“Ah, blue eyes.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s the first thing I noticed about her. Her eyes are so blue, they’re like lasers.”
Alyssa felt a pang of jealousy, even though Nicole was definitely opposite-sex oriented and interested in Furcho. “Have you ever seen a laser?”
“Of course not, but I’m sure it’d be the color of her eyes…like a blue flame, you know?”
Oh, she knew. Thinking about Jael lit her flame in a very unsettling but pleasant way. She was so imposing and unapproachable one minute, then probing her mind with a touch as gentle as a caress or cradling her in those impossibly strong arms to carry her upstairs the next. She shook the thoughts from her head. They had no time for foolish sky-gazing. They had at least a hundred boxes to unpack, and medical equipment to assemble, and examination rooms to set up. “Really, Nicole, laser eyes? I love your imagination, but we need to focus here. We don’t even have one examination room set up, and we’re already treating cuts and smashed thumbs and strained backs—”
“Alyssa, uh, maybe—”
“So, let’s save the talk about how handsome he is and how blue her eyes are for some other time.”
Nicole glanced up and immediately began shuffling small boxes around. “Uh, sure. I’ll just, uh…oh, look! It’s the scissors we’ve been searching for.” Nicole held them up as evidence. “I’ll go distribute these among the exam rooms right now.” She hurried off, leaving Alyssa shaking her head. They were nearly the same age, but those opposite-sex oriented girls just seemed a bit silly to her.
“Settling in okay?”
She froze and flushed at the familiar husky voice. Well, that explained what had sent Nicole packing. She stood and wiped her brow with her sleeve as though it was the humidity turning her face red. “Hello again. Your mysterious side trip was successful?” As attractive as she found Jael, she still found her secrecy extremely irritating.
“No mystery. We had to pick up some…livestock.” The corner of Jael’s mouth twitched upward.
“Ah, I walked the length of the valley early this morning and noticed the chickens and dairy cows in the pens at the other end.”
The twitch turned into a smile. “Chickens, yes. Big ones.”
Alyssa shook her head. Another inside joke, apparently, but she’d allow it if it transformed Jael’s face into a smile. Stars, she was beautiful. “So, ready to let me in on what we’re doing here?” She gestured at the swirl of activity around them.
Jael surveyed the people going purposefully about their assigned tasks. “I have a few meetings and need a brief nap because we were traveling all night, but I’d like you to come to the headquarters building for your evening meal so we can discuss some plans.”
She noticed now that Jael’s eyes were shadowed with fatigue. “That’d be fine. What time?”
“Seventeen hundred?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Five o’clock.”
“Oh. That doesn’t give you much time for meetings and a nap. We can make it later.”
“I don’t need much sleep, and I have things to do after night falls.”
What could she possibly need to do after dark? “I’ll be prompt, then.” She wasn’t about to miss her chance to learn more.
Jael nodded but didn’t turn to leave. For the first time Alyssa could recall, she seemed uncertain about something. “Is there more?”
Jael quirked another small smile. “You have a big streak of dirt—” She gestured toward her own cheek.
Alyssa wiped at her cheek with her sleeve, but Jael shook her head and reached tentatively for Alyssa’s other cheek. She held very still and watched Jael’s face as she smoothed away the grime. Her fingers were callused but her touch gentle, and she fought the urge to lean into it. When Jael lowered her hand, Alyssa smiled at her. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “Nicole would have let me go all day with that dirt on my face and never told me.”
Jael blinked at her. “See you for dinner, then?” Her voice was low and soft.
“I’ll be there.”
Jael straightened and nodded before striding off toward the two-story headquarters building. It was amazing how fast they could erect these prefab buildings, Alyssa thought absently. Instant building. But not nearly as lightning fast and sharp as the attraction that was drawing her to Jael.
*
Jael stared at the table set for two and the skewers of grilled meat and vegetables. “Where are the others’ plates?”
Second looked up from the small galley. “You don’t need them here, do you? I thought you’d want to talk to the Advocate alone.”
Did she? She should, but it wasn’t what she wanted to do. Just like she didn’t want to remember the dream that woke her hot and aroused after a short ninety minutes of restless sleep. She rubbed her eyes. Her own hand and an occasional jump with Tan had happily sated her libido for a number of years now. So why were her ovaries obsessing now over a first-life Advocate half her age? This couldn’t come at a more inconvenient time. She needed to focus.
“Bananas Foster for dessert.”
“What?” This was a meeting, not a date. She glared at her cousin. “Second.”
Second appeared unfazed by Jael’s warning growl. “You need some fruit in your diet. You live off pro-chow way too much because you’re too lazy to cook.”
“I don’t know how to cook very much.”
“Okay. You eat pro-chow because you’re too lazy to learn to cook.”
Jael waved her arm over the table. “Where did all this food come from? You must have spent a month’s worth of luxury credits.”
Second shrugged. “It’s no problem. I took the credits from your account.”
“What? Maybe I should check to see what else you’ve been buying with my credits.”
“Oh, please, you have enough credits built up for me to serve this meal to the entire valley out there, even though I’ve been diligently donating the percentage you specified back to the world-need account every month. You have no idea how many credits your books generate, do you?”
Actually, she didn’t. Her needs were meager, and financial stuff was just a bother. Second, however, loved buying, selling, and trading on the digital network and was very successful at it. Since she trusted no one more than her cousin, she’d just turned her finances over to Second. “Why would a society based on peace want to buy books about war?”
Second made a disgusted sound. “Because they want to read a story about brave heroes and good overcoming evil. They’ve never heard the screams of the dying or seen children with missing arms and legs. They have a very romantic view of war.”
“Then perhaps I should be more graphic in my stories.”
Second shook her head. “If you do write more graphically to discourage them, then you’ll make fewer credits for the world need account. It’s a dilemma, isn’t it?”
“What’s a dilemma?” Alyssa stood in the doorway. She had obviously taken time to clean up and change into fresh clothes. She made loose khaki pants and a white cotton T-shirt look like high fashion.
Jael looked away quickly. She didn’t want to linger over those forest-green eyes and cheeks colored by natural splotches of sunrise pink. She waved her hand dismissively. “Second is my personal banker. We were just discussing my charitable donations.”
“Oh, I see.” She surveyed the table and smiled at Second. “Thank you for cooking. It looks fabulous.”
Jael cocked a brow. “Maybe I cooked.”
Alyssa and Second both smiled indulgently at her but didn’t comment.
“Everything is ready,” Second said. “You two enjoy.”
“You’ve prepared this great meal and aren’t going to share it with us?”
“I’ve already heard what Jael wants to discuss with you, and I need to check in with our quartermasters.” Second touched her fist to her own shoulder in a brief salute to Jael. “By your leave.”
Jael nodded and ignored the wink
Second threw Alyssa’s way. As soon as they were alone, she pulled out a chair for Alyssa. “Please sit. We should eat before the food grows cold.”
When they were seated, Jael filled their cups with water, ignoring the bottle of wine Second had chilled and placed on the table. “How soon will the medical clinic be up and running?”
Alyssa swallowed the bit of the grilled vegetable she was chewing and stifled a moan at its exquisite flavor. They apparently weren’t going to take the time to savor Second’s culinary artistry. “There’s no shortage of hands to help, and we’re already treating patients—minor injuries from all the construction work—but the lab and surgery rooms still have equipment that must be assembled and calibrated. I’m sure we could have it fully operational sometime next week.”
Jael looked up from her food. “We’ll need it sooner than that. I’ll turn the clinic supervision over to someone else tomorrow.”
Alyssa bristled. She’d been in camp only a day and had the clinic already treating patients. Sure, she was young, but a day was hardly time enough to decide she needed to be replaced. “I know the progress may seem slow, but I think—”
“You’ve done an amazing job getting things underway, but several other people can finish up. I need your specific talents elsewhere.”
“Oh.” That wasn’t what she expected. “How can I help?”
Jael chewed slowly, then swallowed and sighed. “I’m not sure how to explain any of this.”
“Why don’t we start with why all these people are here? Are they refugees from disaster areas? Why in the world would you bring them to this remote place? What do you plan to do with them?”
Jael smiled as she sat back and held up her hands, palms out. “Whoa. One question at a time, okay?”
“Okay, sorry.” Her cheeks warmed with the pleasure that stirred her blood every time Jael’s stern features relaxed into a smile. “Why are all these people gathering in such a remote area?”
Jael considered carefully what she should say. She wasn’t ready to reveal everything about The Guard, and she didn’t think this advocate of peace was ready to hear the harsh reality of their mission. “We’ve chosen this area for two reasons. I’m only prepared to reveal one of them to you tonight.”
“I don’t like being kept in the dark, Jael, but I’ll hear what you feel you can say before I judge you for not trusting me with all of it.”
Jael dipped her head in acceptance of the concession. “The Natural Order sect is spreading their propaganda exponentially, branching out through digital media and the people they have recruited…disciples, so to speak. They call themselves believers. We need numbers to hunt out branched pockets of them, as well as a main contingent to go after the core of the movement.”
“How can this happen? People being swept up in this movement must feel their separation from The Collective when they deny what we know to be true.”
Jael regarded her. “How do you know our beliefs to be true? I mean, you’re a first-life. You have no past-life memories yet. How do you know there is a Collective?”
“You doubt my commitment?”
“Not at all. The people joining this movement are young souls, too young to recall past lives. You’re a first-life, so I’m trying to discern what makes them susceptible, but not you.”
Alyssa measured her words carefully. “I trust the people who have instructed me. I know what they tell me to be true because I can feel their absolute sincerity.”
“The rest of the population doesn’t have your talent for discerning honesty. The sect that is disrupting The Collective preys on the distraught, people who are vulnerable in their grief. They claim to know why this is happening and say they have the answers to make it stop.”
“But it’s no secret that the severe storms are a natural phenomenon. Turning away from The Collective won’t stop that. It’s exactly times like this when we should draw strength from each other, not break apart.”
Jael smiled at the conviction in Alyssa’s words. She was young enough to still feel complete certainty. After many lives, Jael knew there could be no real certainty, only perception. No pure good versus pure evil, no black and white existed—only many shades of gray. She had learned to accept that fact, but she regretted now that she would be the one to ultimately steal that sureness from Alyssa. “People are complicated beings and often don’t react as they should. They need to believe the problem is something they can fix.”
“But—”
The sun had dropped closer to the horizon, so they didn’t have time for a philosophical debate on the nature of mankind. Jael plowed ahead. “I suspect that you’ve used your ability to project feelings in many situations to help people.”
Alyssa looked startled by the apparent change in subject. “Well, yes. I have.”
“Can you give me a few examples?”
“I decided to learn natural healing arts because I’m constantly asked to soothe patients as well as their loved ones who are anxious or upset. Anxiety is an impediment to healing. Sometimes it’s as simple as calming a crying child.” She stared down at her plate, but her action didn’t hide the sadness that flashed across her delicate features. “I’ve spent a lot of time in hospice units.” She raised her eyes slowly to meet Jael’s. “I helped patients and their families weather the end of life. Even when you know there’ll be another, they grieve…like your cousin.”
Jael’s breath caught in her chest. Gazing into those knowing green eyes was like standing on a mountaintop and looking down into a valley feathered with thick, green spruce—eyes that had seen into Second and touched her private pain.
“Why do you ask?”
“What?” She needed to focus.
“Do you have some reason to think I’d misuse my gift?”
“No.” Jael rubbed at her eyes and groped for her lost train of thought. “I just need to know the scope of what you can do.”
“What do you need for me to do?”
Jael sucked in a deep breath. She needed Alyssa to be a little less earnest and a lot less enticing. She uncorked the wine and poured them each a glass. “This is difficult to explain, but let’s sit outside and I’ll give it a shot.”
The evening was beginning to cool, and a faint breeze carried the clean scent of earth and fauna. She could think more clearly out here on the building’s porch without the confining walls. The open sky and the first hint of stars called to her. Soon. For now, they both sat on a rough wood bench placed against the wall. “Everyone here has answered a spiritual calling. They don’t know why, just that they feel compelled to be here.”
“Why only certain people?”
How to explain this without revealing everything? “Are any other members of your family empathic?”
Alyssa frowned and shrugged. “A great aunt and a third cousin. My mother is mildly empathic but would die before she’d admit it.”
Jael winced at the bitterness in Alyssa’s admission. She couldn’t imagine. Her own family was proud of the DNA they carried. “They have varying degrees of your gift because you all share some common genetic material.” She swept her arm toward the rows of tents pitched between unfinished barracks. “They all have felt the call because they share some bit of common DNA that manifests as a talent. In the coming weeks, we must evaluate which ones have the greatest amount of that DNA and, therefore, potential to fulfill this mission.”
Alyssa sipped her wine and appeared to think about that explanation. “So, you’re saying they all have a common gift.” She looked up, her eyes searching Jael’s. “They share your talent?”
“Not telepathy. Another that I can’t reveal to you yet.” She took Alyssa’s hand in hers and drew it into her lap, inviting a connection. It was a risky move that tempted her to revel in the cool of Alyssa’s fingers and the soft skin of her palm. She allowed a small crack in her mental shield, hoping only her sincerity would filter through for Alyssa to detect. “I want to tell you everything, but I’m protecting sacred knowledge. It�
��s critical to our mission and will be revealed to everyone at once. When that’s done, anyone who feels they cannot fulfill the mission will have everything—our mission and their time here—wiped from their memory.”
She searched Alyssa’s face, realizing that she didn’t want to be erased from her memory. She needed more time to make her understand. “I’m just now beginning to decipher your role in what we have to do here.” She tightened her hand around Alyssa’s. “I’m afraid that if I tell you everything now, you might leave.” She was startled by her confession because she realized her concern extended beyond their mission. An unfamiliar, but undeniable, bond was forming between them, and she was curious about the Council’s foresight that their lives would intertwine.
Alyssa’s fingers curled around hers, and a firm loyalty rolled through her as clear as Second’s salute. “I’ll do whatever I need to earn your confidence, Jael, and serve The Collective to the best of my ability.”
“Thank you.” Jael released her hand. It was too enticing, the temptation to fling away her shields too inviting. “Each recruit will come to the clinic to be swabbed for DNA. When they do, I’ll also ask them to submit to a very brief telepathic examination of their thoughts. We need to know they are true-born and that they’re mentally sound. I need you to evaluate their emotional stability.”
“You want me to spy on people’s feelings?”
“I want you to protect our mission.”
Alyssa frowned, and her withdrawal was as tangible as the absence of her hand wrapped around Jael’s. Never before had she deviated from a decided strategy unless she was on the battlefield, where she’d learned to trust her reflexes without question, and those reflexes were screaming at her right now. She stood, grasped Alyssa’s hand, and led her back into the building. Once inside, she flipped off the lights and darkened the windows to give them privacy.
“Jael?”
She placed her hands on Alyssa’s shoulders. “Stand here.” Alyssa’s pulse tripped against the back of her thumb where it rested against her throat, and Jael touched her cheek to reassure her before she stepped back. “I actually have three talents.”
Dragon Horse War Page 9