to feel it all the way from the SlipGate chamber…”
“He's a telepath.”
“Ah!” Nareo exclaimed. He now stood in front of Raynar, blocking her view of the boy. “Well, that explains it then! We've never considered what effect these devices might have on the mind of a telepath.”
“Um…” Raynar mumbled.
Jena closed her eyes, heaving out a soft sigh. “Can you live with it, Raynar?” she asked. “Can you learn to tune it out? If not, we'll find you quarters on one of the other stations.”
The boy leaned sideways to peek at her around Nareo, By the stunned expression he wore, she could tell he was still trying to process everything. “I think a better question might be 'is there anything I can do to help?' ”
Nareo spun on his heel in the blink of an eye, facing her with a great big grin on his face. “The boy's insights would be invaluable,” he added. “So far, we've been mimicking the electrical signals from the human nervous system and relying on trial and error to see what makes the device respond, but a telepath might-”
Jena shut him up with a sharp wave of her hand.
“Firs
t we find out if the device poses any danger to him,” she insisted. “Then we determine if putting a telepath and an Overseer device in the same room puts the station at risk. And then – only then – do we even consider what you're asking. Am I clear?”
“Crystal clear.”
“Excellent.”
Anxiety, guilt and anger came together to form a knot of pain in Anna's chest, and she had to struggle to maintain her composure. She managed it with some effort, making her way home from the SlipGate terminal.
When she pushed open the door to her apartment, she found Bradley standing right in front of the big living room window. He was almost a silhouette to her eyes, a shadowy figure with his back turned.
Clenching her teeth, Anna looked down at herself. She let out a hiss that was almost certainly loud enough to alert the neighbours to her distress. “I forgot that we were going to have dinner,” she said, shutting the door behind herself.
Bradley spun around.
He faced her with relaxed posture: a gorgeous man with unkempt hair and a sweet, boyish smile. “That's all right,” he said, striding across the living room. “That just means it'll be a surprise.”
Anna felt a smile blossom, her cheeks suddenly burning. “You're way too good to me,” she said. “But I'm probably not very good company right now. I had an absolutely miserable afternoon.”
“What happened?”
“It's…” The words were there on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't bring herself to speak them out loud. The shame was still too fresh. Worse yet, on some level, she knew that she had done nothing wrong, but she felt ashamed anyway. How, by the Holy Companion's name, was that possible?
You beat the crap out of two people, she noted. Is there any reason you wouldn't feel like garbage? Anna had never been very comfortable with the idea of doing violence to another human being, but she had come to recognize the necessity. Still, there was a part of her that felt she had finally gotten her just punishment for all the men and women she had knocked around.